Theodore von Kármán
| Theodore von Kármán | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Narození | 11. května 1881 Budapešť |
| Úmrtí | 7. května 1963 (ve věku 81 let) Cáchy |
| Alma mater | Technická a hospodářská univerzita v Budapešti (do 1902) Univerzita v Göttingenu (1906–1908) |
| Povolání | fyzik, matematik, letecký inženýr, vynálezce, vysokoškolský učitel, idista, inženýr a astronom |
| Zaměstnavatelé | Ganz (1902–1906) RWTH Aachen (1912–1930) Kalifornský technologický institut Univerzita v Göttingenu |
| Ocenění | doktor inženýrství (1929) Doctor honoris causa Svobodné univerzity v Bruselu (1937) University of Liège Gold Medal (1937) Josiah Willard Gibbs Lectureship (1939) doktor inženýrství (1940) … více na Wikidatech |
| Rodiče | Maurice von Kármán[1] a Helene Konn[1] |
| Příbuzní | Pipö von Kármán[1] a Elemér Kármán (sourozenci) |
| Funkce | učitel (1902–1906) Privatdozent (1908–1912) vysokoškolský učitel (1912–1930) ředitel (Aachen University Aeronautical Institute; 1912–1930) vysokoškolský učitel (1930–1949) … více na Wikidatech |
 multimediální obsah na Commons | |
| Některá data mohou pocházet z datové položky. | |
Theodore von Kármán (11. května 1881 Budapešť – 7. května 1963 Cáchy) byl americký termodynamik židovského původu.
Život
Narodil se jako Szőllőskislaki Kármán Tódor v rodině Mořice Kármána a Heleny Konnové; jedním z jeho předků byl pražský rabín Jehuda Löw ben Becalel.[2] Vystudoval technickou univerzitu v Budapešti, posléze emigroval do Německa, kde získal doktorát na univerzitě v Göttingenu, a nakonec do USA, kde působil jako profesor na Kalifornském technickém institutu (Caltech) v Pasadeně. Od roku 1951 působil jako ředitel oddělení pro letecký výzkum NATO a od roku 1960 jako první prezident Mezinárodní astronautické akademie. Zabýval se teoretickými otázkami letů raket. Byl jedním ze zakladatelů americké astronautiky, ve 30. a 40. letech vychoval stovky specialistů. Po 2. světové válce se podílel na pátrání po německých raketových odbornících a zkomponoval představu využití letectva ve 3. světové válce.
Vědecké příspěvky
- Kármánova hranice
- Kármánova vírová stezka
Reference
- ↑ a b c Hugh Latimer Dryden: Theodore von Kármán 1881-1963. 1965. Dostupné online.
- ↑ GOLDSTEIN, S., "Theodore von Kármán, 1881-1963," Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society of London 12 (1966), str. 335-365.
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Dr. Theodore von Karman, co-founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Pasadena, California was an aeronautical theoretician. His contributions in the fields of aerodynamics and aeronautical engineering are well documented and well known to every aerospace engineer.
He was the first winner of the prestigious U.S. Medal of Science presented to him by President John F. Kennedy. As well as being co-founder of JPL, he also was principal founder of a major rocket propulsion firm (Aerojet-General Corp.), the top science advisor to the U.S. Air Force during its transition to jet propulsion aircraft and the top science advisor to NATO.
He was, during much of this time, the fountainhead of aerodynamic thought as head of the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology (GALCIT) in Pasadena, California. In the May 1956 issue of the Journal of Aeronautical Sciences, it was said of him that "No other man has had so great an impact on the development of aeronautical science in this country. Hundreds of young men became his students and scientific collaborators and were inspired to greater effort." Dr. William H. Pickering, then director of JPL said in 1960 "We wouldn't have an aeronautical science as we know it today, if it weren't for Dr. Thoedore von Karman."
Under his guidance, Caltech's 10 foot wind tunnel was designed, built and operated. Industry firms such as Douglas, Northrop, Hughes, Lockheed, North American, Vultee and Consolidated all tested new aeronautical designs and concepts in GALCIT's tunnel. Even Boeing's own high-speed wind tunnel was heavily influenced by suggestions from von Karman.
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) became so concerned about GALCIT's growing influence over West coast aviation, it erected the Ames Laboratory in Sunnyvale, California in part to deter an ever widening aeronautical gap that had formed between NACA and GALCIT. From 1936 to 1940, Caltech stood alone as the only university-based rocket research center. Von Karman gambled his prestige by supporting Frank Malina and H.S. Tsien's work on rocketry. Other institutions of higher learning dismissed such research as 'fantastical' and left such endeavors to visionaries like Robert Goddard.
Foundational theoretical research by Von Karman gave rise to the first successful solid-fuel rocket engine firings. This led to federal funding for studies that lead to a form of aircraft rocket propulsion called Jet Assisted Take-Off or (JATO). Success in this endeavor led to von Karman establishing two more highly regarded institutions; both originally dedicated to rocketry: the Aerojet Engineering Company and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The last years of his life were spent in Paris, his favorite city. His interest in aeronautical research and contributions to it never waned. He organized in Paris the NATO Advisory Group for Aeronautical Research and Development (AGARD). Staffed by American and European scientists eager to serve, its many committees investigated such disciplines as propulsion, aerodynamics and electronics. The legacy of his personable leadership and 'soft touch' approach to problem solving was only equalled by his genius.