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Alan Howard Ward

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Alan Howard Ward OBE (28 July 1925 - 2 December 2021) was a Physicist who influenced science education in Africa and contributed to the understanding of the impacts of radioactive chemicals on human health.

Alan Howard Ward
Born28 July 1925
Died2 December 2021
NationalityBritish
Alma materUniversity of Birmingham
Known forNuclear physics
SpouseElizabeth Honor Ward
ChildrenFour
AwardsOBE
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsFinsen Institute
University of Ghana
University of Zambia
University of Swaziland
Open University
ThesisDirectional-correlation in radioactivity (1949)
Doctoral advisorMark Oliphant

Education and early years

Alan was the youngest of four children of Edward Howard Ward, a post office worker, and Ursula Mabel Ward (nee Vale). He was born in Woodford, London. The family moved to Chichester where he attended Chichester High School for Boys. Following a wartime degree at the University of Birmingham he worked under Mark Oliphant and completed a PhD in 1949.[1][2][3]

Career

Finsen Institute, Denmark

After a period as an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Birmingham, Ward was sent by the Atomic Energy Research Establishment to study Thorotrast poisoning at the Finsen Institute in Denmark for two years. This work involved following up on patients who had been injected with Thorotrast as a radiocontrast agent in medical radiography, and started his interest in medical physics.[4][5]

University of Ghana

Following an interview by the Inter-University Council for Higher Education Overseas (ICHEO),[6] Ward was appointed as a Lecturer in Physics at the University of Ghana in 1951. For the period 1956-59 he served as Secretary of the Ghana National Committee for the International Geophysical Year. He was made a Senior Lecturer in 1958, and Associate Professor in 1963. He represented Ghana at the "Atoms for peace" conference in Geneva in 1959, and at Commonwealth Atomic Scientists and IAEA meetings.

Retention and toxicity of Strontium-90

Starting in 1959, Ward founded a University Radioisotope and Health Physics Unit in Ghana with support from the Government National Research Council (later the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). With support from the Radiochemical Centre in Amersham (later Amersham plc) and the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell, he carried out long-term experiments on the effects of low doses of Strontium-90 on monkeys.[7][8][9][10] Some of these results were presented at the UNESCO International Conference on Radioisotopes in Scientific Research in 1957. The unit also used radioisotopes to track dimethoate in the commercially important cacao trees.[11]

Atomic bomb tests

In advance of the Gerboise Bleue French atomic bomb test in Algeria, Ward initiated radioactive fallout measurements across Ghana, and worked with the Ministry of Defence to build and staff dedicated laboratories in both Legon and Northern Ghana. His results on the level of radioactive fallout were contested by the French Government, who sent military officers to inspect the laboratories and verify the results. The results were presented to President Kwame Nkrumah's government, contributing to the decision to cut off diplomatic relations with France.[12]

Proposed nuclear reactor at Kwabenya

President Nkrumah asked Robert Patrick Baffour, then Vice-Chancellor of the Kumasi College of Science and Technology (later the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology), to head up an initiative to establish a nuclear power program for Ghana. This later led to a proposal that Ghana import an IRT 2000 nuclear research reactor[13] from the Soviet Union by 1964 and install it at Kwabenya. Ward, as head of the Radioisotopes and Health Physics Unit at Legon, estimated that Ghana needed approximately sixty "top-level Ghanaian scientists" and that it was not feasible to meet those needs.[14] Nkrumah decided as a result that Ward was not fully supportive of his plans for nuclear research collaboration with the Soviet Union, so had him replaced by Alan Nunn May.[15][16] This led to Ward leaving Ghana at the end of 1965.

UNZA

Ward was appointed as Professor of Physics at the University of Zambia (UNZA) in 1965, where he helped to found the department. He continued research on medical physics and remained there until 1975.

University of Swaziland

Ward joined the University of Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland (UBLS, later the University of Botswana and Swaziland and now the University of eSwatini) at the start of 1976. Reflecting the initial specialization of the University in agriculture, his research direction turned to the applications of physics to commercial farming. During his time in Swaziland he was awarded an OBE for services to science education in Africa.

Retirement

Ward retired to the United Kingdom in 1986. During his retirement he worked as a Physics Associate Lecturer with the Open University and taught with the University of the Third Age (U3A). As part of a wider interest in climate change, he adapted, built, and used electric vehicles, and became chair of the Battery Vehicle Society.

Physics texts adapted for Africa

During their time in Ghana, Ward's wife E. H. Ward wrote a physics text covering the high school curriculum and adapted for an African audience.[17][18] This used images and examples from Ghana to illustrate physical concepts, and appeared in a "Science for Tropical Secondary Schools" series. Alan Ward later collaborated with his wife to update the books to use S.I. units and update some of the contents.[19][20][21][22] This updated version later appeared as a single volume.[23]

Personal life and death

Ward met Elizabeth Honor Shedden (12 April 1926 - 30 September 2016), also a physicist, at the University of Birmingham, and they married in 1950. They were both active in the Birmingham University Evangelical Christian Union, and remained active church members throughout their lives. They had four children Kristina, Sheena, James, and Thomas.

References

  1. ^ Ward, A. H. "Directional-correlation in radioactivity". University of Birmingham Library. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  2. ^ Ward, A. H.; Walker, D. (1949). "Directional Correlation between Successive Internal-Conversion Electrons from Tantalum-181*". Nature. 163 (4135): 168–168. doi:10.1038/163168a0. ISSN 1476-4687.
  3. ^ Bunyan, D E; Lundby, A; Ward, A H; Walker, D (1948-10-01). "The Delayed Coincidence Method in the Study of Radioactivity, with Application to Isomerism in181Ta". Proceedings of the Physical Society. 61 (4): 300–306. doi:10.1088/0959-5309/61/4/302. ISSN 0959-5309.
  4. ^ Ward, A. H.; Jensen, P. G. (1951). "Measurement of Radioactivity in Human Breath". Nature. 167 (4250): 600–600. doi:10.1038/167600a0. ISSN 1476-4687.
  5. ^ Rundo, J; Ward, A H; Jensen, P G (1958-10-01). "Measurement of Thoron in the Breath". Physics in Medicine and Biology. 3 (2): 101–110. doi:10.1088/0031-9155/3/2/301. ISSN 0031-9155.
  6. ^ "Inter-University Council for Higher Education in the Colonies". Nature. 157 (3985): 347–347. 1946-03-01. doi:10.1038/157347a0. ISSN 1476-4687.
  7. ^ Edington, G. M.; Judd, J. M.; Ward, A. H. (1955). "Delayed Toxicity of Radiostrontium in Monkeys". Nature. 175 (4444): 33–33. doi:10.1038/175033a0. ISSN 1476-4687.
  8. ^ Edington, G. M.; Ward, A. H.; Judd, J. M.; Mole, R. H. (1956). "The acute lethal effects in monkeys of radiostrontium". The Journal of Pathology and Bacteriology. 71 (2): 277–293. doi:10.1002/path.1700710203. ISSN 1555-2039.
  9. ^ Edington, G. M.; Judd, J. M.; Ward, A. H. (1953). "Toxicity of Radiostrontium in Monkeys". Nature. 172 (4368): 122–123. doi:10.1038/172122b0. ISSN 1476-4687.
  10. ^ Mole, R. H.; Ward, A. H. (1970). "Yttrium-90 in Gonads of Monkeys containing Strontium-90". Nature. 226 (5241): 175–175. doi:10.1038/226175a0. ISSN 1476-4687.
  11. ^ Dunn, E.; Ward, A. H. (1965). "The movement of 32 phosphorus - labelled dimethoate in the cacao tree, Theobroma cacao L." Annals of Applied Biology. 56 (3): 419–428. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7348.1965.tb01260.x. ISSN 1744-7348.
  12. ^ Ward, A. H.; Marr, J. D. (1960). "Radioactive Fall-Out in Ghana". Nature. 187 (4734): 299–300. doi:10.1038/187299a0. ISSN 1476-4687.
  13. ^ Directory Of Nuclear Reactors , Vol. Iii: Research, Test And Experimental Reactors. (Soviet Research Reactor Irt). Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency. 1960. pp. 29–45.
  14. ^ Letter from A.H. Ward, Acting Director, Radioisotope and Health Physics Unit, University of Ghana at Legon to Dr Wilson, January 29, 1963. Held in Public Records And Archives Administration Department for Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, 1963-64.
  15. ^ Osseo-Asare, Abena Dove (2019). Atomic Junction: Nuclear Power in Africa after Independence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108557955. ISBN 978-1-108-47124-4.
  16. ^ Allman, Jean (2008-06-13). "Nuclear Imperialism and the Pan-African Struggle for Peace and Freedom: Ghana, 1959–1962". Souls. 10 (2): 83–102. doi:10.1080/10999940802115419. ISSN 1099-9949.
  17. ^ Ward, E. H. (1965). Senior Physics 1. London: Nelson.
  18. ^ Ward, E. H. (1965). Senior Physics 2. London: Nelson.
  19. ^ Ward, E. H.; Ward, A. H. (1977). Mechanics. London: Nelson.
  20. ^ Ward, E. H.; Ward, A. H. (1977). Energy, Heat and the Structure of Matter. London: Nelson.
  21. ^ Ward, E. H.; Ward, A. H. (1977). Light and Sound. London: Nelson.
  22. ^ Ward, E. H.; Ward, A. H. (1977). Magnetism, Electricity and Atomic Physics. London: Nelson.
  23. ^ Ward, Elizabeth Honor (1980). Essential senior physics in 51 units. A. H. Ward ([New ed.] ed.). Sunbury-on-Thames: Nelson. ISBN 0-17-511496-X. OCLC 16478165.