Record

EC - Certificates of election and candidature for Fellowship of the Royal Society
- 1990 - Certificates of Election 1990

RefNo	EC/1990/45
Level	Item
Title	Spitzer, Lyman: certificate of election to the Royal Society
Date	1985
Description	Certificate of Candidate for Election to Foreign Membership. Citation typed
Citation	Lyman Spitzer has had an extraordinarily productive and versatile career as a theoretical astrophysicist and as a wide-ranging applied scientist. He was a pioneer in studies of the physics and dynamics of the interstellar medium and of the formation of stars, recognizing in particular the significance of interstellar dust and of the galactic magnetic field. His broad understanding of this area and his own many contributions culminated in the monograph "Physical Processes in the Interstellar Medium" (1979) which has become a standard text. Parallel studies include an important series of papers on spectral line formation and on the evolution of star clusters through gravitational encounters. He was quick to recognize that plasma physics has an interest and importance transcending its original astrophysical and geophysical motivation. Foreseeing the possibility of using magnetic fields to confine high temperature plasma for thermonuclear fusion, Spitzer made the unique contribution of inventing a toroidal confinement system in which the magnetic fields are all generated by currents flowing in fixed eternal windings. With these "Stellarators" he developed the concepts of a rotational transform and of magnetic divertors, both ideas being central to experimental plasma physics and thermonuclear research. He and his colleagues worked out many of the basic transport properties of plasma; his "Physics of Fully-Ionized Gases" (1956, 62) is a classic text book that continues to be widely read. Spitzer's wartime research as director of the US Sonar Analysis Group led to his editing a volume on "Physics of Sound in the Sea". Shortly afterwards he wrote a report entitled "Astronomical Advantages of an Extra-Terrestrial Observatory", demonstrating in detail the advantages of space over ground-based optical telescopes. He has since then taken a leading part in NASA programmes. The Copernicus ultra-violet satellite, designed by Spitzer and colleagues and launched in 1972, made a number of major discoveries, such as the detection of molecular hydrogen, and the measurement (crucial as a test of "big-bang" cosmology) of the deuterium to helium ratio in interstellar space. The 2.4. metre Space Telescope, soon to be launched, is expected by its far superior resolution to revolutionize optical astronomy. In virtually all this work Spitzer has become the acknowledged natural leader through his rare combination of physical understanding, mathematical expertise, personal drive, and an originality that can justly be described as visionary.
AccessStatus	Closed

Fellows associated with this archive

Code	PersonName	Dates
NA289	Spitzer; Lyman (1914 - 1997)	1914 - 1997

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