Abstract
MR. G. D. PRESTON, whose appointment to the Harris chair of physics at University College, Dundee, has recently been announced, is best known for his applications of physical methods to metallurgical problems. After leaving Cambridge, he joined the staff of the National Physical Laboratory, working first in the Physics Department and later in the Department of Metallurgy. His chief interest has lain in X-ray crystallography and more particularly in its applications to metallurgy. In collaboration with Prof. B. A. Owen, he was one of the pioneers in the investigation by X-ray methods of alloy systems, and succeeded in determining the structure of various alloys and alloy systems. In addition to his work in the X-ray field, he has also applied the method of electron diffraction successfully to problems of metallurgy and to the study of corrosion. He was one of the first in Great Britain to construct and use the electron microscope. Mr. Preston's more recent work has been concerned with the age-hardening of alloys. During these investigations he found the diffuse X-ray reflexions which have been the subject of so much experiment and discussion of late. His work has thrown much light on their nature and origin. His researches have been notable for the fact that they have been carried out almost entirely with apparatus designed and constructed in his own laboratory, and much ingenuity has been shown in producing equipment essentially simple, but eminently suited for the task in hand. It is to be hoped that in his new sphere Mr. Preston will have ample opportunities for further research.
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Chair of Physics at University College, Dundee. Nature 151, 610 (1943). https://doi.org/10.1038/151610c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/151610c0