Henry Norris Russell Explained

Henry Norris Russell
Birth Date:October 25, 1877
Birth Place:Oyster Bay, New York, U.S.
Death Place:Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma Mater:Princeton University
Doctoral Advisor:Charles Augustus Young
Awards:
Field:Astronomy

Henry Norris Russell ForMemRS HFRSE FRAS (October 25, 1877 – February 18, 1957) was an American astronomer who, along with Ejnar Hertzsprung, developed the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram (1910). In 1923, working with Frederick Saunders, he developed Russell–Saunders coupling, which is also known as LS coupling.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Life

Russell was born on 25 October 1877, at Oyster Bay, New York, the son of Rev Alexander Gatherer Russell (1845-1911) and his wife, Eliza Hoxie Norris.[8]

After graduating from George School in 1895, he studied astronomy at Princeton University, obtaining his B.A. In 1897 and his doctorate in 1899, studying under Charles Augustus Young. From 1903 to 1905, he worked at the Cambridge Observatory with Arthur Robert Hinks as a research assistant of the Carnegie Institution and came under the strong influence of George Darwin.

He returned to Princeton to become an instructor in astronomy (1905–1908), assistant professor (1908–1911), professor (1911–1927) and research professor (1927–1947). He was also the director of the Princeton University Observatory from 1912 to 1947 where Charlotte Moore Sitterly helped him measure and calculate the properties of stars.

He died in Princeton, New Jersey on 18 February 1957 at the age of 79.[9] He is buried in Princeton Cemetery.

Family

In November 1908 Russell married Lucy May Cole (1881-1968). They had four children. Their youngest daughter, Margaret Russell (1914-1999), married the astronomer Frank K. Edmondson in the 1930s.

Published work

Russell co-wrote an influential two-volume textbook in 1927 with Raymond Smith Dugan and John Quincy Stewart: Astronomy: A Revision of Young’s Manual of Astronomy (Ginn & Co., Boston, 1926–27, 1938, 1945). This became the standard astronomy textbook for about two decades. There were two volumes: the first was The Solar System and the second was Astrophysics and Stellar Astronomy. The textbook popularized the idea that a star's properties (radius, surface temperature, luminosity, etc.)were largely determined by the star's mass and chemical composition, which became known as the Vogt–Russell theorem(including Heinrich Vogt who independently discovered the result). Since a star's chemical composition gradually changes with age (usually in a non-homogeneous fashion), stellar evolution results.

Russell dissuaded Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin from concluding that the composition of the Sun is different from that of the Earth in her thesis, as it contradicted the accepted wisdom at the time. He realized she was correct four years later after deriving the same result by different means. In his paper Russell credited Payne with discovering that the Sun had a different chemical composition from Earth but never shared the rewards of the fame he readily accepted for her work which he’d failed to recognize until years later.[10]

Awards and honors

External links

Notes and References

  1. David H. DeVorkin, Henry Norris Russell - google books
  2. George Kean Sweetnam, The Command of Light - google books
  3. http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/MNRAS/0118//0000311.000.html Obituary MNRAS 118 (1958) 311
  4. http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/Obs../0077//0000067.000.html Obituary Obs 77 (1957) 67
  5. http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/PASP./0069//0000223.000.html Obituary PASP 69 (1957) 223
  6. Book: DeVorkin , David H . Henry Norris Russell: Dean of American Astronomers . . 2000 . 528 pages . 0-691-04918-1 .
  7. Web site: Bibliography in Bruce Medalist page for Russell maintained by Joseph Tenn at Sonoma State University . 2012-11-29 . 2012-11-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121108140035/http://phys-astro.sonoma.edu/brucemedalists/Russell/RussellRefs.html . dead .
  8. Book: Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002. July 2006. The Royal Society of Edinburgh. 0-902-198-84-X. 2018-04-27. 2016-03-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074135/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf. dead.
  9. Book: The Historical Development of Quantum Theory, Vol. 1, Part 2 . Mehra . Jagdish . Jagdish Mehra . Helmut . Rechenberg . Helmut Rechenberg . 2001 . Springer . 686 . 9780387951751 .
  10. Web site: Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (1900 - 1979) . 2010-03-05 . Padman . Rachael . 2004 . Newnham College Biographies . https://web.archive.org/web/20090719114925/http://www.newn.cam.ac.uk/about-newnham/college-history/biographies/content/cecila-payne-gaposchkin . 2009-07-19 . dead .
  11. Web site: APS Member History . 2023-11-17 . search.amphilsoc.org.
  12. Web site: Henry Russell . 2023-11-17 . www.nasonline.org.
  13. Web site: Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter R. https://web.archive.org/web/20060618090045/http://amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterR.pdf . 2006-06-18 . live. American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 14 April 2011.
  14. Web site: Winners of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. Royal Astronomical Society. 19 February 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110525064844/http://www.ras.org.uk/awards-and-grants/awards/268. 25 May 2011.
  15. Web site: Henry Draper Medal . . 19 February 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130126003930/http://www.nasonline.org/about-nas/awards/henry-draper-medal.html . 26 January 2013 .
  16. Web site: Past Winners of the Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal. Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 19 February 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110721092933/http://astrosociety.org/membership/awards/pastbruce.html. 21 July 2011. dead.
  17. Web site: Past Recipients of the Rumford Prize. American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 19 February 2011. 27 September 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120927075008/http://www.amacad.org/about/rumford.aspx. dead.
  18. Stratton . F. J. M. . F. J. M. Stratton. 10.1098/rsbm.1957.0012 . Henry Norris Russell 1877-1957 . . 3 . 173–191. 1957 . 769359. 73351903 .
  19. Web site: Grants, Prizes and Awards. American Astronomical Society. 19 February 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20101222143439/http://www.aas.org/grants/awards.php#russell. 22 December 2010.

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