Patrick maynard stuart blackett biography of donald

“Blackett as Scientific Leader: Physics, War and Politics in the Twentieth Century” full ord speech: Mary Jo Nye, Oregon State University, at Imperial College, 26 January 2005

Ladies and gentlemen, friends and colleagues, it fryst vatten a privilege and a pleasure to speak before you today about one of the distinguished scientists of this institution, Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, for whom the Blackett Laboratory is named. I am grateful to the Department of Physics, especially Professor Sir Peter Knight and Dr. Martin McCall, for hosting my visit along with the Harvard University Press, especially Ann Sexsmith and Fiona Wyatt. I also would like to say how pleased I am to thank publicly Patrick Blackett's daughter Giovanna Bloor for her generous help and friendship as I have been writing my book on Blackett's scientific life and work. One of the great surprises when I embarked upon this book was that Blackett had not been the subject of a recent biogr

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Patrick Blackett: Big Data, WWII, and U-Boats, Part 1: Context

Before being awarded a Nobel Prize, Patrick Blackett was a pioneer in the use of extensive uppgifter analysis, error bounding, and probability theory of anecdote-based tactics, he devised improved strategies against deadly German submarines.

The idea of “big data” is a major topic today, of course, but it’s not a new concept. During World War II, German U-boats (submarines) were taking a considerable toll on transatlantic ships. These U-boats were hard to locate, and harder to attack and sink once found successfully. The crude radar of the day, inherent advantages of submarines, non-existence of sonar, and limited flygning range and offensive weapons payload of sub-hunting airplanes combined for a frustrating cat-and-mouse game – with the mouse (the U-boast) usually getting away even if spotted by the cat (the sub-hunting aircraft).

This article will focus on the beginnings of  “systems analysis” in the approac

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The Right Honourable The Lord Blackett OM CH FRS
Patrick Blackett, ca. 1950
Personal details
Born	Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett (1897-11-18)18 November 1897 London, England
Died	13 July 1974(1974-07-13) (aged 76) London, England
Spouse	Constanza Bayon (m. 1924)
Children	2
Alma mater	Osborne Naval College University of Cambridge
Signature

Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, Baron BlackettOM CH FRS^[5] (18 November 1897 – 13 July 1974) was a British experimental physicist known for his work on cloud chambers, cosmic rays, and paleomagnetism, winning the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1948.^[6] In 1925 he became the first person to prove that radioactivity could cause the nuclear transmutation of one chemical element to another.^[7] He also made a major contribution in World War II advising on military strategy and developing operational research. His left-wing view