Charles Coulson
Encyclopedia
Charles Alfred Coulson FRS (13 December 1910 – 7 January 1974) was an applied mathematician, theoretical chemist
and religious author.
His major scientific work was as a pioneer of the application of the quantum theory of valency
to problems of molecular structure
, dynamics
and reactivity. He shared his deep religious belief, as a Methodist
lay preacher, with the general public in radio broadcasts, served on the World Council of Churches
from 1962 to 1968 and was Chairman of Oxfam
from 1965 to 1971.
Coulson went up to Trinity College, Cambridge
in 1928, graduated in mathematics in 1931 and natural sciences in 1932, going on to receive a Ph.D. in 1936. He married Eileen Florence Burrett in 1938.
Coulson was a Senior Lecturer in the Mathematics Department of University College, Dundee, which was administratively part of the University of St. Andrews from 1938 to 1945. He held a Fellowship at the University of Oxford
from 1945 to 1947, when he took up the newly appointed Chair of Theoretical Physics at King's College London
. He returned to Oxford in 1952 as Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics
and Fellow of Wadham College. He set up and directed the Mathematical Institute. In 1972 he was appointed to the newly created Chair of Theoretical Chemistry, which has since been named for him.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
in 1941 and a Fellow of the Royal Society
of London in 1950. He was awarded the Davy Medal
of the Royal Society in 1970, the Faraday and Tilden Medals of the Chemical Society
in 1968 and 1969 respectively, and received a dozen honorary degrees from English and other universities. He was a member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science. His books include, Electricity, Valence and Science and Christian belief
In each of his successive appointments, Coulson attracted an active and enthusiastic group of graduate students, short and long term visitors, many of whom held senior university and industrial positions in England and other countries. Many of his students went on to make major contributions in several fields of endeavour.
Coulson was an excellent cricketer and chess player, a warm family man and had a strong sense of humour. He and Eileen were gracious hosts to his students and his associates. The conference in his honour at Brasenose College in 1967 had an impressive international attendance, despite the difficulty of organizing it during a postal strike.
were educators who hailed from the Midlands. The twins were born when their father, Arthur, was Principal of Dudley Technical College
and Superintendent of the Methodist Sunday School, and their mother Annie was Headmistress of Tipton Secondary School, close by. Dudley is about 25 miles west of Birmingham and 10 miles east of Wolverhampton. Coulson's parents maintained a religious Methodist home.
When the Coulson brothers were 10, their father was appointed Superintendent of Technical Colleges for the South-West of England, and the family moved to Bristol. Charles attended the XIV Preparatory School. When he was 13, he was awarded a scholarship to Clifton College
, a Public School in Bristol that placed a strong emphasis on science and mathematics. His hobbies and recreations included stamp collecting, cricket, tennis and chess.
Coulson's academic success at Clifton earned him an Entrance Scholarship in Mathematics to Trinity College, Cambridge
in 1928.
His brother John also excelled at school, and went on to become Professor of Chemical Engineering
at the University of Newcastle
, and author of a major series of texts on chemical engineering.
, A.S. Besicovitch, Sir Arthur Eddington, G.H. Hardy, J.E. Littlewood, F.P. Ramsey and Ebenezer Cunningham
were amongst his teachers.
In 1932, Coulson started graduate work with R. H. Fowler but switched to Sir John Lennard-Jones, and was awarded a Ph.D. in 1936 for work on the electronic structure of methane. By this time, he had published 11 papers. He continued as a research Fellow at Cambridge for another two years.
Coulson was accredited as a lay preacher in 1929, but he said his religion was perfunctory until a particular event in 1930, which he described in a documented sermon that he gave the following year. His religious beliefs were influenced by the physicist Sir Arthur Eddington, the theologian Charles Raven and, in particular, by Alex(ander) Wood, Fellow of Emmanuel College
, authority on acoustics and pacifist., elected Labour
M.P.
in 1945.
On the social side, Eileen was studying in Cambridge to become a school teacher when Charles was an undergraduate. They came together in meetings of the University Methodists. They married in 1938.
during World War II
. He carried a very heavy work load teaching Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. E. T. Copson was Head of Department, on the main St. Andrews campus. Coulson collaborated with C. E. Duncanson at University College, London, brought (George) Stanley Rushbrooke from Cambridge and acted technically as his Ph.D. supervisor, and wrote the first edition of Waves
In 1945, Coulson became a Lecturer in Physical Chemistry, attached to University College
and, concurrently, held a Fellowship awarded by Imperial Chemical Industries
. Coulson's students at Oxford included
. The note described him as "among the foremost workers in Great Britain on the wave-mechanical side of quantum theory". It extolled his breadth of interests that took in the action of radiation on bacteria and the theory of liquids and solutions, besides the molecular orbital treatment of small molecules and ions, the approximation methods needed for large organic molecules for studies of bond lengths in coronene
and conductivity of graphite, chemical reactivity, the treatment of momentum distribution functions and Compton-line profiles and his "well deserved reputation for his kindly and helpful encouragement of younger research workers."
Initially, Coulson's group were assigned offices on the top floor of a building (reached by a rickety wooden staircase) that overlooked the Strand, with considerable benefit when cavalcades paraded by on Lord Mayor's Day and Royal occasions. In 1952, the group moved down to offices in the new Physics Department, interspersed with Biophysics and other experimental groups. With developments in computing opening new vistas for the theoreticians, along with the developments in laboratory methods, the entire department enjoyed the intellectual ferment of the 1950s.
In his account of the official opening of the new Physics Department, Maurice Wilkins
wrote: "the theoretical group deals with "applications of wave mechanics and statistical mechanics ... the theory of the chemical bond ... questions of chemical reactivity ... stability of crystal structures, biological properties of cancer producing compounds and other molecules, electrical and magnetic properties of metals, ... properties of electrolytes and colloidal solutions, including ... electrophoresis ... more than one hundred papers have been published during the past five years."
Coulson's group consisted of (1) graduate students who conducted research on electronic structure and valence theory, for a Ph.D. degree directly under Coulson's supervision, (2) students working for a Ph.D. in statistical thermodynamics under the supervision of Fred Booth and, later, in nuclear physics supervised by Louis Elton and then Dr. Percy, (3) students working for an M.Sc. on topics in applied mathematics to be followed by a Ph.D. with another supervisor in the Mathematics Department, and (4) visitors, some of whom held senior academic and industrial appointments. The valence theory Ph.D. students included Simon J. Altmann, Michael P Barnett, Aagje Bozeman, Peter J. Davies, Harry H. Greenwood, Peter Higgs
, Julianne Jacobs, Roland Lefebvre, George Lester, John Maddox
, Norman H. March, and Robert Taylor. Statistical mechanics was pursued by Geoffrey V. Chester, John Enderby, Alec Gaines and Allan Lidiard. The students who went on to the Mathematics Department included Godfrey Lance, Eric Milner and Geoffrey Sewell. Collectively, these wrote nearly 30 books in later years. Visitors who stayed for months included Professor Inga Fischer-Hjalmas of the University of Stockholm, Dr. John van der Waals of Shell Oil, and Dr. Joop der Heer from the University of Amsterdam.
and Fellow of Wadham College at the University of Oxford. The chair was held previously by E. A. Milne, the mathematician and astrophysicist, and Roger Penrose
succeeded Coulson. His inaugural lecture expressed the following view of applied mathematics: "an intellectual adventure in which are combined creative imagination and authentic canons of beauty and fitness; they combine to give us insight into the nature of that world of which we ourselves, and our minds, are part."
Coulson was active in the formation of the Mathematical Institute, and soon became its Director. On the Institute website Coulson is described as "a man who packed into his life twice as much as any normal academic person ... he had a gift for lucid exposition and was ... indefatigable in his work, not only for science and mathematics, but also on behalf of people, whether black or white, young or old."
In 1972 Coulson was appointed to the newly created Chair of Theoretical Chemistry.
. Coulson believed religious faith was essential for the responsible use of science. He was a pacifist and conscientious objector
, but championed the development of nuclear energy. He encouraged scientists to help improve third world food production. He was chairman of Oxfam
from 1965 to 1971. Charles' widest religious impact on the general public was in his BBC broadcasts. In these, and in general interaction with people, he conveyed his religiosity in a gentle and sometimes humorous manner, for example, when he claimed in his inaugural lecture at King's College, that he had received mail addressed to him as Professor of Theological Physics.
Theoretical chemistry
Theoretical chemistry seeks to provide theories that explain chemical observations. Often, it uses mathematical and computational methods that, at times, require advanced knowledge. Quantum chemistry, the application of quantum mechanics to the understanding of valency, is a major component of...
and religious author.
His major scientific work was as a pioneer of the application of the quantum theory of valency
Quantum chemistry
Quantum chemistry is a branch of chemistry whose primary focus is the application of quantum mechanics in physical models and experiments of chemical systems...
to problems of molecular structure
Molecular structure
The molecular structure of a substance is described by the combination of nuclei and electrons that comprise its constitute molecules. This includes the molecular geometry , the electronic properties of the...
, dynamics
Molecular dynamics
Molecular dynamics is a computer simulation of physical movements of atoms and molecules. The atoms and molecules are allowed to interact for a period of time, giving a view of the motion of the atoms...
and reactivity. He shared his deep religious belief, as a Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
lay preacher, with the general public in radio broadcasts, served on the World Council of Churches
World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...
from 1962 to 1968 and was Chairman of Oxfam
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
from 1965 to 1971.
Coulson went up to Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
in 1928, graduated in mathematics in 1931 and natural sciences in 1932, going on to receive a Ph.D. in 1936. He married Eileen Florence Burrett in 1938.
Coulson was a Senior Lecturer in the Mathematics Department of University College, Dundee, which was administratively part of the University of St. Andrews from 1938 to 1945. He held a Fellowship at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
from 1945 to 1947, when he took up the newly appointed Chair of Theoretical Physics at King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
. He returned to Oxford in 1952 as Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics
Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics
The Rouse Ball Professorship of Mathematics is one of the senior chairs in the Mathematics Departments at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. The two positions were founded in 1927 by a bequest from the mathematician W. W. Rouse Ball...
and Fellow of Wadham College. He set up and directed the Mathematical Institute. In 1972 he was appointed to the newly created Chair of Theoretical Chemistry, which has since been named for him.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland...
in 1941 and a Fellow of the Royal Society
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"...
of London in 1950. He was awarded the Davy Medal
Davy Medal
The Davy Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of London "for an outstandingly important recent discovery in any branch of chemistry". Named after Humphry Davy, the medal is awarded with a gift of £1000. The medal was first awarded in 1877 to Robert Wilhelm Bunsen and Gustav Robert Kirchhoff "for...
of the Royal Society in 1970, the Faraday and Tilden Medals of the Chemical Society
Chemical Society
The Chemical Society was formed in 1841 as a result of increased interest in scientific matters....
in 1968 and 1969 respectively, and received a dozen honorary degrees from English and other universities. He was a member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science. His books include, Electricity, Valence and Science and Christian belief
In each of his successive appointments, Coulson attracted an active and enthusiastic group of graduate students, short and long term visitors, many of whom held senior university and industrial positions in England and other countries. Many of his students went on to make major contributions in several fields of endeavour.
Coulson was an excellent cricketer and chess player, a warm family man and had a strong sense of humour. He and Eileen were gracious hosts to his students and his associates. The conference in his honour at Brasenose College in 1967 had an impressive international attendance, despite the difficulty of organizing it during a postal strike.
Family background and pre-college education
The parents of Charles Coulson and his younger twin brother John Metcalfe CoulsonJohn Coulson
John Metcalfe Coulson, born 13 December 1910 in Dudley, died 6 January 1990,was a British chemical engineering academic particularly known for co-writing a textbook on chemical engineering with Jack Richardson , which became an established series of texts now known as Coulson & Richardson's...
were educators who hailed from the Midlands. The twins were born when their father, Arthur, was Principal of Dudley Technical College
Dudley College
Dudley College is a college of further education in Dudley, West Midlands, England.-History:In 1862 the Dudley Public Hall and Mechanics Institute was built. In 1896 this was expanded to become the Dudley Technical School, which became Dudley Technical College in 1926...
and Superintendent of the Methodist Sunday School, and their mother Annie was Headmistress of Tipton Secondary School, close by. Dudley is about 25 miles west of Birmingham and 10 miles east of Wolverhampton. Coulson's parents maintained a religious Methodist home.
When the Coulson brothers were 10, their father was appointed Superintendent of Technical Colleges for the South-West of England, and the family moved to Bristol. Charles attended the XIV Preparatory School. When he was 13, he was awarded a scholarship to Clifton College
Clifton College
Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...
, a Public School in Bristol that placed a strong emphasis on science and mathematics. His hobbies and recreations included stamp collecting, cricket, tennis and chess.
Coulson's academic success at Clifton earned him an Entrance Scholarship in Mathematics to Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
in 1928.
His brother John also excelled at school, and went on to become Professor of Chemical Engineering
Chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with physical science , and life sciences with mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms...
at the University of Newcastle
University of Newcastle
University of Newcastle can refer to:* Newcastle University, a university in the United Kingdom* University of Newcastle, Australia, a university in New South Wales...
, and author of a major series of texts on chemical engineering.
The Cambridge years
At Cambridge, Coulson first studied the Mathematics Tripos. He was awarded a College Senior Scholarship during his studies, and received a First Class in the university examinations in 1931. He continued to take the Physics Part II examination a year later, receiving another First. He was awarded several College and University prizes during his undergraduate days. Lord Rutherford, J. J. ThomsonJ. J. Thomson
Sir Joseph John "J. J." Thomson, OM, FRS was a British physicist and Nobel laureate. He is credited for the discovery of the electron and of isotopes, and the invention of the mass spectrometer...
, A.S. Besicovitch, Sir Arthur Eddington, G.H. Hardy, J.E. Littlewood, F.P. Ramsey and Ebenezer Cunningham
Ebenezer Cunningham
Ebenezer Cunningham was a British mathematician who is remembered for his research and exposition at the dawn of special relativity....
were amongst his teachers.
In 1932, Coulson started graduate work with R. H. Fowler but switched to Sir John Lennard-Jones, and was awarded a Ph.D. in 1936 for work on the electronic structure of methane. By this time, he had published 11 papers. He continued as a research Fellow at Cambridge for another two years.
Coulson was accredited as a lay preacher in 1929, but he said his religion was perfunctory until a particular event in 1930, which he described in a documented sermon that he gave the following year. His religious beliefs were influenced by the physicist Sir Arthur Eddington, the theologian Charles Raven and, in particular, by Alex(ander) Wood, Fellow of Emmanuel College
Emmanuel College
Emmanuel College may refer to one of several academic institutions:in Australia* Emmanuel College, University of Queensland, part of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia...
, authority on acoustics and pacifist., elected Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
M.P.
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in 1945.
On the social side, Eileen was studying in Cambridge to become a school teacher when Charles was an undergraduate. They came together in meetings of the University Methodists. They married in 1938.
St. Andrews and Oxford before King's
In 1939, Coulson was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at University College, Dundee. Administratively, this was still part of the University of St. Andrews. Coulson was a conscientious objectorConscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He carried a very heavy work load teaching Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. E. T. Copson was Head of Department, on the main St. Andrews campus. Coulson collaborated with C. E. Duncanson at University College, London, brought (George) Stanley Rushbrooke from Cambridge and acted technically as his Ph.D. supervisor, and wrote the first edition of Waves
In 1945, Coulson became a Lecturer in Physical Chemistry, attached to University College
University College, Oxford
.University College , is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2009 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £110m...
and, concurrently, held a Fellowship awarded by Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries was a British chemical company, taken over by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate, one of the largest chemical producers in the world. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British...
. Coulson's students at Oxford included
- H. Christopher Longuet-HigginsH. Christopher Longuet-HigginsHugh Christopher Longuet-Higgins FRS was both a theoretical chemist and a cognitive scientist. He was born on April 11, 1923 in Kent, England and died on March 27, 2004....
, later, a professor at Cambridge, then Edinburgh. - John MaddoxJohn MaddoxSir John Royden Maddox, FRS was a British science writer. He was an editor of Nature for 22 years, from 1966–1973 and 1980-1995.-Career:...
, who went with Coulson to King's College, London, turned to publishing and was knighted. - Roy McWeenyRoy McWeenyRoy McWeeny, born May 19, 1924 in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, is a physicist and academic.His first degree is in Physics from the University of Leeds...
, later, a professor at Sheffield and then Pisa. - William E. (Bill) MoffittWilliam MoffittWilliam E. Moffitt was a British quantum chemist. He died after a heart attack following a squash match. He had been thought to be one of Britain’s most gifted academics.-Early life:...
, later on the Chemistry faculty at Harvard.
King's College, London
In 1947, Coulson accepted a University chair in Theoretical Physics at King's College, London. This was reported as a news item in NatureNature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
. The note described him as "among the foremost workers in Great Britain on the wave-mechanical side of quantum theory". It extolled his breadth of interests that took in the action of radiation on bacteria and the theory of liquids and solutions, besides the molecular orbital treatment of small molecules and ions, the approximation methods needed for large organic molecules for studies of bond lengths in coronene
Coronene
Coronene is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon comprising six peri-fused benzene rings. Its chemical formula is . It is a yellow material that dissolves in such solvents as benzene, toluene, and dichloromethane. Its solutions emit blue light fluorescence under UV light...
and conductivity of graphite, chemical reactivity, the treatment of momentum distribution functions and Compton-line profiles and his "well deserved reputation for his kindly and helpful encouragement of younger research workers."
Initially, Coulson's group were assigned offices on the top floor of a building (reached by a rickety wooden staircase) that overlooked the Strand, with considerable benefit when cavalcades paraded by on Lord Mayor's Day and Royal occasions. In 1952, the group moved down to offices in the new Physics Department, interspersed with Biophysics and other experimental groups. With developments in computing opening new vistas for the theoreticians, along with the developments in laboratory methods, the entire department enjoyed the intellectual ferment of the 1950s.
In his account of the official opening of the new Physics Department, Maurice Wilkins
Maurice Wilkins
Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins CBE FRS was a New Zealand-born English physicist and molecular biologist, and Nobel Laureate whose research contributed to the scientific understanding of phosphorescence, isotope separation, optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction, and to the development of radar...
wrote: "the theoretical group deals with "applications of wave mechanics and statistical mechanics ... the theory of the chemical bond ... questions of chemical reactivity ... stability of crystal structures, biological properties of cancer producing compounds and other molecules, electrical and magnetic properties of metals, ... properties of electrolytes and colloidal solutions, including ... electrophoresis ... more than one hundred papers have been published during the past five years."
Coulson's group consisted of (1) graduate students who conducted research on electronic structure and valence theory, for a Ph.D. degree directly under Coulson's supervision, (2) students working for a Ph.D. in statistical thermodynamics under the supervision of Fred Booth and, later, in nuclear physics supervised by Louis Elton and then Dr. Percy, (3) students working for an M.Sc. on topics in applied mathematics to be followed by a Ph.D. with another supervisor in the Mathematics Department, and (4) visitors, some of whom held senior academic and industrial appointments. The valence theory Ph.D. students included Simon J. Altmann, Michael P Barnett, Aagje Bozeman, Peter J. Davies, Harry H. Greenwood, Peter Higgs
Peter Higgs
Peter Ware Higgs, FRS, FRSE, FKC , is an English theoretical physicist and an emeritus professor at the University of Edinburgh....
, Julianne Jacobs, Roland Lefebvre, George Lester, John Maddox
John Maddox
Sir John Royden Maddox, FRS was a British science writer. He was an editor of Nature for 22 years, from 1966–1973 and 1980-1995.-Career:...
, Norman H. March, and Robert Taylor. Statistical mechanics was pursued by Geoffrey V. Chester, John Enderby, Alec Gaines and Allan Lidiard. The students who went on to the Mathematics Department included Godfrey Lance, Eric Milner and Geoffrey Sewell. Collectively, these wrote nearly 30 books in later years. Visitors who stayed for months included Professor Inga Fischer-Hjalmas of the University of Stockholm, Dr. John van der Waals of Shell Oil, and Dr. Joop der Heer from the University of Amsterdam.
Oxford after King's
In 1952, Coulson was appointed Rouse Ball Professor of MathematicsRouse Ball Professor of Mathematics
The Rouse Ball Professorship of Mathematics is one of the senior chairs in the Mathematics Departments at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. The two positions were founded in 1927 by a bequest from the mathematician W. W. Rouse Ball...
and Fellow of Wadham College at the University of Oxford. The chair was held previously by E. A. Milne, the mathematician and astrophysicist, and Roger Penrose
Roger Penrose
Sir Roger Penrose OM FRS is an English mathematical physicist and Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford and Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College...
succeeded Coulson. His inaugural lecture expressed the following view of applied mathematics: "an intellectual adventure in which are combined creative imagination and authentic canons of beauty and fitness; they combine to give us insight into the nature of that world of which we ourselves, and our minds, are part."
Coulson was active in the formation of the Mathematical Institute, and soon became its Director. On the Institute website Coulson is described as "a man who packed into his life twice as much as any normal academic person ... he had a gift for lucid exposition and was ... indefatigable in his work, not only for science and mathematics, but also on behalf of people, whether black or white, young or old."
In 1972 Coulson was appointed to the newly created Chair of Theoretical Chemistry.
Religious and social activities
Beside his scientific works, he wrote Science, Technology and the Christian (1953) and Science and Christian Belief (1955), integrating his scientific and religious views. Coulson apparently coined the phrase God of the gapsGod of the gaps
God of the gaps is a type of theological fallacy in which gaps in scientific knowledge are taken to be evidence or proof of God's existence. The term was invented by Christian theologians not to discredit theism but rather to discourage reliance on teleological arguments for God's existence.-...
. Coulson believed religious faith was essential for the responsible use of science. He was a pacifist and conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
, but championed the development of nuclear energy. He encouraged scientists to help improve third world food production. He was chairman of Oxfam
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
from 1965 to 1971. Charles' widest religious impact on the general public was in his BBC broadcasts. In these, and in general interaction with people, he conveyed his religiosity in a gentle and sometimes humorous manner, for example, when he claimed in his inaugural lecture at King's College, that he had received mail addressed to him as Professor of Theological Physics.
See also
- Valence bond theoryValence bond theoryIn chemistry, valence bond theory is one of two basic theories, along with molecular orbital theory, that were developed to use the methods of quantum mechanics to explain chemical bonding. It focuses on how the atomic orbitals of the dissociated atoms combine to give individual chemical bonds...
- Molecular orbitalMolecular orbitalIn chemistry, a molecular orbital is a mathematical function describing the wave-like behavior of an electron in a molecule. This function can be used to calculate chemical and physical properties such as the probability of finding an electron in any specific region. The term "orbital" was first...
- List of science and religion scholars
- List of chemists
External links
- Video of a talk by Ana Simões titled "Textbooks as Manifestos: C. A. Coulson after Linus PaulingLinus PaulingLinus Carl Pauling was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists of the 20th century...
and Robert S. MullikenRobert S. MullikenRobert Sanderson Mulliken was an American physicist and chemist, primarily responsible for the early development of molecular orbital theory, i.e. the elaboration of the molecular orbital method of computing the structure of molecules. Dr. Mulliken received the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1966...
"