Thomas Cowling | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1906-06-17)17 June 1906 |
| Died | 16 June 1990(1990-06-16) (aged 83) Leeds,West Yorkshire, England |
| Alma mater | Brasenose College, Oxford |
| Awards | Hughes Medal (1990) |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | The radiative equilibrium of a spherical mass of gas (1931) |
| Doctoral advisor | Edward Arthur Milne |
| Doctoral students | Eric Priest |
Thomas George CowlingFRS[1] (17 June 1906 – 16 June 1990) was an Englishastronomer.[2]
Cowling was born inHackney, London, the second of four sons of George Cowling and Edith Eliza Cowling (née Nicholls). He was educated atSir George Monoux Grammar School inWalthamstow and readmathematics atBrasenose College, Oxford from 1924 to 1930. From 1928 to 1930 he worked underEdward Arthur Milne. In 1929, Milne had no problems left to ask his student to work on and appealed toSydney Chapman, who proposed that they work on an article on which he was working that dealt with theSun'smagnetic field. Cowling found an error in the paper that invalidated Chapman's results. After Cowling's doctorate, Chapman proposed that they work together.
In 1933 Cowling wrote an article,The magnetic field of sunspots.Joseph Larmor had worked in this area, arguing that sunspots regenerate themselves through adynamo effect. Cowling showed that Larmor's proposed explanation was incorrect. His article assured him of a good reputation in the field ofastrophysics.
During the 1930s, Cowling also worked on stellar structure involving radiation and convection, at the same time asLudwig Biermann but independently of him. He constructed a model of star with a convective core and radiative envelope, named the Cowling model byChandrasekhar. He also studiedmagnetic fields within stars and classified the modes of non-radial oscillation of the body of a star, the basis of the field ofhelioseismology.
Cowling became an AssistantLecturer at theUniversity College of Swansea (now Swansea University) in 1933. He was subsequently a lecturer at theUniversity of Dundee (1937–38) and at theUniversity of Manchester (1938–45) before being appointed professor ofmathematics at theUniversity College of North Wales (now Bangor University). In 1948 Cowling was appointed professor ofapplied mathematics at theUniversity of Leeds in succession to ProfessorSelig Brodetsky. Cowling retired from his chair at Leeds in 1970 with the titleemeritus professor.[3]
Cowling was elected afellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in March 1947.[1][4] He won theGold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1956 and theBruce Medal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in 1985. He was elected president of theRoyal Astronomical Society from 1965 to 1967. He was also awarded theHughes Medal two days before his death.
Cowling married Doris Marjorie Moffatt in 1935. They had a son and two daughters.
Cowling died inLeeds on 16 June 1990, one day before his 84th birthday. He was survived by his wife and children.[5][6]
