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Whipple, Fred L. (Fred Lawrence), 1906-2004 interviewee.
Oral history interviews with Fred Lawrence Whipple, 1976.
These interviews of Whipple by Pamela M. Henson cover his education; research interests; service during World War II; tenure as Director of Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, especially development of the Satellite Tracking Program, Project Celescope, the Whipple Observatory, and Multiple Mirror Telescope; and reminiscences of colleagues.
Fred Lawrence Whipple (1906- ), an astronomer at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), was noted for his research and methodological innovations in studying the moon, meteors, and comets. The University of California, Los Angeles awarded him the B.A. in 1927 and the University of California, Berkeley the Ph.D. in 1931. After teaching at Stanford University in 1929, he joined the Harvard College Observatory staff in 1931. In 1955 he was appointed Director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. During his tenure, he established the Satellite Tracking Program (STP) which pioneered optical tracking systems utilized in geodesy and geophysics; oversaw SAO's research program in stellar interiors, upper atmosphere, meteorite, celestial mechanics, and geodesy studies; and its participation in Project Celescope. Whipple selected and developed an astronomical facility at Mount Hopkins, Arizona, named the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in 1981. Now SAO's principal observation site, the facility houses the Multiple-Mirror Telescope (MMT), an innovative, low cost telescope planned by Whipple and two colleagues. After his retirement in 1973, he continued comet and meteor studies as Senior Scientist at SAO.
Whipple, Fred L. (Fred Lawrence), 1906-2004
Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory
Multiple Mirror Telescope Observatory
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory -- Administration.
Astronomy
Astrophysics
World War, 1939-1945
Interviews. aat
Sound recordings lcgft
Transcripts. aat
Astronomers -- Interviews.
Henson, Pamela M. interviewer.
AIP-ICOS
Smithsonian Institution. Archives. Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507, 600 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20024-2520, USA
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