Charles Donald Shane | |
|---|---|
| Born | Charles Donald Shane (1895-09-06)6 September 1895 |
| Died | 19 March 1983(1983-03-19) (aged 87) |
| Alma mater | University of California at Berkeley |
| Occupations |
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| Known for | counting externalgalaxies, establishment of theCerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory |
| Spouse | |
| Children | W. Whitney Shane |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Thesis | (1920) |
Charles Donald Shane (September 6, 1895 – March 19, 1983) was an Americanastronomer and director of theLick Observatory of theUniversity of California from 1945 to 1958, during which time he carried out a monumental program of counting externalgalaxies and investigating their distribution.During World War II from 1942 to 1945, he participated in theManhattan Project.In the 1960s he was instrumental for the establishment of theCerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. He also played a major role in the planning and construction of the first telescopes and buildings onKitt Peak National Observatory.
Shane was born in 1895, on Futhey ranch nearAuburn, California, the eldest of four children. His great-grandfather was from Ireland, his grandfather was born in Pennsylvania and his father Charles N. Shane was born inAdamsville, Ohio in 1861. Charles N. Shane moved to California in 1886, and worked as teacher in a one-roomLone Star School inPlacer County. His mother was Annette Kidd, granddaughter ofCaptain Kidd, also a teacher in various one-room schools in Placer County. In 1894, his father was principal and the two married.[1]
Shane attendedAuburn Grammar School, Placer County High School and then his family moved toOakland, California, where he attendedOakland High School (Oakland, California). In 1912, he entered theUniversity of California at Berkeley to studyastronomy, "only after the University of California advisors assured him that the Berkeley Astronomy Department was "outstanding and that he would have no problem finding a good position". He graduated one year early in 1915 and was appointed teaching fellow in mathematics, holding the Lick Observatory Fellowship with residence onMount Hamilton (California) from 1916-1917 and in 1919-1920. DuringWorld War I Shane taught navigation in Oregon and Washington for theUnited States Shipping Board from 1917 until 1919. He received his Ph.D. degree in astronomy in 1920.[1]
He began as an instructor in mathematics at the University of California at Berkeley, gradually transferring into astronomy. In 1924, he became assistant professor of astronomy, in 1935 he became professor in 1935, and chairman of the astronomy department in 1941.[1]
During World War II from 1942 to 1945, he participated in theManhattan Project. He was assistant director for scientific personnel of theRadiation Laboratory in Berkeley (now Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) and later atProject Y inLos Alamos, New Mexico.[1]
From 1945 to 1958 he was director of theLick Observatory of theUniversity of California, during which time he carried out a monumental program of counting externalgalaxies and investigating their distribution.
He was second president ofAURA, and instrumental for the establishment of theCerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. He also played a major role in the planning and construction of the first telescopes and buildings onKitt Peak National Observatory.[2]He remained part of the active faculty until retirement in 1963.[1]
Shane was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1955 and the United StatesNational Academy of Sciences in 1961.[3][4]
In 1917, Shane married Ethel L. Haskett, secretary at the Lick Observatory, whodied two weeks after birth of their son Charles Shane in January 1919.[1]
In 1920, Shane married Mary Lea Heger, to whom he was married until he died of leukemia in 1983. Heger had graduated from the University of California in 1919 and received her Ph.D. degree in astronomy in 1924, detectingsodium atoms ininterstellar space. She abandoned her scientific career, gave birth to William Whitney in 1928, raised two small children, and served as hostess at Lick Observatory as the director's wife. She was crucial in establishing the Lick Archives in the University Library. She died July 13, 1983, of a heart attack on her eighty-sixth birthday 6 months after Shane died.[1] His son Whitney Shane is also an astronomer.
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