Med. Electron. Biol. Engng. VoI. 1, pp. 159-160. Pergamon Press, 1963. Printed in Great Britain

Dr. A. N IGHTINGALE, 1923-1963

ALFRED NIGHTINGALE disparait apr6s avoir donn6 le meilleur de sa foi et de sa comp6tence ~t notre discipline sous la forme du magnifique moyen de communication interne que constitue ce Journal. Sa mort nous apparait comme une perte immense et une tragique injustice.

De nombreuses r6alisations qu'il avait projet6es et dont son esprit 6tait plein ne seront pas men&s leur terme. I1 ne r6coltera pas les fruits de son succ6s ~t la tSte du Comit6 Editorial de Medical

Electronics & Biological Engineering. La pens& qu'~t la veille de son d6c6s, Alfred Nightingale savait comme nous que la bataille qu'il avait men6e en notre nom contre les forces divergentes avait spectaculairement abouti avec le premier numero n 'apporte qu 'un apaisement bien faible nos regrets.

Au nom de tous nos coll6gues de la F6d6ration Internationale de l 'Electronique M6dicale, je pr&ente ~ Madame Nightingale et h ses enfants, avec nos condol6ances, l 'amicale assurance de notre d6votion ~t la m6moire d 'un grand pionnier. Je formule aussi pour nous tous le voeu de pouvoir donner ~ Alfred Nightingale un successeur digne de lui et qui sache trouver dans sa r6ussite l ' inspiration indispensable pour maintenir et d6velopper ce qu'il a si bien cr66.

ANTOINE R~MOND Pr6sident, I.F.M.E.

THE death of Dr. A. NIGHTINGALE, Lecturer in Physics at St. Thomas 's Hospital Medical School, London, and Chief Physicist to the Hospital, occurred at his home on 27 February, 1963.

Alfred Nightingale was born on 7 February, 1923, and received his education at St. Albans School, Uppingham and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. After obtaining honours in Part I of the Natural Science Tripos at Cambridge in 1943, he was seconded to the Admiralty as a member of a research team working on electronic underwater sound devices.

After the war he returned to his old school, Uppingham, where he had been the deputy head boy, to teach physics and mathematics for one year. He then returned to Emmanuel for the Part I I Tripos in Physics and obtained first class honours.

He did not, however, return to teaching, a profession in which his father's name had become a household word through his textbook on Physics. Instead he turned to Medical Physics and in 1947 joined the medical school at Guy 's Hospital, London, as a Lecturer. There he obtained his Ph.D. following research in the subject of electromyography.

In 1959 he received his appointment to St. Thomas's . There he became interested in neurally controlled artificial limbs and was working in close co-operation with research workers on polio- myelitis.

Translations of this obituary will be published in the next issue. 159

160 OBITUARY: DR. A. NIGHTINGALE

Dr. Nightingale saw clearly the need for co-operation between members of the medical profession and engineers or physicists and he became the first Honorary Secretary of the Biological Engineering Society at its formation in 1960. He was also the U.K. Council representative of the International Federation for Medical Electronics.

At the Third International Conference on Medical Electronics in New York in 1961, the Federation decided to produce a journal in Medical Electronics and Biological Engineering and Dr. Nightingale was invited to be the first Editor. The organization of an international journal of this standard is no mean task and the measure of his achievement can be seen directly in the first two issues, for which he was completely responsible.

He was also the chairman of a Ministry of Health sub-committee on instrumentation and on the Friday before his death had taken an active part in a symposium on patient monitoring at Edinburgh, a subject his committee had been considering.

Such time as he could spare for recreation he spent in camping with his family. He was a deeply religious man and before moving to Guildford he had been closely associated with St. Albans cathedral.

Mr. W. d. Perkins writes: The tragic accident which ended the life of Dr. ALFRED NIGHTINGALE at the age of 40 ended a career which had reached that exciting stage where the results of his efforts were being recognised.

He had everything to live for, success in his chosen sphere and a devoted family to share in his achievements.

My own association with him began prior to the 2nd International Conference on Medical Electronics in 1959, and since that time I worked with him in trying to establish a liaison between workers in the overall field of Biological Engineering. He was essentially a kindly man, a person whom you could trust and it was inevitable that with these attributes, combined with his scientific ability, he was asked to play a leading role in the evolution of a new discipline. He was elected as the honorary secretary of the British members of the I.F.M.E. in 1959, and with the formation of the B.E.S. in October 1960, he became its first Honorary Secretary. The successful growth of the Society owes much to his enthusiasm and unsparing efforts. On becoming Editor of the new Journal he relinquished the post of Secretary but remained an active member of the Council.

I personally have lost a friend for whom I had a great respect; the B.E.S. and the I.F.M.E have suffered a great loss. His wife Jacqueline and four children have not only the sympathy of the members of these groups but also the knowledge that he was admired and respected by them.