3^4 



NATURE 



[June 15, 19 16 



everything- will be ready to begin regular ob- 

 serving with the magnificent equipment next 

 spring", by which time the preliminary experi- 

 mental work of adjusting will be completed. 



The rapid progress on the telescope is largely 

 due to the excellent plans which were prepared 

 by Dr. J, S. Plaskett in consultation with the 

 Brashear and the Warner and Swasey companies. 

 Dr. Plaskett will have charge of the instrument 

 when completed. 



SIR FREDERICK DONALDSON, K.C.B. 



AS announced in last week's Nature (p. 307), 

 Sir Hay Frederick Donaldson, an engineer 

 of distinction, perished in the disaster to H.M.S. 

 Hampshire, on June 5, when accompanying Lord 

 Kitchener as a representative of the Ministry of 

 Munitions with the special rank of Brig- 

 General. He held successively the positions of 

 deputy-director-general, chief mechanical engi- 

 neer, and chief superintendent of the Royal 

 Ordnance Factories, Woolwich. He was asso- 

 cated with, and largely responsible for, the great 

 improvements in the power and mechanism of 

 naval and land artillery during the last twenty 

 years. Since the beginning- of the war his energies 

 were severely taxed in assisting to meet the 

 demand for an enormously increased supply of 

 munitions of every description, and in augmenting^ 

 the productive capacity of the Royal Arsenal. 

 Some months ago he was appointed chief technical 

 adviser to the Ministry of Munitions. 



Born in 1856, at Sydney, Sir Frederick was the 

 second son of Sir Stuart A. Donaldson, the first 

 Premier of New South Wales. He was educated 

 at Eton, Trinity College (Cambridge), Edinburgh, 

 and Zurich, He was a pupil of the late Mr. Webb 

 at the L. and N.W. Railway works at Crewe. 

 Afterwards he was executive engineer on the 

 W^est of India Portuguese Railway and Harbour, 

 engineer-in-charge of No. i Section of the Man- 

 chester Ship Canal, and engineer-in-chief to the 

 London and India Docks Joint Committee. Then 

 in 1897 he went to Woolwich, where his chief 

 work was accomplished. 



In addition to his professional avocations. Sir 

 Frederick took a great interest in the scientific 

 side of engineering. He was a member of the 

 Council of the Institutions of Civil Engineers, 

 Mechanical Engineers, and of the Iron and Steel 

 Institute. In 1913 and 1914 he was president of 

 the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, took an 

 energetic part in guiding its affairs, and delivered 

 an admirable address dealing with the education 

 and the workshop training- of engineers. He was 

 actively interested in the work of the Engineering 

 Standards Committee, and was chairman of the 

 committee on screw threads and limit gaug-es. 

 The investigations of this committee have cer- 

 tainly led to increased accuracy of workmanship 

 and to extensions of the modern system of manu- 

 facturing machines with parts interchangeable 

 without needing adjustment. At its instance a 

 lathe of the highest accuracy was installed at the 

 National Physical Laboratory, which can be used 



NO. 2433, VOL. 97] 



in correcting lathe leading screws. In 1909 Sir 

 Frederick g-ave an instructive lecture at the Institu- 

 tion of Mechanical Engineers on "The Inter- 

 changeability of Screw Threads." He also pro- 

 posed a scheme for the registration of the results 

 of scientific researches carried out in private 

 laboratories and those attached to factories and 

 manufacturing works, with the object of prevent- 

 ing reduplication of effort. Valuable as such a 

 system would be, it has not so far been found 

 practicable. 



To great ability and wide engineering know- 

 ledge Sir Frederick added unfailing tact and g-reat 

 courtesy and charm of manner, and enjoyed the 

 esteem of all who were associated with him. His 

 colleagues mourn his loss, which to them and to 

 the country is irreparable. 



MR. LESLIE S. ROBERTSON. 



APPOINTED to the staff as a representative 

 of the Ministry of Munitions, and with 

 the special rank of Lieut. -Col., Mr. Leslie 

 Robertson met his death on the ill-fated mission 

 of Lord Kitchener to Russia. He was born in 

 India in 1863, the youngest son of Sir W. R. 

 Robinson, K.C.S.I., Governor of Madras, who 

 resumed an earlier family name in 1898. He was 

 educated in Germany and at King's and University 

 CoUeg-es in London. He was technically trained 

 in the works of Messrs. Denny and Co., Dum- 

 barton, and Messrs. J. I. Thornycroft, Chiswick. 

 Then he was in private practice for a time, during 

 which he represented in this country the important 

 firm of Normand, of Havre. 



In 1 90 1 he became secretary to the Engineering 

 Standards Committee, the work of which he 

 carried on for fourteen years with an enthusiasm 

 and ability to which much of its success is due. 

 Founded initially to standardise rolled sections of 

 steel, the work of this committee has extended to 

 nearly all the materials largely used in engineer- 

 ing, and to a variety of manufactured products 

 from locomotives to glow-lamps. Further, it has 

 standardised tests and specifications. An army of 

 engineers, users, and manufacturers, including 

 representatives of the War Office and Admiralty, 

 formed its sectional committees, giving their 

 services gratuitously, and greatly helped by the 

 tactful arrangements made by Mr. Robertson to 

 economise their time. The results are becoming- 

 of increasing importance from an international 

 point of view. In 191 2 Mr. Robertson was secre- 

 tary to delegates sent by the Board of Trade to 

 a congress in New York of the important Inter- 

 national Association for Testing Materials, 

 founded by Bauschinger in 1884. 



In August, 1915, Mr. Robertson was appointed 

 assistant director of production in the Ministry 

 of Munitions, and was concerned with organising 

 the production of the metal components of 

 ammunition. One of his coUeag^ues at Armament 

 Buildings writes that "his almost unique know- 

 ledge of the capacity of the workshops of Great 

 Britain and of the men in charge of them was 

 invaluable in negotiations, leading to the enormous 



