Philip Woodward

Philip Mayne Woodward (6 September 1919 – 30 January 2018) was a British

Woodward's career in the Scientific Civil Service spanned four decades. He was responsible for the software of one of the UK's first electronic computers, the TRE Automatic Computer (TREAC)^[5][6] followed by the UK's first solid state computer, the Royal Radar Establishment Automatic Computer. He is the author of the book Probability and Information Theory, with Applications to Radar.^[7]

During World War II, Woodward developed a mathematical beam-shaping technique for radar antennae, which was later to become standard in the analysis of communication signals. His principal achievement in radar was to evaluate the ambiguities inherent in all radar signals and to show how Bayesian probability can be used as part of the design process to eliminate all but the wanted information the echoes might contain.

In 1956, Woodward's work on radar

His academic posts have included honorary professor in electrical engineering at the

In June 2005, the

In retirement, Woodward wrote another book, My Own Right Time,[10] known as MORT, a record of his passion for horology. Along with many other topics, MORT describes in detail the design of his clocks, including his masterpiece W5.

Woodward contributed dozens of articles to horological periodicals over more than 30 years. From his experience as a mathematician and analyst of complex systems, he has made major contributions to scientific horology, including the definitive analysis of balance springs and much work on the properties of pendulums. In 2006 the British Horological Institute published a hard-cover collection of 63 articles with new notes by Woodward. The collection, Woodward on Time,^[11] originally compiled by Bill Taylor, ASC^{[clarification needed]}, became known as WOT. It was very well received.^{[citation needed]}

W5 clock

W5 was built in a small workshop with simple tools, and displays an elegance of concept and design rarely seen in the history of the science. It was acclaimed by Jonathan Betts, the senior curator of horology at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich as "the nearest approach to perfection by any mechanical timekeeper not employing a vacuum chamber".^{[citation needed]} Woodward also built the case, assembling it with intricate but invisible hidden mitre joints.

The horologist Anthony Randall carried on a long series of timekeeping trials of W5, showing unprecedented accuracy over periods of more than 100 days.^[11] Although the clock was widely celebrated, and Woodward published a series of detailed articles on its construction to encourage others to carry its ideas forward,^[11] no one completed another clock like it for more than twenty years. Finally, in 2006, the Australian clockmaker David Walter (now of Buellton, California) succeeded in making a highly skeletonized version that, while quite different in details, closely followed the basic Woodward design.^[12]

Personal

Woodward was born on 6 September 1919 and educated at Blundell's School in Tiverton, Devon.^[13]

He met his wife, mathematician Alice Mary Winter Robertson (1917-1999) whilst they shared an office in Durnford House in

He lived in Malvern, Worcestershire, England, where he died on 30 January 2018 at the age of 98.^[15]

References