| 1 | Creator: | Adams, Walter S. (Walter Sydney), 1876-1956 | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | Walter Sydney Adams Papers
| | | | Dates: | 1881-1939 | | | | Abstract: | An expert in stellar spectroscopy, Walter Sydney Adams (1876-1956, APS 1915) made important empirical contributions to the analysis of the physical conditions of stellar and planetary atmospheres, determining the distances to extragalactic objects, and understanding stellar evolution. Adams succeeded his mentor George Ellery Hale as director of the Mount Wilson Observatory, serving in that capacity from 1923 to 1946.
The Adams Papers contains approximately 100 letters addressed to the astronomer Walter Sydney Adams, dating primarily from the period after his move to Mount Wilson Observatory in 1904. Much of the correspondence is relatively perfunctory, however a few letters include interesting scientific content, including Harlow Shapley discussing his photometric study of HV 3435 and interest in Alpha Circini, Arthur Compton's comments on Keener's photoelectric method, Svante Arrhenius on the possibilities of constructing a new observatory for the Swedish Academy of Sciences, and Arthur Eddington discussing the implications of the spectrum of the companion to Sirius. Among Adams' other correspondents are J. C. Kapteyn, James H. Jeans, Henry Norris Russell, Elihu Thomson, and Willem de Sitter. | | | | Call #: | Mss.B.Ad19 | | | | Extent: | 0.25 Linear feet | | | | Sections: |
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| | | | Subjects: | Adams, Walter S. (Walter Sydney), 1876-1956 | Astronomical spectroscopy. | Astronomy | Mount Wilson Observatory. | St. John, Charles Edward, 1857-1935 | Thomson, Elihu, 1853-1937 | Turner, H. H. (Herbert Hall), 1861-1930 | World War, 1914-1918 | |
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