Person Eccles; William Henry (1875 - 1966); physicist and engineer Eccles William Henry physicist and engineer 1875 - 1966 British Male 2 Buccluch St, Barrow in Furness, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom 23 August 1875 18750823 Randolph Hotel, Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, United Kingdom 29 April 1966 19660429 Cremation: Oxford crematorium, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom (3 May 1966)

Physicist and engineer Chemistry Metallurgy Radio science Engineering Physics Education: Privately educated; Royal College of Science, South Kensington BSc 1894-1897; University College, London DSc 1901 Career: Demonstrator in the Physics Department, Royal College of Science, South Kensington (1897); appointed as one of Guglielmo Marconi's assistants, working on his pioneering transatlantic wireless signalling, Marconi Company (1899-1900); Head of the mathematics and physics department of the South Western Polytechnic, Chelsea, London (1900); appointed to a readership in graphic statics, University Collge, London (1912); appointed professor of applied physics and electrical engineering at the City and Guilds College, Finsbury, on the death of Silvanus Phillips Thomson (FRS 1891) (1916); retired (1926). Memberships: Institution of Electrical Engineers (President 1926-7) Physical Society (President 1928-1930) Institute of Physics (President 1929) Parents: Charles Eccles, blacksmith, later an engineer, and Annabella Todd. Spouse: Nellie Florence Paterson (b. 1894/5), the daughter of Robert Henry Paterson, railway clerk. For many years he was the leading (and almost the only) independent physicist working in the field of radio science, first at the universities and later as a consultant. He came very near to establishing the present-day theory of the Heaviside layer. He was chairman of the committee which examined the BBC's proposals for regional broadcasting in 1926 . It is thought that his Quaker beliefs prevented him from patenting his inventions. Fellow 12/05/1921 46 Henry Jackson Sydney Chapman Ernest George Coker John Allen Harker Alan Archibald Campbell Swinton A W Porter Herbert Jackson John William Nicholson Louis Napoleon George Filon William Henry Bragg Frederick George Donnan John Ambrose Fleming Richard Threlfall Oliver Joseph Lodge Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DNB Obituaries: Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 1971 vol 17 pp 195-214, plate, by J A Ratcliffe International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbm.1971.0008 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorRaw=Eccles%2C+William+Henry 23 Aug 1875 - 29 Apr 1966 The past Fellows entries are under continuous revision. If you have queries or additional information to contribute, please contact Library@royalsociety.org. Content in external sources is not controlled by the Royal Society and historical sources may include content that is now unacceptable. Reviewed on 28/05/2025 as part of the Name Authority Project update. NA1856 21/11/2001 Andyg Pmab 08/09/2025 RS_NET\VirginiaM Yes http://viaf.org/viaf/65997540 37c7580a-ac8d-43b2-9e44-26b20cc6d94b