[Logo] PHYSICS IN AUSTRALIA TO 1945

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WWW edition prepared by Tim Sherrat and Victoria Young for Bright Sparcs, June 1995

OLIPHANT, Marcus Laurence Elwin

Born Adelaide 8 October 1901; died Canberra 14 July 2000. Education, Adelaide University (B.Sc. 1923) and Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge (Ph.D. 1929). Research assistant in physics Adelaide University 1923-27. 1851 Exhibition scholar 1927-29; senior scholar 1929-32. Assistant Director of Research, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, 1935-36. Professor of physics at the University of Birmingham, England, 1937-50. Director of the Research School of Physical Science, Australian National University, 1950-63; professor of the physics of ionized gases, 1964-67. F.R.S. 1937. President of the Australian Branch of the Institute of Physics 1954. Foundation Fellow, 1954, and first President, 1954-56, Australian Academy of Science K.B.E. 1959. Governor of South Australia, 1971-76. F.T.S. 1975. A.C. 1977.
  1. (Abstract) The spreading of aqueous solutions on the surface of mercury. Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science. Report of Meeting., 18 (Perth, 1926), 126-127.
  2. (With R.S. Burdon) The problem of the surface tension of mercury and the action of aqueous solutions on a mercury surface. Faraday Society, London. Transactions., 23 (1927), 205-213.
  3. (With R.S. Burdon) Adsorption of gases on the surface of mercury. Nature, 120 (1927), 584-585.
  4. The effects produced by positive ion bombardment of solids: metallic ions. Cambridge Philosophical Society. Proceedings., 24 (1928), 451-469.
  5. Selective adsorption from gaseous mixtures by a mercury surface formed in the mixture. Philosophical Magazine, S.7, 6 (1928), 422-433.
  6. (With P.B. Moon) Current distribution near edges of discharge-tube cathodes. Cambridge Philosophical Society. Proceedings., 25 (1929), 461-468.
  7. The action of metastable atoms of helium on a metal surface. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, A, 124 (1929), 228-242.
  8. The liberation of electrons from metal surfaces by positive ions. Part I. Experimental. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, A, 127 (1930), 373-387.
  9. (With P.B. Moon) The liberation of electrons from metal surfaces by positive ions. Part II. Theoretical. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, A, 127 (1930), 388-406.
  10. Electron emission from Langmuir probes and from the cathode of the glow discharge through gases. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, A, 132 (1931), 631-645.
  11. (With P.B. Moon) The surface ionisation of potassium by tungsten. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, A, 137 (1932), 463-480.
  12. (With R.M. Chaudrhi) The energy distribution among the positive ions at the cathode of the glow discharge through gases. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, A, 137 (1932), 662-676.
  13. (With B.B. Kinsey and E. Rutherford) The transmutation of lithium by protons and by ions of the heavy isotope of hydrogeneral Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, A, 141 (1933), 722-733.
  14. (With E. Rutherford) Experiments on the transmutation of elements by protons. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, A, 141 (1933), 259-281.
  15. (With P. Harteck and E. Rutherford) Transmutation effects observed with heavy hydrogeneral Nature, 133 (1934), 413.
  16. (With P. Harteck and E. Rutherford) Transmutation effects observed with heavy hydrogeneral Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, A, 144 (1934), 692-703.
  17. (With E.S. Shire and B.M. Crowther) Separation of the isotopes of lithium and some nuclear transformations observed with them. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, A, 146 (1934), 922-929.
  18. (With E.S. Shire and B.M. Crowther) Disintegration of the separated isotopes of lithium by protons and by heavy hydrogeneral Nature, 133 (1934), 377.
  19. Transformation effects produced in lithium, heavy hydrogen and beryllium, by bombardment with hydrogen ions. International Conference on Physics, London, 1934. Papers and Discussions. London, The Physical Society, 1935. Vol. 1, pp.144-168.
  20. (With A.E. Kempton and E. Rutherford) The accurate determination of the energy released in certain nuclear transformations. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, A, 149 (1935), 406-416.
  21. (With A.E. Kempton and E. Rutherford) Some nuclear transformations of beryllium and boron, and the masses of the light elements. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, A, 150 (1935), 241-258.
  22. Masses of light atoms. Nature, 137 (1936), 396-397.
  23. The new high-voltage laboratory at Cambridge. Nuovo Cimento, 15 (1938), 160-166.
  24. Radioactivity and sub-atomic phenomena. Chemical Society, London. Annual Reports on the Progress of Chemistry., 35 (1939), 7-16.
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