Robert W. Cahn facts for kids

Robert Wolfgang Cahn (born September 9, 1924 – died April 9, 2007) was a British scientist. He was a metallurgist, which means he studied metals and how they behave. He was especially interested in tiny flaws in metals called dislocations.

Cahn created a successful idea for how metals change their structure when heated. This helped scientists understand how metals are shaped in factories. He also learned a lot about the crystal structure of uranium. Later in his life, he became very important in editing science books. He helped create "Physical Metallurgy," a major book in his field.

Early Life & Moving to England

Robert Cahn was born on September 9, 1924, in Fürth, Germany. His family was Jewish and well-off. His childhood was a bit difficult, which made him very determined later in life. It also made him eager to learn about many different things.

In 1933, when Robert was nine, his family faced hard times because they were Jewish. They had to leave Germany and moved to Switzerland. From there, Robert went with his mother to Majorca. His father went to London to start a new business. Robert joined his father in London in 1936. There, he enjoyed music and met many interesting people.

His father sent him to a school in Berkshire that wasn't very academic. Robert mostly learned on his own. At 15, he moved to Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in London. But he left that school in 1940.

After a short time in London, he moved to Workington, Cumbria, to escape the Blitz (bombing raids). He had two great years at a local technical school. There, he also found his lifelong love for mountain walking.

From the time he left Germany until he became a British citizen in 1947, he had no official nationality. This made him want to succeed and fit into his new home. He became very proud of being British. He also became very good at English, which helped him a lot when he became a scientific editor. He also learned to speak four languages and traveled widely in Europe.

University Studies

In 1942, Robert started studying metallurgy at Trinity College, Cambridge. Metallurgy is the science of metals. In 1943, he met Pat Hanson, who was studying English. Her father was also a famous metallurgy professor. Robert and Pat got married in 1947.

In 1945, he began working on his doctorate degree at the Cavendish Laboratory. His main goal was to prove that "dislocations" really existed. These are tiny defects in the crystal structure of metals. Scientists like Egon Orowan had suggested they existed before.

Cahn studied zinc wires and used X-rays to show that these defects formed when the wires were heated. He worked with another scientist, Alan Cottrell, who confirmed his findings. This research helped prove that dislocations were real.

A Career in Metals Science

In 1947, Cahn left Cambridge to work at the Harwell Atomic Energy Research Establishment. This job paid enough for him to get married. He finished his doctorate research on his own in 1949. At Harwell, he kept studying how crystals change shape. He found a new way that uranium crystals could "twin" (form mirror images of themselves).

However, Cahn felt alone at Harwell because he was the only one doing basic research. So, in 1951, he moved to Birmingham. There, he worked in the department of his father-in-law, Daniel Hanson. He guided students who studied crystal twinning and how new crystals form. These topics remained important to Cahn throughout his career.

After a break at Johns Hopkins University in 1954, Cahn was offered a professorship at Bangor in 1962. But the department there focused on semiconductors, which wasn't his main interest.

So, in 1965, Cahn moved to the University of Sussex. He became the first Professor of Materials Science in Britain. He created the country's first courses in this new field. Under his leadership, the department became very successful. They did important research on "metallic glasses" and fast cooling methods. During this time, Cahn also started his work as a scientific editor.

In the early 1980s, his department at Sussex faced big budget cuts. Even though it had a great research reputation, it had few students. So, it was chosen to close. Cahn retired early and spent two years at the University of Paris, Orsay [1]. He returned to Cambridge in 1983. That same year, he won the A. A. Griffith Medal and Prize. He stayed in Cambridge until he died in 2007. His main work in these later years was editing.

Becoming a Science Editor

In 1959, Cahn became an editor for a new magazine called Journal of Nuclear Materials. In 1964, he was offered the job of editor for the first magazine in his field, the Journal of Materials Science. This was the start of his amazing work as a scientific editor. He later said that creating this magazine was the most important editing job he ever did. He also edited the Journal of Materials Research from 1985 and started a new magazine, Intermetallics [2], in 1992.

In 1961, Cahn began editing a huge book called "Physical Metallurgy." It was first published in 1965 and had four editions. The last two were edited with Peter Haasen. In 1986, Cahn, Haasen, and Edward Kramer started a new series of books. It was called "Materials Science and Technology: A Comprehensive Treatment." This series eventually had 20 volumes. He also edited two more book series on solid materials. In 1998, he was one of six main editors for a large 11-volume encyclopedia series.

Cahn also wrote for a wider audience, not just scientists. From 1967 to 2001, he wrote for the news section of Nature [3], a top British science magazine. His popular articles were collected in a book called "Artifice and Artifacts" in 1992. In 2001, Cahn's book "The Coming of Materials Science" explained how the subject developed.

International Connections

Cahn was known for his many international contacts. He helped develop metallurgy and materials science in other countries. From 1955, he helped develop metallurgy in Argentina. He visited the Instituto de Fisica de Bariloche in the Andes many times. Later, he made strong connections with Indian metallurgy. In his final years, his help to Chinese metallurgy was recognized. He became an honorary member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1991. This is a very high honor for a scientist. He was also a foreign member of other important science groups. These included the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Indian National Science Academy.

Personal Life

Robert Cahn passed away on April 9, 2007, in Cambridge. He had four children, including Andrew Cahn.