Biography of Edwin Powell Hubble
Edwin Powell Hubble is an American astronomer who made a decisive contribution to observational cosmology.
Childhood and youth
Edwin Powell Hubble was born on November 20, 1889 in the city of Marshfield, Missouri, USA. His father was an insurance manager. At school, he received a scholarship, and paid for his expenses, doing teaching and working during the summer. A good student and even the best athlete, Edwin Hubble excelled in sports and set the Illinois high jump record. While studying in college, Hubble excelled in both studies and boxing with basketball. He received a bachelor’s degree in astronomy and mathematics in 1910.
Having received a scholarship at Oxford University, on the advice of his father, Hubble chose the jurisprudence. He studied Roman and English law, and in 1913 returned to the United States and practiced law in Louisville, Kentucky, where at that time his parents lived. But soon he realized that jurisprudence was not his calling,
Career
When Hubble was invited to the Mount Wilson Observatory in California, he asked for a postponement to take part in the First World War. After the service, he accepted the invitation and began working at the observatory, where he worked with the world’s two largest telescopes: Hooker’s 60-inch and 100-inch mirror telescopes. Using a 100-inch telescope, which was the largest at that time and funded by John Hooker, Hubble took photographs of the cepheid – a class of pulsating variable stars.
These photos have proved the existence of other galaxies, including the Milky Way. He also began to classify the galaxies he discovered by filling them, remoteness, brightness and shape. His observations led to his formulation
In 1917, Albert Einstein already formulated the theory of relativity, in which he proposed a model of space based on the idea that space is curved under the influence of gravitational force and can both increase and decrease. But later he advanced the theory that the universe is static and immobile. But after observing and discovering Hubble, Einstein said that his second theory was a big mistake and personally came to Hubble in 1931 to thank.
On February 26, 1924, Hubble married Grace Burke; the couple had no children.
In 1942, Hubble left the observatory to the front, this time World War II. At first he wanted to be part of the armed forces, but later realized that he could do more good as a scientist. In 1948, Queen College recognized Hubble as its honorary member for outstanding services in astronomy.
After the war, Hubble continued his work at the Mount Wilson Observatory, where he faced difficulty in convincing his colleagues that they needed a larger telescope to look beyond our Galaxy. Hubble assisted in the construction of the Telescope Hale, which was installed at the Palomar Observatory. The new Hale telescope was four times more powerful than the Hooker telescopes and was recognized as the largest telescope in the world. Hubble worked in both observatories until his death. The scientist died of cerebral thrombosis on September 28, 1953 in San Marino, California.
Achievements
Despite his outstanding services in astronomy, Edwin Powell never received the Nobel Prize. The reason for this was that during his studies in astronomy, it was not considered an independent science. And, although he tried to make astronomy a separate science in order to gain recognition with his astronomer colleagues, all his works were in vain, at least during his lifetime. Astronomy became a separate science only after his death, but since the Nobel Prize is not awarded posthumously, he never received this award.
But Hubble received other awards after his death. So, in 1990, NASA began using the Hubble Space Telescope, which was spinning around the Earth, which was named after Edwin Hubble. With the help of the telescope it was possible to obtain a lot of useful information about the cosmos. On March 6, 2008, the US Postal Service issued a postage stamp worth 41 cent in honor of Edwin Hubble. In the world, there are many buildings in universities, planetariums and asteroids, which are named after Edwin Hubble.
Basic work
“Observational approach to cosmology”
“The Kingdom of Nebulae”
Awards
Medal of Catherine Bruce, 1938
Franklin Medal, 1939
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, 1940
Order of the Legion of Honor for outstanding contributions to ballistics research, 1946
Honorary Member of the Queen’s College for Outstanding Services in Astronomy, 1948
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