Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 172
Final Tribute Vol 13.indd 172 3/23/10 3:42:24 PM
OCR for page 173
FRANK REGINALD NUNES NABARRO
1916–2006
Elected in 1996
“For contributions to the understanding of crystal plasticity.”
BY ALI S. ARGON
FRANK REGINALD NUNES NABARRO was born on
March 7, 1916, in London, England. He received his early
schooling in Nottingham and, in 1934, went up to New College,
Oxford, to study physics. Recognizing that his strength was in
theory, he proceeded to take first-class honors in mathematics
and physics.
Early Career
In a very real sense, Nabarro was “present at the creation”
of dislocation theory of crystal plasticity, and he continued to
be a primary contributor to this important area of physics and
materials science. Guided by Nevill Mott, a future Nobel
laureate, in 1940 he published the first quantitative model of
the flow stress of crystals hardened by a solid solution. To show
the importance of the flexibility of dislocation lines in sampling
solute atoms on the glide plane, he introduced the concept of
“line tension” of dislocations, an important tool in dislocation
theory in problems of flow stress.
During the Second World War, Nabarro worked for the
British Army Operational Research Group (AORG) headed by
Brigadier Basil Schonland, who later became the first president
of the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial
Research. Schonland later played an important part in recruiting
Nabarro for the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in
Johannesburg. For his wartime services, Nabarro was awarded
the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1946.
173
Final Tribute Vol 13.indd 173 3/23/10 3:42:24 PM
OCR for page 174
174 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
After the war, Nabarro resumed his academic career in Mott’s
group at Bristol University, as a Royal Society Warren Research
Fellow. During his Bristol period, he made important advances
in the theory of metal plasticity and dislocation theory of work
hardening. He also pioneered the landmark development
referred to as “diffusional flow” independent of the work of
Herring. Other firsts during this period included collaboration
with F. C. Frank and J. D. Eshelby in considering dislocation
pile-ups that were thought to play an important part in work
hardening of crystals and in fracture. He also provided a
fundamental reevaluation of the model of Rudolph Peierls for
the lattice resistance to slip, referred to since as the “Peierls-
Nabarro force.”
In 1948, Frank Nabarro married Margaret Dalziel, who had
been Schonland’s personal assistant. In 1949, he joined
Birmingham University to take up a lectureship in the
Metallurgy Department. While at Birmingham, he published
the first definitive review of the mathematical theory of
stationary dislocations. In recognition of his considerable
achievements, Birmingham University honored him with a
D.Sc. in 1953.
The Move to South Africa
In 1953, in response to personal inducements by Schonland,
Nabarro moved to South Africa to head the Department of
Physics at Wits, where he built up the Physics Department to
considerable strength in several areas. He often advised students
on their experimental work, but he was at his best, as always,
on theory. If an elaborate calculation had been performed, he
quickly recognized anything that was false or incorrect.
Even though the responsibilities of running a department
took him out of the scientific mainstream for some years,
through prodigious effort he remained on the cutting edge of
his field. During those years, he returned to the writing of his
monograph, Theory of Crystal Dislocations, which was published
by Clarendon Press: Oxford, in 1967. The book was an important
resource on basic concepts for many years.
As the demands of his position as department head eased,
Nabarro was able to devote more of his time to research, and
Final Tribute Vol 13.indd 174 3/23/10 3:42:24 PM
OCR for page 175
FRANK REGINALD NUNES NABARRO 175
over the years, he contributed key ideas to many areas of
dislocation physics. In later years, he turned his attention to
quasi-crystals, dislocation patterning in plastic deformation,
and creep-resistant materials and rafting in superalloys. The
latter interest eventually resulted in his more recent monograph,
The Physics of Creep, (CRC, 1995), which he wrote in collaboration
with deVilliers.
In 1961, Nabarro became the director of the Solid State
Physics Research Unit (SSPRU) of South Africa, which was
responsible for coordinating sponsored research activities at
universities in collaboration with industrial research
organizations. From the outset, the activities of SSPRU were
divided between basic physics and projects with a direct bearing
on the South African economy.
In the 1970s, after a short stay in Orsay, France, Nabarro
developed an interest in liquid crystals and in the role of
dislocations and disclinations in biological materials. This led,
among other things, to an analysis of the structure of an insect
muscle and its flexure, which appears to have anticipated the
ideas of some biologists and, later, during a sabbatical leave in
Berkeley in 1977, to a successful mechanistic description of the
crenation of red blood cells by drugs.
Nabarro often passed on Mott’s advice to young researchers:
“Try to get a mental picture of what is going on, then find the
simplest theory that contains the essential facts. When things
become complicated, leave the details to someone else.” Nabarro
knew his limits and was always open to contributions from
people whose skills complemented his own.
Nabarro served Wits in various capacities, including a term
as deputy vice chancellor during which, in 1981, he drew up
an Academic Plan, the first for any South African university,
which anticipated a large influx of black students after the end
of apartheid. His support never wavered for opening the doors
of academe in South Africa to everyone who could benefit from
higher education. In his graduation address to the University
of Natal on April 28, 1988, he expressed his contempt for the
Separate Universities Act: “The biggest blow that the
government struck at the liberal universities of South Africa in
1959 was to deprive us of our right to be . . . ” He often voiced
Final Tribute Vol 13.indd 175 3/23/10 3:42:24 PM
OCR for page 176
176 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
his belief that a university was a community of scholars and
should be governed in a collegiate way, a view that differed
somewhat from the later ethos that often valued more quality-
control audits, and the like.
Nabarro was an inspiring teacher and mentor. A generation
of physics graduates from Wits remembers fondly evening
sessions at his home, where the human side of physics was
revealed. His lectures were challenging and forced students to
think. Through them, students saw that physics was not cut
and dried, but an open-ended, evolving subject.
Retirement, Honors, and New Opportunities
Nabarro retired in 1984 but remained an active member of
the Wits community, always generous with his time and wise
counsel. Loyiso Nongxa, vice chancellor of Wits, in a farewell
tribute to Nabarro, declared, “He was an inspiration to
generations of scientists, and he had a significant influence on
the thought and direction of this university. He was renowned
for his brilliant mind, sharp intellect, meticulousness, and his
unique sense of humor.” Nabarro always cared deeply about
South African people and their future.
Nabarro was elected to the Royal Society (London) in 1971.
He was elected an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of South
Africa in 1973 and served as its president from 1988 to 1991. He
was a council member of the South African Institute of Physics
for a number of years, and a vice president from 1988 to 1991.
He was also a member of the Science and Engineering Academy
of South Africa.
In 1966, he was elected a foreign associate member of the
U.S. National Academy of Engineering, the only member on
the African continent. In recognition of his local stature, he was
awarded the South African Presidential Decoration of the Order
of Mapungubwe. Among other honors, he was also the recipient
of honorary doctorates (D.Scs) from Wits, University of Cape
Town, University of Natal, and University of Pretoria.
Nabarro held visiting positions at several universities in the
United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. He was the
Final Tribute Vol 13.indd 176 3/23/10 3:42:25 PM
OCR for page 177
FRANK REGINALD NUNES NABARRO 177
recipient of numerous awards, including the De Beers Gold
Medal of the South African Institute of Physics, the Platinum
Medal from the Institute of Materials, and the R. E. Mehl Award
of the The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) in the
United States. Festschrifts in his honor were published by the
Royal Society of South Africa in 2003 and by Philosophical
Magazine in 2006.
Nabarro was not only an outstanding scientist, but was also
a well-informed, cultured man. He shared a love of classical
music with his wife Margaret, who was a notable musicologist.
He was honorary president of the Johannesburg Musical
Society, and in memory of Margaret, he established the Margaret
Dalziel Nabarro Chamber Concert Fund.
Nabarro had an uncanny ability to get along with people
across the political spectrum in South Africa. Many people
admired him most for his sheer lust for life, his phenomenal
energy and resilience, and his extraordinary intellectual vitality.
He traveled extensively, attending conferences and giving
lectures wherever he went. In the United States, he attended
the Gordon Conferences on Physical Metallurgy for many years,
many topical conferences of the TMS, and symposia of the
Materials Research Society. Just months before his death, in
spring 2006, in spite of serious health problems and a painful
broken foot, he visited India and China. When he passed away
on July 20, 2006, he was editing volumes 13 and 14 of Dislocations
in Solids, a series of books he had edited over the years. His
mind remained razor sharp to the end.
Acknowledgment
I am grateful to Professor Arthur Every of the Department
of Physics of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg,
South Africa, for his help in preparing this tribute.
Further Reading:
A. G. Every’s obituary, “Frank Nabarro: A journey through
science and society,” S. African J. Science, 103, 99-103 (2007).
Final Tribute Vol 13.indd 177 3/23/10 3:42:25 PM
