BOYD, R(obert) L(ewis) F(ullarton) 1922-2004

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born October 19, 1922, in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland; died February 5, 2004. Physicist, educator, and author. Boyd was the former director of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College London, where he was also a professor of physics. A graduate of Imperial College of Science and Technology, where he earned a B.Sc. in 1943, and of University College, where he received a doctorate in 1949, he joined University College as a research fellow. Boyd later became a lecturer and reader in physics. From 1961 to 1967, he was professor of astronomy at the Royal Institution, and from 1962 to 1983 he was professor of physics at the University of London. An early interest in researching ionospheric plasma led Boyd to jump at the opportunities that came with the newly blossoming research in space research, since the best way to measure plasma in the high atmosphere was to do so from space. In a cooperative effort with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the United States, Boyd and his fellow researchers developed a satellite experiment that was launched in 1962. In 1964, when the European Space Agency was first formed, Boyd became an advisor in rocket research, and in 1967, when the Mullard Space Science Laboratory was founded, he was named the new facility's director. Remaining at Mullard until 1983, when he also retired from teaching, Boyd continued his research in astrophysics, solar physics, space plasma, and remote sensing for many years. He also served as trustee of the National Maritime Museum until 1989. The author of such books as Space Research by Rocket and Satellite (1960) and Space Physics (1975), he was appointed Commander of the British Empire in 1972 and knighted in 1982 for his services to science.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Daily Telegraph (London, England), February 10, 2004.

Guardian (London, England), February 11, 2004, p. 29.

Times (London, England), February 11, 2004, p. 29.