Harper, Arthur Frederick Alan (1913 - 1991)

Summary

Arthur Harper was a physicist noted for his contributions to Australian standards, and to Australia's conversion to the metric system. He joined the Physics Section of the CSIR National Measurement Laboratory in 1940 where, initially, he was involved in a pyrometry measurement service in relation to nation's metallurgical industries. For many years he was Leader of the Heat Section in the Division of Physics. Much of his research involved establishing and maintaining the standards of viscometry and hygrometry (with colleague R. D. Wylie), and low-temperature properties of materials (with W. R.G. Kemp, P. G. Klemens, J. A. Rayne and G. K. White). Harper was a committed advocate for the introduction of the metric system in Australia. In 1971 he left CSIRO to become Executive Member of the Metric Conversion Board and was credited with being responsible for the successful conversion program. Harper was one of the principal people behind the establishment of the Australian Institute of Physics in 1962, subsequently serving as President from 1969 to 1970. In 1988 the Institute established A. F. A. Harper Scholarship, awarded annually for excellence in the study of physics.

Details

Chronology

1933

Career event - Co-founder, Sydney University Physics Society

1934

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Sydney

1935

Education - Master of Science (MSc), University of Sydney

1935 - 1938

Career position - State physicist to hospitals, Cancer Research Committee, University of Sydney

1936

Career position - President, Sydney University Science Society

1938

Career position - President, Physics Section, Royal Society of New South Wales

1939 - 1940

Career event - Training at National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex, United Kingdom

1939 - 1940

Award - Science and Industry Research Scholarship, CSIR Physics Section

1940 - 1945

Career position - Research Scientist, CSIR Physics Section

1945 - 1950

Career position - Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Physics

1945 - 1971

Career position - Leader, Heat Section, CSIRO Division of Physics within National Standards Laboratory

1947 - 1969

Career position - Chairman, Heat and Temperature Measurement Regulation Advisory Committee, National Association of Testing Authorities

1950 - 1957

Career position - Principal Research Officer, CSIRO Division of Physics

1957 - 1971

Career position - Senior Principal Research Officer, CSIRO Division of Physics

1959

Career position - President, Royal Society of New South Wales

1962 - 1966

Career position - Secretary, Australian Branch, Institute of Physics

1965 - 1970

Career position - Secretary, National Standards Commission

1965 - 1980

Career position - Australian representative, International Organisation for Legal Metrology

1967

Award - Royal Society of New South Wales Medal

1967 - 1968

Career position - Technical Consultant, Senate Select Committee on Metric System

1969 - 1971

Career position - President, Australian Institute of Physics

1970 - ?

Career position - Member of Council, Standards Association of Australia

1971 - ?

Career position - Executive Member, Metric Conversion Board

1972 - 1975

Career position - Member, Papua New Guinea Metric Conversion Commission

1975 - 1991

Award - Honorary Fellow, Australian Institute of Physics

1976

Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished public service of a high degree in the field of metric conversion

1978 - 1981

Career position - Chairman, National Standards Commission

Related entries

Archival resources

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• Arthur Frederick Alan Harper - Records, 1934 - 1980, DeB 1164; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

Private hands (Nickolls, R.)

• Arthur Frederick Alan Harper - Records, 1913 - 1990; Private hands (Nickolls, R.). Details

Published resources

Book Sections

• Home, R. W., 'Harper, Arthur Frederick Alan (1913-1991), physicist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 19: 1991 - 1995 A-Z, Melanie Nolan, ed. (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2021), pp. 358-360, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/harper-arthur-frederick-alan-23777. Details

Journal Articles

• Collins, J. G., 'Obituary: Arthur Frederick Alan Harper AO, MSc, CPhys, FInstP, Hon FAIP 1913 - 1991', Australian and New Zealand physicist, 28 (11) (1991), 236-7. Details
• Foley, Cathy; and James, Brian, 'Alan Harper: father of metric conversion', Australian physics, 44 (1) (2007), 23. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q45235379. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/91597531. Details
• 'Harper, Alan (19130705-19910910)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-478644. Details

Resource Sections

• 'Harper, Arthur Frederick Alan', in Physics in Australia to 1945, R.W. Home, with the assistance of Paula J. Needham, Australian Science Archives Project, June 1995, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/physics/P001336p.htm. Details
• 'Primary description of person CP 619; Arthur Frederick Alan Harper', in RecordSearch, National Archives of Australia, 2000, https://RecordSearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?Number=CP%20619. Details

See also

• Draper, W. J. ed., Who's who in Australia 1980 (Melbourne: Herald and Weekly Times Ltd, 1980), 927 pp. Details
• Paterson, M. S., 'John Conrad Jaeger 1907-1979', Historical Records of Australian Science, 5 (3) (1982), 64-88. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9820530064. Details
• Piddington, John Hobart, 'Ronald Gordon Giovanelli 1915-84', Historical Records of Australian Science, 6 (2) (1985), 223-236. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9850620223. Details
• Todd, Jan, For good measure: the making of Australia's measurement system (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2004), 290 pp. Details