Howard Emmons

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Howard Wilson Emmons (born August 30, 1912 in Morristown ; † November 20, 1998 ) was an American physicist who dealt with gas dynamics and hydrodynamics , but especially with combustion processes and fire protection.

life and work

Emmons studied at the Stevens Institute of Technology (Masters degree in 1935) and received his doctorate in engineering from Harvard University in 1938 ( The drop condensation of vapors ). From 1937 he was in research at Westinghouse . In 1939 he was an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania and from 1940 at Harvard University, where he was professor emeritus from 1983. From 1957 to 1958 he was visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology .

He was also a consultant at Pratt and Whitney , the Aberdeen Proving Ground (the ballistics test site of the US Army, 1940 to 1955), the Naval Ordnance Laboratory of the US Navy and from 1956 to 1973 on the Fire Research Committee of the National Academy of Sciences . He was 1974-1975 member of the Nuclear Safety Commission of Massachusetts and 1960-1971 in the Space Science Technology Panel. 1981 to 1983 he was the National Engineering Laboratory of the National Bureau of Standards.

Emmons was best known for hydrodynamic and gas dynamic studies of combustion processes and their dynamics. He started a project at Harvard to investigate the spread of fires in rooms replicated in the laboratory ( Home Fire Project ) and, after evaluating the results, was significantly involved in the implementation of fire protection regulations in the USA. A computer code was also created to simulate the spread of fires in buildings (Harvard Computer Fire Code). The films of his attempts were widely broadcast on television. In an obituary he was therefore called the father of the modern science of fire and Mr. Fire Research .

He was involved in the development of the first wind tunnel for supersonic speeds and was the first to observe stall in gas turbines in experiments. A phenomenon that shows the transition of turbulence in boundary layers is named after him ( Emmons Spots ).

Membership and Honors

In 1946, Emmons was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

In 1982 he received the hydrodynamics price of the American Physical Society and in 1981 the Otto Laporte price . He was a member of the National Academy of Engineering (1965) and the National Academy of Sciences (1966). In 1971 he received the Tymoshenko Medal . In 1982 he was named Fire Protection Man of the Year by the Society of Fire Protection Engineers. In 1968 he received the Alfred Egerton Gold Medal from the Combustion Institute.

An award from the International Association of Fire Safety Science, the Emmons Lecture, is named after him.

Fonts

  • Gas dynamics tables for air , Dover, New York 1947
  • Fundamentals of Gas Dynamics , Princeton University Press: Princeton NJ, 1958.
  • Fluid mechanics and combustion , Proceedings of the 13th International Symposium on Combustion, Pittsburgh, Combustion Institute, 1971, pp. 1-18.
  • with Shuh-Jing Ying: The fire whirl , Proceedings of the 11th International Symposium on Combustion, Pittsburgh, Combustion Institute, 1967, pp. 475-486.
  • The Further History of Fire Science, Combustion Science and Technology, Volume 40, 1984 (reprinted in Fire Technology, Volume 21, 1985, Issue 3)
  • with Wilbert James Lick: Thermodynamic properties of helium to 50,000 ° K , Harvard University Press 1962, and Transport properties of helium from 200 to 50,000 ° K , Harvard University Press 1965
  • Fire and fire protection , Scientific American July 1974

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Obituary in Harvard 1998 ( Memento of the original from May 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.news.harvard.edu
  2. ↑ Craig Beyler, Obituary, Fire Technology, Volume 35, Feb. 1999, p. 1
  3. ↑ So on an award from the Center for Fire Research in 1983
  4. ^ Members of the American Academy. Listed by election year, 1900-1949 ( PDF ). Retrieved October 11, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Emmons, Howard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Emmons, Howard Wilson (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American physicist
DATE OF BIRTH August 30, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Morristown
DATE OF DEATH November 20, 1998