George Richard Isaak (7 March 1933 – 5 June 2005) was a Polish Australian

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

, an important figure in the development of helio- and

asteroseismology Asteroseismology or astroseismology is the study of oscillations in stars. Stars have many resonant modes and frequencies, and the path of sound waves passing through a star depends on the speed of sound, which in turn depends on local temperature ...

. Isaak was born in Poland on 7 March 1933. His family moved to Germany after the Second World War and to Australia in 1950. Isaak studied at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

, achieving his Bachelor of Science (BSc) in 1955 and Master of Science (MSc) in 1958. A spell in industry followed, in which Isaak worked for ICI in Australia 1959-1960 during which time he patented a spectrophotometer for very high-resolution optical spectroscopy, using the resonant scattering of light by atoms. In 1961 Isaak returned to science at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

from whom he received his PhD in 1966, and where he stayed until his retirement in 1996, at this time taking up an Adjunct Faculty position at the University of Minnesota. Isaak remained active in scientific endeavors until the time of his death. Isaak married once to Umit, a fellow physicist at Birmingham in 1964. Isaak's work in resonant-scattering spectroscopy observations of the Sun directly led to the first detection (1979) of the Solar five-minute oscillations as a global phenomenon, directly leading to the science of

Helioseismology Helioseismology, a term coined by Douglas Gough, is the study of the structure and dynamics of the Sun through its oscillations. These are principally caused by sound waves that are continuously driven and damped by convection near the Sun's surfa ...

- the study of the solar interior by analysis of the properties of these oscillations. Isaak led the High Resolution Optical Spectroscopy (HiROS) Group at the University of Birmingham, establishing the six-site global

BiSON Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...

network for helioseismic observations. In many ways ahead of his time, Isaak also devoted efforts to observation of these 'solar like' observations in other stars, a science now known as

Asteroseismology Asteroseismology or astroseismology is the study of oscillations in stars. Stars have many resonant modes and frequencies, and the path of sound waves passing through a star depends on the speed of sound, which in turn depends on local temperature ...

Awards

Max Born Prize The Max Born Medal and Prize is a scientific prize awarded yearly by the German Physical Society (DPG) and the British Institute of Physics (IOP) in memory of the German physicist Max Born, who was a German-Jewish physicist, instrumental in th ...

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physica ...

and

German Physical Society The German Physical Society (German: , DPG) is the oldest organisation of physicists. The DPG's worldwide membership is cited as 60,547, as of 2019, making it the largest physics society in the world. It holds an annual conference () and multiple ...

, 1985. *

Hughes Medal The Hughes Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of London "in recognition of an original discovery in the physical sciences, particularly electricity and magnetism or their applications". Named after David E. Hughes, the medal is awarded with ...

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, 1993 *

Herschel Medal The Herschel Medal is awarded by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) for "investigations of outstanding merit in observational astrophysics". It is awarded for a single piece of work so that younger scientists can be candidates for the award. It ...

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NGO ...

, 1996

References

External links

Obituary, VIRGO Science Team

Obituary, Astronomy and Geophysics

* ttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1493956/Professor-George-Isaak.html Obituary, Daily Telegraph 2005 deaths 1933 births Australian people of Polish descent Academics of the University of Birmingham Alumni of the University of Birmingham {{physicist-stub