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    Harlow Shapley: Biography of an Astronomer: The Man Who Measured the Universe
    Harlow Shapley: Biography of an Astronomer: The Man Who Measured the Universe
    Harlow Shapley: Biography of an Astronomer: The Man Who Measured the Universe
    Ebook95 pages1 hour

    Harlow Shapley: Biography of an Astronomer: The Man Who Measured the Universe

    By Doug West

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    About this ebook

    Harlow Shapley was an astronomer, humanitarian, and public figure in his day. Born in the hills of the Ozarks in Missouri he went on to become the Director of the Harvard College Observatory and discovered our place in the Galaxy. Because of the painstaking work of this tireless American astronomer, we were given a clearer picture of our place in the Universe.
    Shapley was a prodigious astronomer who completed significant work on globular clusters, Cepheid variables, as well as key aspects of cosmology and stellar astronomy, including nebular and stellar spectroscopy and photometry. Shapley also did important work on the Magellanic Clouds, which are neighbor galaxies to our own Milky Way. He made the deduction that the Sun is located at the central plane of the Galaxy on a minor arm of the Milky Way about 30,000 light years from the galactic center. This was in direct conflict with the prevailing view of the galaxy and cause quite a stir in the astronomical community.
    At the peak of his career as an astronomer, he worked at the Mt. Wilson Observatory, and afterward served at the helm of the Harvard College Observatory, eventually transforming it into an important training and observational facility. Shapley was to lead the development of the Harvard Astronomy program which produced many prominent astronomers.
    Shapley’s work on international issues in astronomy lead him to multiple visits to Russia. This was at the early stages of the Cold War between the United States and Russia. Harlow Shapley had caught the eye of the FBI and the famed communist hunter Joseph McCarthy and he was investigated by the committee of “Un-American” activities. Shapley was later cleared of any wrong doing but it almost cost him the directorship of the Harvard College Observatory.
    Shapley was a prodigious writer, with over a dozen books to his credit, numerous scientific papers, and many articles written for the general public so they could understand and appreciate the wonders of the Universe. His book “Of Stars and Men” was a best-seller translated into eight languages and eventually became a film documentary.
    Harlow Shapley also was a humanitarian. In the late 1930s he was appalled at the treatment of Jewish scientists and scholars in Hitler’s Germany. He headed a nationwide effort to bring refuges from Germany to the United States and was personally involved in the resettlement of at least 1000 refugee families.
    Let the biographer, Doug West, take you on a journey into the life and times of this important man. The biography is written in a clear and concise manner for the non-scientist

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDoug West
    Release dateMay 27, 2015
    ISBN9781310289637
    Harlow Shapley: Biography of an Astronomer: The Man Who Measured the Universe
    Author

    Doug West

    Doug West is a retired engineer, small business owner, and an experienced non-fiction writer with several books to his credit. His writing interests are general, with expertise in science, history, biographies, numismatics, and “How to” topics. Doug has a B.S. in Physics from the Missouri School of Science and Technology and a Ph.D. in General Engineering from Oklahoma State University. He lives with his wife and little dog “Millie” near Kansas City, Missouri.

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      Book preview

      Harlow Shapley - Doug West

      Harlow Shapley - Biography of an Astronomer

      The Man Who Measured the Universe

      by Doug West, Ph.D.

      ~~~

      Smashwords Edition

      Harlow Shapley - Biography of an Astronomer Copyright © 2015 Doug West

      All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the author. Reviewers may quote brief passages in reviews.

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Acknowledgements

      I would like to thank Cynthia West (my wife), Gordon Melsom, and Lisa Zahn for their help in preparation of this book. In addition, I would like to thank Harjit S. Sandhu for preparing the cover illustration. Michele Hansford, Curator of the Powers Museum, for background material. The parade photograph is courtesy of Carl Taylor Negative Collection of the Jasper County Records Research Center, Carthage, Missouri. I also would like to thank the American Association of Variable Star Observers for providing a photograph for the book. The Public Domain photographs were obtained from wikimediacommons.org.

      Table of Contents

      Acknowledgements

      Preface

      Introduction

      1. Growing up in Missouri

      2. College days in Missouri

      3. Princeton and Henry Norris Russell

      4. Astronomy at Mount Wilson

      5. The Great Debate

      6. Director of Harvard College Observatory

      7. Key People at the Harvard College Observatory

      8. Science and Politics

      9. Books by Harlow Shapley

      10. 1963 Shapley Day in Carthage, Missouri

      11. The Final Chapter

      Biography

      About the Author

      Preface

      Astronomy has always been my passion and I have enjoyed it throughout my life by getting out under the night sky and observing the beauties of the cosmos. As well as observing the night sky, I have always been an avid reader of astronomy books and stories about astronomers. One day, I read something, I can’t remember precisely what it was, but I learned that Harlow Shapley was born in my home state of Missouri. That intrigued me.

      Being a former teacher of astronomy, I had some knowledge of Harlow Shapley and his accomplishments but the one point about his place of birth had eluded me. Harlow’s hometown is about 100 miles south of my house and I frequently conduct business in towns near there. Therefore, I started reading everything I could find on Harlow Shapley and eventually decided to write his life’s story.

      Like any biography, this book is just a snapshot of one person’s life. It is impossible to put a life in perspective in just a few thousand words. The lens of history tends to distort the view of a person more toward the positive. Like all men and women, Harlow had his share of triumphs and tragedies, strengths and weaknesses — this is what makes us human.

      I hope you enjoy reading this book and that after reading it you possess a better understanding of the man, his accomplishments, and his place in the world.

      Introduction

      Harlow Shapley secured his place in the history of astronomy when he discovered the overall dimensions of the Milky Way galaxy, as well as the location of the solar system. Because of the painstaking work of this tireless American astronomer, we were given a clearer picture of our place in the Universe.

      Shapley was a prodigious astronomer who completed significant work on globular clusters, Cepheid variables, as well as key aspects of cosmology and stellar astronomy, including nebular and stellar spectroscopy, and photometry. Shapley also did important work on the Magellanic Clouds, which are neighbor galaxies to our own Milky Way. He made the deduction that the Sun is located at the central plane of the Galaxy on a minor arm of the Milky Way, about 30,000 light years from the galactic center.

      At the peak of his career as an astronomer, he worked at the Mt. Wilson Observatory, and afterward served at the helm of the Harvard College Observatory, eventually transforming it into an important training and observational facility.

      Harlow Shapley was also a humanitarian. In the late 1930s, he was appalled at the treatment of Jewish scientists and scholars in Hitler’s Germany. He headed a nationwide effort to bring refuges from Germany to the United States and was personally involved in the resettlement of at least 1000 refugee families.

      Shapley wrote dozens of scientific papers and books as well, including Galaxies, which was published in 1943, and the best-selling Of Stars and Men, which was published in 1958 and eventually became a film documentary.

      Harlow Shapley retired from Harvard in 1952, after leading the transformation of the Harvard College Observatory into a premier institute of learning in research. He continued to work in the field of science and got involved in the sociopolitical issues of his day. Harlow Shapley is an example of what a bright mind, hard work, and a passion for science can bring forth into the world.

      Chapter 1 - Growing up in Missouri

      "No one trusts a model except the man who wrote it; everyone trusts an observation, except the man who made it." ― Harlow Shapley

      On November 2, 1885 Harlow Shapley entered a world that was in a period of calm and flux. America had been out of the Civil War for two decades and the Spanish American War was over a decade in the future. Harlow’s place in Southwest Missouri was set in a time filled with a bucolic life of farming, raising cattle, and the joys of rural

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