Person
Focken, Charles Melbourne (1901 - 1978)
- Born
- 23 October 1901
Kan Lung, Hong Kong - Died
- 15 August 1978
East Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia - Occupation
- Museum director and Physicist
Summary
Charles Focken was a physicist who, after 15 years at the University of Otago in New Zealand was appointed Director of the Museum (later Institute) of Applied Science in Melbourne. As Director he completed substantial building works, established a radio-carbon dating laboratory, and secured funding for a planetarium. To modernise the Museum Focken undertook a study tour of museum administration and display methods in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 1953. He also appointed additional staff and increased the Museum's recurrent funding. Between 1962 and 1966 Focken was chief a of mission for a UNESCO program to establish the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology in Valetta, Malta. His publications included a biography of his postgraduate mentor, Lord Rutherford of Nelson (1937) and the textbook Dimensional methods and their applications (1953).
Details
Chronology
- 1908
- Life event - Settled in Australia with his family
- 1923
- Award - Awarded Rhodes Scholarship
- 1923
- Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Melbourne
- 1926
- Education - DPhil, University of Oxford
- 1926 - 1950
- Career position - Beverley-Mackenzie Lecturer in Physics, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- 1931
- Education - Bachelor of Mining Engineering (BME), University of Melbourne
- 1933 - 1935
- Career position - New Zealand Commonwealth Fund Fellow, Colorado School of Mines, U.S.A.
- 1935
- Education - MSc, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, U.S.A.
- 1950 - 1951
- Career position - Reader in Physics, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- 1951 - 1961
- Career position - Director, Museum of Applied Science, Melbourne
- 1961
- Career position - Director, Institute of Applied Science, Melbourne
- 1962 - 1966
- Career position - Established the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology, Valetta, Malta
- 1966
- Life event - Retired
Related entries
Published resources
Books
- Focken, C. M., Lord Rutherford of Nelson (Auckland: Whitcombe & Tombs, 1937), 19 pp. Details
- Focken, F. C., Dimensional methods and their applications (London: Arnold, 1953), 224 pp. Details
Book Sections
- Kendall, F.J., 'Focken, Charles Melbourne (1901-1978), Physicist and Museum Director' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 14: 1940 - 1980 Di-Kel, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1996), p. 192. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A140205b.htm. Details
Journal Articles
- Focken, C. M., 'Radiocarbon dating laboratory', Australian journal of science, 23 (1960), 127-8. Details
Resources
- 'Focken, Charles Melbourne (19011023-19780815)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1465289. Details
See also
- Gleadow, A. J. W.; and Lovering, J. F., 'Development of geochronology in Victoria', Australian journal of earth sciences, 55 (6/7) (2008), 753-67, https://doi.org/10.1080/08120090802094119. Details
- Rae, Ian D., 'Radiocarbon dating at the Museum of Applied Science Victoria 1952-70: a pioneer venture', Historical Records of Australian Science, 29 (1) (2018), 14-27, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR17019. Details
Helen Cohn
Created: 31 July 2018, Last modified: 27 June 2024