Image by Joa70 on Pixabay · Pixabay License
Key facts
- Born
- Lyman Spitzer Jr. , ( 1914-06-26 ) June 26, 1914, Toledo, Ohio , U.S.
- Died
- March 31, 1997 (1997-03-31) (aged 82) , Princeton, New Jersey , U.S.
- Resting place
- Princeton Cemetery
- Alma mater
- 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 (m. 1940)
- Awards
- Henry Draper Medal (1974), James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics (1975) , National Medal of Science (1979), Crafoord Prize (1985)
- Fields
- Theoretical physics
- Doctoral advisor
- Henry Norris Russell
- Doctoral students
- John Richard Gott , Bruce Elmegreen , George B. Field , J. Beverley Oke , Trinh Xuan Thuan , J. Michael Shull
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Family name
- Spitzer
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Toledo
- Place of death
- Princeton
- Occupation
- university teacher
- Position held
- chairperson
- Educated at
- St John's College
- Employer
- Yale University
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Doctoral advisor
- Henry Norris Russell
- Field of work
- astrophysics
- Image
- 1946- Lyman Spitzer (4526166350).jpg
Show 6 more facts
- member of
- National Academy of Sciences
- date of birth
- 1914-06-26
- date of death
- 1997-03-31
- birth name
- Lyman Strong Spitzer II
- Commons category
- Lyman Spitzer
- maintained by WikiProject
- WikiProject Mathematics
via Wikidata · CC0
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Lyman Spitzer Jr. (June 26, 1914 – March 31, 1997) 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. Spitzer invented the stellarator plasma device 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.
Early life and education
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Lyman Spitzer” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.