# Robert Schlapp > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Robert_Schlapp > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Robert_Schlapp.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Schlapp > Source revision: 1247696631 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|British physicist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Robert Schlapp''' [FRSE](/source/FRSE) (18 July 1899 – 31 May 1991) was a 20th-century British physicist and mathematician of German descent. He was affectionately known as '''Robin Schlapp'''.{{Cite book | doi=10.1007/978-3-662-02994-7_1|chapter = Robert Schlapp (1899–1991)|title = Writings on Physics and Philosophy| url=https://archive.org/details/writingsonphysic00paul| url-access=limited|pages=[https://archive.org/details/writingsonphysic00paul/page/n13 7]–11|year = 1994|last1 = Pauli|first1 = Wolfgang| publisher=Springer | location=Berlin, Heidelberg |isbn=978-3-642-08163-7}} ==Life== He was born in [Edinburgh](/source/Edinburgh) on 18 July 1899, the youngest of three children of Anna Lotze and Otto Schlapp.{{cite web |title=Obituary |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/CD1E6E7D26D9BA084576CCFFB6ED8FA1/S0013091500005599a.pdf/robert-schlapp-m-a-ph-d-f-r-s-e-1899-1991.pdf |website=Cambridge.org |access-date=11 May 2023}} His father only appears in Post Office Directories around 1910, at which point he is listed as a university lecturer living at 54a George Square.Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1910. His father lectured in German at the [University of Edinburgh](/source/University_of_Edinburgh) and later (1926) became the University's first Professor of German.{{Cite web|url=http://ourhistory.is.ed.ac.uk/index.php/Otto_Schlapp_(1859-1939)|title = Otto Schlapp (1859-1939) - Our History}} He was educated at [George Watson's College](/source/George_Watson's_College), where his father had taught from 1887 to 1894. He was school [dux](/source/Dux) for 1916/17.{{Cite web|url=http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Obits2/Schlapp_RSE_Obituary.html|title = Robert Schlapp M.A.(Edin.), Ph.D.(Cantab.) - RSE Obituary}} In the [First World War](/source/First_World_War), obviously a potential problem due to his German background, he enlisted under the [Derby Scheme](/source/Derby_Scheme) and joined the [31st battalion](/source/Middlesex_Regiment_alien_labour_units) of the [Middlesex Regiment](/source/Middlesex_Regiment) in 1917 at the age of 18. This was a labouring unit rather than a fighting battalion, involved in tasks such as trench construction. After the war, Schlapp studied mathematics and physics at the [University of Edinburgh](/source/University_of_Edinburgh) graduating MA around 1923 then doing postgraduate studies at the [University of Cambridge](/source/University_of_Cambridge) gaining a doctorate (PhD) in 1925. Returning to the University of Edinburgh he began lecturing in Natural Philosophy (Physics) and Applied Mathematics in autumn 1925. He became Senior Lecturer in Mathematical Physics in 1927.{{Cite web|url=https://ourhistory.is.ed.ac.uk/index.php/Robert_Schlapp_(1899-1991)|title=Robert Schlapp (1899-1991) - Our History|website=ourhistory.is.ed.ac.uk}} In this role he was assistant to [Charles Galton Darwin](/source/Charles_Galton_Darwin) (who had recently replaced [Cargill Gilston Knott](/source/Cargill_Gilston_Knott)). In 1927, he was elected a Fellow of the [Royal Society of Edinburgh](/source/Royal_Society_of_Edinburgh). His proposers were [Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker](/source/Edmund_Taylor_Whittaker), [Sir Charles Galton Darwin](/source/Charles_Galton_Darwin), [David Gibb](/source/David_Gibb_(mathematician)), and [Edward Thomas Copson](/source/Edward_Thomas_Copson). He served as Curator of the Society's artefacts from 1959 to 1969 and as their Vice President from 1969 to 1972. In 1983, he won the Society's bicentenary medal (presented to him by [Queen Elizabeth II](/source/Elizabeth_II)). He was President of the [Edinburgh Mathematical Society](/source/Edinburgh_Mathematical_Society).{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf|access-date=2018-05-24|archive-date=2016-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074135/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf|url-status=dead}} In 1936 Professor Darwin retired and was replaced by [Max Born](/source/Max_Born) whom Schlapp then assisted in turn. Schlapp retired in 1969,Edinburgh University Journal 1991 and died in [Ashford](/source/Ashford%2C_Kent) in [Kent](/source/Kent) on 31 May 1991.{{Cite web|url=https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Schlapp/|title=Robert Schlapp - Biography|website=Maths History}} ==Family== Whilst playing cello in his brother, Walter Schlapp's, string quartet, he met Mary Fleure (who played second violin). He married her in 1940. They had two daughters. Mary died in 1975. ==Publications== *''[Colin Maclaurin](/source/Colin_Maclaurin), a Biographical Note'' (1949) *''The Contribution of the Scots to Mathematics'' (1973) ==References== {{reflist}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Schlapp, Robert}} Category:1899 births Category:1991 deaths Category:Scientists from Edinburgh Category:People educated at George Watson's College Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh Category:Scottish mathematicians Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Category:Scottish people of German descent Category:Middlesex Regiment soldiers --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Robert Schlapp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Schlapp) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Schlapp?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.