Ralph H. Fowler
Ralph Fowler | |
|---|---|
| File:Ralph fowler.jpg Ralph Howard Fowler (1889-1944) | |
| Born | January 17, 1889 |
| Died | July 28, 1944 (aged 55) |
| Nationality |  English |
| Alma mater | Cambridge University |
| Known for | Statistical physics |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physicist |
| Institutions | Cambridge University |
| Doctoral advisor | Archibald Hill  |
| Doctoral students | Garrett Birkhoff S. Chandrasekhar Paul Dirac Douglas Rayner Hartree John Lennard-Jones Harrie Massey William McCrea Bertha Swirles |
Sir Ralph Howard Fowler OBE FRS (January 17 1889 – July 28 1944) was a British physicist and astronomer.
Fowler was initially educated at home but then attended Evans' preparatory school at Horris Hill and the Winchester College. Fowler then won a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge and read mathematics becoming a wrangler in Part II of the Tripos.
In the First World War he obtained a commission in the Royal Marine Artillery and was seriously wounded in the shoulder at Gallipoli. The wound caused him to be introduced to Archibald Hill, who brought Fowler's abilities to the realm of physics. He worked as Hill's second in command working with the Experimental Department of HMS Excellent on Whale Island and made a major contribution on the aerodynamics of spinning shells for which he was awarded the OBE in 1918.
In 1919 Fowler returned to Trinity and was eventually appointed college lecturer in mathematics in 1920. Here he worked on thermodynamics and statistical mechanics bringing a new approach to physical chemistry. With Arthur Milne he also wrote a seminal work on stellar spectra, temperatures, and pressures. In 1925 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1926 he worked with Paul Dirac on the statistical mechanics of white dwarf stars. In 1932, he was elected to the Chair of Theoretical Physics at the Cavendish Laboratory.
In 1939 when the Second World War broke out, he resumed his work with the Ordnance Board, despite poor health, and was eventually chosen to become a scientific liaison to Canada and the United States. He knew America well having visiting professorships at Princeton and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For his work as this liaison, he was knighted in 1942 (see MAUD Committee). He returned to Britain later in the war and worked for the Ordnance Board and the Admiralty up a few weeks before his death in 1944.
Fifteen Fellows of the Royal Society and three Nobel Laureates were supervised by Fowler between 1922 and 1939. In addition to Milne, he worked with Sir Arthur Eddington, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Paul Dirac, Sir William McCrea. It was Fowler who introduced Paul Dirac to quantum theory in 1923. Fowler also put Dirac and Werner Heisenberg in touch with each other through Niels Bohr. At Cambridge he supervised the doctoral studies of 64 students including John Lennard-Jones, Paul Dirac and Garrett Birkhoff.
In 1921, Ralph married Eileen Mary (1901-1930), the daughter of Ernest Rutherford, They had four children, two sons and two daughters. Eileen died after the birth of their last child.
Reference
- Who was Who 1941-1950 (London, A & C Black)