Brebis Bleaney

Brebis Bleaney CBE FRS (6 June 1915 – 4 November 2006)[1] was a British physicist. His main area of research was the use of microwave techniques to study the magnetic properties of solids. He was head of the Clarendon Laboratory at the University of Oxford from 1957 to 1977. In 1992, Bleaney received the International Zavoisky Award "for his contribution to the theory and practice of electron paramagnetic resonance of transition ions in crystals."

Brebis Bleaney
Born(1915-06-06)6 June 1915
Died4 November 2006(2006-11-04) (aged 91)
Oxford
NationalityBritish
Known forElectron paramagnetic resonance
AwardsHughes Medal (1962)
Holdwek Medal (1984)
Scientific career
InstitutionsClarendon Laboratory, (University of Oxford)
Doctoral advisorFrancis Simon, FRS

Biography

Bleaney was born at 423 King's Road, Chelsea, London, the second son of Frederick Bleaney, a house painter, and Eva Johanne Petersen, born in Denmark. He attended the Cook’s Ground School, Chelsea[2] from where he obtained a scholarship to Westminster City School. In 1933 he obtained an open scholarship in science to St John's College, Oxford, to read Physics. He graduated with first-class honours in 1937.

Bleaney went on to do research with Professor, later Sir Francis Simon,[3] obtaining a DPhil in 1939. He moved into the new Clarendon Laboratory but then came the war and, like so many other scientists, he was assigned to war-related work. In Bleaney’s case he was drafted into the Oxford-based Admiralty team which worked on the development of microwave techniques for radar. He made many contributions to this programme particularly in the development of klystrons.[4]

In 1943 the group was visited by Jerrold R. Zacharias from MIT who saw that their K-band reflex klystron was much easier to manufacture and more reliable than the one developed by Bell Labs. A visit by Bleaney to Waltham, MA resulted in Raytheon manufacturing them on a large scale.[1]

In 1945 Bleaney was appointed a university lecturer in Oxford, and then a fellow of St John's College in 1947.[5] His group’s researches into resonances in a wide range of paramagnetic substances at very low temperatures resulted in Oxford’s quickly becoming “the major world centre for research in EPR”.[6]

In 1956 Bleaney was appointed Dr Lee’s Professor of Experimental Philosophy, succeeding Sir Francis Simon, FRS who had died suddenly after only a short time in the post. This unfortunately involved a lot of administrative work, and Bleaney stood down as soon as he felt he had played his part.[1] He was elected to the Royal Society in 1950, and became a corresponding member of the French Academy of Sciences in 1974. He was appointed CBE in 1965.

Family

In 1949, Brebis Bleaney married Betty Isabelle Plumpton at St Nicolas Church, Guildford.[7] Betty had been his student; they published a book together: Electricity and Magnetism, in two volumes (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957). The couple had two children, Michael, now a noted economist, and Carol Heather, who was at SOAS University of London and has published widely on the Middle East.

Bleaney died on 4 November 2006 at his home, Garford House, Garford Road, Oxford, and was cremated at Oxford crematorium.[5]

References
  1. Elliott, R. (2009). "Brebis Bleaney. 6 June 1915 -- 4 November 2006". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 55: 3–11. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2008.0018.
  2. "Planning Statement for the site at Former Jamahiriya School, Glebe Place, Chelsea" (PDF). April 2006.
  3. Bleaney, B; Simon, F (1939). "The vapour pressure curve of liquid helium below the λ-point". Trans. Faraday Soc. 35: 1205–1214.
  4. Roger Elliott (8 January 2007). "Obituary: Brebis Bleaney". The Guardian.
  5. "Bleaney, Brebis". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/97490. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  6. Hayes, W (30 November 2006). "Obituaries: Professor Brebis Bleaney". The Independent.
  7. "They Were Married. The "Tatler's" Review: Bleaney–Pumpton". The Tatler. 30 March 1949. p. 28.
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