Harlow Shapley Biogprahy

HARLOW SHAPLEY

Harlow Shapley was an American astronomer, born on November 2, 1885 in Nashville, Missouri.  In April of 1914, he married Martha Betz, who assisted him in astronomical research.  They has one daughter and four sons.  After making notable progress in astronomy, particularly with the Sun and the Milky Way, Shapley died on October 20, 1972.

Harlow Shapley dropped out of school with only a fifth-grade education.  He was very independent and much preferred studying at home by himself.  He researched and covered crime stories as a newspaper reporter before returning to school.  He completed a six-year high school program in two years and graduated at class valedictorian.  At twenty-two, Shapley enrolled at the University of Missouri.  He was initially disappointed that the opening at the School of Journalism was postponed for a year, so he decided to study the first subject in the course directory.  He rejected archeology because he claimed he could not pronounce it.  Next in line was astronomy.

Shapley became fascinated with astronomy and received a fellowship at Princeton University where his mentor was Henry Norris Russell.  Here, Shapley was important in shifting the field astronomy from the belief that Cepheids were spectroscopic binaries to the idea that they were pulsators.  At Princeton, he was also the first to make the realization of the Milky Way’s incredibly large size and to note that the Sun’s place in the galaxy was in a nondescript location.

Harlow Shapley participated in the “Great Debate” against Heber D. Curtis on April 26, 1920.  This is a famous debate that made an immense impact on the astronomical world.  It is also known as the “Shapley-Curtis Debate.”  Shapley argued that the Sun was not the center of the galaxy, and, as we now know, was correct; however he was incorrect in his belief that globular clusters and spiral nebulae are within the Milky Way. 

Proceeding the debate, Shapley was promoted from working at Mount Wilson Observatory, to director at the Harvard College Observatory.  Here he worked from 1921 to 1952.  He wrote many books on astronomy during his time are Harvard, his most famous being Source Book in Astronomy.  In the 1940’s Shapley made one of his most important contributions to the science world, adding the “S” to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). 

For all of Harlow Shapley’s great work in astronomy, he was honored several awards.  His most prominent of these were the Henry Draper Medal of the National Academy of Sciences, the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, and the Prix Jules Janssen of the French Astronomical Society.  In addition to these honors, Shapley has a crater on the Moon named after him.  There is also an asteroid named “Asteroid 1123 Shapleya” and a starcluster named “Shapley Supercluster.”

It is truly amazing and fortunate for the world of science that this man, who had no interest in astronomy as a young man, randomly chose to go into this field because his original interest did not work out, and made such an impact on Astronomy!  Harlow Shapley will forever go down in astronomical history as a vital part of the sciences.

Works Cited

"The Bruce Medalists: Harlow Shapley." SSU Department of Physics & Astronomy. Web. 20 May 2011. <http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/brucemedalists/Shapley/index.html>.

"Harlow Shapley." The Franklin Institute. Web. 20 May 2011. <http://www.fi.edu/learn/case-files/shapley/index.html>.

Kopal, Z. "`Great Debate:' Obituary of Harlow Shapley." Astronomy Picture of the Day. 1972. Web. 20 May 2011. <http://apod.nasa.gov/diamond_jubilee/1920/shapley_obit.html>.