Marion Ross (physicist)

Dr Marion Amelia Spence Ross FRSE (9 April 1903 – 3 January 1994) was a Scottish physicist noted for her work in X-ray crystallography and fluid dynamics.[1] She was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was one of five daughters of William Baird Ross, organist, composer and founder of The Edinburgh Society of Organists (ESO).

Career

After school in Edinburgh, Marion Ross studied Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Edinburgh University. In 1928, she took up a post as Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Physics at the University of Edinburgh, and instigated a course in Acoustics for music students. Her work with Professor C. G.Barkla resulted in her being awarded a PhD in 1943.

For one year, she worked under the direction of William Lawrence Bragg at Manchester University, and together with Arnold Beevers, explored the structure of the crystal Beta Alumina.[2] They noted there were 'problem' sites in the areas occupied by mobile sodium ions. Subsequently the very presence of these ions was discovered to make this crystal an efficient superconductor. As a tribute to their discovery, the locations of these ions are now known as Beevers–Ross and anti-Beevers–Ross sites.[3]

During the Second World War, Ross worked with the Admiralty at Rosyth where she led a research group investigating underwater acoustics. She became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1951, two years after the first female Fellows were admitted. After the war she returned to the University of Edinburgh as a Lecturer, studying high-energy particle spectra. Some of her work was published in the journal Nature.[4]

Her interest in fluid flows led to Ross setting up a fluid dynamics Unit within the Department of Physics. Many students were attracted to this field of study, supervised by Ross. On her retirement, the annually awarded Marion A S Ross Prize was founded in her name.

Personal life

Outside her professional life, Ross was interested in music, especially that for the organ. She died on 3 January 1994.

References

  1. ↑ "Marion Amelia Spence Ross [Obituary]". Royal Society of Edinburgh website. Royal Society of Edinburgh. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  2. ↑ Beevers, C. A.; Ross, M. A. S. (July 1937). "The crystal structure of "Beta Alumina" Na2O 11Al(2)O3". Zeitschrift für Kristallographie 97 (1/2): 59–66. doi:10.1524/zkri.1937.97.1.59.
  3. ↑ "Cecil Arnold Beevers". Crystallography News. Royal Society of Edinburgh. 2001. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  4. ↑ Ross, M. A. S.; Zajac, B. (1948). "Range-energy and other relations for electrons in Kodak nuclear plates". Nature 162 (4128): 923–923. doi:10.1038/162923a0.