My father, Cyril Smith, who has died aged 92, was an electrical engineering lecturer at Salford University. He co-wrote Electromagnetic Man: Health and Hazard in the Electrical Environment with the science journalist Simon Best in 1989 and appeared on television several times in connection with his work. After appearing in a 1978 BBC Horizon documentary, The Vital Spark, Cyril was contacted by residents of Fishpond, Dorset, who asked him to investigate reports of sensitivity to living under power cables. He spoke about Fishpond on the Channel 4 consumer programme 4 What It’s Worth.
Born in London, Cyril was the elder son of Reg, a tax inspector, and Evelyn (nee Stobbs), who had worked at a fashion house. Reg’s job meant that he was frequently moved by the Inland Revenue, and the family lived in Ilkley, Yorkshire, then Brighton, before they were evacuated to Malvern, Worcestershire, in 1940 and Cyril was sent to Douai school in Berkshire. He was a fine singer and, with his father, sang Gilbert and Sullivan songs in a Malvern musical society, for which his mother made the costumes.
