Harlow Shapley (November 2, 1885 – October 20, 1972) was an American astronomer. Events 1570 - A Tidal wave in the North Sea devastates the coast from Holland to Jutland, killing more than 1000 Year 1885 ( MDCCCLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 1740 - Maria Theresa takes the throne of Austria. France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Historically Astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky while Astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena
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Career
He was born on a farm in Nashville, Missouri, and dropped out of school with only the equivalent of a fifth-grade education. Nashville is a small unincorporated community in southwestern Barton County Missouri. After studying at home and covering crime stories as a newspaper reporter, Shapley returned to complete a six-year high school program in only two years, graduating as class valedictorian.
In 1907, at the age of 22, Harlow Shapley went to study journalism at University of Missouri. The University of Missouri (also known as the University of Missouri–Columbia, Mizzou, or MU) is a public land-grant and research When he learned that the opening of the School of Journalism had been postponed for a year, he decided to study the first subject he came across in the course directory. Rejecting Archeology, which Harlow later explained he couldn't pronounce, Harlow chose the next subject, Astronomy.
Post-graduation, Shapley received a fellowship to Princeton University for graduate work, where he studied under Henry Norris Russell and used the period-luminosity relation for Cepheid variable stars (discovered by Henrietta Swan Leavitt) to determine distances to globular clusters. Princeton University is a private Coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. Henry Norris Russell ( October 25, 1877 &ndash February 18, 1957) was an American Astronomer who along with Ejnar A Cepheid variable (pron ˈse-f(ē-id or ˈsē-f(ē-id or Cepheid is a member of a particular class of Variable stars notable for a fairly tight correlation Henrietta Swan Leavitt ( July 4 1868 &ndash December 12 1921) was an American Astronomer, and the Deaf daughter of a A globular cluster is a spherical collection of Stars that orbits a galactic core as a Satellite. He was the first to realize that the Milky Way Galaxy was much larger than previously believed, and that the Sun's place in the galaxy was in a nondescript location. The Milky Way (a translation of the Latin Via Lactea, in turn derived from the Greek Γαλαξίας (Galaxias sometimes referred to simply
He participated in the "Great Debate" with Heber D. Curtis on the nature of nebulas and galaxies and the size of the Universe. This is about the infamous discussion of astronomy For the Dream Theater song about Stem cell research, see The Great Debate (song. Heber Doust Curtis ( June 27 1872 – January 9 1942) was an American Astronomer. The debate took place on April 26, 1920. Events 1467 - The miraculous image in Our Lady of Good Counsel appear in Genazzano, Italy. Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar Shapley argued against the theory that the Sun was at the center of the galaxy, and promoted the idea that globular clusters and spiral nebulae are within the Milky Way. The Sun (Sol is the Star at the center of the Solar System. A globular cluster is a spherical collection of Stars that orbits a galactic core as a Satellite. A nebula (from Latin: "mist" pl nebulae or nebulæ, with ligature or nebulas) is an Interstellar cloud of He was incorrect about the latter point, but correct about the former.
At the time of the debate, Shapley was working at the Mount Wilson Observatory, where he had been hired by George Ellery Hale. The Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO is an Astronomical observatory in Los Angeles County California. George Ellery Hale ( June 29 1868 &ndash February 21 1938) was an American solar Astronomer, born in Chicago After the debate, however, he was hired to replace the recently deceased Edward Charles Pickering as director of the Harvard College Observatory. Edward Charles Pickering ( July 19 1846 – February 3 1919) was an American Astronomer and Physicist, brother The Harvard College Observatory (or HCO is an institution managing a complex of buildings and multiple instruments used for astronomical research by the Department of Astronomy
He served as director of the HCO from 1921 to 1952. Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar Year 1952 ( MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. During this time, he hired Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who became the first person to earn a doctorate at Harvard University in the field of astronomy. Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin ( May 10 1900 &ndash December 7 1979) was an English - American Astronomer who in 1925 Astronomy (from the Greek words astron (ἄστρον "star" and nomos (νόμος "law" is the scientific study
From 1941 he was on the original standing committee of the Foundation for the Study of Cycles.
In the 1940's, Shapley helped found government funded scientific associations, including the National Science Foundation. The National Science Foundation (NSF is a United States Government agency that supports fundamental Research and Education in all the non-medical He is also responsible for the addition of the "S" in UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16
In 1950, Shapley was instrumental in organizing a campaign in academia against the controversial US bestseller pseudoscience book Worlds in Collision by Russian expatriate psychiatrist Immanuel Velikovsky. Pseudoscience is defined as a body of knowledge methodology belief or practice that is claimed to be Scientific or made to appear scientific but does not adhere to the Worlds in Collision is a book written by Immanuel Velikovsky and first published on April 3 1950 by Macmillan Publishers. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Immanuel Velikovsky ( Иммануил Великовский) ( Vitebsk, June 10, 1895 ( NS) &ndash November 17,
In addition to astronomy, Shapley held a life long interest in myrmecology, the study of ants. Myrmecology (from Greek μύρμεξ myrmex, "ant" and λόγος logos, "knowledge" is the scientific study of Ants Ants are social Insects of the family Formicidae and along with the related families of Wasps and Bees belong to the order
Family
He married Martha Betz, in April 1914. She assisted her husband in astronomical research both at Mount Wilson and at Harvard Observatory. She produced numerous articles on eclipsing stars and other astronomical objects. They had four sons and one daughter.
Honors
Awards
- Henry Draper Medal in 1926
- Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1934
- Bruce Medal in 1939
- Henry Norris Russell Lectureship in 1950
Named after him
- Shapley crater on the Moon
- Asteroid 1123 Shapleya
- Shapley Supercluster
- Harlow Shapley Visiting Lectureships In Astronomy, American Astronomical Society