{{Short description|British crystallographer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}} {{Use British English|date=March 2017}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Cecil Arnold Beevers | image = Beevers-Lipson strips at the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford.JPG | image_size = 220px | caption = <small>Beevers–Lipson strips, co-invented with Henry Lipson, on display at the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford,<ref name="mhs">{{cite web| url=http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/collections/imu-search-page/record-details/?TitInventoryNo=80368&querytype=field&thumbnails=on&irn=15017 | title=Set of Beevers Lipson Strips, Sine Set, c.1936 | publisher=Museum of the History of Science | location=Oxford | number=80368 | accessdate=28 March 2014 }}</ref> as part of the ''Crystals'' special exhibition in 2014.</small> | birth_date = {{Birth date|1908|05|27|df=y}} | birth_place = Manchester, England | death_date = {{death date and age|2001|01|16|1908|05|27|df=y}} | death_place = Edinburgh, Scotland | field = Crystallography | work_institution = University of Liverpool<br />University of Manchester<br />University of Hull<br />University of Edinburgh | alma_mater = University of Liverpool | doctoral_advisor = | doctoral_students = William Cochran | known_for = X-ray diffraction<br />Beevers–Lipson strips<br />Beevers Miniature Models<br />Beevers–Ross sites and anti-Beevers–Ross sites | prizes = }}

'''Cecil Arnold Beevers''' (27 May 1908 – 16 January 2001) was a British crystallographer,<ref name="beevers">{{cite web | url=http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/obits_alpha/beevers_cecil.pdf | title=Cecil Arnold Beevers | work=Crystallography News | publisher=Royal Society of Edinburgh | year=2001 | accessdate=28 March 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329014642/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/obits_alpha/beevers_cecil.pdf | archive-date=29 March 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref> known for Beevers–Lipson strips, a computational aid for calculating Fourier transforms to determine the structure of crystals from crystallographic data, enabling the creation of models for complex molecules.<ref name="gould">{{cite web| url=http://www.iucr.org/news/newsletter/volume-8/number-3/beevers-lipson-strips | title=The mechanism of Beevers–Lipson strips | first=Bob | last=Gould | work=BCA Newsletter | volume=8 | number=3 | date=December 1998 | publisher=International Union of Crystallography | accessdate=28 March 2014 }}</ref>

==Life and career== C. Arnold Beevers was born in Manchester, England.<ref name="beevers" /> His family moved to Liverpool and he attended the University of Liverpool, gaining a BSc degree in Physics in 1929, and a DSc degree in 1933.

At Liverpool University, Beevers was influenced by Professor Lionel Wilberforce.<ref name="beevers" /> After he graduated, Beevers was invited to work on X-ray diffraction, together with Henry Lipson. The two scientists often visited the University of Manchester to seek advice from Lawrence Bragg. Subsequently, Beevers moved to a post at Manchester. Beevers explored the structure of the crystal Beta Alumina with Marion Ross at Manchester.<ref name="ZfK">{{cite journal| last1=Beevers |first1=C. A. |first2=M. A. S. | last2=Ross | authorlink2=Marion Ross (physicist) | title=The crystal structure of "Beta Alumina" Na2O 11Al(2)O3 | journal=Zeitschrift für Kristallographie| date=July 1937| volume=97| issue=1/2| pages=59–66 | doi=10.1524/zkri.1937.97.1.59|s2cid=102121580 }}</ref> They noted there were 'problem' sites in the areas occupied by mobile sodium ions. Subsequently, the presence of these ions was discovered to make this crystal an efficient fast-ion conductor. As a tribute to their discovery, the locations of these ions are now known as ''Beevers–Ross sites'' and ''anti-Beevers–Ross sites''.<ref name="beevers" />

Beevers then had short appointment at the University of Hull, but in 1938 he became Dewar Fellow in Crystallography at the University of Edinburgh, a post that was jointly associated with the Departments of Physics and Chemistry. Beevers was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh later in the same year. Beevers remained in Edinburgh for the rest of his life and was Reader in Crystallography at the University. His notable students included Douglas M. C. MacEwan FRSE.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rse.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/obits_alpha/macewan_douglas.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=24 June 2017 |archive-date=8 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008175521/https://www.rse.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/obits_alpha/macewan_douglas.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Arnold Beevers was a Quaker and this influenced his approach to life and science.<ref name="beevers" /> He was involved with disabled people and this was important in his development of Beevers Miniature Models (now operating as Miramodus Ltd.), ball-and-spoke molecular models used for education purposes, largely made by disabled workers, first produced in 1961.<ref name="gazetteer">{{cite web| url=http://www.scottish-places.info/people/famousfirst3381.html | title=(Cecil) Arnold Beevers | work=Gazetteer for Scotland | accessdate=29 March 2014 }}</ref>

==Beevers–Lipson strips== {{main|Beevers–Lipson strip}} Beevers developed Beevers–Lipson strips with Henry Lipson CBE FRS (1910–1991), Professor of Physics at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (England).<ref name="gould" /> The approach converted the large calculations of multi-dimensional Fourier summations needed in crystallography analysis into sums of more manageable one-dimensional values. The folded card strips with numbers were stored in normally wooden boxes,<ref name="harvard">{{cite web | url=http://dssmhi1.fas.harvard.edu/emuseumdev/code/emuseum.asp?emu_action=searchrequest&newsearch=1&moduleid=1&profile=objects&currentrecord=1&searchdesc=Beevers-Lipson%20strips%20in%20oak%20case&style=single&rawsearch=id/,/is/,/1172/,/false/,/true | title=Beevers–Lipson strips in oak case | work=Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments | publisher=Harvard University | location=USA | access-date=28 March 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329014117/http://dssmhi1.fas.harvard.edu/emuseumdev/code/emuseum.asp?emu_action=searchrequest&newsearch=1&moduleid=1&profile=objects&currentrecord=1&searchdesc=Beevers-Lipson%20strips%20in%20oak%20case&style=single&rawsearch=id%2F%2C%2Fis%2F%2C%2F1172%2F%2C%2Ffalse%2F%2C%2Ftrue | archive-date=29 March 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref> one for sines and one for cosines. Previously it was necessary to consult sine/cosine tables, a time-consuming process.

==Legacy== Beevers Miniature Models continued to be produced by Miramodus Ltd. at the University of Edinburgh.<ref name="gazetteer" /> The British Crystallographic Association administers an Arnold Beevers Bursary Fund.<ref name="bca">{{cite web | url=http://crystallography.org.uk/arnold-beevers-bursary-fund-deadline/ | title=Arnold Beevers Bursary Fund deadline | publisher=British Crystallographic Association | accessdate=29 March 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314065757/http://crystallography.org.uk/arnold-beevers-bursary-fund-deadline/ | archive-date=14 March 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also== * X-ray crystallography

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.miramodus.com/ Miramodus Ltd. (formerly Beevers Molecular Models)]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beevers, Cecil Arnold}} Category:1908 births Category:2001 deaths Category:Scientists from Manchester Category:Alumni of the University of Liverpool Category:20th-century British chemists Category:20th-century British physicists Category:British crystallographers Category:Academics of the University of Liverpool Category:Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester Category:Academics of the University of Hull Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh Category:British Quakers Category:20th-century Quakers Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Category:Chemists of the University of Hull Category:Chemists of the University of Edinburgh Category:Chemists of the University of Liverpool Category:Chemists of the University of Manchester