Louis Winslow Austin (October 30, 1867 – June 27, 1932) was an American

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 cau ...

known for his research on long-range

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

transmissions. Austin was born in

Orwell, Vermont Orwell is a town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,239 at the 2020 census. Mount Independence was the largest fortification constructed by the American colonial forces. The site is now one of Vermont's premier stat ...

, and educated at Middlebury College (class of 1889) and the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

(then in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

), from which he received a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in 1893. From 1893-1901, he taught

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

as an instructor and assistant professor at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison 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 Stat ...

, then returned to Germany for two years at the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

where he performed research on hot gases. In 1904 Austin joined the

National Bureau of Standards The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sci ...

to study radio propagation. After the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

established its Naval Radio Telegraphic Laboratory (later the

Naval Research Laboratory The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological ...

) within the bureau, Austin served as its director from 1908–1923, and from 1923-1932 as chief of the Radio Physics Laboratory. Austin's research focused on

radio propagation Radio propagation is the behavior of radio waves as they travel, or are propagated, from one point to another in vacuum, or into various parts of the atmosphere. As a form of electromagnetic radiation, like light waves, radio waves are affect ...

and

static Static may refer to: Places *Static Nunatak, a nunatak in Antarctica United States * Static, Kentucky and Tennessee *Static Peak, a mountain in Wyoming **Static Peak Divide, a mountain pass near the peak Science and technology Physics *Static el ...

, and more specifically the influence of

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various Conversion of units of temperature, temp ...

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity dep ...

magnetic storm A geomagnetic storm, also known as a magnetic storm, is a temporary disturbance of the Earth's magnetosphere caused by a solar wind shock wave and/or cloud of magnetic field that interacts with the Earth's magnetic field. The disturbance that d ...

s, and sunspots on long-range radio transmissions. Under his direction, the Navy conducted long-distance wireless measurements in 1909 and 1910 between the USS Birmingham and USS Salem, as they steamed to Liberia and back, and

Fessenden Fessenden may refer to: People * Fessenden (surname) * Larry Fessenden (born March 23, 1963), an American actor, producer, writer, director, film editor, and cinematographer * Fessenden Nott Otis (1825-c. 1900), American pioneer in the medical fie ...

's station at

Brant Rock, Massachusetts Ocean Bluff-Brant Rock is a census-designated place (CDP) in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, composed of the neighborhoods of Ocean Bluff, Brant Rock, Fieldston, and Rexhame in the town of Marshfield. The population of the CDP ...

. Austin measured received impulses from the ships on the 3,750 and 1,000 meter wavelengths to determine the relationships between radio frequency, distance, and received signal strength. These measurements led Austin and collaborator Dr. Louis Cohen to develop the empirical Austin-Cohen formula for predicting radio signal strength at long distances. Austin joined the Institute for Radio Engineers (now

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operat ...

) in 1913, in 1914 served as its third president, and in 1927 received its

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

"for his pioneer work in the quantitative measurement and correlation of factors involved in radio wave transmission." He also served as a U.S. representative at numerous international radio conferences. Austin died on June 27, 1932, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Personal life

Louis Winslow Austin was born 30 October 1867 at Orwell, Addison Co., Vermont, USA. He was the only child of Lewis Augustine Austin and Mary Louise Austin née Taft. As a child, he lived with his parents at Manchester, Bennington Co., Vermont, USA 1868-1872 and Meriden, Sullivan Co., New Hampshire, USA 1872-1880. He lived at Middleburg, Vermont from 1880-1889. Strassburg, Germany (now France) 1889-1893. Madison, WI, 1893-1901, where he concluded as Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of Wisconsin. He married Laura Osborne (born 10 August 1875, McGregor, Clayton County, Iowa) on 16 August 1898 at La Crosse, La Crosse County, Wisconsin. Laura Alma Austin née Osborne was born 10 August 1875 at McGregor, Clayton Co., Iowa. She was the second of three children to Willis Leroy Osborne and Julia Livia Osborne née Colman. She lived with her parents at McGregor, Iowa 1875-1877 and La Crosse, Wisconsin 1877-1898 until her marriage. She was a student at the University of Wisconsin, graduating in the class of 1897 with a degree of Arts Bachelor. She was a member of

Kappa Alpha Theta Kappa Alpha Theta (), also known simply as Theta, is an international women’s fraternity founded on January 27, 1870, at DePauw University, formerly Indiana Asbury. It was the first Greek-letter fraternity established for women. The main arc ...

fraternity. Laura remained actively involved with her alma mater throughout her life. She was a life member of the Alumni Association of the University of Wisconsin and served several roles within the organisation. She frequently accompanied her husband in his travels (England, 1912; Panama, 1915; Puerto Rico, 1920; Europe, 1921; Europe, 1922; Japan, 1927). There were no children to the marriage.

Professional life

Brief chronology

* Louis Austin studied science at Middlebury College, Vermont (close to his birthplace of Orwell) and graduated there in 1898. * Then he studied at Clark. * He travelled to Strassburg, Germany (now France). ** He studied at the University of Strassburg. ** In 1893 he was awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy in Physical Science. * In 1893 he returned to the US and took up a teaching position at the University of Wisconsin * In 1901 he again travelled to Germany and worked for two years on the staff of the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt at Berlin-Charlottenburg. * In 1902 he returned to the US and continued his teaching career at the University of Wisconsin * In 1904 he commenced employment with the then Bureau of Standards (later renamed National Bureau of Standards, now National Institute of Standards and Technology). * In 1908 the

established the Naval Radio-Telegraphic Research Laboratory within the Bureau of Standards and Austin was appointed its Chief from inception and remained in that post until 1923. * From 1923 until his passing in 1932 he continued his work at the Bureau of Standards.

Middlebury College, Middlebury, Addison Co., Vermont, US: 1887-1889

Austin commenced his studies at Middlebury College, circa 1887 and graduated as Bachelor of Arts in 1889.

University of Strassburg, Strassburg, Germany: 1889-1890

Clark University, Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts, US: 1890-1891

Austin served one year as Fellow in Physics at

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in the ...

in Massachusetts, then returned to Germany to complete his doctoral studies.

University of Strassburg, Strassburg, Germany: 1891-1893

University of Wisconsin, Madison, Dane Co., Wisconsin, USA: 1893-1897

Austin commenced with the University of Wisconsin (now University of Wisconsin-Madison) as an Instructor in Physics in 1893, soon after the award of his Ph.D. In 1895 he was promoted to the position of Assistant Professor of Physics. At the time, the President of the University was Charles Kendall Adams and the Vice President was John Barber Parkinson. Physics then came within the College of Letters and Science under Dean Edward Asahel Birge. Other faculty members in the field of Physics at the time were Benjamin Warner Snow (Professor of Physics), John Eugene Davies (Professor of Electricity and Magnetism and Mathematical Physics), Charles Burton Thwing (Instructor in Physics) and Ervin Sidney Ferry (Instructor in Physics, taking over the position vacated by Austin in 1895). Laboratory practice was a significant part of Austin's curriculum and in this he greatly emphasised the need for careful attention to detail to achieve the highest possible accuracy with the instruments available. This approach was heavily influenced by his time in Germany and served him well throughout his later career. He was a close associate of Thwing, who had also received a Ph.D. in Germany (University of Bonn, under the supervision of Professor Heinrich Hertz). In their approaches to laboratory practice, Thwing and Austin were closely similar. Finding little introductory laboratory material available, together they authored in 1895 a useful book "Exercises in Physical Measurement" for first year laboratory students. It was published the following year and immediately found application both in the classes of the University and more widely. Within its pages one can see evidence of future techniques which would place him at the forefront of the radio pioneering empiricists.

Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt, Charlottenburg, Germany: 1901-1902

Returning to Germany in 1901, Austin worked at the renowned Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt (PTR) now Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Charlottenburg (now a suburb of Berlin). There he studied the properties of gases at high temperatures. Together with colleague Starke, he is credited with the discovery of

secondary electron emission In particle physics, secondary emission is a phenomenon where primary incident particles of sufficient energy, when hitting a surface or passing through some material, induce the emission of secondary particles. The term often refers to the em ...

in 1902, which they reported in an article in

Annalen der Physik ''Annalen der Physik'' (English: ''Annals of Physics'') is one of the oldest scientific journals on physics; it has been published since 1799. The journal publishes original, peer-reviewed papers on experimental, theoretical, applied, and mathe ...

. But the discovery had to await almost two decades for commercial applications to develop in the form of the

photomultiplier A photomultiplier is a device that converts incident photons into an electrical signal. Kinds of photomultiplier include: * Photomultiplier tube, a vacuum tube converting incident photons into an electric signal. Photomultiplier tubes (PMTs for sh ...

, a key enabler of

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

technology and today's advances in

neutrino detector A neutrino detector is a physics apparatus which is designed to study neutrinos. Because neutrinos only weakly interact with other particles of matter, neutrino detectors must be very large to detect a significant number of neutrinos. Neutrino d ...

s. The primary function of the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt in Germany was to establish national metrological standards including measurement and calibration techniques. In the USA that function was charged to the Bureau of Standards and Austin's work at the PTR would have been favourably viewed by his future employer.

University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, USA: 1902-1904

Austin resumed his position of Assistant Professor of Physics the University of Wisconsin in 1902 and continued there until 1904.

Bureau of Standards, Washington, District of Columbia, USA: 1904-1908

Naval Radio-Telegraphic Research Laboratory, Bureau of Standards, Washington, District of Columbia, USA: 1908-1923

Bureau of Standards, Washington, District of Columbia, US: 1923-1932

Austin-Cohen Formula

A mathematical model for propagation of radio frequency electromagnetic waves along the surface of the earth was for some decades one of the greatest mathematical challenges, engaging the minds of some of our foremost mathematicians. Throughout that period, as each new model was developed and promoted, it had to withstand the immediate question "how well does it match the Austin-Cohen formula?" This was the lasting testament of a few years circa 1911 of exacting measurements undertaken by Austin and his friend and colleague Louis Cohen. As in so many scientific accomplishments, there were elements of serendipity to the experiments. As is now well known the independent variables are frequency/wavelength, distance, surface conductivity. The latter variable is particularly troublesome varying greatly with the type of the ground (rock, soil, clay or sand), its depth profile, cover and moisture content; almost impossible to measure directly. A further complication is that the type of ground will itself vary over large distances of the order of hundreds of kilometres. Today effective ground conductivity is mostly calculated from measurement of the actual attenuation of radio waves propagating over that surface. But Austin's then employer was the US Department of Navy and they were principally interested in communications shore to ship and ship to ship. Austin's measurements were almost entirely over sea which has the admirable quantity of both homogeneity and constancy of surface conductivity. By eliminating conductivity from the variable set, Austin meticulous measurements with carefully calibrated but rudimentary instruments of the day, produced a clean set of data of field strength against frequency and distance. The resulting empirical model was simple, elegant and precise. It would provide for decades both his employers with a scientific basis to plan their naval radio communications services as well as the brightest mathematicians a yardstick against which to test their surfacewave propagation deterministic models. Had Austin extended his data to include the land of highly variable surface conductivity to the north, west and south of the transmitters available to him, the resultant data would have been almost chaotic for the day and likely necessitated a stochastic model for solution, similar to the problem of night-time skywave propagation to which he devoted much of his time in his remaining two decades.

Notes

References

"The Institute Medal of Honor", Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers, 1928, Vol. 16, Issue 8
* Yeang, Chen-Pang, "Scientific Fact or Engineering Specification? The U.S. Navy's Experiments on Long-Range Wireless Telegraphy Circa 1910", ''Technology and Culture'', Volume 45, Number 1, January 2004, pp. 1–29. * Yeang, Chen-Pang, "The study of long-distance radio-wave propagation, 1900-1919", ''Historical studies in the physical and biological sciences'', 2003, vol. 33, no2, pp. 369–403. ISSN 0890-9997.
Louis Winslow Austin, Hamlin Family Tree, Rootsweb World Connect

Biographies

Obituary - Louis Winslow Austin, 1932, Science, Vol. 76, No. 1963, pp 137

IEEE History Center biography

Britannica Online entry

"Louis Winslow Austin", Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers, 1932, Vol. 20, Issue 8

J. E. Brittain, "Electrical Engineering Hall of Fame: Louis W. Austin", Proceedings of the IEEE, 2005, Vol. 93, Issue 12

Publications

Miscellaneous

L. W. Austin, ''"The effect of extreme cold on magnetism"'', 1894

L. W. Austin & C. B. Thwing, ''"Exercises in physical measurement"'', 1896, Allyn & Bacon
* L. W. Austin, ''"Experimental-untersuchungen über die elastische Längs- und Torsions-nachwirkung"''
L. W. Austin, and C. W. Eastman, ''"On the relation between heat conductivity and density in some of the common woods"'', 1902

L. Austin & H. Starke, "Ueber die Reflexion der Kathodenstrahlen und eine damit verbundene neue Erscheinung secundaerer Emission", Annalen der Physik, 1902, Vol. 9, P.271
* Kritische Bemerkungen zu der Mitteilung der Herren Austin und Starke über Kathodenstrahlreflexion. Sonderabdruck aus 'Verhandlungen der Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft', Jahrgang 4, Nr. 8). Braunschweig, 1902

Physical Review

Bureau of Standards

Institute of Radio Engineers