Theodore Von Karman (1881-1963)
Born in Budapest of Jewish ancestry and part of a cadre of Hungarian Jews coined the “Martians” (John Von Neumann, Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner, Edward Teller) who were forced out of Europe by Nazism and came to work on the atomic bomb. Von Karman assisted in rocket development with the military in World War II, provided the blueprint for the US Air Force, and was a confidant of generals and NATO. He is regarded as the outstanding aerodynamic theoretician of the twentieth century.
There are many biographies written about Von Karman because he is generally considered the father of aeronautics. This one by Frank Malina seems an appropriate one to link to this post. I assumed that Von Karman’s biography The Wind and Beyond – Theodore Von Karman – Pioneer in Aviation & Pathfinder in Space written with Lee Edson, provided insight into what Von Karman thought. It seems to be written in his voice.
Von Karman was Tsien’s revered teacher and there is no doubt that Tsien sought to elevate the work that Von Karman did. According to Michael Gorn, Von Karman’s biographer, Tsien felt his mentor didn’t do enough to help him when he was accused of being a Communist and wrote a biting birthday greeting after Tsien had returned to China on the occasion of Von Karman’s 75th birthday which hurt Von Karman. Gorn speculates that Von Karman was under scrutiny he was questioned about his service to Bela Kun’s regime and in 1954 he faced revocation of his security clearance unless he signed written statements attesting to his loyalty and anti-Communism. Von Karman had a voluminous FBI file which also mentioned his beloved sister Pipi as be suspected of being a Communist.
Von Karman was taught by Ludwig Prandtl who is also referred to as the father of aerodynamics (maybe the grandfather if Von Karman claims the father title). Von Karman claimed to be in a world competition with Prandtl for the development for the search for the universal law of turbulence. Von Karman felt Prandtl had limitations as a mathematician. They believed that turbulence explained our reality more than the particle physics of the other Martians. Prandtl came to support the Nazis both in propaganda and in military development.
Von Karman was known as an elegant mathematician. Here is something that can be visually shown. The Von Karman vortex shedding was mathematically described by Von Karman. It seems to describe both the younger Tsien and Iris in that when currents hit an immovable object, the chaotic vortex swirls are created and they continue until they are spent.
