Walter Eric Spear

Walter Spear
Born
Walter Eric Spear

(1921-01-20)20 January 1921
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Died21 February 2008(2008-02-21) (aged 87)
Dundee, Scotland
Alma mater
SpouseHilda D. King
Children2 daughters
Parent(s)David Spear
Eva Reineck
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
Institutions
Doctoral studentsAlf Adams[1]
Websitewww.dundee.ac.uk/pressreleases/2008/prmarch08/spear.html

Walter Eric Spear FRSE PhD FRS FInstP (20 January 1921 – 21 February 2008)[2] was a German physicist noted for his pioneering work to help develop large area electronics and thin film displays.[3] He was born in Frankfurt to a Jewish father and a Lutheran mother; by the time he finished his school examinations in 1938 life for Jews and people associated with Jews was becoming difficult. With the support of friends and relatives in Britain, the family were able to move to London, where he arrived in 1938 "with a small suitcase and a large cello".[3][4]

  1. ^ BBC Radio 4, The Life Scientific. Profile of Alf Adams
  2. ^ Adams, A. (2009). "Walter Eric Spear. 20 January 1921 -- 21 February 2008". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 55: 267–289. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2009.2003.
  3. ^ a b Alexander G Fitzgerald. "Walter Eric Spear" (PDF). Obituary. The Royal Society of Edinburgh. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  4. ^ Davis, E. A. (2010). "Walter E Spear: A Tribute". Physica Status Solidi C. 7 (3–4): 501–504. Bibcode:2010PSSCR...7..501D. doi:10.1002/pssc.200982906.