Record

Authorised form of nameNye; John Frederick (1923 - 2019)
Dates1923 - 2019
NationalityBritish
Place of birthHove, Sussex, England
Date of birth26/02/1923
Date of death08/01/2019
OccupationPhysicist
Research fieldGlaciology
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election18/03/1976
Age at election53
RelationshipsSon of Haydn Percival Nye and Jessie Mary Nye (nee Hague); brother of Peter Hague Nye (FRS 1987)
OtherInfoJohn Nye’s notable early contributions to crystal plasticity included (with Lawrence Bragg) the bubble-raft model and a study of geometrical relations in dislocated crystals that laid the foundations of continuous distributions of dislocations. His book on tensor properties of crystals is a standard work. In glaciology, he formulated the tensor-invariant generalisation of Glen’s nonlinear flow law for ice that forms the basis for modern glacier mechanics and explained, from his own field work, the origin of waves below ice falls. He also revealed how veins of water at three-grain junctions in temperate polycrystalline ice control its thermal behaviour.

John’s laboratory-sized model of the echo sounding of the Antarctic ice sheet used ultrasonic waves in place of much longer radio waves. With it, he discovered that monochromatic waves, quite generally, contain dislocations like those in crystals — thereby establishing (with Michael Berry) singular optics as a thriving new branch of optics. In particular, he revealed the fine-scale linear patterns of optical vortices that underlie the diffraction fields of the first five of Thom’s ‘elementary catastrophes’.

Professor John Nye FRS died on 8 January 2019.
SourceSources:
Biographical Memoirs of the Royal Society, Vol 57, 2011, pp 315- 326
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nye_(scientist)
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/7467603
CodeNA4040
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
JFN/1/23Reprints concerning radio echo sounding collected by John Nye1964-1971
JFN/2/7Notes by John Nye on caustics and the reflection of the moon12 July 1974
JFN/1/32Correspondence with John Nye concerning high-level planning for the Arctic Ice Dynamics Joint Experiment (AIDJEX)1973-1977
IM/GA/JGRS/7971Nye, John Frederick1977
JFN/1/9Time series analysis by John Nye regarding the advance and retreat of glaciersc.1964
JFN/3/40Copy letter from John Nye to Curtis Wilson, Dean, St John's College, Maryland23 March 1961
JFN/3/42Correspondence between John Nye and James ZumbergeJanuary 1960-February 1960
JFN/3/32Correspondence between John Nye and Paul Rosbaud1959-1960
RR/71/225Referee's report by Albert James Bradley, on a paper 'Plastic deformation of silver chloride I. Internal stresses and the glide mechanism' by John Frederick Nye1948
JFN/3/30Copy letter from John Nye to Max Perutz30 November 1951
JFN/2/12Photocopy of notes by F J Wright on hyperbolic umbilic diffraction[c.1979]-2007
RR/71/224Referee's report by Edward Neville Da Costa Andrade, on a paper 'Plastic deformation of silver chloride I. Internal stresses and the glide mechanism' by John Frederick Nye1948
JFN/1/20Correspondence between John Nye, David Townsend and Robert Vickery concerning a paper on regelation theory1967
JFNPapers of John Frederick Nye FRS, glaciologist1940s-2000s
JFN/2/18Correspondence with John Nye concerning rising bubbles in a Hele-Shaw cell1988
RR/75/74Referee's report by Albert James Bradley, on a paper 'The flow of glaciers and ice-sheets as a problem in plasticity' by John Frederick Nye6 March 1951
RR/75/341Referee's report by Nevill Francis Mott, on a paper 'A dynamical model of a crystal structure. IV. Grain boundaries' by W M Lomer and John Frederick Nye31 December 1951
RR/79/109Referee's report by Robert Stoneley, on a paper 'The flow law of ice from measurements in glacier tunnels, laboratory experiments and the Jungfraufirn borehole experiment' by John Frederick Nye17 May 1953
JFN/2/14Correspondence with John Nye concerning fast and slow evolving caustics1981-1987
JFN/1/2Correspondence from Hal Lister, Trans-Antarctic Expedition, to John Nye31 May 1958
JFN/1/12Calculations of glacier flow in a channel by William [Bill] Chester[c.1960s]
JFN/1/11Copy of numerical data from 'The flow of a glacier in a channel of rectangular, elliptic or parabolic cross-section' by John Nye1965-1966
JFN/1/10Correspondence with John Nye concerning the Brathay Expedition Group work at Tunsbergdalsbreen1964-1965
JFN/1/33Correspondence between John Nye and Alan Thorndike relating to Arctic Ice Dynamics Joint Experiment (AIDJEX) research1977
JFN/1/29Correspondence with John Nye concerning the Antarctic radio echo sounding project1972-1975
JFN/1/19Notes for a possible computer program to calculate ice sliding with the non-linear flow law by John Nye26 November 1969
JFN/1/18Notes and calculations relating to glacier sliding by John Nye[c.1969]
JFN/1/16Correspondence with John Nye concerning research of the Berendon glacier1969-2015
JFN/1/14Data on variations of glaciers in Switzerland1963-1966
JFN/1/30Report on the 1973 Joint US/USSR Bering Sea Expedition (BESEX)1973
JFN/1/17Correspondence between John Nye and Barclay Kamb concerning glacier sliding1969
JFN/2/5Correspondence between John Nye and Antony McB Collieu regarding bubble model photographs1971-1974
JFN/1/37Correspondence from Shane Byrne to John Nye concerning Martian ice caps2003
JFN/1/22Correspondence between John Nye and Mark Zemansky concerning regelation theory1954-1970
JFN/1/24Correspondence between John Nye and Stan Evans concerning radio echo sounding of ice1970
JFN/1/27Correspondence concerning Hans-V von Sury and Bruno Federer's response to John Nye's paper, 'Deducing thickness changes of an ice sheet from radio-echo and other measurements'1974-1976
JFN/1/25Correspondence with John Nye concering measuring ice sheet movement using the radio echo method1971-1974
JFN/1/26Correspondence concerning a paper, 'Deducing thickness changes of an ice sheet from radio-echo and other measurements' by John Nye1972-1974
JFN/1/36Comments by John Nye concerning a paper on water veins in ice by Louis Lliboutry1997
JFN/1/31Correspondence and notes by John Nye relating to the Arctic Ice Dynamics Joint Experiment (AIDJEX)1973-1974
JFN/1/34Notes by John Nye on non-equilateral veins in ice1989-1992
JFN/3/15Letter from Fred Houda, New Jersey Mineralogical Society, to John Nye13 November 1952
JFN/2/2Reprints relating to the bubble model of crystal dynamics by John Nye and Lawrence Bragg1942-1955
JFN/2/13Correspondence with John Nye concerning the dectection of cracks in nuclear pressure vessels1981-1982
JFN/2/1Graph showing the stress vs strain curve in shear for a bubble raft11 October 1946
JFN/1/35Correspondence with John Nye on ice column formation1994-2009
JFN/2/9Correspondence between John Nye and James Stout concerning Neumann's principle of crystal symmetry1976-1978
JFN/3/16Letter from Harold Jeffreys to John Nye21 July 1951
JFN/2/10Correspondence between John Nye and James Callahan discussing algebreic geometry and water drops under gravity1977-1978
JFN/2/8Notes by John Nye on caustics in the near field of water dropsDecember 1976
JFN/2/16Notes on a plastic heap project by John Nyec.1985
JFN/2/11Further correspondence between John Nye and James Callahan discussing algebreic geometry and water drops under gravity1979-1985
JFN/3/2Correspondence between John Nye and Albert Bauer1954-1959
JFN/2/6Correspondence between John Nye and Michael Berry concerning dislocations and ultrasonic echo sounding1973-1974
JFN/2/15Correspondence between John Nye and William [Bill] Ward concerning problems with backfilling abandoned mines1983-1985
JFN/3/3Copy letter from John Nye to Bruce Alexander Bilby, Metallurgy Department, Sheffield University20 July 1958
JFN/3/1Letter from Eric Ashby, Queen's University Belfast, to John Nye18 March 1953
JFN/3/23Correspondence between John Nye and J G McCall1952
JFN/3/33Correspondence between John Nye and Sydney RossSeptember 1953-October 1953
JFN/3/24Correspondence between John Nye and Henry Allen Moe1961
JFN/3/25Letter from Philip Morris, Vice-Chancellor, Bristol University, to John Nye11 April 1953
JFN/3/7Correspondence between John Nye and Albert CraryMay 1960
JFN/3/35Letter from Cortlandt James Woore Simpson, British North Greenland Expedition, to John Nye9 January 1952
JFN/3/6Letter from Robert Cahn, Department of Metallurgy, University of Birmingham, to John Nye16 April 1953
JFN/3/5Letter from H C Butterfield, Registrar at the University of Bristol, to John Nye17 April 1953
JFN/3/13Correspondence between John Nye and Robert Haefeli1959-1960
JFN/3/19Letter from Michael James Lighthill, Department of Mathematics, Manchester University, to John Nye1 September 1958
JFN/3/14Correspondence between John Nye and R HillJanuary 1959-February 1959
JFN/3/10Letter from Vivian Ernest Fuchs, Falkland Islands Dependencies Scientific Bureau, to John Nye6 May 1959
JFN/3/17Correspondence between John Nye and Arthur Lachenbruch1960
JFN/3/12Correspondence between John Nye and Richard Goldthwait, Director of the Institute of Polar Studies1960-1961
JFN/3/18Correspondence between John Nye and William Vaughan Lewis1954-1961
JFN/3/22Correspondence between John Nye and William Henry Mathews1952
JFN/3/20Correspondence between John Nye and Fritz Loewe1959-1960
JFN/3/31Correspondence between John Nye and Gordon de Quetteville RobinMay 1955
JFN/3/28Correspondence between John Nye and A Nadai1957
JFN/3/39Correspondence between John Nye and Cutler West1952
JFN/3/36Correspondence between John Nye and Charles Winthrop Molesworth Swithinbank1959-1960
JFN/3/26Correspondence between John Nye and Nevill Francis Mott1952
JFN/3/37Correspondence between John Nye and Geoffrey Ingram Taylor1950-1951
JFN/3/38Letter from William Hallam ['Bill'] Ward to John Nye2 October [1953]
JFN/3/34Correspondence between John Nye and Robert Sharp1952-1957
JFN/3/9Correspondence between John Nye and Richard Foster FlintFebruary 1952
JFN/1/15Correspondence relating to John Nye's visit to the Juneau ice field1967
JFN/1/7Correspondence with John Nye concerning ice cliffs and glacier snouts on polar glaciers1963
JFN/1/6Correspondence with Jon Nye concerning a visit to Greenland1961
JFN/1/1Correspondence and notes of John Nye concerning Jungfraufirn1954-1956
JFN/1/3Papers relating to the planning of the 1959 Austerdalsbreen Expedition1959
JFN/1/4Papers relating to the 1963 Austerdalsbreen Expedition1963-1964
JFN/1/5Correspondence between John Nye and William [Bill] Ward concerning measurements and calculations from the 1959 and 1963 Austerdalsbreen Expeditions1958-1963
JFN/1/8Correspondence with John Nye and data concerning the advance and retreat of glaciers1964-1965
JFN/1/13Time series analysis by John Nye regarding the advance and retreat of glaciers in the Swiss Alps1967-2015
JFN/1/21Correspondence with John Nye concerning regelation theory1967-1968
JFN/1/28Correspondence with John Nye concerning the use of radio echo sounding to determine the thickness of ice sheets1972-1973
JFN/2/3Letter from William (Bill) Shockley, Bell Telephone Laboratories, to John Nye17 January 1952
JFN/2/17Correspondence between John Nye and Anthony Kelly concerning piezoelectric coefficients1986
JFN/2/19Correspondence between John Nye and Robert Arthur Lee concerning the optics of Australian bank notes2002
JFN/3/8Correspondence between John Nye and Joel Ellis FisherApril 1952-June 1952
JFN/3/11Correspondence between John Nye and John GlenJanuary 1952-October 1952
JFN/3/21Correspondence between John Nye and William Michael Lomer1952
JFN/3/27Correspondence between John Nye and Fritz Muller1960-1961
JFN/3/29Correspondence between John Nye and Egon Orowan1950
JFN/3/41Correspondence between John Nye and Everly John WorkmanNovember 1952-December 1952
EC/1976/26Nye, John Frederick: certificate of election to the Royal Society18 March 1976
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