14.
Research Groups
When
the Second World War began the British demand for physicists
exceeded the supply. In 1939 the Cavendish was producing
160 physicists a year, with 40 researchers and 20 assistants.
In the years following the war these numbers increased
tremendously, and by 1948 had reached a peak of 600
physicists a year, with 160 in research. The War also
prompted the introduction of telephones and secretarial
staff to the Cavendish.
With
this many researchers working in the Cavendish the old
system of supervision by a single Professor was impossible.
A group system was introduced, with groups in nuclear
physics, radio research, low temperature physics, crystallography,
the study of metals, and mathematical physics. Individual
research students would answer to the head of their
group, and the heads would meet regularly to report
their progress to each other.
The
influx of students and researchers after the war meant
that the Austin Wing, intended to meet needs for the
next thirty years, was full within ten. Physics had
become a subject that interested the public, and during
the summer holiday the Laboratory received around 100
visitors a week. Its archives were put in order and
used to construct the Cavendish Museum, now found at
the new Cavendish Laboratory in Madingley Road.
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