Whipple, Fred L. (Fred Lawrence), 1906-2004
Oral history interview with Fred Lawrence Whipple, 1977 April 29.
Family history and educational background; undergraduate degree from University of California Los Angeles (1924-1927); PhD from University of California Berkeley (1927-1931); orbit computing with A. O. Leuschner; thesis work at Lick Observatory with Donald Menzel; work at Harvard College Observatory (1931-1955); with Harlow Shapley, Donald Menzel, Annie Jump Cannon, Antonia Maury, Bart Bok, Leon Campbell, Cecelia Payne Gaposchkin; comets and meteors; radio astronomy; Super Schmidt meteor camera project (1948); Director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (1955-1973); science fiction authors, especially Arthur C. Clarke; Moonwatch project, Armand and Grace Spitz; military and science funding; Multi-mirror telescope with A. B. Meinel; "icy comet" model.
Fred Lawrence Whipple (1906-2004). Astronomer. Appointed Chairman of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) when it moved to Cambridge, MA in 1955. Major SAO projects under his direction included the Satellite Tracking Program, Project Celescope, the Radio Meteor Project, and the Meteorite Photography and Recovery Project, also known as the Prairie Network. In the late 1960s, Whipple selected Mount Hopkins, AZ as the site for a new SAO astronomical facility, renamed Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in 1981. He is internationally recognized for his research on the moon, meteors, and comets. In 1975, the minor planet number 1940 was named "Whipple" in recognition of his contributions to astronomy.
Bok, Bart J. (Bart Jan), 1906-1983
Campbell, Leon, 1881-1951.
Cannon, Annie Jump, 1863-1941
Clarke, Arthur C. (Arthur Charles), 1917-2008.
Leuschner, Armin Otto, b. 1868.
Maury, Antonia C, 1866-1962-
Menzel, Donald H. (Donald Howard), 1901-1976
Payne-Gaposchkin, Cecilia, 1900-1979-
Spitz, Armand
Shapley, Harlow, 1885-1972.
Whipple, Fred L. (Fred Lawrence), 1906-2004
Harvard College Observatory
Lick Observatory.
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Director.
Astrophysics
Radio astronomy.
Science and state -- United States -- 20th century.
Science fiction
Oral histories. aat
Interviews. aat
Sound recordings lcgft
Transcripts. aat
Astronomers -- Interviews. lcsh
DeVorkin, David H., 1944- interviewer.
AIP-ICOS
American Institute of Physics. Niels Bohr Library & Archives. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA