Ben Lockspeiser
Encyclopedia
Sir Benjamin Lockspeiser KCB
, FRS
, MIMechE
, FRAeS,(March 9, 1891 - October 18, 1990) was a British scientific administrator and the first President of CERN
.
Lockspeiser was educated at the Grocers' Company's School
, Hackney
, and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
. He served as a private with the Royal Army Medical Corps
at Gallipoli
during the First World War.
Lockspeiser became a chemist at the Royal Aircraft Establishment
, Farnborough
.
During the Second World War he was promoted and worked on secret projects for the Admiralty
.
He was also at the Ministry of Aircraft Production, and supplied the spotlight altimeter method for the Dambusters raid
. He became Deputy-Director.
He was knighted in the 1946 New Year's Honours list. By the 1950s he was Secretary at the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
Quote about the establishment of CERN. "Scientific research lives and flourishes in an atmosphere of freedom - freedom to doubt, freedom to enquire and freedom to discover. These are the conditions under which this new laboratory has been established."
Reference to an Automatic Computing Engine project is referenced in memos dated from 1950 at the Alan Turing
Archive http://www.alanturing.net/turing_archive/archive/p/p40/P40-015.html.
Much is mentioned about his cancellation of the Miles M.52
Supersonic Jet project when he was Director of Scientific Research.
His pre-war interest in Communism made him the object of monitoring by the British secret service.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, FRS
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, MIMechE
Institution of Mechanical Engineers
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is the British engineering society based in central London, representing mechanical engineering. It is licensed by the Engineering Council UK to assess candidates for inclusion on ECUK's Register of professional Engineers...
, FRAeS,(March 9, 1891 - October 18, 1990) was a British scientific administrator and the first President of CERN
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
.
Lockspeiser was educated at the Grocers' Company's School
Hackney Downs School
Hackney Downs School was a comprehensive secondary school, located near Hackney Downs off the A104 north of Hackney town centre, in the London Borough of Hackney.-Grocers' Company's School:...
, Hackney
London Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
, and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Sidney Sussex College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England.The college was founded in 1596 and named after its foundress, Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex. It was from its inception an avowedly Puritan foundation: some good and godlie moniment for the mainteynance...
. He served as a private with the Royal Army Medical Corps
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace...
at Gallipoli
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace , the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" , meaning "Beautiful City"...
during the First World War.
Lockspeiser became a chemist at the Royal Aircraft Establishment
Royal Aircraft Establishment
The Royal Aircraft Establishment , was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence , before finally losing its identity in mergers with other institutions.The first site was at Farnborough...
, Farnborough
Farnborough Airfield
Farnborough Airport or TAG London Farnborough Airport is an airport situated in Farnborough, Rushmoor, Hampshire, England...
.
During the Second World War he was promoted and worked on secret projects for the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
.
He was also at the Ministry of Aircraft Production, and supplied the spotlight altimeter method for the Dambusters raid
Operation Chastise
Operation Chastise was an attack on German dams carried out on 16–17 May 1943 by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, subsequently known as the "Dambusters", using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by Barnes Wallis...
. He became Deputy-Director.
He was knighted in the 1946 New Year's Honours list. By the 1950s he was Secretary at the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
Several countries have organizations called the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, abbreviated DSIR.-United Kingdom:...
Quote about the establishment of CERN. "Scientific research lives and flourishes in an atmosphere of freedom - freedom to doubt, freedom to enquire and freedom to discover. These are the conditions under which this new laboratory has been established."
Reference to an Automatic Computing Engine project is referenced in memos dated from 1950 at the Alan Turing
Alan Turing
Alan Mathison Turing, OBE, FRS , was an English mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist. He was highly influential in the development of computer science, providing a formalisation of the concepts of "algorithm" and "computation" with the Turing machine, which played a...
Archive http://www.alanturing.net/turing_archive/archive/p/p40/P40-015.html.
Much is mentioned about his cancellation of the Miles M.52
Miles M.52
The Miles M.52 was a turbojet powered supersonic research aircraft project designed in the United Kingdom in the mid 1940s. Design work was undertaken in secrecy between 1942 and 1945. In 1946 the Air Ministry prudently but controversially changed the project to a series of unmanned rocket-powered...
Supersonic Jet project when he was Director of Scientific Research.
His pre-war interest in Communism made him the object of monitoring by the British secret service.