| Authorised form of name | Pike; Edward Roy (1929-2025); physicist |
| Dates | 1929-2025 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Perth, Australia |
| Date of birth | 04 December 1929 |
| Date of death | 24 July 2025 |
| Occupation | Physicist |
| Research field | Mathematics |
| Physics |
| Electrochemistry |
| Theoretical physics |
| Optics |
| Thermodynamics |
| Quantum optics |
| Superconductors |
| Photonics |
| Optoelectronics |
| Activity | Education:
Southfield Grammar School, Oxford; University College Cardiff, Wales, B.Sc; Ph.D (1953-1957)
Career:
Joined the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment and served in General Montgomery’s Radio Engineer in SHAPE Headquarters in Fontainebleau, France (1948); Fulbright scholar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1958-1960); Senior science officer to chief science officer, Royal Signals and Radar Establishment, Malvern, England (1960-1991); non-executive director, Richard Clay plc (1984-1986); visiting professor of mathematics, Imperial College, London (1984-1986); Clerk-Maxwell Chair for Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics, King’s College London (1986); Head of the School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, King’s College London, now known as the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical and Engineering Sciences (1991-1994); Emeritus Clerk Maxwell Professor of Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics, King’s College London (1994-2019); founding Non-executive Chairman of web software company Stilo International (2000).
Awards/Medals:
Annual Achievement Award of the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers 1978
Civil Service Award to Inventors 1980
Institute of Physics Guthrie Medal and Prize 1995
Memberships:
Institute of Physics (VP 1981-1985) |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 19/03/1981 |
| Age at election | 51 |
| RSActivity | Medals:Charles Parsons Medal (1975) |
| Relationships | Parents: Anthony and Rosalind Irene (nee Davies) Pike.
Spouse: (m. 23 July 1955) Pamela Sawtell.
Children: Martin, Alison, and Sarah. |
| PublishedWorks | RCN 20126 |
| OtherInfo | Worked on thermodynamics, electrochemistry, and many-body quantum theory.
He performed some of the first experiments in photon statistics, leading to a new field of statistical optical spectroscopy with wide scientific applications. Commercial exploitation has achieved worldwide sales of ‘Malvern’ photon-correlation equipment.
His research ranged from measurements of wind tunnel supersonic velocities, molecular parameters of colloids, proteins and viruses and sound waves in liquid helium to super-resolving optical microscopy. |
| Related images | Discover a selection of related images in our picture library |
| Source | The Royal Society Fellows Directory, Professor Roy Pike FRS, [URL: https://royalsociety.org/people/roy-pike-12098/; last accessed: 09/09/2025]
King's College London News Centre, Remembering Professor Roy Pike FRS, Tribute to Emeritus Professor Roy Pike, who passed away 24 July 2025, 3 September 2025, [URL: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/remembering-professor-roy-pike-frs; last accessed: 09/09/2025] |
| Code | NA4660 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| IM/GA/SGRS/8343 | Pike, Edward Roy | 1984 |
| EC/1981/32 | Pike, Edward Roy: certificate of election to the Royal Society | 1976 |