Vernon Ellis Cosslett, 16 June 1908 - 21 November 1990

Abstract

Vernon Ellis Cosslett was born on 16 June 1908 and died on 21 November 1990, after some months of an incapacitating illness. This brought to an end a memorable career in electron microscopy at Cambridge University. During this 42-year period the electron microscope has revolutionized our basic concepts in materials science, chemistry, biology and medicine. Cosslett had contributed to all of these fields personally or through the many gifted research students and colleagues that he was able to attract to the Electron Microscopy Section that he founded in the Cavendish Laboratory in 1946. He had also played a notable role in uniting national and international efforts in electron microscopy, after the divisive effects of World War II. In 1946 he was already a founding member and first secretary of the newly formed Electron Microscopy Group of the Institute of Physics, and later its chairman. In July 1954, after two years of international discussions and negotiations, the International Federation of Electron Microscope Societies (IFSEM) was brought into being. Cosslett was again a founder member and its first secretary; B. von Borries was the first President - Cosslett himself was President from 1972-1975. As President of the Royal Microscopical Society (1961-63), he set up their first Electron Microscope Section under the Chairmanship of Audrey Glauert, notwithstanding a certain amount of opposition from some of the Fellows who were traditional light microscopists. This innovation greatly enhanced the professional standing of the RMS. In 1963 Cosslett was awarded an Honorary D.Sc. by the University of Tubingen for his contributions to electron and X-ray microscopy. And in 1974 he was awarded an Honorary M.D. by the University of Gothenburg for his contribution in applying these new technologies to medicine and biology. Ellis Cosslett’s scientific career did not go according to his own plans, or those of his teachers. This was largely due to early health problems and the economic disruption caused by two World Wars. Nevertheless, a pattern of events can be discerned, leading eventually to his position as the father of electron microscopy at Cambridge, his subsequent election as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1972, and a greatly respected position in the world-wide electron microscope community that he had worked so hard, all his life, to bring into being. In 1979, he was awarded the Royal Medal of the Royal Society in recognition of his outstanding contribution in all these fields.