Desmond King-Hele

Desmond George King-Hele FRS (3 November 1927 – 25 December 2019)^[1] was a British physicist, poet and author who crossed the divide between the arts and science to write extensively about the life of Erasmus Darwin, whom he linked with the romantic poets Shelley, Wordsworth, and Coleridge. In 1957, together with Doreen Gilmour, and as part of the Guided Weapons department of Royal Aircraft Establishment, he wrote a report proposing the use of the Blue Streak missile and Black Knight as a satellite launcher. See also: Blue Streak Satellite Launch Vehicle.

Life and career

He was born in Seaford, Sussex, the son of Sidney G. and Bessie (née Sayer) King-Hele and was educated at Epsom College^[1] and Trinity College, Cambridge.^[2]

He joined the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough in 1948 and stayed there until 1988, researching the gravity of Earth and its upper atmosphere by satellite orbit determination. He was awarded the Eddington Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1971 for his work on the geophysical application of the study of the orbits of artificial satellites. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in March 1966^[3] and gave the Bakerian lecture in 1974 and the Wilkins Lecture in 1997.^[4] 2019 he was awarded a Honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Derby.^[5]

He is considered "one of the pioneers of space geodesy".^[6] Based on satellite geodesy, King-Hele refined the estimate for Earth's pear shape, finding a 45 m difference between north and south polar radii.^[7]^[8]

He married Marie Newman in 1954; they had two daughters.^[9]

He won the Chree medal and prize in 1971.

In 1973, he correctly predicted that Skylab would re-enter Earth's atmosphere in 1979.

King-Hele died on 25 December 2019.^[10]

Publications

Satellites and Scientific Research 1962
Shelley: His Thought and Work 1962
Erasmus Darwin 1963
Theory of Satellite Orbits in an Atmosphere 1964
Doctor of Revolution 1977
Observing Earth Satellites 1983
Shelley: His Thought and Work 1984
Erasmus Darwin and the Romantic Poets 1986
A Tapestry of Orbits 1992, 2005
Erasmus Darwin: A Life of Unequalled Achievement 1999
Erasmus Darwin and Evolution 2014

He is also the author of two books of poetry, and of various articles published in journals, such as "Shelley and Science", Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Jul., 1992), pp. 253-265.

References

^ ^a ^b Merchant, Paul (15 March 2010). "NATIONAL LIFE STORIES AN ORAL HISTORY OF BRITISH SCIENCE Desmond King-Hele Interviewed by Dr Paul Merchant" (PDF). British Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012. recommended me for a special scholarship to Epsom College, the large public school on the eastern outskirts of Epsom, and the college headmaster had agreed this.
^ "Desmond King-Hele - Voices of Science". The British Library. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
^ "Search past Fellows". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
^ "The 1997 Wilkins Lecture: Erasmus Darwin, the Lunaticks and evolution". Notes Rec. R. Soc. Lond. 52 (1): 153–180. 1998. doi:10.1098/rsnr.1998.0042.
^ "Commendation". derby.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
^ Capderou, Michel (23 April 2014). Handbook of Satellite Orbits: From Kepler to GPS. ISBN 9783319034164.
^ KING-HELE, D. G.; COOK, G. E. (1973). "Refining the Earth's Pear Shape". Nature. 246 (5428). Springer Nature: 86–88. doi:10.1038/246086a0. ISSN 0028-0836. S2CID 4260099.
^ King-Hele, D. (1967). "The Shape of the Earth". Scientific American. 217 (4): 67–80. JSTOR 24926147.
^ "King-Hele, Desmond (Part 5 of 21). An Oral History of British Science. - Oral history of British science - Oral history". sounds.bl.uk. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
^ "King-Hele". telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020.

External links

Text of the award speech
Early plans for a Blue Streak-based satellite launcher
"Oral History interview with Desmond King-Hele". An Oral History of British Science. 6 November 2020. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. at the British Library
Author profile at Google Books

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[Merchant-1] Merchant, Paul (15 March 2010). "NATIONAL LIFE STORIES AN ORAL HISTORY OF BRITISH SCIENCE Desmond King-Hele Interviewed by Dr Paul Merchant" (PDF). British Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012. recommended me for a special scholarship to Epsom College, the large public school on the eastern outskirts of Epsom, and the college headmaster had agreed this.

[2] "Desmond King-Hele - Voices of Science". The British Library. Retrieved 21 December 2018.

[3] "Search past Fellows". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 15 December 2023.

[4] "The 1997 Wilkins Lecture: Erasmus Darwin, the Lunaticks and evolution". Notes Rec. R. Soc. Lond. 52 (1): 153–180. 1998. doi:10.1098/rsnr.1998.0042.

[5] "Commendation". derby.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2023.

[6] Capderou, Michel (23 April 2014). Handbook of Satellite Orbits: From Kepler to GPS. ISBN 9783319034164.

[7] KING-HELE, D. G.; COOK, G. E. (1973). "Refining the Earth's Pear Shape". Nature. 246 (5428). Springer Nature: 86–88. doi:10.1038/246086a0. ISSN 0028-0836. S2CID 4260099.

[8] King-Hele, D. (1967). "The Shape of the Earth". Scientific American. 217 (4): 67–80. JSTOR 24926147.

[9] "King-Hele, Desmond (Part 5 of 21). An Oral History of British Science. - Oral history of British science - Oral history". sounds.bl.uk. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2018.

[10] "King-Hele". telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020.

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