Biographical entry Massey, Harrie Stewart Wilson (1908 - 1983)

Summary

(Sir) Harrie Stewart W. Massey, a graduate of the University of Melbourne, was the Goldsmid Professor of Mathematics, University College London 1938-50, the Quain Professor and Head of the Physics Department from 1950-72 and head of the department of physics and astronomy from 1972-75.

Details

Events

1927

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc) completed at the University of Melbourne

1929

Education - Bachelor of Arts (BA) completed at the University of Melbourne

1929

Education - Master of Science (MSc) completed at the University of Melbourne

1932

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) completed at the University of Cambridge, UK

1933 - 1938

Career position - Independent Lecturer in Mathematical Physics at Queens University in Belfast, Ireland

1938 - 1950

Career position - Goldsmid Professor of Mathematics at University College London

1950 - 1972

Career position - Quain Professor and Head of the Department of Physics at University College London

1953 - 1957

Career position - President of the Atomic Scientists Association

1954 - 1956

Career position - President of the Physical Society

1955

Award - Hughes Medal received from the Royal Society

1958

Award - Royal Medal received from the Royal Society

1960

Award - Knight Bachelor (Kt cr)

1965 -

Career position - Chairman of the Council of Science Policy

1967

Award - Rutherford Memorial Lecture presented to the Royal Society

1969 - 1973

Career position - Vice-Provost at University College London

1972 - 1975

Career position - Head of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London

1982

Award - Gold Medal received from the Royal Astronomical Society

1984

Award - Anglo-Australian base laboratory building named the Massey building in his honour

1990

Award - The Massey Medal established by the Australian Institute of Physics

Archival resources

Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, University of Melbourne

• Audio of Sir Harrie Massey's 1980 T.H. Laby Centennial Lecture, 26 August 1980, P001335; Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, University of Melbourne. Details

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• Harrie Stewart Wilson Massey - Records, 1920 - 1970, DeB 489; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

University of Adelaide, Physics Department

• Harrie Stewart Wilson Massey - Records, 1949; University of Adelaide, Physics Department. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science Exhibitions

• Australasian Science, A Bright Sparcs Exhibition, Australian Science Archives Project, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/journal/journal.htm. Details
• Exhibition Papers, A Bright Sparcs Exhibition, Australian Science Archives Project, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/exhib_papers.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• Massey, Harrie Stewart Wilson, 'T. H. Laby, FRS: the 1980 Laby memorial lecture', Australian Physicist, vol. 17, no. 11, 1980, pp. 181-187. Details
• Mohr, C. B. O., 'Professor Sir Harrie Massey - Obituary', Australian Physicist, vol. 21, 1984, p. 11. Details

Online Resources

• 'Massey, Harrie', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1206144. Details
• Sherratt, Tim, 'Political Fallout: Australian Scientists and the Atomic Bomb', Australasian Science, vol. Spring, 1996, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/journal/as_fallout.htm. Details

See also

• Bolton, H. C., 'Optical Instruments in Australia in the 1939-45 War: successes and lost opportunities', Australian Physicist, 1990, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/bolton2.htm. Details
• Davies, Susan, 'R. v.d. R. Wooley in Australia', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 6, no. 1, 1984, pp. 59-69. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9840610059.htm. Details
• Hill, Dorothy, 'Edwin Sherbon Hills, 1906-1986', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 7, no. 1, 1987, pp. 79-95. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9870710079.htm. Details