Richard Glazebrook

Sir Richard Tetley Glazebrook (18 September 1854 – 15 December 1935) was an English physicist.

Education and early career Glazebrook was born in West Derby, Liverpool, Lancashire, the son of a surgeon. He was educated at Dulwich College until 1870, Liverpool College from 1870 to 1872, and Trinity College, Cambridge, from which he graduated in Mathematics in 1876 and of which he was elected a fellow in 1877. He studied physics under James Clerk Maxwell and Lord Rayleigh at the new Cavendish Laboratory and, in 1880, was appointed a demonstrator at the laboratory.

The following year (1881), he was also appointed a college lecturer in mathematics and physics and a university lecturer in mathematics. His research focused on electrical standards and aviation. When defining electrical standards for the unit of resistance, the British Science Association were trying to determine what length a mercury column should be, to express the absolute value of the Ohm. A number of different values had been obtained over the years and Glazebrook determined the value at 106.3 cm.

Despite skepticism of mercurial standards this was the International value agreed on later by the 1893 Chicago conference.

Later career He hoped to succeed Rayleigh as Cavendish Professor of Physics in 1884, but was surprisingly (given that he was also Rayleigh's choice) passed over in favour of Sir J.J. Thomson, which was a great disappointment to him. He was, however, appointed Assistant Director of the Cavendish in 1891 and Bursar of Trinity College in 1895. In 1898, he was appointed Principal of University College, Liverpool.

He held his post at the NPL until his retirement (largely due to friction with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research) in 1919, successfully establishing the NPL as a world leader in physics research. He served as Vice-President of the Royal Society in 1919–1920 and 1924–1928, and as its Foreign Secretary from 1926 to 1929. He was awarded the Hughes Medal in 1909 and the Royal Medal in 1931. and Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) in 1934.

Personal life He married Frances Gertrude Atkinson of Leeds in 1883; they had a son and three daughters. He died at Limpsfield, Surrey, on 15 December 1935, aged 81.

Works A dictionary of applied physics (5 vols.) edited by Richard Glazebrook I. Mechanics, engineering, heat; II. Electricity; III. Meteorology, metrology; IV. Light, sound, radiology, aeronautics, metallurgy. General Index (London : Macmillan, 1922–1923) Mechanics Dynamics (Cambridge University Press, 1911) Mechanics Hydrostatics (Cambridge University Press, 1916) Physical optics (London, New York: Longmans, Green, 1886) Laws and properties of matter (London, K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & co., ltd., 1893) Heat: an elementary text-book, theoretical and practical, for colleges and schools (Cambridge University Press, 1894) Light, an elementary text-book, theoretical and practical (Cambridge University Press, 1912) Electricity and magnetism. An elementary text-book, theoretical and practical (Cambridge University Press, 1903) Practical physics (London, Longmans, 1889) James Clerk Maxwell and modern physics (New York: Macmillan, 1896) Science And Industry The Rede Lecture 1917 (Cambridge University Press)

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