Sir John Edward Lennard-Jones KBE, FRS

Sir John Edward Lennard-Jones

John Edward Lennard-Jones was born in Leigh, Lancashire and educated at Leigh Grammar School where he specialised in classics. In 1912 he entered Manchester University where he changed his subject to mathematics. After First World War service in the Royal Flying Corps he returned to Manchester as Lecturer in Mathematics, 1919-1922. In 1922, on the advice of Sydney Chapman, he applied for and was elected to a Senior 1851 Exhibition which enabled him to work in Cambridge where he became a research student at Trinity College (Ph.D. 1924). He moved to Bristol University as Reader in Mathematical Physics, 1925-1927, and Professor of Theoretical Physics, 1927-1932, returning to Cambridge as Plummer Professor of Theoretical Chemistry, 1932-1953. In this, the first Chair of Theoretical Chemistry to be created in Britain, Lennard-Jones built up a research school applying concepts of quantum mechanics and interatomic forces to phenomena in physics and organic chemistry. His first graduate student was C.A. Coulson. In the Second World War Lennard-Jones served as Chief Superintendent of Armament Research, 1942-1945. He remained in government service for a further year as Director of Scientific Research, Ministry of Supply, before returning to Cambridge in 1946. In 1953 he became Principal of University College of North Staffordshire (later Keele University) but died in 1954 when he had been in the post less than a year.

He was elected FRS in 1933 (Davy Medal 1953) and knighted in 1946

© The above material is taken from the National Cataloguing Unit for the Archives of Contemporary Scientists database, and reproduced with kind permision from Dr T. E. Powell. The above material is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without permission from the aforementioned catalogue.

See also

• Lennard-Jones model

Publications list

Incomplete list:

1. John Edward Lennard-Jones "On the Determination of Molecular Fields. I. From the Variation of the Viscosity of a Gas with Temperature", Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character 106 pp. 441-462 (1924)
2. John Edward Lennard-Jones "On the Determination of Molecular Fields. II. From the Equation of State of a Gas", Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character 106 pp. 463-477 (1924)
3. John Edward Lennard-Jones "On the Determination of Molecular Fields. III. From Crystal Measurements and Kinetic Theory Data", Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character 106 pp. 709-718 (1924)
4. John Edward Lennard-Jones "The Equation of State of a Gas", Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 22 pp. 101-104 (1924)
5. John Edward Lennard-Jones "On the Atomic Fields of Helium and Neon", Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character 107 pp. 157-170 (1925)
6. John Edward Lennard-Jones and and A. E. Ingham "On the Calculation of Certain Crystal Potential Constants, and on the Cubic Crystal of Least Potential Energy", Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character 107 pp. 636-653 (1925)
7. John Edward Lennard-Jones and P. A. Taylor "Some Theoretical Calculations of the Physical Properties of Certain Crystals", Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character 109 pp. 476-508 (1925)
8. J. E. Lennard-Jones, "Cohesion", Proceedings of the Physical Society, 43 pp. 461-482 (1931)
9. J. E. Lennard-Jones "The equation of state of gases and critical phenomena", Physica 4 pp. 941-956 (1937)
10. John Edward Lennard-Jones and A. F. Devonshire "Critical Phenomena in Gases. I", Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences 163 pp. 53-70 (1937)
11. John Edward Lennard-Jones and A. F. Devonshire "Critical Phenomena in Gases. II. Vapour Pressures and Boiling Points", Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences 165 pp. 1-11 (1938)
12. John Edward Lennard-Jones and A. F. Devonshire "Critical and Co-Operative Phenomena. III. A Theory of Melting and the Structure of Liquids", Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences 169 pp. 317-338 (1939)
13. John Edward Lennard-Jones and A. F. Devonshire "Critical and Co-operative Phenomena. IV. A Theory of Disorder in Solids and Liquids and the Process of Melting", Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences 170 pp. 464-484 (1939)