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Howard P. Robertson
Howard Percy "Bob" Robertson (January 27, 1903 – August 26, 1961) was an American mathematician and physicist known for contributions related to physical cosmology and the uncertainty principle. He was Professor of Mathematical Physics at the California Institute of Technology and Princeton University.
Robertson made important contributions to the mathematics of quantum mechanics, general relativity and differential geometry. Applying relativity to cosmology, he independently developed the concept of an expanding universe. His name is most often associated with the Poynting–Robertson effect, the process by which solar radiation causes a dust mote orbiting a star to lose angular momentum, which he also described in terms of general relativity.
During World War II, Robertson served with the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) and the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD). He served as technical consultant to the Secretary of War, the OSRD Liaison Officer in London, and the Chief of the Scientific Intelligence Advisory Section at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force.
After the war Robertson was director of the Weapons Systems Evaluation Group in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 1950 to 1952, chairman of the Robertson Panel on UFOs in 1953 and scientific advisor to the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) in 1954 and 1955. He was chairman of the Defense Science Board from 1956 to 1961, and a member of the President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) from 1957 to 1961.
The Robertson crater on the far side of the Moon is named in his honor.
Howard Percy Robertson, was born in Hoquiam, Washington, on January 27, 1903, the oldest of five children of George Duncan Robertson, an engineer who built bridges in Washington state, and Anna McLeod, a nurse. His father died when he was 15 years old, but although money was short, all five siblings attended university. He entered the University of Washington in Seattle in 1918, initially with the intention of studying engineering, but he later switched to mathematics. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics in 1922 and a Master of Science in mathematics and physics in 1923.
In 1923 Robertson married Angela Turinsky, a philosophy and psychology student at the University of Washington. They had two children: George Duncan, who became a surgeon, and Marietta, who later married California Institute of Technology (Caltech) historian Peter W. Fay. At the University of Washington he also met Eric Temple Bell, who encouraged him to pursue mathematics at Caltech. Robertson completed his PhD dissertation in mathematics and physics there in 1925 under the supervision of Harry Bateman, writing "On Dynamical Space-Times Which Contain a Conformal Euclidean 3-Space".
Upon receipt of his doctorate, Robertson received a National Research Council Fellowship to study at the University of Göttingen in Germany, where he met David Hilbert, Richard Courant, Albert Einstein, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, Karl Schwarzschild, John von Neumann and Eugene Wigner. He found Max Born unsympathetic to his concept of an expanding universe, which Born considered "rubbish". He also spent six months at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he was a post-doctoral student of Arnold Sommerfeld.
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Howard P. Robertson
Howard Percy "Bob" Robertson (January 27, 1903 – August 26, 1961) was an American mathematician and physicist known for contributions related to physical cosmology and the uncertainty principle. He was Professor of Mathematical Physics at the California Institute of Technology and Princeton University.
Robertson made important contributions to the mathematics of quantum mechanics, general relativity and differential geometry. Applying relativity to cosmology, he independently developed the concept of an expanding universe. His name is most often associated with the Poynting–Robertson effect, the process by which solar radiation causes a dust mote orbiting a star to lose angular momentum, which he also described in terms of general relativity.
During World War II, Robertson served with the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) and the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD). He served as technical consultant to the Secretary of War, the OSRD Liaison Officer in London, and the Chief of the Scientific Intelligence Advisory Section at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force.
After the war Robertson was director of the Weapons Systems Evaluation Group in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 1950 to 1952, chairman of the Robertson Panel on UFOs in 1953 and scientific advisor to the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) in 1954 and 1955. He was chairman of the Defense Science Board from 1956 to 1961, and a member of the President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) from 1957 to 1961.
The Robertson crater on the far side of the Moon is named in his honor.
Howard Percy Robertson, was born in Hoquiam, Washington, on January 27, 1903, the oldest of five children of George Duncan Robertson, an engineer who built bridges in Washington state, and Anna McLeod, a nurse. His father died when he was 15 years old, but although money was short, all five siblings attended university. He entered the University of Washington in Seattle in 1918, initially with the intention of studying engineering, but he later switched to mathematics. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics in 1922 and a Master of Science in mathematics and physics in 1923.
In 1923 Robertson married Angela Turinsky, a philosophy and psychology student at the University of Washington. They had two children: George Duncan, who became a surgeon, and Marietta, who later married California Institute of Technology (Caltech) historian Peter W. Fay. At the University of Washington he also met Eric Temple Bell, who encouraged him to pursue mathematics at Caltech. Robertson completed his PhD dissertation in mathematics and physics there in 1925 under the supervision of Harry Bateman, writing "On Dynamical Space-Times Which Contain a Conformal Euclidean 3-Space".
Upon receipt of his doctorate, Robertson received a National Research Council Fellowship to study at the University of Göttingen in Germany, where he met David Hilbert, Richard Courant, Albert Einstein, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, Karl Schwarzschild, John von Neumann and Eugene Wigner. He found Max Born unsympathetic to his concept of an expanding universe, which Born considered "rubbish". He also spent six months at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he was a post-doctoral student of Arnold Sommerfeld.