# Godfrey Hounsfield

_English electrical engineer (1919–2004)_

Canonical: https://diginpl.com/people/godfrey-hounsfield
Last updated: 2026-11-01

> Sir Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield ( HOWNZ-feeld; 28 August 1919 – 12 August 2004) was an English electrical engineer who shared the 1979 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Allan MacLeod Cormack for his part in developing the diagnostic technique of X-ray computed tomography (CT).

## Quick facts

- **Born:** 28 August 1919 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q273769#P569))
- **Place of birth:** Sutton on Trent ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q273769#P19))
- **Died:** 12 August 2004 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q273769#P570))
- **Place of death:** Kingston upon Thames ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q273769#P20))
- **Citizenship:** United Kingdom; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q273769#P27))
- **Occupation:** engineer; physicist ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q273769#P106))
- **Education:** Magnus Church of England School; Faraday House ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q273769#P69))
- **Awards:** Fellow of the Royal Society; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; Commander of the Order of the British Empire; Canada Gairdner International Award; Howard N. Potts Medal; Wilhelm Exner Medal; Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award; National Inventors Hall of Fame; X-ray badge; Knight Bachelor; Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons; Dennis Gabor Medal and Prize; John Scott Award; Mullard Award ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q273769#P166))

## About

His name is immortalised in the Hounsfield scale, a quantitative measure of radiodensity used in evaluating CT scans. The scale is defined in Hounsfield units (symbol HU), running from air at −1000 HU, through water at 0 HU, and up to dense cortical bone at +1000 HU and more.

## Questions

**When was Godfrey Hounsfield born?**  
Godfrey Hounsfield was born on 28 August 1919 in Sutton on Trent.

**Where did Godfrey Hounsfield study?**  
Godfrey Hounsfield was educated at Magnus Church of England School, Faraday House.

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## Sources

- [Wikipedia (English): Godfrey Hounsfield](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godfrey_Hounsfield) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikidata item Q273769](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q273769) — [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Image: Godfrey Hounsfield.jpg by Unknown author Unknown author (Public domain)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Godfrey_Hounsfield.jpg)

## Licence and attribution

Text from the Wikipedia article Godfrey Hounsfield, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Godfrey Hounsfield.jpg — Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain.

## Cite this page

"Godfrey Hounsfield". DigiNepal. Last updated 1 November 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/godfrey-hounsfield. Retrieved 6 November 2026.