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Table of Contents

Biography

AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjects

Relationships

PeopleInstitutions

Resources

Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as Subject

A. Dalgarno

Photo

Dates

January 5, 1928 – April 9, 2015

Authorized Form of Name

Dalgarno, A.

Additional Forms of Names

Dalgarno, A. (Alexander)

Dalgarno, Alex

Dalgarno, Alexander

Dalgarno, Alexander, 1928-2015

Biography

Abstract

British physicist, Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University; known as the father of molecular astrophysics.

Important Dates

January 5, 1928Birth, London (England).

1947Obtained BS, University College London, London (England).

1951Obtained PhD (Physics), University College London, London (England).

1951 – 1967Professor of Mathematics, Queen's University, Belfast, Belfast (Northern Ireland).

1967 – 2015Member, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), Cambridge (Mass.).

1967 – 2015Professor of Astronomy (1967-1972); Chair, Department of Astronomy (1971-1976); and Phillips Professor of Astronomy (1972-2015), Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.).

1971 – 1973Acting Director, Harvard College Observatory, Cambridge (Mass.).

1980Awarded Davisson-Germer Prize in Atomic or Surface Physics, American Physical Society.

1985 – 1988Member, Advisory Board, Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara (Calif.).

2001Member, National Academy of Sciences.

April 9, 2015Death, Cambridge (Mass.).

Occupation

Astronomer.

Places

Birth

London (England)

Undergraduate Education

London (England)

Graduate Education

London (England)

Employment

Belfast (Northern Ireland)

Cambridge (Mass.)

Death

Cambridge (Mass.)

Subjects

Astronomy.

Atmosphere, Upper.

Atmospheric physics.

Geophysics.

Quantum theory.

Relationships

People

Advisors & Collaborators

Massey, Harrie Stewart Wilson, Sir, 1908-1983

Ph.D. advisor at University College London, "Collisions of normal and metastable helium atoms."

Colleagues

Conant, James Bryant, 1893-1978

Both employed at Harvard University.

Geller, Margaret J.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Giacconi, Riccardo

Both employed at Harvard University.

McKee, Christopher, 1942-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Menzel, Donald H. (Donald Howard), 1901-1976

Both employed at Harvard University.

Rosner, Robert

Both employed at Harvard University.

Stubbs, Christopher

Both employed at Harvard University.

Additional

Armstrong, E. B. (Edward Brian), 1916-

Dupree, Andrea K.

Goldberg, Leo

Kolos, Wlodzimierz

Marsden, Brian G.

Institutions

Major Positions

Harvard University. Department of Astronomy

Professor of Astronomy; Chair, Department of Astronomy; and Phillips Professor of Astronomy.

Queen's University of Belfast

Professor of Mathematics.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Physical Society

Received Davisson-Germer Prize in Atomic or Surface Physics.

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Member.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

University College, London. Department of Physics

Obtained BS in 1947 and PhD in 1951.

University of California, Santa Barbara. Institute for Theoretical Physics

Member, Advisory Board.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Alexander Dalgarno papers, 1974-2002.

Archives. Pusey Library

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Oral history interview with Alex Dalgarno, 2007 December 6.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Responses to History of Geophysics Survey, 1997.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

Files of Wlodzimierz Kolos.

Archiwum (Warszawa)

Polska Akademia Nauk

Nowy Świat 72, 00-330 Warsaw, Poland

Harvard College Observatory Office of the Director subject files, 1960-1978.

Archives. Pusey Library

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA 02138, 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 Brian Marsden, 2005 October 12 and 17.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Leo Goldberg, 1978 May 16 and 17, and 1982.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

Spectroscopy of astrophysical plasmas

The airglow and the aurorae; [papers presented at] a symposium held at Belfast in September 1955.

The Physics of electronic and atomic collisions : XVI international conference, New York, NY 1989

Subject

Alexander Dalgarno Physics Today obituary.