Douglas Rayner Hartree, 1897-1958

Abstract

Douglas Rayner Hartree was born in Cambridge on 27 March 1897, and he died also in Cambridge on 12 February 1958. His genealogy furnishes an admirable illustration of the principle of heredity in ability, for he could claim to inherit many of his gifts and his scientific tastes from one or other of his parents. His father, who was a grandson of the famous Samuel Smiles, was for many years on the teaching staff of the Engineering Laboratory at Cambridge. He had retired from these duties in 1913, but on the advent of war in 1914 he took up work in the team led by Professor A. V. Hill which was studying anti-aircraft gunnery and cognate matters. This brought his son Douglas into the same team, and started him on the lines of doing numerical computation. After the war William Hartree co-operated with A. V. Hill in physiological experiments for a time, and then joined his son in numerical work. This he continued almost till his death in 1943, but the relationship was an exceptional one, because the son was the leader and the father ranked as the junior in this work. His mother, originally Eva Rayner, was daughter of a prominent physician in Stockport, and sister of E. H. Rayner who for many years was Superintendent of the Electricity Division of the National Physical Laboratory. She herself was active in public service and in various women’s organizations. She was at one time Mayor of Cambridge and she also served for a time as President of the National Council of Women.