Anthony French

French was born November 19, 1920 in Brighton, England.[1][2] French won a scholarship to study at Sydney Sussex College at Cambridge University, receiving his B.A. in physics in 1942.[3]

In 1942, he was recruited by Egon Bretscher to the British effort to build an atomic bomb (codenamed Tube Alloys) at the Cavendish Laboratory.[3] By 1944, Tube Alloys had been merged with the American Manhattan Project and French was sent to Los Alamos.[1]

In 1945 he married Los Alamos mathematician Naomi Livesay.[4][1]

When the war ended, French returned to Cambridge University and the Cavendish Laboratory where he joined the faculty at Pembroke College, becoming a fellow and director of studies in natural sciences.[3] He was awarded a Ph.D. in 1948 based some of his declassified work from Los Alamos.[3][1] French also briefly worked at the newly formed Atomic Energy Research Establishment in Harwell, Oxfordshire.[3]

In 1955, French relocated to the University of South Carolina and was soon appointed chair of the physics department.[1][3] At this time he wrote the textbook Principles of Modern Physics.[3] He left South Carolina in 1962 to take a faculty position in the MIT Physics Department, where he remained for the rest of his career.[3] French's main interest was undergraduate physics education. He was chairman of the Commission on Physics Education of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (1975-1981) and president of the American Association of Physics Teachers (1985-1986). He was also a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

French's wife Naomi died in 2001.[3] In 2002 he married Dorothy Jensen.[3] French died February 3, 2017.[1][2]

• A.P. French, ed. (1988). Physics in a Technological World: XIX General Assembly, International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. American Institute of Physics.

• A. P. French and P. J. Kennedy, ed. (1985). Niels Bohr: A centenary volume. Harvard University Press.

• A. P. French, ed. (1979). Einstein: A centenary volume. Heinemann for the International Commission on Physics Education.

• French, A.P.; Taylor, Edwin F. (1978). Introduction to Quantum Physics. MIT Introductory Physics Series. W.W. Norton & Company.

• French, A.P. (1971). Newtonian Mechanics. MIT Introductory Physics Series. W.W. Norton & Company.

• French, A.P. (1971). Vibrations and Waves. MIT Introductory Physics Series. W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 9780748744473.

• French, A.P. (1968). Special Relativity. MIT Introductory Physics Series. W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 9781420074819.

• French, A.P. (1958). Principles of Modern Physics. John Wiley.

• 1976 Distinguished Service Citation of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT)[1]
• 1980 University Medal of Charles University in Prague[1]
• 1988 Lawrence Bragg Medal of the Institute of Physics, London[1]
• 1989 Oersted Medal of the AAPT[1]
• 1991 Named Professor Emeritus at MIT[1]
• 1993 Melba Newell Phillips Medal of the American Association of Physics Teachers[1]

• 2008 Video Interview with Anthony French by Atomic Heritage Foundation Voices of the Manhattan Project
• 1992 Video Video Interview with Anthony French by Los Alamos Historical Society Voices of the Manhattan Project
• Anthony French's web page at MIT
• 1992 Video interview with Anthony French by Theresa Strottman Voices of the Manhattan Project