Arnold Theodore Nordsieck was born in
Marysville, Ohio, on January 5, 1911. He entered
Ohio State University, where he earned a
M.S. degree in
physics in 1932. A
National Research Council fellowship allowed Nordsieck to travel to Germany in 1935 as a post-doctoral researcher at the
University of Leipzig under
Werner Heisenberg. In 1953 he developed the inertial electrostatic
gyroscope (ESG), which was manufactured by
Honeywell and other companies. It was used as part of the
inertial navigation system of
nuclear submarines, allowing them to travel underwater for months at a time without having to surface to ascertain their location. He also proposed the Cornfield system, a computer-based decision-making system for the air defense of ships using radar. This was one of the first applications of computer technology for decision makings. He was a 1955
Guggenheim Fellow. With B. L Hicks, Nordsieck use
Monte Carlo methods to solve nonlinear
Boltzmann equation for various non-equilibrium problems in gas dynamics in the 1960s. He also published work on numerical mathematics. Later Nordsieck worked for the General Research Corporation in
Santa Barbara, California, where he was Head of physics. He died in Santa Barbara on January 18, 1971. In his honor, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) has annually awarded, since 2002, the Nordsieck Award for excellence in teaching physics at UIUC. Notable winners of UIUC's Nordsieck Award include
Nigel Goldenfeld (2003),
George Gollin (2004),
Paul Goldbart (2006),
Alfred Hübler (2007),
Steven Errede (2013),
Kevin T. Pitts (2014),
Brian L. DeMarco (2017) and
Karin Dahmen (2020). The
University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) gives the Arnold Nordsieck Award annually to a graduating senior who majors in physics and shows research promise. ==Notes==