Isaak, George Richard (1933 - 2005)

Summary

George Richard Isaak was an Adjunct Professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota, USA from 1996 until his death. Prior to this he had spent close to thirty years at the University of Birmingham in England. It was there that Isaak began his groundbreaking research into the pressure, temperature, density and oscillations of the Sun. He achieved this by pioneering the technology of high resolution scanning / resonant-scattering spectroscopy: in 1959 Isaak discovered that very narrow spectra could be resolved and analysed by absorbing a narrow slit from a resonantly scattered beam of light in a vapour chamber and shifting the spectrum of the vapour by an electric or magnetic field.

Details

After surviving the war, George Richard Isaak migrated to Australia as a refugee. He took up studies at the University of Melbourne where he eventually received a Masters qualification (1958). He spent the next two years working as a physical chemist at ICI Australia then moved to England to undertake a Doctor of Philosophy and work as a Research Associate at the University of Birmingham. Isaak remained at the University until his 1996 retirement at the level of Professor. He headed the University's High Resolution Optical Spectroscopy Group for many years. This was the first group of its kind to operate a world-spanning network of observation sites which still operates today under the name of the BiSON network.

Almost immediately after his retirement, Isaak moved to the USA and was appointed Adjunct Professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota and continued to make and record solar and stellar observations. Isaak had an illustrious career making major breakthroughs in his field of physics and astronomy. He received many prestigious awards including the Hughes Medal from the Royal Society and authored over 150 papers on solar and stellar seismology.

Chronology

c. 1945

Life event - Migrated to Australia as a refugee with his family

1955

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

1958

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

1959 - 1960

Career position - Physical Chemist at ICI Australia

1961 - 1969

Career position - Research Associate then Lecturer in Physics, University of Birmingham, UK

1966

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Birmingham

1969 - 1982

Career position - Senior Lecturer in Physics, University of Birmingham

1979

Career position - First detection of the solar five-minute oscillation ever recorded

1982 - 1984

Career position - Reader in Physics, University of Birmingham

1984 - 1996

Career position - Professor of Physics, University of Birmingham

1985

Award - Max Born Medal and Prize, Institute of Physics and the German Physical Society

1993

Award - Hughes Medal, The Royal Society, London

1996 -

Career position - Adjunct Professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, USA

1996

Award - Herschel Medal, Royal Astronomical Society

Published resources

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q5540968. Details
• 'Isaak, George Richard (1933-2005)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1473899. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_i.html. Details