---
title: "Alfred Lee Loomis"
chunk: 3/3
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Lee_Loomis"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:07:08.048084+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Alfred Lee Loomis Jr. - an investor, two-time winner of the Bermuda Race and head of the winning America's Cup syndicate in 1977
William Farnsworth - a physician and professor at Brandeis (Farnsworth's grandson is Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix).
Henry Loomis - head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Loomis, always a very private person who avoided publicity, retreated from public life entirely after closing the "Rad Lab" and finishing his related obligations in 1947. He retired to East Hampton, with Manette and never granted another interview.
Loomis had an affair with a colleague's wife, Manette Hobart, and in 1945 he divorced Ellen and immediately married Manette, scandalizing New York society. At this point he changed his lifestyle, eschewing his multiple residences and numerous servants and settling into a single household in which he and his wife shared a relationship that was characterized by its domesticity. They remained married until Alfred Loomis died more than 30 years later at age 87.

== Patents ==
External shoe tree, 1914 U.S. patent 1,106,465
Net, 1916 U.S. patent 1,184,466
Toy, 1917 U.S. patent 1,222,005
Chronograph, 1921 U.S. patent 1,376,890
Method and apparatus for forming emulsions and the like, 1929 U.S. patent 1,734,975
Microscope centrifuge, 1933 U.S. patent 1,907,803

== Publications ==
Projectiles
Klopsteg, Paul E.; Loomis, Alfred L. (1920). "The Measurement of Projectile Velocities". Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. XXXIX (1): 337–358. Bibcode:1920TAIEE..39..337K. doi:10.1109/T-AIEE.1920.4764965. S2CID 51638751.
Sound waves and ultrasound
Hubbard, John C.; Loomis, Alfred L. (1927). "A Sonic Interferometer for Liquids". Nature. 120 (3014): 189. Bibcode:1927Natur.120..189H. doi:10.1038/120189a0. S2CID 4192548.
Wood, R. W.; Loomis, A. L. (1927). "Spectra of High-frequency Discharges in Super-vacuum Tubes". Nature. 120 (3023): 510. Bibcode:1927Natur.120..510W. doi:10.1038/120510a0. S2CID 4079723.
Wood, R.W.; Loomis, Alfred L. (1927). "XXXVIII.The physical and biological effects of high-frequency sound-waves of great intensity". The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science. 4 (22): 417–436. doi:10.1080/14786440908564348.
Richards, William T.; Loomis, Alfred L. (1927). "The Chemical Effects of High Frequency Sound Waves I. A Preliminary Survey". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 49 (12): 3086–3100. Bibcode:1927JAChS..49.3086R. doi:10.1021/ja01411a015.
Hubbard, J.C.; Loomis, A.L. (1928). "CXXII.The velocity of sound in liquids at high frequencies by the sonic interferometer". The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science. 5 (33): 1177–1190. doi:10.1080/14786440608564567.
Harvey, E. Newton; Harvey, Ethel Browne; Loomis, Alfred L. (1928). "Further Observations on the Effect of High Frequency Sound Waves on Living Matter". Biological Bulletin. 55 (6): 459–469. doi:10.2307/1536801. JSTOR 1536801.
Harvey, E. N.; Loomis, A. L. (1929). "The Destruction of Luminous Bacteria by High Frequency Sound Waves". Journal of Bacteriology. 17 (5): 373–376. doi:10.1128/jb.17.5.373-376.1929. PMC 375061. PMID 16559370.
Christie, R. V.; Loomis, A. L. (1929). "The Relation of Frequency to the Physiological Effects of Ultra-High Frequency Currents". The Journal of Experimental Medicine. 49 (2): 303–321. doi:10.1084/jem.49.2.303. PMC 2131527. PMID 19869549.
Richards, William T.; Loomis, Alfred L. (1929). "Dielectric Loss in Electrolyte Solutions in High Frequency". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 15 (7): 587–593. doi:10.1073/pnas.15.7.587. PMC 522511. PMID 16587496.
Animal studies
Hersh, A. H.; Karrer, Enoch; Loomis, Alfred L. (1930). "An Attempt to Induce Mutation in Drosophila melanogaster by Means of Supersonic Vibrations". The American Naturalist. 64 (695): 552–559. Bibcode:1930ANat...64..552H. doi:10.1086/280339. S2CID 84486101.
Loomis, A. L.; Harvey, E. N.; MacRae, C. (1930). "The Intrinsic Rhythm of the Turtle's Heart Studied with a New Type of Chronograph, Together with the Effects of Some Drugs and Hormones". The Journal of General Physiology. 14 (1): 105–115. doi:10.1085/jgp.14.1.105. PMC 2141096. PMID 19872568.
Harvey, E. N.; Loomis, A. L. (1931). "High Speed Photomicrography of Living Cells Subjected to Supersonic Vibrations". The Journal of General Physiology. 15 (2): 147–153. doi:10.1085/jgp.15.2.147. PMC 2141152. PMID 19872634.
Miscellaneous
Christie, R. V.; Loomis, A. L. (1932). "The pressure of aqueous vapour in the alveolar air". The Journal of Physiology. 77 (1): 35–48. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1932.sp002948. PMC 1394755. PMID 16994371.
Time measurement
Loomis, A. L. (1931). "Time, the precise measurement of". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 91: 569. Bibcode:1931MNRAS..91..569L. doi:10.1093/mnras/91.5.569.
"Modern Developments in Precision Clocks". Nature. 130 (3273): 124. 1932. Bibcode:1932Natur.130R.124.. doi:10.1038/130124b0. S2CID 4067436.
Loomis, A. L.; Stetson, H. T. (1933). "An Apparent Lunar Effect in Time Determinations at Greenwich and Washington". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 93 (6): 444–447. doi:10.1093/mnras/93.6.444.
Loomis, A. L.; Stetson, H. T. (1935). "Further investigations of an apparent lunar effect in time determinations". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 95 (5): 452. Bibcode:1935MNRAS..95..452L. doi:10.1093/mnras/95.5.452.
Brain and sleep studies
Loomis, A. L.; Harvey, E. N.; Hobart, G. (1935). "Potential Rhythms of the Cerebral Cortex During Sleep". Science. 81 (2111): 597–598. Bibcode:1935Sci....81..597L. doi:10.1126/science.81.2111.597. PMID 17739875.
Loomis, A. L.; Harvey, E. N.; Hobart, G. (1935). "Further Observations on the Potential Rhythms of the Cerebral Cortex During Sleep". Science. 82 (2122): 198–200. Bibcode:1935Sci....82..198L. doi:10.1126/science.82.2122.198. PMID 17844579.
Loomis, A. L.; Harvey, E. N.; Hobart, G. (1936). "Electrical potentials of the human brain". Journal of Experimental Psychology. 19 (3): 249–279. doi:10.1037/h0062089.
Loomis, A. L.; Harvey, E. N.; Hobart, G. (1936). "Brain Potentials During Hypnosis". Science. 83 (2149): 239–241. Bibcode:1936Sci....83..239L. doi:10.1126/science.83.2149.239. PMID 17809313.
Loomis, A. L.; Harvey, E. N.; Hobart, G. (1937). "Cerebral states during sleep, as studied by human brain potentials". Journal of Experimental Psychology. 21 (2): 127–144. doi:10.1037/h0057431.
Davis, H.; Davis, P. A.; Loomis, A. L.; Harvey, E. N.; Hobart, G. (1937). "Changes in Human Brain Potentials During the Onset of Sleep". Science. 86 (2237): 448–450. Bibcode:1937Sci....86..448D. doi:10.1126/science.86.2237.448. PMID 17838964.

== References ==

== Further reading ==
 
Alvarez, Luis W. (July 1977). Alfred Lee Loomis 1887–1975 A Biographical Memoir (Report). U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration. p. 42.
Alvarez, Luis W. (1980). "Alfred Lee Loomis". National Academy of Sciences. Biographical memoirs. Vol. 51. Washington D.C.: National Academies Press. pp. 308–41.
Conant, Jennet (2002). Tuxedo Park: A Wall Street Tycoon and the Secret Palace of Science That Changed the Course of World War II. New York: Simon & Schuster. hardcover: ISBN 0-684-87287-0, paperback: ISBN 0-684-87288-9
Video documentary
The Secret of Tuxedo Park, season 30 episode 2 of American Experience on PBS.

== External links ==

"The Consummate Amateur". Retrieved September 18, 2008. – A review of Tuxedo Park in American Scientist pointing out a few errors and exaggerations in the book.
"Inside the "Cloistered Fiefdom" of an Unrelenting Gentleman Scientist". Archived from the original on July 15, 2007. Retrieved September 15, 2008. – A review of Tuxedo Park at SIAM news.
Booknotes interview with Jennet Conant on 	Tuxedo Park: A Wall Street Tycoon and the Secret Palace of Science that Changed the Course of World War II, June 9, 2002.
National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir