Reginald Victor Jones (known simply as R.V.) was born in Dulwich, London on 29 September 1911. He attended Sussex Road Elementary School, Brixton and won a scholarship to Alleyn’s School, Dulwich. In 1929 Jones was awarded an Open Exhibition in Natural Science to Wadham College, Oxford, where T.C. Keeley was his tutor, and graduated with first class honours in physics in 1932. In 1935 Jones took part in trials to detect aircraft by infrared. As a result of these trials the Air Ministry’s Committee on Air Defence, chaired by Sir Henry Tizard, employed Jones from January 1936 to work at the Clarendon Laboratory on the development of an airborne infrared detector which could be mounted on night fighters. In September 1939 he was attached to the intelligence services to investigate the German application of science to air warfare. Jones proceeded to play a key role during the Second World War in identifying and counteracting German weapons developments. In 1946, despite promotion to Director of Intelligence, Jones decided to leave Government service an applied for the chair of Natural Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen and was successful. At the request of Churchill in 1952 he returned briefly to intelligence work as Director of Scientific Intelligence at the Ministry of Defence but he returned to his academic duties in Aberdeen at the end of the following year. Jones wrote and lectured extensively on defence and intelligence issues, education, the history of science and a variety of science-related issues. Jones played an active role in public life after the Second World War, acting as chairman of numerous government committees and other bodies. These include the Infra-Red Committee of the Ministries of Supply and Aviation, 1950-1964 and the Air Defence Committee Working Party of the Ministry of Defence, 1963-1964. For his intelligence work during the War he received the CBE in 1942. Jones was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1965. He died on 17 December 1997.