Lyman Spitzer | |
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| Born | Lyman Spitzer Jr. (1914-06-26)June 26, 1914 Toledo, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | March 31, 1997(1997-03-31) (aged 82)[1] Princeton, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Resting place | Princeton Cemetery |
| Alma mater | Princeton University (Ph.D.) Yale University (B.A.) Phillips Academy |
| Known for | Research instar formation andplasma physics Promotion ofspace telescopes |
| Spouse | Doreen Canaday (m. 1940) |
| Awards | Henry Draper Medal (1974) James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics (1975) National Medal of Science (1979) Crafoord Prize (1985) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Theoretical physics |
| Doctoral advisor | Henry Norris Russell |
| Doctoral students | John Richard Gott Bruce Elmegreen George B. Field J. Beverley Oke Trinh Xuan Thuan J. Michael Shull |
Lyman Spitzer Jr. (June 26, 1914 – March 31, 1997)[2] was an Americantheoretical physicist, astronomer and mountaineer. As a scientist, he carried out research intostar formation andplasma physics and in 1946 conceived the idea oftelescopes operating in outer space.[3] Spitzer invented thestellarator plasma device[4] and is the namesake ofNASA'sSpitzer Space Telescope. As a mountaineer, he made the first ascent ofMount Thor, with Donald C. Morton.[5]
Spitzer was born to aPresbyterian family in Toledo, Ohio, the son of Lyman Spitzer Sr. and Blanche Carey (née Brumback). Through his paternal grandmother, he was related to inventorEli Whitney.[6] Spitzer graduated fromScott High School. He then attendedPhillips Academy from 1929 to 1931 and went on toYale College, where he graduatedPhi Beta Kappa in 1935 and was a member ofSkull and Bones. During a year of study atSt John's College, Cambridge, he was influenced byArthur Eddington and the youngSubrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. Returning to the U.S., Spitzer received hisPh.D. in physics fromPrinceton University in 1938 after completing a doctoral dissertation, titled "The spectra of latesupergiant stars", under the direction ofHenry Norris Russell.[7][8][9]
In 1965, Spitzer and Donald Morton became the first to climbMount Thor 1,675 m (5,495 ft), located inAuyuittuq National Park, onBaffin Island, Nunavut, Canada.[2]: 347 As a member of theAmerican 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]
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Spitzer's brief time as a faculty member atYale was interrupted by his wartime work on the development ofsonar. 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 friendMartin Schwarzschild, he continued to head until 1979.[11]
Spitzer's research centered on theinterstellar medium, to which he brought a deep understanding ofplasma physics. In the 1930s and 1940s, he was among the first to recognizestar 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 ofProject Matterhorn, Princeton University's pioneering program in controlled thermonuclear research, renamed in 1961 asPrinceton Plasma Physics Laboratory. He was an early proponent of space optical astronomy in general, and in particular of the project that becameHubble Space Telescope.
In 1981, Spitzer became a founding member of theWorld Cultural Council.[12]
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Spitzer died suddenly on March 31, 1997, after completing a regular day of work atPrinceton University.[2] He was buried atPrinceton Cemetery and was survived by wifeDoreen Canaday Spitzer (1914-2010), four children, and ten grandchildren. Among Spitzer's four children is neurobiologistNicholas C. Spitzer, who is currently professor and vice chair in neurobiology atUC San Diego.
Awards
Named after him
