Radar was discovered by Scottish inventor and engineer Robert Alexander Watson Watt. But Watson Watt wasn't the only one considering all the possibilities in the field of radar technology. Many people have worked in this field before. However, he was the first person to find a workable solution.
For this reason, Watson Watt is considered a pioneer of direction-finding and radar technology. His wife, Margaret Watson Watt, is known as the "mother of the radar" with her assistance, assistance and research.
In January 1935, the Scientific Research Committee of the Air Defense Forces Command asked Watson Watt to investigate whether radio waves could destroy enemy aircraft.
Watson Watt quickly set about preparing a report. In his report exactly one month later, he stated that these waves could not destroy an aircraft. However, he added in the report that the location of the plane can be determined by the echo of the waves sent to a plane.
Sir Robert Alexander Watson Watt (13 April 1892 – 5 December 1973) was a British pioneer of radio direction finding and radar technology.
About three weeks after this report, Watson Watt gave the first demonstration demonstration of the radar by tracking a bomber from a distance of 12 kilometers.
It is unknown whether Watson Watt was influenced by bats. However, there are many people who think that the radar is "biomimicry", that is, "nature-inspired design". Because bats find their way by reflecting the high-vibration sounds they emit when they hit obstacles. Bats have natural radar.
Without radar, German air raids against England in 1940 would have been successful. This could have completely changed the outcome of World War II and therefore the course of history. Let's take a closer look at the story of Robert Watson Watt, one of the inventors who changed the course of history with his invention.
Robert Alexander Watson Watt was born on 13 April 1892 in Brechin, Angus, Scotland. Although Watson Watt is thought to be a descendant of James Watt, the famous engineer and inventor of the steam engine, no evidence of this has been found in the history pages.
Watson Watt attended Damacre Primary School and then Brechin High School. Later, he was accepted to Dundee College and his university life began. Watson Watt had a curious and successful student life.
He won the Carnelley Prize in Chemistry in 1910. He successfully graduated from engineering in 1912. As soon as he graduated, he was offered an assistantship by "Professor William Peddie", the Head of the Physics Department of the university.
Professor Peddie was also a world-renowned physicist and applied mathematician known for his work on color vision and molecular magnetism. Peddie had discussed Watson Watt's potential. He was the most important person who encouraged him to work.
The name of radio at that time was undoubtedly wireless telegraphy. Watson forced Watt to pursue an influential master's degree in the physics of radio frequency oscillators and wave propagation.
At the beginning of the Great War, Watt was working as an assistant in the university's Engineering Department. In 1916 he wanted to enter the war office and help his country. However, when he realized that he could not be useful in this department, he applied to the meteorology office.
The Meteorological Department was also very interested in Watson Watt's ideas and research on the use of radio for the detection of thunderstorms. Lightning emits a radio signal as it ionizes the air. (When converting to an ion state - one or more electrons are gained or lost - the signal is emitted as atoms form.)
Watson Watt's goal was to detect this signal to warn pilots of approaching storms. The signal occurred over a wide frequency range. With long sets of waves, it could be easily detected and become more powerful. Lightning was a major problem for communications on these common wavelengths.
Watt's initial experiments were successful in detecting the signal. It has proven that it can detect it at distances of up to 2500 kilometers. Position was determined by maximizing or minimizing the signal by rotating a loop antenna. Thus, the arrival of the storm was detected.
These achievements were the result of serious efforts. Because some storms lasted very short periods of time. This made it almost impossible to turn the antenna in time. Since exact accuracy was so difficult, the operator would develop a roughly average position.
Marriage of Watson Watt
On July 20, 1916, Watson Watt and Margaret Robertson were married in Hammersmith, London. Margaret was a teacher in Dundee and had studied at University College.
They met when Margaret attended evening lectures where Watson Watt was a lecturer. Margaret was interested in metalworking, took private lessons in this field, and learned to make jewelry.
The year they married, Robert Watson Watt had joined the Meteorological Office, interested in ideas of using radio to detect thunderstorms. They began their married life living in a log cabin between Aldershot and Farnborough, which was based at the Department of Air Defense Meteorological Office Wireless Station. They even used a second cabin to conduct collaborative research and share their work.
Margaret used her jewelry-making skills to repair Robert's devices, soldering connections and making them functional. At that time, Watson Watt described the radio device as little more than lengths of wire.
Margaret's other duty was as a recorder and observer of radio experiments. She was constantly taking notes. She would also go to Aldershot every two or three days to buy supplies for the house and research.
They used another of Margaret's useful abilities during the Great War. Margaret was transcribing messages from Paris using Morse code. After the text was completed, she forwarded it to the British High Command in Aldershot. She would also listen to the signals coming from Berlin and Paris with a stopwatch in one hand and a phone in the other and give commands to the headquarters at the right moment.
We can say that Robert Watson Watt's greatest luck was his wife. This hard-working, intelligent and intelligent woman, Margaret Watson Watt, went down in history as the "mother of the radar" for her contributions.
Indian Ocean and Red Sea Adventure
In 1923, Robert Watson Watt decided to examine the atmosphere to speed up his research. For this investigation, he sailed to the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea for three months. Margaret later accompanied him again to Alexandria. They set up tents on the outskirts of Cairo filled with equipment for further experiments. Bedouins helped them carry supplies, set up tents, and settle down.
They then proceeded up the world's longest river, the Nile, towards the Helwan Observatory. The Sudanese government invited them to Khartoum. He gave them a place to stay and supplies to meet their basic needs. Here they experimented more with the atmosphere, thanks to some of the best thunderstorms they've ever seen.
After returning to England, Margaret returned to the life of a housewife. But exactly nine years after this Red Sea adventure, she once again became Watson Watt's assistant in his research work. This time they went to Tromsø, Norway, 200 miles away from the Arctic Circle. (Tromsø is the northernmost city in the world.)
As a result of his aid to America, Robert Watson Watt was honored with the United States Medal of Merit in 1946.
After the war, Watson Watt worked for the British government in various public and private positions. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1941 and was knighted in 1942.
He settled in Canada and later the United States in the 1950s. In the 1960s, he returned to Scotland. He lived here in Pitlochry with his wife Margaret. He died on December 5, 1973.