Sibyl M. Rock
Sibyl Martha Rock | |
---|---|
Los Angeles, California, United States | |
Alma mater | University of California, Los Angeles (B.S., Mathematics, 1931) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Mass spectrometry |
Institutions | Consolidated Engineering Corporation |
Sibyl Martha Rock (August 1, 1909 – November 17, 1981)
Early life and education
Sibyl M. Rock was born on August 1, 1909,[2] in Butte, Montana. Her father was a telephone technician, which may have interested her in technology. She entered the University of California, Los Angeles in 1927,[6] earning a degree in mathematics in 1931.[7] While at UCLA, she was president of the local chapter of Pi Mu Epsilon, the national mathematics society.[4] She also received a Phi Beta Kappa key.[8][9]
Career
Rock was employed as a "geophysical
Mixture analysis, manuals and standards
By the mid-1940s Rock had made several outstanding contributions to the field. She devised many of the procedures of mixture analysis, and wrote the computing manuals used by CEC's customers, such as the Computing Manual: Analysis of Gas and Liquid Mixtures by Means of the Mass Spectrometer (1946). Her work contributed to the creation of standards for instruments and methods in a rapidly developing field.[13]
She also did basic analysis, with Martin Shepherd of the National Bureau of Standards, of the first Pasadena smog samples.[8][13][14] This research produced valuable information about the presence and types of hydrocarbons in Los Angeles air, and about the oxidization of hydrocarbons with ozone and nitrogen oxides.[15]
Solving simultaneous equations
Rock was also instrumental in developing mathematical techniques for analyzing the results from mass spectrometers.[12] In 1946, with Clifford Berry, she developed an analog computer capable of solving multiple simultaneous linear equations, suitable for the analysis of data from mass spectrometers.[13] They patented an analog computer that could efficiently solve a series of 12 simultaneous equations in 12 unknowns.[16]
User experience and ongoing development
Mass-spectrometer users were developing instruments for their own purposes on a lab-by-lab basis, modifying and experimenting with them at a rapid rate. Feedback from the field and effective communication about needs and problems were critical to CEC's success in building and marketing mass spectrometers. Sibyl Rock was engaged in developing the instruments and the procedures for their use. She was also a key person assisting Consolidated's customers in the use of those instruments and techniques, including the use of Cliff Berry's analog computer.[13]
Rock understood the technical aspects of how the instrument worked and the mathematical aspects of the calculations it was supposed to compute. Because she worked closely with CEC's customer base, she also understood the instrumentation needs of CEC's growing list of customers. Rock collaborated with Harold Wiley, manager of chemical instruments, to review both old and new instruments, assessing their operational status and identifying needed improvements. Rock continuously drew upon her knowledge of the latest methods used by customers and their critiques and problem reports about the instrumentation, to improve CEC's products.[13]
The Datatron
Clifford Berry encouraged CEC to develop a
Sibyl Rock once described her work as follows:
'For the past several years I have written Product Specifications for digital computers and related peripheral gear. The engineering design is done by engineers. The Product Specification forms a "contract" between engineering and marketing to assure that both interested parties know what is to be built. Because the engineer may be too optimistic as to what he can produce and what reliability he can achieve, and because marketing wants the moon for zero dollars, the product specification writer is needed as a negotiator.'[4]
Formal announcement of the new ElectroData 203 computer took place in February 1954. By 1956, ElectroData became the third largest manufacturer of computers in the world, but lacked the funds necessary to expand successfully. On July 1, 1956 Burroughs Corporation purchased ElectroData Corporation from CEC. The basic architecture remained the same even though the computer was marketed under various names: the CEC 30-201, CEC 30-203, the ElectroData 204 and 205, and the Burroughs 205.
In 1961, the Datatron 205 was used during the first launch of a Saturn rocket at Cape Canaveral, to analyze real-time guidance data.[16]
Personal life and death
Rock actively encouraged women and girls to become mathematicians and to take up careers in engineering.[8]
She died November 17, 1981, in Los Angeles, California.[1]
Scholarly publications
In addition to the manuals she wrote, Rock was active in scholarly publishing and coauthored significant papers with several of her colleagues,[13] including:
- Washburn, H. W.; Wiley, H. F.; Rock, S. M. (September 1943). "The mass spectrometer as an analytical tool". Ind. Eng. Chem. 15 (9): 541–547. .
- Berry, Clifford E.; Wilcox, Doyle E.; Rock, S. M.; Washburn, H. W. (1946). "A Computer for Solving Linear Simultaneous Equations". J. Appl. Phys. 17 (4): 262. .
- Rock, S. M. (February 1951). "Qualitative analysis from mass spectra". Anal. Chem. 23 (2): 261–268. .
- Berry, Clifford E.; Rock, S. M. (1951). "High Resolution Mass Spectrometry". J. Chem. Phys. 19 (9): 1208. .
- Shepherd, Martin; Rock, S. M.; Howard, Royce; Stormes, John (1951-10-01). "Isolation, identification, and estimation of gaseous pollutants in air". Anal. Chem. 23 (10): 1431–1440. .
References
- ^ a b Social Security Administration, "Social Security Death Index," examined for any reference to "Sibyl Rock," accessed 2013-10-10.
- ^ a b c Nier, Keith A.; Yergey, Alfred L.; Gale, P. Jane (2015). "Sibyl Martha Rock". The Encyclopedia of Mass Spectrometry: Volume 9: Historical Perspectives, Part B: Notable People in Mass Spectrometry. Vol. 9. New York: Elsevier. pp. 179–180.
- PMID 21351881.
- ^ a b c d e Sawyer, Tom. "Burroughs 205: Sibyl M. Rock". Archived from the original on 21 July 2010. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
- )
- ^ "University of California at Los Angeles, Directory of Students, for Fall Semester 1927". Catalogue of Officers and Students for 1927-1928. Los Angeles, California: University of California at Los Angeles. 1927. p. 102. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
- ^ Register. Los Angeles, California: University of California at Los Angeles. 1931. p. 28.
- ^ a b c d e "Sibyl Rock puts digits to work". Control Engineering: 11. February 1955.
- ^ The Phi Beta Kappa Key: The Official Publication of the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa. Vol. 7. New York: Free Press Printing Company. 1928. p. 584.
- )
- ^ doi:10.1002/oms.1210210406. Archived from the originalon 2012-12-18. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
- ^ a b Judson, Charles. "Consolidated Electrodynamics Corporation CEC 100 Series mass Spectrometers" (PDF). American Society for Mass Spectrometry. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-07-07. Retrieved 2018-02-06.
- ^ )
- .
- doi:10.1021/ie50510a045. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
- ^ a b c Sawyer, Tom. "Tom's Datatron 205". Archived from the original on 13 January 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
- ^ Alrich, John. "First-Hand:Engineering the Technology of the Future: Building High-Speed Computing Machines in the 1950s". IEEE Global History Network. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
External links
- "Burroughs Corporation Records. Sibyl M. Rock Papers, 1956-1965. Finding Aid". University of Minnesota Libraries. Charles Babbage Institute. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
- Sawyer, Tom. "Burroughs 205: Sibyl M. Rock". Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
- American Society for Mass Spectrometry (2012). "CEC 100 Series Mass Spectrometers" (PDF). Retrieved 23 October 2013.