Arons, Arnold (Physics & Chemistry)
Arons, Arnold
Arnold B. Arons (1916–2001) was co-creator of the Stommel–Arons theory of deep circulation. As noted by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution:
| This article is written at a definitional level only. Authors wishing to expand this entry are inivited to expand the present treatment, which additions will be peer reviewed prior to publication of any expansion. |
Born on November 23, 1916, Arnold B. Arons graduated from the Stevens Institute of Technology with a M.E. degree in physical chemistry in 1937 and a M.S. degree in physical chemistry in 1940. He also attended Harvard University, receiving a Ph.D. in physical chemistry in 1943. Arons was affiliated with the University of Washington from1968-2001, serving as Professor of Physics from 1968 to 1982 and since 1982 as Professor of Physics Emeritus.
Arnold Arons had a long affiliation with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, beginning in 1942 while a graduate student of E. Bright Wilson, Jr. at Harvard. In June 1943 he joined the WHOI staff on a full-time basis, employed as a member of the staff of the Underwater Explosives Research Laboratory, known around WHOI as the "Navy 7" or C-7 group, conducting explosives research for the U.S. war effort. He served as a research group leader under Robert Cole, leading the group that made shock wave measurements on the first atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946.
He left WHOI in 1946 to become Assistant Professor of Physics at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, returning each summer with students to conduct research as a non-resident member of the WHOI staff. He continued conducting research on aspects of explosion phenomena and shock wave propagation until 1952, when he was named Professor of Physics at Amherst College. Friendships with Henry Stommel and Alfred Woodcock had turned his research attention from the reflection of acoustic pulses to physical oceanography and meteorology, a direction supported by Columbus Iselin. Arons soon became well known for his studies of abyssal oceanic circulation and cloud physics with Stommel and Woodcock. Arons continued to work at WHOI as a non-resident staff member until 1968, when he was named Professor of Physics at the University of Washington.
Further Reading
- Physical Oceanography Index
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution In Memoriam
