Robert Williams Wood, 1868-1955

Abstract

When Professor R. W. Wood died on 11 August 1955 he was to the younger generation of physicists a colourful legend, a representative of the past. He was, however, by no means forgotten, as a lesser man might have been at the age of 87. Many stories were still circulating about him. When I recently paid a visit to the University of Wisconsin which Wood had left in 1901, his exploits were being discussed there as if they had just happened, instead of more than half a century before. His solid scientific achievements are now a matter of record. His active mind refused to accept retirement and he visited his old room in the Physical Laboratory at The Johns Hopkins University regularly until nearly the end, even though the infirmities of old age had gradually made themselves felt. He never gave up his curiosity about things and was still actively engaged in the revision of his book on Physical optics . Death came to him peacefully: he passed away during his sleep without any severe illness. Wood’s active period of scientific productivity coincided with the rise of atomic physics and he made important contributions toward the increasing knowledge of the structure of the atom, chiefly through his experimental researches in physical optics. He was, however, far from one-sided and penetrated into many fields. He went wherever his insatiable curiosity led him, whether this was into different branches of physics or into all sorts of other activities such as engineering, art, crime detection, spiritualism, psychology, archaeology and many others