Record

Authorised form of name	Field; John Edwin (1936 - 2020)
Dates	1936 - 2020
Nationality	British
Place of birth	Stourbridge, Worcestershire, England, United Kingdom
Date of birth	20/09/1936
Date of death	21/10/2020
Occupation	Physicist
Research field	Physics
	Materials science
	Diamonds
	High-speed photography
Activity	Career: University of Cambridge, Department of Physics, Professor of Applied Physics (1994-2003); Deputy Head of Department (1995-2003); Emeritus Professor of Applied Physics at the Cavendish Laboratory (2003-2020) Honours: OBE 1987 Memberships: Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa (2002); Honorary QinetiQ Fellow (2009) Medals/Awards: Duddell medal of the Institute of Physics (IOP) 1990; John Rinehart Award by DYMAT 2009; honorary doctorates at the University of Lulea, Sweden and Cranfield University
Membership category	Fellow
Date of election	10/03/1994
Age at election	57
RSActivity	Committee and panels: Esso Energy Award Committee (1995); Panel I(B), Former Soviet Union (1995-1997); Royal Society Research Grants, Board C (1995-1997)Mullard Award Committee (1995-1998); A-Side Editorial Board (1998-2000); Conference Grants Committee (2002-2004); International Travel Grants, Panel 4 (2002-2004); Committee on the Scientific Aspects of International Security (2007-2009)
PublishedWorks	https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n92119065/
OtherInfo	John was a renowned experimentalist working in areas which overlap physics, chemistry, engineering and materials science. In his university laboratory for high-speed photography, John helped to develop the latest cameras which now cover a range from a few frames a second to 20 million a second. Combining this facility for direct observation with ingenious and original techniques he resolved many problems of impact, fracture and erosion including the stress field at the tip of fast-moving cracks. He greatly extended our understanding of explosive reactions, rock mechanics and the failure of diamond films. John’s work, which covered a wide range of practical topics, had an important influence on engineering design as well as being good physics. His advice and help were widely sought by government establishments and industrial laboratories both in this country and abroad. Professor John Field OBE FRS died on 21 October 2020.
Source	Sources: Royal Society profile, https://royalsociety.org/people/john-field-11432/ (accessed 12 November 2020)
Virtual International Authority File	http://viaf.org/viaf/17296560
Code	NA4424

Archives associated with this Fellow

RefNo	Title	Date
EC/1994/15	Field, John Edwin: certificate of election to the Royal Society	24/05/1993
IM/001411	Field, John Edwin	1994

Add to My Items

Papers of Elsie Widdowson and Robert McCance

Tweets by theRCN

The mammals of Australia

Campi Phlegraei

Papers of Elsie Widdowson and Robert McCance

Referees’ Reports

Browse Collections

Record

Useful Links

Collection highlights