Charles Bernard Childs

Dr Charles Bernard Childs FRSE (23 June 1895 – 4 July 1956) was a British physicist and mathematician. He was founder and Chairman of the Scottish Community Drama Association. He was also Chairman of the British Universities Film Council.^[1]

Life

He was born in Wandsworth in London on 23 June 1895, the son of Emily G and Charles Alfred Childs, a commercial clerk, both originally from Kingston, Surrey. In 1911, records show Childs studied at The College, Hadham Road, Bishop's Stortford.

He graduated from Birmingham University in 1920 with a B.Sc and remained at the university for a while after in order to start research for a doctorate in Natural Philosophy. This was awarded in 1922 for his thesis entitled, "The thermomagnetic properties of carbon steels at temperatures round the Curie point". Afterwards, he obtained a post lecturing at Edinburgh University in 1922, where he was appointed assistant lecturer in Natural Philosophy.^[2] In 1924, he was promoted to lecturer. Shortly after arriving at Edinburgh, he joined the Edinburgh Mathematical Society in March 1923. In 1951, he was appointed as a senior lecturer, a role in which he filled until his death five years later.^[3]

In the Second World War he worked under J.A. Ratcliffe on ionospheric research at Cambridge University.^[2]

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh on 5 March 1956, his main proposers being Norman Feather, Robert Schlapp, James Paton and Thomas R Bolam..^[4] He grew ill very shortly afterwards and was moved to an Edinburgh nursing home.

He died in Edinburgh on 4 July 1956.

References