| Reference number | AP/81/14 |
| Level | File |
| Title | Unpublished paper, 'Wind waves. Visible, directional and approximately horizontal contact waves at the interface of atmospheric strata' by Catherine [Catharine] O [Octavia] Stevens |
| Creator | Stevens; Catherine Octavia (1865-1959); British astronomer; Director of the British Astronomical Association Meteor Section |
| Date | 1927-1940 |
| Description | Stevens writes: 'In this paper I wish to put forward the hypothesis that the "boiling movements" of telescopic definition, the scintillation of the stars and the shadow-bands of total solar eclipse are attributable mainly to the action upon light of atmospheric waves, of purely frictional origin, set up at the interfaces of air strata of different densities and/or moving over one another with different velocities. And in as much as these waves are inseperable from "wind" I have given them the name of "wind waves".'
Annotations in pencil and ink throughout. Includes postscript dated 5 December 1939 and extensive correspondence from 5 July 1936 to 22 April 1940.
Subject: Astronomy
Written by Stevens at Boar's Hill, Oxford, England. |
| Extent | 54p |
| Format | Typescript |
| Manuscript |
| Physical description | Ink and graphite pencil on paper |
| Digital images | View item on Science in the Making |
| Access status | Open |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | Name | Dates |
| NA1930 | Plaskett; Harry Hemley (1893 - 1980) | 1893 - 1980 |
| NA8212 | Egerton; Sir; Alfred Charles Glyn (1886 - 1959); chemist | 1886 - 1959 |
| NA7033 | Dobson; Gordon Miller Bourne (1889 - 1976) | 1889 - 1976 |
| NA8165 | Chapman; Sydney (1888 - 1970); mathematician and geophysicist | 1888 - 1970 |