Desmond King-Hele

Desmond George King-Hele FRS (3{{nbsp}}November 1927{{snd}}25{{nbsp}}December 2019) 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{{cite web|url=http://sounds.bl.uk/related-content/TRANSCRIPTS/021T-C1379X0013XX-0000A0.pdf|title=NATIONAL LIFE STORIES AN ORAL HISTORY OF BRITISH SCIENCE Desmond King-Hele Interviewed by Dr Paul Merchant|last=Merchant|first=Paul|date=15 March 2010|work=British Library|accessdate=7 November 2012|quote=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.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007063019/sounds.bl.uk/related-content/TRANSCRIPTS/021T-C1379X0013XX-0000A0.pdf|archive-date=2012-10-07}} and Trinity College, Cambridge.{{Cite web |url=https://www.bl.uk/voices-of-science/interviewees/desmond-king-hele |title=Desmond King-Hele - Voices of Science |website=The British Library |access-date=2018-12-21}}

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{{cite web |url=https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA6215&pos=1 |title=Search past Fellows |work=royalsociety.org |access-date=2023-12-15}} and gave the Bakerian lecture in 1974 and the Wilkins Lecture in 1997.{{cite journal |title=The 1997 Wilkins Lecture: Erasmus Darwin, the Lunaticks and evolution |journal=Notes Rec. R. Soc. Lond. |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=153–180 |date=1998 |doi=10.1098/rsnr.1998.0042 |last1=King-Hele |first1=D. |pmid=11619941 }} 2019 he was awarded a Honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Derby.{{cite web |url=https://www.derby.ac.uk/about/honorary-awards/honorands/desmond-king-hele/ |title=Commendation |work=derby.ac.uk |access-date=2023-12-15}}

He is considered "one of the pioneers of space geodesy".{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1_68BAAAQBAJ&q=geodesy+Desmond+King-Hele&pg=PA68|title = Handbook of Satellite Orbits: From Kepler to GPS|isbn = 9783319034164|last1 = Capderou|first1 = Michel|date = 23 April 2014| publisher=Springer }}

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.{{cite journal | last1=KING-HELE | first1=D. G. | last2=COOK | first2=G. E. | title=Refining the Earth's Pear Shape | journal=Nature | publisher=Springer Nature | volume=246 | issue=5428 | year=1973 | issn=0028-0836 | doi=10.1038/246086a0 | pages=86–88| bibcode=1973Natur.246...86K | s2cid=4260099 }}{{cite journal |last=King-Hele |first=D. |date=1967 |title=The Shape of the Earth |journal=Scientific American |volume=217 |issue=4 |pages=67–80 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican1067-67 |jstor=24926147|bibcode=1967SciAm.217d..67K }}

He married Marie Newman in 1954; they had two daughters.{{Cite web |url=https://sounds.bl.uk/Oral-history/Science/021M-C1379X0013XX-0005V0 |title=King-Hele, Desmond (Part 5 of 21). An Oral History of British Science. - Oral history of British science - Oral history |website=sounds.bl.uk |access-date=2018-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921060927/https://sounds.bl.uk/Oral-history/Science/021M-C1379X0013XX-0005V0 |archive-date=2021-09-21}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/238460/king-hele |title=King-Hele |date= |work=telegraph.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729025212/https://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/238460/king-hele |archive-date=2020-07-29}}

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

External links

Text of the award speech
Early plans for a Blue Streak-based satellite launcher
{{cite web |url=http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=021M-C1379X0013XX-0001V0.xml |title=Oral History interview with Desmond King-Hele |work=An Oral History of British Science |date=2020-11-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406042844/http://sounds.bl.uk/Oral-history/Eminent-scientists/021M-C1379X0013XX-0001V0 |archive-date=2012-04-06}} at the British Library
[https://www.google.com.br/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22King-Hele%22 Author profile at Google Books]

Category:1927 births

Category:2019 deaths

Category:People from Seaford, East Sussex

Category:British physicists

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society

Category:People educated at Epsom College

Category:Oral History of British Science