Alan Herries Wilson
Sir Alan Herries Wilson, was a British mathematical physicist and industrialist. He developed the electronic band structure theory of solids to distinguish between conductors, insulator and semiconductors. After World War II, he left academic research to pursue a career in industry.
Life
Early life
Alan Herries Wilson was born in 1906 in Wallasey, Cheshire, England, from a Scottish family.He was educated at Wallasey Grammar School and at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, obtaining a BA degree in mathematics in 1926. His graduate work was under the supervision of R. H. Fowler working on problems in quantum mechanics.
Band theory
He studied with Werner Heisenberg on the application of quantum mechanics to electrical conduction in metals and semiconductors. During the period 1931–1932 Wilson formulated the electronic band theory explaining how energy bands of electrons can make a material a conductor, a semiconductor, or an insulator. In 1932 he was awarded the Adams Prize; the essay he wrote for this prize became the basis for his book The Theory of Metals published in 1936. His book Semi-conductors and Metals was published in 1939. Wilson supervised four graduate students in the study of solid-state physics during the 1930s, but Wilson perceived that interest in the field was small at Cambridge and so switched to the study of nuclear physics and cosmic rays.Wilson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1942 for his work in advancing the theory of conduction in metals and semiconductors. During the World War II he worked on radio communications problems for the Special Operation Executive, and was later attached to the British Tube Alloys project to develop the atomic bomb.