| Authorised form of name | Weiss; Nigel Oscar (1936 - 2020) |
| Dates | 1936 - 2020 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Johannesburg, South Africa, Africa |
| Date of birth | 16/12/1936 |
| Date of death | 24/06/2020 |
| Occupation | Astronomer |
| Research field | Mathematics |
| Astrophysics |
| Fluid dynamics |
| Solar magnetic fields |
| Flux expulsion |
| Activity | Education:
Hilton College, Natal; Rugby School (1953-1954); Clare College, University of Cambridge, MA; PhD with a thesis on Variable Hydromagnetic Motions (1961)
Memberships:
FRAS (President 2000-2002)
Medals/Awards:
Gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society 2007
|
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 12/03/1992 |
| Age at election | 55 |
| OtherInfo | Nigel Weiss was renowned for his work in the theory of convection, for developing appropriate numerical techniques, and for pioneering their use in precise numerical experiments in order to gain a qualitative and comprehensive understanding of the behaviour of complicated nonlinear systems. Among many notable achievements in this field, he was instrumental in the identification of a period-doubling route to chaos in a system of partial differential equations describing doubly-diffusive convection. He made wide-ranging studies of the magnetoconvective processes occurring in the Sun and similar stars. In early work of lasting influence, he analysed the process of magnetic flux expulsion and the mechanism of concentration of the magnetic field into ropes from which fluid motion is excluded. Later, he initiated a programme of research in the field of nonlinear compressible convection, an important step towards realistic modelling of stellar convection zones.
Professor Nigel Weiss FRS died on 24 June 2020. |
| Source | Sources:
https://royalsociety.org/people/nigel-weiss-12505/; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Weiss (accessed 26 June 2020)
References:
http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/now/ |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/9940385 |
| Code | NA4531 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| EC/1992/38 | Weiss, Nigel Oscar: certificate of election to the Royal Society | 1991 |
| IM/004834 | Weiss, Nigel Oscar | 1992 |