Archibald Low

English engineer, physicist, inventor and author
the British pilot and aeronautics pioneer

Archibald Montgomery Low (17 October 1888 – 13 September 1956) developed the first powered drone aircraft. He was an English consulting engineer, research physicist and inventor, and author of more than 40 books. Low has been called the "father of radio guidance systems" due to his pioneering work on planes, torpedoes boats and guided rockets. He was a pioneer in many fields though, often leading the way for others, but his lack of discipline meant he hardly ever saw a project through, being easily distracted by new ideas. If not for this inability to see things to a conclusion, Low could well have been remembered as one of the great men of science. Many of his scientific contemporaries disliked him, due in part to his using the title "professor", which he was not entitled to do as he did not occupy an academic chair. His love of the limelight and publicity probably also added to the dislike. Low was working on the invention of television before World War I and promoting its development through the 1920s.

Low was born in Purley, London, the second son of John and Gertrude Low. His father was an engineer with experience in steam boilers and Low's interest in all things mechanical and scientific was fired by visits to his father's place of work. The family moved to Erith in Kent when Low was still a baby. He was sent to Preparatory school at Colet Court when his father moved to Australia as a director of the Paddy Lackey Deep level Company
gold mine. In 1896 Archibald was only 7 when he sailed with his mother, his elder brother and a maiden aunt on the ship Thermopylae to Sydney for a visit. He recalls being amazed to find that telephones were fitted in every house. As a young boy Low was forever experimenting at home, building homemade steam turbines or conducting chemical experiments that brought havoc to his local neighbourhood and caused his parents to receive many complaints about the bangs, smells and gases created by young Archie. At the age of 11 he was enrolled into St Paul's School, an institution where he did not fit in; Low described himself as having been "too much of an individual". One of his classmates for several years was Bernard Montgomery, whom Low recalled as being "rather dull". Aged 16 Low entered the Central Technical College, an institution far more to his liking, where he began to more fully develop his abilities. Under the guidance of his mentor Professor Ashcroft, Low's mercurial mind was given free rein over many of the scientific disciplines. During his time at the CTC Low designed a drawing device which he called "The Low flexible and adjustable curve". This device, along with a dotted line pen and a self filling draughtsman's pen, were marketed by Thornton's, a renowned instrument manufacturer based in Manchester. He also spent a year devising and making a selector mechanism which allowed a lever when moved to fall into a pre selected slot. It would be 32 more years before pre selected gears became commercially available, long after Low had originally thought of them.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Low initially joined the Air Ministry in a civil capacity. His job was to examine captured German aircraft and prepare reports for British pilots to enable them to identify the weak points of the enemy aircraft. Later on he joined the Royal Pioneer Corps and was promoted to major. Between experiments in his back garden laboratory, he gave frequent talks to service personnel on scientific matters. Low was frequently in bad health from the late 1930s onwards, having never fully recovered from a bout of pneumonia he suffered a few years earlier. Although nothing that he experimented with during the war ultimately came to fruition, he did work on some interesting projects:

The 'W' bomb – a riverine mine for Operation Royal Marine being designed by MD1. It floated just beneath the surface, came up when needed and spread a kind of umbrella out of itself which would detonate when touched. The primary inventors were Millis Jefferis and Stuart Macrae; the latter was formerly an editor of Armchair Science with whom Low was on friendly terms. A bomb that when dropped on airfields would be buried to the hilt but leave trailing wires on the surface. An aircraft touching these wires would detonate the bomb. A notable humanitarian example involved the incorporation of a flap on a carrier pigeon's cage secured by sugar so that if the pigeon was trapped after a crash or incident moisture would soak into the sugar and release the bird.

quote=The telephone may develop to a stage where it is unnecessary to enter a special call box. We shall think no more of telephoning to our office from our cars or railway carriages than we do today of telephoning from our homes. quote=The second stage in the development of space ships could be the launching of what have been called "space platforms"  The rocket or space station will travel round the earth in twenty four hours at most. The value of such stations might be very great; they might enable world wide television broadcasts to be made; they would transmit data about cosmic rays; or solar radiation; and they might have incalculable military value. cquote|I always say that the greatest discovery is that we know practically nothing about anything. The cause of his death was a malignant tumour on his lung. He is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London. In 1976 Low was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame.

Low was a prolific author of science books. He aimed several of his books at the layman to try to nurture interest in science and engineering. Quite a few of his books contained predictions on scientific advancements. In addition to his non fiction books, Low wrote four science fiction novels for young readers.

In 1976 Low was included in the 35 pioneers listed by the International Academy of Astronautics and inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1976. He has been called the "Father of Radio Guidance Systems" and the "founder of the field of radio guidance systems". Alternatively, it was suggest A. M. Low was the "Father of Remotely Piloted Vehicles".