Comb~+stion and Flame 211

OBITUARY

Stuart Robert Brinldey, Jr.

Dr. Stuart Robert Brinkley, Jr., Coraopolis Heights, Pennsylvania, died suddently at his summer home in South Bristol, Maine, Friday, August 7. Dr. Brinkley was preparing to par- tieipate in two scientific symposia, one in Los Angele~ on detonation, August 17-21. and the other in Salt Lake City on combustion and flame, August 24-29.

Dr. Brinkley was known internationally as an expert ira the field of combustion and de- tonation processes. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1916. He graduated from Yale University with a B.S. in physical chemistry in 1937 a~ad received a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the same institution in 1941. He was ap- pointed a National Research Fellow by the National Academy of Science at Harvard University, 1941-43. This was followed by ap- pointment as a Research Associate at Cornell University, 1943-45. From !945-53 he was physical chemist and chief of the Mathem~iticai and Theoretical Physics Section, Explosives and Physical Sciences Division of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Since 1953 he was a partner in the consulting firm, Com- bustion and Explosives Research, Inc., Oliver Building. Pittsburgh.

While at Harvard Dr. Brinkley was associated with Professor E. Bright Wilson. Jr,, in scientific work related to the war effort. At Cornell he was associated with the late Professor John G. Kirkwood with whom he developed the theory of blast waves from high explosives. This work has remained the classic treatise on the subject,

the results of which are in frequent use today throughout the scientific world. He was also associated with the undersigned, at the U. S. Bureau of Mines, in the development of aspects of combustion theory, He played a key role in the development of the "Tiger Program" used for the evaluation of complex problems in combustion, detonation and blast waves by high-speed computer techniques. This program is the standard national program and it has been released by the U. S. Government to scien- tific circles in other nations. Dr. Brinkley was a pioneer in the application of high-speed com- puters to problems in a number of scientific disciplines and was one of those associated with the now famous ENIAC computer. At the time of his death Dr. Brinkley was engaged in two important works, one on the equation of state of high explosives and another on the theory of blast wave production in deflagration explo- sions. He investigated many fire and explosion disasters in the United States and abroad and contributed in an important way to the~preven - tion of such disasters in industry. He appeared frequently as an expert in court cases, utilizing his scientific knowledge of the subject of~om- bustion.

Other scientific areas in which Dr. Bri:akley worked are: thermodynamics" electrochemistry of solutions of electrolytes: infra-red spectro- scopy and structure of polyatomic molecules; thermodynamics of multicomponent systems with applications to combustion and explosion in gases znd to evaluation of performance of

Comoustion & Flame. 16. 211-212 (197[) Copyright © 1971 by The Combustion lnstitul¢

Published by American Elsevier Publishing Company, Inc.

212

propulsion systems; development of explosives, explosives systems and blasting agents; analysis of industrial fire and explosion hazards.

Dr. Brinkley was a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Physical So- ciety, The Combustion Institute, as well as nu- merous government scientific advisory commit- tees and industrial scientific fidvisory comnfit- tees. He was the author of over 150 publications of original researches and was a contributor to a number of texts devoted to his fields of interest. At the time of his death he had just completed as a co-author with William E. Gordon a book on "Principles of Explosives Behavior." He was a member of the Harvard-Yale-Princeton Club of Pittsburgh. and an Elder in the

Obituary

Sewickley Presbyterian Church, where he taught bible history for many years.

Bob Brinkley possessed a keen analytical mind which became evident even on casual meeting. He had an abiding faith in the use- fulness and meaningfulness of life and he lived life simply. His friends all over the world admired/aim as a person of great courage and fortitude in the face of extreme physical handi- cap resulting from the loss of both arms in a university accident over 30 years ago while a student.

His passing is a great loss to the scientific world, and particularly to combustion science.

He is survived by his wife, Ruth, and sons, Stuart and Robert.

Bernard Lewis