(original recording made in 2001)
Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain (1911-1998) was a German physicist who was
working in Germany during the late 1930s when he invented the jet
engine. Following the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 there was a race
between the USSR and the USA to locate the German scientists who had
worked on projects like rockets. The scientists who then came to the U.S.
were brought here under a program which was known as Operation
Paperclip. Hans von Ohain was one of those scientists. He went on to
continue his research for many years at Wright Patterson Air Force Base.
In 1949 he married a woman who he met after moving to Dayton.
In 2001 Margaret Conner published this biography of Hans von Ohain and
she came out to our studios to do a live interview. She wasn't alone,
she brought along a photographer from the air base as well as a very
special guest who took part in the interview as well, the inventor's widow, Hanny von Ohain (1920-2013).
The Book Nook airs Saturdays at 7 a.m. and Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on WYSO 91.3 FM and streams at WYSO.org or wherever you get your podcasts.The Book Nook on WYSO is presented by the Greene County Public Library with additional support from Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, Wright Memorial Public Library, and Tipp City Public Library.
