Basil Schonland
| Sir Basil Schonland | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
2 February 1896 Grahamstown, South Africa |
| Died | 24 November 1972 (aged 76) Winchester, Hampshire |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | Atomic Energy Research Establishment |
| Alma mater | Rhodes University, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge |
| Notable awards | |
Sir Basil Ferdinand Jamieson Schonland OMG CBE FRS (2 February 1896 – 24 November 1972) was noted for his research on lightning, his involvement in the development of radar during World War II and for being the first president of the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
He was born in Grahamstown, South Africa to Selmar Schonland (botanist and a founder of Rhodes University) and Flora MacOwan, daughter of Peter MacOwan.
In 1910 Schonland matriculated at the age of 14 from St. Andrew's College as the top pupil in the Cape Province. He later studied at Rhodes University and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge in the years 1914-15 and 1919-20.
During World War I, Schonland volunteered for service and served with the Signal Service of the Royal Engineers in France 1915-18. He was wounded at Arras, mentioned in despatches and was awarded the OBE.
After the war he became a research student at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University where he studied the scattering of beta particles. In 1922, Schonland returned to South Africa and took up a post at University of Cape Town as a lecturer and later Professor of Physics.
In 1923 Schonland married Isabel Craib and had one son and two daughters.
He left Cape Town in 1937 to become the founding director of the Bernard Price Institute of Geophysics at Witwatersrand University where he made significant contributions to the study of atmospheric electricity, photographing lightning and investigating the electric fields generated by thunderclouds. The South African highveld has an exceptionally high lightning incidence which provided abundant material for his work. During this time he spent a scholarship year back at the Cavendish Laboratory, 1927-28.
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