Henry Crew | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1859-06-04)June 4, 1859 Richmond, Ohio |
| Died | February 17, 1953(1953-02-17) (aged 93) Evanston, Illinois |
| Education | A.B., Ph.D. |
| Alma mater | Princeton University Johns Hopkins University |
| Occupations | Physicist, astronomer |
| Spouse | Helen C. Coale |
| Children | Alice H., Mildred, William H. Beau crew |
| Parent(s) | William H. Crew, Deborah Ann |
| Awards | Oersted Medal (1941) |
Henry Crew (June 4, 1859 – February 17, 1953) was an American physicist and astronomer.
Born inRichmond, Ohio, the son of William H. Crew and Deborah Ann,[1] he attended high school inWilmington, Ohio then matriculated toPrinceton University in 1878.[2] He graduated with an A.B. in physics 1882 and was awarded a graduate fellowship at the university for a year, which he spent at the Princeton laboratory. In 1883 he traveled for a semester overseas to study physics in Berlin, returning in 1884 to attend graduate school at theJohns Hopkins University.[1] Three years later he was awarded a Ph.D. in physics with a thesis on "Doppler Determination of the Rotation Period of the Sun for Various Heliocentric Latitudes."[3]
After a term with an associateship in physics at Johns Hopkins, he became an assistant instructor of physics atHaverford College from 1888–1892.[2] During his last year at Haverford, Henry Crew was married to Helen C. Coale, a graduate ofBryn Mawr College.[1] He then joined the staff of theLick Observatory in 1892, but soon found himself entangled in the political atmosphere.[1] That year he was awarded the position of Fayerweather professor of physics atNorthwestern University, which he accepted. He would remain at that postuntil he retired 41 years later in 1933.[2] While at Northwestern, he was elected to the United StatesNational Academy of Sciences, theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences, and theAmerican Philosophical Society.[4][5][6]
In 1930, he was granted leave from Northwestern to accept an appointment at theCentury of Progress International Exposition staged in Chicago 1933–1934, where he was chief of the division of basic sciences.[1] Henry had one son and two daughters before his wife died in 1941. His son William H. Crew would himself become a physicist.[1] During his career, Henry wrote a number of works on spectroscopy, the history of science, and biographies of physicists, producing 123 articles and 12 books. He was elected president of theAmerican Physical Society in 1909.[2] In 1914 he published, with Albert De Salvio, an English translation ofGalileo'sTwo New Sciences. He served as the president of theHistory of Science Society in 1930.[7] In 1941 he was awarded theOersted Medal by theAmerican Association of Physics Teachers.[8] He was named a Chevalier of theOrder of the Crown of Italy, and was awarded an honorary degree fromUniversity of Michigan in 1914, then from Princeton in 1922 and Northwestern in 1937.[3]
