Arthur Mannering Tyndall

Arthur Mannering Tyndall, CBE, FRS, LLD (18 September 1881 – 29 October 1961) was an English physicist from Bristol, England.

Education

Tyndall was educated at Redland Hill House School. He won the sole annual scholarship offered by the City of Bristol to attend University College, Bristol, with plans to study chemistry.

University College

After meeting with Professor Arthur Chattock to discuss his chemistry studies, Tyndall decided to switch to physics and was forever grateful for Chattock’s influence. At University College he earned the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1903 after passing the external London examination with second class honours. In the same year he entered the Department of Physics at University College. Positions held:

• Assistant Lecturer 1903
• Lecturer 1907

Bristol College

• 
  H.H.Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol

University of Bristol

Tyndall would serve in the Department of Physics at the University of Bristol from 1909 until retirement in 1948. He began under Professor Arthur Prince Chattock and when Chattock retired at age 50 in 1910 Tyndall became acting head of the Physics Department. At the start of WWI he left Bristol for Hampshire, England to head an army radiological department. This assignment was short lived, as he was called back to Bristol and resume leadership of the Physics Department. In 1916 Tyndall met Henry Herbert Wills, Pro-Chancellor and special buildings committee chairman and the ensuing friendship led to the physics laboratory for the University of Bristol. In March 1919 a gift of £200,000 over a period of 2 years was provided and upon H.H. Wills’ death additional sums were bestowed for the University’s building fund and endowment. In 1927 Lord Rutherford opened the H.H. Wills Physical Laboratory. The early staff included John Edward Lennard-Jones, Herbert Wakefield Banks Skinner and William Sucksmith.

Positions held

• Lecturer 1907
• Acting Head of the Physics Department 1910
• Dean of Science
• Pro-Vice Chancellor
• Henry Overton Wills Professor of Physics (from 1919)
• Director of the Henry Herbert Wills Physical Laboratory from 1927 until his retirement.

Noted students

During his tenure, staff and students from the Physics Department produced 18 Fellows of the Royal Society, 32 who would go on to hold Professorial Chairs at Universities around the world and 2 of which would be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.

• J.E. Lennard-Jones
• Cecil Powell
• Nevill Mott
• E.T.S. Appleyard
• Clara Millicent Taylor