INVENTOR

Robert Watson-Watt

1892 - 1973

Photo of Robert Watson-Watt

Icon of person Robert Watson-Watt

Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt (13 April 1892 – 5 December 1973) was a Scottish radio engineer and pioneer of radio direction finding and radar technology. Watt began his career in radio physics with a job at the Met Office, where he began looking for accurate ways to track thunderstorms using the radio waves given off by lightning. This led to the 1920s development of a system later known as high-frequency direction finding (HFDF or "huff-duff"). Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Robert Watson-Watt has received more than 617,210 page views. His biography is available in 30 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 29 in 2019). Robert Watson-Watt is the 225th most popular inventor (down from 220th in 2019), the 2,008th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 1,957th in 2019) and the 33rd most popular British Inventor.

Memorability Metrics

  • 620k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 60.12

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 30

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 4.71

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.48

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among INVENTORS

Among inventors, Robert Watson-Watt ranks 225 out of 426. Before him are Max Skladanowsky, Walter Hunt, Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, Vittorio Jano, George Pullman, and Lou Ottens. After him are Robert Ludvigovich Bartini, Alexander Parkes, Aurel Stodola, Marcian Hoff, Hubert Cecil Booth, and Christopher C. Kraft Jr..

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1892, Robert Watson-Watt ranks 132. Before him are Sayed Darwish, Joseph Szigeti, Stanisław Maczek, Yi Kwang-su, Hironori Ōtsuka, and Gustav-Adolf von Zangen. After him are Henry Darger, Ivan Tyulenev, Peljidiin Genden, Ahmad Javad, Charles Nungesser, and Adolf Ziegler. Among people deceased in 1973, Robert Watson-Watt ranks 118. Before him are Carlo Emilio Gadda, Noël Coward, Joseph Szigeti, Salchak Toka, Mirra Alfassa, and Karel Ančerl. After him are Henry Darger, Johannes Aavik, Âşık Veysel, Grigori Kozintsev, Vilhelm Moberg, and Alexander Vandegrift.

Others Born in 1892

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Others Deceased in 1973

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Robert Watson-Watt ranks 2,008 out of 8,785. Before him are Joe Davis (1901), Unity Mitford (1914), Chas Chandler (1938), Edward Cave (1691), John Wood (1930), and Reg Park (1928). After him are Lady Hester Stanhope (1776), Æthelbald of Mercia (700), Ed Sheeran (1991), Andy Gibb (1958), Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (1847), and John Loudon McAdam (1756).

Others born in United Kingdom

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Among INVENTORS In United Kingdom

Among inventors born in United Kingdom, Robert Watson-Watt ranks 33. Before him are James Dyson (1947), Sandford Fleming (1827), Jethro Tull (1674), David Edward Hughes (1831), Henry Maudslay (1771), and Oliver Lodge (1851). After him are Alexander Parkes (1813), Hubert Cecil Booth (1871), Clive Sinclair (1940), John Kemp Starley (1854), Joseph Whitworth (1803), and Abraham Darby I (1678).

British born Inventors

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