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Biography
AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjectsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as SubjectLyman Spitzer
Dates
June 26, 1914 – March 31, 1997
Authorized Form of Name
Spitzer, Lyman, 1914-1997
Additional Forms of Names
Shupittsā, 1914-1997
Biography
Abstract
Lyman Spitzer was Charles A. Young Professof of Astornomy at Princeton University (1952-1982). Other institutional affiliations include Yale University and Columbia University. In his work as a theoretical astrophysicist, he wrote classical theoretical papers that helped shape at least three different fields of science: interstellar matter, the dynamics of star clusters, and the physics of plasmas. In addition, he proposed one of the leading methods for magnetically confining thermonuclear fusion and led a pioneering effort to do so at Princeton.
Important Dates
June 26, 1914Birth, Toledo (Ohio).
1935Obtained BA, Yale University, New Haven (Conn.).
1935 – 1936Attended Cambridge University, Cambridge (England).
1937Obtained MA, Princeton University, Princeton (N.J.).
1938Obtained PhD in Astrophysics, Princeton University, Princeton (N.J.).
1938 – 1939National Research Council (NRC) Fellow, Harvard University.
1939 – 1942Instructor in Physics (1939-1941) and Instructor in Astronomy and Physics (1941-1942), Yale University, New Haven (Conn.).
1942 – 1944Scientist, Special Studies Group, Division of War Research, Columbia University.
1944 – 1946Director, Sonar Analysis Group, Office of Field Services, Office of Scientific Research and Development.
1946 – 1947Associate Professor of Astrophysics, Yale University, New Haven (Conn.).
1947 – 1997Professor of Astronomy (1947-1952); Chair, Department of Astronomy (1947-1979); Director, Princeton Observatory (1947-1979); Charles A. Young Professor of Astronomy (1952-1982); Director, Project Matterhorn (1953-1961); Chair, Executive Committee, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (1961-1966); Chair, University Research Board (1967-1972); and Charles A. Young Emeritus Professor of Astronomy (1982-1997), Princeton University, Princeton (N.J.).
1952Member, National Academy of Sciences.
1958 – 1960President, American Astronomical Society.
1975Awarded James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics, American Physical Society.
1979Awarded National Medal of Science.
1981 – 1990Chair, Space Telescope Institute Council, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc., Space Telescope Science Institute.
March 31, 1997Death, Princeton (N.J.).
Occupation
Theoretical astrophysicist.
Places
Birth
Undergraduate Education
Graduate Education
Employment
Death
Subjects
Relationships
People
Family
Spitzer, Dionis C.
Daughter.
Spitzer, Doreen Canaday, 1914-
Wife.
Spitzer, Lydia S.
Daughter.
Spitzer, Nicholas C.
Son.
Spitzer, Sarah L.
Daughter.
Advisors & Collaborators
Advised by Spitzer at Princeton University.
Field, George B., 1929-
Advised by Spitzer at Princeton University, "Radiation by Plasma Oscillations."
Oke, J. Beverley, 1928-2004
Advised by Spitzer at Princeton University, "A study of the atmosphere of early O and Of stars."
Russell, Henry Norris, 1877-1957
PhD advisor at Princeton University, "The Spectra of Late Supergiant Stars," and both employed at Princeton University.
Colleagues
Both employed at Columbia University.
Bridgman, P. W. (Percy Williams), 1882-1961
Both employed at Harvard University.
Conant, James Bryant, 1893-1978
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Princeton University.
Both employed at Princeton University.
Both employed at Princeton University.
Both employed at Princeton University.
Menzel, Donald H. (Donald Howard), 1901-1976
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Yale University.
Both employed at Princeton University.
Pekeris, C. L. (Chaim Leib), 1908-1993
Both employed at Columbia University.
Primakoff, H. (Henry), 1914-1983
Both employed at Columbia University.
Both employed at Columbia University.
Waterman, Alan Tower, 1892-1967
Both employed at Yale University.
Wu, C. S. (Chien-shiung), 1912-1997
Both employed at Columbia University.
Both employed at Yale University.
Additional
Bromberg, Joan Lisa
Chandrasekhar, S. (Subrahmanyan), 1910-1995
Dunham, Theodore, 1897-1984
Dupree, Andrea K.
Edmondson, Frank K. (Frank Kelley), 1912-
Goldberg, Leo
Greenstein, Jesse L. (Jesse Leonard), 1909-2002
Lawrence, Ernest Orlando, 1901-1958
Naugle, John E.
O'Dell, C. Robert (Charles Robert), 1937-
Ostriker, J. P.
Peters, B. (Bernard), 1910-
Rau, A. R. P. (A. Ravi P.)
Roman, Nancy Grace, 1925-
Routly, Paul McRae
Schatzman, Evry L.
Schwarzschild, Martin
Van Allen, James A. (James Alfred), 1914-2006
Van de Kamp, Peter, 1901-1995
Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913
Waltz, Ronald E.
Witten, Louis
Institutions
Major Positions
Columbia University. Division of War Research
Scientist, Special Studies Group.
Princeton University. Department of Astrophysical Sciences
Obtained MA (1937) and PhD (1938). Professor of Astronomy; Charles A. Young Professor of Astronomy; Charles A. Young Emeritus Professor of Astronomy; Department Chair; Director, Princeton Observatory; Director, Project Matterhorn.
United States. Office of Scientific Research and Development
Director, Sonar Analysis Group, Office of Field Services.
Yale University. Department of Astronomy
Instructor in Astronomy and Associate Professor of Astrophysics.
Yale University. Physics Department
Obtained BA (1935). Instructor in Physics and Associate Professor of Astrophysics.
Professional Activities & Affiliations
President.
Received 1975 James Clerk Maxell Prize for Plasma Physics.
General Electric Company. Research Laboratory
Harvard University. Department of Astronomy
National Research Council (NRC) Fellow.
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
Member.
Princeton University. Plasma Physics Laboratory
Chair, Executive Committee.
Princeton University. University Research Board
Chair.
Space Telescope Science Institute (U.S.)
Chair, Space Telescope Institute Council, Associate of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc.
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
University of Cambridge. Department of Physics
Attended 1935-1936.
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
Arno A. Penzias papers, 1931-2006 (bulk 1963-1998).
Manuscript Division
Library of Congress
James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA
Frank Edmondson History of AURA interviews and documentation, 1978-1991.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
History of Modern Astrophysics collection, 1849-1979.
Library.
American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
Lyman Spitzer addition to papers, 1928-2000.
Department of Rare Books and Special Collections
Princeton University
1 Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
Lyman Spitzer papers, 1936-1997.
Department of Rare Books and Special Collections
Princeton University
1 Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
National Air and Space Museum space astronomy oral history project records, 1981-1986.
Archives Division
Smithsonian Institution. National Air and Space Museum
MRC 322, Washington, DC, 20560, USA
National Air and Space Museum Space Telescope History Project records, 1983-1990.
Archives Division
Smithsonian Institution. National Air and Space Museum
MRC 322, Washington, DC, 20560, USA
Oral History interview with Lyman Spitzer, 1991 November 27.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Lyman Spitzer, Jr., 1977 April 8 and 1978 May 10.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Lyman Spitzer, Jr., 1978 March 15.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Project Matterhorn publications and reports, 1951-1958.
Furth Plasma Physics Laboratory.
Princeton University
Forrestal Campus, C-Site. Princeton, NJ 08543-0451, USA
Theodore Dunham papers, 1926-1977 (bulk 1926-1955).
Henry E. Huntington Library
1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108, USA
Subject
Albert Einstein collection, 1913-1975 (bulk 1930-1955).
Department of Rare Books and Special Collections
Princeton University
1 Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
Bernard Peters papers, 1947-1992.
Niels Bohr Archive
Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark
Fusion: past, present, and future [videorecording].
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
International Astronomical Union General Assembly, Zurich, 1948 [motion picture] / photographed by Leo Goldberg 1948.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Notes for NASA Astrophysics Workshop (Aspen, Colorado), 12-30 June, 1978.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Andrea Dupree, 2007 October 29.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Charles Robert O'Dell, 1985 May 21 to 23.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with E. A. Frieman, 1986 June 26.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Edward A. Frieman, 2006 December 4 and 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Edward Gerjuoy, 2012 April 1, October 7, and 2013 April 14.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Evry L. Schatzman, 1979 August 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with George Brooks Field, 1980 July 14 and 15.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Jeremiah P. Ostriker, 2002 May 14 and 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Jesse Leonard Greenstein, 1974 July 31.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with John E. Naugle, 1980 August 20.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Leo Goldberg, 1983 February 22.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Louis Witten, 2011 March 17.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Nancy Grace Roman, 1980 August 19.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral History interview with Paul Routly, 1990 September 25.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Ronald E. Waltz, 2006 May 22.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with S. Chandrasekhar, 1977 May 17, 18 and October 31.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Princeton University Department of Astrophysical Sciences records, 1835-1988 (bulk 1867-1966).
Department of Rare Books and Special Collections
Princeton University
1 Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
Princeton University Plasma Physics Laboratory records, 1958-2007.
Department of Rare Books and Special Collections
Princeton University
1 Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
Project Matterhorn Stellarator Division log book, 1952 July 8-1953 June 11.
Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology
Smithsonian Institution Libraries
National Museum of American History, Washington, DC 20560, USA
Symposium on the galaxy [motion picture] / taken by Peter Van de Kamp, 1950.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Published Resources
Author
Dynamical evolution of globular clusters / Lyman Spitzer, Jr.
Physical processes in the interstellar medium / Lyman Spitzer, Jr.
Physics of fully ionized gases.
Searching between the stars / Lyman Spitzer, Jr.
Subject
"Lyman Spitzer Jr.: 1914-1997", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences
Fusion: Science, Politics, and the Invention of a New Energy Source (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1982)