DINGLE, Professor Herbert (1890-1978)

Papers of Professor Herbert Dingle, 1904-1978, comprising personal papers, 1904-1970, notably papers relating to appointments at Imperial College, 1924-1927, and University of London, 1946-1970; lecture course on astronomy, 1930-1931; visits abroad, 1932-1965; articles for publication, in various scientific and other journals, concerning astronomy, cosmology, history of science, religion and philosophy; correspondence relating to publications and with readers, 1921-1974, with publishers, societies and institutions, 1924-1978, including scripts and agreements with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC); correspondence and papers relating to material published in Nature, 1929-1978, notably on the special theory of relativity; correspondence with individuals, notably with Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, 1958-1969, Max Born, 1941-1969, Sir Cyril Lodowic Burt, 1951-1959, Ernest Geoffrey Cullwick, 1954-1968, Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington, 1935-1944, John Anthony Hardinge Giffard, 1955-1968, Desmond George King-Hele, 1967-1975, Sir William Hunter McCrea, 1955-1975, John Theodore Cuthbert Moore-Brabazon, 1939-1947, Dorothy Leigh Sayers, 1950-1957, Erwin Schr dinger, 1940-1959, Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker, 1938-1956; press cuttings, review articles relating to Dingle's publications, obituaries, 1922-1973.

Born, 1890; educated at Plymouth Science, Art and Technical Schools, Imperial College; member of the British government eclipse expeditions, 1927, 1932; Lowell Lecturer, Boston, USA, 1936; Professor of Natural Philosophy, Imperial College, 1938; Professor of History and Philosophy of Science, University College London, 1946-1955; President of the Royal Astronomical Society, 1951-1953; Professor Emeritus of History and Philosophy of Science, 1955; died, 1978. Publications: include: Modern Astrophysics (W Collins Sons & Co, London, [1924]); Through Science to Philosophy (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1937); The Special Theory of Relativity (Methuen & Co, London, 1940); Physics for Aeronautical Students 2 vol (Thomas Nelson & Sons, London, [1942]); A Hundred Years of Spectroscopy (Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, 1951); The Scientific Adventure. Essays in the history and philosophy of science (Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, London, 1952); Science at the crossroads (London, Martin Brian & O' Keeffe, 1972).

Researchers wishing to consult the Archives should first contact the College Archivist, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, for an appointment.

A catalogue is available in the reading room of the College Archives.

Letters relating to a biography of Sir Norman Lockyer, 1920-1928, held at the Science Museum Library.

A photocopying service is available at the discretion of the Archivist. Photocopies are supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Archivist.

Accumulated by Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine during the course of business.

Records of the Physics Department of Imperial College include correspondence of Professor Dingle, 1928-1944, principally relating to the acquisition of a spectrograph (KPAB), records of the History of Science and Technology Department (KH), held at Imperial College.