William Hume-Rothery OBE FRS[1] (15 May 1899 – 27 September 1968) was an English metallurgist and materials scientist who studied the constitution of alloys.[2][3][4]
William Hume-Rothery | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 May 1899 Worcester Park, Surrey, UK |
| Died | 27 September 1968 (aged 69) Oxford, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | University of Oxford Royal School of Mines |
| Known for | Hume-Rothery rules |
| Awards | Francis C. Clamer Medal (1947) Fellow of the Royal Society (1937) Beilby Medal and Prize (1934) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Metallurgy |
| Institutions | University of Oxford |
| Doctoral advisor | Harold Carpenter |
| Doctoral students | Geoffrey Raynor |
Early life and education
editHume-Rothery was born the son of lawyer Joseph Hume-Rothery in Worcester Park, Surrey. His grandfather, William Rothery, was a clergyman.[1] His campaigning grandmother, Mary Hume-Rothery, was the daughter of Joseph Hume, a Scottish doctor and Radical Member of parliament.[5] William spent his youth in Cheltenham and was educated at Cheltenham College. In 1917 he was made totally deaf by a virus infection. Nevertheless, he entered Magdalen College, Oxford, and obtained a first class Honours degree in chemistry. He also attended the Royal School of Mines and was awarded a PhD.[1]
Career
editDuring World War II, he supervised numerous government contracts for work on aluminium and magnesium alloys.[citation needed]
After the war he returned to Oxford "to carry on research in intermetallic compounds and problems on the borderland of metallography and chemistry" and remained there for the rest of his working life. In 1938 he was appointed lecturer in metallurgical chemistry. In his research, he concluded that the microstructure of an alloy depends on the sizes of the component atoms, as well as the valency electron concentration, and electrochemical differences. This led to the definition of the Hume-Rothery rules.[citation needed]
In the 1950s he founded the Department of Metallurgy (which is now the Department of Materials) at the University of Oxford, and was a fellow of St Edmund Hall, Oxford.[citation needed] He was also involved in founding the Journal of the Less-Common Metals, which developed out of an international symposium on metals and alloys above 1200 °C that he organised at Oxford University on 17–18 September 1958. The papers presented at the symposium "The study of metals and alloys above 1200°C" were published as Volume 1 of the Journal of the Less-Common Metals.[6]
He was a member of the Oxford Philatelic Society.[citation needed]
Selected publications
editWilliam Hume-Rothery Award
editThe William Hume-Rothery Award has since 1974 been awarded annually by The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.[citation needed]
Honours and awards
edit- Hume-Rothery was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in May, 1937[1][12]
- Awarded the Francis J. Clamer Medal in 1949.
Personal life and retirement
editHe married Elizabeth Fea in 1931; they had a daughter Jennifer in 1934. He retired in 1966 and died in 1968.[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Raynor, G. V. (1969). "William Hume-Rothery 1899-1968". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 15: 109–126. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1969.0006. S2CID 72451114.
- ^ Hume-Rothery Bio, The Golden Years, Jack Christian, Department of Materials at Oxford University
- ^ Golden Years at Oxford
- ^ The Structure of Metals and Alloys (first published in 1936)
- ^ "Rothery, Mary Catherine Hume- (1824–1885), campaigner for medical reform and author". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/49483. Retrieved 28 May 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Raub, E. (July 1984). "A note on the origins of volume 1 of the Journal of the less-common metals". Journal of the Less Common Metals. 100: iv–vi. doi:10.1016/0022-5088(84)90048-1.
- ^ Hume-Rothery, William (1963). Electrons, atoms, metals and alloys. New York, Etats-Unis d'Amérique: Dover.
- ^ "https://katalogi.bn.org.pl/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma991046300489705066&context=L&vid=48OMNIS_NLOP:48OMNIS_NLOP&lang=pl&search_scope=NLOP_IZ_NZ&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&isFrbr=true&tab=LibraryCatalog&query=any,contains,hume-rothery&offset=0". katalogi.bn.org.pl. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
{{cite web}}: External link in|title= - ^ Hume-Rothery, William; Hilly, Guy (1959). Électrons, atomes, métaux et alliages. Paris, France: Dunod.
- ^ Hume-Rothery, William (1961). Elements of structural metallurgy. London, Royaume-Uni de Grande-Bretagne et d'Irlande du Nord: Institute of metals, 1961.
- ^ "Введение в физическое металловедение., Страница 1 из 202 :: БукТориум 2.0". t-library.net. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
- ^ "Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 21 November 2010.