Irene Fischer

Irene Fischer
An older white woman with set grey hair, wearing a round-collared dark jacket with a brooch
Irene K. Fischer, from a 1966 publication of the United States Army
Born
Irene Kaminka Fischer

July 27, 1907 (1907-07-27)
Vienna, Austria
DiedOctober 22, 2009 (2009-10-23) (aged 102)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
SpouseEric Erich Fischer[1]
Children2[1]
Scientific career
FieldsGeodesy
Mathematics

Irene Kaminka Fischer (born July 27, 1907, in Vienna, Austria, died October 22, 2009, in Boston) was an Austrian-American mathematician and geodesist. She was a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, and inductee of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency Hall of Fame. Fischer became one of two internationally known women scientists in the field of geodesy during the golden age of the Project Mercury and the Apollo program. Her Mercury datum (or Fischer ellipsoid 1960 and 1968),[2][3] as well as her work on the lunar parallax, were instrumental in conducting these missions. "In his preface to the ACSM publication, Fischer's former colleague, Bernard Chovitz, referred to her as one of the most renowned geodesists of the third quarter of the twentieth century. Yet this fact alone makes her one of the most renowned geodesists of all times, because, according to Chovitz, the third quarter of the twentieth century witnessed "the transition of geodesy from a regional to a global enterprise."[4]

  1. ^ a b Record at geni.com (includes a portrait)
  2. ^ National Geodetic Survey (U.S.) (1986). Geodetic Glossary. NOAA technical publications. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, Charting and Geodetic Services. p. 56. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  3. ^ Fischer, Irene (1969). "Modification of the Mercury Datum". The Military Engineer. 61 (401). Society of American Military Engineers: 191–193. ISSN 0026-3982. JSTOR 44562130. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  4. ^ "Irene K. Fischer, Geodesist." By Wendy J. W. Straight. NEWSLETTER NO. 2/05, JOINT COMMISSION WORKING GROUP ON UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS IN SURVEYING.