Sir Nevill Francis Mott,
CHThe Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion....
, FRS (30 September 1905 – 8 August 1996) was an
EnglishThe English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
physicistPhysics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1977 for his work on the electronic structure of magnetic and
disorderedIn condensed matter physics, an amorphous or non-crystalline solid is a solid that lacks the long-range order characteristic of a crystal....
systems, especially amorphous semiconductors. The award was shared with
Philip W. AndersonPhilip Warren Anderson is an American physicist and Nobel laureate. Anderson has made contributions to the theories of localization, antiferromagnetism and high-temperature superconductivity.- Biography :...
and
J. H. Van VleckJohn Hasbrouck Van Vleck was an American physicist and mathematician, co-awarded the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physics, for his contributions to the understanding of the behavior of electrons in magnetic solids....
, who had pursued independent research.
Early years
Mott was born in
LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
to Lilian Mary Reynolds and Charles Francis Mott. and grew up first in the village of
GiggleswickGiggleswick is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England near the town of Settle. It is the site of Giggleswick School.-Origin of name:A Dictionary of British Place Names contains the entry:...
, in the
West Riding of YorkshireThe West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
, where his father was Senior Science Master at the local school. The family moved (due to his father's jobs) first to Staffordshire, then to Chester and finally Liverpool, where his father had been appointed Director of Education. Mott was at first educated at home by his mother, who was a Cambridge Mathematics Tripos graduate. His parents met in the Cavendish Laboratory, when both engaged in Physics research. At ten years of age he began formal education at
Clifton CollegeClifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...
in
BristolBristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, then at
St. John's CollegeSt John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
,
CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, where he read the
Mathematics TriposThe Mathematical Tripos is the taught mathematics course at the University of Cambridge. It is the oldest Tripos that is examined in Cambridge.-Origin:...
.
Career
Mott was appointed to a lecturership at the
University of ManchesterThe University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
in 1929. He returned to Cambridge in 1930 as a Fellow and lecturer of
Gonville and Caius CollegeGonville and Caius College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college is often referred to simply as "Caius" , after its second founder, John Keys, who fashionably latinised the spelling of his name after studying in Italy.- Outline :Gonville and...
and in 1933 moved to the
University of BristolThe University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
as Melville Wills Professor in Theoretical Physics.
In 1948 he became Henry Overton Wills Professor of Physics and Director of the
Henry Herbert WillsHenry Herbert Wills was a businessman and philanthropist from Bristol.He was the son of Henry Overton Wills III and Alice Hopkinson and was born in Clifton, Bristol, Gloucestershire. He was educated at Clifton College. He was a member of the board for the Imperial Tobacco Company.His name is...
Physical Laboratory at Bristol. In 1954 he was appointed
Cavendish Professor of PhysicsThe Cavendish Professorship is one of the senior Professorships in Physics at Cambridge University. It was founded by grace of 9 February 1871 alongside the famous Cavendish Laboratory which was completed three years later...
at Cambridge, a post he held until 1971. Additionally he served as Master of Gonville and Caius College, 1959-1966.
Mott's accomplishments include explaining theoretically the effect of
lightLight or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye, and is responsible for the sense of sight. Visible light has wavelength in a range from about 380 nanometres to about 740 nm, with a frequency range of about 405 THz to 790 THz...
on a
photographic emulsionFilm stock is photographic film on which filmmaking of motion pictures are shot and reproduced. The equivalent in television production is video tape.-1889–1899:...
(see
latent imageA latent image on photographic film is an invisible image produced by the exposure of the film to light. When the film is developed, the area that was exposed darkens and forms a visible image...
) and outlining the transition of substances from
metalA metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
lic to nonmetallic states (
Mott transitionA Mott transition is a metal-nonmetal transition in condensed matter. Due to electric field screening the potential energy becomes much sharper peaked around the equilibrium position of the atom and electrons become localized and can no longer conduct a current.-Conceptual explanation:In a...
). The term
Mott insulatorMott insulators are a class of materials that should conduct electricity under conventional band theories, but are insulators when measured...
is also named for him. He introduced
Mott polynomialsIn mathematics the Mott polynomials sn are polynomials introduced by who applied them to a problem in the theory of electrons.They are given by exp = \sum_ns_nt^n/n!...
.
Mott was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1936. Mott served as president of the
Physical SocietyThe Institute of Physics is a scientific charity devoted to increasing the practice, understanding and application of physics. It has a worldwide membership of around 40,000....
in 1957. In the early 1960s he was chairman of the British
PugwashThe Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs is an international organization that brings together scholars and public figures to work toward reducing the danger of armed conflict and to seek solutions to global security threats...
group. He was knighted in 1962.
http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.aspx?pdf=42552&geotype=London&gpn=2&type=ArchivedIssuePage&all=&exact=Mott&atleast=&similar= He continued to work until he was about ninety. He was made a Companion of Honour in 1995.
Personal life
Mott was married to Ruth Eleanor Horder, and had two daughters, Elizabeth and Alice. He died in
Milton KeynesMilton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
in
BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
.
External links