David Tritton – Physicist
David John Tritton, an eminent fluid dynamicist, died on 24th April 1998 in Austin, Texas, only three months after becoming Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Nonlinear Dynamics at the University of Texas.
Born on July 26, 1935, in Slough England, David was the only child of Elsie and Basil Tritton. He married Sheila Scott and they has three sons (Roger, Andrew and Clive) and two grandchildren, Theo and Ella.
In 1993 Sheila became ill with cancer and David withdrew from professional activities in order to care for her until her death in September 1996.
David read Natural Sciences at Cambridge and started postgraduate research as a PhD student in the Cavendish Laboratory, where he carried out experiments on flow past cylinders and free convection.
He was awarded a Rutherford Memorial Scholarship by the The Royal Society, to enable him to carry out post-doctorate research between 1960 and 1963. Later in his career he played an influential role in the development of fluid dynamics at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and, indirectly, at the University of Dundee.
After Sheila died he began to travel to scientific meetings again to develop his existing connections with various research groups.
When he moved to Austin many of his friends privately viewed with trepidation the prospect of David (a non driver and a practical, assertive devotee of public transport) living in Texas without a car!
Our photograph of David was taken while he was hiking in Schiehallion, Perthshire. A tribute to David and an account of his career can be found at www.dundee.ac.uk/civileng