Born: United Kingdom
Primarily active in: United Kingdom

1892-1934

Hermann Glauert was a British aerodynamicist and Principal Scientific Officer of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, until his death in 1934.

Hermann was born on October 4, 1892, in Sheffield, Yorkshire and was educated at King Edward VII’ths School, Sheffield, and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was elected to a scholarship in 1910.

He led a normal, happy, and satisfying University life. He played lawn tennis well, and chess very well, and was an active member of an ephemeral society formed to read plays.

In 1913 he was placed in the First Class of Part II of the Mathematical Tripos, gaining distinction in the higher subjects, and the Tyson medal for astronomy. He was awarded the Isaac Newton Studentship in astronomy and physical optics in 1914 and the Rayleigh prize for mathematics in 1915.

He became a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, principal scientific officer at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, and was no less than an international authority on aeronautical science (cf Prandtl-Glauert singularity).

Glauert wrote numerous reports and memoranda dealing with aerofoil and propeller theory. His book, “The Elements of Aerofoil and Airscrew Theory,” was the single most important instrument for spreading airfoil and wing theory around the English speaking world. Glauert independently developed Prandtl-Glauert method from the then-existing aerodynamic theory and published his results in “The Proceedings of the Royal Society” in 1928. In the 1930s, he was the academic supervisor of aerodynamicist and educationalist Gwen Alston.

Glauert, aged 41, died on 6th August,1934 in an accident in a park in Fleet Common in Farnborough.

Source (courtesy of the Royal Aeronautical Society): Ackroyd , J. A. D., and N. Riley. Journal of Aeronautical History, vol. 1, 2011, https://www.aerosociety.com/media/4857/hermann-glauert-frs-fraes-1892-1934.pdf.