Record

Authorised form of nameFleming; Sir; John Ambrose (1849 - 1945); electrical engineer and university teacher
Dates1849 - 1945
NationalityBritish
Place of birthGreenfield, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Date of birth29 November 1849
Place of deathSidmouth, Devon, England
Date of death18/04/1945
OccupationElectrical engineering and university teacher
Research fieldPhysics
Electronic Engineering
ActivityEducation:
Tutored by his mother at an early age; University College, London; Royal College of Chemistry; St John's College, Cambridge. MA (Camb)
Career:
Lecturer in Applied Mechanics, Cambridge; Professor of Electrical Engineering, University College, London (1885)
Memberships:
Television Society of London (President 1929)
Honours:
Kt 1929
Awards/Medals:
Albert Medal 1921
Faraday Medal 1928
Duddell Medal and Prize 1930
IRE Medal of Honor 1933
Franklin Medal 1935
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election02/06/1892
Age at election43
ProposerArthur William Rucker; John Hopkinson; Richard Tetley Glazebrook; Oliver Joseph Lodge; Frederick Bramwell; Arnold William Reinold; George Carey Foster; William Grylls Adams; William Henry Preece
Herbert McLeod; David Edward Hughes; John Perry; William Crookes; Charles Vernon Boys; William Davidson Niven; John Hall Gladstone; John Henry Poynting; Raphael Meldola; Shelford Bidwell
Royal Society activityMedals and prizes:
Hughes Medal 1910
RelationshipsParents: James Fleming DD (d. 1879), Congregational minister, and Mary Ann, daughter of John Bazley White of Swanscombe, Kent.
Spouse: 1) Clara Ripley (1856/7–1917), daughter of Walter Freake Pratt, solicitor from Bath (11 June 1887); 2) Olive May Franks, singer (27 July 1928)
Published worksRCN 39385
RCN 39387
RCN 39390
RCN 39382
RCN 8598
RCN 39391
RCN 39383
RCN 39384
RCN 39386
RCN 14255
RCN 39389
RCN 39388
RCN 42183
RCN 11690
RCN 22296
General contextFleming invented the thermionic valve - an electrical rectifier that could turn alternating current into direct current.
Devised commony used hand rules for electric motors and generators.
Designed the wireless telegraphy set-up that was installed at Poldhu in Cornwall. In 1901, signals transmitted from Poldhu were heard 1,800 miles away on the other side of the Atlantic.
He was born congenitally deaf.
Royal Society Obituary or MemoirClick to view (may be contained within a meeting notice, presidential address or list of death notices)
Image

Fleming J A, IM Maull 001446.jpg

SourcesSources:
Bulloch's Roll; DSB
Obituaries:
Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1945-1948 vol 5 pp 231-242, plate, by W H Eccles
References:
Sir Brian Pippard, FRS, 'Schoolmaster-Fellows and the campaign for science education' in NR 2002 vol 56 pp 63-81, plate
J T MacGregor-Morris, 'Sir Ambrose Fleming (Jubilee of the Valve)' in NR 1954-55 vol 11 pp 134-144, plate
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/32790633
Royal Society codeNA7145
Archives associated with this Fellow
Reference numberTitleDate
EC/1892/10Fleming, Sir John Ambrose: certificate of election to the Royal Society
IM/001447Fleming, John Ambrosend
MM/18/16Fragment of a letter from John Ambrose Flemingnd
IM/Maull/001446Fleming, John Ambrosend
MS/525/6/10/1'Improvements in range finders': copy provisional patent specification by John Ambrose FlemingMarch 1915
NLB/4/435Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Dr John Ambrose Fleming, 9 Clifton Gardens, Maida Hill, W.29 May 1890
NLB/3/1084Copy letter from an unknown correspondent, to Messrs Drake & Gorham7 January 1890
NLB/3/1058Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Dr John Ambrose Fleming2 January 1890
NLB/3/1071Copy letter from an unknown correspondent, to Messrs Drake & Gorham4 January 1890
NLB/7/983Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Professor John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society12 June 1893
NLB/7/993Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Dr John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society, 9 Clifton Gardens, Maida Hill, W.13 June 1893
NLB/7/1065Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Dr John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society27 June 1893
NLB/26/230Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to, Professor John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society13 February 1903
NLB/13/3Copy letter from an unknown correspondent, to Collings & Company27 May 1896
NLB/13/20Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Lord Rayleigh [John William Strutt], Secretary, Royal Society29 May 1896
NLB/13/168Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society, University College, Gower Street, W.C.24 June 1896
NLB/13/526Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society3 October 1896
NLB/14/200Copy letter from Arthur William Rucker, to Professor John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society20 January 1897
RR/15/236Referee's report by John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'The action of magnetised electrodes upon electrical discharge phenomena in rarefied gases' by C E S PhillipsMarch 1901
NLB/14/793Copy letter from an unknown correspondent, to Messrs Harrison & Sons21 May 1897
RR/15/283Letter from John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'On a suggested relation between the refractive indices of pure metals and their molecular constants' by W Williams to Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society27 March 1901
RR/17/39Referee's report [page 2] by Hector Munro Macdonald, on a paper 'A note on the theory of directive antennæ or unsymmetrical hertzian oscillators' by John Ambrose Fleming30 March 1906
RR/15/58Referee's report by John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'Lines of induction in a magnetic field' by Henry Selby Hele-Shaw and Alfred Hay28 June 1900
RR/17/226Letter from John Ambrose Fleming, regarding a paper 'Alternate current measurement' by W E Sumpner8 November 1907
RR/17/227Referee's report by John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'Alternate current measurement' by W E Sumpner[November 1907]
NLB/22/229Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor [John Ambrose] Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society, Pender Laboratory, University College, Gower Street, W.C.28 March 1901
NLB/23/2/427Copy letter sent from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society11 January 1904
NLB/24/401Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society9 May 1902
NLB/26/290Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to, Professor John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society24 February 1903
NLB/24/630Copy telegram from Royal Society, to Professor [John Ambrose] Fleming, [Fellow of the Royal Society], 212 Finchley Road, N.W. [June 1902]
NLB/24/587Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society5 June 1902
NLB/26/536Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to, Professor [John Ambrose] Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society8 April 1903
RR/17/390Referee's report by John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'The theory of the dynamometer wattmeter' by J A Drysdale22 February 1909
NLB/30/441Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society24 March 1905
NLB/30/737Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor John Amborse Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society15 May 1905
NLB/30/731Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society12 May 1905
NLB/31/844Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society23 November 1905
NLB/32/849Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society1 June 1906
NLB/32/866Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society, University College, Gower Street, W.C.8 June 1906
NLB/32/898Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society, University College, W.C.13 June 1906
NLB/35/50Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society10 April 1907
NLB/35/454Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society3 June 1907
MC/22/78Letter from [John Ambrose] Fleming, Pender Electrical Laboratory, University College, Gower Street, London, to [Robert William Frederick] Harrison23 December 1907
NLB/37/902Copy Letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr J [John] A [Ambrose] Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society1 June 1908
NLB/37/515Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor J [John] A [Ambrose] Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society1 April 1908
NLB/42/55Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to M Charles Delagrave, 15 Rue Souffict, Paris17 March 1910
NLB/42/202Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor J [John] A [Ambrose] Fleming FRS 23 April 1910
NLB/43/311Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society8 December 1910
NLB/43/110Copy letter from Joseph Larmor, to Professor John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society7 November 1910
NLB/42/43Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor J [John] A [Ambrose] Fleming FRS14 March 1910
NLB/46/242Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society28 June 1912
NLB/50/18Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor [John Ambrose] Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society8 April 1914
NLB/51/30Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society to Professor John Ambrose Fleming FRS23 November 1914
NLB/50/404Copy letter from Charles Herbert Lees, to Professor [John Ambrose] Fleming, [Fellow of the Royal Society][July 1914]
NLB/50/524Copy letter from Charles Herbert Lees, to Professor [John Ambrose] Fleming, [Fellow of the Royal Society]22 July 1914
MC/21/205Letter from [John Ambrose] Fleming, Pender Electrical Laboratory, University College, Gower Street, London, to Robert [William Frederick] Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society 14 March 1906
NLB/51/81Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society to Professor John Ambrose Fleming FRS7 December 1914
NLB/51/803Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society to Professor John Ambrose Fleming FRS2 July 1915
RR/29/8Referee's report by John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'Investigations on the paramagnetism of crystals at low temperatures' by L C JacksonJune 1923
AP/59/2/2Unpublished diagrams, 'Induced currents in liquid circuits' by John Ambrose Fleming1877
MS/929/1/55Letter from [John Ambrose] Fleming, FRS, to James Mackenzie Davidson16 June 1917
MS/929/2/1Copy letter from James Mackenzie Davidson, 26 Park Crescent, Portland Place, to Professor [John Ambrose] Fleming, FRS15 June 1914
RR/13/57Letter from John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'The measurement of high potential difference' by H C Leake, R Leventhorpe and C S Whitehead to the Secretary of the Royal Society14 February 1896
RR/11/251Referee's report by John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'Magnetic qualities of iron' by James Alfred Ewing and Helen G Klaassen8 July 1893
RR/11/259Referee's report by John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'The effects of mechanical stress on the electrical resistance of metals' by James H Gray and James B Henderson6 March 1893
NLB/57/327Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Richard [Tetley] Glazebrook, FRS, Chairman of the Physics Committee17 October 1919
NLB/62/44Copy letter from Frederick Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [John Ambrose] Fleming, FRS23 November 1921
NLB/65/178Copy letter from [James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society]; to Lord Rayleigh [Robert John Strutt], FRS8 September 1923
NLB/65/16Copy letter from [James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society]; to Lord Rayleigh [Robert John Strutt], FRS13 July 1923
NLB/65/928Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Lord Rayleigh [Robert John Strutt], FRS31 January 1924
MS/525/6/10/13Letter from John Ambrose Fleming, the Pender Electrical Laboratory, University College, Gower Street, London8 June 1915
NLB/13/186Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor John Ambrose Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society, University College, Gower Street, W.C.26 June 1896
RR/15/282Referee's report by John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'On a suggested relation between the refractive indices of pure metals and their molecular constants' by W Williams25 March 1901
RR/16/108Referee's report by John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'Studies in magnetic testing' by George Frederick Charles SearleJanuary 1904
RR/17/38Referee's report [page 1] by Hector Munro Macdonald, on a paper 'A note on the theory of directive antennæ or unsymmetrical hertzian oscillators' by John Ambrose Fleming30 March 1906
NLB/22/218Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor [John Ambrose] Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society26 March 1901
NLB/37/308Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor J [John] A [Ambrose] Fleming, Fellow of the Royal Society28 February 1908
RR/31/54Referee's report by John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'On the electrical conductivity of magnetite' by Ernest Wilson and [Edward Felix] Herroun[January 1924]
NLB/36/883Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to James Swinburne, Fellow of the Royal Society7 January 1908
RR/16/195Referee's report by John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'Two-dimensional problems in magnetic induction, with special reference to flux distribution in toothed-core armatures' by Henry Selby Hele-Shaw, Alfred Hay and P H PowellMarch 1904
RR/8/20Letter from John Ambrose Fleming, to George Gabriel Stokes, regarding a paper 'On magneto-electric induction in liquids and gases.—Part I. production of induced currents in electrolytes' by John Ambrose Fleming12 November 1877
RR/12/334Referee's report by John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'Alternate current dynamo-electric machines' by John Hopkinson and E Wilson26 April 1895
NLB/57New Letter Book volume 57, copy letters sent from Royal Society administration27 June 1919-27 February 1920
RR/28/125Referee's report by John Ambrose Fleming, on two papers 'The distribution of the magnetic field and return current round a submarine cable carrying alternating current.—Part 1' by Charles V Drysdale and 'The distribution of the magnetic field and return current round a submarine cable carrying alternating current. —Part 2' by S Butterworth[September 1923]
AP/59/2/3Unpublished diagram, experimental setup by John Ambrose Fleming1877
RR/8/18Second referee's report by George Carey Foster, on a paper 'On magneto-electric induction in liquids and gases.—Part I. production of induced currents in electrolytes' by John Ambrose Fleming31 July 1877
AP/59/2Unpublished paper, 'On magneto-electric induction in liquid and gaseous conductors. Part I - Production of induced currents in electrolytes' by J A [John Ambrose] Fleming1877
AP/59/2/1Unpublished manuscript, 'On magneto-electric induction in liquid and gaseous conductors. Part I - Production of induced currents in electrolytes' by J A [John Ambrose] Fleming1877
NLB/3/1056Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Dr John Ambrose Fleming, 9 Clifton Gardens, Maida Hill, W.1 January 1890
RR/14/208Referee's report by John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'On the recovery of iron from overstrain' by James Muirnd [February 1899]
RR/15/15Referee's report by John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'An artificial retina and the theory of vision' by Jagadish Chunder Bose26 June 1900
RR/8/17Referee's report by George Carey Foster, on a paper 'On magneto-electric induction in liquids and gases.—Part I. production of induced currents in electrolytes' by John Ambrose Fleming30 July 1877
RR/8/19Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On magneto-electric induction in liquids and gases.—Part I. production of induced currents in electrolytes' by John Ambrose Fleming16 October 1877
RR/13/56Referee's report by John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'The measurement of high potential difference' by H C Leake, R Leventhorpe and C S Whitehead21 January 1896
RR/13/58Letter from Joseph John Thomson, on a paper 'The measurement of high potential difference' by H C Leake, R Leventhorpe and C S Whitehead to John Ambrose Fleming16 February 1896
RR/13/59Letter from John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'The measurement of high potential difference' by H C Leake, R Leventhorpe and C S Whitehead to the Secretary of the Royal Society17 February 1896
RR/15/252Referee's report by John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'The measurement of magnetic hysteresis' by George Frederick Charles Searle and T G BedfordMay 1901
RR/19/89Referee's report by John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'An investigation into the magnetic behavior of iron and some other metals under the oscillatory discharge from a condenser' by E W Marchant[January 1913]
RR/22/95Letter from John Ambrose Fleming to Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society12 August 1915
RR/31/75Referee's report by John Ambrose Fleming, on a paper 'Experiments on the effects of resistance in the oscillating circuit of a triode' by J H Vincent and A L Beak8 January 1925
PP/15/10Paper, 'On electric discharge between electrodes at different temperatures in air and in high vacua' by J A [John Ambrose] Fleming1889
MC/16/39Letter from [John Ambrose] Fleming, 9 Clifton Gardens, Maida Hill, London, to the Secretaries of the Royal Society23 May 1893
MC/16/321Letter from [John Ambrose] Fleming, University College, London, Gower Street, to Lord Rayleigh [John William Strutt], Secretary of the Royal Society12 June 1896
MC/16Volume 16 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1893-1896
MC/25/72Letter from JA Fleming, Peuder Electrical Laboratory, University College, Gower Street, WC, to Sir Joseph Larmor, Secretary, The Royal Society9 November 1910
MC/21Volume 21 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1906
MC/21/206Letter from [John Ambrose] Fleming, Pender Electrical Laboratory, University College, Gower Street, London, to Professor [Joseph] Larmor, Secretary of the Royal Society 23 May 1906
MC/21/207Letter from [John Ambrose] Fleming, Pender Electrical Laboratory, University College, Gower Street, London, to Robert [William Frederick] Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society 30 May 1906
MC/21/209Letter from [John Ambrose] Fleming, Pender Electrical Laboratory, University College, Gower Street, London, to Robert [William Frederick] Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society 15 June 1906
MC/22Volume 22 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1907
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