Article ID: CBB001251434

Who Knew Piezoelectricity? Rutherford and Langevin on Submarine Detection and the Invention of Sonar (2012)

unapi

During World War I, submarine detection presented a strategic technological challenge, which inspired, among others, the invention of new methods and the employment of a hitherto unused scientific phenomenon. Two prominent physicists, Ernest Rutherford and Paul Langevin, independently suggested the use of this phenomenon: piezoelectricity. Yet they employed it in different ways, leading Rutherford to a useful, if limited, measuring device and Langevin to sonar. Contrary to a claim that is commonly made, Rutherford's work did not lead to sonar. These different results originated on one hand in diverging goals of the two physicists, and on the other in Langevin's more extensive knowledge of and practice with piezoelectricity, which allowed him to manipulate the crystals and contrive the novel ultrasonic design required. Nevertheless, previous encounters with the effect and prior familiarity with it were crucial for its employment by both.

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Authors & Contributors
Katzir, Shaul
Jenkin, John G.
Anderson, Katharine M.
Baldwin, Melinda Clare
Bolton, H. C.
Conner, William E.
Journals
Notes and Records: The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science
Physics in Perspective
American Scientist
Annals of Science: The History of Science and Technology
Archive for History of Exact Sciences
British Journal for the History of Science
Publishers
Birkhäuser
Bloomsbury Academic
MIT Press
Oxford University Press
Pickering & Chatto
University of Nebraska Press
Concepts
Physics
Military technology
Scientific apparatus and instruments
World War I
Submarines
Atomic, nuclear, and particle physics
People
Rutherford, Ernest, 1st Baron
Langevin, Paul
Berthelot, Marcelin Pierre Eugène
Bohr, Niels Henrik David
Bragg, William Henry
Cady, Walter G.
Time Periods
20th century, early
19th century
20th century
20th century, late
Places
Great Britain
Australia
Canada
Institutions
Cambridge University
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