Distinguished for his contributions to atomic spectroscopy including:- the analysis and interpretation of the profiles of atomic resonance lines emitted by hollow-cathode atomic spectral lamps; the development of methods of generating atomic vapours by cathodic sputtering; the realization that such vapours would greatly facilitate many fundamental investigations by high-resolution and time-resolved laser spectroscopy; the application of such methods to the accurate determination of the atomic lifetimes of refractory elements including zirconium, yttrium, niobium, molybdenum and vanadium, leading to revised measurements of their solar abundances. These contributions constitute the creation of this increasingly important new field of laser spectroscopy with sputtered atoms.