Charles Ellington facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Charlie Ellington
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|---|---|
| Born |
Charles Porter Ellington
31 December 1952 |
| Alma mater |
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| Known for | Vortex theory of insect flight |
| Awards | FRS (1998) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | |
| Institutions | University of Cambridge |
| Thesis | The aerodynamics of hovering animal flight (1982) |
| Doctoral advisor | Torkel Weis-Fogh |
Charles Porter Ellington, born in 1952, is a British zoologist. He is a respected professor at the University of Cambridge. He is also an emeritus Fellow at Downing College, Cambridge. This means he is a retired but still honored member of the college. He is well-known for his amazing work on how insects fly.
Studying and Learning
Charlie Ellington studied at Duke University in the United States. He earned his first degree there in 1973. Later, he moved to England to study at the University of Cambridge. He received his Master's degree in 1979. He then earned his PhD, which is a very high degree, in 1982. His PhD research focused on how animals fly.
Discovering How Insects Fly
Charlie Ellington's research was all about how animals move. This field is called animal mechanics. He especially studied how insects fly.
He looked closely at how insects like bees and moths hover in the air. He found that their flight is very different from how airplanes fly. He developed a new idea called the vortex theory of insect flight. This theory helps explain how insects create tiny swirling air currents, called vortices, around their wings. These vortices help them stay in the air.
Ellington also studied how much energy insects use when they fly. He even figured out how to measure the oxygen a single bumblebee uses while flying! This was a very difficult task. His work showed that insect wing muscles are very efficient.
More recently, he used special methods to see how air moves around insect wings. He even used a giant model of an insect wing to understand this better. This research helped explain how insects can fly so well, even though their wings move in complex ways. His discoveries have greatly improved our understanding of the natural world.
Awards and Special Recognition
In 1998, Charlie Ellington was chosen to be a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very old and important group of scientists in the United Kingdom. Being a Fellow means you are recognized for making big contributions to science.
His nomination for this honor said that he helped us understand a lot about insect flight. It mentioned his new ideas about how insects hover. It also praised his work on measuring energy use in flying insects. His ability to combine smart ideas with clever experiments made his achievements possible.
