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Alfred Lee Loomis (November 4, 1887-August 11, 1975) was an American lawyer, investment banker, physicist, philanthropist, and patron of scientific research. Events 1333 - Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani Year 1887 ( MDCCCLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 2492 BC - Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation Year 1975 ( MCMLXXV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Investment banks profit from companies and governments by raising money through issuing and selling Securities in the Capital markets (both equity and A physicist is a Scientist who studies or practices Physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning He established the Loomis Laboratory in Tuxedo Park, New York, and his role in the development of radar is considered instrumental in the Allied victory in World War II. Tuxedo Park is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. The history of radar began in the 1900s when engineers invented simple uni-directional ranging devices World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

Contents

Early years

Born in New York City, New York, Loomis was the son of Henry Patterson Loomis and Julia Stimson. The City of New York His first cousin was Henry Stimson, secretary of war and secretary of state in the Taft administration. Henry Lewis Stimson ( September 21, 1867 – October 20, 1950) was an American Statesman, who served as Secretary of William Howard Taft (September 15 1857 – March 8 1930 was an American politician, the twenty-seventh President of the United States, the tenth Chief Justice Loomis' father died when Alfred was very young, and Stimson became a great influence on him. He did his undergraduate work in math and science at Yale University, and graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1912. Harvard Law School (also known as Harvard Law or HLS) is one of the professional Graduate schools of Harvard University. After graduation Loomis worked in a law firm, Winthrop and Stimson, from 1912 on corporate law. Year 1912 ( MCMXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting Corporate law (also "company" or "corporations" law is the Law of the most dominant kind of business enterprise in the modern world

Military service and a first career in finance

In 1917, with the United States' entry into World War I, Loomis volunteered for military service. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All He was commissioned as a captain and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He worked in ballistics at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, where he invented the "Aberdeen Chronograph", the first portable instrument able to measure muzzle velocity and striking power of bullets. Ballistics ( gr βάλλειν ('ba'llein' "throw" is the science of Mechanics that deals with the motion behavior and effects of Projectiles Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG is a United States Army facility located near Aberdeen Maryland (in Harford County) The Aberdeen chronograph was the first portable instrument for measuring ordnance Muzzle velocity and striking power At Aberdeen, he met and worked with Johns Hopkins physicist Robert W. Wood, under whose influence Loomis' longtime interest in inventing and gadgetry evolved into a serious pursuit of experimental and practical physics. Robert Williams Wood ( May 2, 1868 – August 11, 1955) was an American Physicist.

In the 1920s, Loomis collaborated with his brother-in-law Landon K. Thorne to take their firm, Bonbright and Company, from the verge of bankruptcy to becoming a preeminent U. S. investment banking-house specializing in public utilities. Loomis made money by financing the electric companies as they wired up America, and he sat on the boards of several banks and electric utilities. An electric utility is a company (often a Public utility) that engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale Loomis and Thorne pioneered the concept of the holding company, consolidating many of the electric companies on the East Coast. The East Coast of the United States, also known as the "Eastern Seaboard" or "Atlantic Seaboard" refers to the easternmost coastal states in the central and northern

Loomis increased his fortune further by insider trading practices which have since been made illegal. Insider trading is the trading of a Corporation 's Stock or other securities (e Foreseeing the Wall Street Crash of 1929, he had converted most of his investments into cash, and got even richer as Wall Street floundered, by buying back in cheaply. The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the ’29 Crash, the Crash of 1929, the Great Crash of 1929, the Great Crash of October 1929 Wall Street is a street in lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. His hobbies included racing America's Cup yachts against the Vanderbilts and the Astors, and science. The America’s Cup is the most prestigious Regatta and Match race in the sport of Sailing, and the oldest active Trophy in international This article details the family of Cornelius Vanderbilt For other uses see Vanderbilt (disambiguation. The Astor family is a significant Anglo - American family of German descent notable for their prominence in Business, society, and

The Loomis Laboratory

With his considerable wealth, Loomis increasingly indulged his interest in science. He had his own laboratory in his mansion within the exclusive enclave of Tuxedo Park, New York. Tuxedo Park is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. He and his small staff conducted pioneering studies in spectrometry, high-intensity sound waves, electro-encephalography, and the precise measurement of time. Spectroscopy was originally the study of the interaction between Radiation and Matter as a function of Wavelength (λ He was eventually elected to the National Academy of Sciences for his work in physics. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS is a corporation in the United States whose members serve Pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science

His laboratory was the best of its kind, with equipment that few universities could afford. Quickly his reputation spread, particularly in Europe where money was scarce for science. Loomis often sent first-class tickets to famous European scientists to visit the USA. They would be picked up in his limousine and taken to Tuxedo Park. At first the scientific community called him an "eccentric dabbler," but soon his laboratory became the meeting place for some of the most famous scientists of the time, such as Albert Einstein, Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, James Franck and Enrico Fermi. Albert Einstein ( German: ˈalbɐt ˈaɪ̯nʃtaɪ̯n; English: ˈælbɝt ˈaɪnstaɪn (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955 was a German -born theoretical Werner Heisenberg (5 December 1901 in Würzburg &ndash1 February 1976 in Munich) was a German theoretical physicist best known for enunciating the Niels Henrik David Bohr (nels ˈb̥oɐ̯ˀ in Danish 7 October 1885 – 18 November 1962 was a Danish Physicist who made fundamental contributions to understanding James Franck ( August 26, 1882 &ndash May 21, 1964) was a German -born Physicist and Nobel laureate from Scientists who worked personally with him were convinced of his capability and industry. His wealth, connections, and charm enabled him to be highly persuasive.

In 1939, Loomis began a collaboration with Ernest Lawrence, and was instrumental in financing Lawrence's project to construct a 184-inch cyclotron. Ernest Orlando Lawrence ( August 8, 1901 – August 27, 1958) was an American physicist and Nobel Laureate best known for his A cyclotron is a type of Particle accelerator. Cyclotrons accelerate Charged particles using a high- Frequency, alternating Voltage (potential By this time, he had become a prominent figure in experimental physics, and had moved his Tuxedo Park operations to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he entered upon a joint operation with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Cambridge Massachusetts is a City in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, United States.

Loomis in World War Two

In the late 1930s Loomis' science team turned their attention to radio detection studies, building a crude microwave radar which they deployed in the back of a van. Microwaves are electromagnetic waves with Wavelengths ranging from 1 mm to 1 m or frequencies between 0 They drove it out to a golf course and aimed it at the neighboring highway and then took it to the local airport and tracked small planes.

Loomis had visited the United Kingdom and knew many of the British scientists who were working on radar. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Britain, at war with Germany, was being bombed nightly by the German Luftwaffe, while America was still trying to stay out of the war. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including ( German 'luftvafe is a generic German term for an Air force. In 1940 the British Tizard Mission visited the United States, desperately seeking help to further develop and produce their technology. The Tizard Mission officially the British Technical and Scientific Mission was a British delegation that visited the United The United States of America —commonly referred to as the British scientists had developed the cavity magnetron, which allowed radar to be small enough to be installed in aircraft. A cavity magnetron is a high-powered Vacuum tube that generates coherent Microwaves They are commonly found in Microwave ovens as well as various Upon hearing that the British magnetron had one thousand times the output of the best American transmitter, Loomis invited them to Tuxedo Park. Because he had done more work in this area than anyone else in the country, Loomis was then appointed by Vannevar Bush to the National Defense Research Committee as chairman of the Microwave Committee and vice-chairman of Division D (Detection, Controls, Instruments). Vannevar Bush ( March 11, 1890 &ndash June 30, 1974; pronounced "VAN-ee-var" ˈvæˌniː The National Defense Research Committee (NDRC was an organization created "to coordinate supervise and conduct scientific research on the problems underlying the development Within a month, he selected a building on the MIT campus for a laboratory, dubbed the MIT Radiation Lab. Ernest Lawrence's laboratory at UC Berkeley now known as Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, was also known as the Radiation Laboratory He pressed for the development of radar in spite of the Army's initial skepticism, and arranged funding for the Rad Lab until federal money arrived.

While the management of the MIT Rad Lab was done by director Lee DuBridge, Loomis took his usual role of keeping the scientists clear of obstacles, and providing the encouragement needed when success appeared doubtful. Lee Alvin DuBridge ( September 21, 1901 &ndash January 23, 1994) was a U The resulting 10cm radar was a key technology that enabled the sinking of U-boats, spotted incoming German bombers for the British, and provided cover for the D-Day landing. U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word, itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot ( undersea boat) and refers D-Day may also refer to Decimal Day in the United Kingdom. D-Day is a term often used in Military parlance to denote Loomis used all his business acumen, and his contacts in industry, to ensure that no time was wasted in its development. DuBridge later commented, "Radar won the war; the atom bomb ended it. "

In later years he invented LORAN, the most popular long-range navigation system until the advent of GPS. LORAN ( LO ng R ange A id to N avigation is a terrestrial Radio navigation system using Low frequency Radio transmitters Basic concept of GPS operation A GPS receiver calculates its position by carefully timing the signals sent by the constellation of GPS Satellites high above the Earth Loomis also made a significant contribution to the development of ground-controlled approach technology, a precursor of today's instrument-landing systems that used radar to permit ground controllers to "talk-down" airplane pilots when poor visibility made visual landings difficult or impossible.

Later years and legacy

President Roosevelt recognized the value of Loomis's work and described him as second perhaps only to Churchill as the civilian most responsible for the Allied victory in World War II.

He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1940, and received honorary degrees from Wesleyan University (D. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS is a corporation in the United States whose members serve Pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science This article concerns Wesleyan Sc. ,1932), Yale University (M. Sc 1933), and the University of California (LL. The University of California ( UC) is a Public university system in the state of California. D 1941).

Loomis was married to a beautiful, but delicate and depressive wife, who spent time recovering in institutions. He had three sons by her. However he also conducted a covert affair with Manette Hobart, a colleague's wife. His divorce and immediate marriage to Manette in 1945 scandalised New York society, but he spent thirty happy years with her.

Loomis, always a private person, retreated from public life entirely after closing the Rad Lab and finishing his related obligations in 1947. He retired to East Hampton with his new wife. He never again gave an interview.

References

External links

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