# Talk:William Penney, Baron Penney


### Popular culture
Penney is mentioned in a Flanders and Swann verse from 1953 Seven Ages of Woman

My boy's a nuclear physicist,
Helps Sir William Penny down at Harwell,
My boy's a nuclear physicist,
Making his atomic pile,
He's just an ordinary fellow,
He disintegrated Montebello
And when the lights are low,
There's more that Uranium in his cranium,

It might ruin the tenor of the article to add it under the legacy and honours section, but it is quite an accolade; not many scientists today or their areas of research  are sufficiently well known by the general public to be used in comic songs. What do you think?
JBel (talk) 09:49, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

Does anyone know how tall Penney was? Also, is his height mentioned in any reference material? 149.171.155.141 (talk) 03:10, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

I worked with him in 1957-8 and remember him as being about 6ft. (the same height as me in those days) Oldfarm (talk) 22:03, 5 April 2011 (UTC)

There is no mention of the loss of his first wife in London under German bombing during WWII.  I would have thought this rather relevant, esp. as he did predictions for bomb damage for the Manhattan project   Perhaps not as assumed  - have recently found this in an Obit written by the Royal society  for WP

In 1935 Bill married Adele Minnie Elms, a very pretty and charming university student

from Kent. They had two sons, but sadly she never recovered from post-natal depression
after the birth of the second son, and she died in April 1945, while Bill was in Los Alamos.
He returned only briefly and arranged for Joan Quennell, who had nursed the younger son,
to look after the two boys. She took them  to Wales, and on his return in September 1945,
Bill married her.
(Not really clear how Adele Elms died but the bit about depression does make you wonder ...)

.TimFid (talk) 00:15, 8 February 2019 (UTC)

Just two boys, Christopher and Martin? They were interviewed in this programme, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00825mh
Mr Jolly (talk) 21:27, 17 May 2019 (UTC)

This review is transcluded from Talk:William Penney, Baron Penney/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
Reviewer: Zawed (talk · contribs) 07:20, 10 September 2022 (UTC)
I will review, comments to follow in due course. Zawed (talk) 07:20, 10 September 2022 (UTC)
This looks very well put together, just the odd comment here and there
Early life and education

and only son of father, William Alfred Penney,...: having father here seems redundant since you also identify the mother.
Y Deleted stray word. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 12:31, 22 September 2022 (UTC)
The infobox gives the Imperial College London as an alma mater but Royal College of Science. Suggest amending the infobox for consistency with the text, or clarify in the text the the RCS is part of the Imperial College.
Y Clarified. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 12:31, 22 September 2022 (UTC)
He was awarded a PhD by the University of Cambridge in 1935 and a Doctor of Science in Mathematical Physics from the University of Cambridge in 1936.; suggest reworking this sentence so that University of Cambridge is only mentioned once.
Y Re-worded. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 12:31, 22 September 2022 (UTC)
Manhattan Project

Rudolf Peierls recalled that: suggest amending this to something like "Rudolf Peierls, a fellow Manhattan scientist, recalled that:"
Y Changed as suggested. Hawkeye7 (discuss)
Joan Quennell to look after the boys: can a little context for Joan Quennell be provided? Was she a housekeeper or lab worker or some such?
Y Added a bit. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 12:31, 22 September 2022 (UTC)
British hydrogen bomb

so a second series, Operation Mosaic,: suggest "so a second series of tests, Operation Mosaic,"
Y Changed as suggested. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 12:31, 22 September 2022 (UTC)
Honours and awards

In the infobox, the year of the Rumford Medal award is given as 1966, but in the text is 1969.
Y It was 1969. Corrected. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 12:31, 22 September 2022 (UTC)
The Wilhelm Exner Medal is listed in the infobox but not mentioned in the text.
Y Added. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 12:31, 22 September 2022 (UTC)
Mention the Knight Commander in the infobox and maybe also the Medal of Freedom.
Y Added. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 12:31, 22 September 2022 (UTC)
Other stuff

References look solid
Image tags OK
No dupe links
I fixed a few obvious typos as I went along. That's my review done, sorry this took so long. Cheers, Zawed (talk) 10:45, 22 September 2022 (UTC)

The changes all look fine so I am passing this as a GA on the basis that I consider the article meets the necessary criteria. Cheers, Zawed (talk) 09:12, 26 September 2022 (UTC)