George B. Arfken

George Brown Arfken (November 20, 1922 – October 8, 2020) was an American theoretical physicist and the author of several mathematical physics texts.[1] He was a physics professor at Miami University from 1952 to 1983 and the chair of the Miami University physics department 1956–1972.[2] He was an emeritus professor at Miami University.[3] Arfken was also an authority on Canadian philately.[4]

George B. Arfken
Born(1922-11-20)November 20, 1922
Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedOctober 8, 2020(2020-10-08) (aged 97)
Alma materYale University, 1943
SpouseCarolyn Arfken née Dines
Scientific career
FieldsTheoretical physics, mathematical physics

Education

Arfken graduated from Montclair High School. He received a Bachelor of Engineering degree in chemical engineering from Yale University in 1943. He earned a master's degree in physics in 1948 and a doctorate in 1950, both at Yale.[2][5]

Personal life

George was born November 20, 1922, to George, Sr. and Ann (nee Hill) Arfken in Jersey City, NJ. He received a Bachelor of Engineering from Yale in 1943. Enlisting in the U.S. Navy, he served as a lieutenant (junior grade) in the Amphibious Forces in the Western Pacific. He returned to Yale in September 1946 and graduated with a Ph.D. in physics in 1950.

Arfken married Carolyn Dines, a graduate of Westminster College of Pennsylvania, in 1949, and they raised three children together. She died in 1997. In 1998, Arfken endowed a scholar-in-residence program in her name at Miami University.[2][5] George married Mary Seet in 1999.

In retirement Arfken played a major role in developing the postal history of Canada for the 60-year period 1851–1911, following the pioneering work of Allan Steinhart. This was primarily a study of the postal rates, the routes the mail followed, and the postal markings on the envelopes and postcards. Arfken wrote one book on the United States' first postage-due stamps and then, with coauthors, nine books on the early Canadian postage and registration stamps. In addition there were over 250 articles in philatelic journals. George was inducted into the Order of the Beaver, the Fellowship of BNAPS, in 1996, and named a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada in 2001. He also received the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada’s Geldert Medal for best article in 1989. For BNAPEX convention exhibits between 1984 and 1996, he received four Gold medals and one Reserve Grand award.

He died in October 2020 at the age of 97.[6][7]

Selected publications
Articles
Books
  • 1966: Mathematical Methods for Physicists ISBN 0123846544
  • 1989: University Physics ISBN 0155929747, coauthored with David F. Griffing and Donald C. Kelly
  • 1989: Canada's Small Queen Era - Postage Usage During the Small Queen Era, 1870-1897
  • 2003: Essential Mathematical Methods for Physicists ISBN 9780120598779, coauthored with Hans J. Weber, Frank E. Harris

References
  1. Who's Who in Technology Today, 1982-1983. J. Dick. 1982. p. 339.
  2. "George Arfken endows scholar-in-residence". Miami University News. July 21, 1998. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  3. "Miami University Department of Physics". Archived from the original on December 26, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  4. "Canada's Small Queen Era - Postage Usage During the Small Queen Era, 1870-1897". Canadian Philatelist. January–February 1990. p. 71. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  5. "Dr. Mark Havey named Arfken Scholar in Residence". Old Dominion University. 2005. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  6. "BNAPS Memorials". bnaps.org. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  7. George Brown Arfken Jr. obituary
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