biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1885–1972)
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| biography:
| Astrophysicist, born in Nashville, Missouri, USA. In order to leave the family farm, he took a business course and at age 16 became a reporter for the Daily Sun in Chanute, KS. With only a fifth-grade education, he attended the Presbyterian Carthage Collegiate Institute, graduated in two semesters, and went on to the University of Missouri, Columbia (1907). The journalism school, his choice, was not yet open, so meanwhile he studied astronomy, an interest that was clinched by a teaching assistantship. He graduated in 1910, and took his PhD at Princeton (1911). He observed at Mt Wilson Observatory (1914–21) before going to Harvard College, where he directed the observatory (1921–52). His early work included pioneer studies of binary stars and star clusters, and he calculated that our sun is 30 000 light years from the centre of the Milky Way, not at its centre as was supposed; this resulted in the first realistic assessment of the size of our galaxy. Highly in demand as a lecturer, he wrote both technical works and more popular books such as Of Stars and Men (1958). He was active in scientific organizations and received many honours. |
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