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Lewis Ryder Obituary
8 Entries
Miguel Santano
December 26, 2021
Just a few days ago I emailed you. I myself had been very sick and wasn't in touch with almost anybody for a while. I have just known that you left us, and I'm so saf and sorry. You made the world a better place, and I'm sure that, wherever you are, your kindness and wisdom make it brighter.
Thank you, Dr Ryder. Thank you, Lewis.
Tuula Hoiska Fai
June 21, 2021
I was at a graduate school fair in Boston when I came across The University of Kent. I exclaimed, ‘Where in the heck is Kent?’ To which he replied gleefully, ‘England’. Thus, began a 20-year friendship complete with a visit to Canterbury Cathedral where he played organ, a book interview (ironically, my toughest interview as he could be quite the contrarian) and my duly impressed boyfriend getting a PhD in physics whom I told ‘I know only one other physicist. Lewis Ryder. Do you know of him? His jaw dropped as he gaped, ‘He’s written half my textbooks!’ Lewis was so modest I had no idea. I tried to visit him in August 2018 but he was ailing and preferred to just email. Thinking of you playing organ in the sky...
James Garry
April 26, 2021
I was musing about hard but enjoyable topics with my wife just this evening, and I quipped that when I learned (and failed) General Relativity the first time, I only scraped through my resit as a result of Dr Ryder's kindly tutoring.
Even thirty years on, I remember him as a profoundly interested and kind man.
To find, many years after the event, that he has passed away, darkens the sun a little.
Kostas Tsembelis
December 13, 2020
I only found out about Dr Ryder's passing very recently. I was an undergraduate at UKC in the early nineties where he was often voted as the best lecturer. His enthusiasm and ability to explain difficult ideas of physics and maths were legendary. The physics community will never be the same without him.
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Dharam Vir Ahluwalia
September 12, 2020
Before I met Lewis at Oxford at a memorial for Jeeva Anandan, he had set me on the path through his book on quantum field theory. We went out for a nice pizza place, and red wine accompanied by our delightful pizza. Lewis told me that his first love was organ music. Later I was to write a review for his book on quantum field theory. It was warm, and very appreciative, and yet I pointed out a rather innocent, but an important error, in his derivation of Dirac equation. Years later he wrote to me that I had created bit of trouble for him at Cambridge University Press. I still remember a very shiny light of his eyes, an utterly kind disposition radiated from him. Many years later I invited Lewis as an Erskine fellow to the University of Canterbury (Christchurch, New Zealand). It was good to have him next door. During the three months he spent at Canterbury, he was busy preparing exercises for his upcoming book on General Relativity. When three months later he left, it was my pleasure for me to have arranged a special dinner in Hong Kong. He was delighted. That was the last we met. And today, 12 September 2020, I thought I must write to him an e-mail. But, a sadness came over when from Google I learned that the brightness of his eyes, his warmth, was extinguished for us left behind. May the force and phases be with you, Lewis -- wherever you are playing an organ. You gave so many inspirations and happiness. Those who met you and those who only read your books. Certainly, you have also made us sad by leaving us -- though we know something in our lives carries your blessings.
Simon Rose
March 24, 2020
Sorry for my late entry to remember dear Lewis Ryder. Lewis was my Rutherford tutor for my BSc Physics graduating in July 1976. I have been in the USA since 1980 and only made contact with Lewis a couple of times since then. Lewis was an excellent teacher and mentor, very kind, enthusiastic and encouraging to me and many others. He encouraged me to make a difference in my work and I believe have done so with my 40 years working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. I have great memories of UKC and Lewis Ryder will have a special place in my heart.
Guy Standen
April 23, 2019
Lewis was a great mentor to me at UKC where he supervised my MSc in Theoretical Physics. An exceptional teacher who had the gift of passing on not only knowledge to his students, but also his enthusiasm and love for the subject. My sincerest condolences to his family and friends.
Elliot Leader
January 25, 2019
Lewis was a delightful colleague, always helpful and a great source of knowledge. His textbooks are marvels of pedagogical clarity. I will miss him very much.
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