Booker, Henry G.

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Physicist (ionospheric physics). Booker (1910-1989) was professor of physics at University of California, San Diego, 1965-1989, where he helped found the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

From the description of Papers, 1964-1989. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 81062453

Biography

Henry George Booker was born in England in 1910 and became a U.S. citizen in 1952. He earned his degrees from Cambridge University (B.A. 1933, pure and applied mathematics; Ph.D. 1936, ionospheric physics). Booker became a Fellow of Christ's College in 1935, where he studied radio wave propagation. He later took a leave of absence to continue this research as a Visiting Scientist at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism.

During World War II, Booker conducted theoretical research for the Royal Air Force that led to developments in the understanding of antennas and radio wave propagation. After the war he returned to Christ's College to teach until 1948 when he became a professor of electrical engineering and engineering physics at Cornell University. After serving as director of Cornell's School of Electrical Engineering and associate director of the Cornell Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, he moved on to the University of California, San Diego to start the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences in 1965. He became emeritus professor of applied physics in 1978 and died in 1988.

His research throughout his years at UCSD was concerned with electromagnetism, cold plasma waves, and radio waves. Booker had a great interest in the quality of both undergraduate teaching of physics and in the graduate curriculum. He also advised many graduate students. He was equally active in his own theoretical research, receiving grants from the Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation and the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Among his many honors, Booker was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 1954 and made a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1960. In 1978 the Union of Radio Science elected Booker honorary president. He was named an honorary professor at Wuhan University in China in 1981. Booker authored four books: AN APPROACH TO ELECTRICAL SCIENCE (1959), A VECTOR APPROACH TO OSCILLATIONS (1965), ENERGY IN ELECTROMAGNETISM (1982), and COLD PLASMA WAVES (1984, also translated into Chinese).

From the guide to the Henry G. Booker Papers, 1936 - 1988, (University of California, San Diego. Geisel Library. Mandeville Special Collections Library.)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Booker, Henry G. Papers, 1964-1989. American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library
referencedIn Webster, Harold Frank, 1919-. Harold F. Webster notes, 1945-1953. Cornell University Library
creatorOf Henry G. Booker Papers, 1936 - 1988 University of California, San Diego. Geisel Library. Mandeville Special Collections Library.
creatorOf Redford, George. Letters to Henry Booker, 1887. Getty Research Institute
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
correspondedWith Budden, Kenneth G. person
associatedWith Cornell University. corporateBody
associatedWith International Union of Radio Science corporateBody
correspondedWith Lankford, Dallas K. person
correspondedWith Ratcliffe, J. A. (John Ashworth) person
associatedWith Redford, George. person
associatedWith University of California, San Diego corporateBody
correspondedWith Uscinski, B. J. person
associatedWith Webster, Harold Frank, 1919- person
Place Name Admin Code Country
California--San Diego
Subject
Universities and colleges
Electric engineering
Electromagnetism
Ionosphere
Ionospheric radio wave propogation
Low temperature plasmas
Radio wave propagation
Occupation
Physicists
Activity

Person

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