Paul Santorini

Paul Santorini (Greek:Παύλος Σαντορίνης; 1893 – 1986) was a Greek civil engineer, experimental and theoretical physicist, mathematician, electrical engineer, astronomer, author, and professor. He published over 350 articles and conducted research in the fields of solar energy, wind energy, electromagnetic microwaves as weapons of war, high-frequency electromagnetic waves, high-frequency currents, structural engineering, and hydraulics. Later in life, he wrote papers in the field of the birth of the universe and proposed the multiple successive small bangs theory of the universe. Some of his papers also dealt with mankind and the universe. He is known within the UFO conspiracy community because of his involvement in the 1946 Ghost rockets incident in Greece.

Paul was born in Odesa to Greek parents and from a young age migrated to Switzerland. By the age of 12, he attended prestigious high schools in Zurich. Around the same period, he was affiliated with Albert Einstein. He completed his studies in Zurich at the University of Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology by 1918. He briefly worked in industry and took academic positions from 1936 until 1964 at three different institutions in Athens, Greece, namely, the University of Athens, National Technical University of Athens and Agricultural University of Athens. Paul also worked for the Greek government in different sectors ranging from the office of the minister and the Hellenic Military.

Paul frequently traveled to international conferences and was a member of several international scientific organizations namely the New York Academy of Science, Acadèmie Des Sciences de Toulouse, Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, and the Royal Society of Arts. He obtained the Silver Cross of the Order of the Phoenix from the Greek government in 1938 for his outstanding work
developing anti-aircraft technology. For his outstanding continuous achievements in the sciences in 1950, Paul became a Commander (Ταξιάρχης) of the Order of the Phoenix, and in 1965 he was also awarded Commander of the Order of George I. He was also a Free Mason and a member of the Apollon Lodge of Athens. Paul died at 93 years old with distinction and was buried at the Third Cemetery of Athens.

Early life

Santorini was born in Odessa. His father's name was Eleftherios. The family name was originally Papadopoulos until July 1940. Records before 1940 are under the name Pavlos or Paul Papadopoulos. Paul obtained his early education in Odessa until 1905. Due to the tumultuous political situation in Russia. Paul continued his studies in Zurich, Switzerland. He was accepted at the internationally renowned high school Concordia of Zurich at age 12. He took courses at the technical department and graduated after three years completing the requirements by 1908. Paul also played the violin and received lessons from P. Koller around this period. He also became familiar with Albert Einstein. Regrettably, Paul was too young to attend the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

The Concordia high school allowed Paul to attend the institution for an additional year offering special courses in the field of natural science. One year later he attended another high school named Minerva from 1909 to 1910. At the second institution, Paul observed courses in the fields of physics and mathematics. By age 17, in March 1910 he took special entrance examinations to attend the University of Zurich. Around this period Albert Einstein was teaching courses in Zurich. Paul attended some courses taught by the scientist. In his biography, Paul explains that the world-renowned scientist showed a keen interest in ancient Greek philosophy and mathematics and the young student had long conversations with him regarding the field.

Paul was accepted at the University of Zurich in 1910 and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in 1912. Some of his professors included Aurel Stodola and Gabriel Narutowicz. He received a degree in civil engineering in 1917 from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and one year later in 1918, he received a degree in physics and mathematics at the University of Zurich. That same year Paul became an engineer at the hydroelectric installations of the Lóntschwerk II in Switzerland. He was part of the construction of an electric dam that produced 77000 kW with a height of 370 meters. During this period of his life, he specialized in hydroelectricity and electromagnetism.

Private sector Greece

By 1919, Paul moved to Athens, Greece, and continued working as a hydroelectric engineer for the Greek government. He studied the Edessa Waterfalls, Lake Vegoritida, and Agra Pella. He continued in this position until 1921. He worked in the private sector from 1921 until 1930. He became the chief engineer of a company in Athens from 1921 to 1925. Around this period he also wrote articles in the field of engineering under the pseudonym "Santo Rini". One of his articles published in 1921 was ''La Théorie du Rendement Économique Maximum D'une Conduite Forcée en Métal et le Calcul Rationnel de Ses Éléments (The Theory of the Maximum Economic Return of a Metal Pension Pipe and the Rational Calculation of its Elements)''. He was the head of static analysis for designing structures at Ergoliptiki from 1925 to 1927. Around this period Paul engineered a refined method for cement and finally from 1927 until 1930 he worked at Kronos Industries. In this position, he researched the elastic deformations of solid structures and wrote several articles about the facility. That same year Paul took a government position and was one of the directors of Hydraulics at the Ministry of Agriculture, and he remained in this position until 1946.

Academic career and later life

The University of Athens gave him a degree in physics in 1933 and one year later he received a Ph.D. from the institution in the field of mathematics and physics. Paul became a professor at the School of Physics which was part of the University of Athens. Paul taught applied physics and experimental electromagnetic radiation from 1936–1946. He continued his work in electromagnetism and began building radiolocation systems for the Hellenic Military and was transferred to the High Command of Anti-Aircraft Defense a position which he held from 1936 to 1940. He built prototypes of electronic weapons. His research focused on developing instruments that used radio waves to determine the distance angle and radial velocity of objects relative to a specific position. The instrument was used to track aircraft. In his biography, Paul claims that many of his prototypes were shared with different countries by the Greek government and that he was not credited for his inventions. He returned to the Ministry of Agriculture focusing his research on water measurements from 1940 to 1946.

From 1947 to 1964, he became professor of experimental physics and Chair of the Experimental Physics Laboratory II at the National Technical University of Athens and also took a position at the Agricultural University of Athens as a professor and director of the physics laboratory. During this period in 1946 Greece witnessed a phenomenon known as Ghost rockets. Paul was assigned to investigate the unidentified flying objects, he was 53 years old. By this point in his life, Paul was a distinguished professor and scientist who wrote hundreds of articles ranging from structural engineering, hydraulics, and electromagnetism. He became professor emeritus at the National Technical University of Athens and the Agricultural University of Athens by 1964, he was 71 years old. He continued writing until the end of his life and was a member of the New York Academy of Science, Acadèmie Des Sciences de Toulouse, Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, and the Royal Society of Arts. He also won several awards throughout his life for his distinguished excellence in the field of science. His academic writing can be separated by the subjects of his articles. Early in his career, he wrote about civil engineering during the middle point of his career most of his works dealt with electromagnetic applications and finally towards the end of his life he theorized about the universe. The scholar wrote over 350 articles and over 59 of his works were selected and discussed in his biography. He died at 93 years old with distinction and was buried at the Third Cemetery of Athens.

Hellenic radar

During the spring on May 27, 1936, Paul was part of a project to build anti-aircraft equipment for the long-distance detection of airships for the Hellenic Military entitled ''ecatometrico radar (centimetric radar system)''. A committee was assembled with a special request by the Hellenic military to the Department of Applied Physics of the University of Athens. Paul proposed his experimental work. The device was tested and approved by the committee and
Paul was named senior commander of anti-aircraft defense. By 1939, the equipment was functioning and able to observe aircraft up to 150 kilometers, the tests were conducted in Faliros. The equipment attracted the attention of the English military who were desperate to defeat the Germans. The Greek government shared the research the military conducted with its international allies during the desperate war times. Regrettably, Paul's contribution went unnoticed by the international scientific community even though he was awarded Greece's highest honor around that period for his work in the field. He was also posthumously credited for building the guidance system for Project Nike and the proximity fuse used in the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

Ghost rockets

In 1967, Paul, publicly stated that the 1947 Greek government investigation into the European Ghost rockets of 1946 were not missiles. Paul claimed the investigation was halted by senior U.S. military officials who knew them to be extraterrestrial in nature. Paul further explained to the Greek news that because there was no defense against the advanced technology of the aliens they feared widespread panic would result if the information was known to the public. Paul became a media sensation among UFO conspiracy theorists because he was a credible scientist who admitted the existence of extraterrestrial phenomena.

Literary works

References

Bibliography

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santorini Paul
1893 births
1986 deaths
Ukrainian people of Greek descent
ETH Zurich alumni
University of Zurich alumni
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni
20th-century Greek mathematicians
20th-century Greek educators
20th-century Greek scientists
20th-century Greek astronomers
20th-century Greek physicists
Greek astronomers
Academic staff of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Academic staff of the National Technical University of Athens
Commanders of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece)
Recipients of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece)
Greek Freemasons
Writers from Odesa
Scientists from Zurich
Writers from Zurich
Scientists from Odesa
Engineers from Odesa