Walter Rosenhain FRS DSc (1875 - 1934)

Born 24 Aug 1875 in Berlin, Brandenburg, Germany

Husband of Louisa (Monash) Rosenhain — married 1901 in Marylebone, London, England

Died 17 Mar 1934 at age 58 in Kingston upon Thames, London, England

Biography

Walter Rosenhain FRS DSc is Notable.

Walter Rosenhain FRS DSc has Jewish Roots.

Walter Rosenhain FRS DSc was born on 24th August 1875 at Berlin, Brandenburg, Germany. He was a son of Rosenhain-2|Moritz Rosenhain]], a merchant, and his wife Friederike, a daughter of Rabbi Benjamin Yosman Fink. The family migrated to Australia when Walter was five years old, to avoid him having to do military service. Walter was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne, and Queen's College, University of Melbourne, where he completed his course in civil engineering, following which he moved to England where research opportunities were then far greater than in Australia.

He married Louisa Monash in 1901 in Marylebone, London, England.^[1] They knew one another from the synagogue in Melbourne. With their parents both deceased, Louisa's 'big' brother, (later General Sir) John Monash, permitted her to travel to England with Walter on her assurance that they would marry.

After spending three years at St John's College Cambridge, Walter became scientific adviser to Messrs. Chance Bros., of Birmingham, principally in connection with optical glass and lighthouse apparatus. He was superintendent of the metallurgy department of the National Physical Laboratory from 1906 to 1931. He was a president of the Optical Society, London, as well as of the Institute of Metals. Walter was an authority on glass manufacture and physical metallurgy in its many phases, and wrote numerous papers of a great scientific value. In 1908 he published his book on Glass Manufacture, a second edition of which, largely re-written, appeared in 1919. Another volume was published in 1914, An Introduction to the Study of Physical Metallurgy, which also had second and third editions. With P A Tucker he published in 1908 a volume on The Alloys of Lead and Tin, and in 1911, with S L Archbutt, one on The Constitution of the Alloys of Aluminium and Zinc. He won the Iron and Steel Institute's Carnegie medal in 1906, and its Bessemer medal in 1930. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1913.

Walter passed away of cancer-related disease on 17th March 1934 at Kingston upon Thames, London, England.^[2] He was survived by Louisa, for eight years, and their two daughters.

The Rosenhain award of the Iron and Steel Institute was created in 1984.

Sources

1. ↑ UK FreeBMD Marriage Index Dec qtr 1901, vol 1a, page 1347
2. ↑ UK FreeBMD Death Index Mar qtr 1934, vol 2a, page 791

• 'Rosenhain, Walter (1875–1934)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University; accessed 11 Jun 2018.
• Wikipedia profile: Walter Rosenhain; accessed 11 Jun 2018.