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Biography
AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjectsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as SubjectTheodore Lyman
Dates
November 23, 1874 – October 11, 1954
Authorized Form of Name
Lyman, Theodore, 1874-1954
Biography
Abstract
Theodore Lyman was Emeritus Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Harvard University (1899-1954). His research interests included the spectroscopy of the extreme ultraviolet and diffraction gratings.
Important Dates
November 23, 1874Birth, Boston (Mass.).
1897Obtained AB, Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.).
1899Obtained AM, Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.).
1899 – 1901Assistant in Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.).
1900Obtained PhD in Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.).
1901 – 1902Post Doctoral Researcher, Cambridge University, Cambridge (England).
1902 – 1954Instructor in Physics (1902-1907); Assistant Professor of Physics (1907-1917); Director, Jefferson Physical Laboratory (1910-1947); Professor of Physics (1917-1921); Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy (1921-1926); and Emeritus Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy (1926-1954), Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.).
1917Member, National Academy of Sciences.
1921 – 1922President, American Physical Society.
1924 – 1927President, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
October 11, 1954Death, Brookline (Mass.).
Occupation
Optical physicist.
Places
Birth
Undergraduate Education
Graduate Education
Employment
Death
Subjects
Relationships
People
Family
Lyman, Elizabeth Russell, 1836-1911
Mother.
Lyman, Theodore, 1833-1897
Father.
Advisors & Collaborators
Harrison, George Russell, 1898-1979
Advised by Lyman at Harvard University.
Sabine, Wallace Clement
PhD advisor at Harvard University, "False spectra from the Rowland Concave grating."
Thomson, J. J. (Joseph John), 1856-1940
Post doctoral advisor at University of Cambridge.
Webster, David Locke, 1888-1976
Advised by Lyman at Harvard University, "I. On an electromagnetic theory of gravitation. II. On the existence and properties of the ether," and both employed at Harvard University.
Colleagues
Allison, Samuel King, 1900-1965
Both employed at Harvard University.
Bainbridge, Kenneth T. (Kenneth Tompkins), 1904-1996
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Barton, Henry Askew, 1898-1983
Both employed at Harvard University (NRC fellowship).
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Bridgman, P. W. (Percy Williams), 1882-1961
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Fisk, James B. (James Brown), 1910-1981
Both employed at Harvard University.
Furry, W. H. (Wendell Hinkle), 1907-
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Kemble, Edwin C. (Edwin Crawford), 1889-
Both employed at Harvard University.
Kent, R. H. (Robert Harrington), 1886-1961
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Mackey, George W. (George Whitelaw), 1916-2006
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Nier, Alfred O. (Alfred Otto), 1911-1994
Both employed at Harvard University.
Oldenberg, Otto, 1888-
Both employed at Harvard University.
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967
Both employed at Harvard University.
Pierce, George Washington, 1872-1956
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Saunders, Frederick A. (Frederick Albert), 1875-1963
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Slater, John C. (John Clarke), 1900-1976
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Van Vleck, J. H. (John Hasbrouck), 1899-1980
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Additional
Armstrong, Alice H.
Baum, William A.
Hall, Edwin Herbert, 1855-1938
Hunt, Frederick V.
Laird, Elizabeth Rebecca, 1874-1969
Libby, Willard F.
Institutions
Major Positions
Harvard University. Department of Physics
Obtained AB (1897), AM (1899), and PhD in Physics (1900). Assistant in Physics; Instructor in Physics; Assistant Professor of Physics; Professor of Physics; Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy; and Emeritus Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, Harvard University.
Harvard University. Jefferson Physical Laboratory
Director.
Professional Activities & Affiliations
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
President.
President.
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
Member.
University of Cambridge. Department of Physics
Post Doctoral Researcher.
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
Edwin Herbert Hall and Thedore Lyman correspondence, 1917-1918.
Archives. Pusey Library
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Harvard University Department of Physics records, 1879-[ongoing].
Archives. Pusey Library
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Harvard University Physics Laboratories records, 1906-1949.
Archives. Pusey Library
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Papers of physicists and astronomers in Hoover Library, 1918-1965.
Herbert Hoover Presidential Library
West Branch, IA 52358, USA
Scientists collection, 1563-1973.
Library
American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
Theodore Lyman papers, 1900-1955.
Archives. Pusey Library
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Subject
Elizabeth Rebecca Laird papers, 1897-1959.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Alice Armstrong, 1979 June 11.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with David Locke Webster, 1964 May 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Edward M. Purcell, 1976 November 23.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Frederick Vinton Hunt, 1964 December 18 and 1965 January 8.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Jabez Street, 1976 November 22.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with John Van Vleck, 1977 January 28.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Willard Frank Libby, 1979 April 12 and 16.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral History interview with William A. Baum, 1983 January 12.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Percy Williams Bridgman papers, 1905-1982.
Archives. Pusey Library
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Published Resources
Author
The spectroscopy of the extreme ultra-violet / by Theodore Lyman.
Subject
"Theodore Lyman: 1874-1954", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences