Abstract
MAJOR PHILIP CARDEW, whose death we record with deep regret, combined a fine mathematical mind with careful scientific training, and a remarkable natural ability in grasping the principles involved in any practical question. He passed through Woolwich Academy with every honour, and started a brilliant career in the Royal Engineers in 1871. He was appointed, in 1883, instructor in electricity at the Military School of Engineering at Chatham, and threw himself with great energy into those innumerable electrical problems which were being so rapidly developed in telegraphy, telephony, electric lighting and power. In 1888 he was selected as the first electrical adviser to the Board of Trade, and he inaugurated the rules and regulations for the use of electricity for public supply and for electric tramways and railways. These rules have formed a model for all countries, and there is very little doubt that the freedom of water and gas pipes in England from electrolysis due to stray tramway currents is the result of the wise restrictions which Major Cardew initiated. The standardisation of electrical units was part of his work.
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Major Philip Cardew, R.E. . Nature 83, 404 (1910). https://doi.org/10.1038/083404a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/083404a0