Brown, Robert Hanbury (1916 - 2002)

Summary

Robert Brown had a distinguished career as a pioneer in radar and radio physics in the United Kingdom, including 15 years as Professor of Astronomy at the University of Manchester, before becoming Professor of Physics (Astronomy) at the University of Sydney in 1964. A focus of his research was in intensity interferometry. He was integral to the establishment and successful research program of the Narrabri Stellar Intensity Interferometer in northern New South Wales. The Hanbury Brown-Twiss effect, named for Brown and his colleague Richard Twiss, has become a standard technique in research in high-energy collisions in particle physics.

Details

Chronology

1935

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc(Hons)) Engineering, University of London

1936 - 1942

Career position - Scientific officer (radar), Air Ministry

1938

Education - Diploma of Membership, Imperial College, London

1942 - 1945

Career position - Assistant head, Combined Research Group, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington D.C.

1945 - 1947

Career position - Principal scientific officer, Telecommunications Research Establishment and head, Navigation Division, Ministry of Supply

1947 - 1949

Career position - Partner, Sir Robert Watson-Watt and Partners Ltd

1949

Career position - ICI Research Fellow, Jodrell Bank, University of Manchester

1949 - 1964

Career position - Professor of Astronomy (personal chair), University of Manchester

1959

Award - Holweck Prize, The Physical Society, United Kingdom

1960

Education - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of Manchester, United Kingdom

1960 - 2002

Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)

1964 - 1981

Career position - Professor of physics (astronomy), University of Sydney

1967 - 2002

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

1968

Award - Eddington Medal (with R. Q. Twiss), Royal Astronomical Society, United Kingdom

1970

Award - Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal, Australian Academy of Science

1971

Award - Hughes Medal, The Royal Society, London

1971

Award - Britannica Australia Medal

1975

Award - Foreign Fellow, Indian National Science Academy

1975

Award - Honorary Fellow, Indian Academy of Science

1977 - 1979

Career position - Vice-President, Australian Academy of Science

1979 - 1981

Career position - Member, Australian Research Grants Committee

1981 -

Career position - Emeritus Professor of Physics (astronomy), University of Sydney

1981

Career position - Research Fellow, Foundation for Research in Physics, University of Sydney

1982

Award - Albert A. Michelson Medal (with R. Q. Twiss) Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

1982

Award - Matthew Flinders Medal and Lecture, Australian Academy of Science

1982 - 1985

Career position - President, International Astronomical Union

1984

Award - Doctor of Science (DSc), honoris causa, Monash University

1984

Award - Doctor of Science (DSc), honoris causa, University of Sydney

1985

Award - Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) - in recognition of service to science, particularly in the field of stellar astronomy

1985 - 2002

Award - Associate, Royal Astronomical Society, United Kingdom

1987

Award - ANZAAS Medal, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science

1987 - 2002

Award - Honorary Fellow, Australian Optical Society

1987 - 2002

Award - Honorary Member, Royal Astronomical Society of Canada

Related entries

Archival resources

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• Robert Hanbury Brown - Records, 1937 - 1972, DeB 580; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

University of Sydney, Archives

• Robert Hanbury Brown - Records, 1957 - 1983, Acc. 1060; University of Sydney, Archives. Details

Published resources

Books

• Bhathal, Ragbir, Australian Astronomers: Achievements at the Frontiers of Astronomy (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 1996), 243 pp. Details
• Brown, R. Hanbury, Boffin: a Personal Story of the Early Days of Radar and Radio Astronomy and Quantum Optics (Bristol: Adam Hilger, 1991), 184 (190) pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Brown, R. Hanbury; Minnett, Harry C; White, Fredrick W. G., 'Edward George Bowen 1911-1991', Historical Records of Australian Science, 9 (2) (1992), 151-166. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9920920151. Details
• Brown, Robert Hanbury; Minnett, H. C.; and White, Frederick William George, 'Edward George Bowen, 14 January 1911 - 12 August 1991', Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 38 (1992), 41-65. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.1992.0003. Details
• Davis, J.; and Lovell, B., 'Robert Hanbury Brown. 31 August 1916 - 16 January 2002 Elected FRS 1960', Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 49 (2003), 83-106, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.2003.0005. Details
• Davis, John; Lovell, Sir Bernard,, 'Robert Hanbury Brown', Historical Records of Australian Science, 14 (4) (2003), 459-483. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR03006. Details

Newspaper Articles

• 'Obituary: Robert Hanbury Brown', The Age (2002). Details

Resources

• Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society [Online resource], Royal Society of London, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.2003.0005. Details
• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1932238. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/100238800. Details
• Mayer, Anna-k.; and Powell,timothy E., Catalogue of the Papers and Correspondence of Robert Hanbury Brown AC FRS FAAS (1916-2002), National Cataloguing Unit for the Archives of Contemporary Scientists, Bath, 2007, http://www.bath.ac.uk/ncuacs/AHRC%20Hanbury%20Brown.htm. Details
• 'Brown, R Hanbury (1916-2002)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-590409. Details

See also

• Who's who in Australia 1995 (Melbourne: Information Australia Group, 1995), 1622 pp. Details
• Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal, Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, 2023. https://www.science.org.au/supporting-science/awards-and-opportunities/thomas-ranken-lyle-medal. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Australian Astronomers: What Made Them Great?', News and Reviews in Astronomy and Geophysics, 48 (2007), 533-6. Details