Robert Ditchburn facts for kids

Robert William Ditchburn (born January 14, 1903, died April 8, 1987) was an important English physicist. He started his career as a professor at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. Later, he moved to the University of Reading in England, where he worked hard to make their physics department much better.

A Life in Physics

Robert Ditchburn was born in Waterloo, Lancashire, England. He first studied physics at Liverpool University and earned his degree in 1922. After that, he went to Trinity College, Cambridge. There, he got his PhD in 1928, doing research with the famous scientist J. J. Thomson at the Cavendish Laboratory.

In 1928, he won a special fellowship at Trinity College Dublin (TCD). The next year, he moved to Ireland to become a professor of natural and experimental philosophy. In 1930, he became a member of the Royal Irish Academy. He even gave some important talks called the Donnellan Lectures in 1945.

During World War II, he spent a few years back in England working at the Admiralty Research Laboratory in Teddington. But he mostly stayed in Dublin until 1946.

Building a Department

In 1946, Robert Ditchburn became a professor and the head of the physics department at the University of Reading. He stayed there until 1968. His main goal was to build up the department, making it stronger and better. He even helped set up a new laboratory named the J.J. Thomson Physical Laboratory.

He wrote a book called Light in 1953, which was very helpful for students. His own research looked into interesting topics like photoionization (how light can knock electrons out of atoms). He also studied the optical properties of solids (how light behaves when it hits different materials).

Another area he researched was how eye movements affect what we see. He worked on ways to make images stay still on the retina, which is the back of your eye. In 1962, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society, a very respected group of scientists.

Active Retirement

Even after he retired, Robert Ditchburn stayed very busy. He worked as a consultant for companies that dealt with diamonds. He also worked for nuclear disarmament, which means trying to get rid of nuclear weapons, as part of the Pugwash movement.

He wrote another book called Eye Movements and Visual Perception in 1973. In 1983, he received the C. E. K. Mees Medal from The Optical Society. This award was given to him for his long career in many areas of optics and for adding so much to our knowledge about light and vision. In 1960, he also won the Thomas Young Orator Prize.