Lloyd Viel Berkner (February 1, 1905 – June 4, 1967) 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 ...

and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

. He was one of the inventors of the measuring device that since has become standard at ionospheric stations because it measures the height and electron density of the

ionosphere The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays ...

. The data obtained in the worldwide net of such instruments were important for the developing theory of

short wave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (app ...

radio propagation to which Berkner himself gave important contributions. Berkner was elected to the United States

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

in 1948. He was president of Associated Universities, Inc. from 1951 to 1960. Later he investigated the development of the

Earth's atmosphere The atmosphere of Earth is composed of a layer of gas mixture that surrounds the Earth's planetary surface (both lands and oceans), known collectively as air, with variable quantities of suspended aerosols and particulates (which create weathe ...

. Since he needed data from the whole world, he proposed the

International Geophysical Year The International Geophysical Year (IGY; ), also referred to as the third International Polar Year, was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War w ...

in 1950. At that time, the IGY was the largest cooperative study of the Earth ever undertaken. Berkner was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

and a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1956. The IGY was carried out by the

International Council of Scientific Unions The International Council for Science (ICSU, after its former name, International Council of Scientific Unions) was an international non-governmental organization devoted to international cooperation in the advancement of science. Its members ...

while he was president in 1957–1959. He was also a member of the President's Scientific Advisory Committee in 1958 while he was president of Associated Universities Inc. In 1963, Berkner, with L.C. Marshall, advanced a theory to describe the way in which the atmospheres of the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

's inner planets had evolved. Beginning in 1926, as a naval officer, Berkner assisted in the development of radar and navigation systems, naval aircraft electronics engineering, and studies that led to the construction of the Distant Early Warning system, a chain of radar stations designed to give the United States advance warning in the event of a missile attack across the North Pole. In the 1950s and 1960s, Berkner held intelligence clearances in the Atomic Energy Commission and other agencies. He worked with the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

in some capacity as well, but any activities are wholly

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as of 2015. Berkner worked with Dallas community leaders to establish the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest (later renamed the Southwest Center for Advanced Studies, which would eventually become The

University of Texas at Dallas The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD or UT Dallas) is a public research university in Richardson, Texas, United States. It is the northernmost institution of the University of Texas System. It was initially founded in 1961 as a private res ...

). He wrote more than 100 papers and several books, including ''Rockets and Satellites'' (1958), ''Science in Space'' (1961), and ''The Scientific Age'' (1964). In 1961, Berkner was president of the

Institute of Radio Engineers The Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) was a professional organization which existed from 1912 until December 31, 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) to form the Institute of Electrical ...

Legacy

Lloyd V. Berkner High School in

Richardson, Texas Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 119,469. Richardson is an inner suburb of the city of Dallas. It is home to the Universit ...

was named after him in 1969, as was Lloyd V. Berkner Hall at the

, and Berkner Hall auditorium/cafeteria at

Brookhaven National Laboratory Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratories, United States Department of Energy national laboratory located in Upton, New York, a hamlet of the Brookhaven, New York, Town of Brookhaven. It w ...

. The lunar crater Berkner was named in his honor. Berkner Island in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

was also named for Berkner because of his work as a radio operator on the first Byrd expedition to Antarctica in 1928. Berkner was married to Lillian Fulks Berkner and had two children.

References

External links

National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkner, Lloyd 1905 births 1967 deaths University of Minnesota alumni 20th-century American physicists Scientists from Milwaukee Engineers from Wisconsin Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 20th-century American engineers Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Fellows of the American Physical Society Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Members of the American Philosophical Society Acacia members