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Authorised form of nameRosenhain; Walter (1875 - 1934); metallurgist
Dates1875 - 1934
NationalityAustralian
Place of birthBerlin, Germany, Europe
Date of birth24 August 1875
Place of deathWarrawee, Coombe Lane, Kingston Hill, Surrey, England
Date of death17/03/1934
DatesAndPlacesBurial: Putney Vale cemetery
Occupationmetallurgist
Research fieldMetallurgy
ActivityEducation:
BA (Camb), Research; BCE; DSc (Melbourne)
Career: His family emigrated to Australia to avoid him doing military service; moved to England as the holder of an 1851 Exhibition scholarship and entered St John's College, Cambridge, where he worked with Alfred Ewing (FRS 1887); studied and examined metals under Sir William Roberts-Austen at the Royal Mint (FRS 1875); appointed a scientific adviser to the glassworks of Chance Brothers & Co. at Smethwick, near Birmingham (1900); succeeded Harold Carpenter as superintendent of the metallurgy and metallurgical chemistry department of the National Physical Laboratory (1906-1931) which became one of the most important metallurgical research laboratories, and here he appointed the first female scientific staff members Marie Laura Violet Gayler and Isabel Hadfield (1915); naturalized in England (1914); retired (1931); died of cancer (1934).
Memberships:
President of the Institute of Metals (1928–30)
President of the Institute of the Optical Society
Awards/Medals:
Carnegie silver medal (1906)
Bessemer medal of the Iron and Steel Institute (1930)
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election01/05/1913
Age at election38
ProposerRichard Owen; William Thomson; Benjamin Collins Brodie; John Percy; August Wilhelm von Hofmann; Frederick Guthrie; Robert Lowe; Alexander William Williamson; William Odling
Henry Enfield Roscoe; David Forbes; John Evans; Henry Clifton Sorby; Andrew Crombie Ramsay; Cromwell Fleetwood Varley; Joseph Norman Lockyer; Warington Wilkinson Smyth; John Tyndall; Robert Hunt
RSActivityLectures:
Bakerian (jointly) 1899
RelationshipsParents: Moritz Rosenhain, businessman, of Rosenberg, West Prussia, and Friederike, daughter of Rabbi Benjamin Yosman Fink, of Posen.
Spouse: Louisa, daughter of Louis Monash and sister of Sir John Monash, with whom Rosenhaim had corresponded since leaving Australia in 1897.
Children: Three daughters.
PublishedWorksRCN R61356
RCN R61354
RCN R61355
RCN 15791
OtherInfoRemembered for his work on light alloys, the mechanism of crystallisation, the mechanical deformation of metals, and the improvement of technical practice.
Royal Society Obituary or MemoirClick to view (may be contained within a meeting notice, presidential address or list of death notices)
SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB
Obituaries:
Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1932-1935 vol l pp 353-359, plate, by Cecil Henry Desch
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/41025692
CodeNA2214
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
NLB/19/779Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to J H Agar Baugh16 December 1899
EC/1913/14Rosenhain, Walter: certificate of election to the Royal Society
NLB/19/284Copy letter from Arthur William Rucker, to Professor James Alfred Ewing and W Rosenhain, [Fellows of the Royal Society]26 July 1899
RR/15/51Referee's report by William Chandler Roberts-Austen, on the Bakerian lecture 'The crytalline structure of metals' by James Alfred Ewing and Walter RosenhainJuly 1900
RR/15/349Referee's report by Henry Alexander Miers, on a paper 'Effects of strain on the crystalline structure of lead' by J C W Humphrey13 June 1902
RR/15/351Referee's report by Francis Henry Neville, on a paper 'Effects of strain on the crystalline structure of lead' by J C W Humphrey21 July 1902
NLB/19/491Copy letter from an unknown correspondent, to the British Thomson-Houston Company Limited, 83 Cannon Street, E.C. 14 October 1899
NLB/21/326Copy letter from Michael Foster, to Professor James Alfred Ewing and Walter Rosenhain, [Fellows of the Royal Society] 1 November 1900
NLB/19/782Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to J H Agar Baugh18 December 1899
NLB/24/812Copy letter from Joseph Larmor, to Walter Rosenhain, [Fellow of the Royal Society]16 July 1902
NLB/55/606Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr. [Walter] Rosenhain, FRS26 June 1918
NLB/63/130Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society and FRS; to Dr. [Walter] Rosenhain, FRS04 July 1922
NLB/38/405Copy letter from Joseph Larmor, to [Walter] Rosenhain, [Fellow of the Royal Society]29 July 1908
NLB/50/30Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr [Walter] Rosenhain, Fellow of the Royal Society20 April 1914
RR/20/28Referee's report by Walter Rosenhain, on a paper 'The preparation of eye-preserving glass for spectacles' by William CrookesNovember 1913
NLB/56/538Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Dugald Clerk, Chairman of the Applied Sciences Committee and FRS6 March 1919
NLB/59/181Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr. [Walter] Rosenhain, FRS23 July 1920
NLB/59/339Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr. [Walter] Rosenhain, FRS21 September 1920
NLB/59/457Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr. [Walter] Rosenhain, FRS5 October 1920
RR/14/151Referee's report by John Perry, on the Bakerian Lecture 'The crystalline structure of metals' by James Alfred Ewing and Walter Rosenhainnd [July 1899]
NLB/60/179Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr. [Walter] Rosenhain, FRS18 December 1920
RR/18/179Referee's report by Charles Thomas Heycock, on a paper 'The constitution of the alloys of aluminium and zinc' by Walter Rosenhain and Sydney L ArchbuttMay 1911
NLB/60/201Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr. [Walter] Rosenhain, FRS22 December 1920
RR/14/152Referee's report by Charles Vernon Boys, on the Bakerian Lecture 'The crystalline structure of metals' by James Alfred Ewing and Walter Rosenhainnd [July 1899]
NLB/60/430Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr. [Walter] Rosenhain, FRS3 February 1921
RR/26/26Referee's report by Walter Rosenhain, on a paper 'The production of single crystals of aluminium and their tensile properties' by Henry Cort Harold Carpenter and Constance F Elam[September 1921]
RR/35/100Referee's report by Walter Rosenhain, on a paper 'Alloys of iron and maganese of low carbon content' by Robert Abbott HadfieldMarch 1927
NLB/57/389Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to TE Pickles Esq, Publications Department; HM [His Majesty's] Stationery Office, Westminster, SW 130 October 1919
NLB/62/328Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr. [Walter] Rosenhain, FRS27 January 1922
NLB/65/607Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to [Sydney] Pitt Esq.; Armourers and Brasiers' Company, 81 Coleman Street, E.C.2.28 November 1923
NLB/65/631Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr [Walter] Rosenhain, FRS1 December 1923
RR/39/50Referee's report by Walter Rosenhain, on a paper 'Sulphide colours on metallic copper' by F Hurn Constable[July 1929]
NLB/65/34Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr [Walter] Rosenhain, FRS16 July 1923
NLB/65/498Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Dugald Clerk, FRS8 November 1923
NLB/65/349Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sydney Pitt Esq.; [Clerk to] The Armourers and Brasiers Company, 81 Coleman Street, E.C.18 October 1923
NLB/65/579Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to the Members of the Armourers and Brasiers' Company Research Fellowship Committee (Sir [George Thomas] Beilby, Professor [Henry Cort Harold] Carpenter, Dr [Charles Thomas] Heycock, Dr [Walter] Rosenhain, Dr G. N. Pitt, Mr M. H. Young, Mr [Sydney] Pitt)23 November 1923
NLB/66/877Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to [Walter] Rosenhain, FRS1 August 1924
NLB/67/691Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr [Walter] Rosenhain, FRS14 February 1925
NLB/66/583Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr. [Walter] Rosenhain, FRS31 May 1924
NLB/66/606Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr [Walter] Rosenahin [Rosenhain], FRS3 June 1924
NLB/68/691Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Messrs Longmans, Green and Co.; 39 Paternoster Row, E.C.4.16 October 1925
RR/15/350Referee's report by William Cawthorne Unwin, on a paper 'Effects of strain on the crystalline structure of lead' by J C W Humphrey28 June 1902
MC/28/233Letter from Walter Rosenhain, Warawee, Coombe Lane, Kingston Hill, Surrey, to Robert Harrison, Assistant Secretary, Royal Society13 December 1913
RR/18/178Referee's report by John Edward Stead, on a paper 'The constitution of the alloys of aluminium and zinc' by Walter Rosenhain and Sydney L ArchbuttMay 1911
RR/17/342Referee's report by Francis Henry Neville, on a paper 'Entectics research no 1 - alloys of lead and tin' by Walter Rosenhain and P A TuckerJuly 1908
RR/44/52Referee's report by Walter Rosenhain, on a paper 'The formation of superlattices in alloys of iron and aluminium' by Albert James Bradley and A H Jay4 January 1932
RR/26/5Referee's report by Walter Rosenhain, on a paper 'On the correlation of the chemical constitutions of "true steel" to their micrographic structures' by John Oliver Arnold[February 1922]
RR/15/52Referee's report by William Cawthorne Unwin, on the Bakerian lecture 'The crytalline structure of metals' by James Alfred Ewing and Walter Rosenhain19 July 1900
NLB/72/285Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to H. Pitt Esq18 June 1929
NLB/66/318Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to [Robert John Strutt] Lord Rayleigh8 April 1924
NLB/59New Letter Book volume 59, copy letters sent from Royal Society administration9 July 1920-2 December 1920
RR/30/18Referee's report by Walter Rosenhain, on a paper 'The ternary alloy system aluminium–cadmium–zinc' by Norman Frederick Budgen [April 1924]
RR/30/82Second referee's report by Walter Rosenhain, on a paper 'Recent developments in tensile testing' by J V Howard and S L Smith[September 1924]
RR/46/23Referee's report by Walter Rosenhain, on a paper 'Positive and negative creep of metals' by F C Lea[September 1932]
RR/28/85Referee's report by Walter Rosenhain, on a paper 'Recrystallization and grain-growth in soft metals' by M Cook and Ulick Richardson Evans[November 1923]
RR/45/88Referee's report by Walter Rosenhain, on a paper 'The theory of metallic corrosion in the light of quantitative measurements. Part VI.— The distribution of corrosion' by Guy Dunstan Bengough and F Wormwell[December 1932]
RR/30/81Referee's report by Walter Rosenhain, on a paper 'Recent developments in tensile testing' by J V Howard and S L Smith[July 1924]
RR/31/13Referee's report by Walter Rosenhain, on a paper 'The failure of sprial steel spring under repetition stresses' by F C Lea and J D Vaughan[June 1924]
RR/46/82Referee's report by Cecil Henry Desch, on a paper 'The energy absorbed in the cold working of metals' by Walter Rosenhain and V H Stott[December 1932]
RR/46/92Referee's report by Walter Rosenhain, on a paper 'The relationship between viscosity, elasticity and plastic strength of a soft material as illustrated by some mechanical properties of flour dough.—II' by Robert Kenworthy Schofield and George William Scott Blair[November 1932]
RR/48/2Referee's report by Walter Rosenhain, on a paper 'On the effect of the temperature of liquid hydrogen (-252.8° C.) On the tensile properties of forty-one specimens of metals comprising (a) pure iron 99.85%; (b) four carbon steels; (c) thirty alloy steels; (d) copper and nickel; (e) four non-ferrous alloy' by W J De Haas and Robert Abbott Hadfield[May 1933]
MC/24/126Letter from Walter Rosenhain, Park View, Park Road, Teddington, to the Assistant Secretary, The Royal Society, Burlington House3 March 1909
MC/26/214Letter from Walter Rosenhain, The National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex, to The Assistant Secretary, The Royal Society, Burlington House, London, W26 May 1911
MC/27/144Letter from [Gilbert Henry] Gulliver, University of Edinburgh, to The Secretary, Royal Society of London16 January 1912
MC/28/230Letter from Walter Rosenhain, The National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex, to The Assistant Secretary, The Royal Society, Burlington House, London, W3 July 1913
MC/28/231Letter from Walter Rosenhain, The National Physical Laboratory, Bushy House, Teddington, Middlesex, to Sir Archibald Geikie, The Royal Society13 July 1913
MC/28/232Letter from Walter Rosenhain, The National Physical Laboratory, Bushy House, Teddington, Middlesex, to Sir Archibald Geikie, The Royal Society21 July 1913
MC/29/215Letter from Walter Rosenhain, The National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex, to The Assistant Secretary, The Royal Society, Burlington House, W16 April 1914
MC/21Volume 21 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1906
MC/21/524Letter from Walter Rosenhain, 443 Gillott Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, to the Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society, Burlington House31 May 1906
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