Princeton University (Ph.D.) Yale University (B.A.) Phillips Academy
Known for
Research in star formation and plasma physics Promotion of space telescopes
Spouse
Doreen Canaday (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
Lyman Spitzer Jr. (June 26, 1914 – March 31, 1997)[2] was an American theoretical physicist, astronomer and mountaineer. As a scientist, he carried out research into star formation and plasma physics and in 1946 conceived the idea of telescopes operating in outer space.[3] Spitzer invented the stellarator plasma device[4] and is the namesake of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. As a mountaineer, he made the first ascent of Mount Thor, with Donald C. Morton.[5]
^Saxon, Wolfgang (2 April 1997). "Lyman Spitzer Jr. Dies at 82; Inspired Hubble Telescope". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
^Ostriker, J. P. (2007). "Lyman Spitzer. 26 June 1914 -- 31 March 1997: Elected ForMemRS 1990". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 53: 339–348. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2007.0020. S2CID 70875907.: 339
^"Hubble Essentials: About Lyman Spitzer Jr". Hubble Site.
^Lyman Spitzer Jr. (1958). "The Stellarator Concept". The Physics of Fluids. 1 (4): 253. Bibcode:1958PhFl....1..253S. doi:10.1063/1.1705883. S2CID 11748652.
^O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Lyman Spitzer", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
LymanSpitzer Jr. (June 26, 1914 – March 31, 1997) was an American theoretical physicist, astronomer and mountaineer. As a scientist, he carried out research...
being named in honor of astronomer LymanSpitzer, who had promoted the concept of space telescopes in the 1940s. Spitzer wrote a 1946 report for RAND Corporation...
telescope in outer space used to observe astronomical objects. Suggested by LymanSpitzer in 1946, the first operational telescopes were the American Orbiting...
century art dealer, after whom the Spitzer Cross is named Leo Spitzer (1887–1960), Austrian linguist LymanSpitzer (1914–1997), American theoretical physicist...
magnetic mirror. The stellarator was invented by American scientist LymanSpitzer of Princeton University in 1951, and much of its early development was...
of this program changed from H-bombs to fusion power in 1951, when LymanSpitzer developed the stellarator concept and was granted funding from the Atomic...
The Spitzer resistivity (or plasma resistivity) is an expression describing the electrical resistance in a plasma, which was first formulated by Lyman Spitzer...
performance. The initial results were released in 1965, but were ignored; LymanSpitzer dismissed them out of hand after noting potential problems in their...
U-shape which gives the mountain its vertical drop Donald Morton and LymanSpitzer made the first recorded ascent of Mount Thor in 1965 during the Alpine...
potential military weapon. In 1946, American theoretical astrophysicist LymanSpitzer proposed an orbiting space telescope. In February 1954, Project RAND...
House sponsored contest to develop a fusion reactor along with LymanSpitzer. Spitzer went on to develop the Stellarator concept at Princeton. The previous...
of the Hubble Space Telescope can be traced to 1946, to astronomer LymanSpitzer's paper "Astronomical advantages of an extraterrestrial observatory"...
UV telescope built by Princeton University under the supervision of LymanSpitzer. The mission also used a new inertial reference unit that was developed...
conservation in the United States. LymanSpitzer, noted theoretical physicist and astronomer was a member of the club. In 1965, Spitzer and Donald Morton became...
1946, when the astronomer LymanSpitzer wrote the paper Astronomical advantages of an extraterrestrial observatory. Spitzer devoted much of his career...
Richard B. Kershner Edward W. Bonnett Antonio Ferri Theodore D. Smith LymanSpitzer Laurence J. Adams Franklin W. Kolk Walter O. Lowrie Thomas G. Pownall...
observe the 21 cm hyperfine line of neutral interstellar hydrogen 1956 — LymanSpitzer predicts coronal gas around the Milky Way 1965 — James Gunn and Bruce...
Ronald Grabe David Hilmers Ulf Merbold Stephen Oswald William Readdy LymanSpitzer Norman Thagard Narrated by Leonard Nimoy Cinematography David Douglas...
(1935), advertising, racecar driver LymanSpitzer (1935), theoretical physicist and namesake of the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope Sonny Tufts (1935), actor...
Ślopek George J. Smets George D. Snell Leonard Sosnowky Roger W. Sperry LymanSpitzer Frederick Stewart Heikki Suomalainen Pol Swings Charles Tanford Henry...
Princeton and Pasadena, an interlude that led to a paper by Oort and LymanSpitzer on the acceleration of interstellar clouds by O-type stars. He went...
Awards. Franklin Institute. 15 January 2014. Retrieved 2016-01-30. "LymanSpitzer Jr". The Franklin Institute Awards. Franklin Institute. 15 January 2014...
Gahm, Gösta (1985). "The Crafoord Prize 1985 in Astronomy to Professor LymanSpitzer Jr". Physica Scripta. 11. IOP Publishing: 3–4. Bibcode:1985PhST...11...
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