Edwin Powell Hubble
How to Cite
Famous as: Astronomer & Mathematician
Born on: 20 November 1889 AD
Born in: Marshfield, Missouri, USA
Died on: 28 September 1953 AD
Nationality: United States
Zodiac Sign: Scorpio.
Works & Achievements: Edwin Powell Hubble was an American astronomer and mathematician who is known as the father of observational cosmology.
Childhood & Early Life
Edwin Powell Hubble was born on 29 November 1889 in Marshfield in Missouri in United States to an insurance executive. He was awarded a scholarship during his high school education and he paid his expenses by teaching and working during the summers. A fine student and even better athlete, Edwin Hubble excelled in sports and broke the state high jump record of Illinois. Even when he attended the college, he did extremely well in boxing and basketball at the same time received an undergraduate degree in astronomy and mathematics in 1910.
When Hubble received a scholarship to study at Oxford University, he opted for Law, on his father’s insistence. He studied Roman and English Law and in 1913, he returned to United States and started practising law in Louisville Kentucky where his parents were residing. However, he soon realised that the profession of a lawyer is not his cup of tea and his real passion was astronomy. At the same time, he was also hired by New Albany School to teach Spanish, mathematics and physics and to coach basketball where he was quite popular among the students. When the school term ended in 1914, he decided to study astronomy from Yerkes Observatory. In 1917, he received a doctorate degree in astronomy from the University of Chicago.
Career
Though, Hubble was invited to join the Mount Wilson Observatory in California, he delayed the acceptance as he had to serve as a soldier in World War I. After leaving the army, he joined the observatory where he worked with two of the largest telescopes in the world, the 60-inch and 100-inch Hooker reflectors. Here, he took the photographs of Cepheid variables (special type of stars) through 100-inch reflecting Hooker telescope (the largest telescope then, financed by (John D.Hooker). This proved the existence of plenty of galaxies including our milky way. Moreover, he also classified the galaxies which he observed, by sorting them by content, distance, brightness and shape. His observations also enabled him to come forward with Hubble’s Law in 1929 which enabled the astronomers to verify the age of the universe and proved that the universe was expanding. Hubble’s law calculates the rate at which universe expands. It states that the universe is expanding at a constant rate.
Actually, in 1917, Albert Einstein had already come up with the theory of relativity in which he formulated a model of space, based on which he said that space is curved by gravity and can expand or contract. However, he revised the theory later saying that universe is immobile and static. After Hubble came up with his discoveries, Einstein was quoted as saying that the second guessing was a big blunder and visited Hubble in 1931 to thank him. On February 26, l924, Hubble got married to Grace Burke. The couple did not have any children.
In 1942, Hubble left the observatory again to be a part of World War II. Initially, he wanted to be part of the armed forces but later realised that he can contribute more by offering his services as a scientist. In 1948, he was made Honorary Fellow of Queen’s college for his exceptional contributions to astronomy. Following the war, he continued with his work at Mount Wilson where he faced great trouble convincing the employees regarding the necessity of a greater telescope which will enable them to explore beyond the galaxy. Hubble was also instrumental in designing the Hale telescope which was set up in Mount Palomar Observatory. Hale was four times more powerful than the Hooker telescope and was regarded as the largest telescope on earth. Edwin Powell continued his work at both the Mount Wilson and Mount Palomar observatories until his death on September 28, 1953 due to cerebral thrombosis in San Marino, California.
Achievements
Though, contributed immensely to the field of astronomy, Edwin Powell was not awarded the Nobel Prize. The reason was that, astronomy wasn’t considered a part of science during his lifetime. Though he tried to make astronomy a field of its own, so that, he and his fellow astronomers receive recognition, but all his efforts went in vain as it never happened in his lifetime. Astronomy became a separate field only after his death, but as Nobel Prize is not given posthumously, he became ineligible for the award. However, he received other honors posthumously as in 1990 NASA launched a Hubble Space Telescope named after Edwin Hubble to orbit around the earth. This telescope provided a huge wealth of information about the cosmos. On 6 March, 2008, United States Postal service released a 41 cent stamp to honor Hubble. There are plenty of university facilities, planetarium and asteroid named after him.
Major Works
- The Observational Approach to Cosmology
- The Realm of the Nebulae
Awards
- Bruce Medal, 1938
- Franklin Medal, 1939
- Gold Medal and Bruce medal of the Royal Astronomical Society,1940
- Legion of Merit for outstanding contribution to ballistics research, 1946
- Honorary Fellow of Queen’s college for his exceptional contributions to astronomy, 1948
EDWIN POWELL HUBBLE TIMELINE
1889 :Edwin Powell Hubble was born on 20 November in Marshfield in Missouri, United States.
1910 :Received an undergraduate degree in astronomy and mathematics.
1917 :Hubble received a doctorate degree in astronomy from the University of Chicago.
l924 :On February 26, he got married to Grace Burke.
1929 :Came up with Hubble’s Law.
1948 :Hubble was made Honorary Fellow of Queen’s college for his exceptional contributions to astronomy.
1953 :
On 28 September, Edwin Hubble died due to cerebral thrombosis in San Marino, California.
Comments