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Biography
AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjectsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as SubjectJohn Cockcroft
Dates
May 27, 1897 – September 18, 1967
Authorized Form of Name
Cockcroft, John, Sir, 1897-1967
Additional Forms of Names
Cockcroft, John, 1897-1967
Cockcroft, John Douglas, 1897-1967
Cockcroft, John Douglas, Sir, 1897-1967
Biography
Abstract
John Cockcroft was a nuclear physicist at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment. He and Ernest T.S. Walton were jointly awarded the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics "for their pioneer work on the transmutation of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles."
Important Dates
May 27, 1897Birth, Todmorden (England).
1914 – 1915Studied Mathematics, Manchester University, Manchester (England).
1922Obtained BSc in Technology degree, College of Technology, University of Manchester, Manchester (England).
1924Research Student, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge (England).
1924Obtained BA in Mathematical Tripos Part II, St. John's College, Cambridge (England).
1927Associate Member, Institution of Electrical Engineers.
1928Obtained PhD in Physics, St. John's College, Cambridge (England).
1929 – 1935Fellow, St. John's College, Cambridge (England).
1933Fellow, Institute of Physics.
1935Appointed Director of Research, Mond Laboratory.
1936Fellow, Royal Society.
1939Assistant Director, Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Scientific Research Ministry of Supply.
1939 – 1946Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge (England).
1941Member, Institution of Electrical Engineers.
1944 – 1946Director, Montreal and Chalk River Laboratories, Montréal (Québec).
1947Awarded Medal of Freedom.
1948Knighted.
1951Awarded Hughes Medal.
1951Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics with Ernest T.S. Walton "for their pioneer work on the transmutation of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles".
1952 – 1954Chairman, Ministry of Defense (Great Britain).
1954Awarded Royal Medal.
1954 – 1956President, Institute of Physics.
1954 – 1959Scientific Research Member, UK Atomic Energy Authority.
1955Awarded Faraday Medal.
1957Awarded Order of Merit Award.
1961Awarded Atoms of Peace Award.
1961 – 1963President, British Association for the Advancement of Science.
September 18, 1967Death, Cambridge (England).
Occupation
Accelerators and nuclear physicist.
Places
Birth
Undergraduate Education
Graduate Education
Employment
Death
Subjects
Accelerators -- Design and construction.
Relationships
People
Family
Cockcroft, Eunice Elizabeth Crabtree
Wife.
Advisors & Collaborators
Krishnan, R. S. (Rappal Sangameswara)
Advised by Cockcroft at Cavendish Laboratory.
PhD advisor at University of Cambridge.
Thomson, G. P. (George Paget), 1892-1975
Collaborated on the MAUD Committee, lead by Thomson.
Awarded 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics with Cockcroft "for their pioneer work on the transmutation of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles."
Additional
Allibone, T. E.
Bainbridge, Kenneth T. (Kenneth Tompkins), 1904-1996
Boyce, Joseph Canon, 1903-
Bragg, William Lawrence, Sir, 1890-1971
Briggs, George Henry
Brose, Henry L. (Henry Leopold), 1890-
Casimir, H. B. G. (Hendrik Brugt Gerhard), 1909-2000
Crane, H. R. (Horace Richard), 1907-2007
Cunningham, Ebenezer
Dee, Philip Ivor, 1904-1983
DuBridge, Lee A. (Lee Alvin), 1901-1994
Evans, Robley Dunglison, 1907-
Gamow, Barbara, 1905-1976
Gentner, Wolfgang, 1906-1980
Jones, H. Spencer (Harold Spencer), 1890-1960
Kapitsa, P. L. (Petr Leonidovich), 1894-1984
Kempton, Albert Ernest, 1911-2000
Kowarski, Lew
Kurchatov, I. V. (Igorʹ Vasilʹevich), 1903-1960
Lamb, Horace, Sir, 1849-1934
Lauritsen, Charles Christian, 1892-1968
Lawrence, Ernest Orlando, 1901-1958
Livingston, M. Stanley (Milton Stanley)
Mitchell, Joseph S. (Joseph Stanley)
Morse, Philip M. (Philip McCord), 1903-1985
Newman, M. H. A. (Maxwell Herman Alexander), 1897-
Occhialini, Giuseppe, 1907-1993
Oliphant, Mark, 1901-2000
Pegram, George Braxton, 1876-1958
Placzek, G. (George), 1905-1955
Rank, D. H. (David Herr), 1907-1981
Rank, J. Arthur, 1888-1972
Richardson, O. W. (Owen Willans), 1879-1959
Rosenfeld, L. (Leon), 1904-1974
Runcorn, S. K.
Snow, C. P. (Charles Percy), 1905-1980
Tamm, I. E. (Igor' Evgen'evich), 1895-1971
Thomson, J. J. (Joseph John), 1856-1940
Van de Graaf, Robert Jemison, 1901-1967
Walton, Alan J.
Waly, Adnan
Wertenstein, Ludwik, 1887-1945
Wilson, Charles Thomson Rees, 1869-1959
Woolley, Richard van der Riet, Sir
Institutions
Major Positions
Atomic Energy Research Establishment (Harwell, England)
Assistant Director.
Cavendish Laboratory (Cambridge, England)
Research Student.
Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories
Assistant Director.
Great Britain. Ministry of Defense
Chairman.
St. John's College (University of Cambridge)
Obtained BA in Mathematical Tripos Part II (1924) and PhD in Physics (1928). Fellow.
University of Cambridge
Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy.
Professional Activities & Affiliations
British Association for the Advancement of Science
President.
Institute of Physics (Great Britain)
Fellow and President.
Institution of Electrical Engineers
Associate Member and Member.
Royal Society (Great Britain)
Fellow.
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
Scientific Research Member.
University of California, Berkeley. Department of Physics
University of Manchester
Studied Mathematics and obtained MSc in Technology degree, College of Technology.
University of Oxford. Alembic Club
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
International Science and Technology Journal interviews, 1962-1967.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
John Cockroft correspondence, 1940-1967.
Manuscript Division
Library of Congress
James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA
Oral history interview with Sir John Cockcroft, 1963 May 2.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Sir John Cockcroft, 1967 March 28.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Private office papers, 1939-1961.
Great Britain. National Archives.
Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU, UK
Sir John Cockcroft papers, 1872-1985.
Archives Centre
Churchill College
Cambridge CB3 0DS
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority records, 1939-1999.
Great Britain. National Archives.
Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU, UK
Subject
Albert Kempton papers and correspondence, circa 1930-2000.
Department of Manuscripts and University Archives
Cambridge University
West Road, Cambridge, CH3 9DR
Archive for the History of Quantum Physics, 1898-1950 (bulk).
Library
American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
Atomic physics [sound recording]: sound track of the film / produced by J. Arthur Rank for the Atomic Energy Commission, 1948.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Atoms for Peace Award records, 1944-1972.
Institute Archives and Special Collections
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
B. C. Browne papers, 1949.
Archives Centre
Churchill College
Cambridge CB3 0DS
C. P. Snow collection, 1931-1980.
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
University of Texas at Austin
P.O. Drawer 7219, Austin, TX 78713-7219, USA
Charles David King collection for his thesis "Chadwick, Liverpool and the bomb" (1997).
Sydney Jones Library. Special Collections and Archives
University of Liverpool
P. O. Box 123, Liverpool L69 3DA
Ernest Rutherford correspondence [microform], 1906-1937.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Ernest Walton papers, 1921-circa 1980s.
Trinity College Library (Ireland)
College St. Dublin, Ireland
Files of Ludwik Wertenstein, 1908-1944.
Archiwum (Warszawa)
Polska Akademia Nauk
Nowy Świat 72, 00-330 Warsaw, Poland
Francis Bitter papers, 1925-1967.
Institute Archives and Special Collections
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
George and Barbara Gamow papers, 1915-1975 (bulk 1950-1975).
Manuscript Division
Library of Congress
James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA
George Henry Briggs papers, 1868-1983.
Manuscript Section
National Library of Australia
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
George Placzek papers, 1934-1955, undated.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
H. B. G. Casimir papers, 1929-2000.
Rijksarchief in Noord-Holland
Kleine Houtweg 18, Haarlem, Netherlands
Henry Brose correspondence, 1910-1939.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Igor E. Tamm papers, 1921-1971.
contact Tamm family
In private hands
Moscow
Igor V. Kurchatov papers.
Kurchatov Museum.
Kurchatov, I. V., Institute of Atomic Energy.
ul. Kurchatova, 46, Moscow 123182, Russia
Joseph Canon Boyce correspondence with John Cockcroft, 1938-1940.
Archives Centre
Churchill College
Cambridge CB3 0DS
Joseph S. Mitchell papers, 1924-1988.
Department of Manuscripts and University Archives
Cambridge University
West Road, Cambridge, CH3 9DR
Lee A. DuBridge papers, 1932-1986.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
M. H. A. Newman papers, 1916-1984.
The Library
St. John's College
Cambridge CB2 1TP
Murray Gell-Mann papers, 1931-2001 (bulk 1955-1993).
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Niels Bohr scientific correspondence, 1903-1962.
Niels Bohr Archive
Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark
O. W. Richardson papers, 1897-1959 (bulk 1920-1940).
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
University of Texas at Austin
P.O. Drawer 7219, Austin, TX 78713-7219, USA
Oral history interview with Adnan Waly, 1990 November 12.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Adnan Waly, 1994 February-March.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Alan J. Walton, 2014 May 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Ebenezer Cunningham, 1963 June 19.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with George Gamow, 1968 April 25 and 26.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Giuseppe Occhialini, 1971 April 5, 6, May 16, 17, and November 18.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with H. R. Crane, 1973 March 28 and 1974 June 18.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Kenneth Bainbridge, 1991 June 10.
IEEE Global History Center
Rutgers University
39 Union Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
Oral history interview with Leon Rosenfeld, 1968 September 3.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Maurice Goldhaber, 1967 January 10.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Milton Stanley Livingston, 1967 August 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral History interview with Philip I. Dee, 1971 November 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Robley D. Evans, 1972 May 2, 3, 1974 May 5 and 1978 June 14.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with S. Keith Runcorn, 1993 September 16 and 17.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Sir Mark Oliphant, 1971 November 3.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Wolfgang Gentner, 1971 November 15.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Petr L. Kapitsa papers, 1920.
Institute of Physical Problems.
ul. A. N. Kosygina 2, Moscow 117973, Russia
Phillip M. Morse autobiographical data, circa 1962.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Piotr Leonidovich Kapitza papers, 1900-1994.
Archives Centre
Churchill College
Cambridge CB3 0DS
Reminiscences about accelerators: Brookhaven lecture, 1980.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Richard van der Riet Woolley papers, 1947-1975.
Department of Manuscripts and University Archives
Royal Greenwich Observation Archives
Cambridge University Library, West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DR, England UK
Robert Van de Graaff papers, 1928-1948 (bulk 1943-1946).
Institute Archives and Special Collections
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Royal Observatory papers of Harold Spencer Jones, 1920-1968.
Department of Manuscripts and University Archives
Royal Greenwich Observation Archives
Cambridge University Library, West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DR, England UK
Scientific correspondence [microform], 1907-1962.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Sir William Lawrence Bragg papers.
Royal Institution of Great Britain
London, Englank UK
Tallahassee Democrat obituary notice for Niels Bohr, 1962.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
University of Oxford. Alembic Club records, 1904-1973.
Museum of the History of Science
Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3AZ
Published Resources
Author
The Development of radiation chemistry and radiochemistry: Eighth Dalton lecture.
The organization of research establishments.
Subject
Cockcroft and the atom/ Guy Hartcup and T.E. Allibone.