William Eccles | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Eccles displaying radio equipment in 1925[2] | |
| Born | 23 August 1875 Barrow-in-Furness, England |
| Died | 29 April 1966 (1966-04-30) (aged 90) Oxford, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | radio |
| Awards | Fellow of the Royal Society[1] |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | physics |
William Henry Eccles,FRS[1] (23 August 1875 – 29 April 1966) was an English physicist who was a pioneer in the development of radio communication.
He was born inBarrow-in-Furness,Lancashire, England. Following graduation from theRoyal College of Science, London, in 1898, he became an assistant toGuglielmo Marconi, the Italian radio entrepreneur. In 1901 he received his doctorate from the Royal College of Science. Eccles was an advocate ofOliver Heaviside's theory that a conducting layer of the upper atmosphere could reflect radio waves around the curvature of the Earth, thus enabling their transmission over long distances. Originally known as theKennelly–Heaviside layer, this region of the Earth's atmosphere became known as theionosphere. In 1912 Eccles suggested thatsolar radiation was responsible for the observed differences inradio wave propagation during the day and night.[3] He carried out experiments into atmospheric disturbances of radio waves and used wave detectors and amplifiers in his work. Eccles invented the termdiode to describe an evacuated glass tube containing two electrodes; ananode and acathode.
FollowingWorld War I Eccles' main interest was in electronic circuit development. In 1918 he worked in collaboration withF. W. Jordan to patent theflip-flop circuit, which became the basis of electronic memory in computers.[4][5] In 1919, Eccles became vice-chairman of the Imperial Wireless Committee. He helped in the design of the firstlong wave radio station, and became involved in the early work of the British Broadcasting Company (later theBBC) following its establishment in 1922.
William Eccles was aFellow of the Royal Society (FRS).[1] He was President of thePhysical Society from 1928 to 1930, President of theInstitution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) in 1926, and President of theRadio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) in 1923–24.
He died inOxford.
