American geophysicist (1901?1982)
Merle Anthony Tuve
(June 27, 1901 ? May 20, 1982) was an American geophysicist who was the Chairman of the Office of Scientific Research and Development's Section T, which was created in August 1940.
[1]
He was founding director of the
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
, the main laboratory of Section T during the war from 1942 onward.
[2]
He was a pioneer in the use of pulsed
radio waves
whose discoveries opened the way to the development of
radar
and
nuclear energy
.
[3]
Background
[
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]
Merle Antony Tuve was born in
Canton, South Dakota
.
[4]
He and physicist
Ernest Lawrence
were childhood friends. All four of his grandparents were born in Norway and subsequently immigrated to the United States. His father, Anthony G. Tuve, was president of
Augustana College
and his mother, Ida Marie Larsen Tuve, taught music there. After Tuve's father died in the
influenza epidemic of 1918
, the family moved to
Minneapolis
, where Merle attended the
University of Minnesota
; he received there a
Bachelor of Science
in 1922 and an
Master of Science
in 1923 both in Physics. Following a year at
Princeton University
where he was an instructor, Tuve subsequently went to work for his doctorate at
Johns Hopkins University
. He obtained there his
PhD
in physics in 1927.
[5]
Career
[
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]
In 1925, with physicist
Gregory Breit
, Tuve used radio waves to measure the height of the ionosphere and probe its interior layers.
[6]
The observations he made provided the theoretical foundation for the development of
radar
.
[7]
He was among the first physicists to use high-voltage accelerators to define the structure of the atom. In 1933 he confirmed the existence of the
neutron
and was also able to measure the binding forces in
atomic nuclei
.
[8]
Tuve proposed that an electronically activated proximity fuze would make anti-aircraft fire far more effective, and led the team of scientists that developed the device, which proved crucial in the allies' victory in World War II. He led in the development of the
proximity fuze
first at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism and then later at the
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
and also made contributions to experimental
seismology
,
radio astronomy
, and
optical astronomy
.
[9]
[10]
In 1942, Merle Tuve was the founding director of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Merle Tuve was the Director of Terrestrial Magnetism Research at the
Carnegie Institution for Science
(1946?66). He served on the first U.S. National Commission for
UNESCO
, on the
National Research Council
Committee on Growth, and on the U.S. Committee for the
International Geophysical Year
. He was the first chairman of the Geophysical Research Board of the
National Academy of Sciences
and home secretary of the
National Academy of Sciences
.
[11]
Personal life
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]
Merle Tuve had two brothers: George Lewis Tuve, who was a professor of mechanical engineering and Richard Larsen Tuve, who was an inventor and chemist. Their sister,
Rosemond Tuve
was an author and professor of Renaissance Literature at
Connecticut College
. Merle Tuve was married in 1927 to Winifred Gray Whitman. Merle and Winifred had two children, Trygve and Lucy. Both earned Ph.D. degrees and pursued scientific careers.
Honors
[
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]
Tuve was elected to the
American Philosophical Society
in 1943.
[12]
For his service to the nation during World War II, Tuve received the
Presidential Medal for Merit
from President
Harry S. Truman
and was named an Honorary Commander of the
Order of the British Empire
in 1948. He was elected to the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 1950.
[13]
Mount Tuve
in
Ellsworth Land
in
Antarctica
was named in honor of Merle Anthony Tuve.
The Library of Congress
holds his papers in more than 400 archival boxes.
[14]
Awards
[
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]
Selected works
[
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
Holmes, Jamie (2020).
12 Seconds of Silence: How a Team of Inventors, Tinkerers, and Spies Took Down a Nazi Superweapon
. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 44.
ISBN
978-1-328-46012-7
.
- ^
Baxter, James Phinney (1968).
Scientists Against Time
. M.I.T. Press. p. 230.
- ^
Norwegian American Scientist
(National Academy of Sciences)
- ^
Sirvaitis, Karen (1 September 2001).
South Dakota
. Lerner Publications. p. 69.
ISBN
978-0-8225-4070-0
.
- ^
"
Merle Anthony Tuve
"
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-09-07
. Retrieved
2008-04-26
.
- ^
Breit, G.; Tuve, M. A. (1926-09-01). "A Test of the Existence of the Conducting Layer".
Physical Review
.
28
(3). American Physical Society (APS): 554?575.
Bibcode
:
1926PhRv...28..554B
.
doi
:
10.1103/physrev.28.554
.
ISSN
0031-899X
.
- ^
"The Beginnings of Radio Astronomy"
.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
- ^
"Milestones"
.
Time
. May 31, 1982. Archived from
the original
on 15 October 2010
. Retrieved
September 30,
2021
.
- ^
"Merle Tuve"
.
NNDB
.
Soylent Communications
. 2019
. Retrieved
September 30,
2021
.
- ^
Cornell, Thomas D. (1988). "Merle Antony Tuve: Pioneer Nuclear Physicist".
Physics Today
.
41
(1). AIP Publishing: 57?64.
Bibcode
:
1988PhT....41a..57C
.
doi
:
10.1063/1.881153
.
ISSN
0031-9228
.
- ^
Biographical Memoirs V.70 (1996)
(National Academy of Sciences)
- ^
"APS Member History"
.
search.amphilsoc.org
. Retrieved
2023-04-14
.
- ^
"Merle Antony Tuve"
.
American Academy of Arts & Sciences
. Retrieved
2023-04-14
.
- ^
Merle Antony Tuve, Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress
(The Library of Congress)
Further reading
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External links
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