This fictionalised telling recounts an episode from the life of Sir Robert Watson-Watt. Based on diaries and letters, the substantial facts are true, while some of the connective tissue is a work of imagination. Intriguingly, given how their lives were to criss-cross, it shows that, like Dame Katherine, Watson-Watt knew …
This manuscript has been in my possession for more than 20 years. It is an intriguing tale that sheds light on the febrile state of 1930s Britain, and some of those who went the extra mile to defend the national interest. I am delighted to be finally able to …
Last summer I found a manuscript at The Observatory. The story it relates is quite extraordinary. With a little difficulty, I tracked down its author, who agreed, with some conditions, that I could share his work. Here it is – free to view or download on Issu:
Frederick W. Duthie This article first appeared in The Journal Of The Institute of Electrical Engineers in April 1996. It appears on this site courtesy of its author. Fred Duthie, a Strathclyde University-educated Aberdonian who researched Forbes’ life during a career with Morganite Incorporated, of Dunn, North Carolina USA. Morganite …
There are numerous figures of whom it is said that Britain and her allies would have lost World War Two but for their contribution – Sir Robert Watson-Watt among them. Which of these was the most significant is hard to tell, but Watston-Watt’s pioneering role in the development of radar, …
George Forbes was an outstanding product of Victorian academia and industry whose contribution to electrical engineering benefits us to this day. He was also a gifted astronomer and led the British party to observe the Transit of Venus from Hawaii in 1874. He wrote and lectured widely about astronomy for …
