Cyril Hilsum’s research into stable liquid crystals and the devices in which they could be used paved the way for the flat-panel television and computer screens that are now ubiquitous in homes, offices and public spaces.
Hilsum, who has died aged 101, was leading a Ministry of Defence team at the Royal Radar Establishment (RRE) in Malvern, Worcestershire, in the late 1960s when Harold Wilson’s Labour government, looking to develop a new generation of miniature radar systems, tasked him with creating flat displays to replace the bulky cathode-ray-tube screens used for traditional radar set-ups.
