Rose Katherine Morton-Sayre (December 3, 1925 – November 12, 1999) was an American mathematician known for her work in
fluid mechanics
Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids (liquids, gases, and plasma (physics), plasmas) and the forces on them.
Originally applied to water (hydromechanics), it found applications in a wide range of discipl ...
. The
Morton number
:
In fluid dynamics, the Morton number (Mo) is a dimensionless number used together with the Eötvös number or Bond number to characterize the shape of bubbles or drops moving in a surrounding fluid or continuous phase, ''c''.
It is named after ...
, a dimensionless parameter used to describe
bubbles
Bubble, Bubbles or The Bubble may refer to:
Common uses
* Bubble (physics), a globule of one substance in another, usually gas in a liquid
** Soap bubble
* Economic bubble, a situation where asset prices are much higher than underlying fundame ...
, is named after her.
Morton was born in
Albemarle, North Carolina
Albemarle () is a city in and the county seat of Stanly County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 16,432 in the 2020 census.
History
Etymology
This place-name is derived from the English surname Albemarle. According to a 190 ...
. She graduated from the
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina, University of North Carolina system. It is accredited by the S ...
(at that time a women's college) with a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1948; at the university, she was president of the Square Circle Club. She worked at the
David Taylor Model Basin
The David W. Taylor Model Basin (DTMB) is one of the largest ship model basins—test facilities for the development of ship design—in the world. DTMB is a field activity of the Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center.
History ...
, a test facility for the U. S. Navy, from 1949 to 1960.
Her husband was mechanical engineer Clifford L. Sayre, Jr., who also worked at the David Taylor Model Basin from 1956 to 1960.
Selected publications
*
*
References
1925 births
1999 deaths
20th-century American mathematicians
American fluid dynamicists
University of North Carolina at Greensboro alumni
20th-century American women mathematicians
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