Richard Robb

Richard Alexander Robb (born September 7, 1901 in Glasgow , † March 22, 1977 in Eaglesham , East Renfrewshire ) was a Scottish mathematician , astronomer and athlete in the 1928 Summer Olympics .

Life

Robb studied from 1918 at the University of Glasgow , graduated in 1922 with master's degrees in mathematics and natural philosophy and then became an assistant at the university. A scholarship ( Commonwealth Fund Fellowship ) enabled him to stay at the University of Michigan from 1926 to 1928 , where he earned a master's degree in astronomy. On his return to Glasgow he was a lecturer in mathematics at the university. After postgraduate studies at Lund University in Sweden, he received his doctorate in the field of astronomy with the thesis Studies in Stellar Statistics with particular reference to Type A stars . Until his retirement in 1966, he was a professor at the University of Glasgow.

Since 1925 Robb was a member of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society . In 1929 he was elected a member ( Fellow ) of the Royal Society of Edinburgh . In 1931 he became a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society .

In 1928 he was a 400m runner on the British team that took part in the Summer Olympics in Amsterdam . However, he did not win a medal there as a member of the 4 x 400 m relay.

Fonts (selection)

Richard A. Robb: Influence of atmospheric conditions on the effective wave lengths of stars . In: Astrophysical Journal . tape 65 , 1927, pp. 315-320 .
Richard A. Robb: The correlation between absolute magnitude, linear tangential velocity, distance, apparent magnitude and proper motion . In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . tape 97 , 1936, pp. 67-74 .

Web links

Richard Alexander Robb in the MacTutor History of Mathematics archive

Individual evidence

^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. (PDF file) Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed April 5, 2020 .
↑ Netherlands Olympic Committee (Ed.): The Ninth Olympiad Amsterdam 1928 . Official Report of the Olympic Games of 1928 Celebrated at Amsterdam. Amsterdam 1928 ( la84.org - RA Robb named on p. 384 of the report).

personal data
SURNAME	Robb, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Robb, Richard Alexander (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Scottish mathematician, astronomer and Olympian
DATE OF BIRTH	September 7, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH	Glasgow
DATE OF DEATH	March 22, 1977
Place of death	Eaglesham

[1] Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. (PDF file) Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed April 5, 2020 .

[2] Netherlands Olympic Committee (Ed.): The Ninth Olympiad Amsterdam 1928 . Official Report of the Olympic Games of 1928 Celebrated at Amsterdam. Amsterdam 1928 ( la84.org - RA Robb named on p. 384 of the report).