Harold Hopkins - Biography

Biography

He was born into a poor family in the slums of Leicester in 1918 and his remarkable mind was recognised early on. Due to his own genius and the good fortune of having the support of both his family and teachers, he obtained one of only two scholarships (in the whole of Leicestershire) enabling him to attend The Gateway Grammar School. There he excelled especially in the arts (English, History and Languages). However, the Headmaster, recognising his exceptional gift for mathematics, directed him into science.

So he read physics and maths at University College, Leicester, graduated in 1939 with a first and then began a PhD in Nuclear Physics. However this was cancelled on the outbreak of war, and he went to work instead for Taylor, Taylor & Hobson where he was introduced to optical design.

For some reason he was not given reserved-occupation status, which led to his being called up and being trained briefly in 'blowing up bridges'. (He was obviously a natural, quickly rising to the rank of 'acting unpaid lance corporal' and winning a prize for his speed at dismantling and reassembling his rifle.) The error of this placement soon became apparent and he was set to work on designing optical systems for the rest of the war and was able at the same time to work on a thesis for his PhD, which was obtained in 1945.

He began a research fellowship at Imperial College London in 1947, lecturing in optics. The next twenty years saw him emerge as one of the foremost authorities in the field of optics. In addition to his own work, he attracted a large number of high quality PhD students from all over the world, many of whom became senior academics and researchers themselves. His reputation as a teacher was second to none. (When he moved to Reading University in 1967 to take up the newly created chair in optics, many of his former MSc students at Imperial would travel to Reading to attend his lectures.) He always believed that his primary responsibility was his teaching and that the research came second. However he was also totally convinced that teaching and scientific research were vitally important to each other. "Only when you try to teach something do you discover whether you truly understand it."

The secret of his success lay to a great extent in the very advanced mathematics that he brought to the subject. The development of the mathematical description of the behaviour of optical systems was at the centre of his life's work in physics - the application of which produced so many world famous inventions. He chose to remain at Reading in the post of Professor of Applied Physical Optics until his official retirement in 1984, declining the numerous top appointments he was offered. He believed the continuation of his teaching and research work to be more important and far more rewarding personally. However, he took great delight in having conferred on him the Honorary Fellowships of all the medical Royal Colleges in Britain, together with the highest awards of many of the world's premier scientific bodies including (in 1973) the Fellowship of the Royal Society itself. He was awarded the 1990 Lister Medal for his contributions to surgical science. The corresponding Lister Oration, given at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, was delivered on 11 April 1991, and was titled 'The development of the modern endoscopes - present and future prospects'. This award, for his work on endoscopes, was unusual in that normally it is made to someone working in the field of medicine. He was awarded the 1978 Frederic Ives Medal by the OSA. What is rather less well-known about Harold Hopkins is that he was also a politically committed man of the left, being an early member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. Coming from a poor and under-privileged background, he understood how essential equal opportunities and good education were if ordianry working class youngsters like himself were to prosper in society.