Margaret Gowing

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Margaret Mary Gowing
Born	26 April 1921 London
Died	November 7, 1998 (aged 77)
Citizenship	British
Nationality	British
Fields	History of Sciences
Institutions	Civil Service United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Oxford University - Linacre College
Known for	History of UK's nuclear weapons
Notable awards	1976, Honorary DLitt University of Leeds 1982, Honorary DLitt University of Leicester CBE

Professor Margaret Mary Gowing, CBE, (M.M. Gowing) (26 April 1921, 7 November 1998) was an historian. She was involved with the production of several volumes of the officially sponsored History of the Second World War, published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office in conjunction with Longman's, Green and Co. She was perhaps better known for her books, commissioned by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, covering the early history of Britain's nuclear weapons programmes.

As an official historian of the History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Civil Series she access to the unpublished official papers and files. As Historian and Archivist at the UK Atomic Energy Authority from 1959 to 1966 she had free access to official papers and files of the British nuclear weapons programmes; and personally knew many of the people involved.

As founder (together with the physicist Nicholas Kurti) and first Director (1972-1986) of the Contemporary Scientific Archives Centre in Oxford, she helped ensure the preservation of contemporary scientific manuscripts.

1 Civil Service Career
2 University career
3 Lectures
4 Published works
- 4.1 History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Civil Series
- 4.2 British nuclear weapons programmes
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Civil Service Career

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Margaret Gowing joined the Civil Service, working in the Ministry of Supply and the Board of Trade, before moving to the Cabinet Office in 1945. There she became involved with the Official History of the Second World War, as assistant to Keith Hancock who was overall editor of the United Kingdom Civil Series of books within the Official History.

From 1959 to 1966, she acted as the historian and archivist of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, organising systems and criteria for the selection for preservation of scientific, engineering and administrative records. and writing the history of the British atomic project since it began in 1939.

[edit] University career

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In 1966 she became Reader in Contemporary History at the University of Kent, Canterbury, covering scientific, technical, economic and social history. From 1972 she was the first Professor of the History of Science at the University of Oxford, where she was based at Linacre College.^[1] She delivered her inaugural lecture there, What's Science to History or History to Science?, on 27 May 1975.

[edit] Lectures

1976 Wilkins, Royal Society: Science, Technology and Education: England in 1870
1976 Enid Muir, University of Manchester
1977 Bernal, Birkbeck College, London: Science and Politics
1978 Rede Lecture, Cambridge University: Reflections on Atomic Energy History [1]
1981 Institution of Nuclear Engineers Annual Lecture: Principalities and Nuclear Power: The Origins of Reactor Systems
1982 Herbert Spencer, University of Oxford: Science and Politics: An Old and Intimate Relationship

[edit] Published works

[edit] History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Civil Series

Introduction

(1952). (With W.K. Hancock). British War Economy. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office and Longman's, Green and Co. Link to HTML version of British War Economy

General Series

(1952). (With Eric L. Hargreaves). Civil Industry and Trade. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office and Longman's, Green and Co.

[edit] British nuclear weapons programmes

(1964). Britain and Atomic Energy, 1935-1945.
(1974). (With Lorna Arnold). Independence and Deterrence: Britain and Atomic Energy, 1945-52 Volume 1: Policy Making. London: MacMillian Press. ISBN 0-333-15781-8.
(1974). (With Lorna Arnold). Independence and Deterrence: Britain and Atomic Energy, 1945-52 Volume 2: Policy Execution. London: MacMillian Press. ISBN 0-333-16695-7.