physics

John C. Mallinson

John C. Mallinson is a physics 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 John C. Mallinson rather than just read about it. In short: John C. Mallinson (30 January 1932 – 24 December 2015) was a British physicist who made significant contributions to the understanding of magnetism and magnetic recording.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

John C. Mallinson (30 January 1932 – 24 December 2015) was a British physicist who made significant contributions to the understanding of magnetism and magnetic recording. He is perhaps best remembered for his theoretical work on structures with one-sided magnetic flux. Their use is exemplified in the Halbach array and in the familiar refrigerator magnet.

Personal life Mallinson was born on 30 January 1932 in Bradford, Yorkshire, UK. He attended University College, Oxford and graduated in 1953 with BA and MA degrees in Natural Philosophy (physics), and an honorary doctorate in 1997. On graduating, he joined the Royal Air Force for a 3-year term, advancing to pilot a Canberra bomber. He remained interested in aviation, and practiced aerobatics over Half Moon Bay, California. He volunteered at the Hiller Air Museum at the San Carlos, California, airport. Mallinson died in December 2015 following a stroke. He had two daughters, Caroline and Elizabeth and several grandchildren.

Career In 1956, Mallinson emigrated to the United States to join AMP Incorporated in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he studied the magnetic properties of ferrites. In 1962, he moved to the west coast to join Ampex Corporation in Redwood City, California, rising to become the director of the Recording Technology Department. The department included other major contributors in magnetic recording such as Charles Coleman and Neal Bertram. Mallinson was called upon as an expert in the long term archival properties of magnetic tape. Also at Ampex, Mallinson developed the theory for structures with one-sided magnetic flux. One such structure is the Halbach Array which provides a means of generating powerful, well-confined magnetic fields with permanent magnets. The familiar decorative refrigerator magnet also takes advantage of one-sided flux. Also at Ampex, Mallinson oversaw the development of PRML, a new readback technique for magnetic recording. In 1984, Mallinson left Ampex to become the founding director of the new Center for Magnetic Recording Research (CMRR) at UC San Diego. He was appointed adjunct professor in 1987. By 1990, the Center boasted eight professors and 36 graduate students. Upon leaving CMRR in 1990, Mallinson taught a course on Magnetism and Magnetic Recording and also took advantage of teaching and research opportunities overseas. In 1993 and 1995, Mallinson was a visiting professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden and was appointed permanent visiting professor in 1996. In 1994, he was a visiting professor at the University of Twente in Enschede, The Netherlands. Also in 1996, he was a distinguished visiting professor, Sony Sabbatical Chair in Yokohama, Japan. From 1998 through 2005, he was a regular visiting professor at Plymouth University, UK, where he collaborated with Hazel Shute and David Wilton. In particular they were able to extend the 2D one-sided flux configurations into 3-dimensions.

Books Mallinson is the author of four textbooks:

“The Foundations of Magnetic Recording", Academic Press (1987) “The Foundations of Magnetic Recording:, Academic Press (2nd edition, 1993), Maruzen Publishing (Japanese edition) (September 1994) “Magneto-Resistive Heads, Fundamentals and Applications", Academic Press (1996), Maruzen Publishing (Japanese edition) (September 1996) "Magneto-Resistive and Spin Valve Heads: Fundamentals and Applications (Electromagnetism)", Academic Press; 2nd edition (September 2001), Maruzen Publishing (Japanese edition) (June 2002) "Recollections", a collection of short autobiographical stories, unpublished, 2011 Mallinson has published many scientific papers and several contributed book chapters.

Honours and awards Mallinson became a Fellow of the IEEE in 1982 for "contributions to the theory of magnetic recording". He was selected as the IEEE Magnetics Society Distinguished Lecturer for 1983–4 on the topic of "The Next Decade in Magnetic Recording". In 1984, he was awarded the Alexander M. Poniatoff Golden Achievement Award for "leadership in the theory and practice of magnetic recording". In 1997, he was bestowed with a Doctor of Science degree from Oxford University. In 2007, he received the IEEE Magnetics Society Achievement Award for "contributions to the theory, practice and teaching of magnetic recording"

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John C. Mallinson

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John C. Mallinson claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, 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 John C. Mallinson 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 John C. Mallinson 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 John C. Mallinson

In research: John C. Mallinson appears in physics 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 John C. Mallinson 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: John C. Mallinson is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1932 births, 2015 deaths, 20th-century American male writers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John C. Mallinson 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 John C. Mallinson in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what John C. Mallinson 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.
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Frequently asked questions

What is John C. Mallinson in simple terms?

John C. Mallinson (30 January 1932 – 24 December 2015) was a British physicist who made significant contributions to the understanding of magnetism and magnetic recording.

Why does John C. Mallinson matter?

Because it connects several physics 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 John C. Mallinson?

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 John C. Mallinson.