Open AccessJohn Frederick Nye. 26 February 1923—8 January 2019
Author(s) -
Michael Berry
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
biographical memoirs of fellows of the royal society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1748-8494
pISSN - 0080-4606
DOI - 10.1098/rsbm.2020.0002
Subject(s) - gravitational singularity , wavefront , scalar (mathematics) , physics , polarization (electrochemistry) , classical mechanics , optics , theoretical physics , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics , chemistry
John Nye was an internationally renowned physicist who made fundamental contributions to the understanding of crystals, ice and light. He explored defects in crystal structures, in particular continuous distributions of dislocations. He explained the mechanics of the flow of glaciers: their advance and retreat, and how this depends on the underlying topography; and how water flows beneath and within them. He was a pioneer in the study of optical singularities on three levels: stable caustics in geometrical optics; phase singularities (wavefront dislocations) in scalar waves; and lines of circular and linear polarization in electromagnetic fields.