Person
Brown, Robert Hanbury (1916 - 2002)
AC FAA FRS
- Born
- 31 August 1916
Aravankadu, India - Died
- 16 January 2002
England - Occupation
- Physicist
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
- 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
Gavan McCarthy [P004098] and Helen Cohn
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 6 October 2023
- Foundation Supporter - Committee to Review Australian Studies in Tertiary Education