Ronald Samuel Rivlin (6 May 1915 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

– 4 October 2005) was a

British-American British Americans usually refers to Americans whose ancestral origin originates wholly or partly in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland and also the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, and Gibraltar). It is prima ...

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 ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

rheologist Rheology (; ) is the study of the flow of matter, primarily in a fluid (liquid or gas) state but also as "soft solids" or solids under conditions in which they respond with plastic flow rather than deforming elastically in response to an applied ...

and a noted expert on

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

.''New York Times'' November 25, 2005 "Ronald Rivlin, 90, Expert on Properties of Rubber, Dies" Barenblatt GI and Joseph DD (2008) ''Ronald Samuel Rivlin'', Memorial Tributes: National Academy of Engineering, 12, 234-239.

Life

Rivlin was born in

in 1915. He studied physics and mathematics at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, being awarded a BA in 1937 and a ScD in 1952.Rheology Bulletin vol 75, no 1 (2006) page pp 19 & 27 He worked for the

General Electric Company The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and Arms industry, defence electronics, communications, and engineering. It was originally founded in 1886 as G. Binswanger and Company as an e ...

, then the UK

Ministry of Aircraft Production Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

, then the

British Rubber Producers Research Association The Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre, originally known as the British Rubber Producers' Research Association, carries out research into rubber and is funded by the Malaysian government. Early years: as the British Rubber Producers Research Associa ...

, to which he was recruited to at the suggestion of

L. R. G. Treloar Professor Leslie Ronald George Treloar, OBE (30 July 1906 – 18 March 1985) was a leading figure in the science of rubber and elasticity, and writer of a number of influential texts. Leslie Treloar graduated in Physics from University College, R ...

John Wilson John Wilson may refer to: Academics * John Wilson (historian) (1799–1870), author of ''Our Israelitish Origin'' (1840), a founding text of British Israelism * John Wilson (agriculturalist) (1812–1888), British agriculturalist * John Matthias ...

, over a “lavish meal” and game of

pool Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a roc ...

. This included one sabbatical year at the

National Bureau of Standards The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sc ...

, USA. His post at the BRPRA was the start of his interest in rubber. In 1953 he took up the post of Professor of Applied Mathematics at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, moving to

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

in 1967 to become director of the Center for the Application of Mathematics until his retirement in 1980. He married Violet LoRusso in 1948 (they had a son, John) and became an

American citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Consti ...

in 1955.

Work

His work began with his 1944 observation that "although very little force is required to detach Scotch tape from an adherend, the work expended in doing so is very large". This is from the elastic effects of the adhesive, on which he commented even if "one idealized the adhesive as a perfectly elastic material there appeared to be no body of mathematical theory which would provide a basis for calculations". Existing theories were only on very small deformations, so from 1945 to 1951, Rivlin was one of the creators of the modern theory of large elastic deformations, including theory of

Neo-Hookean solid A neo-Hookean solid is a hyperelastic material model, similar to Hooke's law, that can be used for predicting the nonlinear stress–strain behavior of materials undergoing large deformations. The model was proposed by Ronald Rivlin in 1948 us ...

s and Mooney-Rivlin solids.A. N. Gent (2005) "Ronald N. Rivlin",

Journal of Elasticity ''Journal of Elasticity: The Physical and Mathematical Science of Solids'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of elasticity. It is published seven times a year by Springer Science+Business Media. The editor-in-chief is Roge ...

(2005) 81: 111–113 He also made major contributions to the theory of non-Newtonian fluid flow, including in the Rivlin-Ericksen expansion.Ronald Rivlin
biography of 2007, Symposium on Materials

Honours and awards

* Bingham Medal of the Society of Rheology in 1958. *

Timoshenko Medal The Timoshenko Medal is an award given annually by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to an individual "in recognition of distinguished contributions to the field of applied mechanics." The Timoshenko Medal, widely regarded as ...

of the

ASME The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing edu ...

in 1987 *

Charles Goodyear Medal The Charles Goodyear Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society#Organization, American Chemical Society, Rubber Division. Established in 1941, the award is named after Charles Goodyear, the discoverer of vulcanization, ...

of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

's Rubber Division in 1992. * von Karman Medal of the

American Society of Civil Engineers The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering soci ...

in 1993 * Member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

* Member 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 ...

* President of the

Society of Rheology The Society of Rheology is an American professional society formed in December, 1929 to represent scientists and technologists working in the field of rheology, the science of the deformation and flow of matter. Current membership is of the orde ...

* Chairman of th
Society for Natural Philosophy
* Chairman of the U
National Committee for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
* Chairman, Applied Mechanics Division,

Rivlin was invited to speak in 1972 at the induction of

Melvin Mooney Melvin Mooney (1893–1968) was an American physicist and rheologist. Life Mooney was born in Kansas City, Missouri.J. H. Dillon (1948) J. Colloid Sci. 4 (3) 187-8 "Introduction of Melvin Mooney as E. C. Bingham Medallist" He achieved an A. ...

into the

International Rubber Science Hall of Fame International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

. At first he understood that he was to be inducted, but when he was told that candidates had to be deceased, he said "That's too great a price to pay". It was in 2008 that Rivlin was inducted into the

(IRSHF) by the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society.

References

* Tomas Carlsson & Frank Matthews Leslie (1999) "The development of theory for flow and dynamic effects for nematic liquid crystals", ''Liquid Crystals'' 26(9):1267–80.

External links

*
Rivlin's contribution to Fracture Mechanics in Rubber

An early photograph of Ronald Rivlin
fro
AIP

photograph of Rivlin
fro

ACS Rubber Division Interview with Ronald Rivlin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivlin, Ronald 1915 births 2005 deaths Mathematicians from London Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge English physicists 20th-century English mathematicians Polymer scientists and engineers Rheologists Brown University faculty Lehigh University faculty Solid mechanics 20th-century American mathematicians Presidents of the Society of Rheology