David Bates (physicist)

David Bates
Born	18 November 1916(1916-11-18) Omagh, County Tyrone, Ireland
Died	5 January 1994(1994-01-05) (aged 77) Belfast, Northern Ireland
Residence	Belfast
Nationality	British
Fields	Physicist
Institutions	Admiralty Mining Establishment University College London Queen's University of Belfast
Alma mater	Queen's University of Belfast
Doctoral advisor	Harrie Massey
Doctoral students	Michael J. Seaton

Sir David Robert Bates, FRS^[1] (18 November 1916 – 5 January 1994) was an Irish mathematician and physicist.

Born in Omagh, County Tyrone, Ireland, he moved to Belfast with his family in 1925, attending the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. He enrolled with the Queen's University of Belfast in 1934. In 1939 he became a research student under Harrie Massey.

During the Second World War he worked at the Admiralty Mining Establishment where he developed methods of protecting ships from magnetically activated mines.

Working at University College London from 1945 until 1951, he then returned once more to the Queen's University, Belfast where he founded the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. Although he officially retired in 1982 he continued to work in the department as an emeritus professor until his death.

His contributions to science include seminal works on atmospheric physics, molecular physics and the chemistry of interstellar clouds. He was knighted in 1978 for his services to science, was a Fellow of the Royal Society^[1] and vice-president of the Royal Irish Academy. In 1970 he won the Hughes Medal. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1974.^[2]

Bates was a lifelong advocate of peace and a non-sectarian Northern Ireland. He was a founding member of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland.

The Mathematics Building at Queens University Belfast, is named after him.

Two scientific awards have been created in his honour; the David Bates Medal of the European Geophysical Society is awarded yearly for outstanding contributions to planetary and solar system science,^[3] and the Institute of Physics have the David Bates Prize, awarded in even dated years, for distinguished achievement in atomic, molecular, optical and plasma physics.

See also

• Alexander Dalgarno
• Atomic physics
• Molecular physics

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Dalgarno, A. (1997). "Sir David Robert Bates. 18 November 1916--5 January 1994: Elected F.R.S. 1955". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 43: 49. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1997.0004.  edit
2. ^ "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter B". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf. Retrieved 21 May 2011. 
3. ^ European Geosciences Union - Awards

External links

• Dept of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, QUB
• AMOP Group at University College London
• Biography by EGU

Persondata
Name	Bates, David
Alternative names	Bates, David Robert, Sir
Short description	Irish Physicist
Date of birth	18 November 1916
Place of birth	Omagh, County Tyrone
Date of death	5 January 1994
Place of death