Briggs, George Henry (1893 - 1987)

Summary

George Briggs was Head of the Physics Section, CSIR National Standards Laboratories, Sydney 1939-1945 and then Chief of the Division of Physics, CSIR/O 1945-1958. His chief research interests were radioactivity, the precise measurement of certain physical constants and the construction of highly stable standards of electrical resistance. Briggs was instrumental in the formation of the Australian Institute of Physics and was made an Honorary Fellow on its formation.

Details

Chronology

1916

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Sydney

1918 - 1927

Career position - Demonstrator and lecturer in physics, University of Sydney

1922

Career event - Elected Associate Member (Physics), Australian National Research Council

1926

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Cambridge

1928 - 1939

Career position - Assistant Professor of Physics, University of Sydney

1937

Education - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of Sydney

1939 - 1945

Career position - Officer-in-charge, Physics Section, National Standards Laboratory, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

1941

Award - Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal, Australian National Research Council

1945 - 1958

Career position - Chief, Division of Physics, CSIR(O)

1946 - 1947

Career position - Scientific Advisor to the Australian representative, Atomic Energy Commission, United Nations, New York

1950 - 1952

Career position - President, Australian branch, Institute of Physics

1962

Career event - Proposed the formation of an independent Australian Institute of Physics and made an Honorary Fellow on its formation

1962 - 1987

Award - Honorary Fellow, Australian Institute of Physics

Related entries

Archival resources

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

• George Henry Briggs - Records, 1868 - 1983, MS 8255; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• George Henry Briggs - Records, 1924 - 1983, DeB 1120; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• Australasian Science, A Bright Sparcs Exhibition, Australian Science Archives Project, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/journal/journal.htm. Details
• Exhibition Papers, A Bright Sparcs Exhibition, Australian Science Archives Project, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/exhib_papers.htm. Details
• The Giant's Eye: the Optical Munitions Exhibition, Australian Science Archives Project, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/omp.htm. Details

Articles

• Sherratt, Tim, '"A physicist would be best out of it" - George Briggs and the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission', Voices, Autumn (1993). http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/pubs/articles/tps/tps_briggs_and_unaec.htm. Details
• Sherratt, Tim, 'Political Fallout: Australian Scientists and the Atomic Bomb', Australasian Science, Spring (1996), http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/journal/as_fallout.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Honorary Fellow: G.H. Briggs', Australian Physicist, 1 (6) (1964), 87. Details
• Briggs, G. H.; Burgmann, V. D., 'Obituary: John Edward Thompson', Australian Journal of Science, 18 (1) (1955), 22. Details

Resources

• Papers of George H. Briggs, National Library of Australia, 2003, http://www.nla.gov.au/ms/findaids/8255.html. Details
• 'Briggs, George Henry (1893-1987)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-474849. Details

Resource Sections

• 'Briggs, George Henry', in Physics in Australia to 1945, R.W. Home, with the assistance of Paula J. Needham, Australian Science Archives Project, June 1995, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/physics/P000261p.htm. Details
• 'Briggs, George Henry', in The Giant's Eye: the Optical Munitions Exhibition, A Bright Sparcs Exhibition, Australian Science Archives Project, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/people/briggs.htm. Details

See also

• Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal, Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, 2023. https://www.science.org.au/supporting-science/awards-and-opportunities/thomas-ranken-lyle-medal. Details
• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_b.html. Details
• Binnie, Anna, 'A Short History of the Australian Institute of Physics, Part 2: from the Formation of the Australian Branch of the Institute of Physics to the Establishment of the Australian Institute of Physics', Australian Physics, 44 (4) (2007), 128-137, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IN7sV_RIRljwstfZLa7pjQyvisDmp_m0/view?ts=65d6c651. Details
• Bolton, H. C., 'Optical Instruments in Australia in the 1939-45 War: successes and lost opportunities', Australian Physicist (1990). http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/bolton2.htm. Details
• Mellor, D.P., 'Optical Munitions', Chapter 12 in Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Series 4: Civil, volume 5 'The Role of Science and Industry', Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1958 (1958). http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/mellor.htm. Details
• Paterson, M. S., 'John Conrad Jaeger 1907-1979', Historical Records of Australian Science, 5 (3) (1982), 64-88. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9820530064. Details
• Piddington, John Hobart, 'Ronald Gordon Giovanelli 1915-84', Historical Records of Australian Science, 6 (2) (1985), 223-236. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9850620223. Details
• Sherratt, Tim, '"On the beach": Australia's nuclear history' (1996).. http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/pubs/articles/tps/tps_on_the_beach.htm. Details