Prof William Barron Coutts FRSE (26 May 1885 – 16 December 1946) was a Scottish physicist specialising in military science. He was generally referred to as Willie Coutts.
William Barron Coutts | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 May 1885 Kinghorn, Fife, Scotland |
| Died | 16 December 1946 (aged 61) Oxford, England |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Other names | Willie Coutts |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | physics, military science |
Life edit
He was born at the family home of Green Croft in Kinghorn, Fife on 26 May 1885, the son of Elizabeth Martin Barron and Robert Alexander Coutts, a bank accountant. He attended Kirkcaldy High School until 1903.[1]
Originally accepted to study latin and mathematics at the University of Edinburgh in 1904, after limited success in these fields he transferred to study natural philosophy (physics) as part of a broader science degree, again with only partial success. However, he graduated MA in science in 1909. After university he taught at George Heriot's School in Edinburgh. In 1912 he received a further BSc (Pure) by the University of Edinburgh. During this period in Edinburgh he lived in a flat at 125 Warrender Park Road.[2] In 1913 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, his proposers were Ralph Allan Sampson, John Brown Clark, Cargill Gilston Knott and James Robert Milne.[3]
In the First World War he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Artillery[4] on 24 November 1915,[5] serving in Gibraltar in the role of coastal defence.[6]
During the war he had begun to specialise in trajectory paths, range-finding and optics and obtained a post as a senior lecturer at the Artillery College within the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich near London. After the war (from 1919) he was awarded a full Professorship in Military Science, a role which he continued until 1946, shortly before he died.
In 1926 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, his address then was given as 74 Vanburgh Park, Blackheath, London.[7]
He died at Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford on 16 December 1946.
Family edit
He was married to Isabella Muirhead Allen (1884–1973). She was from Chorlton near Manchester in England.
References edit
- ^ "Coutts biography". www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
- ^ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office directory 1911-12
- ^ "Former Fellows of The Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 – 2002" (PDF). 29 June 2006. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
- ^ William Barron Coutts on Lives of the First World War
- ^ The London Gazette, 27 November 1915
- ^ University of Edinburgh: Roll of Honour: 1914–1919
- ^ "1926MNRAS..86..443 Page 443". adsabs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 18 November 2015.