Professor Marshall Stoneham FRS

摘要

Marshall Stoneham was born in Barrow-in Furness on 18 May 1940. After completing a PhD in physics at the University of Bristol in 1965, he joined the Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE), Harwell, in the theoretical physics division. His interests lay in solid-state and quantum physics but, under Walter Marshall, AERE was becoming much more commercial and, in particular, building on the expertise of the National NDT Centre headed by Roy Sharpe. British Gas was building, internally, a magnetic pig to validate the safety of its gas transmission pipelines. In the 1970s, Harwell was asked to design and build an ultrasonic pig to complement the British Gas system. A large team was assembled and Marshall was asked to justify theoretically its capability to detect the defects postulated by British Gas. He was supported in this work initially by Andrew Temple and later by Tony Harker. The project culminated at the end of the 1970s with the delivery of an ultrasonic pig to British Gas. This was a commercial project, so none of the work was nnhlished.