Frederick W. Lanchester

Frederick W. Lanchester
Born(1868-10-23)23 October 1868
18 Alma Square, St John's Wood, London
Died8 March 1946(1946-03-08) (aged 77)
Birmingham
NationalityEnglish
OccupationEngineer
ParentHenry Jones Lanchester
Relatives
Engineering career
Significant advance
Awards
F W Lanchester's prototype petrol-electric car 1927, at Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum

Frederick William Lanchester LLD, Hon FRAeS, FRS[1] (23 October 1868 – 8 March 1946), was an English polymath and engineer who made important contributions to automotive engineering and to aerodynamics, and co-invented the topic of operations research.

Lanchester became a pioneer British motor-car builder, a hobby which resulted in him building the first British car in 1895[2] and developing a successful car company.

Some of the innovations Lanchester developed have gone on to become widely adopted in the car industry.[3]

  1. ^ a b Ricardo, H. R. (May 1948). "Frederick William Lanchester. 1868-1946". Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society. 5 (16): 756–766. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1948.0010. JSTOR 768769.
  2. ^ Mullen, Enda. "Lanchester: The rise and fall of Coventry's answer to Rolls Royce". Coventry Telegraph. Reach PLC. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  3. ^ "The Genius Lanchester". Motor Sport. Motor Sport Magazine. 13 June 1946. Retrieved 30 October 2024.