Hermann Bondi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1 November 1919 |
| Died | 10 September 2005 (aged 85) |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Citizenship | British |
| Education | Trinity College, Cambridge (M.A.,[3] 1940)[4] |
| Known for | Steady State theory Sticky bead argument Bondi accretion Bondi k-calculus Bondi mass Bondi–Metzner–Sachs group Lemaître–Tolman–Bondi metric Atheism[5][6] |
| Awards | Gold Medal of the RSA (2001) Gold Medal od IMA (1988) Albert Einstein Medal (1983) Guthrie Medal (1973) James Scott Prize Lectureship (1960-1963) Order of the Bath (1973) Fellow of the Royal Society (1959)[1] |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics Physical cosmology |
| Institutions | King's College London University of Cambridge |
| Academic advisors | Harold Jeffreys[1] Arthur Eddington[2] |
| Doctoral students | Felix Pirani Roger Tayler[2] |
| 3rd Master of Churchill College, Cambridge | |
| In office 1983–1990 | |
| Preceded by | Sir William Hawthorne |
| Succeeded by | Lord Broers |
Sir Hermann Bondi KCB FRS[1] (1 November 1919 – 10 September 2005)[7] was an Austrian-British mathematician and cosmologist.
He is best known for developing the steady state model of the universe with Fred Hoyle and Thomas Gold as an alternative to the Big Bang theory. He contributed to the theory of general relativity,[8][9][10][11] and was the first to analyze the inertial and gravitational interaction of negative mass[12] and the first to explicate correctly the nature of gravitational waves.[9] In his 1990 autobiography, Bondi regarded the 1962 work on gravitational waves[9] as his "best scientific work".[13]: 79
- ^ a b c Roxburgh, I. W. (2007). "Hermann Bondi 1 November 1919 – 10 September 2005: Elected FRS 1959". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 53: 45–61. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2007.0008. S2CID 70786803.
- ^ a b Hermann Bondi at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
- ^ "Sir Hermann Bondi – British scientist". 6 September 2024.
- ^ "Sir Hermann Bondi: 1919–2005 – physicsworld.com". Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- ^ "Since his childhood in Vienna Bondi had been an atheist, developing from an early age a view on religion that associated it with repression and intolerance. This view, which he shared with Hoyle, never left him. On several occasions he spoke out on behalf of freethinking, so-called, and became early on active in British atheist or "humanist" circles. From 1982 to 1999, he was president of the British Humanist Association, and he also served as president of the Rationalist Press Association of United Kingdom." Helge Kragh: "Bondi, Hermann", Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography Vol. 19 p. 343. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2008. Accessed via Gale Virtual Reference Library Archived 27 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine 29 April 2008.
- ^ In a letter to the Guardian, Jane Wynne Willson, Vice-President of the British Humanist Association, added to his obituary: "Also president of the Rationalist Press Association from 1982 until his death, and with a particular interest in Indian rationalism, Hermann was a strong supporter of the Atheist Centre in Andhra Pradesh. He and his wife Christine visited the centre a number of times, and the hall in the science museum there bears his name. When presented with a prestigious international award, he divided a large sum of money between the Atheist Centre and women's health projects in Mumbai." Obituary letter: Hermann Bondi, Guardian, 23 September 2005 (accessed 29 April 2008).
- ^ Mestel, L. (2005). "Obituary: Hermann Bondi (1919–2005) Mathematician, cosmologist and public servant". Nature. 437 (7060): 828. Bibcode:2005Natur.437..828M. doi:10.1038/437828a. PMID 16208358. S2CID 39819.
- ^ Bondi, H. (1999). "Spherically Symmetrical Models in General Relativity". General Relativity and Gravitation. 31 (11): 1783–1805. Bibcode:1999GReGr..31.1783B. doi:10.1023/A:1026726520289. S2CID 117895540.
- ^ a b c Bondi, H.; Van Der Burg, M. G. J.; Metzner, A. W. K. (1962). "Gravitational Waves in General Relativity. VII. Waves from Axi-Symmetric Isolated Systems". Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 269 (1336): 21. Bibcode:1962RSPSA.269...21B. doi:10.1098/rspa.1962.0161. S2CID 120125096.
- ^ Obituaries:
- Professor Sir Hermann Bondi (12 September 2005) in The Independent.
- Professor Sir Hermann Bondi (2005-09-13) in The Telegraph.
- Sir Hermann Bondi (2005-09-14) in The Guardian.
- Sir Hermann Bondi: 1919–2005 (2005-09-14) in Physics World, IOP.
- Black hole scientist Bondi dies (2005-09-17), BBC News.
- ^ "Oral History interview transcript with Hermann Bondi 1978-03-20, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives". American Institute of Physics. 6 January 2015.
- ^ Bondi, H. (July 1957). "Negative Mass in General Relativity" (PDF). Reviews of Modern Physics. 29 (3): 423–428. Bibcode:1957RvMP...29..423B. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.29.423.
- ^ Bondi, Hermann (1990). Science, Churchill, and me: the autobiography of Hermann Bondi, master of Churchill College, Cambridge. Oxford: Pergamon Press. ISBN 0-08-037235-X.
The 1962 paper I regard as the best scientific work I have ever done, which is later in life than mathematicians supposedly peak.