| Authorised form of name | Hanbury Brown; Robert (1916 - 2002) |
| Dates | 1916 - 2002 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Aravankadu, India |
| Date of birth | 31/08/1916 |
| Date of death | 16/01/2002 |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Research field | Radio astronomy |
| Activity | Education:
Tonbridge School; Brighton Technical College; London University. BSc in Engineering (1935)
Career:
Radar development under Sir Robert Watson-Watt (FRS 1941), Air Ministry Research Station, Bawdsey Manor (1936-1942); seconded as Assistant Head, Combined Research Group, US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington (1942); Consultant Engineer in partnership with Sir Robert Watson-Watt (1947-1949); with Bernard Lovell (FRS 1955) (1949); involved in the early development of Jodrell Bank; Professor of Radio-Astronomy, Manchester University (1960); Professor of Physics (Astronomy), Sydney University (1964-1981); returned to England (1986)
Memberships:
International Astronomical Union (President 1982-1985)
|
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 24/03/1960 |
| Age at election | 43 |
| RSActivity | Medals and prizes:
Hughes Medal 1971 |
| Relationships | Son of an Army officer; married (1952) Heather Chesterman; three children, one daughter and two sons |
| PublishedWorks | There are no Dinosaurs in the Bible (2003)
Boffin: a personal story of the early days of radar, radio astronomy and quantum optics (1991) [Autobiography]
Wisdom of Science (1986)
Photons, galaxies and stars (1985)
Man and the Stars (1978)
The Intensity Interferometer (1974) |
| Source | Sources:
Daily Telegraph 22 January 2002 (obituary); Guardian 18 January 2002 (obituary)
References:
Sir Bernard Lovell, review of R Hanbury Brown, Boffin: A Personal Story of the Early Days of Radar, Radio Astronomy and Quantum Optics in NR 1992 vol 46 pp 332-334
B Lovell, 'The cavity magnetron in World War II: was the secrecy justified?' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 283 - 294
Obituaries:
Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 2003 vol 49 pp 83-106, plate, by John Davis and Sir Bernard Lovell |
| Code | NA3273 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| IM/000612 | Brown, Robert Hanbury | nd |
| EC/1960/02 | Brown, Robert Hanbury: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |
| P/0199 | Portrait of Brown, Robert Hanbury | 1995 |
| RHB | Papers and correspondence of Robert Hanbury Brown FRS | 1911 - 2007 |
| IM/000611 | Brown, Robert Hanbury | April 1967 |
| MDA/N/1/61 | Correspondence between Robert Hanbury Brown and the Royal Society | 24 March 1960-12 December 1961 |