View source for Frederic C. Williams

{{Short description|English engineer (1911–1977)}}
{{other people|Freddie Williams}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]
| name             = Frederic C. Williams
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE|FRS|size=100}}
| birth_name       = Frederic Calland Williams
| native_name_lang  = 
| image             = <!--(as myimage.jpg, no 'File:')-->
| image_size        = 
| alt               = 
| caption           = 
|birth_date    = {{birth date|1911|6|26|df=y}}
|birth_place   = [[Romiley]], [[Stockport]]
|death_date    = {{death date and age|1977|8|11|1911|6|26|df=y}}
|death_place   = [[Manchester]]
| other_names       = F.C. Williams <br> Freddie Williams
| residence         = 
|nationality   = [[England|English]]
|citizenship   = [[United Kingdom|British]]
| fields            = 
| workplaces        = {{Plainlist|
* [[University of Manchester]]
* [[University of Oxford]]
* [[Telecommunications Research Establishment]]}}
| patrons           =
| education = [[Stockport Grammar School]]
| alma_mater        = {{Plainlist|
* [[University of Manchester]] (BSc, MSc)
* [[University of Oxford]] (DPhil)}}
| thesis_title      = Problems of spontaneous oscillation in electrical circuits
| thesis_url        = http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.673482
| thesis_year       = 1936 
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| academic_advisors = 
| doctoral_students = {{Plainlist|
* [[Richard Grimsdale]]<ref name=grimphd/>
* [[Tom Kilburn]]<ref name="kilburnphd">{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|first=Tom|last=Kilburn|title= A storage system for use with binary digital computing machines |publisher=University of Manchester|date=1948|url=https://www.librarysearch.manchester.ac.uk/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=44MAN_ALMA_DS21194868550001631&context=L&vid=MU_NUI&search_scope=BLENDED&tab=local&lang=en_US|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.488439}}|website=manchester.ac.uk|author-link=Tom Kilburn}}</ref>}}
| notable_students  = 
| known_for         = {{Plainlist|
* [[Williams tube]]
* [[Manchester Baby]]
* [[Manchester computers]]}}
| influences        = 
| influenced        = 
| awards            = {{Plainlist|
* [[Hughes Medal]] (1963)
* [[Faraday Medal]] (1972)
}}
| signature         = <!--(filename only)-->
| signature_alt     = 
| footnotes         = 
| spouse            = 
| children          = 
}}

'''Sir Frederic Calland Williams''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE|FRS}}<ref name="frs"/><ref name="royal">{{cite web |url=https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo==%27EC%2F1950%2F25%27) |title=EC/1950/25 Williams, Sir Frederic Calland: Library and Archive Catalogue |publisher=The Royal Society |archive-date=8 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708174409/https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=%28RefNo%3D%3D%27EC%2F1950%2F25%27%29 |location=London |url-status=dead}}</ref> (26 June 1911 &ndash; 11 August 1977),<ref name="frs">{{Cite journal | last1 = Kilburn | first1 = T. | author-link1 = Tom Kilburn| last2 = Piggott | first2 = L. S. | doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1978.0020 | title = Frederic Calland Williams. 26 June 1911 – 11 August 1977 | journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 24 | pages = 583–604 | year = 1978 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1979.0001 | title = Corrigenda: Frederic Calland Williams. 26 June 1911 – 11 August 1977 | journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 25 | pages = 0–1 | year = 1979 | doi-access = free }}</ref> known as F.C. Williams or Freddie Williams,<ref>{{cite web|title=Frederic Calland Williams (1911–1977)|url=http://www.computer50.org/mark1/williams.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107045908/http://www.computer50.org/mark1/williams.html|archive-date=7 January 2010}}</ref> was an English [[engineer]], a pioneer in [[radar]] and [[computer]] technology.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Williams | first1 = Frederic | author-link1 = Frederic Calland Williams | last2 = Kilburn | first2 = Tom | author-link2 = Tom Kilburn | doi = 10.1038/162487a0 | title = Electronic Digital Computers | journal = Nature | volume = 162 | issue = 4117 | pages = 487 | year = 1948 | s2cid = 4110351 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 1948Natur.162..487W }}</ref><ref>Anderson David, Delve Janet (2007) [https://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MAHC.2007.54 Frederic Calland Williams: the Manchester Baby's chief engineer] [[IEEE Annals of the History of Computing]] 29 (4): 90-102</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Williams | first1 = F.C.  | last2 =Kilburn | first2 =  T.  | year = 1949 | title = A storage system for use with binary-digital computing machines | journal = Proceedings of the IEE - Part II: Power Engineering  | volume =  96| issue =  50| pages =  183–200| doi = 10.1049/pi-2.1949.0078 | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224589116 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1145/1562164.1562180| title = Interview ''An'' interview with Maurice Wilkes| journal = Communications of the ACM| volume = 52| issue = 9| pages = 39–42| year = 2009| last1 = Anderson | first1 = D. P. | s2cid = 31699280}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1109/85.707570| title = Early programs on the Manchester Mark I Prototype| journal = IEEE Annals of the History of Computing| volume = 20| issue = 3| pages = 4| year = 1998| last1 = Shelburne | first1 = B. J. | last2 = Burton | first2 = C. P. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1049/ir:19980302| title = The Manchester baby reborn| journal = IEE Review| volume = 44| issue = 3| pages = 113–117| year = 1998| last1 = Burton | first1 = C.| doi-broken-date = 7 December 2024}}</ref>

==Education==
Williams was born in [[Romiley]], Stockport, and educated at [[Stockport Grammar School]].<ref name="frs"/> He gained a scholarship to study engineering at the [[University of Manchester]] where he was awarded [[Bachelor of Science]] and [[Master of Science]] degrees. He was awarded a [[Doctor of Philosophy]] degree in 1936<ref name="willyphd">{{cite thesis |degree=DPhil |first=Frederic Calland|last=Williams |title=Problems of spontaneous oscillation in electrical circuits |publisher=University of Oxford |website=solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk|date=1936 |url=http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/OXVU1:LSCOP_OX:oxfaleph020202993|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.673482}}|author-link=Frederic Calland Williams}}</ref> for research carried out as a postgraduate student of [[Magdalen College, Oxford]].<ref name=whoswho>{{Who's Who | title=Williams, Prof. Sir Frederic (Calland) |author=Anon | id = U161019 | year = 2017 | edition = online [[Oxford University Press]]|location=Oxford|type=was|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U161019}}</ref>

==Research and career==
Working at the [[Telecommunications Research Establishment]] (TRE), Williams was a substantial contributor during [[World War II]] to the development of [[radar]].<ref name="biomanchester">{{cite web|last1=Napper|first1=Brian|title=Frederic Calland Williams (1911–1977)|url=http://curation.cs.manchester.ac.uk/computer50/www.computer50.org/mark1/williams.html|publisher=[[University of Manchester]]|date=October 2000|access-date=11 December 2015}}</ref>

In 1946 he was appointed as head of the Electrical Engineering Department of the [[Victoria University of Manchester|University of Manchester]]. There, with [[Tom Kilburn]] and [[Geoff Tootill]], he built the first electronic stored-program digital computer, the [[Manchester Baby]].<ref name="biomanchester" />

Williams is also recognised for his invention of the [[Williams tube]], an early memory device.<ref name="biomanchester" /> He supervised the research of his PhD students [[Richard Grimsdale]]<ref name=grimphd>{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|website=exlibrisgroup.com |title=Transistor Digital Computer |url=https://manchester.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/44MAN_INST/1bh1dbv/alma9924971964401631 |publisher=[[University of Manchester]] |first=Richard Lawrence |last=Grimsdale |accessdate=19 April 2016|year=1955 }}</ref> and [[Tom Kilburn]].<ref name=kilburnphd/>

===Awards and honours===
Williams was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] (FRS) in 1950. His nomination reads {{centered pull quote|During the war F.C. Williams was the chief authority and the main source of ideas on the electrical circuits associated with many radar devices evolved at the Telecommunications Radio Establishment. Many of the extreme refinements of technique embodied in devices such as [[Identification friend or foe|I.F.F.]], [[Gee (navigation)|G.E.E.]] and [[Oboe (navigation)|Oboe]], were due to him and were made possible by his deep knowledge of physical principles. Since the war he has developed successfully an electric storage tube for the proposed [[Manchester Baby|Manchester digital computing machine]]. The storage depends for its success on most delicate properties of wave form produced by electronic bombardment of a spot on a screen.<ref name="royal"/>}}

==Personal life==
Williams died in [[Manchester]] in 1977, aged 66.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Frederic Calland}}
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:1977 deaths]]
[[Category:Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester]]
[[Category:Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:English electrical engineers]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:History of computing in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:People educated at Stockport Grammar School]]
[[Category:People from Stockport]]
[[Category:People associated with the Department of Computer Science, University of Manchester]]
[[Category:Engineers from Lancashire]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Manchester]]


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