Rudolph Glossop (1902-1993) – the founding of the Engineering Group of the Geological Society of London

Abstract

For the interested reader who wants to know in detail about the life and work of Rudolph Glossop, the man after whom the series of Engineering Group Glossop Awards is named, there is no better reference than Ron Williams’ “Rudolph Glossop and the Rise of Geotechnology” (Williams, 2010), published by Whittles Publishing and available through the Geological Society's Bookshop. The book claims not to be a biography, being instead an annotated collection of articles from Glossop's Journals and diaries, some published papers by him and others, and copies of correspondence, typically with those luminaries of the Geotechnical world: Skempton and Terzaghi. It would be impossible to precis that work in a short article, and even if it were to be possible, then it would probably not do justice to its subject, although the paper by Ron Williams and 17 th Glossop Lecturer Dave Norbury in 2008 is perhaps a more concise version for the reader in a hurry. And, in this issue, readers will find a more personal, family reflection on his life (Slack, 2022).