Education

Bowden received his BSc from the University of Tasmania

University of Tasmania

The University of Tasmania is a medium-sized public Australian university based in Tasmania, Australia. Officially founded on 1 January 1890, it was the fourth university to be established in nineteenth-century Australia...

 in Australia in 1925. He completed his Msc there in 1927. Bowden was awarded his Dsc in 1931 while studying at the University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

 in England. He gained his PhD from Cambridge in 1929.

Career

Between 1931 and 1939 Bowden worked as a lecturer in physical chemistry at Cambridge University before moving back to Australia in 1939 to work at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation is the national government body for scientific research in Australia...

. He returned to Britain in 1946 as a reader in physical chemistry.

In 1957, he became Reader of Physics at Cambridge, and in 1966 became the Professor of Surface Physics.

Bowen died on 3 September 1968.

Awards

In March, 1948 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

In 1955, Bowden was awarded the Franklin Institute

Franklin Institute

The Franklin Institute is a museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the oldest centers of science education and development in the United States, dating to 1824. The Institute also houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial.-History:On February 5, 1824, Samuel Vaughn Merrick and...

's Elliott Cresson Medal

Elliott Cresson Medal

The Elliott Cresson Medal, also known as the Elliott Cresson Gold Medal, was the highest award given by the Franklin Institute. The award was established by Elliott Cresson, life member of the Franklin Institute, with $1,000 granted in 1848...

. In 1956, Bowden was made a CBE

CBE

CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...

 and awarded the Rumford Medal

Rumford Medal

The Rumford Medal is awarded by the Royal Society every alternating year for "an outstandingly important recent discovery in the field of thermal or optical properties of matter made by a scientist working in Europe". First awarded in 1800, it was created after a 1796 donation of $5000 by the...

 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"...

"In recognition of his distinguished work on the nature of friction".