Harry Whale

Henry Arthur "Harry" Whale (14 February 1921 – 11 September 2009) was a professor of physics at the University of Auckland.

Whale was born in Windsor, England in 1921, the son of Frank Arthur Whale.[1] He had his secondary schooling at Auckland Grammar School before studying science at the University of Auckland,[2] from where he graduated M.Sc. in 1946.[3]

He married Natalie Stella Clarke in 1942, the daughter of Joseph Clarke. They had one daughter.[1] He won two scholarships to Trinity College, Cambridge (one of which was the 1851 Research Fellowship[1]), and the family relocated to England for his PhD studies.[2] He used a differential analyser in his PhD studies, an early form of computer, and purchased the machine in 1948 for £100. The family returned to New Zealand in 1950, and Whale brought the differential analyser with him; the computer is these days on display at the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland.[2][4] He took up the chair of the Radio Research Centre in the Department of Physics at the University of Auckland; the position was especially created for him.[2] His area of research was long distance radio, and he supervised between 60 and 70 PhD and Masters students during his time at Auckland University.[2] Whale was invited by Bill Pickering to the Goddard Space Flight Center to undertake research on the reasons for loss of communication when rockets pass through the ionosphere.[2] Whale was a visiting professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1969, and the University of California in 1969–1970.[1]

Whale received the T. K. Sidey Medal in 1955, set up by the Royal Society of New Zealand as an award for outstanding scientific research.[5][6] He died on 11 September 2009.[2][7]

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Traue, James Edward (1978). Who's Who in New Zealand, 1978 (11th ed.). Wellington: Reed Publishing. p. 285.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Boys, John (13 November 2009). "Professor Emeritus Henry Arthur (Harry) Whale" (PDF). The University of Auckland News. 39 (21). University of Auckland. p. 6. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  3. ↑ "NZ University Graduates 1870-1961". Shadows of Time. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  4. ↑ Rooney, Edward (30 November 2010). "You thought your computer was old?". The Aucklander. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  5. ↑ "Background of the Medal". Royal Society of New Zealand. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "Recipients". Royal Society of New Zealand. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  7. ↑ "In memory of Henry Arthur Whale". Memory Tree. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
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