P006091 revised AU-VU:EOAS Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation

All key entry types: Awards; Concepts; Corporate Bodies (Organisations); Cultural Artefacts; People; etc

These key entries are listed separately below with other indexes and lists.

 English AACR2 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules Person created 2018-07-31 human Helen Cohn updated 2025-08-21 human https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P006091b.htm person Focken Charles Melbourne AACR2 23 October 1901 15 August 1978 Place of Birth Kan Lung, Hong Kong Place of Death East Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia Physicist Museum director Charles Focken was a physicist who, after 15 years at the University of Otago in New Zealand was appointed Director of the Museum (later Institute) of Applied Science in Melbourne. As Director he completed substantial building works, established a radio-carbon dating laboratory, and secured funding for a planetarium. To modernise the Museum Focken undertook a study tour of museum administration and display methods in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 1953. He also appointed additional staff and increased the Museum's recurrent funding. Between 1962 and 1966 Focken was chief a of mission for a UNESCO program to establish the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology in Valetta, Malta. His publications included a biography of his postgraduate mentor, Lord Rutherford of Nelson (1937) and the textbook Dimensional methods and their applications (1953). 1908 1908 Life event - Settled in Australia with his family 1923 1923 Award - Awarded Rhodes Scholarship 1923 1923 Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Melbourne 1926 1926 Education - DPhil, University of Oxford 1926 1950 Career position - Beverley-Mackenzie Lecturer in Physics, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand 1931 1931 Education - Bachelor of Mining Engineering (BME), University of Melbourne 1933 1935 Career position - New Zealand Commonwealth Fund Fellow, Colorado School of Mines, U.S.A. 1935 1935 Education - Master of Science (MSc), Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, U.S.A. 1950 1951 Career position - Reader in Physics, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand 1951 1961 Career position - Director, Museum of Applied Science, Melbourne 1961 1961 Career position - Director, Institute of Applied Science, Melbourne 1962 1966 Career position - Established the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology, Valetta, Malta 1966 1966 Life event - Retired Museum of Applied Science, State of Victoria (1945 - 1971)

Director 1951 - 1961

 Wallaby Club (1894 - )

President 1961 - 1962

 Focken, Charles Melbourne (19011023-19780815)

Trove

 'Focken, Charles Melbourne', in Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology Focken, Charles Melbourne Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Book: Dimensional methods and their applications Focken, F. C. Dimensional methods and their applications London Arnold 1953 Book: Lord Rutherford of Nelson Focken, C. M. Lord Rutherford of Nelson Auckland Whitcombe & Tombs 1937 Journal Article: Radiocarbon dating laboratory Focken, C. M. Radiocarbon dating laboratory 1960 Australian journal of science 23 127-8 Book Section: Focken, Charles Melbourne (1901-1978), Physicist and Museum Director Kendall, F.J. Focken, Charles Melbourne (1901-1978), Physicist and Museum Director Melbourne Melbourne University Press 1996 Australian dictionary of biography, volume 14: 1940 - 1980 Di-Kel John Ritchie 192 Journal Article: Development of geochronology in Victoria Gleadow, A. J. W.; and Lovering, J. F. Development of geochronology in Victoria 2008 Australian journal of earth sciences 55 6/7 753-67 Journal Article: Radiocarbon dating at the Museum of Applied Science Victoria 1952-70: a pioneer venture Rae, Ian D. Radiocarbon dating at the Museum of Applied Science Victoria 1952-70: a pioneer venture 2018 Historical Records of Australian Science 29 1 14-27