Brian Pippard


Sir Alfred Brian Pippard was a British condensed matter physicist. He was Cavendish Professor of Physics from 1971 to 1982, and an Honorary Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge, of which he was the first president.

Biography

Alfred Brian Pippard was born on 7 September 1920 in London, the son of engineer Alfred Pippard. He was educated at Clifton College and Clare College, Cambridge, where he graduated with M.A. and Ph.D. degrees.
After working as a scientific officer in radar research during World War II, Pippard was appointed Demonstrator in Physics at the University of Cambridge in 1947, successively becoming Lecturer in 1950, Reader in 1959, and the first John Humphrey Plummer Professor of Physics the following year. In 1971, he was elected Cavendish Professor of Physics.
Pippard demonstrated the reality, as opposed to the mere abstract concept, of Fermi surfaces in metals by establishing the shape of the Fermi surface of copper through measuring the reflection and absorption of microwave electromagnetic radiation can be deduced within the framework of the BCS theory of superconductivity.
Pippard was the author of Elements of Classical Thermodynamics for Advanced Students of Physics,
Dynamics of Conduction Electrons, and The Physics of Vibration. He also co-authored the three-volumes encyclopaedia Twentieth Century Physics.
As the Cavendish Professor of Physics, he compiled Cavendish Problems in Classical Physics, based in large part on past examination questions for Cambridge physics students.
Pippard was the doctoral advisor of Brian Josephson who in 1973 received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of what is known as the Josephson effect.

Obituaries

  • Anthony Tucker, Sir Brian Pippard, The Guardian, Wednesday, 25 September 2008, .
  • John Waldram, Professor Sir Brian Pippard , News and Events, University Offices, University of Cambridge, 24 September 2008, .
  • Professor Sir Brian Pippard , Cambridge Network, 25 September 2008, .
  • John Waldram, Brian Pippard : Low-temperature physicist who excelled in subtle intuitive concepts, Nature 455, 1191, .
  • Professor Sir Brian Pippard, Telegraph, 23 September 2008, .
  • Professor Sir Brian Pippard: Cambridge physicist, The Times, 25 September 2008, .
  • Richard Eden, Professor Sir Brian Pippard: Physicist who proved the existence of the Fermi surface and was the first President of Clare Hall, Cambridge, The Independent, Tuesday, 7 October 2008, .
  • Hamish Johnston, Sir Brian Pippard: 1920–2008, PhysicsWorld, 24 September 2008, .