John Conrad Jaeger, FRS (30 July 1907 – 15 May 1979) was an Australian mathematical physicist.

Biography

Jaeger was born in Sydney, Australia to Carl Jaeger, a cigar manufacturer of German origin. In 1924 Jaeger entered Sydney University at the age of 16 and studied engineering, mathematics and physics, gaining a B.Sc. in 1928. He then spent a further two years studying mathematics at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

, completing Part II of the

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 ...

, after which he stayed on to carry out research in theoretical physics. In 1936 he taught mathematics at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first prop ...

, moving to Sydney when appointed to a chair in mathematics 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 ...

. There he collaborated with Professor

Horatio Scott Carslaw Dr Horatio Scott Carslaw FRSE LLD (12 February 1870, Helensburgh, Dumbartonshire, Scotland – 11 November 1954, Burradoo, New South Wales, Australia) was a Scottish- Australian mathematician. The book he wrote with his colleague John ...

on the application of mathematics to the conduction of heat. Their jointly authored textbook on the subject, ''Conduction of Heat in Solids'', remains a classic in the field. After the war he moved back to Tasmania as a senior lecturer and wrote a number of books. Two were new editions of previous books: ''Operational Methods in Applied Mathematics'', jointly with Horatio Carslaw in 1948 and ''Conduction of Heat in Solids'', again with Carslaw in 1959. Two new books were ''An Introduction to Applied Mathematics'' in 1951 and ''An Introduction to the Laplace Transformation'' in 1959. In 1951 he was invited to take the new chair of geophysics at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

in Canberra. He moved there in 1952, gave an inaugural lecture in 1953 and established several research projects over the next three years. The department was later named the Department of Geophysics and Geochemistry. Jaeger retired from the ANU in 1972. He died in Canberra in 1979. He had married twice: firstly to Sylvia Rees, from whom he was divorced in 1950, and secondly to Martha Elizabeth (Patty) Clarke. He had no children from either marriage. The Jaeger Medal awarded annually by the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soc ...

recognises his contribution to Australian Earth science.

Honours and awards

*1930 Mayhew Prize for Mathematics from the Faculty of Mathematics,

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

*1947

Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal The Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal is awarded at most every two years by the Australian Academy of Science to a mathematician or physicist for his or her outstanding research accomplishments.

for Physics and Mathematics from the

Australian National Research Council The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

*1947 Walter Burfitt Prize from the Royal Society of New South Wales *1954 Elected

Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science The Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science is made up of about 500 Australian scientists. Scientists judged by their peers to have made an exceptional contribution to knowledge in their field may be elected to Fellowship of the Academy ...

John Conrad Jaeger
ADBTrove
etc. *1970 Elected

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

*1971

Rankine Lecture The Rankine lecture is an annual lecture organised by the British Geotechnical Association named after William John Macquorn Rankine, an early contributor to the theory of soil mechanics. This should not be confused with the biennial BGA Géotec ...

to the

British Geotechnical Association The British Geotechnical Association is a learned 'Associated Society' of the Institution of Civil Engineers,ICE Associated Societies newsletter, Spring/Summer 2011 (Accessed: 19 July 2013) based in London, England, and a registered UK charity (N ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaeger, John Conrad 1907 births 1979 deaths Scientists from Sydney Alumni of the University of Cambridge Australian mathematicians Engineering educators Rankine Lecturers Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science