Biographical entry Huxley, Leonard George Holden (1902 - 1988)

Summary

Leonard Huxley was Professor of Physics, University of Adelaide 1949-1960 and Vice-Chancellor, Australian National University 1960-1967. His interests were in electromagnetic wave propagation and electron and ion motion in gases. He made fundamental contributions to the theory of electrical conduction in lightly ionized gases which he developed to interpret both ionospheric phenomena and laboratory electron '"swarm" experiments to examine the collective behaviour of electrons in gases under the influence of electric and magnetic fields.

Details

Born London, England, 29 May 1902. Died London, 4 September 1988. KBE 1964. Educated Universities of Tasmania (MA 1925) and Oxford (DPhil 1928). Rhodes Scholar for Tasmania 1923. Physicist, Radio Research Board, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research 1929-31; Lecturer in Physics, University College, Leicester 1932-40; Principal Scientific Officer, Ministry of Aircraft Production, UK 1940-46; Reader in Electromagnetism, University of Birmingham 1946-49; Professor of Physics, University of Adelaide 1949-60; Vice-Chancellor, Australian National University 1960-67; Visiting Fellow, Australian National University 1968-70. Chairman, National Standards Commission 1952; Chairman, Radio Research Board 1958-62; Member of the Executive, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation 1960. Fellow, Australian Academy of Science 1954; President, Australian Branch, Institute of Physics 1954-55, 1962; President, Australian Institute of Physics 1962-65.

Related entries

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Leonard George Holden Huxley - Records, 1933 - 1948, MS 102; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details
• Thomas Henry Huxley - Records, 1851 - 1971, MS 134; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

University of Adelaide, Physics Department

• Leonard George Holden Huxley - Records, 1949 - 1959; University of Adelaide, Physics Department. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

• Butcher, Barry W., 'Gorilla Warfare in Melbourne: Halford, Huxley and 'Man's Place in Nature'', in R. W. Home (ed.), Australian Science in the Making, Cambridge University Press, Sydney, 1988, pp. 153-169. Details
• Lovell, Bernard, 'Sir Leonard George Holden Huxley, 1902-1988', in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2004. Details

Journal Articles

• Crompton, R. W., 'Leonard George Holden Huxley 1902-198', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 8, no. 4, 1991, pp. 249-264. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9910840249.htm. Details
• White, F. W. G. and Huxley, L. G. H., 'Radio Research Australia, 1927-39', Records of the Australian Academy of Science, vol. 3, no. 1, 1975, pp. 7-29. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9750310007.htm. Details

Online Resources

• 'Huxley, Leonard George Holden - Ms 102', in Listing of Adolph Basser Library holdings, Australian Academy of Science, 1994, http://www.science.org.au/basser/manuscript-collection/ms102.html. Details
• 'Huxley, Leonard George Holden', in Physics in Australia to 1945, R.W. Home, with the assistance of Paula J. Needham, Australian Science Archives Project, June 1995, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/physics/P000513p.htm. Details
• Cropmton R. W., 'Leonard George Holden Huxley 1902-1988', in Australian Academy of Science Biographical Memoirs, Australian Academy of Science, 2006, http://www.science.org.au/fellows/memoirs/huxley.html. Details
• National Library of Australia, 'Huxley, L G H', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-869237. Details

See also

• Brown, R. Hanbury; Minnett, Harry C; White, Fredrick W. G., 'Edward George Bowen 1911-1991', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 9, no. 2, 1992, pp. 151-166. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9920920151.htm. Details
• Heyde, C. C., 'Patrick Alfred Pierce Moran 1917-1988', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 9, no. 1, 1992, pp. 17-30. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9920910017.htm. Details