American scientist and political activist (1885–1972)
Harlow Shapley
Born
November 2, 1885
Nashville, Missouri, U.S.
Died
October 20, 1972(1972-10-20) (aged 86)
Boulder, Colorado, U.S.
Alma mater
University of Missouri, Princeton University
Known for
Determining correct position of Sun within Milky Way Galaxy; head of Harvard College Observatory (1921–1952)
Children
5, including
Mildred Shapley Matthews (b. 1915)
Willis Shapley (b. 1917)
Lloyd Shapley (b. 1923)
Awards
Henry Draper Medal (1926)
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1934)
Rittenhouse Medal (1935)
Bruce Medal (1939)
Scientific career
Fields
Astronomy
Doctoral advisor
Henry Norris Russell
Doctoral students
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, Carl Seyfert
Other notable students
Georges Lemaître
Harlow Shapley (November 2, 1885 – October 20, 1972) was an American scientist, head of the Harvard College Observatory (1921–1952), and political activist during the latter New Deal and Fair Deal.[1][2]
Shapley used Cepheid variable stars to estimate the size of the Milky Way Galaxy and the Sun's position within it.[3] In 1953 he proposed his "liquid water belt" theory, now known as the concept of a habitable zone.[4]
^"Dr. Harlow Shapley Dies at 86. Dean of American Astronomers. Dr. Harlow Shapley, Dean of American Astronomers, Dies at 86". The New York Times. October 21, 1972. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
^Bart J. Bok. Harlow Shapely 1885–1972 A Biographical Memoir. National Academy of Sciences
^Richard J. Hugget, Geoecology: An Evolutionary Approach. p. 10
HarlowShapley (November 2, 1885 – October 20, 1972) was an American scientist, head of the Harvard College Observatory (1921–1952), and political activist...
of Centaurus. It is 650 million light-years away (z=0.046). In 1930, HarlowShapley and his colleagues at the Harvard College Observatory started a survey...
Harbor HarlowShapley (1885–1972), American astronomer, married to Martha Martha Betz Shapley (1890–1981), American astronomer, married to Harlow Mildred...
" Lloyd Shapley was born on June 2, 1923, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, one of the sons of astronomers HarlowShapley and Martha Betz Shapley, both from...
19th century, was overthrown by astronomer HarlowShapley's work on globular clusters in 1918. Shapley's research marked the transition from heliocentrism...
the Universe. Following the 1920 Great Debate between the astronomers HarlowShapley and Heber Doust Curtis, observations by Edwin Hubble showed that the...
constellation Sculptor. It was discovered in 1937 by American astronomer HarlowShapley using the 24-inch Bruce refractor at Boyden Observatory. The galaxy...
Apollo program. Shapley was born March 2, 1917, in Pasadena, California. His parents were astronomers HarlowShapley and Martha Betz Shapley. He attended...
center of the Milky Way Galaxy, and that Sirius might be the star. HarlowShapley stated in 1918 that the halo of globular clusters surrounding the Milky...
research. The idea for the lectureship came from then society President HarlowShapley in 1945, who led the fund raising drive to collect $10,000 from the...
ellipsoid galaxy with the Sun close to the center. A different method by HarlowShapley based on the cataloguing of globular clusters led to a radically different...
to academic libraries and scientists, including Harvard astronomer HarlowShapley in 1947. In 1950, after eight publishing houses rejected the Worlds...
system whose orbit is perpendicular to Earth. Discovered in 1936 by HarlowShapley, it is approximately 4900 light years from Earth, and is around 8700...
described as "the world's greatest non-professional astronomer" by HarlowShapley. Leslie Copus Peltier was born in Delphos, Ohio. Delphos is located...
October 19, 1835, while the parent galaxy was discovered in 1938 by HarlowShapley. "SIMBAD Astronomical Database". Results for NGC 1049. Retrieved 2006-11-17...
Supergalaxy" in 1953, which he changed to "Local Supercluster" (LSC) in 1958. HarlowShapley, in his 1959 book Of Stars and Men, suggested the term Metagalaxy. Debate...
1939, to Mildred and Ralph Matthews and is the eldest granddaughter of HarlowShapley. Matthews completed her undergraduate degree in Physics at Carleton...
daughter of astronomers HarlowShapley and Martha Betz Shapley; her father named the asteroid 878 Mildred for her. Mildred Shapley, one of five siblings...
class there alongside her brother. She also heard Harvard astronomer HarlowShapley speak; eventually she would go to work with him on variable stars. Swope...
first 28 being identified as early as 1919–20 by American astronomer HarlowShapley. Most of the variables are of type RR Lyrae, or periodic variables....
he started a systematic study of meteor spectra at the suggestion of HarlowShapley in 1929. He continued the work on meteors throughout his active scientific...
binary system. However, in 1914, HarlowShapley demonstrated that this idea should be abandoned. Two years later, Shapley and others had discovered that...
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