William George Penney, Baron Penney OM, KBE (24 June 1909 – 3 March 1991) was a British physicist who was responsible for the development of British nuclear technology following the World War II. A mathematician by training, he became an expert on wave dynamics. He was one of the world's leading authorities on the effects of nuclear weapons; and he was tasked with the development of the British atomic bomb.
The son of a sergeant-major in the Roya...
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William George Penney, Baron Penney OM, KBE (24 June 1909 – 3 March 1991) was a British physicist who was responsible for the development of British nuclear technology following the World War II. A mathematician by training, he became an expert on wave dynamics. He was one of the world's leading authorities on the effects of nuclear weapons; and he was tasked with the development of the British atomic bomb.
The son of a sergeant-major in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Bill Penney was born in Gibraltar on 24 June 1909, and grew up in Sheerness, Kent and attended the Colchester Royal Grammar School. From 1924 to 1926 he was educated at Sheerness Technical College where he displayed a marked talent for mathematics.
In 1927, while working as a laboratory assistant, his mathematical ability gained him a scholarship to the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine. He was awarded the Governor's Prize for Mathematics and graduated with a B.Sc. with First Class Honours in 1929 at...
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