English geologist, academic, and physicist (died 1958)

Elizabeth Alexander

Frances Elizabeth Somerville Alexander was a British geologist, academic, and physicist, whose wartime work with radar and radio led to early developments in radio astronomy and whose post-war work on the geology of Singapore is considered a significant foundation to contemporary research. Alexander earned her PhD from Newnham College, Cambridge, and worked in Radio Direction Finding at Singapore Naval Base from 1938 to 1941. In January 1941, unable to return to Singapore from New Zealand, she became Head of Operations Research in New Zealand's Radio Development Lab, Wellington. In 1945, Alexander correctly interpreted that anomalous radar signals picked up on Norfolk Island were caused by the sun.

Born

1908

December 13

Died

1958

Era

1900s

Country

About

Elizabeth, in brief

Frances Elizabeth Somerville Alexander was a British geologist, academic, and physicist, whose wartime work with radar and radio led to early developments in radio astronomy and whose post-war work on the geology of Singapore is considered a significant foundation to contemporary research. Alexander earned her PhD from Newnham College, Cambridge, and worked in Radio Direction Finding at Singapore Naval Base from 1938 to 1941. In January 1941, unable to return to Singapore from New Zealand, she became Head of Operations Research in New Zealand's Radio Development Lab, Wellington. In 1945, Alexander correctly interpreted that anomalous radar signals picked up on Norfolk Island were caused by the sun.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

  1. 1908 Born
  2. 1958 Died

Also on December 13

What else happened on this day, through history

See all of December 13 →

The world in 1908

When Elizabeth arrived

Read the year 1908 →

Same-day contemporaries

Also born on December 13

See everything on December 13 →

Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1908

Read about the year 1908 →

Keep going

More to explore