Person

Oliphant, Marcus Laurence Elwin (1901 - 2000)

AC KBE FAA FRS FTSE

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    Sir Marcus Laurence E. Oliphant
    Details

Born
8 October 1901
Kent Town, South Australia, Australia
Died
14 July 2000
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Occupation
Physicist

Summary

Sir Marcus Oliphant was Director of the Research School of Physical Sciences, Australian National University 1950-1963, and first President of the Australian Academy of Science 1954-1956. He continued as professor at the Australian National University (ANU) 1964-1967 and was Governor of South Australia 1971-1976.

Details

Chronology

1919 - 1922
Education - Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours in Physics (BSc), The University of Adelaide, Australia
1927 - c. 1930
Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Cavendish Laboratory, The University of Cambridge, England
1931 -
Award - Messel Research Fellow, Royal Society, England
1934 - 1935
Career position - Lecturer and Fellow, St John's College, University of Cambridge, England
1935 -
Career position - Assistant Director of Research, Cavendish Laboratory, The University of Cambridge, England
1937 - 1950
Career position - Poynting Professor of Physics, University of Birmingham, England
1937 - 2000
Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)
1942
Award - Doctor of Science (DSc), honoris causa, University of Melbourne
1943
Award - Hughes Medal, Royal Society, England
1946 -
Career position - Australian Representative, Atomic Energy Commission
1946
Award - Silvanius Thomson Medal, British Institute of Radiology, England
1947
Award - Trasenoter, L'Association des Ingenieurs, Liege, Belgium
1948
Award - Faraday Medal, Institution of Electrical Engineers, England
1950 - 1963
Career position - Professor of Physics of Ionised Gases, Australian National University, Australia
1950 - 1963
Career position - Director, Research School of Physical Sciences, Australian National University, Australia
1954 - 1957
Career position - President, Australian Academy of Science
1954 - 2000
Award - Foundation Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)
1955
Career event - Rutherford Memorial Lecture, Royal Society, England
1955
Career event - Bakerian Lecture, Royal Society, England
1956
Award - Galathea Medal, His Majesty the King of Denmark, Kingdom of Denmark
1958
Award - Australian Institution of Production Engineers Medal
1959
Award - Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) - Director of the School of Science at the ANU
1961
Award - Matthew Flinders Medal and Lecture, Australian Academy of Science
1964 - 1967
Career position - Honorary Fellow, Institute of Advanced Studies, Australian National University, Australia
1966 - 1969
Career position - Editor, Records of the Australian Academy of Science
1966 - 1969
Career position - Editor, Records of the Australian Academy of Science
1971 - 1976
Career position - Governor of South Australia, South Australian State Government, Australia
1974
Award - James Cook Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales, Australia
1975 - 1987
Award - Foundation Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences (FTS)
1977
Award - Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) - For eminent achievement and merit of the highest degree in the field of public service and in service to the crown
1979
Award - ANZAAS Medal, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS)
1987
Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) [Foundation Fellow AATS 1975]

Related Corporate Bodies

Related People

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

  • Marcus Laurence Elwin Oliphant - Records, 1953 - 1982, MS 031; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details
  • Oral Collection, 1931 - 2003, MS 057; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Barr Smith Library, Special Collections, The University of Adelaide

  • Marcus Laurence Elwin Oliphant - Records, 1896 - 1983, 92 04775p SR; Barr Smith Library, Special Collections, The University of Adelaide. Details

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

  • Marcus Laurence Elwin Oliphant - Records, 1923 - 1967, DeB 276; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

Articles

Books

  • Cockburn, Stewart, Oliphant, the life of Sir Mark Oliphant (Adelaide: Axiom Books, 1981). Details
  • Mason, Brett, Wizards of Oz: how Oliphant and Florey helped win the war and shape the modern world (Sydney: NewSouth Publishing, 2022), 424 pp. Details
  • Ophel, Trevor and Jenkin, John, Fire in the Belly: the First Fifty Years of the Pioneer School at the ANU (Canberra: Research School of Physical Science and Engineering, Institute of Advanced Studies, ANU, 1996), 157 pp. Details
  • Ramsay, Andrew, The basis of everything: Rutherford and Oliphant and the making of the atomic bomb (Sydney: Harper Collins, 2019), 374 pp. Details
  • Walker, Frank, Maralinga: The chilling expose of our secret nuclear shame and betrayal of our troops and country (Sydney (Gadigal Country): Hachette Australia, 2016). Details

Book Sections

  • Bleaney, Brebis, 'Sir Marcus Laurence Elwin Oliphant, 1901-2000' in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). Details

Edited Books

  • Moyal, Ann ed., Portraits in Science (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 1994), 209 pp. Details

Journal Articles

  • Barton, Ruth, 'Oliphant: the life and times of Sir Mark Oliphant', Australian Physicist, 18 (11) (1981), 228-230. Details
  • Binnie, Anna, 'Oliphant, the Father of Atomic Energy', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 139 (2006), 11-22, https://royalsoc.org.au/images/pdf/journal/139_Binnie2.pdf. Details
  • Bleaney, Brebis, 'Sir Mark (Marcus Laurence Elwin) Oliphant, AC , KBE', Royal Society of London, Biographical Memoirs of Fellows, 47 (2001), 383-393. Details
  • Caro, D. E.; Martin, R. L.; and Oliphant, M., 'Leslie Harold Martin 21 December 1900 - 1 February 1983', Biographical Memoirs Fellows of the Royal Society, 33 (1987), 399-409. Details
  • Carver, J.H.; Crompton, R.W.; Ellyard, D.G.; Hibbard, L.U.; Inall, E.K., 'Marcus Laurence Elwin Oliphant 1901-2000', Historical Records of Australian Science, 14 (3) (2003), 337-364. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR02012. Details
  • Grant, Colin Kerr, 'Three Pioneers', Radar Returns, 12 (2) (2007), 7-8. http://radarreturns.net.au/assets/issues/rrvol12no2S.pdf. Details
  • Holden, Darren, 'The indiscretion of Mark Oliphant: how an Australian kick-started the American atomic bomb project', Historical Records of Australian Science, 29 (1) (2018), 28-35. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR17023. Details
  • Holden, Darren, '"On the Oliphant Deign, now to sound the blast": how Mark Oliphant secretly warned of America's post-war intentions of an atomic monopoly', Historical Records of Australian Science, 29 (2) (2018), 130-7. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR18008. Details
  • Keeble, Kathryn, 'General Groves's "inevitable war with Russia": Joseph Rotblat's and Mark Oliphant's existential crises', Journal of Australian studies, 46 (2) (2022), 227-40. Details
  • Keeble, Kathryn M., 'Frankenstein's machine: redressing Mark Oliphant's scientific reputation', Historical Records of Australian Science, 29 (2) (2018), 122-9, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR18001. Details
  • Oliphant, Mark, 'Physical Science in Australian Universities', Vestes, 3 (2) (1960), 11-15. Details
  • Oliphant, Mark, 'Seventh Cecil Eddy Memorial Oration, 1964. 'The Cambridge Year'', Radiographer, 11 (2) (1964), 6-9. Details
  • Piddington, J. H.; and Oliphant, M. L., 'David Forbes Martyn', Records of the Australian Academy of Science, 2 (2) (1972), 47-60. http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9720220047.htm. Details
  • Pockley, Peter, 'The Great White Oliphant', Australasian Science, 21 (9) (2000), 37-38. Details
  • Sutherland, Denise, 'Sir Mark Oliphant (1901-2000)', Australian Science, 22 (2) (2001), 46. Details

Resources

Resource Sections

Theses

  • Ellyard, David, 'Mark Oliphant FRS and the Birmingham proton synchrotron', PhD thesis, University of New South Wales, 2011, 520 pp. Details
  • Holden, Darren, 'Mark Oliphant and the invisible college of the peaceful atom', PhD thesis, University of Notre Dame Australia, 2019, 305 pp. Details

See also

Digital resources

Title
Sir Marcus Laurence E. Oliphant
Type
Image

Details

Gavan McCarthy [P004098]

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