British physicist
Bertha Swirles, Lady Jeffreys (22 May 1903 – 18 December 1999) was an English physicist, academic and scientific author who carried out research on quantum theory in its early days. She was associated with Girton College, University of Cambridge, as student and Fellow, for over 70 years.[1]
Biography
Bertha Swirles was born in Northampton in 1903 to Harriett née Blaxley (born around 1873), a primary school teacher, and William Alexander Swirles (b. 1878), a leather salesman.[2][3] She went to Northampton School for Girls. In 1921, Swirles matriculated at Girton College to read mathematics, taking a first.[4] She became a research student of quantum theory partly under Ralph Fowler at the University of Cambridge, one of a distinguished company of his students that included Paul Dirac and Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. She also carried out research at the University of Göttingen under Max Born and Werner Heisenberg.[2]
In 1929, Swirles gained her PhD. By this time, Swirles was an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Manchester. She followed with similar teaching posts at the University of Bristol and then at Imperial College (then the Royal College of Science), London in the 1930s.[4][5] She returned to Girton College in 1938 as a mathematics lecturer and Fellow of the College. She continued her research into quantum theory, but also expanded her work to include seismology. In 1949 she became Director of Studies for Mathematics at Girton, a position she held until 1969.[4] In this role she supported and developed the teaching of mathematics to women. She held a variety of positions at the College including Vice-Mistress from 1966 to 1969.
In 1940, Swirles married fellow mathematician Harold Jeffreys becoming Lady Jeffreys when he was knighted in 1953.
She enjoyed music and was an accomplished pianist and cellist.[2][4]
She died in Cambridge on 18 December 1999 of a stroke.
Recognition
She was president of the Mathematical Association for 1969.[6]
She received honorary degrees from the Open University and the University of Saskatchewan.[4]
In 2016 the Council of the University of Cambridge approved the use of Swirles's name to mark Swirles Court, which consists of 325 graduate student rooms, leased by Girton College, within the North West Cambridge Development.[3]
