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Filling out from existing obit ref, which is also at http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1994BAAS...26.1600W . I hope I am summarizing the research adequately. Removed Ext. link (same as ref.), replaced w/ Further reading.
 
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{{Short description|American astronomer and astrophysicist (1908–1994)}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Arthur Adel
| name = Arthur Adel
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| caption =
| caption =
| other_names =
| other_names =
| occupation = American astronomer
| occupation = Astronomer, astrophysicist
| birth_date = {{birth date|1908|11|22|mf=yes}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1908|11|22|mf=yes}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1994|09|13|1908|11|22|mf=yes}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1994|09|13|1908|11|22|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]]
| birth_place = [[Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
| death_place = [[Flagstaff, Arizona|Flagstaff]], [[Arizona]]
| death_place = [[Flagstaff, Arizona]], U.S.
}}
}}


'''Arthur Adel''' (November 22, 1908 – September 13, 1994) was an American [[astronomer]] and [[astrophysicist]].
'''Arthur Adel''' (November 22, 1908 – September 13, 1994) was an American [[astronomer]] and [[astrophysicist]]. His research focused on atmospheric [[Spectroscopy|Spectrography]]. He worked at [[Lowell Observatory]] from 1936 until 1942<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/digital/collection/loaselect/id/66/|title=Arthur Adel|website=azmemory.azlibrary.gov|language=en|access-date=2020-03-11}}</ref> and was for many years a professor at what is now [[Northern Arizona University]], both in [[Flagstaff, Arizona]].


== Early life and education ==
== Early life and education ==
Adel was born in [[Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]].<ref name="aas">{{cite journal |author=Richard L. Walker |authorlink=Richard Walker (astronomer)|url=https://aas.org/obituaries/arthur-adel-1908-1994 |title=Arthur Adel (1908 - 1994) |journal=Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=1600–01 |date=September 1994 }}</ref> His parents were [[Orthodox Jews]] who had immigrated from Russia.<ref name="aip">{{cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/5000.html|title=Oral History Transcript &mdash; Dr. Arthur Adel|publisher=web.archive.org|accessdate=2015-11-16}}</ref> The family later moved to [[Detroit]], where he graduated from a technical high school. He earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics from the [[University of Michigan]], Ann Arbor, and in 1933 a PhD with a dissertation on "The Infrared Spectrum and the Structure of the Carbon Dioxide Molecule".<ref name="aas"/>
Adel was born in [[Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]].<ref name="aas">{{cite journal |author=Richard L. Walker |author-link=Richard Walker (astronomer) |url=https://aas.org/obituaries/arthur-adel-1908-1994 |title=Arthur Adel (1908 - 1994) |journal=Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=1600–01 |date=September 1994 |access-date=2014-05-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117025802/https://aas.org/obituaries/arthur-adel-1908-1994 |archive-date=2015-11-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref> His parents were [[Orthodox Jews]] who had immigrated from Russia and Poland.<ref name="aip">{{cite web|url=https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/5000|title=Oral Histories: Arthur Adel interviewed by Robert Smith |publisher=[[American Institute of Physics]], Niels Bohr Library |type=Transcript|accessdate=2017-01-13}}</ref><ref name=biodic>{{cite book |author=Roy H. Garstang |editor1=Thomas Hockey |editor2=Virginia Trimble |editor3=Thomas R. Williams |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t-BF1CHkc50C&q=Arthur+Adel+astronomer&pg=PA15 |contribution=Adel, Arthur |title=Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers |location=New York |publisher=Springer |year=2007 |isbn=9780387310220 |volume=1 ''A–L'' |pages=15–16 }}</ref> The family later moved to [[Detroit]], where he graduated from a technical high school. He worked as a [[machinist]] for a year before attending the [[University of Michigan]] at Ann Arbor, where he earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics in 1931 and in 1933 a PhD with a dissertation on "The Infrared Spectrum and the Structure of the Carbon Dioxide Molecule".<ref name="aas"/><ref name=biodic/>


== Career ==
== Career ==
Beginning in 1933, he did research at the [[Lowell Observatory]], demonstrating that the harmonics of the vibration of methane and ammonia molecules gave rise to the absorption bands observed in planetary atmospheres, and later publishing extensively on the water-vapor-related parameters in Earth's atmosphere.<ref name="aas"/> In 1935–36 he was a postdoctoral research fellow at [[Harvard University]]. During World War II, he did research for the US Navy, and from 1942 to 1946 was a faculty member in physics at the University of Michigan. From 1946 to 1948 he was an assistant professor at the [[McMath–Hulbert Observatory|McMath-Hulbert Solar Observatory]], then operated by the university, and was then appointed professor of mathematics at Arizona State College, now [[Northern Arizona University]], where he founded the Atmospheric Research Observatory and continued his infra-red observations.<ref name="aas"/> He retired and was named [[professor emeritus]] in 1976;<ref name="aas"/> the university has named a mathematics building and the Arthur Adel Award, given annually since 1995 to a researcher who furthers the goals of science, in his honor.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/nau-names-jonathan-lunine-winner-2000-arthur-adel-award |title=NAU Names Jonathan Lunine Winner of the 2000 Arthur Adel Award |website=UA News |publisher=[[University of Arizona]] |date=April 24, 2000 }}</ref>
Beginning in 1933, he did research at the [[Lowell Observatory]], demonstrating that the harmonics of the vibration of methane and ammonia molecules gave rise to the absorption bands observed in planetary atmospheres, and later publishing extensively on the water-vapor-related parameters in Earth's atmosphere.<ref name="aas"/> In 1935–36 he was a postdoctoral research fellow at [[Johns Hopkins University]]. During World War II, he worked for the US Navy in Washington, DC, [[de-gaussing]] submarines,<ref name=biodic/> and from 1942 to 1946 was a faculty member in physics at the University of Michigan. From 1946 to 1948 he was an assistant professor at the [[McMath–Hulbert Observatory|McMath-Hulbert Solar Observatory]], then operated by the university, while also studying the effective radiation temperature of the [[ozone layer]] for the US Air Force at a base in New Mexico.<ref name=biodic/><ref>{{cite journal |author=Spencer R. Weart |title=Global Warming, Cold War, and the Evolution of Research Plans |journal=Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences |volume=27 |issue=2 |year=1997 |doi=10.2307/27757782 |jstor=27757782 |pages=333–34 }}</ref> In 1948 he was appointed professor of mathematics at Arizona State College, now [[Northern Arizona University]], where he founded the Atmospheric Research Observatory, which had the first specially designed infrared telescope.<ref name=biodic/> Among other achievements, he discovered the 20 micron window in the Earth's atmosphere and proved observationally that the Moon radiates as a black body.<ref name="aas"/><ref name=biodic/> He retired and was named [[professor emeritus]] in 1976.<ref name="aas"/> The university has named a mathematics building and the Arthur Adel Award, given annually since 1995 to a researcher who furthers the goals of science, in his honor;<ref>{{cite web |url=https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/nau-names-jonathan-lunine-winner-2000-arthur-adel-award |title=NAU Names Jonathan Lunine Winner of the 2000 Arthur Adel Award |website=UA News |publisher=[[University of Arizona]] |date=April 24, 2000 }}</ref> his papers are kept at the university.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.azarchivesonline.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/nau/adel_arthur.xml;query=;brand=default |title=Arthur Adel Collection, 1909–2000 |website=Arizona Archives Online |accessdate=2017-01-13 }}</ref>


==Personal life and death==
==Personal life and death==
Adel married Catherine Backus in 1935. died of cancer on September 13, 1994 in [[Flagstaff, Arizona|Flagstaff]], [[Arizona]], at the age of 85.<ref name="aas"/>
Adel married Catherine Backus in 1935; they did not have children.<ref name=biodic/> He died of cancer on September 13, 1994, in Flagstaff, at the age of 85.<ref name="aas"/>


== References ==
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


== Further reading ==
== Further reading ==
*{{cite archive |author=Monica A. Joseph |item=The Contribution of Arthur Adel To Astronomical Infrared Spectroscopy |oclc=960171394 |date=1973 |type=Biographical paper |institution=American Institute of Physics |repository=Niels Bohr Library & Archives |collection=Manuscript Biographies Collection}}
*{{cite archive |author=Monica A. Joseph |item=The Contribution of Arthur Adel To Astronomical Infrared Spectroscopy |oclc=960171394 |date=1973 |type=Biographical paper |institution=American Institute of Physics |repository=Niels Bohr Library & Archives |collection=Manuscript Biographies Collection}}
*[https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/5000 Interview of Arthur Adel by Robert Smith on 1987 August 12], Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Adel, Arthur}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adel, Arthur}}
[[Category:1908 births]]
[[Category:1908 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:American astronomers]]
[[Category:20th-century American astronomers]]
[[Category:American Orthodox Jews]]
[[Category:American Orthodox Jews]]
[[Category:University of Michigan alumni]]
[[Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:People from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Northern Arizona University faculty]]
[[Category:Northern Arizona University faculty]]
[[Category:Scientists from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni]]
[[Category:Jewish American scientists]]

Latest revision as of 20:45, 14 September 2024

Arthur Adel
Born(1908-11-22)November 22, 1908
DiedSeptember 13, 1994(1994-09-13) (aged 85)
Occupation(s)Astronomer, astrophysicist

Arthur Adel (November 22, 1908 – September 13, 1994) was an American astronomer and astrophysicist. His research focused on atmospheric Spectrography. He worked at Lowell Observatory from 1936 until 1942[1] and was for many years a professor at what is now Northern Arizona University, both in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Early life and education

[edit]

Adel was born in Brooklyn, New York.[2] His parents were Orthodox Jews who had immigrated from Russia and Poland.[3][4] The family later moved to Detroit, where he graduated from a technical high school. He worked as a machinist for a year before attending the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics in 1931 and in 1933 a PhD with a dissertation on "The Infrared Spectrum and the Structure of the Carbon Dioxide Molecule".[2][4]

Career

[edit]

Beginning in 1933, he did research at the Lowell Observatory, demonstrating that the harmonics of the vibration of methane and ammonia molecules gave rise to the absorption bands observed in planetary atmospheres, and later publishing extensively on the water-vapor-related parameters in Earth's atmosphere.[2] In 1935–36 he was a postdoctoral research fellow at Johns Hopkins University. During World War II, he worked for the US Navy in Washington, DC, de-gaussing submarines,[4] and from 1942 to 1946 was a faculty member in physics at the University of Michigan. From 1946 to 1948 he was an assistant professor at the McMath-Hulbert Solar Observatory, then operated by the university, while also studying the effective radiation temperature of the ozone layer for the US Air Force at a base in New Mexico.[4][5] In 1948 he was appointed professor of mathematics at Arizona State College, now Northern Arizona University, where he founded the Atmospheric Research Observatory, which had the first specially designed infrared telescope.[4] Among other achievements, he discovered the 20 micron window in the Earth's atmosphere and proved observationally that the Moon radiates as a black body.[2][4] He retired and was named professor emeritus in 1976.[2] The university has named a mathematics building and the Arthur Adel Award, given annually since 1995 to a researcher who furthers the goals of science, in his honor;[6] his papers are kept at the university.[7]

Personal life and death

[edit]

Adel married Catherine Backus in 1935; they did not have children.[4] He died of cancer on September 13, 1994, in Flagstaff, at the age of 85.[2]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Arthur Adel". azmemory.azlibrary.gov. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Richard L. Walker (September 1994). "Arthur Adel (1908 - 1994)". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 26 (4): 1600–01. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2014-05-03.
  3. ^ "Oral Histories: Arthur Adel interviewed by Robert Smith" (Transcript). American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Roy H. Garstang (2007). "Adel, Arthur". In Thomas Hockey; Virginia Trimble; Thomas R. Williams (eds.). Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Vol. 1 A–L. New York: Springer. pp. 15–16. ISBN 9780387310220.
  5. ^ Spencer R. Weart (1997). "Global Warming, Cold War, and the Evolution of Research Plans". Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences. 27 (2): 333–34. doi:10.2307/27757782. JSTOR 27757782.
  6. ^ "NAU Names Jonathan Lunine Winner of the 2000 Arthur Adel Award". UA News. University of Arizona. April 24, 2000.
  7. ^ "Arthur Adel Collection, 1909–2000". Arizona Archives Online. Retrieved 2017-01-13.

Further reading

[edit]