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Walter Baade : A Life in Astrophysics / Donald E. Osterbrock.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2022]Copyright date: ©2002Description: 1 online resource (285 p.) : 28 halftonesContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780691223285
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 523.01/092 21
LOC classification:
  • QB460.72.B22
  • QB460.72.B22 O77 2001
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- 1 The Preparation GÖTTINGEN AND HAMBURG, 1893–1927 -- 2 The Path toward the Two Populations HAMBURG, 1927– 1931 -- 3 Before the War MOUNT WILSON, 1931–1938 -- 4 War and a Great Discovery MOUNT WILSON, 1939–1947 -- 5 Young Stars and Old PALOMAR AND PRINCETON, 1948–1953 -- 6 Radio Astronomy and the Size of the Universe PALOMAR AND PASADENA, 1948 –1958 -- 7 Telling the Good News AMERICA AND EUROPE, 195 3–195 9 -- 8 The Finale and After AUSTRALIA AND GÖTTINGEN, 195 9–196 0 -- ABBREVIATIONS -- NOTES -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX
Summary: Although less well known outside the field than Edwin Hubble, Walter Baade was arguably the most influential observational astronomer of the twentieth century. Written by a fellow astronomer deeply familiar with Baade and his work, this is the first biography of this major figure in American astronomy. In it, Donald Osterbrock suggests that Baade's greatest contribution to astrophysics was not, as is often contended, his revision of Hubble's distance and age scales for the universe. Rather, it was his discovery of two distinct stellar populations: old and young stars. This discovery opened wide the previously marginal fields of stellar and galactic evolution--research areas that would be among the most fertile and exciting in all of astrophysics for decades to come. Baade was born, educated, and gained his early research experience in Germany. He came to the United States in 1931 as a staff member of Mount Wilson Observatory, which housed the world's largest telescope. There, he pioneered research on supernovae. With the 100-inch telescope, he studied globular clusters and the structure of the Milky Way, every step leading him closer to the population concept he discovered during the wartime years, when the skies of southern California were briefly darkened. Most Mount Wilson astronomers were working on weapons-development crash programs devoted to bringing Baade's native country to its knees, while he, formally an enemy alien in their midst, was confined to Los Angeles County but had almost unlimited use of the most powerful telescope in the world. After his great discovery, Baade continued his research with the new 200-inch telescope at Palomar. Always respected and well liked, he became even more famous among astronomers as they shifted their research to the fields he had opened. Publicity-shy and seemingly unconcerned with publication, however, Baade's celebrity remained largely within the field. This accomplished biography at last introduces Baade--and his important work--to a wider public, including the newest generation of skywatchers.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780691223285

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- 1 The Preparation GÖTTINGEN AND HAMBURG, 1893–1927 -- 2 The Path toward the Two Populations HAMBURG, 1927– 1931 -- 3 Before the War MOUNT WILSON, 1931–1938 -- 4 War and a Great Discovery MOUNT WILSON, 1939–1947 -- 5 Young Stars and Old PALOMAR AND PRINCETON, 1948–1953 -- 6 Radio Astronomy and the Size of the Universe PALOMAR AND PASADENA, 1948 –1958 -- 7 Telling the Good News AMERICA AND EUROPE, 195 3–195 9 -- 8 The Finale and After AUSTRALIA AND GÖTTINGEN, 195 9–196 0 -- ABBREVIATIONS -- NOTES -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

Although less well known outside the field than Edwin Hubble, Walter Baade was arguably the most influential observational astronomer of the twentieth century. Written by a fellow astronomer deeply familiar with Baade and his work, this is the first biography of this major figure in American astronomy. In it, Donald Osterbrock suggests that Baade's greatest contribution to astrophysics was not, as is often contended, his revision of Hubble's distance and age scales for the universe. Rather, it was his discovery of two distinct stellar populations: old and young stars. This discovery opened wide the previously marginal fields of stellar and galactic evolution--research areas that would be among the most fertile and exciting in all of astrophysics for decades to come. Baade was born, educated, and gained his early research experience in Germany. He came to the United States in 1931 as a staff member of Mount Wilson Observatory, which housed the world's largest telescope. There, he pioneered research on supernovae. With the 100-inch telescope, he studied globular clusters and the structure of the Milky Way, every step leading him closer to the population concept he discovered during the wartime years, when the skies of southern California were briefly darkened. Most Mount Wilson astronomers were working on weapons-development crash programs devoted to bringing Baade's native country to its knees, while he, formally an enemy alien in their midst, was confined to Los Angeles County but had almost unlimited use of the most powerful telescope in the world. After his great discovery, Baade continued his research with the new 200-inch telescope at Palomar. Always respected and well liked, he became even more famous among astronomers as they shifted their research to the fields he had opened. Publicity-shy and seemingly unconcerned with publication, however, Baade's celebrity remained largely within the field. This accomplished biography at last introduces Baade--and his important work--to a wider public, including the newest generation of skywatchers.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Jul 2022)