[6][10] Lovell studied physics at the University of Bristol obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in 1934,[8] and a PhD in 1936 for his work on the electrical conductivity of thin films.

In June 1942, following the crash in England of a Halifax bomber on a flight to demonstrate the H2S, Lovell aided in the recovery of the H2S's highly secret (and nearly indestructible) cavity magnetron from the plane's wreckage.

[20] At the end of the Second World War, Lovell attempted to continue his studies of cosmic rays with an ex-military radar detector unit, but suffered much background interference from the electric trams on Manchester's Oxford Road.

He moved his equipment to a more remote location, one which was free from such electrical interference, and where he established the Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Goostrey in Cheshire.

In the course of his experiments, he was able to show that radar echoes could be obtained from daytime meteor showers as they entered the Earth's atmosphere and ionised the surrounding air.

He alleged that his hosts tried to kill him with a lethal radiation dose[21] because he was head of the Jodrell Bank space telescope when it was also being used as part of an early warning system for Soviet nuclear attacks.

[6][38] In later life Lovell was physically very frail; he lived in quiet retirement in the countryside, surrounded by music, his books and a vast garden filled with trees he planted many decades before.