John Enderby

Sir John Edwin Enderby CBE FRS FInstP^[1] (16 January 1931 – 3 August 2021) was a British physicist, and was Professor of Physics at University of Bristol from 1976 to 1996.^[4] He developed innovative ways of using neutrons to study matter at the microscopic level. His research has particularly advanced our understanding of the structure of multicomponent liquids— those made up of two or more types of atoms – including commonly used liquid alloys and glasses.^[1][5]

Sir John Enderby
Born	John Edwin Enderby (1931-01-16)16 January 1931
Died	3 August 2021(2021-08-03) (aged 90)
Alma mater	University of London (BSc, PhD)
Spouse	Lady Susan Enderby
Children	Rebecca Enderby Emma Enderby Tom Enderby
Awards	Knight Bachelor (2004) FRS (1985)[1] CBE (1997)[2]
Scientific career
Fields	Physics
Institutions	College of Technology, Huddersfield University of Sheffield University of Leicester University of Bristol
Thesis	Some electrical properties of liquid metals (1963)
Doctoral students	Alan Soper[3]

Education

Enderby was educated at Chester Grammar School^[2] and the University of London where he was awarded Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees.^[6]

Career and research

Enderby’s techniques mean that the relative positions of the various types of atomic nuclei can be deduced from diffraction patterns arising from the quantum wavelike scattering of the neutrons. His work includes the surprise discovery that aqueous solutions — important in biology as the environment for an organism’s chemical reactions — have a quasi-lattice structure.^[1]

He was the H.O. Wills Professor of Physics and Head of Department, from 1981 to 1994 and Deputy Director (Directeur-adjoint) of the Institut Laue–Langevin from 1985 to 1988.

Personal life

Enderby died on 3 August 2021, at the age of 90.^[7]

Awards and honours

Enderby was awarded the Guthrie Medal of the Institute of Physics, an institution he later served as President. Enderby was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1985^[1] and was Physical Secretary and Vice-President of the society from 1999 to 2004^[8] and was Chair of the Royal Society's Publishing Board ex officio. He was President of the Institute of Physics from 2004 to 2006. Enderby's contributions have been recognised by the award of a CBE in 1997 and a Knighthood for services to Science and Technology in 2004.^[2]

References

1. "Sir John Enderby CBE FRS". London: Royal Society. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where:

   "All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License." --"Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies". Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

2. "ENDERBY, Sir John (Edwin)". Who's Who. Vol. 2016 (online Oxford University Press ed.). Oxford: A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
3. Soper, Alan Kenneth (1977). The structure of aqueous solutions (PhD thesis). University of Leicester. OCLC 500569358.
4. "Sir John Edwin Enderby". University of Bristol. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015.
5. Collins, Kim D.; Neilson, George W.; Enderby, John E. (2007). "Ions in water: Characterizing the forces that control chemical processes and biological structure". Biophysical Chemistry. 128 (2–3): 95–104. doi:10.1016/j.bpc.2007.03.009. ISSN 0301-4622. PMID 17418479.
6. Enderby, John Edwin (1963). Some electrical properties of liquid metals (PhD thesis). University of London. ProQuest 301234547. (subscription required)
7. Johnston, Hamish (6 August 2021). "Neutron-science pioneer John Enderby dies aged 90". Physics World.
8. "Management of the Royal Society".