He worked with William Lawrence Bragg at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University on the electron microscope and founded the Electron Microscopy Department. He also developed improved x-ray machines. He was elected president of the Royal Microscopical Society.
He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1972 and won the Royal Medal in 1979 "In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the design and development of the X-ray microscope, the scanning electron microprobe analyser, the high voltage and ultrahigh resolution (25A) electron microscopes and their applications in many disciplines.".
Royal Society.
