Briggs, George Henry - Bright Sparcs Biographical entry

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Briggs, George Henry (1893 - 1987)

Online Sources

Archival/Heritage Sources

Published Sources

Physicist

Born: 23 March 1893 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Died: 24 July 1987.

George Henry Briggs was Head of the Physics Section, CSIR National Standards Laboratories, Sydney 1939-45 and then Chief of the Division of Physics, CSIR/O 1945-58. His chief research interests were radioactivity, the precise measurement of certain physical constants and the construction of highly stable standards of electrical resistance.

Career Highlights

Born Sydney, 23 March 1893. Died 24 July 1987. Educated Universities of Sydney (BSc 1916, DSc 1937) and Cambridge (PhD 1926). Demonstrator and lecturer in physics, University of Sydney 1918-27, assistant professor of physics 1928-39, Officer-in-charge, Physics Section, National Standards Laboratory, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) 1939-45, Chief, Division of Physics, CSIR/O (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) 1945-58, Scientific Advisor to the Australian representative, Atomic Energy Commission, United Nations, New York 1946-47. President, Australian branch, Institute of Physics 1950-52. Proposed the formation of an independent Australian Institute of Physics and made an honorary fellow on its formation in 1962.

Online Sources

Published Sources

'Briggs, George Henry', in Physics in Australia to 1945, R.W. Home, with the assistance of Paula J. Needham, Australian Science Archives Project, June 1995, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/physics/P000261p.htm. [ Details ]

'Briggs, George Henry', in The Giant's Eye: the Optical Munitions Exhibition, A Bright Sparcs Exhibition, Australian Science Archives Project, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/people/briggs.htm. [ Details ]

Papers of George H. Briggs, National Library of Australia, 2003, http://www.nla.gov.au/ms/findaids/8255.html. [ Details ]

See Also

Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/scripts/tia-dynindex.php3?EID=P000261. [ Details ]
Bolton, H. C., 'Optical Instruments in Australia in the 1939-45 War: successes and lost opportunities', Australian Physicist, 1990, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/bolton2.htm. [ Details ]
Mellor, D.P., 'Optical Munitions', Chapter 12 in Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Series 4: Civil, volume 5 'The Role of Science and Industry', Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1958, 1958, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/mellor.htm. [ Details ]

Structure based on ISAAR(CPF) - click here for an explanation of the fields.

Prepared by: McCarthy, G.J.
Created: 20 October 1993
Modified: 10 September 2004

Published by The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre on ASAPWeb, 1994 - 2007
Originally published 1994-1999 by Australian Science Archives Project, 1999-2006 by the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre
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Prepared by: Acknowledgements
Updated: 26 February 2007
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P000261b.htm

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