|
| |
|
Clan Munro USA
Genealogy Pages
|
 |
|
 Abt 1901 - 1994 (~ 93 years)
-
| Name |
George Munro |
| Born |
Abt 1901 |
, , , New Zealand  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Died |
14 Sep 1994 |
Australia |
| Person ID |
I26526 |
Munro |
| Last Modified |
27 May 2001 |
-
| Notes |
- Dr. George Munro was born and educated in New Zealand. He spent several years on the staff of the Radio Research Board in the United Kingdom, and in 1929 accepted a position with the newly formed Australian Radio Research Board (RRB), the aim of which was to foster and support radio research in the universities. On arrival in Australia, he joined a group of the RRB in the University of Melbourne and, after several years, transferred to a group in the Electrical Engineering Department of the University of Sydney, with which he spent much of his working life.
At this time, the work of Kennelly and Heaviside, who postulated the existence of a conducting layer surrounding the earth, had aroused world-wide interest and had stimulated intensive research, much of it theoretical, into the properties and behaviour of such a layer and its effect on the propagation of electromagnetic waves. George brought to the RRB the benefit of his talent and experience in devising ingenious experimental methods of measurement, (He had even set up equipment on board ship on his way to Australia, to survey sources of atmospherics over most of the world. Continuing this work in Melbourne, he was able to provide valuable data necessary for the successful planning of the national broadcasting network, as well as forecasts for Kingsford Smith on his first Trans Tasman flight.)
George's work in Sydney was directed mainly to measurement of conditions in the ionosphere. He established a field station at Liverpool, about 25 km from Sydney University, which became a valuable experimental facility. World War II brought a halt to these activities and most of the RRB staff, including George, were transferred to form a nucleus of the CSIR Radiophysics Laboratory and of the Ionospheric Prediction Service. The remoteness of Australia at that time was a serious obstacle to most scientific work there and delays in exchanging information with the rest of the world were unacceptable. Munro was chosen to go to London to establish and operate a Scientific Liaison Office to exhange information between Australia and England, particularly on radar. This mission was followed by a similar one in 1941 to the USA where he was appointed an attache at the Australian Legation in Washington and Scientific Adviser to the resident Minister, R. G. [later Lord] Casey. For a time he also served New Zealand in a similar capacity. The demands of his office extended far beyond radar and his staff was gradually increased to deal successfully with them.
On his return to Australia in 1946 he was recalled to head the Radio Research Laboratory in the University of Sydney, where he resumed his pre-war investigations and developed special equipment for examining the movements of great waves travelling in the ionosphere with a speed of 10 km per minute. This was achieved by building three transmitters spaced about 50 km apart and recording on film the reflections of their pulsated signals from the ionosphere. This work was published by the Royal Society in 1950 and led to the award of a doctorate by the University of New Zealand. This award was of special significance, since his first publication [The Reflecting Layer of the Upper Atmosphere] was written in 1928 while he was a Research Scholar in New Zealand. It described the first observation of this kind in the Southern Hemisphere and established him as one of the pioneers of ionosphere research.
On his retirement in 1966 he continued to work in the University of Sydney for a decade while maintaining also the laboratory at his home in the Blue Mountains [west of Sydney] where his interest in radiophysics continued until his final illness. He also took a prominent part in the prevention and control of bush fires which in summer threatened many homes in the area. He and his wife were widely resspected in the community around them.
His death in 1994 brought to an end a half century of distinguished contributions to the knowledge and understanding of the passage of radio waves through the space around us.
Ref: "Clan Munro Magazine" - No. 21 - p. 42-43
|
|
|
|
|
