Lewis Simons, a British physicist, studied physics and mathematics at King's College, London, and was awarded the Bachelor of Science (BSc)
degree with first class honours in 1910. After working as a student demonstrator at King's College and then at Armstrong College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1910-1914) he came to South Africa in 1915 to take up an appointment as lecturer in physics at Victoria College,
Stellenbosch (which became the University of Stellenbosch in 1918). He was
admitted to the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree by the University of the Cape of
Good Hope in recognition of his overseas qualification. In the second half of
1917 he was appointed senior lecturer in physics at the South African College,
Cape Town (from 1918 the University of Cape Town) and remained in that position
to 1922. He turned out to be a good lecturer and a promising
researcher. As the professor of physics,
Professor J.C. Beattie*, became principal of the university early in 1918,
Simons was acting professor of physics until the arrival of Professor Alexander
Ogg* more than a year later.
Simons became actively involved in research and publication on Roentgen rays shortly after his arrival and during the few years he remained in South Africa contributed
the following papers to the Transactions
of the Royal Society of South Africa: 'Ionization of gases and the
absorption of Roentgen rays' (1917, Vol. 6, pp. 311-323), 'On the velocities of
two distinct groups of secondary corpuscular rays produced by a homogeneous
Roentgen radiation, and their absorption coefficients in various gases'
(1919/20, Vol. 8, pp. 73-87), and 'Detection of induced beta-ray emission from
substances exposed to Roentgen rays by a photographic method' (1921, Vol. 9,
pp. 297-301); also, 'The beta ray emission from thin films of the elements
exposed to Roentgen rays' (Philosophical
Magazine, 1921, Vol. 41, pp. 120-140).
Simons was a member of both the Royal Society of South
Africa and the South African Association for the Advancement of Science during
his stay in South Africa. At the association's annual congress held in
Stellenbosch in 1917 he served as joint secretary of Section A (which included
physics).
In 1921 Simons
obtained the degree Doctor of Science (DSc) at the University of London for his contributions to the study of energy transformations when Roentgen rays are absorbed in or emitted by a substance.. He became a Reader in physics at Birbeck
College, University of London, from 1922 to 1948, where he continued his
research. For example: 'Low
velocity X-ray electrons' (Philosophical
Magazine, 1923), 'The X-ray emission of electrons from metal films, with
special reference to the region of the absorption limit' (Proceedings of the Physical Society of London, 1924), and 'An
investigation of the production of positive and negative electron pairs in a
cloud chamber' (with K. Zuber; Proceedings
of the Physical Society of London, Series A, 1937). He was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Physics in 1920.
