Albert Percival Rowe, CBE (23 March 1898 – 25 May 1976), often known as Jimmy Rowe or A. P. Rowe, was a radar pioneer and university vice-chancellor. A British

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 ...

and senior research administrator, he played a major role in the development of

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

before and during World War II.

Early years

Rowe was born in Launceston,

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, and after attending the Portsmouth Naval Dockyard School, he studied physics at the Royal College of Science, University of London, graduating with a first-class honours in 1921, and postgraduate diploma in air navigation in 1922. On 18 June 1932 at Beckenham,

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, he married Mary Gordon Mathews, a solicitor.

Air defence and radar

In the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

, Rowe read everything that he could find on the art of air defence, and became alarmed. Working at that time for Harry Wimperis, he wrote a memo to him that concluded that "we were likely to lose the war if it starts within the next ten years". Wimperis took the report seriously, and in 1934, he started the formation of what later became known as the Tizard Committee, which supported the early development of radio-based detection. It was Robert Watson Watt who coined the acronym RDF, which was "a code-name intended to have no identification", as he put it in his nemirandom AIR 2/4487). Soon afterward, the American term "radar" was adopted. In 1937, Rowe had succeeded Robert Watson-Watt as Superintendent of the Bawdsey Research Station, where the Chain Home RDF system was developed, and in 1938–1945, he was the Chief Superintendent of the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE), which carried out pioneering research on

microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than other radio waves but longer than infrared waves. Its wavelength ranges from about one meter to one millimeter, corresponding to frequency, frequencies between 300&n ...

radar. He was appointed a CBE in 1942. E. H. Putley describes Rowe as a complex character with a strong sense of mission, so, difficult to live with. Dr E.H. Putley on A.P. Rowe, pp.31–33 in Latham, Colin & Stobbs, Anne (1999) ''Pioneers of Radar'', Sutton However, Putley supports Rowe's decisions in giving priority, and most of TRE's resources, to the completion of the Chain Home and Chain Home Low systems in 1938–39, and also continuing research in 1940 on developing aircraft interception (AI) radar and centimetric radar with the cavity magnetron. Despite some opposition from RAF Bomber Command, who thought that the project would not produce large-scale results, Rowe, assisted by Alec Reeves, also led in the development of the Oboe navigation system and the ground-scanning

H2S radar H2S was the first airborne radar system, airborne, Airborne ground surveillance, ground scanning radar system. It was developed for the Royal Air Force's RAF Bomber Command, Bomber Command during World War II to identify targets on the ground f ...

.A.P. Rowe, "One story of radar", Cambridge University Press, 1948, pp. 112-14, 144-7.

Vice-chancellor

In 1946, Rowe moved to Australia as chief scientific officer for the British rocket programme. The following year, he was appointed scientific adviser to the Australian Department of Defence, and on 1 May 1948 he became, by invitation, the first full-time vice-chancellor of the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

, a position he held until his retirement in 1958.

Retirement

He returned to England, living in

Malvern, Worcestershire Malvern (, locally also: ) is a spa town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The centre of Malvern, Great Malvern, is ...

until his death on 25 May 1976. He was survived by his wife; they had no children.

References

Bibliography

* Bowen, E. G.: ''Radar Days'' (1987, Inst. of Physics Publishing) * Lovell, Sir Bernard
''Echoes of War; The Story of H2S Radar''
(1991, Adam Hilger) *Rowe, A. P.: ''One Story of Radar'' (1948, Cambridge U. Press) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowe, Albert Research administrators 1898 births 1976 deaths Radar pioneers British physicists British operations researchers People from Launceston, Cornwall Alumni of Imperial College London Academic staff of the University of Adelaide Vice-chancellors of the University of Adelaide Commanders of the Order of the British Empire