According to his obituary, Newnham’s designs for transducers, devices that convert energy from one form to another, helped make ultrasound imaging possible.

Amsterdam N.Y.

Ultrasound pioneer an Amsterdam native

By Bob Cudmore         

An Amsterdam native who died in 2009 in Pennsylvania was a prominent scientist whose research helped make ultrasound machines and cell phones possible.

Robert Newnham was born in 1929 in Amsterdam and died April 16 at Penn State Hershey Medical Center at age 80, according to the Centre Daily Times of State College, Pennsylvania.

His parents were William Newnham and Dorothy Hamm Newnham, a janitor and a telephone operator.  Newnham was the first in his family to go to college, earning his bachelor’s degree at Hartwick College in Oneonta. 

Newnham earned advanced degrees at Colorado State, Penn State and Cambridge University in England.  Before joining Penn State’s faculty to teach materials science in 1966, he taught at Cambridge University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

According to his obituary, Newnham’s designs for transducers, devices that convert energy from one form to another, helped make ultrasound imaging possible.

The Penn State Web site reported, “His basic discoveries in ferroelectric materials have helped propel the growth of electronic devices such as cell phones, while his work for the U.S. Navy on sonar arrays helped the Navy keep a watchful eye on Soviet submarines during the Cold War. One of his 20 patents, pertaining to off-shore oil explorations, has generated more than a million dollars in licensing fees for the University.”

Described by a colleague as a giant in science, Newnham and his wife Patricia were said to be unabashed supporters of liberal causes and the local peace movement.  Newnham’s daughter Rosemary Newnham said her parents would invite as many as 30 graduate students for Thanksgiving dinner.  She said her father would explain the American Thanksgiving custom to his foreign guests and display their gifts of curry and sushi on the Thanksgiving table. 

She also said her father had a “goofy sense of humor” and would paint mustaches on the tiny pilots in his extensive model airplane collection to match his own mustache. 

Bernadine Olbrych of Amsterdam suggested this story.

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COLONIAL HORSE RACING

Wanda Burch, site manager of Johnson Hall State Historic Site in Johnstown, has been researching horse racing in Colonial days.

“The sport of horse racing was an integral part of American culture long before the American Revolution,” Burch said.

In 1748, prominent colonist Sir William Johnson was complaining, according to Burch, “that most of the good New York horses were snatched up by New England and Philadelphia jockeys at ‘Extravigant prices.’” 

Racing horses at a specialized racetrack was developed at Newmarket in England by 1622.   America’s first racetrack was called Newmarket in honor of the old country and established on Long Island in 1665. 

Burch said, “Johnson purchased prints of the racehorses at Newmarket in England and hung them in the best rooms at Johnson Hall, his 1763 home. He made references to bets on races and was particularly taken with a horse born in 1764 named Goldfinder, whose image had a prominent place on the wall of his best parlor.  Goldfinder raced at Newmarket in England and was undefeated in three years of racing.”

Burch said horse thievery was a big issue in the colonies, “Hundreds of letters dealt with complaints of stolen horses and even Johnson's brother lamented in his journal that ‘there are no highwaymen in America, but great Horse stealers.’"

According to Burch, Johnson took great care in ordering bridles, harnesses and saddles, “Brass work on harnesses was important, and a particularly expensive saddle ordered for Sir William's son John had ‘blue housings, elegant stirrups, English made’ and was described as a ‘handsome’ parade saddle with a secret compartment in the pommel for pistols.”

The Old House down by The Mohawk River 

Friday, November 25, 2022

Episode 450-Bob Cudmore and Dave Greene take a look at Guy Park Manor, arguably Amsterdam’s oldest house. We also look at the leather business.

Mohawk Valley Thanksgiving Weather and News Headlines, Thursday, November 24, 2022

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