Paul Taunton Matthews CBE FRS[1] (19 November 1919 – 26 February 1987) was a British theoretical physicist.[3][4][5]

Paul Taunton Matthews
Born19 November 1919 (1919-11-19)
Erode, British India (present-day Tamil Nadu, India)
Died26 February 1987(1987-02-26) (aged 67)
NationalityBritish
Alma materClare College, Cambridge
AwardsOrder of the British Empire
Fellow of the Royal Society[1]
Adams Prize (1958)
Rutherford Medal and Prize (1978)
Scientific career
FieldsTheoretical Physics
InstitutionsImperial College London
University of Bath
Science and Engineering Research Council
Doctoral advisorNicholas Kemmer
Doctoral studentsFaheem Hussain
Christopher Isham
Ghulam Murtaza
Other notable studentsAbdus Salam
Stanley Mandelstam
John Stewart Bell
Daniel Afedzi Akyeampong[2]
Notes
A close friend and mentor of the only Pakistani Nobel Prize holder, Dr. Abdus Salam, and of CERN physicist, Faheem Hussain.

Biography

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Matthews was born in Erode in British India, and was educated at Mill Hill School and Clare College, Cambridge, where he was awarded MA and PhD degrees.[6] He was awarded the Adams Prize in 1958, elected to the Royal Society in 1963,[1] and awarded the Rutherford Medal and Prize in 1978. He became head of the Physics Department of Imperial College, London and later vice chancellor of the University of Bath. He was also awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath in 1983. He was also chairman of the Nuclear Physics Board of the Science Research Council.[citation needed]

He died in Cambridge from injuries sustained in a cycling accident.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Kibble, T. W. B. (1988). "Paul Taunton Matthews. 19 November 1919-26 February 1987". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 34: 554–580. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1988.0018. JSTOR 770061.
  2. ^ Andrew Whitaker, John Stewart Bell and Twentieth-Century Physics: Vision and Integrity, Oxford University Press, 2016, ch. 2.
  3. ^ Matthews, P. T. (1971). The nuclear apple: recent discoveries in fundamental physics. London: Chatto and Windus. ISBN 0-7011-1709-5.
  4. ^ Matthews, Paul T. (1974). Introduction to quantum mechanics. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-084036-9.
  5. ^ Salam, Abdus (October 1987). "Obituary: Paul Matthews". Physics Today. 40 (10): 142–146. Bibcode:1987PhT....40j.142S. doi:10.1063/1.2820245.
  6. ^ "MATTHEWS, Paul Taunton". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 2020 (online ed.). A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
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Academic offices
Preceded by Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bath
1976–1983
Succeeded by