George William Gray CBE MRIA FRSE. 4 September 1926 — 12 May 2013

Abstract

George Gray was a renowned British materials chemist, internationally distinguished for his research into liquid crystals and their applications in flat-panel displays. His seminal invention of the liquid-crystalline cyanobiphenyls underpinned the creation of the modern electronic displays industry, which began with digital watches and has continued through to smart and three-dimensional televisions. There are now more liquid crystal displays in the world than people, and these devices have engendered societal changes through social networking on the Internet. His ability to design, synthesize and utilize self-organizing materials across the various disciplines of science showed that he was a supreme molecular engineer. For his contributions to soft-matter and related advanced technologies he was made a Commander of the British Empire, Kyoto Prize laureate, Fellow of the Royal Society, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy. Early years and familyGeorge Gray was born to John and Jessie Gray in Denny, Scotland, on 4 September 1926. He was an ordinary, happy and mischievous boy brought up in a stable and loving family. He was the only son, but he did have a sister, Catherine, six years his senior. As a child his main interests were making models of ships, reading, and growing plants and gardening. The small town of Denny, where he grew up, was not particularly attractive because it was centred on coal mining, paper manufacture and iron production. However, as it had easy access to the surrounding and beautiful countryside, his memories were of hills and rivers, not industrial grime.George's mother was much closer to his sister than she was to George; maybe she found him too lively, untidy and mischievous-for example, he once tied his nanny to a chair. In

Conception, Discovery, Invention, Serendipity and Consortia: Cyanobiphenyls and Beyond

“…This was George Gray. In conclusion, at the end of the meeting, Cyril Hilsum commented, "We must put the man from Hull on a contract", even though at the time it was thought that "Liquid crystals would make no impact on Black and White or Colour TV". The stories of these events can be found in various publications by Hilsum, Gray and in a Royal Society memoir about the life of George Gray [2,3,[5][6][7][8].…”

“…Congratulatory messages were sent to the three recipients of different categories by the President of the United States, Bill Clinton, and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, John Major. The contents of their messages are as follows [3,48]:…”

“…Close to the beginning of the development of silicon-based electronics in the UK, an odd figure stepped onto the stage, no less than John Stonehouse MP, who served in Prime Minister Harold Wilson's government as Minister of Posts and Telecommunications [1]. In March 1967, Stonehouse made his first visit to the Royal Radar Establishment (RRE) to meet with the Director, Dr. George MacFarlane [2,3]. Between them, they discussed monetary returns from inventions, with MacFarlane noting a story that the UK royalties paid to the American company RCA on the shadow-mask colour TV tube were thought to have been more than the development costs for the supersonic jet Concorde.…”