Elizabeth Alexander (scientist)

Frances Elizabeth Somerville Alexander was a British geologist, academic, and physicist, whose wartime work with radar and radio led to early developments in radio astronomy and whose post-war work on the geology of Singapore is considered a significant foundation to contemporary research. Alexander earned her PhD from Newnham College, Cambridge, and worked in Radio Direction Finding at Singapore Naval Base from 1938 to 1941. In January 1941, unable to return to Singapore from New Zealand, she became Head of Operations Research in New Zealand's Radio Development Lab, Wellington. In 1945, Alexander correctly interpreted that anomalous radar signals picked up on Norfolk Island were caused by the sun. This interpretation became pioneering work in the field of radio astronomy, making her one of the first women scientists to work in that field, albeit briefly.

13 December 1908

Born on the same birth date (13 December 1908): Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira • Van Heflin

Born on the same birth day (13 December): Aga Khan IV • Ann Barzel • Bob Gainey • Dick Van Dyke • Drew Pearson (journalist) • Herman Cain • Jamie Foxx • Jean Gerson • John Vorster • Kristian Birkeland • Larry Kenon • Martín de Azpilcueta • Phil Hubbard • Philip W. Anderson • Svetozar Boroević • Trygve Haavelmo • Yongzheng Emperor

Born in the same month (December 1908): Alfred Hershey • Baby Face Nelson • Concha Piquer • Elliott Carter • Ernest L. Massad • Gertrude Bancroft • Hákun Djurhuus • John A. Volpe • Lew Ayres • Miklós Szabó (middle-distance runner) • Morey Amsterdam • Olivier Messiaen • Paul Siple • Remedios Varo