Palmer was born in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, studied at Sheffield University and spent 20 years at Hull University before moving to Warwick in 1987, where he was head of the physics department for 12 years.
While working at the University of Hull he led a team applying ultrasound to the diagnosis and monitoring of osteoporosis.
[2] This led to an ultrasonic index for osteoporosis[3] and the development of commercial ultrasound heel scanners that are available worldwide.
[5][6][7][8] His most esoteric discovery, with Jose Baruchel of ILL and ESRF in Grenoble, France, is the existence of helical or chirality magnetic domains in certain antiferromagnetic materials.
[9] In addition to his role as honorary secretary of the Institute of Physics, he chairs the board of the Institute of Physics Publishing and the TRAC Development Group of the Higher Education Funding Council for England.