Hermann Glauert, FRS (4 October 1892 – 6 August 1934) was a British aerodynamicist and Principal Scientific Officer of the

Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...

, Farnborough until his death in

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

Early life and education

Glauert was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

; his father Louis Glauert was a cutlery manufacturer. He attended King Edward VII School, Sheffield and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

Career

Glauert wrote numerous reports and memoranda dealing with

aerofoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more lift than drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foils of similar function designed ...

and

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

theory. His book, ''The Elements of Aerofoil and Airscrew Theory'' was the single most important instrument for spreading

airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more Lift (force), lift than Drag (physics), drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foil (fl ...

and wing theory around the English speaking world. Glauert independently developed Prandtl-Glauert method from the then-existing aerodynamic theory and published his results in '' The Proceedings of the Royal Society'' in 1928. In the 1930s, he was the academic supervisor of aerodynamicist and educationalist Gwen Alston.

Death

Glauert died in 1934, aged 41, in an accident in a small park in Fleet Common in Farnborough. His school said of him "The tragic and incalculable accident which resulted in the death of Hermann Glauert concerned us also, though less intimately. H. Glauert was a distinguished Edwardian of the early days, leaving the School with a mathematical scholarship to Trinity, Cambridge, in 1910. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society, principal scientific officer at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, and no less than an international authority on aeronautical science (cf Prandtl-Glauert singularity). He was killed by a chance fragment of a tree that was being blown up on Aldershot Common."

Personal life

Glauert married fellow RAE Farnborough aerodynamicist Muriel Barker (1892–1949). They had three children: a son, Michael (1924–2004), and twins Audrey (1925-2014) and Richard (1925-2016). Glauert is buried in the Ship Lane Cemetery, Farnborough. Muriel Glauert died in 1949, and was buried alongside her husband.

Publications

* ''The Elements of Aerofoil and Airscrew Theory'' - Cambridge University Press - 1926

References

External links

King Edward VII School Magazine, December 1934"Hermann Glauert FRS, FRAeS (1892 – 1934)"
a paper on Glauert's work (PDF)

a 1920 lecture of Glauert's published in ''Flight''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glauert, Hermann 1892 births 1934 deaths Accidental deaths in England Aerodynamicists Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society British fluid dynamicists People educated at King Edward VII School, Sheffield Scientists from Yorkshire