William John Granville Beynon was born in
Dunvant, near
Swansea,
Wales on 24 May 1914, the youngest of four children. His father, a miner, held the responsible jobs of checkweightman and chief of the local mines rescue service. Beynon was educated at
Gowerton Grammar School, before matriculating to the
University of Swansea, where he studied physics. In 1938 he gained a position at
National Physical Laboratory at
Slough, near London, working closely with Sir
Edward Appleton. Together they performed basic studies of radio wave propagation by reflection from these layers. This cooperation persisted over a few decades, during which Beynon as representative of Sir Edward held senior offices in national and international committees, and took active part in the preparation and conduct of the
International Geophysical Year 1957/8, which was a break-through in international cooperation in geophysics. He became thereafter one of the leading personalities in international scientific cooperation, == References ==