This obituary appeared in the Guardian on 6th May 1993
George Bell
For more than 40 years the University of London's emeritus professor of applied mathematics, George Bell, was a
distinguished researcher in statistical mechanics.
Bell, who has died aged 67, was primarily interested in the development of realistic models for complicated systems.
Extracting results for such models entails the kind of physical insight and mathematical ingenuity in which he
excelled. His extensive collaboration with Dr. S. Levine on electrical double layer theory and colloidal stability
was of great interest to physical chemists and he was appointed a consultant to the basic research division of
Unilever in 1963. He also made important contributions to the theory of phase transitions, most notably for complex
systems with a rich variety of phase transitions.
Gearge Bell was educated at Bournemouth School and Merton College, Oxford. After three years as a junior lecturer
he left Oxford in 1951 to become a research officer with ICI at Billingham. In 1954 he was appointed to a lectureship
in mathematics at UMIST, followed by a readership in applied mathematics at Chelsea College, University of London
in 1963 and a chair in 1965.
He acted as head of department for two periods. The second of these coincided with the merger between Chelsea,
Queen Elizabeth and King's Colleges. In this difficult context George Bell performed his duties with great distinction.
In his quiet way he saw clearly what was in the long-term interest of his colleagues, the college and of mathematics
in the university, and worked hard to bring this about. It is in part due to his efforts that a successful and
harmonious department was built in the present King's College.
George Bell was a modest man whose shy exterior disguised a sharp mind, an incisive wit and great charm. Throughout
his career he was well-known for the care and clarity with which he prepared and delivered his lectures, and a
succession of research students would acknowledge the debt which they owed him for the skilful and sympathetic
way in which he provided supervision.
George was a scholar, both in his approach to science and in his wider intellectual interests, most particularly
history, in which his depth of reading never ceased to surprise. Those of us who worked with him and knew him at
King's and in the wider scientific community will remember him with great respect and affection.
David Lavis
George Bell, born June 18, 1925; died April 14, 1993.