The Bouncing Bomb

Dr. Iain Murray is a Lecturer in Computing, with a long-standing interest in the public understanding of science in general, and the work of Sir Barnes Wallis in particular.

He has taught Computing at the University of Dundee for over 25 years, where his main research interests are the inclusion of emotion in synthesised speech, and the use of speech in systems for people with disabilities. He has more than thirty publications from this work. His current teaching includes computer systems (especially hardware aspects) and database systems.

Iain is the author of Bouncing-Bomb Man: the Science of Sir Barnes Walliswhich describes Wallis’s wide range of inventions, how they worked and how they were better than contemporary designs. He is also the author of the Haynes Dam Busters Manual and Vickers Wellington Manual which describe the technical aspects of Wallis’s military inventions. He has contributed to several TV programmes, including Foyle’s War, Dambusters: Building the Bouncing Bomb, Who Do You Think You Are? and Building Hitler’s Supergun and he has spoken to a range of audiences about Wallis’s work.

In 2010, he initiated a diving project to locate and recover some of Wallis’s bouncing bombs from a loch in Scotland; a number of bombs were located, and a recovery operation conducted by divers from BSAC’s East Cheshire Sub-Aqua Club and the Royal Navy successfully lifted two Highballs in July 2017 for museum display.

Iain has been a committee member of the Tayside & Fife Branch of the British Science Association for over 20 years, and is the Branch’s current Treasurer, having previously served as Chairman and also on the Association’s national Council. He lives in Dundee, and is married with three daughters.