Person Wood; Robert Williams (1868 - 1955); physicist and inventor Wood Robert Williams physicist and inventor 1868 - 1955 American Male Concord, Massachusetts, USA 02 May 1868 18680502 Amityville, New York, USA 11 August 1955 19550811

Physicist and inventor Phosphorescence Spectroscopy Physics Optics Education: Roxbury Latin School; Harvard University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; University of Chicago Career: Professor of optical physics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA (1901-1955). Awards/Medals: John Scott Medal 1908 Guthrie Lecture 1914 Matteucci Medal 1918 Frederic Ives Medal 1933 Henry Draper Medal 1940 Parents: Robert Williams Wood, Senior, physician. Spouse: (m. 1892) Gertrude Hooper Ames, daughter of Pelham Warren and Augusta Hooper (Wood) Ames, and granddaughter of William Northey Hooper and the Massachusetts Supreme Court justice Seth Ames. Distinguished for research on light and radiation. Made substantial contributions to ultrasound by photographing sound waves and investigating high-power ultrasonics. Known for the capillary wave, fisheye lens, gradient-index optics, Wood effect, Wood's anomaly, Wood's glass, Wood's lamp. Medals and prizes: Rumford Medal 1938 Foreign Member 26/06/1919 51 Arthur Schuster James Whitbread Lee Glaisher Frank Watson Dyson James Swinburne William Halse Rivers Rivers William Bate Hardy William Abbott Herdman Sources: Bulloch's Roll Obituaries: Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 1956 vol 2 pp 327-345, plate, by G H Dieke References: J C D Brand, 'The Discovery of the Raman Effect' in NR 1989 vol 43 pp 1-23 R Singh and F Riess, 'The nobel laureate Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman FRS and his contacts with the British Scientific community in a social and political context' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 47-64 International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbm.1956.0022 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorRaw=Wood%2C+Robert+Williams RCN 13355 RCN 12912 https://pictures.royalsociety.org/results?mi_search_type=adv&mi_adv_search=yes&adv_person_id=AUTH9304 2 May 1868 - 11 Aug 1955 The past Fellows entries are under continuous revision. If you have queries or additional information to contribute, please contact Library@royalsociety.org. Content in external sources is not controlled by the Royal Society and historical sources may include content that is now unacceptable. Reviewed on 09/04/2025 as part of the Name Authority Project update. NA5783 21/11/2001 Andyg Martind 08/09/2025 RS_NET\VirginiaM Yes http://viaf.org/viaf/29600638 eb0f5afe-16f7-45a1-8a89-06e14879ab3e