William Wallace Campbell

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William Wallace Campbell

William Wallace Campbell (11 April 1862 – 14 June 1938) was an American astronomer, and director of Lick Observatory from 1900 to 1930. He specialized in spectroscopy.[1][2][3]

Contents

Biography [edit]

He was born on a farm in Hancock county, Ohio, the son of Robert Wilson and Harriet Welsh Campbell. After a few years of local schooling he entered in 1882 the University of Michigan to study civil engineering, graduating Bachelor of Science in 1886. Whilst at university he developed his interest in astronomy when he read Simon Newcomb's Popular Astronomy.[4]

After graduating he was appointed Professor of Mathematics at the University of Colorado but soon moved back to Michigan as an instructor in astronomy. In 1891 he was invited to work on spectroscopy at Lick Observatory in California. Campbell was a pioneer of astronomical spectroscopy and catalogued the radial velocities of stars. He was made a director of Lick Observatory from 1901 to 1930. He led a team to Australia in 1922 where he photographed a solar eclipse. The data obtained provided further evidence supporting Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. In 1931 he accepted the rôle of president of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington (1931–1935).

He served as 10th President of the University of California from 1923 to 1930. He also served on the board of trustees for Science Service, now known as Society for Science & the Public, from 1923-1926. He served three terms as president of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (in 1895, 1909 and 1918).

He committed suicide in California at the age of 76 by leaping to his death from a fourth-story window in San Francisco.[5][6] He was mostly blind and suffering from bouts of aphasia. This was not only very frustrating to him, but he felt that it left him a burden to his family in terms of care and expense, according to notes he left behind at the time of his death. He had married Elizabeth Ballard Thompson in 1892; they had three sons.

Honors and awards [edit]

Crocker expeditions led by Campbell [edit]

Charles Frederick Crocker and William Henry Crocker financed numerous Lick-Crocker solar eclipse expeditions. Campbell led several of these expeditions.[11]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Aitken, R. G. (1938). "William Wallace Campbell, 1862-1938". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 50: 204. Bibcode:1938PASP...50..204A. doi:10.1086/124927.  edit
  2. ^ Moore, J. H. (1939). "William Wallace Campbell, 1862-1938". The Astrophysical Journal 89: 143. doi:10.1086/144035.  edit
  3. ^ MNRAS 99 (1939) 317 Obituary
  4. ^ Hockey, Thomas (2009). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. Retrieved August 22, 2012. 
  5. ^ NNDB
  6. ^ "UC Presidents." University of California. University of California, 04/27/2007. Web. 1 Sep 2011.
  7. ^ "Henry Draper Medal". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 19 February 2011. 
  8. ^ Awarding of RAS gold medal: MNRAS 66 (1906) 245
  9. ^ Crawford, R. T. (1915). "Address upon the Presentation of the Bruce Gold Medal to Dr. W. W. CAMPBELL". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 27: 153. Bibcode:1915PASP...27..153C. doi:10.1086/122422.  edit
  10. ^ Dyson, F. W. (1939). "William Wallace Campbell. 1862-1938". Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 2 (7): 612–626. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1939.0021.  edit
  11. ^ "List of solar eclipse expeditions". The Adolfo Stahl Lectures in astronomy, delivered in San Francisco, 1916-1917 and 1917-1918. Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 1919. p. 65. 

External links [edit]

Academic offices
Preceded by
David Prescott Barrows		 President of the University of California
1923–1930		 Succeeded by
Robert Gordon Sproul
Authority control
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