James E. Keeler: Pioneer American Astrophysicist: And the Early Development of American Astrophysics

by Donald E. Osterbrock

Overview

This is the biography of James E. Keeler (1857–1900), a distinguished pioneer of astrophysics, the application of the methods of physics to understanding the nature of the stars, nebulae, planets, comets, and other objects that populate the universe. Keeler was an outstanding scientist, and his fellow astronomers and physicists at the end of the nineteenth century considered him the leading astronomical spectroscopist of his generation. His career was closely linked with that of George Ellery Hale, founder of Yerkes Observatory. Keeler himself was the first astronomer at Lick Observatory, and the story of his life tells much of the early history of these two early American 'big-science' research institutions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521524803
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/22/2002
Series:	Pioneer American Astrophysicist
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	424
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.94(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; 1. A raw country boy from Florida; 2. I shall be glad to keep him here for the present; 3. I could not ask for anything better; 4. Steady growth and excellent achievement; 5. A human being first and an astronomer afterwards; 6. The ablest spectroscopist in this country; 7. I have really counted more on you than on all the others together; 8. The best man for the place; 9. An ideal director and investigator; 10. The quality of his voice still rings in my ears; References; Bibliography; Index.