Patrick Blackett: Sailor, Scientist, Socialist

by Hore,Peter; Hore,Peter

• ISBN13: 9780714653174
• ISBN10: 0714653179
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-09-29
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This edited volume comprises a series of essays about Patrick Maynard Stewart Blackett, one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century, as well as a prominent figure in the Royal Navy and British politics. Blackett was battle-hardened in World War I and contributed directly to the Allied victory in World War II. Showing precocious ability in mechanical invention and benefiting from the Royal Navy's revolutionary education - the most advanced available in Britain in the early 1900s - Blackett had gone to war in 1914 aged 16. Escaping death and drowning, he saw action in two major battles, and spent several gruelling years on patrol in small ships. When the Royal Navy sent its young officers to be "civilized" at Cambridge after World War I, Blackett decided to stay on. Blackett would go on to become one of the most remarkable scientists of his generation, winning the Nobel Prize for physics in 1948 for his work on cloud chambers. He also helped prepare Britain for war, working with Henry Tizard in the1930s on the Committee for the Scientific Survey of Air Defence, which led to the installation of radar stations, and later developing the science of operational research, which helped defeat the U-boat menace. Although not a pacifist, he was strongly opposed both to nuclear weapons and to indiscriminate bombing, on grounds of morality and efficacy. Blackett would go on to advise Harold Wilson in Britain and Jawarharlal Nehru in India on defence and science policy. Throughout his life, Blackett would keep the commanding presence and habits of a naval officer, which helped him apply his influence.

Author Biography

Peter Hore was until recently the Royal Navy's Head of Defence Studies. Originally, he was a logistics officer who served at sea in frigates and destroyers, including exchange service in the USN and two tours in the NATO Standing Naval Force.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	vii
Foreword	ix
Tam Dalyell
Acknowledgements	xi
Boy Blackett	1	(14)
Patrick Blackett
The Selborne Scheme: The Education of the Boy	15	(23)
Evan Davies
One of Fisher's Revolutions: The Education of the Navy	38	(17)
Geoff Sloan
Blackett at Sea	55	(17)
Peter Hore
The Midshipman and the Secret Gadget	72	(25)
John Brooks
Blackett at Cambridge	97	(13)
Andrew Brown
Preparations for War	110	(16)
David Zimmerman
Blackett and the Black Arts	126	(12)
Jock Gardner
A Clash of Cultures: The Case for Large Convoys	138	(29)
Malcolm Llewellyn-Jones
The Case against Area Bombing	167	(20)
Paul Crook
The Father of Operational Research	187	(14)
Richard Ormerod
Blackett and Nuclear Strategy	201	(16)
Philip Towle
Blackett in India: Thinking Strategically about New Conflicts	217	(52)
Robert Anderson
A Physicist in the Corridors of Power	269	(25)
Mary Jo Nye
The Scientific Context of Blackett's Achievements	294	(11)
Bernard Lovell
The Reluctant Peer in Politics	305	(12)
Harold Wilson
Notes on Contributors	317	(5)
Index	322