Lyman Spitzer

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Lyman Spitzer

Lyman Spitzer Jr. (June 26, 1914 – March 31, 1997)[2] was an American theoretical physicist, astronomer and mountaineer. As a scientist, he carried out research into star formation and plasma physics and in 1946 conceived the idea of telescopes operating in outer space.[3] Spitzer invented the stellarator plasma device[4] and is the namesake of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. As a mountaineer, he made the first ascent of Mount Thor, with Donald C. Morton.[5]

Early life and education

Spitzer was born to a

supergiant stars", under the direction of Henry Norris Russell.[7][8][9]

Mountaineering

In 1965, Spitzer and Donald Morton became the first to climb

Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada.[2]: 347  As a member of the American Alpine Club, Spitzer established the "Lyman Spitzer Cutting Edge Climbing Award" (Now called the "Cutting Edge Grant") which gives $12,000 to several mountain climbing expeditions annually.[10]

Science

Spitzer's brief time as a faculty member at Yale was interrupted by his wartime work on the development of sonar. In 1947, at the age of 33, he succeeded Russell as director of Princeton University Observatory, an institution that, virtually jointly with his contemporary and friend Martin Schwarzschild, he continued to head until 1979.

Spitzer's research centered on the interstellar medium, to which he brought a deep understanding of plasma physics. In the 1930s and 1940s, he was among the first to recognize star formation as an ongoing contemporary process. His monographs, "Diffuse Matter in Space" (1968) and "Physical Processes in the Interstellar Medium" (1978) consolidated decades of work, and themselves became the standard texts for some decades more.

Spitzer was the founding director of

Project Matterhorn, Princeton University's pioneering program in controlled thermonuclear research, renamed in 1961 as Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. He was an early proponent of space optical astronomy in general, and in particular of the project that became Hubble Space Telescope
.

In 1981, Spitzer became a founding member of the World Cultural Council.[11]

Death

Spitzer died suddenly on March 31, 1997, after completing a regular day of work at Princeton University.[2] He was buried at Princeton Cemetery and was survived by wife Doreen Canaday Spitzer, four children, and ten grandchildren. Among Spitzer's four children is neurobiologist Nicholas C. Spitzer, who is currently the professor and vice chair in neurobiology at UC San Diego.

Honors

Awards

Named after him

  • 2160 Spitzer
  • Spitzer Space Telescope
  • Lyman Spitzer Library in Davenport College, Yale University
  • Lyman Spitzer Building at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in Princeton, NJ
  • Lyman Spitzer Planetarium at the
    St. Johnsbury, VT
  • Answer to the final question on NTN Buzztime's Showdown on September 16, 2008.
  • Spitzer Building in Toledo, Ohio.
  • Landau-Spitzer Award (American Physical Society) [20]

References

  1. ^ Saxon, Wolfgang (2 April 1997). "Lyman Spitzer Jr. Dies at 82; Inspired Hubble Telescope". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  2. ^
    S2CID 70875907
    .: 339 
  3. ^ "Hubble Essentials: About Lyman Spitzer Jr". Hubble Site.
  4. S2CID 11748652
    .
  5. ^ O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Lyman Spitzer", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
  6. ^ Ancestry of Gov. Bill Richardson
  7. ^ Current Biography Yearbook. H.W. Wilson. 1960. pp. 395–96.
  8. ^ "Professor of Astronomy Lyman Spitzer Jr. Dies". Communications and Publications, Stanhope Hall, Princeton U. April 1, 1997.
  9. ^ Spitzer, Lyman (1938). The spectra of late supergiant stars.
  10. ^ Lyman Spitzer Cutting Edge Climbing Award
  11. ^ "About Us". World Cultural Council. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  12. ^ "APS Fellow archive". APS. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  13. ^ "Lyman Spitzer, cons_suffix". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  14. ^ "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter S" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  15. ^ "Grants, Prizes and Awards". American Astronomical Society. Archived from the original on 22 December 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  16. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  17. ^ "Past Winners of the Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal". Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  18. ^ "Winners of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society". Royal Astronomical Society. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  19. ^ "Lyman Spitzer Jr". Crafoord Prize. 2022-08-22. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  20. ^ "Landau-Spitzer Award".

External links