Robert Alexander Watson-Watt, 13 April 1892 - 5 December 1973

Robert Alexander Watson-Watt was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1941. Two of his sponsors, H. Tizard and P. M. S. Blackett, were members of the Committee to whom he had proposed the detection of aircraft by radio (radar). The third independent member was A. V. Hill; he did not sign as a sponsor, presumably because he was one of the Society’s Secretaries at the time. They described their candidate in the following way: ‘Director of Communications Development, Air Ministry. Distinguished for his contributions to meteorological physics, as elucidated by radio methods; has been a pioneer in developing the application of the cathode ray oscillograph in radio research generally and, in particular, as an aid to aerial and marine navigation . . ..’ In 1941 all three knew that what is now called ‘radar’ was going to be of the greatest importance in the war and the reference to radio navigation is undoubtedly a cover-up. Indeed, radar is what Watson-Watt will be remembered for.