George Ellery Hale
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| George Ellery Hale | |
|---|---|
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| Nationality | United States |
| Fields | astronomy |
| Known for | spectroheliograph |
George Ellery Hale (June 29, 1868 – February 21, 1938) was an American solar astronomer, born in Chicago. He was educated at MIT, at the Observatory of Harvard College, (1889–90), and at Berlin (1893–94). As an undergraduate at MIT, he invented the spectroheliograph, with which he made his discoveries of the solar vortices and magnetic fields of sun spots.
In 1890 he was appointed director of the Kenwood Astrophysical Observatory; he was professor of Astrophysics at Beloit College (1891–93); associate professor at the University of Chicago until 1897, and full professor (1897–1905). He was coeditor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 1892–95, and after 1895 editor of the Astrophysical Journal.
Hale was a driven individual who worked to found a number of significant astronomical observatories, including Yerkes Observatory, Mount Wilson Observatory, Palomar Observatory, and the Hale Solar Laboratory. At Mount Wilson, he hired and encouraged Harlow Shapley and Edwin Hubble toward some of the most significant discoveries of the time. He was a prolific organizer who helped create a number of astronomical institutions, societies and journals. Hale also played a central role in developing the California Institute of Technology into a leading research university.
Hale suffered from neurological and psychological problems, including insomnia, frequent headaches, and schizophrenia, claiming to have regular visits from an elf who advised him on his work. He would spend months at a time in sanitariums.[1]
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[edit] Honors
Awards
- The 1894 Janssen Medal from the Paris Academy of Sciences.[2]
- The 1902 Benjamin Count Rumford Medal from the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.[2]
- The 1904 Henry Draper Medal from the National Academy of Sciences.[2]
- The 1904 Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society.[2]
- The 1916 Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.[2]
- In 1919 he was elected an associate of Academie des Sciences, Institut de France.[2]
- The 1920 Galileo Medal from the University of Florence.[2]
- The 1921 Actonian Prize from Royal Institution of London.[2]
- The 1926 Elliott Cresson Medal in Physics from the The Franklin Institute of Philadelphia.[2]
- The 1926 Arthur Noble Medal from the City of Pasadena.[2][3]
- The 1927 Franklin Gold Medal from The Franklin Institute of Philadelphia.[2]
- The 1932 Sir Godfrey Copley Medal from the Royal Society of Great Britain.[2]
- The 1935 Frederic Ives Medal from the Optical Society of America.[2]
Named after him
- Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory.
- 22-year solar Hale cycle.
- Asteroid 1024 Hale.
- Hale (lunar crater).
- Hale (Martian crater).
- George Ellery Hale Middle School, Woodland Hills, CA
- Hale House, Shoreland Hall, University of Chicago
- Hale Building, Pasadena, California
- George Ellery Hale Prize, awarded by the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society
[edit] External links
- Bruce Medal page
- Awarding of the Bruce Medal: PASP 28 (1916) 12
- Awarding of the RAS gold medal: MNRAS 64 (1904) 388
- The New Heavens, 1922, by George Hale, from Project Gutenberg
- Franklin Institute The Case Files: George Ellery Hale
- Caltech archive search
- "The Journey to Palomar" (2008) Comprehensive PBS documentary on Hale's personal and career challenges (written, produced and directed by Todd and Robin Mason of Mason Productions, Inc.)
[edit] Obituaries
[edit] References
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