John Ambrose Fleming

For other people named John Fleming, see John Fleming (disambiguation).

Sir
John Ambrose Fleming
FRS
Fleming in 1890
Born(1849-11-29)29 November 1849
Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Died18 April 1945(1945-04-18) (aged 95)
Sidmouth, Devon, England
Alma matercollage
London
Known for
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
Institutions
Doctoral advisorFrederick Guthrie
Doctoral studentsHarold Barlow
Other notable studentsHidetsugu Yagi
Balthasar van der Pol

Sir John Ambrose Fleming FRS[1] (29 November 1849 – 18 April 1945) was an English electrical engineer and physicist who invented the first thermionic valve or vacuum tube,[2] designed the radio transmitter with which the first transatlantic radio transmission was made, and also established the right-hand rule used in physics.[3]

He was the eldest of seven children of James Fleming DD (died 1879), a Congregational minister, and his wife Mary Ann, at Lancaster, Lancashire, and baptised on 11 February 1850.[4] A devout Christian, he once preached at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London on evidence for the resurrection.

In 1932, he and Douglas Dewar and Bernard Acworth helped establish the Evolution Protest Movement. Fleming bequeathed much of his estate to Christian charities, especially those for the poor. He was a noted photographer, painted watercolours, and enjoyed climbing the Alps.

  1. ^ Eccles, W. H. (1945). "John Ambrose Fleming. 1849-1945". Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society. 5 (14): 231–242. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1945.0014. S2CID 192193265.
  2. ^ Harr, Chris (23 June 2003). "Ambrose J. Fleming biography". Pioneers of Computing. The History of Computing Project. Retrieved 30 April 2008.
  3. ^ "Right and left hand rules". Tutorials, Magnet Lab U. National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. Retrieved 30 April 2008.
  4. ^ Brittain, J. E. (2007). "Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame: John A. Fleming". Proceedings of the IEEE. 95: 313–315. doi:10.1109/JPROC.2006.887329.