[5] He studied mathematics and physics at the University of Glasgow, graduating with a BSc.
From 1942 to 1945, during World War II, he served as a Scientific Officer to the Ministry of Supply.
After the war he worked as a Research Officer for H H Wills Laboratory at the University of Bristol.
In 1946, he began lecturing in Natural Philosophy (physics) at the University of Glasgow.
His proposers were Robert Alexander Rankin, Philip Ivor Dee, William Marshall Smart and Edward Copson.