Prof Hans Petterson FRSFor

HFRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

RSAS (1888–1966) was a 20th century Swedish physicist and oceanographer.

Early life

Hans Petterson was born in Forshalla near

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

on 26 August 1888, the son of the chemist and oceanographer Otto Pettersson (1848-1941). Hans Petterson studied Sciences at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

, graduating in 1909. He then studied

atomic physics Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomic nucleus. Atomic physics typically refers to the study of atomic structure and the interaction between atoms. It is primarily concerned wit ...

as a postgraduate at the

Institute for Radium Research, Vienna The Institute for Radium Research is an Austrian research institute associated with the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna. The Institute's researchers won multiple Nobel Prizes. Due to the gradual change of interests, "nuclear physics" was a ...

Career

Petterson's first publication from 1910 was on the issue of

radium Radium is a chemical element with the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, but it readily reacts with nitrogen (rather t ...

. In 1913 he joined the staff of the Swedish Hydrographic-Biologocal Commission. In 1914 he began lecturing in Oceanography at

Gothenburg University The University of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs universitet) is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current Swedish universities and with 37,000 students and 6000 s ...

. He later brought this knowledge to the field of

oceanography Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamic ...

, and with the help of

he could determine the age of

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand an ...

samples from the

bottom of the sea ''Bottom of the Sea'' ( es, El fondo del mar) is a 2003 Argentine comedy drama film written and directed by Damián Szifrón and starring Daniel Hendler, Dolores Fonzi and Gustavo Garzón. It was produced by Sebastián Aloi, Nathalie Cabiron, an ...

. Pettersson became the first full professor of oceanography in Sweden and in 1938 founded the Institute of Oceanography in

, thanks to funding from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. Pettersson was its head until 1956. He also was the head of the Bornö Hydrographic Field Station on Stora Bornö. In 1956, aged 68, he became Professor of Geophysics at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. Petterson also wrote many popular scientific texts which helped disseminate progress in oceanography to the general audience. In July 1947, the

Albatross expedition The ''Albatross'' expedition (''Albatrossexpeditionen'') was a Swedish oceanographic expedition that between July 4, 1947, and October 3, 1948, sailed around the world during 15 months covering 45 000 nautical miles. The expedition is c ...

started its around the world voyage with Pettersson as leader of the expedition. This expedition was planned by him, and was financed by private sponsors. He died in

on 25 January 1966.

Publications

*''Westward Ho with the Albatross'' (1953)

Awards and honours

*1947 elected an Honorary Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. *1948 elected as a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...

. *1949 Awarded the

Patron's Medal The Royal Geographical Society's Gold Medal consists of two separate awards: the Founder's Medal 1830 and the Patron's Medal 1838. Together they form the most prestigious of the society's awards. They are given for "the encouragement and promoti ...

of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. *1956 elected a Foreign Member of the

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 ...

of London (ForMemRS) in 1956.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pettersson, Hans Swedish oceanographers University of Gothenburg faculty Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 1888 births 1966 deaths Swedish physicists Foreign Members of the Royal Society