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Ralph Fowler
Times obituary
EMINENT MATHEMATICAL PHYSICIST
Sir Ralph Fowler, O.B.E., F.R.S., the eminent mathematical physicist, Plummer Professor of Applied Mathematics at Cambridge University since 1932, died at Cromwell House, Trumpington yesterday.
Ralph Howard Fowler was born on January 17, 1889, eldest son of Howard Fowler, of Gicbelands, Burnham, Somerset. After a successful career at Winchester, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was selected for a prize fellowship in 1914 for his work on pure mathematics. Early in the 1914-18 war, he was severely wounded. On his recovery, he was seconded to the anti-aircraft section of the Munitions Inventions Department, where he was the principal member of a group of scientists who made a study of the effect of air forces on a spinning wheel. These researches, which are regarded as classical by gunnery experts, provided the framework into which all later work on the subject has been fitted.
Before the last war, Fowler had been on the mathematical staff at Winchester, but shortly after it ended, a vacancy on the Trinity College staff enabled him to return Cambridge, where he made good use of his training in pure mathematics in attacking many difficult problems in statistical mechanics. This work, which was afterwards published in book form, was recognized by the award of the Adams Prize in 1925. The return of the late Lord Rutherford to Cambridge in 1919 had stimulated great interest there in quantum mechanics and nuclear physics. In those developments Fowler found not only a rich field for his own research but endless opportunities for helping younger physicists in their work at the Cavendish Laboratory. Fowler's connection with the laboratory was at first unofficial, a natural product of his friendship and cooperation with Lord Rutherford, whose daughter Eileen he married in 1921. In 1933, however, Cambridge University was able to appoint him to the Plummer Professorship of Applied Mathematics, assigning to him the duties which he had already so easily performed for many years.
Illustrations of Fowler's versatility could be drawn from many sciences. In astronomy, for instance, two examples can be chosen. With E. A. Milne, he developed the theory originated by M. N. Saha, which made it possible for astronomers to determine the physical state of the outer layers of a star from its spectrum. Around 1924, astronomers had come to the conclusion that certain stars called white dwarfs have densities as high as some thousands of times that of gold. By a coincidence, atomic physicists had, about the same time, developed a way in which the properties of matter compressed to very high densities could be predicted. Fowler applied the new theories to the problem of white dwarf stars and laid the foundations of a line of research that has had important developments
In 1938, Fowler was appointed director of the National Physical Laboratory, but a sudden illness which left him slightly paralyzed made a change of post unadvisable. His mind, however, was unaffected, and at the outbreak of war in 1939, he refused to follow the medical advice that it would be dangerous for him to engage in hard work. His first important war work was the organization of scientific liaison between Britain and Canada; later he extended these activities to the United States. On his return to England, he became intimately associated with the scientific work of the Admiralty.
In 1925, Fowler was elected to the Royal Society and was awarded their Royal Medal in 1936, and in 1942, he was created a knight. Among his fellow friends, he will always remember him as a member for his achievements at games. He was a fine cricketer and played golf for Cambridge against Oxford, though he did not take the game as seriously as his sister, who won the Ladies' Golf Championship.
He leaves two sons and two daughters. His wife died in 1930.
_____________________________________________________
Professor A. V. Hill, Secretary of the Royal Society, writes:
The sudden illness which prevented Ralph Fowler, bitterly disappointed but without self-pity or complaint, from taking up the directorship of the National Physical Laboratory in 1938, and a strict warning to avoid fatigue and overstrain, could no longer hold him back when war came in 1939. "Other people are going to take risks now, so am I" was his only comment. He realized what the consequences would be of overdriving the machinery and he accepted them as part of the job.
Those of us who know the splendid service he rendered, here and in Canada and the United States, on many technical aspects of the war, are sure he was right: but few are aware of what it cost him, or of the courage and fortitude -- equally splendid -- that it needed. He gave all he had: that was his nature, and anything less would have been misery to one who had been blessed till then with such over-whelming vigour, sometimes obstreperous but always generous, of body and mind. For four and a half years he drove and coaxed the failing machinery along, perfectly aware that it was failing, bravely and cheerfully till it stopped,
__________________________________________________
S.D.S. writes:-
I am very proud to have shared, with many others, the friendship of a great man. I am not competent to write of his scientific attainments, but it was above all his great wisdom which was so impressive. There were few human activities upon which it was not well informed and able to aid those who wished it. His taste in literature, music, art—even food, may it be said -- was excellent. He appreciated the best things life has to offer and by appreciating them himself helped those around him to appreciate them too. He was naturally shy and throughout his life modest to the point of diffidence, but this never deterred him from expressing his views as forcibly as occasion demanded.
___________________________________________________
P.M.S.B. writes:
It was principally the duties that Sir Ralph Fowler, F.R.S., undertook for the Navy which hastened his death. He had been closely connected with the Navy since he joined the Royal Marine Artillery, in which he served in the 1914-18 war, when he was severely wounded in Gallipoli and invalided. He then joined Professor A. V. Hill's team which worked in H.M.S. Excellent on applied ballistics with special reference to the high angle gunnery problem, then in its infancy. It is not too much to say that his work during and immediately subsequent to the last war gave us the basic data on external ballistics on which was built our knowledge of naval gunnery at the beginning of this war. He worked for the Ordnance Board in the intervening period and he regularly attended their meetings until 18 months ago when other duties in the Admiralty become too pressing. After his return at the end of 1941 from his most successful visit to Canada and the United States, he became even more closely connected with the Admiralty, particularly as a member of the Admiralty Scientific Advisory Board and as chairman of important Admiralty committees. During these last two years, much of Fowler's work was connected with the scientific analysis of many aspects of naval affairs. He was a first-rate mathematical scientist; he was also a pre-eminently sensible man.
EMINENT MATHEMATICAL PHYSICIST
Sir Ralph Fowler, O.B.E., F.R.S., the eminent mathematical physicist, Plummer Professor of Applied Mathematics at Cambridge University since 1932, died at Cromwell House, Trumpington yesterday.
Ralph Howard Fowler was born on January 17, 1889, eldest son of Howard Fowler, of Gicbelands, Burnham, Somerset. After a successful career at Winchester, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was selected for a prize fellowship in 1914 for his work on pure mathematics. Early in the 1914-18 war, he was severely wounded. On his recovery, he was seconded to the anti-aircraft section of the Munitions Inventions Department, where he was the principal member of a group of scientists who made a study of the effect of air forces on a spinning wheel. These researches, which are regarded as classical by gunnery experts, provided the framework into which all later work on the subject has been fitted.
Before the last war, Fowler had been on the mathematical staff at Winchester, but shortly after it ended, a vacancy on the Trinity College staff enabled him to return Cambridge, where he made good use of his training in pure mathematics in attacking many difficult problems in statistical mechanics. This work, which was afterwards published in book form, was recognized by the award of the Adams Prize in 1925. The return of the late Lord Rutherford to Cambridge in 1919 had stimulated great interest there in quantum mechanics and nuclear physics. In those developments Fowler found not only a rich field for his own research but endless opportunities for helping younger physicists in their work at the Cavendish Laboratory. Fowler's connection with the laboratory was at first unofficial, a natural product of his friendship and cooperation with Lord Rutherford, whose daughter Eileen he married in 1921. In 1933, however, Cambridge University was able to appoint him to the Plummer Professorship of Applied Mathematics, assigning to him the duties which he had already so easily performed for many years.
Illustrations of Fowler's versatility could be drawn from many sciences. In astronomy, for instance, two examples can be chosen. With E. A. Milne, he developed the theory originated by M. N. Saha, which made it possible for astronomers to determine the physical state of the outer layers of a star from its spectrum. Around 1924, astronomers had come to the conclusion that certain stars called white dwarfs have densities as high as some thousands of times that of gold. By a coincidence, atomic physicists had, about the same time, developed a way in which the properties of matter compressed to very high densities could be predicted. Fowler applied the new theories to the problem of white dwarf stars and laid the foundations of a line of research that has had important developments
In 1938, Fowler was appointed director of the National Physical Laboratory, but a sudden illness which left him slightly paralyzed made a change of post unadvisable. His mind, however, was unaffected, and at the outbreak of war in 1939, he refused to follow the medical advice that it would be dangerous for him to engage in hard work. His first important war work was the organization of scientific liaison between Britain and Canada; later he extended these activities to the United States. On his return to England, he became intimately associated with the scientific work of the Admiralty.
In 1925, Fowler was elected to the Royal Society and was awarded their Royal Medal in 1936, and in 1942, he was created a knight. Among his fellow friends, he will always remember him as a member for his achievements at games. He was a fine cricketer and played golf for Cambridge against Oxford, though he did not take the game as seriously as his sister, who won the Ladies' Golf Championship.
He leaves two sons and two daughters. His wife died in 1930.
_____________________________________________________
Professor A. V. Hill, Secretary of the Royal Society, writes:
The sudden illness which prevented Ralph Fowler, bitterly disappointed but without self-pity or complaint, from taking up the directorship of the National Physical Laboratory in 1938, and a strict warning to avoid fatigue and overstrain, could no longer hold him back when war came in 1939. "Other people are going to take risks now, so am I" was his only comment. He realized what the consequences would be of overdriving the machinery and he accepted them as part of the job.
Those of us who know the splendid service he rendered, here and in Canada and the United States, on many technical aspects of the war, are sure he was right: but few are aware of what it cost him, or of the courage and fortitude -- equally splendid -- that it needed. He gave all he had: that was his nature, and anything less would have been misery to one who had been blessed till then with such over-whelming vigour, sometimes obstreperous but always generous, of body and mind. For four and a half years he drove and coaxed the failing machinery along, perfectly aware that it was failing, bravely and cheerfully till it stopped,
__________________________________________________
S.D.S. writes:-
I am very proud to have shared, with many others, the friendship of a great man. I am not competent to write of his scientific attainments, but it was above all his great wisdom which was so impressive. There were few human activities upon which it was not well informed and able to aid those who wished it. His taste in literature, music, art—even food, may it be said -- was excellent. He appreciated the best things life has to offer and by appreciating them himself helped those around him to appreciate them too. He was naturally shy and throughout his life modest to the point of diffidence, but this never deterred him from expressing his views as forcibly as occasion demanded.
___________________________________________________
P.M.S.B. writes:
It was principally the duties that Sir Ralph Fowler, F.R.S., undertook for the Navy which hastened his death. He had been closely connected with the Navy since he joined the Royal Marine Artillery, in which he served in the 1914-18 war, when he was severely wounded in Gallipoli and invalided. He then joined Professor A. V. Hill's team which worked in H.M.S. Excellent on applied ballistics with special reference to the high angle gunnery problem, then in its infancy. It is not too much to say that his work during and immediately subsequent to the last war gave us the basic data on external ballistics on which was built our knowledge of naval gunnery at the beginning of this war. He worked for the Ordnance Board in the intervening period and he regularly attended their meetings until 18 months ago when other duties in the Admiralty become too pressing. After his return at the end of 1941 from his most successful visit to Canada and the United States, he became even more closely connected with the Admiralty, particularly as a member of the Admiralty Scientific Advisory Board and as chairman of important Admiralty committees. During these last two years, much of Fowler's work was connected with the scientific analysis of many aspects of naval affairs. He was a first-rate mathematical scientist; he was also a pre-eminently sensible man.
