od 
photogrammetry. Later on, during the Second 
World War, his knowledge of photogrammetry, 
his organizational talents and his investigative 
mind were to provide most valuable to the Army 
Map Service as he participated in extensive pro- 
jects of aerial mapping. In part, it was due to his 
energetic activity that methods of aerial photo- 
grammetry for mapping purposes were widely 
adopted in Finland soon after the War. 
From the very beginning, Professor Halonen 
contributed to the development of professional 
organizations in his field. In recognition of his 
activities, he was appointed Honorary Member 
of the Finnish Society of Photogrammetry when 
it celebrated its 40th anniversary in 1971. Profes- 
sor Halonen was on the Steering Committee of 
the European Organization for Experimental Photo- 
grammetric Research. He was Chairman of 
ISP Commission VI from 1960 to 1964 and Mem- 
ber of the ISP Council from 1968 on. At his death 
Professor Halonen served the ISP as Congress 
Director of the XIIIth International Congress for 
Photogrammetry to be held in Helsinki in 1976. 
  
E. H. Thompson t 
Edgar Hynes Thompson, OBE, MA, ScD, was born 
on 13th January, 1910. He studied at Cheltenham 
College, at the Royal Military Academy and at 
Downing College, Cambridge, where he obtained 
first class honours in the mechanical sciences 
tripos. He first came into serious contact with 
photogrammetry when he was appointed Re- 
search Officer at the War Office, under the gen- 
eral direction of the Air Survey Committee, in 
1934. 
In 1938, Thompson was posted to the Ordnance 
Survey as asistant to Martin Hotine, then engaged 
on the retriangulation of Great Britain. Here his 
clear, imaginative and practical mind, together 
with his mathematical ability, were of great value. 
During the Second World War he served in the 
Armed Forces and continued his military career 
= SO SC pe PI SS 
re ort Lo emt il ort pot rs Crm 4 " 
even after the war. In 1951, he retired from the 
Army in order to fill the Chair of Photogrammetry 
and Surveying at University College London. 
In the wider freedoms of a university, there now 
began for Thompson 25 years of fruitful work and 
conceivable achievement. He saw as his chief 
responsibility the encouragement and guidance 
of students. The brilliance of his lectures and his 
knowledge and experience in the field are well 
remembered. He laid great store also by research 
and his flair for instrument design, too, had its 
impact on the teaching qualities of his depart- 
ment. 
Soon after joining UCL, he became consultant to 
Hilgergher and Watts, designing many features of 
their automatic recording stereocomparator. Per- 
haps his greatest single achievement in design 
was the Thompson Watts plotter with its new 
and interesting features. The second model ver- 
sion of this instrument was the subject of a Coun- 
cil of Industrial Design Award in 1967. The last 
instrument to go into production from his designs 
was the CP1 plotter by Cartographic Engineering. 
He travelled widely abroad and lectured by spe- 
cial invitation in Canada, USA, South Africa, 
Australia, China and Japan. He was a regular 
attender at the congresses of the International 
Society for Photogrammetry (ISP), where his 
independence of mind and logical approach to 
every kind of problem were understood and ap- 
preciated. 
He was elected President of ISP Commission Ill 
(aerial triangulation) for the period from 1968 to 
1972, during which he conducted a very success- 
ful midterm symposium in London. The ISP hon- 
oured him with Honorary Membership in 1972. 
Thompson was interested in other international 
scientific organisations also. He frequently at- 
tended meetings of the International Associa- 
tion for Geodesy and contributed much to their 
deliberations. 
In 1968 he was awarded the degree of Sc.D. of 
the University of Cambridge for his outstanding 
and original work on geodesy, photogrammetry 
and related fields. Over forty years, he produced 
a considerable number of publications and a 
selection of these is available in the form of a 
memorial volume entitled "Photogrammetry and 
Surveying: E. H. Thompson Memorial Volume”. 
His book "An Introduction to the Algebra of 
Matrices" is a standard work on this topic for 
surveyors and photogrammetrists. 
Professor Thompson died quite suddenly and 
unexpectedly as the result of a heart attack on 
the 9th April 1976. 
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