Sir William Bragg, O. M., K. B. E., F. R. S

Abstract

THOUGH it was a great pleasure to meet Sir William Bragg anywhere and on any occasion, it is on his own ground at the Royal Institution that most of us best remember him. The setting so became him; and he so graced the setting. Whether receiving the guests on a Friday evening, or expounding some of the mysteries of science in the great lecture theatre, or merely entertaining some stray scientific visitor to tea, Bragg had the art, which was no art because it was rooted in real interest and a genuine affection for humanity, of making the visitor feel at home. Any scientific society which might have been fortunate enough to obtain the privilege of holding a meeting in the Institution would usually find on arrival that the Director, by some happy chance, had business which took him into the entrance hall, and the visitors would receive from him friendly informal greetings which made them feel that they were not intruders, but welcome guests. In the work and welfare of the younger generation of men of science Bragg's interest was almost paternal.