David William Dye
David William Dye (1887-1932)
1932 Obituary[1]
"THE LATE DR. D. W. DYE, F.R.S.
Dr. David William Dye, whose death occurred at Surbiton on Thursday, February' 18, at the early age of 44, was well known in physical and electrical circles as a brilliant investigator and as a painstaking worker in the field of units and standards; both for radio and other purposes.
Dr. Dye was born at Portsmouth on December 30, 1887, and after receiving his early education in that town, studied at the City and Guilds (Engineering) College, South Kensington, and graduated at the London University. After taking a short apprenticeship course with the British Thomson-Houston Company, he was, in 1910, appointed a member of the staff of the Electricity Department of the National Physical Laboratory, and was holding the position of Principal Assistant at the time of his death. He worked for some years with Mr. Albert Campbell on the problems of alternating-current measurements at audio frequencies, and, in 1919, succeeded Mr. F. E. (now Sir Frank) Smith as head of the Electrical Standards and Measurements Division of the Laboratory. In this position all the primary electrical standards of electromotive force, current, resistance, capacity, and inductance held by this country came under his care, and he established a reputation for highly accurate work in the many classes of measurement involving the use and maintenance of these standards. Among other activities he devised a method of measuring the vertical component of the earth’s magnetic field, the resulting apparatus now forming a principal part of the equipment at the Abinger Magnetic Observatory.
During succeeding years, Dr. Dye devoted himself particularly to the study of radio-frequency standards, and quite recently had attained in the fundamental measurement of these frequencies an accuracy, which is second to none in the world. In 1925, he developed the tuning-fork controlled multi-vibrator system as a primary standard of radio frequency, and about the same time began to study the behaviour of the quartz crystal as a piezo-electric resonator and oscillator. Concurrently, he arranged the valve-driven tuning fork to drive a phonic wheel, which, in turn, recorded on a chronographic drum simultaneously with the “seconds” dots from the standard Shortt clock. A direct link was thus established between the radio-frequency spectrum and the Laboratory standard of time. During the course of this work direct international comparisons of frequency standards were carried out, either by the circulation of a quartz-crystal resonator between the various national laboratories or, more recently, by the simultaneous measurement of the frequency of a transmission from some suitable wireless station. Dye’s latest work in this field consisted of setting up two tuning forks and a quartz oscillator, which was also continuously maintained under carefully selected conditions of temperature and pressure control, when it was estimated that both tuning-fork and quartz oscillator standards possessed a uniformity in operation of the order of 1 part in 100,000,000. It is on this very secure basis that he has left the national frequency standards of this country. It is, however, to be regretted that much of his most recent work has still to be described and published, a task to which his colleagues will doubtless apply themselves with enthusiasm.
Dr. Dye was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1928, and was a member of the Council of the Physical Society and of the Radio Research Board, besides being secretary of the British National Committee of the Union Radio-Scientifique Internationale. He had also served as chairman of the Commission on Radio Standards at the congresses of that body, held at Washington, Brussels, and Copenhagen. He obtained the degree of Doctor of Science for his work on wireless, and was elected a Fellow of the City and Guilds Institute in 1931."