View source for Biography:James Lighthill

{{Short description|British applied mathematician (1924–1998)}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Sir James Lighthill
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRS|FRAeS}}
| image = Lighthill 3.jpeg
| caption = Michael James Lighthill
| birth_place = Paris, France
| birth_name = Michael James Lighthill
| death_date = {{death date and age|1998|7|17|1924|1|23|df=y}}
| death_place = Sark, Channel Islands
| nationality = British
| field = [[Mathematics]], <br> [[Physics:Acoustics|Acoustics]]
| work_institution = [[Organization:University of Manchester|University of Manchester]]<br>[[Organization:University College London|University College London]]<br>[[Organization:University of Cambridge|University of Cambridge]] <br> [[Organization:Imperial College London|Imperial College London]]
| education  = [[Organization:Winchester College|Winchester College]]
| alma_mater = [[Organization:University of Cambridge|University of Cambridge]]
| doctoral_advisor = [[Biography:Sydney Goldstein|Sydney Goldstein]]<ref name=mathgene/>
| notable_students = [[Biography:Steve Furber|Steve Furber]]<ref name=furber>{{cite web|url=https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2012/05/102746196-05-01-acc.pdf|website=computerhistory.org|title=Oral History of Steve Furber, Computer History Museum Fellow}}</ref>
| doctoral_students = [[Biography:Gerald B. Whitham|Gerald B. Whitham]]<ref name=mathgene/>
| known_for  = [[Lighthill report]]<br>[[Physics:Aeroacoustics|Lighthill's equation]]<br>[[Physics:Lighthill's eighth power law|Lighthill's eighth power law]]<br> [[Physics:Lighthill mechanism|Lighthill mechanism]]<br>[[Physics:Aeroacoustics|Aeroacoustics]] <br> [[Physics:Fluid dynamics|Fluid dynamics]]
| prizes = Timoshenko Medal (1963)<br>Royal Medal (1964)<br>Elliott Cresson Medal (1975)<br>Naylor Prize and Lectureship (1977)<br>IMA Gold Medal (1982)<br>Otto Laporte Award (1984)<br>[[Physics:Copley Medal|Copley Medal]] (1998)
| religion = 
| footnotes = 
}}

'''Sir Michael James Lighthill''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS|FRAeS}}<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Pedley | first1 = Tim J. |  doi = 10.1098/rsbm.2001.0019 | title = Sir (Michael) James Lighthill. 23 January 1924 – 17 July 1998: Elected F.R.S. 1953 | journal = Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society| volume = 47 | pages = 333–356 | year = 2001 | s2cid = 73188965 | doi-access =  }}</ref> (23 January 1924&nbsp;– 17 July 1998) was a British [[Applied mathematics|applied mathematician]], known for his pioneering work in the field of [[Physics:Aeroacoustics|aeroacoustics]]<ref>{{MacTutor Biography|id=Lighthill}}</ref><ref name=mathgene>{{MathGenealogy}}</ref><ref name="odnb">{{Cite ODNB | title = The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/68885 | year = 2004 | pmid =  | pmc = }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2250.htm |title=Engines of Ingenuity'' No. 2250: Sir Michael James Lighthill by John H. Lienhard |access-date=28 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Pedley | first1 = T. J. | author-link = Tim Pedley| doi = 10.1146/annurev.fluid.33.1.1 | title = James Lighthill and his contributions to fluid mechanics | journal = Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics | volume = 33 | pages = 1–41| year = 2001 |bibcode = 2001AnRFM..33....1P }}</ref> and for writing the [[Lighthill report]] which pessimistically stated that "In no part of the field (of AI) have the discoveries made so far produced the major impact that was then promised" contributing to the gloomy climate of [[AI winter]].<ref>[https://archives.ucl.ac.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=LIGHTHILL Lighthill Papers] at [[Organization:University College London|University College London]]</ref>

==Education and early life==
James Lighthill was born to Ernest Balzar Lichtenberg and Marjorie Holmes: an Alsatian mining engineer who changed his name to Lighthill in 1917, and the daughter of an engineer. The family lived in Paris until 1927, when the father retired and returned to live in England. As a young man, James Lighthill was known as Michael Lighthill.<ref>{{cite web|title=Michael James Lighthill|url=https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Lighthill/|publisher=MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive|access-date=3 November 2020}}</ref>

Lighthill was educated at [[Organization:Winchester College|Winchester College]], and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the [[Organization:University of Cambridge|University of Cambridge]] where he was an undergraduate student of Trinity College, Cambridge in 1943.<ref>{{cite web|title=Michael James Lighthill|url=http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Lighthill.html|publisher=University of St Andrews|access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref> 

==Career and research==
Lighthill specialised in [[Physics:Fluid dynamics|fluid dynamics]], and worked at the National Physical Laboratory at Trinity. Between 1946 and 1959 he was Beyer Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Manchester. Lighthill then moved from Manchester to become director of the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough. There he worked on the development of television and [[Astronomy:Communications satellite|communications satellite]]s, and on the development of crewed spacecraft. This latter work was used in the development of the [[Engineering:Concorde|Concorde]] supersonic airliner.

In 1955, together with [[Biography:Gerald B. Whitham|Gerald B. Whitham]], Lighthill set out the first comprehensive theory of [[Physics:Kinematic wave|kinematic wave]]s<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Lighthill | first1 = M. J. | last2 = Whitham | first2 = G. B. | doi = 10.1098/rspa.1955.0088 | title = On Kinematic Waves. I. Flood Movement in Long Rivers | journal = Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences | volume = 229 | issue = 1178 | pages = 281 | year = 1955 |bibcode = 1955RSPSA.229..281L | citeseerx = 10.1.1.205.4573 | s2cid = 18301080 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Lighthill | first1 = M. J. | last2 = Whitham | first2 = G. B. | doi = 10.1098/rspa.1955.0089 | title = On Kinematic Waves. II. A Theory of Traffic Flow on Long Crowded Roads | journal = Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences | volume = 229 | issue = 1178 | pages = 317 | year = 1955 |bibcode = 1955RSPSA.229..317L | s2cid = 15210652 }}</ref> (an application of the [[Method of characteristics|method of characteristics]]), with a multitude of applications, prime among them [[Physics:Fluid flow|fluid flow]] and [[Traffic flow|traffic flow]].

Lighthill's early work included two dimensional [[Physics:Airfoil|aerofoil]] theory, and supersonic flow around [[Solid of revolution|solids of revolution]]. In addition to the dynamics of gas at high speeds he studied shock and blast waves and introduced the [[Physics:Squirmer|squirmer]] model. He is credited with founding the subject of [[Physics:Aeroacoustics|aeroacoustics]], a subject vital to the reduction of [[Physics:Jet noise|noise in jet engine]]s. ''Lighthill's eighth power law'' states that the [[Physics:Sound power|acoustic power]] radiated by a jet engine is proportional to the eighth [[Exponentiation|power]] of the jet speed.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Crighton, David|title=Obituary: James Lighthill|journal=Physics Today|date=March 1999|volume=52|issue=3|pages=104–106|doi=10.1063/1.882537|bibcode=1999PhT....52c.104C|doi-access=free}}</ref> He also founded non-linear acoustics, and showed that the same non-linear [[Differential equation|differential equation]]s could model both flood waves in rivers and traffic flow in highways.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Smith, Peter K. |author2=Jordan, Dominic William |title=Nonlinear ordinary differential equations: an introduction for scientists and engineers |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford [Oxfordshire] |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-19-920825-8 }}</ref>

In 1964 he became the Royal Society's resident professor at [[Organization:Imperial College London|Imperial College London]], before returning to Trinity College, Cambridge, five years later as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, a chair he held until 1979, when he was succeeded by [[Biography:Stephen Hawking|Stephen Hawking]]. Lighthill then became [[Social:Provost (education)|Provost]] of [[Organization:University College London|University College London]] (UCL)&nbsp;– a post he held until 1989.

Lighthill founded the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) in 1964, alongside Professor Sir Bryan Thwaites. In 1968, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the [[Organization:University of Bath|University of Bath]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.bath.ac.uk/ceremonies/hongrads/older.html | title=Corporate Information | access-date=27 February 2012 | archive-date=25 May 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160525041553/http://www.bath.ac.uk/ceremonies/hongrads/older.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1972 he was invited to deliver the  MacMillan Memorial Lecture to the [[Organization:Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland|Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland]]. He chose the subject "Aquatic Animal Locomotion".<ref name="MacmillanLecture1972">{{cite web |url=http://www.iesis.org/macmillan.html |title=Hugh Miller Macmillan |work=Macmillan Memorial Lectures |publisher=[[Organization:Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland|Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004102303/http://www.iesis.org/macmillan.html |archive-date=2018-10-04 |access-date=2019-01-29 }}</ref>

In the early 1970s, partly in reaction to significant internal discord within that field, the [[Organization:Science and Engineering Research Council|Science Research Council (SRC)]], as it was then known, asked Lighthill to compile a review of academic research in Artificial Intelligence. Lighthill's report, which was published in 1973 and became known as the "[[Lighthill report]]," was highly critical of basic research in foundational areas such as robotics and language processing, and "formed the basis for the decision by the British government to end support for AI research in all but two universities",<ref>{{Russell Norvig 2003}}</ref> starting what is sometimes referred to as the "[[AI winter]]".

In 1982, Lighthill and Alan B. Tayler were jointly awarded the first ever Gold Medal of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications in recognition of their "outstanding contributions to mathematics and its applications over a period of years".<ref>{{cite web|title=IMA Gold Medal|url=https://ima.org.uk/awards-medals/ima-gold-medal/|access-date=16 May 2018}} Institute of Mathematics and its Applications</ref> In 1983 Lighthill was awarded the Ludwig Prandtl Ring from the [[Organization:Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt|Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt]] (German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics) for "outstanding contribution in the field of aerospace engineering".

His former students include [[Biography:Gerald B. Whitham|Gerald B. Whitham]]<ref name=mathgene/> and [[Biography:Steve Furber|Steve Furber]].<ref name=furber/>

===Publications===
*{{cite journal |last=Lighthill |first=M. J. |title=On sound generated aerodynamically. I. General theory |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society A |volume=211 |issue=1107 |pages=564–587 |year=1952 |doi=10.1098/rspa.1952.0060 |bibcode = 1952RSPSA.211..564L |s2cid=124316233 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Lighthill |first=M. J. |title=On sound generated aerodynamically. II. Turbulence as a source of sound |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society A |volume=222 |issue=1148 |doi=10.1098/rspa.1954.0049 |pages=1–32 |year=1954 |bibcode = 1954RSPSA.222....1L |s2cid=123268161 }}
*{{cite book |last=Lighthill |first=M. J.  |title=Introduction to Fourier Analysis |url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontofo0000ligh |url-access=registration |series=Cambridge Monographs on Mechanics |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |year=1958 |isbn=978-0-521-09128-2 }}
*{{cite book |last=Lighthill |first=M. J. |title=Introduction to Fourier analysis and generalised functions |year=1958| publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York|isbn=978-0-521-05556-7}}<ref>{{cite journal|author=Lees, Milton|title=Review: ''Introduction to Fourier analysis and generalised functions'', by M. J. Lighthill|journal=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.|year=1959|volume=65|issue=4|pages=248–249|doi=10.1090/S0002-9904-1959-10325-6}}</ref>
*{{cite book |last=Lighthill |first=M. J. |title=Higher approximations in aerodynamics theory |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1960 |isbn=978-0-691-07976-9}}
*{{cite book |last=Lighthill |first=M. J. |title=An informal introduction to theoretical fluid mechanics |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-19-853630-7 }}
*{{cite book |last=Lighthill |first=M. J. |title=Mathematical Biofluiddynamics |series=CBMS-NSF Regional Conference Series in Applied Mathematics |publisher=Society for Industrial Mathematics |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-89871-014-4 }}
*{{cite book |last=Lighthill |first=M. J. |title=Waves in fluids |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-521-01045-0 }}
*{{cite book |editor-last=Hussaini |editor-first=M. Yousuff |last=Lighthill |first=M. J. |title=Collected papers of Sir James Lighthill |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-19-509222-6 }}

===Awards and honours===
Lighthill was elected FRS in 1953 and FRAS 1961.<ref name="FRS">{{Cite journal|pages=352–3|title=Sir (Michael) James Lighthill: 23 January 1924 — 17 July 1998|journal=Biog. Mems Fell. R. Soc. Lond.|volume=47|date=2001}}</ref>

He was awarded the Royal Medal of the Royal Society in 1964, and the [[Physics:Copley Medal|Copley Medal]], also of the Royal Society, posthumously, in 1998.<ref name="FRS"/>

In 1958, Lightill was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael James Lighthill |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/michael-james-lighthill |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref>

The James Lighthill building at the University of Manchester<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk/maths-student-blogs/2019/05/the-james-lighthill-building-the-history-behind-the-name/|title=The James Lighthill Building – the history behind the name|website=manchester.ac.uk|date=13 May 2019 }}</ref> and James Lighthill House are named in his honour.

Lighthill was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1970.<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=James+Lighthill&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>

In 1971 Lighthill was made knight in the New Years Honours.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=45384 |date=4 June 1971 |pages=5957–5988 |supp=y}}</ref>

In 1976, Lighthill was elected a Member of the National Academy of Sciences,<ref>{{Cite web |title=M. James Lighthill |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/46892.html |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref> one of at least nine such foreign academies to elect him, including the French and Russian.<ref name="FRS" />

Lighthill was also made honorary member of many bodies, and received twenty-four honorary doctorates.<ref name="FRS"/>  He he was invited to give, and delivered, many prize and plenary lectures.<ref name="FRS" />

==Personal life==
His hobby was open-water swimming.  He died in the water in 1998 when the mitral valve in his heart ruptured while he was swimming round the island of Sark, a feat which he had accomplished many times before.<ref>{{Cite journal |author=D. G. Crighton |date=1999 |title=SIR JAMES LIGHTHILL |url=http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S002211209900484X |journal=J. Fluid Mech. |volume=386 |issue=1 |pages=1–3 |doi=10.1017/S002211209900484X |bibcode=1999JFM...386....1C |access-date=17 January 2024}}</ref>

==References==
<references/>



{{s-start}}
{{s-aca}}
{{succession box |
  before=[[Biography:Sydney Goldstein|Sydney Goldstein]]  |
  title=Beyer Chair of Applied Mathematics at [[Organization:University of Manchester|University of Manchester]] |
  years=1950–1959 |
  after=[[Biography:Fritz Ursell|Fritz Ursell]]
}}

{{succession box |
  before= [[Biography:Paul Dirac|Paul Dirac]] |
  title=Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University|
  years=1969–1978 |
  after=[[Biography:Stephen Hawking|Stephen Hawking]]
}}

{{succession box |
  before= Noel Annan |
  title=[[Social:Provost (education)|Provost]] of [[Organization:University College London|University College London]]|
  years=1979–1989 |
  after=Derek Roberts
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Copley Medallists 1951–2000}}
{{John von Neumann Lecturers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lighthill, James}}
[[Category:Fluid dynamicists]]

{{Sourceattribution|James Lighthill}}