Henry Herman Leopold Adolph Brose (15 September 1890 – 24 February 1965) was an 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 ...

Life

Born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, he attended

Prince Alfred College , motto_translation = Do Brave Deeds and Endure , established = 1869 , type = Independent, single-sex, day & boarding , headmaster = David Roberts , chaplain = Reverend ...

and graduated from the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

in 1910 with a

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in mathematics. A member of the Adelaide University Athletics Club, Brose was awarded a University Blue for Athletics in 1910. In 1911-12 he taught French at Prince Alfred College, and in 1913 was awarded the

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

for

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. Brose went up to Christ Church,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

to study mathematics. While visiting relatives in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

in 1914, he was arrested by the German authorities and interned as a civilian prisoner for the duration of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. During his captivity Brose became interested in the

Theory of Relativity The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in ...

and translated some German texts into English. On return to Oxford, he was awarded B.A. and M.A. degrees in 1919, and in 1925 he completed a D. Phil. on the motion of electrons in oxygen, under the supervision of John Sealy Edward Townsend. He then went on to hold a number of academic positions including Lecturer in Physics at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

and Professor of Physics at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

. From 1920 and 1936 he translated sixteen physics texts from German into English. Brose later went on to work in cancer research, holding positions as a

, a

pathologist Pathology is the study of the causal, causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when us ...

and a

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

. Brose made an enormous contribution to the scientific world of his time both in Australia and across the world, as indicated by his vast collection of Manuscripts still archived in the University of Adelaide.Henry Brose Manuscripts.
University of Adelaide. File:Weyl-17.jpg, ''Space, Time, Matter'' by

Hermann Weyl Hermann Klaus Hugo Weyl, (; 9 November 1885 – 8 December 1955) was a German mathematician, theoretical physicist and philosopher. Although much of his working life was spent in Zürich, Switzerland, and then Princeton, New Jersey, he is assoc ...

(English, 1922: translated from German by Brose) File:Sommerfeld-2.jpg, Title page to Arnold Sommerfeld's ''Atomic Structure and Spectral Lines'' (1923), translated by Brose

Personal

Brose married Australian actress Jean Robertson in London on 14 May 1927. Their son, John Kelvin Brose, was born the following year. Brose died on 24 February 1965 and was survived by his wife and son.

Trivia

Brose acted as an interpreter when Einstein visited the University of Nottingham in 1930 and 1931.

Notes

External links

*

University of Melbourne.

University of Adelaide.

University of Melbourne. * John Jenkin

Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, Melbourne University Press, 1993, pp 269–270. Retrieved 2008-10-10. * Australian Rhodes Scholars People educated at Prince Alfred College University of Adelaide alumni Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford 1890 births 1965 deaths Academics of the University of Nottingham {{Australia-scientist-stub

Life

Personal

Trivia

Notes

Further reading

External links