Felix Weinberg
Felix Jiří Weinberg | |
---|---|
Born | Ústí nad Labem, Czechoslovakia | 2 April 1928
Died | 5 December 2012 | (aged 84)
Alma mater | University of London |
Awards | Bernard Lewis Gold Medal (1980), Rumford Medal (1988) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Combustion Physics |
Institutions | Imperial College London |
Felix Jiri Weinberg FRS[1] (2 April 1928 – 5 December 2012) was a Czech-British physicist. He was Emeritus Professor of Combustion Physics and Distinguished Research Fellow at Imperial College London.[2]
Life
Felix Weinberg was born on 2 April 1928 in
Professor Weinberg is distinguished for his optical and electrical studies of flames and his pioneering development of innovative combustion methods. He originated a family of powerful optical tools in combustion, using both thermal[4] and laser light sources.[5] His work on electrical diagnostics led to applications of electric fields[6] to control combustion and improve understanding of ionisation and soot formation. He developed novel combustion devices[4] incorporating distinctive heat exchangers, permitting the ignition and burning of very low calorific fuel-air mixtures. These have had a seminal influence on the global evolution of environmentally benign combustion furnaces. His researches into the stabilisation of high intensity combustion using plasma jets[4] are being favoured as an approach to leaner burning jet engines. His work on laser ignition has progressed to understanding hazards associated with the use of optical fibres in flammable atmospheres.[7]
His wide-ranging services to academia, industry and scientific societies included visiting appointments at universities in Europe, the US, Japan and Israel, consultancies for petroleum, chemical, aerospace and defence organisations and membership of committees and boards of governance of numerous scientific and professional bodies. He is author, coauthor, editor of 4 books and more than 220 papers in the scientific literature.
His many contributions have been recognised internationally; he was awarded a D.Sc. by the University of London (1961), both the Silver (1972) and the Bernard Lewis Gold (1980) Medals of the Combustion Institute, Fellowship of the
As a survivor of Nazi concentration camps he was highly critical of fraudulent Holocaust memoirs. His own account of his experiences in Nazi concentration camps 'Boy 30529: A Memoir', was published in 2013,[8] shortly after his death. He was one of 900 children rescued by Antonín Kalina, a Czech citizen who is mentioned as Righteous Among the Nations.[9]
References
- S2CID 244731411.
- ^ Tribute Felix Weinberg, Imperial College London, 7 January 2013
- S2CID 244731411. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- ^ F.J. Weinberg "OPTICS OF FLAMES Including Methods for the Study of Refractive Index Fields in Combustion and Aerodynamics" Butterworths, London; (1963)
- ^ M.J.R.Schwar and F.J. Weinberg "Laser techniques in combustion research". An invited Review. Combustion and Flame, 13, 335 (1970)
- ^ J. Lawton and F.J. Weinberg "ELECTRICAL ASPECTS OF COMBUSTION" Clarendon Press, Oxford (1969)
- ^ J. Adler, F.B. Carleton and F.J. Weinberg "Ignition of flammable atmospheres by radiation-heated fibrous agglomerates" Proc. Roy. Soc. A 440, 443 (1993)
- ISBN 978-1781680780.
- ^ "Děti Antonína Kaliny" (in Czech). Czech Television.
Further reading
- Faculty biography, Imperial College
- Interview with Weinberg, published as part of Imperial College's centenary celebrations.