Keith Stewartson (20 September 1925 – 7 May 1983) was an English mathematician and fellow 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, r ...

Early life

The youngest of three children, Stewartson was born to an English baker in 1925. He was raised in

Billingham Billingham is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. The settlement had previously formed its ...

, County Durham, where he attended Stockton Secondary School, and went to

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Cam ...

in 1942. He won the Drury Prize in 1943 for his work in

Mathematical Tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. It is the oldest Tripos examined at the University. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was a ...

Career

After graduation, with the Second World War still on-going, Stewartson began employment with the

Ministry of Aircraft Production Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian m ...

. During his time there he studied compressible

fluid flow In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids—liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including '' aerodynamics'' (the study of air and other gases in motion) ...

problems. After the war he returned to Cambridge and received the

Mayhew Prize The Mayhew Prize is a prize awarded annually by the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge to the student showing the greatest distinction in applied mathematics, primarily for courses offered by DAMTP, but also for some courses offered b ...

in 1946. He resumed research under the guidance of Leslie Howarth on boundary layer theory. His research led to his first publication, "Correlated incompressible and compressible boundary layers", which was published by the Royal Society in 1949. He received his doctorate the same year and became a lecturer at

Bristol University The University of Bristol is a Red brick university, red brick Russell Group research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Society of Merchant Venturers, Merchant Venturers' sc ...

in 1950. In 1953 he went to the United States to become a lecturer at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

for a year before returning to Bristol University. In 1958 he was awarded a

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vari ...

at the

University of Durham , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills ( Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_ch ...

. After finding Durham University too conservative, he moved to

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

in 1964. In his time there, he studied rotating fluid flows, shear layers,

magnetohydrodynamics Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD; also called magneto-fluid dynamics or hydromagnetics) is the study of the magnetic properties and behaviour of electrically conducting fluids. Examples of such magnetofluids include plasmas, liquid metals ...

triple-deck theory Triple-deck theory is a theory that describes a three-layered boundary-layer structure when sufficiently large disturbances are present in the boundary layer. This theory is able to successfully explain the phenomenon of boundary layer separation, b ...

, and Reynolds number. He played major role in the founding of Institute of Mathematics and its Applications along with

James Lighthill Sir Michael James Lighthill (23 January 1924 – 17 July 1998) was a British applied mathematician, known for his pioneering work in the field of aeroacoustics and for writing the Lighthill report on artificial intelligence. Biography ...

. In his career he authored 186 papers. He is the author of ''The Theory of laminar boundary layers in compressible fluids''. Natural convection boundary-layers along horizontal plate also known as the indirect convection was first explained by Stewartson in 1958.

Personal life

Stewartson was known as a passionate rower and enjoyed

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

and

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

. In 1950, he married Jean Forrester; they had three children. In 1965, he became a member of the Royal Society. In 1974, he suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which m ...

which he recovered from, before suffering a subsequent one in 1983 which hospitalized him. Two weeks later he had a third heart attack which proved fatal.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewartson, Keith 1925 births Fluid dynamicists 1983 deaths Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge 20th-century English mathematicians Academics of the University of Bristol Academics of Durham University California Institute of Technology faculty Academics of University College London Fellows of the Royal Society