21
Jul
Obituary: DF Brewer
Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Sussex, Douglas Forbes Brewer, aged 93, passed away peacefully at home on 16 July 2018. He was a devoted husband and father, a respected colleague, and a cherished friend who will be deeply missed by many.
Half of the founding members of the BRAMS Institute had the privilege of knowing Professor Brewer personally. They worked alongside him and engaged in delightful conversations on a variety of subjects beyond just science, as he was an intellectually stimulating individual.
From the outset of Georgia's regained independence, Professor Brewer was a compassionate supporter of the Republic of Georgia. His personal and professional qualities helped him build an extensive network of friendships among his Georgian colleagues. Eduard Shevardnadze, who served as the President of Georgia during that time, became one of his friends. In 1996, Professor Brewer was elected as a Foreign Member of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences. Subsequently, President Shevardnadze congratulated the distinguished British scientist. Professor Brewer kept a framed letter from the President of Georgia, dated 18 July 1996, displayed on the wall of his bedroom until the end of his life.
Many official and personal sympathy messages have already been sent to Professor Brewer’s family from Georgia. Among those, the letter of condolence from the president of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences, Academician Giorgi Kvesitadze, who underlined the greatness of Professor Douglas Brewer's personality along with his outstanding professionalism, as he "was a great friend of Georgia. Invaluable is the support he rendered to Georgian science in the 1990s, the most difficult time for us. Thanks to his attention and effort, it was possible to continue and develop research in Georgia in the direction of experimental physics of Condensed Matter.
Many official and personal messages of sympathy have already been sent to Professor Brewer’s family from Georgia. Among them is a letter of condolence from Academician Giorgi Kvesitadze, President of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences. He emphasised the significance of Professor Douglas Brewer's character and his outstanding professionalism, stating, "He was a great friend of Georgia. Invaluable is the support he rendered to Georgian science in the 1990s, the most difficult time for us. Thanks to his attention and effort, it was possible to continue and develop research in Georgia in the direction of experimental physics of Condensed Matter. The election of Professor Douglas Brewer as Foreign Member of the Academy in 1996 was a great honour for the Georgian National Academy of Sciences."
On Tuesday, 31 July 2018, at 5:00 PM, the BRAMS Institute will hold a memorial service for Professor Douglas Brewer to honour his professional accomplishments and personal attributes. The CEO of the BRAMS Institute, Professor Maia Nadare, along with her colleagues, will commemorate Professor Brewer’s legacy. All are invited to attend
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Douglas F. Brewer was born in Cardiff, Wales, in 1925. He received his education at the Crypt Grammar School in Gloucester and attended the University of Oxford from 1943 to 1945 and again from 1948 to 1950.
He worked at the GEC Research Laboratories from 1945 to 1948 and earned his Doctorate at Oxford University in 1953, focusing on the discovery of the suppression of superfluidity in unsaturated helium-4 films. Between 1954 and 1956, he collaborated with D.O. Edwards to observe the linear sub-critical region of superflow in capillary tubes, demonstrating its hydrodynamic nature.
From 1957 to 1959, he served as Associate Professor at Ohio State University, where he made the first observation of the linear specific heat of liquid helium-3 and its positive pressure dependence as a Fermi fluid, as well as the Pomeranchuk minimum in its melting curve.
In 1962, he joined the University of Sussex as one of the founding lecturers in Mathematics and Physical Sciences (MAPS), specialising in Low-Temperature Physics. He initiated experimental work in low-temperature physics and developed a significant research group at Sussex. His extensive studies on helium-3 and helium-4 in porous materials included the observation of T2 specific heat in monolayer films of helium-3 and helium-4, as well as two-dimensional protons in the second layer of helium-4. His measurements of the mean free path-limited spin diffusion coefficient and thermal conductivity of liquid helium-3 proved that Landau quasiparticles are physical entities, not merely theoretical constructs. He also discovered surface magnetism in helium-3 through measurements of NMR susceptibility in porous glass.
He served as the editor of the Progress in Low-Temperature Physics series and held the positions of Secretary and Chairman of the Very Low-Temperature Commission of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. Additionally, he organised LT19.
On 25 July 2015, current and former faculty members, along with alumni from the Physics Department, gathered on campus to celebrate Professor Douglas Brewer’s 90th birthday. Alumnus Dr Peter Ford MBE initiated this event, supported by the Development and Alumni Office, as well as the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS). Many of Professor Brewer’s former colleagues and students attended, including the current head of the school, Professor Peter Coles, and the Head of Department, Professor Claudia Eberlein, who kindly offered a tour of the department following lunch.
The funeral will take place at St Nicholas Church in Iford (near Lewes), East Sussex, on Wednesday, 8 August 2018, at 14:00. A great friend to many Georgians will be laid to rest on the anniversary of one of the most tragic days in modern Georgian history—8 August 2008—deepening the sorrow for those who knew him personally.
A good heart has stopped beating, and a noble soul has ascended to Heaven. May God grant him eternal rest and provide his family with the strength to bear their grief.
