AKA Henry Keith Moffatt

Born: 12-Apr-1935
Birthplace: Edinburgh, Scotland

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Mathematician, Physicist

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Fluid dynamics

Mathematician and physicist Keith Moffatt has conducted extensive research into fluid dynamics, including magnetohydrodynamics and the theory of turbulence. Beyond academia he is perhaps best known for a 2005 paper explaining why a hard-boiled egg spun on its side will quickly alter its spin, rising up on one end.

Wife: Katharine Linty Stiven Moffatt (m. 1960, two daughters, one son)

    High School: George Watson's College, Edinburgh, Scotland (1953)
    University: BS Mathematics, Cambridge University (1957)
    University: BA Physics, Cambridge University (1959)
    University: ScD Physics, Cambridge University (1962)
    Teacher: Mathematics, Cambridge University (1962-77)
    Professor: Applied Mathematics, University of Bristol (1977-80)
    Professor: Mathematical Physics, Cambridge University (1980-)
    Professor: Mathematical Physics, École Polytechnique (1992-99)
    Administrator: Director of Isaac Newton Institute, Cambridge University (1996-2001)

    Hughes Medal 2005
    Accademia dei Lincei
    American Physical Society
    French Academy of Sciences
    Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Foreign Member
    Royal Society 1986
    Royal Society of Edinburgh

Author of books:
Microhydrodynamics (1998)
Perspectives in Fluid Dynamics (2000, with George Batchelor and M. G. Worster)

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