An earlier version of this paper was presented to the joint meeting of history of science societies at New Hall, Cambridge, U.K. in July 1982.

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9. Public Records Office, File DSIR 2/382, Larke, W. J.: ‘Memorandum: Research in Relation to Alloys’, 01 23, 1930Google Scholar. Apart from Lindemann, the Industrial Grants Committee consisted of Sir William Larke (Chairman), Sir Arthur Balfour, Sir William Bragg, and Sir David Milne-Watson. Sir William Larke was by training an industrial engineer who became an important spokesman for industry on research matters, later becoming chairman of the Industrial Research Committee of the Federation of British Industries. Regarding Balfour, see Raleigh, Lord (Robert John Strutt), Lord Balfour in his Relation to Science, Cambridge, 1930.Google Scholar

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14. Lennard-Jones was appointed Reader in Mathematical Physics at Bristol in 1925. Eighteen months later he was appointed Professor of Theoretical Physics, the first British physicist to hold such a distinctive research position. His major research interest, and one for which he is best known, was concerned with the inter-atomic forces in gases and solids. For further biographical information see Mott, N. F.: ‘John Edward Lennard-Jones’. Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 1955, 1, p. 175–184Google Scholar. Tyndall, A. M.: ‘John Edward Lennard-Jones’, Obituary Notices of the Physical Society, Proceeding of the Physical Society, 1954, 67A, p. 1128–1129Google Scholar. Brush, Stephen G.: ‘John Edward Lennard-Jones’, D.S.B. 1973, VIII, p. 185–187.Google Scholar

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16. Public Records Office, File DSIR 1/16, Advisory Council, Scientific Grants Committee ‘Minutes of the Meeting held on Wednesday, 9th April, 1930’.

17. Public Records Office, File DSIR 2/386, Scientific Grants Committee Meeting of 18.6.1930, ‘Memorandum: Application from Prof. J. E. Lennard-Jones’.

18. Ibid.

19. Tyndall, A. M.: ‘A History of the Department of Physics in Bristol 1867–1948, with personal reminiscences’. Unpublished manuscript, 08 1956, p. 26, Tyndall Papers, University of Bristol Library.Google Scholar

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22. Ibid.

23. See for instance Bragg, W. L.: ‘Structure of Alloys’, text of a Friday evening discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on March 17, 1933, in Nature, 1933, 131, 749–753.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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26. In 1948, describing the work of the Cavendish, where he was by then Cavendish Professor, Bragg stated that ‘The Department which we call crystallography would perhaps be better described as the department for discovery of the structure of the solid state’, ibid., p. 118.

27. Bernal, J. D.: ‘The Solid State of Matter’, Science Progress, 1936, 30, p. 546–549.Google Scholar

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31. Hume-Rothery, W. to Coles, B. R., 11 27, 1963Google Scholar. This letter was kindly made available to us by Professor Coles. On Hume-Rothery see Raynor, G. V., ‘William Hume-Rothery’, Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 1969, 15, p. 109–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

32. Hume-Rothery had gone to work under Sir Harold Carpenter at the Royal School of Mines in 1922 on the advice of Frederick Soddy, at first ‘dabbling’ in Carpenter's work with Constance Elam on metallic single crystals. But, he later noted, ‘it was not chemistry and I told him [Carpenter] I would like to do intermetallic compounds’, Hume-Rothery to Coles, ibid.

33. Ibid. Sidgwick had been influenced by Rutherford and in the early 1920's began to consider applying the Rutherford-Bohr model of the atom to problems of chemistry to explain the properties of molecules and compounds in terms of their electronic structure. This was to culminate in the publication of The Electronic Theory of Valency, Oxford, 1927Google Scholar. See also Sutton, L. E.: ‘Nevil Vincent Sidgwick 1873–1952’, Proceedings of the Chemical Society, 11 1958, p. 310–319.Google Scholar

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35. Hume-Rothery, W.: ‘Researches on the Nature, Properties and Conditions of Formation of Intermetallic Compounds, with Special Reference to Certain Compounds of Tin’, Journal of the Institute of Metals, 1926, 38, p. 295–348Google Scholar, and following discussion. Rosenhain's comments are on p. 352–354.

36. Ibid., p. 358.

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38. Quoted in Hoddeson, and Baym, , op. cit. (20), p. 16.Google Scholar

39. Hume-Rothery, W. to Bragg, W. L., 01 17 1929Google Scholar, Sir Lawrence Bragg Papers, Royal Institution of London.

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42. Ibid., Preface.

43. In 1936 Hume-Rothery, published The Structure of Metals and Alloys, London 1936Google Scholar, introducing the recent work in the physics of electronic structure to an audience of metallurgists. It contained no reference to the Lindemann theory. See also his book, Hume-Rothery, W.: Electrons, atoms, metals and alloys. London, 1948Google Scholar, written in the form of a dialogue between an ‘old metallurgist’ and a ‘young metallurgist’.

44. For a discussion of Fowler's important role see Mott, N. F.: ‘Theory and Experiment at the Cavendish circa 1932’. In: Hendry, J. (ed): Cambridge Physics in the Thirties, Bristol, 1984, p. 125–132.Google Scholar

45. An essential starting point for the history of physics at Bristol is the unpublished writings of Arthur Tyndall, particularly ‘A History of the Department of Physics in Bristol, 1876–1948, with personal reminiscences’ and Tyndall's personal bound scrapbook ‘History of the Laboratory, 1916–1961’. These along with other valuable documents are held in the Archives of the University of Bristol, files 363–365 (Tyndall Papers), University of Bristol Library. A further collection of papers, including correspondence, memoranda and annual reports of the Physics Department (hereafter referred to as the Wills Laboratory Papers) are at present located in the H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory and were kindly made available to us by Professor Norman Thompson. For a short published account see Thompson, N.: ‘H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory: 50 Years of Bristol Physics’, Physics Bulletin, 05 1977, p. 216–217.Google Scholar

46. Tyndall, A. M.: Memorandum ‘H. H. Wills Physical Laboratory, University of Bristol’, 11, 1947, Will Laboratory Papers.Google Scholar

47. An award of £50 000 was made by the Rockefeller Foundation along with £25 000 from Melville Wills to endow the chair held by Lennard-Jones. For an account of Tyndall's role in creating and establishing the financial security of the Wills Laboratory see Keith, S. T.: ‘Scientists as Entrepreneurs: Arthur Tyndall and the Rise of Bristol Physics’, Annals of Science, 1984, 41, p. 335–357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

48. The close relations between Bristol and Göttingen physics were also symbolised by the presence of the latter university's outstanding professor of theoretical physics, Max Born, on the rostrum at the opening ceremonies of the new Wills Laboratory.

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51. Mott, to Tyndall, , 04 8, 1933Google Scholar, Wills Laboratory Papers.

52. Mott, to Tyndall, , 04 30, 1933Google Scholar, Wills Laboratory Papers.

53. Other refugees who came to Bristol included Kurt Hoselitz, Heinz London, Philipp Cross and Robert Arno Sack.

54. Tyndall, to Lindemann, , 02 22, 1934Google Scholar, Cherwell Papers, Nuffield College, Oxford.

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56. Lennard-Jones, to Tyndall, , 08 22, 1932Google Scholar. Mott, to Tyndall, , 08 17, 1932.Google Scholar

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59. The number of undergraduates completing the Part II honours programme in physics had fallen steeply from a round 170 in the early 1920's, a figure reflecting the post-war bulge, to around 90 at the time of Mott's appointment and continued to fall until 1941 when it began a dramatic increase; Physics Department Annual Reports, Wills Laboratory Papers; Tyndall, , ‘A History …’Google Scholar; Thompson, (45), p. 217.Google Scholar

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61. Mott, to Tyndall, : 05 25, 1933Google Scholar, Wills Laboratory Papers.

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65. Mott, to Bragg, : 02 24, 1934Google Scholar, Sir Lawrence Bragg Papers, Royal Institution of London.

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75. Mott, N. F.: ‘Memories of early days…’, op. cit. (63), p. 57.Google Scholar

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78. Tyndall, to Mott, : 12 20, 1932Google Scholar, Wills Laboratory Papers.

79. Bragg, to Tyndall, : 12 16, 1932Google Scholar, Wills Laboratory Papers.

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86. Gurney, to Tyndall, : 10 27, 1939, Wills Laboratory Papers.Google Scholar

87. We are indebted to Mrs. Natalie Gurney-Taylor for providing information on her late husband's life after he left Bristol, particularly for providing copies of his later security hearings.

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90. On the early background to the development of dislocation theory see Orowan, Egon, ‘Dislocation in Plasticity’, in Smith, Cyril Stanley (ed.), The Sorby Centennial Symposium on the History of Metallurgy, New York, 1965, p. 359–376.Google Scholar

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95. For a detailed breakdown of the research effort see Tyndall, : op. cit. (93).Google Scholar

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97. For details of Mitchell's work see J. Mitchell, W., ‘Dislocations in crystals of silver halides’, Proceedings of the Royal Society, 1980, A, 371, p. 149–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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99. See Frank, F. C.: ‘The Frank-Read Source’, Proceedings of the Royal Society, 1980, A, 371, p. 136–138.Google Scholar

100. Mott was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1977 for his work on amorphous semiconductors.