engineering

George Matthew McNaughton

George Matthew McNaughton is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand George Matthew McNaughton rather than just read about it. In short: Sir George Matthew McNaughton CB (31 January 1893 – 31 August 1966) was a British civil engineer who specialised in hydraulic engineering. McNaughton was born in Dundee and received a degree in engineering from the University of St Andrews.

Key takeaways

George Matthew McNaughton belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect George Matthew McNaughton to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of George Matthew McNaughton from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Sir George Matthew McNaughton CB (31 January 1893 – 31 August 1966) was a British civil engineer who specialised in hydraulic engineering. McNaughton was born in Dundee and received a degree in engineering from the University of St Andrews. He interrupted his studies to become an officer in the British Army during the First World War before he was forced to retire due to ill health. After the war he completed his degree and joined an engineering firm where his work included the Silent Valley Reservoir in Northern Ireland. In 1929 he entered government service at the Ministry of Health and eventually became the ministry's chief engineer. His work was recognised by an appointment as a Companion of the Order of the Bath and a knighthood. He retired in 1960 and served as president of the Institution of Civil Engineers for 1961–2.

Early life McNaughton was born in Dundee, Scotland on 31 January 1893. He was educated at Morgan Academy in Dundee before spending four years training under the supervision of J. Hannay Thompson, General Manager and Engineer of the Dundee Harbour Trust. McNaughton began a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering at the University of St Andrews but his course was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War and he left in 1914 to enlist in the 2/2 Highland Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery. He held the substantive rank of Second Lieutenant but was promoted to Temporary Captain. He relinquished his commission on 23 February 1916 as a result of ill health. McNaughton returned to St Andrews and received his degree later that year.

Upon graduation McNaughton joined the contracting department of S. Pearson & Son, working with Sir Ernest Moir and in 1918 was temporarily assigned to Sir Ernest's staff at the Ministry of Munitions and became an associate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). He remained at the firm until 1929, working as an agent and engineer tendering for and designing reservoirs, harbours, tunnels and sewers including the £1 million Silent Valley Reservoir in Northern Ireland.

Civil service He entered government service in 1929, being appointed an engineering inspector for the Ministry of Health. McNaughton worked under the Chief Engineering Inspector, Sir Roger Gaskell Hetherington, and was responsible for conducting public enquiries for into water supplies, sewerage schemes, buildings, sea defences, river improvements and the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders. He was also involved in grant schemes to deprived areas, rural water supplies and air raid protection of essential engineering services. In 1938 he became a full member of the ICE and was also a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. On 31 August 1938 McNaughton transferred to the position of chief engineer to the Department of Health in Scotland and became chief engineer to the entire Ministry of Health in 1944. In 1948 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath. McNaughton transferred to the new Ministry of Health after reforms in 1951, remaining its chief engineer, and at the same time worked for the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. In the 1956 New Year Honours McNaughton's knighthood was announced and it was conferred on him by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother at Buckingham Palace on 7 February 1956.

Other work

McNaughton was associated closely with the Water Research Association from the start of its life, serving as a council member and their chairman, and helped to establish their research station at Medmenham. As a result of this McNaughton was elected an honorary member of British Waterworks Association in 1960. He retired from government service in 1960 to work as a director of the South-West Suburban Water Company, chairman of the East Surrey Water Company and a consultant for WV Vinn & Associates. McNaughton had been elected vice president of the ICE in 1956 and sat on several of their committees, being particularly keen to improve the status of engineers in society. He served as president of the institution for the November 1961 to November 1962 session. McNaughton was recognised world-wide for his specialism in water and in 1962 presented a paper to the UN's World Health Organization on the financial and economic aspects of water pollution prevention. He died on 31 August 1966. The National Portrait Gallery in London holds two portraits of McNaughton in their archives. There is a record of his burial in Tealing Cemetery, Angus, Scotland.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with George Matthew McNaughton

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what George Matthew McNaughton claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to George Matthew McNaughton before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about George Matthew McNaughton ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of George Matthew McNaughton

In research: George Matthew McNaughton appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses George Matthew McNaughton in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: George Matthew McNaughton is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1893 births, 1966 deaths, Alumni of the University of St Andrews, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for George Matthew McNaughton outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study George Matthew McNaughton in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what George Matthew McNaughton means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain George Matthew McNaughton out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is George Matthew McNaughton in simple terms?

Why does George Matthew McNaughton matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study George Matthew McNaughton?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on George Matthew McNaughton.