AUTHOR ; ARINY AMOS, 32 YEARS- 2014
ARINY AMOS ;10 YEARS , 1992
TOPIC;EARTH ASTRONOMICAL OBJECT EXPERIMENT ,
ARINY AMOS (ASTRONOMER).
FOREWORD.
Ariny Amos
I Ariny Amos was captured by the spirit of the Galileo Galilei , Albert Einstein, Apollo , EVAS program
when I was 3 years old. I had been following the space program through out Neptune and Gemini
flights, building model kits and watching the launches from my school admitted , 1987 Odoon Primary
school and Nursery , 1990’S SwariaPrimay school in Soroti , Uganda . we had above ground pool in
the backyard, and I would put abrick in the back of the my swim trunks to hold me down on the
bottom , suckin air through a garden hose, and lay there with my arms and lega adrift , pretending I
was walking in space. I was off course eagerly anticipating the Apollo missions to the moon, because
that would give me more models to build but it wasn’t until the February 2006, notable events
occurring in 2006 in spaceflight, including major launches and EVAs. 2006
saw Brazil, Iran, and Sweden all get a national into space for the first time,
Ariny Amos was assigned to operate on facebookwebsite,as an astronaut
commander who guides in any accident prevention, when I hope to convey
with from the earth to the moon is what Ariny Amos captured in connection
with National Aeronautics and Space Administration, that going to the
moon was no just a technological endeavor, but and artistic,Chemist,
scientific historian one ,like Albert Einstein on the Sinistine chapel ceiling .
The same kind of imagination that allowed Albert Einstein to produce the
crowning achievement of his era helped NASA’s engineers build their
moonships, just as Albert Einstein needed faith in his own abilities to
sustain him during the long year of his effort, so faith was at heart of what
it took to put men and their shoes and socks, and pictures of their children
on the surface of the moon.
Above all EVAS launches 2006 was a voyage of inspiration . the thing that
still fuels me in my day- to- day life, as explorer, and what I want to convey
to my children , and to the audience , is that if mankind can figure out a
way to put twelve men on the moon , then honestly , we can solve anything.
That why I believe the 2006 missions are of greatest Astrophysics stories
after.
PREFACE
The eighty’s so called 1980’s were a time of cultural earth quakes ;the horror of the Bill Gates, Carlos
Slim,SadamHesein, Angella Merkel, Bill Clinton, Osama Bin Laden , Barack Obama and king
assassination, The arrival of five mop- topped singers from Washington D.C -USA, The din of protests ,
and – most of all – the violent of the the war in Uganda And something else extraordinary happened
ont the night of February 2006 the space flight major launches 2006 EVA .2006.saw , International
Space station, United states of America, Germany,Brazil,Sweden and Iran get a national into space .
Walk on the moon. In what seemed like a master of technology, I witnessed it live computer monitor
live on internet.i was at Makerkere University Kampala, in my first years studies Bachelor of science in
Agricultural land use and management. Across the world that Billions of people who had worked to
make it happen celebrated their triumph, TV commentators and editorial writers proclaimed that
twenty five years from now our century would be remembered for those footsteps. When human
beings left their planet to explore the universe.
Ariny Amos.
(Astronomer or Computational Astrophysicist)
Dec / 2019
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Author , Ariny Amos thanks God of his Natural parents Father ;
Thomas Edison Alston (January 31, 1926 was a Major League
Baseball first baseman who played for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1954 to
1957, the first African-American to do so. A native of Greensboro, North
Carolina, he stood 6'5" (200 cm) and weighed 210 pounds (95 kg).
Alston was acquired by St. Louis via a trade with the San Diego Padres of
the Pacific Coast League, where he played in 180 games in 1953, on
January 26, 1954, after team president Gussie Busch told manager Eddie
Stanky to find a black player. Not only did Busch think excluding blacks
from baseball was morally wrong, his company 2%Anheuser–Busch, which
had bought the team a year earlier to keep them from moving to Milwaukee,
sold more beer to African-Americans than any other brewery, leading him
to fear the effect of a boycott.
Mother Kimberly Elise Trammel (born April 17, 1967) was professionally
known as Kimberly Elise, is an American film and television actress. She
made her feature film debut in Set It Off (1996), and later received critical
acclaim for her performance in Beloved (1998).
During her career, Elise has appeared in films such as John Q. (2002), The
Manchurian Candidate (2004), Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005), The
Great Debaters (2007), For Colored Girls (2010), Dope (2015), Almost
Christmas (2016) and Death Wish (2018). She received a nomination
for Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in
the 2004 drama film, Woman Thou Art Loosed, and played the leading roles
in a number of made for television movies. Elise also starred in
the CBS crime drama series, Close to Home (2005–07), and in 2013 began
starring in the 1VH1 comedy-drama series, Hit the Floor. She is four-
time NAACP Image Awards winner and finally Ariny Amos thanks
Gravitational wave.
ABSTRACT
This book examines Newton's argument for universal gravity and his application of it to
resolve the problem of deciding between geocentric and heliocentric world systems by
measuring masses of the Moon, Jupiter Planet observed in Moroto,Uganda. Sir Isaac
Newton's inferences from phenomena realize an ideal of empirical success that is richer
than prediction. To achieve this rich sort of empirical success a theory needs, not only
to accurately predict the phenomena it purports to explain, but also, to have those
phenomena accurately measure the parameters which explain them. Newton's method
aims to turn theoretical questions into ones which can be empirically answered by
measurement from phenomena. Newton employs theory mediated measurements to
turn data into far more informative evidence than can be achieved by confirmation from
prediction alone. Propositions inferred from phenomena are provisionally accepted as
guides to further research
This methodology, guided by its rich ideal of empirical success, supports a conception
of scientific progress that does not require construing it as progress toward Laplace's
ideal limit of a final theory of everything and is not threatened by the classic argument
against convergent realism. Newton's method endorses the radical theoretical
transformation from his theory to Einstein's theory of relativity. It is strikingly realized in
the development and application of testing frameworks for relativistic theories of gravity.
In addition, it is very much at work in cosmology today. These propositions described
patterns of motion, generalised from observations of the Mercury planet,Earth and moon. It has been
noted by many commentators, however, that these do not seem to fit any standard definition of
'phenomenon'. 1 Some have argued that Newton's labelling was mistaken, while others have argued
that Newton was using the label 'phenomenon' to avoid using the term 'hypothesis', which would
mark his work as speculative, rather than experimental (for the early modern distinction between
experimental and speculative philosophy. I argue that Newton's choice of label was appropriate,
albeit unconventional. Firstly, drawing on Bogen and Woodward's (1988) distinction between data,
phenomena and theories, I Ariny Amos argue that Newton's phenomena performed a specific
function: they isolated explanatory targets.
In experimental philosophy [science], we develop our theories from the phenomena we observe, and
afterwards we develop general theories for all similar phenomena by inductive reasoning. This was how
the laws of motion and gravitation of Earth Astronomical Object were Original was Observed
,discovered in Bushenyi, Mukono Nov 29/2019 , Uganda East Africa. The book comprises introduction,
of Earths Astronomical Object, Biblical Astronomy, Motions of the Earth Astronomical Object,
Literature review, scope of the study, Earth Astronomical Object Astronomy, Ariny Amos
(Astronomer)Experiment procedure, Results , Discussions,Conclusions, Recommendations,
References, Further reading, Bibliography.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword…..
Preface……
Acknowledgement……
Abstract…..
TABLE OF CONTENTS…..
INTRODUCTION…………..
Characteristics of Earth Astronomical Object…….
Importance of Earth Astronomical Object……
BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY……..
MOTION OF EARTH ASTRONOMICAL OBJECT……
LITERATURE REVIEW……..
SCOPE OF THE STUDY…
UNITING PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY…..
Quantum Mechanics……
Celestial Mechanics……
Astronomy……
Planetary science…..
Planetary Astronomy…..
Planetary Geology…….
Geomorphology……
Cosmochemistry, Geochemistry and Petrology…….
Geophysics…..
Geophysics and Space Physics……
Atmospheric Science…….
Comparative Planetary science…….
Computational Astrophysics……..
Astrophysics……
Geodesy………
Geodetic Problems……
Astrobiology……
EARTH ASTRONOMICAL OBJECT ASTRONOMY………………
EXPERIMENT ON EARTH ASTRONOMICAL OBJECT , ARINY AMOS (ASTRONOMER)
PROCEDURE……..
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION PERMIT……..
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION…….
APPARATUS……
SPACECRAFT……..
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION SPACECRAFT EMITTS LORENTZ
FORCE ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATIONS………
EMITTED LORENTZ FORCE AND NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE
ADMINISTRATIONSPACECRAFT…….
LORENTZ FORCE…….
LORENTZ TRANSFORMATIONS…….
RAW MATERIALS ….
GREGORIAN CALENDAR…….
LUNAR CALENDAR……
RAW MATERIALS….
DRINKING WATER…..
RESULTS…….
SIR ISAAC NEWTON LUNAR THEORY…..
DISCUSSIONS…….
LORENTZ TRANSFORMATIONS………
Lorentz Group……
The Lie Group…….
ZIPF’S LAW……
BEDFORD’S LAW……
Overview…..
Application of Bedfords law……
Multiplication Fluctuation……..
Multiple Probability Distribution……
Scale in variance…..
Accounting fraud detection…….
Legal status……
Election data……
Macroeconomic data…..
Price digital analysis……
Genome data…….
Scientific fraud detection……
Statistical tests……
Generalization to digits beyond the first…….
Distribution known to obey Bedford’s law…….
Application s of Zipf’s law……..
SUPERSYMMETRIC THEORY OF STOCHASTIC DYNAMICS…….
Operator representation……..
Hilbert space……
Relation to Non-linear sigma…….
Model and Algebraic Topology……
Eigensystem of stochastic evolution operator……………
STS as a topological field theory…….
Application of STS………
CLASSIFICATION OF STOCHASTIC DYNAMICS DEMYSTIFICATION OF SELF-ORGANISED
CRITICALITY……
Kinematic dynamo theory………
Transcient dynamics…….
Low energy effective theories for dynamical chaos……..
GRANDTACK HYPOTHESIS……..
Description…..
Scope of the Grand tack hypothesis…….
Mars problem……..
Asteroid Belt……
Absent Super-Earths…….
Later development……
Potential problems,…….
Alternatives of Grand tack hypothesis…….
STOCHASTIC THEORY……
Stochastic process……
Introduction……
Classification…….
Etymology ………
Terminology ……
Notation……
EXAMPLES…..
Bernoulli process……
Random walk……
Wiener process……
Poisson process……
Markov process and chains……
Markov process…..
Brownian motion process……
Martingale (Probability Theory)………
Levy process……
Random field…….
Point process……
RESURFACING HYPOTHESIS……
UNIFORMITARIANISM…..
Methodological assumptions…..
Substantive hypotheses……
20th century Stephen Jay Gould’s Scientific paper……..
EPISODIC PLATE TECTONICS…….
Shield volcano………..
Geology….
Structure …….
Eruptive characteristics……
List of shield volcanoes……
Hawaiian islands…….
Galapagos island……
East Africa……
Extraterrestrial volcanoes
List of extraterrestrial volcanoes….
STAGNANT LID CONVECTION…..
TRANSITION FROM THIN TO THICK LITHOSPHERE…….
DIRECTIONAL HISTORY HYPOTHESIS…..
DISC INSTABILITY MODEL IN EARTH ASTRONOMICAL OBJECT FORMATION……..
Density trends……
Extraterrestrial planets……
List of terrestrial exoplanet candidates…….
Frequency…..
Silicate planet…….
Carbon planet(aslso called ‘’Diamond planet’’)…..
Iron planet…..
Coreless planet…….
ACCRETION (ASTROPHYSICS) OF EARTH ASTRONOMICAL OBJECT…….
ACCRETION OF GALAXIES……
PROTOGALAXY…….
Accretion of stars……
Protostar……
Accretion of planets…….
Protoplanetary disk…….
Accretion of asteroids……..
Accretion of comets……….
NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS…….
Solar Nebular model achievement and problems…..
Achievements……
Current issues…..
Formation of stars and Protoplanetary discks……..
Protostar…….
Protoplanetary disks……
Protoplanetary disk and Planetesimal…….
Aprotoplanetary disk forming the Orion Nebula…….
Artist’s impression of the disc and gas streams around young star HD142527………..
Formation of Planets , Astronomical object Jupiter……
Rock planets……..
Exo planets…….
Meaning of Accretion……
GEODYNAMO THEORY……..
History of Geodynamo theory…..
Formal definition…….
Tacholine……
Tidal heating supporting dynamo……
Kinematic dynamo theory……
As a spontaneous break downof topological supersymmetry……
Non –linear dynamo theory……
Numerical models…….
GIANT IMPACT HYPOTHESIS…….
‘’Big splash’’……
Theia (Planet)…….
Basic model……
Compositon of Theia…..
Energetic aftermath theory…..
Synestia model……
Evidence …..
Difficulties …..
Composition …..
Lack of Venusian moon……
Lagrangian point……
Lagrange points…….
L1 point……
Explanation …..
L3 point……
Explanation …..
L4 and L5 points……
Natural objects at Lagrangian points……
List of objects at Lagrangian points……
Other examples of natural objects orbiting at lagrange points…..
Mathematicaldetails……
L4 and L5 points…..
Trojan (Celestial body)…..
Stability……
Solar system values……
ACE in it’s orbit around L1 …….
Mission to Langrangian points……
Generally orbit the points rather than occupy them directly……
Earth –Moon…..
Sun –Venus……
THE BIG BANG….
Overview…..
Time line…..
Chronology of the Universe……
Singularity……
Gravitational singularity and Planck Epoch…..
Inflation and Baryogenesis…….
Cosmic inflation and Baryogenesis…..
Structure formation…..
Cosmic acceleration……
Accelerating expansion of the Universe…….
Features of the model………
Expansion of space……
Friedmann-lemaitre-robertson-walker metric and metric expansion of space……
Horizons ……
List of cosmological Horizons…….
Time line of Cosmological Theories…….
Etymology……
Development ….
Observational evidence…….
Lawrence Krauss……
Hubble’s law and expansion of space……
Abundance of primordial elements……
Big bang Nucleosynthesis……
Galactic evolution and distribution ……
Primordial gas clouds…..
Other lines of evidence ……
Future observation……
Problem and related issues to Physics…….
List of unsolved problems in Physics……
Baryon Asymmetry…….
Dark Energy……..
Horizon Problem……
Magnetic Monopoles……
Flatness problem……
Cause……
Problem of why there is anything at all……..
Ultimate fate of the Universe……
Misconceptions……..
Speculations ……..
Cosmogony…..
Religious and Philosophical interpretations…….
CONCLUSION………
RECOMMENDATION…..
GLOBAL POSITONING SYSTEM…….
GLONAS…….
APOLLO PROGRAM…..
REFERENCES……..
FURTHER READING………
BIBLIOGRAPHY………
INTRODUCTION.
EARTH
Earth is the third Astronomical Object from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life.
According to radiometric dating and other sources of evidence, Earth formed over 4.5 billion years ago. Earth's
gravity interacts with other objects in space, especially the Sun and the Moon, which is Earth's only natural
satellite. Earth orbits around the Sun in 365.265 days, a period known as an Earth sidereal year. During this
time, Earth rotates about its axis about 366.265 times.[n 6]
Earth's axis of rotation is tilted with respect to its orbital plane, producing seasons on Earth.
The gravitational interaction between Earth and the Moon causes tides, stabilizes Earth's orientation on its axis,
and gradually slows its rotation. Earth is the densest planet in the Solar System and the largest and most
massive of the four rocky planets.
Earth's lithosphere is divided into several rigid tectonic plates that migrate across the surface over many
millions of years. About 71% of Earth's surface is covered with water, mostly by oceans. The remaining 29%
is land consisting of continents and islands that together contain many lakes, rivers and other sources of water
that contribute to the hydrosphere. The majority of Earth's polar regions are covered in ice, including
the Antarctic ice sheet and the sea ice of the Arctic ice pack. Earth's interior remains active with a solid
iron inner core, a liquid outer core that generates the Earth's magnetic field and a convecting mantle that drives
plate tectonics.
Formation of Earth Astronomical Object is by Accretion(Astrophysics)
In astrophysics, accretion is the accumulation of particles into a massive object
by gravitationally attracting more matter, typically gaseous matter, in an accretion disk.[1]
[2]
Most astronomical objects, such as galaxies, stars, and planets, are formed by
accretion processes. In physics (specifically in electromagnetism) the Lorentz
force (or electromagnetic force) is the combination of electric and magnetic force on
a point charge due to electromagnetic fields. A particle of charge q moving with a
velocity v in an electric field E and a magnetic field B experiences a force of
(in SI units[1][2]). Variations on this basic formula describe the magnetic force on a
current-carrying wire (sometimes called Laplace force), the electromotive force in a
wire loop moving through a magnetic field (an aspect of Faraday's law of induction),
and the force on a charged particle which might be traveling near the speed of
light (relativistic form of the Lorentz force). The accretion model that Earth and the
other terrestrial planets formed from meteoric material was proposed in 1944
by Otto Schmidt, followed by the protoplanet theory of William McCrea (1960) and
finally the capture theory of Michael Woolfson.[3] In 1978, Andrew
Prentice resurrected the initial Laplacian ideas about planet formation and
developed the modern Laplacian theory.[3] None of these models proved completely
successful, and many of the proposed theories were descriptive.
Transformations of magnetic fields.
Lorentz transformations can also be used to illustrate that the magnetic
field B and electric field E are simply different aspects of the same force —
the electromagnetic force, as a consequence of relative motion between electric
charges and observers.[22] The fact that the electromagnetic field shows relativistic
effects becomes clear by carrying out a simple thought experiment. [23]
An observer measures a charge at rest in frame F. The observer will detect a static
electric field. As the charge is stationary in this frame, there is no electric current, so the
observer does not observe any magnetic field.
The other observer in frame F′ moves at velocity v relative to F and the
charge. This observer sees a different electric field because the charge moves at
velocity −v in their rest frame. The motion of the charge corresponds to an electric current,
and thus the observer in frame F′ also sees a magnetic field.
The electric and magnetic fields transform differently from space and time, but exactly
the same way as relativistic angular momentum and the boost vecto
Transformation of general fields.
A general noninteracting multi-particle state (Fock space state) in quantum field
theory transforms according to the rule[26]
( 1
)
where W(Λ, p) is the Wigner rotation and D(j) is the (2j + 1)-
dimensional representation of SO(3).
Within the first billion years of Earth's history, life appeared in the oceans and began to affect the Earth's
atmosphere and surface, leading to the proliferation of anaerobic and, later, aerobic organisms. Some
geological evidence indicates that life may have arisen as early as 4.1 billion years ago. Since then, the
combination of Earth's distance from the Sun, physical properties and geological history have allowed life
to evolve and thrive.
Earth
The Blue Marble, the first full-view photograph of the planet, was taken
by Apollo 17 astronauts en route to the Moon in 1972
Designations
Adjectives Earthly, terrestrial
Orbital characteristics
Epoch J2000[n 1]
Aphelion 152100000 km[n 2]
(94500000 mi; 1.017 AU)
Perihelion 147095000 km[n 2]
(91401000 mi; 0.98327 AU)
Semi-major axis 149598023 km[1]
(92955902 mi; 1.00000102 AU)
Eccentricity 0.0167086[1]
Orbital period 365.256363004 d[2]
(1.00001742096 yr)
Average orbital speed 29.78 km/s[3]
(107200 km/h; 66600 mph)
Mean anomaly 358.617°
7.155° to the Sun's equator;
Inclination
1.57869°[4] to invariable plane;
0.00005° to J2000 ecliptic
Longitude of −11.26064°[3] to J2000 ecliptic
ascending node
Argument of 114.20783°[3]
perihelion
Satellites 1 natural satellite: the Moon
5 quasi-satellites
>1 800 operational artificial satellites
>16 000 space debris[n 3]
Physical characteristics
The spinning of the Earth on its axis is what causes the Sun to appear to move across
the sky. The effect the apparent movement of the Sun is similar to looking out the
window of a moving car, where things outside appear to be moving past you.
Tilt affects seasons
The Earth's axis also tilts with respect to the Sun, causing the changes of the seasons.
In summer, the Earth is tilted such that the Sun falls more directly, while in winter the
Sun looks lower in the horizon and the light comes at a glancing angle. The tilt of the
Earth also causes the summer days to be longer than the nights. In winter the days are
shorter and there is less light to heat the ground.
The light from the Sun is more direct in summer than
in winter at the same latitude
The further north you go, the more the effect of the tilt of the Earth is apparent. Above
the Arctic Circle, daylight can be seen for a full 24 hours in the summer or night can be
24 hours in the winter. That is why they call the area "the land of the midnight sun."
(See Motion of the Earth for more information.)
Moon
The Earth has only one moon, while Mars has two moons and Jupiter has 9 moons.
(See The Moon for more information.)
Physical characteristics of Earth
Physical characteristics include shape, size and composition.
Spherical in shape
Just as the Sun and Moon appear as spheres, so too is the Earth spherical in shape. To
people on Earth, the planet appears to be generally flat (not counting for hills and
valleys), but in reality the surface of the Earth has a slight curve. This can be noticed
when looking out on a large lake or the ocean and seeing a ship come up along the
horizon.
Ship coming up over the horizon
The shape of the Earth has been proven by ships circling the Earth, as well as from
pictures of the Earth taken from the space vehicles.
View of Earth from space
Its shape is actually slightly flattened at the poles.
Size
The diameter of the Earth at the equator is 12,756 km (7,926 miles), and its
circumference or distance around the Earth at the equator is 40,075 km (24,901 miles).
Composition
The composition of the Earth consists of the solid and liquid portion and the atmosphere
or gaseous portion.
Solid and liquid
The percentage composition of the Earth's solid and liquid materials (by mass) is:
Element Percentage
Iron 34.6%
Oxygen 29.5%
Silicon 15.2%
Magnesium 12.7%
Nickel 2.4%
Sulfur 1.9%
Titanium 0.05%
Oxygen is chemically combined with many substances to produce liquid and solid
compounds. Although water (H2O) is a dominant compound on Earth, Hydrogen is not
listed above because of its small mass.
Silicon Dioxide (SiO2) is sand, and that compound makes up a large portion of the
Earth's mass. Much of the Iron is in the Earth's core and is responsible for the Earth's
magnetic field.
Atmosphere
Although most people think air is mainly Oxygen, the atmosphere of the Earth actually
consists of 79% Nitrogen (N2), 20% Oxygen (O2) and 1% of other gases such as
Carbon Dioxide (CO2).
Force fields
The Earth has two major force fields: gravity and magnetism.
Gravity
Gravity is the force at a distance that attracts objects of mass toward each other. The
force of gravity from the Earth holds down our atmosphere, oceans and everything
else.
Lost atmosphere
Some planets and moons that have less gravity than Earth have lost their atmosphere
because it wasn't sufficient to hold the gas close to the surface.
Escape velocity
When you throw a ball or shoot a bullet upward, it will slow down due to the Earth's
gravity, until it finally falls back to the ground. You would have to shoot the object at
40,248 km/hr (25,009 mph) for it to escape the Earth's gravity and fly out into space.
This is called the Earth's Escape Velocity.
Magnetic field
The Earth is like a giant magnet with a magnetic pole near the North Pole and the
opposite near the South Pole. The north pole of a magnet seeks the North Magnetic
Pole. Through the ages, indications are that the poles switched directions. No one is
sure why this happened.
The rotation of the Earth and the fact that the core of the Earth is made of iron are
major factors in creating the magnetic field.
One thing the magnetic field does is to attract charged particles that have been emitted
from the Sun. The focusing of these particles at the poles may help to prevent us from
being harmed by the high energy particles.
These particles cause the air in the upper atmosphere to glow. This is called the
northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis).
Earth's atmosphere
Earth's atmosphere is roughly 78 percent nitrogen and 21 percent oxygen, with trace amounts of water,
argon, carbon dioxide and other gases. Nowhere else in the solar system is there an atmosphere
loaded with free oxygen, which is vital to one of the other unique features of Earth: life.
Air surrounds Earth and becomes thinner farther from the surface. Roughly 100 miles (160 km)
above Earth, the air is so thin that satellites can zip through the atmosphere with little resistance. Still,
traces of atmosphere can be found as high as 370 miles (600 km) above the planet's surface.
The lowest layer of the atmosphere is known as the troposphere, which is constantly in motion and
why we have weather. Sunlight heats the planet's surface, causing warm air to rise into the
troposphere. This air expands and cools as air pressure decreases, and because this cool air is
denser than its surroundings, it then sinks and gets warmed by the Earth again.
Above the troposphere, some 30 miles (48 km) above the Earth's surface, is the stratosphere. The
still air of the stratosphere contains the ozone layer, which was created when ultraviolet light caused
trios of oxygen atoms to bind together into ozone molecules. Ozone prevents most of the sun's
harmful ultraviolet radiation from reaching Earth's surface, where it can damage and mutate life.
Water vapor, carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere trap heat from the sun, warming
Earth. Without this so-called "greenhouse effect," Earth would probably be too cold for life to exist,
although a runaway greenhouse effect led to the hellish conditions now seen on Venus.
Earth-orbiting satellites have shown that the upper atmosphere actually expands during the day and
contracts at night due to heating and cooling.
Chemical composition
Oxygen is the most abundant element in rocks in Earth's crust, composing roughly 47 percent of the
weight of all rock. The second most abundant element is silicon, at 27 percent, followed
by aluminum, at 8 percent; iron, at 5 percent; calcium, at 4 percent;
and sodium, potassium and magnesium, at about 2 percent each.
Earth's core consists mostly of iron and nickel and potentially smaller amounts of lighter elements,
such as sulfur and oxygen. The mantle is made of iron and magnesium-rich silicate rocks. (The
combination of silicon and oxygen is known as silica, and minerals that contain silica are known as
silicate minerals.)
Earth's moon
Earth's moon is 2,159 miles (3,474 km) wide, about one-fourth of Earth's diameter. Our planet has
one moon, while Mercury and Venus have none and all the other planets in our solar system have
two or more.
The leading explanation for how Earth's moon formed is that a giant impact knocked the raw
ingredients for the moon off the primitive, molten Earth and into orbit. Scientists have suggested that
the object that hit the planet had roughly 10 percent the mass of Earth, about the size of Mars.
Life on Earth
Earth is the only planet in the universe known to possess life. The planet boasts several million
species of life, living in habitats ranging from the bottom of the deepest ocean to a few miles into the
atmosphere. And scientists think far more species remain to be discovered.
Researchers suspect that other candidates for hosting life in our solar system such as Saturn's
moon Titan or Jupiter's moon Europa could house primitive living creatures. Scientists have yet to
precisely nail down exactly how our primitive ancestors first showed up on Earth. One solution
suggests that life first evolved on the nearby planet Mars, once a habitable planet, then traveled to
Earth on meteorites hurled from the Red Planet by impacts from other space rocks.
IMPORTANCE OF EARTH ASTRONOMICAL OBJECT.
Earth in science fiction
An overwhelming majority of fiction is set on or features the Earth. However, authors of speculative
fiction novels and writers and directors of science fiction film deal with Earth quite differently from authors of
conventional fiction. Unbound from the same ties that bind authors of traditional fiction to the Earth, they can
either completely ignore the Earth or use it as but one of many settings in a more complicated universe,
exploring a number of common themes through examining outsiders' perceptions of and interactions with
Earth.
Earth
Common themes
Center of the Universe, or the Seat of Power in an Intergalactic community
o Earth is often depicted as a major power-broker in the community due to anthropocentrism.
Perhaps the most notable example of this is Star Trek (where Earth is the capital of the United
Federation of Planets).
o Earth can also be depicted as the head of an empire as in Poul Anderson's Dominic
Flandry series where "The barbarians in the long ships waited at the edge of the Galaxy for the
ancient Terran Empire to fall … The brilliant Starship Commander Flandry fought to save the empire
even as he scorned it" (from the preface to The Rebel Worlds).
o Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series, too, has a brooding Terran Empire maintaining a
colonial enclave on the planet Darkover where the plot takes place, and on countless others.
o Haegemonia: Legions of Iron also features an empire controlled from Earth with other major
planets, such as Eden IV.
o It is a common theme across British science fiction to have Earth near the core, or center of
the fictional universe[citation needed], common examples could be the works of Peter F. Hamilton where earth
is the main terminus of the wormhole and the capital of the inner worlds (in later works he turns the
idea that people seek an inner migration (as opposed to an external expansion) to frontier type
worlds).
o In the BBC science fiction show Doctor Who, many episodes set in the future depict Earth as
being the head of an empire that stretches across many galaxies.
o In the Warhammer 40,000 franchise, Earth is referred to as "Holy Terra" and is the capital of
the Imperium of Man
Invasion by Aliens.
Category:Alien invasions in fiction
While reasons vary, in most stories, it is because extraterrestrials are looking for a new world to
colonize or otherwise dominate. The aliens are often used to portray nearly all-powerful beings,
placing the strongest forces on Earth at the receiving end of attacks that they can barely
understand. This theme is one of the earliest in science fiction, demonstrated by H. G.
Wells in The War of the Worlds and Doctor Who, where the invasions in the 1960s, 70s and the
80s are small scale, and the invasions from the 1990s and later are more-large scale, in works
such as Independence Day. In such scenarios, the author often uses deus ex machina to allow
the invasion to be repulsed. In others, like Footfall and Worldwar, the author depicts aliens only
slightly more advanced than the inhabitants of Earth, and are fought to a stand-still or defeated in
battle. The opposite has also been depicted, with Earth becoming a refuge to aliens as seen in
the Men in Black series of movies, and Alien Nation series.
Forgotten or mythical
o The memory of Earth, and its location may be lost to the sands of time or shrouded in myth as
mankind abandons the Earth. Isaac Asimov's Foundation and Empire series depict a common
theme of a destroyed Earth. In other works, such as Battlestar Galactica, it is largely forgotten
except by the religious. In the numerous books of the Dumarest saga by E.C. Tubb, the
adventurer protagonist was born on a "galactic backwater" Earth and at a young age had stowed
away on a rare spaceship touching down on the planet; having seen more than enough of the
galaxy he wants to go back, but no one else had ever heard of the planet. The first Terran
inhabitants of the Koprulu Sector are Earth-born criminals in sleeper ships in StarCraft. The
expansion also mentions about Earth: upon hearing of the United Earth Directorate's forces'
arrival, Zeratul remarks "Raynor [a Terran captain] spoke to me of the distant Terran homeworld
of Earth." This implies that the Terrans still know about Earth but its location is lost
(StarCraft manual mentions that the sleeper ships have become lost in hyperspace when an error
erased the intended destination's coordinates, as well as those of Earth's, resulting in the ships
going at full speed for several decades until the engines broke down). Also, the Terran
Confederacy uses the same flag as the Confederacy in the American Civil War. Also, in
the Zodiac series by Romina Russell, it states that "history tells us the original human colonizers
came from a distant and long-gone planet called Earth, and they traveled through a portal in
Helios to get here—but the portal is just another myth." [1]
Destruction
Category:Apocalyptic fiction
Earth could have been completely destroyed or rendered uninhabitable, but its location (or at least
its former location) is well known. This last scenario is also popular, and was featured in the
movie Titan A.E., as well as in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. There is an example of a
devastated uninhabitable Earth in Roger Zelazny's 1973 novel To Die in Italbar.
Not mentioned
o Some works, such as Star Wars series and many fantasy works, never mention the Earth at
all (although a proposed novel, Robert J. Sawyer's Alien Exodus, would have linked Earth to
the Star Wars universe).[2][3] This allows the author to operate in a realm unfamiliar and
otherworldly to the reader or to explore contentious issues and historical themes in an
otherwise entirely alien environment, giving the work a radically different perspective. In
the Homeworld games for example, Earth's existence is unknown – and indeed entirely
immaterial – as the games take place in a different galaxy altogether (specifically
the Whirlpool Galaxy). However, judging by the appearance of members of the
Kushan/Hiigaran people, most notably Karan S'jet, Hiigaran biology is at least outwardly
similar, if not identical, to human biology.
Earth as presented in various works
In the H. G. Wells story The War of the Worlds, perhaps the first depiction of an alien invasion in
fiction, Earth is simply a neighboring planet of the inhabitants of Mars. With their world coming
into its end, they target the younger and richer Earth for migration. This plot is repeated with
varying degrees of differences in many of its adaptations, but Earth's place largely remains the
same. The notable exception is in the television series War of the Worlds, where the aliens look
to Earth for more specific reasons, as it features many of their old world's characteristics (such as
both being the third planet in their respective systems, the number 3 playing a large role in their
beliefs).
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare - Earth is the home to the UNSA (United Nations Space Alliance)
and Earth is attacked by the Settlement Defense Front, resulting in Earth's defenses
compromised.
In the anime series Cowboy Bebop, Earth has become a backwater wasteland after a horrific
accident caused one of the jumpgates that humans used to travel the Solar System to explode,
destroying part of the Moon and causing the destroyed bits to rain down on the Earth.
The Gundam anime often depicts a war between Earth against the space colonies established by
humans in outer space.
In C. S. Lewis's Space Trilogy, Earth (known as Thulcandra) is part of the Field of Arbol: and is
the subject of an interplanetary blockade — hence its name, the Silent Planet.
In Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask protects Earth and holds the Golden Crystal.
In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Earth has been united into a single geopolitical entity, The
World State.
In David Weber's Honorverse, Earth is the capital planet of the Solarian League, the largest and
wealthiest political institution ever created by man. Prior to the League's creation, a large portion
of humanity departed for other planets and solar systems in what came to be known as
the Diaspora, leaving those who remained to rebuild from the effects of pollution, resource
exhaustion, and the cataclysmic Final War. They did so, and Earth once again became the
political, economic, and cultural center of humanity.
The Earth also plays a major part in the Doctor Who universe. It is where humans come from and
expand out of to create numerous Empires, being invaded by many different aliens through all of
its history. Having a weather control station on the moon by 2070, by the year 200,000, the Earth
is in the middle of the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. By the year 5,000,000,000,
humanity is spread all across the stars and has fully integrated themselves with the rest of the
universe. Shortly after the destruction of Earth, Humanity regroups and colonized a new planet,
naming it New Earth. Humans go to live on to the end of the Universe.
In Warhammer 40,000 Earth, known as Terra (Latin for Earth), is the home world of Humanity
and the capital of the Imperium of Man. By the 41st Millennium, it has become an ecumenopolis.
It is the site of the Golden Throne, where the God-Emperor resides. Its soil is utterly barren and
its atmosphere is a fog of pollution. Massive, labyrinthine edifices sprawl across the vast majority
of the surface. Its oceans have long ago boiled away. Many mountain ranges have been leveled,
perhaps all but the Himalayas, due to the laboratories said to be underneath and the
Astronomican that lays within them. Beneath hundreds of layers of urban accretion, catacombs
hold older cultures, completely different from the surface ones. A poor civilization lives and dies,
without ever seeing the surface. A square meter of land on Terra costs more than a palace on
any Hive World; only the most wealthy can even afford to own a small section of land.
In the Noon Universe, Earth is a Utopian world of immense power and the initial home planet of
all humans scattered over the Universe.
In the alternate future universe of The Longest Journey, Earth has been divided into two twin
worlds — technology-driven Stark, the world as we know it, and the magic world of Arcadia for
over 13 millennia.
In Harry Harrison's The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World, The Stainless Steel Rat travels to
Earth, 1975, and then to Napoleonic France, to stop a madman known as He from destroying the
timeline. The Rat and his contemporaries in the series show confusion over the name of the
world, hedging by calling it either "Earth" or "Dirt".
In the animated television series Exosquad, Earth is the center of the Homeworlds, the core of
both Human and Neosapien Empires (at different times).
In the Alien film series, Earth is still the main home of humanity even though humans have begun
to colonise other worlds. It is also the HQ of the ruthless megacorporation "Weyland-Yutani".
Nothing is seen of the planet itself in the primary four Alien films, with the exception of shots of
the planet from orbit, and some shots of Paris in the special edition of Alien Resurrection which
depicts the city as a ruined, possibly post-holocaust landscape. By the time of Resurrection,
which is set in the 24th century, Earth as a whole is considered to be an unpleasant, polluted
planet that even hardened mercenaries prefer to avoid. Upon learning of their impending arrival
there, Johner (one of the film's character portrayed by Ron Perlman) remarks "Earth, man...what
a shithole."
The television series Andromeda differs from the usual portrayal of Earth as a dominant power in
galactic civilization. The series' Systems Commonwealth was founded thousands of years in the
past by the Vedran species in the Andromeda Galaxy, with Earth joining in the 22nd century.
Humans go on to become a major player in the Commonwealth, but Earth itself has no special
importance (although the final two episodes of the series retcon this). Following the fall of the
Commonwealth, Earth becomes one of many Nietzschean slave worlds. Earth was eventually
liberated, but the Spirit of the Abyss destroyed the planet.
In the video game universe of Halo, Earth is the center of all human government, military and
technology. Earth and its colonies are governed by the UNSC, or the United Nations Space
Command. During the Human–Covenant War, the Cole Protocol was implemented, stating that
ships must self-destruct rather than let the Covenant find the location of Earth. Furthermore, any
ship heading to Earth must take several random slipspace jumps rather than head straight for it.
On October 20, 2552, Earth was attacked by the Covenant and successfully defended by the
UNSC Military after a month-long battle.
In the StarCraft series, Earth is ruled by a fascistic government called the United Earth
Directorate. When the UED becomes aware of the presence of aliens hostile to humanity in the
far away Koprulu Sector, it sends a large expeditionary force to defeat the aliens, conquer the
sector, and reintegrate the banished human colonists who reside there into its political fold. The
Directorate's initial progress in the sector was promising, as it managed to invade and conquer
the main planets of both the Terran Dominion and the bizarre alien Zerg, in the process
kidnapping the Zerg Overmind and using it to control most of the Zerg swarms. The rogue Zerg
leader Kerrigan waged a clever and highly successful war to rid the sector of the Earth's control,
aided in part by temporary Terran and Protoss allies. The end result for Earth's forces was a
crushing defeat which amounted to the loss of all ships in the Koprulu Sector. As of the events
of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, there remain a few isolated pockets of UED fleet survivors
scattered throughout the Koprulu sector. It is unclear if the UED is planning to return to the war-
torn area.
In author Peter F. Hamilton's The Night's Dawn Trilogy, Earth is the heart of an economical
empire, its biosphere wrecked by global warming to such an extent that any unfortified structure
would be torn apart in a matter of days by colossal, super-sized versions of modern tropical
hurricanes. The entire sprawling human population is forced to live in arcologies protected
against the so-called "Armada Storms". Whilst Earth represents a significant political and
industrial power base, it is nonetheless an independent state and not the head of the
series' Confederation. Physically, Earth is dominated by massive Arcologies that cover most of
the major urban centers of our time, including London, New York and Johannesburg. There are
also several equatorial space elevators that allow for transit into orbit, where the planet is
surrounded by an O'Neill Halo, a collection of captured asteroids providing habitation and raw
materials as well as docking and strategic defense units. Earth is sometimes referred to as "The
fortress world" due to the enormous fleet of space warship's surrounding it in order to protect the
vital industrial facilities of the O'Neill Halo.
In the Metroid series, Samus's birthplace K-2L was a colony of Earth. However at the formation of
the Galactic Federation, in the year 2000 C.C. (Cosmic Calendar), it can be assumed that Earth's
resources were absorbed into the federation.
In the Wing Commander universe, Earth is the capital of the Terran Confederation, which spends
much of the time period covered in the published media (from the middle to the end of the 27th
century) locked in an interstellar war with the Kilrathi Empire. The Confederation was founded in
the aftermath of the collapse of the World Economic Consortium.
In the Perry Rhodan series, Earth is much as in the real world until Rhodan, that Earth's first man
on the moon, discovers a wrecked starship from the ancient Arkonide Empire. Using the
technology and the help of the surviving Arkonides, Rhodan forces the Earth to unite under his
leadership, and begins to explore the galaxy while carefully concealing the location of Earth from
enemies such as the Arkonide Empire. Later in the series, Earth under the now-immortal Rhodan
becomes a major player in the universe, establishing a benevolent empire. During an invasion of
the Milkyway by the Laren, Earth and the Moon with its 20 billion inhabitants are supposed to be
teleported to a different system, but accidentally end up in the bridge between two collided
galaxies (called Maelstrom of Stars) and moved into orbit about a star. 120 years later the system
falls into a giant energy vortex and is again transported to another galaxy, and most of the
humans in it become part of the superintelligence IT. Another five years later, IT transports Earth
and Moon back into the Solar System, and they are repopulated.
In the anime and manga series Trigun it is revealed that through constant pollution and humanity
living beyond its means that the Earth had to be evacuated after becoming uninhabitable. The
humans fled in cryogenic suspension with only a small skeleton crew operating their fleet called
Project Seeds to search for a new homeworld. Upon crashing on the planet Gunsmoke, any
advanced technology from the days of Earth is referred to as lost technology.
In Phillip Reeves's Mortal Engines Quartet (known as the Hungry City Chronicles in the US),
Earth has been ravaged by a conflict known as the Sixty Minute War, which was soon followed by
earthquakes, volcano eruptions and a brief ice age, leaving Earth forever changed. Europe is
known as the "Great Hunting Ground" as where most Traction Cities are found, North America is
known as the "Dead Continent" and South America's isthmus has been cut off due to 'Slow
Bombs'.
In Dan Simmons's Hyperion Cantos series, Old Earth is believed to have been destroyed by The
Big Mistake of '08 (in which a miniature black hole was dropped into it), but later shown to have
been spirited away by 'other' beings of godlike abilities and consciousness.
In the original Planet of the Apes film, astronauts attempt to leave the Solar System for the first
time, aiming for Alpha Centauri. However, unexplained phenomena cause their small vessel to
change course while the crew is in cryostasis. They wake upon landing on an inhabitable but
harsh planet that they later learn is a future Earth, dominated by sapient apes. However, in the
original Pierre Boulle novel and the 2001 film, both of the same name, the astronauts find
civilizations of apes on another planet, but suffer a rude shock upon returning to Earth, finding it
besieged by apes.
In the Half-Life series of first-person shooters, a modern-day research facility opens a portal
storm between Earth and the border world Xen. The portal storm floods the planet with aliens
from that world, and is kept open by a creature named Nihilanth. A scientist named Gordon
Freeman manages to reach the creature and take it down, unknowingly freeing one of the races
that traveled to Earth by the portal storms. The portal storm awakes the Combine Empire, which
then manages to conquer Earth in just seven hours, after its military had been crippled by beings
from Xen. Two decades after the Black Mesa incident, Gordon Freeman succeeds in cutting
Earth off of the Combine Empire and a device that suppressed human reproduction, leading to a
renewed fight between the native population and the trapped Combine forces.
In the massively multiplayer online game Tabula Rasa, Earth is shown in the near future as
having been attacked by a force known as the Bane. Hopelessly outmatched, it is revealed that
Earth's various governments haven't been caught completely off guard and rather than mount a
suicidal defense, have chosen to abandon the planet using wormhole portals built using alien
technology to evacuate as many people as they could to other planets so the human race can
regroup and launch a counterattack at the Bane. The ultimate fate of Earth, and those that were
left behind, was unknown, with many thinking it was lost forever. It was later discovered Earth had
been conquered and converted into a large staging area for the Bane which left the planet in bad
shape.
In the video game Xenosaga, the Earth has been abandoned by humanity for at least 4,000
years, because the Earth has disappeared altogether from physical space. Humans refer to the
planet as "Lost Jerusalem".
In the video game FreeSpace Earth serves as the capital of the Galactic Terran Alliance. During
the war against the Shivans, a last-ditch attack in subspace saves the planet from destruction, but
at the cost of collapsing the FTL node that allows access to the system. By the end of FreeSpace
2, Earth is still sealed off and has had no contact with the outside systems for 32 years, but the
Alliance is hopeful they have found a way to restore travel to the Sol system.
In the AT-43 universe, Earth, known as "Sol III" was the home planet of the humans who became
the Therian faction. In this future, Earth was destroyed (after the Therians recklessly used up its
resources) and the debris was used to form a Dyson sphere around the Sun.
In Little Fuzzy, Earth is referred to as Terra, and is the center of a multi-planetary system,
spanning many galaxies most likely.
In the Funky Koval comic series, most events take place on 2080s Earth which is very similar to
our own. However it is rather ruled by global corporations (Stellar Fox Syndicate is notable
example) than political bodies like UN. Earth is also on the verge of wide galactic explorations
with possess ion of subspace flight technology and maintain contact with at least two alien
species: The Droll and Ancusans.
In the Sailor Moon manga, Mamoru Chiba is the representative of Earth taking the place of a
Sailor Soldier and becoming Tuxedo Kamen. (Tuxedo Mask)
In the Mass Effect series of video games, Earth is the industrial, economic and cultural capital of
the human Systems Alliance; however, the military and political capital is at Arcturus, 36 light
years from Earth. As of 2183, when the game is set, Earth is looked upon as a near Utopian
world, for it has been mentioned that Earth has reached a "New Golden Age". However, there is
still violent weather due to environmental damages of the 21st century. But since developing
faster-than-light travel among other advanced technologies, there have been significant
improvements to the state of the planet. The Systems Alliance itself is regarded as a sleeping
giant, and humanity has quickly established itself as one of the most important and powerful
races in the galaxy. Earth, like a number of other planets in the Mass Effect series, is attacked at
the onset of the Reaper War and suffers catastrophic damage due to it being the focal point of
the war, resulting in huge losses of life and many cities left in ruins, though it is implied that Earth
is subsequently repaired in time.
In his work A Journey to the Center of the Earth, French author Jules Verne presented the
concept of a hollow center of the planet inhabited by prehistoric beings. The secrets of this region
were explored by a group of travelers from the surface.
In the science fiction novel The Last Train out of Existence by Volarion Wendsar, Earth is
described as having reached a period of societal stagnation thanks to the development of
'holographic cellular phones'. The Earth continues to remain in this indefinite state of stagnation
until a fleet commandeered by an admiral known as Kress Milligan commits a nuclear genocide
against the humans of Earth, most of whom are obliterated. The government of the galaxy, the
Galactic Ascendancy, forbids any travel to and from the Earth and its star system, and quells any
attempts at violating this, including destroy the ship of archaeologist Arord Trialens before he can
reach the surface to conduct an expedition.
Battlestar Galactica
The overarching plot in both the original and re-imagined Battlestar Galactica is the quest to find
Earth, which is thought to be the location of the lost thirteenth colony of Kobol. Colonial history
dictates that Kobol is the homeworld of all humanity, and that the Thirteen Tribes of Kobol fled that
world thousands of years earlier, with twelve tribes founding the Twelve Colonies and the thirteenth
heading to Earth. Both shows are similar in that the location of Earth is initially unknown, but clues to
its location are gradually discovered by the refugee fleet from the Twelve Colonies. In both series, the
exodus of the Thirteen Tribes took place so far in the past that most modern Colonials have come to
assume that the stories of Earth are simply religious myths.
Original series
In the original series, several clues indicate that the existence of Earth is real. On the prison planet of
Proteus, Starbuck encounters drawings of star systems on the wall of a cell once occupied by a
mysterious prisoner. The star charts turn out to be that of the Solar System. Additionally, when
the Galactica later reaches a planet called Terra, it is inhabited by humans who use Earth units of
measurement (hours, minutes, etc.) rather than Colonial units of measurement, suggesting that it was
settled by members of the lost Thirteenth Tribe thousands of years earlier on their way to Earth.
In Galactica 1980, a continuation of the original series, the fleet did eventually discover Earth as it was
in 1980.
Re-imagined series
In the Season Three finale of the re-imagined series, Kara Thrace returns to Galactica after her
apparent death, claiming to have been to Earth and intending to lead the fleet there. The camera then
pans out from the fleet to view the Milky Way galaxy, and then zooms back in to show Earth,
confirming the existence of the planet. In the Season Four mid-season finale episode "Revelations",
the fleet finally reaches Earth, only to discover that it is a lifeless, radioactive wasteland.
In "Sometimes a Great Notion", it is revealed that the Thirteenth Tribe consisted of humanoid and
mechanical Cylons of a type previously unknown. It is also revealed that the final five Cylons had
previously lived on Earth 2000 years in the past, when a nuclear war devastated the planet.
In the final episode, a twist ending shows Galactica reaching our Earth, 150,000 years ago. The
Colonials and the Cylons they've made peace with decide to call their new world "Earth" due to the
hope associated with the name of the now devastated planet the Thirteenth Tribe once inhabited.
They then abandon their technology and live among the new Earth's native Hominini. 150,000 years
later, in the present day, the remains of Mitochondrial Eve – a Colonial human/Cylon hybrid
(named Hera Agathon) whose birth and destiny had been a major plot element of the series – are
discovered.
Buck Rogers
In most variations on the Buck Rogers mythos (comic strip, TV series, feature film), Earth of the 25th
century (where the action takes place) is recovering from various atomic wars, usually variations
on World War III. In the original comic, Mongols have taken over the Earth; in the TV series, the
Draconian Empire fills this role (although the Draconians are obviously based on Mongols). Most of
Earth's cities lie in ruins, although rebuilding is in progress (Earth's capital is New Chicago; other cities
include New Paris, New London etc.). The second season of the TV series revealed that much of
Earth's population fled the planet in the wake of the atomic war and founded colonies in deep space;
the Earth ship Searcher is dispatched to investigate.
Buffyverse
In Joss Whedon's Buffyverse, established by Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, Earth is one of
several dimensions; the term "Earth" is used both to refer to the specific planet and to the dimension
the planet exists in as a whole. Born from the Seed of Wonder, the source of all magic, Earth
originated as a world of Demons, and was ruled over by the Old Ones during a time known as the
Primordium Age. Eventually, however, the human race rose up and fought back against the Old Ones,
banishing them to other dimensions.
CoDominium
In Jerry Pournelle's CoDominium series (now largely alternate history) the Earth comes under the
control of the CoDominium, an alliance between the United States and Soviet Union, in the year 1990.
The CoDominium imposes its control over all other nations of the Earth, halting scientific development
and warfare. The CoDominium is ruled by a Grand Senate located on the Moon, and eventually
constructs interstellar colonies for the joint goal of economic gain and a means of exiling troublesome
elements of society. Eventually in 2103, the CoDominium dissolves, with the US and USSR engaging
in the nuclear "Great Patriotic Wars" which destroy almost all of Earth (it is mentioned
that Jamaica and the Tyrolean Alps are untouched).
The CD Space Navy escapes to the planet Sparta, which eventually becomes the nucleus of the
"Empire of Man". During the Empire's Formation Wars the Earth is once more hit hard, but is
eventually incorporated into the Imperium as the "honorary capital." When the Empire dissolves in the
Secession Wars in the 27th century, Earth is once more subjected to nuclear attacks, but by the early
31st century has been reclaimed by the Second Empire. By that time, the Earth city of "New
Annapolis" is a training center for the Imperial Space Navy. To inhabitants of planets newly contacted,
such as Prince Samual's World in "King David's Spaceship", the condition of the still largely desolate
Earth is presented as an object lesson for the prohibitive price of war and a justification for Empire's
claim to universal rule.
Dragon Ball
In Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball series, Earth is the primary setting and one of many planets in the
North Galaxy. The planet is inhabited by humans, anthropomorphic animals, and demons, among
others. Dragon Ball's Earth features heavy science fiction themes, such as humanoid robots and flying
cars, as well as heavy magical influence.
Dune
In Frank Herbert's Dune series of novels, Earth is referred to as Old Earth / Old Terra by the time of
the original novel Dune (at least 21,500 years in the future). The Sun is called Al-Lat, and humanity
had populated many planets (among them Caladan, Giedi Prime and Salusa Secundus). In the time
of Paul Atreides, the Earth is an uninhabited and largely forgotten land, shrouded in legend. In Dune
Messiah, Paul refers to Hitler and Genghis Khan, in comparing the destructiveness of his Jihad to
their wars. It is a wilderness and recovering an ecosystem of its own as humans have abandoned it.
The artifacts of Homo sapiens have for the most part crumbled back into the planet, though a more
than casual observer can find many traces of the old civilizations.
Paul's son, the God Emperor Leto II, refers to the Earth many times in his journals. The God Emperor
seemed particularly fond of the ancestors he had from the Western sections of Eurasia. He makes
references to Israel, Urartu, (also called Armenia), Edom, Damascus, Media, Babylon, Arpad, Umlias,
the plains of Central Asia, and the Greeks; the family name refers to their descent from Atreus. He
seems to have had ancestors among the Turks or the Mongols as he says that one of his memories
involves a horse plain with felt yurts. Leto also has the memories of a famous politician from the
United States whose name was Jacob Broom. In the book Children of Dune, Leto II mentions an
ancestor named Agamemnon, and makes reference to Geoffrey Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales.
In Heretics of Dune, it is noted that the Bene Gesserit Mother Superior Taraza has the
preserved Vincent van Gogh painting Cottages at Cordeville hanging in her room.
In the Legends of Dune series by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the Dune universe, it is
revealed that at the beginning of mankind's war with the Machines, called the Butlerian Jihad, Earth
had been devastated by humans themselves using atomics in an attack on the Machines. In
the Prelude to Dune prequel series, also by Herbert and Anderson, it is mentioned that
certain Monet and Gauguin paintings are owned by House Vernius, and hang in the Grand Palais
at Ix.
Firefly
In the Joss Whedon series Firefly, Earth is long since abandoned. It is referred to with awe as "Earth-
that-Was", having been abandoned centuries ago due to overpopulation and depletion of the planet's
natural resources. After fleeing the planet, the remnants of humanity traveled in generation ships for
decades (many humans lived their entire lives within a spaceship's walls) until finding a new star
system. Collection of Earth-that-Was artifacts is a hobby for the rich, and ancient Earth artifacts are
known to be very valuable.
It is unknown whether Earth has actually been destroyed, or if the planet still physically exists; in the
feature film Serenity, ancient starships are shown leaving a sickly brown Earth with gray oceans, but
the fate of the planet is never fully revealed. A puppet show in the episode "Heart of Gold" implies that
Earth has in fact been obliterated, but this was never actually confirmed on screen.
Asimov's future histories
In much of Isaac Asimov's fiction, the future Earth is an underprivileged planet — impoverished,
overcrowded and disease-ridden — which is regarded with disdain by the arrogant Spacers of the
"Outer Planets" (at this stage, there are about fifty of them).
In the Robot series, the inhabitants of these planets are still aware that their ancestors came from
Earth, but this does not make them fond of the place. Rather, they develop a racist theory by which
"the best strains" had left Earth to colonize the other planets and left "the inferior strains" behind.
However, they have no choice but to ask the help of the protagonist, a detective from the despised
Earth, to solve murder mysteries which baffle their own police. Afterwards, Earth embarks on a major
new campaign of space colonization, with the hope that the new colonists will prove more faithful to
the Mother Planet than the earlier ones. However, in the end of the series, the Earth is doomed to a
slow radioactive process that will leave the planet uninhabitable, causing a more rapid expansion of
colonization from Earth.
In the Galactic Empire series, taking place thousands of years later (originally conceived as
completely separate but made by Asimov in his later career into the direct sequel of the Robot
Period), Earth and settlements from it are still clearly remembered in The Stars, Like Dust. By the time
of The Currents of Space, Earth is ruled by Trantor, not yet a Galactic Empire. Its status as the
original homeworld of humanity is now disputed.
In Pebble in the Sky, we see Earth in the early days of the Empire of Trantor. Earth has a largely
radioactive crust with only patches of habitable land in between, and its people have to undergo
compulsory euthanasia at the age of 60. It is a backwater province, and among inhabitants of other
planets there is a prevalent prejudice known as "Anti-Terrestrialism", (obviously modeled
on antisemitism[citation needed]), with the main negative stereotype having to do with the radiation-induced
diseases prevalent on Earth.
By this time, Earth people still believe themselves to be the original home of Humanity, but hardly
anyone else shares this belief. Fanatical priests, based in a mysterious Temple erected on the ruins of
Washington, D.C., cultivate the mystique of Earth's ancient glories and conceive a plot to spread a
Terrestrial disease throughout the Galaxy and in this way take over the Empire (and incidentally, act
out the stereotype). The plot is foiled by a middle-aged tailor from the Twentieth Century, who
possess powerful psychic abilities as a result of experiments performed upon him when he arrived in
the future. Schwartz, the tailor, is often described as being Jewish, though this is never stated within
the novel.
By the time of the Galactic Empire's decline, Earth is vaguely remembered as 'Sol' in Foundation, and
only one candidate for being the Original World. In Foundation and Earth, records of Earth are
missing, so two citizens of the mature Foundation go looking for it, and eventually find that it is
desolated by nuclear radiation. The only sentient being remaining in the Solar system is robot Daneel
Olivaw, who resides in a small station on the moon, overseeing the progress of a humanity now
spread throughout the galaxy.
Hainish Cycle
In Ursula K. Le Guin's Hainish Cycle our Earth is referred to as Terra. Like all human worlds of the
Hainish Cycle, Terra was populated by the humans of Hain in Earth's prehistory, but forgot our
common ancestry after millennia of no contact from extraterrestrial humans after the collapse of the
first Hainish interplanetary civilization.
The second period of contact with the interstellar Hainish community, now organized as "The League
Of All Worlds" is described in The Word for World Is Forest, The Dispossessed, and Rocannon's
World. In The Dispossessed, Terra's population is said to have fallen from 9 billion to only half a billion
people due to a collapse of the Terran ecology, and that life has only survived there because of strict
rationing of resources and help from the Hainish. In The Word for World Is Forest, the people from
Terra appear as reckless exploiters of other planets. Some time later, City of Illusions provides a
detailed description of Terra in the depths of a second era of isolation, called "The Age Of The
Enemy".
The post-apocalyptic Earth seen in City of Illusions shows signs of an advanced, abandoned
civilization under a rewilded landscape. A small number of humans live in tiny, isolated settlements
where they retain some technologies from the past but are completely cut off from any communication
with neighboring regions or with other worlds. There is only one city with high technology and energy-
intensive construction, and it is controlled by the alien conquerors of the League. The events of City of
Illusions lead to the third period of Terran contact with other worlds, this time as the Ekumen, during
which The Left Hand of Darkness takes place.
In the short story "Dancing To Ganam," which takes place in the far future of the Hainish universe, it is
said that an extreme religious movement called the Unists developed on Terra and engaged in mass
slaughter of non-believers and then of rival Unists sects. It is described as "the worst resurgence of
theocratic violence since the Time of Pollution". It unclear if this time of pollution refers to
the ecological collapse described in The Dispossessed, the collapse seen in City Of Illusions, or is
another unexplored dark period on Terra. In any case, the inclusion of this story is meant to show that
even after so many millennia in the League and the Ekumen, Terra is still in many ways culturally
primitive and prone to violent self-destruction.
Various individuals from Terra play a part in other stories. In The Telling, Terra's incorporation into the
Ekumen is briefly explained. Also, the main character in The Left Hand of Darkness is from Terra.
Hitchhiker's Guide
In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams, the Earth is destroyed by a Vogon
Constructor Fleet to make room for a hyperspace bypass. One of two surviving Earthmen, Arthur
Dent, is affronted and dismayed to find that his planet's entry in the Guide consists of one word:
"Harmless". Ford Prefect, a researcher for the Guide attempts (and fails) to placate him by informing
him that he has written a more extensive article for the next edition, although the result of merciless
editing of his original draft has reduced his version considerably, now reading "Mostly harmless". Dent
also learns that the Earth was originally constructed by the inhabitants of the planet Magrathea, as a
giant supercomputer built to find the Question to the Ultimate Answer of Life, The Universe and
Everything. The computer was so large that it was often mistaken for a planet, and that it was
destroyed five minutes before the program was due to complete (after ten million years of running). It
also mentions that humans are descended from the passengers of an ark full of unwanted middlemen
(hairdressers, telephone sanitizers, advertising executives and the like), tricked into leaving their own
planet behind by spurious tales of impending destruction invented by the rest of the planet's
civilization (it is mentioned that the population was then wiped out by a disease contracted from a dirty
telephone). The Earth was located in Galactic sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha. An alternate version of Earth
is the planet NowWhat, which occupies the same space as Earth, but not the same probability. In
the 2005 film adaptation, a new Earth replaces the old one, and everything is restored to the moments
leading up to its destruction, except for one thing: Arthur Dent is not part of the planet anymore, at his
own request.
Red Dwarf
In the series Red Dwarf, Earth is seen mainly as the goal of the crew's trip; Dave Lister is personally
obsessed with revisiting it as his home world, especially since he is the only character to be from there
as Arnold Rimmer was born on Io. The novel Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers mentions the Earth,
despite Lister's regard for it, as suffering from massive littering and environmental damage; with a
giant toupee being installed to in order to cover up ozone depletion. The novel Better Than Life,
however, mentions Earth being voted out of inhabitability to be the solar system's chosen planet of
refuse known as Garbage World. A methane build up "farts" the planet out of the system and sends it
out into deep space where it becomes an ice planet; later moved and thawed by the actions of the
crew of Red Dwarf. The Earth is inhabited by giant cockroaches and the descendants of GELFs sent
there as punishment for their rebellion and bred into the polymorph. Lister spends half a lifetime
trapped there attempting to correct his species past actions before Red Dwarf can rescue him due
to black hole time dilation. In Last Human a parallel Earth is doomed by the initiatives of Earth
President John Milhous Nixon and humanity breeds GELFs and simulants to terraform a new home
across the multi-dimensional omni-zone.
Stargate
In the Stargate television series, Earth (designation: P2X-3YZ) is described as one of countless
inhabited worlds, and is revealed to be the original home world of humans all over the galaxy. In
ancient history many groups of humans were kidnapped and enslaved by powerful alien races,
primarily the Goa'uld. Others remained to form present day Earth societies, which interact covertly
with other extraterrestrial races and civilizations, many of them human. Earth first became important in
the scene after the Alterans occupied it as their new capital (its name was Terra at that point). When
they were forced to relocate to Lantea in the Pegasus galaxy (several million years ago), they
"seeded" the planet with a less advanced form of themselves. Eventually, the Goa'uld found the planet
and determined that the human body is the ultimate host body for their parasitic race. Many humans
were kidnapped through the Stargate the Supreme System Lord Ra brought to Earth (Earth already
had its own Stargate in Antarctica but it was inoperable) but the leftover population wasn't touched;
they eventually rebelled and drove the Goa'uld off the planet in 3000 BC. About 8000 BC, the Lantean
remnants returned to the planet but the primitive civilization extinguished their last hope of rebuilding
their once great civilization due to the presence of the Goa'uld; as such, the Ancients slowly died out
or Ascended since their numbers were too small to survive, even by crossbreeding with regular
humans.
With Earth largely left alone for millennia, its human population continued to advance until the
rediscovery of the Stargate in 1928 and its subsequent reactivation in 1994 (since its DHD activation
device was missing, they had been unable to determine its purpose until they were able to create a
computer interface). Unlike an enormous majority of planets, the Stargate on Earth was kept secret
from the general populace to prevent widespread panic because "we are not alone".
Humans who are from Earth are referred to as the Tau'ri by most other life forms in the galaxy,
including the Goa'uld. Earth is a relatively important player on account of the radical change it
unwittingly brought about when troops under the command of Colonel Jack O'Neill killed Goa'uld
Supreme System Lord Ra and started a guerrilla war against the Goa'uld. However, its importance
pales in comparison to the power of the System Lords or the Free Jaffa Nation, even though after the
extinction of the Asgard and the defeat of the Ori, the Tau'ri became the dominant race of known
space — although they were initially at a huge technological disadvantage, they later managed to
reverse-engineer Goa'uld technology to the point where they started building their own ships, though
much of it was rendered obsolete when the Asgard granted a significant amount of non-weapon
technology. The Tau'ri also created remarkable technological feats, such as fighters equipped with
hyperdrives powered by an unstable isotope. Their power increased further when they discovered
that, due to crossbreeding with Ancients before their extinction, some Earth-born humans actually
possessed a unique gene required to operate some of the more advanced Ancient technology. The
peak of their power occurred when the Asgard donated their entire technological knowledge to Earth
prior to their extinction. With this and some Ancient technology, the Tau'ri actually surpassed their
precursors and defeated the Ori.
The main interaction between Earth and the rest of the universe is via three organizations:
The International Oversight Advisory (IOA) coordinates funds and control between the nations
of the Earth Stargate; the Atlantis Expedition was sent to the Pegasus Galaxy under its authority.
The key players are the Big Five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council: the
United Kingdom, the United States, France, the People's Republic of China, and
the Russian Federation; also important are Canada, on account of its special relationship with the
United States and the services of Dr. Rodney McKay, and other nations, such as Japan,
Australia, and Germany, which have also been involved; Germany in particular has sent security
personnel to Atlantis.
Stargate Command, under the control of the IOA and operated by the United States Air Force,
conducts off-world missions of diplomacy, tactical strikes, research and exploration. Control of the
Stargate is a constant bone of contention with the Chinese, who take every opportunity to
express their displeasure at the situation at IOA meetings where the future of Stargate Command
is an issue (even though their off-world allies are satisfied with the current situation).
Nevertheless, the SGC remains the primary interface between the humans of Earth and the
outside world, including the galactic human diaspora.
The Atlantis Expedition is based in the still sea- and space-worthy city-ship of the Ancients in
the Pegasus Galaxy. An international team, with personnel from at least 23 countries, interacts
with the other humans of the Pegasus Galaxy (seeded by the Ancients, not taken by the Goa'uld)
and the dangerous Wraith. They rely on a mixture of Ancient and Earth technology and were
originally based on Lantea until they were forced to relocate to M35-117. The expedition is
currently suspended as Atlantis remains on Earth until repairs are completed after its most recent
clash with the Wraith.
Star Trek
In the Star Trek universe, the unified human state based on Earth, was one of the founding members
of the United Federation of Planets. Several major federal organizations are headquartered on Earth,
such as the Federation Council which meets in Paris. The Federation President also keeps offices in
Paris, and Starfleet Headquarters is located in San Francisco. Major events on Earth included first
contact with the Vulcans (Star Trek: First Contact), barely averted attacks by the Borg (in "The Best of
Both Worlds" and Star Trek: First Contact), Founder infiltration ("Homefront"), A successful attack by
the Breen during the Dominion War, and numerous attempted coups. Like most other major
Federation worlds, Earth is a near-utopia where poverty and war have been eradicated and
environmental damage has been reversed. Earth was also the planet of origin for at least one other
sentient species, the Voth, according to the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Distant Origin". Descendants
of the hadrosauridæ, they are theorized to have fled Earth for the Delta Quadrant after an extinction
event.
In the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "The Forge", we learn that the name of the planet's actual
government is named United Earth. Much of its early history is unknown, although recent Trek novels
have revealed that Earth's governments founded United Earth by signing the historic Traite
d'Unification in 2123. The episodes "Demons" and "Terra Prime" imply that United Earth is
a parliamentary system of government: we meet various government officials who are referred to as
Ministers (such as Minister Nathan Samuels, played by Harry Groener). United Earth's leader is most
likely a Prime Minister – possibly, but not necessarily, Samuels himself. In the novels, Earth's
governmental structure is further developed. Earth is a parliamentary republic, with a separate head of
state (the President) and head of government (the Prime Minister).
In the Mirror Universe, Earth is the capital of the despotic Terran Empire which rules over large
portions of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants and is generally seen as the most powerful interstellar
empire. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine revealed that the Empire had collapsed and fallen to a Klingon–
Cardassian Alliance. Star Trek novels reveal that Earth was later liberated thanks to the efforts of anti-
Alliance rebels and Memory Omega.
Starcraft
Earth is the "lost" homeland of the terrans of the Koprulu Sector, often referred to as "Old Earth".
Earth history is well known to us until the 21st century. However, by the time the 23rd century was
reached, genetic engineering and cybernetics were in common use, and Earth's population had
reached 23 billion. Consequently, a resource and overpopulation crisis was developing.
Earth's corporate factions who supported the capitalization of genetic engineering and cybernetics
were opposed by those who saw this as a degeneration of the human race. These groups included
humanist factions as well as religious conservatives who resorted to terrorism in these turbulent times.
The conflict was resolved by the creation of the United Powers League, which generally supported the
humanist philosophy and controlled all nations except for a few volatile Latin American states. The
UPL banned many religions and made English the worldwide language.
The UPL proceeded to arrest and kill many people who opposed its "divinity of mankind" philosophy
(which included "purity" from cybernetics, mutations, and so forth). It was during this time that Doran
Routhe set up the colonization of the Koprulu Sector. Contact between the colonists and Earth was
seemingly lost, and the Koprulu Sector terrans could not have found their way back to Earth.
With the discovery of the protoss and zerg, the United Powers League reformed to become the United
Earth Directorate and launched an invasion of the Koprulu Sector, ostensibly in an effort to protect
itself from the distant aliens. The invasion was repelled by a tenuous alliance of the Sector's powers.
Babylon 5
Main article: Earth (Babylon 5)
In the universe of the Babylon 5 television series, Earth was located in a relatively uncontested and
non-valuable portion of the Galaxy. As a result, the people of Earth were allowed to develop with
relatively little outside interference or threat of invasion from alien races. Unified under the worldwide
government of the Earth Alliance, first contact with the Centauri was made in the mid-22nd century,
which led to trade with a number of different species.
Earth remained a relatively minor power until the 2230s, when it intervened on behalf of a number of
other races (which later became the League of Non-Aligned Worlds) during the Dilgar invasion.
Following the Dilgar War, Earth began to expand its influence and was seen as a rising power in the
galaxy. A disastrous first contact with the Minbari in the 2240s precipitated the Earth–Minbari War, in
which Earth was nearly conquered: the military (EarthForce) was devastated and the planet's
population was nearly annihilated. However, the Minbari mysteriously surrendered just prior to the
final invasion of Earth.
Following the war, Earth's major contribution on the galactic stage was the creation of the Babylon
Stations, that are neutral trading posts and diplomatic havens. Earth turned inward and suffered from
xenophobic tendencies in the late 2250s, early 2260s under the despotic regime of President Morgan
Clark, until a military and civilian civil war, started by General William Hague and later concluded by
Captain John Sheridan, overthrew the Clark regime and helped establish Earth as one of the major
players in the Interstellar Alliance.
Robotech / Macross
In the Robotech canon, based on Macross, Earth is the homeworld of humanity and notable as one of
the few places that "The flower of life" (the source of the powerful energy source Protoculture) can
grow. In 1999 during a global war the (future) SDF-1 an alien warship crashed to Earth on Macross
island. Discovering they were not alone in the universe (and in secret the fact that the SDF-1 was a
warship for a giant sized alien race) the human race united and rebuilt the ship as well as using the
technology to advance their own and to create a small defence fleet for earth.
Ten years later the ship was ready but as preparation for launch on a mission of exploration continued
Zentradi warships arrived in orbit to search for the ship. Though humanity tried peaceful contact a
booby trap in the SDF-1 fired the huge main gun at the Zentradi committing Earth to a devastating
interstellar war. To lure the Zentradi away from Earth the SDF-1 attempted a space fold FTL jump.
This went wrong transporting not only the SDF-1 but part of Macross Island, 70,000 civilians and two
navy warships to an area near Pluto. Pressure held in sub-surface shelters long enough to evacuate
the civilians while the ships were grafted on to the SDF-1 as flight decks. However the jump also
caused the FTL drive to vanish (for unknown reasons) as such the SDF-1 had to return home under
normal thrust fighting Zentradi all the way and unable to talk to earth due to jamming.
During the conflict many Zentradi became fascinated by Earth culture and over a million ships
eventually defected. The ship finally returned to Earth but was driven back into space to draw off the
Zentradi again. However the Zentradi bought over four million ships to Earth and bombarded the
planet. The SDF-1 took out most ships with an overload of its shield system but in the process the
ship was left incapable of flight and most of the Earth's population was killed. Over the next two years
the survivors tried to rebuild and at last the Earth began to green again.
Twenty years later the Earth had recovered during the war with the Robotech masters, but even after
Earth's victory the planet was then attacked and occupied by another set of aliens The Invid in 2031.
The Invid collected what they could of the Protoculture on Earth but seem to have left the population
(now millions once more) largely alone.
In 2042 the Robotech Mars expedition returned from deep space but was wiped out by the Invid
during the battle to liberate the planet. The survivors were forced down to Earth where they hooked up
with the local resistance groups.
Two years later a massive fleet arrived with more advanced technology given to them by the alien
Hydenites. The Invid quickly left Earth rather than risk Earth's destruction by deadly weapons the
Neutron_S missiles which were far more dangerous than man believed. As Humanity celebrated
however the Hydenites were revealed as the Children of Shadow who had destroyed the Invid
homeworld eons before. They launched a sneak attack on the human space station liberty. Another
war then began.
Sonic the Hedgehog
In the various continuities of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, Earth is mentioned in one way or
another:
The video game series has Sonic living on Earth, specifically a United States-like fictional
country known as the United Federation. It is stated in Sonic Unleashed that the planet has been
in an endless cycle of destruction and resurrection since time immemorial: a monster known as
Dark Gaia hibernates within the Earth's core, absorbing power from the negative energies and
emotions of humanity, and destroys the planet when it emerges, and its counterpart, Light Gaia
(a.k.a. "Chip"), defeats it and restores the Earth. In the game's plot, Doctor Eggman, hoping to
use Dark Gaia's power to build his empire, breaks the planet open himself and awakens both
Light and Dark Gaia ahead of schedule; as a result, Dark Gaia's body splits apart, and Light Gaia
develops severe amnesia.
The comic book by Archie Comics reveals that the planet of Mobius is actually the Earth of a
distant future; an alien race known as the Xorda launched several bombs meant to exterminate
humanity, but instead ended up mutating the various wildlife, giving them humanoid forms,
human cognition, and (in many cases) superhuman abilities.
Fleetway's Sonic the Comic shows Earth existing as a separate planet from Mobius; the two
planets are effectively "twins", both having near-identical ecosystems.
In the Sonic the Hedgehog OVA, the planet Freedom (specifically the Land of Darkness) is
heavily implied to be a post-apocalyptic Earth. Early on in the film, Sonic and Tails are seen
traveling through what appears to be the ruins of New York City.
In the anime series Sonic X, Sonic, his friends, and Eggman hail from an alternate version of
Earth; Mobius and Earth were once one planet, but a cataclysmic event split the planet into two
and sent what would become Mobius into another dimension. The flow of time is different on both
planets; one month in Mobuis equals an entire year on Earth.
Super Mario
According to various sources, including The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, the Mushroom
Kingdom and its surrounding areas and locations are part of the "Mushroom World," a parallel
version of the Earth, or "Real World." One can travel back and forth between the two dimensions
through warp pipes. This is no longer brought up since Yoshi's Island, where the Mario Bros. are
now said to have been born and have always lived in the Mushroom Kingdom, hence making the
former version of Earth the actual (albeit fictional) Earth in this franchise.
In the 1993 live-action film, it is stated that the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event actually
split Earth into two and sent them into different dimensions. The surviving dinosaurs were sent to
the alternate dimension, and that world's version of the human race eventually evolved from
those dinosaurs rather than mammals. Aside from Dinohattan, a run-down parallel version of New
York City, the entirety of the alternate Earth is a desert wasteland.
Uplift
At least a billion years ago in the Uplift Universe by David Brin, there was a semi-mythical species
known as the Progenitors that started the Uplift cycle—adopting a pre-sentient race and over a period
of a hundred thousand years of selective breeding and genetic engineering, raising them to full
sentience. As a result, most sentient species in the universe are members of various clans and
factions, often quite powerful, with varying beliefs.
Earth was overlooked and humans evolved, evidently without a patron race. However, by the time of
first contact with galactic civilization, humans had themselves raised chimpanzees and dolphins to
sentience, giving the human race a claim to patron status. This claim is provisionally accepted by the
major institutions of galactic civilization even as it is hotly contested by a number of senior patron
races.
Galactic civilization holds humanity's claim of having evolved to sentience independently to be highly
controversial at best, and an offensive heresy at worst. Some clans holding the latter view have
actively conspired to have humanity's patron status officially vacated and to adopt the "wolfling" race
themselves, thus gaining three sentient races and control of "fallow" genetic material: Earth's wealth of
species with uplift potential. Only the conservative and ponderous nature of galactic institutions and
the rivalry of other clans reluctant to see the Earth's races claimed by another have prevented this.
Worldwar
In the Worldwar novels by Harry Turtledove, Earth is the human homeworld and is attacked by the
aliens known as The Race in 1942. All sides in the Second World War are forced to unify to fight this
threat, and despite superior technology the Lizards (a human racial epithet for the aliens) are fought to
a draw by 1944.
In 1962 another Race fleet arrives carrying a civilian colony force of nearly 100 million, in 1965 the
Race and the German Reich fight a major war which Germany loses.
In 1994 humanity has caught up to the Race enough to send a slower-than-light starship to the Race's
home world, where it arrives in 2031. Soon after another ship arrives, an FTL-capable ship, indicating
that humanity has now surpassed the Race in technology.
MOTHER / EarthBound
In the MOTHER / EarthBound video game series, Earth has different continent names and
different cities but is still the same. Between 2000 and 2010, an alien known as Giygas took over
the planet and destroyed most of the population. But, with the warning from a small alien from the
future, a young hero named Ness saved the world from Giygas before he could attack.
Many thousands of years later, all the population of Earth was killed – presumably because the
planet was flooded – but some people went on the Nowhere Island before everything was
destroyed. The island was protected because it contained a great power that was sealed long
ago. The survivors hid their memories in an egg and created new ones, better ones so that they
could have a normal life without remembering the world of before. Later in the game, Earth was
again destroyed but then recreated as it was before. It is unknown if it means before the planet
was flooded or before the game's tragic events.
Shannara
In the Shannara series of books by Terry Brooks, the setting is a post-apocalyptic earth that was
destroyed after a nuclear holocaust wiped out most of humanity and mutated the survivors into Men,
Gnomes, Dwarves, and Trolls. Elves are also there, but according to Allanon's recounting of history,
the Elves always existed in our current world. Before the Great Wars, as the nuclear holocaust is
referred to, humans had advanced to a utopian society.
The Death Gate Cycle
In the Death gate cycle series of books by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, a nuclear holocaust led
to the creation of a two mutant strains of humans who developed fantastic magical powers. Other
races, such as Dwarves and Elves were also present, even in pre-holocaust Earth, but were hidden
from humanity. In this universe, the Earth was destroyed by the Sartan, one of the magical races that
evolved from humans.
Earth Inhabitants
An incomplete list of what Earth natives have been referred to in various Sci-Fi worlds:
Humans Universe
Tau'Ri Stargate
Terran Star Trek, Starcraft, others
Earthans Babylon 5, Star Trek
Earthlings The Simpsons, others
Earthicans Futurama
Tosevites, Big Uglies Worldwar
EARTH IN ASTROLOGY ·
EARTH IN THE SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC ·
Esoteric Astrology
Introduction
Esoteric Astrology, simply stated, is spiritual astrology. The focus of Esoteric
Astrology is less upon mundane material manifestations and outer effects, and more
about soul evolution and spiritual causes. An important part of Esoteric Astrology is
integrating astrology with the seven Rays, or the seven types of divine energy and
universal motivation. Many Esoteric Astrologers study the work of Alice A. Bailey,
especially her 1951 book "Esoteric Astrology", which is part of her series of 24 books
of esoteric philosophy. The following quotes are relevant:
"Astrology is built upon the mystic and intimate connection between the heavenly
bodies and mankind and is one of the great secrets of Initiation and the occult
mysteries." - Secret Doctrine II, 525
"Astrolatry or the adoration of the Heavenly Host is the natural result of only half-
revealed astrology... Hence, divine Astrology for the Initiates; superstitious astrolatry
for the profane." - Secret Doctrine III, 337
The program Astrolog supports Esoteric Astrology in addition to classic mundane
astrology. The following is a description of the Esoteric Astrology features in
Astrolog:
Esoteric Astrology Bodies
Esoteric Astrology charts often include additional bodies beyond what's present in a
mundane chart:
Vulcan: Astrolog can compute the position of Vulcan, and display it with its
downward pointing arrow glyph. Vulcan is a non-physical planet, which means
its physical location can't be scientifically proven yet. Astrolog uses the L.H.
Weston proposed ephemeris for Vulcan (the same as Solar Fire). Even if
Vulcan isn't displayed in charts, it's useful to have defined as a planet for
esoteric rulerships. Vulcan represents the forge, which anchors and purifies
both physically and spiritually, hence its downward pointing arrow glyph.
Earth: Astrolog can include the position of Earth in standard charts. In a
geocentric chart, the position of Earth is its heliocentric position, which means
the Earth is always located opposite the Sun.
Pluto glyph: Astrolog can display Pluto using its esoteric glyph of an upward
pointing arrow, representing liberation from form. This option is in addition to
two other Pluto glyphs it supports: The standard circle over crescent over
cross commonly used in Western astrology, and the "PL" glyph commonly
used in scientific astronomy.
D.K. ayanamsa: Related to the positions of planets, Astrolog has a sidereal astrology
setting for the ayanamsa (zodiac degree offset) called the "Djwhal Khul" system,
which is based on Master D.K.'s writings for the date of the first decanate of the Age
of Aquarius. Esoteric Astrology primarily uses the tropical zodiac, however it also
includes a sidereal ayanamsa with a relation to Esoteric Astrology that some sidereal
astrologers use.
The following video demonstrates some Esoteric Astrology features of Astrolog. It
animates planetary orbits in 3D, including Vulcan. It features the "12 bodies" of
Esoteric Astrology: Sun through Pluto, plus Vulcan next to the Sun and the Moon
orbiting Earth. Positions are astronomically accurate, although on a logarithmic scale
from the Sun so the planets can be evenly distributed from it. Planets are colored
according to their Ray, e.g. Indigo Ray 2 Sun, Green Ray 3 Earth, Yellow Ray 4
Moon, etc:
Esoteric Rulerships
Esoteric Astrology features alternate rulership sets for more spiritual considerations of
planets. Beyond the mundane set of rulerships, there are esoteric rulers which operate
on a soul or spiritual level, and Hierarchical rulers which operate on a planetary or
solar level. For example, the mundane exoteric ruler of Aries is Mars, representing
forceful and aggressive action. However, the esoteric ruler of Aries is Mercury, to
represent the mental cause and design of that initiating energy. Finally, the
Hierarchical ruler of Aries is Uranus, to represent the growth and overall purpose of
the influx of initiating energy in the first place.
Astrolog can list signs, list planets, and list Rays, showing how each component
relates to the other two. What follows are three different tables, which display the
same information, except that each is indexed by sign, planet, or Ray.
Below is a list of the 12 zodiac signs. Each sign is associated with 1 to 3 Rays. Each
sign's exoteric, esoteric, and Hierarchical ruler(s) are listed. Exoterically, some signs
are ruled by two planets: A classic planet visible to the naked eye, and an outer planet
that was more recently discovered and which only plays a role when the personality is
seeking personal growth. Esoterically and Hierarchically, sometimes the Sun or Moon
acts as a veil for deeper energies.
# Sign Ray(s) Exoteric Esoteric Hierarchical
1 Aries 1, 7 Mars Mercury Uranus
2 Taurus 4 Venus Vulcan Vulcan
3 Gemini 2 Mercury Venus Earth
4 Cancer 3, 7 Moon Neptune Neptune
5 Leo 1, 5 Sun Sun, Neptune Sun, Uranus
6 Virgo 2, 6 Mercury Moon, Vulcan Jupiter
7 Libra 3 Venus Uranus Saturn
8 Scorpio 4 Mars, Pluto Mars Mercury
9 Sagittarius 4, 5, 6 Jupiter Earth Mars
10 Capricorn 1, 3, 7 Saturn Saturn Venus
11 Aquarius 5 Saturn, Uranus Jupiter Moon, Vulcan
12 Pisces 2, 6 Jupiter, Neptune Pluto Pluto
Below is a list of the 12 main planets and related bodies. Each planet rules one or
more signs exoterically, esoterically, and Hierarchically. Each planet is associated
with one particular Ray.
# Planet Exoteric Esoteric Hierarchical Ray
1 Sun Leo Leo Leo 2
2 Vulcan Vir Tau, Vir Tau, Aqu 1
3 Mercury Gem, Vir Ari Sco 4
4 Venus Lib, Tau Gem Cap 5
5 Earth Sag Sag Gem 3
6 Moon Can Vir Aqu 4
7 Mars Ari, Sco Sco Sag 6
8 Jupiter Sag, Pis Aqu Vir 2
9 Saturn Cap, Aqu Cap Lib 3
10 Uranus Aqu Lib Ari, Leo 7
11 Neptune Pis Can, Leo Can 6
12 Pluto Sco Pis Pis 1
Below is a list of the seven Rays. Each Ray has a name, and represents a particular
type of will. Each Ray is associated with three different signs, and one or two planets.
Each Ray is associated with one sacred planet: When a Ray is associated with two
planets, the first planet listed is the non-sacred planet, and the second is the sacred
planet.
The "slice" value of a Ray is the number of signs associated with that Ray, each
proportioned by the number of other Rays also associated with that sign. For example,
Ray 5 is associated with Leo (along with Ray 1), Sagittarius (along with Rays 4 and
6), and Aquarius (only Ray 5). Therefore Ray 5's slice value is 1/2 + 1/3 + 1.0 = 1.83.
Notice how Ray 4 has the largest slice value, because it's the only Ray associated with
both Taurus and Scorpio (getting 2.0 from those two signs) however it only has a 1/3
slice of Sagittarius (along with Ray 5 and Ray 6 which are also associated with it).
Ray Name Will to... Signs Slice Planets
1 Will & Power Initiate Ari Leo Cap 1.33 Pluto, Vulcan
2 Love & Wisdom Unify Gem Vir Pis 2.00 Sun, Jupiter
3 Active Creative Intelligence Evolve Can Lib Cap 1.83 Earth, Saturn
4 Harmony Through Conflict Harmonize Tau Sco Sag 2.33 Moon, Mercury
5 Concrete Science Act Leo Sag Aqu 1.83 Venus
6 Idealism & Devotion Cause Vir Sag Pis 1.33 Mars, Neptune
7 Order & Ceremonial Magic Express Ari Can Cap 1.33 Uranus
Ray Rulerships
A "Ray rulership" is when a planet of a given Ray is positioned in a sign of the same
Ray. For example, Sun (Ray 2 planet) in Gemini (Ray 2 sign) is a Ray rulership.
Similarly, a "Ray debilitation" is when a Ray X planet is opposite a Ray X sign. For
example Moon (Ray 4 planet) in Gemini, a sign which is opposite Sagittarius (a Ray 4
sign) is a Ray debilitation. The meaning of a Ray rulership is a pure and undiluted
influx of Ray energy, because both the Cosmic sign and the systemic planet are
channeling the same Ray energy to our world.
Note that for all Rays except Ray 1, there exists opposite signs are both the same Ray,
so that Ray has only one possible Ray debilitation. For example, the three Ray 2 signs
are Gemini, Virgo, and Pisces. That means there are three Ray rulerships positionings
for Ray 2, such as Ray 2 Jupiter in Gemini, Virgo, or Pisces. However since Virgo
and Pisces are opposite each other, the only Ray 2 debilitation is when a Ray 2 planet
is in Sagittarius.
A "house Ray rulership" is when a planet of a given Ray is positioned in a house
aligned with the same Ray. For example, Saturn (Ray 3 planet) in the 7th house (Ray
3 house, because it corresponds to the 7th sign Libra, a Ray 3 planet) is a house Ray
rulership. The meaning of a house Ray rulership is similar to a Ray rulership, except
the pure Ray energy is manifesting in the world, because both the systemic planet and
the personality oriented house are bringing forth that Ray.
A "double Ray rulership" is both a Ray rulership and a house Ray rulership at the
same time. For example, Venus in Sagittarius and 11th house is a double Ray
rulership because it's a Ray 5 planet in a Ray 5 sign and a Ray 5 house. A double Ray
rulership is very strong, because it's a pure and undiluted influx of Ray energy that's
also manifesting in the world.
Astrolog indicates Ray rulerships and house Ray rulerships in its esoteric chart
described below. Astrolog can also indicate Ray rulerships in its standard text mode
list of planets, if esoteric rulerships are unrestricted in the Display Settings dialog.
Esoteric Chart
Body Location Rulers House Rulers Power Rank Percent
Eart 3 Tau 4 _____ 4th ____Y 44.1 (10) / 6.2%
Sun 2 Sco 4 _____ 10th _____ 49.5 ( 9) / 6.9%
Moon 4 Sag 456 ____Y 11th __H__ 76.2 ( 4) / 10.7%
Merc 4 Sag 456 d___Y 11th _____ 49.8 ( 8) / 7.0%
Venu 5 Sag 456 _s__Y2 11th ____Y2 84.0 ( 2) / 11.8%
Mars 6 Pis 26 ____Y 2nd ds___ 17.9 (12) / 2.5%
Jupi 2 Sag 456 R___z 11th _S___ 85.6 ( 1) / 12.0%
Satu 3 Gem 2 _____ 4th ds__Y 82.0 ( 3) / 11.5%
Uran 7 Lib 3 _Sh_z 9th _____ 62.5 ( 6) / 8.8%
Nept 6 Sag 456 ____Y 10th _shf_ 52.7 ( 7) / 7.4%
Plut 1 Lib 3 ____z 8th R____ 74.1 ( 5) / 10.4%
Vulc 1 Sco 4 _sh__ 10th ___XY 35.7 (11) / 5.0%
Total RSHXY RSHXY 714.1 100.0%
Ray Count Power Rank Prcnt. | Slice Power Rank Prcnt.
1: 0 0.0 (6) / 0.0% | 0.00 0.0 (6) / 0.0%
2: 2 100.0 (5) / 7.0% | 1.50 91.0 (5) / 12.7%
3: 2 136.6 (4) / 9.6% | 2.00 136.6 (2) / 19.1%
4: 8 477.5 (1) / 33.4% | 4.67 245.4 (1) / 34.4%
5: 5 348.2 (3) / 24.4% | 1.67 116.1 (4) / 16.3%
6: 6 366.2 (2) / 25.6% | 2.17 125.0 (3) / 17.5%
7: 0 0.0 (7) / 0.0% | 0.00 0.0 (7) / 0.0%
Tot: 23 1428.5 100.0% | 12.00 714.1 100.0%
Astrolog provides an esoteric chart which displays Esoteric Astrology and Ray
information for a given time. Display it with the "Chart / Esoteric" menu command, or
the -7 switch on the command line. An example is seen above.
In the first section, this chart lists the planets, showing each planet's Ray, the planet's
position and the Ray(s) of its zodiac sign, and rulership information about the planet's
zodiac position and house position. That includes whether the planet exoterically rules
or is debilitated in the sign (indicated with "R" or "d" characters), whether the planet
esoterically rules or is debilitated in the sign ("S" or "s" characters), whether the
planet Hierarchically rules or is debilitated in the sign ("H" or "h" characters), whether
the planet exalts or falls in the sign ("X" or "f" characters), and finally whether the
planet Ray rules or is Ray debilitated in the sign i.e. whether the planet's Ray is the
same as one of its sign's Rays ("Y" or "z" characters). For a "double Ray rulership", or
when a planet's Ray is the same as both the sign's and house's Ray, the "Y" will be
"Y2" instead. Finally the overall power of each planet is listed, based on its inherent
strength, positioning, and aspects, which is computed in the same way as in Astrolog's
influence chart (accessed with the -j command switch).
In the second section, the esoteric chart lists the seven Rays, showing the count of
planetary sign positionings that are associated with that Ray, the total power of those
planets, and the rank of each Ray's total power and the percentage covered by that
Ray. This can be used to help see which Rays are most influential in a chart. The same
counts and powers are repeated, however this time a sign associated with multiple
Rays only contributes proportional slices of power. By default, each Ray is associated
with three signs, so for balanced Ray coverage that gives each Ray an equal potential
for power, the first "count" values are preferred. However, some signs are associated
with one Ray, while others are with two or three, which means certain signs have
triple potential to contribute power, so for balanced planet coverage that gives each
sign an equal potential for power, the second "slice" values are preferred.
To describe the last part above in more detail, the "count" and "slice" values are two
different ways to consider Ray influence:
1. The "count" value (shown in the left half of the Ray list above) is Ray focused,
and treats each Ray equally. Any planet in a sign contributes its full power to
each of the Rays associated with that sign. That is the simplest approach, since
it's balanced with respect to Rays, because each Ray is associated with exactly
three signs. It means that each Ray has an equal chance to be the most or
least powerful Ray, so for questions of "which Ray is the most influential" in
this type of analysis, the Ray focused "count" powers are recommended.
However, it does mean certain signs contribute more power than others, e.g.
a planet in Scorpio contributes only once to just Ray 4, while a planet in
Sagittarius contributes to Rays 4, 5, and 6 (triple the amount).
2. The "slice" value (shown in the right half of the Ray list above) is planet
focused, and treats each planet equally regardless of what sign it's in. Any
planet in a sign divides its power equally among each of the Rays associated
with that sign. This is balanced with respect to planets, because each planet's
total contribution to one or more Rays is the same regardless of its sign. Note
that the total of all "slice" values is equal to the number of planets, and the
total of all "slice" Ray powers is equal to the total of all planet powers in the
first part (planet list) of the esoteric chart. However, this does mean that
certain Rays tend to get emphasized more than others, based on how often
they have to share with other Rays of a sign. Ray 4 which has the highest
inherent "slice" value (because it's the sole Ray for both Taurus and Scorpio)
tends to have the highest power in the "slice" part of an esoteric chart. For
example, in my own chart above, Ray 4 has nearly twice the "slice" power of
the Ray in 2nd place.
Graphic Ray Chart
Astrolog features a graphical version of the esoteric chart described above, which
graphs Ray influences over time. It's effectively an ephemeris of the seven Rays,
mapping each of their powers over time. An example picture can be seen above. This
is a "count" based Ray centered graph (although "slice" based planet centered graphs,
as well as graphs that cover just one month instead of the entire year, can be done as
well). Each Ray has its own column, and each column is 600 power units wide
(number customizable with the -Y7 command switch), with 0 power on the left edge
and 600 power on the right.
Looking at the sample graph, some parts are readily apparent. Notice how Rays 2 and
6 both have relatively high power from late August to late September, which is when
the Sun (and Vulcan, Mercury, and Venus which are always near it) are in Virgo (a
Ray 2 and Ray 6 sign). Around the time the Sun enters Libra (a Ray 3 sign), the power
of Ray 2 and Ray 6 drops, and Ray 3 increases. Much longer and therefore more
subtle Ray power cycles are dependent upon the movements of outer planets.
There's one more column for the average power of all seven Rays. The average line is
much smoother, because often when one Ray is being emphasized, other Rays are
being ignored, which frequently averages out. However it's not perfectly smooth,
because times of general intensity such as New and Full Moons give the planets
themselves (and therefore the Rays they contribute to) extra power. Also, Ray focused
"count" values may result in extra total power when many planets are in Sagittarius
and Capricorn, because those signs are each associated with three Rays (e.g. notice the
average line is slightly higher during December when the Sun and nearby planets are
in those signs).
Customization
Astrolog can customize various settings associated with Esoteric Astrology:
Sign Rays: Change the Rays associated with signs, with the -Y7C command
switch. Each sign may be associated with multiple Rays. By default each sign is
associated with 1-3 Rays.
Planet Rays: Change the Ray associated with planets, with the -Y7O command
switch. Each planet is associated with one Ray. Planets may also be associated
with no Ray, e.g. the Rays associated with asteroids like Ceres are unknown,
although one may optionally assign a Ray to it if they believe they know what
it is.
Ray colors: Change the colors use to display Rays, with the -Yk7 switch.
Astrolog uses rose by default for Ray 6, however some applications like Solar
Fire uses light blue for it.
Esoteric rulerships: Assign the sign (or signs) that a planet esoterically rules, if
any.
Hierarchical rulerships: Assign the sign (or signs) that a planet Hierarchically
rules, if any.
Esoteric Astrology influences: Assign power numbers. This includes the bonus
power given to a planet located in a sign it esoterically rules, a planet in a sign
it Hierarchically rules, and a planet in a sign it "Ray rules" as described earlier.
Also, bonus power can be defined for planets in the house corresponding to
the sign it esoterically, Hierarchically, and Ray rules.
Triple Sun Charts
A Triple Sun chart is a special type of tri-wheel that some Esoteric Astrologers make
use of. For background information and details about Triple Sun charts, see this
article by Stephen Pugh and the Esoteric Astrology Facebook group. All three wheels
in a Triple Sun chart are variations of the natal chart, superimposed in a particular
manner:
1. Outer wheel - exoteric: The Sun is rotated to start of the Ascendant’s sign.
(This is the same as a classic solar chart.) This wheel shows the birth Sun, and
represents the personality. It's associated with activity and objective
appearance.
2. Middle wheel - esoteric: The Ascendant is rotated to start of its own sign.
(This is closest to a standard chart, in that planets are never rotated over 30
degrees.) This wheel shows the rising Sun, and represents the soul. It's aligned
with love-wisdom and subjective quality.
3. Inner wheel - Hierarchical: The Earth is rotated to start of the Ascendant’s
sign. (Note planet positions here are always 180 degrees opposite the exoteric
wheel.) This wheel shows the opposite Sun, and represents the Monad. It
reflects will and divine life.
Note it's important to remember that a Triple Sun “chart” is not the same as a Triple
Sun “Horoscope”. The chart is just some objectively computed and drawn graphics,
however the true Horoscope involves spiritual practices and meditations to properly
use the chart. Below are some quotations which inspire superimposed charts:
“When the Sun sign, with the exoteric rulers, is worked out in a chart, the rising sign
with the esoteric rulers is also worked out and the two are superimposed upon each
other, the problem of the disciple in any one incarnation will appear.” (Esoteric
Astrology p514)
“The Sun sign, governed by the ruling esoteric planets and the rising sign governed
also by the esoteric planets, can both be used in casting the horoscope of the initiate;
when superimposed upon each other, the outer life of the initiate in the three worlds
and the inner life of subjective realization will appear. This mode of super-imposition
will be a feature of the new astrology.” (Esoteric Astrology p514)
"I would call you attention to the fact that in any one incarnation the Monad works
through the Opposing Sign, the Soul through the Rising Sign and the personality
through the Sun Sign, and these necessarily vary from life to life." (Unpublished
Zodiacal Meditations, 1943)
Astrolog can display Triple Sun charts. It doesn't have a direct or simple menu
command to display them, however one can configure the program to automatically
compose them given any natal chart. To do that, select a tri-wheel, and set the Whole
house system. Load the natal chart into all three wheels, and configure the three
wheels individually to rotate the planets appropriately. This can be done with the
following command line. In the Windows version, first load or enter in your natal
chart data, and then copy/paste the text below into the "Edit / Enter Command Line"
menu command to switch to a Triple Sun chart of your natal data:
-M30 "-Y10 Sun Asc" "-Y10 Asc Asc" "-Y10 Ear Asc" "-Y1 Ear Ear" -M0 1 "-i2 __1
-i3 __1 -r3 -c Whole _R Vul" -M 1
We don’t consider Earth as its own independent entity with qualities, like we do Mars or Jupiter.
We just see it as part of our everyday life.
Consequently, we may not understand Earth like we think we do. Astrology is a symbolic
language, everything we know about the world we extrapolate from our symbols and apply them
to our lives.
When we insert Earth in astrological charts there is a permanent opposition between the Sun and
Earth. This is strange at first but the more I consider that symbolically, the more sense it starts to
make not only when it comes to other metaphysical teachings out there describing the duality of
the earth plane existence (male/female, light/dark) but also astrology’s ongoing study of the
human condition.
We use the Earth as a framework for our charts but the astrological wheel is more a subjective background
in our minds.
I’ve always been painfully aware of the duality inherent in life. And yet, ironically, duality itself
is an illusion. But somehow we are still conditioned this way, and I think it’s hard for people to
achieve balance, a middle ground, between say, being assertive or passive, and when faced with
important decisions we constantly ask ourselves do I think or feel this out? We live with a whole
litany of these little schisms every day. The opposition between the Sun and Earth got me
thinking not only about those annoyances but much bigger divides in our lives like our current
health issues stemming from the fact that our bodies want us to eat brown rice and our psyches
want potato chips. There are the endless political dualities of conservative versus liberal and one
of the biggest dualities affecting the globe today: what we want as a single species and what the
ecology of our Earth must have to survive.
As astrologers, we know how to handle an opposition. Both sides must be honored and supported
in some way. Adding Earth (and the Earth opposition) to astrological charts gives us another
dimension of awareness, not only about ourselves but the world at large. It gets us to a place of
understanding how to live comfortably with opposing forces that frustrate and confuse us.
Adding Earth to an astrological chart is so easy to picture because whatever sign your Sun is in,
the Earth will be 180 degrees from it. So, if you are a 15 degree Leo Sun, your Earth sign is 15
degrees Aquarius (the signs of Leo and Aquarius are opposite to each other.) Naturally it would
fall in the opposite house from your Sun as well. This creates an axis, the fulcrum of which can
bestow a new sense of wholeness and balance to the native. As far as traits, Earth in the chart
does just what you’d think it does. Like the element earth, it grounds the house or other planets
and points it touches. It’s about manifestation, fertility, and practicality. It’s also about basic
beginnings, the foundation of a project. It represents your earthly mission. So whenever we add
another planet or point to the chart we get another layer of information.
In Sanskrit, the word for Earth is Pṛthvī (Prithvi) meaning “the Vast One”. In Buddhist texts and
visual representations, Pṛthvī is described as both protecting Gautama Buddha and as being his
witness for his enlightenment. Prithvi appears in Early Buddhism in the Pāli Canon, dispelling
the temptation figure Mara by attesting to Gautama Buddha’s worthiness to
attain enlightenment. The Buddha is very frequently illustrated in figurative art
wielding bhūmisparśa or “earth-touching” mudrā. The Buddha himself was a Taurus Sun, and at
the moment of his enlightement, he is said to have touched the Earth with his hand while Venus
rose above the eastern horizon in the sky. It was his way of paying tribute to the co-rulers of his
Sun sign. There’s an incredible repeated overlay of symbols that seemed to “unlock” what the
Taurus Buddha was seeking relative to the earthly realities (suffering) on this plane (fixed earth).
LIBRA SUN, ARIES EARTH
Lesson: The lesson involved in the Arian Earthling exists in the process of self-actualization.
The individual must come to a full sense of self to allow functional relationships with others.
These beings are highly interactive and not necessarily with other beings. Interaction at this
Earth level may manifest through a direct confrontation or exchange with a person and it may
also result with a thing or a principle. The interaction is secondary to the level of validation
which they seek. A sense of self-worth independent of others must result for assertiveness to be
complete. At some point, the individual will realize that with or without people, places and
things the self remains intact. Until this process is understood, the soul continues to establish
faulty interactions to create alienation, isolation and perceived rejection. This is all done in the
interest of self-contained validation.
Legacy: Upon completion of self-realization and a self-contained sense of being free from the
need of input from others, relatability becomes a primary dynamic in the individual’s life.
Interaction begins to provide a mechanism of on-going support for the individual as the person
teaches others to recognize that which is self-disguised within their beings. This discipline can be
taught by the Aries Earth with incredible compassion for the crisis of self-identity. The
individual retains the ability to interact in a non-involved manner, allowing truth and personal
integrity to prevail above all else.
SCORPIO SUN, TAURUS EARTH
Lesson: Many presume that the Earth rules Taurus. Perhaps one would then assume that the
Earth in home territory would maintain a certain comfort or reliability in this Sign/Planet
relationship. Perhaps that is true and only at the legacy level. These souls drop themselves into a
body and begin an immediate struggle to learn absolute (Divine) worth without extorting,
exploiting or destroying the value of the high worth item. The physical preoccupies the primal
Taurus Earth mind, blinding all objectivity of what truly is important. Priority systems must be
established, the truth told and motivations revealed. This all tends to combine the positive
aspects of the lessons to lead to the luxury of the legacy. However, it is critical that the learning
process for this Earthly student include doing his or her own home work with no ruses.
Legacy: Once optimized, these Earthlings quickly recognize the worth and value of a person,
place or thing. They are challenged by intrinsic worth and seek to polish raw materials to a
brilliant luster. These individuals can become great motivators. This is often achieved through
agitation and playing a negative role to produce a positive effect. Negativity is only used as a
transformative.
SAGITTARIUS SUN, GEMINI EARTH
Lesson: This sign axis must learn to deal with an intellectually intense duality that teaches that
the more consideration and objectivity, the greater the focus. These people perceive this
postulate to be in direct contradiction to the basic programming of the mind. The blinders must
be removed and a willingness to view polar opposition must result. A mental overload exists
until the individual recognizes that missed objectives result from the inability to adjust or correct
a course once in motion. Long range effects appear in little steps. As a Chinese proverb states, “a
journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” Such is the case for the Gemini Earth.
Steps along the way allow for reconsideration, revision and resolutions to be refined without
interruption to the natural direction.
Legacy: Once in a mode of receptivity and diversification, the Gemini Earth individual becomes
one of the most directed and consistent contemplators on the planet. The lesson taught by these
people is that there is no absolute way to get there. Many paths exist between here and there.
Correction is taught as a positive attribute and not as an indicator of something thought or done
incorrectly.
CAPRICORN SUN, CANCER EARTH
Lesson: Mother Earth herself reaches the closest point of approach (perihelion) to the Sun in
Cancer. The Cancer Earth contains the need to respond to the most direct sunlight and
illumination of all the Earth placements. Direct and undisputed contact with the nurturing action
is maintained and requires useful, non-interfering incorporation. Domination tendencies must
convert into a support mechanism. Those with this Earth must learn about responsibilities and
that each person owns a different sense of responsibility. This realization precludes being
disappointed in one’s offspring (anyone to whom the Cancer Earth becomes attached) and
releases guilt, expectation and irritation. The pursuit of Earth dictates the need to frolic in the
Sun. The ability to enjoy and align with nature establishes contact with the base of Earth. This
eliminates an inability to appreciate beauty as it exists. This individual must reject cynicism in
the soul to enable the heart to open.
Legacy: Cancer Earth people are among the most sensitive and caring upon the planet. They
demonstrate this clearly when actualized in being through support and love given freely and
without consideration of reaction or rejection. Love is given without expectation and the
individual teaches how to love safely and responsibly without interrupting the flow of another
person’s development.
AQUARIUS SUN, LEO EARTH
Lesson: The development of the personality in an ego sense is the first portion of this soul’s
lesson. The ego must then evolve into a unique sense of self-contained individuality which
functions with out the need to compare the self to others. Confidence is the quality which
stimulates the beginning of the work leading directly into the legacy. The lesson, though, is a
tough one and contains intense periods of variation in self-esteem. Once the belief in and
knowledge of one’s own internal strength sets in, these people begin an active campaign leading
others into awareness of themselves.
Legacy: The Leonine Earthlings strive to lead others in their realm to realize the need for a self-
contained sense of individuality. They teach others how to own one’s being and allow creative
self- expression to flourish. The Leo Earth people discourage others from cloning or engaging in
emulation techniques that establish superficial attachments to the projected qualities of another
individual. These people stress uniqueness and strive to promote the confidence of everyone they
encounter. This inspirational ability of the Leo Earth may manifest in both direct and indirect
means of interaction with others. Personal contact is not necessary for the process to occur.
PISCES SUN, VIRGO EARTH
Lesson: Virgo Earthlings appear on the planet to develop an aware ness of the principles of
integration on a minute level. Overall knowledge of the system seems to exist in these beings. A
need for understanding the detailed simplicity of life’s process must follow. Discipline becomes
a key factor in the schooling of the Virgoan Earth as resistance to commitment and structure is
taken for granted. This discipline, once implemented, allows these individuals to set into motion
the plans, creative concepts and intuitive insights which flash through the mind. Discipline
strives to eliminate the inability often experienced in prioritizing life’s endeavors. The organized
for mats of discipline yield the ability to select an appropriate creative pursuit to manifest.
Legacy: The legacy of the Virgo Earth resides within the ability to adjust to a flowing system of
discipline. These individuals are then capable of presenting to others the synthesis of the subtle
and the gross, the sacred and the profane and the parts and the wholes.
ARIES SUN, LIBRA EARTH
Lesson: At one level it appears that these people exist solely for the purpose of establishing
identity of the self at the soul’s core. The lesson adds a deeper aspect to the identity quest. It
becomes imperative for these individuals to learn the active dynamic of interfacing with others
on the planet. Self-assertion must be conducted in such a way as not to interfere with the will and
identities of others.
Legacy: Once polarized, these individuals leave behind the lesson of interaction without
compromise. The cultivation of the sense of self is a demonstrated blending with an ability to be
and to let others be. Interference and imposition diminishes creating a clear approach in human
relationship.
TAURUS SUN, SCORPIO EARTH
Lesson: The drive to transform need presents the biggest challenge of this Earth/Sun polarity.
Attachment and possession must be over come. Learning how to have and hold, and how the
have/hold principle differs from owning/possessing, creates the crisis of reorientation. Scorpio
Earth souls must learn to experience their feelings, especially feelings of material resentment,
jealousy and emotional bondage. An innate understanding of the natural value of human
resources must learned. This resource of human potential must be understood from the
standpoint of using people, not abusing people. Should this lesson about human resource not be
learned, the Taurean tendencies only subvert deeper. The subverted tendencies appear through
the use of others in a negative manner, creating a master/slave relationship.
Legacy: Once cultivated, these seekers become the masters of manipulating others into positive,
creative spaces of existence. An understanding of when to intervene and when to not intervene
becomes inherent in one’s nature. These individuals may become compulsive, not being able to
see waste of a mind or creative potential. They constantly push, shove and work to apply every
available resource. A unique ability to invest in the resources of others also evolves. True levels
of abundance and prosperity consciousness can and must be taught.
GEMINI SUN, SAGITTARIUS EARTH
Lesson: These Earthlings must learn that focus does not rule out necessary pursuits. They sense
that there is a lack of freedom of choice when, in fact, a simple level of mental discrimination
strives to present choices. Short range planning must be relinquished to the long range
projection. Distraction must yield to well disciplined, conscious direction. Simplification must be
produced to gain distance, direction and result. Yet, the need to remain responsive to the
subtleness of Divine Signaling is necessary so that single mindedness and dogma does not result.
Legacy: The Sagittarius Earth spirit strives to leave behind a sense of direction stemming from
their abilities to focus. A directed philosophy results from knowing which needs to pursue and
which not. Vicarious learning must be encouraged to prevent redundancy of the human
consciousness effort. The value of thoughts and knowing is taught to others.
CANCER SUN, CAPRICORN EARTH
Lesson: The Capricorn Earth strives to generate an autonomous sense of self which can only be
derived from a strong sense of support and foundation. This support initially extends from
external sources and the individual resists receiving support (based upon a point of view that he
or she renders support only). This unilateral perception must be terminated for the person to
evolve to the fullest. Under standing the bidirectional nature of support assists these people in
growth. The awareness of assumable responsibility, to take and not to take, must be assimilated.
Legacy: With the Cancer side understood and synthesized, the Capricorn Earth provides others
with a quiet, parental type of support which encourages assuming total responsibility for the self;
no more and no less. Sharing of support encourages cooperative interactions on all levels of the
creative/receptive axis.
LEO SUN, AQUARIUS EARTH
Lesson: Within the natural Leo association to the Sun this axis assumes a stronger natural
emphasis. The goal of the actualized ego bears the fulfillment of humanity, a lesson easier stated
than learned. Overcoming the guru syndrome requires great attention and per severance to cause.
One must be conscious not to accept unwarranted praise and at the same time remain accepting
of praise which is valid. Avoidance of idle flattery and yes-type followers must be included in
the growth. Total identity as a unique and persistent individual cultivates some necessary
isolationism for the growth process. Courage and commitment of the self requires more effort
here than in any other case. One must obtain a strong sense of self that is referenced only to the
self. This self referencing frees the ego from superiority/inferiority dynamics.
Legacy: Once actualized, these individuals strive to teach everyone to be who they happen to be
and to become that which they strive to be. Courage and commitment are taught hand in hand
with respect for the being that one happens to be. The creative process is accentuated, allowing
them to exercise a purposeful lead in humanity. A choice must also be taught. That choice is the
ability to help humanity from a non-involved point of view or from direct and inclusive
involvement. A good example is a hermit who would pray over the dominion of humanity versus
the leader who works with a group in the interest of evolution. The difficult choice is individual
and must not be transferred to any other entity or oracle.
VIRGO SUN, PISCES EARTH
Lesson: To flow in the dimension of experience creates the major lessons of evolvement for
these Earthlings. When the Pisces Earth encounters a dynamic of growth, the tendency is to
compartmentalize the awareness in an intellectual or academic manner. This is fine as far as the
process is understood. The only drawback to this system comes from the integration of the
experience. To understand experientially creates a conflict for this sign. Once an experience is
assimilated, the tendency becomes to translate the experience in a logical or mnemonic manner.
On many levels of experience this is impossible, as no words can formulate a concise enough
picture to represent the occurrence. Thus, the individual falls in the position of knowing and not
being able to explain. The creative process builds up momentum from such a response, allowing
the individual to be manipulated by perplexity into realizing an unrecognized aspect of internal
ingenuity. Cognitive dissonance becomes the well known “A-ha!” of under standing.
Legacy: The Pisces Earth person knows how to translate inexplicable experiences into a system
of reference, provided that when another person flows into the same stream of consciousness the
event will be understood for what it is. A Taoist teaching method arises, allowing great levels of
individual creativity to be tapped without compromising the process of logic, yet not allowing
the mental to interfere with the flow of creativity. An extremely delicate balance of co-existence
emerges guiding the person experientially and logically through all events in life. This balance
utilizes every aspect of involvement in life to ascertain more of the process of growth and
evolution.
BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY
The various authors of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh, or Old Testament) have provided various names to stars
and planets.
Planets
Except for Earth, Venus and Saturn are the only planets expressly mentioned in the Old Testament.
Isaiah 14:12 is about one Helel ben Shahar, called the King of Babylon in the text. Helel ("morning star, son of
the dawn") is translated as Lucifer in the Vulgate Bible but its meaning is uncertain.[1]
Saturn is no less certainly represented by the star Kaiwan (or Chiun),[2] worshipped by the Israelites in the
desert (Amos 5:26). The same word (interpreted to mean "steadfast") frequently designates, in the Babylonian
inscriptions, the slowest-moving planet; while Sakkuth, the divinity associated with the star by the prophet, is an
alternative appellation for Ninurta, who, as a Babylonian planet-god, was merged with Saturn. The ancient
Syrians and Arabs, too, called Saturn Kaiwan, the corresponding terms in the
Zoroastrian Bundahish being Kevan. The other planets are individualized in the Bible only by implication. The
worship of gods connected with them is denounced, but without any manifest intention of referring to the
heavenly bodies. Thus, Gad and Meni (Isaiah 65:11) are, no doubt, the "greater and the lesser Fortune" typified
throughout the East by Jupiter and Venus; Neba, the tutelary deity of Borsippa (Isaiah 46:1), shone in the sky
as Mercury, and Nergal, transplanted from Assyria to Kutha (2 Kings 17:30), as Mars.
Constellations
The subjoined list gives (largely on Schiaparelli's authority) the best-warranted interpretations of biblical star
names:
Kimah, the Pleiades
Kesil, Orion
Ash, or Ayish, the Hyades
Mezarim, the Bears (Great and Little)
Mazzaroth, Venus (Lucifer and Hesperus)
Hadre theman -- "the chambers of the south" -- Canopus, the Southern Cross, and α Centauri
Nachash, Draco
Kimah and Kesil
The Bible names some half-dozen star groups, but authorities differ widely as to their identity. In a striking
passage, the Prophet Amos glorifies the Creator as "Him that made Kimah and Kesil",[3] rendered in the Vulgate
as Arcturus and Orion. Now Kimah certainly does not mean Arcturus. The word, which occurs twice in the Book
of Job (9:9; 38:31), is treated in the Septuagint version as equivalent to the Pleiades. This, also, is the meaning
given to it in the Talmud (TB Brachot 58b) and throughout Syrian literature; it is supported by etymological
evidences, the Hebrew term being obviously related to the Arabic root kum (accumulate), and the
Assyrian kamu (to bind); while the "chains of Kimah", referred to in the sacred text, not inaptly figure the
coercive power imparting unity to a multiple object. The associated constellation Kesil is doubtless no other
than Orion. Yet, in the first of the passages in Job where it figures, the Septuagint gives Herper; in the second,
the Vulgate quite irrelevantly inserts Arcturus; Karstens Niebuhr (1733–1815) understood Kesil to
mean Sirius; Thomas Hyde (1636–1703) held that it indicated Canopus. Now kesil signifies in Hebrew
"impious", adjectives expressive of the stupid criminality which belongs to the legendary character of giants;
and the stars of Orion irresistibly suggest a huge figure striding across the sky. The Arabs accordingly named
the constellation Al-gebbar, "the giant", the Syriac equivalent being Gabbara in old Syriac version of the Bible
known as Peshitta. We may then safely admit that Kimah and Kesil did actually designate the Pleiades and
Orion. But further interpretations are considerably more obscure. The Jewish Biblical Commentator Rashi says
that Kimah emits cold, and that is what makes winter so cold. However, Kesil emits heat preventing the winter
from getting too cold.
Ash
In the Book of Job—the most distinctively astronomical part of the Bible—mention is made, with other stars,
of Ash and Ayish, almost certainly divergent forms of the same word. lts signification remains an enigma. The
Vulgate and Septuagint inconsistently render it "Arcturus and Hesperus". Abenezra (1092–1167), however, the
learned Rabbi of Toledo, gave such strong reasons for Ash, or Ayish, to mean the Great Bear, that the opinion,
though probably erroneous, is still prevalent. It was chiefly grounded on the resemblance between ash and the
Arabic na 'ash, "a bier", applied to the four stars of the Wain, the three in front figuring as mourners, under the
title of Benât na 'ash, "daughters of the bier". But Job, too, speaks of the "children of Ayish", and the inference
seems irresistible that the same star-group was similarly referred to in both cases. Yet there is large room for
doubt. The Jewish Biblical Commentator Rashi says that Ayish is Alcyone. "Its Children" are the other stars of
the Pleiades. Ayish needs to be consoled because two of the stars of The Pleiades were moved to Aries at
the Deluge .
Modern philologists do not admit the alleged connection of Ayish with na 'ash, nor is any funereal association
apparent in Book of Job. On the other hand, Professor Schiaparelli draws attention to the fact that ash denotes
"moth" in the Old Testament, and that the folded wings of the insect are closely imitated in their triangular
shape by the doubly aligned stars of the Hyades. Now Ayish in the Peshitta is translated Iyutha, a constellation
mentioned by St. Ephrem and other Syriac writers, and Schiaparelli's learned consideration of the various
indications afforded by Arabic and Syriac literature makes it reasonably certain that Iyutha authentically
signifies Aldebaran, the great red star in the head of the Bull, with its children, the rainy Hyades. It is true
that Hyde, Ewald, other scholars have adopted Capella and the Kids as representative of Iyutha, and therefore
of "Ayish and her children"; but the view involves many incongruities.
Hadre Theman (Chambers of the South)
The glories of the sky adverted to the Book of Job include a sidereal landscape vaguely described as "the
chambers [i.e. penetralia] of the south". The phrase, according to Schiaparelli, refers to some assemblage of
brilliant stars, rising 20 degrees at most above the southern horizon in Palestine about the year 750 B.C.
(assumed as the date of the Patriarch Job), and, taking account of the changes due to precession, he points
out the stellar pageant formed by the Ship, the Cross, and the Centaur meets the required conditions. Sirius,
although at the date in question it culminated at an altitude of 41 degrees, may possibly have been thought of
as belonging to the "chambers of the south"; otherwise, this splendid object would appear to be ignored in the
Bible.
Mezarim
Job opposes to the "chambers of the south", as the source of cold, an asterism named Mezarim (37:9). Both
the Vulgate and the Septuagint render this word by Arcturus, evidently in mistake (the blunder is not
uncommon) for Arctos. The Great Bear circled in those days much more closely round the pole than it now
does; its typical northern character survives in the Latin word septentrio (from septem triones, the seven stars
of the Wain); and Schiaparelli concludes from the dual form of mezarim, that the Jews, like the Phoenicians,
were acquainted with the Little, as well as with the Great, Bear. He identifies the word as the plural, or dual, of
mizreh, "a winnowing-fan", an instrument figured by the seven stars of the Wain, quite as accurately as the
Ladle of the Chinese or the Dipper of popular American parlance.
Mazzaroth
Main article: Mazzaroth
Perhaps the most baffling riddle in Biblical star nomenclature is that presented by the
word Mazzaroth or Mazzaloth (Job 38:31,32; 2 Kings 23:5) usually, though not unanimously admitted to be
phonetic variants. As to their signification, opinions are hopelessly divergent. The authors of the Septuagint
transcribed, without translating, the ambiguous expression; the Vulgate gives for its equivalent Lucifer in Job,
the Signs of the Zodiac in the Book of Kings. St. John Chrysostom adopted the latter meaning, noting,
however, that many of his contemporaries interpreted Mazzaroth as Sirius. But this idea soon lost vogue while
the zodiacal explanation gained wide currency. It is, indeed, at first sight, extremely plausible. Long before the
Exodus the Twelve Signs were established in Euphratean regions much as we know them now. Although never
worshipped in a primary sense, they may well have been held sacred as the abode of deities. The
Assyrian manzallu (sometimes written manzazu), "station", occurs in the Babylonian Creation tablets with the
import "mansions of the gods"; and the word appears to be etymologically akin to Mazzaloth, which in
rabbinical Hebrew signifies primarily the Signs of the Zodiac, secondarily the planets. The lunar Zodiac, too,
suggests itself in this connection. The twenty-eight "mansions of the moon" (menazil al-kamar) were the
leading feature of Arabic sky-lore, and they subserved astrological purposes among many Oriental peoples.
They might, accordingly, have belonged to the apparatus of superstition used by the soothsayers who were
extirpated in Judah, together with the worship of the Mazzaroth, by King Josiah, about 621 B.C. Yet no such
explanation can be made to fit in with the form of expression met with in the Book of Job (38:32). Speaking in
the person of the Almighty, the Patriarch asks, "Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in its time?"—clearly in
allusion to a periodical phenomenon, such as the brilliant visibility of Lucifer, or Hesperus
The Babylonian Imago Mundi, dated to the 6th century BC (Neo-Babylonian Empire).[4] The map shows Babylon on the Euphrates,
surrounded by a circular landmass showing Assyria, Armenia and several cities, in turn surrounded by a "bitter river" (Oceanus),
with seven islands arranged around it so as to form a seven-pointed star.
. Professor Schiaparelli then recurs to the Vulgate rendering of this passage. He recognizes in Mazzaroth the
planet Venus in her double aspect of morning and evening star, pointing out that the luminary designated in the
Book of Kings, with the sun and moon, and the "host of heaven" must evidently be next in brightness to the
chief light-givers. Further, the sun, moon, and Venus constitute the great astronomical triad of Babylonia, the
sculptured representations of which frequently include the "host of heaven" typified by a crowd of fantastic
animal-divinities. And since the astral worship anathematized by the prophets of Israel was unquestionably of
Euphratean origin, the designation of Mazzaroth as the third member of the Babylonian triad is a valuable link
in the evidence. Still, the case remains one of extreme difficulty.
Nachash
Notwithstanding the scepticism of recent commentators, it appears fairly certain that the "fugitive serpent"
of Job 26:13 (coluber tortuosus in the Vulgate) does really stand for the circumpolar reptile. The Euphratean
constellation Draco is of hoary antiquity, and would quite probably have been familiar to Job. On the other
hand, Rahab (Job 9:13; 26:12), translated "whale" in the Septuagint, is probably of legendary or symbolical
import.
MOTION OF PLANET JUPITER.
PLANETARY MOTION EARTH
Heliocentrism.
Heliocentrism[a] is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun at the
center of the Solar System. Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed the
Earth at the center. The notion that the Earth revolves around the Sun had been proposed as early as
the 3rd century BC by Aristarchus of Samos,[1] but at least in the medieval world, Aristarchus's
heliocentrism attracted little attention—possibly because of the loss of scientific works of the Hellenistic
Era.[b]
It was not until the 16th century that a mathematical model of a heliocentric system was presented, by
the Renaissancemathematician, astronomer, and Catholic cleric Nicolaus Copernicus, leading to
the Copernican Revolution. In the following century, Johannes Kepler introduced elliptical orbits,
and Galileo Galilei presented supporting observations made using a telescope.
With the observations of William Herschel, Friedrich Bessel, and other astronomers, it was realized that
the Sun, while near the barycenter of the Solar System, was not at any center of the universe.
Ancient and medieval astronomy
A hypothetical geocentric model of the Solar System (upper panel) in comparison to the heliocentric
model (lower panel).
While the sphericity of the Earth was widely recognized in Greco-Roman astronomy from at least the
3rd century BC, the Earth's daily rotation and yearly orbit around the Sun was never universally accepted
until the Copernican Revolution.
While a moving Earth was proposed at least from the 4th century BC in Pythagoreanism, and a fully
developed heliocentric model was developed by Aristarchus of Samos in the 3rd century BC, these ideas
were not successful in replacing the view of a static spherical Earth, and from the 2nd century AD the
predominant model, which would be inherited by medieval astronomy, was the geocentric
model described in Ptolemy's Almagest.
The Ptolemaic system was a sophisticated astronomical system that managed to calculate the positions
for the planets to a fair degree of accuracy.[3] Ptolemy himself, in his Almagest, points out that any
model for describing the motions of the planets is merely a mathematical device, and since there is no
actual way to know which is true, the simplest model that gets the right numbers should be used.
[4] However, he rejected the idea of a spinning Earth as absurd as he believed it would create huge
winds. His planetary hypotheses were sufficiently real that the distances of the Moon, Sun, planets and
stars could be determined by treating orbits' celestial spheres as contiguous realities. This made the
stars' distance less than 20 Astronomical Units,[5] a regression, since Aristarchus of Samos's heliocentric
scheme had centuries earlier necessarily placed the stars at least two orders of magnitude more distant.
Problems with Ptolemy's system were well recognized in medieval astronomy, and an increasing effort
to criticize and improve it in the late medieval period eventually led to the Copernican
heliocentrism developed in Renaissance astronomy.
Classical Antiquity
Greek astronomy
Pythagoreans
The non-geocentric model of the Universe was proposed by the Pythagorean philosopher Philolaus (d.
390 BC), who taught that at the center of the Universe was a "central fire", around which
the Earth, Sun, Moon and planets revolved in uniform circular motion. This system postulated the
existence of a counter-earth collinear with the Earth and central fire, with the same period of revolution
around the central fire as the Earth. The Sun revolved around the central fire once a year, and the stars
were stationary. The Earth maintained the same hidden face towards the central fire, rendering both it
and the "counter-earth" invisible from Earth. The Pythagorean concept of uniform circular motion
remained unchallenged for approximately the next 2000 years, and it was to the Pythagoreans that
Copernicus referred to show that the notion of a moving Earth was neither new nor revolutionary.
[6] Kepler gave an alternative explanation of the Pythagoreans' "central fire" as the Sun, "as most sects
purposely hid[e] their teachings".[7]
Heraclides of Pontus (4th century BC) said that the rotation of the Earth explained the apparent daily
motion of the celestial sphere. It used to be thought that he believed Mercury and Venus to revolve
around the Sun, which in turn (along with the other planets) revolves around the Earth.[8] Macrobius
Ambrosius Theodosius (AD 395–423) later described this as the "Egyptian System," stating that "it did
not escape the skill of the Egyptians," though there is no other evidence it was known in ancient Egypt.
[9][10]
Aristarchus of Samos
Aristarchus's 3rd century BC calculations on the relative sizes of the Earth, Sun and Moon, from a 10th-
century AD Greek copy
The first person known to have proposed a heliocentric system, however, was Aristarchus of Samos (c.
270 BC). Like Eratosthenes, Aristarchus calculated the size of the Earth, and measured the sizes and
distances of the Sun and Moon. From his estimates, he concluded that the Sun was six to seven times
wider than the Earth, and thought the larger object would have the most attractive force.
His writings on the heliocentric system are lost, but some information about them is known from a brief
description by his contemporary, Archimedes, and from scattered references by later writers.
Archimedes' description of Aristarchus's theory is given in the former's book, The Sand Reckoner. The
entire description comprises just three sentences, which Thomas Heathtranslates as follows:[11]
You are aware ['you' being King Gelon] that "universe" is the name given by most astronomers to the
sphere, the centre of which is the centre of the earth, while its radius is equal to the straight line
between the centre of the sun and the centre of the earth. This is the common account (τά γραφόμενα),
as you have heard from astronomers. But Aristarchus brought out a book consisting of certain
hypotheses, wherein it appears, as a consequence of the assumptions made, that the universe is many
times greater than the "universe" just mentioned. His hypotheses are that the fixed stars and the sun
remain unmoved, that the earth revolves about the sun on the circumference of a circle, the sun lying in
the middle of the orbit, and that the sphere of the fixed stars, situated about the same centre as the
sun, is so great that the circle in which he supposes the earth to revolve bears such a proportion to the
distance of the fixed stars as the centre of the sphere bears to its surface.
— The Sand Reckoner (Arenarius I, 4-7)
Aristarchus presumably took the stars to be very far away because he was aware that
their parallax[12] would otherwise be observed over the course of a year. The stars are in fact so far
away that stellar parallax only became detectable when sufficiently powerful telescopes had been
developed.
No references to Aristarchus's heliocentrism are known in any other writings from before the common
era. The earliest of the handful of other ancient references occur in two passages from the writings
of Plutarch. These mention one detail not stated explicitly in Archimedes's account—[13] namely, that
Aristarchus's theory had the Earth rotating on an axis. The first of these reference occurs in On the Face
in the Orb of the Moon:[14]
Only do not, my good fellow, enter an action against me for impiety in the style of Cleanthes, who
thought it was the duty of Greeks to indict Aristarchus of Samos on the charge of impiety for putting in
motion the Hearth of the Universe, this being the effect of his attempt to save the phenomena by
supposing the heaven to remain at rest and the earth to revolve in an oblique circle, while it rotates, at
the same time, about its own axis.
— On the Face in the Orb of the Moon (De facie in orbe lunae, c. 6, pp. 922 F - 923 A.)
Only scattered fragments of Cleanthes's writings have survived in quotations by other writers, but
in Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, Diogenes Laërtiuslists A reply to Aristarchus (Πρὸς
Ἀρίσταρχον) as one of Cleanthes's works,[15] and some scholars[16] have suggested that this might
have been where Cleanthes had accused Aristarchus of impiety.
The second of the references by Plutarch is in his Platonic Questions:[17]
Did Plato put the earth in motion, as he did the sun, the moon, and the five planets, which he called the
instruments of time on account of their turnings, and was it necessary to conceive that the earth "which
is globed about the axis stretched from pole to pole through the whole universe" was not represented
as being held together and at rest, but as turning and revolving (στρεφομένην καὶ ἀνειλουμένην), as
Aristarchus and Seleucus afterwards maintained that it did, the former stating this as only a hypothesis
(ὑποτιθέμενος μόνον), the latter as a definite opinion (καὶ ἀποφαινόμενος) ?
— Platonic Questions (Platonicae Quaestiones viii. I, 1006 C)
The remaining references to Aristarchus's heliocentrism are extremely brief, and provide no more
information beyond what can be gleaned from those already cited. Ones which mention Aristarchus
explicitly by name occur in Aëtius's Opinions of the Philosophers, Sextus Empiricus's Against the
Mathematicians,[17] and an anonymous scholiast to Aristotle.[18] Another passage in Aëtius's Opinions
of the Philosophers reports that Seleucus the astronomer had affirmed the Earth's motion, but does not
mention Aristarchus.[17]
Seleucus of Seleucia
Since Plutarch mentions the "followers of Aristarchus" in passing, it is likely that there were other
astronomers in the Classical period who also espoused heliocentrism, but whose work was lost. The only
other astronomer from antiquity known by name who is known to have supported Aristarchus'
heliocentric model was Seleucus of Seleucia (b. 190 BC), a Hellenistic astronomer who flourished a
century after Aristarchus in the Seleucid empire.[19] Seleucus was a proponent of the heliocentric
system of Aristarchus.[20] Seleucus may have proved the heliocentric theory by determining the
constants of a geometric model for the heliocentric theory and developing methods to compute
planetary positions using this model. He may have used early trigonometric methods that were available
in his time, as he was a contemporary of Hipparchus.[21] A fragment of a work by Seleucus has survived
in Arabic translation, which was referred to by Rhazes (b. 865).[22]
Alternatively, his explanation may have involved the phenomenon of tides,[23] which he supposedly
theorized to be caused by the attraction to the Moon and by the revolution of the Earth around the
Earth and Moon's center of mass.
Late Antiquity
There were occasional speculations about heliocentrism in Europe before Copernicus. In Roman
Carthage, the pagan Martianus Capella (5th century A.D.) expressed the opinion that the planets Venus
and Mercury did not go about the Earth but instead circled the Sun.[24] Capella's model was discussed
in the Early Middle Ages by various anonymous 9th-century commentators[25] and Copernicus
mentions him as an influence on his own work.[26]
The Ptolemaic system was also received in Indian astronomy. Aryabhata (476–550), in his magnum
opus Aryabhatiya (499), propounded a planetary model in which the Earth was taken to be spinning on
its axis and the periods of the planets were given with respect to the Sun.[27] His immediate
commentators, such as Lalla, and other later authors, rejected his innovative view about the turning
Earth.[28] He also made many astronomical calculations, such as the times of
the solar and lunareclipses, and the instantaneous motion of the Moon.[29] Early followers of
Aryabhata's model included Varahamihira, Brahmagupta, and Bhaskara II.
Medieval Islamic world
Astronomy in medieval Islam and Islamic cosmology
For a time, Muslim astronomers accepted the Ptolemaic system and the geocentric model, which were
used by al-Battani to show that the distance between the Sun and the Earth varies.[30][31] In the 10th
century, al-Sijzi accepted that the Earth rotates around its axis.[32][33] According to later astronomer al-
Biruni, al-Sijzi invented an astrolabe called al-zūraqī based on a belief held by some of his
contemporaries that the apparent motion of the stars was due to the Earth's movement, and not that of
the firmament.[33][34] Islamic astronomers began to criticize the Ptolemaic model, including Ibn al-
Haytham in his Al-Shukūk 'alā Baṭalamiyūs ("Doubts Concerning Ptolemy", c. 1028),[35][36] who
branded it an impossibility.[37]
An illustration from al-Biruni's astronomical works explains the different phases of the Moon with
respect to the position of the Sun.
Al-Biruni discussed the possibility of whether the Earth rotated about its own axis and orbited the Sun,
but in his Masudic Canon(1031),[38] he expressed his faith in a geocentric and stationary Earth.[39] He
was aware that if the Earth rotated on its axis, it would be consistent with his astronomical observations,
[40] but considered it a problem of natural philosophy rather than one of mathematics.[33][41]
In the 12th century, non-heliocentric alternatives to the Ptolemaic system were developed by some
Islamic astronomers, such as Nur ad-Din al-Bitruji, who considered the Ptolemaic model mathematical,
and not physical.[42][43] His system spread throughout most of Europe in the 13th century, with
debates and refutations of his ideas continued to the 16th century.[43]
The Maragha school of astronomy in Ilkhanid-era Persia further developed "non-Ptolemaic" planetary
models involving Earth's rotation. Notable astronomers of this school are Al-Urdi (d. 1266) Al-Katibi (d.
1277),[44] and Al-Tusi (d. 1274).
The arguments and evidence used resemble those used by Copernicus to support the Earth's motion.
[45][46] The criticism of Ptolemy as developed by Averroes and by the Maragha school explicitly address
the Earth's rotation but it did not arrive at explicit heliocentrism.[47] The observations of the Maragha
school were further improved at the Timurid-era Samarkand observatory under Qushji (1403–1474).
Later medieval period
European scholarship in the later medieval period actively received astronomical models developed in
the Islamic world and by the 13th century was well aware of the problems of the Ptolemaic model. In
the 14th century, bishop Nicole Oresme discussed the possibility that the Earth rotated on its axis, while
Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa in his Learned Ignorance asked whether there was any reason to assert that
the Sun (or any other point) was the center of the universe. In parallel to a mystical definition of God,
Cusa wrote that "Thus the fabric of the world (machina mundi) will quasi have its center everywhere and
circumference nowhere,"[48] recalling Hermes Trismegistus
Nicholas of Cusa, 15th century, asked whether there was any reason to assert that any point was the
center of the universe.
.[49]
In India, Nilakantha Somayaji (1444–1544), in his Aryabhatiyabhasya, a commentary on
Aryabhata's Aryabhatiya, developed a computational system for a geo-heliocentric planetary model, in
which the planets orbit the Sun, which in turn orbits the Earth, similar to the system later
proposed by Tycho Brahe. In the Tantrasamgraha (1501), Somayaji further revised his planetary system,
which was mathematically more accurate at predicting the heliocentric orbits of the interior planets
than both the Tychonic and Copernican models,[50][51] but did not propose any specific models of the
universe.[52] Nilakantha's planetary system also incorporated the Earth's rotation on its axis.[53] Most
astronomers of the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics seem to have accepted his planetary
model.[54][55]
Renaissance-era astronomy
European astronomy before Copernicus
Some historians maintain that the thought of the Maragheh observatory, in particular the mathematical
devices known as the Urdi lemma and the Tusi couple, influenced Renaissance-era European astronomy,
and thus was indirectly received by Renaissance-era European astronomy and thus by Copernicus.[41]
[56][57][58][59]Copernicus used such devices in the same planetary models as found in Arabic sources.
[60] Furthermore, the exact replacement of the equant by two epicycles used by Copernicus in
the Commentariolus was found in an earlier work by Ibn al-Shatir (d. c. 1375) of Damascus.
[61] Copernicus' lunar and Mercury models are also identical to Ibn al-Shatir's.[62]
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) wrote "Il sole non si move." ("The Sun does not move.") [63]
The state of knowledge on planetary theory received by Copernicus is summarized in Georg von
Peuerbach's Theoricae Novae Planetarum (printed in 1472 by Regiomontanus). By 1470, the accuracy of
observations by the Vienna school of astronomy, of which Peuerbach and Regiomontanus were
members, was high enough to make the eventual development of heliocentrism inevitable, and indeed
it is possible that Regiomontanus did arrive at an explicit theory of heliocentrism before his death in
1476, some 30 years before Copernicus.[64] While the influence of the criticism of Ptolemy by Averroes
on Renaissance thought is clear and explicit, the claim of direct influence of the Maragha school,
postulated by Otto E. Neugebauer in 1957, remains an open question.[47][65][66] Copernicus explicitly
references several astronomers of the "Islamic Golden Age" (10th to 12th centuries) in De
Revolutionibus: Albategnius (Al-Battani), Averroes (Ibn Rushd), Thebit (Thabit Ibn Qurra), Arzachel (Al-
Zarqali), and Alpetragius (Al-Bitruji), but he does not show awareness of the existence of any of the later
astronomers of the Maragha school.[67]
It has been argued that Copernicus could have independently discovered the Tusi couple or took the
idea from Proclus's Commentary on the First Book of Euclid,[68]which Copernicus cited.[69] Another
possible source for Copernicus's knowledge of this mathematical device is the Questiones de
Spera of Nicole Oresme, who described how a reciprocating linear motion of a celestial body could be
produced by a combination of circular motions similar to those proposed by al-Tusi.[70]
Copernican heliocentrism
Copernican heliocentrism
Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus (1578)[c]
Nicolaus Copernicus in his De revolutionibus orbium coelestium ("On the revolution of heavenly
spheres", first printed in 1543 in Nuremberg), presented a discussion of a heliocentric model of the
universe in much the same way as Ptolemy in the 2nd century had presented his geocentric model in
his Almagest. Copernicus discussed the philosophical implications of his proposed system, elaborated it
in geometrical detail, used selected astronomical observations to derive the parameters of his model,
and wrote astronomical tables which enabled one to compute the past and future positions of the stars
and planets. In doing so, Copernicus moved heliocentrism from philosophical speculation to predictive
geometrical astronomy. In reality, Copernicus's system did not predict the planets' positions any better
than the Ptolemaic system.[71] This theory resolved the issue of planetary retrograde motion by arguing
that such motion was only perceived and apparent, rather than real: it was a parallax effect, as an object
that one is passing seems to move backwards against the horizon. This issue was also resolved in the
geocentric Tychonic system; the latter, however, while eliminating the major epicycles, retained as a
physical reality the irregular back-and-forth motion of the planets, which Kepler characterized as a
"pretzel"
Mars planet in Corpernicanism or Heliocentrism Model of Planetary Motion.
Copernicus cited Aristarchus in an early (unpublished) manuscript of De Revolutionibus (which still
survives), stating: "Philolaus believed in the mobility of the earth, and some even say that Aristarchus of
Samos was of that opinion."[73] However, in the published version he restricts himself to noting that in
works by Cicero he had found an account of the theories of Hicetas and that Plutarch had provided him
with an account of the Pythagoreans, Heraclides Ponticus, Philolaus, and Ecphantus. These authors had
proposed a moving Earth, which did not, however, revolve around a central sun.
Reception in Early Modern Europe
Copernican Revolution
Circulation of Commentariolus (before 1515)
The first information about the heliocentric views of Nicolaus Copernicus was circulated in manuscript
completed some time before May 1, 1514.[74] Although only in manuscript, Copernicus' ideas were well
known among astronomers and others. His ideas contradicted the then-prevailing understanding of the
Bible. In the King James Bible (first published in 1611), First Chronicles 16:30 states that "the world also
shall be stable, that it be not moved." Psalm 104:5 says, "[the Lord] Who laid the foundations of the
earth, that it should not be removed for ever." Ecclesiastes 1:5 states that "The sun also ariseth, and the
sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose."
Nonetheless, in 1533, Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter delivered in Rome a series of lectures outlining
Copernicus' theory. The lectures were heard with interest by Pope Clement VII and several
Catholic cardinals.[75] On November 1, 1536, Archbishop of Capua Nikolaus von Schönberg wrote a
letter to Copernicus from Rome encouraging him to publish a full version of his theory.
However, in 1539, Martin Luther said:
"There is talk of a new astrologer who wants to prove that the earth moves and goes around instead of
the sky, the sun, the moon, just as if somebody were moving in a carriage or ship might hold that he was
sitting still and at rest while the earth and the trees walked and moved. But that is how things are
nowadays: when a man wishes to be clever he must . . . invent something special, and the way he does it
must needs be the best! The fool wants to turn the whole art of astronomy upside-down. However, as
Holy Scripture tells us, so did Joshua bid the sun to stand still and not the earth."[76]
This was reported in the context of a conversation at the dinner table and not a formal statement of
faith. Melanchthon, however, opposed the doctrine over a period of years.[77][78]
Publication of De Revolutionibus (1543)
Nicolaus Copernicus published the definitive statement of his system in De Revolutionibus in 1543.
Copernicus began to write it in 1506 and finished it in 1530, but did not publish it until the year of his
death. Although he was in good standing with the Church and had dedicated the book to Pope Paul III,
the published form contained an unsigned preface by Osiander defending the system and arguing that it
was useful for computation even if its hypotheses were not necessarily true. Possibly because of that
preface, the work of Copernicus inspired very little debate on whether it might be heretical during the
next 60 years. There was an early suggestion among Dominicans that the teaching of heliocentrism
should be banned, but nothing came of it at the time.
Some years after the publication of De Revolutionibus John Calvin preached a sermon in which he
denounced those who "pervert the order of nature" by saying that "the sun does not move and that it is
the earth that revolves and that it turns".[79]
On the other hand, Calvin is not responsible for another famous quotation which has often been
misattributed to him: "Who will venture to place the authority of Copernicus above that of the Holy
Spirit?" It has long been established that this line cannot be found in any of Calvin's works.[80][81][82] It
has been suggested[83] that the quotation was originally sourced from the works
of Lutheran theologian Abraham Calovius.
Tycho Brahe's geo-heliocentric system (c. 1587)
Tychonic system
In this depiction of the Tychonic system, the objects on blue orbits (the Moon and the Sun) revolve
around the Earth. The objects on orange orbits (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) revolve
around the Sun. Around all is a sphere of fixed stars, located just beyond Saturn.
Prior to the publication of De Revolutionibus, the most widely accepted system had been proposed
by Ptolemy, in which the Earth was the center of the universe and all celestial bodies orbited it. Tycho
Brahe, arguably the most accomplished astronomer of his time, advocated against Copernicus's
heliocentric system and for an alternative to the Ptolemaic geocentric system: a geo-heliocentric system
now known as the Tychonic system in which the five then known planets orbit the Sun, while the Sun
and the Moon orbit the Earth.
Tycho appreciated the Copernican system, but objected to the idea of a moving Earth on the basis of
physics, astronomy, and religion. The Aristotelian physics of the time (modern Newtonian physics was
still a century away) offered no physical explanation for the motion of a massive body like Earth,
whereas it could easily explain the motion of heavenly bodies by postulating that they were made of a
different sort substance called aether that moved naturally. So Tycho said that the Copernican system
"... expertly and completely circumvents all that is superfluous or discordant in the system of Ptolemy.
On no point does it offend the principle of mathematics. Yet it ascribes to the Earth, that hulking, lazy
body, unfit for motion, a motion as quick as that of the aethereal torches, and a triple motion at
that."[84] Likewise, Tycho took issue with the vast distances to the stars that Aristarchus and Copernicus
had assumed in order to explain the lack of any visible parallax. Tycho had measured the apparent sizes
of stars (now known to be illusory – see stellar magnitude), and used geometry to calculate that in order
to both have those apparent sizes and be as far away as heliocentrism required, stars would have to be
huge (much larger than the sun; the size of Earth's orbit or larger). Regarding this Tycho wrote, "Deduce
these things geometrically if you like, and you will see how many absurdities (not to mention others)
accompany this assumption [of the motion of the earth] by inference."[85] He also cited the Copernican
system's "opposition to the authority of Sacred Scripture in more than one place" as a reason why one
might wish to reject it, and observed that his own geo-heliocentric alternative "offended neither the
principles of physics nor Holy Scripture".[86]
The Jesuit astronomers in Rome were at first unreceptive to Tycho's system; the most
prominent, Clavius, commented that Tycho was "confusing all of astronomy, because he wants to
have Mars lower than the Sun."[87] However, after the advent of the telescope showed problems with
some geocentric models (by demonstrating that Venus circles the Sun, for example), the Tychonic
system and variations on that system became popular among geocentrists, and the Jesuit
astronomer Giovanni Battista Riccioli would continue Tycho's use of physics, stellar astronomy (now
with a telescope), and religion to argue against heliocentrism and for Tycho's system well into the
seventeenth century (see Riccioli).
Galileo Galilei and 1616 ban against Copernicanism
Galileo affair
In the 17th century AD Galileo Galilei opposed the Roman Catholic Church by his strong support for
heliocentrism
Galileo was able to look at the night sky with the newly invented telescope. He published his discoveries
that the Sun rotated and that Venus exhibited a full range of phases in his Letters on Sunspots (1613).
These discoveries were not consistent with the Ptolemeic model of the Solar System. As the Jesuit
astronomers confirmed Galileo's observations, the Jesuits moved toward Tycho's teachings.[88]
In his 1615 "Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina", Galileo defended heliocentrism, and claimed it was
not contrary to Holy Scripture. He took Augustine's position on Scripture: not to take every passage
literally when the scripture in question is in a Bible book of poetry and songs, not a book of instructions
or history. The writers of the Scripture wrote from the perspective of the terrestrial world, and from that
vantage point the Sun does rise and set. In fact, it is the Earth's rotation which gives the impression of
the Sun in motion across the sky.
In February 1615, prominent Dominicans including Thomaso Caccini and Niccolò Lorini brought Galileo's
writings on heliocentrism to the attention of the Inquisition, because they appeared to violate Holy
Scripture and the decrees of the Council of Trent.[89][90] Cardinal and Inquisitor Robert Bellarmine was
called upon to adjudicate, and wrote in April that treating heliocentrism as a real phenomenon would be
"a very dangerous thing," irritating philosophers and theologians, and harming "the Holy Faith by
rendering Holy Scripture as false."[91]
In January 1616 Msgr. Francesco Ingoli addressed an essay to Galileo disputing the Copernican system.
Galileo later stated that he believed this essay to have been instrumental in the ban against
Copernicanism that followed in February.[92] According to Maurice Finocchiaro, Ingoli had probably
been commissioned by the Inquisition to write an expert opinion on the controversy, and the essay
provided the "chief direct basis" for the ban.[93] The essay focused on eighteen physical and
mathematical arguments against heliocentrism. It borrowed primarily from the arguments of Tycho
Brahe, and it notedly mentioned the problem that heliocentrism requires the stars to be much larger
than the Sun. Ingoli wrote that the great distance to the stars in the heliocentric theory "clearly
proves ... the fixed stars to be of such size, as they may surpass or equal the size of the orbit circle of the
Earth itself."[94] Ingoli included four theological arguments in the essay, but suggested to Galileo that
he focus on the physical and mathematical arguments. Galileo did not write a response to Ingoli until
1624.[95]
In February 1616, the Inquisition assembled a committee of theologians, known as qualifiers, who
delivered their unanimous report condemning heliocentrism as "foolish and absurd in philosophy, and
formally heretical since it explicitly contradicts in many places the sense of Holy Scripture." The
Inquisition also determined that the Earth's motion "receives the same judgement in philosophy and ...
in regard to theological truth it is at least erroneous in faith."[96] Bellarmine personally ordered Galileo
"to abstain completely from teaching or defending this doctrine and opinion or from discussing it... to
abandon completely... the opinion that the sun stands still at the center of the world and the earth
moves, and henceforth not to hold, teach, or defend it in any way whatever, either orally or in writing."
— Bellarmine and the Inquisition's injunction against Galileo, 1616[97]
In March, after the Inquisition's injunction against Galileo, the papal Master of the Sacred
Palace, Congregation of the Index, and Pope banned all books and letters advocating the Copernican
system, which they called "the false Pythagorean doctrine, altogether contrary to Holy Scripture."[97]
[98] In 1618 the Holy Office recommended that a modified version of Copernicus' De Revolutionibus be
allowed for use in calendric calculations, though the original publication remained forbidden until 1758.
[98]
In Astronomia nova (1609), Johannes Kepler had used an elliptical orbit to explain the motion of Mars.
In Epitome astronomiae Copernicanae (1617–1621) he developed a heliocentric model of the Solar
System in which all the planets have elliptical orbits. This provided significantly increased accuracy in
predicting the position of the planets. Kepler's ideas were not immediately accepted. Galileo for
example completely ignored Kepler's work. Kepler proposed heliocentrism as a physical description of
the Solar System and Epitome astronomia Copernicanae was placed on the index of prohibited books
despite Kepler being a Protestant.
Pope Urban VIII encouraged Galileo to publish the pros and cons of heliocentrism. Galileo's
response, Dialogue concerning the two chief world systems (1632), clearly advocated heliocentrism,
despite his declaration in the preface that,
I will endeavour to show that all experiments that can be made upon the Earth are insufficient means to
conclude for its mobility but are indifferently applicable to the Earth, movable or immovable...[99]
and his straightforward statement,
I might very rationally put it in dispute, whether there be any such centre in nature, or no; being that
neither you nor any one else hath ever proved, whether the World be finite and figurate, or else infinite
and interminate; yet nevertheless granting you, for the present, that it is finite, and of a terminate
Spherical Figure, and that thereupon it hath its centre...[99]
Some ecclesiastics also interpreted the book as characterizing the Pope as a simpleton, since his
viewpoint in the dialogue was advocated by the character Simplicio. Urban VIII became hostile to Galileo
and he was again summoned to Rome.[100] Galileo's trial in 1633 involved making fine distinctions
between "teaching" and "holding and defending as true". For advancing heliocentric theory Galileo was
forced to recant Copernicanism and was put under house arrest for the last few years of his life.
According to J. L. Heilbron, informed contemporaries of Galileo's "appreciated that the reference to
heresy in connection with Galileo or Copernicus had no general or theological significance."[101]
Age of Reason
Age of Reason, 17th-century philosophy, and Scientific revolution
René Descartes postponed, and ultimately never finished, his treatise The World, which included a
heliocentric model,[102] but the Galileo affair did little to slow the spread of heliocentrism across
Europe, as Kepler's Epitome of Copernican Astronomy became increasingly influential in the coming
decades.[103] By 1686 the model was well enough established that the general public was reading
about it in Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds, published in France by Bernard le Bovier de
Fontenelle and translated into English and other languages in the coming years. It has been called "one
of the first great popularizations of science."[102]
In 1687, Isaac Newton published Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, which provided an
explanation for Kepler's laws in terms of universal gravitation and what came to be known as Newton's
laws of motion. This placed heliocentrism on a firm theoretical foundation, although Newton's
heliocentrism was of a somewhat modern kind. Already in the mid-1680s he recognized the "deviation
of the Sun" from the centre of gravity of the Solar System.[104] For Newton it was not precisely the
centre of the Sun or any other body that could be considered at rest, but "the common centre of gravity
of the Earth, the Sun and all the Planets is to be esteem'd the Centre of the World", and this centre of
gravity "either is at rest or moves uniformly forward in a right line". Newton adopted the "at rest"
alternative in view of common consent that the centre, wherever it was, was at rest.[105]
Meanwhile, the Catholic Church remained opposed to heliocentrism as a literal description, but this did
not by any means imply opposition to all astronomy; indeed, it needed observational data to maintain
its calendar. In support of this effort it allowed the cathedrals themselves to be used as solar
observatories called meridiane; i.e., they were turned into "reverse sundials", or gigantic pinhole
cameras, where the Sun's image was projected from a hole in a window in the cathedral's lantern onto a
meridian line.
In 1664, Pope Alexander VII published his Index Librorum Prohibitorum Alexandri VII Pontificis Maximi
jussu editus (Index of Prohibited Books, published by order of Alexander VII, P.M.) which included all
previous condemnations of heliocentric books.[106]
In the mid-eighteenth century the Catholic Church's opposition began to fade. An annotated copy of
Newton's Principia was published in 1742 by Fathers le Seur and Jacquier of the Franciscan Minims, two
Catholic mathematicians, with a preface stating that the author's work assumed heliocentrism and could
not be explained without the theory. In 1758 the Catholic Church dropped the general prohibition of
books advocating heliocentrism from the Index of Forbidden Books.[107] The Observatory of the Roman
College was established by Pope Clement XIV in 1774 (nationalized in 1878, but re-founded by Pope Leo
XIII as the Vatican Observatory in 1891). In spite of dropping its active resistance to heliocentrism, the
Catholic Church did not lift the prohibition of uncensored versions of Copernicus's De Revolutionibus or
Galileo's Dialogue. The affair was revived in 1820, when the Master of the Sacred Palace (the Catholic
Church's chief censor), Filippo Anfossi, refused to license a book by a Catholic canon, Giuseppe Settele,
because it openly treated heliocentrism as a physical fact.[108] Settele appealed to pope Pius VII. After
the matter had been reconsidered by the Congregation of the Index and the Holy Office, Anfossi's
decision was overturned.[108] Pius VII approved a decree in 1822 by the Sacred Congregation of the
Inquisition to allow the printing of heliocentric books in Rome. Copernicus's De Revolutionibus and
Galileo's Dialogue were then subsequently accepted.
306]
LITERATURE REVIEW
The modern English word Earth developed from a wide variety of Middle English forms,[n 7] which derived from
an Old English noun most often spelled eorðe.[23] It has cognates in every Germanic language, and their proto-
Germanic root has been reconstructed as *erþō. In its earliest appearances, eorðe was already being used to
translate the many senses of Latin terra and Greek γῆ (gē): the ground,[n 8] its soil,[n 9] dry land,[n 10] the human
world,[n 11] the surface of the world (including the sea),[n 12] and the globe itself.[n 13] As with Terra and Gaia, Earth
was a personified goddess in Germanic paganism: the Angles were listed by Tacitus as among
the devotees of Nerthus,[32] and later Norse mythology included Jörð, a giantess often given as the mother
of Thor.[33]
An early mention of "eorðan" (earth) in Beowulf
An early mention of "eorðan" (earth) in Beowulf
anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet - This file has been provided by the British Library from its digital collections. It is
also made available on a British Library website. Catalogue entry: Cotton MS Vitellius A XV
"eorðan," (earth) a word from Beowulf, line number #2007. For the translation see Beowulf; a heroic poem
of the 8th century, with tr., note and appendix by T. Arnold, 1876, p. 130.
Originally, earth was written in lowercase, and from early Middle English, its definite sense as "the globe" was
expressed as the earth. By Early Modern English, many nouns were capitalized, and the earth became (and
often remained) the Earth, particularly when referenced along with other heavenly bodies. More recently, the
name is sometimes simply given as Earth, by analogy with the names of the other planets.[23] House styles now
vary: Oxford spelling recognizes the lowercase form as the most common, with the capitalized form an
acceptable variant. Another convention capitalizes "Earth" when appearing as a name (e.g. "Earth's
atmosphere") but writes it in lowercase when preceded by the (e.g. "the atmosphere of the earth"). It almost
always appears in lowercase in colloquial expressions such as "what on earth are you doing?" [34]
The standard astronomical symbol of Earth consists of a cross circumscribed by a circle, ,[231] representing
the four corners of the world.
Human cultures have developed many views of the Astronomical Object .[232] Earth is sometimes personified as
a deity. In many cultures it is a mother goddess that is also the primary fertility deity,[233] and by the mid-20th
century, the Gaia Principle compared Earth's environments and life as a single self-regulating organism leading
to broad stabilization of the conditions of habitability.[234][235][236] Creation myths in many religions involve the
creation of Earth by a supernatural deity or deities.[233]
Scientific investigation has resulted in several culturally transformative shifts in people's view of the
Astronomical object. Initial belief in a flat Earth was gradually displaced in the Greek colonies of southern Italy
during the late 6th century BC by the idea of spherical Earth,[237][238][239] which was attributed to both the
philosophers Pythagoras and Parmenides.[238][239] By the end of the 5th century BC, the sphericity of Earth was
universally accepted among Greek intellectuals.[240] Earth was generally believed to be the center of the
universe until the 16th century, when scientists first conclusively demonstrated that it was a moving object,
comparable to the other planets in the Solar System. [241] Due to the efforts of influential Christian scholars and
clerics such as James Ussher, who sought to determine the age of Earth through analysis of genealogies in
Scripture, Westerners before the 19th century generally believed Earth to be a few thousand years old at most.
It was only during the 19th century that geologists realized Earth's age was at least many millions of years.[242]
Lord Kelvin used thermodynamics to estimate the age of Earth to be between 20 million and 400 million years
in 1864, sparking a vigorous debate on the subject; it was only when radioactivity and radioactive dating were
discovered in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that a reliable mechanism for determining Earth's age was
established, proving the planet to be billions of years old. [243][244] The perception of Earth shifted again in the 20th
century when humans first viewed it from orbit, and especially with photographs of Earth returned by the Apollo
program.
The earliest known recorded observations of Earth Astronomical object was Jesus Christ,
philosophers stone elixir of life
JESUS
Jesus[e] (c. 4 BC – c. AD 30 / 33), also referred to as Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus Christ,[f] was a
first-century Jewish preacher and religious leader.[12] He is the central figure of Christianity and is
widely described as the most influential person in history. [13] Most Christians believe he is
the incarnation of God the Son and the awaited Messiah (Christ) prophesied in the Old Testament.[14]
[15]
Virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically,[g] although the quest for
the historical Jesushas produced little agreement on the historical reliability of the Gospels and on
how closely the Jesus portrayed in the Bible reflects the historical Jesus.[22][h][i] Jesus was
a Galilean Jew[12] who was baptized by John the Baptist and subsequently began his own ministry,
preaching his message orally[25] and often being referred to as "rabbi".[26] Jesus debated with fellow
Jews on how to best follow God, engaged in healings, taught in parables and gathered followers.[27]
[28]
He was arrested and tried by the Jewish authorities,[29] turned over to the Roman government,
and was subsequently crucified on the order of Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect.[27] After his death,
his followers believed he rose from the dead, and the community they formed eventually became
the early Church.[30]
The birth of Jesus is celebrated annually on December 25th (or various dates in January by some
eastern churches) as a holiday known as Christmas. His crucifixion is honored on Good Friday, and
his resurrection is celebrated on Easter. The widely used calendar era "AD", from the Latin anno
Domini ("in the year of the Lord"), and the equivalent alternative "CE", are based on the approximate
birth date of Jesus
Jesus
Christ Pantocrator mosaic in Byzantine style, from the Cefalù
Cathedral, Sicily, c. 1130
.[31][j]
Christian doctrines include the beliefs that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of a
virgin named Mary, performed miracles, founded the Church, died by crucifixion as a sacrifice to
achieve atonement for sin, rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven, from where he will
return.[33] Most Christians believe Jesus enables people to be reconciled to God. The Nicene
Creed asserts that Jesus will judge the living and the dead[34] either before or after their bodily
resurrection,[35][36][37] an event tied to the Second Coming of Jesus in Christian eschatology.[38] The
great majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, the second of
three persons of the Trinity. A minority of Christian denominations reject Trinitarianism, wholly or
partly, as non-scriptural.
Jesus also figures in non-Christian religions and new religious movements. In Islam, Jesus
(commonly transliterated as Isa) is considered one of God's important prophets and the Messiah.[39][40]
[41]
Muslims believe Jesus was a bringer of scripture and was born of a virgin, but was not the Son of
God. The Quran states that Jesus himself never claimed divinity.[42] Most Muslims do not believe that
he was crucified, but believe that he was physically raised into Heaven by God. In
contrast, Judaism rejects the belief that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, arguing that he did not
fulfill Messianic prophecies, and was neither divine nor resurrected.[43]
A typical Jew in Jesus' time had only one name, sometimes followed by the phrase "son of <father's
name>", or the individual's hometown.[44] Thus, in the New Testament, Jesus is commonly referred to
as "Jesus of Nazareth"[k] (e.g., Mark 10:47).[45]Jesus' neighbors in Nazareth refer to him as "the
carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon" (Mark 6:3),[46] "the
carpenter's son" (Matthew 13:55),[47] or "Joseph's son" (Luke 4:22).[48] In John, the disciple Philiprefers
to him as "Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth" (John 1:45).[49]
Jesus, pronounced "Jeshua" in Hebrew, is equivalent to the Hebrew name Joshua,[50][51] the biblical
name of Moses' assistant[52] and of a Jewish high priest.[53] The name Jesus is derived from the
Latin Iesus, a transliteration of the GreekἸησοῦς (Iesous).[54] The Greek form is a rendering of
the Hebrew ( ישועYeshua), a variant of the earlier name ( יהושעYehoshua), or in English, "Joshua".[55]
[56][57]
The name Yeshua appears to have been in use in Judea at the time of the birth of Jesus. [58]The
1st-century works of historian Flavius Josephus, who wrote in Koine Greek, the same language as
that of the New Testament,[59] refer to at least twenty different people with the name Jesus (i.e.
Ἰησοῦς).[60] The etymology of Jesus' name in the context of the New Testament is generally given as
"Yahweh is salvation".[61]
Since early Christianity, Christians have commonly referred to Jesus as "Jesus Christ". [62] The
word Christ was a title or office ("the Christ"), not a given name.[63][64] It derives from the
Greek Χριστός (Christos),[54][65] a translation of the Hebrew mashiakh ( )משיחmeaning "anointed", and
is usually transliterated into English as "Messiah".[66][67] In biblical Judaism, sacred oil was used to
anoint certain exceptionally holy people and objects as part of their religious investiture
(see Leviticus 8:10–12 and Exodus 30:29).
Christians of the time designated Jesus as "the Christ" because they believed him to be the
Messiah, whose arrival is prophesied in the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. In postbiblical
usage, Christ became viewed as a name—one part of "Jesus Christ". The term "Christian" (meaning
a follower of Christ) has been in use since the 1st century.[68]
Christ myth theory
. The Christ myth theory (also known as the Jesus myth theory, Jesus mythicism, or the Jesus
ahistoricity theory)[1] is the view that "the story of Jesus is a piece of mythology", possessing no
"substantial claims to historical fact".[2] Alternatively, in terms given by Bart Ehrman paraphrasing Earl
Doherty, "the historical Jesus did not exist. Or if he did, he had virtually nothing to do with
the founding of Christianity."[q 1]
There are three strands of mythicism, including the view that there may have been a historical
Jesus, who lived in a dimly remembered past, and was fused with the mythological Christ of Paul. A
second stance is that there was never a historical Jesus, only a mythological character, later
historicized in the Gospels. A third view is that no conclusion can be made about a historical Jesus,
and if there was one, nothing can be known about him.
Most Christ mythicists follow a threefold argument: [3] they question the reliability of the Pauline
epistles and the Gospels to establish the historicity of Jesus; they note the lack of information on
Jesus in non-Christian sources from the first and early second centuries; and they argue that early
Christianity had syncretistic and mythological origins, as reflected in both the Pauline epistles and
the gospels, with Jesus being a celestial being who was concretized in the Gospels. Therefore,
Christianity was not founded on the shared memories of a man, but rather a shared mytheme.
Christ myth theory
The Resurrection of Christ by Carl Heinrich Bloch (1875)—some
mythicists see this as a case of a dying-and-rising deity
Description The story of Jesus of Nazareth is basically a myth.
He never existed as an historical person, or if he
did, he had virtually nothing to do with the
founding of Christianity and the accounts in
the gospels.
Thomas Paine (1737–1809)
Early
Charles-François Dupuis (1742–1809)
proponents
Constantin-François Volney (1757–
1820)
Richard Carlile (1790–1843)
Bruno Bauer (1809–1882)
Edwin Johnson (1842–1901)
Dutch Radical School (1880–1950)
Albert Kalthoff (1850–1906)
William Benjamin Smith (1850–1934)
John Mackinnon Robertson (1856–
1933)
Thomas Whittaker (1856–1935)
Arthur Drews (1865–1935)
Paul-Louis Couchoud (1879–1959)
Later Alvin Boyd Kuhn (1880–1963)
proponents George Albert Wells (1926–2017)
Tom Harpur (1929-2017)
Michael Martin (1932–2015)
Living Thomas L. Thompson, Thomas L. Brodie, Robert
proponents M. Price, Richard Carrier, Earl Doherty, Michel
Onfray, Frank Zindler
Subjects Historical Jesus, Historical reliability of the
Gospels, Historicity of Jesus, History of early
Christianity
The Christ myth theory is a fringe theory, supported by few tenured or emeritus specialists in biblical
criticism or cognate disciplines.[4][5][6][q 2] It is criticised for its outdated reliance on comparisons between
mythologies,[7] and deviates from the mainstream historical view.
Jesus and the origins of Christianity
Origins of Christianity and History of Christianity
The origins and rapid rise of Christianity, as well as the historical Jesus and the historicity of Jesus,
are a matter of longstanding debate in theological and historical research. While Christianity may
have started with an early nucleus of followers of Jesus,[8] within a few years after the presumed
death of Jesus in c. AD 33, at the time Paul started preaching, a number of "Jesus-movements"
seem to have been in existence, which propagated divergent interpretations of Jesus' teachings. [9]
[10]
A central question is how these communities developed and what their original convictions were, [9]
[11]
as a wide range of beliefs and ideas can be found in early Christianity,
including adoptionism and docetism,[web 1] and also Gnostic traditions which used Christian imagery,[12]
[13]
which were all deemed heretical by proto-orthodox Christianity.[14][15]
Traditional Christian theology and dogmas view Jesus as the incarnation of God/Christ on Earth,
whereas mainstream scholarship views Jesus as a real person who was subsequently deified.[16]
[17]
Mythicists take yet another approach, presuming a widespread set of Jewish ideas on personified
aspects of God, which were subsequently historicised when proto-Christianity spread among non-
Jewish converts.
Traditional and modern Christian views
See also: Jesus in Christianity, Christology, Christian apologetics, Christian fundamentalism, Biblical
hermeneutics, Biblical literalism, Evangelicalism, and Liberal theology
Traditional Christian theology and dogmas view Jesus as the incarnation of God/Christ on Earth and
as the Messiah, whose death was a sacrifice that procured atonement for all who believe Jesus to
be the Christ. According to Christian traditions, the Gospels and the Pauline epistles are inspired
writings,[18] which tell us about the birth and the life of Jesus, his ministry and sayings, and
his crucifixion and resurrection, according to God's plan.
Mainstream historical-critical view
Jesus is being studied by a number of scholarly disciplines, using a variety of textual critical
methods.
Quest for the historical Jesus
Main articles: Quest for the historical Jesus, Textual criticism, and Historical criticism
A first quest for the historical Jesus took place in the 19th century, when hundreds of Lives of
Jesus were being written. David Strauss (1808–1874) pioneered the search for the "Historical Jesus"
by rejecting all supernatural events as mythical elaborations. His 1835 work, Life of Jesus,[19] was
one of the first and most influential systematic analyses of the life story of Jesus, aiming to base it on
unbiased historical research.[20][21] The Religionsgeschichtliche Schule, starting in the 1890s, used the
methodologies of higher criticism,[web 2] a branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient
texts in order to understand "the world behind the text". [22] It compared Christianity to other religions,
regarding it as one religion among others and rejecting its claims to absolute truth, and
demonstrating that it shares characteristics with other religions. [web 2] It argued that Christianity was
not simply the continuation of the Old Testament, but syncretistic, and was rooted in and influenced
by Hellenistic Judaism (Philo) and Hellenistic religions like the mystery cults and Gnosticism. [web
3]
Martin Kähler questioned the usefulness of the search for the historical Jesus, making the famous
distinction between the "Jesus of history" and the "Christ of faith", arguing that faith is more
important than exact historical knowledge. [23][24] Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1976), who was related to
the Religionsgeschichtliche Schule,[web 3] emphasized theology, and in 1926 had argued that historical
Jesus research was both futile and unnecessary; although Bultmann slightly modified that position in
a later book.[25][26]
This first quest ended with Albert Schweitzer's 1906 critical review of the history of the search for
Jesus's life in The Quest of the Historical Jesus – From Reimarus to Wrede. Already in the 19th and
early 20th century, this quest was challenged by authors who denied the historicity of Jesus, notably
Bauer and Drews.
The second quest started in 1953, in a departure from Bultmann. [25][26] Several criteria, the criterion of
dissimilarity and the criterion of embarrassment, were introduced to analyze and evaluate New
Testament narratives. This second quest faded away in the 1970s, [21][27] due to the diminishing
influence of Bultmann,[21] and coinciding with the first publications of Wells, which marks the onset of
the revival of Christ myth theories. According to Paul Zahl, while the second quest made significant
contributions at the time, its results are now mostly forgotten, although not disproven. [28]
The third quest started in the 1980s, and introduced new criteria. [29][30] Primary among these are[30]
[31]
the criterion of historical plausibility,[29] the criterion of rejection and execution,[29] and the criterion of
congruence (also called cumulative circumstantial evidence), a special case of the older criterion of
coherence.[32] The third quest is interdisciplinary and global, [33] carried out by scholars from multiple
disciplines[33] and incorporating the results of archeological research.[34]
The third quest yielded new insights into Jesus' Palestinian and Jewish context, and not so much on
the person of Jesus himself.[35][36][37] It also has made clear that all material on Jesus has been handed
down by the emerging Church, raising questions about the criterion of dissimilarity, and the
possibility of ascribing material solely to Jesus, and not to the emerging Church. [38]
A historical Jesus existed
Historicity of Jesus, Historical Jesus, and Sources for the historicity of Jesus
These critical methods have led to a demythologization of Jesus. The mainstream scholarly view is
that the Pauline epistles and the gospels describe the Christ of faith, presenting a religious narrative
which replaced the historical Jesus who did live in 1st-century Roman Palestine.[39][40][17][41][note 1] Yet, that
there was a historical Jesus is not in doubt. New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman states that
Jesus "certainly existed, as virtually every competent scholar of antiquity, Christian or non-Christian,
agrees".[43][44]
Following the criteria of authenticity-approach, scholars differ on the historicity of specific episodes
described in the Biblical accounts of Jesus,[45] but the baptism and the crucifixion are two events in
the life of Jesus which are subject to "almost universal assent". [note 2] According to historian Alanna
Nobbs,
While historical and theological debates remain about the actions and significance of this figure, his
fame as a teacher, and his crucifixion under the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate, may be described as
historically certain.[46]
The portraits of Jesus have often differed from each other and from the image portrayed in the
gospel accounts.[44][47][48][note 3] The primary portraits of Jesus resulting from the Third Quest are:
apocalyptic prophet; charismatic healer; cynic philosopher; Jewish Messiah; and prophet of social
change.[49][50] According to Ehrman, the most widely held view is that Jesus was an apocalyptic
prophet,[51] who was subsequently deified. [16]
According to James Dunn it is not possible "to construct (from the available data) a Jesus who will
be the real Jesus".[52][53] According to Philip R. Davies, a Biblical minimalist, "what is being affirmed as
the Jesus of history is a cipher, not a rounded personality". [web 5] According to Ehrman, "the real
problem with Jesus" is not the mythicist stance that he is "a myth invented by Christians", but that he
was "far too historical", that is, a first-century Palestine Jew, who was not like the Jesus preached
and proclaimed today.[54] According to Ehrman, "Jesus was a first-century Jew, and when we try to
make him into a twenty-first century American we distort everything he was and everything he stood
for."[55]
Demise of authenticity and call for memory studies
Criticism of Historical Jesus research and Memory studies
Since the late 2000s, concerns have been growing about the usefulness of the criteria of
authenticity.[56][57][58][web 6][web 7] According to Keith, the criteria are literary tools, indebted to form criticism,
not historiographic tools.[59] They were meant to discern pre-Gospel traditions, not to identify
historical facts,[59] but have "substituted the pre-literary tradition with that of the historical Jesus".
[60]
According to Le Donne, the usage of such criteria is a form of "positivist historiography". [61]
Chris Keith, Le Donne, and others[note 4] argue for a "social memory" approach, which states that
memories are shaped by the needs of the present. Instead of searching for a historical Jesus,
scholarship should investigate how the memories of Jesus were shaped, and how they were
reshaped "with the aim of cohesion and the self-understanding (identity) of groups". [60]
James D. G. Dunn's 2003 study, Jesus Remembered, was the onset for this "increased ... interest in
memory theory and eyewitness testimony". [web 8][web 9] Dunn argues that "[t]he only realistic objective for
any 'quest of the historical Jesus' is Jesus remembered."[62] Dunn argues that Christianity started with
the impact Jesus himself had on his followers, who passed on and shaped their memories of him in
an oral tradition. According to Dunn, to understand who Jesus was, and what his impact was,
scholars have to look at "the broad picture, focusing on the characteristic motifs and emphases of
the Jesus tradition, rather than making findings overly dependent on individual items of the tradition".
[62]
Anthony le Donne elaborated on Dunn's thesis, basing "his historiography squarely on Dunn’s thesis
that the historical Jesus is the memory of Jesus recalled by the earliest disciples". [web 8] According to
Le Donne, memories are refactored, and not an exact recalling of the past. [web 8] Le Donne argues that
the remembrance of events is facilitated by relating it to a common story or "type". The type shapes
the way the memories are retained, c.q. narrated. This means that the Jesus-tradition is not a
theological invention of the early Church, but is shaped and refracted by the restraints that the type
puts on the narrated memories, due to the mold of the type. [web 8]
According to Chris Keith, an alternative to the search for a historical Jesus "posits a historical Jesus
who is ultimately unattainable, but can be hypothesized on the basis of the interpretations of the
early Christians, and as part of a larger process of accounting for how and why early Christians
came to view Jesus in the ways that they did". According to Keith, "these two models are
methodologically and epistemologically incompatible", calling into question the methods and aim of
the first model.[63]
Christ myth theorists
Departing from mainstream scholarship, mythicists argue that the accounts of Jesus are mostly, or
completely, of a mythical nature, questioning the mainstream paradigm of a historical Jesus in the
beginning of the 1st century who was deified. Most mythicists, like mainstream scholarship, note that
Christianity developed within Hellenistic Judaism, which was influenced by Hellenism. Early
Christianity, and the accounts of Jesus are to be understood in this context. Yet, where
contemporary New Testament scholarship has introduced several criteria to evaluate the historicity
of New Testament passages and sayings, most Christ myth theorists have relied on comparisons of
Christian mythemes with contemporary religious traditions, emphasizing the mythological nature of
the Bible accounts.[64][note 5]
Some moderate authors, most notably Wells, have argued that there may have been a historical
Jesus, but that this historical Jesus was fused with another Jesus-tradition, namely the mythological
Christ of Paul.[66][67][q 3] Others, most notably the early Wells and Alvar Ellegård, have argued that
Paul's Jesus may have lived far earlier, in a dimly remembered remote past. [68][69][70]
The most radical mythicists hold, in terms given by Price, the "Jesus atheism" viewpoint, that is,
there never was a historical Jesus, only a mythological character, and the mytheme of his
incarnation, death, and exaltation. This character developed out of a syncretistic fusion of Jewish,
Hellenistic and Middle Eastern religious thought; was put forward by Paul; and historicised in the
Gospels, which are also syncretistic. Notable "atheists" are Paul-Louis Couchoud, Earl Doherty, [q
1]
Thomas L. Brodie, and Richard Carrier.[q 4][q 5]
Some other authors argue for the Jesus agnosticism viewpoint. That is, we cannot conclude if there
was a historical Jesus. And if there was a historical Jesus, close to nothing can be known about him.
[71]
Notable "agnosticists" are Robert Price and Thomas L. Thompson. [72][73] According to Thompson,
the question of the historicity of Jesus also isn't relevant for the understanding of the meaning and
function of the Biblical texts in their own times.[72][73]
Arguments
Overview of main arguments
According to New Testament scholar Robert Van Voorst, most Christ mythicists follow a threefold
argument first set forward by German historian Bruno Bauer in the 1800s: they question the
reliability of the Pauline epistles and the Gospels to postulate a historically existing Jesus; they note
the lack of information on Jesus in non-Christian sources from the first and early second century;
and they argue that early Christianity had syncretistic and mythological origins. [74] More specifically,
Paul's epistles lack detailed biographical information – most mythicists argue that the
Pauline epistles are older than the gospels but, aside from a few passages which may have
been interpolations, there is a complete absence of any detailed biographical information such
as might be expected if Jesus had been a contemporary of Paul, [75] nor do they cite any sayings
from Jesus, the so-called argument from silence. [76][77][78][q 6] Some mythicists have argued that the
Pauline epistles are from a later date than usually assumed, and therefore not a reliable source
on the life of Jesus.
The Gospels are not historical records, but a fictitious historical narrative – mythicists
argue that although the Gospels seem to present an historical framework, they are not historical
records, but theological writings,[79][80] myth or legendary fiction resembling the Hero archetype.[81]
[82]
They impose "a fictitious historical narrative" on a "mythical cosmic savior figure", [83][77] weaving
together various pseudo-historical Jesus traditions, [84][85] though there may have been a real
historical person, of whom close to nothing can be known. [86]
There are no independent eyewitness accounts – No independent eyewitness accounts
survive, in spite of the fact that many authors were writing at that time. [87][83] Early second-century
Roman accounts contain very little evidence[3][88] and may depend on Christian sources.[89][90][79][91]
Jesus was a mythological being, who was concretized in the Gospels – early
Christianity was widely diverse and syncretistic, sharing common philosophical and religious
ideas with other religions of the time. [92] It arose in the Greco-Roman world of the first and second
century AD, synthesizing Greek Stoicism and Neoplatonism with Jewish Old
Testament writings[93][94][73] and the exegetical methods of Philo,[3][92][95] creating the mythological
figure of Jesus. Paul refers to Jesus as an exalted being, and is probably writing about either a
mythical[77] or supernatural entity,[q 3] a celestial deity[q 7] named Jesus.[96][97][98][web 10] This celestial
being is derived from personified aspects of God, notably the personification of Wisdom, or "a
savior figure patterned after similar figures within ancient mystery religions,"[q 8][99][q 9] which were
often (but not always) a dying-and-rising god.[2][100][101] While Paul may also contain proto-Gnostic
ideas,[102][103] some mythicists have argued that Paul may refer to a historical person who may
have lived in a dim past, long before the beginnings of the Common Era.[68][69][70]
Lack of detailed biographical information in Pauline epistles
Dating and attribution
Mainstream view
The mainstream view is that the seven undisputed Pauline epistles considered by scholarly
consensus to be genuine epistles are generally dated to AD 50–60 and are the earliest surviving
Christian texts that include information about Jesus.[104][q 10] Most scholars view the Pauline letters as
essential elements in the study of the historical Jesus, [104][105][106][107] and the development of early
Christianity.[9] Yet, scholars have also argued that Paul was a "mythmaker", [108] who gave his
own divergent interpretation of the meaning of Jesus,[9] building a bridge between the Jewish and
Hellenistic world,[9] thereby creating the faith that became Christianity. [108]
Mythicist view
Mythicists agree on the importance of the Pauline epistles, some agreeing with this early dating, and
taking the Pauline epistles as their point of departure from mainstream scholarship. [77] Departing from
mainstream scholarship, mythicists argue that those letters actually point solely into the direction of a
celestial or mythical being, or contain no definitive information on an historical Jesus. Some
mythicists, though, have questioned the early dating of the epistles, raising the possibility that they
represent a later, more developed strand of early Christian thought.
Theologian Willem Christiaan van Manen of the Dutch school of radical criticism noted various
anachronisms in the Pauline epistles. Van Manen claimed that they could not have been written in
their final form earlier than the 2nd century. He also noted that the Marcionite school was the first to
publish the epistles, and that Marcion (c. 85 – c. 160) used them as justification for his gnostic and
docetic views that Jesus' incarnation was not in a physical body. Van Manen also studied Marcion's
version of Galatians in contrast to the canonical version, and argued that the canonical version was
a later revision which de-emphasized the Gnostic aspects.[109]
Price also argues for a later dating of the epistles, and sees them as a compilation of fragments
(possibly with a Gnostic core),[110] contending that Marcion was responsible for much of the Pauline
corpus or even wrote the letters himself. Price criticizes his fellow Christ myth theorists for holding
the mid-first-century dating of the epistles for their own apologetical reasons. [111][112][note 6]
Lack of biographical information
Mainstream view
According to Eddy and Boyd, modern biblical scholarship notes that "Paul has relatively little to say
on the biographical information of Jesus", viewing Jesus as "a recent contemporary". [114][115] Yet,
according to Christopher Tuckett, "[e]ven if we had no other sources, we could still infer some things
about Jesus from Paul's letters[116][note 2]
Mythicist view
Wells, a 'minimal mythicist', criticized the infrequency of the reference to Jesus in the Pauline letters
and has said there is no information in them about Jesus' parents, place of birth, teachings, trial nor
crucifixion.[117] Robert Price says that Paul does not refer to Jesus' earthly life, also not when that life
might have provided convenient examples and justifications for Paul's teachings. Instead, revelation
seems to have been a prominent source for Paul's knowledge about Jesus. [65]
Wells says that the Pauline epistles do not make reference to Jesus' sayings, or only in a vague and
general sense. According to Wells, as referred to by Price in his own words, the writers of the New
Testament "must surely have cited them when the same subjects came up in the situations they
addressed".[118]
The Gospels are not historical records
Main article: The Gospels
Mainstream view
Among contemporary scholars, there is consensus that the gospels are a type of ancient biography,
[119][120][121][122][123][note 7]
a genre which was concerned with providing examples for readers to emulate while
preserving and promoting the subject's reputation and memory, as well as
including propaganda and kerygma (preaching) in their works.[124][note 8]
Biblical scholarship regards the Gospels to be the literary manifestation of oral traditions which go
back to the life of a historical Jesus. According to Dunn, these oral traditions defined and expressed
the identity of the Jesus-tradition, preserving the eschatological and liberating message of Jesus,
and the example he gave with his life, as remembered by his followers. Dunn emphasizes that the
formation of these oral traditions goes back to Jesus himself, whose life and personality had a
profound impact on his followers. [128]
Mythicist view
Mythicists argue that in the gospels "a fictitious historical narrative" was imposed on the "mythical
cosmic savior figure" created by Paul. [83] According to Robert Price, the Gospels "smack of fictional
composition",[web 11] arguing that the Gospels are a type of legendary fiction [81] and that the story of
Jesus portrayed in the Gospels fits the mythic hero archetype.[81][129] The mythic hero archetype is
present in many cultures who often have miraculous conceptions or virgin births heralded by wise
men and marked by a star, are tempted by or fight evil forces, die on a hill, appear after death and
then ascend to heaven.[130] Some myth proponents suggest that some parts of the New Testament
were meant to appeal to Gentiles as familiar allegories rather than history.[131] According to Earl
Doherty, the gospels are "essentially allegory and fiction". [132]
According to Wells, a minimally historical Jesus existed, whose teachings were preserved in the Q
document.[133] According to Wells, the Gospels weave together two Jesus narratives, namely this
Galilean preacher of the Q document, and Paul's mythical Jesus.[133] Doherty disagrees with Wells
regarding this teacher of the Q-document, arguing that he was an allegorical character
who personified Wisdom and came to be regarded as the founder of the Q-community. [84]
[134]
According to Doherty, Q's Jesus and Paul's Christ were combined in the Gospel of Mark by a
predominantly Gentile community.[84]
Mainstream criticism
Ehrman notes that the gospels are based on oral sources, which played a decisive role in attracting
new converts.[135]
Christian theologians have cited the mythic hero archetype as a defense of Christian teaching while
completely affirming a historical Jesus.[136][137] Secular academics Kendrick and McFarland have also
pointed out that the teachings of Jesus marked "a radical departure from all the conventions by
which heroes had been defined". [138]
No independent eyewitness accounts
Lack of surviving historic records
Mythicist view
Myth proponents claim there is significance in the lack of surviving historic records about Jesus of
Nazareth from any non-Jewish author until the second century,[139][140][q 11] adding that Jesus left no
writings or other archaeological evidence. [141] Using the argument from silence, they note that Jewish
philosopher Philo of Alexandria did not mention Jesus when he wrote about the cruelty of Pontius
Pilate around 40 AD.[142]
Mainstream criticism
Mainstream biblical scholars point out that much of the writings of antiquity have been lost [143] and
that there was little written about any Jew or Christian in this period. [144][145] Ehrman points out that we
do not have archaeological or textual evidence for the existence of most people in the ancient world,
even famous people like Pontius Pilate, whom the myth theorists agree to have existed. [144] Robert
Hutchinson notes that this is also true of Josephus, despite the fact that he was "a personal favorite
of the Roman Emperor Vespasian".[146] Hutchinson quotes Ehrman, who notes that Josephus is never
mentioned in 1st century Greek and Roman sources, despite being "a personal friend of the
emperor".[146] According to Classical historian and popular author Michael Grant, if the same criterion
is applied to others: "We can reject the existence of a mass of pagan personages whose reality as
historical figures is never questioned." [147]
Josephus and Tacitus
Josephus on Jesus and Tacitus on Christ
There are three non-Christian sources which are typically used to study and establish the historicity
of Jesus, namely two mentions in Josephus, and one mention in the Roman source Tacitus.[148][149][150]
[151][152]
Mainstream view[edit]
Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, written around 93–94 AD, includes two references to the biblical
Jesus in Books 18 and 20. The general scholarly view is that while the longer passage in book 18,
known as the Testimonium Flavianum, is most likely not authentic in its entirety, it originally
consisted of an authentic nucleus, which was then subject to Christian interpolation or forgery. [153][154]
[155]
According to Josephus scholar Louis H. Feldman, "few have doubted the genuineness" of
Josephus' reference to Jesus in Antiquities 20, 9, 1 ("the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ,
whose name was James") and it is only disputed by a small number of scholars. [156][157][158][159]
Myth proponents argue that the Testimonium Flavianum may have been a partial interpolation or
forgery by Christian apologist Eusebius in the 4th century or by others.[160][161][note 9] Richard Carrier
further argues that the original text of Antiquities 20 referred to a brother of the high priest Jesus son
of Damneus, named James, and not to Jesus Christ.[166] Carrier further argues that the words "the
one called Christ" likely resulted from the accidental insertion of a marginal note added by some
unknown reader.[166]
Roman historian Tacitus referred to "Christus" and his execution by Pontius Pilate in
his Annals (written c. AD 116), book 15, chapter 44[167][note 10] The very negative tone of Tacitus'
comments on Christians make most experts believe that the passage is extremely unlikely to have
been forged by a Christian scribe. [151] The Tacitus reference is now widely accepted as an
independent confirmation of Christ's crucifixion, [169] although some scholars question the historical
value of the passage on various grounds.[170][171]
Mythicist view
Christ myth theory supporters such as G. A. Wells and Carrier contend that sources such as Tacitus
and others, which were written decades after the supposed events, include no independent
traditions that relate to Jesus, and hence can provide no confirmation of historical facts about him. [89]
[90][79][91]
Other sources
Mainstream view
In Jesus Outside the New Testament (2000), mainstream scholar Van Voorst considers references
to Jesus in classical writings, Jewish writings, hypothetical sources of the canonical Gospels, and
extant Christian writings outside the New Testament. Van Voorst concludes that non-Christian
sources provide "a small but certain corroboration of certain New Testament historical traditions on
the family background, time of life, ministry, and death of Jesus", as well as "evidence of the content
of Christian preaching that is independent of the New Testament", while extra-biblical Christian
sources give access to "some important information about the earliest traditions on Jesus".
However, New Testament sources remain central for "both the main lines and the details about
Jesus' life and teaching".[172]
Jesus was a mythical being
Origins of Christianity and Gnosticism
Syncretism and diversity
Mainstream view
Most historians agree that Jesus or his followers established a new Jewish sect, one that attracted
both Jewish and gentile converts. Out of this Jewish sect developed Early Christianity, which was
very diverse, with proto-orthodoxy and "heretical" views like gnosticism alongside each other, [173]
[14]
According to New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman, a number of early Christianities existed in
the first century CE, from which developed various Christian traditions and denominations,
including proto-orthodoxy.[174] According to theologian James D. G. Dunn, four types of early
Christianity can be discerned: Jewish Christianity, Hellenistic Christianity, Apocalyptic Christianity,
and early Catholicism.[175]
Mythicist view
In Christ and the Caesars (1877), philosopher Bruno Bauer suggested that Christianity was
a synthesis of the Stoicism of Seneca the Younger, Greek Neoplatonism, and the Jewish theology of
Philo as developed by pro-Roman Jews such as Josephus. This new religion was in need of a
founder and created its Christ.[176][3] In a review of Bauer's work, Robert Price notes that Bauer's basic
stance regarding the Stoic tone and the fictional nature of the Gospels are still repeated in
contemporary scholarship.[web 11]
Doherty notes that, with the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Greek
culture and language spread throughout the eastern Mediterranean world, influencing the already
existing cultures there.[92] The Roman conquest of this area added to the cultural diversity, but also to
a sense of alienation and pessimism.[92] A rich diversity of religious and philosophical ideas was
available and Judaism was held in high regard by non-Jews for its monotheistic ideas and its high
moral standards.[92] Yet monotheism was also offered by Greek philosophy, especially Platonism,
with its high God and the intermediary Logos.[92] According to Doherty, "Out of this rich soil of ideas
arose Christianity, a product of both Jewish and Greek philosophy", [92] echoing Bruno Bauer, who
argued that Christianity was a synthesis of Stoicism, Greek Neoplatonism and Jewish thought. [3]
Robert Price notes that Christianity started among Hellenized Jews, who mixed allegorical
interpretations of Jewish traditions with Jewish Gnostic, Zoroastrian, and mystery cult elements. [177][103]
[q 12]
Some myth proponents note that some stories in the New Testament seem to try to reinforce Old
Testament prophecies[131] and repeat stories about figures like Elijah, Elisha,[178] Moses and Joshua in
order to appeal to Jewish converts.[179] Price notes that almost all the Gospel-stories have parallels in
Old Testamentical and other traditions, concluding that the Gospels are no independent sources for
a historical Jesus, but "legend and myth, fiction and redaction". [180]
According to Doherty, the rapid growth of early Christian communities and the great variety of ideas
cannot be explained by a single missionary effort, but points to parallel developments, which arose
at various places and competed for support. Paul's arguments against rival apostles also point to this
diversity.[92] Doherty further notes that Yeshua (Jesus) is a generic name, meaning "Yahweh saves"
and refers to the concept of divine salvation, which could apply to any kind of saving entity or
Wisdom.[92]
Paul's Jesus is a celestial being
A 3rd-century fragment of Paul's letter to the Romans
Mainstream view
Resurrection of Jesus
According to mainstream scholarship, Jesus was an eschatological preacher or teacher, who was
exaltated after his death.[181][40] The Pauline letters incorporate creeds, or confessions of faith, that
predate Paul, and give essential information on the faith of the early Jerusalem community around
James, 'the brother of Jesus'.[182][183][184][9] These pre-Pauline creeds date to within a few years of Jesus'
death and developed within the Christian community in Jerusalem. [185] The First Epistle to the
Corinthians contains one of the earliest Christian creeds[186] expressing belief in the risen Jesus,
namely 1 Corinthians 15:3–41:[187][188]
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the scriptures,[note 11] and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third
day in accordance with the scriptures,[note 12] and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then
he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive,
though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one
untimely born, he appeared also to me.[193]
New Testament scholar James Dunn states that in 1 Corinthians 15:3 Paul "recites the foundational
belief", namely "that Christ died". According to Dunn, "Paul was told about a Jesus who had died two
years earlier or so."[194] 1 Corinthians 15:11 also refers to others before Paul who preached the creed.
[184]
According to Hurtado, Jesus' death was interpreted as a redemptive death "for our sins," in
accordance with God's plan as contained in the Jewish scriptures. [195][note 11] The significance lay in "the
theme of divine necessity and fulfillment of the scriptures," not in the later Pauline emphasis on
"Jesus' death as a sacrifice or an expiation for our sins."[196] For the early Jewish Christians, "the idea
that Messiah's death was a necessary redemptive event functioned more as an apologetic
explanation for Jesus' crucifixion"[196] "proving that Jesus' death was no surprise to God." [197][note
13]
According to Krister Stendahl, the main concern of Paul's writings on Jesus' role, and salvation by
faith, is not the individual conscience of human sinners, and their doubts about being chosen by God
or not, but the problem of the inclusion of gentile (Greek) Torah observers into God's covenant. [199][200]
[201][202][web 13][note 14]
The appearances of Jesus are often explained as visionary experiences, in which the presence of
Jesus was felt.[203][204][205][206][207][208] According to Ehrman, the visions of Jesus and the subsequent belief
in Jesus' resurrection radically changed the perceptions of his early followers, concluding from his
absence that he must have been exalted to heaven, by God himself, exalting him to an
unprecedented status and authority.[209] According to Hurtado, the resurrection experiences
were religious experiences which "seem to have included visions of (and/or ascents to) God's
heaven, in which the glorified Christ was seen in an exalted position". [210] These visions may mostly
have appeared during corporate worship.[206] Johan Leman contends that the communal meals
provided a context in which participants entered a state of mind in which the presence of Jesus was
felt.[207]
The Pauline creeds contain elements of a Christ myth and its cultus,[211] such as the Christ hymn
of Philippians 2:6–11,[note 15] which portrays Jesus as an incarnated and subsequently exalted
heavenly being.[212][note 16] Scholars view these as indications that the incarnation and exaltation of
Jesus was part of Christian tradition a few years after his death and over a decade before the writing
of the Pauline epistles.[40][214][note 17]
Recent scholarship places the exaltation and devotion of Christ firmly in a Jewish context. Andrew
Chester argues that "for Paul, Jesus is clearly a figure of the heavenly world, and thus fits a
messianic category already developed within Judaism, where the Messiah is a human or angelic
figure belonging ... in the heavenly world, a figure who at the same time has had specific, limited role
on earth".[218] According to Ehrman, Paul regarded Jesus to be an angel, who was incarnated on
earth.[40][note 18][note 19] According to James Waddell, Paul's conception of Jesus as a heavenly figure was
influenced by the Book of Henoch and its conception of the Messiah. [222][web 15][note 20]
Mythicist views
Celestial Messiah
Christ myth theorists generally reject the idea that Paul's epistles refer to a real person. [note 21]
[117]
According to Doherty, the Jesus of Paul was a divine Son of God, existing in a spiritual
realm[77] where he was crucified and resurrected. [224] This mythological Jesus was based on exegesis
of the Old Testament and mystical visions of a risen Jesus.[224]
According to Carrier, the genuine Pauline epistles show that the Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul
believed in a visionary or dream Jesus, based on a pesher of Septuagint verses Zechariah
6 and 3, Daniel 9 and Isaiah 52–53.[225] Carrier notes that there is little if any concrete information
about Christ's earthly life in the Pauline epistles, even though Jesus is mentioned over three hundred
times.[226] According to Carrier, originally "Jesus was the name of a celestial being, subordinate to
God,"[227] a "dying-and-rising" savior God like Mithras and Osiris, who "obtain[ed] victory over death"
in this celestial realm.[227] According to Carrier "[t]his 'Jesus' would most likely have been the same
archangel identified by Philo of Alexandria as already extant in Jewish theology",[228] which Philo
knew by all of the attributes Paul also knew Jesus by.[note 22] According to Carrier, Philo says this being
was identified as the figure named Jesus in the Book of Zechariah, implying that "already before
Christianity there were Jews aware of a celestial being named Jesus who had all of the attributes the
earliest Christians were associating with their celestial being named Jesus". [web 10]
Raphael Lataster, following Carrier, also argues that "Jesus began as a celestial messiah that
certain Second Temple Jews already believed in, and was later allegorised in the Gospels." [229]
Mainstream criticism
Ehrman notes that Doherty, like many other mythicists, "quotes professional scholars at length when
their views prove useful for developing aspects of his argument, but he fails to point out that not a
single of these scholars agrees with his overarching thesis."[230] Ehrman has specifically criticized
Doherty for misquoting scholarly sources as if in support of his celestial being-hypothesis, whereas
those sources explicitly "[refer] to Christ becoming a human being in flesh on earth – precisely the
view he rejects."[web 17]
James McGrath criticizes Carrier, stating that Carrier is ignoring the details, and that "Philo is
offering an allusive reference to, and allegorical treatment of, a text in Zechariah which mentioned a
historical high priest named Joshua."[web 18]
According to Hurtado, for Paul and his contemporaries Jesus was a human being, who was
exaltated as Messiah and Lord after his crucifixion. [web 19] According to Hurtado, "There is no evidence
whatsoever of a 'Jewish archangel Jesus' in any of the second-temple Jewish evidence [...] Instead,
all second-temple instances of the name are for historical figures." [web 19] Hurtado rejects Carrier's
claim that "Philo of Alexandria mentions an archangel named 'Jesus'." According to Hurtado, Philo
mentions a priestly figure called Joshua, and a royal personage who's name can be interpretd as
"rising," among other connotations. According to Hurtado, there is no "Jesus Rising" in either
Zechariah nor Philo, stating that Carrier is incorrect. [web 20][web 21][note 23]
Ehrman notes that "there were no Jews prior to Christianity who thought that Isaiah 53 (or any of the
other "suffering" passages) referred to the futiure messiah." [231] Only after his painful death were
these texts used to interpret his suffering in a meaningful way,[231] though "Isaiah is not speaking
about the future messiah, and he was never interpreted by any Jews prior to the first century as
referring to the messiah."[232][note 24]
Simon Gathercole at Cambridge also evaluated the mythicist arguments for the claim that Paul
believed in a heavenly, celestial Jesus who was never on Earth. Gathercole concludes that Carrier's
arguments, and more broadly, the mythicist positions on different aspects of Paul's letters are
contradicted by the historical data, and that Paul says a number of things regarding Jesus' life on
Earth, his personality, family, etc.[233]
Personification of Wisdom, parallels with saviour gods, or a vaguely historical
person[edit]
See also: Comparative mythology, Religious syncretism, and Mytheme
Mainstream view
Jesus has to be understood in the Palestinian and Jewish context of the first century CE. [35][36][37] Most
of the themes, epithets, and expectations formulated in the New Testamentical literature have
Jewish origins, and are elaborations of these themes. According to Hurtado, Roman-era Judaism
refused "to worship any deities other than the God of Israel," including "any of the adjutants of the
biblical God, such as angels, messiahs, etc."[web 22] The Jesus-devotion which emerged in early
Christianity has to be regarded as a specific, Christian innovation in the Jewish context. [web 22]
Mythicist view
According to Wells, Doherty, and Carrier, the mythical Jesus was derived from Wisdom traditions,
the personification of an eternal aspect of God, who came to visit human beings. [234][235][236][web 23] Wells
"regard[s] this Jewish Wisdom literature as of great importance for the earliest Christian ideas about
Jesus".[234] Doherty notes that the concept of a spiritual Christ was the result of common philosophical
and religious ideas of the first and second century AD, in which the idea of an intermediary force
between God and the world were common. [77]
According to Doherty, the Christ of Paul shares similarities with the Greco-Roman mystery cults.
[77]
Authors Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy explicitly argue that Jesus was a deity, akin to the
mystery cults,[237] while Dorothy Murdock argues that the Christ myth draws heavily on the Egyptian
story of Osiris and Horus.[238] According to Carrier, early Christianity was but one of several mystery
cults which developed out of Hellenistic influences on local cults and religions. [227]
The early Wells, and Alvar Ellegård, have argued that Paul's Jesus may have lived far earlier, in a
dimly remembered remote past.[68][69][70] Wells argues that Paul and the other epistle writers—the
earliest Christian writers—do not provide any support for the idea that Jesus lived early in the 1st
century and that—for Paul—Jesus may have existed many decades, if not centuries, before. [117]
[239]
According to Wells, the earliest strata of the New Testament literature presented Jesus as "a
basically supernatural personage only obscurely on Earth as a man at some unspecified period in
the past".[240]
According to Price, the Toledot Yeshu places Jesus "about 100 BCE", while Epiphanius of
Salamis and the Talmud make references to "Jewish and Jewish-Christian belief" that Jesus lived
about a century earlier than usually assumed. According to Price, this implies that "perhaps the
Jesus figure was at first an ahistorical myth and various attempts were made to place him in a
plausible historical context, just as Herodotus and others tried to figure out when Hercules 'must
have' lived".[241][note 26]
Mainstream criticism
Mainstream scholarship disagrees with these interpretations, and regards them as outdated
applications of ideas and methodologies from the Religionsgeschichtliche Schule. According to
Philip Davies, the Jesus of the New Testament is indeed "composed of stock motifs (and mythic
types) drawn from all over the Mediterranean and Near Eastern world". Yet, this does not mean that
Jesus was "invented"; according to Davies, "the existence of a guru of some kind is more plausible
and economical than any other explanation".[web 5] Ehrman states that mythicists make too much of the
perceived parallels with pagan religions and mythologies. According to Ehrman, critical-historical
research has clearly shown the Jewish roots and influences of Christianity. [16]
Many mainstream biblical scholars respond that most of the perceived parallels with mystery
religions are either coincidences or without historical basis and/or that these parallels do not prove
that a Jesus figure did not live.[245][note 27] Boyd and Eddy doubt that Paul viewed Jesus similar to the
savior deities found in ancient mystery religions.[250] Ehrman notes that Doherty proposes that the
mystery cults had a neo-Platonic cosmology, but that Doherty gives no evidence for this assertion.
[251]
Furthermore, "the mystery cults are never mentioned by Paul or by any other Christian author of
the first hundred years of the Church," nor did they play a role in the wordlview of any of the Jewish
groups of the first century.[252]
Theologian Gregory A. Boyd and Paul Rhodes Eddy, Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies
at Bethel University,[253] criticise the idea that "Paul viewed Jesus as a cosmic savior who lived in the
past", referring to various passages in the Pauline epistles which seem to contradict this idea.
In Galatians 1:19, Paul says he met with James, the "Lord's brother"; 1 Corinthians 15:3–8 refers to
people to whom Jesus' had appeared, and who were Paul's contemporaries; and in 1 Thessalonians
2:14–16 Paul refers to the Jews "who both killed the Lord Jesus" and "drove out us" as the same
people, indicating that the death of Jesus was within the same time frame as the persecution of
Paul.[254]
Late 18th to early 20th century
French historian Constantin-François Volney, one of the earliest myth theorists
According to Van Voorst, "The argument that Jesus never existed, but was invented by the Christian
movement around the year 100, goes back to Enlightenment times, when the historical-critical study
of the past was born", and may have originated with Lord Bolingbroke, an English deist.[255]
According to Weaver and Schneider, the beginnings of the formal denial of the existence of Jesus
can be traced to late 18th-century France with the works of Constantin François Chassebœuf de
Volney and Charles-François Dupuis.[256][257] Volney and Dupuis argued that Christianity was an
amalgamation of various ancient mythologies and that Jesus was a totally mythical character. [256]
[258]
Dupuis argued that ancient rituals in Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, and India had influenced
the Christian story which was allegorized as the histories of solar deities, such as Sol Invictus.
[259]
Dupuis also said that the resurrection of Jesus was an allegory for the growth of the sun's
strength in the sign of Aries at the spring equinox.[259] Volney argued that Abraham and Sarah were
derived from Brahma and his wife Saraswati, whereas Christ was related to Krishna.[260][261] Volney
made use of a draft version of Dupuis' work and at times differed from him, e.g. in arguing that the
gospel stories were not intentionally created, but were compiled organically. [259] Volney's perspective
became associated with the ideas of the French Revolution, which hindered the acceptance of these
views in England.[262] Despite this, his work gathered significant following among British and American
radical thinkers during the 19th century.[262]
German Professor David Strauss
In 1835, German theologian David Friedrich Strauss published his extremely controversial The Life
of Jesus, Critically Examined (Das Leben Jesu). While not denying that Jesus existed, he did argue
that the miracles in the New Testament were mythical additions with little basis in actual fact. [263][264]
[265]
According to Strauss, the early church developed these stories in order to present Jesus as the
Messiah of the Jewish prophecies. This perspective was in opposition to the prevailing views of
Strauss' time: rationalism, which explained the miracles as misinterpretations of non-supernatural
events, and the supernaturalist view that the biblical accounts were entirely accurate. Strauss's third
way, in which the miracles are explained as myths developed by early Christians to support their
evolving conception of Jesus, heralded a new epoch in the textual and historical treatment of the rise
of Christianity.[263][264][265]
German Professor Bruno Bauer
German Bruno Bauer, who taught at the University of Bonn, took Strauss' arguments further and
became the first author to systematically argue that Jesus did not exist.[266][267] Beginning in 1841 with
his Criticism of the Gospel History of the Synoptics, Bauer argued that Jesus was primarily a literary
figure, but left open the question of whether a historical Jesus existed at all. Then in his Criticism of
the Pauline Epistles (1850–1852) and in A Critique of the Gospels and a History of their
Origin (1850–1851), Bauer argued that Jesus had not existed. [268] Bauer's work was heavily criticized
at the time, as in 1839 he was removed from his position at the University of Bonn and his work did
not have much impact on future myth theorists.[266][269]
In his two-volume, 867-page book Anacalypsis (1836), English gentleman Godfrey Higgins said that
"the mythos of the Hindus, the mythos of the Jews and the mythos of the Greeks are all at bottom
the same; and are contrivances under the appearance of histories to perpetuate doctrines" [270] and
that Christian editors "either from roguery or folly, corrupted them all". [271] In his 1875 book The
World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors, American Kersey Graves said that many demigods from different
countries shared similar stories, traits or quotes as Jesus and he used Higgins as the main source
for his arguments. The validity of the claims in the book have been greatly criticized by Christ myth
proponents like Richard Carrier and largely dismissed by biblical scholars. [272]
Starting in the 1870s, English poet and author Gerald Massey became interested in Egyptology and
reportedly taught himself Egyptian hieroglyphics at the British Museum. [273] In 1883, Massey
published The Natural Genesis where he asserted parallels between Jesus and the Egyptian
god Horus. His other major work, Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World, was published shortly
before his death in 1907. His assertions have influenced various later writers such as Alvin Boyd
Kuhn and Tom Harpur.[274]
In the 1870s and 1880s, a group of scholars associated with the University of Amsterdam, known in
German scholarship as the Radical Dutch school, rejected the authenticity of the Pauline epistles
and took a generally negative view of the Bible's historical value. [275] Abraham Dirk Loman argued in
1881 that all New Testament writings belonged to the 2nd century and doubted that Jesus was a
historical figure, but later said the core of the gospels was genuine. [276]
Additional early Christ myth proponents included Swiss skeptic Rudolf Steck, [277] English
historian Edwin Johnson,[278] English radical Reverend Robert Taylor and his associate Richard
Carlile.[279][280]
During the early 20th century, several writers published arguments against Jesus' historicity, often
drawing on the work of liberal theologians, who tended to deny any value to sources for Jesus
outside the New Testament and limited their attention to Mark and the hypothetical Q source.
They also made use of the growing field of religious history which found sources for Christian
[276]
ideas in Greek and Oriental mystery cults, rather than Judaism. [281][note 28]
The work of social anthropologist Sir James George Frazer has had an influence on various myth
theorists, although Frazer himself believed that Jesus existed. [283] In 1890, Frazer published the first
edition of The Golden Bough which attempted to define the shared elements of religious belief. This
work became the basis of many later authors who argued that the story of Jesus was a fiction
created by Christians. After a number of people claimed that he was a myth theorist, in the 1913
expanded edition of The Golden Bough he expressly stated that his theory assumed a historical
Jesus.[284]
In 1900, Scottish Member of Parliament John Mackinnon Robertson argued that Jesus never
existed, but was an invention by a first-century messianic cult of Joshua, whom he identifies as
a solar deity.[285][286][285][286] The English school master George Robert Stowe Mead argued in 1903 that
Jesus had existed, but that he had lived in 100 BC.[287][288] Mead based his argument on the Talmud,
which pointed to Jesus being crucified c. 100 BC. In Mead's view, this would mean that the Christian
gospels are mythical.[289]
In 1909, school teacher John Eleazer Remsburg published The Christ, which made a distinction
between a possible historical Jesus (Jesus of Nazareth) and the Jesus of the Gospels (Jesus of
Bethlehem). Remsburg thought that there was good reason to believe that the historical Jesus
existed, but that the "Christ of Christianity" was a mythological creation. [290] Remsburg compiled a list
of 42 names of "writers who lived and wrote during the time, or within a century after the time" who
Remsburg felt should have written about Jesus if the Gospels account was reasonably accurate, but
who did not.[291]
German Professor Arthur Drews
Also in 1909, German philosophy Professor Christian Heinrich Arthur Drews wrote The Christ
Myth to argue that Christianity had been a Jewish Gnostic cult that spread by appropriating aspects
of Greek philosophy and life-death-rebirth deities. [292] In his later books The Witnesses to the
Historicity of Jesus (1912) and The Denial of the Historicity of Jesus in Past and Present (1926),
Drews reviewed the biblical scholarship of his time as well as the work of other myth theorists,
attempting to show that everything reported about the historical Jesus had a mythical character. [293][note
29]
Revival (1970s–present)
Beginning in the 1970s, in the aftermath of the second quest for the historical Jesus, interest in the
Christ myth theory was revived by George Albert Wells, whose ideas were elaborated by Earl
Doherty. With the rise of the internet in the 1990s, their ideas gained popular interest, giving way to a
multitude of publications and websites aimed at a popular audience, most notably Richard Carrier,
often taking a polemical stance toward Christianity. Their ideas are supported by Robert Price, an
academic theologian, while somewhat different stances on the mythological origins are offered by
Thomas L. Thompson and Thomas L. Brodie, both also accomplished scholars in theology.
Revival of the Christ myth theory
Paul-Louis Couchoud
The French philosopher Paul-Louis Couchoud,[298] published in the 1920s and 1930s, was a
predecessor for contemporary mythicists. According to Couchoud, Christianity started not with a
biography of Jesus but "a collective mystical experience, sustaining a divine history mystically
revealed".[299] Couchaud's Jesus is not a "myth", but a "religious conception". [300]
Robert Price mentions Couchoud's comment on the Christ Hymn, one of the relics of the Christ cults
to which Paul converted. Couchoud noted that in this hymn the name Jesus was given to the Christ
after his torturous death, implying that there cannot have been a ministry by a teacher called Jesus.
George Albert Wells
George Albert Wells (1926–2017), a professor of German, revived the interest in the Christ myth
theory. In his early work,[301] including Did Jesus Exist? (1975), Wells argued that because the
Gospels were written decades after Jesus's death by Christians who were theologically motivated
but had no personal knowledge of him, a rational person should believe the gospels only if they are
independently confirmed.[302] In The Jesus Myth (1999) and later works, Wells argues that two Jesus
narratives fused into one, namely Paul's mythical Jesus, and a minimally historical Jesus from a
Galilean preaching tradition, whose teachings were preserved in the Q document, a hypothetical
common source for the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.[133][303] According to Wells, both figures owe
much of their substance to ideas from the Jewish wisdom literature. [304]
In 2000 Van Voorst gave an overview of proponents of the "Nonexistence Hypothesis" and their
arguments, presenting eight arguments against this hypothesis as put forward by Wells and his
predecessors.[305][306] According to Maurice Casey, Wells' work repeated the main points of
the Religionsgeschichtliche Schule, which are deemed outdated by mainstream scholarship. His
works were not discussed by New Testament scholars, because it was "not considered to be
original, and all his main points were thought to have been refuted long time ago, for reasons which
were very well known".[64]
Earl Doherty
Canadian writer Earl Doherty (born 1941) was introduced to the Christ myth theme by a lecture by
Wells in the 1970s.[77] Doherty follows the lead of Wells, but disagrees on the historicity of Jesus,
arguing that "everything in Paul points to a belief in an entirely divine Son who 'lived' and acted in the
spiritual realm, in the same mythical setting in which all the other savior deities of the day were seen
to operate".[77][note 30] According to Doherty, Paul's Christ originated as a myth derived from middle
Platonism with some influence from Jewish mysticism and belief in a historical Jesus emerged only
among Christian communities in the 2nd century.[132] Doherty agrees with Bauckham that the earliest
Christology was already a "high Christology", that is, Jesus was an incarnation of the pre-existent
Christ, but deems it "hardly credible" that such a belief could develop in such a short time among
Jews.[309][note 17] Therefore, Doherty concludes that Christianity started with the myth of this incarnated
Christ, who was subsequently historicised. According to Doherty, the nucleus of this historicised
Jesus of the Gospels can be found in the Jesus-movement which wrote the Q source. [84] Eventually,
Q's Jesus and Paul's Christ were combined in the Gospel of Mark by a predominantly gentile
community.[84] In time, the gospel-narrative of this embodiment of Wisdom became interpreted as the
literal history of the life of Jesus.[134]
Eddy and Boyd characterize Doherty's work as appealing to the "History of Religions School". [310] In a
book criticizing the Christ myth theory, New Testament scholar Maurice Casey describes Doherty as
"perhaps the most influential of all the mythicists",[311] but one who is unable to understand the
ancient texts he uses in his arguments.[312]
Richard Carrier
Richard Carrier
American independent scholar[313] Richard Carrier (born 1969) reviewed Doherty's work on the
origination of Jesus[314] and eventually concluded that the evidence favored the core of Doherty's
thesis.[315] According to Carrier, following Couchoud and Doherty, Christianity started with the belief in
a new deity called Jesus,[q 4] "a spiritual, mythical figure".[q 5] According to Carrier, this new deity was
fleshed out in the Gospels, which added a narrative framework and Cynic-like teachings, and
eventually came to be perceived as a historical biography. [q 4] Carrier argues in his book On the
Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt that the Jesus figure was probably
originally known only through private revelations and hidden messages in scripture which were then
crafted into a historical figure to communicate the claims of the gospels allegorically. These
allegories then started to be believed as fact during the struggle for control of the Christian churches
of the first century.[316]
Theologians
Robert M. Price
American New Testament scholar Robert M. Price
American New Testament scholar and former Baptist pastor Robert M. Price (born 1954) has
questioned the historicity of Jesus in a series of books, including Deconstructing Jesus (2000), The
Incredible Shrinking Son of Man (2003), Jesus Is Dead (2007) and The Christ-Myth Theory and Its
Problems (2011). Price uses critical-historical methods,[317] but also uses "history-of-religions
parallel[s]",[318] or the "Principle of Analogy",[319] to show similarities between Gospel narratives and
non-Christian Middle Eastern myths.[320] Price criticises some of the criteria of critical Bible research,
such as the criterion of dissimilarity[321] and the criterion of embarrassment.[322] Price further notes that
"consensus is no criterion" for the historicity of Jesus.[323] According to Price, if critical methodology is
applied with ruthless consistency, one is left in complete agnosticism regarding Jesus's historicity.[324]
[note 31]
In Deconstructing Jesus, Price claims that "the Jesus Christ of the New Testament is a composite
figure", out of which a broad variety of historical Jesuses can be reconstructed, any one of which
may have been the real Jesus, but not all of them together. [325] According to Price, various Jesus
images flowed together at the origin of Christianity, some of them possibly based on myth, some of
them possibly based on "a historical Jesus the Nazorean". [85] Price admits uncertainty in this regard,
writing in conclusion: "There may have been a real figure there, but there is simply no longer any
way of being sure".[326] In contributions to The Historical Jesus: Five Views (2009), he acknowledges
that he stands against the majority view of scholars, but cautions against attempting to settle the
issue by appeal to the majority.[327]
Thomas L. Thompson
Thomas L. Thompson (born 1939), Professor emeritus of theology at the University of Copenhagen,
is a leading biblical minimalist of the Old Testament, and supports a mythicist position, according to
Ehrman[q 13] and Casey.[q 14] According to Thompson, "questions of understanding and interpreting
biblical texts" are more relevant than "questions about the historical existence of individuals such
as ... Jesus".[72] In his 2007 book The Messiah Myth: The Near Eastern Roots of Jesus and David,
Thompson argues that the Biblical accounts of both King David and Jesus of Nazareth are not
historical accounts, but are mythical in nature and based on Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Babylonian
and Greek and Roman literature. [328] Those accounts are based on the Messiah mytheme, a king
anointed by God to restore the Divine order at Earth. [73] Thompson also argues that the resurrection
of Jesus is taken directly from the story of the dying and rising god, Dionysus.[328] Thompson does not
draw a final conclusion on the historicity or ahistoricity of Jesus, but states that "A negative
statement, however, that such a figure did not exist, cannot be reached: only that we have no
warrant for making such a figure part of our history."[73]
Thompson coedited the contributions from a diverse range of scholars in the 2012 book Is This Not
the Carpenter?: The Question of the Historicity of the Figure of Jesus.[67][329] Writing in the introduction,
"The essays collected in this volume have a modest purpose. Neither establishing the historicity of a
historical Jesus nor possessing an adequate warrant for dismissing it, our purpose is to clarify our
engagement with critical historical and exegetical methods." [330]
Ehrman has criticised Thompson, questioning his qualifications and expertise regarding New
Testament research.[q 13] In a 2012 online article, Thompson defended his qualifications to address
New Testament issues, and objected to Ehrman's statement that "[a] different sort of support for a
mythicist position comes in the work of Thomas L. Thompson." [note 32] According to Thompson, "Bart
Ehrman has attributed to my book arguments and principles which I had never presented, certainly
not that Jesus had never existed", and reiterated his position that the issue of Jesus' existence
cannot be determined one way or the other.[73] Thompson further states that Jesus is not to be
regarded as "the notoriously stereotypical figure of ... (mistaken) eschatological prophet", as Ehrman
does, but is modelled on "the royal figure of a conquering messiah", derived from Jewish writings.[73]
Thomas L. Brodie
In 2012, the Irish Dominican priest and theologian Thomas L. Brodie (born 1943), holding a PhD
from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome and a co-founder and former director
of the Dominican Biblical Institute in Limerick, published Beyond the Quest for the Historical Jesus:
Memoir of a Discovery. In this book, Brodie, who previously had published academic works on the
Hebrew prophets, argued that the Gospels are essentially a rewriting of the stories of Elijah and
Elisha when viewed as a unified account in the Books of Kings. This view lead Brodie to the
conclusion that Jesus is mythical.[178] Brodie's argument builds on his previous work, in which he
stated that rather than being separate and fragmented, the stories of Elijah and Elisha are united
and that 1 Kings 16:29 – 2 Kings 13:25 is a natural extension of 1 Kings 17 – 2 Kings 8 which have a
coherence not generally observed by other biblical scholars. [331] Brodie then views the Elijah–Elisha
story as the underlying model for the gospel narratives. [331]
In response to Brodie's publication of his view that Jesus was mythical, the Dominican order banned
him from writing and lecturing, although he was allowed to stay on as a brother of the Irish Province,
which continued to care for him.[332] "There is an unjustifiable jump between methodology and
conclusion" in Brodie's book—according to Gerard Norton—and "are not soundly based on
scholarship". According to Norton, they are "a memoir of a series of significant moments or events"
in Brodie's life that reinforced "his core conviction" that neither Jesus nor Paul of Tarsus were
historical.[333]
Other modern proponents
British academic John M. Allegro
In his books The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross (1970) and The Dead Sea Scrolls and the
Christian Myth (1979), the British archaeologist and philologist John M. Allegro advanced the theory
that stories of early Christianity originated in a shamanistic Essene clandestine cult centered around
the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms.[334][335][336][337] He also argued that the story of Jesus was based
on the crucifixion of the Teacher of Righteousness in the Dead Sea Scrolls.[338][339] Allegro's theory
was criticised sharply by Welsh historian Philip Jenkins, who wrote that Allegro relied on texts that
did not exist in quite the form he was citing them. [340] Based on this and many other negative
reactions to the book, Allegro's publisher later apologized for issuing the book and Allegro was
forced to resign his academic post.[336][341]
Alvar Ellegård, in The Myth of Jesus (1992), and Jesus: One Hundred Years Before Christ. A Study
in Creative Mythology (1999), argued that Jesus lived 100 years before the accepted dates, and was
a teacher of the Essenes. According to Ellegård, Paul was connected with the Essenes, and had a
vision of this Jesus.
Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, in their 1999 publication The Jesus Mysteries: Was the "Original
Jesus" a Pagan God? propose that Jesus did not literally exist as an historically identifiable
individual, but was instead a syncretic re-interpretation of the fundamental pagan "godman" by
the Gnostics, who were the original sect of Christianity. The book has been negatively received by
scholars, and also by Christ mythicists.[342][342][343][344]
Canadian author Tom Harpur (photo by Hugh Wesley)
Influenced by Massey and Higgins, Alvin Boyd Kuhn (1880–1963), an American Theosophist,
argued an Egyptian etymology to the Bible that the gospels were symbolic rather than historic and
that church leaders started to misinterpret the New Testament in the third century. [345] Building on
Kuhn's work, author and ordained priest Tom Harpur in his 2004 book The Pagan Christ listed
similarities among the stories of Jesus, Horus, Mithras, Buddha and others. According to Harpur, in
the second or third centuries the early church created the fictional impression of a literal and historic
Jesus and then used forgery and violence to cover up the evidence. [273][note 33]
In his 2017 book Décadence, French writer and philosopher Michel Onfray argued for the Christ
myth theory and based his hypothesis on the fact that—other than in the New Testament—Jesus is
barely mentioned in accounts of the period. [349]
The Christ myth theory enjoyed brief popularity in the Soviet Union, where it was supported
by Sergey Kovalev, Alexander Kazhdan, Abram Ranovich, Nikolai Rumyantsev and Robert Vipper.
[350]
However, several scholars, including Kazhdan, later retracted their views about mythical Jesus
and by the end of the 1980s Iosif Kryvelev remained as virtually the only proponent of Christ myth
theory in Soviet academia.[351]
Reception
Popular reception
In a 2015 poll conducted by the Church of England, 40% of respondents indicated that they did not
believe Jesus was a real person.[352]
Ehrman notes that "the mythicists have become loud, and thanks to the Internet they've attracted
more attention".[353] Within a few years of the inception of the World Wide Web (c. 1990), mythicists
such as Earl Doherty began to present their argument to a larger public via the internet. [q 15] Doherty
created the website The Jesus Puzzle in 1996,[web 24] while the organization Internet Infidels has
featured the works of mythicists on their website[354] and mythicism has been mentioned on several
popular news sites.[355]
According to Derek Murphy, the documentaries The God Who Wasn't There (2005)
and Zeitgeist (2007) raised interest for the Christ myth theory with a larger audience and gave the
topic a large coverage on the Internet.[356] Daniel Gullotta notes the relationship between the
organization "Atheists United" and Carrier's work related to Mythicism, which has increased "the
attention of the public".[q 16]
According to Ehrman, mythicism has a growing appeal "because these deniers of Jesus are at the
same time denouncers of religion". [357][q 17] According to Casey, mythicism has a growing appeal
because of an aversion toward Christian fundamentalism among American atheists. [64]
Scholarly reception
In modern scholarship, the Christ myth theory is a fringe theory, which finds virtually no support from
scholars,[4][358][5][6][359][q 2] to the point of being irrelevant and almost completely ignored. [360]
Lack of support for mythicsm
According to New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman, most people who study the historical period of
Jesus believe that he did exist and do not write in support of the Christ myth theory. [361] Maurice
Casey, theologian and scholar of New Testament and early Christianity, stated that the belief among
professors that Jesus existed is generally completely certain. According to Casey, the view that
Jesus did not exist is "the view of extremists", "demonstrably false" and "professional scholars
generally regard it as having been settled in serious scholarship long ago". [362]
In 1977, classical historian and popular author Michael Grant in his book Jesus: An Historian's
Review of the Gospels, concluded that "modern critical methods fail to support the Christ-myth
theory".[363] In support of this, Grant quoted Roderic Dunkerley's 1957 opinion that the Christ myth
theory has "again and again been answered and annihilated by first-rank scholars". [364] At the same
time, he also quoted Otto Betz's 1968 opinion that in recent years "no serious scholar has ventured
to postulate the non-historicity of Jesus—or at any rate very few, and they have not succeeded in
disposing of the much stronger, indeed very abundant, evidence to the contrary". [365] In the same
book, he also wrote:
If we apply to the New Testament, as we should, the same sort of criteria as we should apply to
other ancient writings containing historical material, we can no more reject Jesus' existence than we
can reject the existence of a mass of pagan personages whose reality as historical figures is never
questioned.[366]
Graeme Clarke, Emeritus Professor of Classical Ancient History and Archaeology at Australian
National University[367] stated in 2008: "Frankly, I know of no ancient historian or biblical historian who
would have a twinge of doubt about the existence of a Jesus Christ—the documentary evidence is
simply overwhelming".[368] R. Joseph Hoffmann, who had created the Jesus Project, which included
both mythicists and historicists to investigate the historicity of Jesus, wrote that an adherent to the
Christ myth theory asked to set up a separate section of the project for those committed to the
theory. Hoffmann felt that to be committed to mythicism signaled a lack of necessary skepticism and
he noted that most members of the project did not reach the mythicist conclusion. [369]
Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History at Baylor University, has written "What you can’t
do, though, without venturing into the far swamps of extreme crankery, is to argue that Jesus never
existed. The “Christ-Myth Hypothesis” is not scholarship, and is not taken seriously in respectable
academic debate. The grounds advanced for the “hypothesis” are worthless. The authors proposing
such opinions might be competent, decent, honest individuals, but the views they present are
demonstrably wrong....Jesus is better documented and recorded than pretty much any non-elite
figure of antiquity."[370]
Questioning the competence of proponents
Critics of the Christ myth theory question the competence of its supporters. [q 14] According to Ehrman:
Few of these mythicists are actually scholars trained in ancient history, religion, biblical studies or
any cognate field, let alone in the ancient languages generally thought to matter for those who want
to say something with any degree of authority about a Jewish teacher who (allegedly) lived in first-
century Palestine.[357]
Maurice Casey has criticized the mythicists, pointing out their complete ignorance of how modern
critical scholarship actually works. He also criticizes mythicists for their frequent assumption that all
modern scholars of religion are Protestant fundamentalists of the American variety, insisting that this
assumption is not only totally inaccurate, but also exemplary of the mythicists' misconceptions about
the ideas and attitudes of mainstream scholars.[371]
Questioning the mainstream view appears to have consequences for one's job perspectives.
[372]
According to Casey, Thompson's early work, which "successfully refuted the attempts of Albright
and others to defend the historicity of the most ancient parts of biblical literature history", has
"negatively affected his future job prospects".[q 14] Ehrman also notes that mythicist views would
prevent one from getting employment in a religious studies department:
These views are so extreme and so unconvincing to 99.99 percent of the real experts that anyone
holding them is as likely to get a teaching job in an established department of religion as a six-day
creationist is likely to land on in a bona fide department of biology. [357]
Other criticisms
Few scholars have bothered to criticise Christ myth theories. Robert Van Voorst has written
"Contemporary New Testament scholars have typically viewed (Christ myth) arguments as so weak
or bizarre that they relegate them to footnotes, or often ignore them completely [...] The theory of
Jesus' nonexistence is now effectively dead as a scholarly question." [360] Paul L. Maier, former
Professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan University and current professor emeritus in the
Department of History there has stated "Anyone who uses the argument that Jesus never existed is
simply flaunting his ignorance."[373] Among notable scholars who have directly addressed the Christ
myth are Bart Ehrman, Maurice Casey and Philip Jenkins.
In 2000 Van Voorst gave an overview of proponents of the "Nonexistence Hypothesis" and their
arguments, presenting eight arguments against this hypothesis as put forward by Wells and his
predecessors.[374][306]
1. The "argument of silence" is to be rejected, because "it is wrong to suppose that what is
unmentioned or undetailed did not exist." Van Voorst further argues that the early Christian
literature was not written for historical purposes.
2. Dating the "invention" of Jesus around 100 CE is too late; Mark was written earlier, and
contains abundant historical details which are correct.
3. The argument that the development of the Gospel traditions shows that there was no
historical Jesus is incorrect; "development does not prove wholesale invention, and
difficulties do not prove invention."
4. Wells cannot explain why "no pagans and Jews who opposed Christianity denied Jesus'
historicity or even questioned it."
5. The rejection of Tacitus and Josephus ignores the scholarly consensus.
6. Proponents of the "Nonexistence Hypothesis" are not driven by scholarly interests, but by
anti-Christian sentiments.
7. Wells and others do not offer alternative "other, credible hypotheses" for the origins of
Christianity.
8. Wells himself accepted the existence of a minimal historical Jesus, thereby effectively
leaving the "Nonexistence Hypothesis."
In his book Did Jesus Exist?, Bart Ehrman surveys the arguments "mythicists" have made against
the existence of Jesus since the idea was first mooted at the end of the 18th century. As for the lack
of contemporaneous records for Jesus, Ehrman notes no comparable Jewish figure is mentioned in
contemporary records either and there are mentions of Christ in several Roman works of history
from only decades after the death of Jesus.[375] The author states that the authentic letters of the
apostle Paul in the New Testament were likely written within a few years of Jesus' death and that
Paul likely personally knew James, the brother of Jesus. Although the gospel accounts of Jesus' life
may be biased and unreliable in many respects, Ehrman writes, they and the sources behind them
which scholars have discerned still contain some accurate historical information. [375] So many
independent attestations of Jesus' existence, Ehrman says, are actually "astounding for an ancient
figure of any kind".[357] Ehrman dismisses the idea that the story of Jesus is an invention based
on pagan myths of dying-and-rising gods, maintaining that the early Christians were primarily
influenced by Jewish ideas, not Greek or Roman ones,[357][375] and repeatedly insisting that the idea
that there was never such a person as Jesus is not seriously considered by historians or experts in
the field at all.[375]
Traditional and Evangelical Christianity
Alexander Lucie-Smith, Catholic priest and doctor of moral theology, states that "People who think
Jesus didn’t exist are seriously confused," but also notes that "the Church needs to reflect on its
failure. If 40 per cent believe in the Jesus myth, this is a sign that the Church has failed to
communicate with the general public." [376]
Stanley E. Porter, president and dean of McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, and Stephen J.
Bedard, a Baptist minister and graduate of McMaster Divinity, respond to Harpur's ideas from an
evangelical standpoint in Unmasking the Pagan Christ: An Evangelical Response to the Cosmic
Christ Idea, challenging the key ideas lying at the foundation of Harpur's thesis. Porter and Bedard
conclude that there is sufficient evidence for the historicity of Jesus and assert that Harpur is
motivated to promote "universalistic spirituality .
The chemical element uranium, discovered in 1789 by the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth, was
named after the newly discovered planet Uranus.[149]
"Uranus, the Magician" is a movement in Gustav Holst's orchestral suite The Planets, written between 1914
and 1916.
Operation Uranus was the successful military operation in World War II by the Red Army to take
back Stalingrad and marked the turning point in the land war against the Wehrmacht.
The lines "Then felt I like some watcher of the skies/When a new planet swims into his ken", from John Keats's
"On First Looking into Chapman's Homer", are a reference to Herschel's discovery of Uranus.[150]
Many references to Uranus in English language popular culture and news involve humour about one
pronunciation of its name resembling that of the phrase "your anus".[151]
Like the classical planets, Uranus is visible to the naked eye, but it was never recognised as a planet by
ancient observers because of its dimness and slow orbit. [21] Sir William Herschel announced its discovery on 13
March 1781, expanding the known boundaries of the Solar System for the first time in history and making
Uranus the first planet discovered with a telescope.
Su Song
Su Song (simplified Chinese: 苏颂; traditional Chinese: 蘇頌; pinyin: Sū Sòng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: So͘ Siōng; courtesy
name: Zirong 子容)[1] (1020–1101 AD) was a Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman. Excelling in a variety
of fields, he was accomplished
in mathematics, astronomy, cartography, geography, horology, pharmacology, mineralogy, metallurgy, zoology,
botany, mechanical engineering, hydraulic engineering, civil
engineering, architecture, invention, art, poetry, philosophy, antiquities, and statesmanship during the Song
Dynasty (960–1279).
Su Song was the engineer for a hydro-mechanical astronomical clock tower in medieval Kaifeng, which
employed the use of an early escapement mechanism.[2][3][4][5] The escapement mechanism of Su's clock tower
had been invented by Buddhist monk Yi Xing and government official Liang Lingzan in 725 AD to operate a
water-powered armillary sphere, although Su's armillary sphere was the first to be provided with a mechanical
clock drive.[5][6][7] Su's clock tower also featured the oldest known endless power-transmitting chain drive, called
the tian ti (天梯), or "celestial ladder", as depicted in his horological treatise. [8] The clock tower had 133
different clock jacks to indicate and sound the hours.[9] Su Song's treatise about the clock tower, Xinyi
Xiangfayao (新儀象法要), has survived since its written form in 1092 and official printed publication in 1094.
The book has been analyzed by many historians, such as Joseph Needham. The clock itself, however, was
dismantled by the invading Jurchen army in 1127 AD, and although attempts were made to reassemble it, the
tower was never successfully reinstated.
Sū Sòng
The Xinyi Xiangfayao was Su's best-known treatise, but the polymath compiled other works as well. He
completed a large celestial atlas of several star maps, several terrestrial maps, as well as a treatise on
pharmacology. The latter discussed related subjects on mineralogy, zoology, botany, and metallurgy.
European Jesuit visitors to China like Matteo Ricci and Nicolas Trigault briefly wrote about Chinese clocks with
wheel drives,[10] but others mistakenly believed that the Chinese had never advanced beyond the stage of
the clepsydra, incense clock, and sundial.[11] They thought that advanced mechanical clockworks were new to
China and that these mechanisms were something valuable that Europeans could offer to the Chinese.
[11]
Although not as prominent as in the Song period, contemporary Chinese texts of the Ming Dynasty (1368–
1644) described a relatively unbroken history of mechanical clocks in China, from the 13th century to the 16th.
[12]
However, Su Song's clock tower still relied on the use of a waterwheel to power it, and was thus not fully
mechanical like late medieval European clocks.
The original diagram of Su's book showing the inner workings of his clocktower, for more information, click this thumbnail picture.
Life and works
A scale model of Su Song's Astronomical Clock Tower
Career as a scholar-official
Su Song was of Hokkien ancestry [13][13] who was born in modern-day Fujian, near medieval Quanzhou.[14] Like
his contemporary, Shen Kuo (1031–1095), Su Song was a polymath, a person whose expertise spans a
significant number of different fields of study. It was written by his junior colleague and Hanlin scholar Ye
Mengde (1077–1148)[15] that in Su's youth, he mastered the provincial exams and rose to the top of the
examination list for writing the best article on general principles and structure of the Chinese calendar.[16] From
an early age, his interests in astronomy and calendrical science led him onto a distinguished path as a state
bureaucrat. In his spare time, he was fond of writing poetry, which he used to praise the works of artists such
as the painter Li Gonglin (1049–1106).[17][18] He was also an antiquarian and collector of old artworks from
previous dynasties.[18]
In matters of administrative government, he had attained the rank of Ambassador and President of the Ministry
of Personnel at the capital of Kaifeng, and was known also as an expert in administration and finance. [19] After
serving in the Ministry of Personnel, he became a Minister of Justice in 1086.[18] He was appointed as a
distinguished editor for the Academy of Scholarly Worthies, where in 1063 he edited, redacted, commented on,
and added a preface for the classic work Huainanzi of the Han Dynasty (202 BC–220 AD).[20] Eventually, Su
rose to the post of Vice President of the Chancellery Secretariat. Among many honorable positions and titles
conferred upon him, Su Song was also one of the 'Deputy Tutors of the Heir Apparent'. At court, he chose to
distance himself from the political rivalries of the Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Sima Guang (1019–
1086), and the Reformists, led by Prime Minister Wang Anshi (1021–1086); although many of his associates
were of the Conservative faction.[14]
In 1077, he was dispatched on a diplomatic mission to the Liao Dynasty of the Khitan people to the north,
[21]
sharing ideas about calendrical science, as the Liao state had created its own calendar in 994 AD. [7] In a
finding that reportedly embarrassed the court, Su Song acknowledged to the emperor that the calendar of the
Khitan people was in fact a bit more accurate than their own, resulting in the fining and punishment of officials
in the Bureau of Astronomy and Calendar.[16] Su was supposed to travel north to Liao and arrive promptly for a
birthday celebration and feast on a day which coincided with the winter solstice of the Song calendar, but was
actually a day behind the Liao calendar. [22] Historian Liu Heping states that Emperor Zhezong of
Song sponsored Su Song's clocktower in 1086 in order to compete with the Liao for "scientific and national
superiority."[23] In 1081, the court instructed Su Song to compile into a book the diplomatic history of Song-Liao
relations, an elaborate task that, once complete, filled 200 volumes. [24] With his extensive knowledge
of cartography, Su Song was able to settle a heated border dispute between the Song and Liao dynasties. [25]
Astronomy
A star map with equidistant cylindrical projection, from Su Song's Xinyi Xiangfayao, 1092[26]
Su Song also created a celestial atlas (in five separate maps), which had the hour circles between the xiu
(lunar mansions) forming the astronomical meridians, with stars marked in an equidistant cylindrical projection
on each side of the equator,[27] and thus, was in accordance to their north polar distances. [28] Furthermore, Su
Song must have taken advantage of the astronomical findings of his political rival and contemporary
astronomer Shen Kuo.[29] This is so because Su Song's fourth star map places the position of the pole
star halfway between Tian shu (−350 degrees) and the current Polaris; this was the more accurate calculation
(by 3 degrees) that Shen Kuo had made when he observed the pole star over a period of three months with his
width-improved sighting tube.[29] There were many star maps written before Song's book, but the greatest
significance of these star maps by Su Song is, that they represent the oldest extant star maps in printed form.[30]
Pharmacology, botany, zoology, and mineralogy
Su categorized and accurately described the attributes of many minerals, including the red, pitted surface of realgar seen above.
In 1070, Su Song and a team of scholars compiled and edited the Bencao Tujing ('Illustrated Pharmacopoeia',
original source material from 1058–1061), which was a groundbreaking treatise on
pharmaceutical botany, zoology, and mineralogy.[31] In compiling information for pharmaceutical knowledge, Su
Song worked with such notable scholars as Zhang Yuxi, Lin Yi, Zhang Dong, and many others. [32]
This treatise documented a wide range of pharmaceutical practices, including the use of ephedrine as a drug.
[14]
It includes valuable information on metallurgy and the steel and iron industries during 11th century China. He
created a systematic approach to listing various different minerals and their use in medicinal concoctions, such
as all the variously known forms of mica that could be used to cure ills through digestion.[33] He wrote of
the subconchoidal fracture of native cinnabar, signs of ore beds, and provided description on crystal form.
[34]
Similar to the ore channels formed by circulation of ground water written of by the later German
scientist Georgius Agricola, Su Song made similar statements concerning copper carbonate, as did the
earlier Rihua Bencao of 970 with copper sulphate.[34] Su's book was also the first pharmaceutical treatise written
in China to describe the flax, Urtica thunbergiana, and Corchoropsis tomentosa (crenata) plants.[35] According to
Edward H. Schafer, Su accurately described the translucent quality of fine realgar, its origin from pods found in
rocky river gorges, its matrix being pitted with holes and having a deep red, almost purple color, and that the
mineral varied in sizes ranging from the size of a pea to a walnut. [36]
Citing evidence from an ancient work by Zheng Xuan (127–200), Su believed that physicians of the
ancient Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BC) used realgar as a remedy for ulcers.[37] As believed in Su's day, the "five
poisons" used by Zhou era physicians for this purpose were thought to be cinnabar, realgar, chalcanthite, alum,
and magnetite.[37] Su made systematic descriptions of animals and the environmental regions they could be
found, such as different species of freshwater, marine, and shore crabs. [38] For example, he noted that the
freshwater crab species Eriocher sinensis could be found in the Huai River running through Anhui, in
waterways near the capital city, as well as reservoirs and marshes of Hebei.[38] Su's book was preserved and
copied into the Bencao Gangmu of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) physician and pharmacologist Li
Shizhen (1518–1593).[39]
Horology and mechanical engineering
Armillary sphere on roof
Su Song compiled one of the greatest Chinese horological treatises of the Middle Ages, surrounding himself
with an entourage of notable engineers and astronomers to assist in various projects. Xinyi Xiangfayao (lit.
"Essentials of a New Method for Mechanizing the Rotation of an Armillary Sphere and a Celestial Globe"),
written in 1092, was the final product of his life's achievements in horology and clockwork. The book included
47 different illustrations of great detail of the mechanical workings for his astronomical clock tower.[40]
Su Song's greatest project was the 40-foot-tall water-powered astronomical clock tower constructed in Kaifeng,
the wooden pilot model completed in 1088, the bronze components cast by 1090, while the wholly finished
work was completed by 1094 during the reign of Emperor Zhezong of Song.[41][42] The emperor had previously
commissioned Han Gonglian, Acting Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, to head the project, but the
leadership position was instead handed down to Su Song. The emperor ordered in 1086 for Su to reconstruct
the hun yi, or "armillary clock", for a new clock tower in the capital city. Su worked with the aid of Han Gong-
lian, who applied his extensive knowledge of mathematics to the construction of the clock tower. [43] A small-
scale wooden model was first crafted by Su Song, testing its intricate parts before applying it to an actual full-
scale clock tower.[44] In the end, the clock tower had many impressive features, such as the hydro-mechanical,
rotating armillary sphere crowning the top level and weighing some 10 to 20 tons, [44] a bronze celestial globe
located in the middle that was 4.5 feet in diameter,[44] mechanically-timed and rotating mannequins dressed in
miniature Chinese clothes that exited miniature opening doors to announce the time of day by presenting
designated reading plaques, ringing bells and gongs, or beating drums, [45] a sophisticated use of oblique gears
and an escapement mechanism,[46] as well as an exterior facade of a fanciful Chinese pagoda. Upon its
completion, the tower was called the Shui Yun Yi Xiang Tai, or "Tower for the Water-Powered Sphere and
Globe". Joseph Needham writes:
Star map of the south polar projection for Su's celestial globe, Xinyi Xiangfayao, 1092
After the invention of the escapement in [AD] 725 [during the Tang dynasty], there was a great flourishing of
gear-wheels in clockwork and jackwork, culminating in the bronze and iron of Su Sung's elaborate masterpiece
in [AD] 1088.[47]
Years after Su's death, the capital city of Kaifeng was besieged and captured in 1127 by the Jurchens of
the Manchuria-based Jin Dynasty during the Jin–Song wars.[40][48] The clock tower was dismantled piece by
piece by the Jurchens, who carted its components back to their own capital in modern-day Beijing. However,
due to the complexity of the tower, they were unable to piece it back together. The new Emperor Gaozong of
Song instructed Su's son, Su Xie, to construct a new astronomical clock tower in its place, and Su Xie set to
work studying his father's texts with a team of other experts. However, they were also unsuccessful in creating
another clock tower, and Su Xie was convinced that Su Song had purposefully left out essential components in
his written work and diagrams so that others would not steal his ideas.
As the sinologist historian Derk Bodde points out, Su Song's astronomical clock did not lead to a new
generation of mass-produced clockworks throughout China since his work was largely a government-
sponsored endeavor for the use of astronomers and astrologers in the imperial court.[49] Yet the mechanical
legacy of Su Song did not end with his work. In about 1150, the writer Xue Jixuan noted that there were four
types of clocks in his day, the basic waterclock, the incense clock, the sundial, and the clock with 'revolving and
snapping springs' ('gun tan').[50] The rulers of the continuing Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368 AD) had a vested
interest in the advancement of mechanical clockworks.[51] The astronomer Guo Shoujing helped restore
the Beijing Ancient Observatory beginning in 1276, where he crafted a water-powered armillary sphere and
clock with clock jacks being fully implemented and sounding the hours. [52] Complex gearing for uniquely Chinese
clockworks were continued in the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), with new designs driven by the power of falling
sand instead of water to provide motive power to the wheel drive, and some Ming clocks perhaps featured
reduction gearing rather than the earlier escapement of Su Song. [12] The earliest such design of a sand-clock
was made by Zhan Xiyuan around 1370, which featured not only the scoop wheel of Su Song' device, but also
a new addition of a stationary dial face over which a pointer circulated, much like new European clocks of the
same period.[53]
Su Song's escapement mechanism
The oldest known illustration of an endless power-transmitting chain drive, from Su's book of 1092; it was called the "celestial
ladder" and was used for coupling the main driving shaft of his clock tower to the armillary sphere gear box (which was mounted at
the top of the tower).
In Su Song's waterwheel linkwork device, the action of the escapement's arrest and release was achieved by
gravity exerted periodically as the continuous flow of liquid filled containers of a limited size. [50] In a single line of
evolution, Su Song's clock therefore united the concept of the clepsydra and the mechanical clock into one
device run by mechanics and hydraulics. In his memorial, Su Song wrote about this concept:
According to your servant's opinion there have been many systems and designs for astronomical instruments
during past dynasties all differing from one another in minor respects. But the principle of the use of water-
power for the driving mechanism has always been the same. The heavens move without ceasing but so also
does water flow (and fall). Thus if the water is made to pour with perfect evenness, then the comparison of the
rotary movements (of the heavens and the machine) will show no discrepancy or contradiction; for the
unresting follows the unceasing.[54]
In his writing, Su Song credited, as the predecessor of his working clock, the hydraulic-powered armillary
sphere of Zhang Heng (78–139 AD), an earlier Chinese scientist. [54] Su Song was also strongly influenced by
the earlier armillary sphere created by Zhang Sixun (976 AD), who also employed the escapement mechanism
and used liquid mercury instead of water in the waterwheel of his astronomical clock tower (since liquid
mercury would not freeze during winter and would not corrode and rust metal components over time).
[55]
However, Su Song stated in his writing that after Zhang's death, no one was able to replicate his device,
much like his own.[56]
The mechanical clockworks for Su Song's astronomical tower featured a great driving-wheel that was 11 feet in
diameter, carrying 36 scoops, into each of which water poured at a uniform rate from the "constant-level tank"
(Needham, Fig. 653). The main driving shaft of iron, with its cylindrical necks supported on iron crescent-
shaped bearings, ended in a pinion, which engaged a gear wheel at the lower end of the main vertical
transmission shaft.[57]
Joseph Needham gives a general description of the clock tower itself:
(Su Song's) clockwork, driven by a water-wheel, and fully enclosed within the tower, rotated an observational
armillary sphere on the top platform and a celestial globe in the upper story. Its time-announcing function was
further fulfilled visually and audibly by the performances of numerous jacks mounted on the eight superimposed
wheels of a time-keeping shaft and appearing at windows in the pagoda-like structure at the front of the tower.
Within the building, some 40 ft. high, the driving-wheel was provided with a special form of escapement, and
the water was pumped back into the tanks periodically by manual means. The time-annunciator must have
included conversion gearing, since it gave 'unequal' as well as equal time signals, and the sphere probably had
this. Su Song's treatise on the clock, the Hsin I Hsiang Fa Yao, constitutes a classic of horological engineering.
[58]
Celestial globe on third floor
Time display panel
Water wheel with water tank and escapement mechanism
That was figure Fig. 650, while Fig. 656 displays the upper and lower norias with their tanks and the manual
wheel for operating them.
Fig. 657 displays a rather miniature and scaled-down picture for the basics of the escapement mechanism in
an illustration (from Su's book), with Needham's caption here in this quote: "The 'celestial balance' or
escapement mechanism of Su Song's clockwork (Xinyi Xiangfayao, ch. 3, p. 18b)". [59] The latter figure carefully
labels:
a right upper lock
upper link
left upper lock
axle or pivot
long chain
upper counterweight
sump
checking fork of the lower balancing lever
coupling tongue
main (i.e., lower) counterweight[59]
Figure 658 displays a more intricate and most-telling half-page scale drawing of Su Song's large escapement
mechanism, labeling these individual parts as they interact with one another:
arrested spoke
left upper lock
scoop being filled by
water jet from constant-level tank
small counterweight
checking fork tripped by a projection pin on the scoop, and forming the near end of
the lower balancing lever with
its lower counterweight
coupling tongue, connected by
the long chain with
the upper balancing lever, which has at its far end
the upper counterweight, and at its near end
a short length chain connecting it with the upper lock beneath it;
right upper lock[60]
The endless chain drive
An endless roller chain and sprocket, used in Su Song's clock tower to operate the rotation of the armillary sphere
The world's oldest illustrated depiction of an endless power-transmitting chain drive is from Su Song's
horological treatise.[8] It was used in the clockworks for coupling the main drive shaft to the armillary sphere
gearbox (rotating three small pinions),[61] as seen in Needham's Fig. 410 and Fig. 652.[8] This belonged to the
uppermost end of the main vertical transmission shaft, incorporating right angle gears and oblique gears
connected by a short idling shaft.[46] The toothed ring gear called the diurnal motion gear ring was fit around the
shell of the armillary sphere along the declination parallel near the southern pole. [62] Although the
ancient Greek Philo of Byzantium (3rd century BC) featured a sort of endless belt for his magazine arcuballista,
which did not transmit continuous power, [61] the influential source for Su Song's chain drive is most likely the
continuously-driven chain pump known in China since the Han Dynasty (202 BC–220 AD).[61] From his
horological treatise, Su Song states:
The chain drive (lit. celestial ladder) is 19.5 ft long (5.9 m). The system is as follows: an iron chain with its links
joined together to form an endless circuit hangs down from the upper chain-wheel which is concealed by the
tortoise-and-cloud (column supporting the armillary sphere centrally), and passes also round the lower chain-
wheel which is mounted on the main driving-shaft. Whenever one link moves, it moves forward one tooth of the
diurnal motion gear-ring and rotates the Component of the Three Arrangers of Time, thus following the motion
of the heavens.[61]
In addition, the motion gear rings and the upper drive wheel both had 600 teeth, which by Su's mathematical
precision carefully calculated measured units of the day in a division of 1/600. [63] These gears, having 600 teeth,
thus ensured the division of the day into measurements of 2 minutes and 24 seconds each. [63]
Su Song's armillary sphere
A modern replica of a Ming Dynasty era armillary sphere found at the Beijing Ancient Observatory
In Joseph Needham's third volume of Science and Civilization in China, the drawing for Fig. 159 displays a
drawing of Su Song's armillary sphere (as depicted in his 11th century treatise), complete with three 'nests' or
layers of mechanically-rotated rings. It was the earlier Chinese astronomer Li Chun-feng of the Tang Dynasty
who in 633 AD created the first armillary sphere with three layers to calibrate multiple aspects of astronomical
observation.[64] Zhang's armillary sphere has often been compared to that of the 13th century monarch Alfonso
X of Castile in Islamic-era Spain. The chief difference was that Alfonso's instrument featured an arrangement
for making measurements of the azimuth and altitude, which was present in the Arabic tradition, while Su
Song's armillary sphere was duly graduated. [65] For the drawing of Su's armillary sphere, the listing of
components are:
The Outer Nest[6]
o meridian circle
o horizon circle
o outer equator circle
The Middle Nest[6]
o solstitial colure circle
o ecliptic circle
o diurnal motion gear-ring, connecting with the power-drive
The Inner Nest[6]
o polar-mounted declination ring or hour-angle circle, with
o sighting tube attached to it and strengthened by a
o diametral brace
Other Parts[6]
o vertical column concealing the transmission shaft
o supporting columns in the form of dragons
o cross-piece of the base, incorporating water-levels
o south polar pivot
o north polar pivot
Transmission of Su's text and his legacy
When Su Song's Xinyi Xiangfayao was written in 1092 and the horological monograph finalized and presented
in 1094, his work was published and widely printed in the north (see woodblock printing and movable type of Bi
Sheng). In the south, printing and circulation of his work was not widely distributed until Shi Yuanzhi
of Jiangsu had it printed there in 1172.[3]
When presenting his clocktower design to the Emperor Zhezong, Su Song equated the constant flow of water
with the continuous movements of the heavens, the latter of which symbolized the unceasing power of the
emperor.[66] This appealed to emperor, who featured artwork representing the clocktower on vehicles of major
imperial processions, as illustrated in the Illustration of the Imperial Grand Carriage Procession of 1053.[67]
The later Ming Dynasty/Qing Dynasty scholar Qian Zeng (1629–1699) held an old volume of Su's work, which
he faithfully reproduced in a newly printed edition. He took special care in avoiding any rewording or
inconsistencies with the original text as well. [3] Again, it was later reprinted by Zhang Xizu (1799–1844).[3]
Su Song's treatise on astronomical clockwork was not the only one made in China during his day, as the Song
Shi (compiled in 1345) records the written treatise of the Shuiyunhun Tianjiyao (Wade–Giles: Shui Yun Hun
Thien Chi Yao; lit. Essentials of the [Technique of] making Astronomical Apparatus revolve by Water-Power),
written by Juan Taifa. However, this treatise no longer survives. [68]
In the realm of modern research, the late British biochemist and historian of Chinese science Joseph
Needham (1900–1995) (known as Li Yuese in China) did extensive research and analysis of Su Song's texts
and various achievements in his Science and Civilization in China book series. Joseph Needham also related
many detailed passages from Su's contemporary medieval Chinese sources on the life of Su and his
achievements known in his day. In 1956, John Christiansen reconstructed a model of Su Song's clocktower in
a famous drawing, which garnered attention in the West towards 11th-century Chinese engineering. [69] A
miniature model of Su Song's clock was reconstructed by John Cambridge and is now on display at
the National Science Museum at South Kensington, London.[15] In China, the clocktower was reconstructed to
one-fifth its actual scale by Wang Zhenduo, who worked for the Chinese Historical Museum in Beijing in the
1950s.
Martin Heinrich Klaproth
Martin Heinrich Klaproth (1 December 1743 – 1 January 1817) was a German chemist who
discovered uranium (1789), zirconium (1789), and cerium (1803), and named titanium (1795)
and tellurium (1798).
Martin Klaproth
Martin Heinrich Klaproth
Biography
Klaproth was born in Wernigerode. During a large portion of his life he followed the profession of
an apothecary. After acting as assistant in pharmacies at Quedlinburg, Hanover, Berlin
and Danzig successively he came to Berlin on the death of Valentin Rose the Elder in 1771 as manager of his
business, and in 1780 he started an establishment on his own account in the same city, where from 1782 he
was pharmaceutical assessor of the Ober-Collegium Medicum. In 1787 he was appointed lecturer
in chemistry to the Prussian Royal Artillery, and when the university was founded in 1810 he was selected to
be the professor of chemistry. He died in Berlin on New Year's Day in 1817. Klaproth was the leading chemist
of his time in Germany.
Memorial plate on the Dorotheenstädtischer Friedhof in Berlin, by Ralf Sander.
An exact and conscientious worker, he did much to improve and systematise the processes of analytical
chemistry and mineralogy, and his appreciation of the value of quantitative methods led him to become one of
the earliest adherents of the Lavoisierian doctrines outside France. Klaproth found the element titanium in the
ore rutile in 1791, believing it to be a new discovery, however, William Gregor is credited with the discovery
of titanium, having found the metal in a different ore, (ilmenite), before Klaproth, although in the same year. He
was the first to discover uranium while studying the mineral pitchblende.[1] In addition, he discovered zirconium,
and characterised uranium and zirconium as distinct elements, though he did not obtain any of them in the pure
metallic state; and he clarified the composition of numerous substances until then imperfectly known, including
compounds of then newly recognised elements tellurium, strontium, cerium and chromium.
His over 200 papers were collected by himself in Beiträge zur chemischen Kenntnis der Mineralkörper (5 vols.,
1795–1810) and Chemische Abhandlungen gemischten Inhalts (1815). He also published a Chemisches
Wörterbuch (1807–1810), and edited a revised edition of F. A. C. Gren's Handbuch der Chemie (1806).
Klaproth was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1795[2] and a foreign member of the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences in 1804.
The crater Klaproth on the Moon is named after him.
His son Julius was a famous orientalist.[3]
Works
Beiträge Zur Chemischen Kenntniss Der Mineralkörper . Vol. 1–5 . Rottmann, Berlin 1795–1810 Digital
edition by the University and State Library Düsseldorf
Chemisches Wörterbuch . Vol. 1–9 . Voss, Berlin 1807–1819 Digital edition by the University and State
Library Düsseldorf
Chemische Abhandlungen gemischten Inhalts . Nicolai, Berlin [u. a.] 1815 Digital edition by
the University and State Library Düsseldorf
Jessica Mink
Jessica Mink (formerly Douglas John Mink[1]) is an American software developer and a data
archivist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.[2] She was part of the team that
discovered the rings around the planet Uranus
Jessica Mink
Born February 1951 (age 68)
Lincoln, Nebraska
Nationality American
Alma mater Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Known for Discovery of rings of Uranus
Early life and career
Mink was born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1951[4] and graduated from Dundee Community High School in 1969.
She earned an S.B. degree (1973) and an S.M. degree (1974) in Planetary Science from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT). She worked at Cornell University from 1976 to 1979 as an astronomical software
developer.[5] It was during this time that she was part of the team that discovered the rings around Uranus.
[6]
Within the team she was responsible for the data reduction software and the data analysis. [7] After working at
Cornell she moved back to MIT, where she did work that contributed to the discovery of the rings of Neptune.
[8]
She has written a number of commonly used software packages for astrophysics, including WCSTools and
RVSAO.[7][9]
Despite not having a PhD, Mink is a member of the American Astronomical Society and the International
Astronomical Union.[10]
Personal life
Mink is an avid bicycle user.[11] She has served as an officer and director of the Massachusetts Bicycle
Coalition[12] and has been the route planner for the Massachusetts portion of the East Coast Greenway since
1991.
Mink is a transgender woman, and she publicly came out in 2011 at the age of 60. [13] She has since spoken out
about her experiences transitioning.[14] She was also featured in two articles about the experiences of
transitioning in a professional environment.[13][15] She was a co-organiser of the 2015 Inclusive Astronomy
conference at VanDerBilt University.[16]
Mink currently lives in Massachusetts (USA), and has a daughter named Sarah.
.
James L. Elliot
James Ludlow Elliot (17 June 1943 – 3 March 2011) was
an American astronomer and scientist who, as part of a team, discovered the rings around the planet
Uranus.[2][3] Elliot was also part of a team that observed global warming on Triton, the largest moon
of Neptune.[4][5]
Minor planets discovered: 1 [1]
(95625) 2002 GX32 8 April 2002
Elliot was born in 1943 in Columbus, Ohio and received his S.B. degree from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1965 and his Ph.D. degree from Harvard University in 1972. He held
a postdoctoral position in Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell University, and joined the
faculty of Cornell’s Astronomy Department in 1977. After he discovered Uranus's rings alongside
Edward Dunham and Douglas Mink at Cornell, he returned to MIT in 1978 to serve as Professor of
Physics, Professor of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, and Director of the George R.
Wallace, Jr. Astrophysical Observatory until his death on March 3, 2011. [6]
There is some debate on whether Elliot, et al. discovered the rings of Uranus, or whether William
Herschel made an observation in 1797.[7] However, scientific consensus seems to support Elliot as
the discoverer.[8]
Elliot is credited by the Minor Planet Center with one minor planet,[1] the trans-Neptunian
object (95625) 2002 GX32, which he co-discovered at CTIO in 2002.[9] The main-belt asteroid 3193
Elliot, discovered by astronomer Edward Bowell at Anderson Mesa Station in 1983, was named in
his honor.[3]
The crater Elliot on Pluto is also named in his honor.[10]
Tacitus
Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (/ˈtæsɪtəs/ TASS-it-əs, Classical Latin: [ˈtakɪtʊs]; c. 56 – c. 120 AD) was
a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. Tacitus is considered to be one of the greatest Roman
historians.[1][2] He lived in what has been called the Silver Age of Latin literature, and is known for the brevity and
compactness of his Latin prose, as well as for his penetrating insights into the psychology of power politics.
The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of
the emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors (69 AD).
These two works span the history of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus, in 14 AD, to the years of
the First Jewish–Roman War, in 70 AD. There are substantial lacunae in the surviving texts, including a gap in
the Annals that is four books long.
Tacitus' other writings discuss oratory (in dialogue format, see Dialogus de oratoribus), Germania (in De origine
et situ Germanorum), and the life of his father-in-law, Agricola, the general responsible for much of the Roman
conquest of Britain, mainly focusing on his campaign in Britannia (De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae).
Life
Details about his personal life are scarce. What little is known comes from scattered hints throughout his work,
the letters of his friend and admirer Pliny the Younger, and an inscription found at Mylasa in Caria.[3]
Tacitus was born in 56 or 57 to an equestrian family;[4] but the exact place and date of his birth are not known,
and his praenomen (first name) is also unknown; in the letters of Sidonius Apollinaris his name is Gaius, but in
the major surviving manuscript of his work his name is given as Publius.[5] One scholar's suggestion
of Sextus has gained no approval.[6]
Family and early life
Most of the older aristocratic families failed to survive the proscriptions which took place at the end of
the Republic, and Tacitus makes it clear that he owed his rank to the Flavian emperors (Hist. 1.1). The claim
that he was descended from a freedman is derived from a speech in his writings which asserts that many
senators and knights were descended from freedmen (Ann. 13.27), but this is generally disputed.[7]
His father may have been the Cornelius Tacitus who served as procurator of Belgica and Germania; Pliny the
Elder mentions that Cornelius had a son who aged rapidly (NH 7.76), which implies an early death. There is no
mention of Tacitus suffering such a condition, but it is possible that this refers to a brother—if Cornelius was
indeed his father.[8] The friendship between the younger Pliny and Tacitus leads some scholars to conclude that
they were both the offspring of wealthy provincial families. [9]
The province of his birth remains unknown, though various conjectures suggest Gallia Belgica, Gallia
Narbonensis or Northern Italy.[10] His marriage to the daughter of Narbonensian senator Gnaeus Julius
Agricola implies that he came from Gallia Narbonensis. Tacitus' dedication to Lucius Fabius Justus in
the Dialogus may indicate a connection with Spain, and his friendship with Pliny suggests origins in northern
Italy.[11] No evidence exists, however, that Pliny's friends from northern Italy knew Tacitus, nor do Pliny's letters
hint that the two men had a common background. [12] Pliny Book 9, Letter 23 reports that, when he was asked if
he was Italian or provincial, he gave an unclear answer, and so was asked if he was Tacitus or Pliny. Since
Pliny was from Italy, some infer that Tacitus was from the provinces, probably Gallia Narbonensis. [13]
His ancestry, his skill in oratory, and his sympathetic depiction of barbarians who resisted Roman rule
(e.g., Ann. 2.9) have led some to suggest that he was a Celt. This belief stems from the fact that the Celts who
had occupied Gaul prior to the Roman invasion were famous for their skill in oratory, and had been subjugated
by Rome.[14]
Public life, marriage, and literary career
As a young man, Tacitus studied rhetoric in Rome to prepare for a career in law and politics; like Pliny, he may
have studied under Quintilian[15] (c. 35 AD – c. 100). In 77 or 78, he married Julia Agricola, daughter of the
famous general Agricola.[16] Little is known of their domestic life, save that Tacitus loved hunting and the
outdoors.[17] He started his career (probably the latus clavus, mark of the senator)[18] under Vespasian[19] (reigned
69–79), but entered political life as a quaestor in 81 or 82 under Titus.[20] He advanced steadily through
the cursus honorum, becoming praetor in 88 and a quindecimvir, a member of the priestly college in charge of
the Sibylline Books and the Secular games.[21] He gained acclaim as a lawyer and as an orator; his skill in public
speaking ironically counterpoints his cognomen Tacitus ("silent").
He served in the provinces from c. 89 to c. 93, either in command of a legion or in a civilian post.[22] He and his
property survived Domitian's reign of terror (81–96), but the experience left him jaded and perhaps ashamed at
his own complicity, giving him the hatred of tyranny evident in his works.[23] The Agricola, chs. 44–45, is
illustrative:
Agricola was spared those later years during which Domitian, leaving now no interval or breathing space of
time, but, as it were, with one continuous blow, drained the life-blood of the Commonwealth... It was not long
before our hands dragged Helvidius to prison, before we gazed on the dying looks of Mauricus and Rusticus,
before we were steeped in Senecio's innocent blood. Even Nero turned his eyes away, and did not gaze upon
the atrocities which he ordered; with Domitian it was the chief part of our miseries to see and to be seen, to
know that our sighs were being recorded...
From his seat in the Senate, he became suffect consul in 97 during the reign of Nerva, being the first of his
family to do so. During his tenure, he reached the height of his fame as an orator when he delivered the funeral
oration for the famous veteran soldier Lucius Verginius Rufus.[24]
In the following year, he wrote and published the Agricola and Germania, foreshadowing the literary endeavors
that would occupy him until his death.[25] Afterwards, he absented himself from public life, but returned
during Trajan's reign (98–117). In 100, he and his friend Pliny the Younger prosecuted Marius
Priscus [la] (proconsul of Africa) for corruption. Priscus was found guilty and sent into exile; Pliny wrote a few
days later that Tacitus had spoken "with all the majesty which characterizes his usual style of oratory". [26]
A lengthy absence from politics and law followed while he wrote the Histories and the Annals. In 112 to 113, he
held the highest civilian governorship, that of the Roman province of Asia in Western Anatolia,[27] recorded in the
inscription found at Mylasa mentioned above. A passage in the Annals fixes 116 as the terminus post quem of
his death, which may have been as late as 125 or even 130. It seems that he survived both Pliny (died c. 113)
and Trajan (died 117).[28] It remains unknown whether Tacitus had any children. The Augustan History reports
that Emperor Marcus Claudius Tacitus (reigned 275–276) claimed him for an ancestor and provided for the
preservation of his works, but this story may be fraudulent, like much of the Augustan History.[29]
Works
See also: List of persons mentioned in the works of Tacitus
The title page of Justus Lipsius's 1598 edition of the complete works of Tacitus, bearing the stamps of the Bibliotheca
Comunale in Empoli, Italy
Five works ascribed to Tacitus have survived (albeit with lacunae), the most substantial of which are
the Annals and the Histories. This canon (with approximate dates) consists of:
(98) De vita Iulii Agricolae (The Life of Agricola)
(98) De origine et situ Germanorum (Germania)
(102) Dialogus de oratoribus (Dialogue on Oratory)
(105) Historiae (Histories)
(117) Ab excessu divi Augusti (Annals)
History of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus
The Annals and the Histories, published separately, were meant to form a single edition of thirty books.
[30]
Although Tacitus wrote the Histories before the Annals, the events in the Annals precede the Histories;
together they form a continuous narrative from the death of Augustus (14) to the death of Domitian (96).
Though most has been lost, what remains is an invaluable record of the era. The first half of the Annals
survived in a single copy of a manuscript from Corvey Abbey, and the second half from a single copy of a
manuscript from Monte Cassino, and so it is remarkable that they survived at all.
The Histories
Main article: Histories (Tacitus)
In an early chapter of the Agricola, Tacitus asserts that he wishes to speak about the years of Domitian, Nerva
and Trajan. In the Histories the scope has changed; Tacitus says that he will deal with the age of Nerva and
Trajan at a later time. Instead, he will cover the period from the civil wars of the Year of Four Emperors and end
with the despotism of the Flavians. Only the first four books and twenty-six chapters of the fifth book survive,
covering the year 69 and the first part of 70. The work is believed to have continued up to the death of Domitian
on September 18, 96. The fifth book contains—as a prelude to the account of Titus's suppression of the Great
Jewish Revolt—a short ethnographic survey of the ancient Jews, and it is an invaluable record of Roman
attitudes towards them.
The Annals
Main article: Annals (Tacitus)
The Annals, Tacitus' final work, covers the period from the death of Augustus Caesar in 14 AD. He wrote at
least sixteen books, but books 7–10 and parts of books 5, 6, 11 and 16 are missing. Book 6 ends with the
death of Tiberius and books 7 to 12 presumably covered the reigns of Caligula and Claudius. The remaining
books cover the reign of Nero, perhaps until his death in June 68 or until the end of that year to connect with
the Histories. The second half of book 16 is missing, ending with the events of 66. We do not know whether
Tacitus completed the work; he died before he could complete his planned histories of Nerva and Trajan and
no record survives of the work on Augustus Caesar and the beginnings of the Roman Empire, with which he
had planned to finish his work. The Annals is one of the earliest secular historical records to mention Christ,
which Tacitus does in connection with Nero's persecution of the Christians.
Annals 15.44, in the second Medicean manuscript
Monographs
Tacitus wrote three works with a more limited scope. Agricola, a biography of his father-in-law Gnaeus Julius
Agricola; the Germania, a monograph on the lands and tribes of barbarian Germania; and the Dialogus, a
dialogue on the art of rhetoric.
Germania
Main article: Germania (book)
The Germania (Latin title: De Origine et situ Germanorum) is an ethnographic work on the Germanic
tribes outside the Roman Empire. The Germania fits within a classical ethnographic tradition which includes
authors such as Herodotus and Julius Caesar. The book begins (chapters 1–27) with a description of the lands,
laws, and customs of the various tribes. Later chapters focus on descriptions of particular tribes, beginning with
those who lived closest to the Roman empire, and ending with a description of those who lived on the shores of
the Baltic Sea, such as the Fenni. Tacitus had written a similar, albeit shorter, piece in his Agricola (chapters
10––13).
Agricola (De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae)
Main article: Agricola (book)
The Agricola (written c. 98) recounts the life of Gnaeus Julius Agricola, an eminent Roman general and Tacitus'
father-in-law; it also covers, briefly, the geography and ethnography of ancient Britain. As in the Germania,
Tacitus favorably contrasts the liberty of the native Britons with the tyranny and corruption of the Empire; the
book also contains eloquent polemics against the greed of Rome, one of which, that Tacitus claims is from a
speech by Calgacus, ends by asserting that Auferre trucidare rapere falsis nominibus imperium, atque ubi
solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant. (To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and
where they make a desert, they call it peace. —Oxford Revised Translation).
Dialogus
Main article: Dialogus de oratoribus
The style of the Dialogus follows Cicero's models for Latin rhetoric.
There is uncertainty about when Tacitus wrote Dialogus de oratoribus. Many characteristics set it apart from
the other works of Tacitus, so that its authenticity has at various times been questioned. It is likely to be early
work, indebted to the author's rhetorical training, since its style imitates that of the foremost Roman
orator Cicero. It lacks (for example) the incongruities that are typical of his mature historical works.
The Dialogus is dedicated to Fabius Iustus, a consul in 102 AD.
Literary style
Tacitus's writings are known for their dense prose that seldom glosses the facts, in contrast to the style of some
of his contemporaries, such as Plutarch. When he writes about a near-defeat of the Roman army in Ann. I, 63
he does so with brevity of description rather than embellishment.
In most of his writings he keeps to a chronological narrative order, only seldom outlining the bigger picture,
leaving the readers to construct that picture for themselves. Nonetheless, where he does use broad strokes, for
example, in the opening paragraphs of the Annals, he uses a few condensed phrases which take the reader to
the heart of the story.
Approach to history
Tacitus's historical style owes some debt to Sallust. His historiography offers penetrating—often pessimistic—
insights into the psychology of power politics, blending straightforward descriptions of events, moral lessons,
and tightly focused dramatic accounts. Tacitus's own declaration regarding his approach to history (Annals I,1)
is well known:
"inde consilium mihi ... tradere ... sine ira et studio, my purpose is to relate ... without either anger or zeal,
quorum causas procul habeo." motives from which I am far removed.
There has been much scholarly discussion about Tacitus' "neutrality". Throughout his writing, he is
preoccupied with the balance of power between the Senate and the Emperors, and the increasing
corruption of the governing classes of Rome as they adjusted to the ever-growing wealth and power of the
empire. In Tacitus's view, Senators squandered their cultural inheritance—that of free speech—to placate
their (rarely benign) emperor.
Tacitus noted the increasing dependence of the emperor on the goodwill of his armies. The Julio-
Claudians eventually gave way to generals, who followed Julius Caesar (and Sulla and Pompey) in
recognizing that military might could secure them the political power in Rome.(Hist.1.4)
Welcome as the death of Nero had been in the first burst of joy, yet it had not only roused various
emotions in Rome, among the Senators, the people, or the soldiery of the capital, it had also excited all the
legions and their generals; for now had been divulged that secret of the empire, that emperors could be
made elsewhere than at Rome.
Tacitus's political career was largely lived out under the emperor Domitian. His experience of the tyranny,
corruption, and decadence of that era (81–96) may explain the bitterness and irony of his political analysis.
He draws our attention to the dangers of power without accountability, love of power untempered by
principle, and the apathy and corruption engendered by the concentration of wealth generated through
trade and conquest by the empire.
Nonetheless, the image he builds of Tiberius throughout the first six books of the Annals is neither
exclusively bleak nor approving: most scholars view the image of Tiberius as predominantly positive in the
first books, and predominantly negative after the intrigues of Sejanus. The entrance of Tiberius in the first
chapters of the first book is dominated by the hypocrisy of the new emperor and his courtiers. In the later
books, some respect is evident for the cleverness of the old emperor in securing his position.
In general, Tacitus does not fear to praise and to criticize the same person, often noting what he takes to
be their more-admirable and less-admirable properties. One of Tacitus's hallmarks is refraining
from conclusively taking sides for or against persons he describes, which has led some to interpret his
works as both supporting and rejecting the imperial system (see Tacitean studies, Black vs. Red Tacitists).
Prose
His Latin style is highly praised.[31] His style, although it has a grandeur and eloquence (thanks to Tacitus's
education in rhetoric), is extremely concise, even epigrammatic—the sentences are rarely flowing or
beautiful, but their point is always clear. The style has been both derided as "harsh, unpleasant, and
thorny" and praised as "grave, concise, and pithily eloquent".
A passage of Annals 1.1, where Tacitus laments the state of the historiography regarding the last
four emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, illustrates his style: "The histories of Tiberius, Gaius, Claudius
and Nero, while they were in power, were falsified through terror and after their death were written under
the irritation of a recent hatred",[32] or in a word-by-word translation:
Tiberiī Gāīque et Claudiī ac Nerōnis rēs Tiberius', Gaius' and Claudius' as well as Nero's acts
flōrentibus ipsīs—ob metum—falsae, while flourishing themselves—out of fear—counterfeited,
postquam occiderant—recentibus ōdiīs— after they came to fall—resulting from new-found hate—
compositae related
sunt. are.
(interpunction and linebreaks added for clarity)
Compared to the Ciceronian period, where sentences were usually the length of a paragraph and
artfully constructed with nested pairs of carefully matched sonorous phrases, this is short and to the
point. But it is also very individual. Note the three different ways of saying and in the first line (-que, et,
ac), and especially the matched second and third lines. They are parallel in sense but not in sound;
the pairs of words ending "…-entibus …-is" are crossed over in a way that deliberately breaks the
Ciceronian conventions—which one would however need to be acquainted with to see the novelty of
Tacitus' style. Some readers, then and now, find this teasing of their expectations merely irritating.
Others find the deliberate discord, playing against the evident parallelism of the two lines, stimulating
and intriguing.[33]
His historical works focus on the motives of the characters, often with penetrating insight—though it is
questionable how much of his insight is correct, and how much is convincing only because of his
rhetorical skill.[34] He is at his best when exposing hypocrisy and dissimulation; for example, he follows
a narrative recounting Tiberius's refusal of the title pater patriae by recalling the institution of a law
forbidding any "treasonous" speech or writings—and the frivolous prosecutions which resulted
(Annals, 1.72). Elsewhere (Annals 4.64–66) he compares Tiberius's public distribution of fire relief to
his failure to stop the perversions and abuses of justice which he had begun. Although this kind of
insight has earned him praise, he has also been criticised for ignoring the larger context.
Tacitus owes most, both in language and in method, to Sallust, and Ammianus Marcellinus is the later
historian whose work most closely approaches him in style.
Sources
Tacitus makes use of the official sources of the Roman state: the acta senatus (the minutes of the
sessions of the Senate) and the acta diurna populi Romani (a collection of the acts of the government
and news of the court and capital). He also read collections of emperors' speeches, such as those of
Tiberius and Claudius. He is generally seen[by whom?] as a scrupulous historian who paid careful attention
to his sources. The minor inaccuracies in the Annals may be due to Tacitus dying before he had
finished (and therefore before he had proof-read) his work.
Tacitus cites some of his sources directly, among them Cluvius Rufus, Fabius Rusticus and Pliny the
Elder, who had written Bella Germaniae and a historical work which was the continuation of that
of Aufidius Bassus. Tacitus also uses collections of letters (epistolarium). He also took information
from exitus illustrium virorum. These were a collection of books by those who were antithetical to the
emperors. They tell of sacrifices by martyrs to freedom, especially the men who committed suicide.
While he places no value on the Stoic theory of suicide and views suicides as ostentatious and
politically useless, Tacitus often gives prominence to speeches made by those about to commit
suicide, for example Cremutius Cordus' speech in Ann. IV, 34–35.
Editions
Damon, Cynthia (2003) Tacitus: Histories Book I. Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics.
Cambridge University Press.
Ash, Rhiannon (2007) Tacitus: Histories Book II. Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics.Cambridge
University Press.
Claudius Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (/ˈtɒləmi/; Koinē Greek: Κλαύδιος Πτολεμαῖος, Klaúdios Ptolemaîos [kláwdios
ptolɛmɛ́os]; Latin: Claudius Ptolemaeus; c. AD 100 – c. 170)[2] was a
Greek mathematician, astronomer, geographer and astrologer. He lived in the city of Alexandria in the Roman
province of Egypt, under the rule of the Roman Empire,[3] had a Latin name, which several historians have
taken to imply he was also a Roman citizen,[4] cited Greek philosophers, and used Babylonian observations and
Babylonian lunar theory. The 14th-century astronomer Theodore Meliteniotes gave his birthplace as the
prominent Greek city Ptolemais Hermiou (Greek: Πτολεμαΐς ‘Ερμείου) in the Thebaid (Greek: Θηβαΐδα
[Θηβαΐς]). This attestation is quite late, however, and there is no other evidence to confirm or contradict it. [5] He
died in Alexandria around AD 168.[6]
Ptolemy wrote several scientific treatises, three of which were of importance to later Byzantine, Islamic and
Western European science. The first is the astronomical treatise now known as the Almagest, although it was
originally entitled the Mathematical Treatise (Μαθηματικὴ Σύνταξις, Mathēmatikē Syntaxis) and then known as
the Great Treatise (Ἡ Μεγάλη Σύνταξις, Hē Megálē Syntaxis). The second is the Geography, which is a
thorough discussion of the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world. The third is the astrological
treatise in which he attempted to adapt horoscopic astrology to the Aristotelian natural philosophy of his day.
This is sometimes known as the Apotelesmatika (Ἀποτελεσματικά) but more commonly known as
the Tetrabiblos from the Greek (Τετράβιβλος) meaning "Four Books" or by the Latin Quadripartitum
Ptolemy
Early Baroque artist's rendition[1]
Background
Engraving of a crowned Ptolemy being guided by the muse of Astronomy, Urania, from Margarita Philosophica by Gregor Reisch,
1508. Although Abu Ma'shar believed Ptolemy to be one of the Ptolemies who ruled Egypt after the conquest of Alexander, the title
‘King Ptolemy’ is generally viewed as a mark of respect for Ptolemy's elevated standing in science.
Ptolemaeus (Πτολεμαῖος Ptolemaios) is a Greek name. It occurs once in Greek mythology, and is of Homeric
form.[7] It was common among the Macedonian upper class at the time of Alexander the Great, and there were
several of this name among Alexander's army, one of whom made himself pharaoh in 323 BC: Ptolemy I Soter,
the first king of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. All male kings of Hellenistic Egypt, until Egypt became a Roman
province in 30 BC ending the Macedonian family's rule, were also Ptolemies.[citation needed]
The name Claudius is a Roman name, belonging to the gens Claudia; the peculiar multipart form of the whole
name Claudius Ptolemaeus is a Roman custom, characteristic of Roman citizens. Several historians have
made the deduction that this indicates that Ptolemy would have been a Roman citizen.[9] Gerald Toomer, the
translator of Ptolemy's Almagest into English, suggests that citizenship was probably granted to one of
Ptolemy's ancestors by either the emperor Claudius or the emperor Nero.[citation needed]
The 9th-century Persian astronomer Abu Maʿshar presents Ptolemy as a member of Egypt's royal lineage,
stating that the descendants of Alexander's general Ptolemy I, who ruled Egypt, were wise "and included
Ptolemy the Wise, who composed the book of the Almagest". Abu Maʿshar recorded a belief that a different
member of this royal line "composed the book on astrology and attributed it to Ptolemy". We can evidence
historical confusion on this point from Abu Maʿshar's subsequent remark: "It is sometimes said that the very
learned man who wrote the book of astrology also wrote the book of the Almagest. The correct answer is not
known."[10] Not much positive evidence is known on the subject of Ptolemy's ancestry, apart from what can be
drawn from the details of his name (see above), although modern scholars have concluded that Abu Maʿshar's
account is erroneous.[11] It is no longer doubted that the astronomer who wrote the Almagest also wrote
the Tetrabiblos as its astrological counterpart.[12]
Ptolemy wrote in ancient Greek and can be shown to have utilized Babylonian astronomical data.[13][14] He might
have been a Roman citizen, but was ethnically either a Greek[2][15][16] or a Hellenized Egyptian.[15][17][18] He was often
known in later Arabic sources as "the Upper Egyptian",[19] suggesting he may have had origins in
southern Egypt.[20] Later Arabic astronomers, geographers and physicists referred to him by his name
ْ ب Baṭlumyus.[21]
in Arabic: َطلُمْ يوس
Astronomy
Almagest
Ptolemy with an armillary sphere model, by Joos van Ghent and Pedro Berruguete, 1476, Louvre, Paris
Ptolemy's Almagest is the only surviving comprehensive ancient treatise on astronomy. Babylonian
astronomers had developed arithmetical techniques for calculating astronomical phenomena; Greek
astronomers such as Hipparchus had produced geometric models for calculating celestial motions. Ptolemy,
however, claimed to have derived his geometrical models from selected astronomical observations by his
predecessors spanning more than 800 years, though astronomers have for centuries suspected that his
models' parameters were adopted independently of observations. [22] Ptolemy presented his astronomical
models in convenient tables, which could be used to compute the future or past position of the planets.
[23]
The Almagest also contains a star catalogue, which is a version of a catalogue created by Hipparchus. Its list
of forty-eight constellations is ancestral to the modern system of constellations, but unlike the modern system
they did not cover the whole sky (only the sky Hipparchus could see). Across Europe, the Middle East and
North Africa in the Medieval period, it was the authoritative text on astronomy, with its author becoming an
almost mythical figure, called Ptolemy, King of Alexandria. [24] The Almagest was preserved, like most of extant
Classical Greek science, in Arabic manuscripts (hence its familiar name). Because of its reputation, it was
widely sought and was translated twice into Latin in the 12th century, once in Sicily and again in Spain.
[25]
Ptolemy's model, like those of his predecessors, was geocentric and was almost universally accepted until
the appearance of simpler heliocentric models during the scientific revolution.
His Planetary Hypotheses went beyond the mathematical model of the Almagest to present a physical
realization of the universe as a set of nested spheres,[26] in which he used the epicycles of his planetary model
to compute the dimensions of the universe. He estimated the Sun was at an average distance of 1,210 Earth
radii, while the radius of the sphere of the fixed stars was 20,000 times the radius of the Earth. [27]
Ptolemy presented a useful tool for astronomical calculations in his Handy Tables, which tabulated all the data
needed to compute the positions of the Sun, Moon and planets, the rising and setting of the stars,
and eclipses of the Sun and Moon. Ptolemy's Handy Tables provided the model for later astronomical tables
or zījes. In the Phaseis (Risings of the Fixed Stars), Ptolemy gave a parapegma, a star calendar or almanac,
based on the appearances and disappearances of stars over the course of the solar year. [28]
The Geography
Main article: Geography (Ptolemy)
Geography by Ptolemy, Latin manuscript of the early 15th century
Ptolemy's other main work is his Geography (also called the Geographia), a compilation of geographical
coordinates of the part of the world known to the Roman Empire during his time. He relied somewhat on the
work of an earlier geographer, Marinos of Tyre, and on gazetteers of the Roman and ancient Persian Empire.
[citation needed]
He also acknowledged ancient astronomer Hipparchus for having provided the elevation of the north
celestial pole[29] for a few cities.[30]
The first part of the Geography is a discussion of the data and of the methods he used. As with the model of
the Solar System in the Almagest, Ptolemy put all this information into a grand scheme. Following Marinos, he
assigned coordinates to all the places and geographic features he knew, in a grid that spanned the
globe. Latitude was measured from the equator, as it is today, but Ptolemy preferred[31] to express it as climata,
the length of the longest day rather than degrees of arc: the length of the midsummer day increases from 12h
to 24h as one goes from the equator to the polar circle. In books 2 through 7, he used degrees and put
the meridian of 0 longitude at the most western land he knew, the "Blessed Islands", often identified as
the Canary Islands, as suggested by the location of the six dots labelled the "FORTUNATA" islands near the
left extreme of the blue sea of Ptolemy's map here reproduced.
A 15th-century manuscript copy of the Ptolemy world map, reconstituted from Ptolemy's Geography (circa AD 150), indicating the
countries of "Serica" and "Sinae" (China) at the extreme east, beyond the island of "Taprobane" (Sri Lanka, oversized) and the
"Aurea Chersonesus" (Malay Peninsula).
Prima Europe tabula. A 15th-century copy of Ptolemy's map of Britain and Ireland.
Ptolemy also devised and provided instructions on how to create maps both of the whole inhabited world
(oikoumenè) and of the Roman provinces. In the second part of the Geography, he provided the
necessary topographic lists, and captions for the maps. His oikoumenè spanned 180 degrees of longitude from
the Blessed Islands in the Atlantic Ocean to the middle of China, and about 80 degrees of latitude
from Shetland to anti-Meroe (east coast of Africa); Ptolemy was well aware that he knew about only a quarter
of the globe, and an erroneous extension of China southward suggests his sources did not reach all the way to
the Pacific Ocean.
The maps in surviving manuscripts of Ptolemy's Geography, however, only date from about 1300, after the text
was rediscovered by Maximus Planudes. It seems likely that the topographical tables in books 2–7 are
cumulative texts – texts which were altered and added to as new knowledge became available in the centuries
after Ptolemy.[32] This means that information contained in different parts of the Geography is likely to be of
different dates.
A printed map from the 15th century depicting Ptolemy's description of the Ecumene, (1482, Johannes Schnitzer, engraver).
Maps based on scientific principles had been made since the time of Eratosthenes, in the 3rd century BC, but
Ptolemy improved map projections. It is known from a speech by Eumenius that a world map, an orbis pictus,
doubtless based on the Geography, was on display in a school in Augustodunum, Gaul in the 3rd century.[33] In
the 15th century, Ptolemy's Geography began to be printed with engraved maps; the earliest printed edition
with engraved maps was produced in Bologna in 1477, followed quickly by a Roman edition in 1478 (Campbell,
1987). An edition printed at Ulm in 1482, including woodcut maps, was the first one printed north of the Alps.
The maps look distorted when compared to modern maps, because Ptolemy's data were inaccurate. One
reason is that Ptolemy estimated the size of the Earth as too small: while Eratosthenes found 700 stadia for a
great circle degree on the globe, Ptolemy uses 500 stadia in the Geography. It is highly probable that these
were the same stadion, since Ptolemy switched from the former scale to the latter between the Syntaxis and
the Geography, and severely readjusted longitude degrees accordingly. See also Ancient Greek units of
measurement and History of geodesy.
Because Ptolemy derived many of his key latitudes from crude longest day values, his latitudes are erroneous
on average by roughly a degree (2 degrees for Byzantium, 4 degrees for Carthage), though capable ancient
astronomers knew their latitudes to more like a minute. (Ptolemy's own latitude was in error by 14'.) He agreed
(Geography 1.4) that longitude was best determined by simultaneous observation of lunar eclipses, yet he was
so out of touch with the scientists of his day that he knew of no such data more recent than 500 years before
(Arbela eclipse). When switching from 700 stadia per degree to 500, he (or Marinos) expanded longitude
differences between cities accordingly (a point first realized by P. Gosselin in 1790), resulting in serious over-
stretching of the Earth's east-west scale in degrees, though not distance. Achieving highly precise longitude
remained a problem in geography until the application of Galileo's Jovian moon method in the 18th century. It
must be added that his original topographic list cannot be reconstructed: the long tables with numbers were
transmitted to posterity through copies containing many scribal errors, and people have always been adding or
improving the topographic data: this is a testimony to the persistent popularity of this influential work in
the history of cartography.
Astrology
: Tetrabiblos
The mathematician Claudius Ptolemy 'the Alexandrian', as depicted by a 16th-century engraving [1]
Ptolemy has been referred to as "a pro-astrological authority of the highest magnitude". [34] His astrological
treatise, a work in four parts, is known by the Greek term Tetrabiblos, or the Latin equivalent Quadripartitum:
"Four Books". Ptolemy's own title is unknown, but may have been the term found in some Greek
manuscripts: Apotelesmatika, roughly meaning "Astrological Outcomes", "Effects" or "Prognostics". [35][36]
As a source of reference, the Tetrabiblos is said to have "enjoyed almost the authority of a Bible among the
astrological writers of a thousand years or more".[37] It was first translated from Arabic into Latin by Plato of
Tivoli (Tiburtinus) in 1138, while he was in Spain.[38] The Tetrabiblos is an extensive and continually reprinted
treatise on the ancient principles of horoscopic astrology. That it did not quite attain the unrivaled status of
the Almagest was, perhaps, because it did not cover some popular areas of the subject, particularly electional
astrology (interpreting astrological charts for a particular moment to determine the outcome of a course of
action to be initiated at that time), and medical astrology, which were later adoptions.
The great popularity that the Tetrabiblos did possess might be attributed to its nature as an exposition of the art
of astrology, and as a compendium of astrological lore, rather than as a manual. It speaks in general terms,
avoiding illustrations and details of practice. Ptolemy was concerned to defend astrology by defining its
limits, compiling astronomical data that he believed was reliable and dismissing practices (such as considering
the numerological significance of names) that he believed to be without sound basis.
Much of the content of the Tetrabiblos was collected from earlier sources; Ptolemy's achievement was to order
his material in a systematic way, showing how the subject could, in his view, be rationalized. It is, indeed,
presented as the second part of the study of astronomy of which the Almagest was the first, concerned with the
influences of the celestial bodies in the sublunary sphere. Thus explanations of a sort are provided for the
astrological effects of the planets, based upon their combined effects of heating, cooling, moistening, and
drying.
Ptolemy's astrological outlook was quite practical: he thought that astrology was like medicine, that
is conjectural, because of the many variable factors to be taken into account: the race, country,
and upbringing of a person affects an individual's personality as much as, if not more than, the positions of the
Sun, Moon, and planets at the precise moment of their birth, so Ptolemy saw astrology as something to be
used in life but in no way relied on entirely.
A collection of one hundred aphorisms about astrology called the Centiloquium, ascribed to Ptolemy, was
widely reproduced and commented on by Arabic, Latin and Hebrew scholars, and often bound together in
medieval manuscripts after the Tetrabiblos as a kind of summation. It is now believed to be a much
later pseudepigraphical composition. The identity and date of the actual author of the work, referred to now
as Pseudo-Ptolemy, remains the subject of conjecture.[dubious – discuss]
Criticism
Despite Ptolemy's prominence as a philosopher, the Dutch historian of science Eduard Jan
Dijksterhuis criticizes the Tetrabiblos, stating that "it only remain puzzling that the very writer of the Almagest,
who had taught how to develop astronomy from accurate observations and mathematical constructions, could
put together such a system of superficial analogies and unfounded assertions." [39]
Music
Ptolemy's intense diatonic scale
Ptolemy also wrote an influential work, Harmonics, on music theory and the mathematics of music.[40] After
criticizing the approaches of his predecessors, Ptolemy argued for basing musical intervals on mathematical
ratios (in contrast to the followers of Aristoxenus and in agreement with the followers of Pythagoras), backed up
by empirical observation (in contrast to the overly theoretical approach of the Pythagoreans). Ptolemy wrote
about how musical notes could be translated into mathematical equations and vice versa in Harmonics. This is
called Pythagorean tuning because it was first discovered by Pythagoras. However, Pythagoras believed that
the mathematics of music should be based on the specific ratio of 3:2, whereas Ptolemy merely believed that it
should just generally involve tetrachords and octaves. He presented his own divisions of the tetrachord and the
octave, which he derived with the help of a monochord. His Harmonics never had the influence of
his Almagest or Planetary Hypotheses, but a part of it (Book III) did encourage Kepler in his own musings on
the harmony of the world (Kepler, Harmonice Mundi, Appendix to Book V).[41] Ptolemy's astronomical interests
also appeared in a discussion of the "music of the spheres".
Optics
Main article: Optics (Ptolemy)
His Optics is a work that survives only in a poor Arabic translation and in about twenty manuscripts of a Latin
version of the Arabic, which was translated by Eugene of Palermo (c. 1154). In it, Ptolemy writes about
properties of light, including reflection, refraction, and colour. The work is a significant part of the early history
of optics[42] and influenced the more famous 11th-century Book of Optics by Alhazen (Ibn al-Haytham). It
contains the earliest surviving table of refraction from air to water, for which the values (with the exception of
the 60° angle of incidence), although historically praised as experimentally derived, appear to have been
obtained from an arithmetic progression.[43]
The work is also important for the early history of perception. Ptolemy combined the mathematical,
philosophical and physiological traditions. He held an extramission-intromission theory of vision: the rays (or
flux) from the eye formed a cone, the vertex being within the eye, and the base defining the visual field. The
rays were sensitive, and conveyed information back to the observer's intellect about the distance and
orientation of surfaces. Size and shape were determined by the visual angle subtended at the eye combined
with perceived distance and orientation. This was one of the early statements of size-distance invariance as a
cause of perceptual size and shape constancy, a view supported by the Stoics. [44] Ptolemy offered explanations
for many phenomena concerning illumination and colour, size, shape, movement and binocular vision. He also
divided illusions into those caused by physical or optical factors and those caused by judgmental factors. He
offered an obscure explanation of the sun or moon illusion (the enlarged apparent size on the horizon) based
on the difficulty of looking upwards.[45][46]
Named after Ptolemy
There are several characters or items named after Ptolemy, including:
The crater Ptolemaeus on the Moon;
The crater Ptolemaeus[47] on Mars;
The asteroid 4001 Ptolemaeus;
The Ptolemy stone used in the mathematics courses at both US St. John's College campuses.
Ptolemy's theorem on distances in a cyclic quadrilateral, and its generalization, Ptolemy's inequality, to
non-cyclic quadrilaterals
Ptolemaic graphs, the graphs whose distances obey Ptolemy's inequality
Ptolemy Slocum, actor
Geoffrey Chaucer.
Geoffrey Chaucer (/ˈtʃɔːsər/; c. 1343 – 25 October 1400) was an English poet and author. Widely seen as the
greatest English poet of the Middle Ages, he is best known for The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer has been styled
the "Father of English literature". He was the first writer buried in Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey.
[1]
Chaucer also gained fame as a philosopher and astronomer, composing the scientific A Treatise on the
Astrolabe for his 10-year-old son Lewis. He maintained a career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier,
diplomat, and member of parliament. Among Chaucer's many other works are The Book of the Duchess, The
House of Fame, The Legend of Good Women, and Troilus and Criseyde. He is seen as crucial in legitimising
the literary use of the Middle English vernacular when the dominant literary languages in England were
still French and Latin.
Geoffrey Chaucer
Portrait of Chaucer (19th century, held by the National Library of Wales)
Arms of Geoffrey Chaucer: Per pale argent and gules, a bend counterchanged
Arms of Chaucer (modern), as adopted by his son Thomas Chaucer and as later quartered by his heirs de la
Pole Dukes of Suffolk: Argent, a chief gules overall a lion rampant double queued or. Seemingly a differenced
version of Burghersh, the family of his heiress wife
Origin
Chaucer was born in London sometime around 1343, though the precise date and location remain unknown.
His father and grandfather were both London vintners, and several previous generations had been merchants
in Ipswich. His family name is derived from the French chausseur, meaning "shoemaker".[2] In 1324, his father
John Chaucer was kidnapped by an aunt in the hope of marrying the 12-year-old to her daughter in an attempt
to keep property in Ipswich. The aunt was imprisoned and fined £250, equivalent to £184,121 in 2018, which
suggests that the family was financially secure.[3]
John Chaucer married Agnes Copton, who inherited properties in 1349, including 24 shops in London from her
uncle Hamo de Copton, who is described in a will dated 3 April 1354 and listed in the City Hustings Roll as
"moneyer", said to be moneyer at the Tower of London. In the City Hustings Roll 110, 5, Ric II, dated June
1380, Chaucer refers to himself as me Galfridum Chaucer, filium Johannis Chaucer, Vinetarii, Londonie, which
translates as: "Geoffrey Chaucer, son of John Chaucer, vintners, London".
Chaucer as a pilgrim from the Ellesmere manuscript
Career
While records concerning the lives of his contemporary friends, William Langland and the Pearl Poet, are
practically non-existent, since Chaucer was a public servant, his official life is very well documented, with nearly
five hundred written items testifying to his career. The first of the "Chaucer Life Records" appears in 1357, in
the household accounts of Elizabeth de Burgh, the Countess of Ulster, when he became the noblewoman's
page through his father's connections,[4] a common medieval form of apprenticeship for boys into knighthood or
prestige appointments. The countess was married to Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the second surviving son of the
king, Edward III, and the position brought the teenage Chaucer into the close court circle, where he was to
remain for the rest of his life. He also worked as a courtier, a diplomat, and a civil servant, as well as working
for the king from 1389 to 1391 as Clerk of the King's Works.[5]
In 1359, in the early stages of the Hundred Years' War, Edward III invaded France and Chaucer travelled
with Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, Elizabeth's husband, as part of the English army. In 1360, he was
captured during the siege of Rheims. Edward paid £16 for his ransom,[6] a considerable sum, and Chaucer was
released.
Chaucer crest A unicorn's head with canting arms of Roet below: Gules, three Catherine Wheels or (French rouet = "spinning
wheel"). Ewelme Church, Oxfordshire. Possibly funeral helm of his son Thomas Chaucer
After this, Chaucer's life is uncertain, but he seems to have travelled in France, Spain, and Flanders, possibly
as a messenger and perhaps even going on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Around 1366, Chaucer
married Philippa (de) Roet. She was a lady-in-waiting to Edward III's queen, Philippa of Hainault, and a sister
of Katherine Swynford, who later (c. 1396) became the third wife of John of Gaunt. It is uncertain how many
children Chaucer and Philippa had, but three or four are most commonly cited. His son, Thomas Chaucer, had
an illustrious career, as chief butler to four kings, envoy to France, and Speaker of the House of Commons.
Thomas's daughter, Alice, married the Duke of Suffolk. Thomas's great-grandson (Geoffrey's great-great-
grandson), John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, was the heir to the throne designated by Richard III before he was
deposed. Geoffrey's other children probably included Elizabeth Chaucy, a nun at Barking Abbey,[7][8] Agnes, an
attendant at Henry IV's coronation; and another son, Lewis Chaucer. Chaucer's "Treatise on the Astrolabe"
was written for Lewis.[9]
According to tradition, Chaucer studied law in the Inner Temple (an Inn of Court) at this time. He became a
member of the royal court of Edward III as a valet de chambre, yeoman, or esquire on 20 June 1367, a position
which could entail a wide variety of tasks. His wife also received a pension for court employment. He travelled
abroad many times, at least some of them in his role as a valet. In 1368, he may have attended the wedding
of Lionel of Antwerp to Violante Visconti, daughter of Galeazzo II Visconti, in Milan. Two other literary stars of
the era were in attendance: Jean Froissart and Petrarch. Around this time, Chaucer is believed to have
written The Book of the Duchess in honour of Blanche of Lancaster, the late wife of John of Gaunt, who died in
1369 of the plague.[10]
Chaucer travelled to Picardy the next year as part of a military expedition; in 1373 he
visited Genoa and Florence. Numerous scholars such as Skeat, Boitani, and Rowland [11] suggested that, on this
Italian trip, he came into contact with Petrarch or Boccaccio. They introduced him to medieval Italian poetry, the
forms and stories of which he would use later. [12][13] The purposes of a voyage in 1377 are mysterious, as details
within the historical record conflict. Later documents suggest it was a mission, along with Jean Froissart, to
arrange a marriage between the future King Richard II and a French princess, thereby ending the Hundred
Years War. If this was the purpose of their trip, they seem to have been unsuccessful, as no wedding occurred.
In 1378, Richard II sent Chaucer as an envoy (secret dispatch) to the Visconti and to Sir John Hawkwood,
English condottiere (mercenary leader) in Milan. It has been speculated that it was Hawkwood on whom
Chaucer based his character the Knight in the Canterbury Tales, for a description matches that of a 14th-
century condottiere.
A 19th-century depiction of Chaucer
A possible indication that his career as a writer was appreciated came when Edward III granted Chaucer "a
gallon of wine daily for the rest of his life" for some unspecified task. This was an unusual grant, but given on a
day of celebration, St George's Day, 1374, when artistic endeavours were traditionally rewarded, it is assumed
to have been another early poetic work. It is not known which, if any, of Chaucer's extant works prompted the
reward, but the suggestion of him as poet to a king places him as a precursor to later poets laureate. Chaucer
continued to collect the liquid stipend until Richard II came to power, after which it was converted to a monetary
grant on 18 April 1378.
Chaucer obtained the very substantial job of comptroller of the customs for the port of London, which he began
on 8 June 1374.[14] He must have been suited for the role as he continued in it for twelve years, a long time in
such a post at that time. His life goes undocumented for much of the next ten years, but it is believed that he
wrote (or began) most of his famous works during this period. He was mentioned in law papers of 4 May 1380,
involved in the raptus (rape or seizure) of Cecilia Chaumpaigne.[15] What was meant is unclear, but the incident
seems to have been resolved quickly with an exchange of money in June 1380 and did not leave a stain on
Chaucer's reputation. It is not known if Chaucer was in the City of London at the time of the Peasants' Revolt,
but if he was, he would have seen its leaders pass almost directly under his apartment window at Aldgate.[16]
While still working as comptroller, Chaucer appears to have moved to Kent, being appointed as one of the
commissioners of peace for Kent, at a time when French invasion was a possibility. He is thought to have
started work on The Canterbury Tales in the early 1380s. He also became a member of parliament for Kent in
1386, and attended the 'Wonderful Parliament' that year. He appears to have been present at most of the 71
days it sat, for which he was paid £24 9s. [17] On 15 October that year, he gave a deposition in the case
of Scrope v. Grosvenor.[18] There is no further reference after this date to Philippa, Chaucer's wife, and she is
presumed to have died in 1387. He survived the political upheavals caused by the Lords Appellants, despite
the fact that Chaucer knew some of the men executed over the affair quite well.
On 12 July 1389, Chaucer was appointed the clerk of the king's works, a sort of foreman organising most of the
king's building projects.[19] No major works were begun during his tenure, but he did conduct repairs
on Westminster Palace, St. George's Chapel, Windsor, continue building the wharf at the Tower of London,
and build the stands for a tournament held in 1390. It may have been a difficult job, but it paid well:
two shillings a day, more than three times his salary as a comptroller. Chaucer was also appointed keeper of
the lodge at the King's park in Feckenham, which was a largely honorary appointment. [20]
Later life
In September 1390, records say that Chaucer was robbed and possibly injured while conducting the business,
and he stopped working in this capacity on 17 June 1391. He began as Deputy Forester in the royal forest
of Petherton Park in North Petherton, Somerset on 22 June.[21] This was no sinecure, with maintenance an
important part of the job, although there were many opportunities to derive profit.
Richard II granted him an annual pension of 20 pounds in 1394 (roughly £25,000/US$33,000 in 2018 money),
[22]
and Chaucer's name fades from the historical record not long after Richard's overthrow in 1399. The last few
records of his life show his pension renewed by the new king, and his taking a lease on a residence within
the close of Westminster Abbey on 24 December 1399.[23] Henry IV renewed the grants assigned by Richard,
but The Complaint of Chaucer to his Purse hints that the grants might not have been paid. The last mention of
Chaucer is on 5 June 1400 when some money was paid which was owed to him.
Chaucer died of unknown causes on 25 October 1400, although the only evidence for this date comes from the
engraving on his tomb which was erected more than 100 years after his death. There is some
speculation[24] that he was murdered by enemies of Richard II or even on the orders of his successor Henry IV,
but the case is entirely circumstantial. Chaucer was buried in Westminster Abbey in London, as was his right
owing to his status as a tenant of the Abbey's close. In 1556, his remains were transferred to a more ornate
tomb, making him the first writer interred in the area now known as Poets' Corner.
Relationship to John of Gaunt
Chaucer was a close friend of John of Gaunt, the wealthy Duke of Lancaster and father of Henry IV, and he
served under Lancaster's patronage. Near the end of their lives, Lancaster and Chaucer became brothers-in-
law when Chaucer married Philippa (Pan) de Roet in 1366, and Lancaster married Phillippa's sister Katherine
Swynford (de Roet) in 1396.
Chaucer's Book of the Duchess (also known as the Deeth of Blaunche the Duchesse)[25] was written in
commemoration of Blanche of Lancaster, John of Gaunt's first wife. The poem refers to John and Blanche in
allegory as the narrator relates the tale of "A long castel with walles white/Be Seynt Johan, on a ryche hil"
(1318–1319) who is mourning grievously after the death of his love, "And goode faire White she het/That was
my lady name ryght" (948–949). The phrase "long castel" is a reference to Lancaster (also called "Loncastel"
and "Longcastell"), "walles white" is thought to be an oblique reference to Blanche, "Seynt Johan" was John of
Gaunt's name-saint, and "ryche hil" is a reference to Richmond. These references reveal the identity of the
grieving black knight of the poem as John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and Earl of Richmond. "White" is the
English translation of the French word "blanche", implying that the white lady was Blanche of Lancaster.[26]
Chaucer's short poem Fortune, believed to have been written in the 1390s, is also thought to refer to
Lancaster.[27][28] "Chaucer as narrator" openly defies Fortune, proclaiming that he has learned who his enemies
are through her tyranny and deceit, and declares "my suffisaunce" (15) and that "over himself hath the
maystrye" (14). Fortune, in turn, does not understand Chaucer's harsh words to her for she believes that she
has been kind to him, claims that he does not know what she has in store for him in the future, but most
importantly, "And eek thou hast thy beste frend alyve" (32, 40, 48). Chaucer retorts, "My frend maystow nat
reven, blind goddesse" (50) and orders her to take away those who merely pretend to be his
friends. Fortune turns her attention to three princes whom she implores to relieve Chaucer of his pain and
"Preyeth his beste frend of his noblesse/That to som beter estat he may atteyne" (78–79). The three princes
are believed to represent the dukes of Lancaster, York, and Gloucester, and a portion of line 76 ("as three of
you or tweyne") is thought to refer to the ordinance of 1390 which specified that no royal gift could be
authorised without the consent of at least two of the three dukes. [27] Most conspicuous in this short poem is the
number of references to Chaucer's "beste frend". Fortune states three times in her response to the plaintiff,
"And also, you still have your best friend alive" (32, 40, 48); she also refers to his "beste frend" in the envoy
when appealing to his "noblesse" to help Chaucer to a higher estate. The narrator makes a fifth reference when
he rails at Fortune that she shall not take his friend from him.
Religious beliefs
Chaucer's attitudes toward the Church should not be confused with his attitudes toward Christianity. He seems
to have respected and admired Christians and to have been one himself, though he also recognised that many
people in the church were venal and corrupt. [29] He writes in Canterbury Tales, "now I beg all those that listen to
this little treatise, or read it, that if there be anything in it that pleases them, they thank our Lord Jesus Christ for
it, from whom proceeds all understanding and goodness." [30]
Literary works
Portrait of Chaucer (16th century), f.1 – BL Add MS 5141. The arms are: Per pale argent and gules, a bend counterchanged
Title page of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, c. 1400
Chaucer's first major work was The Book of the Duchess, an elegy for Blanche of Lancaster who died in 1368.
Two other early works were Anelida and Arcite and The House of Fame. He wrote many of his major works in a
prolific period when he held the job of customs comptroller for London (1374 to 1386). His Parlement of
Foules, The Legend of Good Women, and Troilus and Criseyde all date from this time. It is believed that he
started The Canterbury Tales in the 1380s.
Chaucer also translated Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy and The Romance of the Rose by Guillaume de
Lorris (extended by Jean de Meun). Eustache Deschamps called himself a "nettle in Chaucer's garden of
poetry". In 1385, Thomas Usk made glowing mention of Chaucer, and John Gower also lauded him.[31]
Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe describes the form and use of the Astrolabe in detail and is sometimes
cited as the first example of technical writing in the English language, and it indicates that Chaucer was versed
in science in addition to his literary talents. Equatorie of the Planetis is a scientific work which was discovered
in 1952. It has language and handwriting similar to Chaucer's and it continues many of the ideas from the
Astrolabe. It also contains an example of early European encryption. [32] However, it is still uncertain whether or
not the work can be attributed to Chaucer.
Influence
Linguistic
Portrait of Chaucer from a manuscript by Thomas Hoccleve, who may have met Chaucer
Chaucer wrote in continental accentual-syllabic meter, a style which had developed since around the 12th
century as an alternative to the alliterative Anglo-Saxon metre.[33] Chaucer is known for metrical innovation,
inventing the rhyme royal, and he was one of the first English poets to use the five-stress line, a decasyllabic
cousin to the iambic pentameter, in his work, with only a few anonymous short works using it before him. [34] The
arrangement of these five-stress lines into rhyming couplets, first seen in his The Legend of Good Women, was
used in much of his later work and became one of the standard poetic forms in English. His early influence as a
satirist is also important, with the common humorous device, the funny accent of a regional dialect, apparently
making its first appearance in The Reeve's Tale.
The poetry of Chaucer, along with other writers of the era, is credited with helping to standardise the London
Dialect of the Middle English language from a combination of the Kentish and Midlands dialects. [35] This is
probably overstated; the influence of the court, chancery and bureaucracy – of which Chaucer was a part –
remains a more probable influence on the development of Standard English. Modern English is somewhat
distanced from the language of Chaucer's poems owing to the effect of the Great Vowel Shift some time after
his death. This change in the pronunciation of English, still not fully understood, makes the reading of Chaucer
difficult for the modern audience. The status of the final -e in Chaucer's verse is uncertain: it seems likely that
during the period of Chaucer's writing the final -e was dropping out of colloquial English and that its use was
somewhat irregular. Chaucer's versification suggests that the final -e is sometimes to be vocalised, and
sometimes to be silent; however, this remains a point on which there is disagreement. When it is vocalised,
most scholars pronounce it as a schwa. Apart from the irregular spelling, much of the vocabulary is
recognisable to the modern reader. Chaucer is also recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary as the first author
to use many common English words in his writings. These words were probably frequently used in the
language at the time but Chaucer, with his ear for common speech, is the earliest extant manuscript
source. Acceptable, alkali, altercation, amble, angrily, annex, annoyance, approaching, arbitration, armless, ar
my, arrogant, arsenic, arc, artillery and aspect are just some of the many English words first attested in
Chaucer.
Literary
Widespread knowledge of Chaucer's works is attested by the many poets who imitated or responded to his
writing. John Lydgate was one of the earliest poets to write continuations of Chaucer's
unfinished Tales while Robert Henryson's Testament of Cresseid completes the story of Cressida left
unfinished in his Troilus and Criseyde. Many of the manuscripts of Chaucer's works contain material from these
poets and later appreciations by the Romantic era poets were shaped by their failure to distinguish the later
"additions" from original Chaucer. Writers of the 17th and 18th centuries, such as John Dryden, admired
Chaucer for his stories, but not for his rhythm and rhyme, as few critics could then read Middle English and the
text had been butchered by printers, leaving a somewhat unadmirable mess. [36] It was not until the late 19th
century that the official Chaucerian canon, accepted today, was decided upon, largely as a result of Walter
William Skeat's work. Roughly seventy-five years after Chaucer's death, The Canterbury Tales was selected
by William Caxton to be one of the first books to be printed in England.
English
Chaucer is sometimes considered the source of the English vernacular tradition. His achievement for the
language can be seen as part of a general historical trend towards the creation of a vernacular literature, after
the example of Dante, in many parts of Europe. A parallel trend in Chaucer's own lifetime was underway in
Scotland through the work of his slightly earlier contemporary, John Barbour, and was likely to have been even
more general, as is evidenced by the example of the Pearl Poet in the north of England.
Although Chaucer's language is much closer to Modern English than the text of Beowulf, such that (unlike that
of Beowulf) a Modern English-speaker with a large vocabulary of archaic words may understand it, it differs
enough that most publications modernise his idiom. The following is a sample from the prologue of The
Summoner's Tale that compares Chaucer's text to a modern translation:
Original Text Modern Translation
This frere bosteth that he knoweth helle, This friar boasts that he knows hell,
And God it woot, that it is litel wonder; And God knows that it is little wonder;
Freres and feendes been but lyte asonder. Friars and fiends are seldom far apart.
For, pardee, ye han ofte tyme herd telle For, by God, you have ofttimes heard tell
How that a frere ravyshed was to helle How a friar was taken to hell
In spirit ones by a visioun; In spirit, once by a vision;
And as an angel ladde hym up and doun, And as an angel led him up and down,
To shewen hym the peynes that the were, To show him the pains that were there,
In al the place saugh he nat a frere; In all the place he saw not a friar;
Of oother folk he saugh ynowe in wo. Of other folk he saw enough in woe.
Unto this angel spak the frere tho: Unto this angel spoke the friar thus:
Now, sire, quod he, han freres swich a grace "Now sir", said he, "Have friars such a grace
That noon of hem shal come to this place? That none of them come to this place?"
Yis, quod this aungel, many a millioun! "Yes", said the angel, "many a million!"
And unto sathanas he ladde hym doun. And unto Satan the angel led him down.
–And now hath sathanas, –seith he, –a tayl "And now Satan has", he said, "a tail,
Brodder than of a carryk is the sayl. Broader than a galleon's sail.
Hold up thy tayl, thou sathanas!–quod he; Hold up your tail, Satan!" said he.
–shewe forth thyn ers, and lat the frere se "Show forth your arse, and let the friar see
Where is the nest of freres in this place!– Where the nest of friars is in this place!"
And er that half a furlong wey of space, And before half a furlong of space,
Right so as bees out swarmen from an hyve, Just as bees swarm out from a hive,
Out of the develes ers ther gonne dryve Out of the devil's arse there were driven
Twenty thousand freres on a route, Twenty thousand friars on a rout,
And thurghout helle swarmed al aboute, And throughout hell swarmed all about,
And comen agayn as faste as they may gon, And came again as fast as they could go,
And in his ers they crepten everychon. And every one crept into his arse.
He clapte his tayl agayn and lay ful stille. He shut his tail again and lay very still.[37]
Critical reception
Early criticism
The poet Thomas Hoccleve, who may have met Chaucer and considered him his role model, hailed
Chaucer as "the firste fyndere of our fair langage". [38] John Lydgate referred to Chaucer within his own
text The Fall of Princes as the "lodesterre … off our language".[39] Around two centuries later, Sir Philip
Sidney greatly praised Troilus and Criseyde in his own Defence of Poesie.[40]
Manuscripts and audience
The large number of surviving manuscripts of Chaucer's works is testimony to the enduring interest in his
poetry prior to the arrival of the printing press. There are 83 surviving manuscripts of the Canterbury Tales
(in whole or part) alone, along with sixteen of Troilus and Criseyde, including the personal copy of Henry
IV.[41] Given the ravages of time, it is likely that these surviving manuscripts represent hundreds since lost.
Chaucer's original audience was a courtly one, and would have included women as well as men of the
upper social classes. Yet even before his death in 1400, Chaucer's audience had begun to include
members of the rising literate, middle and merchant classes, which included many Lollard sympathisers
who may well have been inclined to read Chaucer as one of their own, particularly in his satirical writings
about friars, priests, and other church officials. In 1464, John Baron, a tenant farmer in Agmondesham
(Amersham in Buckinghamshire), was brought before John Chadworth, the Bishop of Lincoln, on charges
of being a Lollard heretic; he confessed to owning a "boke of the Tales of Caunterburie" among other
suspect volumes.[42]
Printed editions
William Caxton, the first English printer, was responsible for the first two folio editions of The Canterbury
Tales which were published in 1478 and 1483. [43] Caxton's second printing, by his own account, came
about because a customer complained that the printed text differed from a manuscript he knew; Caxton
obligingly used the man's manuscript as his source. Both Caxton editions carry the equivalent of
manuscript authority. Caxton's edition was reprinted by his successor, Wynkyn de Worde, but this edition
has no independent authority.
Richard Pynson, the King's Printer under Henry VIII for about twenty years, was the first to collect and sell
something that resembled an edition of the collected works of Chaucer; however, in the process, he
introduced five previously printed texts that are now known not to be Chaucer's. (The collection is actually
three separately printed texts, or collections of texts, bound together as one volume.) There is a likely
connection between Pynson's product and William Thynne's a mere six years later. Thynne had a
successful career from the 1520s until his death in 1546, as chief clerk of the kitchen of Henry VIII, one of
the masters of the royal household. He spent years comparing various versions of Chaucer's works, and
selected 41 pieces for publication. While there were questions over the authorship of some of the material,
there is not doubt this was the first comprehensive view of Chaucer's work. The Workes of Geffray
Chaucer, published in 1532, was the first edition of Chaucer's collected works. His editions of Chaucer's
Works in 1532 and 1542 were the first major contributions to the existence of a widely recognised
Chaucerian canon. Thynne represents his edition as a book sponsored by and supportive of the king who
is praised in the preface by Sir Brian Tuke. Thynne's canon brought the number of apocryphal works
associated with Chaucer to a total of 28, even if that was not his intention. [44] As with Pynson, once included
in the Works, pseudepigraphic texts stayed with those works, regardless of their first editor's intentions.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, Chaucer was printed more than any other English author, and he was the
first author to have his works collected in comprehensive single-volume editions in which a
Chaucer canon began to cohere. Some scholars contend that 16th-century editions of
Chaucer's Works set the precedent for all other English authors in terms of presentation, prestige and
success in print. These editions certainly established Chaucer's reputation, but they also began the
complicated process of reconstructing and frequently inventing Chaucer's biography and the canonical list
of works which were attributed to him.
Probably the most significant aspect of the growing apocrypha is that, beginning with Thynne's editions, it
began to include medieval texts that made Chaucer appear as a proto-Protestant Lollard, primarily
the Testament of Love and The Plowman's Tale. As "Chaucerian" works that were not considered
apocryphal until the late 19th century, these medieval texts enjoyed a new life, with English Protestants
carrying on the earlier Lollard project of appropriating existing texts and authors who seemed sympathetic
—or malleable enough to be construed as sympathetic—to their cause. The official Chaucer of the early
printed volumes of his Works was construed as a proto-Protestant as the same was done, concurrently,
with William Langland and Piers Plowman.
The famous Plowman's Tale did not enter Thynne's Works until the second, 1542, edition. Its entry was
surely facilitated by Thynne's inclusion of Thomas Usk's Testament of Love in the first edition.
The Testament of Love imitates, borrows from, and thus resembles Usk's contemporary, Chaucer.
(Testament of Love also appears to borrow from Piers Plowman.) Since the Testament of Love mentions
its author's part in a failed plot (book 1, chapter 6), his imprisonment, and (perhaps) a recantation of
(possibly Lollard) heresy, all this was associated with Chaucer. (Usk himself was executed as a traitor in
1388.) John Foxe took this recantation of heresy as a defence of the true faith, calling Chaucer a "right
Wiclevian" and (erroneously) identifying him as a schoolmate and close friend of John Wycliffe at Merton
College, Oxford. (Thomas Speght is careful to highlight these facts in his editions and his "Life of
Chaucer".) No other sources for the Testament of Love exist—there is only Thynne's construction of
whatever manuscript sources he had.
John Stow (1525–1605) was an antiquarian and also a chronicler. His edition of Chaucer's Works in
1561[44] brought the apocrypha to more than 50 titles. More were added in the 17th century, and they
remained as late as 1810, well after Thomas Tyrwhitt pared the canon down in his 1775 edition.[45] The
compilation and printing of Chaucer's works was, from its beginning, a political enterprise, since it was
intended to establish an English national identity and history that grounded and authorised the Tudor
monarchy and church. What was added to Chaucer often helped represent him favourably to Protestant
England.
Engraving of Chaucer from Speght's edition. The two top shields display: Per pale argent and gules, a bend
counterchanged (Chaucer), that at bottom left: Gules, three Catherine Wheels or (Roet, canting arms, French rouet = "spinning
wheel"), and that at bottom right displays Roet quartering Argent, a chief gules overall a lion rampant double queued
or (Chaucer) with crest of Chaucer above: A unicorn head
In his 1598 edition of the Works, Speght (probably taking cues from Foxe) made good use of Usk's
account of his political intrigue and imprisonment in the Testament of Love to assemble a largely fictional
"Life of Our Learned English Poet, Geffrey Chaucer". Speght's "Life" presents readers with an erstwhile
radical in troubled times much like their own, a proto-Protestant who eventually came round to the king's
views on religion. Speght states, "In the second year of Richard the second, the King tooke Geffrey
Chaucer and his lands into his protection. The occasion wherof no doubt was some daunger and trouble
whereinto he was fallen by favouring some rash attempt of the common people." Under the discussion of
Chaucer's friends, namely John of Gaunt, Speght further explains:
Yet it seemeth that [Chaucer] was in some trouble in the daies of King Richard the second, as it may
appeare in the Testament of Loue: where hee doth greatly complaine of his owne rashnesse in
following the multitude, and of their hatred against him for bewraying their purpose. And in that
complaint which he maketh to his empty purse, I do find a written copy, which I had of Iohn Stow
(whose library hath helped many writers) wherein ten times more is adioined, then is in print. Where he
maketh great lamentation for his wrongfull imprisonment, wishing death to end his daies: which in my
iudgement doth greatly accord with that in the Testament of Loue. Moreouer we find it thus in Record.
Later, in "The Argument" to the Testament of Love, Speght adds:
Chaucer did compile this booke as a comfort to himselfe after great griefs conceiued for some rash
attempts of the commons, with whome he had ioyned, and thereby was in feare to loose the fauour of
his best friends.
Speght is also the source of the famous tale of Chaucer being fined for beating
a Franciscan friar in Fleet Street, as well as a fictitious coat of arms and family tree. Ironically –
and perhaps consciously so – an introductory, apologetic letter in Speght's edition from Francis
Beaumont defends the unseemly, "low", and bawdy bits in Chaucer from an elite, classicist
position. Francis Thynne noted some of these inconsistencies in his Animadversions, insisting
that Chaucer was not a commoner, and he objected to the friar-beating story. Yet Thynne himself
underscores Chaucer's support for popular religious reform, associating Chaucer's views with his
father William Thynne's attempts to include The Plowman's Tale and The Pilgrim's Tale in the
1532 and 1542 Works.
The myth of the Protestant Chaucer continues to have a lasting impact on a large body of
Chaucerian scholarship. Though it is extremely rare for a modern scholar to suggest Chaucer
supported a religious movement that did not exist until more than a century after his death, the
predominance of this thinking for so many centuries left it for granted that Chaucer was at least
hostile toward Catholicism. This assumption forms a large part of many critical approaches to
Chaucer's works, including neo-Marxism.
Alongside Chaucer's Works, the most impressive literary monument of the period is John
Foxe's Acts and Monuments.... As with the Chaucer editions, it was critically significant to English
Protestant identity and included Chaucer in its project. Foxe's Chaucer both derived from and
contributed to the printed editions of Chaucer's Works, particularly the pseudepigrapha. Jack
Upland was first printed in Foxe's Acts and Monuments, and then it appeared in Speght's edition
of Chaucer's Works. Speght's "Life of Chaucer" echoes Foxe's own account, which is itself
dependent upon the earlier editions that added the Testament of Love and The Plowman's
Tale to their pages. Like Speght's Chaucer, Foxe's Chaucer was also a shrewd (or lucky) political
survivor. In his 1563 edition, Foxe "thought it not out of season … to couple … some mention of
Geoffrey Chaucer" with a discussion of John Colet, a possible source for John Skelton's
character Colin Clout.
Probably referring to the 1542 Act for the Advancement of True Religion, Foxe said that he
"marvel[s] to consider … how the bishops, condemning and abolishing all manner of English
books and treatises which might bring the people to any light of knowledge, did yet authorise the
works of Chaucer to remain still and to be occupied; who, no doubt, saw into religion as much
almost as even we do now, and uttereth in his works no less, and seemeth to be a right
Wicklevian, or else there never was any. And that, all his works almost, if they be thoroughly
advised, will testify (albeit done in mirth, and covertly); and especially the latter end of his third
book of the Testament of Love … Wherein, except a man be altogether blind, he may espy him at
the full: although in the same book (as in all others he useth to do), under shadows covertly, as
under a visor, he suborneth truth in such sort, as both privily she may profit the godly-minded,
and yet not be espied of the crafty adversary. And therefore the bishops, belike, taking his works
but for jests and toys, in condemning other books, yet permitted his books to be read."
It is significant, too, that Foxe's discussion of Chaucer leads into his history of "The Reformation
of the Church of Christ in the Time of Martin Luther" when "Printing, being opened, incontinently
ministered unto the church the instruments and tools of learning and knowledge; which were
good books and authors, which before lay hid and unknown. The science of printing being found,
immediately followed the grace of God; which stirred up good wits aptly to conceive the light of
knowledge and judgment: by which light darkness began to be espied, and ignorance to be
detected; truth from error, religion from superstition, to be discerned."
Foxe downplays Chaucer's bawdy and amorous writing, insisting that it all testifies to his piety.
Material that is troubling is deemed metaphoric, while the more forthright satire (which Foxe
prefers) is taken literally.
Spine and Titlepage of the 1721 John Urry edition of Chaucer's complete works
John Urry produced the first edition of the complete works of Chaucer in a Latin font, published
posthumously in 1721. Included were several tales, according to the editors, for the first time
printed, a biography of Chaucer, a glossary of old English words, and testimonials of author
writers concerning Chaucer dating back to the 16th century. According to A. S. G Edwards, "This
was the first collected edition of Chaucer to be printed in roman type. The life of Chaucer prefixed
to the volume was the work of the Reverend John Dart, corrected and revised by Timothy
Thomas. The glossary appended was also mainly compiled by Thomas. The text of Urry's edition
has often been criticised by subsequent editors for its frequent conjectural emendations, mainly to
make it conform to his sense of Chaucer's metre. The justice of such criticisms should not
obscure his achievement. His is the first edition of Chaucer for nearly a hundred and fifty years to
consult any manuscripts and is the first since that of William Thynne in 1534 to seek
systematically to assemble a substantial number of manuscripts to establish his text. It is also the
first edition to offer descriptions of the manuscripts of Chaucer's works, and the first to print texts
of 'Gamelyn' and 'The Tale of Beryn', works ascribed to, but not by, Chaucer."
Modern scholarship
Although Chaucer's works had long been admired, serious scholarly work on his legacy did not
begin until the late 18th century, when Thomas Tyrwhitt edited The Canterbury Tales, and it did
not become an established academic discipline until the 19th century. [46] Scholars such
as Frederick James Furnivall, who founded the Chaucer Society in 1868, pioneered the
establishment of diplomatic editions of Chaucer's major texts, along with careful accounts of
Chaucer's language and prosody. Walter William Skeat, who like Furnivall was closely associated
with the Oxford English Dictionary, established the base text of all of Chaucer's works with his
edition, published by Oxford University Press. Later editions by John H. Fisher and Larry D.
Benson offered further refinements, along with critical commentary and bibliographies.
With the textual issues largely addressed, if not resolved, attention turned to the questions of
Chaucer's themes, structure, and audience. The Chaucer Review was founded in 1966 and has
maintained its position as the pre-eminent journal of Chaucer studies.
In popular culture
Chaucer is a major character in the 1917 opera The Canterbury Pilgrims by Reginald De
Koven, which is loosely based on The Canterbury Tales.
Powell and Pressburger's 1944 film A Canterbury Tale opens with a re-creation of Chaucer's
Canterbury pilgrims; the film itself takes place on the road to, and in, wartime Canterbury.
The plot of the detective novel Landscape with Dead Dons by Robert Robinson centres on
the apparent rediscovery of The Book of the Leoun, and a passage from it (eleven lines of
Chaucerian pastiche) turn out to be the vital murder clue as well as proving that the
"rediscovered" poem is an elaborate, clever forgery by the murderer (a Chaucer scholar).
In Rudyard Kipling's story "Dayspring Mishandled", a writer plans an elaborate revenge on a
former friend, a Chaucer expert, who has insulted the woman he loves, by fabricating a
"medieval" manuscript sheet containing an alleged fragment of a lost Canterbury Tale
(actually his own composition).
Both an asteroid and a lunar crater have been named after Chaucer.
Although he does not appear directly in the fiction books, Chaucer is referred to as an uncle by
marriage to Dame Frevisse, a Benedictine Nun appearing in the medieval mysteries by Margaret
Frazier.
A (fictionalised) version of Chaucer was portrayed by Paul Bettany in the 2001 movie A
Knight's Tale.
List of works
The following major works are in rough chronological order but scholars still debate the dating of
most of Chaucer's output and works made up from a collection of stories may have been
compiled over a long period.
Major works
Translation of Roman de la Rose, possibly extant as The Romaunt of the Rose
The Book of the Duchess
The House of Fame
Anelida and Arcite
Parlement of Foules
Translation of Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy as Boece
Troilus and Criseyde
The Legend of Good Women
The Canterbury Tales
A Treatise on the Astrolabe
Short poems
Balade to Rosemounde
An ABC
Chaucers Wordes unto Adam, His Owne Scriveyn (disputed)[47]
The Complaint unto Pity
The Complaint of Chaucer to his Purse
The Complaint of Mars
The Complaint of Venus
A Complaint to His Lady
The Former Age
Fortune
Gentilesse
Lak of Stedfastnesse
Lenvoy de Chaucer a Scogan
Lenvoy de Chaucer a Bukton
Proverbs
Balade to Rosemounde
Truth
Womanly Noblesse
Poems of doubtful authorship
Against Women Unconstant
A Balade of Complaint
Complaynt D'Amours
Merciles Beaute
The Equatorie of the Planets – A rough translation of a Latin work derived from an Arab work
of the same title. It is a description of the construction and use of a planetary equatorium,
which was used in calculating planetary orbits and positions (at the time it was believed the
sun orbited the Earth). The similar Treatise on the Astrolabe, not usually doubted as
Chaucer's work, in addition to Chaucer's name as a gloss to the manuscript are the main
pieces of evidence for the ascription to Chaucer. However, the evidence Chaucer wrote such
a work is questionable, and as such is not included in The Riverside Chaucer. If Chaucer did
not compose this work, it was probably written by a contemporary.
Works presumed lost
Of the Wreched Engendrynge of Mankynde, possible translation of Innocent III's De miseria
conditionis humanae
Origenes upon the Maudeleyne
The Book of the Leoun – "The Book of the Lion" is mentioned in Chaucer's retraction. It has
been speculated that it may have been a redaction of Guillaume de Machaut's 'Dit dou lyon,'
a story about courtly love (a subject about which Chaucer frequently wrote).
Spurious works
The Pilgrim's Tale – written in the 16th century with many Chaucerian allusions
The Plowman's Tale or The Complaint of the Ploughman – a Lollard satire later appropriated
as a Protestant text
Pierce the Ploughman's Crede – a Lollard satire later appropriated by Protestants
The Ploughman's Tale – its body is largely a version of Thomas Hoccleve's "Item de Beata
Virgine"
"La Belle Dame Sans Merci" – Richard Roos's translation of a poem of the same name
by Alain Chartier
The Testament of Love – actually by Thomas Usk
Jack Upland – a Lollard satire
The Floure and the Leafe – a 15th-century allegory
Derived works
God Spede the Plough – Borrows twelve stanzas of Chaucer's Monk's Tale
Galileo Galilei.
Galileo Galilei (Italian: [ɡaliˈlɛːo ɡaliˈlɛi]; 15 February 1564[3] – 8 January 1642) was
an Italianastronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath.[4] Galileo has been
called the "father of observational astronomy",[5] the "father of modern physics",[6][7] the "father of
the scientific method",[8] and the "father of modern science".[9][10]
Galileo studied speed and velocity, gravity and free fall, the principle of relativity, inertia, projectile
motion and also worked in applied science and technology, describing the properties of pendulumsand
"hydrostatic balances", inventing the thermoscope and various military compasses, and using
the telescope for scientific observations of celestial objects. His contributions to observational
astronomy include the telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus, the observation of the four
largest satellites of Jupiter, the observation of Saturn and the analysis of sunspots.
Galileo Galilei
Portrait of Galileo Galilei (1636), by Justus Sustermans
Galileo's championing of heliocentrism and Copernicanism was controversial during his lifetime, when
most subscribed to either geocentrism or the Tychonic system.[11] He met with opposition from
astronomers, who doubted heliocentrism because of the absence of an observed stellar parallax.[11]The
matter was investigated by the Roman Inquisition in 1615, which concluded that heliocentrism was
"foolish and absurd in philosophy, and formally heretical since it explicitly contradicts in many places the
sense of Holy Scripture."[11][12][13] Galileo later defended his views in Dialogue Concerning the Two
Chief World Systems (1632), which appeared to attack Pope Urban VIII and thus alienated him and
the Jesuits, who had both supported Galileo up until this point.[11] He was tried by the Inquisition,
found "vehemently suspect of heresy", and forced to recant. He spent the rest of his life under house
arrest.[14][15] While under house arrest, he wrote Two New Sciences, in which he summarized work he
had done some forty years earlier on the two sciences now called kinematics and strength of materials
Early life and family
Galileo was born in Pisa (then part of the Duchy of Florence), Italy, on 15 February 1564,[18] the first of
six children of Vincenzo Galilei, a famous lutenist, composer, and music theorist, and Giulia (née
Ammannati), who had married in 1562. Galileo became an accomplished lutenist himself and would
have learned early from his father a scepticism for established authority,[19] the value of well-measured
or quantified experimentation, an appreciation for a periodic or musical measure of time or rhythm, as
well as the results expected from a combination of mathematics and experiment.
Three of Galileo's five siblings survived infancy. The youngest, Michelangelo (or Michelagnolo), also
became a noted lutenist and composer although he contributed to financial burdens during Galileo's
young adulthood. Michelangelo was unable to contribute his fair share of their father's promised
dowries to their brothers-in-law, who would later attempt to seek legal remedies for payments due.
Michelangelo would also occasionally have to borrow funds from Galileo to support his musical
endeavours and excursions. These financial burdens may have contributed to Galileo's early desire to
develop inventions that would bring him additional income.
When Galileo Galilei was eight, his family moved to Florence, but he was left with Jacopo Borghini for
two years. He was educated from 1575 to 1578 in the Vallombrosa Abbey, about 30 km southeast of
Florence.[20]
Name
The surname Galilei derives from the given name of an ancestor, Galileo Bonaiuti, a physician, university
teacher and politician who lived in Florence from 1370 to 1450; his descendants had changed their
family name from Bonaiuti (or Buonaiuti) to Galilei in his honor in the late 14th century.[21] Galileo
Bonaiuti was buried in the same church, the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, where about 200 years
later his more famous descendant Galileo Galilei was also buried.[22]
It was common for mid-sixteenth-century Tuscan families to name the eldest son after the parents'
surname.[23] Hence, Galileo Galilei was not necessarily named after his ancestor Galileo Bonaiuti. The
Italian male given name "Galileo" (and thence the surname "Galilei") derives from the Latin "Galilaeus",
meaning "of Galilee", a biblically significant region in Northern Israel.[24][25] Because of that region, the
adjective galilaios (Greekγαλιλαίος, Latin Galilaeus, Italian galileo), which means "Galilean", has been
used in antiquity (particularly by emperor Julian) to refer to Christ and his followers;[26] after this, the
adjective has been adopted as a name with a meaning similar to Jesus or Christian.[
The biblical roots of Galileo's name and surname were to become the subject of a famous pun.[27] In
1614, during the Galileo affair, one of Galileo's opponents, the Dominican priest Tommaso Caccini,
delivered against Galileo a controversial and influential sermon. In it he made a point of
quoting Acts 1:11, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?".[28]
Children
Galileo's beloved elder daughter, Virginia (SisterMaria Celeste), was particularly devoted to her father.
She is buried with him in his tomb in the Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence.
Despite being a genuinely pious Roman Catholic,[29] Galileo fathered three children out of wedlock
with Marina Gamba. They had two daughters, Virginia (born in 1600) and Livia (born in 1601), and a
son, Vincenzo (born in 1606).[30]
Because of their illegitimate birth, their father considered the girls unmarriageable, if not posing
problems of prohibitively expensive support or dowries, which would have been similar to Galileo's
previous extensive financial problems with two of his sisters.[31] Their only worthy alternative was the
religious life. Both girls were accepted by the convent of San Matteo in Arcetri and remained there for
the rest of their lives.[32] Virginia took the name Maria Celeste upon entering the convent. She died on
2 April 1634, and is buried with Galileo at the Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence. Livia took the name
Sister Arcangela and was ill for most of her life. Vincenzo was later legitimised as the legal heir of Galileo
and married Sestilia Bocchineri.[33]
Career as a scientist
Although Galileo seriously considered the priesthood as a young man, at his father's urging he instead
enrolled in 1580 at the University of Pisa for a medical degree.[34] In 1581, when he was studying
medicine, he noticed a swinging chandelier, which air currents shifted about to swing in larger and
smaller arcs. To him, it seemed, by comparison with his heartbeat, that the chandelier took the same
amount of time to swing back and forth, no matter how far it was swinging. When he returned home, he
set up two pendulums of equal length and swung one with a large sweep and the other with a small
sweep and found that they kept time together. It was not until the work of Christiaan Huygens, almost
one hundred years later, that the tautochrone nature of a swinging pendulum was used to create an
accurate timepiece.[35] Up to this point, Galileo had deliberately been kept away from mathematics,
since a physician earned a higher income than a mathematician. However, after accidentally attending a
lecture on geometry, he talked his reluctant father into letting him study mathematics and natural
philosophy instead of medicine.[35] He created a thermoscope, a forerunner of the thermometer, and,
in 1586, published a small book on the design of a hydrostatic balance he had invented (which first
brought him to the attention of the scholarly world). Galileo also studied disegno, a term encompassing
fine art, and, in 1588, obtained the position of instructor in the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in
Florence, teaching perspective and chiaroscuro. Being inspired by the artistic tradition of the city and
the works of the Renaissance artists, Galileo acquired an aesthetic mentality. While a young teacher at
the Accademia, he began a lifelong friendship with the Florentine painter Cigoli, who included Galileo's
lunar observations in one of his paintings.[36][37]
In 1589, he was appointed to the chair of mathematics in Pisa. In 1591, his father died, and he was
entrusted with the care of his younger brother Michelagnolo. In 1592, he moved to the University of
Padua where he taught geometry, mechanics, and astronomy until 1610.[38] During this period, Galileo
made significant discoveries in both pure fundamental science (for example, kinematics of motion and
astronomy) as well as practical applied science (for example, strength of materials and pioneering the
telescope). His multiple interests included the study of astrology, which at the time was a discipline tied
to the studies of mathematics and astronomy.[39]
Galileo, Kepler and theories of tides
Galileo Galilei, portrait by Tintoretto.
Cardinal Bellarmine had written in 1615 that the Copernican system could not be defended without "a
true physical demonstration that the sun does not circle the earth but the earth circles the sun".
[40] Galileo considered his theory of the tides to provide the required physical proof of the motion of
the earth. This theory was so important to him that he originally intended to entitle his Dialogue on the
Two Chief World Systems the Dialogue on the Ebb and Flow of the Sea.[41] The reference to tides was
removed from the title by order of the Inquisition.
For Galileo, the tides were caused by the sloshing back and forth of water in the seas as a point on the
Earth's surface sped up and slowed down because of the Earth's rotation on its axis and revolution
around the Sun. He circulated his first account of the tides in 1616, addressed to Cardinal Orsini.[42] His
theory gave the first insight into the importance of the shapes of ocean basins in the size and timing of
tides; he correctly accounted, for instance, for the negligible tides halfway along the Adriatic
Sea compared to those at the ends. As a general account of the cause of tides, however, his theory was
a failure.
If this theory were correct, there would be only one high tide per day. Galileo and his contemporaries
were aware of this inadequacy because there are two daily high tides at Venice instead of one, about
twelve hours apart. Galileo dismissed this anomaly as the result of several secondary causes including
the shape of the sea, its depth, and other factors.[43] Against the assertion that Galileo was deceptive in
making these arguments, Albert Einstein expressed the opinion that Galileo developed his "fascinating
arguments" and accepted them uncritically out of a desire for physical proof of the motion of the Earth.
[44] Galileo dismissed the idea, held by his contemporary Johannes Kepler, that the moon caused the
tides.[45] (Galileo also took no interest in Kepler's elliptical orbits of the planets.)[46][47]
Controversy over comets and The Assayer
Main article: The Assayer
In 1619, Galileo became embroiled in a controversy with Father Orazio Grassi, professor of mathematics
at the Jesuit Collegio Romano. It began as a dispute over the nature of comets, but by the time Galileo
had published The Assayer (Il Saggiatore) in 1623, his last salvo in the dispute, it had become a much
wider controversy over the very nature of science itself. The title page of the book describes Galileo as
philosopher and "Matematico Primario" of the Grand Duke of Tuscany.
Because The Assayer contains such a wealth of Galileo's ideas on how science should be practised, it has
been referred to as his scientific manifesto.[48] Early in 1619, Father Grassi had anonymously published
a pamphlet, An Astronomical Disputation on the Three Comets of the Year 1618,[49] which discussed
the nature of a comet that had appeared late in November of the previous year. Grassi concluded that
the comet was a fiery body which had moved along a segment of a great circle at a constant distance
from the earth,[50] and since it moved in the sky more slowly than the moon, it must be farther away
than the moon.
Grassi's arguments and conclusions were criticised in a subsequent article, Discourse on Comets,
[51] published under the name of one of Galileo's disciples, a Florentine lawyer named Mario Guiducci,
although it had been largely written by Galileo himself.[52] Galileo and Guiducci offered no definitive
theory of their own on the nature of comets[53] although they did present some tentative conjectures
that are now known to be mistaken. In its opening passage, Galileo and
Guiducci's Discourse gratuitously insulted the Jesuit Christopher Scheiner,[54] and various
uncomplimentary remarks about the professors of the Collegio Romano were scattered throughout the
work.[55] The Jesuits were offended,[56] and Grassi soon replied with a polemical tract of his own, The
Astronomical and Philosophical Balance,[57] under the pseudonym Lothario Sarsio Sigensano,
[58]purporting to be one of his own pupils.
The Assayer was Galileo's devastating reply to the Astronomical Balance.[59] It has been widely
recognized as a masterpiece of polemical literature,[60] in which "Sarsi's" arguments are subjected to
withering scorn.[61] It was greeted with wide acclaim, and particularly pleased the new pope, Urban
VIII, to whom it had been dedicated.[62] In Rome, in the previous decade, Barberini, the future Urban
VIII, had come down on the side of Galileo and the Lincean Academy.[63]
Galileo's dispute with Grassi permanently alienated many of the Jesuits who had previously been
sympathetic to his ideas,[64] and Galileo and his friends were convinced that these Jesuits were
responsible for bringing about his later condemnation.[65] The evidence for this is at best equivocal,
however.[66]
Controversy over heliocentrism
Galileo affair
Cristiano Banti's 1857 painting Galileo facing the Roman Inquisition
In the whole world prior to Galileo's conflict with the Church, the majority of educated people
subscribed either to the Aristotelian geocentric view that the earth was the center of the universe and
that all heavenly bodies revolved around the Earth,[67] or the Tychonic system that blended
geocentrism with heliocentrism.[68] Nevertheless, following the death of Copernicus and before Galileo,
heliocentrism was relatively uncontroversial;[68] Copernicus's work was used by Pope Gregory XIII to
reform the calendar in 1582.[a]
Opposition to heliocentrism and Galileo's writings combined religious and scientific objections. Scientific
opposition came from Tycho Brahe and others and arose from the fact that, if heliocentrism were true,
an annual stellar parallax should be observed, though none was. Copernicus and Aristarchus had
correctly postulated that parallax was negligible because the stars were so distant. However, Brahe had
countered that, since stars appeared to have measurable size, if the stars were that distant, they would
be gigantic, and in fact far larger than the Sun or any other celestial body. In Brahe's system, by contrast,
the stars were a little more distant than Saturn, and the Sun and stars were comparable in size.[69]
Religious opposition to heliocentrism arose from Biblical references such as Psalm 93:1, 96:10, and 1
Chronicles 16:30 which include text stating that "the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved." In
the same manner, Psalm 104:5 says, "the Lord set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved."
Further, Ecclesiastes 1:5 states that "And the sun rises and sets and returns to its place."[70]
Galileo defended heliocentrism based on his astronomical observations of 1609 (Sidereus
Nuncius 1610). In December 1613, the Grand Duchess Christina of Florence confronted one of Galileo's
friends and followers, Benedetto Castelli, with biblical objections to the motion of the earth. According
to Maurice Finocchiaro, this was done in a friendly and gracious manner, out of curiosity. Prompted by
this incident, Galileo wrote a letter to Castelli in which he argued that heliocentrism was actually not
contrary to biblical texts, and that the bible was an authority on faith and morals, not on science. This
letter was not published, but circulated widely.[71]
By 1615, Galileo's writings on heliocentrism had been submitted to the Roman Inquisition by
Father Niccolò Lorini, who claimed that Galileo and his followers were attempting to reinterpret the
Bible, which was seen as a violation of the Council of Trent and looked dangerously like Protestantism.
[72] Lorini specifically cited Galileo's letter to Castelli.[73] Galileo went to Rome to defend himself and
his Copernican and biblical ideas. At the start of 1616, Monsignor Francesco Ingoli initiated a debate
with Galileo, sending him an essay disputing the Copernican system. Galileo later stated that he believed
this essay to have been instrumental in the action against Copernicanism that followed.[74] According to
Maurice Finocchiaro, Ingoli had probably been commissioned by the Inquisition to write an expert
opinion on the controversy, and the essay provided the "chief direct basis" for the Inquisition's actions.
[75] The essay focused on eighteen physical and mathematical arguments against heliocentrism. It
borrowed primarily from the arguments of Tycho Brahe, and it notedly mentioned Brahe's argument
that heliocentrism required the stars to be much larger than the Sun. Ingoli wrote that the great
distance to the stars in the heliocentric theory "clearly proves ... the fixed stars to be of such size, as
they may surpass or equal the size of the orbit circle of the Earth itself."[76] The essay also included four
theological arguments, but Ingoli suggested Galileo focus on the physical and mathematical arguments,
and he did not mention Galileo's biblical ideas.[77] In February 1616, an Inquisitorial commission
declared heliocentrism to be "foolish and absurd in philosophy, and formally heretical since it explicitly
contradicts in many places the sense of Holy Scripture." The Inquisition found that the idea of the
Earth's movement "receives the same judgement in philosophy and... in regard to theological truth it is
at least erroneous in faith".[78] (The original document from the Inquisitorial commission was made
widely available in 2014.[79])
Pope Paul V instructed Cardinal Bellarmine to deliver this finding to Galileo, and to order him to
abandon the opinion that heliocentrism was physically true. On 26 February, Galileo was called to
Bellarmine's residence and ordered:
... to abandon completely... the opinion that the sun stands still at the center of the world and the earth
moves, and henceforth not to hold, teach, or defend it in any way whatever, either orally or in writing.
[80]
The decree of the Congregation of the Index banned Copernicus's De Revolutionibus and other
heliocentric works until correction.[80] Bellarmine's instructions did not prohibit Galileo from discussing
heliocentrism as a mathematical and philosophic idea, so long as he did not advocate for its physical
truth.[11][81]
For the next decade, Galileo stayed well away from the controversy. He revived his project of writing a
book on the subject, encouraged by the election of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini as Pope Urban VIII in
1623. Barberini was a friend and admirer of Galileo, and had opposed the condemnation of Galileo in
1616. Galileo's resulting book, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, was published in
1632, with formal authorization from the Inquisition and papal permission.[82]
Earlier, Pope Urban VIII had personally asked Galileo to give arguments for and against heliocentrism in
the book, and to be careful not to advocate heliocentrism. He made another request, that his own views
on the matter be included in Galileo's book. Only the latter of those requests was fulfilled by Galileo.
Whether unknowingly or deliberately, Simplicio, the defender of the Aristotelian geocentric view
in Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, was often caught in his own errors and sometimes
came across as a fool. Indeed, although Galileo states in the preface of his book that the character is
named after a famous Aristotelian philosopher (Simplicius in Latin, "Simplicio" in Italian), the name
"Simplicio" in Italian also has the connotation of "simpleton".[83] This portrayal of Simplicio
made Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems appear as an advocacy book: an attack on
Aristotelian geocentrism and defence of the Copernican theory. Unfortunately for his relationship with
the Pope, Galileo put the words of Urban VIII into the mouth of Simplicio.
Most historians agree Galileo did not act out of malice and felt blindsided by the reaction to his book.
[b] However, the Pope did not take the suspected public ridicule lightly, nor the Copernican advocacy.
Galileo had alienated one of his biggest and most powerful supporters, the Pope, and was called to
Rome to defend his writings[84] in September 1632. He finally arrived in February 1633 and was brought
before inquisitor Vincenzo Maculani to be charged. Throughout his trial, Galileo steadfastly maintained
that since 1616 he had faithfully kept his promise not to hold any of the condemned opinions, and
initially he denied even defending them. However, he was eventually persuaded to admit that, contrary
to his true intention, a reader of his Dialogue could well have obtained the impression that it was
intended to be a defence of Copernicanism. In view of Galileo's rather implausible denial that he had
ever held Copernican ideas after 1616 or ever intended to defend them in the Dialogue, his final
interrogation, in July 1633, concluded with his being threatened with torture if he did not tell the truth,
but he maintained his denial despite the threat.[85]
The sentence of the Inquisition was delivered on 22 June. It was in three essential parts:
Galileo was found "vehemently suspect of heresy", namely of having held the opinions that the Sun lies
motionless at the centre of the universe, that the Earth is not at its centre and moves, and that one may
hold and defend an opinion as probable after it has been declared contrary to Holy Scripture. He was
required to "abjure, curse and detest" those opinions.[86]
He was sentenced to formal imprisonment at the pleasure of the Inquisition.[87] On the following day,
this was commuted to house arrest, which he remained under for the rest of his life.
His offending Dialogue was banned; and in an action not announced at the trial, publication of any of his
works was forbidden, including any he might write in the future.[88]
Portrait, attributed to Murillo, of Galileo gazing at the words "E pur si muove" (And yet it moves) (not
legible in this image) scratched on the wall of his prison cell
According to popular legend, after recanting his theory that the Earth moved around the Sun, Galileo
allegedly muttered the rebellious phrase "And yet it moves". A 1640s painting by the Spanish
painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo or an artist of his school, in which the words were hidden until
restoration work in 1911, depicts an imprisoned Galileo apparently gazing at the words "E pur si muove"
written on the wall of his dungeon. The earliest known written account of the legend dates to a century
after his death, but Stillman Drake writes "there is no doubt now that the famous words were already
attributed to Galileo before his death".[89]
After a period with the friendly Ascanio Piccolomini (the Archbishop of Siena), Galileo was allowed to
return to his villa at Arcetri near Florence in 1634, where he spent part of his life under house arrest.
Galileo was ordered to read the seven penitential psalms once a week for the next three years.
However, his daughter Maria Celeste relieved him of the burden after securing ecclesiastical permission
to take it upon herself.[90]
It was while Galileo was under house arrest that he dedicated his time to one of his finest works, Two
New Sciences. Here he summarised work he had done some forty years earlier, on the two sciences now
called kinematics and strength of materials, published in Holland to avoid the censor. This book has
received high praise from Albert Einstein.[91] As a result of this work, Galileo is often called the "father
of modern physics". He went completely blind in 1638 and was suffering from a
painful hernia and insomnia, so he was permitted to travel to Florence for medical advice.[16][17]
Dava Sobel argues that prior to Galileo's 1633 trial and judgement for heresy, Pope Urban VIII had
become preoccupied with court intrigue and problems of state, and began to fear persecution or threats
to his own life. In this context, Sobel argues that the problem of Galileo was presented to the pope by
court insiders and enemies of Galileo. Having been accused of weakness in defending the church, Urban
reacted against Galileo out of anger and fear.[92]
Death
Tomb of Galileo, Santa Croce, Florence
Galileo continued to receive visitors until 1642, when, after suffering fever and heart palpitations, he
died on 8 January 1642, aged 77.[16][93] The Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinando II, wished to bury him
in the main body of the Basilica of Santa Croce, next to the tombs of his father and other ancestors, and
to erect a marble mausoleum in his honour.[94]
Middle finger of Galileo's right hand
These plans were dropped, however, after Pope Urban VIII and his nephew, Cardinal Francesco
Barberini, protested,[95] because Galileo had been condemned by the Catholic Church for "vehement
suspicion of heresy".[96] He was instead buried in a small room next to the novices' chapel at the end of
a corridor from the southern transept of the basilica to the sacristy.[97] He was reburied in the main
body of the basilica in 1737 after a monument had been erected there in his honour;[98] during this
move, three fingers and a tooth were removed from his remains.[99] One of these fingers, the middle
finger from Galileo's right hand, is currently on exhibition at the Museo Galileoin Florence, Italy.[100]
Scientific contributions
Scientific methods
Galileo made original contributions to the science of motion through an innovative combination of
experiment and mathematics.[101] More typical of science at the time were the qualitative studies
of William Gilbert, on magnetism and electricity. Galileo's father, Vincenzo Galilei, a lutenist and music
theorist, had performed experiments establishing perhaps the oldest known non-linear relation in
physics: for a stretched string, the pitch varies as the square root of the tension.[102]These observations
lay within the framework of the Pythagorean tradition of music, well-known to instrument makers,
which included the fact that subdividing a string by a whole number produces a harmonious scale. Thus,
a limited amount of mathematics had long related music and physical science, and young Galileo could
see his own father's observations expand on that tradition.[103]
Galileo was one of the first modern thinkers to clearly state that the laws of nature are mathematical.
In The Assayer, he wrote "Philosophy is written in this grand book, the universe ... It is written in the
language of mathematics, and its characters are triangles, circles, and other geometric
figures;...."[104] His mathematical analyses are a further development of a tradition employed by late
scholastic natural philosophers, which Galileo learned when he studied philosophy.[105] His work
marked another step towards the eventual separation of science from both philosophy and religion; a
major development in human thought. He was often willing to change his views in accordance with
observation. In order to perform his experiments, Galileo had to set up standards of length and time, so
that measurements made on different days and in different laboratories could be compared in a
reproducible fashion. This provided a reliable foundation on which to confirm mathematical laws
using inductive reasoning.
Galileo showed a modern appreciation for the proper relationship between mathematics, theoretical
physics, and experimental physics. He understood the parabola, both in terms of conic sections and in
terms of the ordinate (y) varying as the square of the abscissa (x). Galilei further asserted that the
parabola was the theoretically ideal trajectory of a uniformly accelerated projectile in the absence of air
resistance or other disturbances. He conceded that there are limits to the validity of this theory, noting
on theoretical grounds that a projectile trajectory of a size comparable to that of the Earth could not
possibly be a parabola,[106] but he nevertheless maintained that for distances up to the range of the
artillery of his day, the deviation of a projectile's trajectory from a parabola would be only very slight.
[107]
Astronomy
Galileo showed the Doge of Venicehow to use the telescope (fresco by Giuseppe Bertini)
It was on this page that Galileo first noted an observation of the moons of Jupiter. This observation
upset the notion that all celestial bodies must revolve around the Earth. Galileo published a full
description in Sidereus Nuncius in March 1610
The phases of Venus, observed by Galileo in 1610
Based only on uncertain descriptions of the first practical telescope which Hans Lippershey tried to
patent in the Netherlands in 1608,[108] Galileo, in the following year, made a telescope with about 3x
magnification. He later made improved versions with up to about 30x magnification.[109] With
a Galilean telescope, the observer could see magnified, upright images on the Earth—it was what is
commonly known as a terrestrial telescope or a spyglass. He could also use it to observe the sky; for a
time he was one of those who could construct telescopes good enough for that purpose. On 25 August
1609, he demonstrated one of his early telescopes, with a magnification of about 8 or 9,
to Venetian lawmakers. His telescopes were also a profitable sideline for Galileo, who sold them to
merchants who found them useful both at sea and as items of trade. He published his initial telescopic
astronomical observations in March 1610 in a brief treatise entitled Sidereus Nuncius (Starry
Messenger).[110]
Kepler's supernova
Tycho and others had observed the supernova of 1572. Ottavio Brenzoni's letter of 15 January 1605 to
Galileo brought the 1572 supernova and the less bright nova of 1601 to Galileo's notice. Galileo
observed and discussed Kepler's supernova in 1604. Since these new stars displayed no
detectable diurnal parallax, Galileo concluded that they were distant stars, and, therefore, disproved the
Aristotelian belief in the immutability of the heavens.[111]
Jupiter's moons
On 7 January 1610, Galileo observed with his telescope what he described at the time as "three fixed
stars, totally invisible[c] by their smallness", all close to Jupiter, and lying on a straight line through it.
[112]Observations on subsequent nights showed that the positions of these "stars" relative to Jupiter
were changing in a way that would have been inexplicable if they had really been fixed stars. On 10
January, Galileo noted that one of them had disappeared, an observation which he attributed to its
being hidden behind Jupiter. Within a few days, he concluded that they were orbiting Jupiter:[113] he
had discovered three of Jupiter's four largest moons. He discovered the fourth on 13 January. Galileo
named the group of four the Medicean stars, in honour of his future patron, Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand
Duke of Tuscany, and Cosimo's three brothers.[114] Later astronomers, however, renamed
them Galilean satellites in honour of their discoverer. These satellites were independently discovered
by Simon Marius on 8 January 1610 and are now called Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto the names
given by Marius in his Mundus Iovialispublished in 1614.[115]
His observations of the satellites of Jupiter caused a revolution in astronomy: a planet with smaller
planets orbiting it did not conform to the principles of Aristotelian cosmology, which held that all
heavenly bodies should circle the Earth,[116] and many astronomers and philosophers initially refused
to believe that Galileo could have discovered such a thing.[117] His observations were confirmed by the
observatory of Christopher Clavius and he received a hero's welcome when he visited Rome in 1611.
[118] Galileo continued to observe the satellites over the next eighteen months, and by mid-1611, he
had obtained remarkably accurate estimates for their periods—a feat which Kepler had believed
impossible.[119]
Venus, Saturn, and Neptune
From September 1610, Galileo observed that Venus exhibited a full set of phases similar to that of
the Moon. The heliocentric model of the Solar System developed by Nicolaus Copernicus predicted that
all phases would be visible since the orbit of Venus around the Sun would cause its illuminated
hemisphere to face the Earth when it was on the opposite side of the Sun and to face away from the
Earth when it was on the Earth-side of the Sun. On the other hand, in Ptolemy's geocentric model it was
impossible for any of the planets' orbits to intersect the spherical shell carrying the Sun. Traditionally,
the orbit of Venus was placed entirely on the near side of the Sun, where it could exhibit only crescent
and new phases. It was, however, also possible to place it entirely on the far side of the Sun, where it
could exhibit only gibbous and full phases. After Galileo's telescopic observations of the crescent,
gibbous and full phases of Venus, the Ptolemaic model became untenable. Thus in the early 17th
century, as a result of his discovery, the great majority of astronomers converted to one of the various
geo-heliocentric planetary models,[120] such as the Tychonic, Capellan and Extended Capellan models,
[d] each either with or without a daily rotating Earth. These all had the virtue of explaining the phases of
Venus without the vice of the 'refutation' of full heliocentrism's prediction of stellar parallax. Galileo's
discovery of the phases of Venus was thus arguably his most empirically practically influential
contribution to the two-stage transition from full geocentrism to full heliocentrism via geo-
heliocentrism.
Galileo observed the planet Saturn, and at first mistook its rings for planets, thinking it was a three-
bodied system. When he observed the planet later, Saturn's rings were directly oriented at Earth,
causing him to think that two of the bodies had disappeared. The rings reappeared when he observed
the planet in 1616, further confusing him.[121]
Galileo also observed the planet Neptune in 1612. It appears in his notebooks as one of many
unremarkable dim stars. He did not realise that it was a planet, but he did note its motion relative to the
stars before losing track of it.[122]
Sunspots
Galileo's "cannocchiali" telescopesat the Museo Galileo, Florence
Galileo made naked-eye and telescopic studies of sunspots.[123] Their existence raised another
difficulty with the unchanging perfection of the heavens as posited in orthodox Aristotelian celestial
physics. An apparent annual variation in their trajectories, observed by Francesco Sizzi and others in
1612–1613,[124]also provided a powerful argument against both the Ptolemaic system and the
geoheliocentric system of Tycho Brahe.[e] A dispute over claimed priority in the discovery of sunspots,
and in their interpretation, led Galileo to a long and bitter feud with the Jesuit Christoph Scheiner. In the
middle was Mark Welser, to whom Scheiner had announced his discovery, and who asked Galileo for his
opinion.[citation needed] In fact, there is little doubt that both of them were beaten by David
Fabricius and his son Johannes.
Moon
Prior to Galileo's construction of his version of a telescope, Thomas Harriot, an English mathematician
and explorer, had already used what he dubbed a "perspective tube" to observe the Moon. Reporting
his observations, Harriot noted only "strange spottednesse" in the waning of the crescent, but was
ignorant to the cause. Galileo, due in part to his artistic training[37] and the knowledge of chiaroscuro,
[36] had understood the patterns of light and shadow were, in fact, topographical markers. While not
being the only one to observe the Moon through a telescope, Galileo was the first to deduce the cause
of the uneven waning as light occlusion from lunar mountains and craters. In his study, he also made
topographical charts, estimating the heights of the mountains. The Moon was not what was long
thought to have been a translucent and perfect sphere, as Aristotle claimed, and hardly the first
"planet", an "eternal pearl to magnificently ascend into the heavenly empyrian", as put forth by Dante.
Galileo is sometimes credited with the discovery of the lunar libration in latitude in 1632,
[125] although Thomas Harriot or William Gilbertmight have done it before.[126]
Milky Way and stars
Galileo observed the Milky Way, previously believed to be nebulous, and found it to be a multitude
of stars packed so densely that they appeared from Earth to be clouds. He located many other stars too
distant to be visible with the naked eye. He observed the double star Mizar in Ursa Major in 1617.[127]
In the Starry Messenger, Galileo reported that stars appeared as mere blazes of light, essentially
unaltered in appearance by the telescope, and contrasted them to planets, which the telescope
revealed to be discs. But shortly thereafter, in his Letters on Sunspots, he reported that the telescope
revealed the shapes of both stars and planets to be "quite round". From that point forward, he
continued to report that telescopes showed the roundness of stars, and that stars seen through the
telescope measured a few seconds of arc in diameter.[128] He also devised a method for measuring the
apparent size of a star without a telescope. As described in his Dialogue Concerning the two Chief World
Systems, his method was to hang a thin rope in his line of sight to the star and measure the maximum
distance from which it would wholly obscure the star. From his measurements of this distance and of
the width of the rope, he could calculate the angle subtended by the star at his viewing point.[129] In
his Dialogue, he reported that he had found the apparent diameter of a star of first magnitude to be no
more than 5 arcseconds, and that of one of sixth magnitude to be about 5/6 arcseconds. Like most
astronomers of his day, Galileo did not recognise that the apparent sizes of stars that he measured were
spurious, caused by diffraction and atmospheric distortion (see seeing disk or Airy disk), and did not
represent the true sizes of stars. However, Galileo's values were much smaller than previous estimates
of the apparent sizes of the brightest stars, such as those made by Tycho Brahe (see Magnitude) and
enabled Galileo to counter anti-Copernican arguments such as those made by Tycho that these stars
would have to be absurdly large for their annual parallaxes to be undetectable.[130] Other astronomers
such as Simon Marius, Giovanni Battista Riccioli, and Martinus Hortensius made similar measurements
of stars, and Marius and Riccioli concluded the smaller sizes were not small enough to answer Tycho's
argument.[131]
Engineering
Galileo's geometrical and military compass, thought to have been made c. 1604 by his personal
instrument-maker Marc'Antonio Mazzoleni
Galileo made a number of contributions to what is now known as engineering, as distinct from
pure physics. Between 1595 and 1598, Galileo devised and improved a geometric and military
compasssuitable for use by gunners and surveyors. This expanded on earlier instruments designed
by Niccolò Tartaglia and Guidobaldo del Monte. For gunners, it offered, in addition to a new and safer
way of elevating cannons accurately, a way of quickly computing the charge
of gunpowder for cannonballs of different sizes and materials. As a geometric instrument, it enabled the
construction of any regular polygon, computation of the area of any polygon or circular sector, and a
variety of other calculations. Under Galileo's direction, instrument maker Marc'Antonio
Mazzoleni produced more than 100 of these compasses, which Galileo sold (along with an instruction
manual he wrote) for 50 lire and offered a course of instruction in the use of the compasses for 120 lire.
[132]
In about 1593, Galileo constructed a thermometer, using the expansion and contraction of air in a bulb
to move water in an attached tube.
A replica of the earliest surviving telescope attributed to Galileo Galilei, on display at the Griffith
Observatory.
In 1609, Galileo was, along with Englishman Thomas Harriot and others, among the first to use
a refracting telescope as an instrument to observe stars, planets or moons. The name "telescope" was
coined for Galileo's instrument by a Greek mathematician, Giovanni Demisiani,[133] at a banquet held in
1611 by Prince Federico Cesi to make Galileo a member of his Accademia dei Lincei.[134] The name was
derived from the Greek tele = 'far' and skopein = 'to look or see'. In 1610, he used a telescope at close
range to magnify the parts of insects.[135] By 1624, Galileo had used[136] a compound microscope. He
gave one of these instruments to Cardinal Zollern in May of that year for presentation to the Duke of
Bavaria,[137] and in September, he sent another to Prince Cesi.[138] The Linceans played a role again in
naming the "microscope" a year later when fellow academy member Giovanni Faber coined the word
for Galileo's invention from the Greek words μικρόν (micron) meaning "small", and σκοπεῖν (skopein)
meaning "to look at". The word was meant to be analogous with "telescope".[139][140] Illustrations of
insects made using one of Galileo's microscopes and published in 1625, appear to have been the first
clear documentation of the use of a compound microscope.[141]
In 1612, having determined the orbital periods of Jupiter's satellites, Galileo proposed that with
sufficiently accurate knowledge of their orbits, one could use their positions as a universal clock, and this
would make possible the determination of longitude. He worked on this problem from time to time
during the remainder of his life, but the practical problems were severe. The method was first
successfully applied by Giovanni Domenico Cassini in 1681 and was later used extensively for large land
surveys; this method, for example, was used to survey France, and later by Zebulon Pike of the
midwestern United States in 1806. For sea navigation, where delicate telescopic observations were
more difficult, the longitude problem eventually required development of a practical portable marine
chronometer, such as that of John Harrison.[142] Late in his life, when totally blind, Galileo designed
an escapement mechanism for a pendulum clock (called Galileo's escapement), although no clock using
this was built until after the first fully operational pendulum clock was made by Christiaan Huygens in
the 1650s.
Galileo was invited on several occasions to advise on engineering schemes to alleviate river flooding. In
1630 Mario Guiducci was probably instrumental in ensuring that he was consulted on a scheme by
Bartolotti to cut a new channel for the Bisenzio River near Florence.[143]
Physics
Galileo e Viviani, 1892, Tito Lessi
Dome of the Cathedral of Pisa with the "lamp of Galileo"
Galileo's theoretical and experimental work on the motions of bodies, along with the largely
independent work of Kepler and René Descartes, was a precursor of the classical mechanics developed
by Sir Isaac Newton. Galileo conducted several experiments with pendulums. It is popularly believed
(thanks to the biography by Vincenzo Viviani) that these began by watching the swings of the bronze
chandelier in the cathedral of Pisa, using his pulse as a timer. Later experiments are described in his Two
New Sciences. Galileo claimed that a simple pendulum is isochronous, i.e. that its swings always take the
same amount of time, independently of the amplitude. In fact, this is only approximately true,[144] as
was discovered by Christiaan Huygens. Galileo also found that the square of the period varies directly
with the length of the pendulum. Galileo's son, Vincenzo, sketched a clock based on his father's theories
in 1642. The clock was never built and, because of the large swings required by its verge escapement,
would have been a poor timekeeper. (See Engineering above.)
Galileo is lesser known for, yet still credited with, being one of the first to understand sound frequency.
By scraping a chisel at different speeds, he linked the pitch of the sound produced to the spacing of the
chisel's skips, a measure of frequency. In 1638, Galileo described an experimental method to measure
the speed of light by arranging that two observers, each having lanterns equipped with shutters, observe
each other's lanterns at some distance. The first observer opens the shutter of his lamp, and, the
second, upon seeing the light, immediately opens the shutter of his own lantern. The time between the
first observer's opening his shutter and seeing the light from the second observer's lamp indicates the
time it takes light to travel back and forth between the two observers. Galileo reported that when he
tried this at a distance of less than a mile, he was unable to determine whether or not the light
appeared instantaneously.[145]Sometime between Galileo's death and 1667, the members of the
Florentine Accademia del Cimentorepeated the experiment over a distance of about a mile and
obtained a similarly inconclusive result.[146]We now know that the speed of light is far too fast to be
measured by such methods (with human shutter-openers on Earth).
Galileo put forward the basic principle of relativity, that the laws of physics are the same in any system
that is moving at a constant speed in a straight line, regardless of its particular speed or direction.
Hence, there is no absolute motion or absolute rest. This principle provided the basic framework for
Newton's laws of motion and is central to Einstein's special theory of relativity.
Falling bodies
See also: Equations for a falling body
A biography by Galileo's pupil Vincenzo Viviani stated that Galileo had dropped balls of the same
material, but different masses, from the Leaning Tower of Pisa to demonstrate that their time of descent
was independent of their mass.[147] This was contrary to what Aristotle had taught: that heavy objects
fall faster than lighter ones, in direct proportion to weight.[148] While this story has been retold in
popular accounts, there is no account by Galileo himself of such an experiment, and it is generally
accepted by historians that it was at most a thought experiment which did not actually take place.[149]
[150] An exception is Drake,[151] who argues that the experiment did take place, more or less as Viviani
described it. The experiment described was actually performed by Simon Stevin (commonly known as
Stevinus) and Jan Cornets de Groot,[35] although the building used was actually the church tower in
Delft in 1586.[152] However, most of his experiments with falling bodies were carried out using inclined
planes where both the issues of timing and air resistance were much reduced.[153]
During the Apollo 15 mission in 1971, astronaut David Scott showed that Galileo was right: acceleration
is the same for all bodies subject to gravity on the Moon, even for a hammer and a feather.
In his 1638 Discorsi, Galileo's character Salviati, widely regarded as Galileo's spokesman, held that all
unequal weights would fall with the same finite speed in a vacuum. But this had previously been
proposed by Lucretius[154] and Simon Stevin.[155] Cristiano Banti's Salviati also held it could be
experimentally demonstrated by the comparison of pendulum motions in air with bobs of lead and of
cork which had different weight but which were otherwise similar.
Galileo proposed that a falling body would fall with a uniform acceleration, as long as the resistance of
the medium through which it was falling remained negligible, or in the limiting case of its falling through
a vacuum.[156] He also derived the correct kinematical law for the distance travelled during a uniform
acceleration starting from rest—namely, that it is proportional to the square of the elapsed time
( d ∝ t 2 ).[157] Prior to Galileo, Nicole Oresme, in the 14th century, had derived the times-squared law
for uniformly accelerated change,[158] and Domingo de Soto had suggested in the 16th century that
bodies falling through a homogeneous medium would be uniformly accelerated.[159] Galileo expressed
the time-squared law using geometrical constructions and mathematically precise words, adhering to
the standards of the day. (It remained for others to re-express the law in algebraic terms).
He also concluded that objects retain their velocity in the absence of any impediments to their motion,
[citation needed] thereby contradicting the generally accepted Aristotelian hypothesis that a body could
only remain in so-called "violent", "unnatural", or "forced" motion so long as an agent of change (the
"mover") continued to act on it.[160] Philosophical ideas relating to inertia had been proposed by John
Philoponus and Jean Buridan. Galileo stated: "Imagine any particle projected along a horizontal plane
without friction; then we know, from what has been more fully explained in the preceding pages, that
this particle will move along this same plane with a motion which is uniform and perpetual, provided the
plane has no limits"[161] This was incorporated into Newton's laws of motion (first law).
Mathematics
While Galileo's application of mathematics to experimental physics was innovative, his mathematical
methods were the standard ones of the day, including dozens of examples of an inverse
proportion square root method passed down from Fibonacci and Archimedes. The analysis and proofs
relied heavily on the Eudoxian theory of proportion, as set forth in the fifth book of Euclid's Elements.
This theory had become available only a century before, thanks to accurate translations by Tartaglia and
others; but by the end of Galileo's life, it was being superseded by the algebraic methods of Descartes.
The concept now named Galileo's paradox was not original with him. His proposed solution, that infinite
numbers cannot be compared, is no longer considered useful.
Timeline
1543 – Nicolaus Copernicus publishes De revolutionibus orbium coelestium as an alternative world
system to the Ptolemy's geocentric modelcausing subsequent questions to be raised about Aristotelian
physics following Copernicus' death
1563 – Parents Vincenzo Galilei and Giulia Ammannati marry
1564 – Birth in Pisa, Italy
~1570 – Thomas Digges publishes Pantometria describing a telescope built between 1540–1559 by his
father Leonard Digges
1573 – Tycho Brahe publishes De nova stella (On the new star) refuting Aristotelian belief in
immutable celestial spheres and an eternal, unchanging, more perfect heavenly realm of celestial aether
above the moon
1576 – Giuseppe Moletti, Galileo's predecessor in the mathematics chair at Padua, reports falling bodies
of the same shape fall at the same speed, regardless of material[162]
1581 – His father, Vincenzo Galilei publishes Dialogo della musica antica et moderna formulating musical
theories[163]
1581 – Enrols as medical student at University of Pisa
1582 – Attends mathematics lecture by Ostilio Ricci and decides to study math and science
1585 – Leaves University of Pisa without degree and works as tutor
1586 – Invents hydrostatic balance; wrote La Balancitta (The little balance)
1586 – Simon Stevin publishes results for dropping lead weights from 10 meters
1588 – Tycho Brahe publishes work on comets containing a description of the Tychonic system of the
world[164]
1589 – Appointed to Mathematics Chair, University of Pisa
~1590 – Partially completes De Motu (On Motion), which is never published
1591 – Death of his father, Vicenzo Galilei
1592 – Appointed professor of mathematics at University of Padua, remains 18 years
~1593 – Invents early thermometer that unfortunately depended on both temperature and pressure
~1595 – Invents improved ballistics calculation geometric and military compass, which he later improves
for surveying and general calculations and earns income from tutoring on its use
1597 – Letter to Kepler indicates his belief in the Copernican System
1600 – First child, Virginia is born; ~1600 Le Meccaniche (Mechanics)
1600 – William Gilbert publishes On the Magnet and Magnetic Bodies, and on That Great Magnet the
Earth with arguments supporting the Copernican system
1600 – Roman Inquisition finds Giordano Bruno, Copernican system supporter, guilty of heresy for
opinions on pantheism and the eternal plurality of worlds, and for denial of the Trinity, divinity of Christ,
virginity of Mary, and Transubstantiation; burned at the stake by civil authorities
1601 – Daughter Livia is born
1604 – Measures supernova position indicating no parallax for the new star
1605 – Sued by brothers-in-law for nonpayment of sisters' dowries
1606 – Son Vincenzo born
1606 – Publishes manual for his calculating compass
1607 – Rotilio Orlandini attempts to assassinate Galileo's friend, Friar Paolo Sarpi
1608 – Hans Lippershey invents a refracting telescope
1609 – Independently invents and improves telescopes based on description of invention by Hans
Lippershey
1609 – Kepler publishes Astronomia nova containing his first two laws and for the first time
demonstrates the Copernican model is more accurate than the Ptolemaic for uses such as navigation
and prediction
1609 – Thomas Harriot sketches the Moon from telescopic observations made four months before
Galileo's
1610 – Publishes Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger); views our moon's mountains and craters and
brightest 4 of Jupiter's moons
1610 – Martin Horky publishes Brevissima Peregrinatio Contra Nuncium Sidereum, opposing Galileo
1610 – Kepler requests one of Galileo's telescopes or lenses, but Galileo replies he is too busy to build
one and has no extras[165]
1610 – Lifetime appointment to mathematics position at University of Padua, and as mathematician and
philosopher for Cosimo II, Grand Duke of Tuscany
1611 – Discovers phases of Venus; granted audience with Pope; made member of Lincean Academy
1611 – Awarded an honorary degree by the Jesuit College in Rome[166]
1611 – David Fabricius publishes Narration on Spots Observed on the Sun and their Apparent Rotation
with the Sun prior to Christoph Scheiner and Galileo's published works on the subject
1612 – Proposed Jupiter's moons could be used as a universal clock for possible determination of
longitude
~1612 or 1613 – Francesco Sizzi discovers annual variations in sunspots' motions
1613 – Letters on Sunspots
1613 – Letter to Benedetto Castelli discussing the rotation of the sun and Galileo's support of the
Copernican system. Using Biblical inerrancyas a basis, Galileo writes that Joshua's command for the sun
to stand still in Joshua 10:13 proves the "impossibility of the Aristotelian and Ptolemaic world system,
and on the other hand agrees very well with the Copernican one."[167] He went on to write that "the
sun gives not only light (as it obviously does) but also motion to all the planets that revolve around it"
by its rotation.[167]
1615 – Letter to Grand Duchess Christina (not published until 1636)
1616 – Officially warned by the Church not to hold or defend the Copernican System
1616 – The Catholic Church places De revolutionibus orbium coelestium on the List of Prohibited Books,
pending correction
1616 – Private letter "Discourse on the Tides"
1617 – Moves into Bellosguardo, west of Florence, near his daughters' convent; observes double star
Mizar in Ursa Major
1619 – Kepler publishes Harmonices Mundi which introduces his third law
1619 – Discourse on the Comets
1623 – Maffeo Barberini becomes Pope Urban VIII
1623 – Publishes The Assayer
1624 – Visits Pope who praises and honours him, leaving with assumed permission to publish work on
the Copernican vs. Ptolemaic Systems; used a compound microscope
1625 – Illustrations of insects made using one of Galileo's microscopes published
1630 – Completes Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems and subsequently receives
approval of Church censor
1630 – Invited by Grand Duke Ferdinand II of Tuscany to advise on proposed engineering works on
the Bisenzio River
1631 – Produces report on the Bisenzio engineering proposals, arguing against them
1632 – Publishes Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems
1633 – sentenced by the Inquisition to imprisonment, commuted to house arrest, for vehement
suspicion of heresy in violating the 1616 injunction
1633 – Catholic Church places Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems on the List of
Prohibited Books
1638 – Publishes Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences
1642 – Death in Arcetri, Italy
1668 – Isaac Newton builds his reflecting telescope
1687 – Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica deriving Kepler's laws from
the Universal Law of Gravitation and the Laws of Motion
2016 – The American Juno spacecraft, carrying a plaque and a Lego minifigure dedicated at Galileo,
arrives at Jupiter's orbit
Legacy
Later Church reassessments
The Galileo affair was largely forgotten after Galileo's death, and the controversy subsided. The
Inquisition's ban on reprinting Galileo's works was lifted in 1718 when permission was granted to
publish an edition of his works (excluding the condemned Dialogue) in Florence.[168] In 1741, Pope
Benedict XIV authorised the publication of an edition of Galileo's complete scientific works[f] which
included a mildly censored version of the Dialogue.[169] In 1758, the general prohibition against works
advocating heliocentrism was removed from the Index of prohibited books, although the specific ban on
uncensored versions of the Dialogue and Copernicus's De Revolutionibus remained.[170] All traces of
official opposition to heliocentrism by the church disappeared in 1835 when these works were finally
dropped from the Index.[171]
Interest in the Galileo affair was revived in the early 19th century, when Protestant polemicists used it
(and other events such as the Spanish Inquisition and the myth of the flat Earth) to attack Roman
Catholicism.[11] Interest in it has waxed and waned ever since. In 1939, Pope Pius XII, in his first speech
to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, within a few months of his election to the papacy, described
Galileo as being among the "most audacious heroes of research... not afraid of the stumbling blocks and
the risks on the way, nor fearful of the funereal monuments".[172] His close advisor of 40 years,
Professor Robert Leiber, wrote: "Pius XII was very careful not to close any doors (to science)
prematurely. He was energetic on this point and regretted that in the case of Galileo."[173]
On 15 February 1990, in a speech delivered at the Sapienza University of Rome,[g] Cardinal Ratzinger
(later Pope Benedict XVI) cited some current views on the Galileo affair as forming what he called "a
symptomatic case that permits us to see how deep the self-doubt of the modern age, of science and
technology goes today".[174] Some of the views he cited were those of the philosopher Paul
Feyerabend, whom he quoted as saying "The Church at the time of Galileo kept much more closely to
reason than did Galileo himself, and she took into consideration the ethical and social consequences of
Galileo's teaching too. Her verdict against Galileo was rational and just and the revision of this verdict
can be justified only on the grounds of what is politically opportune."[174] The Cardinal did not clearly
indicate whether he agreed or disagreed with Feyerabend's assertions. He did, however, say "It would
be foolish to construct an impulsive apologetic on the basis of such views."[174]
On 31 October 1992, Pope John Paul II expressed regret for how the Galileo affair was handled, and
issued a declaration acknowledging the errors committed by the Catholic Church tribunal that judged
the scientific positions of Galileo Galilei, as the result of a study conducted by the Pontifical Council for
Culture.[175][176] In March 2008, the head of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Nicola Cabibbo,
announced a plan to honour Galileo by erecting a statue of him inside the Vatican walls.[177] In
December of the same year, during events to mark the 400th anniversary of Galileo's earliest telescopic
observations, Pope Benedict XVI praised his contributions to astronomy.[178] A month later, however,
the head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Gianfranco Ravasi, revealed that the plan to erect a statue
of Galileo in the grounds of the Vatican had been suspended.[179]
Impact on modern science
According to Stephen Hawking, Galileo probably bears more of the responsibility for the birth of modern
science than anybody else,[180] and Albert Einstein called him the father of modern science.[181][182]
International Year of Astronomy commemorative coin
Galileo's astronomical discoveries and investigations into the Copernican theory have led to a lasting
legacy which includes the categorisation of the four large moons of Jupiter discovered by Galileo
(Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) as the Galilean moons. Other scientific endeavours and principles
are named after Galileo including the Galileo spacecraft,[183] the first spacecraft to enter orbit around
Jupiter, the proposed Galileo global satellite navigation system, the transformation between inertial
systems in classical mechanics denoted Galilean transformation and the Gal (unit), sometimes known as
the Galileo, which is a non-SI unit of acceleration.
Partly because 2009 was the fourth centenary of Galileo's first recorded astronomical observations with
the telescope, the United Nations scheduled it to be the International Year of Astronomy.[184] A global
scheme was laid out by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), also endorsed by UNESCO—
the UN body responsible for educational, scientific and cultural matters. The International Year of
Astronomy 2009 was intended to be a global celebration of astronomy and its contributions to society
and culture, stimulating worldwide interest not only in astronomy but science in general, with a
particular slant towards young people.
Asteroid 697 Galilea is named in his honour.
In artistic and popular media
Galileo is mentioned several times in the "opera" section of the Queen song, "Bohemian Rhapsody".
[185] He features prominently in the song "Galileo" performed by the Indigo Girls and Amy
Grant's Galileo on her Heart in Motion album.
Twentieth-century plays have been written on Galileo's life, including Life of Galileo (1943) by the
German playwright Bertolt Brecht, with a film adaptation (1975) of it, and Lamp At Midnight (1947)
by Barrie Stavis,[186] as well as the 2008 play "Galileo Galilei".[187]
Kim Stanley Robinson wrote a science fiction novel entitled Galileo's Dream (2009), in which Galileo is
brought into the future to help resolve a crisis of scientific philosophy; the story moves back and forth
between Galileo's own time and a hypothetical distant future and contains a great deal of biographical
information.[188]
Galileo Galilei was recently selected as a main motif for a high value collectors' coin: the
€25 International Year of Astronomy commemorative coin, minted in 2009. This coin also
commemorates the 400th anniversary of the invention of Galileo's telescope. The obverse shows a
portion of his portrait and his telescope. The background shows one of his first drawings of the surface
of the moon. In the silver ring, other telescopes are depicted: the Isaac Newton Telescope, the
observatory in Kremsmünster Abbey, a modern telescope, a radio telescope and a space telescope. In
2009, the Galileoscope was also released. This is a mass-produced, low-cost educational 2-inch (51 mm)
telescope with relatively high quality.
Writings
Statue outside the Uffizi, Florence
Galileo's early works describing scientific instruments include the 1586 tract entitled The Little
Balance (La Billancetta) describing an accurate balance to weigh objects in air or water[189] and the
1606 printed manual Le Operazioni del Compasso Geometrico et Militare on the operation of a
geometrical and military compass.[190]
His early works in dynamics, the science of motion and mechanics were his circa 1590 Pisan De
Motu (On Motion) and his circa 1600 Paduan Le Meccaniche (Mechanics). The former was based on
Aristotelian–Archimedean fluid dynamics and held that the speed of gravitational fall in a fluid medium
was proportional to the excess of a body's specific weight over that of the medium, whereby in a
vacuum, bodies would fall with speeds in proportion to their specific weights. It also subscribed to the
Philoponan impetus dynamics in which impetus is self-dissipating and free-fall in a vacuum would have
an essential terminal speed according to specific weight after an initial period of acceleration.
Galileo's 1610 The Starry Messenger (Sidereus Nuncius) was the first scientific treatise to be published
based on observations made through a telescope. It reported his discoveries of:
the Galilean moons
the roughness of the Moon's surface
the existence of a large number of stars invisible to the naked eye, particularly those responsible for the
appearance of the Milky Way
differences between the appearances of the planets and those of the fixed stars—the former appearing
as small discs, while the latter appeared as unmagnified points of light
Galileo published a description of sunspots in 1613 entitled Letters on Sunspots[191] suggesting the Sun
and heavens are corruptible. The Letters on Sunspots also reported his 1610 telescopic observations of
the full set of phases of Venus, and his discovery of the puzzling "appendages" of Saturn and their even
more puzzling subsequent disappearance. In 1615, Galileo prepared a manuscript known as the "Letter
to the Grand Duchess Christina" which was not published in printed form until 1636. This letter was a
revised version of the Letter to Castelli, which was denounced by the Inquisition as an incursion upon
theology by advocating Copernicanism both as physically true and as consistent with Scripture.[192] In
1616, after the order by the inquisition for Galileo not to hold or defend the Copernican position, Galileo
wrote the "Discourse on the Tides" (Discorso sul flusso e il reflusso del mare) based on the Copernican
earth, in the form of a private letter to Cardinal Orsini.[193] In 1619, Mario Guiducci, a pupil of Galileo's,
published a lecture written largely by Galileo under the title Discourse on the Comets (Discorso Delle
Comete), arguing against the Jesuit interpretation of comets.[194]
In 1623, Galileo published The Assayer—Il Saggiatore, which attacked theories based on Aristotle's
authority and promoted experimentation and the mathematical formulation of scientific ideas. The book
was highly successful and even found support among the higher echelons of the Christian church.
[195] Following the success of The Assayer, Galileo published the Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief
World Systems (Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo) in 1632. Despite taking care to adhere
to the Inquisition's 1616 instructions, the claims in the book favouring Copernican theory and a non
Geocentric model of the solar system led to Galileo being tried and banned on publication. Despite the
publication ban, Galileo published his Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two
New Sciences (Discorsi e Dimostrazioni Matematiche, intorno a due nuove scienze) in 1638 in Holland,
outside the jurisdiction of the Inquisition.
Published written works
Galileo's main written works are as follows:
The Little Balance (1586; in Italian: La Billancetta)
On Motion (c. 1590; in Latin: De Motu Antiquiora)[196]
Mechanics (c. 1600; in Italian: Le mecaniche)
The Operations of Geometrical and Military Compass (1606; in Italian: Le operazioni del compasso
geometrico et militare)
The Starry Messenger (1610; in Latin: Sidereus Nuncius)
Discourse on Floating Bodies (1612; in Italian: Discorso intorno alle cose che stanno in su l'acqua, o che
in quella si muovono, "Discourse on Bodies that Stay Atop Water, or Move in It")
History and Demonstration Concerning Sunspots (1613; in Italian: Istoria e dimostrazioni intorno alle
macchie solari; work based on the Three Letters on Sunspots, Tre lettere sulle macchie solari, 1612)
"Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina" (1615; published in 1636)
"Discourse on the Tides" (1616; in Italian: Discorso del flusso e reflusso del mare)
Discourse on the Comets (1619; in Italian: Discorso delle Comete)
The Assayer (1623; in Italian: Il Saggiatore)
Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (1632; in Italian: Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi
del mondo)
Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences (1638; in Italian: Discorsi e
Dimostrazioni Matematiche, intorno a due nuove scienze)
Christiaan Huygens
Christiaan Huygens FRS (/ˈhaɪɡənz/ HY-gənz,[4] also US: /ˈhɔɪɡənz/ HOY-gənz,[5][6] Dutch: [ˈkrɪstijaːn ˈɦœyɣə(n)s] (
listen); Latin: Hugenius; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695), also spelled Huyghens, was a
Dutch physicist, mathematician, astronomer and inventor, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest
scientists of all time and a major figure in the scientific revolution. In physics, Huygens made groundbreaking
contributions in optics and mechanics, while as an astronomer he is chiefly known for his studies of the rings of
Saturn and the discovery of its moon Titan. As an inventor, he improved the design of the telescope with the
invention of the Huygenian eyepiece. His most famous invention, however, was the pendulum clock in 1656,
which was a breakthrough in timekeeping and became the most accurate timekeeper for almost 300 years.
Because he was the first to use mathematical formulae to describe the laws of physics, Huygens has been
called the first theoretical physicist and the founder of mathematical physics.[7][8]
In 1659, Huygens was the first to derive the now standard formula for the centripetal force in his work De vi
centrifuga. The formula played a central role in classical mechanics. Huygens was also the first to formulate the
correct laws of elastic collision in his work De motu corporum ex percussione, but his findings were not
published until 1703, after his death. In the field of optics, he is best known for his wave theory of light, which
he proposed in 1678 and described in 1690 in his Treatise on Light, which is regarded as the first mathematical
theory of light. His theory was initially rejected in favor of Isaac Newton's corpuscular theory of light,
until Augustin-Jean Fresnel adopted Huygens' principle in 1818 and showed that it could explain the rectilinear
propagation and diffraction effects of light. Today this principle is known as the Huygens–Fresnel principle.
Huygens invented the pendulum clock in 1656, which he patented the following year. In addition to this
invention, his research in horology resulted in an extensive analysis of the pendulum in his 1673
book Horologium Oscillatorium, which is regarded as one of the most important 17th-century works in
mechanics. While the first part of the book contains descriptions of clock designs, most of the book is an
analysis of pendulum motion and a theory of curves. In 1655, Huygens began grinding lenses with his brother
Constantijn in order to build telescopes to conduct astronomical research. He designed a 50-power refracting
telescope with which he discovered that the ring of Saturn was "a thin, flat ring, nowhere touching, and inclined
to the ecliptic." It was with this telescope that he also discovered the first of Saturn's moons, Titan. He
eventually developed in 1662 what is now called the Huygenian eyepiece, a telescope with two lenses, which
diminished the amount of dispersion.
As a mathematician, Huygens was a pioneer on probability and wrote his first treatise on probability theory in
1657 with the work Van Rekeningh in Spelen van Gluck. Frans van Schooten, who was the private tutor of
Huygens, translated the work as De ratiociniis in ludo aleae ("On Reasoning in Games of Chance"). The work
is a systematic treatise on probability and deals with games of chance and in particular the problem of points.
The modern concept of probability grew out of the use of expectation values by Huygens and Blaise
Pascal (who encouraged him to write the work).
The last years of Huygens's life, who never married, were characterized by loneliness and depression. As
a rationalist, he did not believe in an immanent supreme being and did not accept the Christian faith of his
upbringing. Although Huygens did not believe in such a supernatural being, he did hypothesize on the
possibility of extraterrestrial life in his Cosmotheoros, which was published shortly before his death in 1695. He
speculated that extraterrestrial life was possible on planets similar to Earth and wrote that the availability of
water in liquid form was a necessity for life.
Christiaan Huygens
Christiaan Huygens by Caspar Netscher, Museum Boerhaave, Leiden[1]
Early life
Christiaan Huygens was born on 14 April 1629 in The Hague, into a rich and influential Dutch family,[9][10] the
second son of Constantijn Huygens. Christiaan was named after his paternal grandfather. [11][12] His mother
was Suzanna van Baerle. She died in 1637, shortly after the birth of Huygens' sister. [13] The couple had five
children: Constantijn (1628), Christiaan (1629), Lodewijk (1631), Philips (1632) and Suzanna (1637).[14]
Constantijn Huygens was a diplomat and advisor to the House of Orange, and also a poet and musician. His
friends included Galileo Galilei, Marin Mersenne and René Descartes.[15] Huygens was educated at home until
turning sixteen years old. He liked to play with miniatures of mills and other machines. His father gave him a
liberal education: he studied languages and music, history and geography, mathematics, logic and rhetoric, but
also dancing, fencing and horse riding.[11][14][16]
Portrait of Huygens' father (centre) and his five children (Christiaan at right). Mauritshuis, The Hague.
Christiaan Huygens. Cut from the engraving following the painting of Caspar Netscher by G. Edelinck, between 1684 and 1687.
In 1644 Huygens had as his mathematical tutor Jan Jansz de Jonge Stampioen, who set the 15-year-old a
demanding reading list on contemporary science. [17] Descartes was impressed by his skills in geometry.[10]
Student years
His father sent Huygens to study law and mathematics at the University of Leiden, where he studied from May
1645 to March 1647.[11] Frans van Schooten was an academic at Leiden from 1646, and also a private tutor to
Huygens and his elder brother, replacing Stampioen on the advice of Descartes. [18][19] Van Schooten brought his
mathematical education up to date, in particular introducing him to the work of Fermat on differential geometry.
[20]
After two years, from March 1647, Huygens continued his studies at the newly founded Orange College,
in Breda, where his father was a curator: the change occurred because of a duel between his brother Lodewijk
and another student.[21] Constantijn Huygens was closely involved in the new College, which lasted only to
1669; the rector was André Rivet.[22] Christiaan Huygens lived at the home of the jurist Johann Henryk Dauber,
and had mathematics classes with the English lecturer John Pell. He completed his studies in August 1649.
[11]
He then had a stint as a diplomat on a mission with Henry, Duke of Nassau. It took him to Bentheim,
then Flensburg. He took off for Denmark, visited Copenhagen and Helsingør, and hoped to cross
the Øresund to visit Descartes in Stockholm. It was not to be.[23]
While his father Constantijn had wished his son Christiaan to be a diplomat, it also was not to be. In political
terms, the First Stadtholderless Period that began in 1650 meant that the House of Orange was not in power,
removing Constantijn's influence. Further, he realised that his son had no interest in such a career. [24]
Early correspondence[edit]
Correspondance
Huygens generally wrote in French or Latin. [25] While still a college student at Leiden he began a
correspondence with the intelligencer Mersenne, who died quite soon afterwards in 1648.[11] Mersenne wrote to
Constantijn on his son's talent for mathematics, and flatteringly compared him to Archimedes (3 January 1647).
The letters show the early interests of Huygens in mathematics. In October 1646 there is the suspension
bridge, and the demonstration that a catenary is not a parabola.[26] In 1647/8 they cover the claim of Grégoire de
Saint-Vincent to squaring the circle; rectification of the ellipse; projectiles, and the vibrating string.[27] Some of
Mersenne's concerns at the time, such as the cycloid (he sent Evangelista Torricelli's treatise on the curve),
the centre of oscillation, and the gravitational constant, were matters Huygens only took seriously towards the
end of the 17th century.[28] Mersenne had also written on musical theory. Huygens preferred meantone
temperament; he innovated in 31 equal temperament, which was not itself a new idea but known to Francisco
de Salinas, using logarithms to investigate it further and show its close relation to the meantone system. [29]
In 1654, Huygens returned to his father's house in The Hague, and was able to devote himself entirely to
research.[11] The family had another house, not far away at Hofwijck, and he spent time there during the
summer. His scholarly life did not allow him to escape bouts of depression. [30]
The garden plan at Hofwijck, 1653
Subsequently, Huygens developed a broad range of correspondents, though picking up the threads after 1648
was hampered by the five-year Fronde in France. Visiting Paris in 1655, Huygens called on Ismael Boulliau to
introduce himself. Then Boulliau took him to see Claude Mylon.[31] The Parisian group of savants that had
gathered around Mersenne held together into the 1650s, and Mylon, who had assumed the secretarial role,
took some trouble from then on to keep Huygens in touch.[32] Through Pierre de Carcavi Huygens corresponded
in 1656 with Pierre de Fermat, whom he admired greatly, though this side of idolatry. The experience was
bittersweet and even puzzling, since it became clear that Fermat had dropped out of the research mainstream,
and his priority claims could probably not be made good in some cases. Besides, Huygens was looking by then
to apply mathematics, while Fermat's concerns ran to purer topics. [33]
Scientific debut[edit]
Huygens was often slow to publish his results and discoveries. In the early days his mentor Frans van
Schooten was cautious for the sake of his reputation. [34]
The first work Huygens put in print was Theoremata de quadratura (1651) in the field of quadrature. It included
material discussed with Mersenne some years before, such as the fallacious nature of the squaring of the circle
by Grégoire de Saint-Vincent. His preferred methods were those of Archimedes and Fermat.[20] Quadrature was
a live issue in the 1650s, and through Mylon, Huygens intervened in the discussion of the mathematics
of Thomas Hobbes. Persisting in trying to explain the errors Hobbes had fallen into, he made an international
reputation.[35]
The catenary in a manuscript of Huygens.
Huygens studied spherical lenses from a theoretical point of view in 1652–3, obtaining results that remained
unpublished until Isaac Barrow (1669). His aim was to understand telescopes.[36] He began grinding his own
lenses in 1655, collaborating with his brother Constantijn. [37] He designed in 1662 what is now called
the Huygenian eyepiece, with two lenses, as a telescope ocular. [38][39] Lenses were also a common interest
through which Huygens could meet socially in the 1660s with Baruch Spinoza, who ground them professionally.
They had rather different outlooks on science, Spinoza being the more committed Cartesian, and some of their
discussion survives in correspondence.[40] He encountered the work of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, another lens
grinder, in the field of microscopy which interested his father.[41]
Huygens wrote the first treatise on probability theory, De ratiociniis in ludo aleae ("On Reasoning in Games of
Chance", 1657).[42] He had been told of recent work in the field by Fermat, Blaise Pascal and Girard
Desargues two years earlier, in Paris.[43] Frans van Schooten translated the original Dutch manuscript "Van
Rekeningh in Spelen van Geluck" into Latin and published it in his Exercitationum mathematicarum. It deals
with games of chance, in particular the problem of points. Huygens took as intuitive his appeals to concepts of
a "fair game" and equitable contract, and used them to set up a theory of expected values.[44] In 1662 Sir Robert
Moray sent Huygens John Graunt's life table, and in time Huygens and his brother Lodewijk worked on life
expectancy.[45]
On 3 May 1661, Huygens observed the planet Mercury transit over the Sun, using the telescope of instrument
maker Richard Reeve in London, together with astronomer Thomas Streete and Reeve.[46] Streete then debated
the published record of the transit of Hevelius, a controversy mediated by Henry Oldenburg.[47] Huygens passed
to Hevelius a manuscript of Jeremiah Horrocks on the transit of Venus, 1639, which thereby was printed for the
first time in 1662.[48] In that year Huygens, who played the harpsichord, took an interest in music, and Simon
Stevin's theories on it; he showed very little concern to publish his theories on consonance, some of which
were lost for centuries.[49][50] The Royal Society of London elected him a Fellow in 1663.[51]
In France
The Montmor Academy was the form the old Mersenne circle took after the mid-1650s.[52] Huygens took part in
its debates, and supported its "dissident" faction who favoured experimental demonstration to curtail fruitless
discussion, and opposed amateurish attitudes.[53] During 1663 he made what was his third visit to Paris; the
Montmor Academy closed down, and Huygens took the chance to advocate a more Baconian programme in
science. In 1666 he moved to Paris and earned a position at Louis XIV's new French Academy of Sciences.[54]
In Paris Huygens had an important patron and correspondent in Jean-Baptiste Colbert.[55] However, his
relationship with the Academy was not always easy, and in 1670 Huygens, seriously ill, chose Francis
Vernon to carry out a donation of his papers to the Royal Society in London, should he die. [56] Then the Franco-
Dutch War took place (1672–8). England's part in it (1672–4) is thought to have damaged his relationship with
the Royal Society.[57] Robert Hooke for the Royal Society lacked the urbanity to handle the situation, in 1673. [58]
Christiaan Huygens, relief by Jean-Jacques Clérion, around 1670?
Denis Papin was assistant to Huygens from 1671.[59] One of their projects, which did not bear fruit directly, was
the gunpowder engine.[60] Papin moved to England in 1678, and continued to work in this area. [61] Using
the Paris Observatory (completed in 1672), Huygens made further astronomical observations. In 1678 he
introduced Nicolaas Hartsoeker to French scientists such as Nicolas Malebranche and Giovanni Cassini.
It was in Paris, also, that Huygens met the young diplomat Gottfried Leibniz, there in 1672 on a vain mission to
meet Arnauld de Pomponne, the French Foreign Minister. At this time Leibniz was working on a calculating
machine, and he moved on to London in early 1673 with diplomats from Mainz; but from March 1673 Leibniz
was tutored in mathematics by Huygens.[62] Huygens taught him analytical geometry; an extensive
correspondence ensued, in which Huygens showed reluctance to accept the advantages of infinitesimal
calculus.[63]
Later life
Huygens moved back to The Hague in 1681 after suffering serious depressive illness. In 1684, he
published Astroscopia Compendiaria on his new tubeless aerial telescope. He attempted to return to France in
1685 but the revocation of the Edict of Nantes precluded this move. His father died in 1687, and he inherited
Hofwijck, which he made his home the following year. [24]
Hofwijck, home to Christiaan Huygens from 1688
On his third visit to England, in 1689, Huygens met Isaac Newton on 12 June. They spoke about Iceland spar,
and subsequently corresponded about resisted motion. [64]
Huygens observed the acoustical phenomenon now known as flanging in 1693.[65] He died in The Hague on 8
July 1695, and was buried in an unmarked grave in the Grote Kerk there, as was his father before him.[66]
Huygens never married.[67]
Work in natural philosophy
Huygens has been called the leading European natural philosopher between Descartes and Newton. [68] He
adhered to the tenets of the mechanical philosophy of his time. In particular he sought explanations of the force
of gravity that avoided action at a distance.[69]
In common with Robert Boyle and Jacques Rohault, Huygens adhered to what has been called, more explicitly,
"experimentally oriented corpuscular-mechanical" natural philosophy. In the analysis of the Scientific
Revolution this appears as a mainstream position, at least from the founding of the Royal Society to the
emergence of Newton, and was sometimes labelled "Baconian", while not being inductivist or identifying with
the views of Francis Bacon in a simple-minded way.[70] After his first visit to England in 1661, when he attended
a meeting of the Gresham College group in April and learned directly about Boyle's air pump experiments,
Huygens spent time in late 1661 and early 1662 replicating the work. It proved a long process, brought to the
surface an experimental issue ("anomalous suspension") and the theoretical issue of horror vacui, and ended
in July 1663 as Huygens became a Fellow of the Royal Society. It has been said that Huygens finally accepted
Boyle's view of the void, as against the Cartesian denial of it; [71] and also (in Leviathan and the Air Pump) that
the replication of results trailed off messily.[72]
Newton's influence on John Locke was mediated by Huygens, who assured Locke that Newton's mathematics
was sound, leading to Locke's acceptance of a "corpuscular-mechanical" physics. [73]
Laws of motion, impact and gravitation
The general approach of the mechanical philosophers was to postulate theories of the kind now called "contact
action". Huygens adopted this method, but not without seeing its difficulties and failures. [74] Leibniz, his student
in Paris, abandoned the theory.[75] Seeing the universe this way made the theory of collisions central to physics.
The requirements of the mechanical philosophy, in the view of Huygens, were stringent. Matter in motion made
up the universe, and only explanations in those terms could be truly intelligible. While he was influenced by
the Cartesian approach, he was less doctrinaire.[76] He studied elastic collisions in the 1650s but delayed
publication for over a decade.[20]
Depiction from Huygens, Oeuvres Complètes: a boating metaphor underlay the way of thinking about relative motion, and so
simplifying the theory of colliding bodies
Huygens concluded quite early that Descartes's laws for the elastic collision of two bodies must be wrong, and
he formulated the correct laws.[77] An important step was his recognition of the Galilean invariance of the
problems.[78] His views then took many years to be circulated. He passed them on in person to William
Brouncker and Christopher Wren in London, in 1661.[79] What Spinoza wrote to Henry Oldenburg about them, in
1666 which was during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, was guarded.[80] Huygens had actually worked them out
in a manuscript De motu corporum ex percussione in the period 1652–6. The war ended in 1667, and Huygens
announced his results to the Royal Society in 1668. He published them in the Journal des sçavans in 1669.[20]
Huygens stated what is now known as the second of Newton's laws of motion in a quadratic form.[81] In 1659 he
derived the now standard formula for the centripetal force, exerted on an object describing a circular motion, for
instance by the string to which it is attached. In modern notation:
with m the mass of the object, v the velocity and r the radius. The publication of the general formula for this
force in 1673 was a significant step in studying orbits in astronomy. It enabled the transition from Kepler's
third law of planetary motion, to the inverse square law of gravitation.[82] The interpretation of Newton's work
on gravitation by Huygens differed, however, from that of Newtonians such as Roger Cotes; he did not
insist on the a priori attitude of Descartes, but neither would he accept aspects of gravitational attractions
that were not attributable in principle to contact of particles. [83]
The approach used by Huygens also missed some central notions of mathematical physics, which were
not lost on others. His work on pendulums came very close to the theory of simple harmonic motion; but
the topic was covered fully for the first time by Newton, in Book II of his Principia Mathematica (1687).[84] In
1678 Leibniz picked out of Huygens's work on collisions the idea of conservation law that Huygens had left
implicit.[85]
Optics
Huygens is remembered especially for his wave theory of light, which he first communicated in 1678 to the
Paris Académie des sciences. It was published in 1690 in his Traité de la lumière[86] (Treatise on light[87]),
making it the first mathematical theory of light. He refers to Ignace-Gaston Pardies, whose manuscript on
optics helped him on his wave theory.[88]
Huygens assumes that the speed of light is finite, as had been shown in an experiment by Olaus
Roemer in 1679, but which Huygens is presumed to have already believed. [89] The challenge for the wave
theory of light at that time was to explain geometrical optics, as most physical optics phenomena (such
as diffraction) had not been observed or appreciated as issues. It posits light radiating wavefronts with the
common notion of light rays depicting propagation normal to those wavefronts. Propagation of the
wavefronts is then explained as the result of spherical waves being emitted at every point along the wave
front (the Huygens–Fresnel principle).[90] It assumed an omnipresent ether, with transmission through
perfectly elastic particles, a revision of the view of Descartes. The nature of light was therefore
a longitudinal wave.[89]
Huygens had experimented in 1672 with double refraction (birefringence) in Icelandic spar (calcite), a
phenomenon discovered in 1669 by Rasmus Bartholin. At first he could not elucidate what he found. [39] He
later explained it[87] with his wave front theory and concept of evolutes. He also developed ideas
on caustics.[91] Newton in his Opticks of 1704 proposed instead a corpuscular theory of light. The theory of
Huygens was not widely accepted, one strong objection being that longitudinal waves have only a
single polarization which cannot explain the observed birefringence. However the 1801 interference
experiments of Thomas Young and François Arago's 1819 detection of the Poisson spot could not be
explained through any particle theory, reviving the ideas of Huygens and wave models. In
1821 Fresnel was able to explain birefringence as a result of light being not a longitudinal (as had been
assumed) but actually a transverse wave.[92] The thus-named Huygens–Fresnel principle was the basis for
the advancement of physical optics, explaining all aspects of light propagation. It was only understanding
the detailed interaction of light with atoms that awaited quantum mechanics and the discovery of
the photon.
Huygens investigated the use of lenses in projectors. He is credited as the inventor of the magic lantern,
described in correspondence of 1659.[93] There are others to whom such a lantern device has been
attributed, such as Giambattista della Porta, and Cornelis Drebbel: the point at issue is the use of a lens
for better projection. Athanasius Kircher has also been credited for that.[94]
Horology
Horologium oscillatorium sive de motu pendulorum, 1673
Huygens designed more accurate clocks than were available at the time. In 1656, inspired by earlier
research into pendulums by Galileo Galilei, he invented the pendulum clock, which was a breakthrough in
timekeeping and became the most accurate timekeeper for the next 275 years until the 1930s. [95] Huygens
contracted the construction of his clock designs to Salomon Coster in The Hague, who built the clock. The
pendulum clock was much more accurate than the existing verge and foliot clocks and was immediately
popular, quickly spreading over Europe. However Huygens did not make much money from his
invention. Pierre Séguier refused him any French rights, Simon Douw of Rotterdam copied the design in
1658, and Ahasuerus Fromanteel also, in London.[96] The oldest known Huygens-style pendulum clock is
dated 1657 and can be seen at the Museum Boerhaave in Leiden.[97][98][99][100]
Huygens motivation for inventing the pendulum clock was to create an accurate marine chronometer that
could be used to find longitude by celestial navigation during sea voyages. However the clock proved
unsuccessful as a marine timekeeper because the rocking motion of the ship disturbed the motion of the
pendulum. In 1660 Lodewijk Huygens made a trial on a voyage to Spain, and reported that heavy weather
made the clock useless. Alexander Bruce elbowed into the field in 1662, and Huygens called in Sir Robert
Moray and the Royal Society to mediate and preserve some of his rights. [101] Trials continued into the
1660s, the best news coming from a Royal Navy captain Robert Holmes operating against the Dutch
possessions in 1664.[102] Lisa Jardine[103] doubts that Holmes reported the results of the trial accurately,
and Samuel Pepys expressed his doubts at the time: The said master [i.e. the captain of Holmes'
ship] affirmed, that the vulgar reckoning proved as near as that of the watches, which [the clocks], added
he, had varied from one another unequally, sometimes backward, sometimes forward, to 4, 6, 7, 3, 5
minutes; as also that they had been corrected by the usual account. One for the French Academy on an
expedition to Cayenne ended badly. Jean Richer suggested correction for the figure of the Earth. By the
time of the Dutch East India Company expedition of 1686 to the Cape of Good Hope, Huygens was able to
supply the correction retrospectively.[104]
Pendulums
Spring-driven pendulum clock, designed by Huygens, built by instrument maker Salomon Coster (1657),[105] and a copy of
the Horologium Oscillatorium.[106] Museum Boerhaave, Leiden
In 1673 Huygens published Horologium Oscillatorium sive de motu pendulorum, his major work
on pendulums and horology. It had been observed by Mersenne and others that pendulums are not
quite isochronous: their period depends on their width of swing, with wide swings taking slightly longer
than narrow swings.[107][108]
Huygens analyzed this problem by finding the curve down which a mass will slide under the influence of
gravity in the same amount of time, regardless of its starting point; the so-called tautochrone problem. By
geometrical methods which were an early use of calculus, he showed it to be a cycloid, rather than the
circular arc of a pendulum's bob, and therefore that pendulums are not isochronous. He also solved a
problem posed by Mersenne: how to calculate the period of a pendulum made of an arbitrarily-shaped
swinging rigid body. This involved discovering the centre of oscillation and its reciprocal relationship with
the pivot point. In the same work, he analysed the conical pendulum, consisting of a weight on a cord
moving in a circle, using the concept of centrifugal force.
Detail of illustration from Horologium Oscillatorium (1658), by Huygens
Huygens' clock, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Huygens was the first to derive the formula for the period of an ideal mathematical pendulum (with
massless rod or cord and length much longer than its swing), in modern notation:
with T the period, l the length of the pendulum and g the gravitational acceleration. By his study of the
oscillation period of compound pendulums Huygens made pivotal contributions to the development of
the concept of moment of inertia.[81]
Huygens also observed coupled oscillations: two of his pendulum clocks mounted next to each other
on the same support often became synchronized, swinging in opposite directions. He reported the
results by letter to the Royal Society, and it is referred to as "an odd kind of sympathy" in the Society's
minutes.[109][110] This concept is now known as entrainment.
Experimental setup of Huygens' synchronization of two clocks
Balance spring watch
Huygens developed a balance spring watch in the same period as, though independently of, Robert
Hooke. Controversy over the priority persisted for centuries. A Huygens watch employed a spiral
balance spring; but he used this form of spring initially only because the balance in his first watch
rotated more than one and a half turns. He later used spiral springs in more conventional watches,
made for him by Thuret in Paris from around 1675.
Huygens' explanation for the aspects of Saturn, Systema Saturnium, 1659.
Such springs were essential in modern watches with a detached lever escapement because they can
be adjusted for isochronism. Watches in the time of Huygens and Hooke, however, employed the very
undetached verge escapement. It interfered with the isochronal properties of any form of balance
spring, spiral or otherwise.
In February 2006, a long-lost copy of Hooke's handwritten notes from several decades of Royal
Society meetings was discovered in a cupboard in Hampshire, England. The balance-spring priority
controversy appears, by the evidence contained in those notes, to be settled in favour of Hooke's
claim.[111][112]
In 1675, Huygens patented a pocket watch. The watches which were made in Paris from c. 1675 and
following the Huygens plan are notable for lacking a fusee for equalizing the mainspring torque. The
implication is that Huygens thought that his spiral spring would isochronise the balance, in the same
way that he thought that the cycloidally shaped suspension curbs on his clocks would isochronise the
pendulum.
Astronomy
Huygens' telescope without tube. Picture from his 1684 Astroscopia Compendiaria tubi optici molimine
liberata (compound telescopes without a tube)
Saturn's rings and Titan
In 1655, Huygens proposed that Saturn was surrounded by a solid ring, "a thin, flat ring, nowhere
touching, and inclined to the ecliptic." Using a 50 power refracting telescope that he designed himself,
Huygens also discovered the first of Saturn's moons, Titan.[113] In the same year he observed and
sketched the Orion Nebula. His drawing, the first such known of the Orion nebula, was published
in Systema Saturnium in 1659. Using his modern telescope he succeeded in subdividing the nebula
into different stars. The brighter interior now bears the name of the Huygenian region in his honour.
[114]
He also discovered several interstellar nebulae and some double stars.
Mars and Syrtis Major
In 1659, Huygens was the first to observe a surface feature on another planet, Syrtis Major, a volcanic
plain on Mars. He used repeated observations of the movement of this feature over the course of a
number of days to estimate the length of day on Mars, which he did quite accurately to 24 1/2 hours.
This figure is only a few minutes off of the actual length of the Martian day of 24 hours, 37 minutes. [115]
Cosmotheoros
Shortly before his death in 1695, Huygens completed Cosmotheoros, published posthumously in
1698. In it he speculated on the existence of extraterrestrial life, on other planets, which he imagined
was similar to that on Earth. Such speculations were not uncommon at the time, justified
by Copernicanism or the plenitude principle. But Huygens went into greater detail,[116] though without
the benefit of understanding Newton's laws of gravitation, or the fact that the atmospheres on other
planets are composed of different gases.[117] The work, translated into English in its year of publication,
has been seen as in the fanciful tradition of Francis Godwin, John Wilkins and Cyrano de Bergerac,
and fundamentally Utopian; and also to owe in its concept of planet to cosmography in the sense
of Peter Heylin.[118][119]
Huygens wrote that availability of water in liquid form was essential for life and that the properties of
water must vary from planet to planet to suit the temperature range. He took his observations of dark
and bright spots on the surfaces of Mars and Jupiter to be evidence of water and ice on those planets.
[120]
He argued that extraterrestrial life is neither confirmed nor denied by the Bible, and questioned why
God would create the other planets if they were not to serve a greater purpose than that of being
admired from Earth. Huygens postulated that the great distance between the planets signified that
God had not intended for beings on one to know about the beings on the others, and had not foreseen
how much humans would advance in scientific knowledge. [121]
It was also in this book that Huygens published his method for estimating stellar distances. He made a
series of smaller holes in a screen facing the Sun, until he estimated the light was of the same
intensity as that of the star Sirius. He then calculated that the angle of this hole was th the
diameter of the Sun, and thus it was about 30,000 times as far away, on the (incorrect) assumption
that Sirius is as luminous as the Sun. The subject of photometry remained in its infancy until the time
of Pierre Bouguer and Johann Heinrich Lambert.[122]
Portraits
During his lifetime
1639 – His father Constantijn Huygens in the midst of his five children by Adriaen Hanneman,
painting with medallions, Mauritshuis, The Hague[123]
1671 – Portrait by Caspar Netscher, Museum Boerhaave, Leiden, loan from Haags Historisch
Museum[123]
~1675 – Possible depiction of Huygens on l'French: Établissement de l'Académie des Sciences
et fondation de l'observatoire, 1666 by Henri Testelin. Colbert presents the members of the newly
founded Académie des Sciences to king Louis XIV of France. Musée National du Château et des
Trianons de Versailles, Versailles[124]
1679 – Medaillon portrait in relief by the French sculptor Jean-Jacques Clérion[123]
1686 – Portrait in pastel by Bernard Vaillant, Museum Hofwijck, Voorburg[123]
between 1684 and 1687 – Engraving by G. Edelinck after the painting by Caspar Netscher[123]
1688 – Portrait by Pierre Bourguignon (painter), Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and
Sciences, Amsterdam[123]
Statues
Rotterdam
Delft
Leiden
Haarlem
Voorburg
Named after Huygens
Science
The Huygens probe: The lander for the Saturnian moon Titan, part of the Cassini–
Huygens mission to Saturn
Asteroid 2801 Huygens
A crater on Mars
Mons Huygens, a mountain on the Moon
Huygens Software, a microscope image processing package.
A two element eyepiece designed by him. An early step in the development of the achromatic
lens, since it corrects some chromatic aberration.
The Huygens–Fresnel principle, a simple model to understand disturbances in wave propagation.
Huygens wavelets, the fundamental mathematical basis for scalar diffraction theory
Other
Medisch- Natuurphilosophisch en Veterinair- Tandheelkundig Gezelschap "Christiaan Huygens",
scientific discussion group
Huygens Lyceum, High School located in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
The Christiaan Huygens, a ship of the Nederland Line.
Huygens Scholarship Programme for international students and Dutch students
W.I.S.V. Christiaan Huygens: Dutch study guild for the studies Mathematics and Computer
Science at the Delft University of Technology
Huygens Laboratory: Home of the Physics department at Leiden University, Netherlands
Huygens Supercomputer: National Supercomputer facility of the Netherlands, located at SARA in
Amsterdam
The Huygens-building in Noordwijk, Netherlands, first building on the Space Business park
opposite Estec (ESA)
The Huygens-building at the Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands. One of the major
buildings of the science department at the university of Nijmegen.
Christiaan Huygensplein, a square in Amsterdam
Works
Possible depiction of Huygens right of center, detail from L'établissement de l'Académie des Sciences et fondation de
l'observatoire, 1666 by Henri Testelin. Colbert presents the members of the newly founded Académie des Sciences to
king Louis XIV of France, around 1675.
1649 – De iis quae liquido supernatant (About the parts above the water, unpublished) [125]
1651 – Cyclometriae[126]:102
1651 – Theoremata de quadratura hyperboles, ellipsis et circuli, in Oeuvres Complètes, Tome XI,
link from Internet Archive.
1654 – De circuli magnitudine inventa
1656 – De Saturni Luna observatio nova (About the new observation of the moon of Saturn –
discovery of Titan)[127]
1656 – De motu corporum ex percussione, published only in 1703[128]
1657 – De ratiociniis in ludo aleae = Van reeckening in spelen van geluck (translated by Frans
van Schooten)
1659 – Systema saturnium (on the planet Saturn)
1659 – De vi centrifuga (Concerning the centrifugal force), published in 1703
1673 – Horologium oscillatorium sive de motu pendularium (theory and design of the pendulum
clock, dedicated to Louis XIV of France) – View at the HathiTrust Digital Library
1684 – Astroscopia Compendiaria tubi optici molimine liberata (compound telescopes without a
tube)
1685 – Memoriën aengaende het slijpen van glasen tot verrekijckers (How to grind telescope
lenses)
1686 – Old Dutch: Kort onderwijs aengaende het gebruijck der horologiën tot het vinden der
lenghten van Oost en West (How to use clocks to establish the longitude)[129]
1690 – Traité de la lumière (translated by Silvanus P. Thompson)
1690 – Discours de la cause de la pesanteur (Discourse about gravity, from 1669?)
1691 – Lettre touchant le cycle harmonique (Rotterdam, concerning the 31-tone system)
1698 – Cosmotheoros (solar system, cosmology, life in the universe)
1703 – Opuscula posthuma including
o De motu corporum ex percussione (Concerning the motions of colliding bodies – contains the
first correct laws for collision, dating from 1656).
o Descriptio automati planetarii (description and design of a planetarium)
1724 – Novus cyclus harmonicus (Leiden, after Huygens' death)
1728 – Christiani Hugenii Zuilichemii, dum viveret Zelhemii toparchae, opuscula
posthuma ... (pub. 1728) Alternate title: Opera reliqua, concerning optics and physics[130]
1888–1950 – Huygens, Christiaan. Oeuvres complètes. The Hague Complete work, editors D.
Bierens de Haan (tome=deel 1–5), J. Bosscha (6–10), D.J. Korteweg (11–15), A.A.
Nijland (15), J.A. Vollgraf (16–22).
Tome I: Correspondance 1638–1656 (1888).
Tome II: Correspondance 1657–1659 (1889).
Tome III: Correspondance 1660–1661 (1890).
Tome IV: Correspondance 1662–1663 (1891).
Tome V: Correspondance 1664–1665 (1893).
Tome VI: Correspondance 1666–1669 (1895).
Tome VII: Correspondance 1670–1675 (1897).
Tome VIII: Correspondance 1676–1684 (1899).
Tome IX: Correspondance 1685–1690 (1901).
Tome X: Correspondance 1691–1695 (1905).
Tome XI: Travaux mathématiques 1645–1651 (1908).
Tome XII: Travaux mathématiques pures 1652–1656 (1910).
Tome XIII, Fasc. I: Dioptrique 1653, 1666 (1916).
Tome XIII, Fasc. II: Dioptrique 1685–1692 (1916).
Tome XIV: Calcul des probabilités. Travaux de mathématiques pures 1655–1666 (1920).
Tome XV: Observations astronomiques. Système de Saturne. Travaux astronomiques 1658–
1666 (1925).
Tome XVI: Mécanique jusqu’à 1666. Percussion. Question de l'existence et de la perceptibilité du
mouvement absolu. Force centrifuge (1929).
Tome XVII: L’horloge à pendule de 1651 à 1666. Travaux divers de physique, de mécanique et de
technique de 1650 à 1666. Traité des couronnes et des parhélies (1662 ou 1663) (1932).
Tome XVIII: L'horloge à pendule ou à balancier de 1666 à 1695. Anecdota (1934).
Tome XIX: Mécanique théorique et physique de 1666 à 1695. Huygens à l'Académie royale des
sciences (1937).
Tome XX: Musique et mathématique. Musique. Mathématiques de 1666 à 1695 (1940).
Tome XXI: Cosmologie (1944).
Tome XXII: Supplément à la correspondance. Varia. Biographie de Chr. Huygens. Catalogue de la
vente des livres de Chr. Huygens (1950).
Nerthus
In Germanic paganism, Nerthus is a goddess associated with fertility. Nerthus is attested by first century AD
Roman historian Tacitus in his ethnographic work Germania.
In Germania, Tacitus records that the remote Suebi tribes were united by their veneration of the goddess at his
time of writing and maintained a sacred grove on an (unspecified) island and that a holy cart rests there draped
with cloth, which only a priest may touch. The priests feel her presence by the cart, and, with deep reverence,
attend her cart, which is drawn by heifers. Everywhere the goddess then deigns to visit, she is met with
celebration, hospitality, and peace. All iron objects are locked away, and no one will leave for war. When the
goddess has had her fill she is returned to her temple by the priests. Tacitus adds that the goddess, the cart,
and the cloth are then washed by slaves in a secluded lake. The slaves are then drowned.
The name Nerthus is generally held to be a Latinized form of Proto-Germanic *Nerþuz, a direct precursor to
the Old Norse deity name Njörðr. While scholars have noted numerous parallels between the descriptions of
the two figures, Njörðr is attested as a male deity. Various scholarly theories exist regarding the goddess and
her potential later traces amongst the Germanic peoples, including that the figure may be identical to the
unnamed sister-wife of Njörðr mentioned in two Old Norse sources.
Name
Nerthus is often identified with the van Njörðr who is attested in various 13th century Old Norse works and in
numerous Scandinavian place names. The connection between the two is due to the linguistic relationship
between Njörðr and the reconstructed Proto-Germanic *Nerþuz,[1] Nerthus being the feminine, Latinized form of
what Njörðr would have looked like around the first century. [2] This has led to theories about the relation of the
two, including that Njörðr may have once been a hermaphroditic deity or that the name may indicate the
otherwise forgotten sister-wife in a divine brother-sister pair like the Vanir deities Freyja and Freyr.[3]
While developments in historical linguistics ultimately allowed for the identification of Nerthus with Njörðr,
various other readings of the name were in currency prior to the acceptance of this identification, most
commonly the form Hertha. This form was proposed as an attempt to mirror the Old Norse goddess
name Jörð 'earth'.[4] Writing on this topic in 1912, Raymond Wilson Chambers says "strange has been the
history of this goddess Nerthus in modern times. Sixteenth century scholars found irresistible the temptation to
emend the name of 'Mother Earth' into Herthum, which nineteenth century scholars further improved
into Hertham, Ertham. For many years this false goddess drove out the rightful deity from the fortieth chapter of
the Germania".[5] Up until its superseding, the name Hertha had some influence. For
example, Hertha and Herthasee (see "location" section below) play major roles in German novelist Theodor
Fontane's 1896 novel Effi Briest.[6]
Germania
In chapter 40 of his Germania, Roman historian Tacitus, discussing the Suebian tribes of Germania, writes that
beside the populous Semnones and warlike Langobardi there are seven more remote Suebian tribes;
the Reudigni, Aviones, Anglii, Varini, Eudoses, Suarines, and Nuitones. The seven tribes are surrounded by
rivers and forests and, according to Tacitus, there is nothing particularly worthy of comment about them as
individuals, yet they are particularly distinguished in that they all worship the goddess Nerthus, and provides an
account of veneration of the goddess among the groups. The chapter reads as follows:
Latin: A. R. Birley translation: J. B. Rives translation:
Contra Langobardos paucitas By contrast, the Langobardi The Langobardi, by contrast,
nobilitat: plurimis ac are distinguished by being few are distinguished by the
valentissimis nationibus cincti in number. Surrounded by fewness of their numbers.
non per obsequium, sed many mighty peoples they Ringed round as they are by
proeliis ac periclitando tuti have protected themselves many mighty peoples, they
sunt. Reudigni deinde et not by submissiveness but by find safety not in
Aviones et Anglii et Varini et battle and boldness. Next to obsequiousness but in battle
Eudoses et Suardones et them come the Ruedigni, and its perils. After them come
Aviones, Anglii, Varini,
the Reudingi, Aviones, Anglii,
Eudoses, Suarines, and
Varini, Eudoses, Suarini and
Huitones, protected by river
Nuitones, behind their
and forests. There is nothing
ramparts of rivers and woods.
especially noteworthy about
There is nothing noteworthy
these states individually, but
about these peoples
Nuithones fluminibus aut they are distinguished by a
individually, but they are
silvis muniuntur. Nec common worship of Nerthus,
distinguished by a common
quicquam notabile in singulis, that is, Mother Earth, and
worship of Nerthus, or Mother
nisi quod in commune believes that she intervenes in
Earth. They believe that she
Nerthum, id est Terram human affairs and rides
interests herself in human
matrem, colunt eamque through their peoples. There is
affairs and rides among their
intervenire rebus hominum, a sacred grove on an island in
peoples. In an island of the
invehi populis arbitrantur. Est the Ocean, in which there is a
Ocean stands a sacred grove,
in insula Oceani castum consecrated chariot, draped
and in the grove a consecrated
nemus, dicatumque in eo with cloth, where the priest
cart, draped with cloth, which
vehiculum, veste contectum; alone may touch. He perceives
none but the priest may touch.
attingere uni sacerdoti the presence of the goddess in
The priest perceives the
concessum. Is adesse the innermost shrine and with
presence of the goddess in this
penetrali deam intellegit great reverence escorts her in
holy of holies and attends her,
vectamque bubus feminis her chariot, which is drawn by
in deepest reverence, as her
multa cum veneratione female cattle. There are days
cart is drawn by heifers. Then
prosequitur. Laeti tunc dies, of rejoicing then and the
follow days of rejoicing and
festa loca, quaecumque countryside celebrates the
merry-making in every place
adventu hospitioque festival, wherever she designs
that she designs to visit and be
dignatur. Non bella ineunt, to visit and to accept
entertained. No one goes to
non arma sumunt; clausum hospitality. No one goes to
war, no one takes up arms;
omne ferrum; pax et quies war, no one takes up arms, all
every object of iron is locked
tunc tantum nota, tunc objects of iron are locked
away; then, and only then, are
tantum amata, donec idem away, then and only then do
peace and quiet known and
sacerdos satiatam they experience peace and
loved, until the priest again
conversatione mortalium quiet, only then do they prize
restores the goddess to her
deam templo reddat. Mox them, until the goddess has
temple, when she has had her
vehiculum et vestes et, si had her fill of human society
fill of human company. After
credere velis, numen ipsum and the priest brings her back
that the cart, the cloth and, if
secreto lacu abluitur. Servi to her temple. Afterwards the
you care to believe it, the
ministrant, quos statim idem chariot, the cloth, and, if one
goddess herself are washed in
lacus haurit. Arcanus hinc may believe it, the deity
clean in a secluded lake. This
terror sanctaque ignorantia, herself are washed in a hidden
service is performed by slaves
quid sit illud, quod tantum lake. The slaves who perform
who are immediately
perituri vident.[7] this office are immediately
afterwards drowned in the
swallowed up in the same
lake. Thus mystery begets
lake. Hence arises dread of the
terror and pious reluctance to
mysterious, and piety, which
ask what the sight can be that
keeps them ignorant of what
only those doomed to die may
only those about to perish
see.[9]
may see.[8]
Theories and interpretations
A number of theories have been proposed regarding the figure of Nerthus, including the location of the events
described, relations to other known deities and her role amongst the Germanic tribes.
Location
A number of scholars have proposed a potential location of Tacitus's account of Nerthus as on the island
of Zealand in Denmark. The reasoning behind this notion is the linking of the name Nerthus with the medieval
place name Niartharum (modern Nærum) located on Zealand. Further justification is given in that Lejre, the
seat of the ancient kings of Denmark, is also located on Zealand. Nerthus is then commonly compared to the
goddess Gefjon, who is said to have plowed the island of Zealand from Sweden in the Prose
Edda book Gylfaginning and in Lejre wed the legendary Danish king Skjöldr.[10]
Chambers notes that the mistaken name Hertha (see Interpretations of name above) led to
the hydronym Herthasee, a lake on the German island of Rügen, which antiquarians proposed as a potential
location of the Nerthus site described in Tacitus. However, along with the rejection of the reading Hertha, the
location is now no longer considered as a potential site.[11]
Similar customs among the Vanir
Nerthus typically is identified as a Vanir goddess. Her wagon tour has been likened to several archeological
wagon finds and legends of deities parading in wagons. Terry Gunnell and many others have noted various
archaeological finds of ritual wagons in Denmark dating from 200 AD and the Bronze Age. Such a ceremonial
wagon, incapable of making turns, was discovered in the Oseberg ship find. Two of the most famous literary
examples occur in the Icelandic family sagas. The Vanir god Freyr is said to ride in a wagon annually through
the country accompanied by a priestess to bless the fields, according to a late story titled Hauks þáttr
hábrókar in the 14th century Flateyjarbók manuscript. In the same source, King Eric of Sweden is said to
consult a god named Lýtir, whose wagon was brought to his hall in order to perform a divination ceremony. [12]
Hilda Davidson draws a parallel between these incidents and Tacitus's account of Nerthus, suggesting that in
addition a neck-ring-wearing female figure "kneeling as if to drive a chariot" also dates from the Bronze Age.
Davidson says that the evidence suggests that similar customs as detailed in Tacitus's account continued to
exist during the close of the pagan period through worship of the Vanir. [13]
Modern influence
The minor planet 601 Nerthus is named after Nerthus.
Giantess.
A giantess is a female giant: either a mythical being, such as the Amazons of Greek mythology, resembling a
woman of superhuman size and strength or a human woman of exceptional stature, often the result of some
medical or genetic abnormality (see gigantism)
Polytheism and mythology
The Titanide Eos pursues the object of her affection, the reluctant Tithonos, on an Attic oinochoe of the Achilles Painter, ca. 470
BC–460 BCE (Louvre)
Greek mythology
The Titanides, sisters and children of Titans, may not have originally been seen as giants, but
later Hellenistic poets and Latin ones tended to blur Titans and Giants. In a surviving fragment of Naevius'
poem on the Punic war, he describes the Gigantes Runcus and Purpureus (Porphyrion):
Inerant signa expressa, quo modo Titani
bicorpores Gigantes, magnique Atlantes
Runcus ac Purpureus filii Terras.
Eduard Fraenkel remarks of these lines, with their highly unusual plural Atlantes, "It does not surprise us to find
the names Titani and Gigantes employed indiscriminately to denote the same mythological creatures, for we
are used to the identification, or confusion, of these two types of monsters which, though not original, had
probably become fairly common by the time of Naevius".[1] Other giantesses in Greek myth include Periboea,
the princess of the giants that participated in the Gigantomachy, and the queen and princess of the
Laestrygonians who participated in the attacking and devouring of Odysseus' crew.
Norse mythology
Slave giantesses Fenja and Menja plot revenge against their selfish owner, King Fróði
Grid
Grid was a giantess who saved Thor's life. She was aware of Loki's plans to get Thor killed at the hands of
the giant Geirrod and sets out to help him by supplying him with a number of magical gifts. These gifts were:
a girdle of might, a pair of magical iron gloves, and a magical wand.
Gerd
The giantess Gerd was very beautiful and her brilliant, naked arms illuminated air and sea. Freyr fell in love at
first sight and the account of her wooing is given in the poem Skirnismál. She never wanted to marry Freyr, and
refused his proposals (delivered through Skirnir, his messenger) even after he brought her eleven golden
apples and Draupnir. Skirnir finally threatened to use Freyr's sword to cover the earth in ice and she agreed to
marry Freyr. She became the mother of the mythic Swedish king Fjölnir.
Skaði
Skaði journeyed to Ásgard to avenge her father Þjazi, whom the gods had killed. She agreed that she would
have that renounced if they allowed her to choose a husband among them and if they succeeded in making her
laugh. The gods allowed her to choose a husband, but she had to choose him only from his feet; she
choose Njord because his feet were so beautiful that she thought he was Baldr. Then Loki succeeded in
making her laugh, so peace was made, and Odin made two stars from Þjazi's eyes.
After a while, she and her husband separated, because she loved the mountains (Þrymheimr), while he wanted
to live near the sea (Noatun). The Ynglinga saga says that later she became wife of Odin, and had many sons
by him.
Hyrrokin
At Baldr's funeral, his burning ship was set to sea by Hyrrokin, a giantess, who came riding on a wolf and gave
the ship such a push that fire flashed from the rollers and all the earth shook.
Thokk
Upon Frigg's entreaties, delivered through the messenger Hermod, Hel promised to release Baldr from
the underworld if all objects alive and dead would weep for him. And all did, except a giantess, Thokk, who
refused to mourn the slain god. And thus Baldr had to remain in the underworld, not to emerge until
after Ragnarok, when he and his brother Hod would be reconciled and rule the new Earth together with Thor's
sons.
Hinduism
Giantesses are fairly common in Indian mythology. The demoness Putana (who attempted to kill the
baby Krishna with poisoned milk from her breasts) is usually drawn as a giantess. [citation needed]
Celtic mythology
Giantesses are common in the folklore of Ireland and the British Isles, particularly Scotland and Wales. They
were often depicted as loving and beautiful people and, in later versions of myths, seemed to resemble Vikings,
who had raided the coasts, in appearance. [citation needed] A notable giantess in Irish mythology is Bébinn.
Modern art and literature
Books
In Lewis Carroll's story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, there are several scenes where the heroine Alice
grows to giant size by means of eating something (like a cake or a mushroom). Similarly Arthur C. Clarke's
story Cosmic Casanova describes an astronaut's revulsion at discovering that an extraterrestrial female he
adored on a video screen is in fact thirty feet tall.
Comics
Size-changing heroines have appeared in such comics as Doom Patrol, Mighty Avengers, Marvel
Adventures Avengers, Team Youngblood, and Femforce. In the latter series, the giantess-
superheroines Tara and Garganta combine immense size and strength with beauty and femininity, and have a
cult following among both men and women. Conversely, size-changing villainesses, such as Wonder
Woman foe Giganta, use their strength and beauty for less altruistic purposes as a weapon to crush their foes.
Giantesses are also common in the manga and anime mediums of Japan. She-Hulk's nickname is "The Jade
Giantess", due to the main character growing in size and more powerful when becoming She-Hulk.
The giantess also appears in modern-day art, illustration and fashion. UK based illustrator Emma Melton has
used the giantess as a symbol in her illustrated fashion line 'Blessed by a Giantess', which aims to promote
healthy body image in young girls and spread the message that 'We are all beautiful. [2]
Motion pictures
Poster of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman
The giantess theme has also appeared in motion pictures, often as a metaphor for female empowerment or
played for absurd humor. The 1958 B-movie Attack of the 50 Foot Woman formed part of a series of size-
changing films of the era which also included The Incredible Shrinking Man, The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock,
and Village of the Giants. The 1993 remake of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, starring Daryl Hannah in the title
role, was advertised as a comedy; many scenes did parody earlier size-changing movies (most notably The
Amazing Colossal Man), although the central theme was feminist. The heroine Nancy, formerly a cipher to her
domineering father and husband, is empowered by her new-found size and starts to take control of her destiny,
and encourages other women to do the same. Both versions of the movie enjoy a cult following.
More recent movies with giantess themes are Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992), Malèna (2000), Dude, Where's
My Car? (2000), Hable con ella a.k.a. Talk to Her (2002), Ella Enchanted (2004), The Ant
Bully (2006), Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) and Roger Corman's Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader (2012).
[3]
In Malèna, there is a scene where the young protagonist, Renato Amoroso, fantasizes about being a few
inches tall and having Monica Bellucci (Malena), pick him up and take him to her bosom. In Honey, I Blew Up
the Kid, after Adam grew 112 feet tall and had been wandering through Las Vegas, Diane Szalinski, who was
the wife of Wayne Szalinski and mother of Adam, asked her husband to enlarge her so she can hug Adam and
prevent Hendrickson from harming her son. As she was exposed to electrical waves, Diane became a 120 foot
tall giantess, but later returns to her normal size with her son Adam at her side. In Igor, the titular character
creates a hideous giantess-like monster named “Eva” using parts from dead bodies. Despite her appearance,
she is very gentle and sweet. She dreams of being an actress.
In Dude, Where's My Car?, five nubile female characters morph into an extraterrestrial 20 foot tall giantess
played by Jodi Ann Paterson (Playboy Playmate of the Year 2000) who picks up one of the characters and eats
him. Talk to Her features a sequence in the style of early silent cinema called 'The Shrinking Lover,' where an
accidentally shrunken scientist is rescued from his mother's clutches by his lover, who carries him home in her
handbag. The shrunken scientist then roams his lover's body while she lies in bed. Monsters vs. Aliens features
a satirization of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman in which the main protagonist, Susan Murphy, is clobbered by a
radioactive meteor that causes her to grow up to 49 feet, 11½ inches, becoming Ginormica. In The Ant Bully,
Lucas and the ants escape down the kitchen sink drain, believing that Tiffany is a giantess as she walks into
the kitchen with her sandals on her feet and crushing an ant. In Roger Corman's Attack of the 50 Foot
Cheerleader, Cassie Stradford, a college student of Iron Coast University, steals the drug and injects herself
with it to make her very pretty. However, the drug had a really big side effect when she starts to grow taller and
taller until she is a 50 foot tall giantess. When Brittany discovers this, she tried to seduce Kyle into giving it to
her. Even when Kyle was trying to prevent her from knowing, she was accidentally injected with more of the
drug than Cassie and growing into a 75 foot tall giantess. After a brief catfight, Cassie injected the antidote into
Brittany, making her shrink into a dwarf.
Outside of Hollywood, giantesses have also appeared in special interest films. AC Comics giantess Garganta is
featured in a live action DVD movie available from accomics.com entitled Gargantarama, which also includes
giantess scenes from many movies as well as the feature length 1958 B-movie Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.
Embracing the use of the giantess in popular culture, AC has made it a frequently recurring theme in their
products.
Giantesses have also appeared in advertisement campaigns, with similar erotic/humorous intent. In 2003, a
commercial for the Italian company Puma featured the theme. The giantess, played by model/actress Valentina
Biancospino, stomps around town causing havoc and swallowing a man whole before finally picking up a man
(played by Italian footballer Gianluigi Buffon) and kissing him. The following year, Lee Dungarees commercials
used the giantess theme alongside the slogan "Whatever Happens, Don't Flinch," hiring model Natalia Adarvez
to play a 90 foot tall giantess. Also that same year, Victoria Silvstedt (1997 Playboy Playmate of the Year)
posed as a giantess for an advertisement for Max Power London, a car show held in London in November
2004. In the February 12th, 2005 edition of the UK newspaper, The Sun, Miss Silvstedt again posed as a
giantess of Godzilla height next to various London landmarks. In a CSL ad, actress Claire Forlani appeared as
a 98 foot tall giantess walking around the city of London and meets a giant, who is the same height as her.
Giantesses have also appeared in some television series such as Genie in the House, Snorks, Schoolhouse
Rock, The Electric Company, The Muppet Show, Dexter's Laboratory, Animaniacs, Toonsylvania episode
in Attack of the Fifty Footed Woman, Totally Spies! episode in Attack Of The 50 Ft Mandy, Phineas and Ferb,
and The 7D. The Snorks episode "The Littlest Mermaid" features a scene where a mermaid grows into a
giantess caused by a machine. The Schoolhouse Rock episode "Unpack Your Adjectives" includes a scene
where a tall girl grows into a 34 foot giantess, causing only her legs and sandals to be seen. She then stomps
on a small boy who wouldn't stop laughing at how tall she grew. In the first episode of The Electric
Company, Judy Graubart grows into a giantess while holding up a sign for the kid audience to read that says
"giant". In the Dexter's Laboratory episode "The Big Sister", Dee Dee becomes a 65 foot giantess after eating
an experimental cookie. The Animaniacs character Katie Ka-Boom sometimes grew giant sized before she
turned into a monster. In the Phineas and Ferb episode "Attack of the 50 Foot Sister", Candace Flynn grows
into a giantess after she uses some of Phineas and Ferb's growth potion. In the episode "Pony Tale" of Genie
in the House, Max's niece Louise gets left with the girls, and when she learned of the genie's existence, she
made a wish of wanting to get big, in which the genie was forced to accept her command and made her into 55
foot tall giantess for a brief time.
The giantess theme occasionally manifests in music videos as well, notably Pamela Anderson's role as a
giantess in the video Miserable for the rock group Lit. In the video, the band members perform on Anderson's
body and are eventually devoured by her at the end, a metaphor for women as "maneaters".
Pythagoras
Pythagoras of Samos[a] (c. 570 – c. 495 BC)[b] was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher and the eponymous
founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known in Magna Graecia and
influenced the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, and, through them, Western philosophy. Knowledge of his life is
clouded by legend, but he appears to have been the son of Mnesarchus, a gem-engraver on the island
of Samos. Modern scholars disagree regarding Pythagoras's education and influences, but they do agree that,
around 530 BC, he travelled to Croton, in what is now southern Italy, where he founded a school in which
initiates were sworn to secrecy and lived a communal, ascetic lifestyle. This lifestyle entailed a number of
dietary prohibitions, traditionally said to have included vegetarianism, although modern scholars doubt that he
ever advocated for complete vegetarianism.
The teaching most securely identified with Pythagoras is metempsychosis, or the "transmigration of souls",
which holds that every soul is immortal and, upon death, enters into a new body. He may have also devised the
doctrine of musica universalis, which holds that the planets move according to mathematical equations and
thus resonate to produce an inaudible symphony of music. Scholars debate whether Pythagoras developed
the numerological and musical teachings attributed to him, or if those teachings were developed by his later
followers, particularly Philolaus of Croton. Following Croton's decisive victory over Sybaris in around 510 BC,
Pythagoras's followers came into conflict with supporters of democracy and Pythagorean meeting houses were
burned. Pythagoras may have been killed during this persecution, or escaped to Metapontum, where he
eventually died.
Pythagoras
In antiquity, Pythagoras was credited with many mathematical and scientific discoveries, including
the Pythagorean theorem, Pythagorean tuning, the five regular solids, the Theory of Proportions, the sphericity
of the Earth, and the identity of the morning and evening stars as the planet Venus. It was said that he was the
first man to call himself a philosopher ("lover of wisdom") [c] and that he was the first to divide the globe into five
climatic zones. Classical historians debate whether Pythagoras made these discoveries, and many of the
accomplishments credited to him likely originated earlier or were made by his colleagues or successors. Some
accounts mention that the philosophy associated with Pythagoras was related to mathematics and that
numbers were important, but it is debated to what extent, if at all, he actually contributed to mathematics
or natural philosophy.
Pythagoras influenced Plato, whose dialogues, especially his Timaeus, exhibit Pythagorean teachings.
Pythagorean ideas on mathematical perfection also impacted ancient Greek art. His teachings underwent a
major revival in the first century BC among Middle Platonists, coinciding with the rise of Neopythagoreanism.
Pythagoras continued to be regarded as a great philosopher throughout the Middle Ages and his philosophy
had a major impact on scientists such as Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, and Isaac Newton.
Pythagorean symbolism was used throughout early modern European esotericism and his teachings as
portrayed in Ovid's Metamorphoses influenced the modern vegetarian movement.
Biographical sources
No authentic writings of Pythagoras have survived, [5][6][7] and almost nothing is known for certain about his life. [8][9]
[10]
The earliest sources on Pythagoras's life are brief, ambiguous, and often satirical.[11][7][12] The earliest source
on Pythagoras's teachings is a satirical poem probably written after his death by Xenophanes of Colophon, who
had been one of his contemporaries.[13][14] In the poem, Xenophanes describes Pythagoras interceding on behalf
of a dog that is being beaten, professing to recognize in its cries the voice of a departed friend. [15][13][12]
[16]
Alcmaeon of Croton, a doctor who lived in Croton at around the same time Pythagoras lived there,
[13]
incorporates many Pythagorean teachings into his writings [17] and alludes to having possibly known
Pythagoras personally.[17] The poet Heraclitus of Ephesus, who was born across a few miles of sea away from
Samos and may have lived within Pythagoras's lifetime, [18] mocked Pythagoras as a clever charlatan, [11]
[18]
remarking that "Pythagoras, son of Mnesarchus, practiced inquiry more than any other man, and selecting
from these writings he manufactured a wisdom for himself—much learning, artful knavery." [18][11]
The Greek poets Ion of Chios (c. 480 – c. 421 BC) and Empedocles of Acragas (c. 493 – c. 432 BC) both
express admiration for Pythagoras in their poems. [19] The first concise description of Pythagoras comes from the
historian Herodotus of Halicarnassus (c. 484 – c. 420 BC),[20] who describes him as "not the most insignificant"
of Greek sages[21] and states that Pythagoras taught his followers how to attain immortality.[20] The writings
attributed to the Pythagorean philosopher Philolaus of Croton, who lived in the late fifth century BC, are the
earliest texts to describe the numerological and musical theories that were later ascribed to Pythagoras.
[22]
The Athenian rhetorician Isocrates (436–338 BC) was the first to describe Pythagoras as having visited
Egypt.[20] Aristotle wrote a treatise On the Pythagoreans, which is no longer extant.[23] Some of it may be
preserved in the Protrepticus. Aristotle's disciples Dicaearchus, Aristoxenus, and Heraclides Ponticus also
wrote on the same subject.[24]
Most of the major sources on Pythagoras's life are from the Roman period,[25] by which point, according to the
German classicist Walter Burkert, "the history of Pythagoreanism was already... the laborious reconstruction of
something lost and gone."[24] Three lives of Pythagoras have survived from late antiquity,[25][10] all of which are
filled primarily with myths and legends.[25][26][10] The earliest and most respectable of these is the one
from Diogenes Laërtius's Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.[25][26] The two later lives were written by
the Neoplatonist philosophers Porphyry and Iamblichus[25][26] and were partially intended as polemics against
the rise of Christianity.[26] The later sources are much lengthier than the earlier ones, [25] and even more fantastic
in their descriptions of Pythagoras's achievements.[25][26] Porphyry and Iamblichus used material from the lost
writings of Aristotle's disciples[24] and material taken from these sources is generally considered to be the most
reliable.[24]
Life
Early life
There is not a single detail in the life of
“ Pythagoras that stands uncontradicted. But
it is possible, from a more or less critical
selection of the data, to construct a
plausible account.
”
— Walter Burkert, 1972[27]
See also: Pythagoras (sculptor)
Herodotus, Isocrates, and other early writers agree that Pythagoras was the son of Mnesarchus [28][20] and that he
was born on the Greek island of Samos in the eastern Aegean.[28][5][29][30] His father is said to have been a gem-
engraver or a wealthy merchant,[31][32] but his ancestry is disputed and unclear. [33][d] Pythagoras's name led him to
be associated with Pythian Apollo; Aristippus of Cyrene explained his name by saying, "He spoke
(ἀγορεύω, agoreúō) the truth no less than did the Pythian [sic] (Πῡθῐ́ᾱ, Pūthíā)".[34] A late source gives
Pythagoras's mother's name as Pythaïs. [35] Iamblichus tells the story that the Pythia prophesied to her while she
was pregnant with him that she would give birth to a man supremely beautiful, wise, and beneficial to
humankind.[34] As to the date of his birth, Aristoxenus stated that Pythagoras left Samos in the reign
of Polycrates, at the age of 40, which would give a date of birth around 570 BC. [36]
During Pythagoras's formative years, Samos was a thriving cultural hub known for its feats of advanced
architectural engineering, including the building of the Tunnel of Eupalinos, and for its riotous festival culture.
[37]
It was a major center of trade in the Aegean where traders brought goods from the Near East.[5] According to
Christiane L. Joost-Gaugier, these traders almost certainly brought with them Near Eastern ideas and
traditions.[5] Pythagoras's early life also coincided with the flowering of early Ionian natural philosophy.[38][28] He
was a contemporary of the philosophers Anaximander, Anaximenes, and the historian Hecataeus, all of whom
lived in Miletus, across the sea from Samos.[38]
Alleged travels
Pythagoras is traditionally thought to have received most of his education in the Near East. [39] Modern
scholarship has shown that the culture of Archaic Greece was heavily influenced by those of Near Eastern
cultures.[39] Like many other important Greek thinkers, Pythagoras was said to have studied in Egypt.[40][20][41] By
the time of Isocrates in the fourth century BC, Pythagoras's alleged studies in Egypt were already taken as fact.
[34][20]
The writer Antiphon, who may have lived during the Hellenistic Era, claimed in his lost work On Men of
Outstanding Merit, used as a source by Porphyry, that Pythagoras learned to speak Egyptian from
the Pharaoh Amasis II himself, that he studied with the Egyptian priests at Diospolis (Thebes), and that he was
the only foreigner ever to be granted the privilege of taking part in their worship. [42][39] The Middle
Platonist biographer Plutarch (c. 46 – c. 120 AD) writes in his treatise On Isis and Osiris that, during his visit to
Egypt, Pythagoras received instruction from the Egyptian priest Oenuphis
of Heliopolis (meanwhile Solon received lectures from a Sonchis of Sais).[43] According to the Christian
theologian Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 – c. 215 AD), "Pythagoras was a disciple of Soches, an Egyptian
archprophet, as well as Plato of Sechnuphis of Heliopolis."[44] Some ancient writers claimed, that Pythagoras
learned geometry and the doctrine of metempsychosis from the Egyptians. [40][45]
Other ancient writers, however, claimed that Pythagoras had learned these teachings from
the Magi in Persia or even from Zoroaster himself.[46][47] Diogenes Laërtius asserts that Pythagoras later
visited Crete, where he went to the Cave of Ida with Epimenides.[46] The Phoenicians are reputed to have taught
Pythagoras arithmetic and the Chaldeans to have taught him astronomy.[47] By the third century BC, Pythagoras
was already reported to have studied under the Jews as well.[47] Contradicting all these reports, the
novelist Antonius Diogenes, writing in the second century BC, reports that Pythagoras discovered all his
doctrines himself by interpreting dreams.[47] The third-century AD Sophist Philostratus claims that, in addition to
the Egyptians, Pythagoras also studied under Hindu sages in India.[47] Iamblichus expands this list even further
by claiming that Pythagoras also studied with the Celts and Iberians.[47]
Alleged Greek teachers
Bust of Pythagoras in the Vatican Museums, Vatican City, showing him as a "tired-looking older man"[1]
Bronze bust of a philosopher wearing a tainia from Villa of the Papyri, Herculaneum, possibly a fictional bust of Pythagoras[48][1]
Ancient sources also record Pythagoras having studied under a variety of native Greek thinkers. [47] Some
identify Hermodamas of Samos as a possible tutor.[49][47] Hermodamas represented the indigenous Samian
rhapsodic tradition and his father Creophylos was said to have been the host of his rival poet Homer.[47] Others
credit Bias of Priene, Thales,[50] or Anaximander (a pupil of Thales).[50][51][47] Other traditions claim the mythic
bard Orpheus as Pythagoras's teacher, thus representing the Orphic Mysteries.[47] The Neoplatonists wrote of a
"sacred discourse" Pythagoras had written on the gods in the Doric Greek dialect, which they believed had
been dictated to Pythagoras by the Orphic priest Aglaophamus upon his initiation to the orphic Mysteries
at Leibethra.[47] Iamblichus credited Orpheus with having been the model for Pythagoras's manner of speech,
his spiritual attitude, and his manner of worship.[52] Iamblichus describes Pythagoreanism as a synthesis of
everything Pythagoras had learned from Orpheus, from the Egyptian priests, from the Eleusinian Mysteries,
and from other religious and philosophical traditions.[52] Riedweg states that, although these stories are fanciful,
Pythagoras's teachings were definitely influenced by Orphism to a noteworthy extent. [53]
Of the various Greek sages claimed to have taught Pythagoras, Pherecydes of Syros is mentioned most often.
[54][53]
Similar miracle stories were told about both Pythagoras and Pherecydes, including one in which the hero
predicts a shipwreck, one in which he predicts the conquest of Messina, and one in which he drinks from a well
and predicts an earthquake.[53] Apollonius Paradoxographus, a paradoxographer who may have lived in the
second century BC, identified Pythagoras's thaumaturgic ideas as a result of Pherecydes's influence. [53] Another
story, which may be traced to the Neopythagorean philosopher Nicomachus, tells that, when Pherecydes was
old and dying on the island of Delos, Pythagoras returned to care for him and pay his respects. [53] Duris, the
historian and tyrant of Samos, is reported to have patriotically boasted of an epitaph supposedly penned by
Pherecydes which declared that Pythagoras's wisdom exceeded his own. [53] On the grounds of all these
references connecting Pythagoras with Pherecydes, Riedweg concludes that there may well be some historical
foundation to the tradition that Pherecydes was Pythagoras's teacher. [53] Pythagoras and Pherecydes also
appear to have shared similar views on the soul and the teaching of metempsychosis. [53]
Before 520 BC, on one of his visits to Egypt or Greece, Pythagoras might have met Thales of Miletus, who
would have been around fifty-four years older than him. Thales was a philosopher, scientist, mathematician,
and engineer,[55] also known for a special case of the inscribed angle theorem. Pythagoras's birthplace, the
island of Samos, is situated in the Northeast Aegean Sea not far from Miletus.[56] Diogenes Laërtius cites a
statement from Aristoxenus (fourth century BC) stating that Pythagoras learned most of his moral doctrines
from the Delphic priestess Themistoclea.[57][58][59] Porphyry agrees with this assertion,[60] but calls the priestess
Aristoclea (Aristokleia).[61] Ancient authorities furthermore note the similarities between the religious
and ascetic peculiarities of Pythagoras with the Orphic or Cretan mysteries,[62] or the Delphic oracle.[63]
In Croton
Porphyry repeats an account from Antiphon, who reported that, while he was still on Samos, Pythagoras
founded a school known as the "semicircle". [64][65] Here, Samians debated matters of public concern. [64]
[65]
Supposedly, the school became so renowned that the brightest minds in all of Greece came to Samos to
hear Pythagoras teach.[64] Pythagoras himself dwelled in a secret cave, where he studied in private and
occasionally held discourses with a few of his close friends. [64][65] Christoph Riedweg, a German scholar of early
Pythagoreanism, states that it is entirely possible Pythagoras may have taught on Samos, [64] but cautions that
Antiphon's account, which makes reference to a specific building that was still in use during his own time,
appears to be motivated by Samian patriotic interest.[64]
Map of Italy showing locations associated with Pythagoras
File:Italy provincial location map 2016.svg
Around 530 BC, when Pythagoras was around forty years old, he left Samos. [28][66][5][67][68] His later admirers
claimed that he left because he disagreed with the tyranny of Polycrates in Samos,[55][66] Riedweg notes that this
explanation closely aligns with Nicomachus's emphasis on Pythagoras's purported love of freedom, but that
Pythagoras's enemies portrayed him as having a proclivity towards tyranny. [66] Other accounts claim that
Pythagoras left Samos because he was so overburdened with public duties in Samos, because of the high
estimation in which he was held by his fellow-citizens.[69] He arrived in the Greek colony of Croton
(today's Crotone, in Calabria) in what was then Magna Graecia.[70][28][71][68] All sources agree that Pythagoras was
charismatic and quickly acquired great political influence in his new environment. [72][28][73] He served as an advisor
to the elites in Croton and gave them frequent advice. [74] Later biographers tell fantastical stories of the effects
of his eloquent speeches in leading the people of Croton to abandon their luxurious and corrupt way of life and
devote themselves to the purer system which he came to introduce. [75][76]
Family and friends
Illustration from 1913 showing Pythagoras teaching a class of women. Many prominent members of his school were women [77][78] and
some modern scholars think that he may have believed that women should be taught philosophy as well as men. [79]
Diogenes Laërtius states that Pythagoras "did not indulge in the pleasures of love" [80] and that he cautioned
others to only have sex "whenever you are willing to be weaker than yourself". [81] According to Porphyry,
Pythagoras married Theano, a lady of Crete and the daughter of Pythenax[81] and had several children with her.
[81]
Porphyry writes that Pythagoras had two sons named Telauges and Arignote,[81] and a daughter named Myia,
[81]
who "took precedence among the maidens in Croton and, when a wife, among married
women."[81] Iamblichus mentions none of these children[81] and instead only mentions a son named Mnesarchus
after his grandfather.[81] This son was raised by Pythagoras's appointed successor Aristaeus and eventually
took over the school when Aristaeus was too old to continue running it. [81] Suda writes that Pythagoras had 4
children (Telauges, Mnesarchus, Myia and Arignote). [82]
The wrestler Milo of Croton was said to have been a close associate of Pythagoras [83] and was credited with
having saved the philosopher's life when a roof was about to collapse. [83] This association may been the result
of confusion with a different man named Pythagoras, who was an athletics trainer. [64] Diogenes Laërtius records
Milo's wife's name as Myia.[81] Iamblichus mentions Theano as the wife of Brontinus of Croton. [81] Diogenes
Laërtius states that the same Theano was Pythagoras's pupil [81] and that Pythagoras's wife Theano was her
daughter.[81] Diogenes Laërtius also records that works supposedly written by Theano were still extant during his
own lifetime[81] and quotes several opinions attributed to her.[81] These writings are now known to
be pseudepigraphical.[81]
Death
Pythagoras's emphasis on dedication and asceticism are credited with aiding in Croton's decisive victory over
the neighboring colony of Sybaris in 510 BC.[84] After the victory, some prominent citizens of Croton proposed
a democratic constitution, which the Pythagoreans rejected.[84] The supporters of democracy, headed
by Cylon and Ninon, the former of whom is said to have been irritated by his exclusion from Pythagoras's
brotherhood, roused the populace against them.[85] Followers of Cylon and Ninon attacked the Pythagoreans
during one of their meetings, either in the house of Milo or in some other meeting-place. [86][87] Accounts of the
attack are often contradictory and many probably confused it with later anti-Pythagorean rebellions. [85] The
building was apparently set on fire,[86] and many of the assembled members perished;[86] only the younger and
more active members managed to escape.[88]
Sources disagree regarding whether Pythagoras was present when the attack occurred and, if he was, whether
or not he managed to escape.[27][87] In some accounts, Pythagoras was not at the meeting when the
Pythagoreans were attacked because he was on Delos tending to the dying Pherecydes. [87] According to
another account from Dicaearchus, Pythagoras was at the meeting and managed to escape, [89] leading a small
group of followers to the nearby city of Locris, where they pleaded for sanctuary, but were denied. [89] They
reached the city of Metapontum, where they took shelter in the temple of the Muses and died there of
starvation after forty days without food.[89][27][86][90] Another tale recorded by Porphyry claims that, as Pythagoras's
enemies were burning the house, his devoted students laid down on the ground to make a path for him to
escape by walking over their bodies across the flames like a bridge. [89] Pythagoras managed to escape, but was
so despondent at the deaths of his beloved students that he committed suicide. [89] A different legend reported by
both Diogenes Laërtius and Iamblichus states that Pythagoras almost managed to escape, but that he came to
a bean field and refused to run through it, since doing so would violate his teachings, so he stopped instead
and was killed.[91][89] This story seems to have originated from the writer Neanthes, who told it about later
Pythagoreans, not about Pythagoras himself.[89]
Teachings
Metempsychosis
Although the exact details of Pythagoras's teachings are uncertain, [93][94] it is possible to reconstruct a general
outline of his main ideas.[93][95] Aristotle writes at length about the teachings of the Pythagoreans, [96][16] but without
mentioning Pythagoras directly.[96][16] One of Pythagoras's main doctrines appears to have
been metempsychosis,[97][98][67][99][100][101] the belief that all souls are immortal and that, after death, a soul is
transferred into a new body.[97][100] This teaching is referenced by Xenophanes, Ion of Chios, and Herodotus. [102]
[97]
Nothing whatsoever, however, is known about the nature or mechanism by which Pythagoras believed
metempsychosis to occur
In Raphael's fresco The School of Athens, Pythagoras is shown writing in a book as a young man presents him with a tablet
showing a diagrammatic representation of a lyre above a drawing of the sacred tetractys.[92]
.[103]
Empedocles alludes in one of his poems that Pythagoras may have claimed to possess the ability to recall his
former incarnations.[104] Diogenes Laërtius reports an account from Heraclides Ponticus that Pythagoras told
people that he had lived four previous lives that he could remember in detail. [105][106][107] The first of these lives was
as Aethalides the son of Hermes, who granted him the ability to remember all his past incarnations.[108] Next, he
was incarnated as Euphorbus, a minor hero from the Trojan War briefly mentioned in the Iliad.[109] He then
became the philosopher Hermotimus,[110] who recognized the shield of Euphorbus in the temple of Apollo. [110] His
final incarnation was as Pyrrhus, a fisherman from Delos.[110] One of his past lives, as reported by Dicaearchus,
was as a beautiful courtesan.[111][98]
Mysticism
Another belief attributed to Pythagoras was that of the "harmony of the spheres",[112][113] which maintained that
the planets and stars move according to mathematical equations, which correspond to musical notes and thus
produce an inaudible symphony.[112][113] According to Porphyry, Pythagoras taught that the seven Muses were
actually the seven planets singing together.[114] In his philosophical dialogue Protrepticus, Aristotle has his
literary double say:
When Pythagoras was asked [why humans exist], he said, "to observe the heavens," and he used to claim that
he himself was an observer of nature, and it was for the sake of this that he had passed over into life. [115]
Pythagoras was said to have practiced divination and prophecy.[116] In the visits to various places in Greece—
Delos, Sparta, Phlius, Crete, etc.—which are ascribed to him, he usually appears either in his religious or
priestly guise, or else as a lawgiver.[117]
Numerology
The so-called Pythagoreans, who were the
“ first to take up mathematics, not only
advanced this subject, but saturated with it,
they fancied that the principles of
mathematics were the principles of all
things.
”
— Aristotle, Metaphysics 1–5, c. 350 BC
Pythagoras is credited with having devised the tetractys,[118][119] an important sacred symbol in later Pythagoreanism.[120][121]
According to Aristotle, the Pythagoreans used mathematics for solely mystical reasons, devoid of practical
application.[122] They believed that all things were made of numbers.[123][124] The number one (the monad)
represented the origin of all things[125] and the number two (the dyad) represented matter.[125] The number three
was an "ideal number" because it had a beginning, middle, and end [126] and was the smallest number of points
that could be used to define a plane triangle, which they revered as a symbol of the god Apollo.[126] The number
four signified the four seasons and the four elements.[127] The number seven was also sacred because it was the
number of planets and the number of strings on a lyre,[127] and because Apollo's birthday was celebrated on the
seventh day of each month.[127] They believed that odd numbers were masculine,[128] that even numbers
were feminine,[128] and that the number five represented marriage, because it was the sum of two and three. [129][130]
Ten was regarded as the "perfect number"[122] and the Pythagoreans honored it by never gathering in groups
larger than ten.[131] Pythagoras was credited with devising the tetractys, the triangular figure of four rows which
add up to the perfect number, ten.[118][119] The Pythagoreans regarded the tetractys as a symbol of utmost
mystical importance.[118][120][119] Iamblichus, in his Life of Pythagoras, states that the tetractys was "so admirable,
and so divinised by those who understood [it]," that Pythagoras's students would swear oaths by it. [132][92][120]
[119]
Andrew Gregory concludes that the tradition linking Pythagoras to the tetractys is probably genuine. [133]
Modern scholars debate whether these numerological teachings were developed by Pythagoras himself or by
the later Pythagorean philosopher Philolaus of Croton.[134] In his landmark study Lore and Science in Ancient
Pythagoreanism, Walter Burkert argues that Pythagoras was a charismatic political and religious teacher, [135] but
that the number philosophy attributed to him was really an innovation by Philolaus. [136] According to Burkert,
Pythagoras never dealt with numbers at all, let alone made any noteworthy contribution to mathematics.
Burkert argues that the only mathematics the Pythagoreans ever actually engaged in was
[135]
simple, proofless arithmetic,[137] but that these arithmetic discoveries did contribute significantly to the
beginnings of mathematics.[138]
Pythagoreanism
Communal lifestyle
Both Plato and Isocrates state that, above all else, Pythagoras was known as the founder of a new way of life.
[139][140][141]
The organization Pythagoras founded at Croton was called a "school", [142][143][55] but, in many ways,
resembled a monastery.[144] The adherents were bound by a vow to Pythagoras and each other, for the purpose
of pursuing the religious and ascetic observances, and of studying his religious and philosophical theories.
[145]
The members of the sect shared all their possessions in common[146] and were devoted to each other to the
exclusion of outsiders.[147][148] Ancient sources record that the Pythagoreans ate meals in common after the
manner of the Spartans.[149][150] One Pythagorean maxim was "koinà tà phílōn" ("All things in common among
friends").[146] Both Iamblichus and Porphyry provide detailed accounts of the organization of the school, although
the primary interest of both writers is not historical accuracy, but rather to present Pythagoras as a divine
figure, sent by the gods to benefit humankind.[151] Iamblichus, in particular, presents the "Pythagorean Way of
Life" as a pagan alternative to the Christian monastic communities of his own time. [144]
Pythagoreans Celebrate the Sunrise (1869) by Fyodor Bronnikov
Main article: Pythagoreanism
Two groups existed within early Pythagoreanism: the mathematikoi ("learners") and
the akousmatikoi ("listeners").[56][152] The akousmatikoi are traditionally identified by scholars as "old believers" in
mysticism, numerology, and religious teachings;[152] whereas the mathematikoi are traditionally identified as a
more intellectual, modernist faction who were more rationalist and scientific. [152] Gregory cautions that there was
probably not a sharp distinction between them and that many Pythagoreans probably believed the two
approaches were compatible.[152] The study of mathematics and music may have been connected to the worship
of Apollo.[153] The Pythagoreans believed that music was a purification for the soul, just as medicine was a
purification for the body.[114] One anecdote of Pythagoras reports that when he encountered some drunken
youths trying to break into the home of a virtuous woman, he sang a solemn tune with long spondees and the
boys' "raging willfulness" was quelled.[114] The Pythagoreans also placed particular emphasis on the importance
of physical exercise;[144] therapeutic dancing, daily morning walks along scenic routes, and athletics were major
components of the Pythagorean lifestyle.[144] Moments of contemplation at the beginning and end of each day
were also advised.[154]
Prohibitions and regulations
Pythagorean teachings were known as "symbols" (symbola)[77] and members took a vow of silence that they
would not reveal these symbols to non-members.[155][77][140] Those who did not obey the laws of the community
were expelled[156] and the remaining members would erect tombstones for them as though they had died.[156] A
number of "oral sayings" (akoúsmata) attributed to Pythagoras have survived,[157][16] dealing with how members
of the Pythagorean community should perform sacrifices, how they should honor the gods, how they should
"move from here", and how they should be buried. [158] Many of these sayings emphasize the importance of ritual
purity and avoiding defilement.[159][101] For instance, a saying which Leonid Zhmud concludes can probably be
genuinely traced back to Pythagoras himself forbids his followers from wearing woolen garments. [160] Other
extant oral sayings forbid Pythagoreans from breaking bread, poking fires with swords, or picking up
crumbs[150] and teach that a person should always put the right sandal on before the left.
French manuscript from 1512/1514, showing Pythagoras turning his face away from fava beans in revulsion
.[150] The exact meanings of these sayings, however, are frequently obscure. [161] Iamblichus preserves Aristotle's
descriptions of the original, ritualistic intentions behind a few of these sayings, [162] but these apparently later fell
out of fashion, because Porphyry provides markedly different ethical-philosophical interpretations of them: [163]
Original ritual purpose according
Pythagorean saying Porphyry's philosophical interpretation
to Aristotle/Iamblichus
"Do not take roads traveled by the "Fear of being defiled by the "with this he forbade following the opinions of the masses, yet
public."[164][16] impure"[164] to follow the ones of the few and the educated." [164]
"One should not have the teaching and knowledge of the gods
"and [do] not wear images of the "Fear of defiling them by wearing
quickly at hand and visible [for everyone], nor communicate
gods on rings"[164] them."[164]
them to the masses."[164]
"and pour libations for the gods "thereby he enigmatically hints that the gods should be
"Efforts to keep the divine and the
from a drinking cup's handle [the honored and praised with music; for it goes through the
human strictly separate"[164]
'ear']"[164] ears."[164]
New initiates were allegedly not permitted to meet Pythagoras until after they had completed a five-year
initiation period,[65] during which they were required to remain silent. [65] Sources indicate that Pythagoras himself
was unusually progressive in his attitudes towards women [79] and female members of Pythagoras's school
appear to have played an active role in its operations.[77][79] Iamblichus provides a list of 235 famous
Pythagoreans,[78] seventeen of whom are women.[78] In later times, many prominent female philosophers
contributed to the development of Neopythagoreanism.[165]
Pythagoreanism also entailed a number of dietary prohibitions.[101][150][166] It is more or less agreed that Pythagoras
issued a prohibition against the consumption of beans [167][150] and the meat of non-sacrificial animals such as fish
and poultry.[160][150] Both of these assumptions, however, have been contradicted. [168][169] Pythagorean dietary
restrictions may have been motivated by belief in the doctrine of metempsychosis.[170][140][171][172] Some ancient
writers present Pythagoras as enforcing a strictly vegetarian diet.[e][140][171] Eudoxus of Cnidus, a student of
Archytas, writes, "Pythagoras was distinguished by such purity and so avoided killing and killers that he not
only abstained from animal foods, but even kept his distance from cooks and hunters." [173][174] Other authorities
contradict this statement.[175] According to Aristoxenus,[176] Pythagoras allowed the use of all kinds of animal food
except the flesh of oxen used for ploughing, and rams.[177][174] According to Heraclides Ponticus, Pythagoras ate
the meat from sacrifices[174] and established a diet for athletes dependent on meat. [174]
Legends
Within his own lifetime, Pythagoras was already the subject of elaborate hagiographic legends.[25][178] Aristotle
described Pythagoras as a wonder-worker and somewhat of a supernatural figure. [179][180] In a fragment, Aristotle
writes that Pythagoras had a golden thigh,[179][181][182] which he publicly exhibited at the Olympic Games[179][183] and
showed to Abaris the Hyperborean as proof of his identity as the "Hyperborean Apollo".[179][184] Supposedly, the
priest of Apollo gave Pythagoras a magic arrow, which he used to fly over long distances and perform ritual
purifications.[185] He was supposedly once seen at both Metapontum and Croton at the same time.[186][25][183][181]
[182]
When Pythagoras crossed the river Kosas (the modern-day Basento), "several witnesses" reported that they
heard it greet him by name.[187][183][181] In Roman times, a legend claimed that Pythagoras was the son of Apollo. [188]
[182]
According to Muslim tradition, Pythagoras was said to have been initiated by Hermes (Egyptian Thoth).[189]
Pythagoras Emerging from the Underworld (1662) by Salvator Rosa
Pythagoras was said to have dressed all in white. [179][190] He is also said to have borne a golden wreath atop his
head[179] and to have worn trousers after the fashion of the Thracians.[179] Diogenes Laërtius presents Pythagoras
as having exercised remarkable self-control;[191] he was always cheerful,[191] but "abstained wholly from laughter,
and from all such indulgences as jests and idle stories".[81] Pythagoras was said to have had extraordinary
success in dealing with animals.[25][192][183] A fragment from Aristotle records that, when a deadly snake bit
Pythagoras, he bit it back and killed it.[185][183][181] Both Porphyry and Iamblichus report that Pythagoras once
persuaded a bull not to eat beans[25][192] and that he once convinced a notoriously destructive bear to swear that it
would never harm a living thing again, and that the bear kept its word. [25][192]
Riedweg suggests that Pythagoras may have personally encouraged these legends, [178] but Gregory states that
there is no direct evidence of this.[152] Anti-Pythagorean legends were also circulated.[193] Diogenes Laërtes retells
a story told by Hermippus of Samos, which states that Pythagoras had once gone into an underground room,
telling everyone that he was descending to the underworld.[194] He stayed in this room for months, while his
mother secretly recorded everything that happened during his absence. [194] After he returned from this room,
Pythagoras recounted everything that had happened while he was gone, [194] convincing everyone that he had
really been in the underworld[194] and leading them to trust him with their wives.[194]
Attributed discoveries
In mathematics
Although Pythagoras is most famous today for his alleged mathematical discoveries, [121][195] classical historians
dispute whether he himself ever actually made any significant contributions to the field. [137][135] Many
mathematical and scientific discoveries were attributed to Pythagoras, including his famous theorem,[196] as well
as discoveries in the fields of music,[197] astronomy,[198] and medicine.[199] Since at least the first century BC,
Pythagoras has commonly been given credit for discovering the Pythagorean theorem,[200][201] a theorem in
geometry that states that "in a right-angled triangle the square of the hypotenuse is equal [to the sum of] the
squares of the two other sides"[202]—that is, . According to a popular legend, after he
discovered this theorem, Pythagoras sacrificed an ox, or possibly even a whole hecatomb, to the gods.[202]
[203]
Cicero rejected this story as spurious[202] because of the much more widely held belief that Pythagoras
forbade blood sacrifices.[202] Porphyry attempted to explain the story by asserting that the ox was actually made
of dough.[202]
The Pythagorean theorem was known and used by the Babylonians and Indians centuries before Pythagoras,
[204][202][205][206]
but it is possible that he may have been the first one to introduce it to the Greeks. [207][205] Some
historians of mathematics have even suggested that he—or his students—may have constructed the first proof.
[208]
Burkert rejects this suggestion as implausible, [207] noting that Pythagoras was never credited with having
proved any theorem in antiquity.[207] Furthermore, the manner in which the Babylonians employed Pythagorean
numbers implies that they knew that the principle was generally applicable, and knew some kind of proof, which
has not yet been found in the (still largely unpublished) cuneiform sources.[f] Pythagoras's biographers state
that he also was the first to identify the five regular solids[121] and that he was the first to discover the Theory of
Proportions.[121]
The Pythagorean theorem: The sum of the areas of the two squares on the legs (a and b) equals the area of the square on the
hypotenuse (c).
In music
According to legend, Pythagoras discovered that musical notes could be translated into mathematical
equations when he passed blacksmiths at work one day and heard the sound of their hammers clanging
against the anvils.[209][210] Thinking that the sounds of the hammers were beautiful and harmonious, except for
one,[211] he rushed into the blacksmith shop and began testing the hammers.[211] He then realized that the tune
played when the hammer struck was directly proportional to the size of the hammer and therefore concluded
that music was mathematical.[211][210] However, this legend is demonstrably false,[212][120][210] as these ratios are only
relevant to string length (such as the string of a monochord), and not to hammer weight.
Late medieval woodcut from Franchino Gafurio's Theoria musice (1492), showing Pythagoras with bells and other instruments in
Pythagorean tuning[133]
See also: Pythagorean tuning and Pythagorean hammers
[212][210]
In astronomy
In ancient times, Pythagoras and his contemporary Parmenides of Elea were both credited with having been
the first to teach that the Earth was spherical,[213] the first to divide the globe into five climactic zones,[213] and the
first to identify the morning star and the evening star as the same celestial object (now known as Venus).[214] Of
the two philosophers, Parmenides has a much stronger claim to having been the first [215] and the attribution of
these discoveries to Pythagoras seems to have possibly originated from a pseudepigraphal poem.
[214]
Empedocles, who lived in Magna Graecia shortly after Pythagoras and Parmenides, knew that the earth was
spherical.[216] By the end of the fifth century BC, this fact was universally accepted among Greek intellectuals. [217]
Later influence in antiquity
On Greek philosophy
Sizeable Pythagorean communities existed in Magna Graecia, Phlius, and Thebes during the early fourth
century BC.[219] Around the same time, the Pythagorean philosopher Archytas was highly influential on the
politics of the city of Tarentum in Magna Graecia.[220] According to later tradition, Archytas was elected
as strategos ("general") seven times, even though others were prohibited from serving more than a year.
[220]
Archytas was also a renowned mathematician and musician. [221] He was a close friend of Plato[222] and he is
quoted in Plato's Republic.[223][224] Aristotle states that the philosophy of Plato was heavily dependent on the
teachings of the Pythagoreans.[225][226] Cicero repeats this statement, remarking that Platonem ferunt didicisse
Pythagorea omnia ("They say Plato learned all things Pythagorean").[227] According to Charles H. Kahn, Plato's
middle dialogues, including Meno, Phaedo, and The Republic, have a strong "Pythagorean coloring", [228] and his
last few dialogues (particularly Philebus and Timaeus)[218] are extremely Pythagorean in character
Medieval manuscript of Calcidius's Latin translation of Plato's Timaeus, which is one of the Platonic dialogues with the most overt
Pythagorean influences [218]
See also: Timaeus (dialogue)
.[218]
According to R. M. Hare, Plato's Republic may be partially based on the "tightly organised community of like-
minded thinkers" established by Pythagoras at Croton.[229] Additionally, Plato may have borrowed from
Pythagoras the idea that mathematics and abstract thought are a secure basis for philosophy, science, and
morality.[229] Plato and Pythagoras shared a "mystical approach to the soul and its place in the material
world"[229] and it is probable that both were influenced by Orphism.[229] The historian of philosophy Frederick
Copleston states that Plato probably borrowed his tripartite theory of the soul from the Pythagoreans.
[230]
Bertrand Russell, in his A History of Western Philosophy, contends that the influence of Pythagoras on Plato
and others was so great that he should be considered the most influential philosopher of all time. [231] He
concludes that "I do not know of any other man who has been as influential as he was in the school of
thought."[232]
A revival of Pythagorean teachings occurred in the first century BC [233] when Middle Platonist philosophers such
as Eudorus and Philo of Alexandria hailed the rise of a "new" Pythagoreanism in Alexandria.[234] At around the
same time, Neopythagoreanism became prominent.[235] The first-century AD philosopher Apollonius of
Tyana sought to emulate Pythagoras and live by Pythagorean teachings. [236] The later first-century
Neopythagorean philosopher Moderatus of Gades expanded on Pythagorean number philosophy [236] and
probably understood the soul as a "kind of mathematical harmony." [236] The Neopythagorean mathematician and
musicologist Nicomachus likewise expanded on Pythagorean numerology and music theory. [235] Numenius of
Apamea interpreted Plato's teachings in light of Pythagorean doctrines. [237]
On art and architecture
Greek sculpture sought to represent the permanent reality behind superficial appearances.
[239]
Early Archaic sculpture represents life in simple forms, and may have been influenced by the earliest Greek
natural philosophies.[g] The Greeks generally believed that nature expressed itself in ideal forms and was
represented by a type (εἶδος), which was mathematically calculated. [240][241] When dimensions changed,
architects sought to relay permanence through mathematics.[242][243] Maurice Bowra believes that these ideas
influenced the theory of Pythagoras and his students, who believed that "all things are numbers". [243]
During the sixth century BC, the number philosophy of the Pythagoreans triggered a revolution in Greek
sculpture.[244] Greek sculptors and architects attempted to find the mathematical relation (canon) behind
aesthetic perfection.[241] Possibly drawing on the ideas of Pythagoras, [241] the sculptor Polykleitos writes in
his Canon that beauty consists in the proportion, not of the elements (materials), but of the interrelation of parts
with one another and with the whole.[241][h] In the Greek architectural orders, every element was calculated and
constructed by mathematical relations. Rhys Carpenter states that the ratio 2:1 was "the generative ratio of
the Doric order, and in Hellenistic times an ordinary Doric colonnade, beats out a rhythm of notes.
Hadrian's Pantheon in Rome, depicted in this eighteenth-century painting by Giovanni Paolo Panini, was built according to
Pythagorean teachings.[238]
[241]
The oldest known building designed according to Pythagorean teachings is the Porta Maggiore Basilica,[245] a
subterranean basilica which was built during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero as a secret place of worship
for Pythagoreans.[246] The basilica was built underground because of the Pythagorean emphasis on
secrecy[247] and also because of the legend that Pythagoras had sequestered himself in a cave on Samos.
[248]
The basilica's apse is in the east and its atrium in the west out of respect for the rising sun. [249] It has a narrow
entrance leading to a small pool where the initiates could purify themselves. [250] The building is also designed
according to Pythagorean numerology,[251] with each table in the sanctuary providing seats for seven people.
[131]
Three aisles lead to a single altar, symbolizing the three parts of the soul approaching the unity of Apollo.
[131]
The apse depicts a scene of the poet Sappho leaping off the Leucadian cliffs, clutching her lyre to her
breast, while Apollo stands beneath her, extending his right hand in a gesture of protection, [252] symbolizing
Pythagorean teachings about the immortality of the soul. [252] The interior of the sanctuary is almost entirely white
because the color white was regarded by Pythagoreans as sacred. [253]
The emperor Hadrian's Pantheon in Rome was also built based on Pythagorean numerology.[238] The temple's
circular plan, central axis, hemispherical dome, and alignment with the four cardinal directions symbolize
Pythagorean views on the order of the universe. [254] The single oculus at the top of the dome symbolizes the
monad and the sun-god Apollo.[255] The twenty-eight ribs extending from the oculus symbolize the moon,
because twenty-eight was the same number of months on the Pythagorean lunar calendar. [256] The five coffered
rings beneath the ribs represent the marriage of the sun and moon. [126]
In early Christianity
Many early Christians had a deep respect for Pythagoras.[257] Eusebius (c. 260 – c. 340 AD), bishop
of Caesarea, praises Pythagoras in his Against Hierokles for his rule of silence, his frugality, his "extraordinary"
morality, and his wise teachings.[258] In another work, Eusebius compares Pythagoras to Moses.[258] In one of his
letter, the Church Father Jerome (c. 347 – 420 AD) praises Pythagoras for his wisdom[258] and, in another letter,
he credits Pythagoras for his belief in the immortality of the soul, which he suggests Christians inherited from
him.[259] Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430 AD) rejected Pythagoras's teaching of metempsychosis without explicitly
naming him, but otherwise expressed admiration for him.[260] In On the Trinity, Augustine lauds the fact that
Pythagoras was humble enough to call himself a philosophos or "lover of wisdom" rather than a "sage". [261] In
another passage, Augustine defends Pythagoras's reputation, arguing that Pythagoras certainly never taught
the doctrine of metempsychosis.[261]
Influence after antiquity
In the Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages, Pythagoras was revered as the founder of mathematics and music, two of the Seven
Liberal Arts.[262] He appears in numerous medieval depictions, in illuminated manuscripts and in the relief
sculptures on the portal of the Cathedral of Chartres.[262] The Timaeus was the only dialogue of Plato to survive
in Latin translation in western Europe,[262] which led William of Conches (c. 1080–1160) to declare that Plato
was Pythagorean.[262] In the 1430s, the Camaldolese friar Ambrose Traversari translated Diogenes
Laërtius's Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers from Greek into Latin[262] and, in the 1460s, the
philosopher Marsilio Ficino translated Porphyry and Iamblichus's Lives of Pythagoras into Latin as well,
[262]
thereby allowing them to be read and studied by western scholars. [262] In 1494, the Greek Neopythagorean
scholar Constantine Lascaris published The Golden Verses of Pythagoras, translated into Latin, with a printed
edition of his Grammatica,[263] thereby bringing them to a widespread audience. [263] In 1499, he published the first
Renaissance biography of Pythagoras in his work Vitae illustrium philosophorum siculorum et calabrorum,
issued in Messina.[263]
Pythagoras appears in a relief sculpture on one of the archivolts over the right door of the west portal at Chartres Cathedral.[262]
On modern science
In his preface to his book On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres (1543), Nicolaus Copernicus cites
various Pythagoreans as the most important influences on the development of his heliocentric model of the
universe,[262][264] deliberately omitting mention of Aristarchus of Samos, a non-Pythagorean astronomer who had
developed a fully heliocentric model in the fourth century BC, in effort to portray his model as fundamentally
Pythagorean.[264] Johannes Kepler considered himself to be a Pythagorean.[265][262][266] He believed in the
Pythagorean doctrine of musica universalis[267] and it was his search for the mathematical equations behind this
doctrine that led to his discovery of the laws of planetary motion.[267] Kepler titled his book on the
subject Harmonices Mundi (Harmonics of the World), after the Pythagorean teaching that had inspired him. [262]
Near the conclusion of the book, Kepler describes himself falling asleep to the sound of the heavenly music,
[268]
"warmed by having drunk a generous draught... from the cup of Pythagoras." [269]
Isaac Newton firmly believed in the Pythagorean teaching of the mathematical harmony and order of the
universe.[270] Though Newton was notorious for rarely giving others credit for their discoveries, [271] he attributed
the discovery of the Law of Universal Gravitation to Pythagoras.[271] Albert Einstein believed that a scientist may
also be "a Platonist or a Pythagorean insofar as he considers the viewpoint of logical simplicity as an
indispensable and effective tool of his research." [272] The English philosopher Alfred North Whitehead argued
that "In a sense, Plato and Pythagoras stand nearer to modern physical science than does Aristotle. The two
former were mathematicians, whereas Aristotle was the son of a doctor". [273] By this measure, Whitehead
declared that Einstein and other modern scientists like him are "following the pure Pythagorean tradition." [272][274]
On vegetarianism
A fictionalized portrayal of Pythagoras appears in Book XV of Ovid's Metamorphoses,[276] in which he delivers a
speech imploring his followers to adhere to a strictly vegetarian diet. [277] It was through Arthur Golding's 1567
English translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses that Pythagoras was best known to English-speakers throughout
the early modern period.[277] John Donne's Progress of the Soul discusses the implications of the doctrines
expounded in the speech[278] and Michel de Montaigne quoted the speech no less than three times in his treatise
"Of Cruelty" to voice his moral objections against the mistreatment of animals. [278] William
Shakespeare references the speech in his play The Merchant of Venice.[279] John Dryden included a translation
of the scene with Pythagoras in his 1700 work Fables, Ancient and Modern[278] and John Gay's 1726 fable
"Pythagoras and the Countryman" reiterates its major themes, linking carnivorism with tyranny. [278] Lord
Chesterfield records that his conversion to vegetarianism had been motivated by reading Pythagoras's speech
in Ovid's Metamorphoses.[278] Until the word vegetarianism was coined in the 1840s, vegetarians were referred
to in English as "Pythagoreans".[278] Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote an ode entitled "To the Pythagorean
Diet"[280] and Leo Tolstoy adopted the Pythagorean diet himself.[280]
Pythagoras Advocating Vegetarianism (1618–1630) by Peter Paul Rubens was inspired by Pythagoras's speech in
Ovid's Metamorphoses.[275] The painting portrays the Pythagoreans with corpulent bodies, indicating a belief that vegetarianism was
healthful and nutritious.[275]
On Western esotericism
Early modern European esotericism drew heavily on the teachings of Pythagoras.[262] The
German humanist scholar Johannes Reuchlin (1455–1522) synthesized Pythagoreanism with Christian
theology and Jewish Kabbalah,[281] arguing that Kabbalah and Pythagoreanism were both inspired
by Mosaic tradition[282] and that Pythagoras was therefore a kabbalist. [282] In his dialogue De verbo mirifico (1494),
Reuchlin compared the Pythagorean tetractys to the ineffable divine name YHWH,[281] ascribing each of the four
letters of the tetragrammaton a symbolic meaning according to Pythagorean mystical teachings. [282]
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa's popular and influential three-volume treatise De Occulta Philosophia cites
Pythagoras as a "religious magi"[283] and indicates that Pythagoras's mystical numerology operates on
a supercelestial level.[283] The freemasons deliberately modeled their society on the community founded by
Pythagoras at Croton.[284] Rosicrucianism used Pythagorean symbolism,[262] as did Robert Fludd (1574–1637),
[262]
who believed his own musical writings to have been inspired by Pythagoras. [262] John Dee was heavily
influenced by Pythagorean ideology,[285][283] particularly the teaching that all things are made of numbers.[285]
[283]
Adam Weishaupt, the founder of the Illuminati, was a strong admirer of Pythagoras[286] and, in his
book Pythagoras (1787), he advocated that society should be reformed to be more like Pythagoras's commune
at Croton.[287] Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart incorporated Masonic and Pythagorean symbolism into his opera The
Magic Flute.[288] Sylvain Maréchal, in his six-volume 1799 biography The Voyages of Pythagoras, declared that
all revolutionaries in all time periods are the "heirs of Pythagoras". [289]
On literature
Dante Alighieri's description of Heaven in his Paradiso incorporates Pythagorean numerology.[290]
Dante Alighieri was fascinated by Pythagorean numerology[290] and based his descriptions of Hell, Purgatory,
and Heaven on Pythagorean numbers.[290] Dante wrote that Pythagoras saw Unity as Good and Plurality as
Evil[291] and, in Paradiso XV, 56–57, he declares: "five and six, if understood, ray forth from unity." [292] The
number eleven and its multiples are found throughout the Divine Comedy, each book of which has thirty-
three cantos, except for the Inferno, which has thirty-four, the first of which serves as a general introduction.
[293]
Dante describes the ninth and tenth bolgias in the Eighth Circle of Hell as being twenty-two miles and eleven
miles respectively,[293] which correspond to the fraction 22/7 , which was the Pythagorean approximation of pi.
[293]
Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven are all described as circular [293] and Dante compares the wonder of God's
majesty to the mathematical puzzle of squaring the circle.[293] The number three also features prominently:
[293]
the Divine Comedy has three parts[294] and Beatrice is associated with the number nine, which is equal to
three times three.[295]
The Transcendentalists read the ancient Lives of Pythagoras as guides on how to live a model life.[296] Henry
David Thoreau was impacted by Thomas Taylor's translations of Iamblichus's Life of
Pythagoras and Stobaeus's Pythagoric Sayings[296] and his views on nature may have been influenced by the
Pythagorean idea of images corresponding to archetypes.[296] The Pythagorean teaching of musica universalis is
a recurring theme throughout Thoreau's magnum opus, Walden.[296]
Parmenides
Parmenides of Elea (/pɑːrˈmɛnɪdiːz ... ˈɛliə/; Greek: Παρμενίδης ὁ Ἐλεάτης; fl. late sixth or early fifth century
BC) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Elea in Magna Graecia (Greater Greece, which included
Southern Italy). Parmenides has been considered the founder of metaphysics or ontology and has influenced
the whole history of Western philosophy.[4][a] He was the founder of the Eleatic school of philosophy, which also
included Zeno of Elea and Melissus of Samos. Zeno's paradoxes of motion were to defend Parmenides' view.
The single known work by Parmenides is a poem, On Nature, only fragments of which survive, containing the
first sustained argument in the history of philosophy. In it, Parmenides prescribes two views of reality. In "the
way of truth" (a part of the poem), he explains how all reality is one, change is impossible, and existence is
timeless, uniform, and necessary. In "the way of opinion", Parmenides explains the world of appearances, in
which one's sensory faculties lead to conceptions which are false and deceitful, yet he does offer a cosmology.
Parmenides' philosophy has been explained with the slogan "whatever is is, and what is not cannot be". He is
also credited with the phrase out of nothing nothing comes. He argues that "A is not" can never be thought or
said truthfully, and thus despite appearances everything exists as one, giant, unchanging thing. This is
generally considered one of the first digressions into the philosophical concept of being, and has been
contrasted with Heraclitus's statement that "No man ever steps into the same river twice" as one of the first
digressions into the philosophical concept of becoming. Scholars have generally believed that either
Parmenides was responding to Heraclitus, or Heraclitus to Parmenides.
Alexius Meinong held a view similar to Parmenides, that even the "golden mountain" is real because it can be
talked about. The rivalry between Heraclitus and Parmenides has been re-introduced in discussions over the A
theory and B theory of time.
Biography
Parmenides was born in the Greek colony of Elea (now Ascea), which, according to Herodotus,[6] had been
founded shortly before 535 BC. He was descended from a wealthy and illustrious family. [7] It was said that he
had written the laws of the city.[8]
His dates are uncertain; according to doxographer Diogenes Laërtius, he flourished just before 500 BC,[9] which
would put his year of birth near 540 BC, but in the dialogue Parmenides Plato has him visiting Athens at the
age of 65, when Socrates was a young man, c. 450 BC,[10] which, if true, suggests a year of birth of c. 515 BC.
Parmenides was the founder of the School of Elea, which also included Zeno of Elea and Melissus of Samos.
His most important pupil was Zeno, who according to Plato was 25 years his junior, and was regarded as
his eromenos.[b]
Influences
He was said to have been a pupil of Xenophanes,[12] and regardless of whether they actually knew each other,
Xenophanes' philosophy is the most obvious influence on Parmenides. [13]
Though there are no obvious Pythagorean elements in his thought, Diogenes Laërtius describes Parmenides
as a disciple of "Ameinias, son of Diochaites, the Pythagorean". The first purported hero cult of a philosopher
we know of was Parmenides' dedication of a heroon to his Ameinias in Elea.[14]
According to Sir William Smith, in Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870): "Others
content themselves with reckoning Parmenides as well as Zeno as belonging to the Pythagorean school, or
with speaking of a Parmenidean life, in the same way as a Pythagorean life is spoken of."[15]
Most conclude he was responding to Heraclitus. For one, Heraclitus seems older than Parmenides; he refers to
Pythagoras by name.
On Nature
Parmenides is one of the most significant of the pre-Socratic philosophers. His single known work, a poem
conventionally titled On Nature, has survived only in fragments. Approximately 160 verses remain today from
an original total that was probably near 800. [4] The poem was originally divided into three parts:
A proem (Greek: προοίμιον), which introduced the entire work,
A section known as "The Way of Truth" (aletheia, ἀλήθεια), and
A section known as "The Way of Appearance/Opinion" (doxa, δόξα).
The proem is a narrative sequence in which the narrator travels "beyond the beaten paths of mortal men" to
receive a revelation from an unnamed goddess (generally thought to be Persephone or Dikē) on the nature of
reality. Aletheia, an estimated 90% of which has survived, and doxa, most of which no longer exists, are then
presented as the spoken revelation of the goddess without any accompanying narrative.
Parmenides attempted to distinguish between the unity of nature and its variety, insisting in the Way of
Truth upon the reality of its unity, which is therefore the object of knowledge, and upon the unreality of its
variety, which is therefore the object, not of knowledge, but of opinion. In the Way of Opinion he propounded a
theory of the world of seeming and its development, pointing out, however, that, in accordance with the
principles already laid down, these cosmological speculations do not pretend to anything more than mere
appearance.
Proem
In the proem, Parmenides describes the journey of the poet, escorted by maidens ("the daughters of the Sun
made haste to escort me, having left the halls of Night for the light"), [16] from the ordinary daytime world to a
strange destination, outside our human paths.[17] Carried in a whirling chariot, and attended by the daughters
of Helios the Sun, the man reaches a temple sacred to an unnamed goddess (variously identified by the
commentators as Nature, Wisdom, Necessity or Themis), by whom the rest of the poem is spoken. The
goddess resides in a well-known mythological space: where Night and Day have their meeting place. Its
essential character is that here all opposites are undivided, or one. [18] He must learn all things, she tells him –
both truth, which is certain, and human opinions, which are uncertain – for though one cannot rely on human
opinions, they represent an aspect of the whole truth.
Welcome, youth, who come attended by immortal charioteers and mares which bear you on your journey to our
dwelling. For it is no evil fate that has set you to travel on this road, far from the beaten paths of men, but right
and justice. It is meet that you learn all things — both the unshakable heart of well-rounded truth and the
opinions of mortals in which there is not true belief. (B 1.24–30)
The Way of Truth
The section known as "the way of truth" discusses that which is real and contrasts with the argument in the
section called "the way of opinion," which discusses that which is illusory. Under the "way of truth," Parmenides
stated that there are two ways of inquiry: that it is, on the one side, and that it is not on the other side.[19] He said
that the latter argument is never feasible because there is no thing that can not be: "For never shall this prevail,
that things that are not are."[20]
Thinking and the thought that it is are the same; for you will not find thinking apart from what is, in relation to
which it is uttered. (B 8.34–36)
For to be aware and to be are the same. (B 3)
It is necessary to speak and to think what is; for being is, but nothing is not. (B 6.1–2)
Helplessness guides the wandering thought in their breasts; they are carried along deaf and blind alike, dazed,
beasts without judgment, convinced that to be and not to be are the same and not the same, and that the road
of all things is a backward-turning one. (B 6.5–9)
Only one thing exists, which is timeless, uniform, and unchanging:
How could what is perish? How could it have come to be? For if it came into being, it is not; nor is it if ever it is
going to be. Thus coming into being is extinguished, and destruction unknown. (B 8.20–22)
Nor was [it] once, nor will [it] be, since [it] is, now, all together, / One, continuous; for what coming-to-be of it will
you seek? / In what way, whence, did [it] grow? Neither from what-is-not shall I allow / You to say or think; for it
is not to be said or thought / That [it] is not. And what need could have impelled it to grow / Later or sooner, if it
began from nothing? Thus [it] must either be completely or not at all. (B 8.5–11)
[What exists] is now, all at once, one and continuous... Nor is it divisible, since it is all alike; nor is there any
more or less of it in one place which might prevent it from holding together, but all is full of what is. (B 8.5–6,
8.22–24)
And it is all one to me / Where I am to begin; for I shall return there again. (B 5)
Perception vs. Logos
Parmenides claimed that there is no truth in the opinions of the mortals. Genesis-and-destruction, as
Parmenides emphasizes, is a false opinion, because to be means to be completely, once and for all. What
exists can in no way not exist.
For this view, that That Which Is Not exists, can never predominate. You must debar your thought from this
way of search, nor let ordinary experience in its variety force you along this way, (namely, that of allowing) the
eye, sightless as it is, and the ear, full of sound, and the tongue, to rule; but (you must) judge by means of the
Reason (Logos) the much-contested proof which is expounded by me. (B 7.1–8.2)
The Way of Opinion
After the exposition of the arche (ἀρχή), i.e. the origin, the necessary part of reality that is understood through
reason or logos (that [it] Is), in the next section, the Way of Appearance/Opinion/Seeming, Parmenides gives
a cosmology. He proceeds to explain the structure of the becoming cosmos (which is an illusion, of course) that
comes from this origin.
The structure of the cosmos is a fundamental binary principle that governs the manifestations of all the
particulars: "the aether fire of flame" (B 8.56), which is gentle, mild, soft, thin and clear, and self-identical, and
the other is "ignorant night", body thick and heavy.
The mortals lay down and decided well to name two forms (i.e. the flaming light and obscure darkness of night),
out of which it is necessary not to make one, and in this they are led astray. (B 8.53–4)
The structure of the cosmos then generated is recollected by Aetius (II, 7, 1):
For Parmenides says that there are circular bands wound round one upon the other, one made of the rare, the
other of the dense; and others between these mixed of light and darkness. What surrounds them all is solid like
a wall. Beneath it is a fiery band, and what is in the very middle of them all is solid, around which again is a
fiery band. The most central of the mixed bands is for them all the origin and cause of motion and becoming,
which he also calls steering goddess and keyholder and Justice and Necessity. The air has been separated off
from the earth, vapourized by its more violent condensation, and the sun and the circle of the Milky Way are
exhalations of fire. The moon is a mixture of both earth and fire. The aether lies around above all else, and
beneath it is ranged that fiery part which we call heaven, beneath which are the regions around the earth. [21]
Cosmology originally comprised the greater part of his poem, him explaining the world’s origins and operations.
Some idea of the sphericity of the Earth seems to have been known to Parmenides.[22]
Parmenides also outlined the phases of the moon, highlighted in a rhymed translation by Karl Popper:[23]
Bright in the night with the gift of his light,
Round the earth she is erring,
Evermore letting her gaze
Turn towards Helios' rays
Smith stated:[15]
Of the cosmogony of Parmenides, which was carried out very much in detail, we possess only a few fragments
and notices, which are difficult to understand, according to which, with an approach to the doctrines of
the Pythagoreans, he conceived the spherical mundane system, surrounded by a circle of the pure light
(Olympus, Uranus); in the centre of this mundane system the solid earth, and between the two the circle of the
milkyway, of the morning or evening star, of the sun, the planets, and the moon; which circle he regarded as a
mixture of the two primordial elements.
The fragments read:[4]
You will know the aether’s nature, and in the aether all the/ signs, and the unseen works of the pure torch/ of
the brilliant sun, and from whence they came to be,/ and you will learn the wandering works of the round-eyed
moon/ and its nature, and you will know too the surrounding heaven,/ both whence it grew and how Necessity
directing it bound it/ to furnish the limits of the stars. (Fr. 10)
…how the earth and sun and moon/ and the shared aether and the heavenly milk and Olympos/ outermost and
the hot might of the stars began/ to come to be. (Fr. 11)
Interpretations
The traditional interpretation of Parmenides' work is that he argued that the every-day perception of reality of
the physical world (as described in doxa) is mistaken, and that the reality of the world is 'One Being' (as
described in aletheia): an unchanging, ungenerated, indestructible whole. Under the Way of Opinion,
Parmenides set out a contrasting but more conventional view of the world, thereby becoming an early exponent
of the duality of appearance and reality. For him and his pupils, the phenomena of movement and change are
simply appearances of a changeless, eternal reality.
Being according to Parmenides is like a sphere.
Parmenides was not struggling to formulate the laws of conservation of mass and conservation of energy; he
was struggling with the metaphysics of change, which is still a relevant philosophical topic today. Moreover, he
argued that movement was impossible because it requires moving into "the void", and Parmenides identified
"the void" with nothing, and therefore (by definition) it does not exist. That which does exist is The Parmenidean
One.
Since existence is an immediately intuited fact, non-existence is the wrong path because a thing cannot
disappear, just as something cannot originate from nothing. In such mystical experience (unio mystica),
however, the distinction between subject and object disappears along with the distinctions between objects, in
addition to the fact that if nothing cannot be, it cannot be the object of thought either:
William Smith also wrote in Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology:
On the former reason is our guide; on the latter the eye that does not catch the object and re-echoing hearing.
On the former path we convince ourselves that the existent neither has come into being, nor is perishable, and
is entirely of one sort, without change and limit, neither past nor future, entirely included in the present. For it is
as impossible that it can become and grow out of the existent, as that it could do so out of the non-existent;
since the latter, non-existence, is absolutely inconceivable, and the former cannot precede itself; and every
coming into existence presupposes a non-existence. By similar arguments divisibility, motion or change, as
also infinity, are shut out from the absolutely existent, and the latter is represented as shut up in itself, so that it
may be compared to a well-rounded ball; while thought is appropriated to it as its only positive definition.
Thought and that which is thought of (Object) coinciding; the corresponding passages of Plato, Aristotle,
Theophrastus, and others, which authenticate this view of his theory. [15]
The religious/mystical context of the poem has caused recent generations of scholars such as Alexander P.
Mourelatos, Charles H. Kahn, and Peter Kingsley to call parts of the traditional, rational logical/philosophical
interpretation of Parmenides into question (Kingsley in particular stating that Parmenides practiced iatromancy).
The philosophy was, he says, given to him by a goddess. It has been claimed that previous scholars placed too
little emphasis on the apocalyptic context in which Parmenides frames his revelation. As a result, traditional
interpretations have put Parmenidean philosophy into a more modern, metaphysical context to which it is not
necessarily well suited, which has led to misunderstanding of the true meaning and intention of Parmenides'
message. The obscurity and fragmentary state of the text, however, renders almost every claim that can be
made about Parmenides extremely contentious, and the traditional interpretation has by no means been
abandoned. The "mythological" details in Parmenides' poem do not bear any close correspondence to anything
known from traditional Greek mythology:
Issues of translation
One issue is the grammar. In the original Greek the two ways are simply named "that Is" (ὅπως ἐστίν) and "that
Not-Is" (ὡς οὐκ ἐστίν) (B 2.3 and 2.5) without the "it" inserted in our English translation. In ancient Greek,
which, like many languages in the world, does not always require the presence of a subject for a verb, "is"
functions as a grammatically complete sentence. Much debate has been focused on where and what the
subject is. The simplest explanation as to why there is no subject here is that Parmenides wishes to express
the simple, bare fact of existence in his mystical experience without the ordinary distinctions, just as the Latin
"pluit" and the Greek huei (ὕει "rains") mean "it rains"; there is no subject for these impersonal verbs because
they express the simple fact of raining without specifying what is doing the raining. This is, for
instance, Hermann Fränkel's thesis.[24] Many scholars still reject this explanation and have produced more
complex metaphysical explanations.
There is the possibility for various wrong translations of the fragments. For example, it is not at all clear that
Parmenides refuted that which we call perception. The verb noein, used frequently by Parmenides, could better
be translated as 'to be aware of' than as 'to think'. Furthermore, it is hard to believe that 'being' is only within our
heads, according to Parmenides.
Legacy
John Palmer notes "Parmenides’ distinction among the principal modes of being and his derivation of the
attributes that must belong to what must be, simply as such, qualify him to be seen as the founder of
metaphysics or ontology as a domain of inquiry distinct from theology." [4]
Parmenides' considerable influence on the thinking of Plato is undeniable, and in this respect Parmenides has
influenced the whole history of Western philosophy, and is often seen as its grandfather. Even Plato himself, in
the Sophist, refers to the work of "our Father Parmenides" as something to be taken very seriously and treated
with respect.[25] In the Parmenides, the Eleatic philosopher, which may well be Parmenides himself,
and Socrates argue about dialectic. In the Theaetetus, Socrates says that Parmenides alone among the wise
(Protagoras, Heraclitus, Empedocles, Epicharmus, and Homer) denied that everything is change and motion.
[26]
"Even the censorious Timon allows Parmenides to have been a high-minded man; while Plato speaks of him
with veneration, and Aristotle and others give him an unqualified preference over the rest of the Eleatics." [15]
Parmenides. Detail from The School of Athens by Raphael.
He is credited with a great deal of influence as the author of this "Eleatic challenge" or "Parmenides problem"
that determined the course of subsequent philosophers' inquiries. For example, the ideas of
Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Leucippus, and Democritus have been seen as in response to Parmenides'
arguments and conclusions.[c] According to Aristotle, Democritus and Leucippus, and many other physicists,
[28]
proposed the atomic theory, which supposes that everything in the universe is either atoms or voids,
specifically to contradict Parmenides' argument. [d] Karl Popper wrote:
So what was really new in Parmenides was his axiomatic-deductive method, which Leucippus and Democritus
turned into a hypothetical-deductive method, and thus made part of scientific methodology. [29]
Bertrand Russell in responding to the view of Alexius Meinong, similar to Parmenides, believing that anything
which can be spoken of meaningfully may not exist but it "subsists" and has being, proposed a solution to the
problem of negative existentials in On Denoting.
A view analogous to Parmenides with respect to time can be seen in the B theory of time and the concept
of Block time, which considers existence to consist of past, present, and future, and the flow of time to be
illusory. In his critique of this idea, Popper called Einstein "Parmenides".[30]
Parmenides' influence on philosophy reaches up until present times. The Italian philosopher Emanuele
Severino has founded his extended philosophical investigations on the words of Parmenides. His philosophy is
sometimes called Neo Parmenideism, and can be understood as an attempt to build a bridge between the
poem on truth and the poem on opinion. He also studies non-being, so called meontology.
Erwin Schrödinger identified Parmenides' monad of the "Way of Truth" as being the conscious self in "Nature
and the Greeks".[31] The scientific implications of this view have been discussed by scientist Anthony Hyman.
Giuseppe Piazzi
Giuseppe Piazzi (US: /ˈpjɑːtsi/ PYAHT-see,[1] Italian: [dʒuˈzɛppe ˈpjattsi]; 16 July 1746 – 22 July 1826) was an
Italian Catholic priest of the Theatine order, mathematician, and astronomer. He established an observatory
at Palermo, now the Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo – Giuseppe S. Vaiana.[2] Perhaps his most famous
discovery was the first dwarf planet, Ceres.
Giuseppe Piazzi
Giuseppe Piazzi
Early life
No documented account of Piazzi's scientific education is available in any of the biographies of the astronomer,
even in the oldest ones. Piazzi certainly did some studies in Turin, quite likely attending Giovan Battista
Beccaria's lessons. In the years 1768–1770 he was resident at the Theatines' Home in S. Andrea della Valle,
Rome, while studying Mathematics under François Jacquier.
In July 1770, he took the chair of Mathematics at the University of Malta. In December 1773, he moved
to Ravenna as "prefetto degli studenti" and lecturer in Philosophy and Mathematics at the Collegio dei Nobili,
where he stayed until the beginning of 1779. After a short period spent in Cremona and in Rome, in March
1781 Piazzi moved to Palermo as lecturer in Mathematics at the University of Palermo (at the time known as
"Accademia de' Regj Studi").
He kept this position until 19 January 1787, when he became Professor of Astronomy. Almost at the same
time, he was granted permission to spend two years in Paris and London, to undergo some practical training in
astronomy and also to get some instruments to be specially built for the Palermo Observatory, whose
foundation he was in charge of.
In the period spent abroad, from 13 March 1787 until the end of 1789, Piazzi became acquainted with the major
French and English astronomers of his time and was able to have the famous altazimuthal circle made
by Jesse Ramsden, one of the most skilled instrument-makers of the 18th century. The circle was the most
important instrument of the Palermo Observatory, whose official foundation took place on 1 July 1790.
In 1817, King Ferdinand put Piazzi in charge of the completion of the Capodimonte (Naples) Observatory,
naming him General Director of the Naples and Sicily Observatories.
Astronomy career
Star cataloguing
He supervised the compilation of the Palermo Catalogue of stars, containing 7,646 star entries with
unprecedented precision,[3] including the star names "Garnet Star" from Herschel, and
the original Rotanev and Sualocin. The work to observe the sky methodically. The catalogue wasn't finished for
first edition publication until 1803, with a second edition in 1814. [4]
Spurred by the success discovering Ceres (see below), and in the line of his catalogue program, Piazzi studied
the proper motions of stars to find parallax measurement candidates. One of them, 61 Cygni, was specially
appointed as a good candidate for measuring a parallax, which was later performed by Friedrich Wilhelm
Bessel.[5] The star system 61 Cygni is sometimes still called variously Piazzi's Flying Star and Bessel's Star.
The dwarf planet Ceres
Piazzi's observations published in the Monatliche Correspondenz, September 1801
Piazzi discovered Ceres. On 1 January 1801 Piazzi discovered a "stellar object" that moved against the
background of stars. At first he thought it was a fixed star, but once he noticed that it moved, he became
convinced it was a planet, or as he called it, "a new star".
In his journal, he wrote:
The light was a little faint, and of the colour of Jupiter, but similar to many others which generally are reckoned
of the eighth magnitude. Therefore I had no doubt of its being any other than a fixed star. In the evening of the
second I repeated my observations, and having found that it did not correspond either in time or in distance
from the zenith with the former observation, I began to entertain some doubts of its accuracy. I conceived
afterwards a great suspicion that it might be a new star. The evening of the third, my suspicion was converted
into certainty, being assured it was not a fixed star. Nevertheless before I made it known, I waited till the
evening of the fourth, when I had the satisfaction to see it had moved at the same rate as on the preceding
days.
In spite of his assumption that it was a planet, he took the conservative route and announced it as a comet. In a
letter to astronomer Barnaba Oriani of Milan he made his suspicions known in writing:
I have announced this star as a comet, but since it is not accompanied by any nebulosity and, further, since its
movement is so slow and rather uniform, it has occurred to me several times that it might be something better
than a comet. But I have been careful not to advance this supposition to the public.
He was not able to observe it long enough as it was soon lost in the glare of the Sun. Unable to compute
its orbit with existing methods, the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss developed a new method of orbit
calculation that allowed astronomers to locate it again. After its orbit was better determined, it was clear that
Piazzi's assumption was correct and this object was not a comet but more like a small planet. Coincidentally, it
was also almost exactly where the Titius-Bode law predicted a planet would be.
Piazzi named it "Ceres Ferdinandea," after the Roman and Sicilian goddess of grain and King Ferdinand
IV of Naples and Sicily. The Ferdinandea part was later dropped for political reasons. Ceres turned out to be
the first, and largest, of the asteroids existing within the asteroid belt. Ceres is today called a dwarf planet.
Posthumous honours
Born in Italy and named in his honour was the astronomer Charles Piazzi Smyth, son of the astronomer William
Henry Smyth. In 1871, a memorial statue of Piazzi sculpted by Costantino Corti was dedicated in the main
plaza of his birthplace, Ponte. In 1923, the 1000th asteroid to be numbered was named 1000 Piazzia in his
honour.[6] The lunar crater Piazzi was named after him in 1935. More recently, a large albedo feature, probably
a crater, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope on Ceres, has been informally named Piazzi.
Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille
Abbé Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille, formerly sometimes spelled de la Caille, (French: [lakaj]; 15 March 1713 – 21
March 1762)[1] was a French astronomer who named 14 out of the 88 constellations. From 1750-1754 he
studied the sky at the Cape of Good Hope in present day South Africa. Lacaille observed over 10,000 stars
using just a half-inch refractor.
Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille
Portrait of Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille by Anne-Louise Le Jeuneux
[2]
Biography
Born at Rumigny (in present-day Ardennes), he attended school in Mantes-sur-Seine (now Mantes-la-Jolie).
Afterwards, he studied rhetoric and philosophy at the Collège de Lisieux and then theology at the Collège de
Navarre. He was left destitute in 1731 by the death of his father, who had held a post in the household of the
duchess of Vendôme. However, he was supported in his studies by the Duc de Bourbon, his father's former
patron.[3]
After he graduated, he did not accept ordination as a priest but took deacon's orders, becoming an Abbé. He
concentrated thereafter on science, and, through the patronage of Jacques Cassini, obtained employment, first
in surveying the coast from Nantes to Bayonne, then, in 1739, in remeasuring the French arc of the meridian,
for which he is honored with a pyramid at Juvisy-sur-Orge. The success of this difficult operation, which
occupied two years, and achieved the correction of the anomalous result published by Jacques Cassini in
1718, was mainly due to Lacaille's industry and skill. He was rewarded by admission to the Royal Academy of
Sciences and appointment as Professor of mathematics in the Mazarin college of the University of Paris, where
he constructed a small observatory fitted for his own use. He was the author of a number of influential
textbooks and a firm advocate of Newtonian gravitational theory. Among his students were Antoine
Lavoisier and Jean Sylvain Bailly, both of whom were guillotined during the Revolution.
Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope
A memorial to the Abbé de Lacaille and Thomas Maclear, at Aurora in the Western Cape of South Africa. The English portion of the
inscription reads: "This is the site of the Maclear Beacon positioned in 1838 near the original North Terminal of the Arc of Meridian
positioned by Abbé de Lacaille, the first surveyor to introduce Geodetic Surveying into South Africa." Open the image to see the
Afrikaans portion.
His desire to determine the distances of the planets trigonometrically, using the longest possible baseline, led
him to propose, in 1750, an expedition to the Cape of Good Hope. This was officially sanctioned by Roland-
Michel Barrin de La Galissonière. There, he constructed an observatory on the shore of Table Bay with the
support of the Dutch Governor Ryk Tulbagh. The primary result of his two-year stay was observed nearly
10,000 southern stars, the production of which required observing every night for over a year. In the course of
his survey he took note of 42 nebulous objects. He also achieved his aim of determining the lunar and
solar parallaxes (Mars serving as an intermediary). This work required near-simultaneous observations from
Europe which were carried out by Jérôme Lalande.
His southern catalogue, called Coelum Australe Stelliferum, was published posthumously in 1763. He found it
necessary to introduce 14 new constellations which have since become standard.[4] One of these was Mons
Mensae, the only constellation named after a terrestrial feature (the Table Mountain).
While at the Cape, Lacaille determined the radius of the earth in the southern hemisphere. He set out a
baseline in the Swartland plain north of present-day Darling. Using triangulation he then measured a
137 km arc of meridian between Cape Town and Aurora, determining the latitudes of the end points by means
of astronomical observations. There is a memorial to his work at a location near Aurora, pictured here. His
result suggested that the earth was more flattened towards the south pole than towards the north. George
Everest,[5] of the Indian Survey, while recuperating from an illness at the Cape nearly seventy years later,
suggested that Lacaille's latitude observations had been affected by the gravitational attraction of Table
Mountain at the southern end and by the Piketberg Mountain at the northern. In 1838, Thomas Maclear, who
was Astronomer Royal at the Cape, repeated the measurements over a longer baseline and ultimately
confirmed Everest's conjecture. Maclear's Beacon was erected on the Table Mountain in Cape Town to help
with the verification.[6]
Computing
During his voyage to the southern hemisphere as a passenger on the vessel Le Glorieux, captained by the
noted hydrographer Jean-Baptiste d'Après de Mannevillette, Lacaille became conscious of the difficulties in
determining positions at sea. On his return to Paris he prepared the first set of tables of the Moon's position
that was accurate enough to use for determining time and longitude by the method of 'Lunars' (Lunar
distances) using the orbital theory of Clairaut. Lacaille was in fact an indefatigable calculator. Apart from
constructing astronomical ephemerides and mathematical tables, he calculated a table of eclipses for 1800
years. Lalande said of him that, during a comparatively short life, he had made more observations and
calculations than all the astronomers of his time put together. The quality of his work rivalled its quantity, while
the disinterestedness and rectitude of his moral character earned him universal respect.
Later life
On his return to Paris in 1754, following a diversion to Mauritius, Lacaille was distressed to find himself an
object of public attention. He resumed his work at the Mazarin College.
In 1757 he published his Astronomiae Fundamenta Novissimus, containing a list of about 400 bright stars with
positions corrected for aberration and nutation. He carried out calculations on comet orbits and was responsible
for giving Halley's Comet its name. His last public lecture, given on 14 September 1761 at the Royal Academy
of Sciences, summarised the improvements to astronomy that had occurred during his lifetime, to which he had
made no small contribution. His death, probably caused in part by over-work, occurred in 1762. He was buried
in the vaults of the Mazarin College, now the Institut de France in Paris.
Honours
In 1754, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He was also an
honorary member of the academies of Saint Petersburg and Berlin, the Royal Society of London and the Royal
Society of Göttingen, and the Institute of Bologna.[7]
Lacaille has the honor of naming 14 different constellations.
List of credited constellations:
Antlia
Caelum
Circinus
Fornax
Horologium
Mensa
Microscopium
Norma
Octans
Pictor
Pyxis
Reticulum
Sculptor
Telescopium
The crater "La Caille" on the Moon is named after him. Asteroid 9135 Lacaille (AKA 7609 P-L and 1994 EK6),
discovered on 17 October 1960 by Cornelis Johannes van Houten, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld and Tom
Gehrels at Palomar Observatory, was also named after him.
In honor of his contribution to the study of the southern hemisphere sky, a 60-cm telescope at Reunion
Island will be named the Lacaille Telescope.[8]
Main works
Leçons elementaires d'astronomie, géométrique et physique, 1755 edition
Messier 55 is a globular cluster discovered in 16 June 1752. [9]
Leçons élémentaires de Mathématiques (1741), frequently reprinted
ditto de Mécanique (1743), &c.
ditto d'Astronomie (1746); 4th edition augmented by Lalande (1779)
ditto d'Optique (1750), &c.
Calculations by him of eclipses for eighteen hundred years were inserted in L'Art de vérifier les
dates by Benedictine historian Charles Clémencet (1750)
He communicated to the Academy in 1755 a classed catalogue of forty two southern nebulae,[10] and
gave in t. ii. of his Ephémérides (1755) practical rules for the employment of the lunar method of
longitudes, proposing in his additions to Pierre Bouguer's Traité de Navigation (1760) the model of a
nautical almanac.
Tabulae Solares (1758)
Star catalogue
"Remarques sur le Catalogue suivant des principales Étoiles du Ciel", Éphémérides des mouvemens
célestes, pour dix années, depuis 1755 jusqu'en 1765, et pour le meridien de la ville de Paris (1755), pp.
xlix-lxiii.
"Table des Ascensions Droites et des Declinaisons Apparentes des Etoiles australes renfermées dans
le tropique du Capricorne...", Memoires Academie Royale des Sciences pour 1752 (1756), pp. 539-592.
(describing fourteen new constellations)
"Stellarum ascensiones rectae verae & declinationes verae ad Epocham anni ineuntis
1750", Astronomiae fundamenta novissimis solis et stellarum observationibus stabilita, Lutetiae in Collegio
mazarineo et in Africa ad Caput Bonae-Spei (1757), pp. 233-237. (containing a standard catalogue of 398
stars)
"Stellarum longitudines & latitudines verae ad annum ineuntum 1750, Earum praecipue quae
Zodiacales sunt", Astronomiae fundamenta (1757), pp. 238-239.
"Stellarum Australium Catalogus",Coelum australe stelliferum,seu, Observationes ad Construendum
Stellarum Australium Catalogum Institutae: in Africa ad Caput Bonae-Spei (1763), (edited by J. D.
Maraldi), pp.139-158.
"Catalogue suivant des principales Étoiles du Ciel, pour le commencement de l'Anee
1750", Éphémérides des mouvemens célestes, pour dix annees, depuis 1765 jusqu'en 1775, et pour le
meridien de la ville de Paris (1763), pp. lvii-lxiv.
"Observations sur 515 étoiles du Zodiaque", Éphémérides des mouvemens célestes, pour dix annees,
depuis 1765 jusqu'en 1775, (1763) pp. lxv-lxxvii.
A catalogue of 9766 stars in the southern hemisphere,for the beginning of the year 1750: from the
observations of the Abbé de Lacaille, made at the cap of Good Hope in the years 1751 and 1752; with a
preface by Sir J. F. W. Herschel (1847), giving zone observations of about 10,000 stars, re-edited by F.
Baily
Star map
"Planisphere contenant les Constellations Celestes comprises entre le Pole Austral et le Tropique du
Capricorne", Mem. de l'Ac. R. des Sc. 1752 (1756), p. 590, plate 20. (French)
"Coelum Australe", Coelum australe stelliferum (1763). (Latin)
"Planisphere des Etoiles les Australes dressé par M. i'Abbé de la Caille", Atlas Celeste de
Flamsteed (1776), 2nd ed., plate 29. (French)* "Planisphere des Etoiles les Australes dressé par M. i'Abbé
de la Caille", Recueil de Planches de l'Encyclopédie par ordre de matieres (1789), vol. 7, plate 3. (French)
"Planisphere des Etoiles les Australes dressé par M. i'Abbé de la Caille", Atlas Celeste de
Flamsteed (1795), 3rd ed., plate 29. (French)
Barnaba Oriani
Barnaba Oriani FRS FRSE (17 July 1752 – 12 November 1832) was
an Italian priest, geodesist, astronomer and scientist.
Barnaba Oriani
Life
Oriani was born in Garegnano (now part of Milan), the son of a mason,[1] and died in Milan.[2]
After getting his elementary education in Garegnano, he went on to study at the College of San Alessandro in
Milan, under the tutelage and with the support of the Order of Barnabites,[3][4] which he later joined. After
completing his studies in the humanities, physical and mathematical sciences, philosophy, and theology, he
was ordained as a priest in 1775. [2]
When Napoleon I established the Republic of Lombardy, Oriani refused to swear an oath against the
monarchy, and the new republican government modified the oath of allegiance on his behalf. He was retained
in his position at the observatory and was made president of the commission appointed to regulate the new
system of weights and measures.[2]
When the republic became a Napoleonic kingdom, Oriani was awarded the Iron Crown and the Legion of
Honour, was made a count and senator, and was appointed to measure the arc of the meridian between the
zeniths of Rimini and Rome.[2]
Oriani was a devoted friend of the Theatine monk, Giuseppe Piazzi, the discoverer of Ceres. Oriani and Piazzi
worked together for thirty-seven years, cooperating on many astronomical observations. [2]
Astronomy
Given his strong interest in astronomy, Oriani was appointed on the staff of the Observatory of Brera in Milan in
1776, becoming assistant astronomer in 1778 and director in 1802. In 1778 he began publishing various in-
depth dissertations on astronomical objects, the Effemeridi di Milano (Ephemerides of Milan).[2]
A very capable astronomer, Oriani's work began to attract considerable attention. [2] His research in the areas
of astronomic refraction, the obliquity of the ecliptic and orbital theory were of considerable noteworthiness in
themselves; but his greatest achievement was his detailed research of the planet Uranus, which had been
discovered by Sir William Herschel in 1781. Oriani devoted significant time to observations of Uranus,
calculating its orbital properties, which he published as a booklet of tables in 1793. [5]
After others had shown that Uranus was not on a parabolic orbit but rather in a roughly circular orbit, he
calculated the orbit in 1783. In 1789, Oriani improved his calculations by accounting for the gravitational effects
of Jupiter and Saturn.[3]
In addition to his continual contributions to the Effemeridi, he published a series of memoirs on spherical
trigonometry: the Memorie dell' Istituto Italiano, 1806–10, and the Istruzione suelle misure e sui pesi, 1831.[2]
For his work in astronomy, Oriani was honored by naming asteroid (4540) "Oriani". This asteroid had been
discovered at the Osservatorio San Vittore in Bologna, Italy on 6 November 1988.[3]
Oriani's theorem
In De refractionibus astronomicis,[6] Oriani showed that astronomical refraction could be expanded as a series
of odd powers of (tan Z), where Z is the observed zenith distance. Such a series had previously been derived
by J. H. Lambert, who dropped all but the first term. However, Oriani investigated the higher terms, and he
found that neither of the first two terms depended on the structure of the atmosphere.
The series expansion he obtained was effective at up to 85 degrees from the zenith. Unlike previous
approximations, however, Oriani's two-term expression did not depend on a hypothesis regarding atmospheric
temperature or air density in relation to altitude. Thus, the effects of atmospheric curvature are only dependent
upon the temperature and pressure at the location of the observer.
Oriani's theorem explains why Cassini's uniform-density model works well except near the horizon—the
atmospheric refraction from the zenith to a zenith distance of 70° is not dependent on the details of the
distribution of the gas.[7]
Jérôme Lalande
Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande (French: [lalɑ̃d]; 11 July 1732 – 4 April 1807) was a
French astronomer, freemason and writer.
Jérôme Lalande
Jérôme Lalande
Biography
Lalande was born at Bourg-en-Bresse (now in the département of Ain) to Pierre Lefrançois and Marie‐Anne‐
Gabrielle Monchinet.[1] His parents sent him to Paris to study law, but as a result of lodging in the Hôtel Cluny,
where Delisle had his observatory, he was drawn to astronomy, and became the zealous and favoured pupil of
both Delisle and Pierre Charles Le Monnier. Having completed his legal studies, he was about to return to
Bourg to practise as an advocate, when Lemonnier obtained permission to send him to Berlin, to make
observations on the lunar parallax in concert with those of Lacaille at the Cape of Good Hope.[2]
Quarter of a circle by Jonathan Sisson used by Jérôme de Lalande to measure the distance between the earth and the moon in
1751.
The successful execution of this task obtained for him, before he was twenty-one, admission to the Academy of
Berlin, as well as his election as an adjunct astronomer to the French Academy of Sciences. He now devoted
himself to the improvement of the planetary theory, publishing in 1759 corrected edition of Edmond Halley's
tables, with a history of Halley's Comet whose return in that year he had helped Alexis Clairaut and Nicole-
Reine Lepaute to calculate.[3] In 1762 Delisle resigned the chair of astronomy in the Collège de France in
Lalande's favour. The duties were discharged by Lalande for forty-six years. His house became an
astronomical seminary, and amongst his pupils were Delambre, Giuseppe Piazzi, Pierre Méchain, and his own
nephew Michel Lalande. By his publications in connection with the transit of Venus of 1769 he won great fame.
However, his difficult personality lost him some popularity. [2]
In 1766, Lalande, with Helvetius, founded the "Les Sciences" lodge in Paris, and received its recognition
from Grand Orient de France in 1772.[4] In 1776, he changed its name to Les Neuf Soeurs, and arranged
for Benjamin Franklin to be chosen as the first worshipful master.[5]
Although his investigations were conducted with diligence rather than genius, Lalande's career was an eminent
one. As a lecturer and writer he helped popularise astronomy. His planetary tables, into which he introduced
corrections for mutual perturbations, were the best available up to the end of the 18th century. In 1801, he
endowed the Lalande Prize, administered by the French Academy of Sciences, for advances in
astronomy. Pierre-Antoine Véron, the young astronomer who for the first time in history determined the size of
the Pacific Ocean from east to west, was Lalande's disciple.[6]
Lalande was an atheist,[7] and wrote a dictionary of atheists with supplements that appeared in print
posthumously.
He never married but he had an illegitimate daughter Marie-Jeanne de Lalande whom he trained in
mathematics so that she could help him with his work. [8]
Near discovery of Neptune
Main article: Discovery of Neptune
In February 1847 Sears C. Walker of the US Naval Observatory was searching historical records and surveys
for possible prediscovery sightings of the planet Neptune that had been discovered the year before. He found
that observations made by Lalande's staff in 1795 were in the direction of Neptune's position in the sky at that
time and that Neptune might appear in the observation records. On 8 May and again on 10 May 1795
a star was observed and recorded with uncertainty noted on its position with a colon, this notation could also
indicate an observing error so it was not until the original records of the observatory were reviewed that it was
established with certainty that the object was Neptune and the position error between the two nights was due to
the planet's motion across the sky.[9] The discovery of these records of Neptune's position in 1795 led to a
better calculation of the planet's orbit.[10]
Awards and recognition
Tomb at cimetière du Père-Lachaise.
In 1765, Lalande was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
In 1781, he was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
[11]
His name is one of the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.
The crater Lalande on the Moon is named after him.
A high school in Bourg-en-Bresse is named after Lalande. This high school was awarded the Médaille
de la Résistance in recognition of the wartime conduct of its teachers and pupils, a unique case among all
schools in France.
Notable works
Voyage d'un françois en Italie, fait dans les années 1765 et 1766. Tome premier, 1769
His published include:[2]
Traité d'astronomie (2 vols., 1764 enlarged. edition, 4 vols., 1771–1781; 3rd ed., 3 vols., 1792)
Histoire Céleste Française (1801), giving the places of 47,390 stars
Bibliographie astronomique (1803), with a history of astronomy from 1780 to 1802
Astronomie des dames (1785)
Abrégé de navigation (1793)
Voyage d'un françois en Italie (1769), a valuable record of his travel in 1765–1766.
Journal d'un voyage en Angleterre (1763) Diary of a Trip to England (English translation 2002, 2014
including two biographies of Lalande and an examination of the structure of the diary)
He communicated more than one hundred and fifty papers to the French Academy of Sciences, edited
the Connoissance de temps (1759–1774), and again (1794–1807), and wrote the concluding two volumes of
the 2nd edition of Montucla's Histoire des mathématiques (1802).
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov (/ˈæzɪmɒv/;[b][c] c. January 2, 1920[a] – April 6, 1992) was an American writer and professor
of biochemistry at Boston University. He was known for his works of science fiction and popular science.
Asimov was a prolific writer who wrote or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters
and postcards.[d] His books have been published in 9 of the 10 major categories of the Dewey Decimal
Classification.[1]
Asimov wrote hard science fiction. Along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, Asimov was considered
one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers during his lifetime. [2] Asimov's most famous work is
the "Foundation" series,[3] the first three books of which won the one-time Hugo Award for "Best All-Time
Series" in 1966.[4] His other major series are the "Galactic Empire" series and the Robot series. The Galactic
Empire novels are set in earlier history of the same fictional universe as the Foundation series. Later,
with Foundation and Earth (1986), he linked this distant future to the Robot stories, creating a unified "future
history" for his stories much like those pioneered by Robert A. Heinlein and previously produced by Cordwainer
Smith and Poul Anderson.[5] He also wrote hundreds of short stories, including the social science
fiction novelette "Nightfall", which in 1964 was voted the best short science fiction story of all time by
the Science Fiction Writers of America. Asimov wrote the Lucky Starr series of juvenile science-fiction novels
using the pen name Paul French.[6]
Asimov also wrote mysteries and fantasy, as well as much nonfiction. Most of his popular science books
explain concepts in a historical way, going as far back as possible to a time when the science in question was
at its simplest stage. Examples include Guide to Science, the three-volume set Understanding Physics,
and Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery. He wrote on numerous other scientific and non-scientific
topics, such as chemistry, astronomy, mathematics, history, biblical exegesis, and literary criticism.
He was president of the American Humanist Association.[7] The asteroid 5020 Asimov,[8] a crater on the
planet Mars,[9][10] a Brooklyn elementary school,[11] and four literary awards are named in his honor.
Isaac Asimov
Native name Russian: Исаак Азимов
Family name etymology
Asimov's family name derives from the first part of ozimyi khleb (озимый хлеб), meaning the winter
grain (specifically rye) in which his great-great-great-grandfather dealt, with the Russian patronymic ending -
ov added.[12] Azimov is spelled Азимов in the Cyrillic alphabet.[13] When the family arrived in the United States in
1923 and their name had to be spelled in the Latin alphabet, Asimov's father spelled it with an S, believing this
letter to be pronounced like Z (as in German), and so it became Asimov. [13][c] This later inspired one of Asimov's
short stories, "Spell My Name with an S."[14]
Asimov refused early suggestions of using a more common name as a pseudonym, and believed that its
recognizability helped his career. After becoming famous, he often met readers who believed that "Isaac
Asimov" was a distinctive pseudonym created by an author with a common name. [15]
Biography
Early life
Asimov was born in Petrovichi, Smolensk Oblast, Russian SFSR on an unknown date between October 4,
1919 and January 2, 1920, inclusive. Asimov celebrated his birthday on January 2. [a]
Asimov's parents were Anna Rachel (née Berman) and Judah Asimov, a family of Russian Jewish millers. He
was named Isaac after his mother's father, Isaac Berman. [16] When he was born, his family lived
in Petrovichi near Klimovichi, which was then Gomel Governorate in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist
Republic (now Smolensk Oblast, Russia).[17] Asimov wrote of his father, "My father, for all his education as
an Orthodox Jew, was not Orthodox in his heart", noting that "he didn't recite the myriad prayers prescribed for
every action, and he never made any attempt to teach them to me". [18]
In 1921, Asimov and 16 other children in Petrovichi developed double pneumonia. Only Asimov survived.[19] He
later had two younger siblings: a sister, Marcia (born Manya, [20] June 17, 1922 – April 2, 2011),[21] and a brother,
Stanley (July 25, 1929 – August 16, 1995), who was vice-president of the Long Island Newsday.[22][23]
Asimov's family travelled to the United States via Liverpool on the RMS Baltic, arriving on February 3,
1923[24] when he was three years old. Since his parents always spoke Yiddish and English with him, he never
learned Russian,[25] but he remained fluent in Yiddish as well as English. Growing up in Brooklyn, New York,
Asimov taught himself to read at the age of five (and later taught his sister to read as well, enabling her to enter
school in the second grade).[26] His mother got him into first grade a year early by claiming he was born on
September 7, 1919.[27][28] In third grade he learned about the "error" and insisted on an official correction of the
date to January 2.[29]
After becoming established in the U.S., his parents owned a succession of candy stores in which everyone in
the family was expected to work. The candy stores sold newspapers and magazines, a fact that Asimov
credited as a major influence in his lifelong love of the written word, as it presented him with an unending
supply of new reading material as a child that he could not have otherwise afforded. He became
a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1928 at the age of eight.[30]
Education and career
Asimov attended New York City public schools from age 5, including Boys High School in Brooklyn.
[31]
Graduating at 15, he attended the City College of New York for several days before accepting a scholarship
at Seth Low Junior College, a branch of Columbia University in Downtown Brooklyn designed to absorb some
of the Jewish and Italian-American students who applied to Columbia College, then the institution's primary
undergraduate school for men. Jewish and Italian-American students, even of outstanding academic caliber,
were deliberately barred from Columbia College proper because of the then-popular practice of imposing
unwritten, racist and ethnocentric quotas. Originally a zoology major, Asimov switched to chemistry after his
first semester as he disapproved of "dissecting an alley cat". After Seth Low Junior College closed in 1938,
Asimov finished his Bachelor of Science degree at University Extension (later the Columbia University School
of General Studies) in 1939.
After two rounds of rejections by medical schools, in 1939, Asimov applied to the graduate program in
chemistry at Columbia; initially rejected and then accepted only on a probationary basis, [32] he completed
his Master of Arts degree in chemistry in 1941 and earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in chemistry in 1948.
[e][36][37]
(During his chemistry studies he also learned French and German. [38])
Robert A. Heinlein and L. Sprague de Camp with Asimov (right), Philadelphia Navy Yard, 1944
In between earning these two degrees, Asimov spent three years during World War II working as a civilian
chemist at the Philadelphia Navy Yard's Naval Air Experimental Station, living in the Walnut Hill section of West
Philadelphia from 1942 to 1945.[39][40] In September 1945, he was drafted into the U.S. Army; if he had not had
his birth date corrected while at school, he would have been officially 26 years old and ineligible. [41] In 1946, a
bureaucratic error caused his military allotment to be stopped, and he was removed from a task force days
before it sailed to participate in Operation Crossroads nuclear weapons tests at Bikini Atoll.[42] He served for
almost nine months before receiving an honorable discharge on July 26, 1946.[43][f] He had been promoted
to corporal on July 11.[44]
After completing his doctorate and a postdoc year, Asimov joined the faculty of the Boston University School of
Medicine in 1949, teaching biochemistry with a $5,000 salary[45] (equivalent to $52,650 in 2018), with which he
remained associated thereafter.[46] By 1952, however, he was making more money as a writer than from the
university, and he eventually stopped doing research, confining his university role to lecturing students. [g] In
1955 he was promoted to associate professor, which gave him tenure. In December 1957 Asimov was
dismissed from his teaching post, with effect from 30 June 1958, because he had stopped doing research. After
a struggle which lasted for two years he kept his title, [48][49][50] gave the opening lecture each year for a
biochemistry class,[51] and on 18 October 1979, the university honored his writing by promoting him to full
professor of biochemistry.[52] Asimov's personal papers from 1965 onward are archived at the university's Mugar
Memorial Library, to which he donated them at the request of curator Howard Gotlieb. [53][54]
In 1959, after a recommendation from Arthur Obermayer, Asimov's friend and a scientist on the U.S. missile
protection project, Asimov was approached by DARPA to join Obermayer's team. Asimov declined on the
grounds that his ability to write freely would be impaired should he receive classified information. However, he
did submit a paper to DARPA titled "On Creativity"[55] containing ideas on how government-based science
projects could encourage team members to think more creatively. [56]
Personal life
Asimov met his first wife, Gertrude Blugerman (1917, Toronto, Canada[57] – 1990, Boston, U.S.[58]), on a blind
date on February 14, 1942, and married her on July 26 the same year. [59] The couple lived in an apartment
in West Philadelphia while Asimov was employed at the Philadelphia Navy Yard (where two of his co-workers
were L. Sprague de Camp and Robert A. Heinlein). Gertrude returned to Brooklyn while he was in the army,
and they both lived there from July 1946, before moving to Stuyvesant Town, Manhattan, in July 1948. They
moved to Boston in May 1949, then to nearby suburbs Somerville in July 1949, Waltham in May 1951, and
finally West Newton in 1956.[60] They had two children, David (born 1951) and Robyn Joan (born 1955). [61] In
1970, they separated, and Asimov moved back to New York, this time to the Upper West Side of Manhattan,
where he lived for the rest of his life.[62] He immediately began seeing Janet O. Jeppson and married her on
November 30, 1973,[63] two weeks after his divorce from Gertrude.[64]
Asimov was a claustrophile: he enjoyed small, enclosed spaces. [65][h] In the third volume of his autobiography, he
recalls a childhood desire to own a magazine stand in a New York City Subway station, within which he could
enclose himself and listen to the rumble of passing trains while reading. [66]
Asimov was afraid of flying, doing so only twice: once in the course of his work at the Naval Air Experimental
Station and once returning home from Oahu in 1946. Consequently, he seldom traveled great distances. This
phobia influenced several of his fiction works, such as the Wendell Urth mystery stories and the Robot novels
featuring Elijah Baley. In his later years, Asimov found enjoyment traveling on cruise ships, beginning in 1972
when he viewed the Apollo 17 launch from a cruise ship.[67] On several cruises, he was part of the entertainment
program, giving science-themed talks aboard ships such as the RMS Queen Elizabeth II.[68]
Asimov with his second wife, Janet. "They became a permanent feature of my face, and it is now difficult to believe early
photographs that show me without sideburns." [69] (Photo by Jay Kay Klein.)
Asimov was an able public speaker and was regularly paid to give talks about science. He was a frequent
fixture at science fiction conventions, where he was friendly and approachable.[68] He patiently answered tens of
thousands of questions and other mail with postcards and was pleased to give autographs. He was of medium
height (5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)),[70] stocky, with – in his later years – "mutton-chop" sideburns,[71][72] and a distinct New
York accent. He took to wearing bolo ties after his wife Janet objected to his clip-on bow ties. [73] His physical
dexterity was very poor. He never learned to swim or ride a bicycle; however, he did learn to drive a car after
he moved to Boston. In his humor book Asimov Laughs Again, he describes Boston driving as "anarchy on
wheels."[74]
Asimov's wide interests included his participation in his later years in organizations devoted to the comic
operas of Gilbert and Sullivan[68] and in The Wolfe Pack,[75] a group of devotees of the Nero Wolfe mysteries
written by Rex Stout. Many of his short stories mention or quote Gilbert and Sullivan. [76] He was a prominent
member of The Baker Street Irregulars, the leading Sherlock Holmes society,[68] for whom he wrote an essay
arguing that Professor Moriarty's work "The Dynamics of An Asteroid" involved the willful destruction of an
ancient civilized planet. He was also a member of the all-male literary banqueting club the Trap Door Spiders,
which served as the basis of his fictional group of mystery solvers, the Black Widowers.[77] He later used his
essay on Moriarty's work as the basis for a Black Widowers story, "The Ultimate Crime", which appeared
in More Tales of the Black Widowers.[78][79]
In 1984, the American Humanist Association (AHA) named him the Humanist of the Year. He was one of the
signers of the Humanist Manifesto.[80] From 1985 until his death in 1992, he served as president of the AHA, an
honorary appointment. His successor was his friend and fellow writer Kurt Vonnegut. He was also a close
friend of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, and earned a screen credit as "special science consultant"
on Star Trek: The Motion Picture for advice he gave during production.[81]
Asimov was a founding member of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal,
CSICOP (now the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry)[82][83][84] and is listed in its Pantheon of Skeptics.[85] In a
discussion with James Randi at CSICon 2016 regarding the founding of CSICOP, Kendrick Frazier said that
Asimov was "a key figure in the Skeptical movement who is less well known and appreciated today, but was
very much in the public eye back then." He said that Asimov being associated with CSICOP "gave it immense
status and authority" in his eyes.[86]:13:00
Asimov described Carl Sagan as one of only two people he ever met whose intellect surpassed his own. The
other, he claimed, was the computer scientist and artificial intelligence expert Marvin Minsky.[87] Asimov was a
long-time member and vice president of Mensa International, albeit reluctantly;[88] he described some members
of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs". [89]
After his father died in 1969, Asimov annually contributed to a Judah Asimov Scholarship Fund at Brandeis
University.[90]
Illness and death
In 1977, Asimov suffered a heart attack. In December 1983, he had triple bypass surgery at NYU Medical
Center, during which he contracted HIV from a blood transfusion.[91] When his HIV status was understood, his
physicians warned that if he publicized it, the anti-AIDS prejudice would likely extend to his family members. He
died in New York City on April 6, 1992 and was cremated.[92]
He was survived by his siblings, his second wife Janet Asimov, and his children from his first marriage. His
brother Stanley reported the cause of death as heart and kidney failure.[93] The family chose not to disclose that
these were complications of AIDS, because within two days, on April 8, Arthur Ashe announced his own HIV
infection (also contracted in 1983 from a blood transfusion during heart bypass surgery), which resulted in
much public controversy;[94][95] also doctors continued to insist on secrecy.[96] Ten years later, after most of
Asimov's physicians had died, Janet and Robyn Asimov agreed that the HIV story should be made public;
Janet revealed it in her edition of his autobiography, It's Been a Good Life.[91][96][97]
Writings
[T]he only thing about myself that I consider to be severe enough to warrant psychoanalytic treatment is my
compulsion to write ... That means that my idea of a pleasant time is to go up to my attic, sit at my electric
typewriter (as I am doing right now), and bang away, watching the words take shape like magic before my
eyes.
— Asimov, 1969[98]
Overview
Laws of robotics
Three Laws of Robotics
by Isaac Asimov
(in culture)
Related topics
Roboethics
Ethics of AI
Machine ethics
v
t
e
Asimov's career can be divided into several periods. His early career, dominated by science fiction, began with
short stories in 1939 and novels in 1950. This lasted until about 1958, all but ending after publication of The
Naked Sun (1957). He began publishing nonfiction as co-author of a college-level textbook called Biochemistry
and Human Metabolism. Following the brief orbit of the first man-made satellite Sputnik I by the USSR in 1957,
his production of nonfiction, particularly popular science books, greatly increased, with a consequent drop in his
science fiction output. Over the next quarter century, he wrote only four science fiction novels, while writing
over 120 nonfiction books. Starting in 1982, the second half of his science fiction career began with the
publication of Foundation's Edge. From then until his death, Asimov published several more sequels and
prequels to his existing novels, tying them together in a way he had not originally anticipated, making a unified
series. There are, however, many inconsistencies in this unification, especially in his earlier stories.
[99]
Doubleday and Houghton Mifflin published about 60% of his work as of 1969, Asimov stating that "both
represent a father image".[51]
Asimov believed his most enduring contributions would be his "Three Laws of Robotics" and
the Foundation series.[100] Furthermore, the Oxford English Dictionary credits his science fiction for introducing
into the English language the words "robotics", "positronic" (an entirely fictional technology), and
"psychohistory" (which is also used for a different study on historical motivations). Asimov coined the term
"robotics" without suspecting that it might be an original word; at the time, he believed it was simply the natural
analogue of words such as mechanics and hydraulics, but for robots. Unlike his word "psychohistory", the word
"robotics" continues in mainstream technical use with Asimov's original definition. Star Trek: The Next
Generation featured androids with "positronic brains" and the first-season episode "Datalore" called the
positronic brain "Asimov's dream".[101]
Science fiction
I began as a science fiction writer, and for the first eleven years of my literary career I wrote nothing but science
fiction stories
— Asimov, 1972[102]
The first installment of Asimov's Tyrann was the cover story in the fourth issue of Galaxy Science Fiction in 1951. The novel was
issued in book form later that year as The Stars Like Dust.
The first installment of Asimov's The Caves of Steel on the cover of the October 1953 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction, illustrated
by Ed Emshwiller
The novelette "Legal Rites", a collaboration with Frederik Pohl, the only Asimov story to appear in Weird Tales
Asimov became a science fiction fan in 1929,[103] when he began reading the pulp magazines sold in his family's
candy store.[104] His father forbade reading pulps as he considered them to be trash, until Asimov persuaded him
that because the science fiction magazines had "Science" in the title, they must be educational.[105] At age 18 he
joined the Futurians science fiction fan club, where he made friends who went on to become science fiction
writers or editors.[106]
Asimov began writing at the age of 11, imitating The Rover Boys with eight chapters of The Greenville Chums
at College. His father bought Asimov a used typewriter at age 16. [51] His first published work was a humorous
item on the birth of his brother for Boys High School's literary journal in 1934. In May 1937 he first thought of
writing professionally, and began writing his first science fiction story, "Cosmic Corkscrew" (now lost), that year.
On 17 May 1938, puzzled by a change in the schedule of Astounding Science Fiction, Asimov visited its
publisher Street & Smith Publications. Inspired by the visit, he finished the story on 19 June 1938 and
personally submitted it to Astounding editor John W. Campbell two days later. Campbell met with Asimov for
more than an hour and promised to read the story himself. Two days later he received a rejection letter
explaining why in detail.[103] This was the first of what became almost weekly meetings with the editor while
Asimov lived in New York, until moving to Boston in 1949;[45] Campbell had a strong formative influence on
Asimov and became a personal friend.[107]
By the end of the month Asimov completed a second story, "Stowaway". Campbell rejected it on 22 July but—
in "the nicest possible letter you could imagine"—encouraged him to continue writing, promising that Asimov
might sell his work after another year and a dozen stories of practice. [103] On 21 October 1938, he sold the third
story he finished, "Marooned Off Vesta", to Amazing Stories, edited by Raymond A. Palmer, and it appeared in
the March 1939 issue. Asimov was paid $64 (equivalent to $1,139 in 2018), or one cent a word. [51][108] Two more
stories appeared that year, "The Weapon Too Dreadful to Use" in the May Amazing and "Trends" in the
July Astounding, the issue fans later selected as the start of the Golden Age of Science Fiction.[15] For
1940, ISFDB catalogs seven stories in four different pulp magazines, including one in Astounding.[109] His
earnings became enough to pay for his education, but not yet enough for him to become a full-time writer. [108]
Asimov later said that unlike other top Golden Age writers Robert Heinlein and A. E. van Vogt—also first
published in 1939, and whose talent and stardom were immediately obvious—he "(this is not false modesty)
came up only gradually".[15] Through 29 July 1940, Asimov wrote 22 stories in 25 months, of which 13 were
published; he wrote in 1972 that from that date he never wrote a science fiction story that was not published
(except for two "special cases").[110][i] He was famous enough that Donald Wollheim told Asimov that he
purchased "The Secret Sense" for a new magazine only because of his name,[113] and the December 1940 issue
of Astonishing—featuring Asimov's name in bold—was the first magazine to base cover art on his work,[114] but
Asimov later said that neither he himself nor anyone else—except perhaps Campbell—considered him better
than an often published "third rater".[115]
Based on a conversation with Campbell, Asimov wrote "Nightfall", his 32nd story, in March and April 1941,
and Astounding published it in September 1941. In 1968 the Science Fiction Writers of America voted
"Nightfall" the best science fiction short story ever written.[93][115] In Nightfall and Other Stories Asimov wrote, "The
writing of 'Nightfall' was a watershed in my professional career. ... . I was suddenly taken seriously and the
world of science fiction became aware that I existed. As the years passed, in fact, it became evident that I had
written a 'classic'."[116] "Nightfall" is an archetypal example of social science fiction, a term he created to describe
a new trend in the 1940s, led by authors including him and Heinlein, away from gadgets and space opera and
toward speculation about the human condition.[117]
After writing "Victory Unintentional" in January and February 1942, Asimov did not write another story for a
year. Asimov expected to make chemistry his career, and was paid $2,600 annually at the Philadelphia Navy
Yard, enough to marry his girlfriend; he did not expect to make much more from writing than the $1,788.50 he
had earned from 28 stories sold over four years. Asimov left science fiction fandom and no longer read new
magazines, and might have left the industry had not Heinlein and de Camp been coworkers and previously sold
stories continued to appear.[118] In 1942, Asimov published the first of his Foundation stories—later collected in
the Foundation trilogy: Foundation (1951), Foundation and Empire (1952), and Second Foundation (1953). The
books recount the fall of a vast interstellar empire and the establishment of its eventual successor. They also
feature his fictional science of psychohistory, in which the future course of the history of large populations can
be predicted.[119] The trilogy and Robot series are his most famous science fiction. In 1966 they won the Hugo
Award for the all-time best series of science fiction and fantasy novels. [120] Campbell raised his rate per
word, Orson Welles purchased rights to "Evidence", and anthologies reprinted his stories. By the end of the war
Asimov was earning as a writer an amount equal to half of his Navy Yard salary, even after a raise, but Asimov
still did not believe that writing could support him, his wife, and future children. [121][122]
His "positronic" robot stories—many of which were collected in I, Robot (1950)—were begun at about the same
time. They promulgated a set of rules of ethics for robots (see Three Laws of Robotics) and intelligent
machines that greatly influenced other writers and thinkers in their treatment of the subject. Asimov notes in his
introduction to the short story collection The Complete Robot (1982) that he was largely inspired by the almost
relentless tendency of robots up to that time to fall consistently into a Frankenstein plot in which they destroyed
their creators.
The robot series has led to film adaptations. With Asimov's collaboration, in about 1977, Harlan Ellison wrote a
screenplay of I, Robot that Asimov hoped would lead to "the first really adult, complex, worthwhile science
fiction film ever made". The screenplay has never been filmed and was eventually published in book form in
1994. The 2004 movie I, Robot, starring Will Smith, was based on an unrelated script by Jeff
Vintar titled Hardwired, with Asimov's ideas incorporated later after the rights to Asimov's title were acquired.
[123]
(The title was not original to Asimov but had previously been used for a story by Eando Binder.) Also, one of
Asimov's robot short stories, "The Bicentennial Man", was expanded into a novel The Positronic Man by
Asimov and Robert Silverberg, and this was adapted into the 1999 movie Bicentennial Man, starring Robin
Williams.[81]
Besides movies, his Foundation and Robot stories have inspired other derivative works of science fiction
literature, many by well-known and established authors such as Roger MacBride Allen, Greg Bear, Gregory
Benford, David Brin, and Donald Kingsbury. At least some of these appear to have been done with the blessing
of, or at the request of, Asimov's widow, Janet Asimov.[124][125][126]
In 1948, he also wrote a spoof chemistry article, "The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline". At
the time, Asimov was preparing his own doctoral dissertation, and for the oral examination to follow that.
Fearing a prejudicial reaction from his graduate school evaluation board at Columbia University, Asimov asked
his editor that it be released under a pseudonym, yet it appeared under his own name. Asimov grew concerned
at the scrutiny he would receive at his oral examination, in case the examiners thought he wasn't taking
science seriously. At the end of the examination, one evaluator turned to him, smiling, and said, "What can you
tell us, Mr. Asimov, about the thermodynamic properties of the compound known as thiotimoline". Laughing
hysterically with relief, Asimov had to be led out of the room. After a five-minute wait, he was summoned back
into the room and congratulated as "Dr. Asimov". [127]
Demand for science fiction greatly increased during the 1950s. It became possible for a genre author to write
full-time.[128] In 1949, book publisher Doubleday's science fiction editor Walter I. Bradbury accepted Asimov's
unpublished "Grow Old With Me" (40,000 words), but requested that it be extended to a full novel of 70,000
words. The book appeared under the Doubleday imprint in January 1950 with the title of Pebble in the Sky.
[45]
Doubleday published five more original science fiction novels by Asimov in the 1950s, along with the six
juvenile Lucky Starr novels, the latter under the pseudonym of "Paul French". [129] Doubleday also published
collections of Asimov's short stories, beginning with The Martian Way and Other Stories in 1955. The early
1950s also saw Gnome Press publish one collection of Asimov's positronic robot stories as I, Robot and
his Foundation stories and novelettes as the three books of the Foundation trilogy. More positronic robot stories
were republished in book form as The Rest of the Robots.
Books and the magazines Galaxy, and Fantasy & Science Fiction ended Asimov's dependence on Astounding.
He later described the era as his "'mature' period". Asimov's "The Last Question" (1956), on the ability of
humankind to cope with and potentially reverse the process of entropy, was his personal favorite story.[130]
In 1972, his novel The Gods Themselves (which was not part of a series) was published to general acclaim,
and it won the Hugo Award for Best Novel,[131] the Nebula Award for Best Novel,[131] and the Locus Award for
Best Novel.[132]
In December 1974, former Beatle Paul McCartney approached Asimov and asked him if he could write the
screenplay for a science-fiction movie musical. McCartney had a vague idea for the plot and a small scrap of
dialogue; he wished to make a film about a rock band whose members discover they are being impersonated
by a group of extraterrestrials. The band and their impostors would likely be played by McCartney's
group Wings, then at the height of their career. Intrigued by the idea, although he was not generally a fan of
rock music, Asimov quickly produced a "treatment" or brief outline of the story. He adhered to McCartney's
overall idea, producing a story he felt to be moving and dramatic. However, he did not make use of
McCartney's brief scrap of dialogue, and probably as a consequence, McCartney rejected the story. The
treatment now exists only in the Boston University archives. [133]
Asimov said in 1969 that he had "the happiest of all my associations with science fiction magazines"
with Fantasy & Science Fiction; "I have no complaints about Astounding, Galaxy, or any of the rest, heaven
knows, but F&SF has become something special to me".[134] Beginning in 1977, Asimov lent his name to Isaac
Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (now Asimov's Science Fiction) and penned an editorial for each issue.
There was also a short-lived Asimov's SF Adventure Magazine and a companion Asimov's Science Fiction
Anthology reprint series, published as magazines (in the same manner as the stablemates Ellery Queen's
Mystery Magazine's and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine's "anthologies").[135]
Due to pressure by fans on Asimov to write another book in his Foundation series,[46] he did so
with Foundation's Edge (1982) and Foundation and Earth (1986), and then went back to before the original
trilogy with Prelude to Foundation (1988) and Forward the Foundation (1992), his last novel.
Popular science
Just say I am one of the most versatile writers in the world, and the greatest popularizer of many subjects.
— Asimov, 1969[51]
Asimov and two colleagues published a textbook in 1949, with two more editions by 1969. [51] During the late
1950s and 1960s, Asimov substantially decreased his fiction output (he published only four adult novels
between 1957's The Naked Sun and 1982's Foundation's Edge, two of which were mysteries). He greatly
increased his nonfiction production, writing mostly on science topics; the launch of Sputnik in 1957
engendered public concern over a "science gap".[136] Asimov explained in The Rest of the Robots that he had
been unable to write substantial fiction since the summer of 1958, and observers understood him as saying that
his fiction career had ended, or was permanently interrupted. [137] Asimov recalled in 1969 that "the United States
went into a kind of tizzy, and so did I. I was overcome by the ardent desire to write popular science for an
America that might be in great danger through its neglect of science, and a number of publishers got an equally
ardent desire to publish popular science for the same reason". [138]
Fantasy and Science Fiction invited Asimov to continue his regular nonfiction column, begun in the now-folded
bimonthly companion magazine Venture Science Fiction Magazine. The first of 399 monthly F&SF columns
appeared in November 1958, until his terminal illness. [139][j] These columns, periodically collected into books by
Doubleday,[51] gave Asimov a reputation as a "Great Explainer" of science; he described them as his only
popular science writing in which he never had to assume complete ignorance of the subjects on the part of his
readers. The column was ostensibly dedicated to popular science but Asimov had complete editorial freedom,
and wrote about contemporary social issues [citation needed] in essays such as "Thinking About Thinking"[140] and "Knock
Plastic!".[141] In 1975 he wrote of these essays: "I get more pleasure out of them than out of any other writing
assignment."[142]
Asimov's first wide-ranging reference work, The Intelligent Man's Guide to Science (1960), was nominated for
a National Book Award, and in 1963 he won a Hugo Award – his first – for his essays for F&SF.[143] The
popularity of his science books and the income he derived from them allowed him to give up most academic
responsibilities and become a full-time freelance writer.[144] He encouraged other science fiction writers to write
popular science, stating in 1967 that "the knowledgeable, skillful science writer is worth his weight in contracts",
with "twice as much work as he can possibly handle".[145]
The great variety of information covered in Asimov's writings prompted Kurt Vonnegut to ask, "How does it feel
to know everything?" Asimov replied that he only knew how it felt to have the 'reputation' of omniscience:
"Uneasy".[146] Floyd C. Gale said that "Asimov has a rare talent. He can make your mental mouth water over dry
facts",[147] and "science fiction's loss has been science popularization's gain". [148] Asimov said that "Of all the
writing I do, fiction, non-fiction, adult, or juvenile, these F & SF articles are by far the most fun".[149] He regretted,
however, that he had less time for fiction—causing dissatisfied readers to send him letters of complaint—
stating in 1969 that "In the last ten years, I've done a couple of novels, some collections, a dozen or so stories,
but that's nothing".[138]
Coined terms
Asimov coined the term "robotics" in his 1941 story "Liar!",[150] though he later remarked that he believed then
that he was merely using an existing word, as he stated in Gold ("The Robot Chronicles"). While
acknowledging the Oxford Dictionary reference, he incorrectly states that the word was first printed about one-
third of the way down the first column of page 100, Astounding Science Fiction, March 1942 printing of his short
story "Runaround".[151][152]
In the same story, Asimov also coined the term "positronic" (the counterpart to "electronic" for positrons).[153]
Asimov coined the term "psychohistory" in his Foundation stories to name a fictional branch of science which
combines history, sociology, and mathematical statistics to make general predictions about the future behavior
of very large groups of people, such as the Galactic Empire. Asimov said later that he should have called it
psychosociology. It was first introduced in the five short stories (1942–1944) which would later be collected as
the 1951 fix-up novel Foundation.[154] Somewhat later, the term "psychohistory" was applied by others to
research of the effects of psychology on history.
Other writings
In addition to his interest in science, Asimov was interested in history. Starting in the 1960s, he wrote 14
popular history books, including The Greeks: A Great Adventure (1965),[155] The Roman Republic (1966),[156] The
Roman Empire (1967),[157] The Egyptians (1967)[158] The Near East: 10,000 Years of
History (1968), [159] and Asimov's Chronology of the World (1991).[160]
He published Asimov's Guide to the Bible in two volumes—covering the Old Testament in 1967 and the New
Testament in 1969—and then combined them into one 1,300-page volume in 1981. Complete with maps and
tables, the guide goes through the books of the Bible in order, explaining the history of each one and the
political influences that affected it, as well as biographical information about the important characters. His
interest in literature manifested itself in several annotations of literary works, including Asimov's Guide to
Shakespeare (1970),[k] Asimov's Annotated Paradise Lost (1974), and The Annotated Gulliver's Travels (1980).
[161]
Asimov was also a noted mystery author and a frequent contributor to Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. He
began by writing science fiction mysteries such as his Wendell Urth stories, but soon moved on to writing
"pure" mysteries. He published two full-length mystery novels, and wrote 66 stories about the Black Widowers,
a group of men who met monthly for dinner, conversation, and a puzzle. He got the idea for the Widowers from
his own association in a stag group called the Trap Door Spiders and all of the main characters (with the
exception of the waiter, Henry, who he admitted resembled Wodehouse's Jeeves) were modeled after his
closest friends.[162]
Toward the end of his life, Asimov published a series of collections of limericks, mostly written by himself,
starting with Lecherous Limericks, which appeared in 1975. Limericks: Too Gross, whose title displays
Asimov's love of puns, contains 144 limericks by Asimov and an equal number by John Ciardi. He even created
a slim volume of Sherlockian limericks. Asimov featured Yiddish humor in Azazel, The Two Centimeter Demon.
The two main characters, both Jewish, talk over dinner, or lunch, or breakfast, about anecdotes of "George"
and his friend Azazel. Asimov's Treasury of Humor is both a working joke book and a treatise propounding his
views on humor theory. According to Asimov, the most essential element of humor is an abrupt change in point
of view, one that suddenly shifts focus from the important to the trivial, or from the sublime to the ridiculous. [163]
[164]
Particularly in his later years, Asimov to some extent cultivated an image of himself as an amiable lecher. In
1971, as a response to the popularity of sexual guidebooks such as The Sensuous Woman (by "J") and The
Sensuous Man (by "M"), Asimov published The Sensuous Dirty Old Man under the byline "Dr. 'A'"[165] (although
his full name was printed on the paperback edition, first published 1972). However, by 2016, some of Asimov's
behavior towards women was described as sexual harassment and cited as an example of historically
problematic behavior by men in science fiction communities. [166]
Asimov published three volumes of autobiography. In Memory Yet Green (1979)[167] and In Joy Still Felt (1980)
[168]
cover his life up to 1978. The third volume, I. Asimov: A Memoir (1994),[169] covered his whole life (rather than
following on from where the second volume left off). The epilogue was written by his widow Janet Asimov after
his death. The book won a Hugo Award in 1995.[170] Janet Asimov edited It's Been a Good Life (2002),[171] a
condensed version of his three autobiographies. He also published three volumes of retrospectives of his
writing, Opus 100 (1969),[172] Opus 200 (1979),[173] and Opus 300 (1984).[174]
In 1987, the Asimovs co-wrote How to Enjoy Writing: A Book of Aid and Comfort. In it they offer advice on how
to maintain a positive attitude and stay productive when dealing with discouragement, distractions, rejection,
and thick-headed editors. The book includes many quotations, essays, anecdotes, and husband-wife dialogues
about the ups and downs of being an author. [175][176]
Asimov and Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry developed a unique relationship during Star Trek's initial
launch in the late 1960s. Asimov wrote a critical essay on Star Trek's scientific accuracy for TV
Guide magazine. Roddenberry retorted respectfully with a personal letter explaining the limitations of accuracy
when writing a weekly series. Asimov corrected himself with a follow-up essay to TV Guide claiming that
despite its inaccuracies, Star Trek was a fresh and intellectually challenging science fiction television show.
The two remained friends to the point where Asimov even served as an advisor on a number of Star
Trek projects.[177]
In 1973, Asimov published a proposal for calendar reform, called the World Season Calendar. It divides the
year into four seasons (named A–D) of 13 weeks (91 days) each. This allows days to be named, e.g., "D-73"
instead of December 1 (due to December 1 being the 73rd day of the 4th quarter). An extra 'year day' is added
for a total of 365 days.[178]
Awards and recognition
Asimov won more than a dozen annual awards for particular works of science fiction and a half dozen lifetime
awards.[179] He also received 14 honorary doctorate degrees from universities.[180]
1955 – Guest of Honor at the 13th World Science Fiction Convention[181]
1957 – Thomas Alva Edison Foundation Award for best science book for youth, for Building Blocks of
the Universe[182]
1960 – Howard W. Blakeslee Award from the American Heart Association for The Living River[183]
1962 – Boston University's Publication Merit Award[184]
1963 – A special Hugo Award for "adding science to science fiction," for essays published in
the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction[143]
1963 – Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences[185]
1964 – The Science Fiction Writers of America voted "Nightfall" (1941) the all-time best science fiction
short story[93]
1965 – James T. Grady Award of the American Chemical Society (now called the James T. Grady-
James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry)[186]
1966 – Best All-time Novel Series Hugo Award for the Foundation trilogy[187]
1967 – Edward E. Smith Memorial Award[188]
1967 – AAAS-Westinghouse Science Writing Award for Magazine Writing, for essay "Over the Edge of
the Universe" (in the March 1967 Harper's Magazine)[189][l]
1972 – Nebula Award for Best Novel for The Gods Themselves[190]
1973 – Hugo Award for Best Novel for The Gods Themselves[190]
1973 – Locus Award for Best Novel for The Gods Themselves[190]
1975 – Klumpke-Roberts Award "for outstanding contributions to the public understanding and
appreciation of astronomy"[191]
1975 – Locus Award for Best Reprint Anthology for Before the Golden Age[192]
1977 – Hugo Award for Best Novelette for The Bicentennial Man[193]
1977 – Nebula Award for Best Novelette for The Bicentennial Man[194]
1977 – Locus Award for Best Novelette for The Bicentennial Man[195]
1981 – An asteroid, 5020 Asimov, was named in his honor[8]
1981 – Locus Award for Best Non-Fiction Book for In Joy Still Felt: The Autobiography of Isaac
Asimov, 1954-1978[192]
1983 – Hugo Award for Best Novel for Foundation's Edge[196]
1983 – Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel for Foundation's Edge[196]
1984 – Humanist of the Year[197]
1986 – The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named him its 8th SFWA Grand
Master (presented in 1987).[198]
1987 – Locus Award for Best Short Story for "Robot Dreams"[199]
1992 – Hugo Award for Best Novelette for Gold[200]
1995 – Hugo Award for Best Non-Fiction Book for I. Asimov: A Memoir[201]
1995 – Locus Award for Best Non-Fiction Book for I. Asimov: A Memoir[192]
1996 – A 1946 Retro-Hugo for Best Novel of 1945 was given at the 1996 WorldCon for "The Mule", the
7th Foundation story, published in Astounding Science Fiction[202]
1997 – The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted Asimov in its second class of two
deceased and two living persons, along with H. G. Wells.[203]
2000 – Asimov was featured on a stamp in Israel[204]
2001 – The Isaac Asimov Memorial Debates at the Hayden Planetarium in New York were
inaugurated
2009 – A crater on the planet Mars, Asimov,[9] was named in his honor
2010 – In the US Congress bill about the designation of the National Robotics Week as an annual
event, a tribute to Isaac Asimov is as follows:
o "Whereas the second week in April each year is designated as `National Robotics Week',
recognizing the accomplishments of Isaac Asimov, who immigrated to America, taught science, wrote
science books for children and adults, first used the term robotics, developed the Three Laws of
Robotics, and died in April, 1992: Now, therefore, be it resolved ..." [205]
2015 – Selected as a member of the New York State Writers Hall of Fame.[206]
2016 – A 1941 Retro-Hugo for Best Short Story of 1940 was given at the 2016 WorldCon for Robbie,
his first positronic robot story, published in Super Science Stories, September 1940[207]
2018 – A 1943 Retro-Hugo for Best Short Story of 1942 was given at the 2018 WorldCon
for Foundation, published in Astounding Science-Fiction, May 1942[208]
Writing style
If I had the critic's mentality (which I emphatically don't) I would sit down and try to analyze my stories, work out
the factors that make some more successful than others, cultivate those factors, and simply explode with
excellence. But the devil with that. I won't buy success at the price of self-consciousness. I don't have the
temperament for it. I'll write as I please and let the critics do the analyzing.
— Asimov, 1973[130]
Characteristics
Asimov was his own secretary, typist, indexer, proofreader, and literary agent.[51] He wrote a typed first draft
composed at the keyboard at 90 words per minute; he imagined an ending first, then a beginning, then "let
everything in-between work itself out as I come to it". (Asimov only used an outline once, later describing it as
"like trying to play the piano from inside a straitjacket".) After correcting the draft by hand, he retyped the
document as the final copy and only made one revision with minor editor-requested changes; a word
processor did not save him much time, Asimov said, because 95% of the first draft was unchanged. [130][209][210]
After disliking making multiple revisions of "Black Friar of the Flame", Asimov refused to make major, second,
or non-editorial revisions ("like chewing used gum"), stating that "too large a revision, or too many revisions,
indicate that the piece of writing is a failure. In the time it would take to salvage such a failure, I could write a
new piece altogether and have infinitely more fun in the process". He submitted "failures" to another editor. [130][209]
One of the most common impressions of Asimov's fiction work is that his writing style is extremely
unornamented. In 1980, science fiction scholar James Gunn, professor emeritus of English at the University of
Kansas wrote of I, Robot:
Except for two stories—"Liar!" and "Evidence"—they are not stories in which character plays a significant part.
Virtually all plot develops in conversation with little if any action. Nor is there a great deal of local color or
description of any kind. The dialogue is, at best, functional and the style is, at best, transparent. ... . The robot
stories and, as a matter of fact, almost all Asimov fiction—play themselves on a relatively bare stage. [211]
Asimov addressed such criticism at the beginning of Nemesis:
I made up my mind long ago to follow one cardinal rule in all my writing—to be 'clear'. I have given up all
thought of writing poetically or symbolically or experimentally, or in any of the other modes that might (if I were
good enough) get me a Pulitzer prize. I would write merely clearly and in this way establish a warm relationship
between myself and my readers, and the professional critics—Well, they can do whatever they wish. [212]
Gunn cited examples of a more complex style, such as the climax of "Liar!". Sharply drawn characters occur at
key junctures of his storylines: Susan Calvin in "Liar!" and "Evidence", Arkady Darell in Second Foundation,
Elijah Baley in The Caves of Steel, and Hari Seldon in the Foundation prequels.
Other than books by Gunn and Patrouch, a relative dearth of "literary" criticism exists on Asimov (particularly
when compared to the sheer volume of his output). Cowart and Wymer's Dictionary of Literary
Biography (1981) gives a possible reason:
His words do not easily lend themselves to traditional literary criticism because he has the habit of centering his
fiction on plot and clearly stating to his reader, in rather direct terms, what is happening in his stories and why it
is happening. In fact, most of the dialogue in an Asimov story, and particularly in the Foundation trilogy, is
devoted to such exposition. Stories that clearly state what they mean in unambiguous language are the most
difficult for a scholar to deal with because there is little to be interpreted. [213]
Gunn's and Patrouch's respective studies of Asimov both state that a clear, direct prose style is still a style.
Gunn's 1982 book comments in detail on each of Asimov's novels. He does not praise all of Asimov's fiction
(nor does Patrouch), but calls some passages in The Caves of Steel "reminiscent of Proust". When discussing
how that novel depicts night falling over futuristic New York City, Gunn says that Asimov's prose "need not be
ashamed anywhere in literary society".[214]
Although he prided himself on his unornamented prose style (for which he credited Clifford D. Simak as an
early influence[15][215]), and said in 1973 that his style had not changed, [130] Asimov also enjoyed giving his longer
stories complicated narrative structures, often by arranging chapters in nonchronological ways. Some readers
have been put off by this, complaining that the nonlinearity is not worth the trouble and adversely affects the
clarity of the story. For example, the first third of The Gods Themselves begins with Chapter 6, then backtracks
to fill in earlier material.[216] (John Campbell advised Asimov to begin his stories as late in the plot as possible.
This advice helped Asimov create "Reason", one of the early Robot stories. See In Memory Yet Green for
details of that time period.) Patrouch found that the interwoven and nested flashbacks of The Currents of
Space did serious harm to that novel, to such an extent that only a "dyed-in-the-kyrt[217] Asimov fan" could enjoy
it. Asimov's tendency to contort his timelines is perhaps most apparent in his later novel Nemesis, in which one
group of characters lives in the "present" and another group starts in the "past", beginning 15 years earlier and
gradually moving toward the time period of the first group.[citation needed]
Limitations
Sexuality
Asimov attributed the lack of romance and sex in his fiction to the "early imprinting" from starting his writing
career when he had never been on a date and "didn't know anything about girls". [108] He was sometimes
criticized for the general absence of sex (and of extraterrestrial life) in his science fiction. He claimed he
wrote The Gods Themselves to respond to these criticisms,[218] which often came from New Wave science
fiction (and often British) writers. The second part (of three) of the novel is set on an alien world with three
sexes, and the sexual behavior of these creatures is extensively depicted.
Alien life
Asimov once explained that his reluctance to write about aliens came from an incident early in his career
when Astounding's editor John Campbell rejected one of his science fiction stories because the alien
characters were portrayed as superior to the humans. The nature of the rejection led him to believe that
Campbell may have based his bias towards humans in stories on a real-world racial bias. Unwilling to write only
weak alien races, and concerned that a confrontation would jeopardize his and Campbell's friendship, he
decided he would not write about aliens at all.[31] Nevertheless, in response to these criticisms, he wrote The
Gods Themselves, which contains aliens and alien sex. The book won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in
1972,[190] and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1973.[190] Asimov said that of all his writings, he was most proud
of the middle section of The Gods Themselves, the part that deals with those themes.[219]
In the Hugo Award-winning novelette "Gold", Asimov describes an author, clearly based on himself, who has
one of his books (The Gods Themselves) adapted into a "compu-drama", essentially photo-realistic computer
animation. The director criticizes the fictionalized Asimov ("Gregory Laborian") for having an extremely
nonvisual style, making it difficult to adapt his work, and the author explains that he relies on ideas and
dialogue rather than description to get his points across. [220]
Portrayal of women
Asimov was criticized for a lack of strong female characters in his early work. In his autobiographical writings,
such as Gold ("Women and Science Fiction"), he acknowledges this and responds by pointing to inexperience.
His later novels, written with more female characters but in essentially the same prose style as his early
science-fiction stories, brought this matter to a wider audience. For example, the August 25, 1985 Washington
Post's "Book World" section reports of Robots and Empire as follows:
In 1940, Asimov's humans were stripped-down masculine portraits of Americans from 1940, and they still are.
His robots were tin cans with speedlines like an old Studebaker, and still are; the Robot tales depended on an
increasingly unworkable distinction between movable and unmovable artificial intelligences, and still do. In the
Asimov universe, because it was conceived a long time ago, and because its author abhors confusion, there
are no computers whose impact is worth noting, no social complexities, no genetic engineering,
aliens, arcologies, multiverses, clones, sin or sex; his heroes (in this case R. Daneel Olivaw, whom we first met
as the robot protagonist of The Caves of Steel and its sequels), feel no pressure of information, raw or cooked,
as the simplest of us do today; they suffer no deformation from the winds of the Asimov future, because it is so
deeply and strikingly orderly.
However, some of his robot stories, including the earliest ones, featured the character Susan Calvin, a forceful
and intelligent woman who regularly out-performed her male colleagues. [221]
Views
There is a perennial question among readers as to whether the views contained in a story reflect the views of
the author. The answer is, "Not necessarily—" And yet one ought to add another short phrase "—but usually."
— Asimov, 1969[222]
Religion
Isaac Asimov was an atheist, a humanist, and a rationalist.[223] He did not oppose religious conviction in others,
but he frequently railed against superstitious and pseudoscientific beliefs that tried to pass themselves off as
genuine science. During his childhood, his father and mother observed Orthodox Jewish traditions, though not
as stringently as they had in Petrovichi; they did not, however, force their beliefs upon young Isaac. Thus, he
grew up without strong religious influences, coming to believe that the Torah represented Hebrew mythology in
the same way that the Iliad recorded Greek mythology.[224] When he was 13, he chose not to have a bar
mitzvah.[225] As his books Treasury of Humor and Asimov Laughs Again record, Asimov was willing to tell jokes
involving God, Satan, the Garden of Eden, Jerusalem, and other religious topics, expressing the viewpoint that
a good joke can do more to provoke thought than hours of philosophical discussion. [163][164]
For a brief while, his father worked in the local synagogue to enjoy the familiar surroundings and, as Isaac put
it, "shine as a learned scholar"[226] versed in the sacred writings. This scholarship was a seed for his later
authorship and publication of Asimov's Guide to the Bible, an analysis of the historic foundations for both the
Old and New Testaments. For many years, Asimov called himself an atheist; however, he considered the term
somewhat inadequate, as it described what he did not believe rather than what he did. Eventually, he described
himself as a "humanist" and considered that term more practical. He did, however, continue to identify himself
as a nonobservant Jew, as stated in his introduction to Jack Dann's anthology of Jewish science
fiction, Wandering Stars: "I attend no services and follow no ritual and have never undergone that curious
puberty rite, the bar mitzvah. It doesn't matter. I am Jewish."[227]
When asked in an interview in 1982 if he was an atheist, Asimov replied,
I am an atheist, out and out. It took me a long time to say it. I've been an atheist for years and years, but
somehow I felt it was intellectually unrespectable to say one was an atheist, because it assumed knowledge
that one didn't have. Somehow it was better to say one was a humanist or an agnostic. I finally decided that I'm
a creature of emotion as well as of reason. Emotionally I am an atheist. I don't have the evidence to prove that
God doesn't exist, but I so strongly suspect he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time. [228]
Likewise he said about religious education: "I would not be satisfied to have my kids choose to be religious
without trying to argue them out of it, just as I would not be satisfied to have them decide to smoke regularly or
engage in any other practice I consider detrimental to mind or body." [229]
In his last volume of autobiography, Asimov wrote,
If I were not an atheist, I would believe in a God who would choose to save people on the basis of the totality of
their lives and not the pattern of their words. I think he would prefer an honest and righteous atheist to a TV
preacher whose every word is God, God, God, and whose every deed is foul, foul, foul. [230]
The same memoir states his belief that Hell is "the drooling dream of a sadist" crudely affixed to an all-merciful
God; if even human governments were willing to curtail cruel and unusual punishments, wondered Asimov, why
would punishment in the afterlife not be restricted to a limited term? Asimov rejected the idea that a human
belief or action could merit infinite punishment. If an afterlife existed, he claimed, the longest and most severe
punishment would be reserved for those who "slandered God by inventing Hell". [231]
Asimov said about using religious motifs in his writing:
I tend to ignore religion in my own stories altogether, except when I absolutely have to have it. ... and,
whenever I bring in a religious motif, that religion is bound to seem vaguely Christian because that is the only
religion I know anything about, even though it is not mine. An unsympathetic reader might think that I am
"burlesquing" Christianity, but I am not. Then too, it is impossible to write science fiction and really ignore
religion.[232]
Politics
Asimov became a staunch supporter of the Democratic Party during the New Deal, and thereafter remained a
political liberal. He was a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War in the 1960s and in a television interview during
the early 1970s he publicly endorsed George McGovern.[233] He was unhappy about what he considered an
"irrationalist" viewpoint taken by many radical political activists from the late 1960s and onwards. In his second
volume of autobiography, In Joy Still Felt, Asimov recalled meeting the counterculture figure Abbie Hoffman.
Asimov's impression was that the 1960s' counterculture heroes had ridden an emotional wave which, in the
end, left them stranded in a "no-man's land of the spirit" from which he wondered if they would ever return. [234]
Asimov vehemently opposed Richard Nixon, considering him "a crook and a liar". He closely
followed Watergate, and was pleased when the president was forced to resign. Asimov was dismayed over the
pardon extended to Nixon by his successor: "I was not impressed by the argument that it has spared the nation
an ordeal. To my way of thinking, the ordeal was necessary to make certain it would never happen again." [235]
After Asimov's name appeared in the mid-1960s on a list of people the Communist Party USA "considered
amenable" to its goals, the FBI investigated him. Because of his academic background, the bureau briefly
considered Asimov as a possible candidate for known Soviet spy ROBPROF, but found nothing suspicious in
his life or background.[236]
Though from a Jewish family, Asimov appeared to hold an equivocal attitude towards Israel. In his first
autobiography, he indicates his support for the safety of Israel, though insisting that he was not a Zionist.[237] In
his third autobiography, Asimov stated his opposition to the creation of a Jewish state, on the grounds that he
was opposed to the concept of nation-states in general, and supported the notion of a single humanity. Asimov
especially worried about the safety of Israel given that it had been created among hostile neighbors, and said
that Jews had merely created for themselves another "Jewish ghetto". [m]
Social issues
Asimov believed that "science fiction ... serve[s] the good of humanity".[145] He considered himself a feminist
even before women's liberation became a widespread movement; he argued that the issue of women's
rights was closely connected to that of population control. [238] Furthermore, he believed that homosexuality must
be considered a "moral right" on population grounds, as must all consenting adult sexual activity that does not
lead to reproduction.[238] He issued many appeals for population control, reflecting a perspective articulated by
people from Thomas Malthus through Paul R. Ehrlich.[239]
In a 1988 interview by Bill Moyers, Asimov proposed computer-aided learning, where people would use
computers to find information on subjects in which they were interested. [240] He thought this would make learning
more interesting, since people would have the freedom to choose what to learn, and would help spread
knowledge around the world. Also, the one-to-one model would let students learn at their own pace. [241] Asimov
thought that people would live in space by the year 2019. [242]
Environment and population
Asimov's defense of civil applications of nuclear power even after the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant
incident damaged his relations with some of his fellow liberals. In a letter reprinted in Yours, Isaac Asimov,
[238]
he states that although he would prefer living in "no danger whatsoever" than near a nuclear reactor, he
would still prefer a home near a nuclear power plant than in a slum on Love Canal or near "a Union
Carbide plant producing methyl isocyanate", the latter being a reference to the Bhopal disaster.[238]
In the closing years of his life, Asimov blamed the deterioration of the quality of life that he perceived in New
York City on the shrinking tax base caused by the middle-class flight to the suburbs, though he continued to
support high taxes on the middle class to pay for social programs. His last nonfiction book, Our Angry
Earth (1991, co-written with his long-time friend, science fiction author Frederik Pohl), deals with elements of
the environmental crisis such as overpopulation, oil dependence, war, global warming, and the destruction of
the ozone layer.[243][244] In response to being presented by Bill Moyers with the question "What do you see
happening to the idea of dignity to human species if this population growth continues at its present rate?",
Asimov responded:
It's going to destroy it all ... if you have 20 people in the apartment and two bathrooms, no matter how much
every person believes in freedom of the bathroom, there is no such thing. You have to set up, you have to set
up times for each person, you have to bang at the door, aren't you through yet, and so on. And in the same
way, democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Human dignity cannot survive it. Convenience and decency
cannot survive it. As you put more and more people onto the world, the value of life not only declines, but it
disappears.[245]
Other authors
Asimov enjoyed the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, using The Lord of the Rings as a plot point in a Black
Widowers story.[246] (Tolkien said that he enjoyed Asimov's science fiction. [247]) He acknowledged other writers as
superior to himself in talent, saying of Harlan Ellison, "He is (in my opinion) one of the best writers in the world,
far more skilled at the art than I am."[248] Asimov disapproved of the New Wave's growing influence, however,
stating in 1967 "I want science fiction. I think science fiction isn't really science fiction if it lacks science. And I
think the better and truer the science, the better and truer the science fiction". [145] The feelings of friendship and
respect between Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke were demonstrated by the so-called "Clarke-Asimov Treaty
of Park Avenue", negotiated as they shared a cab in New York. This stated that Asimov was required to insist
that Clarke was the best science fiction writer in the world (reserving second-best for himself), while Clarke was
required to insist that Asimov was the best science writer in the world (reserving second-best for himself). Thus,
the dedication in Clarke's book Report on Planet Three (1972) reads: "In accordance with the terms of the
Clarke-Asimov treaty, the second-best science writer dedicates this book to the second-best science-fiction
writer."
Asimov became a fan of mystery stories at the same time as science fiction. He preferred to read the former to
latter because "I read every [science fiction] story keenly aware that it might be worse than mine, in which case
I had no patience with it, or that it might be better, in which case I felt miserable". [130] Asimov wrote "I make no
secret of the fact that in my mysteries I use Agatha Christie as my model. In my opinion, her mysteries are the
best ever written, far better than the Sherlock Holmes stories, and Hercule Poirot is the best detective fiction
has seen. Why should I not use as my model what I consider the best?" [249] He enjoyed Sherlock Holmes, but
considered Arthur Conan Doyle to be "a slapdash and sloppy writer." [250]
Asimov also enjoyed humorous stories, particularly those of P. G. Wodehouse.[251]
In non-fiction writing, Asimov particularly admired the writing style of Martin Gardner, and tried to emulate it in
his own science books. On meeting Gardner for the first time in 1965, Asimov told him this, to which Gardner
answered that he had based his own style on Asimov's. [252]
Influence
Paul Krugman, holder of a Nobel Prize in Economics, has stated Asimov's concept of psychohistory inspired
him to become an economist.[253]
John Jenkins, who has reviewed the vast majority of Asimov's written output, once observed, "It has been
pointed out that most science fiction writers since the 1950s have been affected by Asimov, either modeling
their style on his or deliberately avoiding anything like his style." [254] Along with such figures as Bertrand
Russell and Karl Popper, Asimov left his mark as one of the most distinguished interdisciplinarians of the 20th
century.[255] "Few individuals", writes James L. Christian, "understood better than Isaac Asimov what synoptic
thinking is all about. His almost 500 books—which he wrote as a specialist, a knowledgeable authority, or just
an excited layman—range over almost all conceivable subjects: the sciences, history, literature, religion, and of
course, science fiction."[256]
Television, music, and film appearances
I Robot, a concept album by The Alan Parsons Project that examined some of Asimov's work
The Last Word 1959[257]
The Dick Cavett Show, four appearances 1968–71[258]
The Nature of Things 1969
ABC News coverage of Apollo 11, 1969, with Fred Pohl, interviewed by Rod Serling
David Frost interview program, August 1969. Frost asked Asimov if he had ever tried to find God and,
after some initial evasion, Asimov answered, "God is much more intelligent than I am—let him try to find
me."[259]
National Geographic, July 1976. Interview.
BBC Horizon "It's About Time" (1979), show hosted by Dudley Moore
Target ... Earth? 1980
The David Letterman Show 1980
NBC TV Speaking Freely, interviewed by Edwin Newman 1982
ARTS Network talk show hosted by Studs Terkel and Calvin Trillin, approximately 1982
Oltre New York 1986
Voyage to the Outer Planets and Beyond 1986
Bill Moyers interview 1988
Stranieri in America 1988
Selected bibliography
Main articles: Isaac Asimov bibliography (categorical), Isaac Asimov bibliography (chronological), and Isaac
Asimov bibliography (alphabetical)
Depending on the counting convention used, [260] and including all titles, charts, and edited collections, there may
be currently over 500 books in Asimov's bibliography— as well as his individual short stories, individual essays,
and criticism. For his 100th, 200th, and 300th books (based on his personal count), Asimov published Opus
100 (1969), Opus 200 (1979), and Opus 300 (1984), celebrating his writing.[172][173][174]
Asimov was so prolific that his books span all major categories of the Dewey Decimal Classification except for
category 100, philosophy and psychology.[1] Although Asimov did write several essays about psychology,[261] and
forewords for the books The Humanist Way (1988) and In Pursuit of Truth (1982),[223] which were classified in
the 100s category, none of his own books were classified in that category. [262]
According to UNESCO's Index Translationum database, Asimov is the world's 24th most-translated author.[263]
An online exhibit in West Virginia University Libraries' virtually complete Asimov Collection displays features,
visuals, and descriptions of some of his over 600 books, games, audio recordings, videos, and wall charts.
Many first, rare, and autographed editions are in the Libraries' Rare Book Room. Book jackets and autographs
are presented online along with descriptions and images of children's books, science fiction art, multimedia,
and other materials in the collection.[264]
For a listing of Asimov's science fiction books in chronological order within his future history, see
the Foundation series list of books.
Science fiction
"Greater Foundation" series
Main articles: Isaac Asimov's Robot Series, Isaac Asimov's Galactic Empire Series, and Foundation series
The Robot series was originally separate from the Foundation series. The Galactic Empire novels were
published as independent stories, set earlier in the same future as Foundation. Later in life, Asimov
synthesized the Robot series into a single coherent "history" that appeared in the extension of
the Foundation series.[265]
The Robot series:
o Asimov, Isaac (1954). The Caves of Steel. ISBN 0-553-29340-0. (first Elijah Baley SF-crime
novel)
o Asimov, Isaac (1957). The Naked Sun. ISBN 0-553-29339-7. (second Elijah Baley SF-crime
novel)
o Asimov, Isaac (1983). The Robots of Dawn. ISBN 0-553-29949-2. (third Elijah Baley SF-crime
novel)
o Asimov, Isaac (1985). Robots and Empire. ISBN 978-0-586-06200-5. (sequel to the Elijah
Baley trilogy)
Galactic Empire novels:
o The Currents of Space. 1952. ISBN 0-553-29341-9. (Republic of Trantor still expanding)
o The Stars, Like Dust. 1951. ISBN 0-553-29343-5. (long before the Empire)
o Asimov, Isaac (1950). Pebble in the Sky. ISBN 0-553-29342-7. (early Galactic Empire)
Foundation prequels:
o Asimov, Isaac (1988). Prelude to Foundation. ISBN 0-553-27839-8. (occurs
before Foundation)
o Asimov, Isaac (1993). Forward the Foundation. ISBN 0-553-40488-1. (occurs after Prelude to
Foundation and before Foundation)
Original Foundation trilogy:
o Asimov, Isaac (1951). Foundation. ISBN 0-553-29335-4.
o Asimov, Isaac (1952). Foundation and Empire. ISBN 0-553-29337-0., Published with the title
'The Man Who Upset the Universe' as a 35c Ace paperback, D-125, in about 1952
o Second Foundation. 1953. ISBN 0-553-29336-2.
Extended Foundation series:
o Foundation's Edge. 1982. ISBN 0-553-29338-9.
o Foundation and Earth. 1986. ISBN 0-553-58757-9. (last of the Foundation series)
Lucky Starr series (as Paul French)
Main article: Lucky Starr series
David Starr, Space Ranger (1952)
Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids (1953)
Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus (1954)
Lucky Starr and the Big Sun of Mercury (1956)
Lucky Starr and the Moons of Jupiter (1957)
Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn (1958)
Norby Chronicles (with Janet Asimov)
Main article: Norby
Norby, the Mixed-Up Robot (1983)
Norby's Other Secret (1984)
Norby and the Lost Princess (1985)
Norby and the Invaders (1985)
Norby and the Queen's Necklace (1986)
Norby Finds a Villain (1987)
Norby Down to Earth (1988)
Norby and Yobo's Great Adventure (1989)
Norby and the Oldest Dragon (1990)
Norby and the Court Jester (1991)
Novels not part of a series
Novels marked with an asterisk * have minor connections to the Foundation and Robot series.
The End of Eternity (1955) *
Fantastic Voyage (1966) (a novelization of the movie)
The Gods Themselves (1972)
Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain (1987) * (not a sequel to Fantastic Voyage, but a similar,
independent story)
Nemesis (1989) *
Nightfall (1990), with Robert Silverberg (based on "Nightfall", a 1941 short story written by Asimov)
Child of Time (1992), with Robert Silverberg (based on "The Ugly Little Boy", a 1958 short story written
by Asimov)
The Positronic Man (1993) *, with Robert Silverberg (based on The Bicentennial Man, a 1976 novella
written by Asimov)
Short-story collections
Isaac Asimov short stories bibliography
Asimov, Isaac (1950). I, Robot. ISBN 0-553-29438-5.
Asimov, Isaac (1955). The Martian Way and Other Stories. ISBN 0-8376-0463-X.
Asimov, Isaac (1957). Earth Is Room Enough. ISBN 0-449-24125-4.
Asimov, Isaac (1959). Nine Tomorrows. ISBN 0-449-24084-3.
The Rest of the Robots. 1964. ISBN 0-385-09041-2.
Through a Glass, Clearly. 1967. ISBN 0-86025-124-1.
Asimov's Mysteries. 1968.
Nightfall and Other Stories. 1969. ISBN 0-449-01969-1.
The Early Asimov. 1972. ISBN 0-449-02850-X.
The Best of Isaac Asimov. 1973. ISBN 0-7221-1256-4.
Asimov, Isaac (1975). Buy Jupiter and Other Stories. ISBN 0-385-05077-1.
The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories. 1976. ISBN 0-575-02240-X.
The Complete Robot. 1982.
The Winds of Change and Other Stories. 1983. ISBN 0-385-18099-3.
The Edge of Tomorrow. 1985. ISBN 0-312-93200-6.
Asimov, Isaac (1986). The Alternate Asimovs. ISBN 0-385-19784-5.
The Best Science Fiction of Isaac Asimov. 1986.
Asimov, Isaac (1986). Robot Dreams. ISBN 0-441-73154-6.
Azazel. 1988.
Asimov, Isaac (1990). Robot Visions. ISBN 0-451-45064-7.
Asimov, Isaac (1995). Gold. ISBN 0-553-28339-1.
Magic. 1996. ISBN 0-00-224622-8.
Mysteries
Novels
The Death Dealers (1958), republished as A Whiff of Death
Murder at the ABA (1976), also published as Authorized Murder
Short-story collections
Black Widowers series
Main article: Black Widowers
Tales of the Black Widowers (1974)
More Tales of the Black Widowers (1976)
Casebook of the Black Widowers (1980)
Banquets of the Black Widowers (1984)
Puzzles of the Black Widowers (1990)
The Return of the Black Widowers (2003)
Other mysteries
Asimov's Mysteries (1968)
The Key Word and Other Mysteries (1977)
The Union Club Mysteries (1983)
The Disappearing Man and Other Mysteries (1985)
The Best Mysteries of Isaac Asimov (1986)
Nonfiction
Popular science
Collections of Asimov's essays – originally published as monthly columns in the Magazine of Fantasy and
Science Fiction
1. Fact and Fancy (1962)
2. View from a Height (1963)
3. Adding a Dimension (1964)
4. Of Time and Space and Other Things (1965)
5. From Earth to Heaven (1966)
6. Science, Numbers, and I (1968)
7. The Solar System and Back (1970)
8. The Stars in their Courses (1971)
9. The Left Hand of the Electron (1972)
10. The Tragedy of the Moon (1973)
11. Asimov On Astronomy (updated version of essays in previous collections) (1974) ISBN 978-0-517-
27924-3
12. Asimov On Chemistry (updated version of essays in previous collections) (1974)
13. Of Matters Great and Small (1975)
14. Asimov On Physics (updated version of essays in previous collections) (1976) ISBN 978-0-385-00958-
4
15. The Planet That Wasn't (1976)
16. Asimov On Numbers (updated version of essays in previous collections) (1976)
17. Quasar, Quasar, Burning Bright (1977)
18. The Road to Infinity (1979)
19. The Sun Shines Bright (1981)
20. Counting the Eons (1983)
21. X Stands for Unknown (1984)
22. The Subatomic Monster (1985)
23. Far as Human Eye Could See (1987)
24. The Relativity of Wrong (1988)
25. Beginnings: The Story of Origins (1989)
26. Asimov On Science: A 30 Year Retrospective 1959–1989 (features the first essay in the introduction)
(1989)
27. Out of the Everywhere (1990)
28. The Secret of the Universe (1991)
Other science books by Asimov
The Chemicals of Life (1954) ISBN 978-0-451-62418-5
Inside the Atom (1956) ISBN 978-0-200-71444-0
Only a Trillion (Science Essay Collection) (1957) ISBN 978-0-441-63121-6
Building Blocks of the Universe (1957; revised 1974) ISBN 0-200-71099-0 ISBN 978-0-200-71099-2
The World of Carbon (1958) ISBN 978-0-02-091350-4
The World of Nitrogen (1958) ISBN 978-0-02-091400-6
Words of Science and the History Behind Them (1959) ISBN 978-0-395-06571-6
The Clock We Live On (1959) ISBN 978-0-200-71100-5
Breakthroughs in Science (1959) ISBN 978-0-395-06561-7
Realm of Numbers (1959) ISBN 978-0-395-06566-2
Realm of Measure (1960)
The Wellsprings of Life (1960) ISBN 978-0-451-03245-4
Life and Energy (1962) ISBN 978-0-380-00942-8
The Human Body: Its Structure and Operation (1963) ISBN 978-0-451-02430-5, ISBN 978-0-451-
62707-0 (revised)
The Human Brain: Its Capacities and Functions (1963) ISBN 978-0-451-62867-1
Planets for Man (with Stephen H. Dole) (1964, reprinted by RAND 2007) ISBN 978-0-8330-4226-2[266]
An Easy Introduction to the Slide Rule (1965) ISBN 9780395065754
The Intelligent Man's Guide to Science (1965)
o The title varied with each of the four editions, the last being Asimov's New Guide to
Science (1984) ISBN 978-0-14-017213-3
The Universe: From Flat Earth to Quasar (1966) ISBN 978-0-380-01596-2
The Neutrino (1966) ASIN B002JK525W
Understanding Physics Vol. I, Motion, Sound, and Heat (1966) ISBN 978-0-451-00329-4
Understanding Physics Vol. II, Light, Magnetism, and Electricity (1966) ISBN 978-0-451-61942-6
Understanding Physics Vol. III, The Electron, Proton, and Neutron (1966) ISBN 978-0-451-62634-9
Is Anyone There? (Science Essay Collection) (1967), ISBN 0-385-08401-3 – where he used the
term Spome
Photosynthesis (1968) ISBN 978-0-465-05703-0
Today and Tomorrow and— (1973)
Our World in Space (1974) ISBN 978-0-8212-0434-4
Science Past, Science Future (1975) ISBN 978-0-385-09923-3
Please Explain (Science Essay Collection) (1975) ISBN 978-0-440-96804-7
Asimov On Physics (1976) ISBN 978-0-385-00958-4
The Collapsing Universe (1977), ISBN 0-671-81738-8
Extraterrestrial Civilizations (1979) ISBN 978-0-449-90020-8
Visions of the Universe with co-author Kazuaki Iwasaki (1981) ISBN 978-0-939540-01-3
Exploring the Earth and the Cosmos (1982) ISBN 978-0-517-54667-3
The Measure of the Universe (1983)
The Roving Mind (1983) (collection of essays). New edition published by Prometheus Books,
1997, ISBN 1-57392-181-5
Past, Present and Future (1987) ISBN 978-0879753931
Think About Space: Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going? with co-author Frank
White (1989)
Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery (1989), second edition adds content thru
1993, ISBN 978-0-06-270113-8
Isaac Asimov's Guide to Earth and Space (1991) ISBN 978-0-449-22059-7
Atom: Journey Across the Subatomic Cosmos (1991) ISBN 978-1-4395-0900-5
Mysteries of deep space: Quasars, Pulsars and Black Holes (1994) ISBN 978-0-8368-1133-9
The Moon (2003), revised by Richard Hantula ISBN 978-1-59102-122-3
The Sun (2003), revised by Richard Hantula ISBN 978-1-59102-122-3
Jupiter (2004), revised by Richard Hantula ISBN 978-1-59102-123-0
The Earth (2004), revised by Richard Hantula ISBN 978-1-59102-177-3
Venus (2004), revised by Richard Hantula ISBN 978-0-8368-3877-0
Literary works
Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare, vols I and II (1970), ISBN 0-517-26825-6
Asimov's Annotated "Don Juan" (1972)
Asimov's Annotated "Paradise Lost" (1974)
Familiar Poems, Annotated (1976)
Asimov's The Annotated "Gulliver's Travels" (1980)
Asimov's Annotated "Gilbert and Sullivan" (1988)
The Bible
Words from Genesis (1962)
Words from the Exodus (1963)
Asimov's Guide to the Bible, vols I and II (1967 and 1969, one-volume ed. 1981), ISBN 0-517-34582-X
The Story of Ruth (1972), ISBN 0-385-08594-X
In the Beginning (1981)
Autobiography
Main article: Autobiographies of Isaac Asimov
In Memory Yet Green: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1920–1954 (1979, Doubleday)
In Joy Still Felt: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1954–1978 (1980, Doubleday)
I. Asimov: A Memoir (1994, Doubleday)
It's Been a Good Life (2002, Prometheus Books), condensation of Asimov's three volumes of
autobiography, edited by his widow, Janet Jeppson Asimov
History
The Kite That Won the Revolution (1963), ISBN 0-395-06560-7
The Greeks (1965)
The Roman Republic (1966)
The Roman Empire (1967)
The Egyptians (1967)
The Near East (1968)
The Dark Ages (1968)
Words from History (1968)
The Shaping of England (1969)
Constantinople: The Forgotten Empire (1970)
The Land of Canaan (1971)
The Shaping of France (1972)
The Shaping of North America (1973)
The Birth of the United States (1974)
Our Federal Union (1975), ISBN 0-395-20283-3
The Golden Door (1977)
Asimov's Chronology of the World (1991), ISBN 0-062-70036-7
The March of the Millennia (1991), with co-author Frank White, ISBN 0-8027-7391-5
Humor
The Sensuous Dirty Old Man (1971) (As Dr. A), ISBN 0-451-07199-9
Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor (1971)
Lecherous Limericks (1975), ISBN 0-449-22841-X
More Lecherous Limericks (1976), ISBN 0-8027-7102-5
Still More Lecherous Limericks (1977), ISBN 0-8027-7106-8
Limericks, Two Gross, with John Ciardi (1978), ISBN 0-393-04530-7
A Grossery of Limericks, with John Ciardi (1981), ISBN 0-393-33112-1
Asimov Laughs Again (1992)
Other nonfiction
Opus 100 (1969), ISBN 0-395-07351-0
Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology (1st Revised Edition) (1972), ISBN 0-
385-17771-2
Opus 200 (1979), ISBN 0-395-27625-X
Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts (1979), ISBN 0-517-36111-6
Opus 300 (1984), ISBN 0-395-36108-7
Our Angry Earth: A Ticking Ecological Bomb (1991), with co-author Frederik Pohl, ISBN 0-312-85252-
5.
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein (/ˈhaɪnlaɪn/;[2][3][4][5] July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science-fiction author,
aeronautical engineer, and retired Naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers",[6] he was
among the first to emphasize scientific accuracy in his fiction, and was thus a pioneer of the subgenre of hard
science fiction. His published works, both fiction and non-fiction, express admiration for competence and
emphasize the value of critical thinking.[7] His work continues to have an influence on the science-fiction genre,
and on modern culture more generally.
Heinlein became one of the first American science-fiction writers to break into mainstream magazines such
as The Saturday Evening Post in the late 1940s. He was one of the best-selling science-fiction novelists for
many decades, and he, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke are often considered the "Big Three" of English-
language science fiction authors.[8][9][10] Notable Heinlein works include Stranger in a Strange Land,[11] Starship
Troopers (which helped mould the space marine and mecha archetypes) and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.
[12]
His work sometimes had controversial aspects, such as plural marriage in The Moon is a Harsh
Mistress, militarism in Starship Troopers and technologically competent women characters that were strong
and independent,[13] yet often stereotypically feminine – such as Friday.
A writer also of numerous science-fiction short stories, Heinlein was one of a group of writers who came to
prominence under the editorship (1937–1971) of John W. Campbell at Astounding Science Fiction magazine,
though Heinlein denied that Campbell influenced his writing to any great degree.
Heinlein used his science fiction as a way to explore provocative social and political ideas, and to speculate
how progress in science and engineering might shape the future of politics, race, religion, and sex. [14] Within the
framework of his science-fiction stories, Heinlein repeatedly addressed certain social themes: the importance of
individual liberty and self-reliance, the nature of sexual relationships, the obligation individuals owe to their
societies, the influence of organized religion on culture and government, and the tendency of society to
repress nonconformist thought. He also speculated on the influence of space travel on human cultural
practices.
Robert A. Heinlein
Heinlein signing autographs at Worldcon 1976
Heinlein was named the first Science Fiction Writers Grand Master in 1974.[15] Four of his novels won Hugo
Awards. In addition, fifty years after publication, seven of his works were awarded "Retro Hugos"—awards
given retrospectively for works that were published before the Hugo Awards came into existence. [16] In his
fiction, Heinlein coined terms that have become part of the English language, including "grok", "waldo", and
"speculative fiction", as well as popularizing existing terms like "TANSTAAFL", "pay it forward", and "space
marine". He also anticipated mechanical computer-aided design with "Drafting Dan" and described a modern
version of a waterbed in his novel Beyond This Horizon,[17] though he never patented nor built one. In the first
chapter of the novel Space Cadet he anticipated the cell-phone, 35 years before Motorola invented the
technology.[18] Several of Heinlein's works have been adapted for film and television.
Life
Birth, childhood, and early education
Heinlein, born on July 7, 1907 to Rex Ivar Heinlein (an accountant) and Bam Lyle Heinlein, in Butler, Missouri,
was the third of seven children. He was a 6th-generation German-American: a family tradition had it that
Heinleins fought in every American war starting with the War of Independence.[19]
He spent his childhood in Kansas City, Missouri.[20] The outlook and values of this time and place (in his own
words, "The Bible Belt") had a definite influence on his fiction, especially in his later works, as he drew heavily
upon his childhood in establishing the setting and cultural atmosphere in works like Time Enough for
Love and To Sail Beyond the Sunset. The 1910 appearance of Halley's Comet inspired the young child's life-
long interest in astronomy.[21]
Midshipman Heinlein, from the 1929 U.S. Naval Academy yearbook
When Heinlein graduated from Central High School in Kansas City in 1924 he aspired to a career as an officer
in the US Navy. However, he was initially prevented from attending the United States Naval Academy at
Annapolis because his older brother Rex was a student there, and regulations discouraged multiple family-
members from attending the Academy simultaneously. He instead matriculated at Kansas City Community
College and began vigorously petitioning Kansas Senator James A. Reed for an appointment to the Naval
Academy. In part due to the influence of the Pendergast machine, the Naval Academy admitted him in June
1925.[14]
Navy
Heinlein's experience in the Navy exerted a strong influence on his character and writing. In 1929, he
graduated from the Naval Academy with the equivalent of a Bachelor of Arts degree in Engineering, ranking
fifth in his class academically but with a class standing of 20th of 243 due to disciplinary demerits. [22] Shortly
after graduation, he was commissioned as an ensign by the U. S. Navy. He advanced to lieutenant, junior
grade while serving aboard the new aircraft carrier USS Lexington in 1931, where he worked in radio
communications, then in its earlier phases, with the carrier's aircraft. The captain of this carrier was Ernest J.
King, who served as the Chief of Naval Operations and Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet during World War II.
Heinlein was frequently interviewed during his later years by military historians who asked him about Captain
King and his service as the commander of the U.S. Navy's first modern aircraft carrier. Heinlein also served as
gunnery officer aboard the destroyer USS Roper in 1933 and 1934, reaching the rank of lieutenant. [23] His
brother, Lawrence Heinlein, served in the U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force, and the Missouri National Guard,
reaching the rank of major general in the National Guard.[24]
Marriages
In 1929, Heinlein married Elinor Curry of Kansas City.[25] However, their marriage only lasted about a year. [3] His
second marriage in 1932 to Leslyn MacDonald (1904–1981) lasted for 15 years. MacDonald was, according to
the testimony of Heinlein's Navy friend, Rear Admiral Cal Laning, "astonishingly intelligent, widely read, and
extremely liberal, though a registered Republican,"[26] while Isaac Asimov later recalled that Heinlein was, at the
time, "a flaming liberal".[27] (See section: Politics of Robert Heinlein.)
Virginia and Robert Heinlein in a 1952 Popular Mechanics article, titled "A House to Make Life Easy". The Heinleins, both engineers,
designed the house for themselves with many innovative features.
At the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard Heinlein met and befriended a chemical engineer named Virginia "Ginny"
Gerstenfeld. After the war, her engagement having fallen through, she moved to UCLA for doctoral studies
in chemistry and made contact again.
As his second wife's alcoholism gradually spun out of control,[28] Heinlein moved out and the couple filed
for divorce. Heinlein's friendship with Virginia turned into a relationship and on October 21, 1948 — shortly after
the decree nisi came through — they married in the town of Raton, New Mexico, shortly after setting up
housekeeping in Colorado. They remained married until Heinlein's death.
As Heinlein's increasing success as a writer resolved their initial financial woes, they had a house custom built
with various innovative features, later described in an article in Popular Mechanics. In 1965, after various
chronic health problems of Virginia's were traced back to altitude sickness, they moved to Santa Cruz,
California, which is at sea level. They built a new residence in the adjacent village of Bonny Doon, California.
[29]
Robert and Virginia designed and built their California house themselves, which is in a circular shape.
Robert and Virginia Heinlein in Tahiti, 1980.
Ginny undoubtedly served as a model for many of his intelligent, fiercely independent female characters. [30]
[31]
She was a chemist and rocket test engineer, and held a higher rank in the Navy than Heinlein himself. She
was also an accomplished college athlete, earning four letters. [32] In 1953–1954, the Heinleins voyaged around
the world (mostly via ocean liners and cargo liners, as Ginny detested flying), which Heinlein described
in Tramp Royale, and which also provided background material for science fiction novels set aboard
spaceships on long voyages, such as Podkayne of Mars, Friday and Job: A Comedy of Justice, the latter
initially being set on a cruise much as detailed in Tramp Royale. Ginny acted as the first reader of
his manuscripts. Isaac Asimov believed that Heinlein made a swing to the right politically at the same time he
married Ginny.
California
In 1934, Heinlein was discharged from the Navy due to pulmonary tuberculosis. During a lengthy
hospitalization, and inspired by his own experience while bed-ridden, he developed a design for a waterbed.[33]
After his discharge, Heinlein attended a few weeks of graduate classes in mathematics and physics at
the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), but he soon quit either because of his health or from a
desire to enter politics.[34]
Heinlein supported himself at several occupations, including real estate sales and silver mining, but for some
years found money in short supply. Heinlein was active in Upton Sinclair's socialist End Poverty in California
movement in the early 1930s. When Sinclair gained the Democratic nomination for Governor of California in
1934, Heinlein worked actively in the campaign. Heinlein himself ran for the California State Assembly in 1938,
but was unsuccessful.[35]
Author
while not destitute after the campaign — he had a small disability pension from the Navy — Heinlein turned to
writing to pay off his mortgage. His first published story, "Life-Line", was printed in the August 1939 issue
of Astounding Science Fiction.[36] Originally written for a contest, he sold it to Astounding for significantly more
than the contest's first-prize payoff. Another Future History story, "Misfit", followed in November.[36] Some saw
Heinlein's talent and stardom from his first story,[37] and he was quickly acknowledged as a leader of the new
movement toward "social" science fiction. In California he hosted the Mañana Literary Society, a 1940–41
series of informal gatherings of new authors. [38] He was the guest of honor at Denvention, the 1941 Worldcon,
held in Denver. During World War II, he did aeronautical engineering for the U.S. Navy, also recruiting Isaac
Asimov and L. Sprague de Camp to work at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Pennsylvania.[33] While at the
Philadelphia Naval Shipyards, Asimov, Heinlein, and de Camp brainstormed unconventional
approaches to kamikaze attacks, such as using sound to detect approaching planes. [39]
Robert A. Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp, and Isaac Asimov, Philadelphia Navy Yard, 1944.
As the war wound down in 1945, Heinlein began to re-evaluate his career. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, along with the outbreak of the Cold War, galvanized him to write nonfiction on political topics. In
addition, he wanted to break into better-paying markets. He published four influential short stories for The
Saturday Evening Post magazine, leading off, in February 1947, with "The Green Hills of Earth". That made
him the first science fiction writer to break out of the "pulp ghetto". In 1950, the movie Destination Moon — the
documentary-like film for which he had written the story and scenario, co-written the script, and invented many
of the effects — won an Academy Award for special effects. Also, he embarked on a series of juvenile
novels for the Charles Scribner's Sons publishing company that went from 1947 through 1959, at the rate of
one book each autumn, in time for Christmas presents to teenagers. He also wrote for Boys' Life in 1952.
Heinlein had used topical materials throughout his juvenile series beginning in 1947, but in 1958 he interrupted
work on The Heretic (the working title of Stranger in a Strange Land) to write and publish a book exploring
ideas of civic virtue, initially serialized as Starship Soldiers. In 1959, his novel (now entitled Starship Troopers)
was considered by the editors and owners of Scribner's to be too controversial for one of its prestige lines, and
it was rejected.[40] Heinlein found another publisher (Putnam), feeling himself released from the constraints of
writing novels for children. He had told an interviewer that he did not want to do stories that merely added to
categories defined by other works. Rather he wanted to do his own work, stating that: "I want to do my own
stuff, my own way".[41] He would go on to write a series of challenging books that redrew the boundaries of
science fiction, including Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966).
Later life and death
Beginning in 1970, Heinlein had a series of health crises, broken by strenuous periods of activity in his hobby
of stonemasonry: in a private correspondence, he referred to that as his "usual and favorite occupation
between books".[42] The decade began with a life-threatening attack of peritonitis, recovery from which required
more than two years, and treatment of which required multiple transfusions of Heinlein's rare blood type, A2
negative.[43] As soon as he was well enough to write again, he began work on Time Enough for Love (1973),
which introduced many of the themes found in his later fiction.
In the mid-1970s, Heinlein wrote two articles for the Britannica Compton Yearbook.[44] He and Ginny
crisscrossed the country helping to reorganize blood donation in the United States in an effort to assist the
system which had saved his life.[43] At science fiction conventions to receive his autograph, fans would be asked
to co-sign with Heinlein a beautifully embellished pledge form he supplied stating that the recipient agrees that
they will donate blood. He was the guest of honor at the Worldcon in 1976 for the third time
at MidAmeriCon in Kansas City, Missouri. At that Worldcon, Heinlein hosted a blood drive and donors'
reception to thank all those who had helped save lives.
Beginning in 1977 and including an episode while vacationing in Tahiti in early 1978, he had episodes of
reversible neurologic dysfunction due to transient ischemic attacks.[45] Over the next few months, he became
more and more exhausted, and his health again began to decline. The problem was determined to be a
blocked carotid artery, and he had one of the earliest known carotid bypass operations to correct it. Heinlein
and Virginia had been smokers,[46] and smoking appears often in his fiction, as do fictitious strikable self-lighting
cigarettes.[47]
In 1980 Robert Heinlein was a member of the Citizens Advisory Council on National Space Policy, chaired
by Jerry Pournelle, which met at the home of SF writer Larry Niven to write space policy papers for the
incoming Reagan Administration. Members included such aerospace industry leaders as former astronaut Buzz
Aldrin, General Daniel O. Graham, aerospace engineer Max Hunter and North American Rockwell VP for
Space Shuttle development George Merrick. Policy recommendations from the Council included ballistic
missile defense concepts which were later transformed into what was called the Strategic Defense Initiative, or
"Star Wars" as derided by Senator Ted Kennedy. Heinlein assisted with Council contribution to the Reagan
"Star Wars" speech of Spring 1983.
Asked to appear before a Joint Committee of the United States Congress that year, he testified on his belief
that spin-offs from space technology were benefiting the infirm and the elderly. Heinlein's surgical treatment re-
energized him, and he wrote five novels from 1980 until he died in his sleep from emphysema and heart failure
on May 8, 1988.
At that time, he had been putting together the early notes for another World as Myth novel. Several of his other
works have been published posthumously. Based on an outline and notes created by Heinlein in 1955, Spider
Robinson has written the novel Variable Star. Heinlein's posthumously published nonfiction includes a selection
of correspondence and notes edited into a somewhat autobiographical examination of his career, published in
1989 under the title Grumbles from the Grave by his wife, Virginia; his book on practical politics written in 1946
published as Take Back Your Government; and a travelogue of their first around-the-world tour in 1954, Tramp
Royale. The novels Podkayne of Mars and Red Planet, which were edited against his wishes in their original
release, have been reissued in restored editions. Stranger In a Strange Land was originally published in a
shorter form, but both the long and short versions are now simultaneously available in print.
Heinlein's archive is housed by the Special Collections department of McHenry Library at the University of
California at Santa Cruz. The collection includes manuscript drafts, correspondence, photographs and artifacts.
A substantial portion of the archive has been digitized and it is available online through the Robert A. and
Virginia Heinlein Archives.[48]
Works
Main article: Robert A. Heinlein bibliography
Heinlein published 32 novels, 59 short stories, and 16 collections during his life. Four films, two television
series, several episodes of a radio series, and a board game have been derived more or less directly from his
work. He wrote a screenplay for one of the films. Heinlein edited an anthology of other writers' SF short stories.
Three nonfiction books and two poems have been published posthumously. For Us, The Living: A Comedy of
Customs was published posthumously in 2003; Variable Star, written by Spider Robinson based on an
extensive outline by Heinlein, was published in September 2006. Four collections have been published
posthumously.[36]
Series
Over the course of his career Heinlein wrote three somewhat overlapping series.
Future History series
Lazarus Long series
The Heinlein juveniles
Early work, 1939–1958
Heinlein began his career as a writer of stories for Astounding Science Fiction magazine, which was edited by
John Campbell. The science fiction writer Frederik Pohl has described Heinlein as "that greatest of Campbell-
era sf writers".[49] Isaac Asimov said that, from the time of his first story, the science fiction world accepted that
Heinlein was the best science fiction writer in existence, adding that he would hold this title through his lifetime.
[50]
Alexei and Cory Panshin noted that Heinlein's impact was immediately felt. In 1940, the year after selling 'Life-
Line' to Campbell, he wrote three short novels, four novelettes, and seven short stories. They went on to say
that "No one ever dominated the science fiction field as Bob did in the first few years of his career." [51] Alexei
expresses awe in Heinlein's ability to show readers a world so drastically different from the one we live in now,
yet have so many similarities. He says that "We find ourselves not only in a world other than our own, but
identifying with a living, breathing individual who is operating within its context, and thinking and acting
according to its terms."[52]
Heinlein's 1942 novel Beyond This Horizon was reprinted in Two Complete Science-Adventure Books in 1952, appearing under the
"Anson McDonald" byline even though the book edition had been published under Heinlein's own name four years earlier.
The opening installment of The Puppet Masters took the cover of the September 1951 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction.
The first novel that Heinlein wrote, For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs (1939), did not see print during
his lifetime, but Robert James tracked down the manuscript and it was published in 2003. Though some regard
it as a failure as a novel,[20] considering it little more than a disguised lecture on Heinlein's social theories, some
readers took a very different view. In a review of it, John Clute wrote:
I'm not about to suggest that if Heinlein had been able to publish [such works] openly in the pages
of Astounding in 1939, SF would have gotten the future right; I would suggest, however, that if Heinlein, and his
colleagues, had been able to publish adult SF in Astounding and its fellow journals, then SF might not have
done such a grotesquely poor job of prefiguring something of the flavor of actually living here at the onset of
2004.[53]
For Us, the Living was intriguing as a window into the development of Heinlein's radical ideas about man as
a social animal, including his interest in free love. The root of many themes found in his later stories can be
found in this book. It also contained a large amount of material that could be considered background for his
other novels. This included a detailed description of the protagonist's treatment to avoid being banned
to Coventry (a lawless land in the Heinlein mythos where unrepentant law-breakers are exiled). [54]
Heinlein as depicted in Amazing Stories in 1953
It appears that Heinlein at least attempted to live in a manner consistent with these ideals, even in the 1930s,
and had an open relationship in his marriage to his second wife, Leslyn. He was also a nudist;[3] nudism and
body taboos are frequently discussed in his work. At the height of the Cold War, he built a bomb shelter under
his house, like the one featured in Farnham's Freehold.[3]
After For Us, The Living, Heinlein began selling (to magazines) first short stories, then novels, set in a Future
History, complete with a time line of significant political, cultural, and technological changes. A chart of the
future history was published in the May 1941 issue of Astounding. Over time, Heinlein wrote many novels and
short stories that deviated freely from the Future History on some points, while maintaining consistency in some
other areas. The Future History was eventually overtaken by actual events. These discrepancies were
explained, after a fashion, in his later World as Myth stories.
The 1972 collection Myths and Modern Man noted
It is strange how, among all the justified praise heaped upon Heinlein, what should have counted as one of the
most brilliant successes of his entire career is very much overlooked. I talk, of course, about the 1940 story
"Solution Unsatisfactory". At the time when the Second World War just got seriously going, the United States
and Soviet Union had not yet become directly involved and the world's attention was riveted on the
unfolding Battle of Britain, Heinlein was four or five steps ahead of everybody. More than a year before
Roosevelt authorized the Manhatten Project, Heinlein correctly foresaw that: a) The President of the US would
initiate a secret project to develop nuclear weapons and employ scientist refugees from Nazi Europe; b) By
1945, the US would have a weapon able to destroy an entire city in one blow from a single airplane – and
would use that weapon to end to war; c) That with the US having thus won the war, the world would become
aware of the realities of a nuclear arms race – without using the term, Heinlein predicted and described in detail
the doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction; and d) Concretely, the main issue on the agenda in the post-1945
years would be whether the Soviet Union would obtain nuclear arms, and if it did – would the Soviets try to
launch a surprise nuclear attack on the United States. For having predicted all that in 1940 – even to accurately
predicting the remorse and guilt feeling of the scientists involved – Heinlein deserves much plaudits. In my
view, this should have counted for than the Future History – which is entertaining but widely off the mark as,
well, future history.[55]
Heinlein's first novel published as a book, Rocket Ship Galileo, was initially rejected because going to the moon
was considered too far-fetched, but he soon found a publisher, Scribner's, that began publishing a
Heinlein juvenile once a year for the Christmas season.[56] Eight of these books were illustrated by Clifford
Geary in a distinctive white-on-black scratchboard style.[57] Some representative novels of this type are Have
Space Suit—Will Travel, Farmer in the Sky, and Starman Jones. Many of these were first published in serial
form under other titles, e.g., Farmer in the Sky was published as Satellite Scout in the Boy
Scout magazine Boys' Life. There has been speculation that Heinlein's intense obsession with his privacy was
due at least in part to the apparent contradiction between his unconventional private life and his career as an
author of books for children. However, For Us, The Living explicitly discusses the political importance Heinlein
attached to privacy as a matter of principle thus negating this line of reasoning. [58]
The novels that Heinlein wrote for a young audience are commonly called "the Heinlein juveniles", and they
feature a mixture of adolescent and adult themes. Many of the issues that he takes on in these books have to
do with the kinds of problems that adolescents experience. His protagonists are usually intelligent teenagers
who have to make their way in the adult society they see around them. On the surface, they are simple tales of
adventure, achievement, and dealing with stupid teachers and jealous peers. Heinlein was a vocal proponent of
the notion that juvenile readers were far more sophisticated and able to handle more complex or difficult
themes than most people realized. His juvenile stories often had a maturity to them that made them readable
for adults. Red Planet, for example, portrays some subversive themes, including a revolution in which young
students are involved; his editor demanded substantial changes in this book's discussion of topics such as the
use of weapons by children and the misidentified sex of the Martian character. Heinlein was always aware of
the editorial limitations put in place by the editors of his novels and stories, and while he observed those
restrictions on the surface, was often successful in introducing ideas not often seen in other authors' juvenile
SF.
In 1957, James Blish wrote that one reason for Heinlein's success "has been the high grade of machinery
which goes, today as always, into his story-telling. Heinlein seems to have known from the beginning, as if
instinctively, technical lessons about fiction which other writers must learn the hard way (or often enough, never
learn). He does not always operate the machinery to the best advantage, but he always seems to be aware of
it."[59]
1959–1960
Heinlein decisively ended his juvenile novels with Starship Troopers (1959), a controversial work and his
personal riposte to leftists calling for President Dwight D. Eisenhower to stop nuclear testing in 1958. "The
'Patrick Henry' ad shocked 'em", he wrote many years later. "Starship Troopers outraged 'em."[60] Starship
Troopers is a coming-of-age story about duty, citizenship, and the role of the military in society. [61] The book
portrays a society in which suffrage is earned by demonstrated willingness to place society's interests before
one's own, at least for a short time and often under onerous circumstances, in government service; in the case
of the protagonist, this was military service.
Later, in Expanded Universe, Heinlein said that it was his intention in the novel that service could include
positions outside strictly military functions such as teachers, police officers, and other government positions.
This is presented in the novel as an outgrowth of the failure of unearned suffrage government and as a very
successful arrangement. In addition, the franchise was only awarded after leaving the assigned service; thus
those serving their terms—in the military, or any other service—were excluded from exercising any franchise.
Career military were completely disenfranchised until retirement.
The name Starship Troopers was licensed for an unrelated, B movie script called Bug Hunt at Outpost Nine,
which was then retitled to benefit from the book's credibility. [62] The resulting film, entitled Starship
Troopers (1997), which was written by Ed Neumeier and directed by Paul Verhoeven, had little relationship to
the book, beyond the inclusion of character names, the depiction of space marines, and the concept
of suffrage earned by military service. Fans of Heinlein were critical of the movie, which they considered a
betrayal of Heinlein's philosophy, presenting the society in which the story takes place as fascist.[63]
Likewise, the powered armor technology that is not only central to the book, but became a standard subgenre
of science fiction thereafter, is completely absent in the movie, where the characters use World War II-
technology weapons and wear light combat gear little more advanced than that. [64] In Verhoeven's movie of the
same name, there is no battle armor. Verhoeven commented that he had tried to read the book after he had
bought the rights to it, in order to add it to his existing movie. However he read only the first two chapters,
finding it too boring to continue. He thought it was a bad book and asked Ed Neumeier to tell him the story
because he couldn't read it.[65]
Middle period work, 1961–1973
From about 1961 (Stranger in a Strange Land) to 1973 (Time Enough for Love), Heinlein explored some of his
most important themes, such as individualism, libertarianism, and free expression of physical and emotional
love. Three novels from this period, Stranger in a Strange Land, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, and Time
Enough for Love, won the Libertarian Futurist Society's Prometheus Hall of Fame Award, designed to honor
classic libertarian fiction.[66] Jeff Riggenbach described The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress as "unquestionably one of
the three or four most influential libertarian novels of the last century". [67]
Heinlein did not publish Stranger in a Strange Land until some time after it was written, and the themes of free
love and radical individualism are prominently featured in his long-unpublished first novel, For Us, The Living: A
Comedy of Customs.
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress tells of a war of independence waged by the Lunar penal colonies, with
significant comments from a major character, Professor La Paz, regarding the threat posed by government to
individual freedom.
Heinlein's novel Podkayne of Mars was serialized in If, with a cover by Virgil Finlay.
Although Heinlein had previously written a few short stories in the fantasy genre, during this period he wrote his
first fantasy novel, Glory Road. In Stranger in a Strange Land and I Will Fear No Evil, he began to mix hard
science with fantasy, mysticism, and satire of organized religion. Critics William H. Patterson, Jr., and Andrew
Thornton believe that this is simply an expression of Heinlein's longstanding philosophical opposition
to positivism.[68][verification needed] Heinlein stated that he was influenced by James Branch Cabell in taking this new
literary direction. The penultimate novel of this period, I Will Fear No Evil, is according to critic James Gifford
"almost universally regarded as a literary failure"[69] and he attributes its shortcomings to Heinlein's near-death
from peritonitis.
Later work, 1980–1987
After a seven-year hiatus brought on by poor health, Heinlein produced five new novels in the period from 1980
(The Number of the Beast) to 1987 (To Sail Beyond the Sunset). These books have a thread of common
characters and time and place. They most explicitly communicated Heinlein's philosophies and beliefs, and
many long, didactic passages of dialog and exposition deal with government, sex, and religion. These novels
are controversial among his readers and one critic, David Langford, has written about them very negatively.
[70]
Heinlein's four Hugo awards were all for books written before this period.
Most of the novels from this period are recognized by critics as forming an offshoot from the Future History
series, and referred to by the term World as Myth. [71]
The tendency toward authorial self-reference begun in Stranger in a Strange Land and Time Enough for
Love becomes even more evident in novels such as The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, whose first-person
protagonist is a disabled military veteran who becomes a writer, and finds love with a female character. [72]
The 1982 novel Friday, a more conventional adventure story (borrowing a character and backstory from the
earlier short story Gulf, also containing suggestions of connection to The Puppet Masters) continued a Heinlein
theme of expecting what he saw as the continued disintegration of Earth's society, to the point where the title
character is strongly encouraged to seek a new life off-planet. It concludes with a traditional Heinlein note, as
in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress or Time Enough for Love, that freedom is to be found on the frontiers.
The 1984 novel Job: A Comedy of Justice is a sharp satire of organized religion. Heinlein himself was agnostic.
[73][74]
Posthumous publications
Several Heinlein works have been published since his death, including the aforementioned For Us, The
Living as well as 1989's Grumbles from the Grave, a collection of letters between Heinlein and his editors and
agent; 1992's Tramp Royale, a travelogue of a southern hemisphere tour the Heinleins took in the 1950s; Take
Back Your Government, a how-to book about participatory democracy written in 1946; and a tribute volume
called Requiem: Collected Works and Tributes to the Grand Master, containing some additional short works
previously unpublished in book form. Off the Main Sequence, published in 2005, includes three short stories
never before collected in any Heinlein book (Heinlein called them "stinkeroos").
Spider Robinson, a colleague, friend, and admirer of Heinlein, [75] wrote Variable Star, based on an outline and
notes for a juvenile novel that Heinlein prepared in 1955. The novel was published as a collaboration, with
Heinlein's name above Robinson's on the cover, in 2006.
A complete collection of Heinlein's published work has been published [76] by the Heinlein Prize Trust as the
"Virginia Edition", after his wife. See the Complete Works section of Robert A. Heinlein bibliography for details.
On February 1, 2019, Phoenix Pick announced that through a collaboration with the Heinlein Prize Trust, a
reconstruction of the full text of an unpublished Heinlein novel had been produced. The reconstructed novel,
tentatively entitled The Pursuit of the Pankera: A Parallel Novel about Parallel Universes, is an alternative
version of The Number of the Beast, with the first one-third of The Pursuit of the Pankera mostly the same as
the first one-third of The Number of the Beast but the remainder of The Pursuit of the Pankera deviating entirely
from The Number of the Beast, with a completely different story-line. The newly reconstructed novel pays
homage to Edgar Rice Burroughs and E. E. “Doc” Smith. It is currently being edited by Patrick Lobrutto. Some
reviewers describe the newly-reconstructed novel as more in line with the style of a traditional Heinlein novel
than was 'The Number of the Beast.'[77] Both The Pursuit of the Pankera and a new edition of The Number of the
Beast are planned to be published in the fourth quarter of 2019. The new edition of the latter will share the
subtitle of The Pursuit of the Pankera, hence it will be titled The Number of the Beast: A Parallel Novel about
Parallel Universes[78][79]
Influences
The primary influence on Heinlein's writing style may have been Rudyard Kipling. Kipling is the first known
modern example of "indirect exposition", a writing technique for which Heinlein later became famous.[80] In his
famous text on "On the Writing of Speculative Fiction", Heinlein quotes Kipling:
There are nine-and-sixty ways
Of constructing tribal lays
And every single one of them is right
Stranger in a Strange Land originated as a modernized version of Kipling's The Jungle Book, his wife
suggesting that the child be raised by Martians instead of wolves. Likewise, Citizen of the Galaxy can be seen
as a reboot of Kipling's novel Kim.[81]
The Starship Troopers idea of needing to serve in the military in order to vote, can be found in Kipling's "The
Army of a Dream":
But as a little detail we never mention, if we don't volunteer in some corps or other — as combatants if we're fit,
as non-combatants if we ain't — till we're thirty-five — we don't vote, and we don't get poor-relief, and the
women don't love us.
Poul Anderson once said of Kipling's science fiction story "As Easy as A.B.C.", "a wonderful science fiction
yarn, showing the same eye for detail that would later distinguish the work of Robert Heinlein".
Heinlein described himself as also being influenced by George Bernard Shaw, having read most of his plays.
[82]
Shaw is an example of an earlier author who used the competent man, a favorite Heinlein archetype.[83] He
denied, though, any direct influence of Back to Methuselah on Methuselah's Children.
Views
Heinlein's books probe a range of ideas about a range of topics such as sex, race, politics, and the military.
Many were seen as radical or as ahead of their time in their social criticism. His books have inspired
considerable debate about the specifics, and the evolution, of Heinlein's own opinions, and have earned him
both lavish praise and a degree of criticism. He has also been accused of contradicting himself on various
philosophical questions.[84]
Brian Doherty cites William Patterson, saying that the best way to gain an understanding of Heinlein is as a
"full-service iconoclast, the unique individual who decides that things do not have to be, and won't continue, as
they are." He says this vision is "at the heart of Heinlein, science fiction, libertarianism, and America. Heinlein
imagined how everything about the human world, from our sexual mores to our religion to our automobiles to
our government to our plans for cultural survival, might be flawed, even fatally so." [85]
RAH c. 1953
The critic Elizabeth Anne Hull, for her part, has praised Heinlein for his interest in exploring fundamental life
questions, especially questions about "political power—our responsibilities to one another" and about "personal
freedom, particularly sexual freedom."[86]
Edward R. Murrow hosted a series on CBS Radio called This I Believe, which solicited an Entry from Heinlein
that is probably the most enduring and popular of the title: Our Noble, Essential Decency. In it, Heinlein broke
with the normal trends, stating that he believed in his neighbors (some of whom he named and described),
community, and towns across America that share the same sense of good will and intentions as his own, going
on to apply this same philosophy to the US, and humanity in general.
I believe in my fellow citizens. Our headlines are splashed with crime. Yet for every criminal, there
“ are ten thousand honest, decent, kindly men. If it were not so, no child would live to grow up.
Business could not go on from day to day. Decency is not news. It is buried in the obituaries, but it
is a force stronger than crime. ”
Politics
Heinlein's political positions shifted throughout his life. Heinlein's early political leanings were liberal.[87] In 1934,
he worked actively for the Democratic campaign of Upton Sinclair for Governor of California. After Sinclair lost,
Heinlein became an anti-Communist Democratic activist. He made an unsuccessful bid for a California State
Assembly seat in 1938.[87] Heinlein's first novel, For Us, The Living (written 1939), consists largely of speeches
advocating the Social Credit system, and the early story "Misfit" (1939) deals with an organization—"The
Cosmic Construction Corps"—that seems to be Franklin D. Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps translated
into outer space.[88]
Of this time in his life, Heinlein later said:
At the time I wrote Methuselah's Children I was still politically quite naive and still had hopes that various
libertarian notions could be put over by political processes ... It [now] seems to me that every time we manage
to establish one freedom, they take another one away. Maybe two. And that seems to me characteristic of a
society as it gets older, and more crowded, and higher taxes, and more laws. [82]
Heinlein's fiction of the 1940s and 1950s, however, began to espouse conservative views. After 1945, he came
to believe that a strong world government was the only way to avoid mutual nuclear annihilation.[citation needed] His
1948 novel, Beyond This Horizon, included this quote, “An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good
when one may have to back up his acts with his life.” [89] His 1949 novel Space Cadet describes a future
scenario where a military-controlled global government enforces world peace. Heinlein ceased considering
himself a Democrat in 1954.[87]
The Heinleins formed the small "Patrick Henry League" in 1958, and they worked in the 1964 Barry
Goldwater Presidential campaign.[27]
When Robert A. Heinlein opened his Colorado Springs newspaper on April 5, 1958, he read a full-page ad
demanding that the Eisenhower Administration stop testing nuclear weapons. The science fiction author was
flabbergasted. He called for the formation of the Patrick Henry League and spent the next several weeks
writing and publishing his own polemic that lambasted "Communist-line goals concealed in idealistic-sounding
nonsense" and urged Americans not to become "soft-headed." [90]
That ad was entitled Who Are the Heirs of Patrick Henry?. It started with the famous Henry quotation: "Is life so
dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know
not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!!". It then went on to admit
that there was some risk to nuclear testing (albeit less than the "willfully distorted" claims of the test ban
advocates), and risk of nuclear war, but that "The alternative is surrender. We accept the risks." Heinlein was
among those who in 1968 signed a pro-Vietnam War ad in Galaxy Science Fiction.[91]
Heinlein always considered himself a libertarian; in a letter to Judith Merril in 1967 (never sent) he said, "As for
libertarian, I've been one all my life, a radical one. You might use the term 'philosophical anarchist' or
'autarchist' about me, but 'libertarian' is easier to define and fits well enough." [92]
Stranger in a Strange Land was embraced by the hippie counterculture, and libertarians have found inspiration
in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. Both groups found resonance with his themes of personal freedom in both
thought and action.[67]
Race
Heinlein grew up in the era of racial segregation in the United States and wrote some of his most influential
fiction at the height of the civil rights movement. He explicitly made the case for using his fiction not only to
predict the future but to educate his readers about the value of racial equality and the importance of racial
tolerance.[93] His early novels were very much ahead of their time both in their explicit rejection of racism and in
their inclusion of protagonists of color—in the context of science fiction before the 1960s, the mere existence of
characters of color was a remarkable novelty, with green occurring more often than brown. [94] For example, his
1948 novel Space Cadet explicitly uses aliens as a metaphor for minorities. In his novel Star Beast, the de
facto foreign minister of the Terran government is an undersecretary, a Mr. Kiku, who is from Africa. [95] Heinlein
explicitly states his skin is "ebony black", and that Kiku is in an arranged marriage that is happy. [96]
In a number of his stories, Heinlein challenges his readers' possible racial preconceptions by introducing a
strong, sympathetic character, only to reveal much later that he or she is of African or other ancestry; in several
cases, the covers of the books show characters as being light-skinned, when in fact the text states, or at least
implies, that they are dark-skinned or of African ancestry. [99] Heinlein repeatedly denounced racism in his non-
fiction works, including numerous examples in Expanded Universe.
Heinlein reveals in Starship Troopers that the novel's protagonist and narrator, Johnny Rico, the formerly
disaffected scion of a wealthy family, is Filipino, actually named "Juan Rico" and speaks Tagalog in addition to
English.
Race was a central theme in some of Heinlein's fiction. The most prominent and controversial example
is Farnham's Freehold, which casts a white family into a future in which white people are the slaves of
cannibalistic black rulers. In the 1941 novel Sixth Column (also known as The Day After Tomorrow), a white
resistance movement in the United States defends itself against an invasion by an Asian fascist state (the
"Pan-Asians") using a "super-science" technology that allows ray weapons to be tuned to specific races. The
book is sprinkled with racist slurs against Asian people, and black and Hispanic people are not mentioned at
all. The idea for the story was pushed on Heinlein by editor John W. Campbell, and Heinlein wrote later that he
had "had to re-slant it to remove racist aspects of the original story line" and that he did not "consider it to be an
artistic success."[100][101] However, the novel prompted a heated debate in the scientific community regarding the
plausibility of developing ethnic bioweapons.[102]
Individualism and self-determination
In keeping with his belief in individualism, his work for adults—and sometimes even his work for juveniles—
often portrays both the oppressors and the oppressed with considerable ambiguity. Heinlein believed that
individualism was incompatible with ignorance. He believed that an appropriate level of adult competence was
achieved through a wide-ranging education, whether this occurred in a classroom or not. In his juvenile novels,
more than once a character looks with disdain at a student's choice of classwork, saying, "Why didn't you study
something useful?"[103] In Time Enough for Love, Lazarus Long gives a long list of capabilities that anyone
should have, concluding, "Specialization is for insects." The ability of the individual to create himself is explored
in stories such as I Will Fear No Evil, "'—All You Zombies—'", and "By His Bootstraps".
Heinlein claimed to have written Starship Troopers in response to "calls for the unilateral ending of nuclear
testing by the United States."[104] Heinlein suggests in the book that the Bugs are a good example of
Communism being something that humans cannot successfully adhere to, since humans are strongly defined
individuals, whereas the Bugs, being a collective, can all contribute to the whole without consideration of
individual desire.[105]
Sexual issues
For Heinlein, personal liberation included sexual liberation, and free love was a major subject of his writing
starting in 1939, with For Us, The Living. During his early period, Heinlein's writing for younger readers needed
to take account of both editorial perceptions of sexuality in his novels, and potential perceptions among the
buying public; as critic William H. Patterson has put it, his dilemma was "to sort out what was really
objectionable from what was only excessive over-sensitivity to imaginary librarians". [106]
By his middle period, sexual freedom and the elimination of sexual jealousy became a major theme; for
instance, in Stranger in a Strange Land (1961), the progressively minded but sexually conservative reporter,
Ben Caxton, acts as a dramatic foil for the less parochial characters, Jubal Harshaw and Valentine Michael
Smith (Mike). Another of the main characters, Jill, is homophobic.[107]
According to Gary Westfahl,
"Heinlein is a problematic case for feminists; on the one hand, his works often feature strong female characters
and vigorous statements that women are equal to or even superior to men; but these characters and
statements often reflect hopelessly stereotypical attitudes about typical female attributes. It is disconcerting, for
example, that in Expanded Universe Heinlein calls for a society where all lawyers and politicians are women,
essentially on the grounds that they possess a mysterious feminine practicality that men cannot duplicate." [108]
In books written as early as 1956, Heinlein dealt with incest and the sexual nature of children. Many of his
books including Time for the Stars, Glory Road, Time Enough for Love, and The Number of the Beast dealt
explicitly or implicitly with incest, sexual feelings and relations between adults and children, or both. [109] The
treatment of these themes include the romantic relationship and eventual marriage, once the girl becomes an
adult via time-travel, of a 30-year-old engineer and an 11-year-old girl in The Door into Summer or the more
overt intra-familial incest in To Sail Beyond the Sunset and Farnham's Freehold. Heinlein often posed
situations where the nominal purpose of sexual taboos was irrelevant to a particular situation, due to future
advances in technology. For example, in Time Enough for Love Heinlein describes a brother and sister (Joe
and Llita) who were mirror twins, being complementary diploids with entirely disjoint genomes, and thus not at
increased risk for unfavorable gene duplication due to consanguinity. In this instance, Llita and Joe were props
used to explore the concept of incest, where the usual objection to incest — heightened risk of genetic defect in
their children — was not a consideration.[110] Peers such as L. Sprague de Camp and Damon Knight have
commented critically on Heinlein's portrayal of incest and pedophilia in a lighthearted and even approving
manner.[109] However, Heinlein's intent seems more to provoke the reader and to question sexual mores than to
promote any particular sexual agenda.[111]
Philosophy
In To Sail Beyond the Sunset, Heinlein has the main character, Maureen, state that the purpose
of metaphysics is to ask questions: "Why are we here?" "Where are we going after we die?" (and so on); and
that you are not allowed to answer the questions. Asking the questions is the point of metaphysics,
but answering them is not, because once you answer this kind of question, you cross the line into religion.
Maureen does not state a reason for this; she simply remarks that such questions are "beautiful" but lack
answers. Maureen's son/lover Lazarus Long makes a related remark in Time Enough for Love. In order for us
to answer the "big questions" about the universe, Lazarus states at one point, it would be necessary to
stand outside the universe.
During the 1930s and 1940s, Heinlein was deeply interested in Alfred Korzybski's general semantics and
attended a number of seminars on the subject. His views on epistemology seem to have flowed from that
interest, and his fictional characters continue to express Korzybskian views to the very end of his writing career.
Many of his stories, such as Gulf, If This Goes On—, and Stranger in a Strange Land, depend strongly on the
premise, related to the well-known Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, that by using a correctly designed language, one
can change or improve oneself mentally, or even realize untapped potential (as in the case of Joe in Gulf –
whose last name may be Greene, Gilead or Briggs). [112]
When Ayn Rand's novel The Fountainhead was published, Heinlein was very favorably impressed, as quoted
in "Grumbles ..." and mentioned John Galt—the hero in Rand's Atlas Shrugged—as a heroic archetype in The
Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. He was also strongly affected by the religious philosopher P. D. Ouspensky.
[20]
Freudianism and psychoanalysis were at the height of their influence during the peak of Heinlein's career,
and stories such as Time for the Stars indulged in psychological theorizing.
However, he was skeptical about Freudianism, especially after a struggle with an editor who insisted on
reading Freudian sexual symbolism into his juvenile novels. Heinlein was fascinated by the social
credit movement in the 1930s. This is shown in Beyond This Horizon and in his 1938 novel For Us, The Living:
A Comedy of Customs, which was finally published in 2003, long after his death.
Pay it forward
The term "pay it forward", though it was already in occasional use as a quotation, was popularized by Robert A.
Heinlein in his book Between Planets,[113] published in 1951:
The banker reached into the folds of his gown, pulled out a single credit note. "But eat first—a full belly steadies
the judgment. Do me the honor of accepting this as our welcome to the newcomer."
His pride said no; his stomach said YES! Don took it and said, "Uh, thanks! That's awfully kind of you. I'll pay it
back, first chance."
"Instead, pay it forward to some other brother who needs it."
Heinlein was a mentor to Ray Bradbury, giving him help and quite possibly passing on the concept, made
famous by the publication of a letter from him to Heinlein thanking him. [114] In Bradbury's novel Dandelion Wine,
published in 1957, when the main character Douglas Spaulding is reflecting on his life being saved by Mr.
Jonas, the Junkman:
How do I thank Mr. Jonas, he wondered, for what he's done? How do I thank him, how pay him back? No way,
no way at all. You just can't pay. What then? What? Pass it on somehow, he thought, pass it on to someone
else. Keep the chain moving. Look around, find someone, and pass it on. That was the only way ...
Bradbury has also advised that writers he has helped thank him by helping other writers. [115]
Heinlein both preached and practiced this philosophy; now the Heinlein Society, a humanitarian organization
founded in his name, does so, attributing the philosophy to its various efforts, including Heinlein for Heroes, the
Heinlein Society Scholarship Program, and Heinlein Society blood drives. [116] Author Spider Robinson made
repeated reference to the doctrine, attributing it to his spiritual mentor Heinlein. [117]
Influence and legacy
The Dean of Science Fiction Writers
Heinlein is usually identified, along with Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke, as one of the three masters of
science fiction to arise in the so-called Golden Age of science fiction, associated with John W. Campbell and
his magazine Astounding.[118] In the 1950s he was a leader in bringing science fiction out of the low-paying and
less prestigious "pulp ghetto". Most of his works, including short stories, have been continuously in print in
many languages since their initial appearance and are still available as new paperbacks decades after his
death.
Heinlein crater on Mars
He was at the top of his form during, and himself helped to initiate, the trend toward social science fiction,
which went along with a general maturing of the genre away from space opera to a more literary approach
touching on such adult issues as politics and human sexuality. In reaction to this trend, hard science
fiction began to be distinguished as a separate subgenre, but paradoxically Heinlein is also considered a
seminal figure in hard science fiction, due to his extensive knowledge of engineering and the careful scientific
research demonstrated in his stories. Heinlein himself stated—with obvious pride—that in the days before
pocket calculators, he and his wife Virginia once worked for several days on a mathematical equation
describing an Earth-Mars rocket orbit, which was then subsumed in a single sentence of the novel Space
Cadet.
Writing style
Heinlein is often credited with bringing serious writing techniques to the genre of science fiction.
For example, when writing about fictional worlds, previous authors were often limited by the reader's existing
knowledge of a typical "space opera" setting, leading to a relatively low creativity level: The same starships,
death rays, and horrifying rubbery aliens becoming ubiquitous. This was necessary unless the author was
willing to go into long expositions about the setting of the story, at a time when the word count was at a
premium in SF.
But Heinlein utilized a technique called "indirect exposition", perhaps first introduced by Rudyard Kipling in his
own science fiction venture, the Aerial Board of Control stories. Kipling had picked this up during his time
in India.[119] This technique — mentioning details in a way that lets the reader infer more about the universe than
is actually spelled out[120] became a trademark rhetorical technique of both Heinlein and generation of writers
influenced by him. Heinlein was significantly influenced by Kipling beyond this, for example quoting him in On
the Writing of Speculative Fiction.[121]
Likewise, Heinlein's name is often associated with the competent hero, a character archetype who, though he
or she may have flaws and limitations, is a strong, accomplished person able to overcome any soluble problem
set in their path. They tend to feel confident overall, have a broad life experience and set of skills, and not give
up when the going gets tough. This style influenced not only the writing style of a generation of authors, but
even their personal character. Harlan Ellison once said, "Very early in life when I read Robert Heinlein I got the
thread that runs through his stories—the notion of the competent man ... I've always held that as my ideal. I've
tried to be a very competent man." [122]
While Heinlein used this style, in part, as a role model to the reader, it also has appeal to the self-image of
general competence among many science fiction readers, who may see themselves as having technical ability,
wide-ranging knowledge, an understanding of science, and great problem-solving skill, all of which feel
unappreciated in school and work.
Heinlein's Rules of Writing
When fellow writers, or fans, wrote Heinlein asking for writing advice, he famously gave out his own list of rules
for becoming a successful writer:
1. You must write.
2. Finish what you start.
3. You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order.
4. You must put your story on the market.
5. You must keep it on the market until it has sold.
About which he said:
The above five rules really have more to do with how to write speculative fiction than anything said above them.
But they are amazingly hard to follow – which is why there are so few professional writers and so many
aspirants, and which is why I am not afraid to give away the racket! [123]
Heinlein later published an entire article, "On the Writing of Speculative Fiction", which included his rules, and
from which the above quote is taken. When he says "anything said above them", he refers to his other
guidelines. For example, he describes most stories as fitting into one of a handful of basic categories:
The Gadget Story
The Human Interest Story
Boy Meets Girl
The Little Tailor
The Man-Who-Learned-Better
In the article, Heinlein credits L. Ron Hubbard as having identified "The Man-Who-Learned-Better".
Influence among writers
Heinlein has had a pervasive influence on other science fiction writers. In a 1953 poll of leading science fiction
authors, he was cited more frequently as an influence than any other modern writer. [124] Critic James Gifford
writes that
"Although many other writers have exceeded Heinlein's output, few can claim to match his broad and seminal
influence. Scores of science fiction writers from the prewar Golden Age through the present day loudly and
enthusiastically credit Heinlein for blazing the trails of their own careers, and shaping their styles and
stories."[125]
Heinlein gave Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle extensive advice on a draft manuscript of The Mote in God's
Eye.[126] He contributed a cover blurb "Possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read." Writer David
Gerrold, responsible for creating the tribbles in Star Trek, also credited Heinlein as the inspiration for
his Dingilliad series of novels. Gregory Benford refers to his novel Jupiter Project as a Heinlein tribute.
Similarly, Charles Stross says his Hugo Award-nominated novel Saturn's Children is "a space opera and late-
period Robert A. Heinlein tribute",[127] referring to Heinlein's Friday.[128] The theme and plot of Kameron Hurley's
novel, The Light Brigade clearly echo those of Heinlein's Starship Troopers.[129]
Words and phrases coined
Outside the science fiction community, several words and phrases coined or adopted by Heinlein have passed
into common English usage:
Waldo, protagonist in the eponymous short story "Waldo", whose name came to mean mechanical or
robot arms in the real world that are akin to the ones used by the character in the story.
Moonbat[130] used in United States politics as a pejorative political epithet referring to progressives
or leftists, was originally the name of a space ship in his story Space Jockey.
Grok, a "Martian" word for understanding a thing so fully as to become one with it, from Stranger in a
Strange Land.
Space marine, an existing term popularized by Heinlein in short stories, the concept then being made
famous by Starship Troopers, though the term "space marine" is not used in that novel.
Speculative fiction, a term Heinlein used for the separation of serious, consistent Science Fiction
writing, from the pop "sci fi" of the day, which generally took great artistic license with human knowledge,
amounting to being more like space fantasy than science fiction.
Inspiring culture and technology
In 1962, Oberon Zell-Ravenheart (then still using his birth name, Tim Zell) founded the Church of All Worlds,
a Neopagan religious organization modeled in many ways (including its name) after the treatment of religion in
the novel Stranger in a Strange Land. This spiritual path included several ideas from the book, including non-
mainstream family structures, social libertarianism, water-sharing rituals, an acceptance of all religious paths by
a single tradition, and the use of several terms such as "grok", "Thou art God", and "Never Thirst". Though
Heinlein was neither a member nor a promoter of the Church, there was a frequent exchange of
correspondence between Zell and Heinlein, and he was a paid subscriber to their magazine, Green Egg. This
Church still exists as a 501(C)(3) religious organization incorporated in California, with membership worldwide,
and it remains an active part of the neopagan community today.[131]
Heinlein was influential in making space exploration seem to the public more like a practical possibility. His
stories in publications such as The Saturday Evening Post took a matter-of-fact approach to their outer-space
setting, rather than the "gee whiz" tone that had previously been common. The documentary-like
film Destination Moon advocated a Space Race with an unspecified foreign power almost a decade before
such an idea became commonplace, and was promoted by an unprecedented publicity campaign in print
publications. Many of the astronauts and others working in the U.S. space program grew up on a diet of the
Heinlein juveniles,[original research?] best evidenced by the naming of a crater on Mars after him, and a tribute
interspersed by the Apollo 15 astronauts into their radio conversations while on the moon.[132]
Heinlein was also a guest commentator for Walter Cronkite during Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's Apollo
11 moon landing. He remarked to Cronkite during the landing that, "This is the greatest event in human history,
up to this time. This is—today is New Year's Day of the Year One." [133] Businessman and entrepreneur Elon
Musk says that Heinlein's books have helped inspire his career. [134]
Heinlein Society
Main article: Heinlein Society
The Heinlein Society was founded by Virginia Heinlein on behalf of her husband, to "pay forward" the legacy of
the writer to future generations of "Heinlein's Children." The foundation has programs to:
"Promote Heinlein blood drives."
"Provide educational materials to educators."
"Promote scholarly research and overall discussion of the works and ideas of Robert Anson Heinlein."
The Heinlein society also established the Robert A. Heinlein Award in 2003 "for outstanding published works in
science fiction and technical writings to inspire the human exploration of space." [135][136]
In popular culture[edit]
In the 1967 Star Trek television episode "The Trouble with Tribbles", the title creatures in the episode
resembled the Martian flat cats in Heinlein's 1952 novel The Rolling Stones. Script writer David
Gerrold was concerned that he had inadvertently plagiarized the novel which he had read fifteen years
before.[137] These concerns were brought up by a research team, who suggested that the rights to the novel
should be purchased from Heinlein. One of the producers phoned Heinlein, who only asked for a signed
copy of the script and later sent a note to Gerrold after it aired to thank him for the script. [138]
In the 2001 novel The Counterfeit Heinlein by Laurence M. Janifer, Heinlein appears indirectly as the
purported author of an ancient manuscript, supposedly one of his unpublished stories, "The Stone Pillow".
[139][third-party source needed]
Author John Varley, also a Heinlein fan, coined the term Heinleiner in his novels Steel Beach and The
Golden Globe. The term is now considered slang for rugged individualists. [140][141]
Music
o In 1971, progressive rock band Yes released a three-part song called "Starship Trooper" on
their album The Yes Album. The title was taken from the novel. Lyricist Jon Anderson said he got the
idea of a "Starship Trooper being another guardian angel and Mother Earth".
o In 1974, Jimmy Webb used the author's title The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress for his song of the
same name.[142]
o The U2 song "Stranger in a Strange Land" was named for the novel. [143]
o Many people have collected the various parts of the Heinlein "song" The Green Hills of
Earth – Heinlein used this trope in various stories, the characters occasionally mentioning the song
and even quoting lines from it – and put them to music.[144][145][146]
Honors
In his lifetime, Heinlein received four Hugo Awards, for Double Star, Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange
Land, and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, and was nominated for four Nebula Awards, for Stranger in a
Strange Land, Friday, Time Enough for Love, and Job: A Comedy of Justice.[147] He was also given seven
Retro-Hugos: two for best novel: "Beyond This Horizon" and "Farmer in the Sky"; Three for best novella: :"If
This Goes On ...", "Waldo", and "The Man Who Sold the Moon"; one for best novelette: "The Roads Must Roll";
and one for best dramatic presentation: "Destination Moon".[148][149][150]
Orbital path of Robert Heinlein's eponymous asteroid
The Science Fiction Writers of America named Heinlein its first Grand Master in 1974, presented 1975. Officers
and past presidents of the Association select a living writer for lifetime achievement (now annually and
including fantasy literature).[15][16]
Main-belt asteroid 6312 Robheinlein (1990 RH4), discovered on September 14, 1990 by H. E. Holt, at Palomar
was named after him.[151]
There is no lunar feature named explicitly for Heinlein, but in 1994 the International Astronomical
Union named Heinlein crater on Mars in his honor.[152][153]
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted Heinlein in 1998, its third class of two deceased and
two living writers and editors.[154]
In 2001 the United States Naval Academy created the Robert A. Heinlein Chair In Aerospace Engineering. [155]
In 2016, after an intensive online campaign to win a vote for the opening, Heinlein was inducted into the Hall of
Famous Missourians.[156] His bronze bust, created by Kansas City sculptor E. Spencer Schubert, is on
permanent display in the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City.[157]
The Libertarian Futurist Society has honored five of Heinlein's novels and two short stories with their Hall of
Fame award.[158] The first two were given during his lifetime for The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress and Stranger in a
Strange Land. Five more were awarded posthumously for Red Planet, Methuselah's Children, Time Enough for
Love, and the short stories Requiem and Coventry.
Giovanni Domenico Cassini
Giovanni[a] Domenico Cassini, also known as Jean-Dominique Cassini (8 June 1625 – 14 September 1712) was
an Italian (naturalised French)[1] mathematician, astronomer and engineer. Cassini was born in Perinaldo,[2]
[3]
near Imperia, at that time in the County of Nice, part of the Savoyard state.[4][5] Cassini is known for his work in
the fields of astronomy and engineering. Cassini discovered four satellites of the planet Saturn and noted the
division of the rings of Saturn; the Cassini Division was named after him. Giovanni Domenico Cassini was also
the first of his family to begin work on the project of creating a topographic map of France.
The Cassini space probe, launched in 1997, was named after him and became the fourth to visit the planet
Saturn and the first to orbit the planet.
Giovanni Domenico Cassini
Life
Time in Italy
Cassini was the son of Jacopo Cassini, a Tuscan, and Giulia Crovesi. In 1648 Cassini accepted a position at
the observatory at Panzano, near Bologna, to work with Marquis Cornelio Malvasia, a rich amateur astronomer,
initiating the first part of his career.[6] During his time at the Panzano Observatory, Cassini was able to complete
his education under the scientists Giovanni Battista Riccioli and Francesco Maria Grimaldi. In 1650 the senate
of Bologna appointed him as the principal chair of astronomy at the University of Bologna.[6]
The pinhole-projected image of the Sun on the floor at Florence Cathedral. Cassini measured a similar image over a year at San
Petronio Basilica to try to prove the Earth orbited the Sun.
In San Petronio, Bologna, Cassini convinced church officials to create an improved sundial meridian line at the
San Petronio Basilica, moving the pinhole gnomon that projected the Sun's image up into the church's vaults
66.8 meters (219 ft) away from the meridian inscribed in the floor. The much larger image of the Sun's disk
projected by the camera obscura effect allowed him to measure the change in diameter of the Sun's disk over
the year as the Earth moved toward and then away from the Sun. He concluded the changes in size he
measured were consistent with Johannes Kepler's 1609 heliocentric theory, where the Earth was moving
around the Sun in an elliptical orbit instead of the Ptolemaic system where the Sun orbited the Earth in an
eccentric orbit.[7]
Cassini remained in Bologna working until Colbert recruited him to come to Paris to help set up the Paris
Observatory. Cassini departed from Bologna on 25 February 1669.[6]
Moving to France
An engraving of the Paris Observatory during Cassini's time. The tower on the right is the "Marly Tower", a dismantled part of
the Machine de Marly, moved there by Cassini for mounting long focus and aerial telescopes.
In 1669 Cassini moved to France and through a grant from Louis XIV of France helped to set up the Paris
Observatory, which opened in 1671; Cassini would remain the director of the observatory for the rest of his
career until his death in 1712. For the remaining forty-one years of his life Cassini served
as astronomer/astrologer to Louis XIV ("The Sun King"); serving the expected dual role yet focusing the
overwhelming majority of his time on astronomy rather than the astrology he had studied so much in his youth.
During this time, Cassini's method of determining longitude was used to measure the size of France accurately
for the first time. The country turned out to be considerably smaller than expected, and the king quipped that
Cassini had taken more of his kingdom from him than he had won in all his wars.
On 14 July 1673 Cassini obtained the benefits of French citizenship. In 1674 he married Geneviève de Laistre,
the daughter of the lieutenant general of the comté of Clermont. "From this marriage Cassini had two sons; the
younger, Jacques Cassini, succeeded him as astronomer and geodesist under the name of Cassini II." [6]
In 1711 Cassini went blind and he died on 14 September 1712 in Paris at the age of 87. [2]
Astronomer
Cassini was an astronomer at the Panzano Observatory, from 1648 to 1669. He was appointed professor of
astronomy at the University of Bologna in 1650 and became, in 1671, director of the Paris Observatory. He
thoroughly adopted his new country, to the extent that he became interchangeably known as Jean-Dominique
Cassini – although that is also the name of his great-grandson, Dominique, comte de Cassini.
Cassini observed and published surface markings on Mars (earlier seen by Christiaan Huygens but not
published), determined the rotation periods of Mars and Jupiter, and discovered four satellites
of Saturn: Iapetus and Rhea in 1671 and 1672, and Tethys and Dione (1684).[8] Cassini was the first to observe
these four Saturn's moons, which he called Sidera Lodoicea (the stars of Louis), including Iapetus, whose
anomalous variations in brightness he correctly ascribed as being due to the presence of dark material on one
hemisphere (now called Cassini Regio in his honour). In addition he discovered the Cassini Division in the rings
of Saturn (1675).[6] He shares with Robert Hooke credit for the discovery of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter (ca.
1665). Around 1690, Cassini was the first to observe differential rotation within Jupiter's atmosphere.
In 1672 he sent his colleague Jean Richer to Cayenne, French Guiana, while he himself stayed in Paris. The
two made simultaneous observations of Mars and, by computing the parallax, determined its distance from
Earth. This allowed for the first time an estimation of the dimensions of the Solar System: since the relative
ratios of various sun-planet distances were already known from geometry, only a single absolute interplanetary
distance was needed to calculate all of the distances.
Cassini initially held the Earth to be the centre of the Solar System, though later observations compelled him to
accept the model of the Solar System proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus, and eventually that of Tycho Brahe.
"In 1659 he presented a model of the planetary system that was in accord with the hypothesis of Nicolaus
Copernicus. In 1661 he developed a method, inspired by Kepler's work, of mapping successive phases of solar
eclipses; and in 1662 he published new tables of the sun, based on his observations at San Petronio." [6] Cassini
also rejected Newton's theory of gravity, after measurements he conducted which wrongly suggested that the
Earth was elongated at its poles. More than forty years of controversy about the subject were closed in favour
of Newton's theory after the measurements of the French Geodesic Mission (1736 to 1744) and the Lapponian
expedition in 1737 led by Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis
Cassini was also the first to make successful measurements of longitude by the method suggested by Galileo,
using eclipses of the Galilean satellites as a clock.
In 1683, Giovanni Domenico Cassini presented the correct explanation of the phenomenon of zodiacal
light. Zodiacal light is a faint glow that extends away from the Sun in the ecliptic plane of the sky, caused by
dusty objects in interplanetary space.
Cassini is also credited with introducing Indian Astronomy to Europe. In 1688, the French envoy to Siam
(Thailand), Simon La Loubere, returned to Paris with an obscure manuscript relating to the astronomical
traditions of that country, along with a French translation. The Siamese Manuscript, as it is now called,
somehow fell into Cassini's hands. He was intrigued enough by it to spend considerable time and effort
deciphering its cryptic contents, also determining on the way that the document originated in India. His
explication of the manuscript appeared in La Loubere's book on the Kingdom of Siam in 1691, which laid the
foundations of European scholarship on Indian Astronomy.
Astrologer
Attracted to the heavens in his youth, his first interest was in astrology. While young he read widely on the
subject of astrology, and soon was very knowledgeable about it; this extensive knowledge of astrology led to
his first appointment as an astronomer. Later in life he focused almost exclusively on astronomy and all but
denounced astrology as he became increasingly involved in the Scientific Revolution.
In 1645 the Marquis Cornelio Malvasia, a senator of Bologna with a great interest in astrology, invited Cassini
to Bologna and offered him a position in the Panzano Observatory, which he was constructing at that time.
Most of their time was spent calculating newer, better, and more accurate ephemerides for astrological
purposes using the rapidly advancing astronomical methods and tools of the day.
Engineering
In 1653, Cassini, wishing to employ the use of a meridian line, sketched a plan for a new and larger meridian
line but one that would be difficult to build. His calculations were precise; the construction succeeded perfectly;
and its success gave Cassini a brilliant reputation for working with engineering and structural works. [6]
Cassini was employed by Pope Clement IX in regard to fortifications, river management, and flooding of the Po
River. "Cassini composed several memoirs on the flooding of the Po River and on the means of avoiding it;
moreover, he also carried out experiments in applied hydraulics." [6] In 1663 he was named superintendent
of fortifications and in 1665 inspector for Perugia.[6] The Pope asked Cassini to take Holy Orders to work with
him permanently but Cassini turned him down because he wanted to work on astronomy full-time.
In the 1670s, Cassini began work on a project to create a topographic map of France, using Gemma Frisius's
technique of triangulation. The project was continued by his son Jacques Cassini and eventually finished by his
grandson César-François Cassini de Thury and published as the Carte de Cassini in 1789[9] or 1793.[10] It was
the first topographic map of an entire country.
Works
Raccolta di varie scritture (1682)
Cassini, Giovanni Domenico (1682). Raccolta di varie scritture, e notitie concernenti l'interesse della
remotione del Reno dalle Valli fatta in Bologna l'anno 1682. (In Bologna): [s.n.]
Manuscripts of publications for the French Academy of Sciences on the Paris Observatory digital
library
Administrativ work at the Paris Observatory
Ernest Thiele
Ernest W. Thiele[pronunciation?] (1895–1993) was an influential chemical engineering researcher at Standard Oil (then
Amoco, now BP) and Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. He is known for his
highly impactful work in chemical reaction engineering, complex reacting systems, and separations, including
distillation theory.
Ernest W. Thiele
Ernest Thiele
Early life and education
Ernest Thiele, born on Dec. 8, 1885, grew up in Chicago, Illinois. In 1916, he earned an A.B. degree
from Loyola University in Chicago. He was stationed at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign with the
U.S. Army, where he completed a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1919. In the fall of 1922,
matriculated to MIT where he began graduate studies under the direction of Professor Robert T. Haslam; he
earned is M.S. degree in 1923 and a doctoral degree in 1925 with a thesis on steam-carbon reactions.
Career
Before starting his graduate degree at MIT, Thiele worked for six months for Swift and Company in Chicago
and later in Baltimore as a process analyst, before being employed with Peoples Gas Light and Coke Company
as a chemical engineer from 1920 to 1922. After completing his doctoral thesis on steam-carbon reactions, he
developed (jointly with McCabe) a graphical method of design for fractionating (i.e., distillation) columns as a
transformational publication in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry in 1925. This approach to the design of
distillation columns was rapidly adopted in undergraduate textbooks and has remained the traditional approach
to teaching distillation to undergraduate chemical engineers for almost a century. [1]
Thiele joined the Standard Oil Company of Indiana (then Amoco, now BP) as a chemical engineer in 1925.[2] He
continued with this company for 35 years becoming an assistant director for research in 1935 and associate
director for research in 1950. During the period of World War II, he contributed to numerous technologies
related to nuclear materials processing and atomic energy including a heavy water extraction facility, the
Lexington Project for the design of nuclear-powered aircraft, and as a consultant to the Congressional Joint
Committee on Atomic Energy.[3]
During 35 years at Standard Oil, Thiele exhibited remarkable creativity and produced 17 landmark publications,
and 27 U.S. patents that served as the foundation of chemical engineering. [4] Classic engineering papers
include his breakthrough paper on the efficient design of distillation systems via computational methods with
co-authr R.L. Geddes published in 1933 in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Further work led to the
development of solvent extraction of lubricating oils. Another landmark contribution was the 1939 Industrial &
Engineering Chemistry paper that described the Thiele modulus, a dimensionless quantity describing the
boundary between reaction-controlled and transport-controlled catalytic particles. [5]
Following retirement from Standard Oil, Thiele became a professor of chemical engineering at Notre Dame
where he taught courses in thermodynamics, reactions, instrumentation, process control, and simulation.
Following 10 years at Notre Dame, Thiele returned to Chicago and lived the next 27 years in the Skokie-
Evanston area. Thiele died Nov. 29 1993 in the Presbyterian Home in Evanston.
Honors
Thiele was awarded the Founders Award by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in 1966 and elected
to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 1980.[6] In 1971, the University of Notre Dame awarded Thiele
an honorary doctorate for his many contributions to chemical engineering. He was a member of the Chicago
Chemists Club and the American Chemical Society, in addition to being a fellow of the American Institute of
Chemical Engineers (AIChE).
In 1986, the Chemical Engineering Department of the University of Notre Dame established the Thiele
Lectureship in Chemical Engineering.[7] The lectureship recognizes excellent contributions to chemical
engineering by young members of the chemical engineering profession. The first Thiele lecture was presented
by Professor Douglas Lauffenburger, with Ernest Thiele in attendance. The lectureship is given every year, with
the presenter selected by the faculty of Chemical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame.
Key publications
Ernest Thiele has authored numerous journal articles describing significant advances in chemical reaction
engineering which includes but is not limited to:
W.L. McCabe, E.W. Thiele, "Graphical Design of Fractionating Columns", Industrial &
Engineering Chemistry 17, 605, (1925).[8]
E.W. Thiele, "Prediction of Flash Point of Blends of Lubricating Oils", Industrial & Engineering
Chemistry 19, 259, (1927).[9]
E.W. Thiele, R.L. Geddes, "Computation of Distillation Apparatus for Hydrocarbon Mixtures", Industrial
& Engineering Chemistry 25, 289 (1933).[10]
E.W. Thiele, W.B. Kay "Densities of Hydrocarbon Mixtures", Industrial & Engineering Chemistry 25,
894 (1933).[11]
M.C. Rogers, E.W. Thiele, "Pressure Drop in Bubble-Cap Columns", Industrial & Engineering
Chemistry 26, 524 (1934).[12]
E.W. Thiele, "Application of Graphical Method of Ponchon to Distillation and Extraction", Industrial &
Engineering Chemistry 27, 392 (1935).[13]
M.C. Rogers, E.W. Thiele, "Bubble-Cap Column as a Liquid-Liquid Contact Apparatus", Industrial &
Engineering Chemistry 29, 529 (1937).[14]
E.W. Thiele, "Relation Between Catalytic Activity and Size of Particle", Industrial & Engineering
Chemistry 31, 916 (1939).[15]
E.W. Thiele, "Material and Heat Transfer between a Granular Solid and Flowing Fluid", Industrial &
Engineering Chemistry 38, 646 (1946).
Potter Stewart
Potter Stewart (January 23, 1915 – December 7, 1985) was an Associate Justice of the United States
Supreme Court, serving from 1958 to 1981. During his tenure, he made, among other areas, major
contributions to criminal justice reform, civil rights, access to the courts, and Fourth Amendment jurisprudence.
[2]
After graduating from Yale Law School in 1941, Stewart served in World War II as a member of the United
States Navy Reserve. After the war, he practiced law and served on the Cincinnati city council. In 1954,
President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Stewart to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
In 1958, Eisenhower nominated Stewart to succeed retiring Associate Justice Harold Hitz Burton, and Stewart
won Senate confirmation the following year. He was frequently in the minority during the Warren Court but
emerged as a centrist swing vote on the Burger Court. Stewart retired in 1981 and was succeeded by Sandra
Day O'Connor.
Stewart wrote the majority opinion in notable cases such as Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co., Katz v. United
States, Chimel v. California, and Sierra Club v. Morton. He wrote dissenting opinions in cases such as Engel v.
Vitale, In re Gault and Griswold v. Connecticut. His concurring opinion in Jacobellis v. Ohio popularized the
phrase "I know it when I see it.
Potter Stewart
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Education
Stewart was born in Jackson, Michigan, while his family was on vacation. He was the son of Harriett L. (Potter)
and James Garfield Stewart. His father, a prominent Republican from Cincinnati, Ohio, served as mayor of
Cincinnati for nine years and was later a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court.[3]
Stewart earned an academic scholarship to attend the prestigious Hotchkiss School, where he graduated in
1933. He then went on to Yale University, where he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon (Phi chapter)
and Skull and Bones[4] graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1937 with a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude. He served
as chairman of the Yale Daily News. After studying international law at the University of Cambridge in England
for a year, Stewart enrolled at Yale Law School where he graduated cum laude in 1941 with a Bachelor of
Laws. While at Yale Law School, he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal and a member of Phi Delta Phi.
Other members of that era included Gerald R. Ford, Peter H. Dominick, Walter Lord, William
Scranton, R. Sargent Shriver, Cyrus R. Vance, and Byron R. White. The last would later become his colleague
on the United States Supreme Court.
Early career
Stewart served in World War II as a member of the U.S. Naval Reserve aboard oil tankers. In 1943, he married
Mary Ann Bertles in a ceremony at Bruton Episcopal Church in Williamsburg, Virginia (at which his brother
Zeph—also an initiate of Delta Kappa Epsilon and Skull and Bones, and eventually a professor of classics at
Harvard—was the best man). They eventually had a daughter, Harriet (Virkstis), and two sons, Potter, Jr. and
David. He was in private practice with Dinsmore & Shohl in Cincinnati. During the early 1950s, he was elected
to the Cincinnati City Council.
Sixth Circuit service
Stewart was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on April 6, 1954, to a seat on the United States
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated by Judge Xenophon Hicks. He was confirmed by the United
States Senate on April 23, 1954, and received his commission on April 27, 1954. His service terminated on
October 13, 1958, due to his elevation to the Supreme Court. [5]
Supreme Court service[edit]
Stewart received a recess appointment from President Dwight D. Eisenhower on October 14, 1958, to a seat
on the Supreme Court of the United States vacated by Associate Justice Harold Hitz Burton. He was
nominated to the same position by President Eisenhower on January 17, 1959. He was confirmed by the
Senate by a vote of 70–17 on May 5, 1959, and received his commission on May 7, 1959. All 17 nay votes
came from Southern Democrats (both senators
from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia,
plus Spessard Holland of Florida).[6] He served as Circuit Justice for the Sixth Circuit from October 14, 1958 to
July 3, 1981, and as Circuit Justice for the Fifth Circuit from October 12, 1971 to January 6, 1972. He
assumed retired status on July 3, 1981, serving in that status until his death on December 7, 1985. [5]
Stewart came to a Supreme Court controlled by two warring ideological camps and sat firmly in its center. [7][8][9] A
case early in his Supreme Court career showing his role as the swing vote during that time is Irvin v. Dowd.
Stewart was temperamentally inclined to moderate, pragmatic positions, [10] but was often in a dissenting posture
during his time on the Warren Court. Stewart believed that the majority on the Warren Court had adopted
readings of the First Amendment Establishment Clause (Engel v. Vitale (1962), Abington School District v.
Schempp (1963)), the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination (Miranda v. Arizona (1966)), and the
Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of Equal Protection with regard to voting rights (Reynolds v. Sims (1964))
that went beyond the framers' intention. In Engel, Stewart found no precedent to remove school sponsored
prayer, and in Abington, Stewart refused to strike down the practice of school sponsored Bible reading in public
schools; he was the only justice who took this position in both cases. [11] Stewart dissented in Griswold v.
Connecticut (1965) on the ground that, while the Connecticut statute barring the use of contraceptives seemed
to him an "uncommonly silly law", he could not find a general "Right of Privacy" in the Fourteenth Amendment
Due Process Clause.
Before the appointment of Warren Burger as Chief Justice, many speculated that President Richard
Nixon would elevate Stewart to the post, some going so far as to call him the front-runner. Stewart, though
flattered by the suggestion, did not want again to appear before—and expose his family to—the Senate
confirmation process. Nor did he relish the prospect of taking on the administrative responsibilities delegated to
the Chief Justice. Accordingly, he met privately with the president to ask that his name be removed from
consideration.[12]
On the Burger Court, Stewart was seen as a centrist justice and was often influential, joining the decision
in Furman v. Georgia (1972) that invalidated all death penalty laws then in force, and then joining in the Court's
decision four years later, Gregg v. Georgia, which upheld the revised capital punishment legislation adopted in
a majority of the states. Despite his earlier dissent in Griswold, Stewart changed his views on the "Right of
Privacy" and was a key mover behind the Court's decision in Roe v. Wade (1973), which recognized the right to
abortion under the "Right of Privacy".[13] Stewart opposed the Vietnam War[14] and on a number of occasions
urged the Supreme Court to grant certiorari on cases challenging the constitutionality of the war. [15]
Stewart consistently voted against claims of criminal defendants in the area of federal habeas corpus and
collateral review.[16] He was concerned about broad interpretations of the due process and equal protection
clauses.[17]
He was the lone dissenter in the landmark juvenile law case In re Gault (1967). That case extended
to minors the right to be informed of rights and the right to an attorney, which had been granted to adults
in Miranda v. Arizona (1966) and Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), respectively.
In the obscenity case of Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964), Stewart wrote in his short concurrence that "hard-core
pornography" was hard to define, but that "I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is
not that."[18] Justice Stewart went on to defend the movie in question (Louis Malle's The Lovers) against further
censorship. One commentator opined that: "This observation summarizes Stewart's judicial philosophy:
particularistic, intuitive, and pragmatic." [18]
Justice Stewart commented about his second thoughts about that quotation in 1981. "In a way I regret having
said what I said about obscenity—that's going to be on my tombstone. When I remember all of the other solid
words I've written," he said, "I regret a little bit that if I'll be remembered at all I'll be remembered for that
particular phrase."[19]
Fourth Amendment
Before 1967, Fourth Amendment protections were mostly limited to notions of property: possessory
geographical locations such as apartments, or physical objects. [20]
Stewart's opinion in Katz v. United States established that the Fourth Amendment "protects people, not
places."[20] Stewart wrote that the government's installation of a recording device in a public phone booth
violated the reasonable expectation of privacy; the government was committing "seizure" of callers' words.
[20]
Katz therefore extended the reach of the fourth amendment beyond just physical intrusions; it would also
protect against the seizure of incorporeal words.[20] In addition, the reach of the amendment now went as far as
a person's reasonable privacy expectation; the reach of the amendment was no longer defined solely by
property limits.[20] The Katz case made government wiretapping by both state and federal authorities subject to
the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirements.[20]
In Chimel v. California, decided in 1969, Stewart wrote an opinion stating that arresting a suspect in his house
does not give the police the right to perform a warrantless search of the entire house, only the area surrounding
the arrestee.[21]
In Almeida-Sanchez v. United States, Stewart wrote that roving patrols of the United States Border Patrol must
have some justifiable reason before stopping a car; it could not stop and search automobiles without probable
cause merely because a stop was made within 100 nautical miles (190 km) from the international border.[22]
In 1977's Whalen v. Roe, Stewart objected, dissenting, to any broad establishment of a right to privacy; he said
prior Court decisions did not "recognize a general interest in freedom from disclosure of private information". [17]
Access to the courts
Justice Stewart was a leader in trying to maintain access to federal courts in civil rights cases. [23] Stewart was
one of the strongest dissenters in the trend of denying litigants access to the federal courts. [23]
Stewart wrote the Court's opinions in 1972's Sierra Club v. Morton and 1973's United States v. SCRAP, broadly
laying out the requirements of standing in federal actions. [23]
Civil rights
In 1968's Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co., Stewart extended the 1866 Civil Rights Act to outlaw private refusals to
buy, sell, or lease real or personal property for racially discriminatory reasons. [24] In 1976, Stewart extended the
Act again in Runyon v. McCrary—private schools open to all white students could no longer exclude black
children, and all other offers to contract made to the general public were also made subject to the 1866 Act. [25]
In 1965's Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham, Stewart held for the court that police could not use an anti-
loitering law to keep civil rights workers from standing or demonstrating on a sidewalk. [25]
In a dissenting opinion in Ginzburg v. United States, 383 U.S. 463 (1966), Stewart said "Censorship reflects a
society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime." [26]
Retirement and death
Stewart announced his retirement from the Court on June 18, 1981, [27] and stepped down in early July at the
age of 66. He was succeeded by Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
At the time of his retirement, Justice Stewart said he wanted to spend more time with his grandchildren and that
he wanted to retire from the Court while he was still in good health. [19]
After his retirement, he appeared in The Constitution: That Delicate Balance, a 13-episode learning course
series broadcast in 1984 about the United States Constitution with Fred W. Friendly.
On January 20 and 21, 1985, Stewart administered the oath of office for Vice President George H. W. Bush.
He died later that year after suffering a stroke near his vacation home in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire,[28] and was
buried in Arlington National Cemetery.[29]
Most of Stewart's personal and official papers are archived at the manuscript library of Yale University in New
Haven, Connecticut, where they are now available for research. The files concerning Stewart's service were
closed to researchers until all the justices with whom Stewart served had left the court; the last of these was
Justice John Paul Stevens who considered him his judicial hero.[30] Additional papers also exist in other
collections.[31]
In 1989, Bob Woodward disclosed that Stewart had been the primary source for The Brethren.[3
Cyril M. Kornbluth
Cyril M. Kornbluth (July 2, 1923[1] – March 21, 1958) was an American science fiction author and a member of
the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J.
Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner, Jordan Park, Arthur Cooke, Paul Dennis
Lavond, and Scott Mariner.[2] The "M" in Kornbluth's name may have been in tribute to his wife, Mary Byers;
[3]
Kornbluth's colleague and collaborator Frederik Pohl confirmed Kornbluth's lack of any actual middle name in
at least one interview.[4
Cyril M. Kornbluth
Cyril Kornbluth c. 1955
Biography
Kornbluth was born and grew up in the uptown Manhattan neighborhood of Inwood, in New York City.[5] He was
of Polish Jewish descent,[6] the son of a "second-generation [American] Jew" who ran his own tailor shop.
According to his widow, Kornbluth was a "precocious child", learning to read by the age of three and writing his
own stories by the time he was seven. He graduated from high school at thirteen, received a CCNY scholarship
at fourteen, and was "thrown out for leading a student strike" without graduating. [7]
As a teenager, he became a member of the Futurians, an influential group of science fiction fans and writers.
While a member of the Futurians, he met and became friends with Frederik Pohl, Donald A. Wollheim, Robert
A. W. Lowndes, and his future wife Mary Byers. He also participated in the Fantasy Amateur Press Association.
Kornbluth served in the US Army during World War II (European 'Theatre').[8] He received a Bronze Star for his
service in the Battle of the Bulge, where he served as a member of a heavy machine gun crew. Upon his
discharge, he returned to finish his education at the University of Chicago under the G.I. Bill.[8] While living in
Chicago he also worked at Trans-Radio Press, a news wire service. In 1951 he started writing full-time,
[7]
returning to the East Coast where he collaborated on novels with his old Futurian friends Frederik Pohl
and Judith Merril.
Work
Kornbluth began writing at 15. His first solo story, "The Rocket of 1955", was published in Richard
Wilson's fanzine Escape (Vol. 1, No 2, August 1939); his first collaboration, "Stepsons of Mars," written with
Richard Wilson and published under the name "Ivar Towers", appeared in the April 1940 Astonishing. His other
short fiction includes "The Little Black Bag", "The Marching Morons", "The Altar at Midnight", "MS. Found in a
Chinese Fortune Cookie", "Gomez" and "The Advent on Channel 12".
"The Little Black Bag" was first adapted for television live on the television show Tales of Tomorrow on May 30,
1952. It was later adapted for television by the BBC in 1969 for its Out of the Unknown series. In 1970, the
same story was adapted by Rod Serling for an episode of his Night Gallery series. This dramatization
starred Burgess Meredith as the alcoholic Dr. William Fall, who had long lost his doctor's license and become a
homeless alcoholic. He finds a bag containing advanced medical technology from the future (2098), which,
after an unsuccessful attempt to pawn it, he uses benevolently.
"The Marching Morons" is a look at a far future in which the world's population consists of five billion idiots and
a few million geniuses – the precarious minority of the "elite" working desperately to keep things running behind
the scenes. In his introduction to The Best of C.M. Kornbluth, Pohl states that "The Marching Morons" is a
direct sequel to "The Little Black Bag": it is easy to miss this, as "Bag" is set in the contemporary present while
"Morons" takes place several centuries from now, and there is no character who appears in both stories. The
titular black bag in the first story is actually an artifact from the time period of "The Marching Morons": a medical
kit filled with self-driven instruments enabling a far-future moron to "play doctor". A future Earth similar to "The
Marching Morons" – a civilisation of morons protected by a small minority of hidden geniuses – is used again in
the final stages of Kornbluth & Pohl's Search the Sky.[9]
"MS. Found in a Chinese Fortune Cookie" (1957) is supposedly written by Kornbluth using notes by "Cecil
Corwin", who has been declared insane and incarcerated, and who smuggles out in fortune cookies the
ultimate secret of life. This fate is said to be Kornbluth's response to the unauthorized publication of "Mask of
Demeter" (as by "Corwin" and "Martin Pearson" (Donald A. Wollheim)) in Wollheim's anthology Prize Science
Fiction in 1953.[10]
An early Kornbluth novelette, "The Core", was the cover story for the April 1942 issue of Future. It carried the "S. D. Gottesman"
byline, a pseudonym Kornbluth used mainly for collaborations with Frederik Pohl or Robert A. W. Lowndes
Biographer Mark Rich describes the 1958 story "Two Dooms" as one of several stories which are "concern[ed]
with the ethics of theoretical science" and which "explore moral quandaries of the atomic age":
"Two Dooms" follows atomic physicist Edward Royland on his accidental journey into an alternative
universe where the Nazis and Japanese rule a divided United States. In his own world, Royland debated
whether to delay progress at the Los Alamos nuclear research site or to help the atomic bomb achieve its
terrifying result. Encountering both a slave village and a concentration camp in the alternative America, he
comes to grips with the idea of life under bondage. [9]
The opening installment of Mars Child, by Kornbluth and Judith Merril, took the cover of the May 1951 issue of Galaxy Science
Fiction
A year later, the first installment of Gravy Planet (The Space Merchants), by Kornbluth and Frederik Pohl, was also cover-featured
on Galaxy
Another Kornbluth-Merril collaboration, the novelette "Sea-Change", was the cover story for the second issue of Dynamic Science
Fiction in 1953. It has apparently never been reprinted.
Many of Kornbluth's novels were written as collaborations: either with Judith Merril (using the pseudonym Cyril
Judd), or with Frederik Pohl. These include Gladiator-At-Law and The Space Merchants.[11] The Space
Merchants contributed significantly to the maturing and to the wider academic respectability of the science
fiction genre, not only in America but also in Europe.[12] Kornbluth also wrote several novels under his own
name, including The Syndic and Not This August.
Death
Kornbluth died at age 34 in Levittown, New York. Scheduled to meet with Bob Mills in New York City to
interview for the position of editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction,[13] Kornbluth had to shovel
snow from his driveway, which delayed him. Running to meet his train, he suffered a fatal heart attack on the
platform of the station.[8]
A number of short stories remained unfinished at Kornbluth's death; these were eventually completed and
published by Pohl. One of these stories, "The Meeting" (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction,
November 1972), was the co-winner of the 1973 Hugo Award for Best Short Story; it tied with R. A. Lafferty's
"Eurema's Dam."[14] Almost all of Kornbluth's solo SF stories have been collected as His Share of Glory: The
Complete Short Science Fiction of C. M. Kornbluth (NESFA Press, 1997).
Personality and habits
Frederik Pohl, in his autobiography The Way the Future Was, Damon Knight, in his memoir The Futurians,
and Isaac Asimov, in his memoirs In Memory Yet Green and I. Asimov: A Memoir, all give descriptions of
Kornbluth as a man of odd personal habits and eccentricities.
Kornbluth, for example, decided to educate himself by reading his way through an entire encyclopedia from A
to Z; in the course of this effort, he acquired a great deal of esoteric knowledge that found its way into his
stories, in alphabetical order by subject. When Kornbluth wrote a story that mentioned the ballista, an Ancient
Roman weapon, Pohl knew that Kornbluth had finished the 'A's and had started on the 'B's.
According to Pohl, Kornbluth never brushed his teeth, and they were literally green. Deeply embarrassed by
this, Kornbluth developed the habit of holding his hand in front of his mouth when speaking.
Kornbluth disliked black coffee, but felt obliged to acquire a taste for it because he believed that professional
authors were "supposed to" drink black coffee. He trained himself by putting gradually less cream into each cup
of coffee he drank, until he eventually "weaned himself" (Knight's description) and switched to black coffee.
Bibliography
Novels
Outpost Mars (1952) (with Judith Merril, writing as Cyril Judd), first published as a Galaxy serial
entitled Mars Child (May–July 1951) and later reprinted as Galaxy novel No. 46 retitled Sin in
Space (1961)
Gunner Cade (1952) (with Judith Merril, writing as Cyril Judd), first published as an Astounding
Science Fiction serial (March–May 1952)
Takeoff (May 1952), later serialised in New Worlds (April–June 1954)
The Space Merchants (April 1953) (with Frederik Pohl), first published as a Galaxy serial
entitled Gravy Planet (June–August 1952)
The Syndic (October 1953), later serialised in Science Fiction Adventures (December 1953-March
1954), entered the Prometheus Award Hall of Fame in 1986
Search the Sky (February 1954) (with Frederik Pohl), later revised by Pohl (October 1985)
Gladiator at Law (May 1955) (with Frederik Pohl), first published as a Galaxy serial (June–August
1954), later revised by Pohl (April 1986)
Not This August (July 1955) (AKA Christmas Eve), later revised by Pohl (December 1981)
Wolfbane (September 1959) (with Frederik Pohl), first published as a Galaxy serial (October–
November 1957), later revised by Pohl (June 1986)
Collections
The Explorers (1954)
o "Foreword", [Frederik Pohl]
o "Gomez", [original here]
o "The Mindworm", 1950
o "The Rocket of 1955", 1939
o "The Altar at Midnight", 1952
o "Thirteen O’Clock" [as by Cecil Corwin], (1941) "Peter Packer" series
o "The Goodly Creatures", 1952
o "Friend to Man", 1951
o "With These Hands", 1951
o "That Share of Glory", 1962
The Mindworm and Other Stories (1955)
o "The Mindworm”, (1950)
o "Gomez”, 1954
o "The Rocket of 1955”, 1939
o "The Altar at Midnight”, 1952
o "The Little Black Bag”, 1950
o "The Goodly Creatures”, 1952
o "Friend to Man”, 1951
o "With These Hands”, 1951
o "That Share of Glory”, 1952
o "The Luckiest Man in Denv" [as by Simon Eisner], · 1952
o "The Silly Season”, 1950
o "The Marching Morons · nv Galaxy Apr ’51
A Mile Beyond the Moon (1958) [abridged for its 1962 paperback reprint, see below]
o "Make Mine Mars”, 1952
o "The Meddlers”, 1953 [not in 1962 paperback]
o "The Events Leading Down to the Tragedy”, 1958
o "The Little Black Bag”, 1950 (related to "The Marching Morons")
o "Everybody Knows Joe”, 1953
o "Time Bum”, 1953
o "Passion Pills”, [original here] [not in 1962 paperback]
o "Virginia”, 1958
o "The Slave”, 1957 [not in 1962 paperback]
o "Kazam Collects" [as by S. D. Gottesman], 1941
o "The Last Man Left in the Bar”, 1947 – "a confrontation between aliens and a magnetron
technician, written with an audacious literary command" [9]
o "The Adventurer”, 1953
o "The Words of Guru" [as by Kenneth Falconer], 1941 – "an early but striking fantasy about
a genius child acquiring supernatural power"[9]
o "Shark Ship" ["Reap the Dark Tide"], 1958
o "Two Dooms”, 1958 [not in 1962 paperback]
The Marching Morons (and other Science Fiction Stories) (1959)
o "The Marching Morons”, 1951
o "Dominoes”, 1953
o "The Luckiest Man in Denv" [as by Simon Eisner], 1952
o "The Silly Season”, 1950
o "MS. Found in a Chinese Fortune Cookie”, 1957
o "The Only Thing We Learn”, 1949
o "The Cosmic Charge Account”, 1956
o "I Never Ast No Favors”, 1954
o "The Remorseful”, 1953
The Wonder Effect (1962) (with Frederik Pohl)
o "Introduction”,
o "Critical Mass”, 1962
o "A Gentle Dying”, 1961
o "Nightmare with Zeppelins", 1958
o "Best Friend" [as by S. D. Gottesman], 1941
o "The World of Myrion Flowers”, 1961
o "Trouble in Time" [as by S. D. Gottesman], 1940
o "The Engineer”, 1956
o "Mars-Tube [as by S. D. Gottesman]”, 1941
o "The Quaker Cannon”, 1961
Best Science Fiction Stories of C. M. Kornbluth (1968)
o "Introduction”, [Edmund Crispin]
o "The Unfortunate Topologist”, 1957 (poem)
o "The Marching Morons”, 1951
o "The Altar at Midnight”, 1952
o "The Little Black Bag”, 1950
o "The Mindworm”, 1950
o "The Silly Season”, 1950
o "I Never Ast No Favors”, 1954
o "Friend to Man”, 1951
o "The Only Thing We Learn”, 1949
o "Gomez”, 1954
o "With These Hands”, 1951
o "Theory of Rocketry”, 1958
o "That Share of Glory”, 1952
Thirteen O'Clock and other Zero Hours (1970) (edited by James Blish) stories published originally as
by "Cecil Corwin" plus "MS. Found in a Chinese Fortune Cookie" (see above)
o "Preface”, [James Blish]
o "Thirteen O’Clock [combined version of the "Peter Packer" stories, “Thirteen O’Clock” and “Mr.
Packer Goes to Hell”, both 1941]”, [first combined appearance here]
o "The Rocket of 1955”, 1939
o "What Sorghum Says" [as by Cecil Corwin], 1941
o "Crisis!" [as by Cecil Corwin], 1942
o "The Reversible Revolutions" [as by Cecil Corwin], 1941
o "The City in the Sofa" [as by Cecil Corwin], 1941
o "The Golden Road" [as by Cecil Corwin], 1942
o "MS. Found in a Chinese Fortune Cookie”, 1957
The Best of C. M. Kornbluth (1976)
o "An Appreciation”, [Frederik Pohl]
o "The Rocket of 1955”, 1939
o "The Words of Guru" [as by Kenneth Falconer], 1941
o "The Only Thing We Learn”, 1949
o "The Adventurer”, 1953
o "The Little Black Bag”, 1950
o "The Luckiest Man in Denv" [as by Simon Eisner], 1952
o "The Silly Season”, 1950
o "The Remorseful”, 1953
o "Gomez”, 1954
o "The Advent on Channel Twelve”, 1958
o "The Marching Morons”, 1951
o "The Last Man Left in the Bar”, 1957
o "The Mindworm”, 1950
o "With These Hands”, 1951
o "Shark Ship" [“Reap the Dark Tide”], 1958
o "Friend to Man”, 1951
o "The Altar at Midnight”, 1952
o "Dominoes”, 1953
o "Two Dooms”, 1958
Spider Robinson praised this collection, saying "I haven't enjoyed a book so much in years." [15] Mark Rich wrote,
"Critics judging Kornbluth by this anthology, edited by Pohl, have seen a growing bitterness in his later stories.
This reflects editorial choice more than reality, because Kornbluth also wrote delightful humor in his last years,
in stories not collected here. These tales demonstrate Kornbluth's effective use of everyday individuals from a
variety of ethnic backgrounds as well as his well-tuned ear for dialect." [9]
Critical Mass (1977) (with Frederik Pohl)
o "Introduction”, (Pohl)
o "The Quaker Cannon”, 1961
o "Mute Inglorious Tam”, 1974
o "The World of Myrion Flowers”, 1961
o "The Gift of Garigolli”, 1974
o "A Gentle Dying”, 1961
o "A Hint of Henbane”, 1961
o "The Meeting”, 1972
o "The Engineer”, 1956
o "Nightmare with Zeppelins”, 1958
o "Critical Mass”, 1962
o "Afterword”, (Pohl)
Before the Universe (1980) (with Frederik Pohl)
o "Mars-Tube" [as by S. D. Gottesman (with Frederik Pohl)], 1941
o "Trouble in Time" [as by S. D. Gottesman (with Frederik Pohl)], 1940
o "Vacant World" [as by Dirk Wylie (with Dirk Wylie, and Frederik Pohl)], 1940
o "Best Friend" [as by S. D. Gottesman (with Frederik Pohl)], 1941
o "Nova Midplane" [as by S. D. Gottesman (with Frederik Pohl)], 1940
o "The Extrapolated Dimwit" [as by S. D. Gottesman (with Frederik Pohl)], 1942
Our Best: The Best of Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth (1987) (with Frederik Pohl)
o "Introduction”, (Pohl)
o "The Stories of the Sixties”, (Pohl, section introduction)
o "Critical Mass”, 1962
o "The World of Myrion Flowers”, 1961
o "The Engineer”, 1956
o "A Gentle Dying”, 1961
o "Nightmare with Zeppelins”, 1958
o "The Quaker Cannon”, 1961
o "The 60/40 Stories”, (Pohl, section introduction)
o "Trouble in Time" [as by S. D. Gottesman], 1940
o "Mars-Tube" [as by S. D. Gottesman], 1941
o "Epilogue to The Space Merchants”, (Pohl, section introduction)
o "Gravy Planet”, (extract from the magazine serial, not used in the book)
o "The Final Stories”, (Pohl, section introduction)
o "Mute Inglorious Tam”, 1974
o "The Gift of Garigolli”, 1974
o "The Meeting”, 1972
o "Afterword”, (Pohl)
His Share of Glory: The Complete Short Science Fiction of C.M. Kornbluth (1997) – this includes
almost all of Kornbluth's solo fiction, but does not include all of the collaborative pseudonymous works
which were published among his earliest work between 1940 and 1942, some of which were published
in Before the Universe (1980).
o "Cyril”, [Frederik Pohl]
o "Editor’s Introduction”, [Timothy P. Szczesuil]
o "That Share of Glory”, 1952
o "The Adventurer”, 1952
o "Dominoes”, 1953
o "The Golden Road" [as by Cecil Corwin], 1942
o "The Rocket of 1955”, 1939
o "The Mindworm”, 1950
o "The Education of Tigress McCardle”, 1957
o "Shark Ship" [“Reap the Dark Tide”], 1958
o "The Meddlers”, 1953
o "The Luckiest Man in Denv" [as by Simon Eisner], 1952
o "The Reversible Revolutions [as by Cecil Corwin], 1941
o "The City in the Sofa" [as by Cecil Corwin], 1941
o "Gomez”, 1954
o "Masquerade" [as by Kenneth Falconer], 1942
o "The Slave”, 1957
o "The Words of Guru" [as by Kenneth Falconer], 1941
o "Thirteen O’Clock" [as by Cecil Corwin], 1941
o "Mr. Packer Goes to Hell" [as by Cecil Corwin], 1941
o "With These Hands”, 1951
o "Iteration”, 1950
o "The Goodly Creatures”, 1952
o "Time Bum”, 1953
o "Two Dooms”, 1958
o "Passion Pills”, 1958
o "The Silly Season”, 1950
o "Fire-Power" [as by S. D. Gottesman], 1941
o "The Perfect Invasion" [as by S. D. Gottesman], 1942
o "The Adventurers”, 1955
o "Kazam Collects" [as by S. D. Gottesman], 1941
o "The Marching Morons”, 1951
o "The Altar at Midnight”, 1952
o "Crisis!" [as by Cecil Corwin], 1942
o "Theory of Rocketry”, 1958
o "The Cosmic Charge Account”, 1956
o "Friend to Man”, 1951
o "I Never Ast No Favors”, 1954
o "The Little Black Bag”, 1950
o "What Sorghum Says" [as by Cecil Corwin], 1941
o "MS. Found in a Chinese Fortune Cookie”, 1957
o "The Only Thing We Learn”, 1949
o "The Last Man Left in the Bar”, 1957
o "Virginia”, 1958
o "The Advent on Channel Twelve”, 1958
o "Make Mine Mars”, 1952
o "Everybody Knows Joe”, 1953
o "The Remorseful”, 1953
o "Sir Mallory’s Magnitude" [as by S. D. Gottesman], 1941
o "The Events Leading Down to the Tragedy”, 1958
o "King Cole of Pluto" [as by S. D. Gottesman], 1940
o "No Place to Go" [as by Edward J. Bellin], 1941
o "Dimension of Darkness" [as by S. D. Gottesman], 1941
o "Dead Center" [as by S. D. Gottesman], 1941
o "Interference" [as by Walter C. Davies], 1941
o "Forgotten Tongue" [as by Walter C. Davies], 1941
o "Return from M-15" [as by S. D. Gottesman], 1941
o "The Core" [as by S. D. Gottesman], 1942
Non-science fiction
The Naked Storm (1952, as Simon Eisner)
Valerie (1953, as Jordan Park), a novel about a girl accused of witchcraft
Half (1953, as Jordan Park), a novel about an intersex person
A Town Is Drowning (1955, with Frederik Pohl)
Presidential Year (1956, with Frederik Pohl)
Sorority House (1956, with Frederik Pohl, as Jordan Park), a lesbian pulp novel
A Man of Cold Rages (1958, as Jordan Park), a novel about an ex-dictator
Uncollected short stories
"Stepsons of Mars", (1940) [as "Ivar Towers" (with Richard Wilson)
"Callistan Tomb", (1941) [as "Paul Dennis Lavond" (with Frederik Pohl)]
"The Psychological Regulator", (1941) [as "Arthur Cooke" (with Elsie Balter {later Elsie
Wollheim}, Robert A. W. Lowndes, John Michel, Donald A. Wollheim)
"The Martians Are Coming", (1941) [as "Robert A W Lowndes" (with Robert A. W. Lowndes)]
"Exiles of New Planet", (1941) [as "Paul Dennis Lavond" (with Frederik Pohl, Robert A. W. Lowndes,
Dirk Wylie)]
"The Castle on the Outerplanet", (1941) [as "S D Gottesman" (with Frederik Pohl, Robert A. W.
Lowndes)]
"A Prince of Pluto", (1941) [as "S D Gottesman" (with Frederik Pohl)]
"Einstein's Planetoid", (1941) [as "Paul Dennis Lavond" (with Frederik Pohl, Robert A. W. Lowndes,
Dirk Wylie)]
"An Old Neptunian Custom", (1942) [as "Scott Mariner" (with Frederik Pohl)]
Articles
"A Funny Article on the Convention", (1939)
"New Directions", (1941) [as "Walter C. Davies"]
"The Failure of the Science Fiction Novel as Social Criticism", in The Science Fiction Novel:
Imagination and Social Criticism, ed. Basil Davenport, Advent Press, 1959. (pages 64–101). Brian
Stableford called this "an important early piece of sf criticism, sharply pointing out the genre's
shortcomings."[2]
Trivia
Kornbluth's name is mentioned in Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events as a member of V.F.D., a
secret organization dedicated to the promotion of literacy, classical learning, and crime prevention.
A year later, the first installment of Gravy Planet (The Space Merchants), by Kornbluth and Frederik Pohl, was also cover-featured
on Galaxy
Another Kornbluth-Merril collaboration, the novelette "Sea-Change", was the cover story for the second issue of Dynamic Science
Fiction in 1953. It has apparently never been reprinted.
Another Kornbluth-Pohl collaboration, Gladiator-at-Law, took the cover of the June 1954 Galaxy Science Fiction in 1954, illustrated
by Ed Emshwiller
John Flamsteed
John Flamsteed FRS (19 August 1646 – 31 December 1719) was an English astronomer and the
first Astronomer Royal. His main achievements were the preparation of a 3,000-star catalogue, Catalogus
Britannicus, and a star atlas called Atlas Coelestis, both published posthumously. He also made the first
recorded observations of Uranus, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a star, and he laid the foundation
stone for the Royal Greenwich Observatory
John Flamsteed
John Flamsteed by Godfrey Kneller, 1702
Life
Flamsteed was born in Denby, Derbyshire, England, the only son of Stephen Flamsteed and his first wife, Mary
Spadman. He was educated at the free school of Derby and at Derby School, in St Peter's Churchyard, Derby,
near where his father carried on a malting business. At that time, most masters of the school were Puritans.
Flamsteed had a solid knowledge of Latin, essential for reading the scientific literature of the day, and a love
of history, leaving the school in May 1662.[1]:3–4
His progress to Jesus College, Cambridge, recommended by the Master of Derby School, was delayed by
some years of chronic ill health. During those years, Flamsteed gave his father some help in his business, and
from his father learnt arithmetic and the use of fractions, developing a keen interest
in mathematics and astronomy. In July 1662, he was fascinated by the thirteenth-century work of Johannes de
Sacrobosco, De sphaera mundi, and on 12 September 1662 observed his first partial solar eclipse. Early in
1663, he read Thomas Fale's Horologiographia: The Art of Dialling, which set off an interest in sundials. In the
summer of 1663, he read Wingate's Canon, William Oughtred's Canon, and Thomas Stirrup's Art of Dialling. At
about the same time, he acquired Thomas Street's Astronomia Carolina, or A New Theory of the Celestial
Motions (Caroline Tables). He associated himself with local gentlemen interested in astronomy, including
William Litchford, whose library included the work of the astrologer John Gadbury which included astronomical
tables by Jeremiah Horrocks, who had died in 1641 at the age of twenty-two. Flamsteed was greatly impressed
(as Isaac Newton had been) by the work of Horrocks.[1]:8–11
In August 1665, at the age of nineteen and as a gift for his friend Litchford, Flamsteed wrote his first paper on
astronomy, entitled Mathematical Essays, concerning the design, use and construction of an
astronomer's quadrant, including tables for the latitude of Derby.[1]:11
In September 1670, Flamsteed visited Cambridge and entered his name as an undergraduate at Jesus
College.[2] While it seems he never took up full residence, he was there for two months in 1674, and had the
opportunity to hear Isaac Newton's Lucasian Lectures.[1]:26
Ordained a deacon, he was preparing to take up a living in Derbyshire when he was invited to London by his
patron Jonas Moore, Surveyor-General of the Ordnance. Moore had recently made an offer to the Royal
Society to pay for the establishment of an observatory. These plans were, however, preempted when Charles
II was persuaded by his mistress, Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth, to hear about a proposal to
find longitude by the position of the Moon from an individual known as Le Sieur de St Pierre. Charles appointed
a Royal Commission to examine the proposal in December 1674, consisting of Lord Brouncker, Seth
Ward, Samuel Moreland, Christopher Wren, Silius Titus, John Pell and Robert Hooke.
Having arrived in London on 2 February 1675, and staying with Jonas Moore at the Tower of London,
Flamsteed had the opportunity to be taken by Titus to meet the King. He was subsequently admitted as an
official Assistant to the Royal Commission and supplied observations in order to test St Pierre's proposal and to
offer his own comments. The Commission's conclusions were that, although St Pierre's proposal was not worth
further consideration, the King should consider establishing an observatory and appointing an observer in order
to better map the stars and the motions of the Moon in order to underpin the successful development of
the lunar-distance method of finding longitude.[3]
On 4 March 1675 Flamsteed was appointed by royal warrant "The King's Astronomical Observator" – the first
English Astronomer Royal, with an allowance of £100 a year. The warrant stated his task as "rectifieing the
Tables of the motions of the Heavens, and the places of the fixed stars, so as to find out the so much desired
Longitude of places for Perfecteing the Art of Navigation".[4] In June 1675, another royal warrant provided for the
founding of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, and Flamsteed laid the foundation stone on 10 August. [5]
In February 1676, he was admitted a Fellow of the Royal Society, and in July, he moved into the Observatory
where he lived until 1684, when he was "[e]levated to the priesthood [and] appointed rector" [6] of the small
village of Burstow, near Crawley in Surrey. He held that office, as well as that of Astronomer Royal, until his
death. He is buried at Burstow, and the east window in the church was dedicated to him as a memorial. [7]
Memorial marking grave of John Flamsteed and his wife in the Chancel of St Bartholomew, Burstow
The will of Flamsteed's widow, Margaret, left instructions for her own remains to be deposited "in the same
Grave in which Mr John Flamsteed is buryed in the Chancell of Burstow Church". She also left instructions, and
twenty five pounds, for the executor of her will to place "in the aforesaid Chancell of Burstow… A Marble stone
or Monument, with an inscription in Latin, in memory of the late Reverend Mr. John Flamsteed". It seems no
such monument was created, and almost 200 years later, a plaque was placed to mark his burial in the
chancel.[8]
After his death, his papers and scientific instruments were taken by his widow. The papers were returned many
years later, but the instruments disappeared. [9]
Scientific work
Bust of John Flamsteed in the Museum of the Royal Greenwich Observatory
Flamsteed accurately calculated the solar eclipses of 1666 and 1668. He was responsible for several of the
earliest recorded sightings of the planet Uranus, which he mistook for a star and catalogued as '34 Tauri'. The
first of these was in December 1690, which remains the earliest known sighting of Uranus by an astronomer.
On 16 August 1680 Flamsteed catalogued a star, 3 Cassiopeiae, that later astronomers were unable to
corroborate. Three hundred years later, the American astronomical historian William Ashworth suggested that
what Flamsteed may have seen was the most recent supernova in the galaxy's history, an event which would
leave as its remnant the strongest radio source outside of the Solar System, known in the third Cambridge (3C)
catalogue as 3C 461 and commonly called Cassiopeia A by astronomers. Because the position of "3
Cassiopeiae" does not precisely match that of Cassiopeia A, and because the expansion wave associated with
the explosion has been worked backward to the year 1667 and not 1680, some historians feel that all
Flamsteed may have done was incorrectly note the position of a star already known. [10]
In 1681 Flamsteed proposed that the two great comets observed in November and December 1680 were not
separate bodies, but rather a single comet travelling first towards the Sun and then away from it.
Although Isaac Newton first disagreed with Flamsteed, he later came to agree with him and theorized that
comets, like planets, moved around the Sun in large, closed elliptical orbits. Flamsteed later learned that
Newton had gained access to his observations and data through Edmund Halley,[11] his former assistant with
whom he previously had a cordial relationship.[12]
As Astronomer Royal, Flamsteed spent some forty years observing and making meticulous records for his star
catalogue, which would eventually triple the number of entries in Tycho Brahe's sky atlas. Unwilling to risk his
reputation by releasing unverified data, he kept the incomplete records under seal at Greenwich. In 1712, Isaac
Newton, then President of the Royal Society, and Edmund Halley again obtained Flamsteed's data and
published a pirated star catalogue.[11] Flamsteed managed to gather three hundred of the four hundred printings
and burned them. "If Sir I.N. would be sensible of it, I have done both him and Dr. Halley a great kindness," he
wrote to his assistant Abraham Sharp.[13]
In 1725 Flamsteed's own version of Historia Coelestis Britannica was published posthumously, edited by his
wife, Margaret. This contained Flamsteed's observations, and included a catalogue of 2,935 stars to much
greater accuracy than any prior work. It was considered the first significant contribution of the Greenwich
Observatory, and the numerical Flamsteed designations for stars that were added subsequently to a French
edition are still in use.[14] In 1729 his wife published his Atlas Coelestis, assisted by Joseph Crosthwait and
Abraham Sharp, who were responsible for the technical side.
Honours
Fellow of the Royal Society (1677)[15]
The Flamsteed Astronomy Society is named in his honour, and is based at The Royal Observatory
Greenwich.[16]
The crater Flamsteed on the Moon is named after him.[17]
The asteroid 4987 Flamsteed is named in his honour.[18]
He is commemorated in several Derbyshire schools. [19] The science block at John Port School is
named Flamsteed, John Flamsteed Community School in Denby carries his name.[19] Flamsteed House at
the Ecclesbourne School in Duffield is also named after him.[20]
Derby City Council erected a Blue Plaque in his honour at the Queen Street former Clock Works in
Derby, which also honours Joseph Wright of Derby who lived in the house formerly owned by Flamsteed. [21]
Pierre Charles Le Monnier
Pierre Charles Le Monnier (20 November 1715 – 3 April 1799) was a French astronomer. His name is
sometimes given as Lemonnier.
Pierre Charles Le Monnier.
"L'astronome" (The Astronomer),
circa 1777.
Oil on canvas painting by Nicolas-Bernard Lépicié. Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon, Portugal.
Biography
Le Monnier was born in Paris, where his father Pierre (1675–1757), also an astronomer, was professor of
philosophy at the college d'Harcourt.[1]
His first recorded astronomical observation was made before he was sixteen, and the presentation of an
elaborate lunar map resulted in his admission to the French Academy of Sciences, on 21 April 1736, aged only
20. He was chosen in the same year to accompany Pierre Louis Maupertuis and Alexis Clairaut on their
geodetical expedition for measuring a meridian arc of approximately one degree's length to Torne
Valley in Lapland. In 1738, shortly after his return, he explained, in a memoir read before the Academy, the
advantages of John Flamsteed's mode of determining right ascensions.[1]
Latin and French inscriptions at the base of the obelisk of the Gnomon of Saint-Sulpice, mentioning Pierre Charles Claude Le
Monnier.
His persistent recommendation of British methods and instruments contributed effectively to the reform of
French practical astronomy, and constituted the most eminent of his services to science. He corresponded
with James Bradley, was the first to represent the effects of nutation in the solar tables, and introduced, in
1741, the use of the transit-instrument at the Paris Observatory. He visited England in 1748, and, in company
with the Earl of Morton and James Shore the optician, continued his journey to Scotland, where he observed
the annular eclipse of 25 July.[1]
The liberality of King Louis XV of France, in whose favour Le Monnier stood high, furnished him with the means
of procuring the best instruments, many made in Britain. Amongst the fruits of his industry may be mentioned a
laborious investigation of the disturbances of Jupiter by Saturn, the results of which were employed and
confirmed by Euler in his prize essay of 1748; a series of lunar observations extending over fifty years; some
interesting researches in terrestrial magnetism and atmospheric electricity, in the latter of which he detected a
regular diurnal period; and the determination of the places of a great number of stars, including at least twelve
separate observations of Uranus, between 1750 and its discovery as a planet. In his lectures at the Collège de
France he first publicly expounded the analytical theory of gravitation, and his timely patronage secured the
services of J. J. Lalande for astronomy.[1]
Le Monnier's temper and hasty speech resulted in many arguments and grudges. He fell out with Lalande
"during an entire revolution of the moon's nodes". His career was ended by paralysis late in 1791, and a
repetition of the stroke terminated his life. He died at Héril near Bayeux. By his marriage with Mademoiselle de
Cussy he left three daughters, one of whom became the wife of J. L. Lagrange.[1]
Le Monnier was admitted on 5 April 1739 to the Royal Society,[2] and was one of the 144 original members of
the Institute. [1] On 29 January 1745 he also became a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences.[3]
The crater Le Monnier on the Moon is named after him.
Works
Astronomical quarter-circle wall quadrant or mural quadrant (rotatable by 180 °) built by John Bird. Le Monnier adapted and used a
version in 1774.
Histoire céleste (1741)
Théorie des comètes (1743, a translation, with additions of Halley's Synopsis)
Institutions astronomiques (1746, an improved translation of John Keill's textbook)
Nouveau zodiaque (1755)
Observations de la lune, du soleil, et des étoiles fixes (1751–1775)
Lois du magnétisme (1776–1778)
Tom Shippey
Thomas Alan Shippey (born 9 September 1943)[1] is a British scholar and retired professor of Middle and Old
English literature, as well as medievalism and modern fantasy and science fiction. In particular he is widely
considered one of the world's leading academic scholars on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien about whom he has
written several books and many scholarly papers.
Tom Shippey
Shippey in 2015.
Life
Youth
Shippey was born in 1943 in Calcutta, British India, where he also spent the first years of his life. [1][2] He was
sent to a boarding school in England, and studied at King Edward's School in Birmingham from 1954 to 1960.[3]
When he was 14 years old, he was lent The Hobbit.[4] Like Tolkien, Shippey became fond of Old English, Old
Norse, German and Latin, and of playing rugby.[2]
Academic career
After Shippey's graduation in the early 1960s he did not immediately start an academic career since the British
economy of the time did not offer many jobs in academia. Only in the mid-1960s did he enroll at the University
of Cambridge from where he graduated with an M.A. in 1968. [4][5] He was awarded a PhD from Cambridge
University in 1970.[5]
Shippey became a junior lecturer at the University of Birmingham, and then a Fellow of St John's College,
Oxford, where he taught Old and Middle English.[3] In 1979, he was elected to the Chair of English Language
and Medieval English Literature at the University of Leeds.
In 1996, after 14 years at Leeds, Shippey was appointed to the Walter J. Ong Chair of Humanities at Saint
Louis University's College of Arts and Sciences, where he did teaching, research and publishing. He retired
from there in 2008, and now lives in Dorset.[5]
From 2003 to 2007, he served as the editor of the journal Studies in Medievalism and from 2003 to 2009, he
was the President of the International Society for the Study of Medievalism.
Fiction
Under the pseudonym of "Tom Allen" he has written two stories that were published in anthologies edited by
Peter Weston. The first published was the fantasy story "King, Dragon" in Andromeda 2 in 1977; the second
was the science fiction novelette "Not Absolute" in Andromeda 3 in 1978.[6]
Under the pseudonym of John Holm, he is also the co-author, with Harry Harrison, of The Hammer and the
Cross trilogy of alternate history novels.[1] Shippey had earlier assisted Harrison in devising fictional languages
for the author's Eden trilogy.
In addition to writing books of his own, he has edited both The Oxford Book of Science Fiction Stories, and The
Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories and reviews science fiction for the Wall Street Journal.[7] In 2009, he wrote a
scholarly 21-page introduction to Flights of Eagles, a collection of James Blish works.[8]
Tolkien scholarship
In late 1969 or early 1970, Shippey wrote his first academic work on Tolkien. He then delivered a speech at a
Tolkien day organised by a student association. This lecture, "Tolkien as philologist" became also influential for
Shippey's view of Tolkien. Joy Hill, Tolkien's private secretary, was in the audience and afterwards she asked
him for the script, for Tolkien to read. On 13 April 1970, Shippey received a seemingly formal letter from
Tolkien.[3]
The two, Shippey and Tolkien, first met in 1972. Shippey was invited for dinner by Norman Davis who had
succeeded Tolkien at the Merton Chair of English Language. When he became a Fellow of St. John's College,
Shippey taught Old and Middle English using Tolkien's syllabus. [3]
Shippey's first printed essay, "Creation from Philology in The Lord of the Rings", expanded on his 1970 lecture.
In 1979, he was elected into a former position of Tolkien's, the Chair of English Language and Medieval
English Literature at Leeds University. His first book, The Road to Middle-earth, was published in 1982. At this
time, Shippey shifted from regarding Tolkien as a philologist to a "traumatised author" as he called it. This
would include writers affected by war like Vonnegut and Golding.[3]
Shippey appeared in several documentaries about Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. The
dialect coaches were assisted by him [4] and Shippey received a personal mention in the closing credits. [9] He
summarized his experiences with the film project as follows:
"The funny thing about interviews is you never know which bits they're going to pick. It always feels as if they sit
you down, shine bright lights in your eyes, and ask you questions until you say something really silly, and that's
the bit they choose. At least they didn't waterboard me. But it was good fun, and I'd cheerfully do it again." [10]
As an acknowledged expert on Tolkien, Shippey serves on the editorial board of Tolkien Studies: An Annual
Scholarly Review.[7]
Shippey's education and academic career have crossed paths in many ways with those of Tolkien: like Tolkien,
he attended King Edward's School in Birmingham and both taught Old English at Oxford University. Shippey
also occupied Tolkien's former position at the University of Leeds and was responsible for changing the
curriculum that Tolkien himself had instituted.[11]
Bibliography
Books
Old English Verse (London: Hutchinson's, 1972)
Poems of Wisdom and Learning in Old English (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, Ltd., 1976; 2nd ed., 1977)
Beowulf. Arnold's Studies in English Literature series (London, 1978).
The Road to Middle-earth (London: Allen & Unwin, 1982; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1983), 2nd ed.
(London: Harper Collins, 1993), also Revised and Expanded edition (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003)
Fictional Space: Essays on Contemporary Science Fiction, Editor (Oxford: Basil Blackwell,
1991, ISBN 0-631-17129-0).
The Oxford Book of Science Fiction Stories, Editor (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992, ISBN 0-19-
214204-6).
The Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories, Editor (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994 ISBN 0-19-214216-
X).
Beowulf: The Critical Heritage, Editor, with Andreas Haarder (New York: Routledge, 1998)
Medievalism in the Modern World: Essays in Honour of Leslie Workman, Editor, with Richard
Utz (Turnhout: Brepols, 1998)
J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century (London: Harper Collins, 2000; Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 2001)
The Shadow-Walkers: Jacob Grimm's Mythology of the Monstrous, Editor (Turnhout: Brepols, 2005)
Roots and Branches: Selected Papers on Tolkien (Zurich and Berne: Walking Tree
Publishers, Cormarë Series 11, 2007, ISBN 978-3-905703-05-4)
Literary Genius: 25 Classic Writers Who Define English & American Literature, Essayist
(Philadelphia: Paul Dry Books, 2007) (Illustrated by Barry Moser)
Old English Philology: Studies in Honour of R.D. Fulk, Editor, with Leonard Neidorf and Rafael J.
Pascual (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 2016)
Hard Reading: Learning from Science Fiction (Liverpool University Press, 2016)
Edited volumes
Medievalism in the Modern World: Essays in Honour of Leslie J. Workman. Ed. Richard Utz and Tom
Shippey (Turnhout: Brepols, 1998), ISBN 2-503-50166-4.
Documentaries
1992: Tolkien Remembered – Himself
1996: J.R.R.T.: A Film Portrait of J.R.R. Tolkien – Himself
1998: An Awfully Big Adventure: J.R.R. Tolkien – Himself
2001: Beyond the Movie: The Fellowship of the Ring – Himself
2002: Page to Screen: The Lord of the Rings – Himself
2003: J.R.R. Tolkien: Origins of Middle-Earth – Himself
Awards
1984 – Mythopoeic Award, Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inkling Studies, The Road to Middle-
earth
2001 – Mythopoeic Award, Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inkling Studies, J.R.R. Tolkien: Author
of the Century
2001 – World Fantasy Award, Special Award Professional, J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century
2004 – The One Ring Celebration Award, Best Tolkien based Lecture presented at an Academic
Function, History in Words, Tolkien's Ruling Passion
2006 – The One Ring Celebration Award, Best Lecture/Paper
William Herschel
Frederick William Herschel,[1] KH, FRS (/ˈhɜːrʃəl, ˈhɛər-/;[2] German: Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel; 15 November
1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-born British[3] astronomer, composer and brother of fellow
astronomer Caroline Herschel, with whom he worked. Born in the Electorate of Hanover, Herschel followed his
father into the Military Band of Hanover, before migrating to Great Britain in 1757 at the age of nineteen.
Herschel constructed his first large telescope in 1774, after which he spent nine years carrying out sky surveys
to investigate double stars. Herschel published catalogues of nebulae in 1802 (2,500 objects) and in 1820
(5,000 objects). The resolving power of the Herschel telescopes revealed that many objects called nebulae in
the Messier catalogue were actually clusters of stars. On 13 March 1781 while making observations he made
note of a new object in the constellation of Gemini. This would, after several weeks of verification and
consultation with other astronomers, be confirmed to be a new planet, eventually given the name of Uranus.
This was the first planet to be discovered since antiquity and Herschel became famous overnight. As a result of
this discovery, George III appointed him Court Astronomer. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal
Society and grants were provided for the construction of new telescopes.
William Herschel
1785 portrait by Lemuel Francis Abbott
Herschel pioneered the use of astronomical spectrophotometry, using prisms and temperature measuring
equipment to measure the wavelength distribution of stellar spectra. In addition, Herschel discovered infrared
radiation.[4] Other work included an improved determination of the rotation period of Mars,[5] the discovery that
the Martian polar caps vary seasonally, the discovery of Titania and Oberon (moons of Uranus)
and Enceladus and Mimas (moons of Saturn). Herschel was made a Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order in
1816. He was the first President of the Royal Astronomical Society when it was founded in 1820. He died in
August 1822, and his work was continued by his only son, John Herschel.
Early life and musical activities
Herschel was born in the Electorate of Hanover in Germany, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, one of ten
children of Isaac Herschel by his marriage to Anna Ilse Moritzen, of German Lutheran ancestry. It has been
proposed by Hershel's biographer Holden that his father's family traced its roots back
to Jews from Moravia who converted to Christianity in the seventeenth century,[6][7] and they themselves
were Lutheran Christians.[8]
Herschel's father was an oboist in the Hanover Military Band. In 1755 the Hanoverian Guards regiment, in
whose band Wilhelm and his brother Jakob were engaged as oboists, was ordered to England. At the time the
crowns of Great Britain and Hanover were united under King George II. As the threat of war with France
loomed, the Hanoverian Guards were recalled from England to defend Hanover. After they were defeated at
the Battle of Hastenbeck, Herschel's father Isaak sent his two sons to seek refuge in England in late 1757.
Although his older brother Jakob had received his dismissal from the Hanoverian Guards, Wilhelm was
accused of desertion[9] (for which he was pardoned by George III in 1782).[10]
Wilhelm, nineteen years old at this time, was a quick student of the English language. In England he went by
the English rendition of his name, Frederick William Herschel. In addition to the oboe, he played the violin
and harpsichord and later the organ.[11] He composed numerous musical works, including 24 symphonies and
many concertos, as well as some church music.[12] Six of his symphonies were recorded in April 2002 by
the London Mozart Players, conducted by Matthias Bamert (Chandos 10048).[13]
Original manuscript of Symphony No. 15 in E flat major (1762)
Herschel moved to Sunderland in 1761 when Charles Avison immediately engaged him as first violin and
soloist for his Newcastle orchestra, where he played for one season. In "Sunderland in the County of Durh:
apprill [sic] 20th 1761" he wrote his Symphony No. 8 in C Minor. He was head of the Durham Militia band from
1760 to 1761.[14] He visited the home of Sir Ralph Milbanke at Halnaby Hall near Darlington in 1760,[8]:14 where
he wrote two symphonies, as well as giving performances himself. After Newcastle, he moved to Leeds
and Halifax where he was the first organist at St John the Baptist church (now Halifax Minster).[7]:411
In 1766, Herschel became organist of the Octagon Chapel, Bath, a fashionable chapel in a well-known spa, in
which city he was also Director of Public Concerts. [15] He was appointed as the organist in 1766 and gave his
introductory concert on 1 January 1767. As the organ was still incomplete, he showed off his versatility by
performing his own compositions including a violin concerto, an oboe concerto and a harpsichord sonata.[16] On
4 October 1767, he performed on the organ for the official opening of the Octagon Chapel. [17]
His sister Caroline arrived in England on 24 August 1772 to live with William in New King Street, Bath. [1]:1–25 The
house they shared is now the location of the Herschel Museum of Astronomy.[18] Herschel's brothers Dietrich,
Alexander and Jakob (1734–1792) also appeared as musicians of Bath. [19] In 1780, Herschel was appointed
director of the Bath orchestra, with his sister often appearing as soprano soloist. [20][21]
Astronomy
Replica in the William Herschel Museum, Bath, of a telescope similar to that with which Herschel discovered Uranus
Herschel's mirror polisher, on display in the Science Museum, London
Herschel's reading in natural philosophy during the 1770s indicates his personal interests but also suggests an
intention to be upwardly mobile socially and professionally. He was well-positioned to engage with eighteenth-
century "philosophical Gentleman" or philomaths, of wide-ranging logical and practical tastes. [21] Herschel's
intellectual curiosity and interest in music eventually led him to astronomy. After reading Robert
Smith's Harmonics, or the Philosophy of Musical Sounds (1749), he took up Smith's A Compleat System of
Opticks (1738), which described techniques of telescope construction. [22] He also read James
Ferguson's Astronomy explained upon Sir Isaac Newton's principles and made easy to those who have not
studied mathematics (1756) and William Emerson's The elements of trigonometry (1749), The elements of
optics (1768) and The principles of mechanics (1754).[21]
Herschel took lessons from a local mirror-builder and having obtained both tools and a level of expertise,
started building his own reflecting telescopes. He would spend up to 16 hours a day grinding and polishing
the speculum metal primary mirrors. He relied on the assistance of other family members, particularly his sister
Caroline and his brother Alexander, a skilled mechanical craftsperson. [21]
He "began to look at the planets and the stars" [23] in May 1773 and on 1 March 1774 began an astronomical
journal by noting his observations of Saturn's rings and the Great Orion Nebula (M42).[21] The
English Astronomer Royal Nevil Maskelyne visited the Herschels while they were at Walcot (which they left on
29 September 1777).[24] By 1779, Herschel had also made the acquaintance of Sir William Watson, who invited
him to join the Bath Philosophical Society.[21] Herschel became an active member, and through Watson would
greatly enlarge his circle of contacts.[22][25]
Double stars
Herschel's early observational work soon focused on the search for pairs of stars that were very close together
visually. Astronomers of the era expected that changes over time in the apparent separation and relative
location of these stars would provide evidence for both the proper motion of stars and, by means
of parallax shifts in their separation, for the distance of stars from the Earth. The latter was a method first
suggested by Galileo Galilei.[26] From the back garden of his house in New King Street, Bath, and using a 6.2-
inch aperture (160 mm), 7-foot-focal-length (2.1 m) (f/13) Newtonian telescope "with a most capital speculum"
of his own manufacture,[27] in October 1779, Herschel began a systematic search for such stars among "every
star in the Heavens",[26]:5 with new discoveries listed through 1792. He soon discovered many
more binary and multiple stars than expected, and compiled them with careful measurements of their relative
positions in two catalogues presented to the Royal Society in London in 1782 (269 double or multiple systems)
[28]
and 1784 (434 systems).[29] A third catalogue of discoveries made after 1783 was published in 1821 (145
systems).[30][31]
The Rev. John Michell of Thornhill published work in 1767 on the distribution of double stars, [32] and in 1783 on
"dark stars" (black holes), that may have influenced Herschel.[33] After Michell's death in 1793, Herschel bought
a ten-foot-long, 30-inch reflecting telescope from Michell's estate.[34]
In 1797, Herschel measured many of the systems again, and discovered changes in their relative positions that
could not be attributed to the parallax caused by the Earth's orbit. He waited until 1802 (in Catalogue of 500
new Nebulae, nebulous Stars, planetary Nebulae, and Clusters of Stars; with Remarks on the Construction of
the Heavens) to announce the hypothesis that the two stars might be "binary sidereal systems" orbiting under
mutual gravitational attraction, a hypothesis he confirmed in 1803 in his Account of the Changes that have
happened, during the last Twenty-five Years, in the relative Situation of Double-stars; with an Investigation of
the Cause to which they are owing.[26]:8–9 In all, Herschel discovered over 800 confirmed[35] double or multiple star
systems, almost all of them physical rather than optical pairs. His theoretical and observational work provided
the foundation for modern binary star astronomy; [17]:74 new catalogues adding to his work were not published
until after 1820 by Friedrich Wilhelm Struve, James South and John Herschel.[36][37]
Uranus[edit]
Main article: Uranus § History
Uranus, discovered by Herschel in 1781
In March 1781, during his search for double stars, Herschel noticed an object appearing as a disk. Herschel
originally thought it was a comet or a stellar disc, which he believed he might actually resolve. [38] He reported
the sighting to Nevil Maskelyne the Astronomer Royal.[39] He made many more observations of it, and
afterwards Russian Academician Anders Lexell computed the orbit and found it to be probably planetary. [40][41]
Herschel agreed, determining that it must be a planet beyond the orbit of Saturn. [42] He called the new planet the
"Georgian star" (Georgium sidus) after King George III, which also brought him favour; the name did not stick.
[43]
In France, where reference to the British king was to be avoided if possible, the planet was known as
"Herschel" until the name "Uranus" was universally adopted. The same year, Herschel was awarded
the Copley Medal and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.[41] In 1782, he was appointed "The King's
Astronomer" (not to be confused with the Astronomer Royal).[44]
On 1 August 1782 Herschel and his sister Caroline moved to Datchet (then in Buckinghamshire but now
in Berkshire). There he continued his work as an astronomer and telescope maker. [45] He achieved an
international reputation for their manufacture, profitably selling over 60 completed reflectors to British and
Continental astronomers.[46]
Deep sky surveys
NGC 2683 is an unbarred spiral galaxy discovered by William Herschel on 5 February 1788
From 1782 to 1802, and most intensively from 1783 to 1790, Herschel conducted systematic surveys in search
of "deep-sky" or non-stellar objects with two 20-foot-focal-length (610 cm), 12-inch-aperture (30 cm) and 18.7-
inch-aperture (47 cm) telescopes (in combination with his favoured 6-inch-aperture instrument). Excluding
duplicated and "lost" entries, Herschel ultimately discovered over 2,400 objects defined by him as nebulae.[7] (At
that time, nebula was the generic term for any visually diffuse astronomical object, including galaxies beyond
the Milky Way, until galaxies were confirmed as extragalactic systems by Edwin Hubble in 1924.[47])
Herschel published his discoveries as three catalogues: Catalogue of One Thousand New Nebulae and
Clusters of Stars (1786), Catalogue of a Second Thousand New Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (1789) and the
previously cited Catalogue of 500 New Nebulae ... (1802). He arranged his discoveries under eight "classes":
(I) bright nebulae, (II) faint nebulae, (III) very faint nebulae, (IV) planetary nebulae, (V) very large nebulae, (VI)
very compressed and rich clusters of stars, (VII) compressed clusters of small and large [faint and bright] stars,
and (VIII) coarsely scattered clusters of stars. Herschel's discoveries were supplemented by those of Caroline
Herschel (11 objects) and his son John Herschel (1754 objects) and published by him as General Catalogue of
Nebulae and Clusters in 1864. This catalogue was later edited by John Dreyer, supplemented with discoveries
by many other 19th-century astronomers, and published in 1888 as the New General Catalogue (abbreviated
NGC) of 7,840 deep-sky objects. The NGC numbering is still the most commonly used identifying label for
these celestial landmarks.[7]:418
He discovered NGC 12, NGC 13, NGC 14, NGC 16, NGC 23, NGC 24 (work in progress).
Works with his sister Caroline
William and Caroline Herschel polishing a telescope lens (probably a mirror); 1896 lithograph
Following the death of their father, William suggested that Caroline join him in Bath, England. In 1772, Caroline
was first introduced to astronomy by her brother. [43][48][49]
Caroline spent many hours polishing the mirrors of high performance telescopes so that the amount of light
captured was maximized. She also copied astronomical catalogues and other publications for William. After
William accepted the office of King's Astronomer to George III, Caroline became his constant assistant. [50]
In October 1783, a new 20-foot telescope came into service for William. During this time, William was
attempting to observe and then record all of the observations. He had to run inside and let his eyes readjust to
the artificial light before he could record anything, and then he would have to wait until his eyes were adjusted
to the dark before he could observe again. Caroline became his recorder by sitting at a desk near an open
window. William would shout out his observations and she would write them down along with any information
he needed from a reference book.[51]
Caroline began to make astronomical discoveries in her own right, particularly comets. In 1783, William built
her a small Newtonian reflector telescope, with a handle to make a vertical sweep of the sky. Between 1783
and 1787, she made an independent discovery of M110 (NGC 205), which is the second companion of
the Andromeda Galaxy. During the years 1786–1797, she discovered or observed eight comets. [52] She found
fourteen new nebulae[53] and, at her brother's suggestion, updated and corrected Flamsteed's work detailing the
position of stars.[54][55] She also rediscovered Comet Encke in 1795.[52]
Caroline Herschel's eight comets were published between 28 August 1782 to 5 February 1787. Five of her
comets were published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. William was even summoned to
Windsor Castle to demonstrate Caroline's comet to the royal family. William recorded this phenomenon himself,
terming it "My Sister's Comet." She wrote letters to the Astronomer Royal to announce the discovery of her
second comet, and wrote to Joseph Banks upon the discovery of her third and fourth comets. [49]
The Catalogue of stars taken from Mr Flamsteed's observations contained an index of more than 560 stars that
had not been previously included.[53][55] Caroline Herschel was honoured by the Royal Astronomical Society for
this work in 1828.[56]
Caroline also continued to serve as William Herschel's assistant, often taking notes while he observed at the
telescope.[57] For her work as William's assistant, she was granted an annual salary of £50 by George III. Her
appointment made her the first female in England to be honored with a government position. [58] It also made her
the first woman to be given a salary as an astronomer.[59]
In June 1785, owing to damp conditions, William and Caroline moved to Clay Hall in Old Windsor. On 3 April
1786, the Herschels moved to a new residence on Windsor Road in Slough.[45] Herschel lived the rest of his life
in this residence, which came to be known as Observatory House.[60] It was demolished in 1963.[61]
William Herschel's marriage in 1788 caused a lot of tension in the brother-sister relationship. Caroline has been
referred to as a bitter, jealous woman who worshipped her brother and resented her sister-in-law for invading
her domestic life. With the arrival of Mary, Caroline lost her managerial and social responsibilities in the
household, and with them much of her status. Caroline destroyed her journals between the years 1788 to 1798,
so her feelings during this period are not entirely known. According to her memoir, Caroline then moved to
separate lodgings, but continued to work as her brother's assistant. When her brother and his family were away
from their home, she would often return to take care of it for them. In later life, Caroline and Lady Herschel
exchanged affectionate letters.[49]
Caroline continued her astronomical work after William's death in 1822. She worked to verify and confirm his
findings as well as putting together catalogues of nebulae. Towards the end of her life, she arranged two-and-
a-half thousand nebulae and star clusters into zones of similar polar distances. She did this so that her
nephew, John, could re-examine them systematically. Eventually, this list was enlarged and renamed the New
General Catalogue.[62] In 1828, she was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society for her
work.[63]
Herschel's telescopes
The most common type of telescope at that time was the refracting telescope, which involved the refraction of
light through a tube using a convex glass lens. This design was subject to chromatic aberration, a distortion of
an image due to the failure of light of different component wavelengths to converge. Optician John
Dollond (1706–1761) tried to correct for this distortion by combining two separate lenses, but it was still difficult
to achieve good resolution for far distant light sources. [43]
Reflector telescopes, invented by Isaac Newton in 1668, used a single concave mirror rather than a convex
lens. The concave mirror gathered more light than a lens, reflecting it onto a flat mirror at the end of the
telescope for viewing. A smaller mirror could provide greater magnification and a larger field of view than a
convex lens. Newton's first mirror was 1.3 inches in diameter; such mirrors were rarely more than 3 inches in
diameter.[43]
Because of the poor reflectivity of mirrors made of speculum metal, Herschel eliminated the small diagonal
mirror of a standard newtonian reflector from his design and tilted his primary mirror so he could view the
formed image directly. This "front view" design has come to be called the Herschelian telescope.[64][65]:7
The creation of larger, symmetrical mirrors was extremely difficult. Any flaw would result in a blurred image.
Because no one else was making mirrors of the size and magnification desired by Herschel, he determined to
make his own.[43] This was no small undertaking. He was assisted by his sister Caroline and other family
members. Caroline Herschel described the pouring of a 30-foot-focal-length mirror:
A day was set apart for casting, and the metal was in the furnace, but unfortunately it began to leak at the
moment when ready for pouring, and both my brothers and the caster with his men were obliged to run out at
opposite doors, for the stone flooring (which ought to have been taken up) flew about in all directions, as high
as the ceiling. My poor brother fell, exhausted with heat and exertion, on a heap of brickbats. Before the
second casting was attempted, everything which could ensure success had been attended to, and a very
perfect metal was found in the mould, which had cracked in the cooling.
— Caroline Herschel[49]
Herschel is reported to have cast, ground, and polished more than four hundred mirrors for telescopes, varying
in size from 6 to 48 inches in diameter.[64][66] Herschel and his assistants built and sold at least sixty complete
telescopes of various sizes.[64] Commissions for the making and selling of mirrors and telescopes provided
Herschel with an additional source of income. The King of Spain reportedly paid £3,150 for a telescope. [49]
An essential part of constructing and maintaining telescopes was the grinding and polishing of their mirrors.
This had to be done repeatedly, whenever the mirrors deformed or tarnished during use. [43] The only way to test
the accuracy of a mirror was to use it.[64]
40ft telescope
40-foot telescope
The 40-foot (12 m) telescope
The largest and most famous of Herschel's telescopes was a reflecting telescope with a 49½-inch-diameter
(1.26 m) primary mirror and a 40-foot (12 m) focal length. The 40-foot telescope was, at that time, the
largest scientific instrument that had been built. It was hailed as a triumph of "human perseverance and zeal for
the sublimest science".[43][8]:215
In 1785 Herschel approached King George for money to cover the cost of building the 40-foot telescope. He
received £4,000.[67] Without royal patronage, the telescope could not have been created. As it was, it took five
years, and went over budget.[43]
The Herschel home in Slough became a scramble of "labourers and workmen, smiths and carpenters". [43] A 40-
foot telescope tube had to be cast of iron. The tube was large enough to walk through. Mirror blanks were
poured from Speculum metal, a mix of copper and tin. They were almost four feet in diameter and weighed
1,000 pounds. When the first disk deformed due to its weight, a second thicker one was made with a higher
content of copper. The mirrors had to be hand polished, a painstaking process. A mirror was repeatedly put into
the telescope and removed again to ensure that it was properly formed. When a mirror deformed or tarnished,
it had to be removed, repolished and replaced in the apparatus. A huge rotating platform was built to support
the telescope, enabling it to be repositioned by assistants as a sweep progressed. A platform near the top of
the tube enabled the viewer to look down into the tube and view the resulting image. [43][67]
Saturn orbiter's view of Mimas
In 1789, shortly after this instrument was operational, Herschel discovered a new moon of Saturn: Mimas, only
250 miles in diameter.[68] Discovery of a second moon (Enceladus) followed, within the first month of
observation.[43][69][70]
The 40-foot telescope proved very cumbersome, and in spite of its size, not very effective at showing clearer
images.[43] Herschel's technological innovations had taken him to the limits of what was possible with the
technology of his day. The 40-foot would not be improved upon until the Victorians developed techniques for
the precision engineering of large, high-quality mirrors.[71] William Herschel was disappointed with it.[43][64][72] Most
of Herschel's observations were done with a smaller 18.5-inch (47 cm), 20-foot-focal-length (6.1 m) reflector.
Nonetheless, the 40-foot caught the public imagination. It inspired scientists and writers including Erasmus
Darwin and William Blake, and impressed foreign tourists and French dignitaries. King George was pleased. [43]
Herschel discovered that unfilled telescope apertures can be used to obtain high angular resolution, something
which became the essential basis for interferometric imaging in astronomy (in particular aperture masking
interferometry and hypertelescopes).[73]
Reconstruction of the 20-foot telescope
In 2012, the BBC television programme Stargazing Live built a replica of the 20-foot telescope using Herschel's
original plans but modern materials. It is to be considered a close modern approximation rather than an exact
replica. A modern glass mirror was used, the frame uses metal scaffolding and the tube is a sewer pipe. The
telescope was shown on the programme in January 2013 and stands on the Art, Design and Technology
campus of the University of Derby where it will be used for educational purposes. [74]
Life on other celestial bodies
Herschel was sure that he had found ample evidence of life on the Moon and compared it to the English
countryside.[75] He did not refrain himself from theorising that the other planets were populated, [43] with a special
interest in Mars, which was in line with most of his contemporary scientists. [75] At Herschel's time, scientists
tended to believe in a plurality of civilised worlds; in contrast, most religious thinkers referred to unique
properties of the earth.[75] Herschel went so far to speculate that the interior of the sun was populated. [75]
Sunspots, climate and wheat yields
Herschel started to examine the correlation of solar variation and solar cycle and climate.[76] Over a period of 40
years (1779–1818), Herschel had regularly observed sunspots and their variations in number, form and size.
Most of his observations took place in a period of low solar activity, the Dalton Minimum, when sunspots were
relatively few in number. This was one of the reasons why Herschel was not able to identify the standard 11-
year period in solar activity.[77][78] Herschel compared his observations with the series of wheat prices published
by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations.[79]
In 1801, Herschel reported his findings to the Royal Society and indicated five prolonged periods of few
sunspots correlated with the price of wheat. [76] Herschel's study was ridiculed by some of his contemporaries but
did initiate further attempts to find a correlation. Later in the 19th century, William Stanley Jevons proposed
the 11-year cycle with Herschel's basic idea of a correlation between the low number of sunspots and lower
yields explaining recurring booms and slumps in the economy.[78]
Herschel's speculation on a connection between sunspots and regional climate, using the market price of
wheat as a proxy, continues to be cited. According to one study, the influence of solar activity can actually be
seen on the historical wheat market in England over ten solar cycles between 1600 and 1700. [77][78] The
evaluation is controversial[80] and the significance of the correlation is doubted by some scientists. [81]
Further discoveries
Planets discovered: 1
Uranus 13 March 1781
Moons discovered: 4
Oberon 11 January 1787
Titania 11 January 1787
Enceladus 28 August 1789
Mimas 17 September 1789
In his later career, Herschel discovered two moons of Saturn, Mimas[69] and Enceladus;[70] as well as two moons
of Uranus, Titania and Oberon.[82] He did not give these moons their names; they were named by his
son John in 1847 and 1852, respectively, after his death.[69][70] Herschel measured the axial tilt of Mars[83] and
discovered that the martian ice caps, first observed by Giovanni Domenico Cassini (1666) and Christiaan
Huygens (1672), changed size with that planet's seasons.[5] It has been suggested that Herschel might have
discovered rings around Uranus.[84]
Herschel introduced but did not create the word "asteroid",[85] meaning star-like (from the
Greek asteroeides, aster "star" + -eidos "form, shape"), in 1802 (shortly after Olbers discovered the
second minor planet, 2 Pallas, in late March), to describe the star-like appearance of the small moons of
the giant planets and of the minor planets; the planets all show discs, by comparison. By the 1850s 'asteroid'
became a standard term for describing certain minor planets. [86]
From studying the proper motion of stars, the nature and extent of the solar motion was first demonstrated by
Herschel in 1783, along with first determining the direction for the solar apex to Lambda Herculis, only 10°
away from today's accepted position.[87][88][89]
William Herschel's model of the Milky Way, 1785
Herschel also studied the structure of the Milky Way and was the first to propose a model of the galaxy based
on observation and measurement. He concluded that it was in the shape of a disk, but incorrectly assumed that
the sun was in the centre of the disk.[90][91][92][93] This Heliocentric view was eventually replaced
by Galactocentrism due to the work of Harlow Shapley, Heber Doust Curtis and Edwin Hubble in the 1900s. All
three men used significantly more far-reaching and accurate telescopes than Herschel's. [90][91][94]
Discovery of infrared radiation in sunlight
On 11 February 1800, Herschel was testing filters for the Sun so he could observe sunspot. When using a red
filter he found there was a lot of heat produced. Herschel discovered infrared radiation in sunlight by passing it
through a prism and holding a thermometer just beyond the red end of the visible spectrum. This thermometer
was meant to be a control to measure the ambient air temperature in the room. He was shocked when it
showed a higher temperature than the visible spectrum. Further experimentation led to Herschel's conclusion
that there must be an invisible form of light beyond the visible spectrum.[95][96]
Biology
Herschel used a microscope to establish that coral was not a plant—as many at the time believed—because it
lacked the cell walls characteristic of plants. [97]
Family and death
On 8 May 1788, William Herschel married the widow Mary Pitt (née Baldwin) at St Laurence's Church, Upton in
Slough.[98] They had one child, John, born at Observatory House on 7 March 1792. William's personal
background and rise as man of science had a profound impact on the upbringing of his son and grandchildren.
He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1788.[99] In
1816, William was made a Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order by the Prince Regent and was accorded the
honorary title 'Sir' although this was not the equivalent of an official British knighthood. [100] He helped to found
the Astronomical Society of London in 1820,[101] which in 1831 received a royal charter and became the Royal
Astronomical Society.[102] In 1813, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of
Sciences.
On 25 August 1822, Herschel died at Observatory House, Windsor Road, Slough, after a long illness. He was
buried at nearby St Laurence's Church, Upton, Slough. Herschel's epitaph is
Coelorum perrupit claustra
(He broke through the barriers of the heavens) [103]
Caroline was deeply distressed by his death, and soon after his burial she returned to Hanover, a decision she
later regretted. She had lived in England for fifty years. Her interests were much more in line with her
nephew John Herschel, also an astronomer, than with her surviving family in Hanover. She continued to work
on the organization and cataloguing of nebulae, creating what would later become the basis of the New
General Catalogue. She died on 9 January 1848.[49][52][104]
Memorial
William Herschel lived most of his life in Slough, a town then in Buckinghamshire. He died in the town and was
buried under the tower of the Church of St Laurence, Upton-cum-Chalvey, near Slough.[105]
Herschel is quite respected in Slough and there are several memorials to him and his discoveries. In 2011 a
new bus station, the design of which was inspired by the infrared experiment of William Herschel, was built in
the centre of Slough.[106]
His house at 19 New King Street in Bath, Somerset, where he made many telescopes and first observed
Uranus, is now home to the Herschel Museum of Astronomy.[107]
Musical works
Herschel's complete musical works were as follows: [108]
18 symphonies for small orchestra (1760–1762)
6 symphonies for large orchestra (1762–1764)
12 concertos for oboe, violin and viola (1759–1764)
2 concertos for organ
6 sonatas for violin, cello and harpsichord (published 1769)
12 solos for violin and basso continuo (1763)
24 capriccios and 1 sonata for solo violin
1 andante for two basset horns, two oboes, two horns and two bassoons.
Various vocal works including a "Te Deum", psalms, motets and sacred chants along with some catches.
Keyboard works for organ and harpsichord:
6 fugues for organ
24 sonatas for organ (10 now lost)
33 voluntaries and pieces for organ (incomplete)
24 pieces for organ (incomplete)
12 voluntaries (11 now lost)
12 sonatas for harpsichord (9 extant)
25 variations on an ascending scale
2 minuets for harpsichord
Named after Herschel
William Herschel, portrait by James Sharples, c. 1805
The astrological symbol for planet Uranus ( ) features the capital initial letter of Herschel's surname.
Mu Cephei is also known as Herschel's Garnet Star
Herschel, a crater on the Moon
Herschel, a large impact basin on Mars
The enormous crater Herschel on Saturn's moon Mimas
The Herschel gap in Saturn's rings.
2000 Herschel, an asteroid
The William Herschel Telescope on La Palma
The Herschel Space Observatory, successfully launched by the European Space Agency on 14 May
2009. It is the largest space telescope of its kind
Herschel Grammar School, Slough
Rue Herschel, a street in the 6th Arrondissement of Paris.
The Herschel Building at Bath College, Bath
The Herschel building at Newcastle University, Newcastle, United Kingdom
Herschel Museum of Astronomy, at 19 New King Street in Bath.
Herschelschule, Hanover, Germany, a grammar school
The Herschel Observatory, at the Universitas School in Santos, Brazil.
The lunar crater C. Herschel, the asteroid 281 Lucretia, and the comet 35P/Herschel-Rigollet are
named after his sister Caroline Herschel.
The public house "Herschel Arms" at 22 Park Street, Slough is named after him and is quite close to
the site of Observatory House.
Herschel Astronomical Society, the operator of the Herschel Memorial Observatory based in Eton,
Berkshire.
Herschel Park, Slough.
The shape of Slough Bus Station, built in 2011, was inspired by Herschel's infrared experiment. [1
David Henrie
David Clayton Henrie (/ˈhɛnri/ Henry; born July 11, 1989) is an American actor and director. [1] He is noted for
playing Ted Mosby's future son Luke on How I Met Your Mother and Justin Russo in Wizards of Waverly Place,
as well as starring in the films Little Boy and Walt Before Mickey.
David Henrie
Henrie in October 2010
Early life
Henrie was born in Mission Viejo, California, the son of Linda (née Finocchiaro), a talent
manager, and James Wilson Henrie, a producer formerly in real estate. He is the older brother
[2][3]
of actor Lorenzo James Henrie. Henrie is of English, German, Swiss-German and Welsh descent
on his father's side, and his maternal grandparents were Italian. Henrie was raised as
[failed verification] [4][5]
a Roman Catholic, and, in a video chat, stated that he is "a Christian and always will be". He
[6][7] [8]
grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. On April 6, 2012, Good Friday, Henrie accompanied Eduardo
[9][10]
Verástegui in a speech addressing life issues at the Church of the Most Blessed Sacrament in the
city of Piura, Peru.
[11]
Career
By age 13, Henrie got his first big break, landing a regular role as Petey Pitt on
the Fox sitcom The Pitts. Henrie next landed a leading role in the Hallmark movie, Monster
[12]
Makers, with Linda Blair and George Kennedy, and was asked to come back for another
Hallmark movie, to play a role in Dead Hollywood Moms Society. He also starred as Skylar
[13]
Blaford in the Fox's sitcom Method & Red. [14]
Henrie guest starred in many shows such as Providence, Without a Trace, The Mullets, Judging
Amy, The D.A., Jack & Bobby, NCIS, House, and Cold Case. Before his role on Wizards of
[15]
Waverly Place, he had a recurring role on That's So Raven as Cory's friend Larry. Henrie also[16]
had a recurring role on How I Met Your Mother, where he played Ted's future son. [17]
At the age of 18, Henrie got the role of Justin Russo in the Disney Channel Original
Series, Wizards of Waverly Place. The show premiered on October 12, 2007. He was in the
[18]
movie Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie with the cast of the series. Henrie played Justin
[19]
Russo through the whole series. About a year after the finale a film, The Wizards Return: Alex
vs. Alex premiered on March 15, 2013 without Henrie, but his character was mentioned, and a
photo of him is shown. Henrie is credited with writing two episodes of Wizards of Waverly
Place, "Alex's Logo" and the series special "Meet the Werewolves". [20][21]
He had a role in the Disney Channel Original Movie Dadnapped co-starring Emily Osment.
Henrie made a guest appearance as himself in 2 episodes of Jonas. According to Reuters,
[22]
Henrie was officially named the Grand Marshal for the 2009 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race. [23]
Henrie in 2012
In 2010, Henrie guest-starred in the web series Easy to Assemble. In 2012, Henrie voiced the
[24]
character of Shawn in the movie The secret World of Arrietty. Henrie has also directed a short
[25]
film titled "Boo!" and another one called "Catch", which debuted in the summer of 2014. [26][27]
Henrie appeared in Grown Ups 2 (2013), opposite Taylor Lautner and Adam Sandler. In 2014, [28]
Henrie played the lead in 1000 to 1: The Cory Weissman Story, the true story of a young
basketball player who suffered a catastrophic stroke as a freshman at Gettysburg College but,
through determination and an indomitable spirit, returned to the court for one remarkable
moment in the last game of his senior year. Later that year, Henrie guest starred in
[29]
the ABC show Mind Games. [30]
In 2015, he played the role of Lane, who is a valet and falls for Paul Blart's daughter, in the
sequel Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, co-starred as London Busbee, older brother of the title character
in the drama Little Boy, and he had a role in the indie biographical drama film Walt Before
Mickey in which he plays Rudy Ising, who worked for Walt Disney. Henrie had cameo[31][32][33]
appearances in indie drama Cardboard Boxer and Warrior Road. [34]
In 2018, Henrie directed a coming-of-age film This Is the Year, which he also starred in and co-
wrote. In January 2015, Henrie was cast to play a young Ronald Reagan in an upcoming biopic
[35]
titled Reagan. [36]
Personal life
In October 2016, Henrie became engaged to former Miss Delaware Maria Cahill. They were [37][38]
married on April 21, 2017. In September 2018, he revealed that they are expecting their first
[39]
child, a girl. On March 19, 2019, their daughter, Pia Francesca Philomena Henrie was born.
[40]
Legal Issues
On September 10, 2018, Henrie was arrested and charged at Los Angeles International
Airport under allegations of carrying a loaded gun in the airport. He later released a statement on
Twitter apologizing for the incident, stating that the act was unintentional and the gun was
legally purchased. On September 26, 2018, it was reported Henrie was charged on three
[41][42]
counts for "carrying a loaded firearm, carrying a concealed firearm, and possessing a weapon in
a sterile area of the airport". [43]
Filmography
Film roles
Yea
Title Role Notes
r
2003 Monster Makers Danny Burke
Film roles
Yea
Title Role Notes
r
2004 Hollywood Mom's Mystery Oliver Palumbo
2004 Arizona Summer Bad
2012 The Secret World of Arrietty Shawn Voice role
2013 Grown Ups 2 Frat Boy Zac
1000 to 1: The Cory Weissman Cory
2014
Story Weissman
2014 Catch Short film; writer/director/producer[44]
2015 Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 Lane
2015 Little Boy London Busbee
2015 Walt Before Mickey Rudy Ising
2016 Cardboard Boxer Clean Cut Man
2016 Warrior Road Tom
2016 Max & Me D.J. (voice)
TBA This Is the Year[citation needed] Sebastian filming
Television roles
Year Title Role Notes
2002 Providence Mark Triedman Episode: "Gotcha"
2002 Without a Trace Gabe Freedman Episode: "Birthday Boy"
2003 The Pitts Petey Pitt Main role
2003 The Mullets N/A Episode: "Grudge Match"
2003 Judging Amy Jeremy Episode: "Sex and the Single Mother"
2004 The D.A. Alex Henry Episode: "The People vs. Patricia Henry"
2004 Method & Red Skyler Blaford Recurring role
2004 Jack and Bobby Sniffly Episode: "The Kindness of Strangers"
2004 NCIS Willy Shields Episode: "Terminal Leave"
2004–
That's So Raven Larry Recurring role; 12 episodes
2007
2005 House Tommy Episode: "Cursed"
2005– Recurring role (stock footage used since season 2); 65
How I Met Your Mother Luke Mosby
2014 episodes
2006 Cold Case Dale Wilson Episode: "Fireflies"
Television roles
Year Title Role Notes
2007 Studio DC: Almost Live Himself Episode: "The Second Show"
2007–
Wizards of Waverly Place Justin Russo Main role; 106 episodes
2012
2008 Disney Channel Games Himself Cyclone's Team Captain; Green Team
2009 The Suite Life on Deck Justin Russo Episode: "Double Crossed"
Disney Channel's 3 Minute Episodes: "The Cheetah Girls: One World", "Wizards of
2009 Himself
Game Show Waverly Place: The Movie"
2009 Dadnapped Wheeze Television film
Wizards of Waverly Place:
2009 Justin Russo Television film
The Movie
2010 Jonas Himself Episodes: "Boat Trip", "On the Radio"
2010 Easy to Assemble Ethan Episode: "Flying Solo"
Disney's Friends for Change
2011 Himself Green Team
Games
Himself/David
2013 Arrested Development Episode: "It Gets Better"
Henrie
2014 Mind Games Elliot Episode: "Embodied Cognition"
Director
Year Title Notes
200
Boo! Short film
9
201
Catch Short film
4
TBA This Is the Year Debut feature film
Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Work Result Refs
Best Performance in a TV Drama Series –
2003 Young Artist Awards Without a Trace Nominated
Guest Starring Young Actor
Best Performance in a Feature Film –
Arizona Summer Nominated
Leading Young Actor
2004 Young Artist Awards
Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy
The Pitts Nominated
or Drama) - Leading Young Actor
Best Young Ensemble Performance in a TV Wizards of
2008 Young Artist Awards Nominated
Series Waverly Place
Wizards of
2011 Kids' Choice Awards Favorite TV Sidekick Nominated [45]
Waverly Place
Behind the Voice Actors Best Vocal Ensemble in an Anime Feature The Secret World
2013 Nominated
Awards Film/Special of Arrietty
Cleveland International Nominated
2014 Best Live Action Short Film Catch
Film Festival
James Ussher.
James Ussher (or Usher; 4 January 1581 – 21 March 1656) was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of
Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. He was a prolific scholar and church leader, who
today is most famous for his identification of the genuine letters of the church father, Ignatius, and for his
chronology that sought to establish the time and date of the creation as "the entrance of the night preceding the
23rd day of October... the year before Christ 4004"; that is, around 6 pm on 22 October 4004 BC, per
the proleptic Julian calendar.
Education
Ussher was born in Dublin to a well-to-do family. His maternal grandfather, James Stanihurst, had been
speaker of the Irish parliament. Ussher's father, Arland Ussher, was a clerk in chancery who married James
Stanihurst's daughter, Margaret (by his first wife Anne Fitzsimon), who was reportedly a Roman Catholic. [1]
Ussher's younger, and only surviving, brother, Ambrose, became a distinguished scholar
of Arabic and Hebrew. According to his chaplain and biographer, Nicholas Bernard, the elder brother was
taught to read by two blind, spinster aunts. A gifted polyglot, he entered Dublin Free School and then the newly
founded (1591) Trinity College Dublin on 9 January 1594, at the age of thirteen (not an unusual age at the
time). He had received his Bachelor of Arts degree by 1598 and was a fellow and MA by 1600 (though Bernard
claims he did not gain his MA till 1601). In May 1602, he was ordained in the Trinity College Chapel as a
deacon in the Protestant, established, Church of Ireland (and possibly priest on the same day) by his
uncle Henry Ussher, the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland.
Ussher went on to become Chancellor of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin in 1605 and Prebend of Finglas. He
became Professor of Theological Controversies at Trinity College and a Bachelor of Divinity in 1607, Doctor of
Divinity in 1612, and then Vice-Chancellor in 1615 and vice-provost in 1616. In 1613, he married Phoebe,
daughter of a previous Vice-Provost, Luke Challoner, and published his first work. In 1615, he was closely
involved with the drawing up of the first confession of faith of the Church of Ireland.
Early life and career
In 1619 Ussher travelled to England, where he remained for two years. His only child was Elizabeth (1619–93),
who married Sir Timothy Tyrrell, of Oakley, Buckinghamshire. She was the mother of James Tyrrell. He
became prominent after meeting James I. In 1621 James I nominated Ussher Bishop of Meath. He became a
national figure in Ireland, becoming Privy Councillor in 1623 and an increasingly substantial scholar. A noted
collector of Irish manuscripts, he made them available for research to fellow-scholars such as his friend, Sir
James Ware. From 1623 until 1626 he was again in England and was excused from his episcopal duties to
study church history. He was nominated Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh in 1625 and
succeeded Christopher Hampton, who had succeeded Ussher's uncle Henry twelve years earlier.
Primate of All Ireland
After his consecration in 1626, Ussher found himself in turbulent political times. Tension was rising between
England and Spain, and to secure Ireland Charles I offered Irish Catholics a series of concessions, including
religious toleration, known as The Graces, in exchange for money for the upkeep of the army. Ussher was a
convinced Calvinist and viewed with dismay the possibility that people he regarded as anti-Christian papists
might achieve any sort of power. He called a secret meeting of the Irish bishops in his house in November
1626, the result being the "Judgement of the Arch-Bishops and Bishops of Ireland". This begins:
The religion of the papists is superstitious and idolatrous; their faith and doctrine erroneous and heretical; their
church in respect of both, apostatical; to give them, therefore, a toleration, or to consent that they may freely
exercise their religion, and profess their faith and doctrine, is a grievous sin
Archbishop James Ussher (1581–1656)
.
The Judgement was not published until it was read out at the end of a series of sermons against the Graces
given at Dublin in April 1627. Following Thomas Wentworth's attainder in April 1641, King Charles and
the Privy Council of England instructed the Irish Lords Justices on 3 May 1641 to publish the required Bills to
enact the Graces.[2][3] However, the law reforms were not properly implemented before the rebellion in late 1641.
During a four-year interregnum between Lord Deputies from 1629 on, there was an increase in efforts to
impose religious conformity on Ireland. In 1633, Ussher wrote to the new Archbishop of Canterbury, William
Laud, in an effort to gain support for the imposition of recusancy fines on Irish Catholics. Thomas Wentworth,
who arrived as the new Lord Deputy in Ireland in 1633, deflected the pressure for conformity by stating that
firstly, the Church of Ireland itself would have to be properly resourced, and he set about its re-endowment. He
settled the long-running primacy dispute between the sees of Armagh and Dublin in Armagh's favour. The two
clashed on the subject of the theatre: Ussher had the usual Puritan antipathy to the stage, whereas Wentworth
was a keen theatre-goer, and against Ussher's opposition, oversaw the foundation of Ireland's first theatre,
the Werburgh Street Theatre.
Ussher soon found himself at odds with the rise of Arminianism and Wentworth and Laud's desire for
conformity between the Church of England and the more Calvinistic Church of Ireland. Ussher resisted this
pressure at a convocation in 1634, ensuring that the English Articles of Religion were adopted as well as the
Irish articles, not instead of them, and that the Irish canons had to be redrafted based on the English ones
rather than replaced by them. Theologically, he was a Calvinist although on the matter of the atonement he
was (somewhat privately) a hypothetical universalist. His most significant influence in this regard was John
Davenant, later an English delegate to the Synod of Dort, who managed to significantly soften that Synod's
teaching regarding limited atonement.[4]
In 1633, Ussher had supported the appointment of Archbishop Laud as Chancellor of the University of Dublin.
He had hoped that Laud would help to impose order on what was, Ussher accepted, a somewhat mismanaged
institution. Laud did that, rewriting the charter and statutes to limit the authority of the fellows, and ensure that
the appointment of the provost was under royal control. In 1634, he imposed on the College an Arminian
provost, William Chappell, whose theological views, and peremptory style of government, were antithetical to
everything for which Ussher stood. By 1635, it was apparent that Ussher had lost de facto control of the church
to John Bramhall, Bishop of Derry, in everyday matters and to Laud in matters of policy.
William M. Abbott, Associate Professor of History at Fairfield University, argues that he was an effective and
politically important bishop and archbishop.[5] The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography notes that he was
reactive and sought conciliation rather than confrontation. [6] The story that he successfully opposed attempts to
reintroduce the Irish language for use in church services by William Bedell, the Bishop of Kilmore, has been
refuted.[7][8]
Ussher certainly preferred to be a scholar when he could be. He engaged in extensive disputations with Roman
Catholic theologians, and even as a student he challenged a Jesuit relative, Henry Fitzsimon (Ussher's mother
was Catholic), to dispute publicly the identification of the Pope with the Antichrist. Ussher had an obsession
with "Jesuits disguised as" Covenanters in SCotland, highwaymen when he was robbed, non-conformists in
England, it was a remarkable list.[9]
The title page of "Immanuel, or the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God," authored in 1643.
However, Ussher also wrote extensively on theology, [10] patristics and ecclesiastical history, and these subjects
gradually displaced his anti-Catholic work. After Convocation in 1634, Ussher left Dublin for his episcopal
residence at Drogheda, where he concentrated on his archdiocese and his research. In 1631, he produced a
new edition of a work first published in 1622, his "Discourse on the Religion Anciently Professed by the Irish", a
ground-breaking study of the early Irish church, which sought to demonstrate how it differed from Rome and
was, instead, much closer to the later Protestant church. This was to prove highly influential, establishing the
idea that the Church of Ireland was the true successor of the early Celtic church.
In 1639, he published the most substantial history of Christianity in Britain to that date, Britannicarum
ecclesiarum antiquitates — the antiquities of the British churches. It was an astonishing achievement in one
respect — in gathering together so many previously unpublished manuscript sources. Ussher was very
reluctant to arrive at firm judgements as to the sources' authenticity — hence his devotion of a whole chapter to
the imaginative but invented stories of King Lucius and the creation of a Christian episcopate in Britain.
English Civil War
In 1640, Ussher left Ireland for England for what turned out to be the last time. In the years before the English
Civil War, his reputation as a scholar and his moderate Calvinism meant that his opinion was sought by both
King and Parliament. After Ussher lost his home and income through the Irish uprising of 1641, Parliament
voted him a pension of £400 while the King awarded him the income and property of the vacant See of Carlisle.
Despite their occasional differences, he remained a loyal friend to the Earl of Strafford, and when the latter was
sentenced to death by Parliament, pleaded with the King not to allow the execution of the verdict: unlike some
of his episcopal colleagues, he insisted that the King was absolutely bound in conscience by his promise to
Strafford that whatever happened his life would be spared. The King did not take his advice, but clearly
afterwards regretted not doing so, as is shown by his reference on the scaffold to Strafford's death as "that
unjust sentence which I suffered to take effect".
In the years before the English Civil War, James Ussher's reputation as a scholar and his moderate Calvinism meant that his
opinion was sought by both King and Parliament.
In early 1641 Ussher developed a mediatory position on church government, which sought to bridge the gap
between the Laudians, who believed in an episcopalian church hierarchy (bishops), and the Presbyterians, who
wanted to abolish episcopacy entirely. His proposals, not published until 1656, after his death, as The
Reduction of Episcopacy, proposed a compromise where bishops operated in a Presbyterian synodal system,
were initially designed to support a rapprochement between Charles and the parliamentarian leadership in
1641, but were rejected by the King. They did, however, have an afterlife, being published in England and
Scotland well into the eighteenth century. In all, he wrote or edited five books relating to episcopacy; the last
two, treatises on the Ignatian epistles, were particular scholarly achievements that have largely survived
modern scrutiny.
As the middle ground between King and Parliament vanished in 1641–1642, Ussher was forced, reluctantly, to
choose between his Calvinist allies in parliament and his instinctive loyalty to the monarchy. Eventually, in
January 1642 (having asked parliament's permission), he moved to Oxford, a royalist stronghold. Though
Charles severely tested Ussher's loyalty by negotiating with the Catholic Irish, the Primate remained committed
to the royal cause, though as king's fortunes waned Ussher had to move on to Bristol, Cardiff, and then to St
Donat's.
In June 1646, he returned to London under the protection of his friend, Elizabeth, Dowager Countess of
Peterborough, in whose houses he stayed from then on. He became a preacher at Lincoln's Inn early in 1647,
and despite his royalist loyalties was protected by his friends in Parliament. He watched the execution of
Charles I from the roof of the Countess of Peterborough's home in London but fainted before the axe fell.
Chronology
Main article: Ussher chronology
Ussher now concentrated on his research and writing and returned to the study of chronology and the church
fathers. After a 1647 work on the origin of the Creeds, Ussher published a treatise on the calendar in 1648.
This was a warm-up for his most famous work, the Annales veteris testamenti, a prima mundi origine
deducti ("Annals of the Old Testament, deduced from the first origins of the world"), which appeared in 1650,
and its continuation, Annalium pars posterior, published in 1654. In this work, he calculated the date of
the Creation to have been nightfall on 22 October 4004 BC. (Other scholars, such
as Cambridge academic, John Lightfoot, calculated their own dates for the Creation.) The time of the Ussher
chronology is frequently misquoted as being 9 a.m., noon or 9 p.m. on 23 October. See the related article on
the chronology for a discussion of its claims and methodology.
Ussher's work is now used to support Young Earth Creationism, which holds that the universe was created
thousands of years ago (rather than billions). But while calculating the date of the Creation is today considered
a controversial activity, in Ussher's time such a calculation was still regarded as an important task, one
previously attempted by many Post-Reformation scholars, such as Joseph Justus Scaliger and physicist Isaac
Newton.
Ussher's chronology represented a considerable feat of scholarship: it demanded great depth of learning in
what was then known of ancient history, including the rise of the Persians, Greeks and Romans, as well as
expertise in the Bible, biblical languages, astronomy, ancient calendars and chronology. Ussher's account of
historical events for which he had multiple sources other than the Bible is usually in close agreement with
modern accounts—for example, he placed the death of Alexander in 323 BC and that of Julius Caesar in 44
BC. Ussher's last extra-biblical co-ordinate was the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, and beyond this point,
he had to rely on other considerations. Faced with inconsistent texts of the Torah, each with a different number
of years between Flood and Creation, Ussher chose the Masoretic version, which claims an unbroken history of
careful transcription stretching back centuries—but his choice was confirmed for him, because it placed
Creation exactly four thousand years before 4 BC, the generally accepted date for the birth of the 'Jesus' of the
Christian faith; moreover, he calculated, Solomon's temple was completed in the year 3000 from creation, so
that there were exactly 1000 years from the temple to Jesus, who was thought to be the 'fulfilment' of the
Temple.[11] Ussher remains popular amongst creationists, even though they reject his methodology of using the
most up to date contemporary scientific, chronological, historical and biblical scholarship to date the age of the
world.
Death
In 1655, Ussher published his last book, De Graeca Septuaginta Interpretum Versione, the first serious
examination of the Septuagint, discussing its accuracy as compared with the Hebrew text of the Old
Testament. In 1656, he went to stay in the Countess of Peterborough's house in Reigate, Surrey. On 19 March,
he felt a sharp pain in his side after supper and took to his bed. His symptoms seem to have been those of a
severe internal haemorrhage. Two days later he died, aged 75. His last words were reported as: "O Lord,
forgive me, especially my sins of omission." His body was embalmed and was to have been buried in Reigate,
but at Cromwell's insistence he was given a state funeral on 17 April and was buried in the chapel of St
Erasmus in Westminster Abbey.[12]
James Ussher's reported last words were "O Lord forgive me, especially my sins of omission".
Works
Elrington, Charles Richard, ed. (1847), The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, D.D., I,
Dublin: Hodges and Smith, retrieved 17 August 2008 – The Life of James Ussher, D.D.
Elrington, Charles Richard, ed. (1847), The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, D.D., II,
Dublin: Hodges and Smith – incl. De Christianorum Ecclesiarum Successione et Statu historica Explicatio
(1613)
Elrington, Charles Richard, ed. (1847), The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, D.D., III,
Dublin: Hodges and Smith, retrieved 17 August 2008 – some works in English
Elrington, Charles Richard, ed. (1847), The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, D.D., IV,
Dublin: Hodges and Smith, retrieved 17 August 2008 – incl. Gotteschalci et Praedestinatione
Controversiae abeomotae Historia (1631); Veterum Epistolarum Hibernicarum Sylloge (1632)
Elrington, Charles Richard, ed. (1847), The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, D.D., V,
Dublin: Hodges and Smith, retrieved 17 August 2008 – Brittanicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates; caput I-XIII
(1639)
Elrington, Charles Richard, ed. (1847), The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, D.D., VI,
Dublin: Hodges and Smith, retrieved 17 August 2008 – Brittanicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates; caput XIV-
XVII (1639)
Elrington, Charles Richard, ed. (1847), The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, D.D., VII,
Dublin: Hodges and Smith – Dissertatio non-de Ignati solum et Polycarpi scriptis, sed etiam de Apostolicis
Constitutionibus et Canonibus Clementi Romano attributis (1644); Praefationes in Ignatium (1644); De
Romanae Ecclesiae Symbolo vetere aliisque Fidei Formulis tum ab Occidentalibus tum ab Orientalibus in
prima Catechesi et Baptismo proponi solitis (1647); De Macedonum et Asianorum Anno Solari Dissertatio
(1648); De Graeca Septuaginta Interpretum Versione Syntagma, cum Libri Estherae editione Origenica et
vetere Graeca altera; Epistola ad Ludovicum Capellum de variantibus Textus Hebraei Lectionibus;
Epistola Gulielmi Eyre ad Usserium
Elrington, Charles Richard, ed. (1847), The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, D.D., VIII,
Dublin: Hodges and Smith, retrieved 17 August 2008 – Annales veteris Testamenti, a Prima Mundi Origine
deducti, una cum Rerum Asiaticarum Aegypticarum Chronico, a temporis historici principio usque ad
Maccabaicorum initia producto (1650)
Elrington, Charles Richard, ed. (1847), The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, D.D., IX,
Dublin: Hodges and Smith, retrieved 17 August 2008 – Annales veteris Testamenti (contd.)
Elrington, Charles Richard, ed. (1847), The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, D.D., X,
Dublin: Hodges and Smith, retrieved 17 August 2008 – Annales veteris Testamenti (contd.)
Elrington, Charles Richard, ed. (1847), The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, D.D., XI,
Dublin: Hodges and Smith, retrieved 17 August 2008 – Annales veteris Testamenti concludes; Annalium
Pars Posterior, in qua, praeter Maccabaicam et novi testamenti historiam, Imperii Romanorum Caesarum
sub Caio Julio et Octaviano Ortus, rerumque in Asia et Aegypto Gestarum continetur Chronicon ... (1654)
Elrington, Charles Richard, ed. (1847), The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, D.D., XII,
Dublin: Hodges and Smith, retrieved 17 August 2008 – Chronologia sacra (1660); Historia Dogmatica
Controversiae inter Orthodoxos et Pontificios de Scripturis et Sacris Vernaculis; Dissertatio de Pseudo-
Dionysii scriptis; Dissertatio de epistola ad Laodicenses
Elrington, Charles Richard, ed. (1847), The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, D.D., XIII,
Dublin: Hodges and Smith, retrieved 17 August 2008 – sermons (in English)
Elrington, Charles Richard, ed. (1847), The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, D.D., XIV,
Dublin: Hodges and Smith, retrieved 17 August 2008 – Tractatus de Controversiis Pontificiis;
Praelectiones Theologicae
Elrington, Charles Richard, ed. (1847), The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, D.D., XV,
Dublin: Hodges and Smith, retrieved 17 August 2008 – letters (in English) (incl. first to Richard Stanihurst,
his uncle)
Elrington, Charles Richard, ed. (1847), The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, D.D., XVI,
Dublin: Hodges and Smith, retrieved 17 August 2008 – letters (in English and Latin)
Elrington, Charles Richard, ed. (1864), The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, D.D., XVII,
Dublin: Hodges, Smith, and Co, retrieved 17 August 2008 – indexes
Thor.
Thor is a 2011 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Produced
by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures,[N 1] it is the fourth film in the Marvel Cinematic
Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Kenneth Branagh, written by the writing team of Ashley Edward
Miller and Zack Stentz along with Don Payne, and stars Chris Hemsworth as the title character,
alongside Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Colm Feore, Ray Stevenson, Idris Elba, Kat
Dennings, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins. The film sees Thor banished to Earth from Asgard, stripped of
his powers and his hammer Mjölnir, after reigniting a dormant war. As his brother Loki plots to take the
Asgardian throne, Thor must prove himself worthy.
Sam Raimi first developed the concept of a film adaptation based on Thor in 1991, but soon abandoned the
project, leaving it in "development hell" for several years. During this time, the rights were picked up by various
film studios until Marvel signed Mark Protosevich to develop the project in 2006, and planned to finance it and
release it through Paramount. Matthew Vaughn was originally assigned to direct the film for a tentative 2010
release. However, after Vaughn was released from his holding deal in 2008, Branagh was approached and the
film's release was rescheduled to 2011. The main characters were cast in 2009, and principal photography took
place in California and New Mexico from January to May 2010. The film was converted to 3D in post-
production.
Thor premiered in Sydney, Australia, on April 17, 2011, and was released in the United States on May 6, 2011.
The film was a financial success, earning $449.3 million worldwide, and was positively reviewed for its
performances, although the Earth-based elements of the film received some criticism. Two sequels, Thor: The
Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok, were released on November 8, 2013, and November 3, 2017, respectively. A
third sequel, Thor: Love and Thunder, is in
Plot
In 965 AD, Odin, king of Asgard, wages war against the Frost Giants of Jotunheim and their leader Laufey, to
prevent them from conquering the nine realms, starting with Earth. The Asgardian warriors defeat the Frost
Giants in Tønsberg, Norway, and seize the source of their power, the Casket of Ancient Winters.
In the present,[N 2] Odin's son Thor prepares to ascend to the throne of Asgard, but is interrupted when Frost
Giants attempt to retrieve the Casket. Against Odin's order, Thor travels to Jotunheim to confront Laufey,
accompanied by his brother Loki, childhood friend Sif and the Warriors Three: Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun. A
battle ensues until Odin intervenes to save the Asgardians, destroying the fragile truce between the two races.
For Thor's arrogance, Odin strips his son of his godly power and exiles him to Earth as a mortal, accompanied
by his hammer Mjölnir, now protected by an enchantment that allows only the worthy to wield it.
Thor lands in New Mexico, where astrophysicist Dr. Jane Foster, her assistant Darcy Lewis, and mentor
Dr. Erik Selvig find him. The local populace finds Mjolnir, which S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson soon
commandeers before forcibly acquiring Foster's data about the wormhole that delivered Thor to Earth. Thor,
having discovered Mjolnir's nearby location, seeks to retrieve it from the facility that S.H.I.E.L.D. has
constructed, but he finds himself unable to lift it and is captured. With Selvig's help, he is freed and resigns
himself to exile on Earth as he develops a romance with Foster.
Loki discovers that he is Laufey's biological son, adopted by Odin after the war ended. After he confronts Odin,
a weary Odin falls into the deep "Odinsleep" to recover his strength. Loki takes the throne in Odin's stead and
offers Laufey the chance to kill Odin and retrieve the Casket. Sif and the Warriors Three, unhappy with Loki's
rule, attempt to return Thor from exile, convincing Heimdall, gatekeeper of the Bifröst—the means of traveling
between worlds—to allow them passage to Earth. Aware of their plan, Loki sends the Destroyer, a seemingly
indestructible automaton, to pursue them and kill Thor. The warriors find Thor, but the Destroyer attacks and
defeats them, prompting Thor to offer himself instead. Struck by the Destroyer and near death, Thor proves
himself worthy by his sacrifice to wield Mjölnir. The hammer returns to him, restoring his powers and enabling
him to defeat the Destroyer. Kissing Foster goodbye and vowing to return, he leaves with his fellow Asgardians
to confront Loki.
In Asgard, Loki betrays and kills Laufey, revealing his true plan to use Laufey's attempt on Odin's life as an
excuse to destroy Jotunheim with the Bifröst Bridge, thus proving himself worthy to his adoptive father. Thor
arrives and fights Loki before destroying the Bifröst Bridge to stop Loki's plan, stranding himself in Asgard. Odin
awakens and prevents the brothers from falling into the abyss created in the wake of the bridge's destruction,
but Loki apparently commits suicide by allowing himself to fall when Odin rejects his pleas for approval. Thor
makes amends with Odin, admitting he is not ready to be king; meanwhile, on Earth, Foster and her team
search for a way to open a portal to Asgard.
In a post-credits scene, Selvig is taken to a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, where Nick Fury opens a briefcase and asks
him to study a mysterious cube-shaped object,[N 3] which Fury says may hold untold power. An invisible Loki
prompts Selvig to agree, and he does.
Cast
Hemsworth promoting the film in London in April 2011
Chris Hemsworth as Thor:
The crown prince of Asgard, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name. Director Kenneth
Branagh and Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige chose Hemsworth after a back-and-forth process in which
the 27-year-old actor was initially dropped from consideration and then given a second chance to read for
the part.[11] Hemsworth stated that he gained 20 pounds for the role by eating non-stop and revealed that "It
wasn't until Thor that I started lifting weights, it was all pretty new to me."[12] Regarding his take on the
character, Hemsworth said, "We just kept trying to humanize it all, and keep it very real. Look into all the
research about the comic books that we could, but also bring it back to 'Who is this guy as a person, and
what's his relationship with people in the individual scenes?'" [13] About approaching Thor's fighting style, he
remarked, "First, we looked at the comic books and the posturing, the way [Thor] moves and fights, and a
lot of his power seems to be drawn up through the ground. We talked about boxers, you know, Mike
Tyson, very low to the ground and big open chest and big shoulder swings and very sort of brutal but
graceful at the same time, and then as we shot stuff things became easier." [14] Dakota Goyo portrays a
young Thor.
Natalie Portman as Jane Foster:
A scientist and Thor's love interest. Marvel Studios stated in an announcement that the character was
updated from the comics' initial portrayal for the feature adaptation.[15] When asked why she took the role,
Portman replied, "I just thought it sounded like a weird idea because Kenneth Branagh's directing it, so I
was just like, 'Kenneth Branagh doing Thor is super-weird, I've gotta do it.'"[16] Portman stated that she
really wanted to do a big effects film that emphasized character, and getting to do it with Branagh was a
new way of approaching it, relative to Star Wars.[17] Regarding her preparation for the role Portman
remarked, "I signed on to do it before there was a script. And Ken, who's amazing, who is so incredible,
was like, 'You can really help create this character'. I got to read all of these biographies of female
scientists like Rosalind Franklin who actually discovered the DNA double helix but didn't get the credit for
it. The struggles they had and the way that they thought – I was like, 'What a great opportunity, in a very
big movie that is going to be seen by a lot of people, to have a woman as a scientist'. She's a very serious
scientist. Because in the comic she's a nurse and now they made her an astrophysicist. Really, I know it
sounds silly, but it is those little things that makes girls think it's possible. It doesn't give them a [role]
model of 'Oh, I just have to dress cute in movies'".[18]
Hiddleston promoting the film in London in April 2011
Tom Hiddleston as Loki:
Thor's adoptive brother and nemesis, based on the deity of the same name. Hiddleston was chosen after
previously working with Branagh on Ivanov and Wallander.[19] Initially, Hiddleston auditioned to play Thor
but Branagh decided his talent would be better harnessed playing Loki. Hiddleston stated that, "Loki's like
a comic book version of Edmund in King Lear, but nastier." Hiddleston stated that he had to keep a strict
diet before the start of filming because "Ken [Branagh] wants Loki to have a lean and hungry look,
like Cassius in Julius Caesar. Physically, he can't be posing as Thor". [20] Hiddleston looked at Peter
O'Toole as inspiration for Loki as well, explaining, "Interestingly enough, [Kenneth Branagh] said to look at
Peter O'Toole in two specific films, The Lion in Winter and Lawrence of Arabia. What's interesting about ...
his performance [as King Henry] is you see how damaged he is. There's a rawness [to his performance];
it's almost as if he's living with a layer of skin peeled away. He's grandiose and teary and, in a moment, by
turns hilarious and then terrifying. What we wanted was that emotional volatility. It's a different acting style,
it's not quite the same thing, but it's fascinating to go back and watch an actor as great as O'Toole head for
those great high hills".[21] Ted Allpress portrays a young Loki.
Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig:
A scientist doing research in New Mexico who encounters Thor. [22] Skarsgård stated that he was not initially
familiar with the comic book version of Thor.[23] As to why he took the part, Skarsgård remarked, I
"chose Thor because of [director] Kenneth Branagh. The script was nice and we got to rehearse and talk
to the writers and do some collaborating in the process to make it fit us. So I had a very happy time on it.
What I always try to do is immediately do something I just haven't done so I get variation in my life. I've
made about 90 films and if I did the same thing over and over again I would be bored by now. I try to pick
different films, I go and do those big ones and having done that I can usually afford to go and do some
really small obscure films and experiment a little". [24]
Colm Feore as Laufey:
King of the Frost Giants and Loki's biological father, based on the mythological being of the same name,
who in myth was actually Loki's mother.[25] Feore stated it took five hours for his makeup to be applied.
[26]
About his character, Feore remarked, "I am the King of Frost Giants. And if you've seen any of the Frost
Giants, you know that I am, of course, the Napoleon of Frost Giants. We've got some massive, fabulous
guys who dwarf me and come in at around eight-and-a-half feet, nine feet. But, no. Can't you tell by the
commanding presence? I am the boss".[25] He said the Shakespearean training he shared with Hopkins and
director Branagh helped keep production moving briskly, saying that "during the breaks, Tony, myself and
Ken would be talking in Shakespearean shorthand about what the characters were doing, what we thought
they may be like, and how we could focus our attention more intelligently. These were discussions that
took no more than a few minutes between takes, but they allowed Ken, Tony and [me] to understand each
other instantly without Ken taking an hour away to explain to the actors exactly what was going on. So that
was enormously helpful."[27]
Ray Stevenson as Volstagg:
A member of the Warriors Three, a group of three Asgardian adventurers who are among Thor's closest
comrades, known for both his hearty appetite and wide girth. [28] Stevenson previously worked with Kenneth
Branagh in the 1998 film The Theory of Flight, and with Marvel Studios as the titular character in Punisher:
War Zone. Stevenson wore a fat suit for the role, stating, "I've tried the suit on, and what they've done is
kind of sex him up: he's sort of slimmer but rounder.". Stevenson said, "He's got every bit of
that Falstaffian verve and vigor, and a bit of a beer gut to suggest that enormous appetite, but he's not the
sort of Weeble-shaped figure he is in the comics. He's Falstaff with muscles. I've got this amazing foam-
injected undersuit that flexes with me."[29]
Idris Elba as Heimdall:
The all-seeing, all-hearing Asgardian sentry of the bifröst bridge, based on the mythological deity of
the same name.[30] Elba said Branagh's involvement was a major incentive to take the role: "[Branagh]
called me up personally and said, 'I know this isn't a big role, but I would really love to see you play it.' It's
Kenneth Branagh. I was like, 'Definitely'".[31] About the role Elba remarked, "I did green screen for the first
time! I wouldn't like to do a whole movie of green screen, though. You kind of forget the plot a little—like
being in a Broadway play and doing it over and over and forgetting your line halfway through". [32] Elba
stated he has made a four-picture commitment with Marvel Studios.[33] Elba's casting prompted a proposed
boycott by the Council of Conservative Citizens and a debate amongst comic book fans, some insisting it
was wrong for a black man to play a Nordic god. In response Elba called the debate "ridiculous". [34][35][36]
Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis:
A political science major who is Jane Foster's intern.[37] Dennings described her character as Foster's "little
helper gnome".[17] Dennings stated that her role was expanded during the rehearsal process. [38] Dennings
explained, "She's kind of like a cute, clueless, little puppy or maybe a hamster. There wasn't much on the
page for the Darcy role to begin with and I didn't even see a script before I took the job so I didn't really
know who Darcy was at first. But she really evolved—she's so much fun now even. She's very Scooby-
Doo if that makes sense. She's always three steps behind and reacting to what's happening with these
great expressions ... She gets things wrong and doesn't care." [39]
Rene Russo as Frigga:
The wife of Odin, queen of Asgard, mother of Thor, and adoptive mother of Loki, based on the
mythological deity of the same name.[40] Russo stated in March 2011 interview that she has signed on for
possible sequels, although she stated that "who knows how many I'll do". [41]
Anthony Hopkins as Odin:
The ruler of Asgard, father of Thor, and adoptive father of Loki, based on the mythological deity of
the same name.[42] In an interview Hopkins stated he knew nothing of the comic. About the film he said, "It's
a superhero movie, but with a bit of Shakespeare thrown in".[43] Hopkins stated, "I'm very interested in that
relationship between fathers and sons", and that, "My father's relationship with me was cold. He was a hot-
blood character but to me, cold. When I was young, he expressed his disappointment because I was bad
in school and all of that. He didn't mean any harm, but I felt I could never meet up to his expectations."
Hopkins expressed that he found a personal resonance in the Odin role, saying, "He's a stern man. He's a
man with purpose. I play the god who banishes his son from the kingdom of Asgard because he screwed
up. He's a hot-headed, temperamental young man... probably a chip off of the old block but I decide he's
not really ready to rule the future kingdom, so I banish him. I'm harsh and my wife complains and I say,
'That is why I'm king.' He's ruthless, take-it-or-leave-it. Women are much more forgiving; men are not so
forgiving. I know in my life, my karma is, 'If you don't like it, tough, move on.' And I move on. I'm a little like
Odin myself".[44] In May 2016, Mel Gibson stated he was approached about the role but "didn't do it". [45]
Tadanobu Asano as Hogun:
A member of the Warriors Three, primarily identified by his grim demeanor and as the only member who is
not an Æsir.[28] Ray Stevenson said of Asano's character, "He doesn't speak much but when he does,
everybody shuts up. But also in the healing room where everyone licks their wounds, he's the guy who just
goes about his business".[46]
Josh Dallas as Fandral:
A member of the Warriors Three, characterized as an irrepressible swashbuckler and romantic.[28] Stuart
Townsend was initially cast after Zachary Levi was forced to vacate the role due to a scheduling conflict.[28]
[47]
However, days before filming began, Townsend was replaced by Dallas citing "creative differences".
[48]
Dallas said he believed that Fandral "would like to think of himself a philanderer. He would like to think
of himself, I was saying, as the R. Kelly of Asgard. He's a lover, not a fighter". Dallas mentioned that Errol
Flynn was an inspiration for the character stating, "He was a big inspiration for the character and for me. I
watched a lot of his movies and kind of got that into my bones. I tried to bring out that little bit of Flynn-
ness in it. Flynn had a lot of that boyish charm that Fandral's got...." [46]
Jaimie Alexander as Sif:
A warrior and Thor's childhood friend, based on the mythological deity of the same name. Alexander was
best known for her portrayal of Jessi XX on the ABC Family series Kyle XY.[49] Alexander said that she was
familiar with Marvel Comics before having taken the part, having grown up with four brothers. [50] Alexander
said the part required hours a day in the gym, though training is not unfamiliar to her, explaining she was
one of few girls on her Colleyville, Texas, high-school wrestling team.[51] Alexander described her character
as "one of the guys" and that, "She's a very talented, skilled warrior and can stand on her own against any
villain in the film". About her relationship with Thor she stated, "She is very loyal to Thor and cares a lot
about protecting him and protecting Asgard".[52]
Additionally, Clark Gregg reprises his role as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson from the Iron Man films.[53] Adriana
Barraza plays diner owner Isabella Alvarez and Maximiliano Hernández plays S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jasper
Sitwell. Joseph Gatt, Joshua Cox, and Douglas Tait portray Frost Giants.[54][55] Stan Lee and J. Michael
Straczynski have cameo appearances as pick-up truck drivers,[56][57] Walter Simonson has a cameo appearance
as one of the guests at a large Asgardian banquet, [58] and Samuel L. Jackson and Jeremy Renner have
uncredited cameos as Nick Fury and Clint Barton, respectively.[59][60]
Production
Development
"Thor's powers are godly, yes ... But at the end of the day, he's a man ... Odin sends him to Earth because he's not perfect. He's
brash, arrogant. Even over-confident ... he also bleeds. He struggles. Life kicks him where it hurts the most ... You want to feel
Thor's rage when he rages. You want to see him fight like hell, and take as much as he dishes out -- maybe more. You want to have
a visceral reaction to the guy, and what happens to him. You don't want his adventures to be clean and antiseptic. You want to see
the dirt, and grime and blood. You want to feel every bone crunching moment of every fight. And when he unleashes the storm, you
want to feel like you're seeing the power of a GOD at work."
—Ashley Miller, co-writer of Thor, about the project[61]
Sam Raimi originally envisioned the idea for Thor after making Darkman (1990); he met Stan Lee and pitched
the concept to 20th Century Fox, but they did not understand it.[62] Thor was abandoned until April 1997,
when Marvel Studios was beginning to expand rapidly.[63] The film gained momentum after the success of X-
Men (2000). The plan was for Thor to be made for television. UPN was in talks for airing it; excited by the
prospect, they pushed for a script and approached Tyler Mane to play Thor.[64] In May 2000, Marvel Studios
brought Artisan Entertainment to help finance it as a film, but by June 2004 the project still had yet to be
patronized by a studio.[65][66][67] Sony Pictures Entertainment finally purchased the film rights, and in December
2004 David S. Goyer was in negotiations to write and direct.[68] By 2005, though there were talks between Goyer
and Marvel, Goyer was no longer interested, though at this point the film was still set to be distributed through
Sony Pictures.[69]
Mark Protosevich, a fan of the Thor comic book, agreed to write the script in April 2006, and the project moved
to Paramount Pictures, after it acquired the rights from Sony.[70] That year the film was announced to be a
Marvel Studios production.[71] In December 2007, Protosevich described his plans for it "to be like
a superhero origin story, but not one about a human gaining super powers, but of a god realizing his true
potential. It's the story of an Old Testament god who becomes a New Testament god".[72] In August 2007 Marvel
Studios signed Matthew Vaughn to direct the film.[73] Vaughn then rewrote Protosevich's script in order to bring
down the budget to $150 million, as Protosevich's first draft would have cost $300 million to produce. [6] He
intended to start filming in late 2008[74] and after the success of Iron Man, Marvel Studios announced that they
intended to release Thor on June 4, 2010, with Iron Man 2 being used to introduce the character of Thor.[75]
Pre-production
"Thor, at his best, has always had a classic bent in terms of his history, the way he speaks and the often Shakespearean dramas
that surround him. That kind of dialogue and character needs someone who comes from a classically trained background in order
for it not to sound forced or artificial. Branagh is the perfect choice."
—J Michael Straczynski, co-writer of Thor, on Kenneth Branagh[76]
Vaughn was released when his holding deal expired in May 2008, at which point Marvel set Protosevich to
work on a new draft and began searching for a new director. [77] Guillermo del Toro entered talks to direct the
film. Del Toro was a fan of Jack Kirby's work on the comics, and said that he loved the character of Loki, but
wished to incorporate more of the original Norse mythology into the film,[78] including a "really dingy Valhalla,
[with] Vikings and mud".[79] However, del Toro ultimately turned down Thor to direct The Hobbit. By September
2008 D. J. Caruso had been discussing taking on the project, though he did not read the script. [80] Later that
month, Kenneth Branagh entered into negotiations to direct,[81] and by December 2008, Branagh confirmed that
he had been hired. He described it as "a human story right in the center of a big epic scenario." [82] Branagh
stated that he hoped to begin filming in January 2010 [83] and Marvel Studios set back the release date of the film
from its scheduled July 16, 2010 date to June 17, 2011, almost a full year later. [84] They later moved the release
date to May 20, 2011, to distance the film's release from that of Captain America: The First Avenger, another
Marvel Studios film that was scheduled to be released on July 22, 2011. [85] In October 2008, Daniel Craig was
offered the role, but ultimately turned it down, citing his commitments to the James Bond franchise.[86]
In February 2009, Samuel L. Jackson, who had briefly portrayed Nick Fury at the end of the film Iron Man,
signed on to reprise the role in Thor as part of an unprecedented nine-picture deal with Marvel Studios. [59] In the
same month, a casting call went out looking for actors with certain physical attributes to audition for the role of
Thor.[87]
However, in an April 2010 interview, Jackson stated that he would not be appearing in Thor. When asked why
not Jackson explained, "I have no idea. I'm not in charge of making those kinds of decisions. I thought I was;
they said I was in the trades, and I was like, 'Ooh! I got a job!' I called my agent he said, 'Naw, you're not in it.' I
was like, 'Well shit, they need to pay me if they're gonna put my name in it.'" [88] Later in the month, Jackson
revealed that he would be filming a scene for Thor to serve as "connective tissue" for The Avengers.[89]
In May 2009, Chris Hemsworth was in negotiations to portray the title role after a back-and-forth process in
which the 25-year-old actor was refused early on, then given a second chance to read for the part.
Hemsworth's brother, Liam also auditioned for the role, but was passed on by Marvel Studios head Kevin
Feige.[11] The next day, Marvel announced that Tom Hiddleston, who had worked with Branagh before and had
initially been considered to portray the lead role, had been cast as Loki. [19] In June 2009, Feige confirmed that
both Hemsworth and Hiddleston had signed on.[90] Feige mentioned that the film would take place on both
modern day Earth and Asgard but Thor's human host, Dr. Donald Blake, would not be included. [90] In July 2009,
Marvel announced that Natalie Portman would portray Jane Foster.[15] Jaimie Alexander and Colm Feore were
reported to have joined the cast in September, with Alexander portraying Sif and Feore's role unrevealed,
though it was thought to be a villain.[49] In an interview with Swedish news site Ystads Allehanda, Stellan
Skarsgård stated that he had joined the cast, though he did not specify his role. [22] By late October Anthony
Hopkins had been cast as Odin in the film.[42] The following month, Marvel announced that they had cast the
Warriors Three; Fandral was to be played by Stuart Townsend, Hogun was to be played by Tadanobu
Asano and Volstagg was to be played by Ray Stevenson.[28] Idris Elba was announced to have joined the cast,
portraying Heimdall.[30] Natalie Portman revealed that Kat Dennings would be involved in the project, portraying
Darcy, a coworker of Portman's Jane Foster.[37][91]
In December 2009, Rene Russo was cast as Frigga, Thor's stepmother and Odin's wife.[40] Later that month,
actors Joseph Gatt, Troy Brenna, and Joshua Cox had been cast in the film, though none of their roles were
revealed.[54] In January 2010, Adriana Barraza had joined the film's cast, in a supporting capacity. [92] Only days
before filming began, Stuart Townsend was replaced by Joshua Dallas as Fandral, citing "creative differences".
[48]
When Spider-Man 4's production stalled, Paramount and Marvel Entertainment pushed up the release
of Thor by two weeks to May 6, 2011.[93]
The Science & Entertainment Exchange introduced Marvel Entertainment, Kenneth Branagh, "the screenwriter,
and a few people on the design and production side of things" to three physicists (Sean Carroll, Kevin Hand,
and Jim Hartle), as well as physics student Kevin Hickerson, to provide a realistic science background for the
Thor universe. The consultation resulted in a change in Jane Foster's profession, from nurse to particle
physicist, and the terminology (Einstein-Rosen bridge) to describe the Bifrost Bridge.[94]
Filming
Director Kenneth Branagh promoting the film in London in April 2011
In October 2008, Marvel Studios signed a long-term lease agreement with Raleigh Studios to photograph their
next four films—Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers—at
Raleigh's Manhattan Beach, California facility.[95] Production Weekly reported that filming on Marvel's Thor was
scheduled to begin in Los Angeles mid-January, then move to Santa Fe, New Mexico from March until late-
April.[96] Principal photography began on January 11, 2010.[97] A few days after filming began, Clark Gregg
signed on to reprise his role from Iron Man and Iron Man 2 as Agent Coulson.[53] In February, Paramount
Pictures entered negotiations with Del Mar, California to use a 300-yard stretch of beach to film a scene
for Thor involving six horses running down the terrain. Paramount said this coastline was ideal because its
gradual slope of sand down to the waterline creates excellent reflective opportunities on film. [98] On March 15,
2010, production of Thor moved to Galisteo, New Mexico where Cerro Pelon Ranch,[99] an old-fashioned
Western film town, was extensively modified for the shoot. [100][101]
Branagh, a fan of the comic book since childhood, commented on the challenge of bridging Asgard and the
modern world: "Inspired by the comic book world both pictorially and compositionally at once, we've tried to find
a way to make a virtue and a celebration of the distinction between the worlds that exist in the film but
absolutely make them live in the same world. It's about finding the framing style, the color palette, finding the
texture and the amount of camera movement that helps celebrate and express the differences and the
distinctions in those worlds. If it succeeds, it will mark this film as different.... The combination of the primitive
and the sophisticated, the ancient and the modern, I think that potentially is the exciting fusion, the exciting
tension in the film".[102]
By April, the prospect for filming parts of Thor in Del Mar, California had fallen through. Paramount Pictures
sent a letter informing the city that it has instead chosen an undisclosed Northern California location to film a
beachfront scene for the film. The letter cited cost concerns with moving production too far away from its
headquarters.[103] Filming wrapped on May 6, 2010.[13]
Post-production
In October 2010, casting calls revealed the film would be undergoing an undisclosed number of reshoots. [104] In
March 2011, scenes involving Adriana Barraza were removed from the theatrical cut of the film during the
editing process. Branagh sent a letter of apology explaining the reasons for the cut and desire to work with
Barraza again in the future. In response Barraza stated, "It saddens me because the movie is great and
because I was acting alongside some tremendous actors that I admire very much, but I understand the nature
of films, and it's not the first or last time that scenes will be cut". [105] Barraza appears in only one scene in the
film's theatrical cut. In that same month, Douglas Tait revealed that he performed for motion capture of the
Frost Giants.[106] On his hiring, Tait said "I am 6'5" and have a lean, athletic build, and they hired guys who were
6'7" and taller, and weighed over 250 pounds (110 kg). When the film was being edited, they wanted to make
them even bigger and move faster. They auditioned people again and Kenneth Branagh chose me to perform
the motion capture movements of the Frost Giants".[106] In April 2011, the IMAX Corporation, Paramount
Pictures and Marvel Entertainment announced that they have finalized an agreement to release the film
in IMAX 3D, continuing the partnership which began on Iron Man 2.[107] Branagh stated that the 3-D process
initially made him cringe but said "We came to feel that in our case 3-D could be the very good friend of story
and character for a different kind of experience". Although the film was shot in 2D, Feige stated that the
"special effects for the film were conceived and executed from the beginning in 3D". [108] The post-credits
scene that sees Nick Fury approach Erik Selvig to ask him to study the Tesseract, was directed by The
Avengers's director, Joss Whedon.[109]
The film's Bifröst travel sequences (top) were inspired by Hubble photography (bottom).
BUF Compagnie served as the lead visual effects vendor working on the film,[110] with Digital Domain also
providing work on the film.[111] Branagh stated that BUF, who developed the effects for the race through space,
were inspired by Hubble photography and other images of deep space. Branagh stated he sent paintings from
classic studies by J. M. W. Turner to Digital Domain when creating Jotunheim.[112] Peter Butterworth, VFX
supervisor and co-founder of Fuel VFX, said the most challenging task was interpreting what the Bifröst would
look like, "You can't Google what these things look like—they are totally imagined and within the heads of the
stakeholders. So to extract that and interpret it for the big screen was an interesting challenge creatively.
Technically, probably creating fluid simulations that could be art-directed and used for both the Bifröst and
Odin's chamber shots. Part of the difficulty with solving these is that we had to ensure they would work in
stereo.[113] In the film, Odin enters what is known as the "Odinsleep" in his chamber to regenerate. Butterworth
stated, "For Odin's Chamber, we developed a dome and curtain of light rays that hover over Odin's bed. This
dome of light suggests harnessed power and energy that revitalizes him as he sleeps. We took a lot of
reference from the natural world such as the corona of the sun and gave the sleep effect plenty of volume and
space".[113]
Music
Further information: Thor (soundtrack) and Music of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
The film's score was written by composer Patrick Doyle, a frequent collaborator of Branagh. Doyle
described Thor as "the most commercially high profile film I have done since Frankenstein",[114] adding that the
composing process had the challenge of trying to find a tone that fit the duality of Asgard and Earth. Thus
Doyle and Branagh had frequent discussions on the musical direction, [115] with the director suggesting a
contemporary feel and having a balance between the music and "grand images [that] were not in any way
hyperbolized", and the composer in turn implementing "a strong sense of melody, which he responds to in my
work". As Doyle declared that his own Celtic background made him familiar with Norse mythology, an old Celtic
folk song also provided the inspiration for Thor's leitmotif. [114] A soundtrack album was released by Buena Vista
Records in April 2011.[116]
The film also features a song by the Foo Fighters, "Walk", in both a scene where a powerless Thor shares
some boilermakers with Selvig in a roadhouse, and the film's closing credits. Marvel president Kevin Feige
stated that "Walk" was a last minute addition, that the crew felt had "these eerie appropriate lyrics and themes"
upon hearing it. Branagh in particular thought that "these lyrics about learning to walk again" were appropriate
"of [a] movie about redemption, learning to be a hero." [117]
Marketing
Hemsworth, Portman, Dennings and Hiddleston at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con
In July 2010 Marvel Studios held a Thor panel at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International during which
Kenneth Branagh, Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Kat Dennings, Tom Hiddleston, and Clark Gregg
discussed the film and showed some clips from it.[17] A few days later, this footage was leaked on the internet.
[118]
The first television advertisement was broadcast during Super Bowl XLV on the Fox network in the United
States. The rate for advertising during the game was approximately $3 million per 30-second spot. [119] Marvel
Studios and Acura launched a joint viral marketing promotion at the 2011 Chicago Comic & Entertainment
Expo.[120] Other official promotional partners included Burger King, Dr. Pepper, 7 Eleven, and Visa.[121] In May
2011 Marvel Entertainment's President of Print, Animation and Digital, Dan Buckley, and Marvel Comics Editor-
In-Chief, Axel Alonso, rang the NYSE closing bell in celebration of the theatrical release of Thor.[122]
A post-credits scene in the film Iron Man 2 showed Coulson reporting the discovery of a large hammer in the
desert. Rick Marshall of MTV News believed it to be the weapon Mjöllnir belonging to Thor, writing, "It
continues the grand tradition of connecting the film to another property in development around the Marvel
movie universe."[123] In the commentary track of Iron Man 2' home media, Iron Man 2's director, Jon Favreau,
stated that "this is a scene from [the set of] Thor ".[124]
Marvel Animation announced a 26-episode animated series in November 2008, to air in late 2010 before the
release of Marvel Studios' film.[125] The company released an animated direct-to-video film, Thor: Tales of
Asgard, to coincide with the live-action film.[126]
A video game titled Thor: God of Thunder based on the film was developed by Sega using the voices and
likenesses of actors Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston and Jaimie Alexander, and was released on May 3,
2011.[127]
Release
Theatrical
Thor held its world premiere at the Event Cinemas theatre in George Street, Sydney on April 17, 2011,[128] with
the film opening on April 21, 2011 in Australia. [129] The following weekend it opened in 56 markets, [130] while the
premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California took place on May 2, 2011.[131] Thor opened on
May 6, 2011 in the United States,[129] in 3,955 theaters (of which 214 were IMAX 3D and 2,737 in 3D, a record
amount).[132][133][134]
Home media
In July 2011, Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures announced the release of Thor on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray
Disc and DVD. The discs were released by Paramount Home Media Distribution on September 13, 2011 in
three editions: a single-disc DVD, a 2-disc Blu-ray-DVD combo pack, and a 3-disc Blu-ray/DVD/3D combo
pack. All sets come with deleted scenes and a "Road to The Avengers" featurette. The 2-disc and 3-disc packs
includes a digital copy, the first in a series of Marvel One-Shots, The Consultant, and 7 behind-the-scenes
featurettes.[135]
Branagh said that the DVD includes at least 20 minutes of deleted scenes. Branagh stated the footage contains
"things like the Asgardian parents, Odin and Frigga, played by the beautiful Rene Russo, there's some beautiful
scenes in there that I think people will enjoy. And certainly Thor and Loki interacting in different ways that just
fill in a little bit of a back story, that was part of our rehearsal and research." [136] In its first week of
release, Thor took the number one spot on Blu-ray/DVD sales chart and topped Home Media Magazine's rental
chart for the week.[137]
The film was also collected in a 10-disc box set titled "Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers
Assembled" which includes all of the Phase One films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.[138] It was released
by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on April 2, 2013.[139][140]
Reception
Box office
Thor earned $181 million in North America and $268.3 million in other territories for a worldwide total of
$449.3 million.[7] It was the 15th highest-grossing film of 2011.[141]
Thor earned $25.5 million on its opening day in the United States and Canada, including $3.3 million from
Thursday previews,[132] for a total weekend gross of $65.7 million. $6.2 million of the gross came from IMAX 3D,
while 60% of the gross was from 3D screenings.[133][134] It became the tenth highest-grossing film of 2011 in the
United States and Canada,[142] and the highest-grossing comic-book film from May–August 2011. [143]
Thor's opening in Australia generated $5.8 million and placing second behind Universal Pictures' Fast Five.
The film's box office was just 1% more than Iron Man opening in Australia in 2008, Marvel's most popular
release at the time.[144] The following week, Thor opened in 56 markets and took in $89.2 million through the
weekend.[130] The film's highest grossing markets were the United Kingdom ($22.5 million), Australia ($20.1
million) and Mexico ($19.5 million).[145]
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 77% approval rating with an average score of
6.72/10, based on 284 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "A dazzling blockbuster that tempers its
sweeping scope with wit, humor, and human drama, Thor is mighty Marvel
entertainment."[146] Metacritic assigned a weighted average score of 57 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating
"mixed or average reviews".[147] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an
A+ to F scale.[148]
Richard Kuipers of Variety stated, "Thor delivers the goods so long as butt is being kicked and family conflict is
playing out in celestial dimensions, but is less thrilling during the Norse warrior god's rather brief banishment on
Earth".[149] Megan Lehmann of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "The hammer-hurling god of thunder kicks off this
superhero summer with a bang".[150] In the Chicago Sun-Times, Richard Roeper liked the film "Thanks in large
part to a charming, funny and winning performance from Australian actor Chris Hemsworth in the title
role, Thor is the most entertaining superhero debut since the original Spider-Man".[151]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it a negative review stating, "Thor is a failure as a movie, but a
success as marketing, an illustration of the ancient carnival tactic of telling the rubes anything to get them into
the tent".[152] A.O. Scott of The New York Times disliked the film, calling it "an example of the programmed
triumph of commercial calculation over imagination". [153] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times had mixed
feelings, describing the film as "an aesthetic stand-off between predictable elements and unexpected ones".
Turan praised the performances of Hemsworth, Hopkins, and Elba, but found the special effects inconsistent
and the Earth storyline derivative.[154]
Accolades
Year Award Category Nominee
201 Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie Breakout: Male Chris Hemsworth
1
Scream Awards The Ultimate Scream Thor
Best Fantasy Movie
Best Superhero Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Best Supporting Actress Jaimie Alexander
Breakout Performance—Female Jaimie Alexander
Chris Hemsworth
Breakout Performance—Male
Tom Hiddleston
Best F/X
Thor
Best Comic Book Movie
201 Favorite Action Movie Thor
2 People's Choice
Awards
Favorite Movie Superhero Chris Hemsworth
Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action "Heimdall's Observatory": Pierre Buffin, Au
Feature Motion Picture Yoel Godo, Dominique Vidal
Visual Effects
Society Awards
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live
Xavier Allard, Pierre Buffin, Nicolas Cheval
Action Feature Motion Picture
Empire Awards Best Male Newcomer Tom Hiddleston
Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Thor
The Art of 3D Presented by RealD
MTV Movie Awards Best Hero Thor
Best Fantasy Film Thor
Best Supporting Actor Tom Hiddleston
Saturn Awards
Best Production Design Bo Welch
Best Costume Alexandra Byrne
Sequels[edit]
Further information: List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films
Thor: The Dark World
Main article: Thor: The Dark World
A sequel, Thor: The Dark World, directed by Alan Taylor, was released on November 8, 2013.[162][163] Hemsworth
and Hiddleston reprised their roles as Thor and Loki, respectively, along with others from the first film.
[164]
Zachary Levi replaced Dallas as Fandral, while Christopher Eccleston joined the cast as the Dark
Elf Maletkith.[165]
Thor: Ragnarok
Main article: Thor: Ragnarok
Thor: Ragnarok was released on November 3, 2017,[166] directed by Taika Waititi.[167] Eric Pearson and Craig
Kyle & Christopher Yost wrote the screenplay,[168] with Kevin Feige again producing.[169] Hemsworth, Hiddleston,
Hopkins, Elba, Asano, Levi, and Stevenson reprised their roles as Thor, Loki, Odin, Heimdall, Hogun, Fandral,
and Volstagg, respectively,[170][171][172][173] while Mark Ruffalo and Benedict Cumberbatch appeared as Bruce Banner
/ Hulk and Stephen Strange respectively, reprising their roles from previous MCU films.[174][175] Cate
Blanchett, Tessa Thompson, Jeff Goldblum and Karl Urban joined the cast as Hela, Valkyrie, Grandmaster,
and Skurge, respectively.[167]
Thor: Love and Thunder
A third sequel named Thor: Love and Thunder is due to be released on November 5, 2021. Both Hemsworth
and Thompson will reprise their roles, with Natalie Portman returning after not appearing in Thor: Ragnarok.
[176]
During Marvel's 2019 San Diego Comic-Con panel it was revealed that Portman would portray her character
taking on the mantle of Thor, similar to the comics.[177] Thompson revealed that Valkyrie will be the
first LGBT superhero in the MCU, with the character's sexuality being featured in the film. As the new King of
Asgard, Valkyrie will be searching for a Queen; her sexuality was previously hinted at in Thor: Ragnarok, while
a deleted scene explicitly depicted the character as such.
King Henry viii
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) was King of England from 1509 until his death in 1547.
Henry was the second Tudor monarch, succeeding his father, Henry VII. Henry is best known for his six
marriages, in particular his efforts to have his first marriage, to Catherine of Aragon, annulled. His
disagreement with the Pope on the question of such an annulment led Henry to initiate the English
Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal authority. He appointed himself the Supreme
Head of the Church of Englandand dissolved convents and monasteries, for which he was
excommunicated. Henry is also known as "the father of the Royal Navy"; he invested heavily in the Navy,
increasing its size greatly from a few to more than 50 ships.
Domestically, Henry is known for his radical changes to the English Constitution, ushering into England
the theory of the divine right of kings. Besides asserting the sovereign's supremacy over the Church of
England, he greatly expanded royal power during his reign. Charges of treason and heresy were
commonly used to quell dissent, and those accused were often executed without a formal trial, by
means of bills of attainder. He achieved many of his political aims through the work of his chief
ministers, some of whom were banished or executed when they fell out of his favour. Thomas
Wolsey, Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Richard Rich, and Thomas Cranmer all figured prominently in
Henry's administration.
Henry VIII
Portrait of Henry VIII after Hans Holbein the Younger, c.
1537–1547
King of England and Ireland
(more...)
Reign 22 April 1509 – 28 January 1547
He was an extravagant spender and used the proceeds from the Dissolution of the Monasteries and acts
of the Reformation Parliament to convert into royal revenue the money that was formerly paid to Rome.
Despite the influx of money from these sources, Henry was continually on the verge of financial ruin due
to his personal extravagance as well as his numerous costly and largely unsuccessful continental wars,
particularly with King Francis I of France and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. At home, he oversaw
the legal union of England and Wales with the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 and following
the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 he was the first English monarch to rule as King of Ireland.
His contemporaries considered Henry in his prime to be an attractive, educated and accomplished king.
He has been described as "one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on the English throne".[1] He was an
author and composer. As he aged, Henry became severely obese and his health suffered, contributing to
his death in 1547. He is frequently characterised in his later life as a lustful, egotistical, harsh, and
insecure king.[2] He was succeeded by his son Edward VI, the issue of his third marriage to Jane
Seymour.
Early years
Illustration from Vaux Passional thought to show Henry (top) mourning his mother, with his sisters,
Mary and Margaret, in the foreground, 1503
Born 28 June 1491 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, Kent, Henry Tudor was the third child and
second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.[3] Of the young Henry's six siblings, only three – Arthur,
Prince of Wales; Margaret; and Mary – survived infancy.[4] He was baptised by Richard Fox, the Bishop
of Exeter, at a church of the Observant Franciscansclose to the palace.[5] In 1493, at the age of two,
Henry was appointed Constable of Dover Castle and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. He was
subsequently appointed Earl Marshalof England and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at age three, and was
made a Knight of the Bathsoon after. The day after the ceremony he was created Duke of York and a
month or so later made Warden of the Scottish Marches. In May 1495, he was appointed to the Order of
the Garter. The reason for all the appointments to a small child was so his father could keep personal
control of lucrative positions and not share them with established families.[5] Henry was given a first-
rate education from leading tutors, becoming fluent in Latin and French, and learning at least some
Italian.[6][7] Not much is known about his early life – save for his appointments – because he was not
expected to become king.[5] In November 1501, Henry also played a considerable part in the
ceremonies surrounding his brother's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, the youngest surviving child of
King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile.[8] As Duke of York, Henry used the arms of
his father as king, differenced by a label of three points ermine. He was further honoured, on 9 February
1506, by Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I who made him a Knight of the Golden Fleece.[9]
In 1502, Arthur died at the age of 15, possibly of sweating sickness,[10] just 20 weeks after his marriage
to Catherine.[11] Arthur's death thrust all his duties upon his younger brother, the 10-year-old Henry.
After a little debate, Henry became the new Duke of Cornwall in October 1502, and the new Prince of
Wales and Earl of Chester in February 1503.[12] Henry VII gave the boy few tasks. Young Henry was
strictly supervised and did not appear in public. As a result, he ascended the throne "untrained in the
exacting art of kingship".[13]
Henry VII renewed his efforts to seal a marital alliance between England and Spain, by offering his
second son in marriage to Arthur's widow Catherine.[11] Both Isabella and Henry VII were keen on the
idea, which had arisen very shortly after Arthur's death.[14] On 23 June 1503, a treaty was signed for
their marriage, and they were betrothed two days later.[15] A papal dispensation was only needed for
the "impediment of public honesty" if the marriage had not been consummated as Catherine and
her duenna claimed, but Henry VII and the Spanish ambassador set out instead to obtain a dispensation
for "affinity", which took account of the possibility of consummation.[15] Cohabitation was not possible
because Henry was too young.[14] Isabella's death in 1504, and the ensuing problems of succession
in Castile, complicated matters. Her father preferred her to stay in England, but Henry VII's relations
with Ferdinand had deteriorated.[16] Catherine was therefore left in limbo for some time, culminating in
Prince Henry's rejection of the marriage as soon he was able, at the age of 14. Ferdinand's solution was
to make his daughter ambassador, allowing her to stay in England indefinitely. Devout, she began to
believe that it was God's will that she marry the prince despite his opposition.[17]
Early reign
Eighteen-year-old Henry VIII after his coronation in 1509
Henry VII died on 21 April 1509, and the 17-year-old Henry succeeded him as king. Soon after his father's
burial on 10 May, Henry suddenly declared that he would indeed marry Catherine, leaving unresolved
several issues concerning the papal dispensation and a missing part of the marriage portion.[15][18] The
new king maintained that it had been his father's dying wish that he marry Catherine.[17] Whether or
not this was true, it was certainly convenient. Emperor Maximilian I had been attempting to marry his
granddaughter (and Catherine's niece) Eleanor to Henry; she had now been jilted.[19] Henry's wedding
to Catherine was kept low-key and was held at the friar's church in Greenwich on 11 June 1509.[18] On
23 June 1509, Henry led the now 23-year-old Catherine from the Tower of London to Westminster
Abbey for their coronation, which took place the following day.[20] It was a grand affair: the king's
passage was lined with tapestries and laid with fine cloth.[20]Following the ceremony, there was a grand
banquet in Westminster Hall.[21] As Catherine wrote to her father, "our time is spent in continuous
festival".[18]
Two days after his coronation, Henry arrested his father's two most unpopular ministers, Sir Richard
Empson and Edmund Dudley. They were charged with high treason and were executed in 1510.
Politically-motivated executions would remain one of Henry's primary tactics for dealing with those who
stood in his way.[3] Henry also returned to the public some of the money supposedly extorted by the
two ministers.[22] By contrast, Henry's view of the House of York – potential rival claimants for the
throne – was more moderate than his father's had been. Several who had been imprisoned by his
father, including the Marquess of Dorset, were pardoned.[23] Others (most notably Edmund de la Pole)
went unreconciled; de la Pole was eventually beheaded in 1513, an execution prompted by his
brother Richard siding against the king.[24]
Soon after, Catherine conceived, but the child, a girl, was stillborn on 31 January 1510. About four
months later, Catherine again became pregnant.[25] On New Year's Day 1511, the child – Henry – was
born. After the grief of losing their first child, the couple were pleased to have a boy and festivities were
held,[26] including a two-day joust known as the Westminster Tournament. However, the child died
seven weeks later.[25] Catherine had two stillborn sons in 1514 and 1515, but gave birth in February
1516 to a girl, Mary. Relations between Henry and Catherine had been strained, but they eased slightly
after Mary's birth.[27]
Although Henry's marriage to Catherine has since been described as "unusually good",[28] it is known
that Henry took mistresses. It was revealed in 1510 that Henry had been conducting an affair with one
of the sisters of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, either Elizabeth or Anne Hastings, Countess
of Huntingdon.[29] The most significant mistress for about three years, starting in 1516, was Elizabeth
Blount.[27] Blount is one of only two completely undisputed mistresses, considered by some to be few
for a virile young king.[30][31] Exactly how many Henry had is disputed: David Loades believes Henry
had mistresses "only to a very limited extent",[31] whilst Alison Weir believes there were numerous
other affairs.[32]There is no evidence that Catherine protested, and in 1518 she fell pregnant again with
another girl, who was also stillborn.[27] Blount gave birth in June 1519 to Henry's illegitimate son, Henry
FitzRoy.[27] The young boy was made Duke of Richmond in June 1525 in what some thought was one
step on the path to his eventual legitimisation.[33] In 1533, FitzRoy married Mary Howard, but died
childless three years later.[34] At the time of Richmond's death in June 1536, Parliament was enacting
the Second Succession Act, which could have allowed him to become king.[35]
France and the Habsburgs
The meeting of Francis I and Henry VIII at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520
In 1510, France, with a fragile alliance with the Holy Roman Empire in the League of Cambrai, was
winning a war against Venice. Henry renewed his father's friendship with Louis XII of France, an issue
that divided his council. Certainly war with the combined might of the two powers would have been
exceedingly difficult.[36] Shortly thereafter, however, Henry also signed a pact with Ferdinand.
After Pope Julius II created the anti-French Holy League in October 1511,[36] Henry followed
Ferdinand's lead and brought England into the new League. An initial joint Anglo-Spanish attack was
planned for the spring to recover Aquitaine for England, the start of making Henry's dreams of ruling
France a reality.[37] The attack, however, following a formal declaration of war in April 1512, was not
led by Henry personally[38] and was a considerable failure; Ferdinand used it simply to further his own
ends, and it strained the Anglo-Spanish alliance. Nevertheless, the French were pushed out of Italy soon
after, and the alliance survived, with both parties keen to win further victories over the French.[38]
[39]Henry then pulled off a diplomatic coup by convincing the Emperor to join the Holy League.
[40] Remarkably, Henry had also secured the promised title of "Most Christian King of France" from
Julius and possibly coronation by the Pope himself in Paris, if only Louis could be defeated.[41]
Henry with Charles V (right) and Pope Leo X (centre), c. 1520
On 30 June 1513, Henry invaded France, and his troops defeated a French army at the Battle of the
Spurs – a relatively minor result, but one which was seized on by the English for propaganda purposes.
Soon after, the English took Thérouanne and handed it over to Maximillian; Tournai, a more significant
settlement, followed.[42]Henry had led the army personally, complete with large entourage.[43] His
absence from the country, however, had prompted his brother-in-law, James IV of Scotland, to invade
England at the behest of Louis.[44] Nevertheless, the English army, overseen by Queen Catherine,
decisively defeated the Scots at the Battle of Flodden on 9 September 1513.[45] Among the dead was
the Scottish king, thus ending Scotland's brief involvement in the war.[45] These campaigns had given
Henry a taste of the military success he so desired. However, despite initial indications, he decided not
to pursue a 1514 campaign. He had been supporting Ferdinand and Maximilian financially during the
campaign but had received little in return; England's coffers were now empty.[46] With the replacement
of Julius by Pope Leo X, who was inclined to negotiate for peace with France, Henry signed his own
treaty with Louis: his sister Mary would become Louis' wife, having previously been pledged to the
younger Charles, and peace was secured for eight years, a remarkably long time.[47]
Charles V ascended the thrones of both Spain and the Holy Roman Empire following the deaths of his
grandfathers, Ferdinand in 1516 and Maximilian in 1519. Francis I likewise became king of France upon
the death of Louis in 1515,[48]leaving three relatively young rulers and an opportunity for a clean slate.
The careful diplomacy of Cardinal Thomas Wolseyhad resulted in the Treaty of London in 1518, aimed at
uniting the kingdoms of western Europe in the wake of a new Ottoman threat, and it seemed that peace
might be secured.[49] Henry met Francis I on 7 June 1520 at the Field of the Cloth of Gold near Calais for
a fortnight of lavish entertainment. Both hoped for friendly relations in place of the wars of the previous
decade. The strong air of competition laid to rest any hopes of a renewal of the Treaty of London,
however, and conflict was inevitable.[49] Henry had more in common with Charles, whom he met once
before and once after Francis. Charles brought the Empire into war with France in 1521; Henry offered
to mediate, but little was achieved and by the end of the year Henry had aligned England with Charles.
He still clung to his previous aim of restoring English lands in France, but also sought to secure an
alliance with Burgundy, then part of Charles' realm, and the continued support of Charles.[50] A small
English attack in the north of France made up little ground. Charles defeated and captured Francis at
Pavia and could dictate peace; but he believed he owed Henry nothing. Sensing this, Henry decided to
take England out of the war before his ally, signing the Treaty of the More on 30 August 1525.[51]
Annulment from Catherine
Catherine of Aragon, Henry's first queen
During his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry conducted an affair with Mary Boleyn,
Catherine's lady-in-waiting. There has been speculation that Mary's two children, Henry and Catherine
Carey, were fathered by Henry, but this has never been proved, and the King never acknowledged them
as he did Henry FitzRoy.[52] In 1525, as Henry grew more impatient with Catherine's inability to produce
the male heir he desired,[53][54] he became enamoured of Mary Boleyn's sister, Anne, then a
charismatic young woman of 25 in the Queen's entourage.[55] Anne, however, resisted his attempts to
seduce her, and refused to become his mistress as her sister Mary Boleyn had.[56][nb 1] It was in this
context that Henry considered his three options for finding a dynastic successor and hence resolving
what came to be described at court as the King's "great matter". These options were legitimising Henry
FitzRoy, which would take the intervention of the pope and would be open to challenge; marrying off
Mary as soon as possible and hoping for a grandson to inherit directly, but Mary was considered unlikely
to conceive before Henry's death; or somehow rejecting Catherine and marrying someone else of child-
bearing age. Probably seeing the possibility of marrying Anne, the third was ultimately the most
attractive possibility to the 34-year-old Henry,[58] and it soon became the King's absorbing desire to
annul his marriage to the now 40-year-old Catherine.[59] It was a decision that would lead Henry to
reject papal authority and initiate the English Reformation.
Henry, c. 1531
Henry's precise motivations and intentions over the coming years are not widely agreed on.[60] Henry
himself, at least in the early part of his reign, was a devout and well-informed Catholic to the extent that
his 1521 publication Assertio Septem Sacramentorum ("Defence of the Seven Sacraments") earned him
the title of Fidei Defensor (Defender of the Faith) from Pope Leo X.[61] The work represented a staunch
defence of papal supremacy, albeit one couched in somewhat contingent terms.[61] It is not clear
exactly when Henry changed his mind on the issue as he grew more intent on a second marriage.
Certainly, by 1527 he had convinced himself that in marrying Catherine, his brother's wife, he had acted
contrary to Leviticus 20:21,[nb 2] an impediment Henry now believed that the Pope never had the
authority to dispense with. It was this argument Henry took to Pope Clement VII in 1527 in the hope of
having his marriage to Catherine annulled, forgoing at least one less openly defiant line of attack.[60] In
going public, all hope of tempting Catherine to retire to a nunnery or otherwise stay quiet was lost.
[62] Henry sent his secretary, William Knight, to appeal directly to the Holy See by way of a deceptively
worded draft papal bull. Knight was unsuccessful; the Pope could not be misled so easily.[63]
Other missions concentrated on arranging an ecclesiastical court to meet in England, with a
representative from Clement VII. Though Clement agreed to the creation of such a court, he never had
any intention of empowering his legate, Lorenzo Campeggio, to decide in Henry's favour.[63] This bias
was perhaps the result of pressure from Charles V, Catherine's nephew, though it is not clear how far
this influenced either Campeggio or the Pope. After less than two months of hearing evidence, Clement
called the case back to Rome in July 1529, from which it was clear that it would never re-emerge.
[63] With the chance for an annulment lost and England's place in Europe forfeit, Cardinal Wolsey bore
the blame. He was charged with praemunire in October 1529[64] and his fall from grace was "sudden
and total".[63] Briefly reconciled with Henry (and officially pardoned) in the first half of 1530, he was
charged once more in November 1530, this time for treason, but died while awaiting trial.[63][65] After
a short period in which Henry took government upon his own shoulders,[66] Sir Thomas Moretook on
the role of Lord Chancellor and chief minister. Intelligent and able, but also a devout Catholic and
opponent of the annulment,[67] More initially cooperated with the king's new policy, denouncing
Wolsey in Parliament.[68]
A year later, Catherine was banished from court, and her rooms were given to Anne. Anne was an
unusually educated and intellectual woman for her time, and was keenly absorbed and engaged with
the ideas of the Protestant Reformers, though the extent to which she herself was a committed
Protestant is much debated.[57] When Archbishop of Canterbury William Warham died, Anne's
influence and the need to find a trustworthy supporter of the annulment had Thomas
Cranmerappointed to the vacant position.[67] This was approved by the Pope, unaware of the King's
nascent plans for the Church.[69]
Marriage to Anne Boleyn
See also: Henry VIII of England § Reformation
Portrait of Anne Boleyn, Henry's second queen; a later copy of an original painted c. 1534
In the winter of 1532, Henry met with Francis I at Calais and enlisted the support of the French king for
his new marriage.[70] Immediately upon returning to Dover in England, Henry, now 41, and Anne went
through a secret wedding service.[71] She soon became pregnant, and there was a second wedding
service in London on 25 January 1533. On 23 May 1533, Cranmer, sitting in judgment at a special court
convened at Dunstable Priory to rule on the validity of the king's marriage to Catherine of Aragon,
declared the marriage of Henry and Catherine null and void. Five days later, on 28 May 1533, Cranmer
declared the marriage of Henry and Anne to be valid.[72] Catherine was formally stripped of her title as
queen, becoming instead "princess dowager" as the widow of Arthur. In her place, Anne was
crowned queen consort on 1 June 1533.[73] The queen gave birth to a daughter slightly prematurely on
7 September 1533. The child was christened Elizabeth, in honour of Henry's mother, Elizabeth of York.
[74]
Following the marriage, there was a period of consolidation taking the form of a series of statutes of
the Reformation Parliament aimed at finding solutions to any remaining issues, whilst protecting the
new reforms from challenge, convincing the public of their legitimacy, and exposing and dealing with
opponents.[75] Although the canon law was dealt with at length by Cranmer and others, these acts
were advanced by Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Audley and the Duke of Norfolk and indeed by Henry
himself.[76] With this process complete, in May 1532 More resigned as Lord Chancellor, leaving
Cromwell as Henry's chief minister.[77] With the Act of Succession 1533, Catherine's daughter, Mary,
was declared illegitimate; Henry's marriage to Anne was declared legitimate; and Anne's issue was
decided to be next in the line of succession.[78] With the Acts of Supremacy in 1534, Parliament also
recognised the King's status as head of the church in England and, with the Act in Restraint of Appeals in
1532, abolished the right of appeal to Rome.[79] It was only then that Pope Clement took the step
of excommunicating Henry and Thomas Cranmer, although the excommunication was not made official
until some time later.[nb 3]
The king and queen were not pleased with married life. The royal couple enjoyed periods of calm and
affection, but Anne refused to play the submissive role expected of her. The vivacity and opinionated
intellect that had made her so attractive as an illicit lover made her too independent for the largely
ceremonial role of a royal wife and it made her many enemies. For his part, Henry disliked Anne's
constant irritability and violent temper. After a false pregnancy or miscarriage in 1534, he saw her
failure to give him a son as a betrayal. As early as Christmas 1534, Henry was discussing with Cranmer
and Cromwell the chances of leaving Anne without having to return to Catherine.[86] Henry is
traditionally believed to have had an affair with Margaret ("Madge") Shelton in 1535, although
historian Antonia Fraser argues that Henry in fact had an affair with her sister Mary Shelton.[30]
Opposition to Henry's religious policies was quickly suppressed in England. A number of dissenting
monks, including the first Carthusian Martyrs, were executed and many more pilloried. The most
prominent resisters included John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, and Sir Thomas More, both of whom
refused to take the oath to the King.[87] Neither Henry nor Cromwell sought to have the men executed;
rather, they hoped that the two might change their minds and save themselves. Fisher openly rejected
Henry as the Supreme Head of the Church, but More was careful to avoid openly breaking the Treason
Act, which (unlike later acts) did not forbid mere silence. Both men were subsequently convicted of high
treason, however – More on the evidence of a single conversation with Richard Rich, the Solicitor
General. Both were duly executed in the summer of 1535.[87]
These suppressions, as well as the Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries Act of 1536, in turn contributed
to more general resistance to Henry's reforms, most notably in the Pilgrimage of Grace, a large uprising
in northern England in October 1536.[88] Some 20,000 to 40,000 rebels were led by Robert Aske,
together with parts of the northern nobility.[89] Henry VIII promised the rebels he would pardon them
and thanked them for raising the issues. Aske told the rebels they had been successful and they could
disperse and go home.[90] Henry saw the rebels as traitors and did not feel obliged to keep his promises
with them, so when further violence occurred after Henry's offer of a pardon he was quick to break his
promise of clemency.[91] The leaders, including Aske, were arrested and executed for treason. In total,
about 200 rebels were executed, and the disturbances ended.[92]
Execution of Anne Boleyn
Henry c. 1537
On 8 January 1536 news reached the king and the queen that Catherine of Aragon had died. Henry
called for public displays of joy regarding Catherine's death.[citation needed] The queen was pregnant
again, and she was aware of the consequences if she failed to give birth to a son. Later that month, the
King was unhorsed in a tournament and was badly injured; it seemed for a time that his life was in
danger. When news of this accident reached the queen, she was sent into shock and miscarried a male
child that was about 15 weeks old, on the day of Catherine's funeral, 29 January 1536.[93] For most
observers, this personal loss was the beginning of the end of the royal marriage.[94]
Although the Boleyn family still held important positions on the Privy Council, Anne had many enemies,
including the Duke of Suffolk. Even her own uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, had come to resent her attitude
to her power. The Boleyns preferred France over the Emperor as a potential ally, but the King's favour
had swung towards the latter (partly because of Cromwell), damaging the family's influence.[95] Also
opposed to Anne were supporters of reconciliation with Princess Mary (among them the former
supporters of Catherine), who had reached maturity. A second annulment was now a real possibility,
although it is commonly believed that it was Cromwell's anti-Boleyn influence that led opponents to
look for a way of having her executed.[96][97]
Anne's downfall came shortly after she had recovered from her final miscarriage. Whether it was
primarily the result of allegations of conspiracy, adultery, or witchcraft remains a matter of debate
among historians.[57] Early signs of a fall from grace included the King's new mistress, the 28-year-
old Jane Seymour, being moved into new quarters,[98] and Anne's brother, George Boleyn, being
refused the Order of the Garter, which was instead given to Nicholas Carew.[99] Between 30 April and 2
May, five men, including Anne's brother, were arrested on charges of treasonable adultery and accused
of having sexual relationships with the queen. Anne was also arrested, accused of treasonous adultery
and incest. Although the evidence against them was unconvincing, the accused were found guilty and
condemned to death. George Boleyn and the other accused men were executed on 17 May 1536.
[100] At 8 am on 19 May 1536, Anne was executed on Tower Green.[101]
Marriage to Jane Seymour; domestic and foreign affairs
Jane Seymour (left) became Henry's third wife, pictured at right with Henry and the young Prince
Edward, c. 1545, by an unknown artist. At the time that this was painted, Henry was married to his sixth
wife, Catherine Parr.
The day after Anne's execution in 1536 the 45-year-old Henry became engaged to Seymour, who had
been one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting. They were married ten days later.[102] On 12 October 1537,
Jane gave birth to a son, Prince Edward, the future Edward VI.[103] The birth was difficult, and the
queen died on 24 October 1537 from an infection and was buried in Windsor.[104] The euphoria that
had accompanied Edward's birth became sorrow, but it was only over time that Henry came to long for
his wife. At the time, Henry recovered quickly from the shock.[105] Measures were immediately put in
place to find another wife for Henry, which, at the insistence of Cromwell and the court, were focused
on the European continent.[106]
With Charles V distracted by the internal politics of his many kingdoms and external threats, and Henry
and Francis on relatively good terms, domestic and not foreign policy issues had been Henry's priority in
the first half of the 1530s. In 1536, for example, Henry granted his assent to the Laws in Wales Act 1535,
which legally annexed Wales, uniting England and Wales into a single nation. This was followed by
the Second Succession Act (the Act of Succession 1536), which declared Henry's children by Jane to be
next in the line of succession and declared both Mary and Elizabeth illegitimate, thus excluding them
from the throne. The king was also granted the power to further determine the line of succession in his
will, should he have no further issue.[107] However, when Charles and Francis made peace in January
1539, Henry became increasingly paranoid, perhaps as a result of receiving a constant list of threats to
the kingdom (real or imaginary, minor or serious) supplied by Cromwell in his role as spymaster.
[108] Enriched by the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry used some of his financial reserves to build
a series of coastal defences and set some aside for use in the event of a Franco-German invasion.[109]
Marriage to Anne of Cleves
Portrait of Anne of Clevesby Hans Holbein the Younger, 1539
Having considered the matter, Cromwell, now Earl of Essex, suggested Anne, the 25-year-old sister of
the Duke of Cleves, who was seen as an important ally in case of a Roman Catholic attack on England, for
the duke fell between Lutheranism and Catholicism.[110] Hans Holbein the Younger was dispatched to
Cleves to paint a portrait of Anne for the king.[111]Despite speculation that Holbein painted her in an
overly flattering light, it is more likely that the portrait was accurate; Holbein remained in favour at
court.[112] After seeing Holbein's portrait, and urged on by the complimentary description of Anne
given by his courtiers, the 49-year-old king agreed to wed Anne.[113] However, it was not long before
Henry wished to annul the marriage so he could marry another.[114][115] Anne did not argue, and
confirmed that the marriage had never been consummated.[116] Anne's previous betrothal to the Duke
of Lorraine's son Francis provided further grounds for the annulment.[117] The marriage was
subsequently dissolved, and Anne received the title of "The King's Sister", two houses and a generous
allowance.[116] It was soon clear that Henry had fallen for the 17-year-old Catherine Howard, the Duke
of Norfolk's niece, the politics of which worried Cromwell, for Norfolk was a political opponent.[118]
Shortly after, the religious reformers (and protégés of Cromwell) Robert Barnes, William
Jerome and Thomas Garret were burned as heretics.[116] Cromwell, meanwhile, fell out of favour
although it is unclear exactly why, for there is little evidence of differences of domestic or foreign policy.
Despite his role, he was never formally accused of being responsible for Henry's failed marriage.
[119] Cromwell was now surrounded by enemies at court, with Norfolk also able to draw on his niece's
position.[118] Cromwell was charged with treason, selling export licences, granting passports, and
drawing up commissions without permission, and may also have been blamed for the failure of the
foreign policy that accompanied the attempted marriage to Anne.[120][121] He was
subsequently attainted and beheaded.[119]
Marriage to Catherine Howard
Miniature Portrait of Catherine Howard, Henry's fifth wife, by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1540 (left)
and Catherine Parr, Henry's sixth and last wife (right)
On 28 July 1540 (the same day Cromwell was executed), Henry married the young Catherine Howard, a
first cousin and lady-in-waiting of Anne Boleyn.[122] He was absolutely delighted with his new queen,
and awarded her the lands of Cromwell and a vast array of jewellery.[123] Soon after the marriage,
however, Queen Catherine had an affair with the courtier Thomas Culpeper. She also employed Francis
Dereham, who had previously been informally engaged to her and had an affair with her prior to her
marriage, as her secretary. The court was informed of her affair with Dereham whilst Henry was away;
they dispatched Thomas Cranmer to investigate, who brought evidence of Queen Catherine's previous
affair with Dereham to the king's notice.[124] Though Henry originally refused to believe the allegations,
Dereham confessed. It took another meeting of the council, however, before Henry believed the
accusations against Dereham and went into a rage, blaming the council before consoling himself in
hunting.[125] When questioned, the queen could have admitted a prior contract to marry Dereham,
which would have made her subsequent marriage to Henry invalid, but she instead claimed that
Dereham had forced her to enter into an adulterous relationship. Dereham, meanwhile, exposed Queen
Catherine's relationship with Culpeper. Culpeper and Dereham were both executed, and Catherine too
was beheaded on 13 February 1542.[126]
Shrines destroyed and monasteries dissolved
Dissolution of the Monasteries
In 1538, the chief minister Thomas Cromwell pursued an extensive campaign against what was termed
"idolatry" by the followers of the old religion, culminating in September with the dismantling of the
shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury. As a consequence, the king was excommunicated by Pope
Paul III on 17 December of the same year.[84] In 1540, Henry sanctioned the complete destruction of
shrines to saints. In 1542, England's remaining monasteries were all dissolved, and their property
transferred to the Crown. Abbots and priors lost their seats in the House of Lords; only archbishops and
bishops remained. Consequently, the Lords Spiritual—as members of the clergy with seats in the House
of Lords were known—were for the first time outnumbered by the Lords Temporal.
Second invasion of France and the "Rough Wooing" of Scotland
Rough Wooing
Henry in 1540, by Hans Holbein the Younger
The 1539 alliance between Francis and Charles had soured, eventually degenerating into renewed war.
With Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn dead, relations between Charles and Henry improved
considerably, and Henry concluded a secret alliance with the Emperor and decided to enter the Italian
War in favour of his new ally. An invasion of France was planned for 1543.[127] In preparation for it,
Henry moved to eliminate the potential threat of Scotland under the youthful James V. The Scots were
defeated at Battle of Solway Moss on 24 November 1542,[128] and James died on 15 December. Henry
now hoped to unite the crowns of England and Scotland by marrying his son Edward to James'
successor, Mary. The Scottish Regent Lord Arran agreed to the marriage in the Treaty of Greenwich on 1
July 1543, but it was rejected by the Parliament of Scotland on 11 December. The result was eight years
of war between England and Scotland, a campaign later dubbed "the Rough Wooing". Despite several
peace treaties, unrest continued in Scotland until Henry's death.[129][130][131]
Despite the early success with Scotland, Henry hesitated to invade France, annoying Charles. Henry
finally went to France in June 1544 with a two-pronged attack. One force under Norfolk ineffectively
besieged Montreuil. The other, under Suffolk, laid siege to Boulogne. Henry later took personal
command, and Boulogne fell on 18 September 1544.[132][129] However, Henry had refused Charles'
request to march against Paris. Charles' own campaign fizzled, and he made peace with France that
same day.[130] Henry was left alone against France, unable to make peace. Francis attempted to invade
England in the summer of 1545, but reached only the Isle of Wight before being repulsed in the Battle of
the Solent. Out of money, France and England signed the Treaty of Camp on 7 June 1546. Henry secured
Boulogne for eight years. The city was then to be returned to France for 2 million crowns (£750,000).
Henry needed the money; the 1544 campaign had cost £650,000, and England was once again bankrupt.
[130]
Marriage to Catherine Parr
Henry married his last wife, the wealthy widow Catherine Parr, in July 1543.[133] A reformer at heart,
she argued with Henry over religion. Ultimately, Henry remained committed to an idiosyncratic mixture
of Catholicism and Protestantism; the reactionary mood which had gained ground following the fall of
Cromwell had neither eliminated his Protestant streak nor been overcome by it.[134] Parr helped
reconcile Henry with his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth.[135] In 1543, an Act of Parliament put them
back in the line of succession after Edward. The same act allowed Henry to determine further succession
to the throne in his will.[136]
Physical decline and death
Coffins of King Henry VIII (centre, damaged), Queen Jane (right), King Charles I with a child of Queen
Anne(left), vault under the choir, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, marked by a stone slab in the
floor. 1888 sketch by Alfred Young Nutt, Surveyor to the Dean and Canons
Late in life, Henry became obese, with a waist measurement of 54 inches (140 cm), and had to be
moved about with the help of mechanical inventions. He was covered with painful, pus-filled boils and
possibly suffered from gout. His obesity and other medical problems can be traced to the jousting
accident in 1536 in which he suffered a leg wound. The accident re-opened and aggravated a previous
injury he had sustained years earlier, to the extent that his doctors found it difficult to treat. The chronic
wound festered for the remainder of his life and became ulcerated, thus preventing him from
maintaining the level of physical activity he had previously enjoyed. The jousting accident is also
believed to have caused Henry's mood swings, which may have had a dramatic effect on his personality
and temperament.[137][138]
The theory that Henry suffered from syphilis has been dismissed by most historians.[139][140] Historian
Susan Maclean Kybett ascribes his demise to scurvy, which is caused by a lack of fresh fruits and
vegetables.[141] Alternatively, his wives' pattern of pregnancies and his mental deterioration have led
some to suggest that the king may have been Kell positive and suffered from McLeod syndrome.[138]
[142] According to another study, Henry VIII's history and body morphology may have been the result
of traumatic brain injury after his 1536 jousting accident, which in turn led to a neuroendocrine cause of
his obesity. This analysis identifies growth hormone deficiency (GHD) as the source for his increased
adiposity but also significant behavioural changes noted in his later years, including his multiple
marriages.[143]
Henry's obesity hastened his death at the age of 55, which occurred on 28 January 1547 in the Palace of
Whitehall, on what would have been his father's 90th birthday. He was interred in St George's Chapel,
Windsor Castle, next to Jane Seymour.[144] Over a hundred years later, King Charles I (1625–1649) was
buried in the same vault.[145]
Succession
Third Succession Act
Upon Henry's death, he was succeeded by his son Edward VI. Since Edward was then only nine years old,
he could not rule directly. Instead, Henry's will designated 16 executors to serve on a council of regency
until Edward reached the age of 18. The executors chose Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, Jane
Seymour's elder brother, to be Lord Protector of the Realm. If Edward died childless, the throne was to
pass to Mary, Henry VIII's daughter by Catherine of Aragon, and her heirs. If Mary's issue failed, the
crown was to go to Elizabeth, Henry's daughter by Anne Boleyn, and her heirs. Finally, if Elizabeth's line
became extinct, the crown was to be inherited by the descendants of Henry VIII's deceased younger
sister, Mary, the Greys. The descendants of Henry's sister Margaret – the Stuarts, rulers of Scotland –
were thereby excluded from the succession.[146] This final provision failed when James VI of
Scotland became King of England in 1603.
Public image
Musical score of "Pastime with Good Company", c. 1513, composed by Henry.
Henry cultivated the image of a Renaissance man, and his court was a centre of scholarly and artistic
innovation and glamorous excess, epitomised by the Field of the Cloth of Gold. He scouted the country
for choirboys, taking some directly from Wolsey's choir, and introduced Renaissance music into court.
Musicians included Benedict de Opitiis, Richard Sampson, Ambrose Lupo, and Venetian organist Dionisio
Memo.[147]
Henry himself kept a considerable collection of instruments; he was skilled on the lute, could play the
organ, and was a talented player of the virginals.[147] He could also sight read music and sing well.
[147] He was an accomplished musician, author, and poet; his best known piece of music is "Pastime
with Good Company" ("The Kynges Ballade"). He is often reputed to have written "Greensleeves" but
probably did not.[148]
He was an avid gambler and dice player, and excelled at sports, especially jousting, hunting, and real
tennis. He was known for his strong defence of conventional Christian piety.[4] The King was involved in
the original construction and improvement of several significant buildings, including Nonsuch
Palace, King's College Chapel, Cambridge and Westminster Abbey in London. Many of the existing
buildings Henry improved were properties confiscated from Wolsey, such as Christ Church,
Oxford; Hampton Court Palace; the Palace of Whitehall; and Trinity College, Cambridge.
Henry was an intellectual. The first English king with a modern humanist education, he read and wrote
English, French and Latin, and was thoroughly at home in his well-stocked library. He personally
annotated many books and wrote and published one of his own. To promote the public support for the
reformation of the church, Henry had numerous pamphlets and lectures prepared. For example, Richard
Sampson's Oratio (1534) was an argument for absolute obedience to the monarchy and claimed that the
English church had always been independent from Rome.[149] At the popular level, theatre and
minstrel troupes funded by the crown travelled around the land to promote the new religious practices:
the pope and Catholic priests and monks were mocked as foreign devils, while the glorious king was
hailed as a brave and heroic defender of the true faith.[150] Henry worked hard to present an image of
unchallengeable authority and irresistible power.[151]
A large well-built athlete (over 6 feet [1.8 m] tall and strong and broad in proportion), Henry excelled at
jousting and hunting. More than pastimes, they were political devices that served multiple goals, from
enhancing his athletic royal image to impressing foreign emissaries and rulers, to conveying Henry's
ability to suppress any rebellion. Thus he arranged a jousting tournament at Greenwich in 1517, where
he wore gilded armour, gilded horse trappings, and outfits of velvet, satin and cloth of gold dripping with
pearls and jewels. It suitably impressed foreign ambassadors, one of whom wrote home that, "The
wealth and civilisation of the world are here, and those who call the English barbarians appear to me to
render themselves such".[152] Henry finally retired from jousting in 1536 after a heavy fall from his
horse left him unconscious for two hours, but he continued to sponsor two lavish tournaments a year.
He then started adding weight and lost the trim, athletic figure that had made him so handsome;
Henry's courtiers began dressing in heavily padded clothes to emulate – and flatter – their increasingly
stout monarch. Towards the end of his reign his health rapidly declined.[153][154][155]
Government
The power of Tudor monarchs, including Henry, was 'whole' and 'entire', ruling, as they claimed, by the
grace of Godalone.[156] The crown could also rely on the exclusive use of those functions that
constituted the royal prerogative. These included acts of diplomacy (including royal marriages),
declarations of war, management of the coinage, the issue of royal pardons and the power to summon
and dissolve parliament as and when required.[157] Nevertheless, as evident during Henry's break with
Rome, the monarch worked within established limits, whether legal or financial, that forced him to work
closely with both the nobility and parliament (representing the gentry).[157]
Cardinal Thomas Wolsey
In practice, Tudor monarchs used patronage to maintain a royal court that included formal institutions
such as the Privy Council as well as more informal advisers and confidants.[158]Both the rise and fall of
court nobles could be swift: although the often-quoted figure of 72,000 executions during his reign is
inflated,[159] Henry did undoubtedly execute at will, burning or beheading two of his wives, twenty
peers, four leading public servants, six close attendants and friends, one cardinal (John Fisher) and
numerous abbots.[151] Among those who were in favour at any given point in Henry's reign, one could
usually be identified as a chief minister,[158] though one of the enduring debates in the historiography
of the periodhas been the extent to which those chief ministers controlled Henry rather than vice versa.
[160] In particular, historian G. R. Elton has argued that one such minister, Thomas Cromwell, led a
"Tudor revolution in government" quite independent of the king, whom Elton presented as an
opportunistic, essentially lazy participant in the nitty-gritty of politics. Where Henry did intervene
personally in the running of the country, Elton argued, he mostly did so to its detriment.[161] The
prominence and influence of faction in Henry's court is similarly discussed in the context of at least five
episodes of Henry's reign, including the downfall of Anne Boleyn.[162]
From 1514 to 1529, Thomas Wolsey (1473–1530), a cardinal of the established Church, oversaw
domestic and foreign policy for the young king from his position as Lord Chancellor.[163] Wolsey
centralised the national government and extended the jurisdiction of the conciliar courts, particularly
the Star Chamber. The Star Chamber's overall structure remained unchanged, but Wolsey used it to
provide for much-needed reform of the criminal law. The power of the court itself did not outlive
Wolsey, however, since no serious administrative reform was undertaken and its role was eventually
devolved to the localities.[164] Wolsey helped fill the gap left by Henry's declining participation in
government (particularly in comparison to his father) but did so mostly by imposing himself in the King's
place.[165] His use of these courts to pursue personal grievances, and particularly to treat delinquents
as if mere examples of a whole class worthy of punishment, angered the rich, who were annoyed as well
by his enormous wealth and ostentatious living.[166] Following Wolsey's downfall, Henry took full
control of his government, although at court numerous complex factions continued to try to ruin and
destroy each other.[167]
Thomas Cromwell in 1532 or 1533
Thomas Cromwell (c. 1485–1540) also came to define Henry's government. Returning to England from
the continent in 1514 or 1515, Cromwell soon entered Wolsey's service. He turned to law, also picking
up a good knowledge of the Bible, and was admitted to Gray's Innin 1524. He became Wolsey's "man of
all work".[168] Cromwell, driven in part by his religious beliefs, attempted to reform the body politic of
the English government through discussion and consent, and through the vehicle of continuity and not
outward change.[169] He was seen by many people as the man they wanted to bring about their shared
aims, including Thomas Audley. By 1531, Cromwell and those associated with him were already
responsible for the drafting of much legislation.[169] Cromwell's first office was that of the master of the
King's jewels in 1532, from which he began to invigorate the government finances.[170] By this point,
Cromwell's power as an efficient administrator, in a Council full of politicians, exceeded what Wolsey
had achieved.[171]
Cromwell did much work through his many offices to remove the tasks of government from the Royal
Household (and ideologically from the personal body of the King) and into a public state.[171] He did so,
however, in a haphazard fashion that left several remnants, not least because he needed to retain
Henry's support, his own power, and the possibility of actually achieving the plan he set out.
[172] Cromwell made the various income streams put in place by Henry VII more formal and assigned
largely autonomous bodies for their administration.[173] The role of the King's Councilwas transferred
to a reformed Privy Council, much smaller and more efficient than its predecessor.[174] A difference
emerged between the financial health of the king, and that of the country, although Cromwell's fall
undermined much of his bureaucracy, which required his hand to keep order among the many new
bodies and prevent profligate spending that strained relations as well as finances.[175] Cromwell's
reforms ground to a halt in 1539, the initiative lost, and he failed to secure the passage of an enabling
act, the Proclamation by the Crown Act 1539.[176] He too was executed, on 28 July 1540.[177]
Finances
Gold crown of Henry VIII, minted c. 1544–1547. The reverse depicts the quartered arms of England and
France.
Henry inherited a vast fortune and a prosperous economy from his father Henry VII, who had been
frugal and careful with money. This fortune was estimated to £1,250,000 (£375 million by today's
standards).[178] By comparison, however, the reign of Henry was a near-disaster in financial terms.
Although he further augmented his royal treasury through the seizure of church lands, Henry's heavy
spending and long periods of mismanagement damaged the economy.[179]
Much of this wealth was spent by Henry on maintaining his court and household, including many of the
building works he undertook on royal palaces. Henry hung 2,000 tapestries in his palaces; by
comparison, James V of Scotland hung just 200.[180] Henry took pride in showing off his collection of
weapons, which included exotic archery equipment, 2,250 pieces of land ordnance and 6,500 handguns.
[181] Tudor monarchs had to fund all the expenses of government out of their own income. This income
came from the Crown lands that Henry owned as well as from customs duties like tonnage and
poundage, granted by parliament to the king for life. During Henry's reign the revenues of the Crown
remained constant (around £100,000),[182] but were eroded by inflation and rising prices brought
about by war. Indeed, war and Henry's dynastic ambitions in Europe exhausted the surplus he had
inherited from his father by the mid-1520s.
Whereas Henry VII had not involved Parliament in his affairs very much, Henry VIII had to turn to
Parliament during his reign for money, in particular for grants of subsidies to fund his wars. The
Dissolution of the Monasteries provided a means to replenish the treasury, and as a result the Crown
took possession of monastic lands worth £120,000 (£36 million) a year.[183]The Crown had profited a
small amount in 1526 when Wolsey had put England onto a gold, rather than silver, standard, and had
debased the currency slightly. Cromwell debased the currency more significantly, starting in Ireland in
1540. The English pound halved in value against the Flemish pound between 1540 and 1551 as a result.
The nominal profit made was significant, helping to bring income and expenditure together, but it had a
catastrophic effect on the overall economy of the country. In part, it helped to bring about a period of
very high inflation from 1544 onwards.[184]
Reformation
Main article: English Reformation
King Henry VIII sitting with his feet upon Pope Clement VI, 1641
Henry is generally credited with initiating the English Reformation – the process of transforming England
from a Catholic country to a Protestant one – though his progress at the elite and mass levels is
disputed,[185] and the precise narrative not widely agreed.[60] Certainly, in 1527, Henry, until then an
observant and well-informed Catholic, appealed to the Pope for an annulment of his marriage to
Catherine.[60] No annulment was immediately forthcoming, the result in part of Charles V's control of
the Papacy.[186] The traditional narrative gives this refusal as the trigger for Henry's rejection of papal
supremacy (which he had previously defended), though as historian A. F. Pollard has argued, even if
Henry had not needed an annulment, Henry may have come to reject papal control over the governance
of England purely for political reasons.[187]
In any case, between 1532 and 1537, Henry instituted a number of statutes that dealt with the
relationship between king and pope and hence the structure of the nascent Church of England.
[188] These included the Statute in Restraint of Appeals(passed 1533), which extended the charge
of praemunire against all who introduced papal bulls into England, potentially exposing them to the
death penalty if found guilty.[189] Other acts included the Supplication against the Ordinaries and
the Submission of the Clergy, which recognised Royal Supremacy over the church. The Ecclesiastical
Appointments Act 1534 required the clergy to elect bishops nominated by the Sovereign. The Act of
Supremacy in 1534 declared that the King was "the only Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of
England" and the Treasons Act 1534 made it high treason, punishable by death, to refuse the Oath of
Supremacyacknowledging the King as such. Similarly, following the passage of the Act of Succession
1533, all adults in the Kingdom were required to acknowledge the Act's provisions (declaring Henry's
marriage to Anne legitimate and his marriage to Catherine illegitimate) by oath;[190] those who refused
were subject to imprisonment for life, and any publisher or printer of any literature alleging that the
marriage to Anne was invalid subject to the death penalty.[191] Finally, the Peter's Pence Actwas
passed, and it reiterated that England had "no superior under God, but only your Grace" and that
Henry's "imperial crown" had been diminished by "the unreasonable and uncharitable usurpations and
exactions" of the Pope.[192] The King had much support from the Church under Cranmer.[193]
Henry, to Thomas Cromwell's annoyance, insisted on parliamentary time to discuss questions of faith,
which he achieved through the Duke of Norfolk. This led to the passing of the Act of Six Articles,
whereby six major questions were all answered by asserting the religious orthodoxy, thus restraining the
reform movement in England.[115] It was followed by the beginnings of a reformed liturgy and of
the Book of Common Prayer, which would take until 1549 to complete.[194] The victory won by
religious conservatives did not convert into much change in personnel, however, and Cranmer remained
in his position.[195]Overall, the rest of Henry's reign saw a subtle movement away from religious
orthodoxy, helped in part by the deaths of prominent figures from before the break with Rome,
especially the executions of Thomas More and John Fisher in 1535 for refusing to renounce papal
authority. Henry established a new political theology of obedience to the crown that was continued for
the next decade. It reflected Martin Luther's new interpretation of the fourth commandment ("Honour
thy father and mother"), brought to England by William Tyndale. The founding of royal authority on
the Ten Commandments was another important shift: reformers within the Church used the
Commandments' emphasis on faith and the word of God, while conservatives emphasised the need for
dedication to God and doing good. The reformers' efforts lay behind the publication of the Great Bible in
1539 in English.[196] Protestant Reformers still faced persecution, particularly over objections to
Henry's annulment. Many fled abroad, including the influential Tyndale,[197] who was eventually
executed and his body burned at Henry's behest.
When taxes once payable to Rome were transferred to the Crown, Cromwell saw the need to assess the
taxable value of the Church's extensive holdings as they stood in 1535. The result was an extensive
compendium, the Valor Ecclesiasticus.[198] In September of the same year, Cromwell commissioned a
more general visitation of religious institutions, to be undertaken by four appointee visitors. The
visitation focussed almost exclusively on the country's religious houses, with largely negative
conclusions.[199] In addition to reporting back to Cromwell, the visitors made the lives of the monks
more difficult by enforcing strict behavioural standards. The result was to encourage self-dissolution.
[200] In any case, the evidence gathered by Cromwell led swiftly to the beginning of the state-
enforced dissolution of the monasteries with all religious houses worth less than £200 vested by statute
in the crown in January 1536.[201] After a short pause, surviving religious houses were transferred one
by one to the Crown and onto new owners, and the dissolution confirmed by a further statute in 1539.
By January 1540 no such houses remained: some 800 had been dissolved. The process had been
efficient, with minimal resistance, and brought the crown some £90,000 a year.[202] The extent to
which the dissolution of all houses was planned from the start is debated by historians; there is some
evidence that major houses were originally intended only to be reformed.[203] Cromwell's actions
transferred a fifth of England's landed wealth to new hands. The programme was designed primarily to
create a landed gentry beholden to the crown, which would use the lands much more efficiently.
[204] Although little opposition to the supremacy could be found in England's religious houses, they had
links to the international church and were an obstacle to further religious reform.[205]
Response to the reforms was mixed. The religious houses had been the only support of the
impoverished,[206] and the reforms alienated much of the population outside London, helping to
provoke the great northern rising of 1536–1537, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace.[207] Elsewhere the
changes were accepted and welcomed, and those who clung to Catholic rites kept quiet or moved in
secrecy. They would re-emerge during the reign of Henry's daughter Mary (1553–1558).
Military
Henry's Italian-made suit of armour, c. 1544. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Apart from permanent garrisons at Berwick, Calais, and Carlisle, England's standing army numbered only
a few hundred men. This was increased only slightly by Henry.[208] Henry's invasion force of 1513,
some 30,000 men, was composed of billmen and longbowmen, at a time when the other European
nations were moving to hand guns and pikemen. The difference in capability was at this stage not
significant, however, and Henry's forces had new armour and weaponry. They were also supported by
battlefield artillery and the war wagon,[209] relatively new innovations, and several large and expensive
siege guns.[210] The invasion force of 1544 was similarly well-equipped and organised, although
command on the battlefield was laid with the dukes of Suffolk and Norfolk, which in the case of the
latter produced disastrous results at Montreuil.[129]
Henry's break with Rome incurred the threat of a large-scale French or Spanish invasion.[83]To guard
against this, in 1538, he began to build a chain of expensive, state-of-the-art defences, along Britain's
southern and eastern coasts from Kent to Cornwall, largely built of material gained from the demolition
of the monasteries.[211] These were known as Henry VIII's Device Forts. He also strengthened existing
coastal defence fortresses such as Dover Castle and, at Dover, Moat Bulwark and Archcliffe Fort, which
he personally visited for a few months to supervise.[83] Wolsey had many years before conducted the
censuses required for an overhaul of the system of militia, but no reform resulted.[212]In 1538–39,
Cromwell overhauled the shire musters, but his work mainly served to demonstrate how inadequate
they were in organisation.[83] The building works, including that at Berwick, along with the reform of
the militias and musters, were eventually finished under Queen Mary.[213]
Depiction of Henry embarking at Dover, c. 1520
Henry is traditionally cited as one of the founders of the Royal Navy.[214]Technologically, Henry
invested in large cannon for his warships, an idea that had taken hold in other countries, to replace the
smaller serpentines in use.[214] He also flirted with designing ships personally – although his
contribution to larger vessels, if any, is not known, it is believed that he influenced the design
of rowbarges and similar galleys.[215] Henry was also responsible for the creation of a permanent navy,
with the supporting anchorages and dockyards.[214] Tactically, Henry's reign saw the Navy move away
from boarding tactics to employ gunnery instead.[216] The Tudor navy was enlarged up to fifty ships
(the Mary Rose was one of them), and Henry was responsible for the establishment of the "council for
marine causes" to specifically oversee all the maintenance and operation of the Navy, becoming the
basis for the later Admiralty.[217]
Ireland
The division of Ireland in 1450
At the beginning of Henry's reign, Ireland was effectively divided into three zones: the Pale, where
English rule was unchallenged; Leinster and Munster, the so-called "obedient land" of Anglo-Irish peers;
and the Gaelic Connaught and Ulster, with merely nominal English rule.[218] Until 1513, Henry
continued the policy of his father, to allow Irish lords to rule in the king's name and accept steep
divisions between the communities.[219] However, upon the death of the 8th Earl of Kildare, governor
of Ireland, fractious Irish politics combined with a more ambitious Henry to cause trouble.
When Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond died, Henry recognised one successor for Ormond's English,
Welsh and Scottish lands, whilst in Ireland another took control. Kildare's successor, the 9th Earl, was
replaced as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland by Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey in 1520.[220] Surrey's
ambitious aims were costly, but ineffective; English rule became trapped between winning the Irish lords
over with diplomacy, as favoured by Henry and Wolsey, and a sweeping military occupation as proposed
by Surrey.[221] Surrey was recalled in 1521, with Piers Butler– one of claimants to the Earldom of
Ormond – appointed in his place. Butler proved unable to control opposition, including that of Kildare.
Kildare was appointed chief governor in 1524, resuming his dispute with Butler, which had before been
in a lull. Meanwhile, the Earl of Desmond, an Anglo-Irish peer, had turned his support to Richard de la
Pole as pretender to the English throne; when in 1528 Kildare failed to take suitable actions against him,
Kildare was once again removed from his post.[222]
The Desmond situation was resolved on his death in 1529, which was followed by a period of
uncertainty. This was effectively ended with the appointment of Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and
the king's son, as lord lieutenant. Richmond had never before visited Ireland, his appointment a break
with past policy.[223][224] For a time it looked as if peace might be restored with the return of Kildare
to Ireland to manage the tribes, but the effect was limited and the Irish parliament soon rendered
ineffective.[225] Ireland began to receive the attention of Cromwell, who had supporters of Ormond and
Desmond promoted. Kildare, on the other hand, was summoned to London; after some hesitation, he
departed for London in 1534, where he would face charges of treason.[225] His son, Thomas, Lord
Offaly was more forthright, denouncing the king and leading a "Catholic crusade" against the king, who
was by this time mired in marital problems. Offaly had the Archbishop of Dublin murdered, and besieged
Dublin. Offaly led a mixture of Pale gentry and Irish tribes, although he failed to secure the support
of Lord Darcy, a sympathiser, or Charles V. What was effectively a civil war was ended with the
intervention of 2,000 English troops – a large army by Irish standards – and the execution of Offaly (his
father was already dead) and his uncles.[226][227]
Although the Offaly revolt was followed by a determination to rule Ireland more closely, Henry was wary
of drawn-out conflict with the tribes, and a royal commission recommended that the only relationship
with the tribes was to be promises of peace, their land protected from English expansion. The man to
lead this effort was Sir Antony St Leger, as Lord Deputy of Ireland, who would remain into the post past
Henry's death.[228] Until the break with Rome, it was widely believed that Ireland was a Papal
possession granted as a mere fiefdom to the English king, so in 1541 Henry asserted England's claim to
the Kingdom of Ireland free from the Papal overlordship. This change did, however, also allow a policy of
peaceful reconciliation and expansion: the Lords of Ireland would grant their lands to the King, before
being returned as fiefdoms. The incentive to comply with Henry's request was an accompanying barony,
and thus a right to sit in the Irish House of Lords, which was to run in parallel with England's.[229] The
Irish law of the tribes did not suit such an arrangement, because the chieftain did not have the required
rights; this made progress tortuous, and the plan was abandoned in 1543, not to be replaced.[230]
Historiography
The complexities and sheer scale of Henry's legacy ensured that, in the words of Betteridge and
Freeman, "throughout the centuries, Henry has been praised and reviled, but he has never been
ignored".[160] Historian J.D. Mackie sums up Henry's personality and its impact on his achievements
and popularity:
The respect, nay even the popularity, which he had from his people was not unmerited....He kept the
development of England in line with some of the most vigorous, though not the noblest forces of the
day. His high courage – highest when things went ill – his commanding intellect, his appreciation of fact,
and his instinct for rule carried his country through a perilous time of change, and his very arrogance
saved his people from the wars which afflicted other lands. Dimly remembering the wars of the Roses,
vaguely informed as to the slaughters and sufferings in Europe, the people of England knew that in
Henry they had a great king.[231]
A particular focus of modern historiography has been the extent to which the events of Henry's life
(including his marriages, foreign policy and religious changes) were the result of his own initiative and, if
they were, whether they were the result of opportunism or of a principled undertaking by Henry.
[160] The traditional interpretation of those events was provided by historian A.F. Pollard, who in 1902
presented his own, largely positive, view of the king, lauding him, "as the king and statesman who,
whatever his personal failings, led England down the road to parliamentary democracy and empire".
[160]Pollard's interpretation remained the dominant interpretation of Henry's life until the publication
of the doctoral thesis of G. R. Elton in 1953.
Elton's book on The Tudor Revolution in Government, maintained Pollard's positive interpretation of the
Henrician period as a whole, but reinterpreted Henry himself as a follower rather than a leader. For
Elton, it was Cromwell and not Henry who undertook the changes in government – Henry was shrewd,
but lacked the vision to follow a complex plan through.[160] Henry was little more, in other words, than
an "ego-centric monstrosity" whose reign "owed its successes and virtues to better and greater men
about him; most of its horrors and failures sprang more directly from [the king]".[232]
Although the central tenets of Elton's thesis have since been questioned, it has consistently provided the
starting point for much later work, including that of J. J. Scarisbrick, his student. Scarisbrick largely kept
Elton's regard for Cromwell's abilities, but returned agency to Henry, who Scarisbrick considered to have
ultimately directed and shaped policy.[160] For Scarisbrick, Henry was a formidable, captivating man
who "wore regality with a splendid conviction".[233] The effect of endowing Henry with this ability,
however, was largely negative in Scarisbrick's eyes: to Scarisbrick the Henrician period was one of
upheaval and destruction and those in charge worthy of blame more than praise.[160] Even among
more recent biographers, including David Loades, David Starkey and John Guy, there has ultimately been
little consensus on the extent to which Henry was responsible for the changes he oversaw or the correct
assessment of those he did bring about.[160]
This lack of clarity about Henry's control over events has contributed to the variation in the qualities
ascribed to him: religious conservative or dangerous radical; lover of beauty or brutal destroyer of
priceless artefacts; friend and patron or betrayer of those around him; chivalry incarnate or ruthless
chauvinist.[160] One traditional approach, favoured by Starkey and others, is to divide Henry's reign into
two halves, the first Henry being dominated by positive qualities (politically inclusive, pious, athletic but
also intellectual) who presided over a period of stability and calm, and the latter a "hulking tyrant" who
presided over a period of dramatic, sometimes whimsical, change.[158][234] Other writers have tried to
merge Henry's disparate personality into a single whole; Lacey Baldwin Smith, for example, considered
him an egotistical borderline neurotic given to great fits of temper and deep and dangerous suspicions,
with a mechanical and conventional, but deeply held piety, and having at best a mediocre intellect.[235]
Style and arms
Henry's armorial during his early reign (left) and later reign (right)
Many changes were made to the royal style during his reign. Henry originally used the style "Henry the
Eighth, by the Grace of God, King of England, France and Lord of Ireland". In 1521, pursuant to a grant
from Pope Leo X rewarding Henry for his Defence of the Seven Sacraments, the royal style became
"Henry the Eighth, by the Grace of God, King of England and France, Defender of the Faith and Lord of
Ireland". Following Henry's excommunication, Pope Paul IIIrescinded the grant of the title "Defender of
the Faith", but an Act of Parliament (35 Hen 8 c 3) declared that it remained valid; and it continues in
royal usage to the present day. Henry's motto was "Coeur Loyal" ("true heart"), and he had this
embroidered on his clothes in the form of a heart symbol and with the word "loyal". His emblem was
the Tudor rose and the Beaufort portcullis. As king, Henry's arms were the same as those used by his
predecessors since Henry IV: Quarterly, Azure three fleurs-de-lys Or (for France) and Gules three lions
passant guardant in pale Or (for England).
In 1535, Henry added the "supremacy phrase" to the royal style, which became "Henry the Eighth, by
the Grace of God, King of England and France, Defender of the Faith, Lord of Ireland and of the Church
of England in Earth Supreme Head". In 1536, the phrase "of the Church of England" changed to "of the
Church of England and also of Ireland". In 1541, Henry had the Irish Parliament change the title "Lord of
Ireland" to "King of Ireland" with the Crown of Ireland Act 1542, after being advised that many Irish
people regarded the Pope as the true head of their country, with the Lord acting as a mere
representative. The reason the Irish regarded the Pope as their overlord was that Ireland had originally
been given to King Henry II of England by Pope Adrian IV in the 12th century as a feudal territory under
papal overlordship. The meeting of Irish Parliament that proclaimed Henry VIII as King of Ireland was the
first meeting attended by the Gaelic Irish chieftains as well as the Anglo-Irish aristocrats. The style
"Henry the Eighth, by the Grace of God, King of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith and
of the Church of England and also of Ireland in Earth Supreme Head" remained in use until the end of
Henry's reign.
Ancestry
Marriages and issue
Wives of Henry VIII and Children of Henry VIII
Known children of Henry VIII of England
Name Birth Death Notes
By Catherine of Aragon (married Palace of Placentia 11 June 1509; annulled 23 May 1533)
Unnamed
31 January 1510 stillborn
daughter
Henry, 22
1 January
Duke of February died aged almost two months
1511
Cornwall 1511
Unnamed
17 September 1513 died shortly after birth
son
Unnamed
8 January 1515 stillborn
son
Queen 18 17 married Philip II of Spain in 1554; no issue
Mary I February November
1516 1558
Unnamed stillbirth in the 8th month of pregnancy[237] or lived at least one
10 November 1518
daughter week
By Elizabeth Blount (mistress; bore the only illegitimate child Henry VIII acknowledged as his son)
Henry
FitzRoy,
1st Duke
15 June 23 July
of illegitimate; acknowledged by Henry VIII in 1525; no issue
1519 1536
Richmon
d and
Somerset
By Anne Boleyn (married Westminster Abbey 25 January 1533; annulled 17 May 1536) beheaded on 19
May 1536
Queen 7
24 March
Elizabeth September never married; no issue
1603
I 1533
Unnamed August/September
miscarriage
son 1534
Unnamed miscarriage of a child, believed male, in the fourth month of
29 January 1536
son pregnancy[238]
By Jane Seymour (married Palace of Whitehall 30 May 1536) died 24 October 1537
King 12
6 July
Edward October unmarried; no issue
1553
VI 1537
By Anne of Cleves (married Palace of Placentia 6 January 1540; annulled 9 July 1540)
no issue
By Catherine Howard (married Oatlands Palace 28 July 1540; annulled 23 November 1541) beheaded on
13 February 1542
no issue
By Catherine Parr (married Hampton Court Palace 12 July 1543; Henry VIII died 28 January 1547)
no issue
Cornelio Malvasia
Cornelio Malvasia, Marquis di Bismantova (1603 - 1664) was an Italian aristocrat, patron
of astronomy and military leader.
Cornelio Malvasia
Early life
Malvasia was born in 1603 to an aristocratic family of Bologna and was the cousin of Carlo Cesare
Malvasia.[1]
Military career
During the Wars of Castro he led papal army cavalry against the Dukes of Parma. He became close
to the nephews of Pope Urban VIII and his later correspondence and publications carried
the Barberini crest; three bees. His cousin Carlo later received assistance, in Rome, from Barberini
loyalist, Cardinal Marzio Ginetti.
Despite the Duchy of Modena having sided with the Dukes of Parma during the Wars of Castro,
Malvasia later became a military advisor to Alfonso IV d'Este, Duke of Modena. He was later
named Marechal of the French army in Italy while Francesco II d'Este (later Duke of Modena after
his father) was General of that army.
In 1656 he visited Paris and received honours from King Louis XIV of France - a
400 doppie annual pension for his position of Marechal and a gift of
a diamond bottoniera from Cardinal Mazarin.[1]
Patron of astronomy
Throughout his military career, Malvasia maintained a strong general interest in
astronomy, optics and scientific engineering. He is credited with having contributed to the invention
of the reticle or "cross-hairs" during the 1620s; final credit is usually ascribed to Robert Hooke.[2]
Malvasia was elected a Senator of Bologna and began construction of the privately owned Panzano
Observatory in the early 1640s.[3]
In 1645 Malvasia invited Giovanni Domenico Cassini to Bologna and offered him a position in his
observatory, which was close to completion. Most of their time was spent calculating newer, better,
and more accurate ephemerides for astrological purposes using the rapidly advancing astronomical
methods and tools of the day.[4] 17 years later, in 1662, their collaborative work, Ephemerides
novissimae motuum coelestium, was published by Malvasia. It was dedicated to Cardinal Giulio
Cesare Sacchetti - twice nominated by Antonio Barberini as the French candidate for pope[5] - and
included a rather laudatory dedication in which Malvasia claimed he could trace Sacchetti's ancestry
back to Ancient Roman gods.[6]
Malvasia corresponded with a number of other contemporary astronomers during his development of
new methods.[7]
Zeus God
Zeus (/zjuːs/[3] or /zuːs/;Greek: Ζεύς, Zeús [zdeǔ̯ s])[4] is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek
religion, who rules as king of the gods of Mount Olympus. His name is cognate with the first element of
his Roman equivalent Jupiter. His mythologies and powers are similar, though not identical, to those of
Indo-European deities such as Indra, Jupiter, Perkūnas, Perun, and Thor.[5][6][7]
Zeus is the child of Cronus and Rhea, the youngest of his siblings to be born, though sometimes
reckoned the eldest as the others required disgorging from Cronus's stomach. In most traditions, he is
married to Hera, by whom he is usually said to have fathered Ares, Hebe, and Hephaestus.[8] At
the oracle of Dodona, his consort was said to be Dione, by whom the Iliad states that he
fathered Aphrodite.[11] Zeus was also infamous for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many divine
and heroic offspring,
including Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Persephone, Dionysus, Perseus, Heracles, Helen of
Troy, Minos, and the Muses.
[8]
Zeus
God of the sky, lightning, thunder, law, order, and justice
Zeus de Smyrne, discovered in Smyrna in 1680[1]
He was respected as an allfather who was chief of the gods[12] and assigned the others to their roles:
[13] "Even the gods who are not his natural children address him as Father, and all the gods rise in his
presence."[14][15] He was equated with many foreign weather gods, permitting Pausanias to observe
"That Zeus is king in heaven is a saying common to all men".[16] Zeus' symbols are
the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak. In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical "cloud-
gatherer" (Greek: Νεφεληγερέτα, Nephelēgereta)[17] also derives certain iconographic traits from the
cultures of the ancient Near East, such as the scepter. Zeus is frequently depicted by Greek artists in one
of two poses: standing, striding forward with a thunderbolt leveled in his raised right hand, or seated in
majesty.
Name
The god's name in the nominative is Ζεύς (Zeús). It is inflected as
follows: vocative: Ζεῦ (Zeû); accusative: Δία (Día); genitive: Διός (Diós); dative: Διί (Dií). Diogenes
Laërtius quotes Pherecydes of Syros as spelling the name, Ζάς.[18]
Zeus is the Greek continuation of *Di ̯ēus, the name of the Proto-Indo-European god of the daytime sky,
also called *Dyeus ph2tēr ("Sky Father").[19][20] The god is known under this name in
the Rigveda (Vedic Sanskrit Dyaus/Dyaus Pita), Latin (compare Jupiter, from Iuppiter, deriving from
the Proto-Indo-European vocative *dyeu-ph2tēr),[21] deriving from the root *dyeu- ("to shine", and in
its many derivatives, "sky, heaven, god").[19] Zeus is the only deity in the Olympic pantheon whose
name has such a transparent Indo-European etymology.[22]
The earliest attested forms of the name are the Mycenaean Greek 𐀇𐀸, di-we and 𐀇𐀺, di-wo, written in
the Linear B syllabic script.[23]
Plato, in his Cratylus, gives a folk etymology of Zeus meaning "cause of life always to all things," because
of puns between alternate titles of Zeus (Zen and Dia) with the Greek words for life and "because
of."[24] This etymology, along with Plato's entire method of deriving etymologies, is not supported by
modern scholarship.[25][26]
Mythology
Birth
"Cave of Zeus", Mount Ida, Crete
Cronus sired several children by Rhea: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon, but swallowed them
all as soon as they were born, since he had learned from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be
overthrown by his son as he had previously overthrown Uranus, his own father, an oracle that Rhea
heard and wished to avert.
When Zeus was about to be born, Rhea sought Gaia to devise a plan to save him, so that Cronus would
get his retribution for his acts against Uranus and his own children. Rhea gave birth to Zeus in Crete,
handing Cronus a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes, which he promptly swallowed.[27]
Infancy
Varying versions of the story exist:
According to Hyginus (Fabulae, 139)) Zeus was raised by a nymph named Amalthea. Since Saturn
(Cronus) ruled over the Earth, the heavens and the sea, she hid him by dangling him on a rope from
a tree so he was suspended between earth, sea and sky and thus, invisible to his father.
According to Pseudo-Apollodorus (Bibliotheca, 1.1.5-7)) Zeus was raised by a goat named Amalthea in a
cave called Dictaeon Antron (Psychro Cave). A a company of soldiers called Kouretes danced, shouted
and clashed their spears against their shields so that Cronus would not hear the baby's cry.
King of the gods
After reaching manhood, Zeus forced Cronus to disgorge first the stone (which was set down
at Pytho under the glens of Parnassus to be a sign to mortal men, the Omphalos) then his siblings in
reverse order of swallowing. In some versions, Metis gave Cronus an emetic to force him to disgorge the
babies, or Zeus cut Cronus's stomach open. Then Zeus released the brothers of Cronus,
the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes, from their dungeon in Tartarus, killing their guard, Campe.
As a token of their appreciation, the Cyclopes gave him thunder and the thunderbolt, or lightning, which
had previously been hidden by Gaia. Together, Zeus, his brothers and sisters, Hecatonchires and
Cyclopes overthrew Cronus and the other Titans, in the combat called the Titanomachy. The defeated
Titans were then cast into a shadowy underworld region known as Tartarus. Atlas, one of the titans who
fought against Zeus, was punished by having to hold up the sky.
First century statue of Zeus
After the battle with the Titans, Zeus shared the world with his elder brothers, Poseidon and Hades, by
drawing lots: Zeus got the sky and air, Poseidon the waters, and Hades the world of the dead (the
underworld). The ancient Earth, Gaia, could not be claimed; she was left to all three, each according to
their capabilities, which explains why Poseidon was the "earth-shaker" (the god of earthquakes) and
Hades claimed the humans who died (see also Penthus).
Gaia resented the way Zeus had treated the Titans, because they were her children. Soon after taking
the throne as king of the gods, Zeus had to fight some of Gaia's other children,
the monsters Typhon and Echidna. He vanquished Typhon and trapped him under Mount Etna, but left
Echidna and her children alive.
Conflicts with humans
When Zeus was atop Mount Olympus he was appalled by human sacrifice and other signs of human
decadence. He decided to wipe out mankind and flooded the world with the help of his
brother Poseidon. After the flood, only Deucalion and Pyrrharemained.[28] This flood narrative is a
common motif in mythology.[29]
The Chariot of Zeus, from an 1879 Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church.
Throughout history Zeus has been depicted as using violence to get his way and terrorize humans. As
god of the sky he has the power to hurl lightning bolts as a weapon. Since lightning is quite powerful and
sometimes deadly, it is a bold sign when lightning strikes because it is known that Zeus most likely threw
the bolt.[30]
In the Iliad
Jupiter and Juno on Mount Ida by James Barry, 1773 (City Art Galleries, Sheffield.)
The Iliad is a poem by Homer about the Trojan war and the battle over the City of Troy. As God of the
sky, lightning, thunder, law, order, justice, Zeus controlled ancient Greece and all of
the mortals and immortals living there.[31] The Iliad covers the Trojan War, in which Zeus plays a major
part.
Notable Scenes that include Zeus[32][33]
Book 2: Zeus sends Agamemnon a dream and is able to partially control his decisions because of the
effects of the dream
Book 4: Zeus promises Hera to ultimately destroy the City of Troy at the end of the war
Book 7: Zeus and Poseidon ruin the Achaeans fortress
Book 8: Zeus prohibits the other Gods from fighting each other and has to return to Mount Ida where he
can think over his decision that the Greeks will lose the war
Book 14: Zeus is seduced by Hera and becomes distracted while she helps out the Greeks
Book 15: Zeus wakes up and realizes that Poseidon his own brother has been helping out the Greeks,
while also sending Hector and Apollo to help fight the Trojans ensuring that the City of Troy will fall
Book 16: Zeus is upset that he couldn't help save Sarpedon's life because it would then contradict his
previous decisions
Book 17: Zeus is emotionally hurt by the fate of Hector
Book 20: Zeus lets the other Gods help out their respective sides in the war
Book 24: Zeus demands that Achilles release the corpse of Hector to be buried honourably
List of other deeds
Zeus granted Callirrhoe's prayer that her sons by Alcmaeon, Acarnan and Amphoterus, grow quickly so
that they might be able to avenger the death of their father by the hands of Phegeus and his two sons.
He unsuccessfully wooed Thetis, daughter of Nereus.
Family
Zeus and Hera
Hera
Zeus was brother and consort of Hera. By Hera, Zeus sired Ares, Hebe and Hephaestus, though some
accounts say that Hera produced these offspring alone. Some also
include Eileithyia, Eris, Enyo and Angelos as their daughters. In the section of the Iliad known to scholars
as the Deception of Zeus, the two of them are described as having begun their sexual relationship
without their parents knowing about it.[34] The conquests of Zeus among nymphs and the mythic
mortal progenitors of Hellenic dynasties are famous. Olympian mythography even credits him with
unions with Leto, Demeter, Metis, Themis, Eurynome and Mnemosyne.[35][36] Other relationships with
immortals included Dione and Maia. Among mortals were Semele, Io, Europa and Leda (for more details,
see below) and with the young Ganymede(although he was mortal Zeus granted him eternal youth and
immortality).
Many myths render Hera as jealous of his amorous conquests and a consistent enemy of Zeus's
mistresses and their children by him. For a time, a nymph named Echo had the job of distracting Hera
from his affairs by talking incessantly, and when Hera discovered the deception, she cursed Echo to
repeat the words of others.
Transformation of Zeus
Love
Disguises
interest
Aegina an eagle or a flame of fire
Alcmene Amphitryon
Antiope a satyr
Asopis a flame of fire
Callisto Artemis
Cassiopeia Phoenix
Danae shower of gold
Europa a bull
Eurymedusa ant
Ganymede an eagle
Imandra a shower
Lamia a lapwing
Leda a swan and a star
Manthea a bear
Mnemosyne a shepherd
Nemesis a goose
Persephone a serpent
Semele a fire
Thalia a vulture
Consorts and offspring
Comparative table of Zeus' family
Divine Mortal
Offspring Divine Lovers Offspring Offspring
Lovers Consort
Aega or Themis • Astraea Alcmene • Heracles
Aix or • Nemesis Anaxithea • Olenus[38]
• Aegipan[37]
• Nymphs
Boetis • Aethlius or
of Eridanos
Calyce
Ananke • Moirai /
• Moirai / Fates1 • Endymion
Fates1
1. Atropos 1. Atropos Cassiopeia • Anchinos[39]
2. Clotho 2. Clotho • Atymnius
3. Lachesis 3. Lachesis • Milye
Chaldene
• Tyche6 (possibly
Aphrodite • Horae • Solymus
)
First
• Hecate[40] Chonia • Lacon[41]
Generation:
Asteria
• Heracles[42]
1. Auxo Chloris • Mopsus[41]
[43]
Asterope • Acragas 2. Carpo Cotonia[44] • Polymedes[41]
Calliope • Corybantes 3. Thallo Danaë • Perseus
• Coria (Athene) Second
Coryphe Dia • Pirithous
[45] Generation:
• Persephone 1. Dike Elara or
Demeter • Tityos
2. Eirene Larissa
• Dionysus[46]
3. Eunomia • Minos
Dione
Third • Rhadamanthu
• Aphrodite
Generation: s
Eos • Carae 1. Euporie Europa • Sarpedon
Eris • Limos 2. Orthosie • Alagonia[47]
• Charites/ Grace
Euanthe or 3. Pherusa • Carnus[48]
s2
Eurydome o Unknown
1. Aglaea • Eubuleus[49] Euryodeia • Arcesius
r mother
Eurymedus Unknown
2. Euphrosyne • Litae Helen • Musaeus[41]
a or mother
Eurynome 3. Thalia Unknown • Nymphs Hermippe •
mother Orchomenus[50
]
Unknown
• Asopus • Phasis[51] Hippodamia • Olenus[41]
mother
Hippodamia[4 no known
Europa • Dodon[52][41]
1] offspring
Semi-divine no known
• Agdistis Offspring Imandra[53]
Lovers offspring
• Manes • Aeacus • Thebe[54]
Gaia
Aegina • Iodame
• Cyprian
Damocrateia[55 • Deucalion[56]
Centaurs
]
• Angelos • Amphion Isonoe (Isione) • Orchomenus
Antiope • Achilleus
• Ares3 • Zethus Lamia (Acheilus)[57]
[58]
• Libyan
• Arge[56] Borysthenis • Targitaus Lamia
Sibyl (Herophile)
• Eileithyia Callisto • Arcas Laodamia or
Hera • Sarpedon
no known Hippodamia[4
• Eleutheria[59] Callirrhoe
offspring 1]
• Enyo Carme • Britomartis Leanida • Coron[41]
• Eris Chalcea • Olympus[41] • Helen of Troy5
Leda
• Hebe3 Charidia • Alchanus[41] • Pollux
Chrysogenia[6
• Hephaestus3 • Thissaeus[41] Libya • Belus[41]
0]
Hybris • Pan Electra • Dardanus Lysithea • Helenus[41]
Leto • Apollo • Emathion Lysithoe • Heracles[61]
• Iasion or Eetio
• Artemis Manthea • Arctos[41]
n
Maia • Hermes • Harmonia Maera
• Locrus
Metis • Athena4 Eurymedousa • Myrmidon
Megaclite
• Muses (Original
Eurynome • Ogygias[41] • Thebe
three)
1. Aoide • Cronius • Argus
Niobe
2. Melete Himalia • Spartaios • Pelasgus
3. Mneme • Cytus • Graecus
• Muses (Later
Hora • Colaxes[62] • Latinus[63]
nine)
Pandora
1. Calliope • Asterion[41] • Melera[64]
Idaea
Mnemosyn 2. Clio • Cres[65] • Pandorus[64]
e
3. Euterpe • Epaphus Phthia • Achaeus
Io
4. Erato • Keroessa • Aethlius
5. Melpomene • Sarpedon • Aetolus
Lardane[66] Protogeneia
6. Polyhymnia • Argus • Dorus
7. Terpsichore Othreis • Meliteus • Opus
8. Thalia Phoenissa[67] • Endymion[41] • Hellen or
Pyrrha
• Helmetheus[4
9. Urania Plouto • Tantalus
1]
Nemesis • Helen of Troy • Balius Semele • Dionysus
Podarge
Persephone • Melinoe • Xanthus Thaicrucia[68] • Nympheus[41]
• Zagreus Salamis • Saracon[41] Thebe • Aegyptus[54]
• Dionysus[69] Taygete • Lacedaemon • Heracles[70]
• Ersa Themisto • Archas • Magnes
Thyia
• Nemea Torrhebia • Carius • Makednos
Selene
• Nemean Lion Nymph African • Iarbas • Calabrus
Nymph • Saon (possibly Unknown
• Pandia • Geraestus
Samothracian ) mother
Styx • Persephone Nymph Sithnid • Megarus • Taenarus
Unknown
Thalassa • Aphrodite • Corinthus
mother
Unknown
Thalia • Palici • Crinacus
mother
Unknown
• Aletheia No mother • Orion
mother
Unknown
• Ate
mother
Unknown
• Caerus
mother
1The Greeks variously claimed that the Moires/Fates were the daughters of Zeus and the
Titaness Themis or of primordial beings like Chaos, Nyx, or Ananke.
2The Charites/Graces were usually considered the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome but they were also
said to be daughters of Dionysus and Aphrodite or of Helios and the naiad Aegle.
3Some accounts say that Ares, Hebe, and Hephaestus were born parthenogenetically.
4According to one version, Athena is said to be born parthenogenetically.
5Helen was either the daughter of Leda or Nemesis.
6Tyche is usually considered a daughter of Aphrodite and Hermes.
Roles and epithets
Category:Epithets of Zeus
Roman marble colossal head of Zeus, 2nd century AD (British Museum)[71]
Zeus played a dominant role, presiding over the Greek Olympian pantheon. He fathered many of the
heroes and was featured in many of their local cults. Though the Homeric "cloud collector" was the god
of the sky and thunder like his Near-Eastern counterparts, he was also the supreme cultural artifact; in
some senses, he was the embodiment of Greek religious beliefs and the archetypal Greek deity.
Aside from local epithets that simply designated the deity as doing something random at some
particular place, the epithets or titles applied to Zeus emphasized different aspects of his wide-ranging
authority:
Zeus Aegiduchos or Aegiochos: Usually taken as Zeus as the bearer of the Aegis, the divine shield with
the head of Medusa across it,[72][73][74] although others derive it from "goat" (αἴξ) and okhē (οχή) in
reference to Zeus's nurse, the divine goat Amalthea.[75][76]
Zeus Agoraeus: Zeus as patron of the marketplace (agora) and punisher of dishonest traders.
Zeus Areius: either "warlike" or "the atoning one".
Zeus Horkios: Zeus as keeper of oaths. Exposed liars were made to dedicate a votive statue to Zeus,
often at the sanctuary at Olympia
Zeus Olympios: Zeus as king of the gods and patron of the Panhellenic Games at Olympia
Zeus Panhellenios ("Zeus of All the Greeks"): worshipped at Aeacus's temple on Aegina
Zeus Xenios, Philoxenon, or Hospites: Zeus as the patron of hospitality (xenia) and guests, avenger of
wrongs done to strangers
A bust of Zeus.
Additional names and epithets for Zeus are also:
Abrettenus (Ἀβρεττηνός) or Abretanus: surname of Zeus in Mysia[77]
Achad: one of his names in Syria.
Acraeus: his name at Smyrna.
Acrettenus: his name in Mysia.
Adad: one of his names in Syria.
Adultus: from his being invoked by adults, on their marriage.
Apemius: Zeus as the averter of ills
Apomyius Zeus as one who dispels flies
Astrapios ("Lightninger"): Zeus as a weather god
Bottiaeus: Worshipped at Antioch[78]
Brontios ("Thunderer"): Zeus as a weather god
Diktaios: Zeus as lord of the Dikte mountain range, worshipped from Mycenaean times on Crete[79]
Ithomatas: Worshipped at Mount Ithome in Messenia
Zeus Adados: A Hellenization of the Canaanite Hadad and Assyrian Adad, particularly his solar cult
at Heliopolis[80]
Zeus Bouleus: Worshipped at Dodona, the earliest oracle, along with Zeus Naos
Zeus Georgos (Ζεὺς Γεωργός, "Zeus the Farmer"): Zeus as god of crops and the harvest, worshipped
in Athens
Zeus Helioupolites ("Heliopolite" or "Heliopolitan Zeus"): A Hellenization of
the Canaanite Baʿal (probably Hadad) worshipped as a sun god at Heliopolis (modern Baalbek)[80]
Zeus Kasios ("Zeus of Mount Kasios" the modern Jebel Aqra): Worshipped at a site on the Syrian–Turkish
border, a Hellenization of the Canaanite mountain and weather god Baal Zephon
Zeus Labrandos ("Zeus of Labraunda"): Worshiped at Caria, depicted with a double-edged axe (labrys), a
Hellenization of the Hurrian weather god Teshub
Zeus Meilichios ("Zeus the Easily-Entreated"): Worshipped at Athens, a form of the archaic
chthonic daimon Meilichios
Zeus Naos: Worshipped at Dodona, the earliest oracle, along with Zeus Bouleus
Zeus Tallaios ("Solar Zeus"): Worshipped on Crete
Cults of Zeus
Marble eagle from the sanctuary of Zeus Hypsistos, Archaeological Museum of Dion.
Panhellenic cults
Colossal seated Marnasfrom Gaza portrayed in the style of Zeus. Roman period Marnas[81] was the
chief divinity of Gaza (Istanbul Archaeology Museum).
The major center where all Greeks converged to pay honor to their chief god was Olympia. Their
quadrennial festival featured the famous Games. There was also an altar to Zeus made not of stone, but
of ash, from the accumulated remains of many centuries' worth of animals sacrificed there.
Outside of the major inter-polis sanctuaries, there were no modes of worshipping Zeus precisely shared
across the Greek world. Most of the titles listed below, for instance, could be found at any number
of Greek temples from Asia Minor to Sicily. Certain modes of ritual were held in common as well:
sacrificing a white animal over a raised altar, for instance.
Zeus Velchanos
With one exception, Greeks were unanimous in recognizing the birthplace of Zeus as Crete. Minoan
culture contributed many essentials of ancient Greek religion: "by a hundred channels the old civilization
emptied itself into the new", Will Durant observed,[82]and Cretan Zeus retained his youthful Minoan
features. The local child of the Great Mother, "a small and inferior deity who took the roles of son and
consort",[83] whose Minoan name the Greeks Hellenized as Velchanos, was in time assumed as
an epithet by Zeus, as transpired at many other sites, and he came to be venerated in Crete as Zeus
Velchanos ("boy-Zeus"), often simply the Kouros.
In Crete, Zeus was worshipped at a number of caves at Knossos, Ida and Palaikastro. In the Hellenistic
period a small sanctuary dedicated to Zeus Velchanos was founded at the Hagia Triada site of a long-
ruined Minoan palace. Broadly contemporary coins from Phaistos show the form under which he was
worshiped: a youth sits among the branches of a tree, with a cockerel on his knees.[84] On other Cretan
coins Velchanos is represented as an eagle and in association with a goddess celebrating a mystic
marriage.[85]Inscriptions at Gortyn and Lyttos record a Velchania festival, showing that Velchanios was
still widely venerated in Hellenistic Crete.[86]
The stories of Minos and Epimenides suggest that these caves were once used for incubatory divination
by kings and priests. The dramatic setting of Plato's Laws is along the pilgrimage-route to one such site,
emphasizing archaic Cretan knowledge. On Crete, Zeus was represented in art as a long-haired youth
rather than a mature adult and hymned as ho megas kouros, "the great youth". Ivory statuettes of the
"Divine Boy" were unearthed near the Labyrinth at Knossos by Sir Arthur Evans.[87] With the Kouretes,
a band of ecstatic armed dancers, he presided over the rigorous military-athletic training and secret rites
of the Cretan paideia.
The myth of the death of Cretan Zeus, localised in numerous mountain sites though only mentioned in a
comparatively late source, Callimachus,[88] together with the assertion of Antoninus Liberalis that a fire
shone forth annually from the birth-cave the infant shared with a mythic swarm of bees, suggests that
Velchanos had been an annual vegetative spirit.[89] The Hellenistic writer Euhemerusapparently
proposed a theory that Zeus had actually been a great king of Crete and that posthumously, his glory
had slowly turned him into a deity. The works of Euhemerus himself have not survived, but Christian
patristic writers took up the suggestion.
Zeus Lykaios
Further information: Lykaia
Laurel-wreathed head of Zeus on a gold stater, Lampsacus, c 360–340 BC (Cabinet des Médailles).
The epithet Zeus Lykaios ("wolf-Zeus") is assumed by Zeus only in connection with the archaic festival of
the Lykaia on the slopes of Mount Lykaion ("Wolf Mountain"), the tallest peak in rustic Arcadia; Zeus had
only a formal connection[90] with the rituals and myths of this primitive rite of passage with an ancient
threat of cannibalism and the possibility of a werewolftransformation for the ephebes who were the
participants.[91] Near the ancient ash-heap where the sacrifices took place[92] was a forbidden precinct
in which, allegedly, no shadows were ever cast.[93]
According to Plato,[94] a particular clan would gather on the mountain to make a sacrifice every nine
years to Zeus Lykaios, and a single morsel of human entrails would be intermingled with the animal's.
Whoever ate the human flesh was said to turn into a wolf, and could only regain human form if he did
not eat again of human flesh until the next nine-year cycle had ended. There were games associated
with the Lykaia, removed in the fourth century to the first urbanization of Arcadia, Megalopolis; there
the major temple was dedicated to Zeus Lykaios.
There is, however, the crucial detail that Lykaios or Lykeios (epithets of Zeus and Apollo) may derive
from Proto-Greek *λύκη, "light", a noun still attested in compounds such as ἀμφιλύκη,
"twilight", λυκάβας, "year" (lit. "light's course") etc. This, Cook argues, brings indeed much new 'light' to
the matter as Achaeus, the contemporary tragedian of Sophocles, spoke of Zeus Lykaios as "starry-
eyed", and this Zeus Lykaios may just be the Arcadian Zeus, son of Aether, described by Cicero. Again
under this new signification may be seen Pausanias' descriptions of Lykosoura being 'the first city that
ever the sun beheld', and of the altar of Zeus, at the summit of Mount Lykaion, before which stood two
columns bearing gilded eagles and 'facing the sun-rise'. Further Cook sees only the tale of Zeus' sacred
precinct at Mount Lykaion allowing no shadows referring to Zeus as 'god of light' (Lykaios).[95]
A statue of Zeus in a drawing.
Additional cults of Zeus
Although etymology indicates that Zeus was originally a sky god, many Greek cities honored a local Zeus
who lived underground. Athenians and Sicilians honored Zeus Meilichios ("kindly" or "honeyed") while
other cities had Zeus Chthonios("earthy"), Zeus Katachthonios ("under-the-earth") and Zeus
Plousios ("wealth-bringing"). These deities might be represented as snakes or in human form in visual
art, or, for emphasis as both together in one image. They also received offerings of black animal victims
sacrificed into sunken pits, as did chthonic deities like Persephone and Demeter, and also the heroes at
their tombs. Olympian gods, by contrast, usually received white victims sacrificed upon raised altars.
In some cases, cities were not entirely sure whether the daimon to whom they sacrificed was a hero or
an underground Zeus. Thus the shrine at Lebadaea in Boeotiamight belong to the hero Trophonius or
to Zeus Trephonius ("the nurturing"), depending on whether you believe Pausanias, or Strabo. The
hero Amphiaraus was honored as Zeus Amphiaraus at Oropus outside of Thebes, and the Spartans even
had a shrine to Zeus Agamemnon. Ancient Molossian kings sacrificed to Zeus Areius. Strabo mention
that at Tralles there was the Zeus Larisaeus.[96]
Non-panhellenic cults
Roman cast terracotta of ram-horned Jupiter Ammon, 1st century AD (Museo Barracco, Rome).
In addition to the Panhellenic titles and conceptions listed above, local cults maintained their own
idiosyncratic ideas about the king of gods and men. With the epithet Zeus Aetnaeus he was worshiped
on Mount Aetna, where there was a statue of him, and a local festival called the Aetnaea in his honor.
[97] Other examples are listed below. As Zeus Aeneius or Zeus Aenesius, he was worshiped in the island
of Cephalonia, where he had a temple on Mount Aenos.[98]
Oracles of Zeus
Although most oracle sites were usually dedicated to Apollo, the heroes, or various goddesses
like Themis, a few oracular sites were dedicated to Zeus. In addition, some foreign oracles, such
as Baʿal's at Heliopolis, were associated with Zeus in Greek or Jupiter in Latin.
The Oracle at Dodona
The cult of Zeus at Dodona in Epirus, where there is evidence of religious activity from the second
millennium BC onward, centered on a sacred oak. When the Odyssey was composed (circa 750 BC),
divination was done there by barefoot priests called Selloi, who lay on the ground and observed the
rustling of the leaves and branches.[99] By the time Herodotus wrote about Dodona, female priestesses
called peleiades ("doves") had replaced the male priests.
Zeus's consort at Dodona was not Hera, but the goddess Dione — whose name is a feminine form of
"Zeus". Her status as a titaness suggests to some that she may have been a more powerful pre-Hellenic
deity, and perhaps the original occupant of the oracle.
The Oracle at Siwa
The oracle of Ammon at the Siwa Oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt did not lie within the bounds of
the Greek world before Alexander's day, but it already loomed large in the Greek mind during the
archaic era: Herodotus mentions consultations with Zeus Ammon in his account of the Persian War. Zeus
Ammon was especially favored at Sparta, where a temple to him existed by the time of
the Peloponnesian War.[100]
After Alexander made a trek into the desert to consult the oracle at Siwa, the figure arose in the
Hellenistic imagination of a Libyan Sibyl.
Zeus and foreign gods
Evolution of Zeus Nikephoros ("Zeus holding Nike") on Indo-Greekcoinage: from the Classical motif of
Nike handing the wreath of victory to Zeus himself (left, coin of Heliocles I 145-130 BC), then to a
baby elephant (middle, coin of Antialcidas 115-95 BC), and then to the Wheel of the Law, symbol
of Buddhism (right, coin of Menander II 90–85 BC).
Zeus as Vajrapāni, the protector of the Buddha. 2nd century, Greco-Buddhist art.[101]
Zeus was identified with the Roman god Jupiter and associated in the syncretic classical imagination
(see interpretatio graeca) with various other deities, such as the Egyptian Ammon and
the Etruscan Tinia. He, along with Dionysus, absorbed the role of the chief Phrygian god Sabaziosin
the syncretic deity known in Rome as Sabazius. The Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphaneserected a
statue of Zeus Olympios in the Judean Temple in Jerusalem.[102] Hellenizing Jews referred to this statue
as Baal Shamen (in English, Lord of Heaven).[103]
Zeus and the sun
Zeus is occasionally conflated with the Hellenic sun god, Helios, who is sometimes either directly
referred to as Zeus' eye,[104] or clearly implied as such. Hesiod, for instance, describes Zeus's eye as
effectively the sun.[105] This perception is possibly derived from earlier Proto-Indo-European religion, in
which the sun is occasionally envisioned as the eye of *Dyḗus Pḥatḗr (see Hvare-khshaeta).[106]
The Cretan Zeus Tallaios had solar elements to his cult. "Talos" was the local equivalent of Helios.[107]
Zeus in philosophy
In Neoplatonism, Zeus's relation to the gods familiar from mythology is taught as the Demiurge or
Divine Mind. Specifically within Plotinus's work the Enneads[108] and the Platonic Theology of Proclus.
Zeus in the Bible
Zeus is mentioned in the New Testament twice, first in Acts 14:8–13: When the people living
in Lystra saw the Apostle Paulheal a lame man, they considered Paul and his partner Barnabas to be
gods, identifying Paul with Hermes and Barnabas with Zeus, even trying to offer them sacrifices with the
crowd. Two ancient inscriptions discovered in 1909 near Lystra testify to the worship of these two gods
in that city.[109] One of the inscriptions refers to the "priests of Zeus", and the other mentions "Hermes
Most Great"" and "Zeus the sun-god".[110]
The second occurrence is in Acts 28:11: the name of the ship in which the prisoner Paul set sail from the
island of Malta bore the figurehead "Sons of Zeus" aka Castor and Pollux.
The deuterocanonical book of 2 Maccabees 6:1, 2 talks of King Antiochus IV (Epiphanes), who in his
attempt to stamp out the Jewish religion, directed that the temple at Jerusalem be profaned and
rededicated to Zeus (Jupiter Olympius).[111]
In modern culture
Depictions of Zeus as a bull, the form he took when abducting Europa, are found on the Greek 2-
euro coin and on the United Kingdom identity card for visa holders. Mary Beard, professor of Classics
at Cambridge University, has criticised this for its apparent celebration of rape.[112]
Zeus has been portrayed by Axel Ringvall in Jupiter på jorden, the first known film adaption to feature
Zeus; Niall MacGinnis in Jason and the Argonauts[113][114] and Angus MacFadyen in the 2000 remake;
[115] Laurence Olivier in the original Clash of the Titans,[116] and Liam Neeson in the 2010 remake,
[117] along with the 2012 sequel Wrath of the Titans;[118][119] Anthony Quinn in the 1990s TV
series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys;[120] Rip Torn in the Disney animated feature Hercules;
[121] Corey Burton in Hercules, God of War II, God of War III, God of War: Ascension, PlayStation All-
Stars Battle Royale, and Kingdom Hearts 3;[122][123] and Sean Bean in Percy Jackson and the
Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010).[124]
Genealogy of the Olympians
hideOlympians' family tree [125]
Uranus Gaia
Uranus' genitals Cronus Rhea
Hera Poseidon Hades Demeter Hestia
ZEUS
a[126]
b[127]
Ares Hephaestus
Metis
Athena[128]
Leto
Apollo Artemis
Maia
Hermes
Semele
Dionysus
Dione
a[129] b[130]
Aphrodite
Argive genealogy
Argive genealogy in Greek mythology
Inachus Melia
Zeus Io Phoroneus
Epaphus Memphis
Libya Poseidon
Belus Achiroë Agenor Telephassa
Phoenix
Danaus Pieria Aegyptus Cadmus Cilix Europa
Zeus
Mantineus Hypermnestra Lynceus Harmonia
Polydor
us
Rhada
Lacedaem Sarped manth
Sparta Ocalea Abas Agave
on on us
Autono
ë
Eurydice Acrisius Ino Minos
Zeus Danaë Semele Zeus
Perseus Dionysus
Colour key:
Male
Female
Deity
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965-1992)[1] was an American filmmaker known for directing and
producing big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic visuals and extensive use
of special effects, including frequent depictions of explosions.[2][3] The films he has produced and directed, which
include Armageddon (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001) and the Transformers film series (2007–present), have
grossed over US$7.8 billion worldwide, making him one of the most commercially successful directors in
history.[4][5]
He is co-founder of commercial production house The Institute, a.k.a. The Institute for the Development of
Enhanced Perceptual Awareness.[6] He co-owns Platinum Dunes, a production house which has
remade horror movies including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), The Amityville Horror (2005), The
Hitcher (2007), Friday the 13th (2009) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010).[7]
Despite his commercial success at the box office, Bay's work is generally held in low esteem by film critics.
While The Rock (1996) and Transformers (2007) received moderately positive reviews, his other films,
including the four Transformers sequels, have been received negatively by critics.
Michael Bay
Bay in 2006
Early life
Michael Bay was born in Los Angeles. He was raised by his adoptive parents Harriet, a bookstore owner/child
psychiatrist, and Jim, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).[8] Bay was raised Jewish.[9][10][11] His grandfather was
from Russia.[12] His cousin, Susan Bay, is the widow of Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy (whom he eventually
cast as the voice actor for Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon).[13] He attended the
exclusive Crossroads School, in Santa Monica, California.[14] Bay often traces his interest in action films back to
an incident during his childhood. As a boy, he attached some firecrackers to a toy train and filmed the ensuing
fiery disaster with his mother's 8 millimeter camera. The fire department was called and he was grounded. [15]
Career
Bay got his start in the film industry interning with George Lucas when he was fifteen, filing
the storyboards for Raiders of the Lost Ark, which he thought was going to be terrible. His opinion changed
after seeing it in the theater and he was so impressed by the experience that he decided to become a film
director.[16] He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1986, majoring in both English and Film.[17][18] He was a
member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity and a favorite student of film historian Jeanine Basinger.[19] For his
graduate work, he attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena where he also studied film. [20]
Michael Bay began working at Propaganda Films, directing commercials and music videos, two weeks after
finishing his post-graduate degree.[20] His 90-second World War II-inspired Coca-Cola advertisement was picked
up by Capitol Records. His first national commercial was for the Red Cross, which won a Clio Award in 1992.[21]
[22]
He directed Goodby, Silverstein & Partners "Got Milk?" advertisement campaign for the California Milk
Processors Board in 1993, which also won a Grand Prix Clio Award for Commercial of the Year. [23][24]
Bay's success in music videos gained the attention of producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson, who
selected him to direct his first feature-length film, Bad Boys. The film was shot in Miami in 1994 and starred Will
Smith and Martin Lawrence. The action film proved to be a break-out role for Smith, who was segueing from
television to films at that time. Shooting in Miami was a good experience for Bay, who would later own a home
in the city and spend a great deal of time there.[25] The film was completed for $19 million and grossed a
remarkable $141 million at the box office in the summer of 1995.[26] Bay's success led to a strong partnership
and friendship with Jerry Bruckheimer.[27]
His follow-up film, The Rock (1996), was an action movie set on Alcatraz Island, and in the San Francisco Bay
area. It starred Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris. It was also produced by Jerry
Bruckheimer and Don Simpson, the latter of whom died five months before the film's release. The film is
dedicated to him.[28] Connery and Cage won 'Best On-Screen Duo' at the MTV Movie Awards in 1997 and the
film was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Achievement in Sound category for the work of Greg P.
Russell, Kevin O'Connell, and Keith A. Wester.[29][30] After the success of The Rock, Bay established his
production company Bay Films, with a two-picture deal with Disney.
Michael Bay on the set of Transformers, New Mexico, May 2006
In 1998, Bay collaborated with Jerry Bruckheimer again, this time as a co-producer, as well as directing the
action-adventure film Armageddon.[31][32] The film, about a group of tough oil drillers who are sent by NASA to
deflect an asteroid away from a collision course with Earth, starred Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben
Affleck and Liv Tyler. It was nominated for 4 Oscars at the 71st Academy Awards including Best Sound, Best
Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, and Best Original Song.[33] The film earned 9.6 million dollars on its opening
day and a total of 36.5 million through the first weekend.[34] The production budget, $140 million, was one of the
highest of the summer of 1998. Armageddon went on to gross over $553 million worldwide, becoming the
highest-grossing film of that year.[35]
In 2001, Bay directed Pearl Harbor. It starred Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale and Cuba Gooding,
Jr. The film was released on Memorial Day weekend in 2001. Again, Bay produced the film with Jerry
Bruckheimer. The film received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Sound, Best Visual Effects,
Best Sound Editing and Best Song. Again, Kevin O'Connell received another nomination for Best Sound, but
he did not win. Pearl Harbor won in the category for Sound Editing, making it Bay's first (and, to date, only) film
to win an Oscar.[36] Michael Bay also directed the music video for nominated track "There You'll Be" by vocal
artist Faith Hill.[20]
Bay reteamed with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence for Bad Boys II, a sequel which also marked Bay's fifth
collaboration with Jerry Bruckheimer. The film grossed $138 million domestically, enough to cover the
production budget, and $273 million worldwide, almost twice as much as the first movie. In 2005, Bay
directed The Island, a science fiction film starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. It was the first film
Bay made without Jerry Bruckheimer as a producer. The Island cost $126 million to produce and earned $36
million domestically and $127 million overseas making a worldwide total of $163 million. Bay stated that he was
not comfortable with the domestic marketing campaign, as it confused the audience to the true subject of the
film.[37]
Bay filming Transformers: Age of Extinction; actresses Abigail Klein, Melanie Specht and Victoria Summer are walking in a corridor.
In 2007, he directed and teamed up with Steven Spielberg to produce Transformers, a live action film based on
the Transformers franchise. The film was released in the U.S. and Canada on July 3, 2007, with 8 p.m. preview
screenings on July 2. The previews earned $8.8 million, and in its first day of general release it grossed $27.8
million, a record for Tuesday box office attendance.[citation needed] It broke the record held by Spider-Man 2 for the
biggest July 4 gross, making $29 million. On its opening weekend, Transformers grossed $70.5 million,
amounting to a $155.4 million opening week, giving it the record for the biggest opening week for a non-sequel.
[citation needed]
As of November 2007, the film has made over $319 million domestically and over $709 million
worldwide.[38] Bay returned as director and executive producer for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which
was released on June 24, 2009 and went on to gross over $832 million worldwide. Although it received mostly
negative reviews by critics,[39] including aggressively critical reviews by American film critics such as Roger
Ebert,[40] Michael Phillips[41] and David Denby (who referred to Bay as "stunningly, almost viciously, untalented"),
[42]
the film was well received by its intended audience and was one of the highest-grossing films of 2009. [43][44] In
2010, it earned seven Golden Raspberry Award nominations and winning three: Worst Picture, Worst
Director and Worst Screenplay.[45] It was also one of the best selling DVD and Blu-ray Discs of 2009, second
only to Twilight in DVD format and the number one of all time in Blu-ray format until it was surpassed by Blu-ray
sales of James Cameron's Avatar in April 2010.[46][47][48] Bay directed Transformers: Dark of the Moon, released
on June 28, 2011.[49] which went on to gross $1.123 billion globally. [50] His next film was a comparatively small
film he had been developing for years, called Pain & Gain.[51] The true crime story, based on events described in
a Miami New Times article[52] written by Pete Collins, concerns a group of bumbling bodybuilders working
together to commit a robbery.[53] It starred Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony
Shalhoub and Ed Harris.
Bay produced DreamWorks' I Am Number Four, based on a series of novels by Pittacus Lore published
by HarperCollins Children's Books. D. J. Caruso (Eagle Eye, Disturbia) directed.[54][55]
A fourth Bay-directed Transformers movie, Transformers: Age of Extinction, was released in June 2014.
[56]
Starring Mark Wahlberg, the film earned $1.1 billion at the global box office [57] On January 12,
2016, Paramount Pictures released 13 Hours, which Bay produced and directed, based on the 2012 Benghazi
attack. While being the lowest-grossing film at the box office of Bay's career, it went on to massive DVD sales
upon its digital release in May 2016, earning over $40 million in home video revenue. [58]
On May 23, 2017, Bay was honored with his own Hand and Footprint Ceremony at The TCL Chinese Theatre.
His English Mastiff, Rebel, also put her paw in the cement with Bay. [59]
Production and effects companies
Platinum Dunes
Main article: Platinum Dunes
Bay founded production house Platinum Dunes with fellow producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form in 2001. [60]
Digital Domain
Main article: Digital Domain
Bay and Wyndcrest Holdings, a Florida-based investment firm, acquired the digital effects company Digital
Domain from James Cameron and Stan Winston in 2006, infusing the struggling business with a $50 million
investment. Digital Domain considered an initial public offering in 2009 but ultimately withdrew the offer,
because of the lack of interest. The company was sold to Galloping Horse in 2012.
The Institute
After leaving Propaganda Films, Bay and producer Scott Gardenhour, also formerly at Propaganda, formed
The Institute for the Development of Enhanced Perceptual Awareness (now known as The Institute), to
produce commercials and other projects. Through The Institute, Bay has directed and produced spots
for Victoria's Secret, Lexus, Budweiser, Reebok, Mercedes-Benz, and Nike. One of his Victoria Secret ads was
for the 2009 "A Thousand Fantasies" holiday campaign.[61]
451 Media Group
Bay co-founded 451 Media Group with Doug Nunes (who serves as CEO), and with John and Anthony Gentile,
who previously marketed brands such as Micronauts, Visionaries, Sky Dancers and the Power Glove. In 2015,
the company announced an interactive publishing division to offer "augmented reality" content from printed
graphic novels with digital video. The graphic novels employ Touchcode technology from T+ink (previously
used in the Power Glove), in which ink used in the printing process unlocks access to exclusive content that is
housed on the Machinima Network, which is transferred to users' touch-screen-enabled mobile devices when
the printed books are touched to those devices. The company's premiere slate of graphic novels was unveiled
at the October 2015 New York Comic-Con. The creators involved included Scott Rosenberg, Skip
Woods, George Pelecanos, Mark Mallouk, Clay McLeod Chapman and Peter and Paul Williams. [62][63][64][65]
Rogue Initiative
In June 2016, Bay joined The Rogue Initiative, [66] a production studio and technology company, as a strategic
advisor and stakeholder. The studio merges Hollywood production with interactive talent to generate story-
driven content for games, mobile, virtual reality, mixed reality, television and feature film. As part of the
partnership, Bay will develop and direct a multiplatform action-adventure game and cinematic VR experiences,
based on an original IP conceived by him.
Personal life
Bay lives in Miami with his three English mastiffs, named for characters in his films. As a boy, he donated
his Bar Mitzvah money to an animal shelter and often includes his dogs in his films. Bonecrusher appeared as
Mikaela's dog "Bones" in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Mason, his first English mastiff, was named for
John Patrick Mason, played by Sean Connery in The Rock.[67] Mason appeared as Marcus' dog in Bad Boys
II and as Miles' dog in Transformers. He died during production of the latter film in March 2007.[68][69]
Bay is not married and has no children.[70] He previously dated sportscaster Lisa Dergan.[67]
In 2016 Bay owned a $50 million Gulfstream G550 jet, as well as a Bentley, a Range Rover, an Escalade,
a Ferrari, a Lamborghini and two Camaros from the Transformers franchise.[71]
Filmography
Main article: Michael Bay filmography
Box
Yea Budg
Title Producers Writers Studio offic
r et
e
Michael Barrie, Jim
Mulholland, Doug Columbia $19 $141.4
1995 Bad Boys
Richardson and Geor Pictures million million
ge Gallo
Jerry
Bruckheimer and D
on Simpson Hollywood
David
Pictures
Weisberg, Douglas $75 $335.1
1996 The Rock Buena
S. Cook and Mark million million
Vista
Rosner
Pictures
Tony Gilroy, Shane
Jerry Bruckheimer Salerno, Jonathan
$140 $553.7
1998 Armageddon and Gale Anne Hensleigh, J. J. Touchstone
million million
Hurd Abrams and Robert Pictures
Roy Pool Buena
Vista
Pictures
$140 $449.2
2001 Pearl Harbor Randall Wallace
million million
Jerry Bruckheimer Ron Shelton, Jerry
Stahl, Cormac
Columbia $130 $273.3
2003 Bad Boys II Wibberley, Marianne
Pictures million million
Wibberley and Ron
Shelton
Caspian Tredwell- DreamWor
Ian
Owen, Alex ks Pictures $126 $162.9
2005 The Island Bryce and Walter
Kurtzman and Robert Warner million million
F. Parkes
o Orci Bros.
Don Murphy, Tom Alex Kurtzman and DreamWor $150 $709.7
2007 Transformers
DeSanto, Lorenzo Roberto Orci ks Pictures million million
di Bonaventura and Paramount
Ian Bryce Pictures
2009 Transformers: Ehren Kruger, Alex $200 $836.3
Revenge of the Fallen Kurtzman and
Box
Yea Budg
Title Producers Writers Studio offic
r et
e
Roberto Orci million million
Transformers: Dark of $195 $1.124
2011 Ehren Kruger
the Moon million billion
Christopher Markus
Donald De $26 $96.2
2013 Pain & Gain and Stephen
Line and Ian Bryce million million
McFeely
Don Murphy, Tom
Transformers: Age of DeSanto, Lorenzo $210 $1.104
2014 Ehren Kruger
Extinction di Bonaventura and Paramount million billion
Ian Bryce Pictures
$67
13 Hours: The Secret $50
2016 Erwin Stoff Chuck Hogan million[7
Soldiers of Benghazi million 2]
Don Murphy, Tom Akiva
$605.4
Transformers: The DeSanto, Lorenzo Goldsman, Ken $260
2017 million[7
Last Knight di Bonaventura and Nolan, Art Marcum million 3]
Ian Bryce and Matt Holloway
David Ellison, Dana
Rhett
Goldberg, Don $150
2019 6 Underground[74][75] Reese and Paul Netflix TBA
Granger and Ian million
Wernick
Bryce
Robopocalypse[74] Steven Spielberg Drew Goddard TBA
TBA
Untitled elephant
Paramount
poaching documentary TBA TBA TBA
[71]
Pictures
Frequent collaborators
Actors/actresses
13
Hou
rs:
The
Sec
Ba Pa ret
Ba Th d Th Trans in Transf Sol Transf
d e Pe B e forme Transf & ormer dier ormer
B R arl oy Isl rs: ormer G s: s of s:
oy oc Arma Ha s an Reven s: ai Age Ben The
s k gedd rb II d Trans ge of Dark n of gha Last
(1 (1 on or (2 (2 forme the of the (2 Extinc zi Knigh
Act 99 99 (1998 (20 00 00 rs Fallen Moon 01 tion (20 t
ors 5) 6) ) 01) 3) 5) (2007) (2009) (2011) 3) (2014) 16) (2017)
Kim
Coate
s
Vic
Manni
Micha
el
Talifer
ro
Stanle
y
Ander
son
Billy
Devlin
Antho
ny
Guide
ra
Ed
Harris
13
Hou
rs:
The
Sec
Ba Pa ret
Ba Th d Th Trans in Transf Sol Transf
d e Pe B e forme Transf & ormer dier ormer
B R arl oy Isl rs: ormer G s: s of s:
oy oc Arma Ha s an Reven s: ai Age Ben The
s k gedd rb II d Trans ge of Dark n of gha Last
(1 (1 on or (2 (2 forme the of the (2 Extinc zi Knigh
Act 99 99 (1998 (20 00 00 rs Fallen Moon 01 tion (20 t
ors 5) 6) ) 01) 3) 5) (2007) (2009) (2011) 3) (2014) 16) (2017)
Dwigh
t
Hicks
Marsh
all R.
Teagu
e
Tony
Todd
Ben
Afflec
k
Peter
Storm
are
Steve
Busce
mi
Micha
el
Clarke
Dunca
n
Chris
Ellis
13
Hou
rs:
The
Sec
Ba Pa ret
Ba Th d Th Trans in Transf Sol Transf
d e Pe B e forme Transf & ormer dier ormer
B R arl oy Isl rs: ormer G s: s of s:
oy oc Arma Ha s an Reven s: ai Age Ben The
s k gedd rb II d Trans ge of Dark n of gha Last
(1 (1 on or (2 (2 forme the of the (2 Extinc zi Knigh
Act 99 99 (1998 (20 00 00 rs Fallen Moon 01 tion (20 t
ors 5) 6) ) 01) 3) 5) (2007) (2009) (2011) 3) (2014) 16) (2017)
Willia
m
Fichtn
er
Steve
n
Ford
Shaw
nee
Smith
Glenn
Morsh
ower
Micha
el
Shann
on
Jon
Voigh
t
Mega
n Fox
Brian
Stepa
nek
13
Hou
rs:
The
Sec
Ba Pa ret
Ba Th d Th Trans in Transf Sol Transf
d e Pe B e forme Transf & ormer dier ormer
B R arl oy Isl rs: ormer G s: s of s:
oy oc Arma Ha s an Reven s: ai Age Ben The
s k gedd rb II d Trans ge of Dark n of gha Last
(1 (1 on or (2 (2 forme the of the (2 Extinc zi Knigh
Act 99 99 (1998 (20 00 00 rs Fallen Moon 01 tion (20 t
ors 5) 6) ) 01) 3) 5) (2007) (2009) (2011) 3) (2014) 16) (2017)
Shia
LaBeo
uf
Josh
Duha
mel
John
Turtur
ro
Kevin
Dunn
Hugo
Weavi
ng
Peter
Cullen
Charli
e
Adler
Frank
Welke
r
13
Hou
rs:
The
Sec
Ba Pa ret
Ba Th d Th Trans in Transf Sol Transf
d e Pe B e forme Transf & ormer dier ormer
B R arl oy Isl rs: ormer G s: s of s:
oy oc Arma Ha s an Reven s: ai Age Ben The
s k gedd rb II d Trans ge of Dark n of gha Last
(1 (1 on or (2 (2 forme the of the (2 Extinc zi Knigh
Act 99 99 (1998 (20 00 00 rs Fallen Moon 01 tion (20 t
ors 5) 6) ) 01) 3) 5) (2007) (2009) (2011) 3) (2014) 16) (2017)
Reno
Wilso
n
Rober
t
Foxw
orth
John
DiMag
gio
Mark
Ryan
Jess
Harne
ll
John
Good
man
Ken
Watan
abe
Ken
Jeong
13
Hou
rs:
The
Sec
Ba Pa ret
Ba Th d Th Trans in Transf Sol Transf
d e Pe B e forme Transf & ormer dier ormer
B R arl oy Isl rs: ormer G s: s of s:
oy oc Arma Ha s an Reven s: ai Age Ben The
s k gedd rb II d Trans ge of Dark n of gha Last
(1 (1 on or (2 (2 forme the of the (2 Extinc zi Knigh
Act 99 99 (1998 (20 00 00 rs Fallen Moon 01 tion (20 t
ors 5) 6) ) 01) 3) 5) (2007) (2009) (2011) 3) (2014) 16) (2017)
Mark
Wahlb
erg
Critical reception
Despite his box office success, Bay's work has been mostly poorly received by critics, and his name is often
used pejoratively in art-house circles.[76] Bay has responded to his critics, saying "I make movies for teenage
boys. Oh, dear, what a crime."[77] Besides being accused of making films that pander to a low demographic,
critics and audiences have been critical of elements of Bay's filmmaking style such as the overuse of Dutch
angles, rapid cutting, and cliché camerawork. Other elements include extreme patriotism, juvenile humor,
excessive product placement, oversaturated orange and teal color grading, reusing footage from his previous
films, his refusal to make thought-provoking films, and his preference of action and spectacle over story and
characters.[78] Another point of contention with Bay's films is his portrayal and use of offensive racial stereotypes
as comedic relief; a notable alleged example being the characters Skids and Mudflap in Transformers:
Revenge of the Fallen.[79]
Bay has also been accused of heavily objectifying women in his films, with critics describing Bay's manner of
filming actresses as "lascivious" and "pornographic". He has also faced criticism for making sexist remarks and
showing female characters in a stereotypical light. He came under fire for firing Megan Fox after she made
comments about him mistreating her on the set of the Transformers films and compared him
to Hitler and Napoleon, and allegedly body-shaming Kate Beckinsale and being critical of her appearance
during the making of Pearl Harbor.[80][81]
Rotten Tomatoes ratings
Year Film Rating
1995 Bad Boys 42%[82]
1996 The Rock 66%[83]
1998 Armageddon 39%[84]
Rotten Tomatoes ratings
Year Film Rating
2001 Pearl Harbor 25%[85]
2003 Bad Boys II 23%[86]
2005 The Island 40%[87]
2007 Transformers 57%[88]
2009 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 19%[89]
2011 Transformers: Dark of the Moon 35%[90]
2013 Pain & Gain 50%[91]
2014 Transformers: Age of Extinction 18%[92]
2016 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi 50%[93]
2017 Transformers: The Last Knight 16%[94]
Average 37%
Accolades
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award
Year Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
200 Transformers: Revenge of the
Sexist Pig Award Nominated
9 Fallen
201
Sexist Pig Award Nominated
1
Award of the Japanese Academy
Year Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
199
Best Foreign Film Armageddon Nominated
8
DVD Exclusive Award
Year Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
Best New, Enhanced or Reconstructed Movie
Scenes
200
Pearl Harbor Nominated
1
Best Overall New Extra Features
Empire Awards
Year Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
200
Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Transformers Nominated
7
Evening Standard British Film Awards
Year Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
201 Transformers: Dark of the
Blockbuster of the Year Nominated
1 Moon
Golden Raspberry Awards
Year Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
Worst Director
199
Armageddon
8
Worst Picture
Nominated
Worst Director
200
Pearl Harbor
1
Worst Picture
Worst Director
Won
200 Transformers: Revenge of the
Worst Picture
9 Fallen
Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel
Worst Director Nominated
201 Transformers: Dark of the
1 Moon
Worst Picture
201 Worst Director Transformers: Age of Won
4 Extinction
Worst Picture Nominated
Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel
201
Worst Director Transformers: The Last Knight Nominated
8
Golden Trailer Award
Year Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
200
Best Action Film Pearl Harbor Nominated
1
Huabiao Film Award[edit]
Year Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
200
Outstanding Translated Foreign Film Pearl Harbor Won
1
Image Award[edit]
Year Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
200
Outstanding Motion Picture Bad Boys II Nominated
3
Kid's Choice Award
Year Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
200 Favorite Movie Nominated
Transformers
7
200 Transformers: Revenge of the
9 Fallen
MTV Movie Awards
Year Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
199
Best Action Sequence Bad Boys
5
Best Movie
199 Nominated
The Rock
6
Best Action Sequence
Best Movie
199
Armageddon
8
Best Action Sequence
Won
200
Best Action Sequence Pearl Harbor
1
200
Best Action Sequence Bad Boys II Nominated
3
Best Movie
200
Transformers Won
7
Best Summer Movie You Haven't Seen Yet
National Movie Awards[edit]
Year Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
200
Best Action/Adventure Movie Transformers Nominated
7
Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Award
Year Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
200 Transformers: Revenge of the
9 Fallen
Obviously Worst Film Won
201 Transformers: Dark of the
1 Moon
People's Choice Awards
Year Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
Favorite Movie
201 Transformers: Dark of the
Nominated
1 Moon
Favorite Action Movie
Saturn Award
Year Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
199
Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film The Rock Nominated
6
Best Director
199
Armageddon Won
8
Best Science Fiction Film
200 Nominated
Best Science Fiction Film The Island
5
200 Best Science Fiction Film Transformers
7
200 Transformers: Revenge of the
Best Science Fiction Film
9 Fallen
Scream Award
Year Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
200 Transformers: Revenge of the
Best Sequel
9 Fallen
Won
Best 3-D Movie
Best F/X
201 Transformers: Dark of the
1 Moon
Best Science Fiction Movie Nominated
Holy Sh*t Scene of the Year
SFX Award
Year Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
200 Transformers: Revenge of the
Best Director Nominated
9 Fallen
ShoWest Convention Award
Year Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
199
Favorite Movie of the Year The Rock Won
6
Teen Choice Awards
Year Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
200
Best Drama/Action Adventure Movie Pearl Harbor Won
1
200
Choice Summer Movie: Action Adventure The Island
5
200 Transformers: Revenge of the
Choice Summer Movie: Action Adventure Nominated
9 Fallen
201 Transformers: Dark of the
Choice Summer Movie
1 Moon
Franz Xaver Kugler
Franz Xaver Kugler (27 November 1862 – 25 January 1929) was
a German chemist, mathematician, Assyriologist, and Jesuitpriest.[1]
Kugler was born in Königsbach, Palatinate, then part of the Kingdom of Bavaria. He earned a Ph.D. in
chemistry in 1885, and the following year he entered the Jesuits. By 1893 he had been ordained as a
priest. Four years later at the age of 35, he became a professor of Mathematics at Ignatius-College
in Valkenburg in the Netherlands.[1]
He is most noted for his studies of cuneiform tablets and Babylonian astronomy.[2] He worked out the
Babylonian theories on the Moon and planets, which were published in 1907. However his full work on
Babylonian astronomy was never completed, with only three volumes out of a planned five published
F. X. Kugler
Part of a series on the
Society of Jesus
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Superior General
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Spirituality
Spiritual Exercises
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Magis
Works
List of Jesuit educational institutions
List of Jesuit development centres
Notable Jesuits
Ignatius of Loyola
Francis Xavier
Peter Faber
Aloysius Gonzaga
John Berchmans
Robert Bellarmine
Peter Canisius
Edmund Campion
Pope Francis
Jesuit saints
Jesuit theologians
Jesuit philosophers
Catholicism portal
For other people named Franz Kugler, see Franz Kugler.
He died in Lucerne, Switzerland.[1]
Bibliography
Die Babylonische Mondrechnung, Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, (1900).
Die Sternenfahrt des Gilgamesch: Kosmologische würdigung des babylonischen Nationalepos. (1904).
Sternkunde und Sterndienst in Babel. Münster in Westfalien: Aschendorffsche Verlagsbuchandlung,
(1907). 2 Vols.
Volume 1
Volume 2 part 1
Volume 2, part 2.1
Volume 2, part 2.2
Supplement 1
Supplement 2 pt. 1-8
Supplement 2 pt. 9-14
Darlegungen und Thesen über altbabylonische Chronologie, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte
Gebiete, 22 (1909), pp. 63–78 (*).
GUR, masihu sa sattuk, KA, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete, 23 (1909), pp. 267–273
Im Bannkreis Babels : panbabylonistische Konstruktionen und religionsgeschichtliche Tatsachen.
Münster: Aschendorff (1910).
Zwei Kassitenkönige der Liste A, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete, 24 (1910), 173-178.
Chronologisches und Soziales aus der Zeit Lugalanda’s und Urukagina’s, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und
verwandte Gebiete, 25 (1911), 275-280.
Contribution à la météorologie babylonienne, Revue d’assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale, 8 (1911),
107-130.
Bemerkungen zur neuesten Königsliste, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete, 27 (1912),
242-245.
Von Moses bis Paulus: Forschungen zur Geschichte Israels. Münster: Aschendorff, (1922).
Sibyllinischer Sternkampf und Phaëthon in naturgeschichtlicher Beleuchtung Münster in Westfalen :
Aschendorff (1927).
Honors
The crater Kugler on the Moon is named after him.[3]
Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa
List of Jesuit scientists
List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics
Neil Degrasse Tyson.
Neil deGrasse Tyson (/dəˈɡræs/; born October 5, 1958-1991994) was an American astrophysicist, author,
and science communicator. Since 1996, he has been the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden
Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City. The center is part of the American
Museum of Natural History, where Tyson founded the Department of Astrophysics in 1997 and has been a
research associate in the department since 2003.
Tyson studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University. From 1991 to
1994, he was a postdoctoral research associate at Princeton University. In 1994, he joined the Hayden
Planetarium as a staff scientist and the Princeton faculty as a visiting research scientist and lecturer. In 1996,
he became director of the planetarium and oversaw its $210 million reconstruction project, which was
completed in 2000.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Tyson in 2017, receiving the Stephen Hawking Science Medal
From 1995 to 2005, Tyson wrote monthly essays in the "Universe" column for Natural History magazine, some
of which were later published in his books Death by Black Hole (2007) and Astrophysics for People in a
Hurry (2017). During the same period, he wrote a monthly column in StarDate magazine, answering questions
about the universe under the pen name "Merlin". Material from the column appeared in his books Merlin's Tour
of the Universe (1998) and Just Visiting This Planet (1998). Tyson served on a 2001 government
commission on the future of the U.S. aerospace industry and on the 2004 Moon, Mars and
Beyond commission. He was awarded the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal in the same year. From
2006 to 2011, he hosted the television show NOVA ScienceNow on PBS. Since 2009, Tyson has hosted the
weekly podcast StarTalk. A spin-off, also called StarTalk, began airing on National Geographic in 2015. In
2014, he hosted the television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, a successor to Carl Sagan's 1980
series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage.[1] The U.S. National Academy of Sciences awarded Tyson the Public
Welfare Medal in 2015 for his "extraordinary role in exciting the public about the wonders of science". [2]
Early life
Tyson was born in Manhattan as the second of three children, into a family living in the Bronx.[3] His mother,
Sunchita Maria Tyson (née Feliciano), was a gerontologist for the U.S. Department of Health, Education and
Welfare, and is of Puerto Rican descent.[4] His African-American father, Cyril deGrasse Tyson (1927–2016),
was a sociologist, human resource commissioner for New York City mayor John Lindsay, and the first Director
of Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited.[5][6] Tyson has two siblings: Stephen Joseph Tyson and Lynn Antipas
Tyson.[5] Tyson's middle name, deGrasse, is from the maiden name of his paternal grandmother, who was born
as Altima de Grasse in the British West Indies island of Nevis.[7]
Tyson grew up in the Castle Hill neighborhood of the Bronx, and later in Riverdale.[8] From kindergarten
throughout high school, Tyson attended public schools in the Bronx: P.S. 36, P.S. 81, the Riverdale
Kingsbridge Academy (then called "P.S. 141"), and The Bronx High School of Science (1972–1976) where he
was captain of the wrestling team and editor-in-chief of the Physical Science Journal.[9][10] His interest in
astronomy began at the age of nine after visiting the sky theater of the Hayden Planetarium.[11] He recalled that
"so strong was that imprint [of the night sky] that I'm certain that I had no choice in the matter, that in fact, the
universe called me."[12] During high school, Tyson attended astronomy courses offered by the Hayden
Planetarium, which he called "the most formative period" of his life. He credited Dr. Mark Chartrand III, director
of the planetarium at the time, as his "first intellectual role model" and his enthusiastic teaching style mixed with
humor inspired Tyson to communicate the universe to others the way he did. [13]
Tyson obsessively studied astronomy in his teen years, and eventually even gained some fame in the
astronomy community by giving lectures on the subject at the age of fifteen. [14] Astronomer Carl Sagan, who
was a faculty member at Cornell University, tried to recruit Tyson to Cornell for undergraduate studies.[6] In his
book, The Sky Is Not the Limit, Tyson wrote:
My letter of application had been dripping with an interest in the universe. The admission office, unbeknownst
to me, had forwarded my application to Carl Sagan's attention. Within weeks, I received a personal letter... [15]
Tyson revisited this moment on his first episode of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. Pulling out a 1975 calendar
belonging to the famous astronomer, he found the day Sagan invited the 17-year-old to spend a day in Ithaca.
Sagan had offered to put him up for the night if his bus back to the Bronx did not come. Tyson said, "I already
knew I wanted to become a scientist. But that afternoon, I learned from Carl the kind of person I wanted to
become."[16][17]
Tyson chose to attend Harvard where he majored in physics and lived in Currier House. He was a member of
the crew team during his freshman year, but returned to wrestling, lettering in his senior year. He was also
active in dance, in styles including jazz, ballet, Afro-Caribbean, and Latin Ballroom.[18]
Tyson hosting the 40th anniversary celebration of Apollo 11 at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, July 2009
Tyson earned an AB degree in physics at Harvard College in 1980 and then began his graduate work at
the University of Texas at Austin,[19] from which he received an MA degree in astronomy in 1983. By his own
account, he did not spend as much time in the research lab as he should have. His professors encouraged him
to consider alternate careers and the committee for his doctoral dissertation was dissolved, ending his pursuit
of a doctorate from the University of Texas.[20]
Tyson was a lecturer in astronomy at the University of Maryland from 1986 to 1987[21] and in 1988, he was
accepted into the astronomy graduate program at Columbia University, where he earned an MPhil degree in
astrophysics in 1989, and a PhD degree in astrophysics in 1991[22] under the supervision of Professor R.
Michael Rich. Rich obtained funding to support Tyson's doctoral research from NASA and the ARCS
foundation[23] enabling Tyson to attend international meetings in Italy, Switzerland, Chile, and South Africa [21] and
to hire students to help him with data reduction.[24] In the course of his thesis work, he observed using the 0.91
m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, where he obtained images for
the Calán/Tololo Supernova Survey[25][26][27] helping to further their work in establishing Type Ia
supernovae as standard candles.
During his thesis research at Columbia University, Tyson became acquainted with Professor David
Spergel at Princeton University, who visited Columbia University in the course of collaborating with his thesis
advisor on the Galactic bulge[28][29][30] typically found in spiral galaxies.
Career
Tyson with students at the 2007 American Astronomical Society conference
Tyson's research has focused on observations in cosmology, stellar evolution, galactic astronomy, bulges,
and stellar formation. He has held numerous positions at institutions including the University of
Maryland, Princeton University, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Hayden Planetarium.
In 1994, Tyson joined the Hayden Planetarium as a staff scientist while he was a research affiliate in Princeton
University. He became acting director of the planetarium in June 1995 and was appointed director in 1996. [31] As
director, he oversaw the planetarium's $210 million reconstruction project, which was completed in 2000. Upon
being asked for his thoughts on becoming director, Tyson said "when I was a kid... there were scientists and
educators on the staff at the Hayden Planetarium... who invested their time and energy in my enlightenment...
and I've never forgotten that. And to end up back there as its director, I feel this deep sense of duty, that I serve
in the same capacity for people who come through the facility today, that others served for me". [32]
Tyson has written a number of popular books on astronomy. In 1995, he began to write the "Universe" column
for Natural History magazine. In a column he authored for a special edition of the magazine, called "City of
Stars", in 2002, Tyson popularized the term "Manhattanhenge" to describe the two days annually on which the
evening sun aligns with the street grid in Manhattan, making the sunset visible along unobstructed side streets.
He had coined the term in 1996, inspired by how the phenomenon recalls the sun's solstice alignment with
the Stonehenge monument in England.[33] Tyson's column also influenced his work as a professor with The
Great Courses.[34]
In 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush appointed Tyson to serve on the Commission on the Future of the
United States Aerospace Industry and in 2004 to serve on the President's Commission on Implementation of
United States Space Exploration Policy, the latter better known as the "Moon, Mars, and Beyond" commission.
Soon afterward, he was awarded the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest civilian honor
bestowed by NASA.[35]
Tyson in December 2011 at a conference marking 1,000 days after the launch of the spacecraft Kepler
In 2004, Tyson hosted the four-part Origins miniseries of the PBS Nova series,[36] and, with Donald Goldsmith,
co-authored the companion volume for this series, Origins: Fourteen Billion Years Of Cosmic Evolution.[37] He
again collaborated with Goldsmith as the narrator on the documentary 400 Years of the Telescope, which
premiered on PBS in April 2009.[38]
As director of the Hayden Planetarium, Tyson bucked traditional thinking in order to keep Pluto from being
referred to as the ninth planet in exhibits at the center. Tyson has explained that he wanted to look at
commonalities between objects, grouping the terrestrial planets together, the gas giants together, and Pluto
with like objects, and to get away from simply counting the planets. He has stated on The Colbert Report, The
Daily Show, and BBC Horizon that this decision has resulted in large amounts of hate mail, much of it from
children.[39] In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) confirmed this assessment by changing Pluto to
the dwarf planet classification.
Tyson recounted the heated online debate on the Cambridge Conference Network (CCNet), a "widely read,
UK-based Internet chat group", following Benny Peiser's renewed call for reclassification of Pluto's status.
[40]
Peiser's entry, in which he posted articles from the AP and The Boston Globe, spawned from The New York
Times's article entitled "Pluto's Not a Planet? Only in New York". [41][42]
Tyson has been vice-president, president, and chairman of the board of the Planetary Society. He was also the
host of the PBS program Nova ScienceNow until 2011.[43] He attended and was a speaker at the Beyond Belief:
Science, Religion, Reason and Survival symposium in November 2006. In 2007, Tyson was chosen to be a
regular on The History Channel's popular series The Universe.[citation needed]
Tyson promoting the Cosmos TV series in Australia for National Geographic, 2014
In May 2009, Tyson launched a one-hour radio talk show called StarTalk, which he co-hosted with
comedian Lynne Koplitz. The show was syndicated on Sunday afternoons on KTLK AM in Los Angeles
and WHFS in Washington DC. The show lasted for thirteen weeks, but was resurrected in December 2010 and
then, co-hosted with comedians Chuck Nice and Leighann Lord instead of Koplitz. Guests range from
colleagues in science to celebrities such as GZA, Wil Wheaton, Sarah Silverman, and Bill Maher. The show is
available via the Internet through a live stream or in the form of a podcast.[44]
In April 2011, Tyson was the keynote speaker at the 93rd International Convention of the Phi Theta
Kappa International Honor Society of the Two-year School. He and James Randi delivered a lecture
entitled Skepticism, which related directly with the convention's theme of The Democratization of Information:
Power, Peril, and Promise.[45]
In 2012, Tyson announced that he would appear in a YouTube series based on his radio show StarTalk. A
premiere date for the show has not been announced, but it will be distributed on the Nerdist YouTube Channel.
[46]
On February 28, 2014, Tyson was a celebrity guest at the White House Student Film Festival.[47]
In 2014, Tyson helped revive Carl Sagan's Cosmos: A Personal Voyage television series, presenting Cosmos:
A Spacetime Odyssey on both FOX and the National Geographic Channel. Thirteen episodes were aired in the
first season, and Tyson has stated that if a second season were produced, he would pass the role of host to
someone else in the science world.[48][49] In early January, 2018, it was announced that a second season
of Cosmos was in production, and that Tyson would once again act as host. [50]
On April 20, 2015, Tyson began hosting a late-night talk show entitled StarTalk on the National Geographic
Channel, where Tyson interviews pop culture celebrities and asks them about their life experiences with
science.[51]
Tyson is co-developing a sandbox video game with Whatnot Entertainment, Neil deGrasse Tyson Presents:
Space Odyssey, which aims to help provide players with a realistic simulation of developing a space-faring
culture, incorporating educational materials about space and technology. The game was anticipated for release
in 2018.[52]
Views
Spirituality
[A] most important feature is the analysis of the information that comes your way. And that's what I don't see enough of in this world.
There's a level of gullibility that leaves people susceptible to being taken advantage of. I see science literacy as kind of a vaccine
against charlatans who would try to exploit your ignorance.
—Neil deGrasse Tyson, from a transcript of an interview by Roger Bingham on The Science Network[53][54]
Tyson has written and broadcast extensively about his views of science, spirituality, and the spirituality of
science, including the essays "The Perimeter of Ignorance" [55] and "Holy Wars",[56] both appearing in Natural
History magazine and the 2006 Beyond Belief workshop. In an interview with comedian Paul Mecurio, Tyson
offered his definition of spirituality: "For me, when I say spiritual, I’m referring to a feeling you would have that
connects you to the universe in a way that it may defy simple vocabulary. We think about the universe as an
intellectual playground, which it surely is, but the moment you learn something that touches an emotion rather
than just something intellectual, I would call that a spiritual encounter with the universe." [57] Tyson has argued
that many great historical scientists' belief in intelligent design limited their scientific inquiries, to the detriment
of the advance of scientific knowledge.[56][58]
When asked during a question session at the University at Buffalo if he believed in a higher power, Tyson
responded: "Every account of a higher power that I've seen described, of all religions that I've seen, include
many statements with regard to the benevolence of that power. When I look at the universe and all the ways
the universe wants to kill us, I find it hard to reconcile that with statements of beneficence." [59][60]:341 In an interview
with Big Think, Tyson said, "So, what people are really after is what is my stance on religion or spirituality or
God, and I would say if I find a word that came closest, it would be 'agnostic' ... at the end of the day I'd rather
not be any category at all."[61] Additionally, in the same interview with Big Think, Tyson mentioned that he edited
Wikipedia's entry on him to include the fact that he is an agnostic:
I'm constantly claimed by atheists. I find this intriguing. In fact, on my Wiki page – I didn't create the Wiki page,
others did, and I'm flattered that people cared enough about my life to assemble it – and it said "Neil deGrasse
Tyson is an atheist." I said, "Well that's not really true." I said, "Neil deGrasse Tyson is an agnostic." I went
back a week later, it said "Neil deGrasse Tyson is an atheist" again – within a week! – and I said, "What's up
with that?" and I said "Alright, I have to word it a little differently." So I said, okay "Neil deGrasse Tyson, widely
claimed by atheists, is actually an agnostic." [61]
During the interview "Called by the Universe: A Conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson" in 2009, Tyson said: "I
can't agree to the claims by atheists that I'm one of that community. I don't have the time, energy, interest of
conducting myself that way... I'm not trying to convert people. I don't care." [62]
Tyson in conversation with Richard Dawkins at Howard University, 2010
In March 2014, philosopher and secularism proponent Massimo Pigliucci asked Tyson "What is it you think
about God?" Tyson replied "I remain unconvinced by any claims anyone has ever made about the existence or
the power of a divine force operating in the universe." Pigliucci then asked him why he expressed discomfort
with the label "atheist" in his Big Think video. Tyson replied by reiterating his dislike for one-word labels, saying
"That's what adjectives are for. What kind of atheist are you? Are you an ardent atheist? Are you a passive
atheist? An apathetic atheist? Do you rally, or do you just not even care? So I'd be on the 'I really don't care'
side of that, if you had to find adjectives to put in front of the word 'atheist'." Pigliucci contrasted Tyson with
scientist Richard Dawkins: "[Dawkins] really does consider, at this point, himself to be an atheist activist. You
very clearly made the point that you are not." Tyson replied: "I completely respect that activity. He's fulfilling a
really important role out there."[63]
Tyson has spoken about philosophy on numerous occasions. In March 2014, during an episode of The Nerdist
Podcast, he stated that philosophy is "useless" and that a philosophy major "can really mess you up", [64] which
was met with disapproval.[65][66][67][68] The philosopher Massimo Pigliucci later criticized him for "dismiss[ing]
philosophy as a useless enterprise".[69]
Race and social justice
In an undated interview at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Tyson talked about being black and one of the
most visible and well-known scientists in the world. He told a story about being interviewed about
a plasma burst from the sun on a local Fox affiliate in 1989. "I'd never before in my life seen an interview with a
black person on television for expertise that had nothing to do with being black. And at that point, I realized that
one of the last stereotypes that prevailed among people who carry stereotypes is that, sort of, black people are
somehow dumb. I wondered, maybe ... that's a way to undermine this sort of, this stereotype that prevailed
about who's smart and who's dumb. I said to myself, 'I just have to be visible, or others like me, in that
situation.' That would have a greater force on society than anything else I could imagine." [70][71]
In 2005, at a conference at the National Academy of Sciences, Tyson responded to a question about whether
genetic differences might keep women from working as scientists. He said that his goal to become an
astrophysicist was "...hands down the path of most resistance through the forces ... of society". He continued:
"My life experience tells me, when you don’t find blacks in the sciences, when you don’t find women in the
sciences, I know these forces are real and I had to survive them in order to get where I am today. So before we
start talking about genetic differences, you gotta come up with a system where there’s equal opportunity. Then
we can start having that conversation."[72]
In a 2014 interview with Grantland, Tyson said that he related his experience on that 2005 panel in an effort to
make the point that the scientific question about genetic differences can't be answered until the social barriers
are dismantled. "I'm saying before you even have that conversation, you have to be really sure that access to
opportunity has been level." In that same interview, Tyson said that race is not a part of the point he is trying to
make in his career or with his life. According to Tyson, "[T]hat then becomes the point of people's
understanding of me, rather than the astrophysics. So it's a failed educational step for that to be the case. If
you end up being distracted by that and not [getting] the message." He purposefully no longer speaks publicly
about race. "I don't give talks on it. I don't even give Black History Month talks. I decline every single one of
them. In fact, since 1993, I've declined every interview that has my being black as a premise of the interview." [73]
NASA
Tyson, Bill Nye, and U.S. President Barack Obama take a selfie at the White House, 2014
Tyson is an advocate for expanding the operations of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Arguing that "the most powerful agency on the dreams of a nation is currently underfunded to do what it needs
to be doing".[74] Tyson has suggested that the general public has a tendency to overestimate how much revenue
is allocated to the space agency. At a March 2010 address, referencing the proportion of tax revenue spent on
NASA, he stated, "By the way, how much does NASA cost? It's a half a penny on the dollar. Did you know
that? The people are saying, 'Why are we spending money up there...' I ask them, 'How much do you think
we're spending?' They say 'five cents, ten cents on a dollar.' It's a half a penny." [74]
In March 2012, Tyson testified before the United States Senate Science Committee, stating that:
Right now, NASA's annual budget is half a penny on your tax dollar. For twice that—a penny on a dollar—we
can transform the country from a sullen, dispirited nation, weary of economic struggle, to one where it has
reclaimed its 20th century birthright to dream of tomorrow. [75][76]
Inspired by Tyson's advocacy and remarks, Penny4NASA, a campaign of the Space Advocates nonprofit,
[77]
was founded in 2012 by John Zeller and advocates the doubling of NASA's budget to one percent of the
Federal Budget.[78]
In his book Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier Tyson argues that large and ambitious space
exploration projects, like getting humans to Mars, will probably require some sort of military or economic driver
in order to get the appropriate funding from the United States Federal government.[79]
Media appearances
Neil deGrasse Tyson was keynote speaker at TAM6 of the JREF.
As a science communicator, Tyson regularly appears on television, radio, and various other media outlets. He
has been a regular guest on The Colbert Report, and host Stephen Colbert refers to him in his comedic book I
Am America (And So Can You!), noting in his chapter on scientists that most scientists are "decent, well-
intentioned people", but, presumably tongue-in-cheek, that "Neil DeGrasse [sic] Tyson is an absolute
monster."[80] He has appeared numerous times on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He has made appearances
on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and The
Rachel Maddow Show.[81] He served as one of the central interviewees on the various episodes of the History
Channel science program, The Universe. Tyson participated on the NPR radio quiz program Wait Wait... Don't
Tell Me! in 2007 and 2015.[82] He has appeared several times on Real Time with Bill Maher, and he was also
featured on an episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? as the ask-the-expert lifeline.[83] He has spoken
numerous times on the Philadelphia morning show, Preston and Steve, on 93.3 WMMR, as well as on
SiriusXM's Ron and Fez and The Opie and Anthony Show.
Tyson has been featured as a guest interviewee on The Skeptics' Guide to the
Universe, Radiolab, Skepticality, and The Joe Rogan Experience podcasts and has been in several of
the Symphony of Science videos.[84][85]
Tyson lived near the World Trade Center and was an eyewitness to the September 11, 2001 attacks. He wrote
a widely circulated letter on what he saw.[86] Footage he filmed on the day was included in the 2008
documentary film 102 Minutes That Changed America.[87]
In 2007, Tyson was the keynote speaker during the dedication ceremony of Deerfield Academy's new science
center, the Koch Center, named for David H. Koch '59. He emphasized the impact science will have on the
twenty-first century, as well as explaining that investments into science may be costly, but their returns in the
form of knowledge gained and piquing interest is invaluable. Tyson has also appeared as the keynote speaker
at The Amazing Meeting, a science and skepticism conference hosted by the James Randi Educational
Foundation.[88]
Tyson made a guest appearance as a version of himself in the episode "Brain Storm" of Stargate
Atlantis[89] alongside Bill Nye and in the episode "The Apology Insufficiency" of The Big Bang Theory.[90] Archive
footage of him is used in the film Europa Report. Tyson also made an appearance in an episode of Martha
Speaks as himself.[91]
2010 Space Conference group portrait: Tyson with fellow television personality and science educator Bill Nye
In a May 2011 StarTalk Radio show, The Political Science of the Daily Show, Tyson said he donates all income
earned as a guest speaker.[92]
Tyson is a frequent participant in the website Reddit's AMAs (Ask Me Anythings) where he is responsible for
three of the top ten most popular AMAs of all time.[93]
In Action Comics #14 (January 2013), which was published November 7, 2012, Tyson appears in the story, in
which he determines that Superman's home planet, Krypton, orbited the red dwarf LHS 2520 in
the constellation Corvus 27.1 lightyears from Earth. Tyson assisted DC Comics in selecting a real-life star that
would be an appropriate parent star to Krypton, and picked Corvus, which is Latin for "Crow", [94][95] and which is
the mascot of Superman's high school, the Smallville Crows. [96][97] Tyson also had a minor appearance as
himself in the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.[citation needed]
In May 2013, the Science Laureates of the United States Act of 2013 (H.R. 1891; 113th Congress) was
introduced into Congress. Neil deGrasse Tyson was listed by at least two commentators as a possible nominee
for the position of Science Laureate, if the act were to pass. [98][99] On March 8, 2014, Tyson made
a SXSW Interactive keynote presentation at the Austin Convention Center. [100]
On June 3, 2014, Tyson co-reviewed Gravity in a CinemaSins episode.[101] He made two more appearances
with CinemaSins, co-reviewing Interstellar on September 29, 2015,[102] and The Martian on March 31, 2016.[103]
In 2016, Tyson narrated and was a script supervisor for the science documentary, Food Evolution, directed
by Academy Award nominated director Scott Hamilton Kennedy.[104] In the same year, Tyson made a guest
appearance on the Avenged Sevenfold album The Stage, where he delivered a monolog on the track "Exist".
[105]
In 2017, Tyson appeared on Logic's album Everybody as God, uncredited on various tracks, and credited on
the song "AfricAryaN"[106] as well as on "The Moon" on Musiq Soulchild's album Feel the Real.[107]
In 2018, Tyson made a guest appearance on The Big Bang Theory as himself, together with fellow scientist Bill
Nye, in the first episode of the show's final season ("The Conjugal Configuration"). [108]
Personal life
Tyson lives in the Tribeca neighborhood[109] of Lower Manhattan with his wife, Alice Young. They have two
children: Miranda and Travis.[110][111] Tyson met his wife in a physics class at the University of Texas at Austin.
They married in 1988 and named their first child Miranda, after the smallest of Uranus' five major moons.
[112]
Tyson is a wine enthusiast whose collection was featured in the May 2000 issue of the Wine Spectator and
the Spring 2005 issue of The World of Fine Wine.[113][114]
Sexual misconduct allegations
During November and December 2018, accusations of sexual misconduct were raised against Tyson by four
women.[115][116][117] Thchiya Amet El Maat accused Tyson of drugging and raping her while both were graduate
students at UT Austin in 1984.[118] Katelyn Allers, a professor at Bucknell University, alleged Tyson touched her
inappropriately at a 2009 American Astronomical Society gathering. [119][120] She had a tattoo of the solar system
which went from her arm to collar bone and said he was looking for Pluto. [121] Ashley Watson, Tyson's assistant
on Cosmos, alleged Tyson made inappropriate sexual advances on her in 2018 which led her to resign from
the position days later.[119][120] In what Tyson described as a Native American handshake, he held her hand and
looked her in the eye for ten seconds. When she left, he told her he wanted to hug her but would rather not in
case he wanted more.[121] A fourth anonymous woman alleged Tyson made inappropriate comments to her
during a 2010 holiday party at the American Museum of Natural History.[115] Tyson denied El Maat's rape
accusation, while corroborating the basic facts around the situation of Allers and Watson's assertions, but
claimed his actions were misinterpreted and apologized for any misunderstanding or offense. [122][123][124]
Fox, National Geographic, the Museum of Natural History, and the producers of Cosmos announced
investigations, which Tyson stated that he welcomed.[125] The National Geographic Channel announced on
January 3, 2019, that they were putting further episodes of StarTalk on hiatus as "to allow the investigation to
occur unimpeded".[126][127] The premiere of Cosmos: Possible Worlds, initially scheduled for March 3, 2019, was
also delayed while the investigation continued.[128] On March 15, 2019, both National Geographic and Fox
announced that "The investigation is complete, and we are moving forward with both StarTalk and Cosmos,"
and that "There will be no further comment." The networks affirmed that both StarTalk and Cosmos would
resume, but that no date had been set.[129] In July, the American Museum of Natural History stated Neil
deGrasse Tyson would keep his job as director of the Hayden Planetarium. [121]
Recognition
List of awards received by Tyson:[114]
Awards
2001 Medal of Excellence, Columbia University, New York City
2004 NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal
2005 Science Writing Award
2007 Klopsteg Memorial Award winner
2009 Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award from the Space Foundation for significant
contributions to public awareness of space programs
2009 Isaac Asimov Award from the American Humanist Association[130]
2014 Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Reality Show Host
2014 Dunlap Prize[131]
2015 Public Welfare Medal from the National Academy of Sciences[132]
2015 Cosmos Award, Planetary Society
2017 Hubbard Medal, National Geographic Society[133]
2017 Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication, Starmus[134]
2017 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album nomination for Astrophysics for People in a
Hurry[135]
Honors
2000 Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive, People magazine[136]
2001 asteroid named: 13123 Tyson, renamed from Asteroid 1994KA by the International Astronomical
Union
2001 The Tech 100, voted by editors of Crain's Magazine to be among the 100 most influential
technology leaders in New York
2004 Fifty Most Important African-Americans in Research Science [137]
2007 Harvard 100: Most Influential, Harvard Alumni magazine, Cambridge, Massachusetts
2007 The Time 100, voted by the editors of Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential persons
in the world[138]
2008 Discover Magazine selected him as one of "The 10 Most Influential People in Science" [139]
Honorary doctorates
1997 York College, City University of New York
2000 Ramapo College, Mahwah, New Jersey
2000 Dominican College, Orangeburg, New York
2001 University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia
2002 Bloomfield College, Bloomfield, New Jersey
2003 Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts
2004 College of Staten Island, City University of New York
2006 Pace University, New York City
2007 Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts
2007 Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts
2008 University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2010 University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama
2010 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York
2010 Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, Connecticut
2011 Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
2012 Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts
2012 Western New England University, Springfield, Massachusetts
2015 University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts
2017 Baruch College, New York, New York
2018 Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2006–2011 Nova ScienceNow Host TV series
Year Title Role Notes
2010 NOVA Host Episode: "The Pluto Files"
The Inexplicable Universe: Unsolved 6-part lecture series from The Great
2012 Himself
Mysteries Courses[140]
2014 Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey Host Documentary
2015–
StarTalk Host TV series
present
2016 Food Evolution Narrator Documentary
2018 The Last Sharknado: It's About Time Merlin TV movie
TBA Cosmos: Possible Worlds Host Documentary
Other appearances
Year Title Role Notes
2008 Stargate: Atlantis Himself Episode: "Brain Storm"[141]
2 episodes:
2010;
The Big Bang Theory Himself "The Apology Insufficiency"
2018 "The Conjugal Configuration"
2012 Martha Speaks Himself Episode: "Eyes on the Skies"
2014 Gravity Falls Waddles the pig Episode: "Little Gift Shop of Horrors"[142]
2015 Brooklyn Nine-Nine Himself Episode: "The Swedes"[143]
2016 Family Guy Himself Episode: "Scammed Yankees"
2016 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Himself Superhero film
2016 Lazer Team Himself Comedy film
Year Title Role Notes
2016 Ice Age: Collision Course Neil deBuck Weasel Animated movie
2016 Zoolander 2 Himself Comedy film
Planetarium
2016 BoJack Horseman Episode: "That's Too Much, Man!"
narrator
2016 100 Things to Do Before High School Himself Episode: "Meet Your Idol Thing!"
2016 Future-Worm! Himself Episode: "Long Live Captain Cakerz!"
2016 The Jim Gaffigan Show Himself Episode: "Jim at the Museum"
2016 Regular Show Himself Episode: "Terror Tales of The Park VI"
2016 Mars Himself Mini TV series
2017 The Simpsons Himself Episode: "Caper Chase"
2017 Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow Himself Mobile app game
2017 Super Science Friends Himself Web series; Episode 3
2019 Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? Himself
Discography
List of non-single guest appearances, with other performing artists, showing year released and album
name
Title Year Artist(s) Album
"Exist"[144] 2016 Avenged Sevenfold The Stage
"AfricAryaN"[145][146][147] 2017 Logic Everybody
Works
List of works by Tyson:[148]
Books
Signing a copy of his book Origins at The Amazing Meeting by the James Randi Educational Foundation, 2008
Merlin's Tour of the Universe (1st ed. 1989; 2nd ed. 1998). ISBN 0-385-48835-1.
Universe Down to Earth (1994). ISBN 0-231-07560-X.
Just Visiting This Planet (1998). ISBN 0-385-48837-8.
One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos (2000). ISBN 0-309-06488-0.
Cosmic Horizons: Astronomy at the Cutting Edge (2000). ISBN 1-56584-602-8.
City of Stars: A New Yorker's Guide to the Cosmos (2002)
My Favorite Universe (a 12-part lecture series) (2003). ISBN 1-56585-663-5.
Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution (co-authored with Donald Goldsmith)
(2004). ISBN 0-393-32758-2.
The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist (2004). ISBN 978-1-59102-188-9.
Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries (2007). ISBN 0-393-33016-8.
The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet (2009). ISBN 0-393-06520-0.
Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier (2012). ISBN 0-393-08210-5.
Welcome to the Universe: An Astrophysical Tour (co-authored with Michael A. Strauss and J. Richard
Gott) (2016). ISBN 978-0691157245.
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry (2017). ISBN 978-0-39360-939-4.
Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military (2018, with Avis
Lang). ISBN 0-393-06444-1.
Letters from an Astrophysicist (2019). ISBN 978-1324003311.
Research publications
Twarog, Bruce A.; Tyson, Neil D. (1985). "UVBY Photometry of Blue Stragglers in NGC
7789". Astronomical Journal 90: 1247. doi:10.1086/113833.
Tyson, Neil D.; Scalo, John M. (1988). "Bursting Dwarf Galaxies: Implications for Luminosity Function,
Space Density, and Cosmological Mass Density". Astrophysical Journal 329: 618. doi:10.1086/166408.
Tyson, Neil D. (1988). "On the possibility of Gas-Rich Dwarf Galaxies in the Lyman-alpha
Forest". Astrophysical Journal (Letters) 329: L57. doi:10.1086/185176.
Tyson, Neil D.; Rich, Michael (1991). "Radial Velocity Distribution and Line Strengths of 33 Carbon
Stars in the Galactic Bulge". Astrophysical Journal 367: 547. doi:10.1086/169651.
Tyson, Neil D.; Gal, Roy R. (1993). "An Exposure Guide for Taking Twilight Flatfields with Large
Format CCDs". Astronomical Journal 105: 1206. doi:10.1086/116505.
Tyson, Neil D.; Richmond, Michael W.; Woodhams, Michael; Ciotti, Luca (1993). "On the Possibility of
a Major Impact on Uranus in the Past Century". Astronomy & Astrophysics (Research Notes) 275: 630.
Schmidt, B. P., et al. (1994). "The Expanding Photosphere Method Applied to SN1992am at cz =
14600 km/s". Astronomical Journal 107: 1444.
Wells, L. A. et al. (1994). "The Type Ia Supernova 1989B in NGC3627 (M66)". Astronomical
Journal 108: 2233. doi:10.1086/117236.
Hamuy, M. et al. (1996). "BVRI Light Curves For 29 Type Ia Supernovae". Astronomical Journal 112:
2408. doi:10.1086/118192.
Lira, P. et al. (1998). "Optical light curves of the Type IA supernovae SN 1990N and
1991T". Astronomical Journal 116: 1006. doi:10.1086/300175.
Scoville, N. et al. (2007). "The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS): Overview". Astrophysical Journal
Supplement 172: 1. doi:10.1086/516585.
Scoville, N. et al. (2007). "COSMOS: Hubble Space Telescope Observations". Astrophysical Journal
Supplement 172: 38. doi:10.1086/516580.
Liu, C. T.; Capak, P.; Mobasher, B.; Paglione, T. A. D.; Scoville, N. Z.; Tribiano, S. M.; Tyson, N. D.
(2008). "The Faint-End Slopes of Galaxy Luminosity Functions in the COSMOS Field". Astrophysical
Journal Letters 672: 198. doi:10.1086/522361.
Lester del Rey
Lester del Rey (June 2, 1915 – May 10, 1993) was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the
author of many books in the juvenile Winston Science Fiction series, and the editor at Del Rey Books, the
fantasy and science fiction imprint of Ballantine Books, along with his fourth wife Judy-Lynn del Rey.
Lester del Rey
Judy-Lynn and Lester del Rey at Minicon in Minneapolis, 1974
Birth name
Del Rey often told people his real name was Ramon Felipe Alvarez-del Rey (and sometimes even Ramon
Felipe San Juan Mario Silvio Enrico Smith Heartcourt-Brace Sierra y Alvarez del Rey y de los Uerdes).
However, his sister has confirmed that his name was in fact Leonard Knapp. He also claimed that his family
was killed in a car accident in 1935. This is far from the truth. In reality, the accident only killed his first wife. [1]
Career
Del Rey first started publishing stories in pulp magazines in the late 1930s, at the dawn of the so-called Golden
Age of Science Fiction. He was associated with the most prestigious science fiction magazine of the
era, Astounding Science Fiction, from the time its editor John W. Campbell published his first short story in the
April 1938 issue: "The Faithful", already under the name Lester del Rey. The December 1938 issue featured
his story "Helen O'Loy" which was selected for the prestigious anthology The Science Fiction Hall of Fame. By
the end of 1939 he had also placed stories in Weird Tales (edited by Farnsworth Wright)
and Unknown (Campbell),[2] which featured more horror and more fantasy respectively. In the 1950s, del Rey
was one of the main authors writing science fiction for adolescents (along with Robert A. Heinlein and Andre
Norton). During this time some of his fiction was published under the name "Erik van Lhin".
del Rey's novella "When the World Tottered" was the cover story in the December 1950 issue of Fantastic Adventures, illustrated
by Robert Gibson Jones
During a period when del Rey's work was not selling well, he worked as a short order cook at the White Tower
Restaurant in New York. After he married his second wife, Helen Schlaz, in 1945, he quit that job to write full-
time. After meeting Scott Meredith at the 1947 World Science Fiction Convention, he began working as a first
reader for the new Scott Meredith Literary Agency, where he also served as office manager. [3][4][5]
He later became an editor for several pulp magazines and then for book publishers. During 1952 and 1953, del
Rey edited several magazines: Space SF, Fantasy Fiction, Science Fiction Adventures (as Philip St.
John), Rocket Stories (as Wade Kaempfert), and Fantasy Fiction (as Cameron Hall).[6] Also during 1952, his
first two novels were published in the Winston juvenile series, one with an Italian-language edition in the same
year
del Rey's novelette "The Wind Between the Worlds" was the cover story in the March 1951 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction
In 1957, del Rey and Damon Knight co-edited a small amateur magazine named Science Fiction Forum.
During a debate about symbolism within the magazine, del Rey accepted Knight's challenge to write an
analysis of the James Blish story "Common Time" that showed the story was about a man eating a ham
sandwich.[7] Del Rey was most successful editing with his fourth wife, Judy-Lynn del Rey, at Ballantine
Books (as a Random House property, post-Ballantine) where they established the fantasy and science
fiction imprint Del Rey Books in 1977.
del Rey's novelette "I Am Tomorrow" was the cover story in the debut issue of Dynamic Science Fiction in 1952
After science fiction gained respectability and began to be taught in classrooms, del Rey stated that academics
interested in the genre should "get out of my Ghetto." [9][10] Del Rey stated that "to develop science fiction had to
remove itself from the usual critics who viewed it from the perspective of [the] mainstream, and who judged its
worth largely on its mainstream values. As part of that mainstream, it would never have had the freedom to
make the choices it did – many of them quite possibly wrong, but necessary for its development." [11] For a
number of years in the 1970s, Del Rey, himself, helmed the review column for Analog Science Fiction and
Fact entitled The Reference Library.
del Rey's "short novel" "The Life Watch" took the cover of the September 1954 issue of Fantastic Universe
Del Rey was a member of an all-male literary banqueting club, the Trap Door Spiders, which served as the
basis of Isaac Asimov's fictional group of mystery solvers, the Black Widowers. Del Rey was the model for
"Emmanuel Rubin".[12]
Style
"There is no writer in this field who is more steadfast in practicing the rule that fiction is first of all
entertainment", Algis Budrys said in 1965. Reporting that the stories in a collection of del Rey's fiction could not
be dated by reading them, Budrys stated that he had remained a successful writer because "del Rey has
remained his own individual ... he writes for himself, and his readers". Budrys said that [13]
The typical del Rey character is an individual who is trying to do the decent thing to the best of his ability. The
typical del Rey story problem is that of a good and faithful being trying to understand a complex situation which
prevents his immediately knowing the decent thing to do. When he writes a story whose problem becomes
apparent only in the last paragraphs, this is frequently the nature of his "trick" ending — the mood is not shock
but sorrow; the payoff is not in some irrevocable destruction of this personality but in the reader's realization
that even a decent individual must pay the price of ignorance.
del Rey's novel Badge of Infamy took the cover of the June 1957 issue of Satellite Science Fiction
Normally, del Rey even then leaves an opening for the protagonist to grow and go on in, and even his worst
losers retrieve something — call it dignity.
del Rey's "Spawning Ground" was the cover story in the September 1961 issue of If
Awards
Del Rey was awarded the 1972 E. E. Smith Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction (the "Skylark") by the New
England Science Fiction Association for "contributing significantly to science fiction, both through work in the
field and by exemplifying the personal qualities that made the late "Doc" Smith well-loved by those who knew
him". He also won a special 1985 Balrog Award for his contributions to fantasy, voted by fans and organized
by Locus Magazine. The Science Fiction Writers of America named him its 11th SFWA Grand Master in 1990,
presented 1991.[14][15]
Selected works
Novels
Marooned on Mars (1952)
Rocket Jockey as Philip St. John (1952)
Attack from Atlantis (1953)
Battle on Mercury as Erik Van Lhin (1953)
The Mysterious Planet as Kenneth Wright (1953)
Rockets to Nowhere as Philip St. John (1954)
Step to the Stars (1954)
For I Am A Jealous People (1954)
Preferred Risk (1955) with Frederik Pohl [as by Edson McCann]
Mission to the Moon (1956)
Nerves (1956)
Police Your Planet as Erik Van Lhin (1956)
Day of the Giants (1959)
Moon of Mutiny (1961)
The Eleventh Commandment (1962)
Outpost of Jupiter (1963)
The Sky Is Falling (1963)
Badge of Infamy (1963)
The Runaway Robot (1965)
The Infinite Worlds of Maybe (1966)
Rocket from Infinity (1966)
The Scheme of Things (1966)
Siege Perilous (1966)
Tunnel Through Time (1966)
Prisoners of Space (1968)
Pstalemate (1971)
Weeping May Tarry (1978) with Raymond F. Jones
Short fiction collections
... And Some Were Human (1948)
Robots and Changelings (1957)
The Sky is Falling and Badge of Infamy (1966)
Mortals and Monsters (1965)
Gods and Golems (1973)
The Early del Rey (1975)
The Early del Rey: Vol 1 (1976)
The Early del Rey: Vol 2 (1976)
The Best of Lester del Rey (1978)
War and Space (2009)
Robots and Magic (2010)
Nonfiction
Rockets Through Space (1957)
Space Flight, General Mills, Inc. 1958, 1957; Golden Press, 1959
The Mysterious Earth (1960)
The Mysterious Sea (1961)
The Mysterious Sky (1964)
The World of Science Fiction, 1926-1976: the History of a Subculture (1980)
As editor
The Year After Tomorrow with Carl Carmer & Cecile Matschat (1954)
Best Science Fiction of the Year #1-#5 (1972–1976)
Vettius valens
Vettius Valens (February 8, 120 – c. 175) was a 2nd-century Hellenistic astrologer, a somewhat younger
contemporary of Claudius Ptolemy.
Valens' major work is the Anthology (Latin: Anthologia), ten volumes in Greek written roughly within the period
150 to 175. The Anthology is the longest and most detailed treatise on astrology which has survived from that
period. A working professional astrologer, Valens includes over a hundred sample charts from his case files in
the Anthology.
Travels
Although originally a native of Antioch, he appears to have traveled widely in Egypt in search of specific
astrological doctrines to bolster his practice. At the time Alexandria was still home to a number of astrologers of
the older Babylonian, Greek and Egyptian traditions. He published much of what he learned from the tradition
and through his practice in his Anthology, written in an engaging and instructional style. The Anthology is thus
of great value in piecing together actual working techniques of the time.
Valens' work is also important because he cites the views of a number of earlier authors and authorities, such
as Teucer of Babylon, who would otherwise be unknown. The fragments from works attributed to the
alleged pharaoh Nechepso and the high priest Petosiris, pseudepigraphal authors of the 2nd century BC,
survive mainly through direct quotations in Valens' work.
The three manuscripts of the Anthology all date from 1300 or later.[1] The text, however, appears to be fairly
reliable and complete, although disorganized in places.
Although Ptolemy, the astronomer, mathematician, astrologer of ancient Alexandria and author
of Tetrabiblos (the most influential astrological text ever written), was generally regarded as the colossus of
Hellenistic-period astrology in the many centuries following his death, it is most likely that the actual practical
astrology of the period resembled the methods elaborated in Valens' Anthology. Modern scholars tend to
counterpoise the two men, since both were roughly contemporary and lived in Alexandria; yet Valens' work
elaborated the more practical techniques that arose from ancient tradition, while Ptolemy, very much the
scientist, tended to focus more on creating a theoretically consistent model based on his Aristotelian causal
framework. The balance given by Valens' Anthology is therefore very instructive. No other Hellenistic author
has contributed as much to our understanding of the everyday, practical astrological methods of the
early Roman/late Hellenistic era.
Deciding that the traditional religion was useless, he found in fate a substitute religion. For him absolute
determination gave emotional satisfaction and aroused an almost mystical feeling. Knowing that everything was
already predetermined gave one a sense of freedom from anxiety and a sense of salvation.
Valentina Vladmirovna Tereshkova
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (Russian: Валенти́ на Влади́ мировна Терешко́ ва, IPA: [vɐlʲɪnʲˈtʲinə
vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvnə tʲɪrʲɪʂˈkovə] ( listen); born 6 March 1937) is a retired Russian cosmonaut, engineer, and
current member of the Russian State Duma. She is the first woman to have flown in space, having been
selected from more than 400 applicants and five finalists to pilot Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963.
In order to join the Cosmonaut Corps, Tereshkova was honorarily inducted into the Soviet Air Forceand
thus she also became the first civilian to fly in space.[1]
Before her recruitment as a cosmonaut, Tereshkova was a textile-factory assembly worker and an
amateur skydiver. After the dissolution of the first group of female cosmonauts in 1969, she became a
prominent member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, holding various political offices. She
remained politically active following the collapse of the Soviet Union and is regarded as a hero in post-
Soviet Russia and much of the world. Having orbited Earth 48 times, Tereshkova remains the only
woman ever to have been on a solo space mission.[2][3]
In 2013, she offered to go on a one-way trip to Mars if the opportunity arose
Valentina Tereshkova
Valentina in March 2017
Early life
Valentina Tereshkova was born in the village of Maslennikovo in Tutayevsky District, Yaroslavl Oblast, in
central Russia. Her parents had migrated from Belarus.[5] Tereshkova's father was a tractor driver and
her mother worked in a textile plant. Tereshkova went to school in 1945 at the age 8; however, she left
school in 1953 at 16 and continued her education by correspondence courses.[6]
She became interested in parachuting from a young age, and trained in skydiving at the local Aeroclub,
making her first jump at age 22 on 21 May 1959; at the time, she was employed as a textile worker in a
local factory. It was her expertise in skydiving that led to her selection as a cosmonaut. In 1961, she
became Secretary of the local Komsomol (Young Communist League) and later joined the Communist
Party of the Soviet Union.[7]
Career in the Soviet space program
Cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova and Valery Bykovsky among children
After the flight of Yuri Gagarin in 1961, Sergey Korolyov, the chief Soviet rocket engineer, came up with
the idea of putting a woman in space. On 16 February 1962, Valentina Tereshkova was selected to join
the female cosmonaut corps. Out of more than 400 applicants, five were selected: Tatyana
Kuznetsova, Irina Solovyova, Zhanna Yorkina, Valentina Ponomaryova, and Tereshkova. Qualifications
included that they be parachutists under 30 years of age, under 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) tall, and under 70 kg
(154 lb) in weight.[8]
Tereshkova was considered a particularly worthy candidate, partly due to her "proletarian" background,
and because her father, tank leader sergeant Vladimir Tereshkov, was a war hero. He died in the
Finnish Winter War during World War II in the Lemetti area in Finnish Karelia when Tereshkova was two
years old. After her mission, she was asked how the Soviet Union should thank her for her service to the
country. Tereshkova asked that the government search for, and publish, the location where her father
was killed in action. This was done, and a monument now stands at the site in Lemetti—now on the
Russian side of the border. Tereshkova has since visited Finland several times.
Training included weightless flights, isolation tests, centrifuge tests, rocket theory, spacecraft
engineering, 120 parachute jumps and pilot training in MiG-15UTI jet fighters. The group spent several
months in intensive training, concluding with examinations in November 1962, after which four
remaining candidates were commissioned Junior Lieutenants in the Soviet Air Force. Tereshkova,
Solovyova and Ponomaryova were the leading candidates, and a joint mission profile was developed
that would see two women launched into space, on solo Vostok flights on consecutive days in March or
April 1963.[9]
Originally it was intended that Tereshkova would launch first in Vostok 5 while Ponomaryova would
follow her into orbit in Vostok 6. However, this flight plan was altered in March 1963. Vostok 5 would
now carry a male cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky flying the joint mission, with a solo woman aboard Vostok
6 in June 1963. The State Space Commission nominated Tereshkova to pilot Vostok 6 at their meeting on
21 May and this was confirmed by Nikita Khrushchev himself.[10] Tereshkova was exactly ten years
younger than the youngest Mercury Seven astronaut, Gordon Cooper.
After watching the successful launch of Vostok 5 on 14 June, Tereshkova began final preparations for her
own flight. She was 26 at the time. On the morning of 16 June 1963, Tereshkova and her backup
Solovyova were both dressed in spacesuits and taken to the launch pad by bus. Following the tradition
set by Gagarin, Tereshkova also urinated on the bus tire, becoming the first woman to do so[11]. After
completing her communication and life support checks, she was sealed inside the Vostok. After a two-
hour countdown, Vostok 6 launched faultlessly, and Tereshkova became the first woman in space.
[12] Her call sign in this flight was Chaika (English: Seagull; Russian: Ча́йка), later commemorated as the
name of an asteroid, 1671 Chaika.[13]
From left to right: Yuri Gagarin, Pavel Popovich, Valentina Tereshkova, and Nikita Khrushchev at
the Lenin Mausoleum, during a celebration honoring the Soviet cosmonauts, 1963
Although Tereshkova experienced nausea and physical discomfort for much of the flight,[14] she orbited
the earth 48 times and spent almost three days in space. With a single flight, she logged more flight time
than the combined times of all American astronauts who had flown before that date.[15] Tereshkova
also maintained a flight log and took photographs of the horizon, which were later used to
identify aerosollayers within the atmosphere.[16]
Vostok 6 was the final Vostok flight and was launched two days after Vostok 5 which carried Valery
Bykovsky into a similar orbit for five days, landing three hours after Tereshkova. The two vessels
approached each other within 5 km (3.1 mi) at one point, and Tereshkova communicated with Bykovsky
and with Khrushchev by radio.
Even though there were plans for further flights by women, it took 19 years until the second
woman, Svetlana Savitskaya, flew into space. None of the other four in Tereshkova's early group flew,
and, in October 1969, the pioneering female cosmonaut group was dissolved.[9]
In September 1963, Tereshkova donated a silver cup at the women's 1963 European Rowing
Championships held in Khimki near Moscow for the most successful nation, which went to the team
from the Soviet Union as they won gold in all five boat classes.[17]
Education
Tereshkova, skiing, 1964
After her flight, Tereshkova studied at the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy and graduated with distinction
as a cosmonaut engineer. In 1977 she earned a doctorate in engineering.
Soviet political career
Tereshkova with African American civil rights activist Angela Davis in 1973
Due to her prominence, Tereshkova was chosen for several political positions: from 1966 to 1974 she
was a member of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, from 1974 to 1989 a member of
the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, and from 1969 to 1991 she was in the Central Committee of the
Communist Party. In 1997, she was retired from the Russian Air Force and the cosmonaut corps by
presidential order.
Beyond her recognized political offices within the Soviet Union, Tereshkova also became a well-known
representative of the Soviet Union abroad. She was made a member of the World Peace Council in 1966,
a member of the Yaroslavl Soviet in 1967. She was also the Soviet representative to the UN Conference
for the International Women's Year in Mexico City in 1975. She also led the Soviet delegation to the
World Conference on Women in Copenhagen and played a critical role in shaping the socialist women's
global agenda for peace.[18] She attained the rank of deputy to the Supreme Soviet, membership of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union Central Committee, Vice President of the International Woman’s
Democratic Federation and President of the Soviet-Algerian Friendship Society.
She was decorated with the Hero of the Soviet Union medal, the USSR's highest award. She was also
awarded the Order of Lenin, Order of the October Revolution, numerous other medals, and foreign
orders including the Karl Marx Order, United Nations Gold Medal of Peace and the Simba International
Women’s Movement Award. She was also bestowed a title of the Hero of Socialist Labor of
Czechoslovakia, Hero of Labor of Vietnam, and Hero of Mongolia. In 1990 she received an honorary
doctorate from the University of Edinburgh. Tereshkova crater on the far side of the Moon was named
after her.
Post-Soviet political career
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Tereshkova lost her political office but none of her prestige. To
this day, she is revered as a hero, and to some her importance in Russian space history is only surpassed
by Yuri Gagarin and Alexey Leonov. She was elected to the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian
legislature, in 2011 as a member of United Russia where she continues to serve.[19]
Tereshkova's life and spaceflight were first written of in the West in the 1975 book: It Is I, Sea Gull;
Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in spaceby Mitchel R. Sharpe[20] and then again in greater detail
of her life and spaceflight in the 2007 book Into That Silent Sea by Colin Burgess and Francis French,
including interviews with Tereshkova and her colleagues.
Tereshkova was invited to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's residence in Novo-Ogaryovo for the
celebration of her 70th birthday. While there she said that she would like to fly to Mars, even if it meant
that it was a one-way trip.[21]
On 5 April 2008, she was a torchbearer of the 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay in Saint Petersburg,
Russia.[22]
She received the Eduard Rhein Ring of Honor from the German Eduard Rhein Foundation in 2007.[23]
[24]
Personal life
The wedding ceremony of pilot-cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova and Andriyan Nikolayev, 3 November
1963.
Tereschkova married cosmonaut Andriyan Nikolayev on 3 November 1963 at the Moscow Wedding
Palace with Khrushchev presiding at the wedding party together with top government and space
programme leaders.[25]
On 8 June 1964, nearly one year after her space flight, she gave birth to their daughter Elena
Andrianovna Nikolaeva-Tereshkova,[26] who became a doctor and was the first person to have both a
mother and father who had travelled into space. She and Nikolayev divorced in 1982. Her second
husband, the orthopaedist Yuliy G. Shaposhnikov, died in 1999.
Honours and awards
Valentina Tereshkova and Neil Armstrong, 1970
Tereshkova visiting the Lviv confectionery, Ukrainian SSR, 1967
Valentina Tereshkova among delegates at the 24th Congress of the CPSU, 1971.
Tereshkova at the Heurekascience centre, in Finland, 2002
Valentina Tereshkova and NASA astronaut Catherine Coleman at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training
Center in December 2010.
Tereshkova with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in the Russian State Duma, 2018
Russian
Order of Merit for the Fatherland;
2nd class (6 March 2007) – for outstanding contribution to the development of domestic space
3rd class (6 March 1997) – for services to the state and the great personal contribution to the
development of domestic space
Order of Alexander Nevsky (2013)[27]
Order of Honour (10 June 2003) – for outstanding contribution to the development and strengthening of
international scientific, cultural and social ties
Order of Friendship (12 April 2011) – for outstanding contribution to the development of national
manned space flight and long-term fruitful public activity
Russian Federation State Prize for outstanding achievements in the field of humanitarian action in 2008
(4 June 2009)
Certificates of appreciation from the Government of the Russian Federation;
16 June 2008, – for long-term fruitful state and public activities, considerable personal contribution to
the development of manned space flight and in connection with the 45th anniversary of spaceflight
12 June 2003, – for large contribution to the development of manned space flight
3 March 1997, – for the contribution to the development of space, the strengthening of international
scientific and cultural ties and years of diligent work
Soviet
Honoured Master of Sport (19 June 1963)
Hero of the Soviet Union (22 June 1963)
Order of Lenin (22 June 1963; 6 May 1981) – for making progress on the development and strengthening
of ties with the progressive community and peace-loving forces of foreign countries
Order of the October Revolution (1 December 1971)
Order of the Red Banner of Labour (5 March 1987) – for social activities
Order of the Friendship of Peoples
Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Soviet Union
Other Warsaw Pact awards
"Gold Star" Hero of Socialist Labour (Czechoslovakia) (August 1963)
"Gold Star" Hero of Socialist Labour (Bulgaria) (Bulgaria, 9 September 1963)
Order of Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria, 9 September 1963)
Order of Karl Marx (October 1963, East Germany)
Medal of Becker (October 1963, East Germany)
Cross of Grunwald, 1st class (October 1963, Poland)
Order of the National Flag with diamonds (Hungary, April 1965)
Order "For Achievements in Science" (Romania, 17 November 1973)
Medal "For Strengthening Brotherhood in Arms" (Bulgaria, 1976)
Order of Klement Gottwald (Czechoslovakia)
Other international awards
Order of Tri Shakti Patta, 1st class (Nepal, November 1963)
Star of the Republic of Indonesia, 2nd class (November 1963)
Order of the Volta (Ghana, January 1964)
"Gold Soyombo" Hero of Labour (Mongolia)
Order of Sukhbaatar (Mongolia, May 1965)
Order of the Enlightenment (Afghanistan, August 1969)
Order of Planets (Jordan, December 1969)
Order of the Nile (Egypt, January 1971)
"Gold Star" Hero of Labour (Vietnam) (October 1971)
Order of Bernardo O'Higgins (Chile, March 1972)
Order of the Yugoslav Flag with sash (November 1972)
Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun (Peru, 1974)
Order of Playa Girón (Cuba, 1974)
Order of Ana Betancourt (Cuba, 1974)
Order of Duke Branimir, with sash (Croatia, 17 February 2003)
Scientific, social and religious organizations
Gold Medal, Tsiolkovsky Academy of Sciences of the USSR
Gold Medal of the British Society for interplanetary communications "For achievements in space
exploration" (February 1964)
Gold Medal of the "Cosmos" (FAI)
Award Galambera Astronautics
Gold Medal of Peace Joliot-Curie (France, 1964)
Order "Wind Rose" International Committee of the National Aeronautics and Space Missions
"Golden mimosa" of the Italian Union of Women (1963)
Sign of the Komsomol "For active in the League" (1963)
Gold Medal Exhibition of Economic Achievements (28 June 1963)
Honour of DOSAAF (1 July 1963)
Order of St. Euphrosyne, Grand Duchess of Moscow, 2nd class (2008)
Honorary citizenships
Kaluga, Yaroslavl (Russia), Karaganda, Baikonur (Leninsk, Kazakhstan, 1977), Gyumri (Leninakan,
Armenia, 1965), Vitebsk (Belarus,
1975), Montreux (Switzerland), Drancy (France), Montgomery (UK), Polizzi
Generosa (Italy), Darkhan (Mongolia, 1965), Sofia, Burgas, Petrich, Stara Zagora, Pleven, Varna(Bulgaria,
1963), Bratislava (Slovakia, 1963)
Recognition
Vintage Soviet era Russian matryoshka doll celebrating Valentina Tereshkova
Various locations and monuments have been named after Valentina Tereshkova:
A lunar crater, Tereshkova
A minor planet 1671 Chaika
Yalta embankment
Many streets
in Vitebsk, Volokolamsk, Grodno, Irkutsk, Ishimbay, Kemerovo, Klin, Korolyov, Lipetsk, Mytishchi, Ardato
v, Novosibirsk (Akademgorodok), Novocheboksarsk, Odessa, Orenburg, Yaroslavl, Krasnoyarsk, Penza, G
udermes (Chechen Republic)
A square in Tver
School number 32 in Yaroslavl, where she studied
Museum of Tereshkova "Cosmos" near her native village
Monument in Bayevsky District of Altai Territory, Siberia, close to her landing place of 53°N, 80°E.[28]
"Greatest woman of 20th century"
Cosmonaut monument in Moscow
Monument planned at Tereshkova's birthplace in Yaroslavl
Yaroslavl Planetarium (7 April 2011)
Postage stamp of Kyrgyzstan, 2013
In popular culture
In 1997, London-based electronic pop group Komputer released a song entitled "Valentina" which gives
a more-or-less direct account of her career as a cosmonaut. It was released as a single and appears on
their album The World of Tomorrow. The band Public Service Broadcasting has a song entitled
"Valentina" on their 2015 album The Race for Space in tribute to her. In the same year, Findlay Napier's
album VIP: Very Interesting Persons included a song "Valentina", written in her honour by Napier
and Boo Hewerdine.
Tereshkova was featured in the 2003 made-for-television adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time. She was
portrayed by Apollonia Vanova
In season three of Orange is the New Black, Red describes Tereshkova as her hero, and notes her focus
in wanting to travel to Mars, despite being in her seventies.
In 2015, a short film entitled Valentina's Dream was released by Meat Bingo Productions. The film
stars Rebecca Front as Tereshkova and is based on an interview by the former cosmonaut where she
expressed a desire to journey to Mars.
The 2007 video game Mass Effect included a fictional star system named for Tereshkova.[29]
Streets in Ukraine that bore Tereshkova's name have been renamed due to the country's 2015
decommunization law.[30][31]
The 2015 space flight simulator Kerbal Space Program features a pilot Kerbal named Valentina in her
honor.[32]
The 2017 mobile RPG Alliance: Heroes of the Spire has a hero named "Valentina, the Star Pioneer" in
honor of Tereshkova.
In 2017, Uruguayan electronic duo Corvis released a full album inspired by Valentina's courage, Krasnyy.
They specially made her a tribute naming "Chaika" to the most climatic and emotional track of the
album.
The BBC drama Call the Midwife (Season 7, Episode 4; broadcast 11 February 2018) used the space flight
of Tereshkova as an example of heroism by a woman.
Ernest William Brown
Ernest William Brown FRS (29 November 1866 – 22 July 1938) was
an English mathematician and astronomer, who spent the majority of his career working in the United
States and became a naturalised American citizen in 1923.[1][2]
His life's work was the study of the Moon's motion (lunar theory) and the compilation of extremely
accurate lunar tables. He also studied the motion of the planets and calculated the orbits of Trojan
asteroids.
Ernest William Brown
Ernest William Brown, from the American Mathematical
Society
Life and career
Brown was born in Hull, England, the second of four children of William and Emma Brown (née Martin).
His father was originally a farmer and later became a timber merchant. His mother and younger brother
died of scarlet fever in 1870, when Brown was not quite 4 years old. He and his two sisters were then
looked after by a maiden aunt, until his father remarried five years later.[1][3]
Education and early career
Brown was educated at Totteridge Park School, Hertfordshire (now part of Dorset House School)
and Hull and East Riding College. After leaving school, he entered Christ's College, Cambridge, where he
graduated with first-class honours as sixth Wrangler in mathematics in 1887.[4][5] He continued with
post-graduate studies at Cambridge and worked under the direction of George Howard Darwin. In the
summer of 1888, Darwin suggested that he study the papers of George William Hill on the lunar theory.
As it turned out, this idea for a line of research was to have a major impact on the remainder of Brown's
life.
Brown was made a fellow of Christ's College in 1889 and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal
Astronomical Society in the same year. He received his master's degree in 1891 and then left Cambridge
to take up a place as a mathematics instructor at Haverford College, Pennsylvania. There, he rose rapidly
to the position of Professor of Mathematics in 1893. However, he continued most years to return to
Cambridge during the summer, often staying with his old tutor, Darwin.[6]
Work on the motion of the Moon
At Haverford, Brown continued with his studies of the lunar theory, and made a thorough review of the
work of earlier researchers, such as Hill, de Pontécoulant, Delaunay and Hansen. His mastery of the field
was shown by the publication of his first great work, An Introductory Treatise on the Lunar Theory, in
1896, when Brown was still less than 30 years of age. The following year, he was elected as a Fellow of
the Royal Society.[6]
As Brown's work progressed, he gradually evolved a plan to create a completely new lunar theory. This
was eventually published as a series of papers in the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical
Society between 1897 and 1908. In 1907, he was appointed Professor of Mathematics at Yale University,
with which he secured an agreement for funding the massive task of calculating detailed tables of the
Moon's motion, based on his lunar theory. After a period of 12 years and a cost of over $34,000,
Brown's magnum opus, Tables of the Motion of the Moon, was published in 1919.
Discrepancies between theory and observation
Brown's objective had been to produce an accurate ephemeris of the Moon, based purely on
gravitational theory. For the 'main problem' of the Earth-Moon-Sun system, he calculated terms in
longitude and latitude down to an uncertainty of 0.001 arcseconds. He also included perturbations due
to the other planets (principally Jupiterand Venus) and also accounted for the more difficult problem of
the non-spherical nature of the Earth and Moon.
Observations showed that Brown's tables were indeed superior to those of Hansen, which had been in
use since 1857, but there was still a large unexplained fluctuation in the Moon's mean longitude of the
order of 10 arcseconds. A 'great empirical term', of magnitude 10.71 arcseconds and period 257 years,
was introduced to eliminate this as far as possible. Given the precision of Brown's calculations, it must
have come as a great disappointment to have to introduce this arbitrary adjustment.
It had been discovered by Edmond Halley over two centuries previously that the Moon's motion
appeared to be gradually speeding up. This 'secular acceleration' could not be explained by gravitational
theory alone, and it had been suggested by Simon Newcomb that it was in fact due to a gradual
deceleration of the Earth's rate of rotation, due to friction generated by the tides. The implication of this
was that it was not the Moon that was speeding up – it was time (as measured in terms of Earth's
increasingly long day) that appeared to be slowing down.
Brown devoted much study to this problem and proposed it should be attacked observationally, using
lunar occultations to map the Moon's path more precisely. He also reasoned that, if the discrepancies
were caused by variations in the Earth's rotation, it implied that observations of other objects would be
similarly affected. This was partially verified by observations of transits of Mercury, but Brown was
initially not convinced. However, he eventually concluded that Newcomb was right, and not only was
the Earth's rate of rotation slowing, but also there were random, unpredictable fluctuations, and he
published these findings in a paper in 1926.[4][6] Later work has shown this to be true, and astronomers
now make a distinction between Universal Time, which is based on the Earth's rotation, and Terrestrial
Time (formerly Ephemeris time), which is a uniform measure of the passage of time (see also ΔT).
Later work and collaborations
Brown was an active member of the American Mathematical Society and served as its President from
1915 to 1916.[7]
He retained his professorship at Yale until he retired in 1932. As well as continuing his work on the
Moon, he also worked on the motion of the planets around the Sun. In 1933, he published the
book, Planetary Theory, co-authored with Clarence Shook, which contained a detailed exposition
of resonance in planetary orbits and examined the special case of the Trojan asteroids. In 1937, he was
awarded the Watson Medal by the US National Academy of Sciences.
One of Brown's post-graduate pupils was Wallace John Eckert, who became an instructor at Columbia
University while finishing his doctorate. Eckert would improve the pace of astronomical calculations by
automating them with digital computers.[8]
Private life
British Association members on the voyage to South Africa, 1905. Brown is seated at bottom right.
Brown never married, and for most of his adult life lived with his unmarried younger sister, Mildred,
who kept house for him. She made it her job to shield him from "cares and disturbances" and succeeded
in "utterly spoiling him."[1] In his youth, he was a keen rower and mountaineer. He was a capable pianist
and continued to play until a few years before his death. He remained fond of music and was for a time
the head of the New Haven Oratorio Society. Brown also played chess to a high standard and loved
detective stories.
He enjoyed travelling and frequently crossed the Atlantic between the United States and Great Britain.
With several professional colleagues, he was also an enthusiastic participant in the British
Association's extended visit to South Africa and other parts of southern and eastern Africa between July
and October 1905.[9][10]
His daily routine was unusual, and was described as follows:[1]
He was in the habit of going to bed early and as a consequence woke up between three and five o'clock
in the morning. After having fortified himself with strong coffee from a thermos bottle he set to work
without leaving his bed, smoking numerous cigarettes. His serious scientific work was thus done before
he got up for breakfast at nine o'clock.
Death
A heavy smoker, Brown suffered from bronchial trouble for much of his life. He was afflicted by ill-health
during most of the six years of his retirement, and died in New Haven, Connecticut in 1938. His sister,
Mildred, had died a few years before him and his only surviving close family was his widowed older
sister, Ella Yorke, who had emigrated with her husband to New Zealand in the 1890s.[1]
Legacy
Brown's Tables were adopted by nearly all of the national ephemerides in 1923 for their calculations of
the Moon's position, and continued to be used with some modification until 1983. With the advent of
digital computers, Brown's original trigonometrical expressions, given in the introduction to his 1919
tables (and from which the tables had been compiled), began to be used for direct computation instead
of the tables themselves. This also gained some improvement in precision, since the tables had
embodied some minor approximations, in a trade-off between accuracy and the amount of labour
needed for computations in those days of manual calculation.[11]
By the middle of the 20th century, the difference between Universal and Ephemeris Time had been
recognised and evaluated, and the troublesome empirical terms were removed.[11] Further
adjustments to Brown's theory were then made, arising from improved observational values of the
fundamental astronomical constants used in the theory, and from re-working Brown's original analytical
expansions to gain more precise versions of the coefficients used in the theory.[12]
Eventually, in 1984, Brown's work was replaced by results gained from more modern observational data
(including data from lunar laser ranging) and altogether new computational methods for calculating the
Moon's ephemeris.[13]
Honours
Awards
Adams Prize (1907)
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1907)
Bruce Medal (1920)
James Craig Watson Medal (1936)
Named after him
The crater Brown on the Moon
Asteroid 1643 Brown
Brown lunation number
Iron Man,
Iron Man (Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic
books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee,
developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The character made
his first appearance in Tales of Suspense #39 (cover dated March 1963), and received his own title
in Iron Man #1 (May 1968).
A wealthy American business magnate, playboy, and ingenious scientist, Anthony
Edward "Tony" Stark suffers a severe chest injury during a kidnapping. When his captors attempt to
force him to build a weapon of mass destruction, he instead creates a powered suit of armor to save his
life and escape captivity. Later, Stark develops his suit, adding weapons and other technological devices
he designed through his company, Stark Industries. He uses the suit and successive versions to protect
the world as Iron Man. Although at first concealing his true identity, Stark eventually declared that he
was, in fact, Iron Man in a public announcement.
Initially, Iron Man was a vehicle for Stan Lee to explore Cold War themes, particularly the role of
American technology and industry in the fight against communism.[1] Subsequent re-imaginings of Iron
Man have transitioned from Cold War motifs to contemporary matters of the time.[1]
Throughout most of the character's publication history, Iron Man has been a founding member of the
superhero team the Avengers and has been featured in several incarnations of his own various comic
book series. Iron Man has been adapted for several animated TV shows and films. The Marvel Cinematic
Universe character is portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. in the live action film Iron Man (2008), which was
a critical and box office success. Downey, who received much acclaim for his performance, reprised the
role in a cameo in The Incredible Hulk (2008), two Iron Man sequels Iron Man 2 (2010) and Iron Man
3 (2013), The Avengers (2012), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil
War (2016), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and will do so again
in Avengers: Endgame (2019) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Iron Man was ranked 12th on IGN's "Top 100 Comic Book Heroes" in 2011,[2] and third in their list of
"The Top 50 Avengers" in 2012.
Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, as depicted in the film Iron Man 3
Premiere
Iron Man's Marvel Comics premiere in Tales of Suspense #39 (cover dated March 1963) was a
collaboration among editor and story-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, story-artist Don Heck, and
cover-artist and character-designer Jack Kirby.[4] In 1963, Lee had been toying with the idea of a
businessman superhero.[5] He wanted to create the "quintessential capitalist", a character that would
go against the spirit of the times and Marvel's readership.[6] Lee said,
I think I gave myself a dare. It was the height of the Cold War. The readers, the young readers, if there
was one thing they hated, it was war, it was the military....So I got a hero who represented that to the
hundredth degree. He was a weapons manufacturer, he was providing weapons for the Army, he was
rich, he was an industrialist....I thought it would be fun to take the kind of character that nobody would
like, none of our readers would like, and shove him down their throats and make them like him....And he
became very popular.[7]
He set out to make the new character a wealthy, glamorous ladies' man, but one with a secret that
would plague and torment him as well.[8] Writer Gerry Conway said, "Here you have this character, who
on the outside is invulnerable, I mean, just can't be touched, but inside is a wounded figure. Stan made
it very much an in-your-face wound, you know, his heart was broken, you know, literally broken. But
there's a metaphor going on there. And that's, I think, what made that character interesting."[7]Lee
based this playboy's looks and personality on Howard Hughes,[9] explaining, "Howard Hughes was one
of the most colorful men of our time. He was an inventor, an adventurer, a multi-billionaire, a ladies'
man and finally a nutcase."[10] "Without being crazy, he was Howard Hughes," Lee said.[7]
While Lee intended to write the story himself,[11] a minor deadline emergency eventually forced him to
hand over the premiere issue to Lieber, who fleshed out the story.[8] The art was split between Kirby
and Heck. "He designed the costume," Heck said of Kirby, "because he was doing the cover. The covers
were always done first. But I created the look of the characters, like Tony Stark and his secretary Pepper
Potts."[12] In a 1990 interview, when asked if he had "a specific model for Tony Stark and the other
characters?", Heck replied "No, I would be thinking more along the lines of some characters I like, which
would be the same kind of characters that Alex Toth liked, which was an Errol Flynn type."[13] Iron Man
first appeared in 13- to 18-page stories in Tales of Suspense, which featured anthology science
fiction and supernatural stories. The character's original costume was a bulky gray armored suit,
replaced by a golden version in the second story (issue #40, April 1963). It was redesigned as sleeker,
red-and-golden armor in issue #48 (Dec. 1963) by that issue's interior artist, Steve Ditko, although Kirby
drew it on the cover. As Heck recalled in 1985, "[T]he second costume, the red and yellow one, was
designed by Steve Ditko. I found it easier than drawing that bulky old thing. The earlier design, the
robot-looking one, was more Kirbyish."[14]
In his premiere, Iron Man was an anti-communist hero, defeating various Vietnamese agents. Lee later
regretted this early focus.[5][15] Throughout the character's comic book series, technological
advancement and national defense were constant themes for Iron Man, but later issues developed Stark
into a more complex and vulnerable character as they depicted his battle with alcoholism (as in the
"Demon in a Bottle" storyline) and other personal difficulties.
From issue #59 (Nov. 1964) to its final issue #99 (March 1968), the anthological science-fiction backup
stories in Tales of Suspense were replaced by a feature starring the superhero Captain America. Lee and
Heck introduced several adversaries for the character including the Mandarin in issue #50 (Feb. 1964),
[16] the Black Widow in #52 (April 1964)[17] and Hawkeye five issues later.[18]
Lee said that "of all the comic books we published at Marvel, we got more fan mail for Iron Man from
women, from females, than any other title....We didn't get much fan mail from girls, but whenever we
did, the letter was usually addressed to Iron Man."[7]
Lee and Kirby included Iron Man in The Avengers #1 (Sept. 1963) as a founding member of the
superhero team. The character has since appeared in every subsequent volume of the series.
Writers have updated the war and locale in which Stark is injured. In the original 1963 story, it was
the Vietnam War. In the 1990s, it was updated to be the first Gulf War,[19] and in the 2000s updated
again to be the war in Afghanistan. Stark's time with the Asian Nobel Prize-winning scientist Ho Yinsen is
consistent through nearly all incarnations of the Iron Man origin, depicting Stark and Yinsen building the
original armor together. One exception is the direct-to-DVD animated feature film The Invincible Iron
Man, in which the armor Stark uses to escape his captors is not the first Iron Man suit.
Themes
The original Iron Man title explored Cold War themes, as did other Stan Lee projects in the early years
of Marvel Comics. Where The Fantastic Four and The Incredible Hulk respectively focused on American
domestic and government responses to the Communist threat, Iron Man explored industry's role in the
struggle. Tony Stark's real-life model, Howard Hughes, was a significant defense contractor who
developed new weapons technologies. Hughes was an icon both of American individualism and of the
burdens of fame.[20]
Historian Robert Genter, in The Journal of Popular Culture, writes that Tony Stark specifically presents
an idealized portrait of the American inventor. Where earlier decades had seen important technological
innovations come from famous individuals (e.g., Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell,
the Wright brothers), the 1960s saw new technologies (including weapons) being developed mainly by
the research teams of corporations. As a result, little room remained for the inventor who wanted credit
for, and creative and economic control over, his/her own creations.
Issues of entrepreneurial autonomy, government supervision of research, and ultimate loyalty figured
prominently in early Iron Man stories — the same issues affecting American scientists and engineers of
that era.[20] Tony Stark, writes Genter, is an inventor who finds motive in his emasculation as an
autonomous creative individual. This blow is symbolized by his chest wound, inflicted at the moment he
is forced to invent things for the purposes of others, instead of just himself. To Genter, Stark's
transformation into Iron Man represents Stark's effort to reclaim his autonomy, and thus his manhood.
The character's pursuit of women in bed or in battle, writes Genter, represents another aspect of this
effort. The pattern finds parallels in other works of 1960s popular fiction by authors such as "Ian
Fleming (creator of James Bond), Mickey Spillane (Mike Hammer), and Norman Mailer, who made
unregulated sexuality a form of authenticity."[20]
Solo series
After issue #99 (March 1968), the Tales of Suspense series was renamed Captain America. An Iron Man
story appeared in the one-shot comic Iron Man and Sub-Mariner (April 1968), before the "Golden
Avenger"[21] made his solo debut with Iron Man #1 (May 1968).[22] The series' indicia gives
its copyright title Iron Man, while the trademarked cover logo of most issues is The Invincible Iron Man.
This initial series ended with issue #332 (Sept. 1996). Jim Lee, Scott Lobdell, and Jeph Loeb authored a
second volume of the series which was drawn primarily by Whilce Portacio and Ryan Benjamin. This
volume took place in a parallel universe[23] and ran 13 issues (Nov. 1996 - Nov. 1997).[24] Volume 3,
whose first 25 issues were written by Kurt Busiek[25] and then by Busiek and Roger Stern, ran 89 issues
(Feb. 1998 - Dec. 2004). Later writers included Joe Quesada, Frank Tieri, Mike Grell, and John Jackson
Miller. Issue #41 (June 2001) was additionally numbered #386, reflecting the start of dual numbering
starting from the premiere issue of volume one in 1968. The final issue was dual-numbered as #434.
[26] The next Iron Man series, Iron Man vol. 4, debuted in early 2005 with the Warren Ellis-written
storyline "Extremis", with artist Adi Granov.[27][28] It ran 35 issues (Jan. 2005 - Jan. 2009), with the
cover logo simply Iron Man beginning with issue #13, and Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., beginning
issue #15. On the final three issues, the cover logo was overwritten by "War Machine, Weapon of
S.H.I.E.L.D.",[29] which led to the launch of a War Machine ongoing series.[30]
The Invincible Iron Man vol. 1, by writer Matt Fraction and artist Salvador Larroca, began with a
premiere issue cover-dated July 2008.[31] For a seven-month overlap, Marvel published both volume
four and volume five simultaneously.[32] This Invincible volume jumped its numbering of issues from
#33 to #500, cover dated March 2011, to reflect the start from the premiere issue of volume one in
1968.
After the conclusion of The Invincible Iron Man a new Iron Man series was started as a part of Marvel
Now!. Written by Kieron Gillen and illustrated by Greg Land, it began with issue #1 in November 2012.
[33]
Many Iron Man annuals, miniseries, and one-shot titles have been published through the years, such
as Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man (Feb. 1996), Iron Man: The Iron Age #1-2 (Aug.–Sept.
1998), Iron Man: Bad Blood #1-4 (Sept.–Dec. 2000), Iron Man House of M #1-3 (Sept.–Nov.
2005), Fantastic Four / Iron Man: Big in Japan #1-4 (Dec. 2005–March 2006), Iron Man: The
Inevitable #1-6 (Feb.–July 2006), Iron Man / Captain America: Casualties of War (Feb. 2007), Iron Man:
Hypervelocity #1-6 (March–Aug. 2007), Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin #1-6 (Nov. 2007–April 2008),
and Iron Man: Legacy of Doom (June–Sept. 2008). Publications have included such spin-offs as the one-
shot Iron Man 2020 (June 1994), featuring a different Iron Man in the future, and the animated TV
series adaptations Marvel Action Hour, Featuring Iron Man #1-8 (Nov. 1994–June 1995) and Marvel
Adventures Iron Man #1-12 (July 2007–June 2008).[34]
Fictional character biography
Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963): Iron Man debuts. Cover art by Jack Kirby and Don Heck.
Tales of Suspense #48 (Dec. 1963), the debut of Iron Man's first red-and-gold suit of armor. Cover art by
Jack Kirby and Sol Brodsky.
Origins
Anthony Edward Stark is the son of wealthy industrialist and head of Stark Industries, Howard Stark,
and Maria Stark. A boy genius, he enters MIT at the age of 15 to study engineering and later receives
master's degrees in engineering and physics. After his parents are killed in a car accident, he inherits his
father's company.
Stark is injured by a booby trap and captured by enemy forces led by Wong-Chu. Wong-Chu orders Stark
to build weapons, but Stark's injuries are dire and shrapnel is moving towards his heart. His fellow
prisoner, Ho Yinsen, a Nobel Prize-winning physicistwhose work Stark had greatly admired during
college, constructs a magnetic chest plate to keep the shrapnel from reaching Stark's heart. In secret,
Stark and Yinsen use the workshop to design and construct a suit of powered armor, which Stark uses to
escape. During the escape attempt, Yinsen sacrifices his life to save Stark's by distracting the enemy as
Stark recharges. Stark takes revenge on his kidnappers and rejoins the American forces, on his way
meeting a wounded American Marine fighter pilot, James "Rhodey" Rhodes.
Back home, Stark discovers that the shrapnel fragment lodged in his chest cannot be removed without
killing him, and he is forced to wear the armor's chestplate beneath his clothes to act as a regulator for
his heart. He must recharge the chestplate every day or else risk the shrapnel killing him. The cover
story that Stark tells the news media and general public is that Iron Man is his robotic
personal bodyguard, and corporate mascot. To that end, Iron Man fights threats to his company
(e.g., Communistopponents Black Widow, the Crimson Dynamo, and the Titanium Man), as well as
independent villains like the Mandarin (who becomes his greatest enemy). No one suspects Stark of
being Iron Man, as he cultivates a strong public image of being a rich playboy and industrialist. Two
notable members of the series' supporting cast, at this point, are his personal chauffeur Harold "Happy"
Hogan, and secretary Virginia "Pepper" Potts—to both of whom he eventually reveals his dual identity.
Meanwhile, James Rhodes finds his own niche as Stark's personal pilot, ultimately revealing himself to
be a man of extraordinary skill and daring in his own right.
The series took an anti-Communist stance in its early years, which was softened as public (and therefore,
presumably, reader) opposition rose to the Vietnam War.[5] This change evolved in a series of storylines
featuring Stark reconsidering his political opinions, and the morality of manufacturing weapons for the
U.S. military. Stark shows himself to be occasionally arrogant, and willing to act unethically in order to
'let the ends justify the means'.[35][36] This leads to personal conflicts with the people around him,
both in his civilian and superhero identities. Stark uses his vast personal fortune not only to outfit his
own armor, but also to develop weapons for S.H.I.E.L.D.; other technologies (e.g., Quinjets used by the
Avengers); and the image inducers used by the X-Men. Eventually, Stark's heart condition is resolved
with an artificial heart transplant.[37]
1970s and early 1980s
Stark expands on his armor designs and begins to build his arsenal of specialized armors for particular
situations such as for space travel[38] and stealth.[39][40] Stark also develops a serious dependency
on alcohol in the "Demon in a Bottle" storyline.[41]The first time it becomes a problem is when Stark
discovers that the national security agency S.H.I.E.L.D. has been buying a controlling interest in his
company in order to ensure Stark's continued weapons development for them. At the same time, it is
revealed that several minor supervillains armed with advanced weapons who had bedeviled Stark
throughout his superhero career are in fact in the employ of Stark's business rival, Justin Hammer, who
begins to plague Stark more directly.[42][43] At one point in Hammer's manipulations, the Iron Man
armor is taken over and used to murder a diplomat.[43] Although Iron Man is not immediately under
suspicion, Stark is forced to hand the armor over to the authorities.[44] Eventually Stark and Rhodes,
who is now his personal pilot and confidant, track down and defeat those responsible, although
Hammer would return to bedevil Stark again.[38][45] With the support of his then-girlfriend, Bethany
Cabe, his friends and his employees, Stark pulls through these crises and overcomes his dependency on
alcohol.[46] Even as he recovers from this harrowing personal trial, Stark's life is further complicated
when he has a confrontation with Doctor Doom that is interrupted by an opportunistic enemy sending
them back in time to the time of King Arthur.[47] Once there, Iron Man thwarts Doom's attempt to
solicit the aid of Morgan Le Fay, and the Latverian ruler swears deadly vengeance—to be indulged
sometime after the two return to their own time.[48] This incident was collected and published
as Doomquest.
Some time later, a ruthless rival, Obadiah Stane, manipulates Stark emotionally into a serious relapse. As
a result, Stark loses control of Stark International to Stane, becomes a homeless alcoholic vagrant and
gives up his armored identity to Rhodes, who becomes the new Iron Man. Eventually, Stark recovers and
joins a new startup, Circuits Maximus. Stark concentrates on new technological designs, including
building a new set of armor as part of his recuperative therapy. Rhodes continues to act as Iron Man but
steadily grows more aggressive and paranoid, due to the armor not having been calibrated properly for
his use. Eventually Rhodes goes on a rampage, and Stark has to don a replica of his original armor to
stop him. Fully recovered, Stark confronts Stane who has himself designed armor based on designs
seized along with Stark International, dubbing himself the 'Iron Monger'. Defeated in battle, Stane,
rather than give Stark the satisfaction of taking him to trial, commits suicide.[49] Shortly thereafter,
Stark regains his personal fortune, but decides against repurchasing Stark International until much later;
he instead creates Stark Enterprises, headquartered in Los Angeles.
Late 1980s and 1990s
In an attempt to stop other people from misusing his designs, Stark goes about disabling other armored
heroes and villains who are using suits based on the Iron Man technology, the designs of which were
stolen by his enemy Spymaster. His quest to destroy the stolen technology—originally called "Stark
Wars" but is more commonly known as the "Armor Wars"—severely hurts his reputation as Iron Man.
After attacking and disabling a series of minor villains such as Stilt-Man, he attacks and defeats the
government operative known as Stingray. The situation worsens when Stark realizes that Stingray's
armor does not incorporate any of his designs. He publicly "fires" Iron Man while covertly pursuing his
agenda. He uses the cover story of wanting to help disable the rogue Iron Man to infiltrate and disable
the armor of the S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives known as the Mandroids, as well as the armor of
the Guardsmen. In the process, Iron Man and Jim Rhodes allow some of the villains in the Vault to
escape. This leads the United States government to declare Iron Man a danger and an outlaw, and
severely sours Stark's relationship with Steve Rogers (Captain America, who was in his "Captain" persona
at the time). Iron Man travels to Russia where he inadvertently causes the death of the Soviet Titanium
Man during a fight. Returning to the U.S., he faces an enemy commissioned by the government
named Firepower. Unable to defeat him head on, Stark fakes Iron Man's demise,[50] intending to retire
the suit permanently. When Firepower goes rogue, Stark creates a new suit, claiming a new person is in
the armor.
Soon after, Stark is nearly killed by Kathy Dare, a mentally unbalanced former lover. She shoots him
dead center in his torso which injures his spine, paralyzing him.[51]Stark undergoes special surgery to
have a nerve chip implanted into his spine to regain his mobility.[52] Unbeknownst to the industrialist,
the nerve chip is a clandestine means by which to gain control over his body. Rival businessmen the
Marrs Twins and their cohort Kearson DeWitt are behind the machinations in what came to be known as
"Armor Wars II."[53] After several successful tests by DeWitt at manipulating Stark, Tony finds that using
his Encephalo Armor can counteract DeWitt's controls.[54] In response, DeWitt suddenly releases his
control resulting in excruciating agony throughout Stark's body.[55] The constant "battle" for control of
Stark's nervous system and subsequent abdication on DeWitt's end lead to massive nerve damage
throughout Tony's body. Stark's nervous system continues its slide towards failure, and he constructs a
"skin" made up of artificial nerve circuitry to assist it.[56] Stark begins to pilot a remote-controlled Iron
Man armor, but when faced with the Masters of Silence, the telepresence suit proves inadequate.
[57] Stark designs a more heavily armed version of the suit to wear, the "Variable Threat Response
Battle Suit", which becomes known as the War Machine armor. Ultimately, the damage to his nervous
system becomes too extensive. Faking his death, Stark places himself in suspended animation to heal as
Rhodes takes over both the running of Stark Enterprises and the mantle of Iron Man, although he uses
the War Machine armor.[58]Stark eventually makes a full recovery by using a chip to create an entirely
new (artificial) nervous system, and resumes as Iron Man in a new Telepresence Armor.[59]When
Rhodes learns that Stark has manipulated his friends by faking his own death, he becomes enraged and
the two friends part ways. Rhodes continues on as War Machine in a solo career.
The Avengers story arc "The Crossing" reveals Iron Man as a traitor among the team's ranks, due to
years of manipulation by the time-traveling dictator Kang the Conqueror. Stark, as a sleeper agent in
Kang's thrall, kills Marilla, the nanny of Crystal and Quicksilver's daughter Luna, as well as Rita DeMara,
the female Yellowjacket, then Amanda Chaney, an ally of the Avengers. The "Avengers Forever" limited
series retcons these events as the work of a disguised Immortus, not Kang, and that the mental control
had gone back only a few months.[60]
Needing help to defeat both Stark and Kang, the team travels back in time to recruit a teenaged Anthony
Stark from an alternate timeline to assist them. The young Stark steals an Iron Man suit in order to aid
the Avengers against his older self. The sight of his younger self shocks the older Stark enough for him to
regain momentary control of his actions, and he sacrifices his life to stop Kang.[61] The young Stark later
builds his own suit to become the new Iron Man and remains in the present day.
During the battle with the creature called Onslaught, the teenage Stark dies, along with many other
superheroes. Franklin Richards preserves these "dead" heroes in the "Heroes Reborn" pocket universe,
in which Stark is once again an adult hero; Franklin recreates the heroes in the pocket universe in the
forms he is most familiar with rather than what they are at the present. The reborn adult Stark, upon
returning to the normal Marvel Universe, merges with the original Stark, who had died during "The
Crossing", but was resurrected by Franklin Richards. This new Anthony Stark possesses the memories of
both the original and teenage Anthony Stark, and thus considers himself to be essentially both of them.
With the aid of the law firm Nelson & Murdock, he regains his fortune and, with Stark Enterprises having
been sold to the Fujikawa Corporation following Stark's death, sets up a new company, Stark Solutions.
He returns from the pocket universe with a restored and healthy heart. After the Avengers reform, Stark
demands a hearing be convened to look into his actions just prior to the Onslaught incident. Cleared of
wrongdoing, he rejoins the Avengers.[62]
2000s
At one point, Stark's armor becomes sentient despite fail-safes to prevent its increasingly sophisticated
computer systems from doing so.[63] Initially, Stark welcomes this "living" armor for its improved
tactical abilities. The armor begins to grow more aggressive, killing indiscriminately and eventually
desiring to replace Stark altogether. In the final confrontation on a desert island, Stark suffers another
heart attack. The armor sacrifices its own existence to save its creator's life, giving up essential
components to give Stark a new, artificial heart. This new heart solves Stark's health problems, but it
does not have an internal power supply, so Stark becomes once again dependent on periodic
recharging. The sentient armor incident so disturbs Stark that he temporarily returns to using an
unsophisticated early model version of his armor to avoid a repeat incident.[64] He dabbles with using
liquid metal circuitry known as S.K.I.N. that forms into a protective shell around his body, but eventually
returns to more conventional hard metal armors.[65]
During this time, Stark engages in a romance with Rumiko Fujikawa,[66] a wealthy heiress and daughter
of the man who had taken over his company during the "Heroes Reborn" period. Her relationship with
Stark endures many highs and lows, including infidelity with Stark's rival, Tiberius Stone, in part because
the fun-loving Rumiko believes that Stark is too serious and dull. Their relationship ends with Rumiko's
death at the hands of an Iron Man impostor in Iron Man (vol. 3) #87.
In Iron Man (vol. 3) #55 (July 2002), Stark publicly reveals his dual identity as Iron Man, not realizing that
by doing so, he has invalidated the agreements protecting his armor from government duplication, since
those contracts state that the Iron Man armor would be used by an employee of Tony Stark, not by Stark
himself. When he discovers that the United States military is again using his technology, and its
defective nature nearly causes a disaster in Washington, D.C. which Iron Man barely manages to avert,
Stark accepts a Presidential appointment as Secretary of Defense. In this way, he hopes to monitor and
direct how his designs are used.[67]
In the "Avengers Disassembled" storyline, Stark is forced to resign after launching into a tirade against
the Latverian ambassador at the United Nations, being manipulated by the mentally imbalanced Scarlet
Witch, who destroys Avengers Mansion and kills several members. Stark publicly stands down as Iron
Man, but continues using the costume. He joins the Avengers in stopping the breakout in progress from
the Raft and even saves Captain America from falling.[68] Tony changes the Avengers base to Stark
Tower.[69] The Ghost, the Living Laser and Spymaster reappear and shift Iron Man from standard
superhero stories to dealing with politicsand industrialism.[70]
New Avengers: Illuminati #1 (June 2006) reveals that years before, Stark had participated with a secret
group that included the Black Panther, Professor X, Mister Fantastic, Black Bolt, Doctor Strange,
and Namor. The goal of the group (dubbed the Illuminati by Marvel) was to strategize overarching
menaces, in which the Black Panther rejects a membership offer. Stark's goal is to create a governing
body for all superheroes in the world, but the beliefs of its members instead force them all to share vital
information.
"Civil War"
In the "Civil War" storyline, after the actions of inexperienced superheroes the New Warriors result in
the destruction of several city blocks in Stamford, Connecticut, there is an outcry across America against
superhumans. Learning of the Government's proposed plans, Tony Stark suggests a new plan to instigate
a Superhuman Registration Act. The Act would force every superpowered individual in the U.S. to
register their identity with the government and act as licensed agents. The Act would force
inexperienced superhumans to receive training in how to use and control their abilities, something in
which Tony strongly believes. Since his struggle with alcoholism, Stark has carried a tremendous burden
of guilt after nearly killing an innocent bystander while piloting the armor drunk. While Reed Richards
and Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym both agree with Stark's proposal, not everyone does. After Captain America is
ordered to bring in anyone who refuses to register, he and other anti-registration superheroes go rogue,
coming into conflict with the pro-registration heroes, led by Iron Man. The war ends when Captain
America surrenders to prevent further collateral damage and civilian casualties, although he had
defeated Stark by defusing his armor. Stark is appointed the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D.,[71] and
organizes a new government-sanctioned group of Avengers. Shortly afterwards, Captain America is
assassinated while in custody.[72] This leaves Stark with a great amount of guilt and misgivings about
the cost of his victory.[73]
"Secret Invasion"
To tie into the 2008 Iron Man feature film, Marvel launched a new Iron Man ongoing series, The
Invincible Iron Man, with writer Matt Fraction and artist Salvador Larroca. The series inaugural six-part
storyline was "The Five Nightmares", which saw Stark targeted by Ezekiel Stane, the son of Stark's
former nemesis, Obadiah Stane.[74]
In the "Secret Invasion" storyline, after Tony Stark survives an attempt by Ultron to take over his body,
he is confronted in the hospital by Spider-Woman, holding the corpse of a Skrull posing as Elektra.
Realizing this is the start of an invasion by the Skrulls, Tony reveals the corpse to the Illuminati and
declares that they are at war. After Black Bolt reveals himself as a Skrull and is killed by Namor, a
squadron of Skrulls attack, forcing Tony to evacuate the other Illuminati members and destroy the area,
killing all the Skrulls. Realizing that they are incapable of trusting each other, the members all separate
to form individual plans for the oncoming invasion.[75]
Stark is discredited and publicly vilified after his inability to anticipate or prevent the secret infiltration
and invasion of Earth by the Skrulls, and by the Skrull disabling of his StarkTech technology, which had a
virtual monopoly on worldwide defense.[76] After the invasion, the U.S. government removes him as
head of S.H.I.E.L.D. and disbands the Avengers, handing control of the Initiative over to Norman Osborn.
"Dark Reign"
Dark Reign (comics)
See also: The Invincible Iron Man
With his Extremis powers failing, Stark uploads a virus to destroy all records of the Registration Act, thus
preventing Osborn from learning the identities of his fellow heroes and anything that Osborn could use,
including his repulsor generators. The only copy of the database is in Stark's brain, which he tries to
delete while on the run from Osborn.[77] Stark goes so far as to inflict brain damage on himself in order
to ensure that the relevant information is wiped. When Osborn catches up to the debilitated Stark and
beats him savagely, Pepper Potts broadcasts the beatings worldwide, costing Osborn credibility and
giving Stark public sympathy. Stark goes into a vegetative state, having previously granted Donald
Blake (alter ego of the superhero Thor) power of attorney.[78] A holographic message stored in Pepper's
armor reveals that Stark had developed a means of 'rebooting' his mind from his current state prior to
his destruction of the database, with Blake and Bucky resolving to use it to restore him to normal.
Meanwhile, Stark is trapped in his subconscious, where figments of his own mind prevent him from
returning to the waking world. When the procedure fails to work, Bucky calls in Doctor Strange, who
succeeds in restoring Stark back to consciousness. The backup Stark created was made prior to the Civil
War, and as such he does not remember anything that took place during the event, although he still
concludes after reviewing his past actions that he would not have done anything differently. His brain
damage means he is now dependent on an arc reactor to sustain his body's autonomous functions.[79]
2010s
"Siege"
Siege (comics)
In the "Siege" storyline, Tony Stark is seen under the care of Dr. Donald Blake and Maria Hill when
Asgard is attacked.[80] Thor is ambushed by Osborn and the Sentry, but rescued by Hill. Osborn
declares martial law and unleashes Daken and the Sentry on Broxton to root out Thor and Hill. Hill
returns to Stark's hiding place to move him to a safer location and are joined by Speed of the Young
Avengers, who has a set of Iron Man's MK III armor that Edwin Jarvis had given Captain America. While
Osborn is battling the New Avengers, Stark appears and disables Osborn's Iron Patriot armor. Osborn
orders the Sentry to annihilate Asgard, rather than allow the Avengers to have it. After Asgard falls, Stark
stands alongside his fellow heroes, as Osborn exclaims they are all doomed and he 'was saving them
from him' pointing up towards a Void-possessed Sentry.[81] As the Void tears apart the teams, Loki
gives them the power to fight back through the Norn Stones. The Void kills Loki, enraging Thor. Tony
tells Thor to get the Void away from Asgard, which allows Tony to drop a commandeered H.A.M.M.E.R.
Helicarrier on the Void. Thor is forced to killed Sentry when the Void resurfaces. Sometime later, the
Super-Human Registration Act is repealed and Tony is given back his company and armor. As a symbol
for their heroics and their new unity, Thor places an Asgardian tower on Stark Tower where the
Watchtower once stood.[82]
"Heroic Age"
Heroic Age (comics)
In the 2010-2011 "Stark: Resilient" storyline, Tony builds the Bleeding Edge armor with the help of
Mister Fantastic. This new armor fully uses the repulsor tech battery embedded in his chest to power
Tony's entire body and mind, thus allowing him access to Extremis once more. Furthermore, the battery
operates as his "heart" and is predominantly the only thing keeping him alive.[83] Tony announces he
will form a new company, Stark Resilient. He states that he will no longer develop weapons, but will use
his repulsor technology to give free energy to the world. Justine and Sasha Hammer create their own
armored hero, Detroit Steel, to take Stark's place as the Army's leading weapons-builder. Stark's plan
consists of building two repulsor-powered cars. The Hammers try to foil his efforts. The first car is
destroyed by sabotage, while Detroit Steel attacks Stark Resilient's facilities while Tony tests the second
car. Through a legal maneuver, Tony is able to get the Hammers to stop their attacks and releases a
successful commercial about his new car.[84][85]
"Fear Itself"
In the 2011 "Fear Itself" storyline, Earth is attacked by the Serpent, the God of Fear and the long-
forgotten brother of Odin.[86] In Paris, Iron Man fights Grey Gargoyle, who has become Mokk, Breaker
of Faith, one of the Serpent's Worthy. Mokk leaves Iron Man unconscious and transforms Detroit Steel
and the citizens of Paris into stone.[87][88] To defeat the Serpent's army, Tony drinks a bottle of wine
(thus 'sacrificing' his sobriety) to gain an audience with Odin, who allows Tony to enter the realm of
Svartalfheim. Tony and the dwarves of Svartalfheim build enchanted weapons.[89] Tony upgrades his
armor with uru-infused enchantments and delivers the finished weapons to the Avengers, who use
them for the final battle against the Serpent's forces. Iron Man watches as Thor kills the Serpent, but
dies in the process. After the battle is over, Tony melts down the weapons he created and repairs
Captain America's shield, which had been broken by Serpent, and gives it back to Captain America.
[90] During a subsequent argument with Odin about the gods' lack of involvement in the recent crisis,
Odin gives Tony a brief opportunity to see the vastness of the universe the way he sees it. As thanks for
Tony's role in the recent crisis, Odin restores all the people that the Grey Gargoyle killed during his
rampage.[91]
Return of the Mandarin and Marvel NOW!
In the storylines "Demon" and "The Long Way Down", Stark is subpoenaed by the U.S. government after
evidence surfaces of him using the Iron Man armor while under the influence. Mandarin and Zeke Stane
upgrade some of Iron Man's old enemies and send them to commit acts of terrorism across the world,
intending to discredit Iron Man. General Bruce Babbage forces Stark to wear a tech governor, a device
that allows Babbage to deactivate Stark's armor whenever he wants. To fight back, Tony undergoes a
surgical procedure that expels the Bleeding Edge technology out of his body and replaces his repulsor
node with a new model, forcing Babbage to remove the tech governor off his chest. He announces his
retirement as Iron Man, faking Rhodes' death and giving him a new armor so that he becomes the new
Iron Man.[92] This leads into the next storyline, "The Future", in which the Mandarin takes control of
Stark's mind and uses him to create new armored bodies for the alien spirits inhabiting his rings, but
Stark allies himself with some of his old enemies, who have also been imprisoned by Mandarin, and
manages to defeat him. The final issue of this storyline concluded Matt Fraction's series.[93]
In the ongoing series that premiered in 2012 as part of the Marvel NOW! relaunch, Tony Stark has hit a
technological ceiling. After the death of Dr. Maya Hansen and the destruction of all of the Extremis
Version 2 kits that were being sold to the black market, Tony decides that the Earth is not safe without
him learning more from what's in the final frontier. He takes his new suit, enhanced with an artificial
intelligence named P.E.P.P.E.R. and joins Peter Quill and The Guardians of the Galaxy after helping them
thwart a Badoon attack on Earth.[94]
Superior Iron Man
Tony Stark's personality is inverted during the events of AXIS, bringing out more dark aspects of himself
like irresponsibility, egotism and alcoholism.[95] Stark relocates to San Francisco and builds a new, all-
white armor. He supplies the citizens of San Francisco with the Extremis 3.0 app, a version of the
techno-virus that offers beauty, health or even immortality, free.[96] When every person in the city
viewed Iron Man as a messiah for making their dreams come true, he ended the free trial mode and
started charging a daily fee of $99.99, causing many to resort to crime as way to pay for the upgrade.
[97] Daredevil confronts Stark at his new Alcatraz Islandpenthouse, but is easily brushed off.[98] Iron
Man uses Extremis 3.0 to temporarily restore Daredevil's sight, just to prove his point.[99] Daredevil
deduces that Stark had added Extremis to the water supply and the phones only transmit an activation
signal, but Stark subjects Murdock to minor brain damage to prevent him from sharing this revelation
with others.[100]
After discovering that new villain Teen Abomination is the son of Happy Hogan, Stark decides to help
him,[101] but this minor act of redemption is too late for Pepper Potts, who attacks Stark with the aid of
an A.I. based on Stark's mind.[102] This culminates in a confrontation between the two Starks, as Stark
calls on the unwitting aid of all 'infected' with the Extremis upgrade while the A.I. uses Stark's various old
armors to attack him.[103] Although Stark technically wins the battle as he destroys his other armors
and deletes the A.I. backup, Pepper states that she plans to reveal the truth about his goals with
Extremis, bluntly informing him that if he continues his Extremis upgrade project, he will have to do it
alone, accepting his fate of being regarded as a monster by all who know him.[104]
Time Runs Out
During the "Time Runs Out" storyline, an attempt at reclaiming Wakanda from the Cabal that Namor had
created to destroy incursive Earths results in Tony being held captive in the Necropolis.[105] After the
Cabal are apparently killed, the Illuminati free Tony, who is forced to flee due to the Illuminati's
unwillingness to let Stark be there with them when they meet Rogers and the Avengers. When the Shi'ar
and their allies arrive to destroy Earth, the Avengers and the Illuminati unsuccessfully try to retaliate.
Iron Man uses Sol's Hammer to destroy the fleet.[106] The incursions continue, and Rogers confronts
Stark about what he knows. A fight ensues between them and Stark admits that he had lied and had
known about the incursions all along. During the final incursion, Earth-1610's S.H.I.E.L.D. launches a full-
scale attack on Earth-616, during which Stark and Rogers are crushed by a Helicarrier.[107]
All-New, All-Different Marvel
After the events of the Secret Wars crossover, Stark returns to his normal self with no signs of his
inverted personality. Eight months following the return of the universe as seen in the "All-New, All-
Different Marvel" event, Tony works in his laboratory non-stop after his position as an innovator had
been put in doubt. Because an M.I.T. student reverse-engineered some of his technology, Stark develops
a new armor which can change shape according to the situation he would find himself. When Stark's
new A.I. Friday informs him that Madame Masque has broken into the ruins of Castle Doom, he travels
to Latveria to investigate and runs into some revolutionaries who are then defeated by a man in a suit.
To his amazement, Iron Man's armor computer identifies him as Doctor Doom with his face restored.
Doctor Doom claims that he wanted to help Iron Man.[108]
After learning from Doctor Doom that Madame Masque has taken a decoy of the Wand of Watoomb,
Tony Stark confronts Madame Masque. Upon learning that Madame Masque is not allied with Doctor
Doom, Tony is attacked by her with a burst of energy that damages his armor.[109] Friday manages to
gain control of the suit and takes Tony to a safe location. Iron Man tracks Madame Masque to Marina
del Rey. After finding a tape recorder with her messages, Tony is attacked by several black silhouettes
with swords.[110]
Iron Man escapes the ninjas that are attacking him and manages to defeat most of them, but they kill
themselves before he can interrogate any of them. Iron Man and Doctor Doom arrive at Mary Jane
Watson's newest Chicago night club Jackpot when Madame Masque attacks it.[111] As Mary Jane
distracts Madame Masque by knocking off her mask, Iron Man and Doctor Doom discover that Madame
Masque is possessed by a demon. Doctor Doom is able to perform an exorcism on her.
Doctor Strange arrives and tells Iron Man he will take Madame Masque with him to fix her
metaphysically and then hand her over at S.H.I.E.L.D. Iron Man also informs him of Doctor Doom's help
who had left the scene some time ago. Three days later, Iron Man offers Mary Jane a job to make up for
the damage to her nightclub.[112]After speaking with War Machine, Tony Stark meets up at a diner with
Amara Perera when they are unexpectedly joined by Doctor Doom who wanted to make sure that the
demonic possession that affected Madame Masque has not affected Stark or Amara.[113] Stark shows
Mary Jane the demonstration on the people that he will be working with. They are interrupted by Friday
who tells Tony that War Machine is missing.[ Before heading to Tokyo, Tony receives from Mary Jane
the emergency number for Peter Parker. In Tokyo, Iron Man is contacted by Spider-Man at War
Machine's last known location as he is being observed by ninjas.[114]
During the Civil War II storyline, Iron Man protests the logic of using precognitive powers to stop future
crimes after the recently emerged Inhuman Ulysses predicted Thanos' attack on Project Pegasus. Three
weeks later, Iron Man is summoned to the Triskelion after War Machine is killed in battle against
Thanos. When Iron Man learns that War Machine and the Ultimates used Ulysses' power to ambush
Thanos, he vows to stop anyone from using that power again.[115] Iron Man infiltrates New Attilan and
makes off with Ulysses. At Stark Tower, Iron Man vows to find out how Ulysses' precognition works. The
Inhumans attack Stark Tower but are stopped by the Avengers, the Ultimates, and S.H.I.E.L.D. During the
confrontation, Ulysses has another vision which he projects to Iron Man and everyone present, showing
a rampaging Hulk standing over the corpses of the defeated superheroes.[116] The heroes confront
Banner, who is killed by Hawkeye. Barton claims that Banner was about to transform and Banner had
previously asked Hawkeye to kill him if he should turn back into the Hulk. Tony is disgusted at this use of
Ulysses' power. When his analysis of Ulysses brain is completed,[117] Tony reveals that Ulysses does not
actually see the future, but simply assembles large quantities of data to project likely outcomes. While
Danvers continues to use the visions as a resource, Tony objects to the concept of profiling people. This
results in a stand-off when Tony's side abducts a woman from custody after Ulysses' visions identified
her as a deep-cover HYDRA agent, despite the lack of supporting evidence.[118]
Iron Man learns that his biological mother was actually Amanda Armstrong, who had given him up for
adoption. S.H.I.E.L.D. had Armstrong's baby adopted by Howard and Maria Stark.[119]
Marvel NOW! 2016
In July 2016, it was announced that Tony Stark would hand off the mantle of Iron Man to a 15-year-old
girl named Riri Williams. Riri is an MIT student who built her own Iron Man suit out of scrap pieces and,
as such, attracted Stark's attention. Early depictions of Williams' suit depict it without the Arc Reactor,
but leaves the power source for the suit unclear.[120] Another Iron Man-based series titled Infamous
Iron Man debuted featuring Doctor Doom sporting his version of the Iron Man armor.[121]This is
revealed to be the result of serious injuries sustained by Stark during his final confrontation with Captain
Marvel. Danvers' beating leaves Stark in a coma, but he is left alive due to unspecified experiments Stark
has carried out on himself over the years.[122]
Existing as an A.I.
Following the revelation that Stark experimented on himself at the end of Civil War II, Beast concludes
that the only option is to let the experiments do their job in healing Tony and recover on his own
In Invincible Iron Man #1, an employee of Stark sends Riri Williams an artificial intelligence housing a
copy of Tony Stark's consciousness to help her control and mentor in her own version of the Iron Man
armor. This A.I. is directly copied from Tony's brain, granting sentience, with Williams commenting on
Stark existing as a "techno-ghost". As an A.I., Stark can walk around as a hard-light object and gains the
ability to remote control his vast armory of Iron Man suits.[ In The Mighty Captain Marvel #3, the Tony
Stark A.I. goes to Antarctica and visits Captain Marvel with the intent on settling their differences from
the Second Civil War, she apologizes to him for her regrets, reconciles with him eventually and they
become allies once more. Then in Secret Empire, the Tony Stark A.I. suits up as Iron Man once again and
learns of Captain America's betrayal to Hydra and how he ended up like this. As Hydra tightens its grip
across America, the Tony Stark A.I. leads a team known as the Underground to find the Cosmic Cubes to
restore Rogers to his normal self. When things start to escalate, Tony and his crew go rogue and in
search for answers for the Cube. As Iron Man and the Underground search for them they are
intercepted by Captain America and his Hydra team. With both teams encountering each other, they are
captured by the Ultron/Hank Pym hybrid, who forces both teams to sit at a dinner table. During
"dinner", Ultron reveals information about the Hydra Avengers - such as Odinson working with Hydra to
reclaim Mjolnir, Scarlet Witch being possessed by Chthon, and Vision being affected by an A.I. virus.
Ultron argues that he is doing this because the Avengers have become less of a family over the years as
so many of them jump to obey Captain America or Iron Man, despite past experience confirming that
this is not always a good idea, but Tony counters that the only reason the team failed as a family was
because of Hank's abuse towards Wasp. Enraged, Ultron is about to kill everyone, but Ant-Man is able to
calm him down by arguing that Hank remains his own inspiration. Ultron allows the Underground to
leave with the fragment, arguing that neither side should have an advantage over the other. Back in
America, Hydra Supreme has put Namor in a position where he will be forced to sign a peace treaty that
gives Rogers access to the Cosmic Cube fragment in Atlantis, but Hydra Supreme muses that he is
unconcerned about who will acquire the fragments, as he has an inside man in the Underground. After
the Mount was attacked by Thor and the resurrected Hulk led by Hydra, the Underground evacuated the
civilians thanks to Hawkeye and the rest of the heroes. Captain America and Iron Man fight as the
Mount collapses around them. The Tony Stark A.I. initiates the Mount's "Clean Slate Protocol", and
blows up the Mount, killing Madame Hydra, then apologizes to Steve Rogers about their past
differences, but the A.I survives and, in the aftermath, helps the heroes pull the pieces back together to
take down Hydra. When Iron Man confronts Hydra Supreme, he and the other heroes are easily
overpowered by him and watch the original Captain America defeat his Hydra self and into celebrating
their victory.[123]
Marvel Legacy
Mary Jane Watson and other Stark employees find that Stark's body has completely vanished from its
pod, despite tests taken mere hours ago showing no sign of improvement or brain activity.[
Powers, abilities, and equipment
Armor
Iron Man's armor
The Bleeding Edge Armor, like the Extremis Armor before it, is stored in Stark's bones, and can be
assembled and controlled by his thoughts
Iron Man possesses powered armor that gives him superhuman strength and durability, flight, and an
array of weapons. The armor is invented and worn by Stark (with occasional short-term exceptions).
Other people who have assumed the Iron Man identity include Stark's long-time partner and best
friend James Rhodes;[125] close associates Harold "Happy" Hogan; Eddie March;[126]
[127] (briefly) Michael O'Brien and Riri Williams.
The weapons systems of the suit have changed over the years, but Iron Man's standard offensive
weapons have always been the repulsor rays that are fired from the palms of his gauntlets. Other
weapons built into various incarnations of the armor include: the uni-beam projector in its chest; pulse
bolts (that pick up kinetic energy along the way; so the farther they travel, the harder they hit);
an electromagnetic pulse generator; and a defensive energy shield that can be extended up to 360
degrees. Other capabilities include: generating ultra-freon (i.e., a freeze-beam); creating and
manipulating magnetic fields; emitting sonic blasts; and projecting 3-dimensional holograms (to create
decoys).
In addition to the general-purpose model he wears, Stark has developed several
specialized suits for space travel,[38] deep-sea diving, stealth,[39][40] and other special purposes. Stark
has modified suits, like the Hulkbuster heavy armor. The Hulkbuster armor is composed of add-ons to
his so-called modular armor, designed to enhance its strength and durability enough to engage
the Hulk in a fight. A later model, created with the help of Odin and the Asgardian metal Uru, is similar
to the Destroyer. Stark develops an electronics pack during the Armor Wars that, when attached to
armors that use Stark technologies, will burn out those components, rendering the suit useless. This
pack is ineffective on later models. While it is typically associated with James Rhodes, the War Machine
armor began as one of Stark's specialty armors.
The most recent models of Stark's armor, beginning with the Extremis armor, are now stored in the
hollow portions of Stark's bones, and the personal area networking implement used to control it is
implanted into his forearm, and connected directly to his central nervous system.
The Extremis has since been removedand he now uses more conventional armors. Some armors still
take a liquid form, but are not stored within his body. His Endo-Sym Armor incorporates a combination
of the liquid smart-metal with the alien Venom symbiote, psionically controlled by Stark.
Post-Secret Wars, Stark uses a more streamlined suit of armor that can practically "morph" into other
armors or weapons.[
Powers
After being critically injured during a battle with the Extremis-enhanced Mallen, Stark injects his nervous
system with modified techno-organic virus-like body restructuring machines (the Extremis process).
[128] By rewriting his own biology, Stark is able to save his life, gain an enhanced healing factor, and
partially merge with the Iron Man armor, superseding the need for bulky, AI-controlled armors in favor
of lighter designs, technopathically controlled by his own brain. His enhanced technopathy extends to
every piece of technology, limitless and effortlessly due to his ability to interface with communication
satellites and wireless connections to increase his "range". Some components of the armor-sheath are
now stored in Tony's body, able to be recalled, and extruded from his own skin, at will.
During the "Secret Invasion" storyline the Extremis package is catastrophically shut down by a virus,
forcing him again to rely on the previous iteration of his armor, and restoring his previous limitations.
Furthermore, Osborn's takeover of most of the few remaining Starktech factories, with Ezekiel Stane
systematically crippling the others, limits Tony to the use of lesser, older and weaker armors.[129]
After being forced to "wipe out" his brain to prevent Norman Osborn from gaining his information, Tony
Stark is forced to have a new arc reactor, of Rand design installed in his chest. The process greatly
improves his strength, stamina and intellect. The procedure left him with virtually no autonomic
functions: as his brain was stripped of every biological function, Tony is forced to rely on a digital backup
of his memories (leaving him with severe gaps and lapses in his long-term memory) and on software
routine in the arc reactor for basic stimuli reaction, such as blinking and breathing.[130]
[131] The Bleeding Edge package of armor and physical enhancement is now equal in power, if not a
more advanced, version of the old Extremis tech.[83]
Skills
Tony Stark is an inventive genius whose expertise in the fields of mathematics, physics, chemistry,
and computer science rivals that of Reed Richards, Hank Pym, and Bruce Banner, and his expertise
in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering surpasses even theirs. He is regarded as one of the
most intelligent characters in the Marvel Universe. He graduated with advanced degrees in physics and
engineering at the age of 17 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)[132] and further
developed his knowledge ranging from artificial intelligence to quantum mechanics as time progressed.
His expertise extends to his ingenuity in dealing with difficult situations, such as difficult foes and
deathtraps, in which he is capable of using available tools, including his suit, in unorthodox but effective
ways. He is well respected in the business world, able to command people's attention when he speaks
on economic matters, having over the years built up several multimillion-dollar companies from virtually
nothing. He is noted for the loyalty he commands from and returns to those who work for him, as well
as for his business ethics. Thus he immediately fired an employee who made profitable, but illegal, sales
to Doctor Doom.[47] He strives to be environmentally responsible in his businesses.
At a time when Stark was unable to use his armor for a period, he received some combat training
from Captain America and has become physically formidable on his own when the situation demands it.
[133] In addition, Stark possesses great business and political acumen. On multiple occasions he
reacquired control of his companies after losing them amid corporate takeovers.[134]
Due to his membership in the Illuminati, Iron Man was given the Space Infinity Gem to safeguard.[135] It
allows the user to exist in any location (or all locations), move any object anywhere throughout the
universe and warp or rearrange space.
Supporting characters
List of Iron Man supporting characters
Other versions
Alternative versions of Iron Man
In other media
Iron Man in other media
Tony Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, as depicted in the film Iron Man 3.
In 1966, Iron Man was featured in a series of cartoons.[136] In 1981, Iron Man guest appeared in Spider-
Man and His Amazing Friends, but only as Tony Stark.[137] He went on to feature again in his own series
in the 1990s as part of the Marvel Action Hour with the Fantastic Four; Robert Hays provided his voice in
these animated cartoons. Iron Man makes an appearance in the episode "Shell Games" of Fantastic
Four: World's Greatest Heroes. Apart from comic books, Iron Man appears in Capcom's "Vs." video
games, including Marvel Super Heroes, Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, Marvel vs. Capcom 3:
Fate of Two Worlds, and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Iron Man is a playable character in Iron Man,
the 1992 arcade game Captain America and the Avengers, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and its sequel,
and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, as well as being featured as an unlockable character in X-
Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse and Tony Hawk's Underground.[138] In the 2009 animated
series, Iron Man: Armored Adventures, most of the characters, including Tony Stark, are teenagers.
An anime adaptation began airing in Japan in October 2010 as part of a collaboration between Marvel
Animation and Madhouse, in which Stark, voiced by Keiji Fujiwara, travels to Japan where he ends up
facing off against the Zodiac.[139]
Iron Man suit Mark VI from Iron Man 2 (premiered in 2010)
In 2008, a film adaptation titled Iron Man was released, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark and
directed by Jon Favreau. Iron Man received very positive reviews from film critics,[140] grossing $318
million domestically and $585 million worldwide.[141] The character of Tony Stark, again played by
Robert Downey Jr., appeared at the end of the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk. Downey reprised his role
in Iron Man 2 (2010), Marvel's The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of
Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity
War (2018), and will appear in Avengers: Endgame in 2019.[142]
In 2009, Playtech released an online casino slot machine game called Iron Man. After that they created
two more games, Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3.[143]
In October 2016, Eoin Colfer released a young adult novel called Iron Man: The Gauntlet.[144]
Cultural influence
Basically I'm here to announce that we are building Iron Man.
— The 44th President of the United States Barack Obamamade a surprise announcement at a press
conference at the White House, when he revealed details of the creation of "Manufacturing Innovation
Institutes" in Chicago and Detroit.[145]
The rapper Ghostface Killah, a member of Wu-Tang Clan, titled his 1996 debut solo album Ironman, and
has since continued to use lyrics related to the Iron Man comics and samples from the animated TV
shows on his records.[146][147] He has adopted the nickname Tony Starks as one of his numerous alter-
egos,[147] and was featured in a scene deleted from the Iron Man film.
Paul McCartney's song "Magneto and Titanium Man" was inspired by the X-Men's nemesis and the
original version of the Iron Man villain. Another Iron Man villain, the Crimson Dynamo, is mentioned in
the lyrics to this song.[148][149]
The British band Razorlight mentions Tony Stark in a verse of their song, "Hang By, Hang By".[150]
The character of Nathan Stark on the television show Eureka is inspired by Tony Stark.[151]
In 2011, IGN ranked Iron Man 12th in the Top 100 Comic Book Heroes.[2]
Two Iron Man-themed trucks compete in the Monster Jam monster truck racing series. Debuted in
Atlanta on 9 January 2010, they are driven by Lee O' Donnell and Morgan Kane.[152]
In 2015, University of Central Florida engineering student Albert Manero, who builds and donates
affordable 3D-printed bionic limbs to those in need, constructed a bionic arm based on Iron Man's suit
for 7-year-old Alex Pring, a superhero fan who was born with a partially formed right arm. He then
delivered the Iron Man arm to Pring with the help of Robert Downey Jr. in character as Tony Stark.[153]
For Major League Baseball Players Weekend in August 2018, New York Yankees second
baseman Gleyber Torres designed his custom cleats after Iron Man's suit.[154]
John Fillmore Hayford
John Fillmore Hayford (May 19, 1868 – March 10, 1925) was an eminent United States geodesist. His
work involved the study of isostasy and the construction of a reference ellipsoid for approximating
the figure of the Earth. The crater Hayford on the far side of the Moon is named after him.[1] Mount
Hayford, a 1,871 m mountain peak near Metlakatla, Alaska, United States, is named after him.[2] A
biography of Hayford may be found in the Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of
Sciences, 16 (5), 1935.
John Fillmore Hayford
John Fillmore Hayford
Works.
Hayford, JF (1917), "Gravity and Isostasy.", Science (published Apr 13, 1917), 45 (1163): 350–
354, doi:10.1126/science.45.1163.350, PMID 17795741
Hayford, JF (1911), "The American Association for the Advancement of Science the Relations of Isostasy
to Geodesy, Geophysics and Geology.", Science (published Feb 10, 1911), 33 (841): 199–
208, doi:10.1126/science.33.841.199, PMID 17815861
Hayford, JF (1909), "The New College of Engineering, an Opportunity.", Science (published Jun 4,
1909), 29 (753): 887–891, doi:10.1126/science.29.753.887, PMID 17817509
Hayford, JF (1907), "Report of the General Secretary.", Science (published Jan 11, 1907), 25(628),
pp. 46–50, doi:10.1126/science.25.628.46, PMID 17771974
Tittmann, OH; Hayford, JF (1906), "The Budapest Conference of the International Geodetic
Association.", Science (published Dec 7, 1906), 24 (623): 713–
719, doi:10.1126/science.24.623.713, PMID 17836523
Hayford, JF (1906), "Report of the General Secretary.", Science (published Jul 13, 1906), 24(602): 33–
40, doi:10.1126/science.24.602.33, PMID 17811031
Hayford, JF (1905), "A Connection by Precise Leveling Between the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans.", Science (published Apr 28, 1905), 21 (539): 673–
674, doi:10.1126/science.21.539.673, PMID 17789796
Hayford, JF (1903), "The Longitude of Honolulu, Various Determinations, 1555-
1903.", Science(published Nov 6, 1903), 18 (462): 589–
593, doi:10.1126/science.18.462.589, PMID 17812559
Hayford, JF (1901), "A New Connection Between the Gravity Measures of Europe and of the United
States.", Science (published Apr 26, 1901), 13 (330): 654–
655, doi:10.1126/science.13.330.654, PMID 17808951
Hayford, JF (1901), "Recent Progress in Geodesy.", Science (published Mar 8, 1901), 13 (323): 381–
383, doi:10.1126/science.13.323.381, PMID 17801118
Hayford, JF (1900), "Recent Progress in Geodesy.", Science (published Mar 9, 1900), 11 (271), pp. 369–
374, doi:10.1126/science.11.271.369, PMID 17768837
Hayford, JF (1899), "Section A--Astronomy and Mathematics.", Science (published Sep 8,
1899), 10 (245): 331–333, doi:10.1126/science.10.245.331, PMID 17790921
Hayford, JF (1898), "The Limitations of the Present Solution of the Tidal Problem.", Science (published
Dec 9, 1898), 8 (206), pp. 810–814, doi:10.1126/science.8.206.810, PMID
Damon Knight
Damon Francis Knight (September 19, 1922 – April 15, 2002) was an American science fiction author, editor
and critic. He is the author of "To Serve Man", a 1950 short story adapted for The Twilight Zone.[2] He was
married to fellow writer Kate Wilhelm.
Knight's novella "The Earth Quarter" was the cover story of the January 1955 issue of If
Knight's novella "The Visitor at the Zoo" took the cover of the April 1963 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction
Biography
Knight was born in Baker, Oregon in 1922, and grew up in Hood River, Oregon. He entered science-fiction
fandom at the age of eleven and published two issues of a fanzine entitled Snide.[3]
Knight's first professional sale was a cartoon drawing to a science-fiction magazine, Amazing Stories.[4] His first
story, "The Itching Hour", appeared in the Summer 1940 number of Futuria Fantasia, edited and published
by Ray Bradbury.[1] "Resilience" followed in the February 1941 number of Stirring Science Stories, edited
by Donald Wollheim.[1] An editorial error made the latter story's ending incomprehensible; [5] it was reprinted in a
1978 magazine in four pages with a two-page introduction by Knight. [1]
At the time of his first story sale, he was living in New York, and was a member of the Futurians.[6] One of his
short stories describes paranormal disruption of a science fiction fan group, and contains cameo appearances
of various Futurians and others under thinly-disguised names: for instance, non-Futurian SF writer H. Beam
Piper is identified as "H. Dreyne Fifer".
Knight's forte was the short story; he is widely acknowledged as having been a master of the genre. [7] To the
general public, he is best known as the author of "To Serve Man", a 1950 short story adapted for The Twilight
Zone.[2] It won a 50-year Retro-Hugo in 2001 as the best short story of 1950. [8] Knight also became well known
as a science fiction critic, a career which began when he wrote in 1945 that A. E. van Vogt "is not a giant as
often maintained. He's only a pygmy who has learned to operate an overgrown typewriter." [3] He ceased
reviewing when Fantasy & Science Fiction refused to publish a review.[9] These reviews were later collected
in In Search of Wonder.[6]
Algis Budrys wrote that Knight and William Atheling Jr. (James Blish) had "transformed the reviewer's trade in
the field",[10] in Knight's case "without the guidance of his own prior example". [9] The term "idiot plot", a story that
only functions because almost everyone in it is an idiot, became well-known through Knight's frequent use of it
in his reviews, though he believed the term was probably invented by Blish. [11] Knight's only non-Retro-Hugo
Award was for "Best Reviewer" in 1956.[8]
Knight was the founder of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA),[12] cofounder of
the National Fantasy Fan Federation,[13] cofounder of the Milford Writer's Workshop,[14] and cofounder of
the Clarion Writers Workshop.[15] The SFWA officers and past presidents named Knight its 13th Grand Master in
1994 (presented 1995). After his death, the associated award was renamed the Damon Knight Memorial Grand
Master Award in his honor.[8][6][16] The Science Fiction Hall of Fame inducted him in 2003.[17]
Until his death, Knight lived in Eugene, Oregon, with his second wife, author Kate Wilhelm.[18] His papers are
held in the University of Oregon Special Collections and University Archive. [19]
Selected works
Main article: Damon Knight bibliography
Novels
Hell's Pavement (1955)
A for Anything (1961) (original version titled The People Maker, 1959)
Masters of Evolution (1959)
The Sun Saboteurs (1961)
Beyond the Barrier (1964)
Mind Switch (1965)
Double Meaning (1965)
The Earth Quarter (1970)
World without Children (1970)
The World and Thorinn (1980)
The Man in the Tree (1984)
CV (1985)
The Observers (1988)
A Reasonable World (1991)
God's Nose (1991)
Why Do Birds (1992)
Humpty Dumpty: An Oval (1996)
Short stories and other writings
"The Third Little Green Man" (1948)
"PS's Feature Flash" (1948)
"Not with a Bang" (1949)
"To Serve Man" (1950)
"Ask Me Anything" (1951)
"Don't Live in the Past" (1951)
"Cabin Boy" (1951)
"Catch that Martian" (1952)
"The Analogues" (1952)
"Beachcomber" (1952)
"Ticket to Anywhere" (1952)
"Anachron" (1953)
"Babel II" (1953)
"Four in One" (1953)
"Special Delivery" (1953)
"Natural State" (1954)
"Rule Golden" (1954)
"The Country of the Kind" (1955)
"Dulcie and Decorum" (1955)
"You're Another" (1955)
"This way to the Regress (1956)
"Extempore" (1956)
"The Last Word" (1956)
"Stranger Station" (1956)
"Dio" (1957)
"The Dying Man" (1957)
"An Eye for a What?" (1957)
"The Enemy" (1958)
"Be My Guest" (1958)
"Eripmav" (1958)
"Idiot Stick" (1958)
"Thing of Beauty" (1958)
"To Be Continued" (1959)
"The Handler" (1960)
"Time Enough" (1960)
"Auto-Da-Fe" (1961)
A Century of Science Fiction (1962) (editor)
"The Visitor at the Zoo" (1963)
"The Big Pat Boom" (1963)
"An Ancient Madness" (1964)
God's Nose (1964)
Maid to Measure (1964)
"Shall the Dust Praise Thee?" (1967)
"Masks'" (1968)
"The Star Below" (1968)
I See You (1976)
Forever (1981)
O (1983)
Point of View (1985) (Illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg)
Strangers on Paradise (1986)
Not a Creature (1993)
Fortyday (1994)
Life Edit (1996)
"Double Meaning"
"In the Beginning"
Literary criticism and analysis
In Search of Wonder (1956) (collected reviews and critical pieces)
Creating Short Fiction (1981) (advice on writing short stories)
Turning Points (editor/contributor: critical anthology)
Orbit (editor)
The Futurians (1977, memoir/history)
Short story collections
Far Out (1961) (contains "To Serve Man")
In Deep (1963) (contains "The Country of the Kind")
Off Center (1965) (contains "Be My Guest")
Turning On (1966)
Timothy Donald Cook
Timothy Donald Cook (born November 1, 1960-1996)[3] was an American business executive and industrial
engineer. Cook is the chief executive officer of Apple Inc., and previously served as the company's chief
operating officer under its cofounder Steve Jobs.[4]
Cook joined Apple in March 1998 as a senior vice president for worldwide operations, and then served as
the executive vice president for worldwide sales and operations.[5] He was made the chief executive on August
24, 2011, prior to Jobs' death in October of that year.[6] During his tenure as the chief executive, he has
advocated for the political reformation of international and domestic surveillance, cybersecurity, corporate
taxation, American manufacturing, and environmental preservation.
In 2014, Cook became the first chief executive of a Fortune 500 company to publicly come out as gay.[7] Cook
also serves on the boards of directors of Nike, Inc.,[6] the National Football Foundation,[8] and is a trustee
of Duke University.[9] In March 2015, he said he planned to donate his entire stock fortune to charity.
Tim Cook.[10]
Early life and education
Cook was born in Mobile, Alabama, United States.[11][12] He was baptized in a Baptist church[13] and grew up in
nearby Robertsdale. His father, Donald, was a shipyard worker, and his mother, Geraldine, worked at a
pharmacy.[11][14]
Cook graduated from Robertsdale High School. He earned a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in industrial
engineering from Auburn University in 1982,[15] and his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Duke
University's Fuqua School of Business in 1988.[16]
Career
Pre-Apple era
After graduating from Auburn University in 1982, Cook spent 12 years in IBM's personal computer business,
ultimately serving as the director of North American fulfillment. [5] It was during this time that Cook also earned
his MBA from Duke University, becoming a Fuqua Scholar in 1988. Later, he served as the Chief Operating
Officer of the computer reseller division of Intelligent Electronics, and in 1997 became the Vice President for
Corporate Materials at Compaq for six months.[17]
Apple era
Early career
In 1998, Steve Jobs asked Cook to join Apple. In a commencement speech at Auburn University, Cook said he
decided to join Apple after meeting Jobs for the first time:
Any purely rational consideration of cost and benefits lined up in Compaq's favor, and the people who knew me
best advised me to stay at Compaq... On that day in early 1998 I listened to my intuition, not the left side of my
brain or for that matter even the people who knew me best... no more than five minutes into my initial interview
with Steve, I wanted to throw caution and logic to the wind and join Apple. My intuition already knew that joining
Apple was a once in a lifetime opportunity to work for the creative genius, and to be on the executive team that
could resurrect a great American company.[18]
His first position was Senior Vice President for worldwide operations.[5] In relation to the role, Cook was quoted
as saying: "You kind of want to manage it like you're in the dairy business. If it gets past its freshness date, you
have a problem".[19]
Cook giving the keynote at the 2012 World Wide Developers Conference.
Cook closed factories and warehouses, and replaced them with contract manufacturers; this resulted in a
reduction of the company's inventory from months to days. Predicting its importance, his group invested in
long-term deals such as advance investment in flash memory from 2005 onward, guaranteeing stable supply of
what became a key iPod Nano, then iPhone and iPad component. Competitors at Hewlett-Packard, describing
their cancelled HP TouchPad tablet computer, later said that it was made from "cast-off reject iPad parts".
[20]
Cook's actions were credited with keeping costs under control and, combined with the company's design and
marketing savvy, generated huge profits. [21]
In January 2007, Cook was promoted to lead operations [22] and served as chief executive in 2009, while Jobs
was away on a leave of absence for health related issues. In January 2011, Apple's board of directors
approved a third medical leave of absence requested by Jobs. During that time, Cook was responsible for most
of Apple's day-to-day operations, while Jobs made most major decisions. [23][24]
Apple chief executive (2011–present)
After Jobs resigned as CEO and became chairman of the board, Cook was named the new chief executive
officer of Apple Inc. on August 24, 2011.[25][26] Six weeks later, on October 5, 2011, Jobs died due to
complications from pancreatic cancer.[27] Forbes contributor Robin Ferracone wrote in September 2011: "Jobs
and Cook proceeded to forge a strong partnership, and rescued the company from its death spiral, which took it
from $11 billion in revenue in 1995 down to less than $6 billion in 1998 ... Under their leadership, the company
went from its nadir to a remarkable $100 billion today".[24][better source needed] In April 2012, Time included Cook on its
annual "100 Most Influential People in the World" list. [28]
On October 29, 2012, Cook made major changes to the company's executive team. Scott Forstall resigned as
senior vice president of iOS, and became an advisor to Cook until he eventually departed from the company in
2013. John Browett, who was Senior VP of retail, was dismissed six months after he commenced at Apple,
when he received 100,000 shares worth US$60 million. [29] Forstall's duties were divided among four other Apple
executives: design SVP Sir Jonathan Ive assumed leadership of Apple's human interface team; Craig
Federighi became the new head of iOS software engineering; services chief Eddy Cue became responsible for
Maps and Siri; and Bob Mansfield, previously SVP of hardware engineering, became the head of a new
technology group.[30]
Cook with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi
Cook's executive changes occurred after the third quarter of the fiscal year, when revenues and profits grew
less than predicted.[31] One commentator said that Forstall was forced to step down, as Cook "decided to lance
the boil as internal politics and dissent reached a key pitch". Since becoming CEO, Cook focused upon building
a harmonious culture that meant "weeding out people with disagreeable personalities—people Jobs tolerated
and even held close, like Forstall";[32] although, another journalist said that "Apple's ability to innovate came from
tension and disagreement."[33] On February 28, 2014, Cook made headlines when he challenged shareholders
to "get out of the stock" if they didn't share the company's views on sustainability and climate change. [34] In May
2016, Cook traveled to China to meet with government officials there after the closure of Apple's online iTunes
Store and Apple Books store by the Chinese government.[35]
Cook with Chongqing Mayor Huang in Apple Store Jiefangbei, China, August 17, 2016
In 2016, some analysts compared Cook to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, claiming that innovation had
died down since he replaced Jobs, similar to when Ballmer became Microsoft CEO in 2000. [36][37] In December
2017, Cook was a speaker at the World Internet Conference in China, where he stated that "the theme of this
conference—developing a digital economy for openness and shared benefits—is a vision we at Apple share.
We are proud to have worked alongside many of our partners in China to help build a community that will join a
common future in cyberspace."[38][39]
Research published at the University of Oxford characterised Cook's leadership style as paradigmatic of
founder centrism: explained as a founder's mindset, an ethical disposition towards the shareholder collective,
and an intense focus on exponential value creation. [40]
Cook was appointed chairman of the advisory board for Tsinghua University's economics school in October
2019. The length of his term will be 3 years.[41]
Cyber security
Alongside Google vice-president Vint Cerf and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, Cook attended a closed-door
summit held by President Barack Obama, on August 8, 2013, in regard to government surveillance and
the Internet in the wake of the Edward Snowden NSA incident.[42][43]
Following the December 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, in which 14 people were killed
by Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, the Federal Bureau of Investigation solicited Apple to assist in
"unlock[ing]" an iPhone 5C used by Farook. [44] On February 16, 2016, in response to a request by
the Department of Justice, a federal magistrate judge ordered Apple to create a custom iOS firmware version
that would allow investigators to circumvent the phone's security features. [45] Cook responded in an open letter,
wherein he denounced the government's demands as constituting a "breach of privacy" with "chilling"
consequences.[44][46]
Public image
Leadership style
As Apple Inc. CEO, Cook regularly begins sending emails at 4:30 a.m. and previously held Sunday-night staff
meetings by telephone to prepare for the next week.[19] Cook shared in May 2013 that his leadership focused on
people, strategy, and execution; he explained, "If you get those three right the world is a great place." [47] Under
Cook's leadership, Apple has increased its donations to charity, and in 2013, he hired Lisa Jackson, formerly
the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, to assist Apple with the development of its renewable energy
activities.[48][49][50]
Public advocacy
Cook with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House, April 25, 2018
During the 2008 election cycle, Cook donated to Barack Obama's first White House election.[51]
While it had been reported in early 2011 that Cook was gay,[52][53] at the time, and prior to his Oct. 2014 public
statement, Cook chose to keep his personal life private. [54] He did publicly support LGBT rights.[55] In October
2014, the Alabama Academy of Honor inducted Cook, who spoke about his home state's record of lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender rights. [56] The Academy of Honor is the highest honor Alabama gives its citizens.
[57]
In 2015, Cook donated to Democratic senators Chuck Schumer and Patrick Leahy for their stances
on eBook pricing and surveillance reform, respectively. [58] During the same election cycle he hosted a fundraiser
for Senator Rob Portman.[58]
In early March 2016, he donated to the election campaign of Democratic representative Zoe Lofgren of
California. In early June, Cook hosted a private fundraiser along with Speaker of the U.S. House of
Representatives Paul Ryan, described by Politico as "a joint fundraising committee aimed at helping to elect
other House Republicans".[58]
In the 2016 election, Cook raised funds for the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton.[59] At one point, Clinton's
campaign considered Cook as a candidate for vice-president.[60]
In September 2017 at Bloomberg's Global Business Forum, Cook defended the DACA immigration program.
He expressed his dissatisfaction with the direction of Donald Trump's administration, stating: "This is
unacceptable. This is not who we are as a country. I am personally shocked that there is even a discussion of
this."[61][62]
In 2018, at a privacy conference in Brussels, Cook expressed his opinions on the stockpiling of personal data
by tech firms, suggesting that it amounted to surveillance and should make the public "very uncomfortable." [63]
Personal life
Cook is a fitness enthusiast and enjoys hiking, cycling, and going to the gym. He is known for being solitary,
using an off-campus fitness center for privacy, and little is publicly shared about his personal life. He explained
in October 2014 that he has sought to achieve a "basic level of privacy". [19][50]
Cook was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1996, an incident he said made him "see the world in a
different way". He has since taken part in charity fundraising, such as cycle races to raise money for the
disease. He later told the Auburn alumni magazine that his symptoms came from "lugging a lot of incredibly
heavy luggage around".[64]
In 2009, Cook said that he offered a portion of his liver to Jobs, since they share a rare blood type. Cook said
that Jobs responded by yelling, "I'll never let you do that. I'll never do that." [65]
While delivering the 2010 commencement speech at Auburn, Cook emphasized the importance
of intuition during significant decision-making processes, and explained that preparation and hard work are also
necessary to execute on intuition.[66]
On October 30, 2014, Cook came out as gay in an editorial for Bloomberg Business, "I'm proud to be gay, and I
consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me." [67] He consulted with Anderson Cooper, who
had publicly come out himself, on aspects of the statement, and cleared the timing to ensure it would not
distract from business interests.[68] Cook had been open about his sexuality "for years" and, while many people
at the company were aware of his sexual orientation, he sought to focus on Apple's products and customers
rather than his personal life. He ended his op-ed, "We pave the sunlit path toward justice together, brick by
brick. This is my brick."[67] Cook became the first and only openly gay CEO on the Fortune 500 list.[68] In
September 2015, Cook clarified on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, "Where I valued my privacy
significantly, I felt that I was valuing it too far above what I could do for other people, so I wanted to tell
everyone my truth."[69] In October 2019, he talked about the decision and remarked on how it was thanks
to LGBTQ people who had fought for their rights before him that paved the way for his success; and that he
needed to let younger generations know that—in a coding analogy—he saw being gay as a feature his life had
to offer rather than any problem.[68] He hoped his openness could help LGBTQ youth dealing with
homelessness, and suicide hope that their situation could get better
Awards and honors
Financial Times Person of the Year (2014)[72][73][74]
Ripple of Change Award (2015)[75][76]
Fortune Magazine's: World's Greatest Leader. (2015)[77][78]
Alabama Academy of Honor: Inductee. (2015)[56]
Human Rights Campaign's Visibility Award (2015)[79][80]
Honorary Doctor of Science from University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland (2017)[81]
Courage Against Hate award from Anti-Defamation League (2018)[8
Robert Bruce Banner
The Hulk is a fictional superhero appearing in publications by the American publisher Marvel Comics.
Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of The
Incredible Hulk (May 1962). In his comic book appearances, the character is both the Hulk, a green-
skinned, hulking and muscular humanoid possessing a vast degree of physical strength, and his alter
ego Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, a physically weak, socially withdrawn, and emotionally reserved physicist,
the two existing as independent personalities and resenting of the other.
Following his accidental exposure to gamma rays during the detonation of an experimental bomb,
Banner is physically transformed into the Hulk when subjected to emotional stress, at or against his will,
often leading to destructive rampages and conflicts that complicate Banner's civilian life. The Hulk's level
of strength is normally conveyed as proportionate to his level of anger. Commonly portrayed as a raging
savage, the Hulk has been represented with other personalities based on Banner's fractured psyche,
from a mindless, destructive force, to a brilliant warrior, or genius scientist in his own right. Despite both
Hulk and Banner's desire for solitude, the character has a large supporting cast, including Banner's
lover Betty Ross, his friend Rick Jones, his cousin She-Hulk, sons Hiro-Kala and Skaar, and his co-founders
of the superhero team the Avengers. However, his uncontrollable power has brought him into conflict
with his fellow heroes and others.
Lee stated that the Hulk's creation was inspired by a combination of Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde.[3]Although the Hulk's coloration has varied throughout the character's publication history, the
most usual color is green. He has two main catchphrases: "Hulk is strongest one there is!" and the
better-known "Hulk smash!", which has founded the basis for numerous pop culture memes.
One of the most iconic characters in popular culture,[4][5] the character has appeared on a variety of
merchandise, such as clothing and collectable items, inspired real-world structures (such as theme park
attractions), and been referenced in a number of media. Banner and the Hulk have been adapted in live-
action, animated, and video game incarnations. The most notable of these were the 1970s The
Incredible Hulk television series, in which the character was portrayed by Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno.
The character was first played in a live-action feature film by Eric Bana, with Edward Norton and Mark
Ruffalo portraying the character in the films The Incredible Hulk, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Avengers:
Age of Ultron, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame of the Marvel Cinematic
Universe.
List of Hulk titles
Concept and creation
The Hulk first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 (cover dated May 1962), written by writer-editor Stan
Lee, penciled and co-plotted by Jack Kirby,[6][7] and inked by Paul Reinman. Lee cites influence
from Frankenstein[8] and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the Hulk's creation:
It was patently apparent that [the monstrous character the] Thing was the most popular character in
[Marvel's recently created superhero team the] Fantastic Four. ... For a long time I'd been aware of the
fact that people were more likely to favor someone who was less than perfect. ... It's a safe bet that you
remember Quasimodo, but how easily can you name any of the heroic, handsomer, more glamorous
characters in The Hunchback of Notre Dame? And then there's Frankenstein ... I've always had a soft
spot in my heart for the Frankenstein monster. No one could ever convince me that he was the bad
guy. ... He never wanted to hurt anyone; he merely groped his torturous way through a second life
trying to defend himself, trying to come to terms with those who sought to destroy him. ... I decided I
might as well borrow from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as well—our protagonist would constantly change
from his normal identity to his superhuman alter ego and back again.[9]
Kirby, commenting upon his influences in drawing the character, recalled as inspiration the tale of a
mother who rescues her child who is trapped beneath a car.[10] Lee has also compared Hulk to
the Golem of Jewish mythology.[8] In The Science of Superheroes, Gresh and Weinberg see the Hulk as a
reaction to the Cold War[11] and the threat of nuclear attack, an interpretation shared by Weinstein
in Up, Up and Oy Vey.[8] This interpretation corresponds with other popularized fictional media created
during this time period, which took advantage of the prevailing sense among Americans that nuclear
power could produce monsters and mutants.[12]
In the debut, Lee chose grey for the Hulk because he wanted a color that did not suggest any particular
ethnic group.[13] Colorist Stan Goldberg, however, had problems with the grey coloring, resulting in
different shades of grey, and even green, in the issue. After seeing the first published issue, Lee chose to
change the skin color to green.[14] Green was used in retellings of the origin, with even reprints of the
original story being recolored for the next two decades, until The Incredible Hulkvol. 2, #302 (December
1984) reintroduced the grey Hulk in flashbacks set close to the origin story. An exception is the early
trade paperback, Origins of Marvel Comics, from 1974, which explains the difficulties in keeping the grey
color consistent in a Stan Lee written prologue, and reprints the origin story keeping the grey coloration.
Since December 1984, reprints of the first issue have displayed the original grey coloring, with the
fictional canon specifying that the Hulk's skin had initially been grey.
Lee gave the Hulk's alter ego the alliterative name "Bruce Banner" because he found he had less
difficulty remembering alliterative names. Despite this, in later stories he misremembered the
character's name and referred to him as "Bob Banner", an error which readers quickly picked up on.
[15] The discrepancy was resolved by giving the character the official full name "Robert Bruce
Banner."[1]
Series history
The Hulk's original series was canceled with issue #6 (March 1963). Lee had written each story, with
Kirby penciling the first five issues and Steve Ditko penciling and inking the sixth. The character
immediately guest-starred in The Fantastic Four #12 (March 1963), and months later became a founding
member of the superhero team the Avengers, appearing in the first two issues of the team's eponymous
series (Sept. and Nov. 1963), and returning as an antagonist in issue #3 and as an ally in #5 (Jan.–May
1964). He then guest-starred in Fantastic Four #25–26 (April–May 1964), which revealed Banner's full
name as Robert Bruce Banner, and The Amazing Spider-Man #14 (July 1964).[16]
The Incredible Hulk #1 (May 1962). Cover art by Jack Kirby and Paul Reinman.
Around this time, co-creator Kirby received a letter from a college dormitory stating the Hulk had been
chosen as its official mascot.[8] Kirby and Lee realized their character had found an audience in college-
age readers.
A year and a half after The Incredible Hulk was canceled, the Hulk became one of two features in Tales
to Astonish, beginning in issue #60 (Oct. 1964).[17]
This new Hulk feature was initially scripted by Lee, with pencils by Steve Ditko and inks by George
Roussos. Other artists later in this run included Jack Kirby (#68–87, June 1965 – Oct. 1966); Gil
Kane (credited as "Scott Edwards", #76, (Feb. 1966)); Bill Everett (#78–84, April–Oct. 1966); John
Buscema (#85–87); and Marie Severin. The Tales to Astonish run introduced the super-villains
the Leader,[3] who would become the Hulk's nemesis, and the Abomination, another gamma-irradiated
being.[3]Marie Severin finished out the Hulk's run in Tales to Astonish. Beginning with issue #102 (April
1968) the book was retitled The Incredible Hulk vol. 2,[18] and ran until 1999, when Marvel canceled the
series and launched Hulk #1. Marvel filed for a trademark for "The Incredible Hulk" in 1967, and
the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued the registration in 1970.[19]
Len Wein wrote the series from 1974 through 1978, working first with Herb Trimpe, then, as of issue
#194 (December 1975), with Sal Buscema, who was the regular artist for ten years.[20] Issues #180–181
(Oct.–Nov. 1974) introduced Wolverine as an antagonist,[21] who would go on to become one of Marvel
Comics' most popular characters. In 1977, Marvel launched a second title, The Rampaging Hulk, a black-
and-white comics magazine.[3] This was originally conceived as a flashback series, set between the end
of his original, short-lived solo title and the beginning of his feature in Tales to Astonish.[22] After nine
issues, the magazine was retitled The Hulk! and printed in color.[23]
In 1977, two Hulk television films were aired to strong ratings, leading to an Incredible Hulk TV
series which aired from 1978 to 1982. A huge ratings success, the series introduced the popular
Hulk catchphrase, "Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry", and broadened the
character's popularity from a niche comic book readership into the mainstream consciousness.[24]
Bill Mantlo became the series' writer for five years beginning with issue #245 (March 1980). Mantlo's
"Crossroads of Eternity" stories (#300–313, Oct. 1984 – Nov. 1985) explored the idea that Banner had
suffered child abuse. Later Hulk writers Peter David and Greg Pak have called these stories an influence
on their approaches to the character.[25][26] Mantlo left the series for Alpha Flight and that series'
writer John Byrne took over The Incredible Hulk.[27] The final issue of Byrne's six issue run featured the
wedding of Bruce Banner and Betty Ross.[28] Writer Peter David began a twelve-year run with issue
#331 (May 1987). He returned to the Roger Stern and Mantlo abuse storylines, expanding the damage
caused, and depicting Banner as suffering dissociative identity disorder (DID).[3]
In 1998, David killed off Banner's long-time love Betty Ross. Marvel executives used Ross' death as an
opportunity to pursue the return of the Savage Hulk. David disagreed, leading to his parting ways with
Marvel.[29] Also in 1998, Marvel relaunched The Rampaging Hulk as a standard comic book rather than
as a comics magazine.[3] The Incredible Hulk was again cancelled with issue #474 of its second volume
in March 1999 and was replaced with new series, Hulk the following month, with returning writer Byrne
and art by Ron Garney.[30][31] By issue #12 (March 2000), Hulk was retitled as The Incredible Hulk vol.
3[32] New series writer Paul Jenkinsdeveloped the Hulk's multiple personalities,[33] and his run was
followed by Bruce Jones[34] with his run featuring Banner being pursued by a secret conspiracy and
aided by the mysterious Mr. Blue. Jones appended his 43-issue Incredible Hulk run with the limited
series Hulk/Thing: Hard Knocks #1–4 (Nov. 2004 – Feb. 2005), which Marvel published after putting the
ongoing series on hiatus. Peter David, who had initially signed a contract for the six-issue Tempest
Fugit limited series, returned as writer when it was decided to make that story the first five parts of the
revived volume three.[35] After a four-part tie-in to the "House of M" storyline and a one-issue epilogue,
David left the series once more, citing the need to do non-Hulk work for the sake of his career.[36]
Writer Greg Pak took over the series in 2006, leading the Hulk through several crossover storylines
including "Planet Hulk" and "World War Hulk", which left the Hulk temporarily incapacitated and
replaced as the series' title character by the demigod Hercules in the retitled The Incredible
Hercules (Feb. 2008). The Hulk returned periodically in Hulk, which then starred the new Red Hulk.
[37] In September 2009, The Incredible Hulk was relaunched as The Incredible Hulk vol. 2, #600.[37] The
series was retitled The Incredible Hulks with issue #612 (Nov. 2010) to encompass the Hulk's expanded
family, and ran until issue #635 (Oct. 2011) when it was replaced with The Incredible Hulk vol. 4, (15
issues, Dec. 2011 – Dec. 2012) written by Jason Aaron with art by Marc Silvestri.[38] As part of Marvel's
2012 Marvel NOW!relaunch, a series called The Indestructible Hulk (Nov. 2012) debuted under the
creative team of Mark Waid and Leinil Yu.[39] This series was replaced in 2014 with The Hulk by Waid
and artist Mark Bagley.[40]
Fictional character biography
During the experimental detonation of a gamma bomb, scientist Robert Bruce Banner saves
teenager Rick Jones who has driven onto the testing field; Banner pushes Jones into a trench to save
him, but is hit with the blast, absorbing massive amounts of gamma radiation. He awakens later
seemingly unscathed, but that night transforms into a lumbering grey form. A pursuing soldier dubs the
creature a "hulk".[41] Originally, it was believed that Banner's transformations into the Hulk were
caused by sunset and undone at sunrise, but later, after Rick witnessed Banner turn into Hulk at daytime
following a failed attempt by Ross' men to shoot the Hulk into space, it was discovered to be caused by
anger. Banner was cured in The Incredible Hulk #4, but chose to restore Hulk's powers with Banner's
intelligence. The gamma-ray machine needed to affect the transformation-induced side effects that
made Banner temporarily sick and weak when returned to his normal state.
In The Avengers #1 (September 1963), the Hulk became a founding member of the title's eponymous
superhero team. By The Avengers #3, overuse of the gamma ray machine rendered the Hulk as an
uncontrollable, rampaging monster, subject to spontaneous changing. In Tales to Astonish #59
(September 1964) the Hulk appeared as an antagonist for Giant-Man. The series established stress as
the trigger for Banner turning into the Hulk and vice versa.[42] It was during this time that the Hulk
developed a more savage and childlike personality, shifting away from his original portrayal as a brutish
but not entirely unintelligent figure. Also, his memory, both long-term and short-term, would now
become markedly impaired in his Hulk state. Tales to Astonish #64 (February 1965) was the last Hulk
story to feature him speaking in complete sentences. In Tales to Astonish #77 (March 1966), Banner's
and the Hulk's dual identity became publicly known when Rick Jones, mistakenly convinced that Banner
was dead (when he actually had been catapulted into the future), told Major Glenn Talbot, a rival to
Banner for the affections of Betsy Ross, the truth. Consequently, Glenn informed his superiors and that
turned Banner into a wanted fugitive upon returning to the present.
The 1970s saw Banner and Betty nearly marry in The Incredible Hulk #124 (February 1970).[43] Betty
ultimately married Talbot in issue #158 (Dec. 1972).[44] The Hulk also traveled to other dimensions, one
of which had him meet empress Jarella, who used magic to bring Banner's intelligence to the Hulk, and
came to love him. The Hulk helped to form the Defenders.[45]
In the 1980s, Banner once again gained control over the Hulk,[46] and gained amnesty for his past
rampages;[47] however, due to the manipulations of supernatural character Nightmare, Banner
eventually lost control over the Hulk.[48] It was also established that Banner had serious mental
problems even before he became the Hulk, having suffered childhood traumas that engendered Bruce's
repressed rage.[49] Banner comes to terms with his issues for a time, and the Hulk and Banner were
physically separated by Doc Samson.[50][51] Banner is recruited by the U.S. government to create
the Hulkbusters, a government team dedicated to catching the Hulk. Banner finally married Betty in The
Incredible Hulk #319 (May 1986) following Talbot's death in 1981.[28][52] Banner and the Hulk were
reunited in The Incredible Hulk#323 (Sep. 1986)[53] and with issue #324, returned the Hulk to his grey
coloration, with his transformations once again occurring at night, regardless of Banner's emotional
state. In issue #347 the grey Hulk persona "Joe Fixit" was introduced, a morally ambiguous Las
Vegas enforcer and tough guy. Banner remained repressed in the Hulk's mind for months, but slowly
began to reappear.
The 1990s saw the Green Hulk return.[54] In issue #377 (Jan. 1991), the Hulk was revamped in a
storyline that saw the personalities of Banner, Grey Hulk, and Savage Hulk confront Banner's past abuse
at the hands of his father Brian and a new "Guilt Hulk" persona. Overcoming the trauma, the intelligent
Banner, cunning Grey Hulk, and powerful Savage Hulk personalities merge into a new single entity
possessing the traits of all three. The Hulk also joined the Pantheon, a secretive organization of
superpowered individuals.[55][56] His tenure with the organization brought the Hulk into conflict with a
tyrannical alternate future version of himself called the Maestro in the 1993 Future
Imperfect miniseries, who rules over a world where many heroes are dead.
In 2000, Banner and the three Hulks (Savage Hulk, Grey Hulk, and the "Merged Hulk", now considered a
separate personality and referred to as the Professor) become able to mentally interact with one
another, each personality taking over the shared body as Banner began to weaken due to his suffering
from Lou Gehrig's disease. During this, the four personalities (including Banner) confronted yet another
submerged personality, a sadistic "Devil" intent on attacking the world and attempting to break out of
Banner's fracturing psyche, but the Devil was eventually locked away again when the Leader was able to
devise a cure for the disease using genes taken from the corpse of Brian Banner.[33] In 2005, it is
revealed that the Nightmare has manipulated the Hulk for years, and it is implied that some or all of the
Hulk's adventures written by Bruce Jones may have been just an illusion.[57]
In 2006, the Illuminati decide the Hulk is too dangerous to remain on Earth and send him away by rocket
ship which crashes on Planet Sakaar ushering in the "Planet Hulk" storyline that saw the Hulk find allies
in the Warbound, and marry alien queen Caiera, a relationship that was later revealed to have born him
two sons: Skaar and Hiro-Kala.[58] After the Illuminati's ship explodes and kills Caiera, the Hulk returns
to Earth with his superhero group Warbound and declares war on the planet in World War Hulk (2007).
[59] However, after learning that Miek, one of the Warbound, had actually been responsible for the
destruction, the Hulk allows himself to be defeated, with Banner subsequently redeeming himself as a
hero as he works with and against the new Red Hulk to defeat the new supervillain team the
Intelligencia.[60]
In the 2010s, Hiro-Kala traveled to Earth to destroy the OldStrong Power wielded by Skaar, forcing Skaar
and the Hulk to defeat and imprison him within his home planet.[61]
During the 2011 Fear Itself storyline, the Hulk finds one of the Serpent's magical hammers associated
with the Worthy and becomes Nul: Breaker of Worlds. As he starts to transform, the Hulk tells the Red
She-Hulk to run far away from him. Rampaging through South and Central America, Nul was eventually
transported to New York City where he began battling Thor, with aid of the Thing, who was transformed
into Angrir: Breaker of Souls. After defeating the Thing, Thor stated that he never could beat the Hulk,
and instead removed him from the battle by launching him into Earth orbit, after which Thor collapsed
from exhaustion.[62] Landing in Romania, Nul immediately began heading for the base of the vampire-
king Dracula. Opposed by Dracula's forces, including a legion of monsters, Nul was seemingly
unstoppable.[63]Only after the intervention of Raizo Kodo's Forgiven was Nul briefly slowed.
[64] Ultimately, Nul makes his way to Dracula's castle where the timely arrival of Kodo and Forgiven
member Inka, disguised as Betty Ross, is able to throw off the effects of the Nul possession. Throwing
aside the hammer, the Hulk regains control, and promptly leaves upon realizing "Betty's" true nature.
[65]
With the crisis concluded, the Hulk contacted Doctor Doom for help separating him and Banner for good
in return for an unspecified favour. Doom proceeded to perform brain surgery on the Hulk, extracting
the uniquely Banner elements from the Hulk's brain and cloning a new body for Banner.[66] When
Doctor Doom demands to keep Banner for his own purposes, the Hulk reneges on the deal and flees
with Banner's body, leaving his alter ego in the desert where he was created to ensure that Doctor
Doom cannot use Banner's intellect.[67] When Banner goes insane due to his separation from the Hulk,
irradiating an entire tropical island trying to recreate his transformation- something he cannot do as the
cloned body lacks the genetic elements of Banner that allowed him to process the gamma radiation- the
Hulk is forced to destroy his other side by letting him be disintegrated by a gamma bomb, prompting the
Hulk to accuse Doom of tampering with Banner's mind, only for Doom to observe that what was
witnessed was simply Banner without the Hulk to use as a scapegoat for his problems.[68] Initially
assuming that Banner is dead, the Hulk soon realizes that Banner was somehow "re-combined" with him
when the gamma bomb disintegrated Banner's body, resulting in the Hulk finding himself waking up in
various strange locations, including helping the Punisher confront a drug cartel run by a mutated dog,
hunting sasquatches with Kraven the Hunter, and being forced to face Wolverine and the Thing in an old
SHIELD base. Banner eventually leaves a video message for the Hulk in which he apologizes for his
actions while they were separate, having come to recognize that he is a better person with the Hulk than
without,[69] the two joining forces to thwart the Doombots' attempt to use the animals on Banner's
irradiated island as the basis for a new gamma army using a one-of-a-kind gamma cure Banner had
created to turn all the animals back to normal.[70]Following this, Bruce willingly joined the spy
organization S.H.I.E.L.D., allowing them to use the Hulk as a weapon in exchange for providing him with
the means and funding to create a lasting legacy for himself.[71]
After the Hulk had suffered brain damage upon being shot in the head by the Order of the Shield- the
assassin having been carefully trained to target Bruce at just the right part of the brain to incapacitate
him without triggering a transformation- Iron Man used the Extremis to cure the Hulk.[72] This
procedure also increased Banner's mental capacity, which gave him the intelligence to tweak the
Extremis virus within him and unleash a new persona for the Hulk: the super-intelligent Doc Green.
During the 2014 "Original Sin" storyline, Bruce Banner confronted by the eye of the murdered Uatu the
Watcher. Bruce temporarily experienced some of Tony Stark's memories of their first meeting before
either of them became the Hulk or Iron Man. During this vision, Bruce witnessed Tony modifying the
gamma bomb to be more effective prompting Bruce to realize that Tony was essentially responsible for
him becoming the Hulk in the first place.[73] Subsequent research reveals that Tony's tampering had
actually refined the bomb's explosive potential so that it would not disintegrate everyone within the
blast radius, with the result that Tony's actions had actually saved Bruce's life.[74]
In the 2014 "AXIS" storyline, when a mistake made by the Scarlet Witch causes various heroes and
villains to experience a moral inversion, Bruce Banner attended a meeting between Nick Fury Jr.
and Maria Hill of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers who refused to turn over Red Skull. Later when he sided
with Edwin Jarvis and tried to prevent his teammates from executing the Red Skull, the Hulk was thrown
aside by Luke Cage. The Hulk's sorrow at his friends' betrayal awakened a new persona known as the
bloodthirsty Kluh (described as the Hulk's Hulk, being the ruthless part of himself that even the Hulk
repressed) with this new version easily defeating the Avengers, sneering that the Hulk they knew was
nothing more than a "sad piece of 'Doc Green's' ID." Kluh then leaves to wreak havoc,
[75] with Nova attempting to stop him after witnessing his rampage with the remaining good heroes.
[76] As with the other inverted Avengers and X-Men, Kluh was restored to Hulk when Brother
Voodoowas summoned back to life by Doctor Doom so that Daniel Drumm's ghost can possess the
Scarlet Witch and undo the inversion.
With his newfound intellect, Doc Green came to the conclusion that the world was in danger by Gamma
Mutates and thus needed to be depowered. He developed a serum made from Adamantium nanobites
that absorbed gamma energy.[77] He used these to depower Red Leader, Red She-Hulk, Red Hulk, Skaar,
Gamma Corps, and A-Bomb, but decided to 'spare' She-Hulk as he concluded that she was the one
gamma mutation whose life had been legitimately improved by her mutation. At the close of the
storyline, Doc Green discovered that he was beginning to disappear as the result of the Extremis serum
wearing off. He ultimately allowed himself to fade away, returning to his normal Hulk form, as he feared
that remaining at his current intellectual level would lead to him becoming the Maestro.[78]
During the 2015 "Secret Wars" storyline, the Hulk took part in the incursion between Earth-616 and
Earth-1610. The Hulk used the "Fastball Special" with Colossus to destroy the Triskelion.[79]
As part of the 2015–2018 All-New, All-Different Marvel branding, Amadeus Cho becomes the new Hulk.
Flashbacks reveal that the Hulk had absorbed a dangerous new type of radiation while helping Iron Man
and the Black Panther deal with a massive accident on Kiber Island. Fearing the Hulk's meltdown would
kill countless innocents, Cho was able to use special nanites to absorb the Hulk from Banner and take it
into himself to become his own version of the Hulk, leaving Banner normal and free from the Hulk.
[80] He is then rescued from a bar fight by Amadeus, who tells him that he is cured. Having confirmed
that he can no longer transform or sense the Hulk, Bruce spends some time travelling across America
taking various risks such as driving at high speeds, running away from a bear, or gambling in Las Vegas,
until he is confronted by Tony Stark out of concern that Bruce has a death wish. Bruce instead
acknowledges that he still harbors guilt and rage over how so many of the Hulk's rampages were
provoked by various agencies refusing to leave him alone.[81]
During the 2016 "Civil War II" storyline, the vision of the Inhuman Ulysses shows a rampaging Hulk
standing over the corpses of the superheroes. Meanwhile, Bruce Banner is shown to have set up a
laboratory in Alpine, Utah, where he is approached by Captain Marvel,[82] followed by Tony Stark, the
rest of the Avengers, the X-Men, and the Inhumans. The confrontation leads to the Beast hacking into
Banner's work servers and the revelation that he had been injecting himself with dead gamma-
irradiated cells. S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Maria Hill places him under arrest. Banner gets infuriated at all
these events, when suddenly, Hawkeye shoots Banner with an arrow to the head and then to the heart,
killing him, much to the dismay and horror of the superheroes, especially Tony Stark. At an Avengers-
presided tribunal, Hawkeye states that Bruce Banner had approached him and ordered him to kill him if
he ever showed signs of turning into the Hulk again.[83] At the funeral, Korg of the Warbound stated
how Hulk wanted to be left alone and how his allies that he made along the way have become his family.
In his video will, Bruce leaves various items to other heroes and his allies including leaving Doctor
Strange his notes on the Hulk's ability to perceive ghosts and an egg-timer for the various
former/current other Hulks (based on one of Bruce's more successful attempts to control himself as he
would sit down for three minutes doing nothing before making a particularly big decision and then
decide if he still wanted to do it).[84]
Following the funeral of Bruce Banner, the Hand in allegiance with Daniel Drumm's ghost steal Bruce
Banner's body in order to use the dead to bolster their ranks.[85]When the reassembled Uncanny
Avengers went to Japan and attempted to enlist Elektra for help in stopping the Hand, the ritual that the
Hand performed has been completed as the Uncanny Avengers are attacked by a revived Hulk who is
wearing samurai armor.[86] The Uncanny Avengers were able to contain Hulk's rampage and sever his
mystical link to the Beast of the Hand. Afterwards, Hulk regressed back to Bruce Banner and returned to
the dead.[87]
During the 2017 "Secret Empire" storyline, Arnim Zola used an unknown method to temporary revive
Bruce Banner where the Hydra Supreme version of Captain America persuades his Hulk side to attack
the Underground's hideout called the Vault. He fought Thing and Giant-Man's A.I.Vengers until the
temporary revival that Arnim Zola did to Bruce Banner started to wear off and cause Hulk to die again.
[88]
During the "No Surrender" arc, the exiled Elder of the Universe named Challenger revives Hulk to be his
ace in the hole during a contest between his Black Order and Grandmaster's Lethal Legion. Hulk
participated since he knew that Earth will be destroyed either way while his Bruce Banner suspects that
Hulk's revivals were a manifestation of Hulk's immortality. While defeating Cannonball and Living
Lightning, breaking Vision, and draining the gamma energy out of Robert Maverick's Hulk Plug-In,
Wonder Man successfully reasoned with him as Hulk destroyed the Pyarmoid in Voyager's possession.
After feeling remorse for what happened, Bruce Banner became Hulk and faced off against Challenger.
After Challenger sent Hulk into Earth's orbit, Hulk was pleased that he managed to hurt Challenger.[89]
While maintaining a low profile, Bruce Banner was shot by Tommy Hill of the Dogs of Hell biker gang
during a robbery that also claimed the lives of Sandy Brockhurst and Josh Alfaro. He came back to life
and turned into Hulk where he badly beat up Tommy Hill. The witnesses in the Dogs of Hell told
Detective Gloria Mayes of the attacker as she and reporter Jackie McGee have a suspicion that it was
Hulk even though Banner is believed to be dead.[90]
Alternative versions of Hulk
Alternative versions of the Hulk
A number of alternate universes and alternate timelines in Marvel Comics publications allow writers to
introduce variations on the Hulk, in which the character's origins, behavior, and morality differ from the
mainstream setting. In some stories, someone other than Bruce Banner is the Hulk.
In some versions, the Hulk succumbs to the darker side of his nature: in "Future Imperfect" (December
1992), a future version of the Hulk has become the Maestro, the tyrannical and ruthless ruler of a
nuclear war-irradiated Earth,[91] and in "Old Man Logan" (2008), an insane Hulk rules over a post-
apocalyptic California, and leads a gang of his inbred Hulk children created with his first cousin She-Hulk.
[92][93]
Characterization
Like other long-lived characters, the Hulk's character and cultural interpretations have changed with
time, adding or modifying character traits. The Hulk is typically seen as a hulking man with green skin,
wearing only a pair of torn purple pants that survive his physical transformation. As the character
progressed, other outfits were designed that could stretch to accommodate the transformations back
and forth. As Bruce Banner, the character is approximately 5'9" tall and weighs 128Ibs, but when
transformed into the Hulk, the character can stand between 7–8 feet tall and weigh up to 1,400Ibs.
[94]Following his debut, Banner's transformations were triggered at nightfall, turning him into a grey-
skinned Hulk. In Incredible Hulk #2, the Hulk started to appear with green skin,[95] and in Avengers #3
(1963) Banner realized that his transformations were now triggered by surges of adrenaline in response
to feelings of fear, pain or anger.[96] Incredible Hulk #227 (1978) established that the Hulk's separate
personality was not due to the mutation affecting his brain, but because Banner was suffering
from multiple personality disorder, with the savage Green Hulk representing Banner's repressed
childhood rage and aggression,[97] and the Grey Hulk representing Banner's repressed selfish desires
and urges
Statue of the Hulk
.[98]
Personality
Bruce Banner
During his decades of publication, Banner has been portrayed differently, but common themes persist.
Banner, a physicist, is sarcastic and seemingly very self-assured when he first appears in Incredible
Hulk #1, but is also emotionally withdrawn in most fashions.[3] Banner designed the gamma bomb
which caused his affliction, and the ironic twist of his self-inflicted fate has been one of the most
persistent common themes.[8] Arie Kaplan describes the character thus: "Robert Bruce Banner lives in a
constant state of panic, always wary that the monster inside him will erupt, and therefore he can't form
meaningful bonds with anyone."[99] As a child, Banner's father Brian often got mad and physically
abused both Banner and his mother, creating the psychological complex of fear, anger, and the fear of
anger and the destruction it can cause that underlies the character. Banner has been shown to be
emotionally repressed, but capable of deep love for Betty Ross, and for solving problems posed to him.
Under the writing of Paul Jenkins, Banner was shown to be a capable fugitive, applying deductive
reasoning and observation to figure out the events transpiring around him. On the occasions that
Banner has controlled the Hulk's body, he has applied principles of physics to problems and challenges
and used deductive reasoning. It was shown after his ability to turn into the Hulk was taken away by the
Red Hulk that Banner has been extremely versatile as well as cunning when dealing with the many
situations that followed. When he was briefly separated from the Hulk by Doom, Banner became
criminally insane, driven by his desire to regain the power of the Hulk, but once the two recombined he
came to accept that he was a better person with the Hulk to provide something for him to focus on
controlling rather than allowing his intellect to run without restraint against the world.[100]
Hulk
The original Grey Hulk was shown as average in intelligence who roamed aimlessly and became annoyed
at "puny" humans who took him for a dangerous monster. Shortly after becoming the Hulk, his
transformation continued turning him green, coinciding with him beginning to display primitive speech,
[95] and by Incredible Hulk#4, radiation treatments gave Banner's mind complete control of the Hulk's
body. While Banner relished his indestructibility and power, he was quick to anger and more aggressive
in his Hulk form and while he became known as a hero alongside the Avengers, his increasing paranoia
caused him to leave the group, believing he would never be trusted.[96]
Originally, the Hulk was shown as simple minded and quick to anger.[101] The Hulk generally divorces
his identity from Banner's, decrying Banner as "puny Banner."[102]From his earliest stories, the Hulk has
been concerned with finding sanctuary and quiet[8] and often is shown reacting emotionally to
situations quickly. Grest and Weinberg call Hulk the "dark, primordial side of Banner's psyche."[11] Even
in the earliest appearances, Hulk spoke in the third person. Hulk retains a modest intelligence, thinking
and talking in full sentences, and Lee even gives the Hulk expository dialogue in issue six, allowing
readers to learn just what capabilities Hulk has, when the Hulk says, "But these muscles ain't just for
show! All I gotta do is spring up and just keep goin'!" In the 1970s, Hulk was shown as more prone to
anger and rage, and less talkative. Writers played with the nature of his transformations,[103] briefly
giving Banner control over the change, and the ability to maintain control of his Hulk form. Artistically
and conceptually, the character has become progressively more muscular and powerful in the years
since his debut.[104]
Originally, Stan Lee wanted the Hulk to be grey but due to ink problems, Hulk's color was changed to
green. This was later changed in story to indicate that the Grey Hulk and the Savage Hulk are separate
personalities or entities fighting for control in Bruce's subconscious. The Grey Hulk incarnation can do
the more unscrupulous things that Robert Bruce Banner could not bring himself to do, with many
sources comparing the Grey Hulk to the moody teenager that Banner never allowed himself to be. While
the Grey Hulk still had the "madder he gets, the stronger he gets" part that is similar to the Savage Hulk,
it is on a much slower rate. It is said by Leader that the Grey Hulk is stronger on nights of the New Moon
and weaker on nights of the Full Moon. Originally, the night is when Bruce Banner becomes the Grey
Hulk and changes back by dawn. In later comics, willpower or stress would have Robert Bruce Banner
turn into the Grey Hulk.[105] During one storyline where he was placed under a spell to prevent him
turning back into Bruce Banner and publicly presumed dead when he was teleported away from a
gamma bomb explosion that destroyed an entire town, the Grey Hulk adopted a specific name as Joe
Fixit, a security guard for a Las Vegas casino owner, with the Grey Hulk often being referred to as Joe
after these events.[volume & issue needed]
The Gravage Hulk is the result of Robert Bruce Banner using the Gamma Projector on himself which
merged his Savage Hulk and Grey Hulk personas. This form possesses the raw power of the Savage Hulk
and the cunning intellect of the Grey Hulk. While he doesn't draw on anger to empower him, the
Gravage Hulk persona draws on dimensional nexus energies to increase his level.[106]
The Dark Hulk persona is the result of Hulk being possessed by Shanzar. This form has black skin and is
viciously strong.[107]
Convinced that unaided, the Banner, Green Hulk and Grey Hulk identities would eventually destroy each
other, Doc Samson uses hypnosis to merge the three to create a new single identity combining Banner's
intelligence with the Grey Hulk's and Banner's attitudes, and the Green Hulk's body. This new or Merged
Hulk considered himself cured and began a new life, but the merger was not perfect, and the Hulk
sometimes still considered Banner a separate person, and when overcome with rage, the Merged Hulk
would transform back into Banner's human body while still thinking himself the Hulk.[98] The Merged
Hulk is the largest of the three primary Hulk incarnations and has a higher base line. While in a calm
emotional state, the Merged Hulk is stronger than Savage Hulk when he is calm. Unlike the Savage Hulk
and the Grey Hulk, Robert Bruce Banner subconsciously installed a type of safeguard within this
incarnation. The safeguard is that when the Merged Hulk gets angry, he regresses back to Robert Bruce
Banner with the mind of the Savage Hulk.[108]
The Green Scar persona is unleashed on Sakaar and is considered an enraged version of Gravage Hulk. In
addition, he is an expert in armed combat like the use of swords and shields. Green Scar is also a capable
leader and an expert strategist.[109]
Kluh is described as the Hulk's Hulk. This form has black skin, red lines, and a mohawk. Kluh had
incredible power where he bested the inverted Avengers and knocked around Nova and has normal
intellect.[75]
Doc Green is a variation of the Merged Hulk persona that is the result of Extremis fixing Hulk's brain. This
persona is powerful enough to destroy Tony Stark's mansion with one thunderclap.[77]
Immortal Hulk is the result of Bruce Banner and Hulk having been through different deaths and rebirths.
This incarnation is articulate, smart, cunning, and does merciless attacks on those who do harm. Unlike
the other Hulk incarnations, Immortal Hulk is content with waiting inside Bruce. If Bruce is injured by
sunset, the Immortal Hulk will emerge with his transformation being limited to night-time.[90]
Powers and abilities
Banner is considered one of the greatest scientific minds on Earth, possessing "a mind so brilliant it
cannot be measured on any known intelligence test."[110] Norman Osborn estimates that he is the
fourth most-intelligent person on Earth.[111] Banner holds expertise in biology, chemistry, engineering,
medicine, physiology, and nuclear physics. Using this knowledge, he creates advanced technology
dubbed "Bannertech", which is on par with technological development from Tony Stark or Doctor Doom.
Some of these technologies include a force field that can protect him from the attacks of Hulk-level
entities, and a teleporter.
The Hulk possesses the potential for seemingly limitless physical strength which is influenced by his
emotional state, particularly his anger.[112] This has been reflected in the repeated comment, "The
madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets."[113] The cosmically-powerful entity known as
the Beyonder once analyzed the Hulk's physiology, and claimed that the Hulk's potential strength had
"no finite element inside."[114] Hulk's strength has been depicted as sometimes limited by Banner's
subconscious influence; when Jean Grey psionically "shut Banner off", Hulk became strong enough to
overpower and destroy the physical form of the villain Onslaught.[115] Writer Greg Pak described the
Worldbreaker Hulk shown during World War Hulk as having a level of physical power where "Hulk was
stronger than any mortal—and most immortals—who ever walked the Earth",[116] and depicted the
character as powerful enough to completely destroy entire planets.[117][118] His strength allows him to
leap into lower Earth orbit or across continents,[119][120] and he has displayed superhuman speed.
[121][122] Exposure to radiation has also been shown to make the Hulk stronger.[114]
His durability, regeneration, and endurance also increase in proportion to his temper.[123] Hulk is
resistant to injury or damage, though the degree to which varies between interpretations, but he has
withstood the equivalent of solar temperatures,[124][125] nuclear explosions,[121][126][127][128] and
planet-shattering impacts.[117][118][129][130][131] Despite his remarkable resiliency, continuous
barrages of high-caliber gunfire can hinder his movement to some degree while he can be temporarily
subdued with intense attacks with chemical weapons such as anesthetic gases, although any
interruption of such dosages will allow him to quickly recover.[132] He has been shown to have both
regenerative and adaptive healing abilities, including growing tissues to allow him to breathe
underwater,[133] surviving unprotected in space for extended periods,[134] and when injured, healing
from most wounds within seconds, including, on one occasion, the complete destruction of most of his
body mass.[135] His future self, the "Maestro", was even eventually able to recover from being blown to
powder.[136] As an effect, he has an extremely prolonged lifespan.[137][138]
He also possesses less commonly described powers, including abilities allowing him to "home in" to his
place of origin in New Mexico;[139] resist psychic control,[140][141][142][143] or unwilling
transformation;[144][145][146] grow stronger from radiation[117][127][128][147][148] or dark magic;
[149][150] punch his way between separate temporal[151][152] or spatial[153] dimensions; and to see
and interact with astral forms.[150][154] Some of these abilities were in later years explained as being
related; his ability to home in on the New Mexico bomb site was due to his latent ability to sense astral
forms and spirits, since the bomb site was also the place where the Maestro's skeleton was and
Maestro's spirit was calling out to him in order to absorb his radiation.[136]
In the first Hulk comic series, "massive" doses of gamma rays would cause the Hulk to transform back to
Banner, although this ability was written out of the character by the 1970s.[citation needed]
Supporting characters
List of Hulk supporting characters
Over the long publication history of the Hulk's adventures, many recurring characters have featured
prominently, including his best friend and sidekick Rick Jones, love interest and wife Betty Ross and her
father, the often adversarial General "Thunderbolt" Ross. Both Banner and Hulk have families created in
their respective personas. Banner is son to Brian, an abusive father who killed Banner's mother while
she tried to protect her son from his father's delusional attacks, and cousin to Jennifer Walters, the She-
Hulk, who serves as his frequent ally.[155] Banner had a stillborn child with Betty, while the Hulk has
two sons with his deceased second wife CaieraOldstrong, Skaar and Hiro-Kala, and his DNA was used to
create a daughter named Lyra with Thundra the warrior woman.[156]
The Fantastic Four #12 (March 1963), featured the Hulk's first battle with the Thing. Although many
early Hulk stories involve Ross trying to capture or destroy the Hulk, the main villain is often a radiation-
based character, like the Gargoyle or the Leader, along with other foes such as the Toad Men, or Asian
warlord General Fang. Ross' daughter Betty loves Banner and criticizes her father for pursuing the Hulk.
General Ross' right-hand man, Major Glenn Talbot, also loves Betty and is torn between pursuing Hulk
and trying to gain Betty's love more honorably. Rick Jones serves as the Hulk's friend and sidekick in
these early tales. The Hulk's archenemies are the Abomination and the Leader. The Abomination is more
monstrous and wreaks havoc for fun and pleasure. The Leader is a super-genius who has tried plan after
plan to take over the world.
Cultural impact
Hulk in other media
The Hulk character and the concepts behind it have been raised to the level of iconic status by many
within and outside the comic book industry. In 2003, Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine claimed the
character had "stood the test of time as a genuine icon of American pop culture."[157] In 2008, the Hulk
was listed as the 19th greatest comic book character by Wizard magazine.[158] Empire magazine named
him as the 14th-greatest comic-book character and the fifth-greatest Marvel character.[159] In 2011,
the Hulk placed No. 9 on IGN's list of "Top 100 Comic Book Heroes",[160] and fourth on their list of "The
Top 50 Avengers" in 2012.[161]
Analysis
The Hulk is often viewed as a reaction to war. As well as being a reaction to the Cold War, the character
has been a cipher for the frustrations the Vietnam War raised, and Ang Lee said that the Iraq
War influenced his direction.[11][162][163] In the Michael Nyman edited edition of The Guardian,
Stefanie Diekmann explored Marvel Comics' reaction to the September 11 attacks. Diekmann discussed
The Hulk's appearance in the 9/11 tribute comic Heroes, claiming that his greater prominence,
alongside Captain America, aided in "stressing the connection between anger and justified violence
without having to depict anything more than a well-known and well-respected
protagonist."[164] In Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics, Les
Daniels addresses the Hulk as an embodiment of cultural fears of radiation and nuclear science. He
quotes Jack Kirby thus: "As long as we're experimenting with radioactivity, there's no telling what may
happen, or how much our advancements in science may cost us." Daniels continues, "The Hulk became
Marvel's most disturbing embodiment of the perils inherent in the atomic age."[165]
In Comic Book Nation, Bradford Wright alludes to Hulk's counterculture status, referring to a
1965 Esquire magazine poll amongst college students which "revealed that student radicals
ranked Spider-Man and the Hulk alongside the likes of Bob Dylan and Che Guevara as their favorite
revolutionary icons." Wright goes on to cite examples of his anti-authority symbol status. Two of these
are "The Ballad of the Hulk" by Jerry Jeff Walker, and the Rolling Stone cover for September 30, 1971, a
full color Herb Trimpe piece commissioned for the magazine.[103][166] The Hulk has been caricatured in
such animated television series as The Simpsons,[167] Robot Chicken, and Family Guy,[168] and
such comedy TV series as The Young Ones.[169] The character is also used as a cultural reference point
for someone displaying anger or agitation. For example, in a 2008 Daily Mirror review of
an EastEnders episode, a character is described as going "into Incredible Hulk mode, smashing up his
flat."[170] The Hulk, especially his alter-ego Bruce Banner, is also a common reference in rap music. The
term was represented as an analogue to marijuana in Dr. Dre's 2001,[171] while more conventional
references are made in Ludacris and Jermaine Dupri's popular single "Welcome to Atlanta".[172]
The 2003 Ang Lee-directed Hulk film saw discussion of the character's appeal to Asian Americans.
[173] The Taiwanese-born Ang Lee commented on the "subcurrent of repression" that underscored the
character of The Hulk, and how that mirrored his own experience: "Growing up, my artistic leanings
were always repressed—there was always pressure to do something 'useful,' like being a doctor." Jeff
Yang, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, extended this self-identification to Asian American culture,
arguing that "the passive-aggressive streak runs deep among Asian Americans—especially those who
have entered creative careers, often against their parents' wishes."[174]
There have been explorations about the real world possibility of Hulk's gamma-radiation based origin.
In The Science of Superheroes, Lois Grest and Robert Weinberg examined Hulk's powers, explaining the
scientific flaws in them. Most notably, they point out that the level of gamma radiation Banner is
exposed to at the initial blast would induce radiation sickness and kill him, or if not, create significant
cancer risks for Banner, because hard radiation strips cells of their ability to function. They go on to offer
up an alternate origin, in which a Hulk might be created by biological experimentation with adrenal
glands and GFP. Charles Q. Choi from LiveScience.com further explains that unlike the Hulk, gamma rays
are not green; existing as they do beyond the visible spectrum, gamma rays have no color at all that we
can describe. He also explains that gamma rays are so powerful (the most powerful form of
electromagnetic radiation and 10,000 times more powerful than visible light) that they can even convert
energy into matter – a possible explanation for the increased mass that Bruce Banner takes on during
transformations. "Just as the Incredible Hulk 'is the strongest one there is,' as he says himself, so too are
gamma ray bursts the most powerful explosions known."[175]
Other Marvel characters by the same name
Prior to the debut of the Hulk in May 1962, Marvel had earlier monster characters that used the name
"Hulk", but had no direct relation.
Debuting in Strange Tales #75 (June 1960), was a huge robot built by Albert Poole called the Hulk, which
was actually armor that Poole would wear. In modern-day reprints, the character's name was changed
to Grutan.[176]
First appearing in Journey Into Mystery #62 (Nov. 1960) was Xemnu the Living Hulk, a huge, furry alien
monster.[177] Coincidentally, the character's debut story was also illustrated by Jack Kirby. The
character reappeared in issue #66 (March 1961). Since then the character has been a mainstay in the
Marvel Universe, and was renamed Xemnu the Titan.[178]
A huge, orange, slimy monster was featured in a movie called The Hulk in Tales to Astonish #21 (July
1961). In modern-day reprints, the character's name was changed to the Glop.[179]
Reception
The Hulk was ranked #1 on a listing of Marvel Comics' monster characters in 2015.[180]
Sir Joseph John Thomson
Sir Joseph John Thomson OM PRS[1] (18 December 1856 – 30 August 1940) was an
English physicist and Nobel Laureate in Physics, credited with the discovery and identification of
the electron, the first subatomic particle to be discovered.
In 1897, Thomson showed that cathode rays were composed of previously unknown negatively charged
particles (now called electrons), which he calculated must have bodies much smaller than atoms and a
very large charge-to-mass ratio.[2] Thomson is also credited with finding the first evidence
for isotopes of a stable (non-radioactive) element in 1913, as part of his exploration into the
composition of canal rays (positive ions). His experiments to determine the nature of positively charged
particles, with Francis William Aston, were the first use of mass spectrometry and led to the
development of the mass spectrograph.[2]
Thomson was awarded the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the conduction of electricity in
gases
Sir
J. J. Thomson
OM PRS
Education and personal life
Joseph John Thomson was born 18 December 1856 in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, Lancashire, England.
His mother, Emma Swindells, came from a local textile family. His father, Joseph James Thomson, ran an
antiquarian bookshop founded by a great-grandfather. He had a brother, Frederick Vernon Thomson,
who was two years younger than he was.[4] J. J. Thomson was a reserved yet devout Anglican.[5][6][7]
His early education was in small private schools where he demonstrated outstanding talent and interest
in science. In 1870, he was admitted to Owens College in Manchester (now University of Manchester) at
the unusually young age of 14. His parents planned to enroll him as an apprentice engineer to Sharp-
Stewart & Co, a locomotive manufacturer, but these plans were cut short when his father died in 1873.
[4]
He moved on to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1876. In 1880, he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in
mathematics (Second Wrangler in the Tripos[8] and 2nd Smith's Prize).[9] He applied for and became a
Fellow of Trinity College in 1881.[10] Thomson received his Master of Arts degree (with Adams Prize) in
1883.[9]
Family
In 1890, Thomson married Rose Elisabeth Paget, one of his former students,[11] daughter of Sir George
Edward Paget, KCB, a physician and then Regius Professor of Physic at Cambridge at the church of St.
Mary the Less. They had one son, George Paget Thomson, and one daughter, Joan Paget Thomson.
Career and research
Overview
On 22 December 1884, Thomson was appointed Cavendish Professor of Physics at the University of
Cambridge.[2] The appointment caused considerable surprise, given that candidates such as Osborne
Reynolds or Richard Glazebrook were older and more experienced in laboratory work. Thomson was
known for his work as a mathematician, where he was recognized as an exceptional talent.[12]
He was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1906, "in recognition of the great merits of his theoretical and
experimental investigations on the conduction of electricity by gases." He was knighted in 1908 and
appointed to the Order of Merit in 1912. In 1914, he gave the Romanes Lecture in Oxford on "The
atomic theory". In 1918, he became Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, where he remained until his
death. Joseph John Thomson died on 30 August 1940; his ashes rest in Westminster Abbey, near the
graves of Sir Isaac Newton and his former student, Ernest Rutherford.[13]
One of Thomson's greatest contributions to modern science was in his role as a highly gifted teacher.
One of his students was Ernest Rutherford, who later succeeded him as Cavendish Professor of Physics.
In addition to Thomson himself, six of his research assistants (Charles Glover Barkla, Niels Bohr, Max
Born, William Henry Bragg, Owen Willans Richardson and Charles Thomson Rees Wilson) won Nobel
Prizes in physics, and two (Francis William Aston and Ernest Rutherford) won Nobel prizes in chemistry.
In addition, Thomson's son (George Paget Thomson) won the 1937 Nobel Prize in physics for proving the
wave-like properties of electrons.
Early work
Thomson's prize-winning master's work, Treatise on the motion of vortex rings, shows his early interest
in atomic structure.[3] In it, Thomson mathematically described the motions of William Thomson's
vortex theory of atoms.[12]
Thomson published a number of papers addressing both mathematical and experimental issues of
electromagnetism. He examined the electromagnetic theory of light of James Clerk Maxwell, introduced
the concept of electromagnetic mass of a charged particle, and demonstrated that a moving charged
body would apparently increase in mass.[12]
Much of his work in mathematical modelling of chemical processes can be thought of as
early computational chemistry.[2] In further work, published in book form as Applications of dynamics
to physics and chemistry (1888), Thomson addressed the transformation of energy in mathematical and
theoretical terms, suggesting that all energy might be kinetic.[12] His next book, Notes on recent
researches in electricity and magnetism (1893), built upon Maxwell's Treatise upon electricity and
magnetism, and was sometimes referred to as "the third volume of Maxwell".[3] In it, Thomson
emphasized physical methods and experimentation and included extensive figures and diagrams of
apparatus, including a number for the passage of electricity through gases.[12] His third book, Elements
of the mathematical theory of electricity and magnetism (1895)[14] was a readable introduction to a
wide variety of subjects, and achieved considerable popularity as a textbook.[12]
A series of four lectures, given by Thomson on a visit to Princeton University in 1896, were subsequently
published as Discharge of electricity through gases (1897). Thomson also presented a series of six
lectures at Yale University in 1904.[3]
Discovery of the electron
Several scientists, such as William Prout and Norman Lockyer, had suggested that atoms were built up
from a more fundamental unit, but they envisioned this unit to be the size of the smallest atom,
hydrogen. Thomson in 1897 was the first to suggest that one of the fundamental units was more than
1,000 times smaller than an atom, suggesting the subatomic particle now known as the electron.
Thomson discovered this through his explorations on the properties of cathode rays. Thomson made his
suggestion on 30 April 1897 following his discovery that cathode rays (at the time known as Lenard rays)
could travel much further through air than expected for an atom-sized particle.[15] He estimated the
mass of cathode rays by measuring the heat generated when the rays hit a thermal junction and
comparing this with the magnetic deflection of the rays. His experiments suggested not only that
cathode rays were over 1,000 times lighter than the hydrogen atom, but also that their mass was the
same in whichever type of atom they came from. He concluded that the rays were composed of very
light, negatively charged particles which were a universal building block of atoms. He called the particles
"corpuscles", but later scientists preferred the name electron which had been suggested by George
Johnstone Stoney in 1891, prior to Thomson's actual discovery.[16]
In April 1897, Thomson had only early indications that the cathode rays could be deflected electrically
(previous investigators such as Heinrich Hertz had thought they could not be). A month after Thomson's
announcement of the corpuscle, he found that he could reliably deflect the rays by an electric field if he
evacuated the discharge tube to a very low pressure. By comparing the deflection of a beam of cathode
rays by electric and magnetic fields he obtained more robust measurements of the mass-to-charge ratio
that confirmed his previous estimates.[17] This became the classic means of measuring the charge-to-
mass ratio of the electron. (The charge itself was not measured until Robert A. Millikan's oil drop
experiment in 1909.)
Thomson believed that the corpuscles emerged from the atoms of the trace gas inside his cathode ray
tubes. He thus concluded that atoms were divisible, and that the corpuscles were their building blocks.
In 1904, Thomson suggested a model of the atom, hypothesizing that it was a sphere of positive matter
within which electrostatic forces determined the positioning of the corpuscles.[2] To explain the overall
neutral charge of the atom, he proposed that the corpuscles were distributed in a uniform sea of
positive charge. In this "plum pudding" model, the electrons were seen as embedded in the positive
charge like plums in a plum pudding (although in Thomson's model they were not stationary, but
orbiting rapidly).[18][19]
Isotopes and mass spectrometry
In the bottom right corner of this photographic plate are markings for the two isotopes of neon: neon-20
and neon-22.
In 1912, as part of his exploration into the composition of the streams of positively charged particles
then known as canal rays, Thomson and his research assistant F. W. Aston channelled a stream of neon
ions through a magnetic and an electric field and measured its deflection by placing a photographic
plate in its path.[4] They observed two patches of light on the photographic plate (see image on right),
which suggested two different parabolas of deflection, and concluded that neon is composed of atoms
of two different atomic masses (neon-20 and neon-22), that is to say of two isotopes.[20][21] This was
the first evidence for isotopes of a stable element; Frederick Soddy had previously proposed the
existence of isotopes to explain the decay of certain radioactive elements.
J. J. Thomson's separation of neon isotopes by their mass was the first example of mass spectrometry,
which was subsequently improved and developed into a general method by F. W. Aston and by A. J.
Dempster.[2]
Experiments with cathode rays
Earlier, physicists debated whether cathode rays were immaterial like light ("some process in
the aether") or were "in fact wholly material, and ... mark the paths of particles of matter charged with
negative electricity", quoting Thomson.[17] The aetherial hypothesis was vague,[17] but the particle
hypothesis was definite enough for Thomson to test.
Magnetic deflection
Thomson first investigated the magnetic deflection of cathode rays. Cathode rays were produced in the
side tube on the left of the apparatus and passed through the anode into the main bell jar, where they
were deflected by a magnet. Thomson detected their path by the fluorescence on a squared screen in
the jar. He found that whatever the material of the anode and the gas in the jar, the deflection of the
rays was the same, suggesting that the rays were of the same form whatever their origin.[22]
Electrical charge[edit]
The cathode ray tube by which J. J. Thomson demonstrated that cathode rays could be deflected by a
magnetic field, and that their negative charge was not a separate phenomenon.
While supporters of the aetherial theory accepted the possibility that negatively charged particles are
produced in Crookes tubes,[citation needed] they believed that they are a mere by-product and that the
cathode rays themselves are immaterial.[citation needed] Thomson set out to investigate whether or
not he could actually separate the charge from the rays.
Thomson constructed a Crookes tube with an electrometer set to one side, out of the direct path of the
cathode rays. Thomson could trace the path of the ray by observing the phosphorescent patch it created
where it hit the surface of the tube. Thomson observed that the electrometer registered a charge only
when he deflected the cathode ray to it with a magnet. He concluded that the negative charge and the
rays were one and the same.[15]
Electrical deflection
Thomson's illustration of the Crookes tube by which he observed the deflection of cathode rays by an
electric field (and later measured their mass-to-charge ratio). Cathode rays were emitted from the
cathode C, passed through slits A (the anode) and B (grounded), then through the electric field
generated between plates D and E, finally impacting the surface at the far end.
The cathode ray (blue line) was deflected by the electric field (yellow).
In May–June 1897, Thomson investigated whether or not the rays could be deflected by an electric field.
[4] Previous experimenters had failed to observe this, but Thomson believed their experiments were
flawed because their tubes contained too much gas.
Thomson constructed a Crookes tube with a better vacuum. At the start of the tube was the cathode
from which the rays projected. The rays were sharpened to a beam by two metal slits – the first of these
slits doubled as the anode, the second was connected to the earth. The beam then passed between two
parallel aluminium plates, which produced an electric field between them when they were connected to
a battery. The end of the tube was a large sphere where the beam would impact on the glass, created a
glowing patch. Thomson pasted a scale to the surface of this sphere to measure the deflection of the
beam. Any electron beam would collide with some residual gas atoms within the Crookes tube, thereby
ionizing them and producing electrons and ions in the tube (space charge); in previous experiments this
space charge electrically screened the externally applied electric field. However, in Thomson's Crookes
tube the density of residual atoms was so low that the space charge from the electrons and ions was
insufficient to electrically screen the externally applied electric field, which permitted Thomson to
successfully observe electrical deflection.
When the upper plate was connected to the negative pole of the battery and the lower plate to the
positive pole, the glowing patch moved downwards, and when the polarity was reversed, the patch
moved upwards.
Measurement of mass-to-charge ratio
In his classic experiment, Thomson measured the mass-to-charge ratio of the cathode rays by measuring
how much they were deflected by a magnetic field and comparing this with the electric deflection. He
used the same apparatus as in his previous experiment, but placed the discharge tube between the
poles of a large electromagnet. He found that the mass-to-charge ratio was over a thousand
times lower than that of a hydrogen ion (H+), suggesting either that the particles were very light and/or
very highly charged.[17] Significantly, the rays from every cathode yielded the same mass-to-charge
ratio. This is in contrast to anode rays (now known to arise from positive ions emitted by the anode),
where the mass-to-charge ratio varies from anode-to-anode. Thomson himself remained critical of what
his work established, in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech referring to "corpuscles" rather than
"electrons".
Thomson's calculations can be summarised as follows (in his original notation, using F instead of E for
the electric field and H instead of B for the magnetic field):
The electric deflection is given by {\displaystyle \Theta =Fel/mv^{2}}, where Θ is the
angular electric deflection, F is applied electric intensity, e is the charge of the cathode ray particles, l is
the length of the electric plates, m is the mass of the cathode ray particles and v is the velocity of the
cathode ray particles. The magnetic deflection is given by {\displaystyle \phi =Hel/mv},
where φ is the angular magnetic deflection and H is the applied magnetic field intensity.
The magnetic field was varied until the magnetic and electric deflections were the same, when
{\displaystyle \Theta =\phi ,Fel/mv^{2}=Hel/mv}. This can be
simplified to give {\displaystyle m/e=H^{2}l/F\Theta }. The electric deflection was
measured separately to give Θ and H, F and l were known, so m/e could be calculated.
Conclusions
As the cathode rays carry a charge of negative electricity, are deflected by an electrostatic force as if
they were negatively electrified, and are acted on by a magnetic force in just the way in which this force
would act on a negatively electrified body moving along the path of these rays, I can see no escape from
the conclusion that they are charges of negative electricity carried by particles of matter.
— J. J. Thomson[17]
As to the source of these particles, Thomson believed they emerged from the molecules of gas in the
vicinity of the cathode.
If, in the very intense electric field in the neighbourhood of the cathode, the molecules of the gas are
dissociated and are split up, not into the ordinary chemical atoms, but into these primordial atoms,
which we shall for brevity call corpuscles; and if these corpuscles are charged with electricity and
projected from the cathode by the electric field, they would behave exactly like the cathode rays.
— J. J. Thomson[23]
Thomson imagined the atom as being made up of these corpuscles orbiting in a sea of positive charge;
this was his plum pudding model. This model was later proved incorrect when his student Ernest
Rutherford showed that the positive charge is concentrated in the nucleus of the atom.
Other work
In 1905, Thomson discovered the natural radioactivity of potassium.[24]
In 1906, Thomson demonstrated that hydrogen had only a single electron per atom. Previous theories
allowed various numbers of electrons.[25][26]
Awards and honours[edit]
Plaque commemorating J. J. Thomson's discovery of the electron outside the old Cavendish Laboratory
in Cambridge
Thomson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS)[1][27] and appointed to the Cavendish
Professorship of Experimental Physics at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge in 1884.
[2] Thomson won numerous awards and honours during his career including:
Adams Prize (1882)
Royal Medal (1894)
Hughes Medal (1902)
Hodgkins Medal (1902)
Nobel Prize for Physics (1906)
Elliott Cresson Medal (1910)
Copley Medal (1914)
Franklin Medal (1922)
Thomson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society[1] on 12 June 1884 and served as President of the
Royal Society from 1915 to 1920.
In November 1927, J. J. Thomson opened the Thomson building, named in his honour, in the Leys
School, Cambridge.[28]
Posthumous honours
In 1991, the thomson (symbol: Th) was proposed as a unit to measure mass-to-charge ratio in mass
spectrometry in his honour.[29]
J J Thomson Avenue, on the University of Cambridge's West Cambridge site, is named after Thomson.
[30]
The Thomson Medal Award, sponsored by the International Mass Spectrometry Foundation, is named
after Thomson.
Xena.
Xena is a fictional character from Robert Tapert's Xena: Warrior Princess franchise. Co-created by Tapert and
John Schulian, she first appeared in the 1995–1999 television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,
before going on to appear in Xena: Warrior Princess TV show and subsequent comic book of the same name.
The Warrior Princess has also appeared in the spin-off animated movie The Battle for Mount Olympus, as well
as numerous non-canon expanded universe material, such as books and video games. Xena was played
by New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless.
Xena is the protagonist of the story, and the series depicts her on a quest to redeem herself from her dark past
by using her formidable fighting skills to help people. Xena was raised as the daughter of Cyrene and Atrius
in Amphipolis, though the episode "The Furies" raised the possibility that Ares might be Xena's biological
father, but it is never pursued further. She had two brothers, the younger of whom is dead; she visits his grave
to speak with him in "Sins of the Past". In Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, during her two first episodes,
Xena was a villain, but in the third episode she appears in, she joins Hercules to defeat Darphus, who had
taken her army. Aware that the character of Xena had been very successful with the public in the
three Hercules: The Legendary Journeys episodes, the producers of the series decided to create a spin-off
series based on her adventures. Later in Xena: Warrior Princess she is joined by Gabrielle, a small town bard.
Together they go up against ruthless warlords and gods in the ancient mythological world.
Xena
Lucy Lawless as Xena, holding her chakram
First appearance "The Warrior Princess" (Hercules Season 1 Episode
9)
The character Gabrielle, introduced in the first episode, becomes Xena's greatest ally, best friend, and
soulmate. Gabrielle came from a small village in Greece called Potidaea. She craved to escape from the boring
and dull village. She latched onto Xena in episode 1 as a way of leaving the village, to travel on adventures.
Her initial naïveté for the first 3 seasons and her talkative nature helped to balance Xena's pessimistic
mentality. While Xena's character to an extent alters subtly through the series, Gabrielle's character goes
through substantial development and change especially in seasons 3 and 4. Through their
friendship/relationship Xena recognizes the value of the "greater good" and the sacrifices that must be made to
accomplish it (a central theme in the series in later seasons).
Creation and production
Xena co-creator Robert Tapert.
Xena was developed in 1995 by John Schulian as a secondary character for Hercules: The Legendary
Journeys, although Lawless had already appeared as the character Lyla on the episode "As Darkness Falls",
on 20 February 1995.[1] Xena was originally conceived to die at the end of the third episode, "Unchained Heart",
but when the studio decided they wanted to do a spin-off from Hercules, the producer Robert Tapert said that
Xena was the best choice, since she was largely well received by television critics and fans and had a full story
to be explored.[2] The studio wanted to do something about Jason and the Argonauts, but Tapert said that show
would have too much of the same feel as Hercules.[2]
The original choice to play Xena was the British actress Vanessa Angel, but she fell ill and was unable to make
it to the set.[3] Ultimately the role was given to Lawless as she was already a resident of New Zealand.[3] Lawless
had several mishaps playing the character due to the stunts (some of which she performed herself), such as
getting cut by swords, being struck in the head, and horse-related incidents. In 1996, while rehearsing a sketch
for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, she broke her hip when she was thrown clear from her horse.[4] As a
result, several episodes of season two had to be edited to accommodate her recovery, and some of them were
changed so Lawless could have a very slight appearance, and the crew created some brand new episodes. [4]
Bruce Campbell, Rose McIver, Hudson Leick, and Ted Raimi also portrayed Xena in various episodes of the
series as a result of "body-swap" plotlines.
The name Xena derives from the ancient Greek ξένος (xenos), meaning "stranger".[5]
Appearances and development
Origins on Hercules
Xena originally appears as a villain in the Hercules episode "The Warrior Princess"; about ten years into her
career of pillaging and marauding, Xena meets Hercules. Initially, she sets out to kill him. [6] In "The Gauntlet",
her army turns against her, believing that she has become weak after she stops her lieutenant, Darphus, from
killing a child in a sacked village. Xena runs a gauntlet, and survives, becoming the only person ever to survive
the gauntlet. She then fights Hercules, in the hope that she will regain her army if she can bring back his head.
Xena seems to be getting the upper hand until Hercules' cousin intervenes, making no real difference himself
but inadvertently giving Hercules his sword, which allows him to fight Xena on equal ground and defeat her.
However, Hercules refuses to kill Xena, telling her, "Killing isn't the only way of proving you're a warrior".
Touched and inspired by Hercules' integrity, and by the fact that he too suffered the loss of blood kin as she did
and yet chooses to fight in honor of them, she decides to join him and defeat her old army. [7]
In "Unchained Heart", Hercules tells Xena that there is goodness in her heart, and the two of them share a brief
romantic relationship, before Xena decides to leave and start making amends for her past. [8]
Fictional character history
Initial turn to evil
Several years prior to the series pilot, "Sins of the Past", Xena commits numerous horrible deeds from terrorism
to piracy and murder, and at one point becomes known as the "Destroyer of Nations". Her journey down the
path of evil arguably begins when her beloved brother is killed during an attack by the warlord Cortese. Xena
vows revenge and she becomes estranged from her mother as a result.
Sometime later, she acts as the captain of a pirate ship, doing everything from raiding other ships to ransoming
hostages. It is during one ransom attempt that she encounters the young, handsome and brash Roman
nobleman named Julius Caesar. Caesar is an experienced warrior and military commander with grand
ambitions. He and Xena have a passionate love affair and plan to join forces. Caesar, however, betrays Xena.
Caesar has Xena beaten and then crucified (with her legs broken) on a beach to die of exposure—that is, until
she is saved by an Egyptian slave girl named M'Lila. M'Lila had originally stowed away on Xena's ship and
subsequently befriends her and teaches Xena her first pressure points. After saving Xena, M'Lila takes her to a
healer who treats her injuries. While the healer is treating Xena, Roman soldiers burst in and try to kill Xena,
but M'Lila shields Xena, takes a fatal shot from a crossbow and dies in Xena's arms.
This event drives Xena to the side of evil completely and despite her injuries manages to kill the soldiers but
warns the last one before he dies, "Tell Hades to prepare himself; a new Xena is born tonight." [9]
First steps towards redemption
Afterward, Xena becomes the leader of an army and aligns herself with Borias whom she effectively seduces
away from his family and the two join forces. The two become lovers and after a time, Xena becomes pregnant
with her son Solan. It is during her pregnancy that a significant event happens. Xena travels with her Army to
China where she hopes to build an alliance with the powerful Lao clan to facilitate her activities there.
Subsequent events that involve Borias betraying Xena lead to Xena running for her life and being hunted.
While on the run, Xena finds her way into Lao Ma's estate and she is protected and sheltered by the powerful
noblewoman. Lao Ma cares for Xena as she never had been before by treating her as a friend who is only
interested is helping her become a better person. Under her friend's guidance, she learns to put aside a great
deal of her hatred and pain. Additionally, Lao Ma heals Xena's crippled legs and teaches her more about
pressure points. Lao Ma gives Xena the metaphorical title "Warrior Princess", intending that she be a major
catalyst for change in the land. In the end, Lao Ma's efforts come to nothing, at least in the short term. In the
long run, however, Lao Ma's teachings are instrumental in shaping the good person she was to become.
Borias and Xena reconcile and renew their alliance, only to break it a final time and to split their forces between
them, with Xena proving the stronger of the two. Borias is killed in the ensuing battle, and Xena gives the
newborn Solan to the Centaurs to raise so that he will be kept safe and protected.
Encounter with Hercules and subsequent reform
Xena continues her life as a warlord for many years until she has a life-changing encounter with Hercules
wherein she turns her back on the path of evil. She turns against her troops to protect a baby whose family
would not pay the ransom she demanded. Her troops were going to kill Xena for becoming weak in their eyes.
After these events, Xena travels with Hercules for a short time and the two share a brief romantic relationship.
While their romance does not last long, the two form a special friendship. Each comes to respect the other's
abilities and judgement. In a series 1 episode, each acknowledged the positive impact the other had on the
world. In that installment, Xena said, "The world needs Hercules". To that, Hercules responded, "The world
needs Xena, too". As the years progress, Xena and Hercules come to each other's aid at different times as well
as acting as a source of comfort to the other. However, after first meeting Hercules, Xena finds the way to
redemption to be more painful than she anticipated.
The meeting with Gabrielle
Haunted by her past transgressions, she is about to give up on her life as a warrior completely. [10] In the episode
"Sins of the Past". she strips off her armor and weapons and buries them in the dirt. She sees a group of village
girls being attacked by a band of warriors. In the group is Gabrielle. Xena saves the young women and
Gabrielle is left in awe of the Warrior Princess' abilities.
Gabrielle follows Xena in a quest to persuade Xena to let her be her traveling companion. During the episode,
Xena turns to her home town, Amphipolis, where she eventually reconciles with her mother, Cyrene. [10] She also
visits the grave of her brother Lyceus to "speak" with him. When Xena privately confides with Lyceus that it is
difficult to be alone, Gabrielle—who is silently standing in the doorway of the crypt—tells her, "You're not
alone." Soon, Xena agrees to allow Gabrielle to travel with her. Over time, Gabrielle becomes Xena's dearest
friend and soulmate.
Subsequent travels and hardships
Gabrielle and Xena become best friends, soulmates and indeed constant companions over the many
adventures that follow. Each of the women learns from the other; Gabrielle becomes a warrior on behalf of
good (not evil), while Xena develops a softer and more loving personality to balance her warrior's heart. Xena's
subsequent life is marred by many tragedies. Her son Solan, who never came to know her as his mother, is
killed by Hope, Gabrielle's demonic child,[11] (with the help of Callisto); and Xena nearly loses Gabrielle more
than once.
The instances where Xena and Gabrielle almost part ways tend to result from the outside manipulations of
others. The most serious of these is, of course, the death of Xena's son at the hands of Gabrielle's demonic
child, Hope. After this, Gabrielle, consumed with grief, journeys to stay with the Amazons. Xena, in turn, locates
her and tries to take Gabrielle's life by throwing her over a cliff while she is in a weakened state. Xena fails in
doing this, and subsequently, both women reconcile with the help of the spirit of Xena's son Solan. Specifically,
Solan creates the land of Illusia wherein, through music, both women express their grief and anger, not so
much with each other, but with the traumas they have each endured. It is here that Xena confesses that she did
indeed kill Ming Tien, and she admits to Solan that she is his mother and sings to him, asking forgiveness. After
this, they travel together again.
Enemies
Xena with Gabrielle.
Soon after the start of her journeys with Gabrielle, Xena runs into Ares, who has evidently known her since her
warlord days and he tries to seduce her into joining him as his Warrior Queen, efforts that she repeatedly
thwarts.[12] She also encounters a formidable warrior woman named Callisto, whose family was killed by Xena
years ago.[13]
The path to redemption continues
Marcus, a warrior, close friend and lover from her warlord days, whom she persuades to follow her in choosing
good, is killed while doing his first good deed. [14] Later, he is allowed to briefly return to the world of the living to
help thwart a vicious killer who has escaped from the underworld. He and Xena spend a night together before
Marcus has to return to the other side.[15] Several years after her first meeting with Lao Ma, a messenger is sent
by Lao Ma to ask Xena to travel to China to aid in stopping a great evil from taking hold. She sets out without
delay to help her dear friend but insists that she must deal with this alone and that Gabrielle stay behind.
In spite of her best efforts, she is too late to save her mentor and friend Lao Ma from being tortured to death by
her own son, the emperor Ming T'ien and is crushed with the loss.[16] Finally, she and Gabrielle are crucified by
the Romans on the Ides of March by Caesar, previously an ally and former lover of Xena's with whom she had
planned to take over known civilization until he betrayed her. Caesar, himself, is betrayed and killed by Brutus.
[17]
They are later revived by a mystic named Eli with the spiritual aid of Callisto, who by that time had become
an angel after being killed by Xena. This event would have long-lasting effects for all involved. [18]
Eve/Livia
The event mentioned above leads to the birth of Xena's daughter, Eve. Essentially speaking, Callisto, now a
good angel, implants her soul in Xena's unborn baby with Xena's tacit acceptance, destined to be born and
fulfill her new destiny. Unfortunately, mother and daughter would have little time together, as the gods were
bent on destroying the child to save themselves, as she is prophesied to bring about the Twilight of the
Olympian gods and the birth of "Christianity". In order to save her child, as well as herself and Gabrielle, they
fake their deaths,[19] but their plan goes awry when Ares buries them in an ice cave, where they sleep for 25
years.
During that time, Eve is adopted by the Roman nobleman Octavius who provides for her every need and
makes certain that she receives the best of everything. She grows up to become Livia, the Champion of Rome,
and a ruthless persecutor of Eli's followers. Eve's ruthless behavior may be due to the influence of Callisto's
soul, but this is unclear, particularly since Callisto was purged of all the evil within her when she became an
angel.[20] After her return, Xena is able to turn Livia to repentance, and Livia takes back the name Eve and
becomes the Messenger of Eli.[21] After Eve's cleansing by baptism, Xena is granted the power to kill gods as
long as her daughter lives.[22] In a final confrontation, the Twilight comes to pass when Xena kills most of the
gods to save her daughter, with the help of God and Archangel Michael, and is herself saved by Ares when he
gives up his immortality to heal the badly injured and dying Eve and Gabrielle, [22] with Xena later helping him
regain his godhood.[23]
Final redemption and death
Xena's quest for redemption ends when she sacrifices herself to kill the Japanese demon Yodoshi, which is
holding the souls of the dead. Xena fights a Japanese army by herself and they kill her. Xena, now a spirit,
fights and kills Yodoshi. Xena decides to stay dead so the souls of the 40,000 she (accidentally) killed years
ago can be released into a state of peace. The series ends with Gabrielle on a ship, holding Xena's ashes, and
speaking with Xena's spirit.[24]
Legacy
According to the darshan, Naiyima,[25] this is only one of many lives Xena will live throughout the ages. One
such life is that of Arminestra, an Indian holy mother who leads a movement that preaches peace, and yet
another is a woman named Melinda who, during World War II, uncovers the tomb of Ares and is possessed by
the spirit of Xena to stop the God of War. In many of those lives, she will walk a path together with
her soulmate Gabrielle, furthering the cause of good against evil.
Skills and abilities
Xena has many skills that she acquired during her extensive travels to many parts of the ancient world over a
period of many years. In particular, she has shown remarkable skill and prowess in hand-to-hand combat,
displaying numerous acrobatic tricks and the ability to disable or otherwise kill multiple opponents at one time.
She is also skilled in the use of pressure points – being able to cripple or even kill someone if she triggers the
appropriate pressure point. Xena has an extensive knowledge of first aid and herbal remedies that rivals that of
any professional healer.
Xena's signature weapon is the chakram, a razor-edged throwing weapon which she often uses for ranged
combat.[26] Xena can skillfully deflect the chakram off the surfaces it strikes, allowing her to hit multiple targets in
one throw. She is usually able to deflect the chakram back towards her, allowing her to catch it. Besides being
a formidable weapon, the chakram has other uses such as distracting enemies or quickly cutting distant targets
such as ropes. After breaking in half, Xena reforged her chakram as a design-variation with diameter "handles",
called the "Yin-Yang" chakram.[27] These were utilized as daggers, could split in two mid-flight to strike multiple
targets at diverging trajectories, and allowed for "boomerang" flight capabilities. Along with her sword and
chakram, she has also shown great proficiency with other weapons such as batons, daggers, and whips.
Throughout the series, Xena often utilized a signature war cry, "Alalaes". Her cry was an alternate
pronunciation for "Alale" (or "Alala"), who in Greek mythology was the female personification of the war cry. [28]
Xena is a formidable tactician, inspirational leader, and strategic thinker. She has the ability to analyze her
enemy's tactics and effectively formulate a response. In responding to her enemies's attacks, she shows a
great deal of creativity and ingenuity; at times, she has worked with little or no resources and limited time. Xena
is well versed in military tactics such as forming a defensive perimeter, building defensive fortifications,
organizing and leading troops, and cutting an enemy's supply lines. She also repeatedly demonstrates a talent
for disguises, infiltration, and cryptography.
Although the majority of her skills are martial and mental, Xena does have some supernatural abilities. On
three occasions, she used telekinesis and energy projection thanks to Lao Ma's teachings. Xena also once
possessed the power to kill gods through her daughter, Eve. Outside of these specific powers, Xena knows the
rudiments of most other forms of magic, enough that she can effectively battle or outwit magic-wielding
opponents.
In other media
Xena has appeared in all of the series spin-offs, usually as the lead character. The animated movie Hercules
and Xena: The Battle for Mount Olympus marks the first appearance of Xena outside of the television series.
[29]
She also appears in the comics series Xena: Warrior Princess, originally released by Topp and Dark Horse
Comics, and in 2007, Dynamite Entertainment acquired the rights to the book upon its discovery that the show
still had many fans. This resulted in Dynamite Entertainment's spin-off comic book series Xena: Contest of the
Pantheons and Dark Xena. This last takes place after the television series ended.[30]
Xena is a playable character in the videogames Xena: Warrior Princess, and a selectable character in The
Talisman of Fate.[31][32] In 1999, Lucy Lawless also appeared in the animated television show The
Simpsons dressed as her Xena character, during the Treehouse of Horror X.[33]
Xena kissing Gabrielle on the episode "The Quest" during the second season.
In the video game League of Legends the character Sivir has a skin titled, "Warrior Princess" that resembles
Xena.
Reception and legacy
Lesbian subtext and debates
Xena has enjoyed a particular cult status in the lesbian community. Some of the lesbian fanbase see Xena and
Gabrielle as a couple and have embraced them as role models and lesbian icons. [34][35] A group called The
Marching Xenas participated in many gay and lesbian pride parades.[36]
A subject of much interest and debate among viewers is the question of whether Xena and Gabrielle are lovers.
[37][38]
The issue is left deliberately ambiguous by the writers during most of the show. Jokes, innuendo, and other
subtle evidence of a romantic relationship between Xena and Gabrielle are referred to as "lesbian subtext" or
simply "subtext" by fans.[37] The issue of the true nature of the Xena/Gabrielle relationship caused
intense shipping debates in the fandom, which turned especially impassioned due to spillover from real-life
debates about same-sex sexuality and gay rights.[38]
In a 2003 interview with Lesbian News magazine, Lawless stated that after the series finale, she had come to
believe that Xena and Gabrielle's relationship was "Gay. Definitely... There was always a 'Well, she might be or
she might not be,' but when there was that drip of water passing between their lips in the very final scene, that
cemented it for me. Now it wasn't just that Xena was bisexual and kinda liked her gal pal and they kind of
fooled around sometimes, it was 'Nope, they're married, man.'" [39]
The Xena fandom also popularized the term Altfic (from "alternative fiction") to refer to same-sex romantic fan
fiction.[40] Many fans felt the term slash fiction carried the connotation of being only about male/male couples
and was not a good description for romantic fan fiction about Xena and Gabrielle.
She was ranked No. 3 in AfterEllen.com's Top 50 Favorite Female TV Characters. [41]
Popular culture
Main article: Xena: Warrior Princess in popular culture
Xena: Warrior Princess has been referred to as a pop cultural phenomenon and feminist and lesbian icon.[42][43]
[44]
The television series, which employed pop culture references as a frequent humorous device, has itself
become a frequent pop culture reference in video games, comics and television shows, and has been
frequently parodied and spoofed.
Xena has been credited by many, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, with blazing the
trail for a new generation of female action heroes such as Buffy, Max of Dark Angel, Sydney Bristow of Alias,
and Beatrix Kiddo a.k.a. the Bride in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.[38] The director Quentin Tarantino is also a fan
of Xena. After serving as Lucy Lawless' stunt double on Xena, stunt woman Zoë E. Bell was recruited to be
Uma Thurman's stunt double in Tarantino's Kill Bill. By helping to pave the way for female action heroes in
television and film, "Xena" also strengthened the stunt woman profession.[45] David Eick, one of the co-
developers of the Xena series, was also the executive producer of Battlestar Galactica,[46] which also features
strong female characters, and Lucy Lawless in a recurring role.
Artist's impression of Eris and Dysnomia. Eris is the main object, Dysnomia the small grey disk just above it. The flaring object top-
left is the Sun.
In 2005, the team that discovered the dwarf planet 2003 UB313 nicknamed it "Xena" in honor of the TV
character. On 1 October 2005, the team announced that 2003 UB313 had a moon, which they had nicknamed
"Gabrielle".[47] The objects were officially named Eris and Dysnomia by the International Astronomical Union on
13 September 2006. Although the official names have legitimate roots in Greek mythology, "Dysnomia" is also
a synonym to the word "anomia", which means "lawlessness" in Greek, perpetuating the link with Lucy
Lawless.[48]
In 2006, Lucy Lawless donated her personal Xena costume to the Museum of American History. [49] In an
interview the same year with Smithsonian magazine, she was asked the question "Was the Warrior Princess
outfit comfortable?" and she responded:
Not at first, because they would put boning in the corset. It would cover up those little floating ribs that are so
important for breathing, so I'd feel like I was having panic attacks. But it just became a second skin after a
while. It was very functional, once I got over the modesty factor. I admit to being a little bit embarrassed the first
couple weeks because I'd never worn anything so short.
— Lucy Lawless, Smithsonian, November 2006, page 44
In 2004, Xena was listed at number 100 in Bravo's 100 Greatest TV Characters.[50]
Frederik Pohl
Frederik George Pohl Jr. (/poʊl/; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American science-fiction
writer, editor, and fan, with a career spanning more than 75 years—from his first published work, the 1937
poem "Elegy to a Dead Satellite: Luna", to the 2011 novel All the Lives He Led and articles and essays
published in 2012.[1]
From about 1959 until 1969, Pohl edited Galaxy and its sister magazine If; the latter won three successive
annual Hugo Awards as the year's best professional magazine.[2] His 1977 novel Gateway won four "year's best
novel" awards: the Hugo voted by convention participants, the Locus voted by magazine subscribers, the
Nebula voted by American science-fiction writers, and the juried academic John W. Campbell Memorial Award.
[2]
He won the Campbell Memorial Award again for the 1984 collection of novellas Years of the City, one of two
repeat winners during the first 40 years. For his 1979 novel Jem, Pohl won a U.S. National Book Award in
the one-year category Science Fiction.[3] It was a finalist for three other year's best novel awards. [2] He won four
Hugo and three Nebula Awards,[2] including receiving both for the 1977 novel Gateway.
The Science Fiction Writers of America named Pohl its 12th recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand
Master Award in 1993[4] and he was inducted by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1998, its third
class of two dead and two living writers.[5][a]
Pohl won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2010, for his blog, "The Way the Future Blogs". [
Frederik Pohl
Pohl in 2008 at the J. Lloyd Eaton Science Fiction Conference
Early life and family
Pohl was the son of Frederik (originally Friedrich) George Pohl (a salesman of Germanic descent) and Anna
Jane Mason.[8] Pohl Sr. held various jobs, and the Pohls lived in such wide-flung locations
as Texas, California, New Mexico, and the Panama Canal Zone. The family settled in Brooklyn when Pohl was
around seven.[9]
He attended Brooklyn Technical High School, and dropped out at 17.[10] In 2009, he was awarded an honorary
diploma from Brooklyn Tech.[11]
While a teenager, he co-founded the New York–based Futurians fan group, and began lifelong friendships
with Donald Wollheim, Isaac Asimov, and others who would become important writers and editors. [12][13] Pohl
later said that other "friends came and went and were gone, [but] many of the ones I met through fandom were
friends all their lives – Isaac, Damon Knight, Cyril Kornbluth, Dirk Wylie, [and] Dick Wilson. In fact, there are
one or two – Jack Robins, Dave Kyle – whom I still count as friends, seventy-odd years later...." He published a
science-fiction fanzine called Mind of Man.[14]
During 1936, Pohl joined the Young Communist League because of its positions for unions and against racial
prejudice, Adolf Hitler, and Benito Mussolini. He became president of the local Flatbush III Branch of the YCL in
Brooklyn. Pohl has said that after the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, the party line changed and he could
no longer support it, at which point he left.[15]
Pohl served in the United States Army from April 1943 until November 1945, rising to sergeant as an air corps
weatherman. After training in Illinois, Oklahoma, and Colorado, he was mainly stationed in Italy with the 456th
Bombardment Group.[16]
Pohl was married five times. His first wife, Leslie Perri, was another Futurian; they were married in August
1940, and divorced in 1944. He then married Dorothy LesTina in Paris in August 1945 while both were serving
in the military in Europe; the marriage ended in 1947. During 1948, he married Judith Merril; they had a
daughter, Ann. Pohl and Merril divorced in 1952. In 1953, he married Carol M. Ulf Stanton, with whom he had
three children and collaborated on several books; they separated in 1977 and were divorced in 1983. From
1984 until his death, Pohl was married to science-fiction expert and academic Elizabeth Anne Hull.
He fathered four children – Ann (m. Walter Weary), Frederik III (deceased), Frederik IV and Kathy.
[17]
Grandchildren include Canadian writer Emily Pohl-Weary and chef Tobias Pohl-Weary.[18]
From 1984 on, he lived in Palatine, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He was previously a longtime resident
of Middletown, New Jersey.[19]
Career
Frederik Pohl (center) with fellow scifi authors Donald A. Wollheim and John Michel in 1938
Early career
Pohl began writing in the late 1930s, using pseudonyms for most of his early works. His first publication was
the poem "Elegy to a Dead Satellite: Luna" under the name of Elton Andrews, in the October 1937 issue
of Amazing Stories, edited by T. O'Conor Sloane.[1][20][21] (Pohl asked readers 30 years later, "we would take it as
a personal favor if no one ever looked it up".[22]) His first story, the collaboration with C.M. Kornbluth "Before the
Universe", appeared in 1940 under the pseudonym S.D. Gottesman. [4]
Work as editor and agent
Pohl started a career as a literary agent in 1937, but it was a sideline for him until after World War II, when he
began doing it full-time. He ended up "representing more than half the successful writers in science fiction", but
his agency did not succeed financially, and he closed it down in the early 1950s.
Pohl stopped being Asimov's agent—the only one the latter ever had [23]—when he became editor from 1939 to
1943 of two pulp magazines, Astonishing Stories and Super Science Stories.[24] Stories by Pohl often appeared
in these science-fiction magazines, but never under his own name. Work written in collaboration with Cyril M.
Kornbluth was credited to S. D. Gottesman or Scott Mariner; other collaborative work (with any combination of
Kornbluth, Dirk Wylie, or Robert A. W. Lownes) was credited to Paul Dennis Lavond. For Pohl's solo work,
stories were credited to James MacCreigh (or for one story only, Warren F. Howard.) [20] Works by "Gottesman",
"Lavond", and "MacCreigh" continued to appear in various science-fiction pulp magazines throughout the
1940s.
In his autobiography, Pohl said that he stopped editing the two magazines at roughly the time of the German
invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.
Pohl co-founded the Hydra Club, a loose collection of science-fiction professionals and fans who met during the
late 1940s and 1950s.[25]
From the early 1960s until 1969, Pohl served as editor of Galaxy Science Fiction and Worlds of if magazines,
taking over after the ailing H. L. Gold could no longer continue working "around the end of 1960". [26] Under his
leadership, if won the Hugo Award for Best Professional Magazine for 1966, 1967 and 1968. [27] Pohl hired Judy-
Lynn del Rey as his assistant editor at Galaxy and if. He also served as editor of Worlds of Tomorrow from its
first issue in 1963 until it was merged into if in 1967.[28]
In the mid-1970s, Pohl acquired and edited novels for Bantam Books, published as "Frederik Pohl Selections";
these included Samuel R. Delany's Dhalgren and Joanna Russ's The Female Man.[4] He also edited a number
of science-fiction anthologies.
Later career
After World War II, Pohl worked as an advertising copywriter and then as a copywriter and book editor
for Popular Science.[10] Following the war, Pohl began publishing material under his own name, much in
collaboration with his fellow Futurian, Cyril Kornbluth.
Though the pen names of "Gottesman", "Lavond", and "MacCreigh" were retired by the early 1950s, Pohl still
occasionally used pseudonyms, even after he began to publish work under his real name. These occasional
pseudonyms, all of which date from the early 1950s to the early 1960s, included Charles Satterfield, Paul Flehr,
Ernst Mason, Jordan Park (two collaborative novels with Kornbluth), and Edson McCann (one collaborative
novel with Lester del Rey).
In the 1970s, Pohl re-emerged as a novel writer in his own right, with books such as Man Plus and
the Heechee series. He won back-to-back Nebula Awards with Man Plus in 1976 and Gateway, the
first Heechee novel, in 1977. In 1978, Gateway swept the other two major novel honors, also winning the Hugo
Award for Best Novel and John W. Campbell Memorial Award for the best science-fiction novel. Two of his
stories have also earned him Hugo Awards: "The Meeting" (with Kornbluth) tied in 1973 and "Fermi and Frost"
won in 1986. Another award-winning novel is Jem (1980), winner of the National Book Award.
His works include not only science fiction, but also articles for Playboy and Family Circle magazines and
nonfiction books. For a time, he was the official authority for Encyclopædia Britannica on the subject
of Emperor Tiberius. (He wrote a book on the subject of Tiberius, as "Ernst Mason".) [29]
Some of his short stories take a satirical look at consumerism and advertising in the 1950s and 1960s: "The
Wizards of Pung's Corners", where flashy, over-complex military hardware proved useless against farmers with
shotguns, and "The Tunnel under the World", where an entire community of seeming-humans is held captive
by advertising researchers. ("The Wizards of Pung's Corners" was freely translated into Chinese and then
freely translated back into English as "The Wizard-Masters of Peng-Shi Angle" in the first edition
of Pohlstars (1984)).
Pohl's Law is either "No one is ever ready for anything" [30] or "Nothing is so good that somebody, somewhere
will not hate it".[31]
He was a frequent guest on Long John Nebel's radio show from the 1950s to the early 1970s, and an
international lecturer.[32]
Starting in 1995, when the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award became a juried award, Pohl served first
with James Gunn and Judith Merril, and since then with several others until retiring in 2013. [33] Pohl was
associated with Gunn since the 1940s, becoming involved in 1975 with what later became Gunn's Center for
the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas. There, he presented many talks, recorded a
discussion about "The Ideas in Science Fiction" in 1973 [34] for the Literature of Science Fiction Lecture Series,
[35]
and served the Intensive Institute on Science Fiction and Science Fiction Writing Workshop. [36]
Pohl received the second annual J. W. Eaton Lifetime Achievement Award in Science Fiction from
the University of California, Riverside Libraries at the 2009 Eaton Science Fiction Conference, "Extraordinary
Voyages: Jules Verne and Beyond".[37][38]
Pohl's work has been an influence on a wide variety of other science fiction writers, some of whom appear in
the 2010 anthology, Gateways: Original New Stories Inspired by Frederik Pohl, edited by Elizabeth Anne Hull.[39]
Pohl's last novel, All the Lives He Led, was released on April 12, 2011.[40]
By the time of his death, he was working to finish a second volume of his autobiography The Way the Future
Was (1979), along with an expanded version of the latter. [41]
Collaborative work
In addition to his solo writings, Pohl was also well known for his collaborations, beginning with his first
published story. Before and following the war, Pohl did a series of collaborations with his friend Cyril Kornbluth,
including a large number of short stories and several novels, among them The Space
Merchants, a dystopian satire of a world ruled by the advertising agencies.[42]
In the mid-1950s, he began a long-running collaboration with Jack Williamson, eventually resulting in 10
collaborative novels over five decades.
Other collaborations included a novel with Lester Del Rey, Preferred Risk (1955). This novel was solicited for a
contest by Galaxy–Simon & Schuster when the judges did not think any of the contest submissions was good
enough to win their contest. It was published under the joint pseudonym Edson McCann. [43] He also
collaborated with Thomas T. Thomas on a sequel to his award-winning novel Man Plus. He wrote two short
stories with Isaac Asimov in the 1940s, both published in 1950. [44]
He finished a novel begun by Arthur C. Clarke, The Last Theorem, which was published on August 5, 2008.
Death
Pohl went to the hospital in respiratory distress on the morning of September 2, 2013, and died that afternoon [45]
[46][47][48]
at the age of 93.[49]
Works
Main article: List of works by Frederik Pohl
Derivative works
Gateways: Original New Stories Inspired by Frederik Pohl (2010), edited by Elizabeth Anne
Hull. ISBN 978-0765326621
o Elizabeth Anne Hull, Introduction
o David Brin, "Shoresteading"
o Phyllis and Alex Eisenstein, "Von Neumann's Bug"
o Isaac Asimov, Appreciation
o Joe Haldeman, "Sleeping Dogs"
o Larry Niven, "Gates (Variations)"
o Gardner Dozois, Appreciation
o James Gunn, "Tales from the Spaceship Geoffrey"
o Gregory Benford and Elisabeth Malartre, "Shadows of the Lost"
o Connie Willis, Appreciation
o Vernor Vinge, "A Preliminary Assessment of the Drake Equation, Being an Excerpt from the
Memories of Star Captain Y.T. Lee"
o Greg Bear, "Warm Sea"
o Robert J. Sawyer, Appreciation
o Frank M. Robinson, "The Errand Boy"
o Gene Wolfe, "King Rat"
o Robert Silverberg, Appreciation
o Harry Harrison, "The Stainless Steel Rat and the Pernicious Porcuswine"
o Jody Lynn Nye, "Virtually, A Cat"
o David Marusek, Appreciation
o Brian W. Aldiss, "The First-Born"
o Ben Bova, "Scheherezade and the Storytellers"
o Joan Slonczewski, Appreciation
o Sheri S. Tepper, "The Flight of the Denartesestel Radichan"
o Neil Gaiman, "The [Backspace] Merchants"
o Emily Pohl-Weary, Appreciation
o Mike Resnick, "On Safari"
o Cory Doctorow, "Chicken Little"
o James Frenkel, Afterword
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus (/koʊˈpɜːrnɪkəs, kə-/;[2][3][4] Polish: Mikołaj Kopernik;[b] German: Nikolaus Kopernikus;
Niklas Koppernigk; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance-era polymath who formulated
a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at the center of the universe, in all likelihood
independently of Aristarchus of Samos, who had formulated such a model some eighteen centuries earlier. [5][c][d]
The publication of Copernicus' model in his book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of
the Celestial Spheres), just before his death in 1543, was a major event in the history of science, triggering
the Copernican Revolution and making a pioneering contribution to the Scientific Revolution
.[ 7]
Copernicus was born and died in Royal Prussia, a region that had been part of the Kingdom of Poland since
1466. A polyglot and polymath, he obtained a doctorate in canon law and was also
a mathematician, astronomer, physician, classics scholar, translator, governor, diplomat, and economist. In
1517 he derived a quantity theory of money—a key concept in economics—and in 1519 he formulated an
economic principle that later came to be called Gresham's law.
Nicolaus Copernicus
The "Torun portrait" (anonymous, c. 1580), kept in Toruń
town hall, Poland.[a]
[e
Life
Nicolaus Copernicus was born on 19 February 1473 in the city of Toruń (Thorn), in the province of Royal
Prussia, in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland.[9][10] His father was a merchant from Kraków and his mother
was the daughter of a wealthy Toruń merchant. [11] Nicolaus was the youngest of four children. His brother
Andreas (Andrew) became an Augustinian canon at Frombork (Frauenburg).[11] His sister Barbara, named after
her mother, became a Benedictine nun and, in her final years, prioress of a convent in Chełmno (Kulm); she
died after 1517.[11] His sister Katharina married the businessman and Toruń city councilor Barthel Gertner and
left five children, whom Copernicus looked after to the end of his life. [11] Copernicus never married and is not
known to have had children, but from at least 1531 until 1539 his relations with Anna Schilling, a live-in
housekeeper, were seen as scandalous by two bishops of Warmia who urged him over the years to break off
relations with his "mistress".[12]
Father's family
Toruń birthplace (ul. Kopernika 15, left). Together with the house at no. 17 (right), it forms the Muzeum Mikołaja Kopernika.
Copernicus' father's family can be traced to a village in Silesia near Nysa (Neiße). The village's name has been
variously spelled Kopernik,[f] Copernik, Copernic, Kopernic, Coprirnik, and today Koperniki.[14] In the 14th
century, members of the family began moving to various other Silesian cities, to the Polish
capital, Kraków (1367), and to Toruń (1400).[14] The father, Mikołaj the Elder, likely the son of Jan, came from
the Kraków line.[14]
Nicolaus was named after his father, who appears in records for the first time as a well-to-do merchant who
dealt in copper, selling it mostly in Danzig (Gdańsk).[15][16] He moved from Kraków to Toruń around 1458.
[17]
Toruń, situated on the Vistula River, was at that time embroiled in the Thirteen Years' War, in which the
Kingdom of Poland and the Prussian Confederation, an alliance of Prussian cities, gentry and clergy, fought
the Teutonic Order over control of the region. In this war, Hanseatic cities like Danzig and Toruń, Nicolaus
Copernicus's hometown, chose to support the Polish King, Casimir IV Jagiellon, who promised to respect the
cities' traditional vast independence, which the Teutonic Order had challenged. Nicolaus' father was actively
engaged in the politics of the day and supported Poland and the cities against the Teutonic Order. [18] In 1454 he
mediated negotiations between Poland's Cardinal Zbigniew Oleśnicki and the Prussian cities for repayment of
war loans.[14] In the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), the Teutonic Order formally relinquished all claims to its
western province, which as Royal Prussia remained a region of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland until the
First (1772) and Second (1793) Partitions of Poland.
Copernicus's father married Barbara Watzenrode, the astronomer's mother, between 1461 and 1464. [14] He died
about 1483.[11]
Mother's family
Nicolaus' mother, Barbara Watzenrode, was the daughter of a wealthy Toruń patrician and city
councillor, Lucas Watzenrode the Elder (deceased 1462), and Katarzyna (widow of Jan Peckau), mentioned in
other sources as Katarzyna Rüdiger gente Modlibóg (deceased 1476).[11] The Modlibógs were a prominent
Polish family who had been well known in Poland's history since 1271. [19] The Watzenrode family, like the
Kopernik family, had come from Silesia from near Świdnica (Schweidnitz), and after 1360 had settled in Toruń.
They soon became one of the wealthiest and most influential patrician families.[11] Through the Watzenrodes'
extensive family relationships by marriage, Copernicus was related to wealthy families of Toruń (Thorn),
Gdańsk (Danzig) and Elbląg (Elbing), and to prominent Polish noble families of Prussia:
the Czapskis, Działyńskis, Konopackis and Kościeleckis.[11] Lucas and Katherine had three children: Lucas
Watzenrode the Younger (1447–1512), who would become Bishop of Warmia and Copernicus's patron;
Barbara, the astronomer's mother (deceased after 1495); and Christina (deceased before 1502), who in 1459
married the Toruń merchant and mayor, Tiedeman von Allen.[11]
Copernicus' maternal uncle, Lucas Watzenrode the Younger
Lucas Watzenrode the Elder, a wealthy merchant and in 1439–62 president of the judicial bench, was a
decided opponent of the Teutonic Knights.[11] In 1453 he was the delegate from Toruń at
the Grudziądz (Graudenz) conference that planned the uprising against them. [11] During the ensuing Thirteen
Years' War (1454–66), he actively supported the Prussian cities' war effort with substantial monetary subsidies
(only part of which he later re-claimed), with political activity in Toruń and Danzig, and by personally fighting in
battles at Łasin (Lessen) and Malbork (Marienburg).[11] He died in 1462.[11]
Lucas Watzenrode the Younger, the astronomer's maternal uncle and patron, was educated at the University of
Kraków (now Jagiellonian University) and at the universities of Cologne and Bologna. He was a bitter opponent
of the Teutonic Order,[g] and its Grand Master once referred to him as "the devil incarnate". [h] In 1489
Watzenrode was elected Bishop of Warmia (Ermeland, Ermland) against the preference of King Casimir IV,
who had hoped to install his own son in that seat. [22] As a result, Watzenrode quarreled with the king until
Casimir IV's death three years later.[23] Watzenrode was then able to form close relations with three successive
Polish monarchs: John I Albert, Alexander Jagiellon, and Sigismund I the Old. He was a friend and key advisor
to each ruler, and his influence greatly strengthened the ties between Warmia and Poland proper.
[24]
Watzenrode came to be considered the most powerful man in Warmia, and his wealth, connections and
influence allowed him to secure Copernicus' education and career as a canon at Frombork Cathedral.[22][i]
Languages
German-language letter from Copernicus to Duke Albert of Prussia, giving medical advice for George von Kunheim (1541)
Copernicus is postulated to have spoken Latin, German, and Polish with equal fluency; he also
spoke Greek and Italian, and had some knowledge of Hebrew.[j][k][l][m] The vast majority of Copernicus's extant
writings are in Latin, the language of European academia in his lifetime.
Arguments for German being Copernicus's native tongue are that he was born into a predominantly German-
speaking urban patrician class using German, next to Latin, as language of trade and commerce in written
documents,[34] and that, while studying canon law at Bologna in 1496, he signed into the German natio (Natio
Germanorum)—a student organization which, according to its 1497 by-laws, was open to students of all
kingdoms and states whose mother-tongue was German. [35] However, according to French
philosopher Alexandre Koyré, Copernicus's registration with the Natio Germanorum does not in itself imply that
Copernicus considered himself German, since students from Prussia and Silesia were routinely so categorized,
which carried certain privileges that made it a natural choice for German-speaking students, regardless of their
ethnicity or self-identification.[35][n][o][38]
Name
The surname Kopernik, Copernik, Koppernigk is recorded in Kraków from c. 1350, in various spellings,
apparently given to people from the village of Koperniki (prior to 1845 rendered Kopernik, Copernik,
Copirnik and Koppirnik) in the Duchy of Nysa, 10 km south of Nysa, and now 10 km north of the Polish-Czech
border. Nicolas Copernicus' great-grandfather is recorded as having received citizenship in Kraków in 1386.
The toponym Kopernik (modern Koperniki) has been variously tied to the Polish word for dill (koper) and
German for copper (Kupfer).[p]
As was common in the period, the spellings of both the toponym and the surname vary greatly. Copernicus
"was rather indifferent about orthography".[39] During his childhood, about 1480, the name of his father (and thus
of the future astronomer) was recorded in Thorn as Niclas Koppernigk.[40] At Kraków he signed himself, in
Latin, Nicolaus Nicolai de Torunia (Nicolaus, son of Nicolaus, of Toruń).[q] At Bologna, in 1496, he registered in
the Matricula Nobilissimi Germanorum Collegii, resp. Annales Clarissimae Nacionis Germanorum, of the Natio
Germanica Bononiae, as Dominus Nicolaus Kopperlingk de Thorn – IX grosseti.[42][43] At Padua he signed
himself "Nicolaus Copernik", later "Coppernicus".[39] The astronomer thus Latinized his name to Coppernicus,
generally with two "p"s (in 23 of 31 documents studied),[44] but later in life he used a single "p". On the title page
of De revolutionibus, Rheticus published the name (in the genitive, or possessive, case) as "Nicolai Copernici".
[r]
Education
In Poland
Upon his father's death, young Nicolaus' maternal uncle, Lucas Watzenrode the Younger (1447–1512), took
the boy under his wing and saw to his education and career. [11] Watzenrode maintained contacts with leading
intellectual figures in Poland and was a friend of the influential Italian-
born humanist and Kraków courtier, Filippo Buonaccorsi.[45] There are no surviving primary documents on the
early years of Copernicus's childhood and education. [11] Copernicus biographers assume that Watzenrode first
sent young Copernicus to St. John's School, at Toruń, where he himself had been a master. [11] Later, according
to Armitage,[s] the boy attended the Cathedral School at Włocławek, up the Vistula River from Toruń, which
prepared pupils for entrance to the University of Kraków, Watzenrode's alma mater in Poland's capital.[46]
Collegium Maius at Kraków University, Copernicus' Polish alma mater
In the winter semester of 1491–92 Copernicus, as "Nicolaus Nicolai de Thuronia", matriculated together with
his brother Andrew at the University of Kraków (now Jagiellonian University).[11] Copernicus began his studies in
the Department of Arts (from the fall of 1491, presumably until the summer or fall of 1495) in the heyday of
the Kraków astronomical-mathematical school, acquiring the foundations for his subsequent mathematical
achievements.[11] According to a later but credible tradition (Jan Brożek), Copernicus was a pupil of Albert
Brudzewski, who by then (from 1491) was a professor of Aristotelian philosophy but taught astronomy privately
outside the university; Copernicus became familiar with Brudzewski's widely read commentary to Georg von
Peuerbach's Theoricæ novæ planetarum and almost certainly attended the lectures of Bernard of
Biskupie and Wojciech Krypa of Szamotuły, and probably other astronomical lectures by Jan of Głogów, Michał
of Wrocław (Breslau), Wojciech of Pniewy, and Marcin Bylica of Olkusz.[47]
Copernicus' Kraków studies gave him a thorough grounding in the mathematical astronomy taught at the
University (arithmetic, geometry, geometric optics, cosmography, theoretical and computational astronomy)
and a good knowledge of the philosophical and natural-science writings of Aristotle (De coelo, Metaphysics)
and Averroes (which in the future would play an important role in the shaping of Copernicus' theory),
stimulating his interest in learning and making him conversant with humanistic culture.[22] Copernicus broadened
the knowledge that he took from the university lecture halls with independent reading of books that he acquired
during his Kraków years (Euclid, Haly Abenragel, the Alfonsine Tables, Johannes Regiomontanus' Tabulae
directionum); to this period, probably, also date his earliest scientific notes, now preserved partly at Uppsala
University.[22] At Kraków Copernicus began collecting a large library on astronomy; it would later be carried off
as war booty by the Swedes during the Deluge in the 1650s and is now at the Uppsala University Library.[48]
Copernicus' four years at Kraków played an important role in the development of his critical faculties and
initiated his analysis of logical contradictions in the two "official" systems of astronomy—Aristotle's theory of
homocentric spheres, and Ptolemy's mechanism of eccentrics and epicycles—the surmounting and discarding
of which would be the first step toward the creation of Copernicus' own doctrine of the structure of the universe.
[22]
Without taking a degree, probably in the fall of 1495, Copernicus left Kraków for the court of his uncle
Watzenrode, who in 1489 had been elevated to Prince-Bishop of Warmia and soon (before November 1495)
sought to place his nephew in the Warmia canonry vacated by the 26 August 1495 death of its previous tenant,
Jan Czanow. For unclear reasons—probably due to opposition from part of the chapter, who appealed to Rome
—Copernicus' installation was delayed, inclining Watzenrode to send both his nephews to study canon law in
Italy, seemingly with a view to furthering their ecclesiastic careers and thereby also strengthening his own
influence in the Warmia chapter.[22]
Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross and St. Bartholomew in Wrocław
On 20 October 1497, Copernicus, by proxy, formally succeeded to the Warmia canonry which had been
granted to him two years earlier. To this, by a document dated 10 January 1503 at Padua, he would add
a sinecure at the Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross and St. Bartholomew in Wrocław (at the time in
the Kingdom of Bohemia). Despite having been granted a papal indult on 29 November 1508 to receive
further benefices, through his ecclesiastic career Copernicus not only did not acquire further prebends and
higher stations (prelacies) at the chapter, but in 1538 he relinquished the Wrocław sinecure. It is unclear
whether he was ever ordained a priest. [49] Edward Rosen asserts that he was not.[50][51] Copernicus did take minor
orders, which sufficed for assuming a chapter canonry.[22] The Catholic Encyclopedia proposes that his
ordination was probable, as in 1537 he was one of four candidates for the episcopal seat of Warmia, a position
which required ordination.[52]
In Italy
Meanwhile, leaving Warmia in mid-1496—possibly with the retinue of the chapter's chancellor, Jerzy Pranghe,
who was going to Italy—in the fall, possibly in October, Copernicus arrived in Bologna and a few months later
(after 6 January 1497) signed himself into the register of the Bologna University of Jurists' "German nation",
which included young Poles from Silesia, Prussia and Pomerania as well as students of other nationalities.[22]
During his three-year stay at Bologna, which occurred between fall 1496 and spring 1501, Copernicus seems
to have devoted himself less keenly to studying canon law (he received his doctorate in law only after seven
years, following a second return to Italy in 1503) than to studying the humanities—probably attending lectures
by Filippo Beroaldo, Antonio Urceo, called Codro, Giovanni Garzoni, and Alessandro Achillini—and to studying
astronomy. He met the famous astronomer Domenico Maria Novara da Ferrara and became his disciple and
assistant.[22] Copernicus was developing new ideas inspired by reading the "Epitome of the Almagest" (Epitome
in Almagestum Ptolemei) by George von Peuerbach and Johannes Regiomontanus (Venice, 1496). He verified
its observations about certain peculiarities in Ptolemy's theory of the Moon's motion, by conducting on 9 March
1497 at Bologna a memorable observation of the occultation of Aldebaran, the brightest star in
the Taurus constellation, by the moon. Copernicus the humanist sought confirmation for his growing doubts
through close reading of Greek and Latin authors (Pythagoras, Aristarchos of Samos, Cleomedes, Cicero, Pliny
the Elder, Plutarch, Philolaus, Heraclides, Ecphantos, Plato), gathering, especially while at Padua, fragmentary
historic information about ancient astronomical, cosmological and calendar systems.[53]
Via Galliera 65, Bologna, site of house of Domenico Maria Novara
"Here, where stood the house of Domenico Maria Novara, professor of the ancient Studium of Bologna, NICOLAUS COPERNICUS,
the Polish mathematician and astronomer who would revolutionize concepts of the universe, conducted brilliant celestial
observations with his teacher in 1497–1500. Placed on the 5th centenary of [Copernicus's] birth by the City, the University, the
Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Bologna, the Polish Academy of Sciences. 1473 [–] 1973."
Copernicus spent the jubilee year 1500 in Rome, where he arrived with his brother Andrew that spring,
doubtless to perform an apprenticeship at the Papal Curia. Here, too, however, he continued his astronomical
work begun at Bologna, observing, for example, a lunar eclipse on the night of 5–6 November 1500. According
to a later account by Rheticus, Copernicus also—probably privately, rather than at the Roman Sapienza—as a
"Professor Mathematum" (professor of astronomy) delivered, "to numerous... students and... leading masters of
the science", public lectures devoted probably to a critique of the mathematical solutions of contemporary
astronomy.[54]
On his return journey doubtless stopping briefly at Bologna, in mid-1501 Copernicus arrived back in Warmia.
After on 28 July receiving from the chapter a two-year extension of leave in order to study medicine (since "he
may in future be a useful medical advisor to our Reverend Superior [Bishop Lucas Watzenrode] and the
gentlemen of the chapter"), in late summer or in the fall he returned again to Italy, probably accompanied by his
brother Andrew[t] and by Canon Bernhard Sculteti. This time he studied at the University of Padua, famous as a
seat of medical learning, and—except for a brief visit to Ferrara in May–June 1503 to pass examinations for,
and receive, his doctorate in canon law—he remained at Padua from fall 1501 to summer 1503. [54]
Copernicus studied medicine probably under the direction of leading Padua professors—Bartolomeo da
Montagnana, Girolamo Fracastoro, Gabriele Zerbi, Alessandro Benedetti—and read medical treatises that he
acquired at this time, by Valescus de Taranta, Jan Mesue, Hugo Senensis, Jan Ketham, Arnold de Villa Nova,
and Michele Savonarola, which would form the embryo of his later medical library. [54]
One of the subjects that Copernicus must have studied was astrology, since it was considered an important
part of a medical education.[56] However, unlike most other prominent Renaissance astronomers, he appears
never to have practiced or expressed any interest in astrology. [57]
As at Bologna, Copernicus did not limit himself to his official studies. It was probably the Padua years that saw
the beginning of his Hellenistic interests. He familiarized himself with Greek language and culture with the aid
of Theodorus Gaza's grammar (1495) and J.B. Chrestonius' dictionary (1499), expanding his studies of
antiquity, begun at Bologna, to the writings of Basilius Bessarion, Lorenzo Valla and others. There also seems
to be evidence that it was during his Padua stay that the idea finally crystallized, of basing a new system of the
world on the movement of the Earth.[54] As the time approached for Copernicus to return home, in spring 1503
he journeyed to Ferrara where, on 31 May 1503, having passed the obligatory examinations, he was granted
the degree of Doctor of Canon Law (Nicolaus Copernich de Prusia, Jure Canonico ... et doctoratus [58]). No doubt
it was soon after (at latest, in fall 1503) that he left Italy for good to return to Warmia.[54]
Planetary observations
Copernicus made three observations of Mercury, with errors of -3, -15 and -1 minutes of arc. He made one of
Venus, with an error of -24 minutes. Four were made of Mars, with errors of 2, 20, 77, and 137 minutes. Four
observations were made of Jupiter, with errors of 32, 51, -11 and 25 minutes. He made four of Saturn, with
errors of 31, 20, 23 and -4 minutes.[59]
Work
Astronomer Copernicus, or Conversations with God, 1873, by Matejko. In background: Frombork Cathedral.
Having completed all his studies in Italy, 30-year-old Copernicus returned to Warmia, where he would live out
the remaining 40 years of his life, apart from brief journeys to Kraków and to nearby Prussian
cities: Toruń (Thorn), Gdańsk (Danzig), Elbląg (Elbing), Grudziądz (Graudenz), Malbork (Marienburg), Königsb
erg (Królewiec).[54]
The Prince-Bishopric of Warmia enjoyed substantial autonomy, with its own diet (parliament) and monetary unit
(the same as in the other parts of Royal Prussia) and treasury.[60]
Copernicus was his uncle's secretary and physician from 1503 to 1510 (or perhaps till his uncle's death on 29
March 1512) and resided in the Bishop's castle at Lidzbark (Heilsberg), where he began work on his
heliocentric theory. In his official capacity, he took part in nearly all his uncle's political, ecclesiastic and
administrative-economic duties. From the beginning of 1504, Copernicus accompanied Watzenrode to
sessions of the Royal Prussian diet held at Malbork and Elbląg and, write Dobrzycki and Hajdukiewicz,
"participated... in all the more important events in the complex diplomatic game that ambitious politician and
statesman played in defense of the particular interests of Prussia and Warmia, between hostility to the
[Teutonic] Order and loyalty to the Polish Crown."[54]
Copernicus's translation of Theophylact Simocatta's Epistles. Cover shows coats-of-arms of (clockwise from top) Poland, Lithuania
and Kraków.
In 1504–12 Copernicus made numerous journeys as part of his uncle's retinue—in 1504, to Toruń and Gdańsk,
to a session of the Royal Prussian Council in the presence of Poland's King Alexander Jagiellon; to sessions of
the Prussian diet at Malbork (1506), Elbląg (1507) and Sztum (Stuhm) (1512); and he may have attended
a Poznań (Posen) session (1510) and the coronation of Poland's King Sigismund I the Old in Kraków (1507).
Watzenrode's itinerary suggests that in spring 1509 Copernicus may have attended the Kraków sejm.[54]
It was probably on the latter occasion, in Kraków, that Copernicus submitted for printing at Jan Haller's press
his translation, from Greek to Latin, of a collection, by the 7th-century Byzantine historian Theophylact
Simocatta, of 85 brief poems called Epistles, or letters, supposed to have passed between various characters
in a Greek story. They are of three kinds—"moral," offering advice on how people should live; "pastoral", giving
little pictures of shepherd life; and "amorous", comprising love poems. They are arranged to follow one another
in a regular rotation of subjects. Copernicus had translated the Greek verses into Latin prose, and he now
published his version as Theophilacti scolastici Simocati epistolae morales, rurales et amatoriae interpretatione
latina, which he dedicated to his uncle in gratitude for all the benefits he had received from him. With this
translation, Copernicus declared himself on the side of the humanists in the struggle over the question whether
Greek literature should be revived.[29] Copernicus's first poetic work was a Greek epigram, composed probably
during a visit to Kraków, for Johannes Dantiscus' epithalamium for Barbara Zapolya's 1512 wedding
to King Zygmunt I the Old.[61]
Some time before 1514, Copernicus wrote an initial outline of his heliocentric theory known only from later
transcripts, by the title (perhaps given to it by a copyist), Nicolai Copernici de hypothesibus motuum coelestium
a se constitutis commentariolus—commonly referred to as the Commentariolus. It was a succinct theoretical
description of the world's heliocentric mechanism, without mathematical apparatus, and differed in some
important details of geometric construction from De revolutionibus; but it was already based on the same
assumptions regarding Earth's triple motions. The Commentariolus, which Copernicus consciously saw as
merely a first sketch for his planned book, was not intended for printed distribution. He made only a very few
manuscript copies available to his closest acquaintances, including, it seems, several Kraków astronomers with
whom he collaborated in 1515–30 in observing eclipses. Tycho Brahe would include a fragment from
the Commentariolus in his own treatise, Astronomiae instauratae progymnasmata, published in Prague in
1602, based on a manuscript that he had received from the Bohemian physician and astronomer Tadeáš
Hájek, a friend of Rheticus. The Commentariolus would appear complete in print for the first time only in 1878.
[61]
Copernicus' tower at Frombork, where he lived and worked; reconstructed since World War II
In 1510 or 1512 Copernicus moved to Frombork, a town to the northwest at the Vistula Lagoon on the Baltic
Sea coast. There, in April 1512, he participated in the election of Fabian of Lossainen as Prince-Bishop of
Warmia. It was only in early June 1512 that the chapter gave Copernicus an "external curia"—a house outside
the defensive walls of the cathedral mount. In 1514 he purchased the northwestern tower within the walls of the
Frombork stronghold. He would maintain both these residences to the end of his life, despite the devastation of
the chapter's buildings by a raid against Frauenburg carried out by the Teutonic Order in January 1520, during
which Copernicus's astronomical instruments were probably destroyed. Copernicus conducted astronomical
observations in 1513–16 presumably from his external curia; and in 1522–43, from an unidentified "small
tower" (turricula), using primitive instruments modeled on ancient ones—the quadrant, triquetrum, armillary
sphere. At Frombork Copernicus conducted over half of his more than 60 registered astronomical observations.
[61]
Having settled permanently at Frombork, where he would reside to the end of his life, with interruptions in
1516–19 and 1520–21, Copernicus found himself at the Warmia chapter's economic and administrative center,
which was also one of Warmia's two chief centers of political life. In the difficult, politically complex situation of
Warmia, threatened externally by the Teutonic Order's aggressions (attacks by Teutonic bands; the Polish-
Teutonic War of 1519–21; Albert's plans to annex Warmia), internally subject to strong separatist pressures
(the selection of the prince-bishops of Warmia; currency reform), he, together with part of the chapter,
represented a program of strict cooperation with the Polish Crown and demonstrated in all his public activities
(the defense of his country against the Order's plans of conquest; proposals to unify its monetary system with
the Polish Crown's; support for Poland's interests in the Warmia dominion's ecclesiastic administration) that he
was consciously a citizen of the Polish-Lithuanian Republic. Soon after the death of uncle Bishop Watzenrode,
he participated in the signing of the Second Treaty of Piotrków Trybunalski (7 December 1512), governing the
appointment of the Bishop of Warmia, declaring, despite opposition from part of the chapter, for loyal
cooperation with the Polish Crown.[61]
Frombork Cathedral mount and fortifications. In foreground: statue of Copernicus.
That same year (before 8 November 1512) Copernicus assumed responsibility, as magister pistoriae, for
administering the chapter's economic enterprises (he would hold this office again in 1530), having already
since 1511 fulfilled the duties of chancellor and visitor of the chapter's estates. [61]
His administrative and economic dutes did not distract Copernicus, in 1512–15, from intensive observational
activity. The results of his observations of Mars and Saturn in this period, and especially a series of four
observations of the Sun made in 1515, led to discovery of the variability of Earth's eccentricity and of the
movement of the solar apogee in relation to the fixed stars, which in 1515–19 prompted his first revisions of
certain assumptions of his system. Some of the observations that he made in this period may have had a
connection with a proposed reform of the Julian calendar made in the first half of 1513 at the request of
the Bishop of Fossombrone, Paul of Middelburg. Their contacts in this matter in the period of the Fifth Lateran
Council were later memorialized in a complimentary mention in Copernicus's dedicatory epistle in Dē
revolutionibus orbium coelestium and in a treatise by Paul of Middelburg, Secundum compendium correctionis
Calendarii (1516), which mentions Copernicus among the learned men who had sent the Council proposals for
the calendar's emendation.[62]
Olsztyn Castle
During 1516–21, Copernicus resided at Olsztyn (Allenstein) Castle as economic administrator of Warmia,
including Olsztyn (Allenstein) and Pieniężno (Mehlsack). While there, he wrote a manuscript, Locationes
mansorum desertorum (Locations of Deserted Fiefs), with a view to populating those fiefs with industrious
farmers and so bolstering the economy of Warmia. When Olsztyn was besieged by the Teutonic Knights during
the Polish–Teutonic War, Copernicus directed the defense of Olsztyn and Warmia by Royal Polish forces. He
also represented the Polish side in the ensuing peace negotiations. [63]
Copernicus for years advised the Royal Prussian sejmik on monetary reform, particularly in the 1520s when
that was a major question in regional Prussian politics. [64] In 1526 he wrote a study on the value of money,
"Monetae cudendae ratio". In it he formulated an early iteration of the theory, now called Gresham's law, that
"bad" (debased) coinage drives "good" (un-debased) coinage out of circulation—several decades
before Thomas Gresham. He also, in 1517, set down a quantity theory of money, a principal concept in
economics to the present day. Copernicus's recommendations on monetary reform were widely read by
leaders of both Prussia and Poland in their attempts to stabilize currency. [65]
Copernicus Monument in Warsaw designed by the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen
In 1533, Johann Widmanstetter, secretary to Pope Clement VII, explained Copernicus's heliocentric system to
the Pope and two cardinals. The Pope was so pleased that he gave Widmanstetter a valuable gift. [66] In
1535 Bernard Wapowski wrote a letter to a gentleman in Vienna, urging him to publish an enclosed almanac,
which he claimed had been written by Copernicus. This is the only mention of a Copernicus almanac in the
historical records. The "almanac" was likely Copernicus's tables of planetary positions. Wapowski's letter
mentions Copernicus's theory about the motions of the earth. Nothing came of Wapowski's request, because
he died a couple of weeks later.[66]
Following the death of Prince-Bishop of Warmia Mauritius Ferber (1 July 1537), Copernicus participated in the
election of his successor, Johannes Dantiscus (20 September 1537). Copernicus was one of four candidates
for the post, written in at the initiative of Tiedemann Giese; but his candidacy was actually pro forma, since
Dantiscus had earlier been named coadjutor bishop to Ferber and since Dantiscus had the backing of Poland's
King Sigismund I.[67] At first Copernicus maintained friendly relations with the new Prince-Bishop, assisting him
medically in spring 1538 and accompanying him that summer on an inspection tour of Chapter holdings. But
that autumn, their friendship was strained by suspicions over Copernicus's housekeeper, Anna Schilling, whom
Dantiscus banished from Frombork in spring 1539.[67]
In his younger days, Copernicus the physician had treated his uncle, brother and other chapter members. In
later years he was called upon to attend the elderly bishops who in turn occupied the see of Warmia—Mauritius
Ferber and Johannes Dantiscus—and, in 1539, his old friend Tiedemann Giese, Bishop of Chełmno (Kulm). In
treating such important patients, he sometimes sought consultations from other physicians, including the
physician to Duke Albert and, by letter, the Polish Royal Physician. [68]
Portrait of Copernicus holding a lily of the valley, published in Nicolaus Reusner's Icones (1587), based on a sketch by Tobias
Stimmer (c. 1570), allegedly based on a self-portrait by Copernicus. This portrait became the basis of most later depictions of
Copernicus.[69]
In the spring of 1541, Duke Albert—former Grand Master of the Teutonic Order who had converted
the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights into a Lutheran and hereditary realm, the Duchy of Prussia, upon
doing homage to his uncle, the King of Poland, Sigismund I—summoned Copernicus to Königsberg to attend
the Duke's counselor, George von Kunheim, who had fallen seriously ill, and for whom the Prussian doctors
seemed unable to do anything. Copernicus went willingly; he had met von Kunheim during negotiations over
reform of the coinage. And Copernicus had come to feel that Albert himself was not such a bad person; the two
had many intellectual interests in common. The Chapter readily gave Copernicus permission to go, as it wished
to remain on good terms with the Duke, despite his Lutheran faith. In about a month the patient recovered, and
Copernicus returned to Frombork. For a time, he continued to receive reports on von Kunheim's condition, and
to send him medical advice by letter.[70]
Some of Copernicus's close friends turned Protestant, but Copernicus never showed a tendency in that
direction. The first attacks on him came from Protestants. Wilhelm Gnapheus, a Dutch refugee settled
in Elbląg, wrote a comedy in Latin, Morosophus (The Foolish Sage), and staged it at the Latin school that he
had established there. In the play, Copernicus was caricatured as a haughty, cold, aloof man who dabbled
in astrology, considered himself inspired by God, and was rumored to have written a large work that was
moldering in a chest.[45]
Elsewhere Protestants were the first to react to news of Copernicus's theory. Melanchthon wrote:
Some people believe that it is excellent and correct to work out a thing as absurd as did that Sarmatian [i.e.,
Polish] astronomer who moves the earth and stops the sun. Indeed, wise rulers should have curbed such light-
mindedness.[45]
Nevertheless, in 1551, eight years after Copernicus's death, astronomer Erasmus Reinhold published, under
the sponsorship of Copernicus's former military adversary, the Protestant Duke Albert, the Prussian Tables, a
set of astronomical tables based on Copernicus's work. Astronomers and astrologers quickly adopted it in
place of its predecessors.[71]
Heliocentrism
"Nicolaus Copernicus Tornaeus Borussus Mathemat.", 1597
Some time before 1514 Copernicus made available to friends his "Commentariolus" ("Little Commentary"),
a manuscript describing his ideas about the heliocentric hypothesis. [u] It contained seven basic assumptions
(detailed below).[72] Thereafter he continued gathering data for a more detailed work.
About 1532 Copernicus had basically completed his work on the manuscript of Dē revolutionibus orbium
coelestium; but despite urging by his closest friends, he resisted openly publishing his views, not wishing—as
he confessed—to risk the scorn "to which he would expose himself on account of the novelty and
incomprehensibility of his theses."[67]
In 1533, Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter delivered a series of lectures in Rome outlining Copernicus's
theory. Pope Clement VII and several Catholic cardinals heard the lectures and were interested in the theory.
On 1 November 1536, Cardinal Nikolaus von Schönberg, Archbishop of Capua, wrote to Copernicus from
Rome:
Some years ago word reached me concerning your proficiency, of which everybody constantly spoke. At that
time I began to have a very high regard for you... For I had learned that you had not merely mastered the
discoveries of the ancient astronomers uncommonly well but had also formulated a new cosmology. In it you
maintain that the earth moves; that the sun occupies the lowest, and thus the central, place in the universe...
Therefore with the utmost earnestness I entreat you, most learned sir, unless I inconvenience you, to
communicate this discovery of yours to scholars, and at the earliest possible moment to send me your writings
on the sphere of the universe together with the tables and whatever else you have that is relevant to this
subject ...[73]
By then Copernicus's work was nearing its definitive form, and rumors about his theory had reached educated
people all over Europe. Despite urgings from many quarters, Copernicus delayed publication of his book,
perhaps from fear of criticism—a fear delicately expressed in the subsequent dedication of his masterpiece
to Pope Paul III. Scholars disagree on whether Copernicus's concern was limited to possible astronomical and
philosophical objections, or whether he was also concerned about religious objections. [v]
The book
De revolutionibus, 1543, title page
Copernicus was still working on De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (even if not certain that he wanted to
publish it) when in 1539 Georg Joachim Rheticus, a Wittenberg mathematician, arrived in Frombork. Philipp
Melanchthon, a close theological ally of Martin Luther, had arranged for Rheticus to visit several astronomers
and study with them. Rheticus became Copernicus's pupil, staying with him for two years and writing a
book, Narratio prima (First Account), outlining the essence of Copernicus's theory. In 1542 Rheticus published
a treatise on trigonometry by Copernicus (later included as chapters 13 and 14 of Book I of De revolutionibus).
[74]
Under strong pressure from Rheticus, and having seen the favorable first general reception of his work,
Copernicus finally agreed to give De revolutionibus to his close friend, Tiedemann Giese, bishop
of Chełmno (Kulm), to be delivered to Rheticus for printing by the German printer Johannes
Petreius at Nuremberg (Nürnberg), Germany. While Rheticus initially supervised the printing, he had to leave
Nuremberg before it was completed, and he handed over the task of supervising the rest of the printing to a
Lutheran theologian, Andreas Osiander.[75]
Osiander added an unauthorised and unsigned preface, defending Copernicus' work against those who might
be offended by its novel hypotheses. He argued that "different hypotheses are sometimes offered for one and
the same motion [and therefore] the astronomer will take as his first choice that hypothesis which is the easiest
to grasp." According to Osiander, "these hypotheses need not be true nor even probable. [I]f they provide a
calculus consistent with the observations, that alone is enough." [76]
Death
Frombork Cathedral
Toward the close of 1542, Copernicus was seized with apoplexy and paralysis, and he died at age 70 on 24
May 1543. Legend has it that he was presented with the final printed pages of his Dē revolutionibus orbium
coelestium on the very day that he died, allowing him to take farewell of his life's work. [w] He is reputed to have
awoken from a stroke-induced coma, looked at his book, and then died peacefully. [x]
Copernicus was reportedly buried in Frombork Cathedral, where a 1580 epitaph stood until being defaced; it
was replaced in 1735. For over two centuries, archaeologists searched the cathedral in vain for Copernicus'
remains. Efforts to locate them in 1802, 1909, 1939 had come to nought. In 2004 a team led by Jerzy
Gąssowski, head of an archaeology and anthropology institute in Pułtusk, began a new search, guided by the
research of historian Jerzy Sikorski.[77][78] In August 2005, after scanning beneath the cathedral floor, they
discovered what they believed to be Copernicus's remains. [79]
1735 epitaph, Frombork Cathedral
The discovery was announced only after further research, on 3 November 2008. Gąssowski said he was
"almost 100 percent sure it is Copernicus".[80] Forensic expert Capt. Dariusz Zajdel of the Polish Police Central
Forensic Laboratory used the skull to reconstruct a face that closely resembled the features—including a
broken nose and a scar above the left eye—on a Copernicus self-portrait. [80] The expert also determined that
the skull belonged to a man who had died around age 70—Copernicus's age at the time of his death. [79]
The grave was in poor condition, and not all the remains of the skeleton were found; missing, among other
things, was the lower jaw.[81] The DNA from the bones found in the grave matched hair samples taken from a
book owned by Copernicus which was kept at the library of the University of Uppsala in Sweden.[78][82]
On 22 May 2010 Copernicus was given a second funeral in a Mass led by Józef Kowalczyk, the former papal
nuncio to Poland and newly named Primate of Poland. Copernicus's remains were reburied in the same spot
in Frombork Cathedral where part of his skull and other bones had been found. A black granite tombstone now
identifies him as the founder of the heliocentric theory and also a church canon. The tombstone bears a
representation of Copernicus's model of the Solar System—a golden Sun encircled by six of the planets. [83]
Copernican system
Main article: Copernican heliocentrism
Predecessors
Philolaus (c. 480–385 BCE) described an astronomical system in which a Central Fire (different from the Sun)
occupied the centre of the universe, and a counter-Earth, the Earth, Moon, the Sun itself, planets, and stars all
revolved around it, in that order outward from the centre. [84] Heraclides Ponticus (387–312 BCE) proposed that
the Earth rotates on its axis.[85] Aristarchus of Samos (c. 310 BCE – c. 230 BCE) was the first to advance a
theory that the earth orbited the sun.[86] Further mathematical details of Aristarchus' heliocentric system were
worked out around 150 BCE by the Hellenistic astronomer Seleucus of Seleucia. Though Aristarchus' original
text has been lost, a reference in Archimedes' book The Sand Reckoner (Archimedis Syracusani Arenarius &
Dimensio Circuli) describes a work by Aristarchus in which he advanced the heliocentric model. Thomas
Heath gives the following English translation of Archimedes' text: [87]
You are now aware ['you' being King Gelon] that the "universe" is the name given by most astronomers to the
sphere the centre of which is the centre of the earth, while its radius is equal to the straight line between the
centre of the sun and the centre of the earth. This is the common account (τά γραφόμενα) as you have heard
from astronomers. But Aristarchus has brought out a book consisting of certain hypotheses, wherein it appears,
as a consequence of the assumptions made, that the universe is many times greater than the "universe" just
mentioned. His hypotheses are that the fixed stars and the sun remain unmoved, that the earth revolves about
the sun on the circumference of a circle, the sun lying in the middle of the orbit, and that the sphere of the fixed
stars, situated about the same centre as the sun, is so great that the circle in which he supposes the earth to
revolve bears such a proportion to the distance of the fixed stars as the centre of the sphere bears to its
surface.
— The Sand Reckoner
Copernicus cited Aristarchus of Samos in an early (unpublished) manuscript of De Revolutionibus (which still
survives), though he removed the reference from his final published manuscript. [6]
Copernicus was probably aware that Pythagoras's system involved a moving Earth. The Pythagorean system
was mentioned by Aristotle.[88]
Copernicus owned a copy of Giorgio Valla's De expetendis et fugiendis rebus, which included a translation of
Plutarch's reference to Aristarchus's heliostaticism.[89]
In Copernicus' dedication of On the Revolutions to Pope Paul III—which Copernicus hoped would dampen
criticism of his heliocentric theory by "babblers... completely ignorant of [astronomy]"—the book's author wrote
that, in rereading all of philosophy, in the pages of Cicero and Plutarch he had found references to those few
thinkers who dared to move the Earth "against the traditional opinion of astronomers and almost against
common sense."
Beginning in the 10th century, a tradition criticizing Ptolemy developed within Islamic astronomy, which
climaxed with Ibn al-Haytham of Basra's Al-Shukūk 'alā Baṭalamiyūs ("Doubts Concerning Ptolemy").[90] Several
Islamic astronomers questioned the Earth's apparent immobility, [91][92] and centrality within the universe.[93] Some
accepted that the earth rotates around its axis, such as Abu Sa'id al-Sijzi (d. c. 1020).[94][95] According to al-Biruni,
al-Sijzi invented an astrolabe based on a belief held by some of his contemporaries "that the motion we see is
due to the Earth's movement and not to that of the sky." [95][96] That others besides al-Sijzi held this view is further
confirmed by a reference from an Arabic work in the 13th century which states:
According to the geometers [or engineers] (muhandisīn), the earth is in constant circular motion, and what
appears to be the motion of the heavens is actually due to the motion of the earth and not the stars. [95]
In the 12th century, Nur ad-Din al-Bitruji proposed a complete alternative to the Ptolemaic system (although not
heliocentric).[97][98] He declared the Ptolemaic system as an imaginary model, successful at predicting planetary
positions, but not real or physical.[97][98] Al-Bitruji's alternative system spread through most of Europe during the
13th century, with debates and refutations of his ideas continued up to the 16th century. [98]
Tusi couple
Mathematical techniques developed in the 13th to 14th centuries by Mo'ayyeduddin al-Urdi, Nasir al-Din al-
Tusi, and Ibn al-Shatir for geocentric models of planetary motions closely resemble some of those used later by
Copernicus in his heliocentric models.[99] Copernicus used what is now known as the Urdi lemma and the Tusi
couple in the same planetary models as found in Arabic sources.[100] Furthermore, the exact replacement of
the equant by two epicycles used by Copernicus in the Commentariolus was found in an earlier work by Ibn al-
Shatir (d. c. 1375) of Damascus.[101] Ibn al-Shatir's lunar and Mercury models are also identical to those of
Copernicus.[102] This has led some scholars to argue that Copernicus must have had access to some yet to be
identified work on the ideas of those earlier astronomers.[103] However, no likely candidate for this conjectured
work has yet come to light, and other scholars have argued that Copernicus could well have developed these
ideas independently of the late Islamic tradition. [104] Nevertheless, Copernicus cited some of the Islamic
astronomers whose theories and observations he used in De Revolutionibus, namely al-Battani, Thabit ibn
Qurra, al-Zarqali, Averroes, and al-Bitruji.[105]
Nilakantha Somayaji (1444–1544), in his Aryabhatiyabhasya, a commentary on Aryabhata's Aryabhatiya,
developed a computational system for a partially heliocentric planetary model, in which the planets orbit the
Sun, which in turn orbits the Earth, similar to the Tychonic system later proposed by Tycho Brahe in the late
16th century. In the Tantrasangraha (1500), he further revised his planetary system, which was mathematically
more accurate at predicting the heliocentric orbits of the interior planets than both the Tychonic and Copernican
models.[citation needed]
The prevailing theory in Europe during Copernicus's lifetime was the one that Ptolemy published in
his Almagest c. 150 CE; the Earth was the stationary center of the universe. Stars were embedded in a large
outer sphere which rotated rapidly, approximately daily, while each of the planets, the Sun, and the Moon were
embedded in their own, smaller spheres. Ptolemy's system employed devices, including epicycles,
deferents and equants, to account for observations that the paths of these bodies differed from simple, circular
orbits centered on the Earth.[106]
Copernicus
Copernicus's schematic diagram of his heliocentric theory of the Solar System from De revolutionibus
orbium coelestium[107]
As it appears in the surviving autograph manuscript
As it appears in the first printed edition
Copernicus' major work on his heliocentric theory was Dē revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the
Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), published in the year of his death, 1543. He had formulated his theory by
1510. "He wrote out a short overview of his new heavenly arrangement [known as the Commentariolus, or Brief
Sketch], also probably in 1510 [but no later than May 1514], and sent it off to at least one correspondent
beyond Varmia [the Latin for "Warmia"]. That person in turn copied the document for further circulation, and
presumably the new recipients did, too..." [108]
Copernicus' Commentariolus summarized his heliocentric theory. It listed the "assumptions" upon which the
theory was based, as follows:[109]
1. There is no one center of all the celestial circles [110] or spheres.[111]
2. The center of the earth is not the center of the universe, but only the center towards which heavy bodies
move and the center of the lunar sphere.
3. All the spheres surround the sun as if it were in the middle of them all, and therefore the center of the
universe is near the sun.
4. The ratio of the earth's distance from the sun to the height of the firmament (outermost celestial sphere
containing the stars) is so much smaller than the ratio of the earth's radius to its distance from the sun that the
distance from the earth to the sun is imperceptible in comparison with the height of the firmament.
5. Whatever motion appears in the firmament arises not from any motion of the firmament, but from the earth's
motion. The earth together with its circumjacent elements performs a complete rotation on its fixed poles in a
daily motion, while the firmament and highest heaven abide unchanged.
6. What appear to us as motions of the sun arise not from its motion but from the motion of the earth and our
sphere, with which we revolve about the sun like any other planet. The earth has, then, more than one motion.
7. The apparent retrograde and direct motion of the planets arises not from their motion but from the earth's.
The motion of the earth alone, therefore, suffices to explain so many apparent inequalities in the heavens.
De revolutionibus itself was divided into six sections or parts, called "books": [112]
1. General vision of the heliocentric theory, and a summarized exposition of his idea of the World
2. Mainly theoretical, presents the principles of spherical astronomy and a list of stars (as a basis for the
arguments developed in the subsequent books)
3. Mainly dedicated to the apparent motions of the Sun and to related phenomena
4. Description of the Moon and its orbital motions
5. Exposition of the motions in longitude of the non-terrestrial planets
6. Exposition of the motions in latitude of the non-terrestrial planets
Successors
Copernican Revolution
Casket with Copernicus' remains on exhibition in Olsztyn
Georg Joachim Rheticus could have been Copernicus's successor, but did not rise to the occasion. [66] Erasmus
Reinhold could have been his successor, but died prematurely.[66] The first of the great successors was Tycho
Brahe[66] (though he did not think the Earth orbited the Sun), followed by Johannes Kepler,[66] who had
collaborated with Tycho in Prague and benefited from Tycho's decades' worth of detailed observational data. [113]
Despite the near universal acceptance later of the heliocentric idea (though not the epicycles or the circular
orbits), Copernicus's theory was originally slow to catch on. Scholars hold that sixty years after the publication
of The Revolutions there were only around 15 astronomers espousing Copernicanism in all of Europe:
"Thomas Digges and Thomas Harriot in England; Giordano Bruno and Galileo Galilei in Italy; Diego Zuniga in
Spain; Simon Stevin in the Low Countries; and in Germany, the largest group—Georg Joachim
Rheticus, Michael Maestlin, Christoph Rothmann (who may have later recanted),[114] and Johannes
Kepler."[114] Additional possibilities are Englishman William Gilbert, along with Achilles Gasser, Georg
Vogelin, Valentin Otto, and Tiedemann Giese.[114]
Arthur Koestler, in his popular book The Sleepwalkers, asserted that Copernicus's book had not been widely
read on its first publication.[115] This claim was trenchantly criticised by Edward Rosen,[y] and has been decisively
disproved by Owen Gingerich, who examined nearly every surviving copy of the first two editions and found
copious marginal notes by their owners throughout many of them. Gingerich published his conclusions in 2004
in The Book Nobody Read.[116]
The intellectual climate of the time "remained dominated by Aristotelian philosophy and the corresponding
Ptolemaic astronomy. At that time there was no reason to accept the Copernican theory, except for its
mathematical simplicity [by avoiding using the equant in determining planetary positions]." [117] Tycho Brahe's
system ("that the earth is stationary, the sun revolves about the earth, and the other planets revolve about the
sun")[117] also directly competed with Copernicus's. It was only a half century later with the work of Kepler and
Galileo that any substantial evidence defending Copernicanism appeared, starting "from the time when Galileo
formulated the principle of inertia...[which] helped to explain why everything would not fall off the earth if it were
in motion."[117] "[Not until] after Isaac Newton formulated the universal law of gravitation and the laws of
mechanics [in his 1687 Principia], which unified terrestrial and celestial mechanics, was the heliocentric view
generally accepted."[117]
Controversy
Photograph of a 16th-century portrait of Copernicus – the original painting was looted, and possibly destroyed, by the Germans
in World War II during the occupation of Poland.
See also: Catholic Church and science
The immediate result of the 1543 publication of Copernicus's book was only mild controversy. At the Council of
Trent (1545–63) neither Copernicus's theory nor calendar reform (which would later use tables deduced from
Copernicus's calculations) were discussed.[118] It has been much debated why it was not until six decades after
the publication of De revolutionibus that the Catholic Church took any official action against it, even the efforts
of Tolosani going unheeded. Catholic side opposition only commenced seventy-three years later, when it was
occasioned by Galileo.[119]
Tolosani
The first notable to move against Copernicanism was the Magister of the Holy Palace (i.e., the Catholic
Church's chief censor), Dominican Bartolomeo Spina, who "expressed a desire to stamp out the Copernican
doctrine".[120] But with Spina's death in 1546, his cause fell to his friend, the well known theologian-astronomer,
the Dominican Giovanni Maria Tolosani of the Convent of St. Mark in Florence. Tolosani had written a treatise
on reforming the calendar (in which astronomy would play a large role) and had attended the Fifth Lateran
Council (1512–1517) to discuss the matter. He had obtained a copy of De Revolutionibus in 1544. His
denunciation of Copernicanism was written a year later, in 1545, in an appendix to his unpublished work, On
the Truth of Sacred Scripture.[121]
Emulating the rationalistic style of Thomas Aquinas, Tolosani sought to refute Copernicanism by philosophical
argument. Copernicanism was absurd, according to Tolosani, because it was scientifically unproven and
unfounded. First, Copernicus had assumed the motion of the Earth but offered no physical theory whereby one
would deduce this motion. (No one realized that the investigation into Copernicanism would result in a
rethinking of the entire field of physics.) Second, Tolosani charged that Copernicus's thought process was
backwards. He held that Copernicus had come up with his idea and then sought phenomena that would
support it, rather than observing phenomena and deducing from them the idea of what caused them. In this,
Tolosani was linking Copernicus's mathematical equations with the practices of
the Pythagoreans (whom Aristotle had made arguments against, which were later picked up by Thomas
Aquinas). It was argued that mathematical numbers were a mere product of the intellect without any physical
reality, and as such could not provide physical causes in the investigation of nature. [122]
Some astronomical hypotheses at the time (such as epicycles and eccentrics) were seen as mere
mathematical devices to adjust calculations of where the heavenly bodies would appear, rather than an
explanation of the cause of those motions. (As Copernicus still maintained the idea of perfectly spherical orbits,
he relied on epicycles.) This "saving the phenomena" was seen as proof that astronomy and mathematics
could not be taken as serious means to determine physical causes. Tolosani invoked this view in his final
critique of Copernicus, saying that his biggest error was that he had started with "inferior" fields of science to
make pronouncements about "superior" fields. Copernicus had used mathematics and astronomy to postulate
about physics and cosmology, rather than beginning with the accepted principles of physics and cosmology to
determine things about astronomy and mathematics. Thus Copernicus seemed to be undermining the whole
system of the philosophy of science at the time. Tolosani held that Copernicus had fallen into philosophical
error because he had not been versed in physics and logic; anyone without such knowledge would make a
poor astronomer and be unable to distinguish truth from falsehood. Because Copernicanism had not met the
criteria for scientific truth set out by Thomas Aquinas, Tolosani held that it could only be viewed as a wild
unproven theory.[123][124]
Ptolemy and Copernicus, c. 1686, at King Jan Sobieski's library, Wilanów Palace: an early Copernicus depiction
Tolosani recognized that the Ad Lectorem preface to Copernicus's book was not actually by him. Its thesis that
astronomy as a whole would never be able to make truth claims was rejected by Tolosani (though he still held
that Copernicus's attempt to describe physical reality had been faulty); he found it ridiculous that Ad
Lectorem had been included in the book (unaware that Copernicus had not authorized its inclusion). Tolosani
wrote: "By means of these words [of the Ad Lectorem], the foolishness of this book's author is rebuked. For by
a foolish effort he [Copernicus] tried to revive the weak Pythagorean opinion [that the element of fire was at the
center of the Universe], long ago deservedly destroyed, since it is expressly contrary to human reason and also
opposes holy writ. From this situation, there could easily arise disagreements between Catholic expositors of
holy scripture and those who might wish to adhere obstinately to this false opinion." [125] Tolosani declared:
"Nicolaus Copernicus neither read nor understood the arguments of Aristotle the philosopher and Ptolemy the
astronomer."[121] Tolosani wrote that Copernicus "is expert indeed in the sciences of mathematics and
astronomy, but he is very deficient in the sciences of physics and logic. Moreover, it appears that he is
unskilled with regard to [the interpretation of] holy scripture, since he contradicts several of its principles, not
without danger of infidelity to himself and the readers of his book. ...his arguments have no force and can very
easily be taken apart. For it is stupid to contradict an opinion accepted by everyone over a very long time for
the strongest reasons, unless the impugner uses more powerful and insoluble demonstrations and completely
dissolves the opposed reasons. But he does not do this in the least." [125]
Tolosani declared that he had written against Copernicus "for the purpose of preserving the truth to the
common advantage of the Holy Church."[126] Despite this, his work remained unpublished and there is no
evidence that it received serious consideration. Robert Westman describes it as becoming a "dormant"
viewpoint with "no audience in the Catholic world" of the late sixteenth century, but also notes that there is
some evidence that it did become known to Tommaso Caccini, who would criticize Galileo in a sermon in
December 1613.[126]
Theology
Tolosani may have criticized the Copernican theory as scientifically unproven and unfounded, but the theory
also conflicted with the theology of the time, as can be seen in a sample of the works of John Calvin. In
his Commentary on Genesis he said that "We indeed are not ignorant that the circuit of the heavens is finite,
and that the earth, like a little globe, is placed in the centre." [127] In his commentary on Psalms 93:1 he states
that "The heavens revolve daily, and, immense as is their fabric and inconceivable the rapidity of their
revolutions, we experience no concussion.... How could the earth hang suspended in the air were it not upheld
by God's hand? By what means could it maintain itself unmoved, while the heavens above are in constant rapid
motion, did not its Divine Maker fix and establish it."[128] One sharp point of conflict between Copernicus's theory
and the Bible concerned the story of the Battle of Gibeon in the Book of Joshua where the Hebrew forces were
winning but whose opponents were likely to escape once night fell. This is averted by Joshua's prayers causing
the Sun and the Moon to stand still. Martin Luther once made a remark about Copernicus, although without
mentioning his name. According to Anthony Lauterbach, while eating with Martin Luther the topic of Copernicus
arose during dinner on 4 June 1539 (in the same year as professor George Joachim Rheticus of the local
University had been granted leave to visit him). Luther is said to have remarked "So it goes now. Whoever
wants to be clever must agree with nothing others esteem. He must do something of his own. This is what that
fellow does who wishes to turn the whole of astronomy upside down. Even in these things that are thrown into
disorder I believe the Holy Scriptures, for Joshua commanded the sun to stand still and not the earth." [117] These
remarks were made four years before the publication of On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres and a
year before Rheticus' Narratio Prima. In John Aurifaber's account of the conversation Luther calls Copernicus
"that fool" rather than "that fellow", this version is viewed by historians as less reliably sourced. [117]
Luther's collaborator Philipp Melanchthon also took issue with Copernicanism. After receiving the first pages
of Narratio Prima from Rheticus himself, Melanchthon wrote to Mithobius (physician and mathematician
Burkard Mithob of Feldkirch) on 16 October 1541 condemning the theory and calling for it to be repressed by
governmental force, writing "certain people believe it is a marvelous achievement to extol so crazy a thing, like
that Polish astronomer who makes the earth move and the sun stand still. Really, wise governments ought to
repress impudence of mind."[129] It had appeared to Rheticus that Melanchton would understand the theory and
would be open to it. This was because Melanchton had taught Ptolemaic astronomy and had even
recommended his friend Rheticus to an appointment to the Deanship of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences at the
University of Wittenberg after he had returned from studying with Copernicus. [130]
Rheticus' hopes were dashed when six years after the publication of De Revolutionibus Melanchthon published
his Initia Doctrinae Physicae presenting three grounds to reject Copernicanism. These were "the evidence of
the senses, the thousand-year consensus of men of science, and the authority of the Bible". [131] Blasting the new
theory Melanchthon wrote, "Out of love for novelty or in order to make a show of their cleverness, some people
have argued that the earth moves. They maintain that neither the eighth sphere nor the sun moves, whereas
they attribute motion to the other celestial spheres, and also place the earth among the heavenly bodies. Nor
were these jokes invented recently. There is still extant Archimedes' book on The Sand Reckoner; in which he
reports that Aristarchus of Samos propounded the paradox that the sun stands still and the earth revolves
around the sun. Even though subtle experts institute many investigations for the sake of exercising their
ingenuity, nevertheless public proclamation of absurd opinions is indecent and sets a harmful
example."[129] Melanchthon went on to cite Bible passages and then declare "Encouraged by this divine
evidence, let us cherish the truth and let us not permit ourselves to be alienated from it by the tricks of those
who deem it an intellectual honor to introduce confusion into the arts." [129] In the first edition of Initia Doctrinae
Physicae, Melanchthon even questioned Copernicus's character claiming his motivation was "either from love
of novelty or from desire to appear clever", these more personal attacks were largely removed by the second
edition in 1550.[131]
Copernicus' 2010 gravestone in Frombork Cathedral.
Another Protestant theologian who disparaged heliocentrism on scriptural grounds was John Owen. In a
passing remark in an essay on the origin of the sabbath, he characterised "the late hypothesis, fixing the sun
as in the centre of the world" as being "built on fallible phenomena, and advanced by many arbitrary
presumptions against evident testimonies of Scripture." [132]
In Roman Catholic circles, German Jesuit Nicolaus Serarius was one of the first to write against Copernicus's
theory as heretical, citing the Joshua passage, in a work published in 1609–1610, and again in a book in 1612.
[133]
In his 12 April 1615 letter to a Catholic defender of Copernicus, Paolo Antonio Foscarini, Catholic
Cardinal Robert Bellarmine condemned Copernican theory, writing "...not only the Holy Fathers, but also the
modern commentaries on Genesis, the Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Joshua, you will find all agreeing in the literal
interpretation that the sun is in heaven and turns around the earth with great speed, and that the earth is very
far from heaven and sits motionless at the center of the world...Nor can one answer that this is not a matter of
faith, since if it is not a matter of faith 'as regards the topic,' it is a matter of faith 'as regards the speaker': and
so it would be heretical to say that Abraham did not have two children and Jacob twelve, as well as to say that
Christ was not born of a virgin, because both are said by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of prophets and
apostles."[134]
Ingoli
Perhaps the most influential opponent of the Copernican theory was Francesco Ingoli, a Catholic priest. Ingoli
wrote a January 1616 essay to Galileo presenting more than twenty arguments against the Copernican theory.
[135]
Though "it is not certain, it is probable that he [Ingoli] was commissioned by the Inquisition to write an expert
opinion on the controversy",[136] (after the Congregation of the Index's decree against Copernicanism on 5 March
1616, Ingoli was officially appointed its consultant). [136] Galileo himself was of the opinion that the essay played
an important role in the rejection of the theory by church authorities, writing in a later letter to Ingoli that he was
concerned that people thought the theory was rejected because Ingoli was right. [135] Ingoli presented five
physical arguments against the theory, thirteen mathematical arguments (plus a separate discussion of the
sizes of stars), and four theological arguments. The physical and mathematical arguments were of uneven
quality, but many of them came directly from the writings of Tycho Brahe, and Ingoli repeatedly cited Brahe, the
leading astronomer of the era. These included arguments about the effect of a moving Earth on the trajectory of
projectiles, and about parallax and Brahe's argument that the Copernican theory required that stars be absurdly
large.[137]
Two of Ingoli's theological issues with the Copernican theory were "common Catholic beliefs not directly
traceable to Scripture: the doctrine that hell is located at the center of Earth and is most distant from heaven;
and the explicit assertion that Earth is motionless in a hymn sung on Tuesdays as part of the Liturgy of the
Hours of the Divine Office prayers regularly recited by priests." [138] Ingoli cited Robert Bellarmine in regards to
both of these arguments, and may have been trying to convey to Galileo a sense of Bellarmine's opinion.
[139]
Ingoli also cited Genesis 1:14 where God places "lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day
from the night." Ingoli did not think the central location of the Sun in the Copernican theory was compatible with
it being described as one of the lights placed in the firmament.[138] Like previous commentators Ingoli also
pointed to the passages about the Battle of Gibeon. He dismissed arguments that they should be taken
metaphorically, saying "Replies which assert that Scripture speaks according to our mode of understanding are
not satisfactory: both because in explaining the Sacred Writings the rule is always to preserve the literal sense,
when it is possible, as it is in this case; and also because all the [Church] Fathers unanimously take this
passage to mean that the Sun which was truly moving stopped at Joshua's request. An interpretation which is
contrary to the unanimous consent of the Fathers is condemned by the Council of Trent, Session IV, in the
decree on the edition and use of the Sacred Books. Furthermore, although the Council speaks about matters of
faith and morals, nevertheless it cannot be denied that the Holy Fathers would be displeased with an
interpretation of Sacred Scriptures which is contrary to their common agreement." [138] However, Ingoli closed the
essay by suggesting Galileo respond primarily to the better of his physical and mathematical arguments rather
than to his theological arguments, writing "Let it be your choice to respond to this either entirely of in part—
clearly at least to the mathematical and physical arguments, and not to all even of these, but to the more
weighty ones."[140] When Galileo wrote a letter in reply to Ingoli years later, he in fact only addressed the
mathematical and physical arguments.[140]
In March 1616, in connection with the Galileo affair, the Roman Catholic Church's Congregation of the
Index issued a decree suspending De revolutionibus until it could be "corrected," on the grounds of ensuring
that Copernicanism, which it described as a "false Pythagorean doctrine, altogether contrary to the Holy
Scripture," would not "creep any further to the prejudice of Catholic truth." [141] The corrections consisted largely
of removing or altering wording that spoke of heliocentrism as a fact, rather than a hypothesis. [142] The
corrections were made based largely on work by Ingoli. [136]
Galileo
On the orders of Pope Paul V, Cardinal Robert Bellarmine gave Galileo prior notice that the decree was about
to be issued, and warned him that he could not "hold or defend" the Copernican doctrine. [z] The corrections
to De revolutionibus, which omitted or altered nine sentences, were issued four years later, in 1620. [143]
In 1633 Galileo Galilei was convicted of grave suspicion of heresy for "following the position of Copernicus,
which is contrary to the true sense and authority of Holy Scripture", [144] and was placed under house arrest for
the rest of his life.[145][146]
At the instance of Roger Boscovich, the Catholic Church's 1758 Index of Prohibited Books omitted the general
prohibition of works defending heliocentrism,[147] but retained the specific prohibitions of the original uncensored
versions of De revolutionibus and Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. Those
prohibitions were finally dropped from the 1835 Index.[148]
Replica of Warsaw's Copernicus Monument, in Montreal, Canada
Bust by Schadow, 1807, in the Walhalla memorial
Nationality
Nicolaus Copernicus Monument in Kraków
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, rector's office
Copernicus Science Centre, Warsaw
Copernicus Hospital in Łódź, Poland's third largest city
There has been discussion of Copernicus' nationality and of whether it is meaningful to ascribe to him a
nationality in the modern sense.
Nicolaus Copernicus was born and raised in Royal Prussia, a semiautonomous and polyglot region of
the Kingdom of Poland.[149][150] He was the child of German-speaking parents and grew up with German as his
mother tongue.[151][152][153] His first alma mater was the University of Kraków in Poland. When he later studied in
Italy, at the University of Bologna, he joined the German Nation, a student organization for German-speakers of
all allegiances (Germany would not become a nation-state until 1871).[154][155] His family stood against
the Teutonic Order and actively supported the city of Toruń during the Thirteen Years' War (1454–66).
Copernicus' father lent money to Poland's King Casimir IV Jagiellon to finance the war against the Teutonic
Knights,[156] but the inhabitants of Royal Prussia also resisted the Polish crown's efforts for greater control over
the region.[149]
Encyclopædia Britannica,[157] Encyclopedia Americana,[158] The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia,[159] The Oxford
World Encyclopedia,[160] and World Book Encyclopedia[161] refer to Copernicus as a "Polish astronomer". Sheila
Rabin, writing in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, describes Copernicus as a "child of a German family
[who] was a subject of the Polish crown",[10] while Manfred Weissenbacher writes that Copernicus's father was a
Germanized Pole.[162]
No Polish texts by Copernicus survive due to the rarity of Polish literary language before the writings of
the Polish Renaissance poets Mikołaj Rej and Jan Kochanowski (educated Poles had generally written in
Latin); but it is known that Copernicus knew Polish on a par with German and Latin. [163]
Historian Michael Burleigh describes the nationality debate as a "totally insignificant battle" between German
and Polish scholars during the interwar period.[164] Polish astronomer Konrad Rudnicki calls the discussion a
"fierce scholarly quarrel in ... times of nationalism" and describes Copernicus as an inhabitant of a German-
speaking territory that belonged to Poland, himself being of mixed Polish-German extraction. [165]
Czesław Miłosz describes the debate as an "absurd" projection of a modern understanding of nationality
onto Renaissance people, who identified with their home territories rather than with a nation. [166] Similarly,
historian Norman Davies writes that Copernicus, as was common in his era, was "largely indifferent" to
nationality, being a local patriot who considered himself "Prussian".[167] Miłosz and Davies both write that
Copernicus had a German-language cultural background, while his working language was Latin in accord with
the usage of the time.[166][167] Additionally, according to Davies, "there is ample evidence that he knew the Polish
language".[167] Davies concludes that, "Taking everything into consideration, there is good reason to regard him
both as a German and as a Pole: and yet, in the sense that modern nationalists understand it, he was
neither."[167]
Commemoration
Copernicia
Copernicia, a genus of palm trees native to South America and the Greater Antilles, was named after
Copernicus in 1837. In some of the species, the leaves are coated with a thin layer of wax, known as carnauba
wax.
U.S. postage stamp on 500th anniversary of Copernicus's birth (1973)
Copernicium
Main article: Copernicium
On 14 July 2009, the discoverers, from the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany,
of chemical element 112 (temporarily named ununbium) proposed to the International Union of Pure and
Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) that its permanent name be "copernicium" (symbol Cn). "After we had named
elements after our city and our state, we wanted to make a statement with a name that was known to
everyone," said Hofmann. "We didn't want to select someone who was a German. We were looking world-
wide."[168] On the 537th anniversary of his birthday the official naming was released to the public. [169]
55 Cancri A
In July 2014 the International Astronomical Union launched a process for giving proper names to certain
exoplanets and their host stars.[170] The process involved public nomination and voting for the new names. [171] In
December 2015, the IAU announced the winning name for 55 Cancri A was Copernicus.[172]
Veneration
Copernicus is honored, together with Johannes Kepler, in the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (US),
with a feast day on 23 May.[173]
Wrocław
Wrocław-Strachowice International Airport is named after Nicolaus Copernicus (Copernicus Airport Wrocław)
Influence
Contemporary literary and artistic works inspired by Copernicus:
Mover of the Earth, Stopper of the Sun for symphony orchestra (overture), written by
composer Svitlana Azarova commissioned by ONDIF[174][175]
Doctor Copernicus, a 1975 novel by John Banville, sketches the life of Copernicus and the 16th-
century world in which he lived.
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950),[1] better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an
English novelist and essayist, journalist and critic. [2] His work is characterised by lucid prose, awareness
of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism.[3][4][5][6]
As a writer, Orwell produced literary criticism and poetry, fiction and polemical journalism; and is best known for
the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). His non-
fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the
north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for
the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on
politics and literature, language and culture. In 2008, The Times ranked George Orwell second among "The 50
greatest British writers since 1945".[7]
Orwell's work remains influential in popular culture and in political culture, and the adjective "Orwellian" –
describing totalitarian and authoritarian social practices – is part of the English language, like many of
his neologisms, such as "Big Brother", "Thought Police", and "Hate week", "Room 101", the "memory hole",
and "Newspeak", "doublethink" and "proles", "unperson" and "thoughtcrime".[8][
George Orwell
Orwell's press card portrait, 1943.
Life
Early years
Eric Arthur Blair was born on 25 June 1903 in Motihari, Bihar, British India.[10] His great-grandfather, Charles
Blair, was a wealthy country gentleman in Dorset who married Lady Mary Fane, daughter of the Earl of
Westmorland, and had income as an absentee landlord of plantations in Jamaica.[11] His grandfather, Thomas
Richard Arthur Blair, was a clergyman.[12] Although the gentility passed down the generations, the prosperity did
not; Eric Blair described his family as "lower-upper-middle class".[13]
Blair family home at Shiplake, Oxfordshire
His father, Richard Walmesley Blair, worked in the Opium Department of the Indian Civil Service.[14] His mother,
Ida Mabel Blair (née Limouzin), grew up in Moulmein, Burma, where her French father was involved in
speculative ventures.[11] Eric had two sisters: Marjorie, five years older; and Avril, five years younger. When Eric
was one year old, his mother took him and Marjorie to England.[15][n 1] His birthplace and ancestral house
in Motihari has been declared a protected monument of historical importance. [16]
In 1904 Ida Blair settled with her children at Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. Eric was brought up in the
company of his mother and sisters, and apart from a brief visit in mid-1907, [17] the family did not see their
husband or father, Richard Blair, until 1912.[12] His mother's diary from 1905 describes a lively round of social
activity and artistic interests.
Aged five, Eric was sent as a day-boy to a convent school in Henley-on-Thames, which Marjorie also attended.
It was a Roman Catholic convent run by French Ursuline nuns, who had been exiled from France after Catholic
education was banned in 1903 due to the Dreyfus Affair.[18] His mother wanted him to have a public
school education, but his family could not afford the fees, and he needed to earn a scholarship. Ida Blair's
brother Charles Limouzin recommended St Cyprian's School, Eastbourne, East Sussex.[12] Limouzin, who was a
proficient golfer, knew of the school and its headmaster through the Royal Eastbourne Golf Club, where he won
several competitions in 1903 and 1904.[19] The headmaster undertook to help Blair to win a scholarship, and
made a private financial arrangement that allowed Blair's parents to pay only half the normal fees. In
September 1911, Eric arrived at St Cyprian's. He boarded at the school for the next five years, returning home
only for school holidays. During this period, while working for the Ministry of Pensions, his mother lived at 23
Cromwell Crescent, Earls Court. He knew nothing of the reduced fees, although he "soon recognised that he
was from a poorer home".[20] Blair hated the school[21] and many years later wrote an essay "Such, Such Were
the Joys", published posthumously, based on his time there. At St Cyprian's, Blair first met Cyril Connolly, who
became a writer. Many years later, as the editor of Horizon, Connolly published several of Orwell's essays.
Before the First World War, the family moved to Shiplake, Oxfordshire where Eric became friendly with the
Buddicom family, especially their daughter Jacintha. When they first met, he was standing on his head in a
field. On being asked why, he said, "You are noticed more if you stand on your head than if you are right way
up."[22] Jacintha and Eric read and wrote poetry, and dreamed of becoming famous writers. He said that he
might write a book in the style of H. G. Wells's A Modern Utopia. During this period, he also enjoyed shooting,
fishing and birdwatching with Jacintha's brother and sister. [22]
Blair's time at St. Cyprian inspired his essay "Such, Such Were the Joys".
While at St Cyprian's, Blair wrote two poems that were published in the Henley and South Oxfordshire
Standard.[23][24] He came second to Connolly in the Harrow History Prize, had his work praised by the school's
external examiner, and earned scholarships to Wellington and Eton. But inclusion on the Eton scholarship roll
did not guarantee a place, and none was immediately available for Blair. He chose to stay at St Cyprian's until
December 1916, in case a place at Eton became available. [12]
In January, Blair took up the place at Wellington, where he spent the Spring term. In May 1917 a place became
available as a King's Scholar at Eton. At this time the family lived at Mall Chambers, Notting Hill Gate. Blair
remained at Eton until December 1921, when he left midway between his 18th and 19th birthday. Wellington
was "beastly", Orwell told his childhood friend Jacintha Buddicom, but he said he was "interested and happy" at
Eton.[25] His principal tutor was A. S. F. Gow, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, who also gave him advice
later in his career.[12] Blair was briefly taught French by Aldous Huxley. Steven Runciman, who was at Eton with
Blair, noted that he and his contemporaries appreciated Huxley's linguistic flair. [26] Cyril Connolly followed Blair
to Eton, but because they were in separate years, they did not associate with each other. [27]
Blair's academic performance reports suggest that he neglected his academic studies, [26] but during his time at
Eton he worked with Roger Mynors to produce a College magazine, The Election Times, joined in the
production of other publications – College Days and Bubble and Squeak – and participated in the Eton Wall
Game. His parents could not afford to send him to a university without another scholarship, and they concluded
from his poor results that he would not be able to win one. Runciman noted that he had a romantic idea about
the East,[26] and the family decided that Blair should join the Imperial Police, the precursor of the Indian Police
Service. For this he had to pass an entrance examination. In December 1921 he left Eton and travelled to join
his retired father, mother, and younger sister Avril, who that month had moved to 40 Stradbroke
Road, Southwold, Suffolk, the first of their four homes in the town.[28] Blair was enrolled at a crammer there
called Craighurst, and brushed up on his Classics, English, and History. He passed the entrance exam, coming
seventh out of the 26 candidates who exceeded the pass mark. [12][29]
Policing in Burma
Blair's maternal grandmother lived at Moulmein, so he chose a posting in Burma, then still a province of British
India. In October 1922 he sailed on board SS Herefordshire via the Suez Canal and Ceylon to join the Indian
Imperial Police in Burma. A month later, he arrived at Rangoon and travelled to the police training school
in Mandalay. He was appointed an Assistant District Superintendent (on probation) on 29 November 1922,
[30]
with effect from 27 November and at a base salary of Rs. 325 per month, with an overseas supplement of
Rs. 125/month and a "Burma Allowance" of Rs. 75/month (a total of Rs. 525, or approximately ₤52-10s-0d per
month at prevailing exchange rates).[31][32][n 2] After a short posting at Maymyo, Burma's principal hill station, he
was posted to the frontier outpost of Myaungmya in the Irrawaddy Delta at the beginning of 1924.
Blair pictured in a passport photo in Burma. This was the last time he had a toothbrush moustache (pictured); he would later acquire
a pencil moustache similar to British officers stationed in Burma.
Working as an imperial police officer gave him considerable responsibility while most of his contemporaries
were still at university in England. When he was posted farther east in the Delta to Twante as a sub-divisional
officer, he was responsible for the security of some 200,000 people. At the end of 1924, he was posted
to Syriam, closer to Rangoon. Syriam had the refinery of the Burmah Oil Company, "the surrounding land a
barren waste, all vegetation killed off by the fumes of sulphur dioxide pouring out day and night from the stacks
of the refinery." But the town was near Rangoon, a cosmopolitan seaport, and Blair went into the city as often
as he could, "to browse in a bookshop; to eat well-cooked food; to get away from the boring routine of police
life".[34] In September 1925 he went to Insein, the home of Insein Prison, the second largest prison in Burma. In
Insein, he had "long talks on every conceivable subject" with Elisa Maria Langford-Rae (who later married Kazi
Lhendup Dorjee). She noted his "sense of utter fairness in minutest details". [35] By this time, Blair had completed
his training and was receiving a monthly salary of Rs. 740, including allowances (approximately ₤74-0s–0d per
month).[36][n 3]
British Club in Katha
In Burma, Blair acquired a reputation as an outsider. He spent much of his time alone, reading or pursuing non-
pukka activities, such as attending the churches of the Karen ethnic group. A colleague, Roger Beadon,
recalled (in a 1969 recording for the BBC) that Blair was fast to learn the language and that before he left
Burma, "was able to speak fluently with Burmese priests in 'very high-flown Burmese.'" [38] Blair made changes to
his appearance in Burma that remained for the rest of his life. This included adopting a pencil moustache, a thin
line above the lip (he previously had a toothbrush moustache). Emma Larkin writes in the introduction
to Burmese Days, "While in Burma, he acquired a moustache similar to those worn by officers of the British
regiments stationed there. [He] also acquired some tattoos; on each knuckle he had a small untidy blue circle.
Many Burmese living in rural areas still sport tattoos like this – they are believed to protect against bullets and
snake bites."[39] Later, he wrote that he felt guilty about his role in the work of empire and he "began to look
more closely at his own country and saw that England also had its oppressed."
In April 1926 he moved to Moulmein, where his maternal grandmother lived. At the end of that year, he was
assigned to Katha in Upper Burma, where he contracted dengue fever in 1927. Entitled to a leave in England
that year, he was allowed to return in July due to his illness. While on leave in England and on holiday with his
family in Cornwall in September 1927, he reappraised his life. Deciding against returning to Burma, he resigned
from the Indian Imperial Police to become a writer, with effect from 12 March 1928 after five-and-a-half years of
service.[40] He drew on his experiences in the Burma police for the novel Burmese Days (1934) and the essays
"A Hanging" (1931) and "Shooting an Elephant" (1936).
London and Paris
In England, he settled back in the family home at Southwold, renewing acquaintance with local friends and
attending an Old Etonian dinner. He visited his old tutor Gow at Cambridge for advice on becoming a writer.
[41]
In 1927 he moved to London.[42] Ruth Pitter, a family acquaintance, helped him find lodgings, and by the end
of 1927 he had moved into rooms in Portobello Road;[43] a blue plaque commemorates his residence there.
[44]
Pitter's involvement in the move "would have lent it a reassuring respectability in Mrs Blair's eyes." Pitter had
a sympathetic interest in Blair's writing, pointed out weaknesses in his poetry, and advised him to write about
what he knew. In fact he decided to write of "certain aspects of the present that he set out to know" and
ventured into the East End of London – the first of the occasional sorties he would make to discover for himself
the world of poverty and the down-and-outers who inhabit it. He had found a subject. These sorties,
explorations, expeditions, tours or immersions were made intermittently over a period of five years. [45]
Blair's 1927 lodgings in Portobello Road, London
In imitation of Jack London, whose writing he admired (particularly The People of the Abyss), Blair started to
explore the poorer parts of London. On his first outing he set out to Limehouse Causeway, spending his first
night in a common lodging house, possibly George Levy's 'kip'. For a while he "went native" in his own country,
dressing like a tramp, adopting the name P.S. Burton and making no concessions to middle-class mores and
expectations; he recorded his experiences of the low life for use in "The Spike", his first published essay in
English, and in the second half of his first book, Down and Out in Paris and London (1933).
Rue du Pot de Fer on the Left Bank in the 5th arrondissement, where Blair lived in Paris
In early 1928 he moved to Paris. He lived in the rue du Pot de Fer, a working class district in the 5th
Arrondissement.[12] His aunt Nellie Limouzin also lived in Paris and gave him social and, when necessary,
financial support. He began to write novels, including an early version of Burmese Days, but nothing else
survives from that period.[12] He was more successful as a journalist and published articles in Monde, a
political/literary journal edited by Henri Barbusse (his first article as a professional writer, "La Censure en
Angleterre", appeared in that journal on 6 October 1928); G. K.'s Weekly, where his first article to appear in
England, "A Farthing Newspaper", was printed on 29 December 1928; [46] and Le Progrès Civique (founded by
the left-wing coalition Le Cartel des Gauches). Three pieces appeared in successive weeks in Le Progrès
Civique: discussing unemployment, a day in the life of a tramp, and the beggars of London, respectively. "In
one or another of its destructive forms, poverty was to become his obsessive subject – at the heart of almost
everything he wrote until Homage to Catalonia."[47]
He fell seriously ill in February 1929 and was taken to the Hôpital Cochin in the 14th arrondissement, a free
hospital where medical students were trained. His experiences there were the basis of his essay "How the Poor
Die", published in 1946. He chose not to identify the hospital, and indeed was deliberately misleading about its
location. Shortly afterwards, he had all his money stolen from his lodging house. Whether through necessity or
to collect material, he undertook menial jobs such as dishwashing in a fashionable hotel on the rue de Rivoli,
which he later described in Down and Out in Paris and London. In August 1929, he sent a copy of "The Spike"
to John Middleton Murry's New Adelphi magazine in London. The magazine was edited by Max
Plowman and Sir Richard Rees, and Plowman accepted the work for publication.
Southwold
Southwold – North Parade
In December 1929, after nearly two years in Paris, Blair returned to England and went directly to his parents'
house in Southwold, a coastal town in Suffolk, which remained his base for the next five years. The family was
well established in the town, and his sister Avril was running a tea-house there. He became acquainted with
many local people, including Brenda Salkeld, the clergyman's daughter who worked as a gym-teacher at St
Felix Girls' School in the town. Although Salkeld rejected his offer of marriage, she remained a friend and
regular correspondent for many years. He also renewed friendships with older friends, such as Dennis Collings,
whose girlfriend Eleanor Jacques was also to play a part in his life. [12]
In early 1930 he stayed briefly in Bramley, Leeds, with his sister Marjorie and her husband Humphrey Dakin,
who was as unappreciative of Blair as when they knew each other as children. Blair was writing reviews
for Adelphi and acting as a private tutor to a disabled child at Southwold. He then became tutor to three young
brothers, one of whom, Richard Peters, later became a distinguished academic.[48] "His history in these years is
marked by dualities and contrasts. There is Blair leading a respectable, outwardly eventless life at his parents'
house in Southwold, writing; then in contrast, there is Blair as Burton (the name he used in his down-and-out
episodes) in search of experience in the kips and spikes, in the East End, on the road, and in the hop fields of
Kent."[49] He went painting and bathing on the beach, and there he met Mabel and Francis Fierz, who later
influenced his career. Over the next year he visited them in London, often meeting their friend Max Plowman.
He also often stayed at the homes of Ruth Pitter and Richard Rees, where he could "change" for his sporadic
tramping expeditions. One of his jobs was domestic work at a lodgings for half a crown (two shillings and
sixpence, or one-eighth of a pound) a day.[50]
Blair now contributed regularly to Adelphi, with "A Hanging" appearing in August 1931. From August to
September 1931 his explorations of poverty continued, and, like the protagonist of A Clergyman's Daughter, he
followed the East End tradition of working in the Kent hop fields. He kept a diary about his experiences there.
Afterwards, he lodged in the Tooley Street kip, but could not stand it for long, and with financial help from his
parents moved to Windsor Street, where he stayed until Christmas. "Hop Picking", by Eric Blair, appeared in
the October 1931 issue of New Statesman, whose editorial staff included his old friend Cyril Connolly. Mabel
Fierz put him in contact with Leonard Moore, who became his literary agent.
At this time Jonathan Cape rejected A Scullion's Diary, the first version of Down and Out. On the advice of
Richard Rees, he offered it to Faber and Faber, but their editorial director, T. S. Eliot, also rejected it. Blair
ended the year by deliberately getting himself arrested, [51] so that he could experience Christmas in prison, but
the authorities did not regard his "drunk and disorderly" behaviour as imprisonable, and he returned home to
Southwold after two days in a police cell.
Teaching career
In April 1932 Blair became a teacher at The Hawthorns High School, a school for boys, in Hayes, West
London. This was a small school offering private schooling for children of local tradesmen and shopkeepers,
and had only 14 or 16 boys aged between ten and sixteen, and one other master. [52] While at the school he
became friendly with the curate of the local parish church and became involved with activities there. Mabel
Fierz had pursued matters with Moore, and at the end of June 1932, Moore told Blair that Victor Gollancz was
prepared to publish A Scullion's Diary for a £40 advance, through his recently founded publishing house, Victor
Gollancz Ltd, which was an outlet for radical and socialist works.
At the end of the summer term in 1932, Blair returned to Southwold, where his parents had used a legacy to
buy their own home. Blair and his sister Avril spent the holidays making the house habitable while he also
worked on Burmese Days.[53] He was also spending time with Eleanor Jacques, but her attachment to Dennis
Collings remained an obstacle to his hopes of a more serious relationship.
The pen name George Orwell was inspired by the River Orwell in the English county of Suffolk[54]
"Clink", an essay describing his failed attempt to get sent to prison, appeared in the August 1932 number
of Adelphi. He returned to teaching at Hayes and prepared for the publication of his book, now known as Down
and Out in Paris and London. He wished to publish under a different name to avoid any embarrassment to his
family over his time as a "tramp".[55] In a letter to Moore (dated 15 November 1932), he left the choice of
pseudonym to Moore and to Gollancz. Four days later, he wrote to Moore, suggesting the pseudonyms P. S.
Burton (a name he used when tramping), Kenneth Miles, George Orwell, and H. Lewis Allways. [56] He finally
adopted the nom de plume George Orwell because "It is a good round English name." [57] Down and Out in Paris
and London was published on 9 January 1933 as Orwell continued to work on Burmese Days. Down and
Out was modestly successful and was next published by Harper & Brothers in New York.
In mid-1933 Blair left Hawthorns to become a teacher at Frays College, in Uxbridge, Middlesex. This was a
much larger establishment with 200 pupils and a full complement of staff. He acquired a motorcycle and took
trips through the surrounding countryside. On one of these expeditions he became soaked and caught a chill
that developed into pneumonia. He was taken to Uxbridge Cottage Hospital, where for a time his life was
believed to be in danger. When he was discharged in January 1934, he returned to Southwold to convalesce
and, supported by his parents, never returned to teaching.
He was disappointed when Gollancz turned down Burmese Days, mainly on the grounds of potential suits for
libel, but Harper were prepared to publish it in the United States. Meanwhile, Blair started work on the novel A
Clergyman's Daughter, drawing upon his life as a teacher and on life in Southwold. Eleanor Jacques was now
married and had gone to Singapore and Brenda Salkeld had left for Ireland, so Blair was relatively isolated in
Southwold – working on the allotments, walking alone and spending time with his father. Eventually in October,
after sending A Clergyman's Daughter to Moore, he left for London to take a job that had been found for him by
his aunt Nellie Limouzin.
Hampstead
This job was as a part-time assistant in Booklovers' Corner, a second-hand bookshop in Hampstead run by
Francis and Myfanwy Westrope, who were friends of Nellie Limouzin in the Esperanto movement. The
Westropes were friendly and provided him with comfortable accommodation at Warwick Mansions, Pond
Street. He was sharing the job with Jon Kimche, who also lived with the Westropes. Blair worked at the shop in
the afternoons and had his mornings free to write and his evenings free to socialise. These experiences
provided background for the novel Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1936). As well as the various guests of the
Westropes, he was able to enjoy the company of Richard Rees and the Adelphi writers and Mabel Fierz. The
Westropes and Kimche were members of the Independent Labour Party, although at this time Blair was not
seriously politically active. He was writing for the Adelphi and preparing A Clergyman's Daughter and Burmese
Days for publication.
Orwell's former home at 77 Parliament Hill, Hampstead, London
At the beginning of 1935 he had to move out of Warwick Mansions, and Mabel Fierz found him a flat in
Parliament Hill. A Clergyman's Daughter was published on 11 March 1935. In early 1935 Blair met his future
wife Eileen O'Shaughnessy, when his landlady, Rosalind Obermeyer, who was studying for a master's degree
in psychology at University College London, invited some of her fellow students to a party. One of these
students, Elizaveta Fen, a biographer and future translator of Chekhov, recalled Blair and his friend Richard
Rees "draped" at the fireplace, looking, she thought, "moth-eaten and prematurely aged." [58] Around this time,
Blair had started to write reviews for The New English Weekly.
Orwell's time as a bookseller is commemorated with this plaque in Hampstead
In June, Burmese Days was published and Cyril Connolly's review in the New Statesman prompted Blair (as he
then became known) to re-establish contact with his old friend. In August, he moved into a flat in Kentish Town,
which he shared with Michael Sayers and Rayner Heppenstall. The relationship was sometimes awkward and
Blair and Heppenstall even came to blows, though they remained friends and later worked together on BBC
broadcasts.[59] Blair was now working on Keep the Aspidistra Flying, and also tried unsuccessfully to write a
serial for the News Chronicle. By October 1935 his flatmates had moved out and he was struggling to pay the
rent on his own. He remained until the end of January 1936, when he stopped working at Booklovers' Corner.
The Road to Wigan Pier
Main article: The Road to Wigan Pier
At this time, Victor Gollancz suggested Orwell spend a short time investigating social conditions in
economically depressed northern England.[n 4] Two years earlier, J. B. Priestley had written about England north
of the Trent, sparking an interest in reportage. The depression had also introduced a number of working-class
writers from the North of England to the reading public. It was one of these working-class authors, Jack Hilton,
whom Orwell sought for advice. Orwell had written to Hilton seeking lodging and asking for recommendations
on his route. Hilton was unable to provide him lodging, but suggested that he travel to Wigan rather than
Rochdale, "for there are the colliers and they're good stuff." [61]
On 31 January 1936, Orwell set out by public transport and on foot, reaching Manchester via Coventry,
Stafford, the Potteries and Macclesfield. Arriving in Manchester after the banks had closed, he had to stay in a
common lodging-house. The next day he picked up a list of contacts sent by Richard Rees. One of these, the
trade union official Frank Meade, suggested Wigan, where Orwell spent February staying in dirty lodgings over
a tripe shop. At Wigan, he visited many homes to see how people lived, took detailed notes of housing
conditions and wages earned, went down Bryn Hall coal mine, and used the local public library to consult public
health records and reports on working conditions in mines.
During this time, he was distracted by concerns about style and possible libel in Keep the Aspidistra Flying. He
made a quick visit to Liverpool and during March, stayed in south Yorkshire, spending time
in Sheffield and Barnsley. As well as visiting mines, including Grimethorpe, and observing social conditions, he
attended meetings of the Communist Party and of Oswald Mosley ("his speech the usual claptrap – The blame
for everything was put upon mysterious international gangs of Jews") where he saw the tactics of
the Blackshirts ("...one is liable to get both a hammering and a fine for asking a question which Mosley finds it
difficult to answer.").[62] He also made visits to his sister at Headingley, during which he visited the Brontë
Parsonage at Haworth, where he was "chiefly impressed by a pair of Charlotte Brontë's cloth-topped boots,
very small, with square toes and lacing up at the sides." [63]
A former warehouse at Wigan Pier is named after Orwell
No 2 Kits Lane, Wallington, Hertfordshire, Orwell's residence circa 1936–1940
Orwell needed somewhere he could concentrate on writing his book, and once again help was provided by
Aunt Nellie, who was living at Wallington, Hertfordshire in a very small 16th-century cottage called the "Stores".
Wallington was a tiny village 35 miles north of London, and the cottage had almost no modern facilities. Orwell
took over the tenancy and moved in on 2 April 1936. [64] He started work on The Road to Wigan Pier by the end
of April, but also spent hours working on the garden and testing the possibility of reopening the Stores as a
village shop. Keep the Aspidistra Flying was published by Gollancz on 20 April 1936. On 4 August, Orwell gave
a talk at the Adelphi Summer School held at Langham, entitled An Outsider Sees the Distressed Areas; others
who spoke at the school included John Strachey, Max Plowman, Karl Polanyi and Reinhold Niebuhr.
The result of his journeys through the north was The Road to Wigan Pier, published by Gollancz for the Left
Book Club in 1937. The first half of the book documents his social investigations of Lancashire and Yorkshire,
including an evocative description of working life in the coal mines. The second half is a long essay on his
upbringing and the development of his political conscience, which includes an argument for socialism (although
he goes to lengths to balance the concerns and goals of socialism with the barriers it faced from the
movement's own advocates at the time, such as "priggish" and "dull" socialist intellectuals and "proletarian"
socialists with little grasp of the actual ideology). Gollancz feared the second half would offend readers and
added a disculpatory preface to the book while Orwell was in Spain.
Orwell's research for The Road to Wigan Pier led to him being placed under surveillance by the Special
Branch from 1936, for 12 years, until one year before the publication of Nineteen Eighty-Four.[65]
Orwell married Eileen O'Shaughnessy on 9 June 1936. Shortly afterwards, the political crisis began in Spain
and Orwell followed developments there closely. At the end of the year, concerned by Francisco Franco's
military uprising (supported by Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and local groups such as Falange), Orwell decided
to go to Spain to take part in the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side. Under the erroneous impression
that he needed papers from some left-wing organisation to cross the frontier, on John Strachey's
recommendation he applied unsuccessfully to Harry Pollitt, leader of the British Communist Party. Pollitt was
suspicious of Orwell's political reliability; he asked him whether he would undertake to join the International
Brigade and advised him to get a safe-conduct from the Spanish Embassy in Paris. [66] Not wishing to commit
himself until he had seen the situation in situ, Orwell instead used his Independent Labour Party contacts to get
a letter of introduction to John McNair in Barcelona.
Spanish Civil War
Orwell set out for Spain on about 23 December 1936, dining with Henry Miller in Paris on the way. The
American writer told Orwell that going to fight in the Civil War out of some sense of obligation or guilt was
"sheer stupidity" and that the Englishman's ideas "about combating Fascism, defending democracy, etc., etc.,
were all baloney."[67] A few days later in Barcelona, Orwell met John McNair of the Independent Labour
Party (ILP) Office who quoted him: "I've come to fight against Fascism".[68] Orwell stepped into a complex
political situation in Catalonia. The Republican government was supported by a number of factions with
conflicting aims, including the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM – Partido Obrero de Unificación
Marxista), the anarcho-syndicalist Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) and the Unified Socialist Party of
Catalonia (a wing of the Spanish Communist Party, which was backed by Soviet arms and aid). The ILP was
linked to the POUM so Orwell joined the POUM.
After a time at the Lenin Barracks in Barcelona he was sent to the relatively quiet Aragon Front under Georges
Kopp. By January 1937 he was at Alcubierre 1,500 feet (460 m) above sea level, in the depth of winter. There
was very little military action and Orwell was shocked by the lack of munitions, food and firewood as well as
other extreme deprivations.[69] With his Cadet Corps and police training, Orwell was quickly made a corporal. On
the arrival of a British ILP Contingent about three weeks later, Orwell and the other English militiaman,
Williams, were sent with them to Monte Oscuro. The newly arrived ILP contingent included Bob Smillie, Bob
Edwards, Stafford Cottman and Jack Branthwaite. The unit was then sent on to Huesca.
Meanwhile, back in England, Eileen had been handling the issues relating to the publication of The Road to
Wigan Pier before setting out for Spain herself, leaving Nellie Limouzin to look after The Stores. Eileen
volunteered for a post in John McNair's office and with the help of Georges Kopp paid visits to her husband,
bringing him English tea, chocolate and cigars. [70] Orwell had to spend some days in hospital with a poisoned
hand[71] and had most of his possessions stolen by the staff. He returned to the front and saw some action in a
night attack on the Nationalist trenches where he chased an enemy soldier with a bayonet and bombed an
enemy rifle position.
The square in Barcelona renamed in Orwell's honour
In April, Orwell returned to Barcelona.[71] Wanting to be sent to the Madrid front, which meant he "must join the
International Column", he approached a Communist friend attached to the Spanish Medical Aid and explained
his case. "Although he did not think much of the Communists, Orwell was still ready to treat them as friends
and allies. That would soon change."[72] This was the time of the Barcelona May Days and Orwell was caught up
in the factional fighting. He spent much of the time on a roof, with a stack of novels, but encountered Jon
Kimche from his Hampstead days during the stay. The subsequent campaign of lies and distortion carried out
by the Communist press,[73] in which the POUM was accused of collaborating with the fascists, had a dramatic
effect on Orwell. Instead of joining the International Brigades as he had intended, he decided to return to the
Aragon Front. Once the May fighting was over, he was approached by a Communist friend who asked if he still
intended transferring to the International Brigades. Orwell expressed surprise that they should still want him,
because according to the Communist press he was a fascist. [74] "No one who was in Barcelona then, or for
months later, will forget the horrible atmosphere produced by fear, suspicion, hatred, censored newspapers,
crammed jails, enormous food queues and prowling gangs of armed men." [75]
After his return to the front, he was wounded in the throat by a sniper's bullet. At 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m), Orwell was
considerably taller than the Spanish fighters[76] and had been warned against standing against the trench
parapet. Unable to speak, and with blood pouring from his mouth, Orwell was carried on a stretcher to Siétamo,
loaded on an ambulance and after a bumpy journey via Barbastro arrived at the hospital at Lérida. He
recovered sufficiently to get up and on 27 May 1937 was sent on to Tarragona and two days later to a POUM
sanatorium in the suburbs of Barcelona. The bullet had missed his main artery by the barest margin and his
voice was barely audible. It had been such a clean shot that the wound immediately went through the process
of cauterisation. He received electrotherapy treatment and was declared medically unfit for service. [77]
By the middle of June the political situation in Barcelona had deteriorated and the POUM—painted by the pro-
Soviet Communists as a Trotskyist organisation—was outlawed and under attack. The Communist line was
that the POUM were "objectively" Fascist, hindering the Republican cause. "A particularly nasty poster
appeared, showing a head with a POUM mask being ripped off to reveal a Swastika-covered face
beneath."[78] Members, including Kopp, were arrested and others were in hiding. Orwell and his wife were under
threat and had to lie low,[n 5] although they broke cover to try to help Kopp.
Finally with their passports in order, they escaped from Spain by train, diverting to Banyuls-sur-Mer for a short
stay before returning to England. In the first week of July 1937 Orwell arrived back at Wallington; on 13 July
1937 a deposition was presented to the Tribunal for Espionage & High Treason in Valencia, charging the
Orwells with "rabid Trotskyism", and being agents of the POUM.[79] The trial of the leaders of the POUM and of
Orwell (in his absence) took place in Barcelona in October and November 1938. Observing events from French
Morocco, Orwell wrote that they were "only a by-product of the Russian Trotskyist trials and from the start
every kind of lie, including flagrant absurdities, has been circulated in the Communist press." [80] Orwell's
experiences in the Spanish Civil War gave rise to Homage to Catalonia (1938).
Rest and recuperation
Laurence O'Shaughnessy's former home, the large house on the corner, 24 Crooms Hill, Greenwich, London[81]
Orwell returned to England in June 1937, and stayed at the O'Shaughnessy home at Greenwich. He found his
views on the Spanish Civil War out of favour. Kingsley Martin rejected two of his works and Gollancz was
equally cautious. At the same time, the communist Daily Worker was running an attack on The Road to Wigan
Pier, taking out of context Orwell writing that "the working classes smell"; a letter to Gollancz from Orwell
threatening libel action brought a stop to this. Orwell was also able to find a more sympathetic publisher for his
views in Fredric Warburg of Secker & Warburg. Orwell returned to Wallington, which he found in disarray after
his absence. He acquired goats, a rooster he called Henry Ford and a poodle puppy he called Marx; [82][83][84] and
settled down to animal husbandry and writing Homage to Catalonia.
There were thoughts of going to India to work on the Pioneer, a newspaper in Lucknow, but by March 1938
Orwell's health had deteriorated. He was admitted to Preston Hall Sanatorium at Aylesford, Kent, a British
Legion hospital for ex-servicemen to which his brother-in-law Laurence O'Shaughnessy was attached. He was
thought initially to be suffering from tuberculosis and stayed in the sanatorium until September. A stream of
visitors came to see him, including Common, Heppenstall, Plowman and Cyril Connolly. Connolly brought with
him Stephen Spender, a cause of some embarrassment as Orwell had referred to Spender as a "pansy friend"
some time earlier. Homage to Catalonia was published by Secker & Warburg and was a commercial flop. In the
latter part of his stay at the clinic, Orwell was able to go for walks in the countryside and study nature.
The novelist L. H. Myers secretly funded a trip to French Morocco for half a year for Orwell to avoid the English
winter and recover his health. The Orwells set out in September 1938 via Gibraltar and Tangier to
avoid Spanish Morocco and arrived at Marrakech. They rented a villa on the road to Casablanca and during
that time Orwell wrote Coming Up for Air. They arrived back in England on 30 March 1939 and Coming Up for
Air was published in June. Orwell spent time in Wallington and Southwold working on a Dickens essay and it
was in June 1939 that Orwell's father, Richard Blair, died. [85]
Second World War and Animal Farm
A photo of Orwell, c. 1940, digitally coloured
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Orwell's wife Eileen started working in the Censorship Department of
the Ministry of Information in central London, staying during the week with her family in Greenwich. Orwell also
submitted his name to the Central Register for war work, but nothing transpired. "They won't have me in the
army, at any rate at present, because of my lungs", Orwell told Geoffrey Gorer. He returned to Wallington, and
in late 1939 he wrote material for his first collection of essays, Inside the Whale. For the next year he was
occupied writing reviews for plays, films and books for The Listener, Time and Tide and New Adelphi. On 29
March 1940 his long association with Tribune began[86] with a review of a sergeant's account
of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow. At the beginning of 1940, the first edition of Connolly's Horizon appeared,
and this provided a new outlet for Orwell's work as well as new literary contacts. In May the Orwells took lease
of a flat in London at Dorset Chambers, Chagford Street, Marylebone. It was the time of the Dunkirk
evacuation and the death in France of Eileen's brother Lawrence caused her considerable grief and long-term
depression. Throughout this period Orwell kept a wartime diary. [87]
Orwell was declared "unfit for any kind of military service" by the Medical Board in June, but soon afterwards
found an opportunity to become involved in war activities by joining the Home Guard.[88] He shared Tom
Wintringham's socialist vision for the Home Guard as a revolutionary People's Militia. His lecture notes for
instructing platoon members include advice on street fighting, field fortifications, and the use of mortars of
various kinds. Sergeant Orwell managed to recruit Fredric Warburg to his unit. During the Battle of Britain he
used to spend weekends with Warburg and his new Zionist friend, Tosco Fyvel, at Warburg's house at Twyford,
Berkshire. At Wallington he worked on "England Your England" and in London wrote reviews for various
periodicals. Visiting Eileen's family in Greenwich brought him face-to-face with the effects of the Blitz on East
London. In mid-1940, Warburg, Fyvel and Orwell planned Searchlight Books. Eleven volumes eventually
appeared, of which Orwell's The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius, published on 19
February 1941, was the first.[89]
Early in 1941 he began to write for the American Partisan Review which linked Orwell with The New York
Intellectuals who were also anti-Stalinist,[90] and contributed to Gollancz anthology The Betrayal of the Left,
written in the light of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (although Orwell referred to it as the Russo-German Pact
and the Hitler-Stalin Pact[91]). He also applied unsuccessfully for a job at the Air Ministry. Meanwhile, he was still
writing reviews of books and plays and at this time met the novelist Anthony Powell. He also took part in a few
radio broadcasts for the Eastern Service of the BBC. In March the Orwells moved to a seventh-floor flat at
Langford Court, St John's Wood, while at Wallington Orwell was "digging for victory" by planting potatoes.
One could not have a better example of the moral and emotional shallowness of our time, than the fact that we
are now all more or less pro Stalin. This disgusting murderer is temporarily on our side, and so the purges, etc.,
are suddenly forgotten.
— George Orwell, in his war-time diary, 3 July 1941[92]
In August 1941, Orwell finally obtained "war work" when he was taken on full-time by the BBC's Eastern
Service. He supervised cultural broadcasts to India to counter propaganda from Nazi Germany designed to
undermine Imperial links. This was Orwell's first experience of the rigid conformity of life in an office, and it
gave him an opportunity to create cultural programmes with contributions from T. S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas, E. M.
Forster, Ahmed Ali, Mulk Raj Anand, and William Empson among others.
At the end of August he had a dinner with H. G. Wells which degenerated into a row because Wells had taken
offence at observations Orwell made about him in a Horizon article. In October Orwell had a bout of bronchitis
and the illness recurred frequently. David Astor was looking for a provocative contributor for The Observer and
invited Orwell to write for him – the first article appearing in March 1942. In early 1942 Eileen changed jobs to
work at the Ministry of Food and in mid-1942 the Orwells moved to a larger flat, a ground floor and basement,
10a Mortimer Crescent in Maida Vale/Kilburn – "the kind of lower-middle-class ambience that Orwell thought
was London at its best." Around the same time Orwell's mother and sister Avril, who had found work in a sheet-
metal factory behind King's Cross Station, moved into a flat close to George and Eileen.[93]
Orwell spoke on many BBC and other broadcasts, but no recordings are known to survive.[94][95][96]
At the BBC, Orwell introduced Voice, a literary programme for his Indian broadcasts, and by now was leading
an active social life with literary friends, particularly on the political left. Late in 1942, he started writing regularly
for the left-wing weekly Tribune[97]:306[98]:441 directed by Labour MPs Aneurin Bevan and George Strauss. In March
1943 Orwell's mother died and around the same time he told Moore he was starting work on a new book, which
turned out to be Animal Farm.
In September 1943, Orwell resigned from the BBC post that he had occupied for two years. [99]:352 His resignation
followed a report confirming his fears that few Indians listened to the broadcasts, [100] but he was also keen to
concentrate on writing Animal Farm. Just six days before his last day of service, on 24 November 1943, his
adaptation of the fairy tale, Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes was broadcast. It was a
genre in which he was greatly interested and which appeared on Animal Farm's title-page.[101] At this time he
also resigned from the Home Guard on medical grounds. [102]
In November 1943, Orwell was appointed literary editor at Tribune, where his assistant was his old friend Jon
Kimche. Orwell was on staff until early 1945, writing over 80 book reviews [103] and on 3 December 1943 started
his regular personal column, "As I Please", usually addressing three or four subjects in each. [104] He was still
writing reviews for other magazines, including Partisan Review, Horizon, and the New York Nation and
becoming a respected pundit among left-wing circles but also a close friend of people on the right such as
Powell, Astor and Malcolm Muggeridge. By April 1944 Animal Farm was ready for publication. Gollancz refused
to publish it, considering it an attack on the Soviet regime which was a crucial ally in the war. A similar fate was
met from other publishers (including T. S. Eliot at Faber and Faber) until Jonathan Cape agreed to take it.
In May the Orwells had the opportunity to adopt a child, thanks to the contacts of Eileen's sister Gwen
O'Shaughnessy, then a doctor in Newcastle upon Tyne. In June a V-1 flying bomb struck Mortimer Crescent
and the Orwells had to find somewhere else to live. Orwell had to scrabble around in the rubble for his
collection of books, which he had finally managed to transfer from Wallington, carting them away in a
wheelbarrow.
Another bombshell was Cape's reversal of his plan to publish Animal Farm. The decision followed his personal
visit to Peter Smollett, an official at the Ministry of Information. Smollett was later identified as a Soviet agent.[105]
[106]
The Orwells spent some time in the North East, near Carlton, County Durham, dealing with matters in the
adoption of a boy whom they named Richard Horatio Blair.[107] By September 1944 they had set up home
in Islington, at 27b Canonbury Square.[108] Baby Richard joined them there, and Eileen gave up her work at the
Ministry of Food to look after her family. Secker & Warburg had agreed to publish Animal Farm, planned for the
following March, although it did not appear in print until August 1945. By February 1945 David Astor had invited
Orwell to become a war correspondent for the Observer. Orwell had been looking for the opportunity
throughout the war, but his failed medical reports prevented him from being allowed anywhere near action. He
went to Paris after the liberation of France and to Cologne once it had been occupied by the Allies.
It was while he was there that Eileen went into hospital for a hysterectomy and died under anaesthetic on 29
March 1945. She had not given Orwell much notice about this operation because of worries about the cost and
because she expected to make a speedy recovery. Orwell returned home for a while and then went back to
Europe. He returned finally to London to cover the 1945 general election at the beginning of July. Animal Farm:
A Fairy Story was published in Britain on 17 August 1945, and a year later in the US, on 26 August 1946.
Jura and Nineteen Eighty-Four
Animal Farm had particular resonance in the post-war climate and its worldwide success made Orwell a
sought-after figure. For the next four years, Orwell mixed journalistic work—mainly for Tribune, The
Observer and the Manchester Evening News, though he also contributed to many small-circulation political
and literary magazines—with writing his best-known work, Nineteen Eighty-Four, which was published in 1949.
Barnhill on the Isle of Jura, Scotland. Orwell completed Nineteen Eighty-Four while living in the farmhouse.
In the year following Eileen's death he published around 130 articles and a selection of his Critical Essays,
while remaining active in various political lobbying campaigns. He employed a housekeeper, Susan Watson, to
look after his adopted son at the Islington flat, which visitors now described as "bleak". In September he spent
a fortnight on the island of Jura in the Inner Hebrides and saw it as a place to escape from the hassle of
London literary life. David Astor was instrumental in arranging a place for Orwell on Jura. [109] Astor's family
owned Scottish estates in the area and a fellow Old Etonian Robin Fletcher had a property on the island. In late
1945 and early 1946 Orwell made several hopeless and unwelcome marriage proposals to younger women,
including Celia Kirwan (who later became Arthur Koestler's sister-in-law), Ann Popham who happened to live in
the same block of flats and Sonia Brownell, one of Connolly's coterie at the Horizon office. Orwell suffered a
tubercular haemorrhage in February 1946 but disguised his illness. In 1945 or early 1946, while still living at
Canonbury Square, Orwell wrote an article on "British Cookery", complete with recipes, commissioned by
the British Council. Given the post-war shortages, both parties agreed not to publish it. [110] His sister Marjorie
died of kidney disease in May and shortly after, on 22 May 1946, Orwell set off to live on the Isle of Jura.
Barnhill[111] was an abandoned farmhouse with outbuildings near the northern end of the island, situated at the
end of a five-mile (8 km), heavily rutted track from Ardlussa, where the owners lived. Conditions at the
farmhouse were primitive but the natural history and the challenge of improving the place appealed to Orwell.
His sister Avril accompanied him there and young novelist Paul Potts made up the party. In July Susan Watson
arrived with Orwell's son Richard. Tensions developed and Potts departed after one of his manuscripts was
used to light the fire. Orwell meanwhile set to work on Nineteen Eighty-Four. Later Susan Watson's
boyfriend David Holbrook arrived. A fan of Orwell since school days, he found the reality very different, with
Orwell hostile and disagreeable probably because of Holbrook's membership of the Communist Party. [112] Susan
Watson could no longer stand being with Avril and she and her boyfriend left.
Orwell returned to London in late 1946 and picked up his literary journalism again. Now a well-known writer, he
was swamped with work. Apart from a visit to Jura in the new year he stayed in London for one of the coldest
British winters on record and with such a national shortage of fuel that he burnt his furniture and his child's toys.
The heavy smog in the days before the Clean Air Act 1956 did little to help his health about which he was
reticent, keeping clear of medical attention. Meanwhile, he had to cope with rival claims of publishers Gollancz
and Warburg for publishing rights. About this time he co-edited a collection titled British
Pamphleteers with Reginald Reynolds. As a result of the success of Animal Farm, Orwell was expecting a large
bill from the Inland Revenue and he contacted a firm of accountants of which the senior partner was Jack
Harrison. The firm advised Orwell to establish a company to own his copyright and to receive his royalties and
set up a "service agreement" so that he could draw a salary. Such a company "George Orwell Productions Ltd"
(GOP Ltd) was set up on 12 September 1947 although the service agreement was not then put into effect. Jack
Harrison left the details at this stage to junior colleagues.[113]
Orwell left London for Jura on 10 April 1947.[12] In July he ended the lease on the Wallington cottage. [114] Back on
Jura he worked on Nineteen Eighty-Four and made good progress. During that time his sister's family visited,
and Orwell led a disastrous boating expedition, on 19 August, [115] which nearly led to loss of life whilst trying to
cross the notorious Gulf of Corryvreckan and gave him a soaking which was not good for his health. In
December a chest specialist was summoned from Glasgow who pronounced Orwell seriously ill and a week
before Christmas 1947 he was in Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride, then a small village in the countryside, on
the outskirts of Glasgow. Tuberculosis was diagnosed and the request for permission to import streptomycin to
treat Orwell went as far as Aneurin Bevan, then Minister of Health. David Astor helped with supply and
payment and Orwell began his course of streptomycin on 19 or 20 February 1948. [116] By the end of July 1948
Orwell was able to return to Jura and by December he had finished the manuscript of Nineteen Eighty-Four. In
January 1949, in a very weak condition, he set off for a sanatorium at Cranham, Gloucestershire, escorted by
Richard Rees.
The sanatorium at Cranham consisted of a series of small wooden chalets or huts in a remote part of
the Cotswolds near Stroud. Visitors were shocked by Orwell's appearance and concerned by the shortcomings
and ineffectiveness of the treatment. Friends were worried about his finances, but by now he was
comparatively well-off. He was writing to many of his friends, including Jacintha Buddicom, who had
"rediscovered" him, and in March 1949, was visited by Celia Kirwan. Kirwan had just started working for
a Foreign Office unit, the Information Research Department, set up by the Labour government to publish anti-
communist propaganda, and Orwell gave her a list of people he considered to be unsuitable as IRD authors
because of their pro-communist leanings. Orwell's list, not published until 2003, consisted mainly of writers but
also included actors and Labour MPs.[105][117] Orwell received more streptomycin treatment and improved slightly.
In June 1949 Nineteen Eighty-Four was published to immediate critical and popular acclaim.
Final months and death
University College Hospital in London where Orwell died
Orwell's health had continued to decline since the diagnosis of tuberculosis in December 1947. In mid-1949, he
courted Sonia Brownell, and they announced their engagement in September, shortly before he was removed
to University College Hospital in London. Sonia took charge of Orwell's affairs and attended him diligently in the
hospital. In September 1949, Orwell invited his accountant Harrison to visit him in hospital, and Harrison
claimed that Orwell then asked him to become director of GOP Ltd and to manage the company, but there was
no independent witness.[113] Orwell's wedding took place in the hospital room on 13 October 1949, with David
Astor as best man.[118] Orwell was in decline and visited by an assortment of visitors including Muggeridge,
Connolly, Lucian Freud, Stephen Spender, Evelyn Waugh, Paul Potts, Anthony Powell, and his Eton tutor
Anthony Gow.[12] Plans to go to the Swiss Alps were mooted. Further meetings were held with his accountant, at
which Harrison and Mr and Mrs Blair were confirmed as directors of the company, and at which Harrison
claimed that the "service agreement" was executed, giving copyright to the company. [113] Orwell's health was in
decline again by Christmas. On the evening of 20 January 1950, Potts visited Orwell and slipped away on
finding him asleep. Jack Harrison visited later and claimed that Orwell gave him 25% of the company. [113] Early
on the morning of 21 January, an artery burst in Orwell's lungs, killing him at age 46. [119]
Orwell had requested to be buried in accordance with the Anglican rite in the graveyard of the closest church to
wherever he happened to die. The graveyards in central London had no space, and fearing that he might have
to be cremated against his wishes, his widow appealed to his friends to see whether any of them knew of a
church with space in its graveyard.
George Orwell's grave in All Saints' parish churchyard, Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire
David Astor lived in Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire, and arranged for Orwell to be interred in the churchyard
of All Saints' there.[120] Orwell's gravestone bears the epitaph: "Here lies Eric Arthur Blair, born June 25th 1903,
died January 21st 1950"; no mention is made on the gravestone of his more famous pen name.
Orwell's son, Richard Horatio Blair, was brought up by Orwell's sister Avril. He is patron of the Orwell Society.
[121]
In 1979, Sonia Brownell brought a High Court action against Harrison when he declared an intention to
subdivide his 25 percent share of the company between his three children. For Sonia, the consequence of this
manoeuvre would be to have made getting overall control of the company three times more difficult. She was
considered to have a strong case, but was becoming increasingly ill and eventually was persuaded to settle out
of court on 2 November 1980. She died on 11 December 1980, aged 62. [113]
Literary career and legacy
During most of his career, Orwell was best known for his journalism, in essays, reviews, columns in
newspapers and magazines and in his books of reportage: Down and Out in Paris and London (describing a
period of poverty in these cities), The Road to Wigan Pier (describing the living conditions of the poor in
northern England, and class division generally) and Homage to Catalonia. According to Irving Howe, Orwell
was "the best English essayist since Hazlitt, perhaps since Dr Johnson."[122]
Modern readers are more often introduced to Orwell as a novelist, particularly through his enormously
successful titles Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. The former is often thought to reflect degeneration in
the Soviet Union after the Russian Revolution and the rise of Stalinism; the latter, life under totalitarian
rule. Nineteen Eighty-Four is often compared to Brave New World by Aldous Huxley; both are
powerful dystopian novels warning of a future world where the state machine exerts complete control over
social life. In 1984, Nineteen Eighty-Four and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 were honoured with
the Prometheus Award for their contributions to dystopian literature. In 2011 he received it again for Animal
Farm.
Coming Up for Air, his last novel before World War II, is the most "English" of his novels; alarms of war mingle
with images of idyllic Thames-side Edwardian childhood of protagonist George Bowling. The novel is
pessimistic; industrialism and capitalism have killed the best of Old England, and there were great, new
external threats. In homely terms, its protagonist George Bowling posits the totalitarian hypotheses of Franz
Borkenau, Orwell, Ignazio Silone and Koestler: "Old Hitler's something different. So's Joe Stalin. They aren't
like these chaps in the old days who crucified people and chopped their heads off and so forth, just for the fun
of it ... They're something quite new – something that's never been heard of before". [123]
Literary influences
In an autobiographical piece that Orwell sent to the editors of Twentieth Century Authors in 1940, he wrote:
"The writers I care about most and never grow tired of are: Shakespeare, Swift, Fielding, Dickens, Charles
Reade, Flaubert and, among modern writers, James Joyce, T. S. Eliot and D. H. Lawrence. But I believe the
modern writer who has influenced me most is W. Somerset Maugham, whom I admire immensely for his power
of telling a story straightforwardly and without frills." Elsewhere, Orwell strongly praised the works of Jack
London, especially his book The Road. Orwell's investigation of poverty in The Road to Wigan Pier strongly
resembles that of Jack London's The People of the Abyss, in which the American journalist disguises himself
as an out-of-work sailor to investigate the lives of the poor in London. In his essay "Politics vs. Literature: An
Examination of Gulliver's Travels" (1946) Orwell wrote: "If I had to make a list of six books which were to be
preserved when all others were destroyed, I would certainly put Gulliver's Travels among them."
Orwell was an admirer of Arthur Koestler and became a close friend during the three years that Koestler and
his wife Mamain spent at the cottage of Bwlch Ocyn, a secluded farmhouse that belonged to Clough Williams-
Ellis, in the Vale of Ffestiniog. Orwell reviewed Koestler's. Darkness at Noon for the New Statesman in 1941,
saying:
Brilliant as this book is as a novel, and a piece of brilliant literature, it is probably most valuable as an
interpretation of the Moscow "confessions" by someone with an inner knowledge of totalitarian methods. What
was frightening about these trials was not the fact that they happened – for obviously such things are
necessary in a totalitarian society – but the eagerness of Western intellectuals to justify them. [124]
Other writers admired by Orwell included: Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Gissing, Graham Greene, Herman
Melville, Henry Miller, Tobias Smollett, Mark Twain, Joseph Conrad, and Yevgeny Zamyatin.[125] He was both an
admirer and a critic of Rudyard Kipling,[126][127] praising Kipling as a gifted writer and a "good bad poet" whose
work is "spurious" and "morally insensitive and aesthetically disgusting," but undeniably seductive and able to
speak to certain aspects of reality more effectively than more enlightened authors. [128] He had a similarly
ambivalent attitude to G. K. Chesterton, whom he regarded as a writer of considerable talent who had chosen
to devote himself to "Roman Catholic propaganda",[129] and to Evelyn Waugh, who was, he wrote, "ab[ou]t as
good a novelist as one can be (i.e. as novelists go today) while holding untenable opinions". [130]
In 1980, the English Heritage honoured Orwell with a blue plaque at 50 Lawford Road, Kentish Town, London,
where he lived from August 1935 until January 1936. [131]
Orwell as literary critic
Throughout his life Orwell continually supported himself as a book reviewer. His reviews are well known and
have had an influence on literary criticism. He wrote in the conclusion to his 1940 essay on Charles Dickens,[132]
When one reads any strongly individual piece of writing, one has the impression of seeing a face somewhere
behind the page. It is not necessarily the actual face of the writer. I feel this very strongly with Swift, with Defoe,
with Fielding, Stendhal, Thackeray, Flaubert, though in several cases I do not know what these people looked
like and do not want to know. What one sees is the face that the writer ought to have. Well, in the case of
Dickens I see a face that is not quite the face of Dickens's photographs, though it resembles it. It is the face of
a man of about forty, with a small beard and a high colour. He is laughing, with a touch of anger in his laughter,
but no triumph, no malignity. It is the face of a man who is always fighting against something, but who fights in
the open and is not frightened, the face of a man who is generously angry – in other words, of a nineteenth-
century liberal, a free intelligence, a type hated with equal hatred by all the smelly little orthodoxies which are
now contending for our souls.
George Woodcock suggested that the last two sentences also describe Orwell. [133]
Orwell wrote a critique of George Bernard Shaw's play Arms and the Man. He considered this Shaw's best play
and the most likely to remain socially relevant, because of its theme that war is not, generally speaking, a
glorious romantic adventure. His 1945 essay In Defence of P.G. Wodehouse contains an amusing assessment
of Wodehouse's writing and also argues that his broadcasts from Germany (during the war) did not really make
him a traitor. He accused The Ministry of Information of exaggerating Wodehouse's actions for propaganda
purposes.
Food writing
In 1946, the British Council commissioned Orwell to write an essay on British food as part of a drive to promote
British relations abroad.[134] In the essay titled British Cookery, Orwell described the British diet as "a simple,
rather heavy, perhaps slightly barbarous diet" and where "hot drinks are acceptable at most hours of the day".
He discusses the ritual of breakfast in the UK, "this is not a snack but a serious meal. The hour at which
[134]
people have their breakfast is of course governed by the time at which they go to work." [135] He wrote that high
tea in the United Kingdom consisted of a variety of savoury and sweet dishes, but "no tea would be considered
a good one if it did not include at least one kind of cake.” [134] Orwell also added a recipe for marmalade, a
popular British spread on bread.[134] However, the British Council declined to publish the essay on the grounds
that it was too problematic to write about food at the time of strict rationing in the UK. In 2019, the essay was
discovered in the British Council's archives along with the rejection letter. The British Council issued an official
apology to Orwell over the rejection of the commissioned essay. [134]
Reception and evaluations of Orwell's works
Arthur Koestler said that Orwell's "uncompromising intellectual honesty made him appear almost inhuman at
times."[136] Ben Wattenberg stated: "Orwell's writing pierced intellectual hypocrisy wherever he found
it."[137] According to historian Piers Brendon, "Orwell was the saint of common decency who would in earlier
days, said his BBC boss Rushbrook Williams, 'have been either canonised – or burnt at the stake'".
[138]
Raymond Williams in Politics and Letters: Interviews with New Left Review describes Orwell as a
"successful impersonation of a plain man who bumps into experience in an unmediated way and tells the truth
about it."[139] Christopher Norris declared that Orwell's "homespun empiricist outlook – his assumption that the
truth was just there to be told in a straightforward common-sense way – now seems not merely naïve but
culpably self-deluding".[140] The American scholar Scott Lucas has described Orwell [141] as an enemy of the Left.
John Newsinger has argued[142] that Lucas could only do this by portraying "all of Orwell's attacks on Stalinism
[–] as if they were attacks on socialism, despite Orwell's continued insistence that they were not."
Orwell's work has taken a prominent place in the school literature curriculum in England, [143] with Animal Farm a
regular examination topic at the end of secondary education (GCSE), and Nineteen Eighty-Four a topic for
subsequent examinations below university level (A Levels). Alan Brown noted that this brings to the forefront
questions about the political content of teaching practices. Study aids, in particular with potted biographies,
might be seen to help propagate the Orwell myth so that as an embodiment of human values he is presented
as a "trustworthy guide", while examination questions sometimes suggest the "right ways of answering" in line
with the myth.[144][clarification needed]
Historian John Rodden stated: "John Podhoretz did claim that if Orwell were alive today, he'd be standing with
the neo-conservatives and against the Left. And the question arises, to what extent can you even begin to
predict the political positions of somebody who's been dead three decades and more by that time?" [137]
In Orwell's Victory, Christopher Hitchens argues: "In answer to the accusation of inconsistency Orwell as a
writer was forever taking his own temperature. In other words, here was someone who never stopped testing
and adjusting his intelligence".[145]
John Rodden points out the "undeniable conservative features in the Orwell physiognomy" and remarks on how
"to some extent Orwell facilitated the kinds of uses and abuses by the Right that his name has been put to. In
other ways there has been the politics of selective quotation." [137] Rodden refers to the essay "Why I Write", in
which Orwell refers to the Spanish Civil War as being his "watershed political experience", saying: "The
Spanish War and other events in 1936–37, turned the scale. Thereafter I knew where I stood. Every line of
serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written directly or indirectly against totalitarianism
and for Democratic Socialism as I understand it." (emphasis in original) [137] Rodden goes on to explain how,
during the McCarthy era, the introduction to the Signet edition of Animal Farm, which sold more than 20 million
copies, makes use of "the politics of ellipsis":
If the book itself, Animal Farm, had left any doubt of the matter, Orwell dispelled it in his essay Why I Write:
'Every line of serious work that I've written since 1936 has been written directly or indirectly against
Totalitarianism ... dot, dot, dot, dot.' "For Democratic Socialism" is vaporised, just like Winston Smith did it at
the Ministry of Truth, and that's very much what happened at the beginning of the McCarthy era and just
continued, Orwell being selectively quoted.[137]
Fyvel wrote about Orwell: "His crucial experience [...] was his struggle to turn himself into a writer, one which
led through long periods of poverty, failure and humiliation, and about which he has written almost nothing
directly. The sweat and agony was less in the slum-life than in the effort to turn the experience into
literature."[146][147]
In October 2015 Finlay Publisher, for the Orwell Society, published George Orwell 'The Complete Poetry',
compiled and presented by Dione Venables. [148]
Influence on language and writing
In his essay "Politics and the English Language" (1946), Orwell wrote about the importance of precise and
clear language, arguing that vague writing can be used as a powerful tool of political manipulation because it
shapes the way we think. In that essay, Orwell provides six rules for writers:
1. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English
equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous. [149]
Andrew N. Rubin argues that "Orwell claimed that we should be attentive to how the use of language has
limited our capacity for critical thought just as we should be equally concerned with the ways in which dominant
modes of thinking have reshaped the very language that we use." [150]
The adjective "Orwellian" connotes an attitude and a policy of control by propaganda, surveillance,
misinformation, denial of truth and manipulation of the past. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell described a
totalitarian government that controlled thought by controlling language, making certain ideas literally
unthinkable. Several words and phrases from Nineteen Eighty-Four have entered popular language.
"Newspeak" is a simplified and obfuscatory language designed to make independent thought impossible.
"Doublethink" means holding two contradictory beliefs simultaneously. The "Thought Police" are those who
suppress all dissenting opinion. "Prolefeed" is homogenised, manufactured superficial literature, film and music
used to control and indoctrinate the populace through docility. "Big Brother" is a supreme dictator who watches
everyone.
Orwell may have been the first to use the term "cold war" to refer to the state of tension between powers in the
Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc that followed World War II in his essay, "You and the Atom Bomb",
published in Tribune on 19 October 1945. He wrote:
We may be heading not for general breakdown but for an epoch as horribly stable as the slave empires of
antiquity. James Burnham's theory has been much discussed, but few people have yet considered its
ideological implications – this is, the kind of world-view, the kind of beliefs, and the social structure that would
probably prevail in a State which was at once unconquerable and in a permanent state of 'cold war' with its
neighbours.[151]
Modern culture
In 2014, a play written by playwright Joe Sutton titled Orwell in America was first performed by the Northern
Stage theatre company in White River Junction, Vermont. It is a fictitious account of Orwell doing a book tour in
the United States (something he never did in his lifetime). It moved to Off-Broadway in 2016.[152]
Orwell's birthplace, a bungalow in Motihari, Bihar, India, was opened as a museum in May 2015.[153]
Statue
Statue of George Orwell outside Broadcasting House, headquarters of the BBC
A statue of George Orwell, sculpted by the British sculptor Martin Jennings, was unveiled on 7 November 2017
outside Broadcasting House, the headquarters of the BBC. The wall behind the statue is inscribed with the
following phrase: "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to
hear". These are words from his proposed preface to Animal Farm and a rallying cry for the idea of free speech
in an open society.[154][155]
Personal life
Childhood
Jacintha Buddicom's account, Eric & Us, provides an insight into Blair's childhood.[156] She quoted his sister Avril
that "he was essentially an aloof, undemonstrative person" and said herself of his friendship with the
Buddicoms: "I do not think he needed any other friends beyond the schoolfriend he occasionally and
appreciatively referred to as 'CC'". She could not recall his having schoolfriends to stay and exchange visits as
her brother Prosper often did in holidays. [157] Cyril Connolly provides an account of Blair as a child in Enemies of
Promise.[27] Years later, Blair mordantly recalled his prep school in the essay "Such, Such Were the Joys",
claiming among other things that he "was made to study like a dog" to earn a scholarship, which he alleged
was solely to enhance the school's prestige with parents. Jacintha Buddicom repudiated Orwell's schoolboy
misery described in the essay, stating that "he was a specially happy child". She noted that he did not like his
name because it reminded him of a book he greatly disliked—Eric, or, Little by Little, a Victorian boys' school
story.[158]
Orwell's time at Eton College was formative in his attitude and his later career as a writer.
Connolly remarked of him as a schoolboy, "The remarkable thing about Orwell was that alone among the boys
he was an intellectual and not a parrot for he thought for himself". [27] At Eton, John Vaughan Wilkes, his former
headmaster's son recalled that "he was extremely argumentative – about anything – and criticising the masters
and criticising the other boys [...] We enjoyed arguing with him. He would generally win the arguments – or
think he had anyhow."[159] Roger Mynors concurs: "Endless arguments about all sorts of things, in which he was
one of the great leaders. He was one of those boys who thought for himself." [160]
Blair liked to carry out practical jokes. Buddicom recalls him swinging from the luggage rack in a railway
carriage like an orangutan to frighten a woman passenger out of the compartment. [22] At Eton, he played tricks
on John Crace, his Master in College, among which was to enter a spoof advertisement in a College magazine
implying pederasty.[161] Gow, his tutor, said he "made himself as big a nuisance as he could" and "was a very
unattractive boy".[162] Later Blair was expelled from the crammer at Southwold for sending a dead rat as a
birthday present to the town surveyor.[163] In one of his As I Please essays he refers to a protracted joke when
he answered an advertisement for a woman who claimed a cure for obesity. [164]
Blair had an interest in natural history which stemmed from his childhood. In letters from school he wrote about
caterpillars and butterflies,[165] and Buddicom recalls his keen interest in ornithology. He also enjoyed fishing and
shooting rabbits, and conducting experiments as in cooking a hedgehog [22] or shooting down a jackdaw from the
Eton roof to dissect it.[160] His zeal for scientific experiments extended to explosives—again Buddicom recalls a
cook giving notice because of the noise. Later in Southwold, his sister Avril recalled him blowing up the garden.
When teaching he enthused his students with his nature-rambles both at Southwold [166] and Hayes.[167] His adult
diaries are permeated with his observations on nature.
Relationships and marriage
Buddicom and Blair lost touch shortly after he went to Burma and she became unsympathetic towards him. She
wrote that it was because of the letters he wrote complaining about his life, but an addendum to Eric & Us by
Venables reveals that he may have lost her sympathy through an incident which was, at best, a clumsy attempt
at seduction.[22]
Mabel Fierz, who later became Blair's confidante, said: "He used to say the one thing he wished in this world
was that he'd been attractive to women. He liked women and had many girlfriends I think in Burma. He had a
girl in Southwold and another girl in London. He was rather a womaniser, yet he was afraid he wasn't
attractive."[168]
Brenda Salkield (Southwold) preferred friendship to any deeper relationship and maintained a correspondence
with Blair for many years, particularly as a sounding board for his ideas. She wrote: "He was a great letter
writer. Endless letters, and I mean when he wrote you a letter he wrote pages." [26] His correspondence with
Eleanor Jacques (London) was more prosaic, dwelling on a closer relationship and referring to past rendezvous
or planning future ones in London and Burnham Beeches.[169]
When Orwell was in the sanatorium in Kent, his wife's friend Lydia Jackson visited. He invited her for a walk
and out of sight "an awkward situation arose." [170] Jackson was to be the most critical of Orwell's marriage
to Eileen O'Shaughnessy, but their later correspondence hints at a complicity. Eileen at the time was more
concerned about Orwell's closeness to Brenda Salkield. Orwell had an affair with his secretary at Tribune which
caused Eileen much distress, and others have been mooted. In a letter to Ann Popham he wrote: "I was
sometimes unfaithful to Eileen, and I also treated her badly, and I think she treated me badly, too, at times, but
it was a real marriage, in the sense that we had been through awful struggles together and she understood all
about my work, etc."[171] Similarly he suggested to Celia Kirwan that they had both been unfaithful. [172] There are
several testaments that it was a well-matched and happy marriage. [173][174][175]
In June 1944, Orwell and Eileen adopted a three-week-old boy they named Richard Horatio. [176] According to
Richard, Orwell was a wonderful father who gave him devoted, if rather rugged, attention and a great degree of
freedom.[177] After Orwell's death Richard went to live with Orwell's sister and her husband. [178]
Blair was very lonely after Eileen's death in 1945, and desperate for a wife, both as companion for himself and
as mother for Richard. He proposed marriage to four women, including Celia Kirwan, and eventually Sonia
Brownell accepted.[179] Orwell had met her when she was assistant to Cyril Connolly, at Horizon literary
magazine.[180] They were married on 13 October 1949, only three months before Orwell's death. Some maintain
that Sonia was the model for Julia in Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Social interactions
Orwell was noted for very close and enduring friendships with a few friends, but these were generally people
with a similar background or with a similar level of literary ability. Ungregarious, he was out of place in a crowd
and his discomfort was exacerbated when he was outside his own class. Though representing himself as a
spokesman for the common man, he often appeared out of place with real working people. His brother-in-law
Humphrey Dakin, a "Hail fellow, well met" type, who took him to a local pub in Leeds, said that he was told by
the landlord: "Don't bring that bugger in here again." [181] Adrian Fierz commented "He wasn't interested in racing
or greyhounds or pub crawling or shove ha'penny. He just did not have much in common with people who did
not share his intellectual interests."[182] Awkwardness attended many of his encounters with working-class
representatives, as with Pollitt and McNair,[183] but his courtesy and good manners were often commented
on. Jack Common observed on meeting him for the first time, "Right away manners, and more than manners –
breeding – showed through."[184]
In his tramping days, he did domestic work for a time. His extreme politeness was recalled by a member of the
family he worked for; she declared that the family referred to him as "Laurel" after the film comedian.[50] With his
gangling figure and awkwardness, Orwell's friends often saw him as a figure of fun. Geoffrey Gorer commented
"He was awfully likely to knock things off tables, trip over things. I mean, he was a gangling, physically badly
co-ordinated young man. I think his feeling [was] that even the inanimate world was against him." [185] When he
shared a flat with Heppenstall and Sayer, he was treated in a patronising manner by the younger men. [186] At the
BBC in the 1940s, "everybody would pull his leg"[187] and Spender described him as having real entertainment
value "like, as I say, watching a Charlie Chaplin movie." [188] A friend of Eileen's reminisced about her tolerance
and humour, often at Orwell's expense.[174]
One biography of Orwell accused him of having had an authoritarian streak. [189] In Burma, he struck out at a
Burmese boy who, while "fooling around" with his friends, had "accidentally bumped into him" at a station,
resulting in Orwell falling "heavily" down some stairs. [190] One of his former pupils recalled being beaten so hard
he could not sit down for a week.[191] When sharing a flat with Orwell, Heppenstall came home late one night in
an advanced stage of loud inebriation. The upshot was that Heppenstall ended up with a bloody nose and was
locked in a room. When he complained, Orwell hit him across the legs with a shooting stick and Heppenstall
then had to defend himself with a chair. Years later, after Orwell's death, Heppenstall wrote a dramatic account
of the incident called "The Shooting Stick"[192] and Mabel Fierz confirmed that Heppenstall came to her in a sorry
state the following day.[193]
Orwell got on well with young people. The pupil he beat considered him the best of teachers and the young
recruits in Barcelona tried to drink him under the table without success. His nephew recalled Uncle Eric
laughing louder than anyone in the cinema at a Charlie Chaplin film.[173]
In the wake of his most famous works, he attracted many uncritical hangers-on, but many others who sought
him found him aloof and even dull. With his soft voice, he was sometimes shouted down or excluded from
discussions.[194] At this time, he was severely ill; it was wartime or the austerity period after it; during the war his
wife suffered from depression; and after her death he was lonely and unhappy. In addition to that, he always
lived frugally and seemed unable to care for himself properly. As a result of all this, people found his
circumstances bleak.[195] Some, like Michael Ayrton, called him "Gloomy George," but others developed the idea
that he was an "English secular saint."[196]
Although Orwell was frequently heard on the BBC for panel discussion and one-man broadcasts, no recorded
copy of his voice is known to exist.[197]
Lifestyle
"By putting the tea in first and stirring as one pours, one can exactly regulate the amount of milk, whereas one is likely to put in too
much milk if one does it the other way round"
— One of Orwell's eleven rules for making tea from his essay "A Nice Cup of Tea", appearing in the Evening Standard, 12 January
1946[198]
Orwell was a heavy smoker, who rolled his own cigarettes from strong shag tobacco, despite his bronchial
condition. His penchant for the rugged life often took him to cold and damp situations, both in the long term, as
in Catalonia and Jura, and short term, for example, motorcycling in the rain and suffering a shipwreck.
Described by The Economist as "perhaps the 20th century's best chronicler of English culture",[199] Orwell
considered fish and chips, association football, the pub, strong tea, cut price chocolate, the movies, and radio
among the chief comforts for the working class.[200]
Orwell enjoyed strong tea – he had Fortnum & Mason's tea brought to him in Catalonia.[12] His 1946 essay, "A
Nice Cup of Tea", appeared in the Evening Standard article on how to make tea, with Orwell writing, "tea is one
of the mainstays of civilisation in this country and causes violent disputes over how it should be made", with the
main issue being whether to put tea in the cup first and add the milk afterward, or the other way round, on
which he states, "in every family in Britain there are probably two schools of thought on the subject". [201] He
appreciated English beer, taken regularly and moderately, despised drinkers of lager[202] and wrote about an
imagined, ideal British pub in his 1946 English Standard article, "The Moon Under Water".[203] Not as particular
about food, he enjoyed the wartime "Victory Pie"[204] and extolled canteen food at the BBC.[187] He preferred
traditional English dishes, such as roast beef, and kippers.[205] His 1945 essay, "In Defence of English Cooking",
included Yorkshire pudding, crumpets, muffins, innumerable biscuits, Christmas pudding, shortbread,
various British cheeses and Oxford marmalade.[206] Reports of his Islington days refer to the cosy afternoon tea
table.[207]
His dress sense was unpredictable and usually casual. [208] In Southwold, he had the best cloth from the local
tailor[209] but was equally happy in his tramping outfit. His attire in the Spanish Civil War, along with his size-12
boots, was a source of amusement.[210][211] David Astor described him as looking like a prep school master,
[212]
while according to the Special Branch dossier, Orwell's tendency to dress "in Bohemian fashion" revealed
that the author was "a Communist".[213]
Orwell's confusing approach to matters of social decorum—on the one hand expecting a working-class guest to
dress for dinner,[214] and on the other, slurping tea out of a saucer at the BBC canteen [215]—helped stoke his
reputation as an English eccentric.[216]
Views
Religion
Orwell had a complex and critical relationship with Christianity but was an attendee of Anglican church in his adulthood and is buried
in All Saints' parish churchyard in Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire.
Orwell was an atheist who identified himself with the humanist outlook on life.[217] Despite this, and despite his
criticisms of both religious doctrine and of religious organisations, he nevertheless regularly participated in the
social and civic life of the church, including by attending Church of England Holy Communion.
[218]
Acknowledging this contradiction, he once said: "It seems rather mean to go to HC [Holy Communion] when
one doesn't believe, but I have passed myself off for pious & there is nothing for it but to keep up with the
deception."[219] Orwell was also extremely well-read in Biblical literature and could quote lengthy passages from
the Book of Common Prayer from memory.[220] His extensive knowledge of the Bible came coupled with
unsparing criticism of its philosophy, and as an adult he could not bring himself to believe in its tenets. He said
in part V of his essay, "Such, Such Were the Joys", that "Till about the age of fourteen I believed in God, and
believed that the accounts given of him were true. But I was well aware that I did not love him." [221] Despite this,
he had two Anglican marriages and left instructions for an Anglican funeral. [222] Orwell directly contrasted
Christianity with secular humanism in his essay "Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool", finding the latter philosophy more
palatable and less "self-interested." Literary critic James Wood wrote that in the struggle, as he saw it, between
Christianity and humanism, "Orwell was on the humanist side, of course—basically an unmetaphysical, English
version of Camus's philosophy of perpetual godless struggle." [223]
Orwell's writing was often explicitly critical of religion, and Christianity in particular. He found the church to be a
"selfish [...] church of the landed gentry" with its establishment "out of touch" with the majority of its
communicants and altogether a pernicious influence on public life. [224] In their 1972 study, The Unknown Orwell,
the writers Peter Stansky and William Abrahams noted that at Eton Blair displayed a "sceptical attitude" to
Christian belief.[225] Crick observed that Orwell displayed "a pronounced anti-Catholicism". [226] Evelyn Waugh,
writing in 1946, acknowledged Orwell's high moral sense and respect for justice but believed "he seems never
to have been touched at any point by a conception of religious thought and life." [227] His contradictory and
sometimes ambiguous views about the social benefits of religious affiliation mirrored the dichotomies between
his public and private lives: Stephen Ingle wrote that it was as if the writer George Orwell "vaunted" his unbelief
while Eric Blair the individual retained "a deeply ingrained religiosity". [228]
Politics
Orwell liked to provoke arguments by challenging the status quo, but he was also a traditionalist with a love of
old English values. He criticised and satirised, from the inside, the various social milieux in which he found
himself—provincial town life in A Clergyman's Daughter; middle-class pretension in Keep the Aspidistra Flying;
preparatory schools in "Such, Such Were the Joys"; colonialism in Burmese Days, and some socialist groups
in The Road to Wigan Pier. In his Adelphi days, he described himself as a "Tory-anarchist."[229][230]
In 1928, Orwell began his career as a professional writer in Paris at a journal owned by the French
Communist Henri Barbusse. His first article, "La Censure en Angleterre" ("Censorship in England"), was an
attempt to account for the "extraordinary and illogical" moral censorship of plays and novels then practised in
Britain. His own explanation was that the rise of the "puritan middle class," who had stricter morals than the
aristocracy, tightened the rules of censorship in the 19th century. Orwell's first published article in his home
country, "A Farthing Newspaper", was a critique of the new French daily the Ami de Peuple. This paper was
sold much more cheaply than most others, and was intended for ordinary people to read. Orwell pointed out
that its proprietor François Coty also owned the right-wing dailies Le Figaro and Le Gaulois, which the Ami de
Peuple was supposedly competing against. Orwell suggested that cheap newspapers were no more than a
vehicle for advertising and anti-leftist propaganda, and predicted the world might soon see free
newspapers which would drive legitimate dailies out of business. [231]
Writing for Le Progrès Civique, Orwell described the British colonial government in Burma and India:
The government of all the Indian provinces under the control of the British Empire is of necessity despotic,
because only the threat of force can subdue a population of several million subjects. But this despotism is
latent. It hides behind a mask of democracy...Care is taken to avoid technical and industrial training. This rule,
observed throughout India, aims to stop India from becoming an industrial country capable of competing with
England...Foreign competition is prevented by an insuperable barrier of prohibitive customs tariffs. And so the
English factory-owners, with nothing to fear, control the markets absolutely and reap exorbitant profits. [232]
Orwell joined the British Independent Labour Party during his time in the Spanish Civil War and became a defender of democratic
socialism and a critic of totalitarianism for the rest of his life.
The Spanish Civil War played the most important part in defining Orwell's socialism. He wrote to Cyril Connolly
from Barcelona on 8 June 1937: "I have seen wonderful things and at last really believe in Socialism, which I
never did before."[233][234] Having witnessed the success of the anarcho-syndicalist communities, for example
in Anarchist Catalonia, and the subsequent brutal suppression of the anarcho-syndicalists, anti-Stalin
communist parties and revolutionaries by the Soviet Union-backed Communists, Orwell returned from
Catalonia a staunch anti-Stalinist and joined the British Independent Labour Party, his card being issued on 13
June 1938.[235] Although he was never a Trotskyist, he was strongly influenced by the Trotskyist and anarchist
critiques of the Soviet regime, and by the anarchists' emphasis on individual freedom. In Part 2 of The Road to
Wigan Pier, published by the Left Book Club, Orwell stated that "a real Socialist is one who wishes – not merely
conceives it as desirable, but actively wishes – to see tyranny overthrown." Orwell stated in "Why I Write"
(1946): "Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly,
against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it."[236] Orwell was a proponent of a federal
socialist Europe, a position outlined in his 1947 essay "Toward European Unity," which first appeared
in Partisan Review. According to biographer John Newsinger:
The other crucial dimension to Orwell's socialism was his recognition that the Soviet Union was not socialist.
Unlike many on the left, instead of abandoning socialism once he discovered the full horror of Stalinist rule in
the Soviet Union, Orwell abandoned the Soviet Union and instead remained a socialist – indeed he became
more committed to the socialist cause than ever. [74]
In his 1938 essay "Why I joined the Independent Labour Party," published in the ILP-affiliated New Leader,
Orwell wrote:
For some years past I have managed to make the capitalist class pay me several pounds a week for writing
books against capitalism. But I do not delude myself that this state of affairs is going to last forever ... the only
régime which, in the long run, will dare to permit freedom of speech is a Socialist régime. If Fascism triumphs I
am finished as a writer – that is to say, finished in my only effective capacity. That of itself would be a sufficient
reason for joining a Socialist party.[237]
Towards the end of the essay, he wrote: "I do not mean I have lost all faith in the Labour Party. My most
earnest hope is that the Labour Party will win a clear majority in the next General Election." [238]
Orwell was opposed to rearmament against Nazi Germany and at the time of the Munich Agreement he signed
a manifesto entitled "If War Comes We Shall Resist"[239] – but he changed his view after the Molotov–Ribbentrop
Pact and the outbreak of the war. He left the ILP because of its opposition to the war and adopted a political
position of "revolutionary patriotism". In December 1940 he wrote in Tribune (the Labour left's weekly): "We are
in a strange period of history in which a revolutionary has to be a patriot and a patriot has to be a
revolutionary." During the war, Orwell was highly critical of the popular idea that an Anglo-Soviet alliance would
be the basis of a post-war world of peace and prosperity. In 1942, commenting on journalist E. H. Carr's pro-
Soviet views, Orwell stated that "all the appeasers, e.g. Professor E.H. Carr, have switched their allegiance
from Hitler to Stalin."[240]
On anarchism, Orwell wrote in The Road to Wigan Pier: "I worked out an anarchistic theory that all government
is evil, that the punishment always does more harm than the crime and the people can be trusted to behave
decently if you will only let them alone." He continued and argued that "it is always necessary to protect
peaceful people from violence. In any state of society where crime can be profitable you have got to have a
harsh criminal law and administer it ruthlessly."
In his reply (dated 15 November 1943) to an invitation from the Duchess of Atholl to speak for the British
League for European Freedom, he stated that he did not agree with their objectives. He admitted that what they
said was "more truthful than the lying propaganda found in most of the press", but added that he could not
"associate himself with an essentially Conservative body" that claimed to "defend democracy in Europe" but
had "nothing to say about British imperialism." His closing paragraph stated: "I belong to the Left and must
work inside it, much as I hate Russian totalitarianism and its poisonous influence in this country." [241]
Orwell joined the staff of Tribune as literary editor, and from then until his death, was a left-wing (though hardly
orthodox) Labour-supporting democratic socialist. [242] On 1 September 1944, about the Warsaw uprising, Orwell
expressed in Tribune his hostility against the influence of the alliance with the USSR over the allies: "Do
remember that dishonesty and cowardice always have to be paid for. Do not imagine that for years on end you
can make yourself the boot-licking propagandist of the sovietic regime, or any other regime, and then suddenly
return to honesty and reason. Once a whore, always a whore." According to Newsinger, although Orwell "was
always critical of the 1945–51 Labour government's moderation, his support for it began to pull him to the right
politically. This did not lead him to embrace conservatism, imperialism or reaction, but to defend, albeit
critically, Labour reformism."[243] Between 1945 and 1947, with A. J. Ayer and Bertrand Russell, he contributed a
series of articles and essays to Polemic, a short-lived British "Magazine of Philosophy, Psychology, and
Aesthetics" edited by the ex-Communist Humphrey Slater.[244][245]
Writing in early 1945 a long essay titled "Antisemitism in Britain," for the Contemporary Jewish Record, Orwell
stated that antisemitism was on the increase in Britain and that it was "irrational and will not yield to
arguments." He argued that it would be useful to discover why anti-Semites could "swallow such absurdities on
one particular subject while remaining sane on others." [246] He wrote: "For quite six years the English admirers of
Hitler contrived not to learn of the existence of Dachau and Buchenwald. [...] Many English people have heard
almost nothing about the extermination of German and Polish Jews during the present war. Their own anti-
Semitism has caused this vast crime to bounce off their consciousness." [247] In Nineteen Eighty-Four, written
shortly after the war, Orwell portrayed the Party as enlisting anti-Semitic passions against their enemy,
Goldstein.
Orwell publicly defended P. G. Wodehouse against charges of being a Nazi sympathiser—occasioned by his
agreement to do some broadcasts over the German radio in 1941—a defence based on Wodehouse's lack of
interest in and ignorance of politics.[248]
Special Branch, the intelligence division of the Metropolitan Police, maintained a file on Orwell for more than 20
years of his life. The dossier, published by The National Archives, states that, according to one investigator,
Orwell had "advanced Communist views and several of his Indian friends say that they have often seen him at
Communist meetings."[249] MI5, the intelligence department of the Home Office, noted: "It is evident from his
recent writings – 'The Lion and the Unicorn' – and his contribution to Gollancz's symposium The Betrayal of the
Left that he does not hold with the Communist Party nor they with him." [250]
Sexuality
Sexual politics plays an important role in Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the novel, people's intimate relationships are
strictly governed by the party's Junior Anti-Sex League, by opposing sexual relations and instead
encouraging artificial insemination.[251] Personally Orwell disliked what he thought as misguided middle-class
revolutionary emancipatory views, expressing disdain for "every fruit-juice drinker, nudist, sandal-wearer, sex-
maniacs."[252]
Orwell was also openly against homosexuality, at a time when such prejudice was common. Speaking at the
2003 George Orwell Centenary Conference, Daphne Patai said: "Of course he was homophobic. That has
nothing to do with his relations with his homosexual friends. Certainly, he had a negative attitude and a certain
kind of anxiety, a denigrating attitude towards homosexuality. That is definitely the case. I think his writing
reflects that quite fully."[253]
Orwell used the homophobic epithets "nancy" and "pansy", notably in his expressions of contempt for what he
called the "pansy Left", and "nancy poets", i.e. left-wing homosexual or bisexual writers and intellectuals such
as Stephen Spender and W. H. Auden.[254] The protagonist of Keep the Aspidistra Flying, Gordon Comstock,
conducts an internal critique of his customers when working in a bookshop, and there is an extended passage
of several pages in which he concentrates on a homosexual male customer, and sneers at him for his "nancy"
characteristics, including a lisp, which he identifies in detail, with some disgust. [255] Stephen Spender "thought
Orwell's occasional homophobic outbursts were part of his rebellion against the public school". [256]
Biographies of Orwell
Orwell's will requested that no biography of him be written, and his widow, Sonia Brownell, repelled every
attempt by those who tried to persuade her to let them write about him. Various recollections and
interpretations were published in the 1950s and '60s, but Sonia saw the 1968 Collected Works[164] as the record
of his life. She did appoint Malcolm Muggeridge as official biographer, but later biographers have seen this as
deliberate spoiling as Muggeridge eventually gave up the work. [257] In 1972, two American authors, Peter
Stansky and William Abrahams,[258] produced The Unknown Orwell, an unauthorised account of his early years
that lacked any support or contribution from Sonia Brownell.
Sonia Brownell then commissioned Bernard Crick, a professor of politics at the University of London, to
complete a biography and asked Orwell's friends to co-operate. [259] Crick collated a considerable amount of
material in his work, which was published in 1980,[99] but his questioning of the factual accuracy of Orwell's first-
person writings led to conflict with Brownell, and she tried to suppress the book. Crick concentrated on the facts
of Orwell's life rather than his character, and presented primarily a political perspective on Orwell's life and
work.[260]
After Sonia Brownell's death, other works on Orwell were published in the 1980s, with 1984 being a particularly
fruitful year. These included collections of reminiscences by Coppard and Crick [163] and Stephen Wadhams.[26]
In 1991, Michael Shelden, an American professor of literature, published a biography. [35] More concerned with
the literary nature of Orwell's work, he sought explanations for Orwell's character and treated his first-person
writings as autobiographical. Shelden introduced new information that sought to build on Crick's work.
[259]
Shelden speculated that Orwell possessed an obsessive belief in his failure and inadequacy. [261]
Peter Davison's publication of the Complete Works of George Orwell, completed in 2000,[262] made most of the
Orwell Archive accessible to the public. Jeffrey Meyers, a prolific American biographer, was first to take
advantage of this and published a book in 2001[263] that investigated the darker side of Orwell and questioned
his saintly image.[259] Why Orwell Matters (released in the United Kingdom as Orwell's Victory) was published
by Christopher Hitchens in 2002.[264]
In 2003, the centenary of Orwell's birth resulted in biographies by Gordon Bowker [265] and D. J. Taylor, both
academics and writers in the United Kingdom. Taylor notes the stage management which surrounds much of
Orwell's behaviour[12] and Bowker highlights the essential sense of decency which he considers to have been
Orwell's main motivation.[266][267]
Bibliography
Main article: George Orwell bibliography
Novels
1934 – Burmese Days
1935 – A Clergyman's Daughter
1936 – Keep the Aspidistra Flying
1939 – Coming Up for Air
1945 – Animal Farm
1949 – Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nonfiction
1933 – Down and Out in Paris and London
1937 – The Road to Wigan Pier
1938 – Homage to Catalonia
Sir George Gabriel Stokes 1st Baronet
Sir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Baronet, PRS (/stoʊks/; 13 August 1819 – 1 February 1903) was an Anglo-
Irish physicist and mathematician. Born in County Sligo, Ireland, Stokes spent all of his career at
the University of Cambridge, where he was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics from 1849 until his
death in 1903. As a physicist, Stokes made seminal contributions to fluid dynamics, including the Navier-
Stokes equation, and to physical optics, with notable works on polarization and fluorescence. As a
mathematician, he formulated "Stokes' theorem" in vector calculus and contributed to the theory
of asymptotic expansions.
Stokes was made a baronet (hereditary knight) by the British monarch in 1889. In 1893 he received
the Royal Society's Copley Medal, then the most prestigious scientific prize in the world, "for his
researches and discoveries in physical science". He represented Cambridge University in the British
House of Commons from 1887 to 1892, sitting as a Tory. Stokes also served as president of the Royal
Society from 1885 to 1890 and was briefly the Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge.
Sir George Stokes
Bt PRS
Biography
George Stokes was the youngest son of the Reverend Gabriel Stokes, a clergyman in the Church of
Ireland who served as rector of Skreen, in County Sligo. Stokes home life was strongly influenced by his
father's evangelical Protestantism.[1] After attending schools in Skreen, Dublin, and Bristol, in 1837
Stokes matriculated at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Four years later he graduated as senior
wrangler and first Smith's prizeman, achievements that earned him election of a fellow of the college.
[2] In accordance with the college statutes, Stokes had to resign the fellowship when he married in
1857. Twelve years later, under new statutes, he was re-elected to the fellowship and he retained that
place until 1902, when on the day before his 83rd birthday, he was elected as the college's Master.
Stokes did not hold that position for long, for he died at Cambridge on 1 February the following year,
and was buried in the Mill Road cemetery.
Career
In 1849, Stokes was appointed to the Lucasian professorship of mathematics at Cambridge, a position he
held until his death in 1903. On 1 June 1899, the jubilee of this appointment was celebrated there in a
ceremony, which was attended by numerous delegates from European and American universities. A
commemorative gold medal was presented to Stokes by the chancellor of the university and marble
busts of Stokes by Hamo Thornycroft were formally offered to Pembroke College and to the university
by Lord Kelvin. Stokes, who was made a baronet in 1889, further served his university by representing it
in parliament from 1887 to 1892 as one of the two members for the Cambridge University constituency.
During a portion of this period (1885–1890) he also was president of the Royal Society, of which he had
been one of the secretaries since 1854. Since he was also Lucasian Professor at this time, Stokes was the
first person to hold all three positions simultaneously; Newton held the same three, although not at the
same time.
Stokes was the oldest of the trio of natural philosophers, James Clerk Maxwell and Lord Kelvin being the
other two, who especially contributed to the fame of the Cambridge school of mathematical physics in
the middle of the 19th century. Stokes's original work began about 1840, and from that date onwards
the great extent of his output was only less remarkable than the brilliance of its quality. The Royal
Society's catalogue of scientific papers gives the titles of over a hundred memoirs by him published
down to 1883. Some of these are only brief notes, others are short controversial or corrective
statements, but many are long and elaborate treatises.
Contributions to science
Stokes at a later age
In scope, his work covered a wide range of physical inquiry but, as Marie Alfred Cornu remarked in
his Rede lecture of 1899,[3] the greater part of it was concerned with waves and the transformations
imposed on them during their passage through various media.
Fluid dynamics
His first published papers, which appeared in 1842 and 1843, were on the steady motion of
incompressible fluids and some cases of fluid motion.[4][5] These were followed in 1845 by one on the
friction of fluids in motion and the equilibrium and motion of elastic solids,[6] and in 1850 by another on
the effects of the internal friction of fluids on the motion of pendulums.[7] To the theory of sound he
made several contributions, including a discussion of the effect of wind on the intensity of sound[8] and
an explanation of how the intensity is influenced by the nature of the gas in which the sound is
produced.[9]These inquiries together put the science of fluid dynamics on a new footing, and provided a
key not only to the explanation of many natural phenomena, such as the suspension of clouds in air, and
the subsidence of ripples and waves in water, but also to the solution of practical problems, such as the
flow of water in rivers and channels, and the skin resistance of ships.
Creeping flow
Stokes's law
Creeping flow past a sphere: streamlines and forces.
His work on fluid motion and viscosity led to his calculating the terminal velocity for a sphere falling in a
viscous medium.[10] This became known as Stokes's law. He derived an expression for the frictional
force (also called drag force) exerted on spherical objects with very small Reynolds numbers.
His work is the basis of the falling sphere viscometer, in which the fluid is stationary in a vertical glass
tube. A sphere of known size and density is allowed to descend through the liquid. If correctly selected,
it reaches terminal velocity, which can be measured by the time it takes to pass two marks on the tube.
Electronic sensing can be used for opaque fluids. Knowing the terminal velocity, the size and density of
the sphere, and the density of the liquid, Stokes's law can be used to calculate the viscosity of the fluid.
A series of steel ball bearings of different diameter is normally used in the classic experiment to improve
the accuracy of the calculation. The school experiment uses glycerine as the fluid, and the technique is
used industrially to check the viscosity of fluids used in processes.
The same theory explains why small water droplets (or ice crystals) can remain suspended in air (as
clouds) until they grow to a critical size and start falling as rain (or snow and hail). Similar use of the
equation can be made in the settlement of fine particles in water or other fluids.
The CGS unit of kinematic viscosity was named "stokes" in recognition of his work.
Light
Perhaps his best-known researches are those which deal with the wave theory of light. His optical work
began at an early period in his scientific career. His first papers on the aberration of light appeared in
1845 and 1846,[11][12] and were followed in 1848 by one on the theory of certain bands seen in
the spectrum.[13]
In 1849 he published a long paper on the dynamical theory of diffraction, in which he showed that the
plane of polarisation must be perpendicular to the direction of propagation.[14] Two years later he
discussed the colours of thick plates.[15]
Stokes also investigated George Airy's mathematical description of rainbows.[16] Airy's findings involved
an integral that was awkward to evaluate. Stokes expressed the integral as a divergent series, which
were little understood. However, by cleverly truncating the series (i.e., ignoring all except the first few
terms of the series), Stokes obtained an accurate approximation to the integral that was far easier to
evaluate than the integral itself.[17] Stokes's research on asymptotic series led to fundamental insights
about such series.[18]
Fluorescence
Fluorspar
In 1852, in his famous paper on the change of wavelength of light, he described the phenomenon
of fluorescence, as exhibited by fluorspar and uranium glass, materials which he viewed as having the
power to convert invisible ultra-violet radiation into radiation of longer wavelengths that are visible.
[19] The Stokes shift, which describes this conversion, is named in Stokes's honour. A mechanical model,
illustrating the dynamical principle of Stokes's explanation was shown. The offshoot of this, Stokes line,
is the basis of Raman scattering. In 1883, during a lecture at the Royal Institution, Lord Kelvin said he had
heard an account of it from Stokes many years before, and had repeatedly but vainly begged him to
publish it.[20]
Polarization
A calcite crystal laid upon a paper with some letters showing the double refraction
In the same year, 1852, there appeared the paper on the composition and resolution of streams of
polarised light from different sources,[21] and in 1853 an investigation of the
metallic reflection exhibited by certain non-metallic substances.[22] The research was to highlight the
phenomenon of light polarisation. About 1860 he was engaged in an inquiry on the intensity of light
reflected from, or transmitted through, a pile of plates;[23] and in 1862 he prepared for the British
Association a valuable report on double refraction, a phenomenon where certain crystals show different
refractive indices along different axes.[24] Perhaps the best known crystal is Iceland spar,
transparent calcite crystals.
A paper on the long spectrum of the electric light bears the same date,[25] and was followed by an
inquiry into the absorption spectrum of blood.[26]
Chemical analysis
The chemical identification of organic bodies by their optical properties was treated in 1864;[27] and
later, in conjunction with the Rev. William Vernon Harcourt, he investigated the relation between the
chemical composition and the optical properties of various glasses, with reference to the conditions
of transparency and the improvement of achromatic telescopes.[28] A still later paper connected with
the construction of optical instruments discussed the theoretical limits to the aperture of microscope
objectives.[29]
Other work
Crookes Radiometer
In other departments of physics may be mentioned his paper on the conduction of
heat in crystals (1851)[30] and his inquiries in connection with Crookes radiometer;[31] his explanation
of the light border frequently noticed in photographs just outside the outline of a dark body seen
against the sky (1882);[32] and, still later, his theory of the x-rays, which he suggested might be
transverse waves travelling as innumerable solitary waves, not in regular trains.[33]Two long papers
published in 1849 – one on attractions and Clairaut's theorem,[34] and the other on the variation
of gravity at the surface of the earth (1849)[35]—also demand notice, as do his mathematical memoirs
on the critical values of sums of periodic series (1847)[36] and on the numerical calculation of a class of
definite integrals and infinite series (1850)[37] and his discussion of a differential equation relating to
the breaking of railway bridges (1849),[38]research related to his evidence given to the Royal
Commission on the Use of Iron in Railway structures after the Dee bridge disaster of 1847.
Unpublished research
Many of Stokes' discoveries were not published, or were only touched upon in the course of his oral
lectures. One such example is his work in the theory of spectroscopy.
Lord Kelvin
In his presidential address to the British Association in 1871, Lord Kelvin stated his belief that the
application of the prismatic analysis of light to solar and stellar chemistry had never been suggested
directly or indirectly by anyone else when Stokes taught it to him at Cambridge University some time
prior to the summer of 1852, and he set forth the conclusions, theoretical and practical, which he learnt
from Stokes at that time, and which he afterwards gave regularly in his public lectures at Glasgow.[39]
Kirchhoff
These statements, containing as they do the physical basis on which spectroscopy rests, and the way in
which it is applicable to the identification of substances existing in the sun and stars, make it appear that
Stokes anticipated Kirchhoff by at least seven or eight years. Stokes, however, in a letter published some
years after the delivery of this address, stated that he had failed to take one essential step in the
argument—not perceiving that emission of light of definite wavelength not merely permitted, but
necessitated, absorption of light of the same wavelength. He modestly disclaimed "any part of
Kirchhoff's admirable discovery," adding that he felt some of his friends had been over-zealous in his
cause.[40] It must be said, however, that English men of science have not accepted this disclaimer in all
its fullness, and still attribute to Stokes the credit of having first enunciated the fundamental principles
of spectroscopy.
In another way, too, Stokes did much for the progress of mathematical physics. Soon after he was
elected to the Lucasian chair he announced that he regarded it as part of his professional duties to help
any member of the university in difficulties he might encounter in his mathematical studies, and the
assistance rendered was so real that pupils were glad to consult him, even after they had become
colleagues, on mathematical and physical problems in which they found themselves at a loss. Then
during the thirty years he acted as secretary of the Royal Society he exercised an enormous if
inconspicuous influence on the advancement of mathematical and physical science, not only directly by
his own investigations, but indirectly by suggesting problems for inquiry and inciting men to attack them,
and by his readiness to give encouragement and help.
Contributions to engineering
The Dee bridge after its collapse
Stokes was involved in several investigations into railway accidents, especially the Dee bridge disaster in
May 1847, and he served as a member of the subsequent Royal Commission into the use of cast iron in
railway structures. He contributed to the calculation of the forces exerted by moving engines on bridges.
The bridge failed because a cast iron beam was used to support the loads of passing trains. Cast
iron is brittle in tension or bending, and many other similar bridges had to be demolished or reinforced.
Fallen Tay Bridge from the north
He appeared as an expert witness at the Tay Bridge disaster, where he gave evidence about the effects
of wind loads on the bridge. The centre section of the bridge (known as the High Girders) was
completely destroyed during a storm on 28 December 1879, while an express train was in the section,
and everyone aboard died (more than 75 victims). The Board of Inquiry listened to many expert
witnesses, and concluded that the bridge was "badly designed, badly built and badly maintained".[41]
As a result of his evidence, he was appointed a member of the subsequent Royal Commission into the
effect of wind pressure on structures. The effects of high winds on large structures had been neglected
at that time, and the commission conducted a series of measurements across Britain to gain an
appreciation of wind speeds during storms, and the pressures they exerted on exposed surfaces.
Work on religion
Skreen, Church of Ireland in County Sligo.
Stokes held conservative religious values and beliefs. In 1886, he became president of the Victoria
Institute, which had been founded to defend evangelical Christian principles against challenges from the
new sciences, especially the Darwinian theory of biological evolution. He gave the 1891 Gifford
lecture on natural theology.[42][43] He was also the vice-president of the British and Foreign Bible
Society and was actively involved in doctrinal debates concerning missionary work.[44]
As President of the Victoria Institute, Stokes wrote: "We all admit that the book of Nature and the book
of Revelation come alike from God, and that consequently there can be no real discrepancy between the
two if rightly interpreted. The provisions of Science and Revelation are, for the most part, so distinct that
there is little chance of collision. But if an apparent discrepancy should arise, we have no right on
principle, to exclude either in favour of the other. For however firmly convinced we may be of the truth
of revelation, we must admit our liability to err as to the extent or interpretation of what is revealed;
and however strong the scientific evidence in favour of a theory may be, we must remember that we are
dealing with evidence which, in its nature, is probable only, and it is conceivable that wider scientific
knowledge might lead us to alter our opinion".[45]
Personal life
He married, on 4 July 1857 at St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, Mary Susanna Robinson, daughter of the
Rev Thomas Romney Robinson. They had five children: Arthur Romney, who inherited the baronetcy;
Susanna Elizabeth, who died in infancy; Isabella Lucy (Mrs Laurence Humphry) who contributed the
personal memoir of her father in "Memoir and Scientific Correspondence of the Late George Gabriel
Stokes, Bart"; Dr William George Gabriel, physician, a troubled man who committed suicide aged 30
whilst temporarily insane; and Dora Susanna, who died in infancy. He is survived by his great great
granddaughter Briana Stokes.
Legacy and honours
Further information: List of things named after George Gabriel Stokes
Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University
From the Royal Society, of which he became a fellow in 1851, he received the Rumford Medal in 1852 in
recognition of his inquiries into the wavelength of light, and later, in 1893, the Copley Medal.
In 1869 he presided over the Exeter meeting of the British Association.
From 1883 to 1885 he was Burnett lecturer at Aberdeen, his lectures on light, which were published in
1884–1887, dealing with its nature, its use as a means of investigation, and its beneficial effects.
On 6 July 1889 Queen Victoria created him the Baronet Stokes of Lensfield Cottage in the Baronetage of
the United Kingdom; the title became extinct in 1916.[46]
In 1891, as Gifford lecturer, he published a volume on Natural Theology.
Member of the Prussian Order Pour le Mérite
His academic distinctions included honorary degrees from many universities, including
Doctor mathematicae (honoris causa) from the Royal Frederick University on 6 September 1902, when
they celebrated the centennial of the birth of mathematician Niels Henrik Abel.[47][48]
The stokes, a unit of kinematic viscosity, is named after him.
In July 2017, Dublin City University named a building after Stokes in recognition of his contributions to
physics and mathematics.
Transformers (film)
Transformers is a 2007 American science fiction action film based on the Transformers toy line. The film,
which combines computer animation with live-action filming, was directed by Michael Bay, with Steven
Spielberg serving as executive producer. It was produced by Don Murphy and Tom DeSanto, and is the first
installment in the live-action Transformers film series. The film stars Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky, a
teenager who gets caught up in a war between the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two factions
of alien robots who can disguise themselves by transforming into everyday machinery, primarily vehicles. The
Autobots intend to retrieve and use the AllSpark, the object that created their robotic race that is on Earth, to
rebuild their home planet Cybertron and end the war, while the Decepticons have the intention of using it to
build an army by giving life to the machines of Earth. Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Anthony
Anderson, Megan Fox, Rachael Taylor, John Turturro, and Jon Voight also star, while voice actors Peter
Cullen and Hugo Weaving voice Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively.
Murphy and DeSanto developed the project in 2003, and DeSanto wrote a treatment. Steven Spielberg came
on board the following year, hiring Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman to write the screenplay. The U.S. Armed
Forces and General Motors (GM) loaned vehicles and aircraft during filming, which saved money for the
production and added realism to the battle scenes. Hasbro's promotional campaign for the film included deals
with various companies; advertising included a viral marketing campaign, coordinated releases of prequel
comic books, toys, and books, as well as product placement deals with companies such as GM, Burger King,
and eBay.
Transformers received mixed reviews from critics and a positive response from audiences. It became the 87th
highest-grossing film of all-time and was the fifth highest-grossing film of 2007, grossing $709 million
worldwide, with an estimated 46 million tickets sold in the US. The film won four awards from the Visual Effects
Society and was nominated for three Academy Awards, for Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best
Visual Effects. LaBeouf's performance was praised by Empire, and Cullen's reprisal of Optimus Prime from
the 1980s television series was well received by fans. The film was followed by four sequels, Revenge of the
Fallen (2009), Dark of the Moon (2011), Age of Extinction (2014), and The Last Knight (2017),[4] as well as a
spin-off/prequel titled Bumblebee was released in 2018.
Transformers
International theatrical release poster
Plot
Several thousand years ago, the planet Cybertron was consumed by a civil war between the
two Transformer factions, the Autobots led by Optimus Prime and the Decepticons led by Megatron. Optimus
jettisoned the AllSpark, a mystical artifact that brings life to the planet, into space, but Megatron pursued it.
Megatron crashed onto Earth, landing in the Arctic Circle and froze, and was discovered in 1895 by explorer
Archibald Witwicky. Witwicky inadvertently activated Megatron's navigational system, which etched the
AllSpark's coordinates into his glasses. The glasses end up in the possession of his great-great-grandson Sam
Witwicky.
In the present, Blackout attacks and destroys a United States military base in Qatar in a failed attempt to hack
the military network to find information on Megatron and the AllSpark. A surviving team of Army Rangers led by
Captain William Lennox escape across the desert, pursued by Blackout's drone Scorponok. They fight
Scorponok off, aided by aerial reinforcements, and travel home with Scorponok's stinger,
discovering sabot rounds damaged its armor. At the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense John Keller leads the
investigation into the attack. Sound analyst Maggie Madsen catches another Decepticon, Frenzy, hacking into
the military network while onboard Air Force One. While the hack is thwarted, Frenzy downloads files on
Archibald's glasses, tracking down Sam with Barricade, disguised as a police car.
Meanwhile, Sam buys his first car, a rusting Chevrolet Camaro, but discovers it has a life of its own. Sam and
his high school crush Mikaela Banes are rescued from Barricade and Frenzy by the Camaro who turns out to
be the Autobot scout Bumblebee, who has to communicate through his car radio due to being mute. Previously
sending a beacon to his fellow Autobots, Bumblebee takes Sam and Mikaela to meet Optimus Prime, Jazz,
Ironhide, and Ratchet. Optimus explains the details of the situation, revealing if Megatron gained the AllSpark
he would transform Earth's machinery into a new army and exterminate mankind. Sam, Mikaela, and the
Autobots travel to Sam's house to retrieve the glasses, but they are captured by agents of Sector Seven, a top-
secret paramilitary government branch, led by Seymour Simmons. The Autobots stop the agents, but they call
for backup, who take Sam, Mikaela, and Bumblebee into custody, though Optimus obtains the glasses, and
uses them to locate the Allspark.
The humans connected to the Transformers are gathered together at Hoover Dam by Sector Seven's director
Tom Banachek, who reveals Megatron, still frozen, and the AllSpark. Frenzy, having smuggled away in
Mikaela's bag, disables Megatron's cryonics system and contacts Starscream, Megatron's second-in-command
and acting leader of the Decepticons, who in turn summons Blackout, Barricade, Brawl and Bonecrusher, the
latter being killed by Optimus on a highway. Bumblebee is released to protect the AllSpark, shrinking it to a
handheld size so it can be transported to safety. Megatron escapes the dam after thawing out. Frenzy attacks
Secretary Keller, Madsen and Agent Simmons in the Dam's radio room, trying to prevent them from
summoning the Air Force, but is decapitated by his own ricocheting shuriken.
A lengthy battle occurs in Mission City,[5] with Blackout and Brawl dying at the hands of the military and
Bumblebee respectively. However, Megatron kills Jazz and prevents Sam's attempted escape with the
AllSpark. Optimus arrives to protect Sam, and engages in a battle against Megatron, with the latter getting the
upper hand. Optimus tells Sam to push the cube into his chest to ensure their mutual destruction, but instead
Sam rams it into Megatron's chest, overloading his spark and killing him.
Optimus salvages a shard of the AllSpark from Megatron's mangled corpse. The United States government
shuts down Sector Seven and disposes of the dead Decepticons in the Laurentian Abyss. Sam and Mikaela
then start a romantic relationship while the Autobots secretly hide out on Earth, and Optimus sends a
transmission into space inviting any surviving Autobots to join them.
A brief mid-credits scene shows Starscream escaping into space.
Cast
Main article: List of Transformers film series cast and characters
Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky, the young descendant of an Arctic explorer who stumbles on a big
secret which becomes the last hope for Earth.
Tyrese Gibson as TSgt Robert Epps, a U.S. Air Force Combat Controller and technical sergeant of a
Special Operations team based at the U.S. SOCCENTbase in Qatar.
Josh Duhamel as Capt. William Lennox, the leader of the Army Rangers team in Qatar.
Anthony Anderson as Glen Whitmann, a hacker friend of Maggie's.
Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes, a classmate of Sam who assists him in his mission by using skills she
learned as a juvenile car thief. She is also Sam's love interest.
Rachael Taylor as Maggie Madsen, a hacker recruited by the U.S. Defense Department.
John Turturro as Agt. Seymour Simmons, a member of Sector 7 Advanced Research Division.
Jon Voight as John Keller, the U.S. Secretary of Defense.
Michael O'Neill as Tom Banachek, head of Sector 7.
Kevin Dunn as Ron Witwicky, Sam's father.
Julie White as Judy Witwicky, Sam's mother.
Amaury Nolasco as ACWO Jorge "Fig" Figueroa, a Special Operations soldier who survives the
destruction of the SOCCENT base in Qatar and was also a member of Captain Lennox's team.
Zack Ward as First Sergeant Donnelly, a member of Captain Lennox's team.
W. Morgan Sheppard as Captain Archibald Witwicky, Sam's great-great-grandfather who accidentally
activates Megatron's navigational system.
Bernie Mac as Bobby Bolivia, a used cars salesman.
John Robinson as Miles Lancaster, Sam's best friend.
Travis Van Winkle as Trent DeMarco, Mikaela's ex-boyfriend. The character later appeared in Friday
the 13th (2009).[6]
Glenn Morshower as Colonel Sharp (credited as "SOCCENT sergeant")
Voices
The Peterbilt 379 used to portray Optimus Prime
One of the Chevrolet Camaros used to portray Bumblebee
The Pontiac Solstice used to portray Jazz
The GMC Topkick used to portray Ironhide
Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots who transforms into a blue and red
1994 Peterbilt 379 semi-trailer truck. Peter Cullen had previously voiced Optimus Prime in the original
1980s cartoon and was chosen to reprise his role, which was warmly welcomed by audiences and
considered one of the film's best aspects.
Mark Ryan as Bumblebee, the Autobot scout and Sam's new guardian who transforms into a yellow
and black Chevrolet Camaro (first a 1976 model and later in the movie a 2006 model).
Darius McCrary as Jazz, Optimus's second-in-command who transforms into a silver 2006 Pontiac
Solstice.
Robert Foxworth as Ratchet, the Autobot medic who transforms into a yellow 2004 search and
rescue Hummer H2 ambulance.
Jess Harnell as
o Ironhide, the Autobot weapons expert who transforms into a black 2005 GMC Topkick C4500.
o Barricade, the Decepticon scout and interrogator who transforms into a black Saleen
S281 police car.
Hugo Weaving as Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons who transforms into a silver Cybertronian
jet. Originally Frank Welker (voice of Megatron in the original series) was considered but according to DVD
commentary, Bay thought his voice didn't fit, so Weaving was chosen instead.
Jim Wood as Bonecrusher, the Decepticon mine sweeper who transforms into a Buffalo H Mine-
Protected vehicle.
Reno Wilson as Frenzy, the Decepticon hacker and Barricade's minion, who transforms into a
PGX Boombox, and later a Nokia 8800.
Charlie Adler as Starscream, Megatron's second-in-command who transforms into a Lockheed Martin
F-22 Raptor. Adler had previously voiced several characters in the original series, most
noticeably Silverbolt.
Non-speaking characters
Blackout, Megatron's third-in-command who transforms into a MH-53J Pave Low III.
Brawl, the Decepticon demolition specialist who transforms into a dark green M1 Abrams.
Scorponok, a scorpion-like Decepticon and Blackout's minion.
Production
Development
"In all the years of movie-making, I don't think the image of a truck transforming into a
twenty-foot tall robot has ever been captured on screen. I also want to make a film that's a
homage to 1980s movies and gets back to the sense of wonder that Hollywood has lost over
the years. It will have those Spielberg-ian moments where you have the push-in on the wide-
eyed kid and you feel like you're ten years old even if you're thirty-five."
— Tom DeSanto on why he produced the film[7]
Don Murphy was planning a G.I. Joe film adaptation, but when the United States launched the invasion of
Iraq in March 2003, Hasbro suggested adapting the Transformers franchise instead.[8] Tom DeSanto joined
Murphy because he was a fan of the series.[9] They met with comic book writer Simon Furman, and cited
the Generation 1 cartoon and comics as their main influence.[8] They made the Creation Matrix their plot device,
though Murphy had it renamed because of the film series The Matrix,[10] but was later used again in the sequel.
DeSanto chose to write the treatment from a human point of view to engage the audience, [11] while Murphy
wanted it to have a realistic tone, reminiscent of a disaster film.[10] The treatment featured the Autobots Optimus
Prime, Ironhide, Jazz, Prowl, Arcee, Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Bumblebee, and
the Decepticons Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Ravage, Laserbeak, Rumble, Skywarp and Shockwave.[12]
Steven Spielberg, a fan of the comics and toys,[9] signed on as executive producer in 2004. John Rogers wrote
the first draft, which pitted four Autobots against four Decepticons, [13] and featured the Ark spaceship.[14] Roberto
Orci and Alex Kurtzman, fans of the cartoon,[15] were hired to rewrite the script in February 2005.[16] Spielberg
suggested that "a boy and his car" should be the focus. [17] This appealed to Orci and Kurtzman because it
conveyed themes of adulthood and responsibility, "the things that a car represents in the United States".[18] The
characters of Sam and Mikaela were the sole point of view given in Orci and Kurtzman's first draft. [19] The
Transformers had no dialogue, as the producers feared talking robots would look ridiculous. The writers felt that
even if it would look silly, not having the robots speak would betray the fanbase. [15] The first draft also had a
battle scene in the Grand Canyon.[20] Spielberg read each of Orci and Kurtzman's drafts and gave notes for
improvement.[17] The writers remained involved throughout production, adding additional dialogue for the robots
during the sound mixing (although none of this was kept in the final film, which ran fifteen minutes shorter than
the initial edit).[21] Furman's The Ultimate Guide, published by Dorling Kindersley, remained as a resource to the
writers throughout production.[21] Prime Directive was used as a fake working title. This was also the name
of Dreamwave Productions' first Transformers comic book.[22]
Michael Bay was asked to direct by Spielberg on July 30, 2005,[23] but he dismissed the film as a "stupid toy
movie".[24] Nonetheless, he wanted to work with Spielberg, and gained a new respect for the concept upon
visiting Hasbro.[23] Bay considered the first draft "too kiddie", so he increased the military's role in the story. [23]
[25]
The writers sought inspiration from G.I. Joe for the soldier characters, being careful not to mix the brands.
[26]
Bay based Lennox's struggle to get to the Pentagon phoneline while struggling with an unhelpful operator
from a real account he was given by a soldier when working on another film. [23]
Orci and Kurtzman experimented with numerous robots from the franchise, ultimately selecting the characters
most popular among the filmmakers to form the final cast. [9] Bay acknowledged that most of the Decepticons
were selected before their names or roles were developed, as Hasbro had to start designing the toys. [27] Some
of their names were changed because Bay was upset that they had been leaked. [28] Optimus, Megatron,
Bumblebee and Starscream were the only characters present in each version of the script. [15] Arcee was
a female Transformer introduced by Orci and Kurtzman, but she was cut because they found it difficult to
explain robotic gender; Bay also disliked her motorcycle form, which he found too small. [26] An early idea to have
the Decepticons simultaneously strike multiple places around the world was also dropped. [19]
Design
The filmmakers incorporated valid physics into their designs, establishing the necessity for a robot's size to correspond to that of its
disguise. The layout of Optimus Prime's robotic body within his truck mode is seen here.
The filmmakers created the size of each robot with the size of their vehicle mode in mind, supporting the
Transformer's rationale for their choice of disguise on Earth. [29] The concept of traveling protoforms was
developed by Roberto Orci when he wondered why "aliens who moonlight as vehicles need other vehicles to
travel".[30] This reflected a desire to move to a more alien look, away from the
"blocky" Generation 1 Transformers.[31] Another major influence in the designs was samurai armor, returning
full-circle to the Japanese origins of the toy line. [29] The robots also had to look alien, or else they would have
resembled other cinematic robots made in the image of man.[32]
A product placement deal with General Motors supplied alternate forms for most of the Autobots, which saved
$3 million for the production.[33] GM also provided nearly two hundred cars, destined for destruction in the
climactic battle scene.[29] The U.S. Armed Forces provided significant support, enhancing the film's realism: the
film features F-22s, F-117s, and V-22 Ospreys, the first time these aircraft were used for a film; soldiers served
as extras, and authentic uniforms were provided for the actors. [23] A-10 Thunderbolt IIs and Lockheed AC-
130s also appear. Captain Christian Hodge joked that he had to explain to his superiors that the filmmakers
wanted to portray most of their aircraft as evil Decepticons: however, he remarked "people love bad guys". [29]
Filming
Director Michael Bay filming at Holloman Air Force Base
To save money for the production, Bay reduced his usual fee by 30%. He planned an 83-day shooting
schedule,[23] maintaining the required pace by doing more camera set-ups per day than usual. Bay chose to
shoot the film in the United States instead of Australia or Canada, allowing him to work with a crew he was
familiar with, and who understood his work ethic.[23][25][33] A pre-shoot took place on April 19, 2006 and principal
photography began three days later at Holloman Air Force Base,[34] which stood in for Qatar. Due to their
destruction later in the film by the Decepticon Blackout, the majority of the military structures shown on-screen
were not property of Holloman Air Force Base, but were purchased ahead of filming from a private
manufacturer of military shelter systems, AKS Military.[35] To film the Scorponok sequence at White Sands
Missile Range, a sweep was performed to remove unexploded ordnance before building of a village set could
begin; ironically, the village would be blown up. The scene was broken down for the Air battle managers flying
aboard the AWACS aircraft, who improvised dialogue as if it were an actual battle. [23][36]
The company also shot at Hoover Dam and at the Pentagon, the first time since the September 11 attacks that
film crews had been allowed at these locations.[34] The external Hoover Dam scenes were shot before tourists
arrived daily at 10:00 a.m., with shooting moving inside for the remainder of the day.[36] Production in California
was based at Hughes Aircraft at Playa Vista, where the hangar in which Megatron is imprisoned was built.[36] Six
weekends were spent in Los Angeles, California shooting the climactic battle, with some elements being shot
on the Universal Studios backlot and at Detroit's Michigan Central Station.[34][36] The crew was allowed to shoot
at Griffith Observatory, which was still closed for renovations begun in 2002 and would reopen in November
2006.[34] Filming wrapped on October 4, 2006.[25]
The film has been found to re-use footage from Bay's previous film Pearl Harbor (2001).[37]
Effects
Spielberg encouraged Bay to restrict computer-generated imagery to the robots and background elements in
the action sequences.[23] Stunts such as Bonecrusher smashing through a bus were done practically, while
cameras were placed into the midst of car crashes and explosions to make it look more exciting. [36] Work on
the animatics began in April 2005.[13] Bay indicated that three quarters of the film's effects were made
by Industrial Light & Magic, while Digital Domain made the rest,[23] including the Arctic discovery
of Megatron; Frenzy's severed head; a vending machine mutated by the Allspark, and the
Autobots' protoforms.[38] Many of the animators were big Transformers fans and were given free rein to
experiment: a scene where Jazz attacks Brawl is a reference to a scene in The Transformers: The
Movie where Kup jumps on Blitzwing.[29]
"I just didn't want to make the boxy characters. It's boring and it would look fake. By adding
more doo-dads and stuff on the robots, more car parts, you can just make it more real."
— Michael Bay on the level of detail he wanted for the robots[39]
ILM created computer-generated transformations during six months in 2005, looking at every inch of the car
models.[40] Initially the transformations were made to follow the laws of physics, but it did not look exciting
enough and was changed to be more fluid.[41] Bay rejected a liquid metal surface for the characters' faces,
instead going for a "Rubik's Cube" style of modeling.[23] He wanted numerous mechanical pieces visible so the
robots would look more interesting, realistic, dynamic and quick, rather than like lumbering beasts. [23][39] One
such decision was to have the wheels stay on the ground for as long as possible, allowing the robots to cruise
around as they changed.[42] Bay instructed the animators to observe footage of two martial artists and
numerous martial arts films to make the fights look graceful.[23]
Due to the intricate designs of the Transformers, even the simplest motion of turning a wrist needs 17 visible
parts;[34] each of Ironhide's guns are made of ten thousand parts. [39] Bumblebee uses a piece below his face-
plate as an eyebrow, pieces in his cheeks swivel to resemble a smile, and all the characters' eyes are designed
to dilate and brighten.[42] According to Bay, "The visual effects were so complex it took a staggering 38 hours for
ILM to render just one frame of movement";[34] that meant ILM had to increase their processing facilities.[43] Each
rendered piece had to look like real metal, shiny or dull. This was difficult to model because the aged and
scarred robots had to transform from clean cars. Close-up shots of the robots were sped up to look "cool", but
in wide shots the animation was slowed down to convincingly illustrate a sense of weight. Photographs were
taken of each set. These were used as a reference for the lighting environment, which was reproduced within a
computer, so the robots would look like they were convincingly moving there. Bay, who has directed numerous
car commercials, understood ray tracing was the key to making the robots look real; the CG models would look
realistic based on how much of the environment was reflecting on their bodies. [29] Numerous simulations were
programmed into the robots, so the animators could focus on animating the particular areas needed for a
convincing performance.[43]
Music
See also: Transformers: The Album and Transformers: The Score
Composer Steve Jablonsky, who collaborated with Bay on The Island, scored music for the trailers before work
began on the film itself. Recording took place in April 2007, at the Sony Scoring Stage in Culver City, California.
The score, including the teaser music, uses six major themes across ninety minutes of music. [44] The Autobots
have three themes, one named "Optimus" to represent the wisdom and compassion of the Autobot leader, and
another played during their arrival on Earth. The Decepticons have a chanted theme which relies on
electronics, unlike most of the score. The AllSpark also has its own theme. [45] Hans Zimmer, Jablonsky's
mentor, also helped to compose the score.[23]
Release
Transformers had its worldwide premiere at N Seoul Tower on June 10, 2007.[46][47] The film's June 27 premiere
at the Los Angeles Film Festival used a live digital satellite feed to project the film on to a screen.[48] A premiere
took place at Rhode Island on June 28, which was a freely available event giving attendees the opportunity to
buy tickets for $75 to benefit four charities: the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, the Autism Project of
Rhode Island, Adoption Rhode Island, and Hasbro Children's Hospital.[49] The film was released in IMAX on
September 21, 2007,[50] with additional footage that had not been included in the general theatrical release. [51]
Marketing
Further information: Transformers: Movie Prequel, Transformers: Movie Adaptation, Transformers: Ghosts of
Yesterday, and Transformers: The Game
Hasbro's toy line for the film was created over two months in late 2005 and early 2006, in heavy collaboration
with the filmmakers.[31] Protoform Optimus Prime and Starscream were released in the United States on May 1,
2007, and the first wave of figures was released on June 2. [31] The line featured characters not in the film,
including Arcee.[29] A second wave, titled "AllSpark Power", was set for release late 2007, which consisted of
repaints and robotic versions of ordinary vehicles in the film. [52] The toys feature "Automorph Technology",
where moving parts of the toy allow other parts to shift automatically. [53] Merchandise for the film earned Hasbro
$480 million in 2007.[54]
Deals were made with 200 companies to promote the film in 70 countries. [55] Michael Bay directed tie-in
commercials for General Motors, Panasonic, Burger King and PepsiCo,[56] while props – including the Camaro
used for Bumblebee and the AllSpark – were put up for charity sale on eBay.[57] A viral marketing alternate
reality game was employed through the Sector 7 website, which presented the film and all previous
Transformers toys and media as part of a cover-up operation called "Hungry Dragon", perpetrated by a "real
life" Sector 7 to hide the existence of genuine Transformers. The site featured several videos presenting
"evidence" of Transformers on Earth, including a cameo from the original Bumblebee. [58]
Home media
Transformers was released on DVD and a discontinued HD DVD format on October 16, 2007 in North America.
The Wal-Mart edition of the DVD included a shortened animated version of the prequel comic book,
titled Transformers Beginnings and featuring the voices of Ryan, Cullen, and Dunn, as well as Welker
as Megatron.[59] The Target copy was packaged with a transforming Optimus Prime DVD case and a prequel
comic book about the Decepticons.[59] The DVD sold 8.3 million copies in its first week, making it the fastest-
selling DVD of 2007, in North America, and it sold 190,000 copies on HD DVD, which was the biggest debut on
the format.[60] The DVDs sold 13.74 million copies, making the film the most popular DVD title of 2007. [61]
It was released on Blu-ray on September 2, 2008.[62] In the first week, the two-disc edition of the Blu-ray was
number one in sales compared to other films on the format. The Blu-ray version accounted for two-thirds of the
film's DVD sales that first week, selling the third most in overall DVD sales. [63] On June 16, 2009, Paramount
included a sticker on all new Transformers DVDs that contained a code to view exclusive content online from
the first film and get a sneak peek at Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The content includes three
exclusive clips from Revenge of the Fallen, behind-the-scenes footage from both films, and never-before-seen
deleted scenes from the first film.[64] As of July 2012, in North America, the DVD of the film has sold 16.23
million copies, earning $292,144,274.[65]
Transformers was released on 4K UHD Blu-Ray on December 5, 2017. [66]
Reception
Box office
Transformers had the highest per-screen and per-theater gross in 2007 in North America. [67] It was released on
July 3, 2007 with 8 p.m. preview screenings on July 2. The United States previews earned $8.8 million [68] and in
its first day of general release, it grossed $27.8 million, a record for Tuesday box-office gross until it was broken
by The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012.[69] It did, however, break Spider-Man 2's record for the biggest July 4
gross, making $29 million.[70] Transformers opened in over 4,050 theaters in North America[3] and grossed $70.5
million in its first weekend, debuting at #1 and amounting to a $155.4 million opening week, giving it the record
for the biggest opening week for a non-sequel. [71] The opening's gross in the United States was 50% more than
what Paramount Pictures had expected. One executive attributed it to word of mouth that explained to parents
that "it [was] OK to take the kids". A CinemaScore poll indicated the film was most popular with children and
parents, including older women, and attracted many African American and Latino viewers.
[72]
Transformers ended its theatrical run in the United States and Canada with a gross of $319.2 million, making
it the third highest-grossing film of 2007 in these regions behind Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third.[73] The film
sold an estimated 46,402,100 tickets in North America. [74]
The film was released in 10 international markets on June 28, 2007, including Australia, New
Zealand, Singapore, and the Philippines. Transformers made $29.5 million in its first weekend, topping the box
office in 10 countries.[75] It grossed $5.2 million in Malaysia, becoming the most successful film in the country's
history.[76] Transformers opened in China on July 11 and became the second highest-grossing foreign film in the
country (behind Titanic), making $37.3 million.[77] Its opening there set a record for a foreign language film,
making $3 million.[78] The film was officially released in the United Kingdom on July 27, making £8.7 million, and
helped contribute to the biggest attendance record ever for that weekend. It was second at the UK box office,
behind The Simpsons Movie.[79] In South Korea, Transformers recorded the largest audience for a foreign film in
2007 and the highest foreign revenue of the film. [80]
Worldwide, Transformers was the highest-grossing non-sequel film in 2007 with over $709.7 million, making it
Bay's fourth highest-grossing film to date, with three of its sequels surpassing it. [3] It was also the fifth highest-
grossing film of 2007 worldwide, behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Harry Potter and the Order of
the Phoenix, Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third.[81]
Critical reception
Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 58% based on 227 reviews,
with an average rating of 5.79/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "While believable characters are
hard to come by in Transformers, the effects are staggering and the action is exhilarating." [82] On Metacritic, the
film has an average score of 61 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [83]
IGN's Todd Gilchrist called it Bay's best film, and "one of the few instances where it's OK to enjoy something for
being smart and dumb at the same time, mostly because it's undeniably also a whole lot of fun". [84] The
Advertiser's Sean Fewster found the visual effects so seamless that "you may come to believe the studio
somehow engineered artificial intelligence".[85] The Denver Post's Lisa Kennedy praised the depiction of the
robots as having "a believably rendered scale and intimacy", [86] and ABC presenter Margaret Pomeranz was
surprised "that a complete newcomer to the Transformers phenomenon like myself became involved in the fate
of these mega-machines".[87] Ain't It Cool News's Drew McWeeny felt most of the cast grounded the story, and
that "it has a real sense of wonder, one of the things that's missing from so much of the big CGI lightshows
released these days".[88] Author Peter David found it ludicrous fun, and said that "[Bay] manages to hold on to
his audience's suspension of disbelief long enough for us to segue into some truly spectacular battle scenes".
[89]
Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review, giving it 3 stars out of a possible 4, writing: "It's goofy fun with a
lot of stuff that blows up real good, and it has the grace not only to realize how preposterous it is, but to make
that into an asset."[90]
Despite the praise for the visual effects, there was division over the human storylines. The Hollywood
Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt liked "how a teen plotline gets tied in to the end of the world", [91] while Empire's Ian
Nathan praised Shia LaBeouf as "a smart, natural comedian, [who] levels the bluntness of this toy story with an
ironic bluster".[92] Ain't It Cool News founder Harry Knowles felt Bay's style conflicted with Spielberg's, arguing
the military story only served as a distraction from Sam.[93] James Berardinelli hated the film as he did not
connect with the characters in-between the action, which he found tedious. [94] Los Angeles Times' Kenneth
Turan found the humans "oddly lifeless, doing little besides marking time until those big toys fill the screen",
[95]
while ComingSoon.net's Joshua Starnes felt the Transformers were "completely believable, right up to the
moment they open their mouths to talk, when they revert to bad cartoon characters". [96] Daily Herald's Matt
Arado was annoyed that "the Transformers [are] little more than supporting players", and felt the middle act
was sluggish.[97] CNN's Tom Charity questioned the idea of a film based on a toy, and felt it would "buzz its
youthful demographic [...] but leave the rest of us wondering if Hollywood could possibly aim lower". [98]
General
"From the king movie geek Harry Knowles of AintItCool.com to newspaper film critics and
regular Joe (and Jane) comments, there is general raving about the mechanical heroes and
general grumbling about the excessive screen time given to some of the human characters
played by Shia LaBeouf, Anthony Anderson, Tyrese Gibson and Jon Voight. Optimus Prime,
the leader of the good-guy Autobots, doesn't appear until midway through the film."
— USA Today[99]
Transformers fans were initially divided over the film due to the radical redesigns of many characters, although
the casting of Peter Cullen was warmly received.[29] Transformers comic book writer Simon Furman and Beast
Wars script consultant Benson Yee both considered the film to be spectacular fun, although Furman also
argued that there were too many human storylines. [100] Yee felt that being the first in a series, the film had to
establish much of the fictional universe and therefore did not have time to focus on the Decepticons.
[101]
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[102]
The film created a greater awareness of the franchise and drew in many new fans. [103] Transformers' box office
success led to the active development of films based on Voltron and Robotech,[104] as well as a Knight
Rider remake.[105] When filming the sequel, Bay was told by soldiers the film helped their children understand
what their work was like, and that many had christened their Buffalos – the vehicle used for Bonecrusher – after
various Transformer characters.[106]
After the film's 2009 sequel was titled Revenge of the Fallen, screenwriter Orci was asked if this film would be
retitled, just as Star Wars was titled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope when re-released. He doubted the
possibility, but said if it was retitled, he would call it Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye.[107]
Accolades
Award Category Recipient Result
Scott Benza, Russell Earl, Scott
Best Visual Effects Nominated
Farrar and John Knoll
Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike
80th Academy Awards[108] Best Sound Editing Nominated
Hopkins
Kevin O'Connell, Greg P.
Best Sound Mixing Nominated
Russell and Peter J. Devlin
Best Summer Movie You
2007 MTV Movie Awards[109] Won
Haven't Seen Yet
2008 MTV Movie Awards Best Movie Won
2008 Kids' Choice Awards[110] Favorite Movie Nominated
2007 Kuala Lumpur Best Special Effects (Jury
Won
International Film Festival[111] Merit Award)
Visual Effects Supervisor of
Hollywood Film Festival[112] Scott Farrar Won
the Year
6th Visual Effects Society Outstanding Visual Effects Scott Farrar, Shari Hanson, Russell Won
Awards[113] in a Earl, Scott Benza
Visual Effects-Driven
Award Category Recipient Result
Feature Motion Picture
Desert Highway Sequence – Scott
Best Single Visual Effect of
Farrar, Shari Hanson, Won
the Year
Shawn Kelly, Michael Jamieson
Outstanding Performance
Optimus Prime – Rick O'Connor,
by an Animated
Doug Sutton, Nominated
Character in a Live Action
Keiji Yamaguchi, Jeff White
Motion Picture
Outstanding Models and
Dave Fogler, Ron Woodall, Alex
Miniatures in a Won
Jaeger, Brain Gernand
Feature Motion Picture
BMI Awards[114] BMI Film Music Award Steve Jablonsky Won
Jon Voight (also for Bratz: The
28th Golden Raspberry Movie, September Dawn
Worst Supporting Actor Nominated
Awards[115] and National Treasure: Book of
Secrets)
Best Science Fiction Film Nominated
34th Saturn Awards[116]
Best Special Effects Won
Entertainment Weekly named Bumblebee as their fourth favorite computer generated character,[117] while The
Times listed Optimus Prime's depiction as the thirtieth best film robot, citing his coolness and dangerousness.
[118]
Sequels and spin-offs
Main articles: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Transformers: Age of
Extinction, Transformers: The Last Knight, and Bumblebee (film)
The second film, Revenge of the Fallen was released June 24, 2009. The third film, Dark of the Moon was
released June 29, 2011. The fourth film, Age of Extinction was released June 27, 2014, and the fifth film
titled The Last Knight was released on June 21, 2017. Revenge of the Fallen, Dark of the Moon and Age of
Extinction were financial successes, while The Last Knight tanked at the box office. All of the sequels have
received negative reviews.
A soft reboot titled Bumblebee was released on December 21, 2018 to universal critical acclaim. It is currently
the highest-rated film in the Transformers series.
Albert Einstein.
Albert Einstein (/ˈaɪnstaɪn/;[4] German: [ˈalbɛɐ̯t ˈʔaɪnʃtaɪn] ( listen); 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was
a German-born theoretical physicist[5] who developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of
modern physics (alongside quantum mechanics).[3][6]:274 His work is also known for its influence on
the philosophy of science.[7][8] He is best known to the general public for his mass–energy
equivalence formula E = mc2, which has been dubbed "the world's most famous equation".[9]He
received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his
discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect",[10] a pivotal step in the development of quantum
theory.
Near the beginning of his career, Einstein thought that Newtonian mechanics was no longer enough to
reconcile the laws of classical mechanics with the laws of the electromagnetic field. This led him to
develop his special theory of relativity during his time at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern (1902–1909),
Switzerland. However, he realized that the principle of relativity could also be extended to gravitational
fields, and he published a paper on general relativity in 1916 with his theory of gravitation. He continued
to deal with problems of statistical mechanics and quantum theory, which led to his explanations of
particle theory and the motion of molecules. He also investigated the thermal properties of light which
laid the foundation of the photon theory of light. In 1917, he applied the general theory of relativity to
model the structure of the universe.[11][12]
Except for one year in Prague, Einstein lived in Switzerland between 1895 and 1914, during which time
he renounced his German citizenship in 1896, then received his academic diploma from the
Swiss federal polytechnic school (later the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, ETH) in Zürich in
1900. After being stateless for more than five years, he acquired Swiss citizenship in 1901, which he kept
for the rest of his life. In 1905, he was awarded a PhD by the University of Zurich. The same year, he
published four groundbreaking papers during his renowned annus mirabilis (miracle year) which brought
him to the notice of the academic world at the age of 26. Einstein taught theoretical physics at Zurich
between 1912 and 1914 before he left for Berlin, where he was elected to the Prussian Academy of
Sciences.
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein in 1921
In 1933, while Einstein was visiting the United States, Adolf Hitler came to power. Because of
his Jewish background, Einstein did not return to Germany.[13] He settled in the United States and
became an American citizen in 1940.[14] On the eve of World War II, he endorsed a letter to President
Franklin D. Roosevelt alerting him to the potential development of "extremely powerful bombs of a new
type" and recommending that the US begin similar research. This eventually led to the Manhattan
Project. Einstein supported the Allies, but he generally denounced the idea of using nuclear fission as a
weapon. He signed the Russell–Einstein Manifesto with British philosopher Bertrand Russell, which
highlighted the danger of nuclear weapons. He was affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Study in
Princeton, New Jersey, until his death in 1955.
Einstein published more than 300 scientific papers and more than 150 non-scientific works.[11][15] His
intellectual achievements and originality have made the word "Einstein" synonymous with "genius".
[16] Eugene Wigner wrote of Einstein in comparison to his contemporaries that "Einstein's
understanding was deeper even than Jancsi von Neumann's. His mind was both more penetrating and
more original than von Neumann's. And that is a very remarkable statement."
Life and career
Early life and education
See also: Einstein family
Einstein at the age of 3 in 1882
Albert Einstein in 1893 (age 14)
Einstein's matriculation certificate at the age of 17, showing his final grades from the Argovian cantonal
school (Aargauische Kantonsschule, on a scale of 1–6, with 6 being the highest possible mark). He
scored: German 5; French 3; Italian 5; History 6; Geography 4; Algebra 6; Geometry 6; Descriptive
Geometry 6; Physics 6; Chemistry 5; Natural History 5; Art and Technical Drawing 4.
Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, in the Kingdom of Württemberg in the German Empire, on 14 March
1879.[5] His parents were Hermann Einstein, a salesman and engineer, and Pauline Koch. In 1880, the
family moved to Munich, where Einstein's father and his uncle Jakob founded Elektrotechnische Fabrik J.
Einstein & Cie, a company that manufactured electrical equipment based on direct current.[5]
The Einsteins were non-observant Ashkenazi Jews, and Albert attended a Catholic elementary school in
Munich, from the age of 5, for three years. At the age of 8, he was transferred to the Luitpold
Gymnasium (now known as the Albert Einstein Gymnasium), where he received advanced primary and
secondary school education until he left the German Empire seven years later.[18]
In 1894, Hermann and Jakob's company lost a bid to supply the city of Munich with electrical lighting
because they lacked the capital to convert their equipment from the direct current (DC) standard to the
more efficient alternating current (AC) standard.[19] The loss forced the sale of the Munich factory. In
search of business, the Einstein family moved to Italy, first to Milan and a few months later to Pavia.
When the family moved to Pavia, Einstein, then 15, stayed in Munich to finish his studies at the Luitpold
Gymnasium. His father intended for him to pursue electrical engineering, but Einstein clashed with
authorities and resented the school's regimen and teaching method. He later wrote that the spirit of
learning and creative thought was lost in strict rote learning. At the end of December 1894, he travelled
to Italy to join his family in Pavia, convincing the school to let him go by using a doctor's note.[20]During
his time in Italy he wrote a short essay with the title "On the Investigation of the State of the Ether in a
Magnetic Field".[21][22]
Einstein always excelled at math and physics from a young age, reaching a mathematical level years
ahead of his peers. The twelve year old Einstein taught himself algebra and Euclidean geometry over a
single summer. Einstein also independently discovered his own original proof of the Pythagorean
theorem at age 12.[23] A family tutor Max Talmud says that after he had given the 12 year old Einstein a
geometry textbook, after a short time "[Einstein] had worked through the whole book. He thereupon
devoted himself to higher mathematics... Soon the flight of his mathematical genius was so high I could
not follow."[24] His passion for geometry and algebra led the twelve year old to become convinced that
nature could be understood as a "mathematical structure".[24] Einstein started teaching himself
calculus at 12, and as a 14 year old he says he had "mastered integral and differentialcalculus".[25]
At age 13, Einstein was introduced to Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, and Kant became his favorite
philosopher, his tutor stating: "At the time he was still a child, only thirteen years old, yet Kant's works,
incomprehensible to ordinary mortals, seemed to be clear to him."[24]
In 1895, at the age of 16, Einstein took the entrance examinations for the Swiss Federal
Polytechnic in Zürich(later the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, ETH). He failed to reach the
required standard in the general part of the examination,[26] but obtained exceptional grades in physics
and mathematics.[27] On the advice of the principal of the Polytechnic, he attended
the Argovian cantonal school (gymnasium) in Aarau, Switzerland, in 1895 and 1896 to complete his
secondary schooling. While lodging with the family of professor Jost Winteler, he fell in love with
Winteler's daughter, Marie. Albert's sister Maja later married Winteler's son Paul.[28] In January 1896,
with his father's approval, Einstein renounced his citizenship in the German Kingdom of Württemberg to
avoid military service.[29] In September 1896, he passed the Swiss Matura with mostly good grades,
including a top grade of 6 in physics and mathematical subjects, on a scale of 1–6.[30] At 17, he enrolled
in the four-year mathematics and physics teaching diploma program at the Zürich Polytechnic. Marie
Winteler, who was a year older, moved to Olsberg, Switzerland, for a teaching post.
Einstein's future wife, a 20-year old Serbian woman Mileva Marić, also enrolled at the Polytechnic that
year. She was the only woman among the six students in the mathematics and physics section of the
teaching diploma course. Over the next few years, Einstein and Marić's friendship developed into
romance, and they read books together on extra-curricular physics in which Einstein was taking an
increasing interest. In 1900, Einstein passed the exams in Maths and Physics and was awarded the
Federal Polytechnic teaching diploma.[31] There have been claims that Marić collaborated with Einstein
on his 1905 papers,[32][33] known as the Annus Mirabilis papers, but historians of physics who have
studied the issue find no evidence that she made any substantive contributions.[34][35][36][37]
Marriages and children
Albert Einstein in 1904 (age 25)
An early correspondence between Einstein and Marić was discovered and published in 1987 which
revealed that the couple had a daughter named "Lieserl", born in early 1902 in Novi Sad where Marić
was staying with her parents. Marić returned to Switzerland without the child, whose real name and
fate are unknown. The contents of Einstein's letter in September 1903 suggest that the girl was either
given up for adoption or died of scarlet fever in infancy.[38][39]
Einstein with his second wife Elsa, 1921
Einstein and Marić married in January 1903. In May 1904, their son Hans Albert Einstein was born
in Bern, Switzerland. Their son Eduard was born in Zürich in July 1910. The couple moved to Berlin in
April 1914, but Marić returned to Zürich with their sons after learning that Einstein's chief romantic
attraction was his first and second cousin Elsa.[40] They divorced on 14 February 1919, having lived
apart for five years.[41] Eduard had a breakdown at about age 20 and was diagnosed
with schizophrenia.[42] His mother cared for him and he was also committed to asylums for several
periods, finally being committed permanently after her death.[43]
In letters revealed in 2015, Einstein wrote to his early love Marie Winteler about his marriage and his
strong feelings for her. He wrote in 1910, while his wife was pregnant with their second child: "I think of
you in heartfelt love every spare minute and am so unhappy as only a man can be". He spoke about a
"misguided love" and a "missed life" regarding his love for Marie.[44]
Einstein married Elsa Löwenthal in 1919,[45][46] after having a relationship with her since 1912.[47] She
was a first cousin maternally and a second cousin paternally.[47] They emigrated to the United States in
1933. Elsa was diagnosed with heart and kidney problems in 1935 and died in December 1936.[48]
Friends
Among Einstein's well-known friends were Michele Besso, Paul Ehrenfest, Marcel Grossmann, János
Plesch, Daniel Q. Posin, Maurice Solovine, and Stephen Wise.[49]
Patent office
Olympia Academy founders: Conrad Habicht, Maurice Solovine and Einstein.
After graduating in 1900, Einstein spent almost two frustrating years searching for a teaching post. He
acquired Swiss citizenship in February 1901,[50] but for medical reasons was not conscripted. With the
help of Marcel Grossmann's father, he secured a job in Bern at the Federal Office for Intellectual
Property, the patent office,[51][52] as an assistant examiner – level III.[53][54]
Einstein evaluated patent applications for a variety of devices including a gravel sorter and an
electromechanical typewriter.[54] In 1903, his position at the Swiss Patent Office became permanent,
although he was passed over for promotion until he "fully mastered machine technology".[55]:370
Much of his work at the patent office related to questions about transmission of electric signals and
electrical–mechanical synchronization of time, two technical problems that show up conspicuously in
the thought experiments that eventually led Einstein to his radical conclusions about the nature of light
and the fundamental connection between space and time.[55]:377
With a few friends he had met in Bern, Einstein started a small discussion group in 1902, self-mockingly
named "The Olympia Academy", which met regularly to discuss science and philosophy. Their readings
included the works of Henri Poincaré, Ernst Mach, and David Hume, which influenced his scientific and
philosophical outlook.[56]
First scientific papers
Einstein's official 1921 portrait after receiving the Nobel Prize in Physics
In 1900, Einstein's paper "Folgerungen aus den Capillaritätserscheinungen" ("Conclusions from the
Capillarity Phenomena") was published in the journal Annalen der Physik.[57][58] On 30 April 1905,
Einstein completed his thesis,[59] with Alfred Kleiner, Professor of Experimental Physics, serving as pro-
forma advisor. As a result, Einstein was awarded a PhD by the University of Zürich, with his dissertation
"A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions".[59][60]
In that same year, which has been called Einstein's annus mirabilis (miracle year), he published four
groundbreaking papers, on the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, special relativity, and the
equivalence of mass and energy, which were to bring him to the notice of the academic world, at the
age of 26.
Academic career
By 1908, he was recognized as a leading scientist and was appointed lecturer at the University of Bern.
The following year, after giving a lecture on electrodynamics and the relativity principle at the University
of Zürich, Alfred Kleiner recommended him to the faculty for a newly created professorship in
theoretical physics. Einstein was appointed associate professor in 1909.[61]
Einstein became a full professor at the German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague in April 1911,
accepting Austrian citizenship in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to do so.[62][63] During his Prague stay,
he wrote 11 scientific works, five of them on radiation mathematics and on the quantum theory of
solids. In July 1912, he returned to his alma mater in Zürich. From 1912 until 1914, he was professor of
theoretical physics at the ETH Zurich, where he taught analytical mechanics and thermodynamics. He
also studied continuum mechanics, the molecular theory of heat, and the problem of gravitation, on
which he worked with mathematician and friend Marcel Grossmann.[64]
On 3 July 1913, he was voted for membership in the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin. Max
Planck and Walther Nernst visited him the next week in Zurich to persuade him to join the academy,
additionally offering him the post of director at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics, which was soon
to be established.[65] (Membership in the academy included paid salary and professorship without
teaching duties at the Humboldt University of Berlin.) He was officially elected to the academy on 24
July, and he accepted to move to the German Empire the next year. His decision to move to Berlin was
also influenced by the prospect of living near his cousin Elsa, with whom he had developed a romantic
affair. He joined the academy and thus the Berlin University on 1 April 1914.[66] As World War I broke
out that year, the plan for Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics was aborted. The institute was
established on 1 October 1917, with Einstein as its director.[67] In 1916, Einstein was elected president
of the German Physical Society (1916–1918).[68]
Based on calculations Einstein made in 1911, about his new theory of general relativity, light from
another star should be bent by the Sun's gravity. In 1919, that prediction was confirmed by Sir Arthur
Eddington during the solar eclipse of 29 May 1919. Those observations were published in the
international media, making Einstein world-famous. On 7 November 1919, the leading British
newspaper The Times printed a banner headline that read: "Revolution in Science – New Theory of the
Universe – Newtonian Ideas Overthrown".[69]
In 1920, he became a Foreign Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.[70] In
1922, he was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to Theoretical Physics, and
especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect".[10] While the general theory of
relativity was still considered somewhat controversial, the citation also does not treat the cited work as
an explanation but merely as a discovery of the law, as the idea of photons was considered outlandish
and did not receive universal acceptance until the 1924 derivation of the Planck spectrum by S. N. Bose.
Einstein was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1921.[3] He also received
the Copley Medal from the Royal Society in 1925.[3]
1921–1922: Travels abroad
Albert Einstein at a session of the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation (League of
Nations) of which he was a member from 1922 to 1932.
Einstein visited New York City for the first time on 2 April 1921, where he received an official welcome
by Mayor John Francis Hylan, followed by three weeks of lectures and receptions. He went on to deliver
several lectures at Columbia University and Princeton University, and in Washington he accompanied
representatives of the National Academy of Science on a visit to the White House. On his return to
Europe he was the guest of the British statesman and philosopher Viscount Haldane in London, where
he met several renowned scientific, intellectual and political figures, and delivered a lecture at King's
College London.[71] [72]
He also published an essay, "My First Impression of the U.S.A.," in July 1921, in which he tried briefly to
describe some characteristics of Americans, much as had Alexis de Tocqueville, who published his own
impressions in Democracy in America (1835).[73] For some of his observations, Einstein was clearly
surprised: "What strikes a visitor is the joyous, positive attitude to life ... The American is friendly, self-
confident, optimistic, and without envy."[74]:20
In 1922, his travels took him to Asia and later to Palestine, as part of a six-month excursion and speaking
tour, as he visited Singapore, Ceylon and Japan, where he gave a series of lectures to thousands of
Japanese. After his first public lecture, he met the emperor and empress at the Imperial Palace, where
thousands came to watch. In a letter to his sons, he described his impression of the Japanese as being
modest, intelligent, considerate, and having a true feel for art.[75] In his own travel diaries from his
1922-23 visit to Asia, he expresses some views on the Chinese, Japanese and Indian people, which have
been described as xenophobic and racist judgments when they were rediscovered in 2018.[76]
Because of Einstein's travels to the Far East, he was unable to personally accept the Nobel Prize for
Physics at the Stockholm award ceremony in December 1922. In his place, the banquet speech was held
by a German diplomat, who praised Einstein not only as a scientist but also as an international
peacemaker and activist.[77]
On his return voyage, he visited Palestine for 12 days in what would become his only visit to that region.
He was greeted as if he were a head of state, rather than a physicist, which included a cannon salute
upon arriving at the home of the British high commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuel. During one reception,
the building was stormed by people who wanted to see and hear him. In Einstein's talk to the audience,
he expressed happiness that the Jewish people were beginning to be recognized as a force in the world.
[78]
Einstein visited Spain for two weeks in 1923, where he briefly met Santiago Ramón y Cajal and also
received a diploma from King Alfonso XIIInaming him a member of the Spanish Academy of Sciences.[79]
From 1922 to 1932, Einstein was a member of the International Committee on Intellectual
Cooperation of the League of Nations in Geneva (with a few months of interruption in 1923–1924),[80] a
body created to promote international exchange between scientists, researchers, teachers, artists and
intellectuals.[81] Originally slated to serve as the Swiss delegate, Secretary-General Eric Drummond was
persuaded by Catholic activists Oskar Halecki and Giuseppe Motta to instead have him become the
German delegate, thus allowing Gonzague de Reynold to take the Swiss spot, from which he promoted
traditionalist Catholic values.[82] Einstein’s former physics professor Hendrik Lorentz and the French
chemist Marie Curiewere also members of the committee.
1930–1931: Travel to the US
In December 1930, Einstein visited America for the second time, originally intended as a two-month
working visit as a research fellow at the California Institute of Technology. After the national attention
he received during his first trip to the US, he and his arrangers aimed to protect his privacy. Although
swamped with telegrams and invitations to receive awards or speak publicly, he declined them all.[83]
After arriving in New York City, Einstein was taken to various places and events, including Chinatown, a
lunch with the editors of The New York Times, and a performance of Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera,
where he was cheered by the audience on his arrival. During the days following, he was given the keys
to the city by Mayor Jimmy Walker and met the president of Columbia University, who described
Einstein as "the ruling monarch of the mind".[84] Harry Emerson Fosdick, pastor at New York's Riverside
Church, gave Einstein a tour of the church and showed him a full-size statue that the church made of
Einstein, standing at the entrance.[84] Also during his stay in New York, he joined a crowd of 15,000
people at Madison Square Garden during a Hanukkah celebration.[84]
Einstein (left) and Charlie Chaplin at the Hollywoodpremiere of City Lights, January 1931
Einstein next traveled to California, where he met Caltech president and Nobel laureate, Robert A.
Millikan. His friendship with Millikan was "awkward", as Millikan "had a penchant for patriotic
militarism," where Einstein was a pronounced pacifist.[85] During an address to Caltech's students,
Einstein noted that science was often inclined to do more harm than good.[86]
This aversion to war also led Einstein to befriend author Upton Sinclair and film star Charlie Chaplin,
both noted for their pacifism. Carl Laemmle, head of Universal Studios, gave Einstein a tour of his studio
and introduced him to Chaplin. They had an instant rapport, with Chaplin inviting Einstein and his wife,
Elsa, to his home for dinner. Chaplin said Einstein's outward persona, calm and gentle, seemed to
conceal a "highly emotional temperament," from which came his "extraordinary intellectual energy".
[87]:320
Chaplin's film, City Lights, was to premiere a few days later in Hollywood, and Chaplin invited Einstein
and Elsa to join him as his special guests. Walter Isaacson, Einstein's biographer, described this as "one
of the most memorable scenes in the new era of celebrity".[86] Chaplin visited Einstein at his home on a
later trip to Berlin, and recalled his "modest little flat" and the piano at which he had begun writing his
theory. Chaplin speculated that it was "possibly used as kindling wood by the Nazis."[87]:322
1933: Emigration to the US
Cartoon of Einstein, who has shed his "Pacifism" wings, standing next to a pillar labeled "World Peace".
He is rolling up his sleeves and holding a sword labeled "Preparedness" (by Charles R. Macauley, c.
1933).
In February 1933 while on a visit to the United States, Einstein knew he could not return to Germany
with the rise to power of the Nazis under Germany's new chancellor, Adolf Hitler.[88][89]
While at American universities in early 1933, he undertook his third two-month visiting professorship at
the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He and his wife Elsa returned to Belgium by ship in
March, and during the trip they learned that their cottage was raided by the Nazis and his personal
sailboat confiscated. Upon landing in Antwerp on 28 March, he immediately went to the German
consulate and surrendered his passport, formally renouncing his German citizenship.[90] The Nazis later
sold his boat and converted his cottage into a Hitler Youth camp.[91]
Refugee status
Albert Einstein's landing card (26 May 1933), when he landed in Dover(United Kingdom)
from Ostende(Belgium) to visit Oxford.
In April 1933, Einstein discovered that the new German government had passed laws barring Jews from
holding any official positions, including teaching at universities.[90] Historian Gerald Holton describes
how, with "virtually no audible protest being raised by their colleagues", thousands of Jewish scientists
were suddenly forced to give up their university positions and their names were removed from the rolls
of institutions where they were employed.[74]
A month later, Einstein's works were among those targeted by the German Student Union in the Nazi
book burnings, with Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels proclaiming, "Jewish intellectualism is
dead."[90] One German magazine included him in a list of enemies of the German regime with the
phrase, "not yet hanged", offering a $5,000 bounty on his head.[90][92] In a subsequent letter to
physicist and friend Max Born, who had already emigrated from Germany to England, Einstein wrote,
"... I must confess that the degree of their brutality and cowardice came as something of a
surprise."[90] After moving to the US, he described the book burnings as a "spontaneous emotional
outburst" by those who "shun popular enlightenment," and "more than anything else in the world, fear
the influence of men of intellectual independence."[93]
Einstein was now without a permanent home, unsure where he would live and work, and equally
worried about the fate of countless other scientists still in Germany. He rented a house in De Haan,
Belgium, where he lived for a few months. In late July 1933, he went to England for about six weeks at
the personal invitation of British naval officer Commander Oliver Locker-Lampson, who had become
friends with Einstein in the preceding years. To protect Einstein, Locker-Lampson had two assistants
watch over him at his secluded cottage outside London, with a photo of them carrying shotguns and
guarding Einstein, published in the Daily Herald on 24 July 1933.[94][95]
Locker-Lampson took Einstein to meet Winston Churchill at his home, and later, Austen
Chamberlain and former Prime Minister Lloyd George.[96]Einstein asked them to help bring Jewish
scientists out of Germany. British historian Martin Gilbert notes that Churchill responded immediately,
and sent his friend, physicist Frederick Lindemann, to Germany to seek out Jewish scientists and place
them in British universities.[97] Churchill later observed that as a result of Germany having driven the
Jews out, they had lowered their "technical standards" and put the Allies' technology ahead of theirs.
[97]
Einstein later contacted leaders of other nations, including Turkey's Prime Minister, İsmet İnönü, to
whom he wrote in September 1933 requesting placement of unemployed German-Jewish scientists. As a
result of Einstein's letter, Jewish invitees to Turkey eventually totaled over "1,000 saved individuals".[98]
Locker-Lampson also submitted a bill to parliament to extend British citizenship to Einstein, during which
period Einstein made a number of public appearances describing the crisis brewing in Europe.[99] In one
of his speeches he denounced Germany's treatment of Jews, while at the same time he introduced a bill
promoting Jewish citizenship in Palestine, as they were being denied citizenship elsewhere.[100] In his
speech he described Einstein as a "citizen of the world" who should be offered a temporary shelter in
the UK.[note 2][101] Both bills failed, however, and Einstein then accepted an earlier offer from
the Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, New Jersey, US, to become a resident scholar.[99]
Resident scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study
Portrait of Einstein taken in 1935 at Princeton
In October 1933 Einstein returned to the US and took up a position at the Institute for Advanced Study,
[99][102]noted for having become a refuge for scientists fleeing Nazi Germany.[103] At the time, most
American universities, including Harvard, Princeton and Yale, had minimal or no Jewish faculty or
students, as a result of their Jewish quotas, which lasted until the late 1940s.[103]
Einstein was still undecided on his future. He had offers from several European universities,
including Christ Church, Oxford where he stayed for three short periods between May 1931 and June
1933 and was offered a 5-year studentship,[104][105] but in 1935 he arrived at the decision to remain
permanently in the United States and apply for citizenship.[99][106]
Einstein's affiliation with the Institute for Advanced Study would last until his death in 1955.[107] He was
one of the four first selected (two of the others being John von Neumann and Kurt Gödel) at the new
Institute, where he soon developed a close friendship with Gödel. The two would take long walks
together discussing their work. Bruria Kaufman, his assistant, later became a physicist. During this
period, Einstein tried to develop a unified field theoryand to refute the accepted
interpretation of quantum physics, both unsuccessfully.
World War II and the Manhattan Project
See also: Einstein–Szilárd letter
In 1939, a group of Hungarian scientists that included émigré physicist Leó Szilárd attempted to alert
Washington to ongoing Nazi atomic bomb research. The group's warnings were discounted. Einstein and
Szilárd, along with other refugees such as Edward Teller and Eugene Wigner, "regarded it as their
responsibility to alert Americans to the possibility that German scientists might win the race to build an
atomic bomb, and to warn that Hitler would be more than willing to resort to such a weapon."[108]
[109] To make certain the US was aware of the danger, in July 1939, a few months before the beginning
of World War II in Europe, Szilárd and Wigner visited Einstein to explain the possibility of atomic bombs,
which Einstein, a pacifist, said he had never considered.[110] He was asked to lend his support by
writing a letter, with Szilárd, to President Roosevelt, recommending the US pay attention and engage in
its own nuclear weapons research.
The letter is believed to be "arguably the key stimulus for the U.S. adoption of serious investigations into
nuclear weapons on the eve of the U.S. entry into World War II".[111] In addition to the letter, Einstein
used his connections with the Belgian Royal Family[112] and the Belgian queen mother to get access
with a personal envoy to the White House's Oval Office. Some say that as a result of Einstein's letter and
his meetings with Roosevelt, the US entered the "race" to develop the bomb, drawing on its "immense
material, financial, and scientific resources" to initiate the Manhattan Project.
For Einstein, "war was a disease ... [and] he called for resistance to war." By signing the letter to
Roosevelt, some argue he went against his pacifist principles.[113] In 1954, a year before his death,
Einstein said to his old friend, Linus Pauling, "I made one great mistake in my life—when I signed the
letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made; but there was some
justification—the danger that the Germans would make them ..."[114]
US citizenship
Einstein accepting US citizenshipcertificate from judge Phillip Forman
Einstein became an American citizen in 1940. Not long after settling into his career at the Institute for
Advanced Study (in Princeton, New Jersey), he expressed his appreciation of the meritocracy in
American culture when compared to Europe. He recognized the "right of individuals to say and think
what they pleased", without social barriers, and as a result, individuals were encouraged, he said, to be
more creative, a trait he valued from his own early education.[115]
Einstein joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Princeton,
where he campaigned for the civil rights of African Americans. He considered racism America's "worst
disease,"[92] seeing it as "handed down from one generation to the next".[116] As part of his
involvement, he corresponded with civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois and was prepared to testify on
his behalf during his trial in 1951.[117]:565 When Einstein offered to be a character witness for Du Bois,
the judge decided to drop the case.[118]
In 1946 Einstein visited Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, a historically black college, where he was
awarded an honorary degree. (Lincoln was the first university in the United States to grant college
degrees to African Americans; alumni include Langston Hughes and Thurgood Marshall.) Einstein gave a
speech about racism in America, adding, "I do not intend to be quiet about it."[119] A resident of
Princeton recalls that Einstein had once paid the college tuition for a black student.[118]
Personal life
Einstein in 1947
Assisting Zionist causes
Einstein was a figurehead leader in helping establish the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which opened
in 1925, and was among its first Board of Governors. Earlier, in 1921, he was asked by the biochemist
and president of the World Zionist Organization, Chaim Weizmann, to help raise funds for the planned
university.[120] He also submitted various suggestions as to its initial programs.
Among those, he advised first creating an Institute of Agriculture in order to settle the undeveloped
land. That should be followed, he suggested, by a Chemical Institute and an Institute of Microbiology, to
fight the various ongoing epidemics such as malaria, which he called an "evil" that was undermining a
third of the country's development.[121]:161 Establishing an Oriental Studies Institute, to include
language courses given in both Hebrew and Arabic, for scientific exploration of the country and its
historical monuments, was also important.[121]:158
Chaim Weizmann later became Israel's first president. Upon his death while in office in November 1952
and at the urging of Ezriel Carlebach, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion offered Einstein the position
of President of Israel, a mostly ceremonial post.[122][123] The offer was presented by Israel's
ambassador in Washington, Abba Eban, who explained that the offer "embodies the deepest respect
which the Jewish people can repose in any of its sons".[124] Einstein declined, and wrote in his response
that he was "deeply moved", and "at once saddened and ashamed" that he could not accept it.[124]
Love of music
Einstein (right) with writer, musician and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, 1930
Einstein developed an appreciation for music at an early age, and later wrote: "If I were not a physicist, I
would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms
of music... I get most joy in life out of music."[125][126]
His mother played the piano reasonably well and wanted her son to learn the violin, not only to instill in
him a love of music but also to help him assimilate into German culture. According to conductor Leon
Botstein, Einstein began playing when he was 5, although he did not enjoy it at that age.[127]
When he turned 13, he discovered the violin sonatas of Mozart, whereupon "Einstein fell in love" with
Mozart's music and studied music more willingly. He taught himself to play without "ever practicing
systematically", he said, deciding that "love is a better teacher than a sense of duty."[127] At age 17, he
was heard by a school examiner in Aarau as he played Beethoven's violin sonatas, the examiner stating
afterward that his playing was "remarkable and revealing of 'great insight'." What struck the examiner,
writes Botstein, was that Einstein "displayed a deep love of the music, a quality that was and remains in
short supply. Music possessed an unusual meaning for this student."[127]
Music took on a pivotal and permanent role in Einstein's life from that period on. Although the idea of
becoming a professional musician himself was not on his mind at any time, among those with whom
Einstein played chamber music were a few professionals, and he performed for private audiences and
friends. Chamber music had also become a regular part of his social life while living in Bern, Zürich, and
Berlin, where he played with Max Planck and his son, among others. He is sometimes erroneously
credited as the editor of the 1937 edition of the Köchel catalogue of Mozart's work; that edition was
prepared by Alfred Einstein, who may have been a distant relation.[128][129]
In 1931, while engaged in research at the California Institute of Technology, he visited the Zoellner
family conservatory in Los Angeles, where he played some of Beethoven and Mozart's works with
members of the Zoellner Quartet.[130][131] Near the end of his life, when the young Juilliard
Quartet visited him in Princeton, he played his violin with them, and the quartet was "impressed by
Einstein's level of coordination and intonation".[127]
Political and religious views
Main articles: Albert Einstein's political views and Albert Einstein's religious views
Albert Einstein with his wife Elsa Einstein and Zionist leaders, including future President of Israel Chaim
Weizmann, his wife Vera Weizmann, Menahem Ussishkin, and Ben-Zion Mossinson on arrival in New
York City in 1921
Einstein's political view was in favor of socialism and critical of capitalism, which he detailed in his essays
such as "Why Socialism?".[132][133] Einstein offered and was called on to give judgments and opinions
on matters often unrelated to theoretical physics or mathematics.[99] He strongly advocated the idea of
a democratic global government that would check the power of nation-states in the framework of a
world federation.[134] The FBI created a secret dossier on Einstein in 1932, and by the time of his death
his FBI file was 1,427 pages long.[135]
Einstein was deeply impressed by Mahatma Gandhi. He exchanged written letters with Gandhi, and
called him "a role model for the generations to come" in a letter writing about him.[136]
Einstein spoke of his spiritual outlook in a wide array of original writings and interviews.[137] Einstein
stated that he had sympathy for the impersonal pantheistic God of Baruch Spinoza's philosophy.
[138] He did not believe in a personal God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human
beings, a view which he described as naïve.[139] He clarified, however, that "I am not an atheist",
[140] preferring to call himself an agnostic,[141] or a "deeply religious nonbeliever."[139] When asked if
he believed in an afterlife, Einstein replied, "No. And one life is enough for me."[142]
Einstein was primarily affiliated with non-religious humanist and Ethical Culture groups in both the UK
and US. He served on the advisory board of the First Humanist Society of New York,[143] and was an
honorary associate of the Rationalist Association, which publishes New Humanist in Britain. For the
seventy-fifth anniversary of the New York Society for Ethical Culture, he stated that the idea of Ethical
Culture embodied his personal conception of what is most valuable and enduring in religious idealism.
He observed, "Without 'ethical culture' there is no salvation for humanity."[144]
Death
On 17 April 1955, Einstein experienced internal bleeding caused by the rupture of an abdominal aortic
aneurysm, which had previously been reinforced surgically by Rudolph Nissen in 1948.[145] He took the
draft of a speech he was preparing for a television appearance commemorating the State of Israel's
seventh anniversary with him to the hospital, but he did not live long enough to complete it.[146]
Einstein refused surgery, saying, "I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have
done my share; it is time to go. I will do it elegantly."[147] He died in Princeton Hospital early the next
morning at the age of 76, having continued to work until near the end.[148]
During the autopsy, the pathologist of Princeton Hospital, Thomas Stoltz Harvey, removed Einstein's
brain for preservation without the permission of his family, in the hope that the neuroscience of the
future would be able to discover what made Einstein so intelligent.[149] Einstein's remains
were cremated and his ashes were scattered at an undisclosed location.[150][151]
In a memorial lecture delivered on 13 December 1965, at UNESCO headquarters, nuclear physicist J.
Robert Oppenheimer summarized his impression of Einstein as a person: "He was almost wholly without
sophistication and wholly without worldliness ... There was always with him a wonderful purity at once
childlike and profoundly stubborn."[152]
Scientific career
Throughout his life, Einstein published hundreds of books and articles.[15][5] He published more than
300 scientific papers and 150 non-scientific ones.[11][15] On 5 December 2014, universities and archives
announced the release of Einstein's papers, comprising more than 30,000 unique documents.[153]
[154] Einstein's intellectual achievements and originality have made the word "Einstein" synonymous
with "genius."[16] In addition to the work he did by himself he also collaborated with other scientists on
additional projects including the Bose–Einstein statistics, the Einstein refrigerator and others.[155]
1905 – Annus Mirabilis papers
Main articles: Annus Mirabilis papers, Photoelectric effect, Special theory of relativity, Mass–energy
equivalence, and Brownian motion
The Annus Mirabilis papers are four articles pertaining to the photoelectric effect (which gave rise
to quantum theory), Brownian motion, the special theory of relativity, and E = mc2 that Einstein
published in the Annalen der Physik scientific journal in 1905. These four works contributed substantially
to the foundation of modern physics and changed views on space, time, and matter. The four papers
are:
Title (translated) Area of focus Received Published Significance
On a Heuristic Resolved an unsolved puzzle by
Viewpoint suggesting that energy is exchanged
Concerning the Photoelectric only in discrete amounts (quanta).
18 March 9 June
Production and effect [156] This idea was pivotal to the early
Transformation of development of quantum theory.
Light [157]
On the Motion of Brownian 11 May 18 July Explained empirical evidence for
Small Particles
Suspended in a
Stationary Liquid, as the atomic theory, supporting the
motion
Required by the application of statistical physics.
Molecular Kinetic
Theory of Heat
Reconciled Maxwell's equations for
electricity and magnetism with the
laws of mechanics by introducing
On the changes to mechanics, resulting from
Special 26
Electrodynamics of 30 June analysis based on empirical evidence
relativity September
Moving Bodies that the speed of light is independent
of the motion of the observer.
[158]Discredited the concept of a
"luminiferous ether".[159]
Equivalence of matter and
Does the Inertia of a Matter– energy, E = mc2 (and by implication,
27 21
Body Depend Upon energy the ability of gravity to "bend" light),
September November
Its Energy Content? equivalence the existence of "rest energy", and the
basis of nuclear energy.
Statistical mechanics
Thermodynamic fluctuations and statistical physics
Main articles: Statistical mechanics, thermal fluctuations, and statistical physics
Einstein's first paper[160] submitted in 1900 to Annalen der Physik was on capillary attraction. It was
published in 1901 with the title "Folgerungen aus den Capillaritätserscheinungen", which translates as
"Conclusions from the capillarity phenomena". Two papers he published in 1902–1903
(thermodynamics) attempted to interpret atomic phenomena from a statistical point of view. These
papers were the foundation for the 1905 paper on Brownian motion, which showed that Brownian
movement can be construed as firm evidence that molecules exist. His research in 1903 and 1904 was
mainly concerned with the effect of finite atomic size on diffusion phenomena.[160]
Theory of critical opalescence
Main article: Critical opalescence
Einstein returned to the problem of thermodynamic fluctuations, giving a treatment of the density
variations in a fluid at its critical point. Ordinarily the density fluctuations are controlled by the second
derivative of the free energy with respect to the density. At the critical point, this derivative is zero,
leading to large fluctuations. The effect of density fluctuations is that light of all wavelengths is
scattered, making the fluid look milky white. Einstein relates this to Rayleigh scattering, which is what
happens when the fluctuation size is much smaller than the wavelength, and which explains why the sky
is blue.[161] Einstein quantitatively derived critical opalescence from a treatment of density
fluctuations, and demonstrated how both the effect and Rayleigh scattering originate from the atomistic
constitution of matter.
Special relativity
Main article: History of special relativity
Einstein's "Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper"[162] ("On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies") was
received on 30 June 1905 and published 26 September of that same year. It reconciled conflicts
between Maxwell's equations (the laws of electricity and magnetism) and the laws of Newtonian
mechanics by introducing changes to the laws of mechanics.[163] Observationally, the effects of these
changes are most apparent at high speeds (where objects are moving at speeds close to the speed of
light). The theory developed in this paper later became known as Einstein's special theory of relativity.
This paper predicted that, when measured in the frame of a relatively moving observer, a clock carried
by a moving body would appear to slow down, and the body itself would contract in its direction of
motion. This paper also argued that the idea of a luminiferous aether—one of the leading theoretical
entities in physics at the time—was superfluous.[note 3]
In his paper on mass–energy equivalence, Einstein produced E = mc2 as a consequence of his special
relativity equations.[164] Einstein's 1905 work on relativity remained controversial for many years, but
was accepted by leading physicists, starting with Max Planck.[165][166]
Einstein originally framed special relativity in terms of kinematics (the study of moving bodies). In
1908, Hermann Minkowski reinterpreted special relativity in geometric terms as a theory of spacetime.
Einstein adopted Minkowski's formalism in his 1915 general theory of relativity.[167]
General relativity
General relativity and the equivalence principle
Main article: History of general relativity
See also: Equivalence principle, Theory of relativity, and Einstein field equations
Eddington's photograph of a solar eclipse
General relativity (GR) is a theory of gravitation that was developed by Einstein between 1907 and 1915.
According to general relativity, the observed gravitational attraction between masses results from the
warping of space and time by those masses. General relativity has developed into an essential tool in
modern astrophysics. It provides the foundation for the current understanding of black holes, regions of
space where gravitational attraction is so strong that not even light can escape.
As Einstein later said, the reason for the development of general relativity was that the preference of
inertial motions within special relativity was unsatisfactory, while a theory which from the outset prefers
no state of motion (even accelerated ones) should appear more satisfactory.[168] Consequently, in 1907
he published an article on acceleration under special relativity. In that article titled "On the Relativity
Principle and the Conclusions Drawn from It", he argued that free fall is really inertial motion, and that
for a free-falling observer the rules of special relativity must apply. This argument is called
the equivalence principle. In the same article, Einstein also predicted the phenomena of gravitational
time dilation, gravitational red shift and deflection of light.[169][170]
In 1911, Einstein published another article "On the Influence of Gravitation on the Propagation of Light"
expanding on the 1907 article, in which he estimated the amount of deflection of light by massive
bodies. Thus, the theoretical prediction of general relativity could for the first time be tested
experimentally.[171]
Gravitational waves
In 1916, Einstein predicted gravitational waves,[172][173] ripples in the curvature of spacetime which
propagate as waves, traveling outward from the source, transporting energy as gravitational radiation.
The existence of gravitational waves is possible under general relativity due to its Lorentz
invariance which brings the concept of a finite speed of propagation of the physical interactions of
gravity with it. By contrast, gravitational waves cannot exist in the Newtonian theory of gravitation,
which postulates that the physical interactions of gravity propagate at infinite speed.
The first, indirect, detection of gravitational waves came in the 1970s through observation of a pair of
closely orbiting neutron stars, PSR B1913+16.[174] The explanation of the decay in their orbital period
was that they were emitting gravitational waves.[174][175] Einstein's prediction was confirmed on 11
February 2016, when researchers at LIGO published the first observation of gravitational waves,
[176] detected on Earth on 14 September 2015, exactly one hundred years after the prediction.[174]
[177][178][179][180]
Hole argument and Entwurf theory
Hole argument
While developing general relativity, Einstein became confused about the gauge invariance in the theory.
He formulated an argument that led him to conclude that a general relativistic field theory is impossible.
He gave up looking for fully generally covariant tensor equations, and searched for equations that would
be invariant under general linear transformations only.
In June 1913, the Entwurf ("draft") theory was the result of these investigations. As its name suggests, it
was a sketch of a theory, less elegant and more difficult than general relativity, with the equations of
motion supplemented by additional gauge fixing conditions. After more than two years of intensive
work, Einstein realized that the hole argument was mistaken[181] and abandoned the theory in
November 1915.
Physical cosmology
Physical cosmologyIn 1917, Einstein applied the general theory of relativity to the structure of the
universe as a whole.[182] He discovered that the general field equations predicted a universe that was
dynamic, either contracting or expanding. As observational evidence for a dynamic universe was not
known at the time, Einstein introduced a new term, the cosmological constant, to the field equations, in
order to allow the theory to predict a static universe. The modified field equations predicted a static
universe of closed curvature, in accordance with Einstein's understanding of Mach's principle in these
years. This model became known as the Einstein World or Einstein's static universe.[183][184]
Following the discovery of the recession of the nebulae by Edwin Hubble in 1929, Einstein abandoned
his static model of the universe, and proposed two dynamic models of the cosmos, The Friedmann-
Einstein universe of 1931[185][186] and the Einstein–de Sitter universe of 1932.[187][188] In each of
these models, Einstein discarded the cosmological constant, claiming that it was "in any case
theoretically unsatisfactory".[185][186][189]
In many Einstein biographies, it is claimed that Einstein referred to the cosmological constant in later
years as his "biggest blunder". The astrophysicist Mario Livio has recently cast doubt on this claim,
suggesting that it may be exaggerated.[190]
In late 2013, a team led by the Irish physicist Cormac O'Raifeartaigh discovered evidence that, shortly
after learning of Hubble's observations of the recession of the nebulae, Einstein considered a steady-
state model of the universe.[191][192] In a hitherto overlooked manuscript, apparently written in early
1931, Einstein explored a model of the expanding universe in which the density of matter remains
constant due to a continuous creation of matter, a process he associated with the cosmological
constant.[193][194] As he stated in the paper, "In what follows, I would like to draw attention to a
solution to equation (1) that can account for Hubbel's [sic] facts, and in which the density is constant
over time" ... "If one considers a physically bounded volume, particles of matter will be continually
leaving it. For the density to remain constant, new particles of matter must be continually formed in the
volume from space."
It thus appears that Einstein considered a steady-state model of the expanding universe many years
before Hoyle, Bondi and Gold.[195][196] However, Einstein's steady-state model contained a
fundamental flaw and he quickly abandoned the idea.[193][194][197]
Energy momentum pseudotensor
Stress–energy–momentum pseudotensor
General relativity includes a dynamical spacetime, so it is difficult to see how to identify the conserved
energy and momentum. Noether's theoremallows these quantities to be determined from
a Lagrangian with translation invariance, but general covariance makes translation invariance into
something of a gauge symmetry. The energy and momentum derived within general relativity by
Noether's prescriptions do not make a real tensor for this reason.
Einstein argued that this is true for fundamental reasons, because the gravitational field could be made
to vanish by a choice of coordinates. He maintained that the non-covariant energy momentum
pseudotensor was in fact the best description of the energy momentum distribution in a gravitational
field. This approach has been echoed by Lev Landau and Evgeny Lifshitz, and others, and has become
standard.
The use of non-covariant objects like pseudotensors was heavily criticized in 1917 by Erwin
Schrödinger and others.
Wormholes
Wormhole
In 1935, Einstein collaborated with Nathan Rosen to produce a model of a wormhole, often
called Einstein–Rosen bridges.[198][199] His motivation was to model elementary particles with charge
as a solution of gravitational field equations, in line with the program outlined in the paper "Do
Gravitational Fields play an Important Role in the Constitution of the Elementary Particles?". These
solutions cut and pasted Schwarzschild black holes to make a bridge between two patches.[200]
If one end of a wormhole was positively charged, the other end would be negatively charged. These
properties led Einstein to believe that pairs of particles and antiparticles could be described in this way.
Einstein–Cartan theory
Einstein–Cartan theory
Einstein at his office, University of Berlin, 1920
In order to incorporate spinning point particles into general relativity, the affine connection needed to
be generalized to include an antisymmetric part, called the torsion. This modification was made by
Einstein and Cartan in the 1920s.
Equations of motion
Einstein–Infeld–Hoffmann equations
The theory of general relativity has a fundamental law—the Einstein equations which describe how
space curves, the geodesic equation which describes how particles move may be derived from the
Einstein equations.
Since the equations of general relativity are non-linear, a lump of energy made out of pure gravitational
fields, like a black hole, would move on a trajectory which is determined by the Einstein equations
themselves, not by a new law. So Einstein proposed that the path of a singular solution, like a black hole,
would be determined to be a geodesic from general relativity itself.
This was established by Einstein, Infeld, and Hoffmann for pointlike objects without angular momentum,
and by Roy Kerr for spinning objects.
Old quantum theory
Old quantum theory
Photons and energy quanta
The photoelectric effect. Incoming photons on the left strike a metal plate (bottom), and eject electrons,
depicted as flying off to the right.
Main articles: Photon and Quantum
In a 1905 paper,[201] Einstein postulated that light itself consists of localized particles (quanta).
Einstein's light quanta were nearly universally rejected by all physicists, including Max Planck and Niels
Bohr. This idea only became universally accepted in 1919, with Robert Millikan's detailed experiments
on the photoelectric effect, and with the measurement of Compton scattering.
Einstein concluded that each wave of frequency f is associated with a collection of photons with
energy hfeach, where h is Planck's constant. He does not say much more, because he is not sure how
the particles are related to the wave. But he does suggest that this idea would explain certain
experimental results, notably the photoelectric effect.[201]
Quantized atomic vibrations
Einstein solid
In 1907, Einstein proposed a model of matter where each atom in a lattice structure is an independent
harmonic oscillator. In the Einstein model, each atom oscillates independently—a series of equally
spaced quantized states for each oscillator. Einstein was aware that getting the frequency of the actual
oscillations would be difficult, but he nevertheless proposed this theory because it was a particularly
clear demonstration that quantum mechanics could solve the specific heat problem in classical
mechanics. Peter Debye refined this model.[202]
Adiabatic principle and action-angle variables
Adiabatic invariant
Throughout the 1910s, quantum mechanics expanded in scope to cover many different systems.
After Ernest Rutherford discovered the nucleus and proposed that electrons orbit like planets, Niels
Bohr was able to show that the same quantum mechanical postulates introduced by Planck and
developed by Einstein would explain the discrete motion of electrons in atoms, and the periodic table of
the elements.
Einstein contributed to these developments by linking them with the 1898 arguments Wilhelm Wien had
made. Wien had shown that the hypothesis of adiabatic invariance of a thermal equilibrium state allows
all the blackbody curves at different temperature to be derived from one another by a simple shifting
process. Einstein noted in 1911 that the same adiabatic principle shows that the quantity which is
quantized in any mechanical motion must be an adiabatic invariant. Arnold Sommerfeld identified this
adiabatic invariant as the action variable of classical mechanics.
Bose–Einstein statistics
Bose–Einstein statistics
In 1924, Einstein received a description of a statistical model from Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose,
based on a counting method that assumed that light could be understood as a gas of indistinguishable
particles. Einstein noted that Bose's statistics applied to some atoms as well as to the proposed light
particles, and submitted his translation of Bose's paper to the Zeitschrift für Physik. Einstein also
published his own articles describing the model and its implications, among them the Bose–Einstein
condensate phenomenon that some particulates should appear at very low temperatures.[203] It was
not until 1995 that the first such condensate was produced experimentally by Eric Allin Cornell and Carl
Wiemanusing ultra-cooling equipment built at the NIST–JILA laboratory at the University of Colorado at
Boulder.[204] Bose–Einstein statistics are now used to describe the behaviors of any assembly
of bosons. Einstein's sketches for this project may be seen in the Einstein Archive in the library of the
Leiden University.[155]
Wave–particle duality
Einstein during his visit to the United States
Wave–particle duality
Although the patent office promoted Einstein to Technical Examiner Second Class in 1906, he had not
given up on academia. In 1908, he became a Privatdozent at the University of Bern.[205] In "Über die
Entwicklung unserer Anschauungen über das Wesen und die Konstitution der Strahlung" ("The
Development of our Views on the Composition and Essence of Radiation"), on the quantization of light,
and in an earlier 1909 paper, Einstein showed that Max Planck's energy quanta must have well-
defined momenta and act in some respects as independent, point-like particles. This paper introduced
the photon concept (although the name photon was introduced later by Gilbert N. Lewis in 1926) and
inspired the notion of wave–particle duality in quantum mechanics. Einstein saw this wave–particle
duality in radiation as concrete evidence for his conviction that physics needed a new, unified
foundation.
Zero-point energy
Zero-point energy
In a series of works completed from 1911 to 1913, Planck reformulated his 1900 quantum theory and
introduced the idea of zero-point energy in his "second quantum theory". Soon, this idea attracted the
attention of Einstein and his assistant Otto Stern. Assuming the energy of rotating diatomic molecules
contains zero-point energy, they then compared the theoretical specific heat of hydrogen gas with the
experimental data. The numbers matched nicely. However, after publishing the findings, they promptly
withdrew their support, because they no longer had confidence in the correctness of the idea of zero-
point energy.[206]
Stimulated emission
Stimulated emission
In 1917, at the height of his work on relativity, Einstein published an article in Physikalische
Zeitschrift that proposed the possibility of stimulated emission, the physical process that makes possible
the maser and the laser.[207] This article showed that the statistics of absorption and emission of light
would only be consistent with Planck's distribution law if the emission of light into a mode with n
photons would be enhanced statistically compared to the emission of light into an empty mode. This
paper was enormously influential in the later development of quantum mechanics, because it was the
first paper to show that the statistics of atomic transitions had simple laws.
Matter waves
Matter wave
Einstein discovered Louis de Broglie's work and supported his ideas, which were received skeptically at
first. In another major paper from this era, Einstein gave a wave equation for de Broglie waves, which
Einstein suggested was the Hamilton–Jacobi equation of mechanics. This paper would inspire
Schrödinger's work of 1926.
Quantum mechanics
Einstein's objections to quantum mechanics
Newspaper headline on 4 May 1935
Einstein was displeased with modern quantum mechanics as it had evolved after 1925. Contrary to
popular belief, his doubts were not due to a conviction that God "is not playing at dice."[208] Indeed, it
was Einstein himself, in his 1917 paper that proposed the possibility of stimulated emission,[207] who
first proposed the fundamental role of chance in explaining quantum processes.[209] Rather, he
objected to what quantum mechanics implies about the nature of reality. Einstein believed that a
physical reality exists independent of our ability to observe it. In contrast, Bohr and his followers
maintained that all we can know are the results of measurements and observations, and that it makes
no sense to speculate about an ultimate reality that exists beyond our perceptions.[210]
Bohr versus Einstein
Bohr–Einstein debates
Einstein and Niels Bohr, 1925
The Bohr–Einstein debates were a series of public disputes about quantum mechanics between Einstein
and Niels Bohr, who were two of its founders. Their debates are remembered because of their
importance to the philosophy of science.[211][212][213] Their debates would influence
later interpretations of quantum mechanics.
Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen paradox
EPR paradox
In 1935, Einstein returned quantum mechanics, in particular to the question of its completeness, in
the "EPR paper".[213] In a thought experiment, he considered two particles which had interacted such
that their properties were strongly correlated. No matter how far the two particles were separated, a
precise position measurement on one particle would result in equally precise knowledge of the position
of the other particle; likewise a precise momentum measurement of one particle would result in equally
precise knowledge of the momentum of the other particle, without needing to disturb the other particle
in any way.[214]
Given Einstein's concept of local realism, there were two possibilities: (1) either the other particle had
these properties already determined, or (2) the process of measuring the first particle instantaneously
affected the reality of the position and momentum of the second particle. Einstein rejected this second
possibility (popularly called "spooky action at a distance").[214]
Einstein's belief in local realism led him to assert that, while the correctness of quantum mechanics was
not in question, it must be incomplete. But as a physical principle, local realism was shown to be
incorrect when the Aspect experiment of 1982 confirmed Bell's theorem, which J. S. Bell had delineated
in 1964. The results of these and subsequent experiments demonstrate that quantum physics cannot be
represented by any version of the picture of physics in which "particles are regarded as unconnected
independent classical-like entities, each one being unable to communicate with the other after they
have separated."[215]
Although Einstein was wrong about local realism, his clear prediction of the unusual properties of its
opposite, entangled quantum states, has resulted in the EPR paper becoming among the top ten papers
published in Physical Review. It is considered a centerpiece of the development of quantum information
theory.[216]
Unified field theory
Classical unified field theories
Following his research on general relativity, Einstein entered into a series of attempts to generalize his
geometric theory of gravitation to include electromagnetism as another aspect of a single entity. In
1950, he described his "unified field theory" in a Scientific American article titled "On the Generalized
Theory of Gravitation".[217] Although he continued to be lauded for his work, Einstein became
increasingly isolated in his research, and his efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. In his pursuit of a
unification of the fundamental forces, Einstein ignored some mainstream developments in physics, most
notably the strong and weak nuclear forces, which were not well understood until many years after his
death. Mainstream physics, in turn, largely ignored Einstein's approaches to unification. Einstein's dream
of unifying other laws of physics with gravity motivates modern quests for a theory of everything and in
particular string theory, where geometrical fields emerge in a unified quantum-mechanical setting.
Other investigations
Einstein's unsuccessful investigations
Einstein conducted other investigations that were unsuccessful and abandoned. These pertain
to force, superconductivity, and other research.
Collaboration with other scientists
The 1927 Solvay Conference in Brussels, a gathering of the world's top physicists. Einstein is in the
center.
In addition to longtime collaborators Leopold Infeld, Nathan Rosen, Peter Bergmann and others, Einstein
also had some one-shot collaborations with various scientists.
Einstein–de Haas experiment
Einstein–de Haas effect
Einstein and De Haas demonstrated that magnetization is due to the motion of electrons, nowadays
known to be the spin. In order to show this, they reversed the magnetization in an iron bar suspended
on a torsion pendulum. They confirmed that this leads the bar to rotate, because the electron's angular
momentum changes as the magnetization changes. This experiment needed to be sensitive, because the
angular momentum associated with electrons is small, but it definitively established that electron
motion of some kind is responsible for magnetization.
Schrödinger gas model
Einstein suggested to Erwin Schrödinger that he might be able to reproduce the statistics of a Bose–
Einstein gas by considering a box. Then to each possible quantum motion of a particle in a box associate
an independent harmonic oscillator. Quantizing these oscillators, each level will have an integer
occupation number, which will be the number of particles in it.
This formulation is a form of second quantization, but it predates modern quantum mechanics. Erwin
Schrödinger applied this to derive the thermodynamic properties of a semiclassical ideal gas.
Schrödinger urged Einstein to add his name as co-author, although Einstein declined the invitation.[218]
Einstein refrigerator
Einstein refrigerator
In 1926, Einstein and his former student Leó Szilárd co-invented (and in 1930, patented) the Einstein
refrigerator. This absorption refrigerator was then revolutionary for having no moving parts and using
only heat as an input.[219] On 11 November 1930, U.S. Patent 1,781,541 was awarded to Einstein and
Leó Szilárd for the refrigerator. Their invention was not immediately put into commercial production,
and the most promising of their patents were acquired by the Swedish company Electrolux.[220]
Non-scientific legacy
While traveling, Einstein wrote daily to his wife Elsa and adopted stepdaughters Margot and Ilse. The
letters were included in the papers bequeathed to The Hebrew University. Margot Einstein permitted
the personal letters to be made available to the public, but requested that it not be done until twenty
years after her death (she died in 1986[221]). Einstein had expressed his interest in
the plumbing profession and was made an honorary member of the Plumbers and Steamfitters Union.
[222][223] Barbara Wolff, of The Hebrew University's Albert Einstein Archives, told the BBC that there
are about 3,500 pages of private correspondence written between 1912 and 1955.[224]
Corbis, successor to The Roger Richman Agency, licenses the use of his name and associated imagery, as
agent for the university.[225]
In popular culture
Albert Einstein in popular culture
In the period before World War II, The New Yorker published a vignette in their "The Talk of the Town"
feature saying that Einstein was so well known in America that he would be stopped on the street by
people wanting him to explain "that theory". He finally figured out a way to handle the incessant
inquiries. He told his inquirers "Pardon me, sorry! Always I am mistaken for Professor Einstein."[226]
Einstein has been the subject of or inspiration for many novels, films, plays, and works of music.[227] He
is a favorite model for depictions of mad scientists and absent-minded professors; his expressive face
and distinctive hairstyle have been widely copied and exaggerated. Time magazine's Frederic Golden
wrote that Einstein was "a cartoonist's dream come true".[228]
Many popular quotations are often misattributed to him.[229][230]
Awards and honors
Einstein's awards and honors
Einstein received numerous awards and honors and in 1922 he was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in
Physics "for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the
photoelectric effect". None of the nominations in 1921 met the criteria set by Alfred Nobel, so the 1921
prize was carried forward and awarded to Einstein in 1922.[10]
Publications
The following publications by Einstein are referenced in this article. A more complete list of his
publications may be found at List of scientific publications by Albert Einstein.
Einstein, Albert (1901) [Manuscript received: 16 December 1900]. Written at Zurich, Switzerland.
"Folgerungen aus den Capillaritätserscheinungen" [Conclusions Drawn from the Phenomena of
Capillarity]. Annalen der Physik (Berlin) (in German). Hoboken, NJ (published 14 March 2006). 309 (3):
513–523. Bibcode:1901AnP...309..513E. doi:10.1002/andp.19013090306 – via Wiley Online Library.
Einstein, Albert (1905a) [Manuscript received: 18 March 1905]. Written at Berne, Switzerland. "Über
einen die Erzeugung und Verwandlung des Lichtes betreffenden heuristischen Gesichtspunkt" [On a
Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light] (PDF). Annalen der Physik
(Berlin) (in German). Hoboken, NJ (published 10 March 2006). 322 (6): 132–
148. Bibcode:1905AnP...322..132E. doi:10.1002/andp.19053220607 – via Wiley Online Library.
Einstein, Albert (1905b) [Completed 30 April and submitted 20 July 1905]. Written at Berne, Switzerland,
published by Wyss Buchdruckerei. Eine neue Bestimmung der Moleküldimensionen [A new
determination of molecular dimensions] (PDF). Dissertationen Universität Zürich (PhD Thesis) (in
German). Zurich, Switzerland: ETH Zürich (published 2008). doi:10.3929/ethz-a-000565688 – via ETH
Bibliothek.
Einstein, Albert (1905c) [Manuscript received: 11 May 1905]. Written at Berne, Switzerland. "Über die
von der molekularkinetischen Theorie der Wärme geforderte Bewegung von in ruhenden Flüssigkeiten
suspendierten Teilchen" [On the Motion – Required by the Molecular Kinetic Theory of Heat – of Small
Particles Suspended in a Stationary Liquid]. Annalen der Physik (Berlin) (in German). Hoboken, NJ
(published 10 March 2006). 322(8): 549–
560. Bibcode:1905AnP...322..549E. doi:10.1002/andp.19053220806. hdl:10915/2785 – via Wiley Online
Library.
Einstein, Albert (1905d) [Manuscript received: 30 June 1905]. Written at Berne, Switzerland. "Zur
Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper" [On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies]. Annalen der Physik
(Berlin) (Submitted manuscript) (in German). Hoboken, NJ (published 10 March 2006). 322 (10): 891–
921. Bibcode:1905AnP...322..891E. doi:10.1002/andp.19053221004. hdl:10915/2786 – via Wiley Online
Library.
Einstein, Albert (1905e) [Manuscript received: 27 September 1905]. Written at Berne, Switzerland. "Ist
die Trägheit eines Körpers von seinem Energieinhalt abhängig?" [Does the Inertia of a Body Depend
Upon Its Energy Content?]. Annalen der Physik (Berlin) (in German). Hoboken, NJ (published 10 March
2006). 323 (13): 639–641. Bibcode:1905AnP...323..639E. doi:10.1002/andp.19053231314 – via Wiley
Online Library.
Einstein, Albert (1915) [Published 25 November 1915]. "Die Feldgleichungen der Gravitation" [The Field
Equations of Gravitation] (Online page images)(in German). Berlin, Germany: Königlich Preussische
Akademie der Wissenschaften: 844–847 – via ECHO, Cultural Heritage Online, Max Planck Institute for
the History of Science.
Einstein, Albert (1917a). "Kosmologische Betrachtungen zur allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie"
[Cosmological Considerations in the General Theory of Relativity] (in German). Königlich Preussische
Akademie der Wissenschaften, Berlin.
Einstein, Albert (1917b). "Zur Quantentheorie der Strahlung" [On the Quantum Mechanics of
Radiation]. Physikalische Zeitschrift (in German). 18: 121–128. Bibcode:1917PhyZ...18..121E.
Einstein, Albert (1923) [First published 1923, in English 1967]. Written at Gothenburg. Grundgedanken
und Probleme der Relativitätstheorie[Fundamental Ideas and Problems of the Theory of Relativity] (PDF)
(Speech). Lecture delivered to the Nordic Assembly of Naturalists at Gothenburg, 11 July 1923. Nobel
Lectures, Physics 1901–1921 (in German and English). Stockholm: Nobelprice.org (published 3 February
2015) – via Nobel Media AB 2014.
Einstein, Albert (1924) [Published 10 July 1924]. "Quantentheorie des einatomigen idealen
Gases" [Quantum theory of monatomic ideal gases] (Online page images). Sitzungsberichte der
Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Physikalisch-Mathematische Klasse (in German): 261–267 –
via ECHO, Cultural Heritage Online, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science.. First of a series of
papers on this topic.
Einstein, Albert (12 March 1926) [Cover Date 1 March 1926]. Written at Berlin. "Die Ursache der
Mäanderbildung der Flußläufe und des sogenannten Baerschen Gesetzes" [On Baer's
law and meanders in the courses of rivers]. Die Naturwissenschaften (in German). Heidelberg,
Germany. 14 (11): 223–224. Bibcode:1926NW.....14..223E. doi:10.1007/BF01510300. ISSN 1432-1904 –
via SpringerLink.
Einstein, Albert (1926b). Written at Berne, Switzerland. R. Fürth, ed. Investigations on the Theory of the
Brownian Movement (PDF). Translated by A. D. Cowper. US: Dover Publications (published
1956). ISBN 978-1-60796-285-4. Retrieved 2015-01-04.
Einstein, Albert; Podolsky, Boris; Rosen, Nathan (15 May 1935) [Received 25 March 1935]. "Can
Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete?". Physical
Review (Submitted manuscript). 47(10): 777–
780. Bibcode:1935PhRv...47..777E. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.47.777 – via APS Journals.
Einstein, Albert (9 November 1940). On Science and Religion. Nature. 146. pp. 605–
607. Bibcode:1940Natur.146..605E. doi:10.1038/146605a0. ISBN 978-0-7073-0453-3.
Einstein, Albert; et al. (4 December 1948). "To the editors of The New York Times". The New York Times.
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Einstein, Albert (1950). "On the Generalized Theory of Gravitation". Scientific American. CLXXXII (4): 13–
17. Bibcode:1950SciAm.182d..13E. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0450-13.
Einstein, Albert (1954). Ideas and Opinions. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-517-00393-0.
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Einstein. Einstein's Writings. 1–10. Princeton University Press.. Further information about the volumes
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University Press Einstein Page
Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) was the first to closely integrate the predictive geometrical astronomy,
which had been dominant from Ptolemy in the 2nd century to Copernicus, with physical concepts to
produce a New Astronomy, Based upon Causes, or Celestial Physics in 1609. His work led to the modern
laws of planetary orbits, which he developed using his physical principles and the planetary observations
made by Tycho Brahe. Kepler's model greatly improved the accuracy of predictions of planetary motion,
years before Isaac Newton developed his law of gravitation in 1686.
Johannes Kepler (/ˈkɛplər/;[1] German: [joˈhanəs ˈkɛplɐ, -nɛs -];[2][3] December 27, 1571 – November
15, 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer. He is a key figure in the 17th-
century scientific revolution, best known for his laws of planetary motion, and his books Astronomia
nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae. These works also provided one of
the foundations for Newton's theory of universal gravitation.
Kepler was a mathematics teacher at a seminary school in Graz, where he became an associate of Prince
Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg. Later he became an assistant to the astronomer Tycho Brahe in Prague, and
eventually the imperial mathematician to Emperor Rudolf II and his two
successors Matthiasand Ferdinand II. He also taught mathematics in Linz, and was an adviser to General
Wallenstein. Additionally, he did fundamental work in the field of optics, invented an improved version
of the refracting telescope (the Keplerian telescope), and was mentioned in the telescopic discoveries of
his contemporary Galileo Galilei. He was a corresponding member of the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome.
[4]
Kepler lived in an era when there was no clear distinction between astronomyand astrology, but there
was a strong division between astronomy (a branch of mathematics within the liberal arts)
and physics (a branch of natural philosophy). Kepler also incorporated religious arguments and
reasoning into his work, motivated by the religious conviction and belief that God had created the world
according to an intelligible plan that is accessible through the natural light of reason.[5] Kepler described
his new astronomy as "celestial physics",[6]as "an excursion into Aristotle's Metaphysics",[7] and as "a
supplement to Aristotle's On the Heavens",[8] transforming the ancient tradition of physical cosmology
by treating astronomy as part of a universal mathematical physics
Johannes Kepler
Portrait of Kepler by an unknown artist, 1610
Early years
Kepler was born on December 27, the feast day of St John the Evangelist, 1571, in the Free Imperial
City of Weil der Stadt (now part of the Stuttgart Region in the German state of Baden-Württemberg,
30 km west of Stuttgart's center). His grandfather, Sebald Kepler, had been Lord Mayor of the city. By
the time Johannes was born, he had two brothers and one sister and the Kepler family fortune was in
decline. His father, Heinrich Kepler, earned a precarious living as a mercenary, and he left the family
when Johannes was five years old. He was believed to have died in the Eighty Years' War in the
Netherlands. His mother, Katharina Guldenmann, an innkeeper's daughter, was a healer and herbalist.
Born prematurely, Johannes claimed to have been weak and sickly as a child. Nevertheless, he often
impressed travelers at his grandfather's inn with his phenomenal mathematical faculty
Kepler's birthplace, in Weil der Stadt
.[10]
He was introduced to astronomy at an early age, and developed a love for it that would span his entire
life. At age six, he observed the Great Comet of 1577, writing that he "was taken by [his] mother to a
high place to look at it."[11] In 1580, at age nine, he observed another astronomical event, a lunar
eclipse, recording that he remembered being "called outdoors" to see it and that the moon "appeared
quite red".[11] However, childhood smallpox left him with weak vision and crippled hands, limiting his
ability in the observational aspects of astronomy.[12]
As a child, Kepler witnessed the Great Comet of 1577, which attracted the attention of astronomers
across Europe.
In 1589, after moving through grammar school, Latin school, and seminary at Maulbronn, Kepler
attended Tübinger Stift at the University of Tübingen. There, he studied philosophy under Vitus
Müller[13] and theologyunder Jacob Heerbrand (a student of Philipp Melanchthon at Wittenberg), who
also taught Michael Maestlin while he was a student, until he became Chancellor at Tübingen in 1590.
[14] He proved himself to be a superb mathematician and earned a reputation as a skilful astrologer,
casting horoscopes for fellow students. Under the instruction of Michael Maestlin, Tübingen's professor
of mathematics from 1583 to 1631,[14] he learned both the Ptolemaic system and the Copernican
system of planetary motion. He became a Copernican at that time. In a student disputation, he
defended heliocentrismfrom both a theoretical and theological perspective, maintaining that
the Sunwas the principal source of motive power in the universe.[15] Despite his desire to become a
minister, near the end of his studies, Kepler was recommended for a position as teacher of mathematics
and astronomy at the Protestant school in Graz. He accepted the position in April 1594, at the age of 23.
[16]
Graz (1594–1600)
Mysterium Cosmographicum
Kepler's Platonic solid model of the Solar System, from Mysterium Cosmographicum (1596)
Kepler's first major astronomical work, Mysterium Cosmographicum (The Cosmographic Mystery, 1596),
was the first published defense of the Copernican system. Kepler claimed to have had an epiphany on
July 19, 1595, while teaching in Graz, demonstrating the periodic conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in
the zodiac: he realized that regular polygons bound one inscribed and one circumscribed circle at
definite ratios, which, he reasoned, might be the geometrical basis of the universe. After failing to find a
unique arrangement of polygons that fit known astronomical observations (even with extra planets
added to the system), Kepler began experimenting with 3-dimensional polyhedra. He found that each of
the five Platonic solids could be inscribed and circumscribed by spherical orbs; nesting these solids, each
encased in a sphere, within one another would produce six layers, corresponding to the six known
planets—Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. By ordering the solids selectively—
octahedron, icosahedron, dodecahedron, tetrahedron, cube—Kepler found that the spheres could be
placed at intervals corresponding to the relative sizes of each planet's path, assuming the planets circle
the Sun. Kepler also found a formula relating the size of each planet's orb to the length of its orbital
period: from inner to outer planets, the ratio of increase in orbital period is twice the difference in orb
radius. However, Kepler later rejected this formula, because it was not precise enough.[17]
As he indicated in the title, Kepler thought he had revealed God's geometrical plan for the universe.
Much of Kepler's enthusiasm for the Copernican system stemmed from his theological convictions about
the connection between the physical and the spiritual; the universe itself was an image of God, with the
Sun corresponding to the Father, the stellar sphere to the Son, and the intervening space between to
the Holy Spirit. His first manuscript of Mysterium contained an extensive chapter reconciling
heliocentrism with biblical passages that seemed to support geocentrism.[18]
Close-up of an inner section of Kepler's model
With the support of his mentor Michael Maestlin, Kepler received permission from the Tübingen
university senate to publish his manuscript, pending removal of the Bible exegesis and the addition of a
simpler, more understandable description of the Copernican system as well as Kepler's new
ideas. Mysterium was published late in 1596, and Kepler received his copies and began sending them to
prominent astronomers and patrons early in 1597; it was not widely read, but it established Kepler's
reputation as a highly skilled astronomer. The effusive dedication, to powerful patrons as well as to the
men who controlled his position in Graz, also provided a crucial doorway into the patronage system.[19]
Though the details would be modified in light of his later work, Kepler never relinquished the Platonist
polyhedral-spherist cosmology of Mysterium Cosmographicum. His subsequent main astronomical
works were in some sense only further developments of it, concerned with finding more precise inner
and outer dimensions for the spheres by calculating the eccentricities of the planetary orbits within it. In
1621, Kepler published an expanded second edition of Mysterium, half as long again as the first,
detailing in footnotes the corrections and improvements he had achieved in the 25 years since its first
publication.[20]
In terms of the impact of Mysterium, it can be seen as an important first step in modernizing the theory
proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus in his "De Revolutionibus orbium coelestium". Whilst Copernicus
sought to advance a heliocentric system in this book, he resorted to Ptolemaic devices (viz., epicycles
and eccentric circles) in order to explain the change in planets' orbital speed, and also continued to use
as a point of reference the center of the Earth's orbit rather than that of the Sun "as an aid to calculation
and in order not to confuse the reader by diverging too much from Ptolemy." Modern astronomy owes
much to Mysterium Cosmographicum, despite flaws in its main thesis, "since it represents the first step
in cleansing the Copernican system of the remnants of the Ptolemaic theory still clinging to it." [21]
Portraits of Kepler and his wife
House of Kepler and Barbara Müller in Gössendorf, near Graz (1597–1599)
Marriage to Barbara Müller
In December 1595, Kepler was introduced to Barbara Müller, a 23-year-old widow (twice over) with a
young daughter, Regina Lorenz, and he began courting her. Müller, an heiress to the estates of her late
husbands, was also the daughter of a successful mill owner. Her father Jobst initially opposed a
marriage. Even though Kepler had inherited his grandfather's nobility, Kepler's poverty made him an
unacceptable match. Jobst relented after Kepler completed work on Mysterium, but the engagement
nearly fell apart while Kepler was away tending to the details of publication. However, Protestant
officials—who had helped set up the match—pressured the Müllers to honor their agreement. Barbara
and Johannes were married on April 27, 1597.[22]
In the first years of their marriage, the Keplers had two children (Heinrich and Susanna), both of whom
died in infancy. In 1602, they had a daughter (Susanna); in 1604, a son (Friedrich); and in 1607, another
son (Ludwig).[23]
Other research
Following the publication of Mysterium and with the blessing of the Graz school inspectors, Kepler
began an ambitious program to extend and elaborate his work. He planned four additional books: one
on the stationary aspects of the universe (the Sun and the fixed stars); one on the planets and their
motions; one on the physical nature of planets and the formation of geographical features (focused
especially on Earth); and one on the effects of the heavens on the Earth, to include atmospheric optics,
meteorology, and astrology.[24]
He also sought the opinions of many of the astronomers to whom he had sent Mysterium, among
them Reimarus Ursus(Nicolaus Reimers Bär)—the imperial mathematician to Rudolph II and a bitter rival
of Tycho Brahe. Ursus did not reply directly, but republished Kepler's flattering letter to pursue his
priority dispute over (what is now called) the Tychonic systemwith Tycho. Despite this black mark, Tycho
also began corresponding with Kepler, starting with a harsh but legitimate critique of Kepler's system;
among a host of objections, Tycho took issue with the use of inaccurate numerical data taken from
Copernicus. Through their letters, Tycho and Kepler discussed a broad range of astronomical problems,
dwelling on lunar phenomena and Copernican theory (particularly its theological viability). But without
the significantly more accurate data of Tycho's observatory, Kepler had no way to address many of these
issues.[25]
Instead, he turned his attention to chronology and "harmony," the numerological relationships among
music, mathematicsand the physical world, and their astrological consequences. By assuming the Earth
to possess a soul (a property he would later invoke to explain how the sun causes the motion of
planets), he established a speculative system connecting astrological aspects and astronomical distances
to weather and other earthly phenomena. By 1599, however, he again felt his work limited by the
inaccuracy of available data—just as growing religious tension was also threatening his continued
employment in Graz. In December of that year, Tycho invited Kepler to visit him in Prague; on January 1,
1600 (before he even received the invitation), Kepler set off in the hopes that Tycho's patronage could
solve his philosophical problems as well as his social and financial ones.[26]
Prague (1600–1612)
Work for Tycho Brahe
Tycho Brahe
On February 4, 1600, Kepler met Tycho Brahe and his assistants Franz
Tengnageland Longomontanus at Benátky nad Jizerou (35 km from Prague), the site where Tycho's new
observatory was being constructed. Over the next two months, he stayed as a guest, analyzing some of
Tycho's observations of Mars; Tycho guarded his data closely, but was impressed by Kepler's theoretical
ideas and soon allowed him more access. Kepler planned to test his theory[27] from Mysterium
Cosmographicum based on the Mars data, but he estimated that the work would take up to two years
(since he was not allowed to simply copy the data for his own use). With the help of Johannes Jessenius,
Kepler attempted to negotiate a more formal employment arrangement with Tycho, but negotiations
broke down in an angry argument and Kepler left for Prague on April 6. Kepler and Tycho soon
reconciled and eventually reached an agreement on salary and living arrangements, and in June, Kepler
returned home to Graz to collect his family.[28]
Political and religious difficulties in Graz dashed his hopes of returning immediately to Brahe; in hopes of
continuing his astronomical studies, Kepler sought an appointment as a mathematician to Archduke
Ferdinand. To that end, Kepler composed an essay—dedicated to Ferdinand—in which he proposed a
force-based theory of lunar motion: "In Terra inest virtus, quae Lunam ciet" ("There is a force in the
earth which causes the moon to move").[29] Though the essay did not earn him a place in Ferdinand's
court, it did detail a new method for measuring lunar eclipses, which he applied during the July 10
eclipse in Graz. These observations formed the basis of his explorations of the laws of optics that would
culminate in Astronomiae Pars Optica.[30]
On August 2, 1600, after refusing to convert to Catholicism, Kepler and his family were banished from
Graz. Several months later, Kepler returned, now with the rest of his household, to Prague. Through
most of 1601, he was supported directly by Tycho, who assigned him to analyzing planetary
observations and writing a tract against Tycho's (by then deceased) rival, Ursus. In September, Tycho
secured him a commission as a collaborator on the new project he had proposed to the emperor:
the Rudolphine Tables that should replace the Prutenic Tables of Erasmus Reinhold. Two days after
Tycho's unexpected death on October 24, 1601, Kepler was appointed his successor as the imperial
mathematician with the responsibility to complete his unfinished work. The next 11 years as imperial
mathematician would be the most productive of his life.[31]
Advisor to Emperor Rudolph II
Kepler's primary obligation as imperial mathematician was to provide astrological advice to the
emperor. Though Kepler took a dim view of the attempts of contemporary astrologers to precisely
predict the future or divine specific events, he had been casting well-received detailed horoscopes for
friends, family, and patrons since his time as a student in Tübingen. In addition to horoscopes for allies
and foreign leaders, the emperor sought Kepler's advice in times of political trouble. Rudolph was
actively interested in the work of many of his court scholars (including numerous alchemists) and kept
up with Kepler's work in physical astronomy as well.[32]
Officially, the only acceptable religious doctrines in Prague were Catholic and Utraquist, but Kepler's
position in the imperial court allowed him to practice his Lutheran faith unhindered. The emperor
nominally provided an ample income for his family, but the difficulties of the over-extended imperial
treasury meant that actually getting hold of enough money to meet financial obligations was a continual
struggle. Partly because of financial troubles, his life at home with Barbara was unpleasant, marred with
bickering and bouts of sickness. Court life, however, brought Kepler into contact with other prominent
scholars (Johannes Matthäus Wackher von Wackhenfels, Jost Bürgi, David Fabricius, Martin Bachazek,
and Johannes Brengger, among others) and astronomical work proceeded rapidly.[33]
Astronomiae Pars Optica
A plate from Astronomiae Pars Optica, illustrating the structure of eyes of various species.
As Kepler slowly continued analyzing Tycho's Mars observations—now available to him in their entirety
—and began the slow process of tabulating the Rudolphine Tables, Kepler also picked up the
investigation of the laws of optics from his lunar essay of 1600. Both lunar and solar eclipses presented
unexplained phenomena, such as unexpected shadow sizes, the red color of a total lunar eclipse, and
the reportedly unusual light surrounding a total solar eclipse. Related issues of atmospheric
refraction applied to all astronomical observations. Through most of 1603, Kepler paused his other work
to focus on optical theory; the resulting manuscript, presented to the emperor on January 1, 1604, was
published as Astronomiae Pars Optica (The Optical Part of Astronomy). In it, Kepler described
the inverse-square lawgoverning the intensity of light, reflection by flat and curved mirrors, and
principles of pinhole cameras, as well as the astronomical implications of optics such as parallax and the
apparent sizes of heavenly bodies. He also extended his study of optics to the human eye, and is
generally considered by neuroscientists to be the first to recognize that images are projected inverted
and reversed by the eye's lens onto the retina. The solution to this dilemma was not of particular
importance to Kepler as he did not see it as pertaining to optics, although he did suggest that the image
was later corrected "in the hollows of the brain" due to the "activity of the
Soul."[34] Today, Astronomiae Pars Optica is generally recognized as the foundation of modern optics
(though the law of refraction is conspicuously absent).[35] With respect to the beginnings of projective
geometry, Kepler introduced the idea of continuous change of a mathematical entity in this work. He
argued that if a focus of a conic section were allowed to move along the line joining the foci, the
geometric form would morph or degenerate, one into another. In this way, an ellipse becomes
a parabola when a focus moves toward infinity, and when two foci of an ellipse merge into one another,
a circle is formed. As the foci of a hyperbola merge into one another, the hyperbola becomes a pair of
straight lines. He also assumed that if a straight line is extended to infinity it will meet itself at a
single point at infinity, thus having the properties of a large circle.[36]
Supernova of 1604
Kepler's Supernova
Remnant of Kepler's Supernova SN 1604
In October 1604, a bright new evening star (SN 1604) appeared, but Kepler did not believe the rumors
until he saw it himself. Kepler began systematically observing the nova. Astrologically, the end of 1603
marked the beginning of a fiery trigon, the start of the about 800-year cycle of great conjunctions;
astrologers associated the two previous such periods with the rise of Charlemagne (c. 800 years earlier)
and the birth of Christ (c. 1600 years earlier), and thus expected events of great portent, especially
regarding the emperor. It was in this context, as the imperial mathematician and astrologer to the
emperor, that Kepler described the new star two years later in his De Stella Nova. In it, Kepler addressed
the star's astronomical properties while taking a skeptical approach to the many astrological
interpretations then circulating. He noted its fading luminosity, speculated about its origin, and used the
lack of observed parallax to argue that it was in the sphere of fixed stars, further undermining the
doctrine of the immutability of the heavens (the idea accepted since Aristotle that the celestial
spheres were perfect and unchanging). The birth of a new star implied the variability of the heavens. In
an appendix, Kepler also discussed the recent chronology work of the Polish historian Laurentius
Suslyga; he calculated that, if Suslyga was correct that accepted timelines were four years behind, then
the Star of Bethlehem—analogous to the present new star—would have coincided with the first great
conjunction of the earlier 800-year cycle.[37]
The location of the stella nova, in the foot of Ophiuchus, is marked with an N (8 grid squares down, 4
over from the left).
Astronomia nova
The extended line of research that culminated in Astronomia nova (A New Astronomy)—including the
first two laws of planetary motion—began with the analysis, under Tycho's direction, of Mars' orbit.
Kepler calculated and recalculated various approximations of Mars' orbit using an equant (the
mathematical tool that Copernicus had eliminated with his system), eventually creating a model that
generally agreed with Tycho's observations to within two arcminutes (the average measurement error).
But he was not satisfied with the complex and still slightly inaccurate result; at certain points the model
differed from the data by up to eight arcminutes. The wide array of traditional mathematical astronomy
methods having failed him, Kepler set about trying to fit an ovoid orbit to the data.[38]
In Kepler's religious view of the cosmos, the Sun (a symbol of God the Father) was the source of motive
force in the Solar System. As a physical basis, Kepler drew by analogy on William Gilbert's theory of the
magnetic soul of the Earth from De Magnete (1600) and on his own work on optics. Kepler supposed
that the motive power (or motive species)[39] radiated by the Sun weakens with distance, causing faster
or slower motion as planets move closer or farther from it.[40][a] Perhaps this assumption entailed a
mathematical relationship that would restore astronomical order. Based on measurements of
the aphelion and perihelion of the Earth and Mars, he created a formula in which a planet's rate of
motion is inversely proportional to its distance from the Sun. Verifying this relationship throughout the
orbital cycle, however, required very extensive calculation; to simplify this task, by late 1602 Kepler
reformulated the proportion in terms of geometry: planets sweep out equal areas in equal times—
Kepler's second law of planetary motion.[42]
Diagram of the geocentric trajectory of Mars through several periods of apparent retrograde
motion(Astronomia nova, Chapter 1, 1609)
He then set about calculating the entire orbit of Mars, using the geometrical rate law and assuming an
egg-shaped ovoid orbit. After approximately 40 failed attempts, in early 1605 he at last hit upon the idea
of an ellipse, which he had previously assumed to be too simple a solution for earlier astronomers to
have overlooked.[43]Finding that an elliptical orbit fit the Mars data, he immediately concluded that all
planets move in ellipses, with the sun at one focus—Kepler's first law of planetary motion. Because he
employed no calculating assistants, however, he did not extend the mathematical analysis beyond Mars.
By the end of the year, he completed the manuscript for Astronomia nova, though it would not be
published until 1609 due to legal disputes over the use of Tycho's observations, the property of his heirs.
[44]
Dioptrice, Somnium manuscript, and other work
In the years following the completion of Astronomia Nova, most of Kepler's research was focused on
preparations for the Rudolphine Tables and a comprehensive set of ephemerides (specific predictions of
planet and star positions) based on the table (though neither would be completed for many years). He
also attempted (unsuccessfully) to begin a collaboration with Italian astronomer Giovanni Antonio
Magini. Some of his other work dealt with chronology, especially the dating of events in the life of Jesus,
and with astrology, especially criticism of dramatic predictions of catastrophe such as those of Helisaeus
Roeslin.[45]
Kepler and Roeslin engaged in a series of published attacks and counter-attacks, while physician Philip
Feselius published a work dismissing astrology altogether (and Roeslin's work in particular). In response
to what Kepler saw as the excesses of astrology on the one hand and overzealous rejection of it on the
other, Kepler prepared Tertius Interveniens [Third-party Interventions]. Nominally this work—presented
to the common patron of Roeslin and Feselius—was a neutral mediation between the feuding scholars,
but it also set out Kepler's general views on the value of astrology, including some hypothesized
mechanisms of interaction between planets and individual souls. While Kepler considered most
traditional rules and methods of astrology to be the "evil-smelling dung" in which "an industrious hen"
scrapes, there was an "occasional grain-seed, indeed, even a pearl or a gold nugget" to be found by the
conscientious scientific astrologer.[46] Conversely, Sir Oliver Lodge observed that Kepler was somewhat
disdainful of astrology, as Kepler was "continually attacking and throwing sarcasm at astrology, but it
was the only thing for which people would pay him, and on it after a fashion he lived."[47]
Karlova street in Old Town, Prague – house where Kepler lived. Now a museum [1]
In the first months of 1610, Galileo Galilei—using his powerful new telescope—discovered four satellites
orbiting Jupiter. Upon publishing his account as Sidereus Nuncius [Starry Messenger], Galileo sought the
opinion of Kepler, in part to bolster the credibility of his observations. Kepler responded enthusiastically
with a short published reply, Dissertatio cum Nuncio Sidereo [Conversation with the Starry Messenger].
He endorsed Galileo's observations and offered a range of speculations about the meaning and
implications of Galileo's discoveries and telescopic methods, for astronomy and optics as well as
cosmology and astrology. Later that year, Kepler published his own telescopic observations of the
moons in Narratio de Jovis Satellitibus, providing further support of Galileo. To Kepler's disappointment,
however, Galileo never published his reactions (if any) to Astronomia Nova.[48]
After hearing of Galileo's telescopic discoveries, Kepler also started a theoretical and experimental
investigation of telescopic optics using a telescope borrowed from Duke Ernest of Cologne.[49] The
resulting manuscript was completed in September 1610 and published as Dioptrice in 1611. In it, Kepler
set out the theoretical basis of double-convex converging lenses and double-concave diverging lenses—
and how they are combined to produce a Galilean telescope—as well as the concepts
of real vs. virtual images, upright vs. inverted images, and the effects of focal length on magnification
and reduction. He also described an improved telescope—now known as the astronomical or Keplerian
telescope—in which two convex lenses can produce higher magnification than Galileo's combination of
convex and concave lenses.[50]
One of the diagrams from Strena Seu de Nive Sexangula, illustrating the Kepler conjecture
Around 1611, Kepler circulated a manuscript of what would eventually be published (posthumously)
as Somnium [The Dream]. Part of the purpose of Somnium was to describe what practicing astronomy
would be like from the perspective of another planet, to show the feasibility of a non-geocentric system.
The manuscript, which disappeared after changing hands several times, described a fantastic trip to the
Moon; it was part allegory, part autobiography, and part treatise on interplanetary travel (and is
sometimes described as the first work of science fiction). Years later, a distorted version of the story
may have instigated the witchcraft trial against his mother, as the mother of the narrator consults a
demon to learn the means of space travel. Following her eventual acquittal, Kepler composed 223
footnotes to the story—several times longer than the actual text—which explained the allegorical
aspects as well as the considerable scientific content (particularly regarding lunar geography) hidden
within the text.[51]
Work in mathematics and physics
As a New Year's gift that year (1611), he also composed for his friend and some-time patron, Baron
Wackher von Wackhenfels, a short pamphlet entitled Strena Seu de Nive Sexangula (A New Year's Gift of
Hexagonal Snow). In this treatise, he published the first description of the hexagonal symmetry of
snowflakes and, extending the discussion into a hypothetical atomistic physical basis for the symmetry,
posed what later became known as the Kepler conjecture, a statement about the most efficient
arrangement for packing spheres.[52][53]
Personal and political troubles
In 1611, the growing political-religious tension in Prague came to a head. Emperor Rudolph—whose
health was failing—was forced to abdicate as King of Bohemia by his brother Matthias. Both sides
sought Kepler's astrological advice, an opportunity he used to deliver conciliatory political advice (with
little reference to the stars, except in general statements to discourage drastic action). However, it was
clear that Kepler's future prospects in the court of Matthias were dim.[54]
Also in that year, Barbara Kepler contracted Hungarian spotted fever, then began having seizures. As
Barbara was recovering, Kepler's three children all fell sick with smallpox; Friedrich, 6, died. Following
his son's death, Kepler sent letters to potential patrons in Württemberg and Padua. At the University of
Tübingen in Württemberg, concerns over Kepler's perceived Calvinist heresies in violation of
the Augsburg Confession and the Formula of Concord prevented his return. The University of Padua—on
the recommendation of the departing Galileo—sought Kepler to fill the mathematics professorship, but
Kepler, preferring to keep his family in German territory, instead travelled to Austria to arrange a
position as teacher and district mathematician in Linz. However, Barbara relapsed into illness and died
shortly after Kepler's return.[55]
Kepler postponed the move to Linz and remained in Prague until Rudolph's death in early 1612, though
between political upheaval, religious tension, and family tragedy (along with the legal dispute over his
wife's estate), Kepler could do no research. Instead, he pieced together a chronology
manuscript, Eclogae Chronicae, from correspondence and earlier work. Upon succession as Holy Roman
Emperor, Matthias re-affirmed Kepler's position (and salary) as imperial mathematician but allowed him
to move to Linz.[56]
Linz and elsewhere (1612–1630)
A statue of Kepler in Linz
In Linz, Kepler's primary responsibilities (beyond completing the Rudolphine Tables) were teaching at
the district school and providing astrological and astronomical services. In his first years there, he
enjoyed financial security and religious freedom relative to his life in Prague—though he was excluded
from Eucharist by his Lutheran church over his theological scruples. It was also during his time in Linz
that Kepler had to deal with the accusation and ultimate verdict of witchcraft against his
mother Katharina in the Protestant town of Leonberg. That blow, happening only a few years after
Kepler’s excommunication, is not seen as a coincidence but as a symptom of the full-fledged assault
waged by the Lutherans against Kepler.[57]
His first publication in Linz was De vero Anno (1613), an expanded treatise on the year of Christ's birth;
he also participated in deliberations on whether to introduce Pope Gregory's reformed calendar to
Protestant German lands; that year he also wrote the influential mathematical treatise Nova
stereometria doliorum vinariorum, on measuring the volume of containers such as wine barrels,
published in 1615.[58]
Second marriage
On October 30, 1613, Kepler married the 24-year-old Susanna Reuttinger. Following the death of his first
wife Barbara, Kepler had considered 11 different matches over two years (a decision process formalized
later as the marriage problem).[59]He eventually returned to Reuttinger (the fifth match) who, he
wrote, "won me over with love, humble loyalty, economy of household, diligence, and the love she gave
the stepchildren."[60] The first three children of this marriage (Margareta Regina, Katharina, and Sebald)
died in childhood. Three more survived into adulthood: Cordula (born 1621); Fridmar (born 1623); and
Hildebert (born 1625). According to Kepler's biographers, this was a much happier marriage than his
first.[61]
Epitome of Copernican Astronomy, calendars, and the witch trial of his mother[edit]
Epitome astronomiae Copernicanae
Kepler's Figure 'M' from the Epitome, showing the world as belonging to just one of any number of
similar stars.
Since completing the Astronomia nova, Kepler had intended to compose an astronomy textbook.[62] In
1615, he completed the first of three volumes of Epitome astronomiae Copernicanae (Epitome of
Copernican Astronomy); the first volume (books I–III) was printed in 1617, the second (book IV) in 1620,
and the third (books V–VII) in 1621. Despite the title, which referred simply to heliocentrism, Kepler's
textbook culminated in his own ellipse-based system. The Epitome became Kepler's most influential
work. It contained all three laws of planetary motion and attempted to explain heavenly motions
through physical causes.[63] Though it explicitly extended the first two laws of planetary motion
(applied to Mars in Astronomia nova) to all the planets as well as the Moon and the Medicean satellites
of Jupiter,[b] it did not explain how elliptical orbits could be derived from observational data.[66]
As a spin-off from the Rudolphine Tables and the related Ephemerides, Kepler published astrological
calendars, which were very popular and helped offset the costs of producing his other work—especially
when support from the Imperial treasury was withheld. In his calendars—six between 1617 and 1624—
Kepler forecast planetary positions and weather as well as political events; the latter were often cannily
accurate, thanks to his keen grasp of contemporary political and theological tensions. By 1624, however,
the escalation of those tensions and the ambiguity of the prophecies meant political trouble for Kepler
himself; his final calendar was publicly burned in Graz.[67]
Geometrical harmonies in the perfect solids from Harmonices Mundi(1619)
In 1615, Ursula Reingold, a woman in a financial dispute with Kepler's brother Christoph, claimed
Kepler's mother Katharina had made her sick with an evil brew. The dispute escalated, and in 1617
Katharina was accused of witchcraft; witchcraft trials were relatively common in central Europe at this
time. Beginning in August 1620, she was imprisoned for fourteen months. She was released in October
1621, thanks in part to the extensive legal defense drawn up by Kepler. The accusers had no stronger
evidence than rumors. Katharina was subjected to territio verbalis, a graphic description of the torture
awaiting her as a witch, in a final attempt to make her confess. Throughout the trial, Kepler postponed
his other work to focus on his "harmonic theory". The result, published in 1619, was Harmonices
Mundi ("Harmony of the World").[68]
Harmonices Mundi
Harmonices Mundi
Kepler was convinced "that the geometrical things have provided the Creator with the model for
decorating the whole world".[69] In Harmony, he attempted to explain the proportions of the natural
world—particularly the astronomical and astrological aspects—in terms of music.[70] The central set of
"harmonies" was the musica universalis or "music of the spheres", which had been studied
by Pythagoras, Ptolemy and many others before Kepler; in fact, soon after publishing Harmonices
Mundi, Kepler was embroiled in a priority dispute with Robert Fludd, who had recently published his
own harmonic theory.[71]
Kepler began by exploring regular polygons and regular solids, including the figures that would come to
be known as Kepler's solids. From there, he extended his harmonic analysis to music, meteorology, and
astrology; harmony resulted from the tones made by the souls of heavenly bodies—and in the case of
astrology, the interaction between those tones and human souls. In the final portion of the work (Book
V), Kepler dealt with planetary motions, especially relationships between orbital velocity and orbital
distance from the Sun. Similar relationships had been used by other astronomers, but Kepler—with
Tycho's data and his own astronomical theories—treated them much more precisely and attached new
physical significance to them.[72]
Among many other harmonies, Kepler articulated what came to be known as the third law of planetary
motion. He then tried many combinations until he discovered that (approximately) "The square of the
periodic times are to each other as the cubes of the mean distances." Although he gives the date of this
epiphany (March 8, 1618), he does not give any details about how he arrived at this conclusion.
[73] However, the wider significance for planetary dynamics of this purely kinematical law was not
realized until the 1660s. When conjoined with Christiaan Huygens' newly discovered law of centrifugal
force, it enabled Isaac Newton, Edmund Halley, and perhaps Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke to
demonstrate independently that the presumed gravitational attraction between the Sun and its planets
decreased with the square of the distance between them.[74] This refuted the traditional assumption of
scholastic physics that the power of gravitational attraction remained constant with distance whenever
it applied between two bodies, such as was assumed by Kepler and also by Galileo in his mistaken
universal law that gravitational fall is uniformly accelerated, and also by Galileo's student Borrelli in his
1666 celestial mechanics.[75]
Rudolphine Tables and his last years
Name "Copernicus" in a manuscript report by Kepler concerning the Rudolphine Tables (1616).
Title page of the Tabulae Rudolphinae, Ulm, 1627
Kepler's horoscope for General Wallenstein
In 1623, Kepler at last completed the Rudolphine Tables, which at the time was considered his major
work. However, due to the publishing requirements of the emperor and negotiations with Tycho Brahe's
heir, it would not be printed until 1627. In the meantime, religious tension — the root of the
ongoing Thirty Years' War — once again put Kepler and his family in jeopardy. In 1625, agents of
the Catholic Counter-Reformation placed most of Kepler's library under seal, and in 1626 the city of Linz
was besieged. Kepler moved to Ulm, where he arranged for the printing of the Tables at his own
expense.[76]
In 1628, following the military successes of the Emperor Ferdinand's armies under General Wallenstein,
Kepler became an official advisor to Wallenstein. Though not the general's court astrologer per se,
Kepler provided astronomical calculations for Wallenstein's astrologers and occasionally wrote
horoscopes himself. In his final years, Kepler spent much of his time traveling, from the imperial court in
Prague to Linz and Ulm to a temporary home in Sagan, and finally to Regensburg. Soon after arriving in
Regensburg, Kepler fell ill. He died on November 15, 1630, and was buried there; his burial site was lost
after the Swedish army destroyed the churchyard.[77] Only Kepler's self-authored poetic epitaph
survived the times:
Mensus eram coelos, nunc terrae metior umbras
Mens coelestis erat, corporis umbra iacet.
I measured the skies, now the shadows I measure
Skybound was the mind, earthbound the body rests.[78]
Christianity
Kepler's belief that God created the cosmos in an orderly fashion caused him to attempt to determine
and comprehend the laws that govern the natural world, most profoundly in astronomy.[79][80] The
phrase "I am merely thinking God's thoughts after Him" has been attributed to him, although this is
probably a capsulized version of a writing from his hand:
Those laws [of nature] are within the grasp of the human mind; God wanted us to recognize them by
creating us after his own image so that we could share in his own thoughts.[81]
Reception of his astronomy
Kepler's laws of planetary motion were not immediately accepted. Several major figures such
as Galileo and René Descartes completely ignored Kepler's Astronomia nova. Many astronomers,
including Kepler's teacher, Michael Maestlin, objected to Kepler's introduction of physics into his
astronomy. Some adopted compromise positions. Ismaël Bullialdus accepted elliptical orbits but
replaced Kepler's area law with uniform motion in respect to the empty focus of the ellipse, while Seth
Ward used an elliptical orbit with motions defined by an equant.[82][83][84]
Several astronomers tested Kepler's theory, and its various modifications, against astronomical
observations. Two transits of Venus and Mercury across the face of the sun provided sensitive tests of
the theory, under circumstances when these planets could not normally be observed. In the case of the
transit of Mercury in 1631, Kepler had been extremely uncertain of the parameters for Mercury, and
advised observers to look for the transit the day before and after the predicted date.Pierre
Gassendi observed the transit on the date predicted, a confirmation of Kepler's prediction.[85] This was
the first observation of a transit of Mercury. However, his attempt to observe the transit of Venus just
one month later was unsuccessful due to inaccuracies in the Rudolphine Tables. Gassendi did not realize
that it was not visible from most of Europe, including Paris.[86] Jeremiah Horrocks, who observed
the 1639 Venus transit, had used his own observations to adjust the parameters of the Keplerian model,
predicted the transit, and then built apparatus to observe the transit. He remained a firm advocate of
the Keplerian model.[87][88][89]
Epitome of Copernican Astronomy was read by astronomers throughout Europe, and following Kepler's
death, it was the main vehicle for spreading Kepler's ideas. In the period 1630 - 1650, this book was the
most widely used astronomy textbook, winning many converts to ellipse-based astronomy.
[63] However, few adopted his ideas on the physical basis for celestial motions. In the late 17th century,
a number of physical astronomy theories drawing from Kepler's work—notably those of Giovanni
Alfonso Borelli and Robert Hooke—began to incorporate attractive forces (though not the quasi-spiritual
motive species postulated by Kepler) and the Cartesian concept of inertia.[90] This culminated in Isaac
Newton's Principia Mathematica (1687), in which Newton derived Kepler's laws of planetary motion
from a force-based theory of universal gravitation.[91]
Historical and cultural legacy
Monument to Tycho Brahe and Kepler in Prague, Czech Republic
The GDR stamp featuring Kepler
History of science
Beyond his role in the historical development of astronomy and natural philosophy, Kepler has loomed
large in the philosophy and historiography of science. Kepler and his laws of motion were central to
early histories of astronomy such as Jean-Étienne Montucla's 1758 Histoire des
mathématiques and Jean-Baptiste Delambre's 1821 Histoire de l'astronomie moderne. These and other
histories written from an Enlightenment perspective treated Kepler's metaphysical and religious
arguments with skepticism and disapproval, but later Romantic-era natural philosophers viewed these
elements as central to his success. William Whewell, in his influential History of the Inductive Sciences of
1837, found Kepler to be the archetype of the inductive scientific genius; in his Philosophy of the
Inductive Sciences of 1840, Whewell held Kepler up as the embodiment of the most advanced forms
of scientific method. Similarly, Ernst Friedrich Apelt—the first to extensively study Kepler's manuscripts,
after their purchase by Catherine the Great—identified Kepler as a key to the "Revolution of the
sciences". Apelt, who saw Kepler's mathematics, aesthetic sensibility, physical ideas, and theology as
part of a unified system of thought, produced the first extended analysis of Kepler's life and work.[92]
Alexandre Koyré's work on Kepler was, after Apelt, the first major milestone in historical interpretations
of Kepler's cosmology and its influence. In the 1930s and 1940s, Koyré, and a number of others in the
first generation of professional historians of science, described the "Scientific Revolution" as the central
event in the history of science, and Kepler as a (perhaps the) central figure in the revolution. Koyré
placed Kepler's theorization, rather than his empirical work, at the center of the intellectual
transformation from ancient to modern world-views. Since the 1960s, the volume of historical Kepler
scholarship has expanded greatly, including studies of his astrology and meteorology, his geometrical
methods, the role of his religious views in his work, his literary and rhetorical methods, his interaction
with the broader cultural and philosophical currents of his time, and even his role as an historian of
science.[93]
Philosophers of science—such as Charles Sanders Peirce, Norwood Russell Hanson, Stephen Toulmin,
and Karl Popper—have repeatedly turned to Kepler: examples of incommensurability, analogical
reasoning, falsification, and many other philosophical concepts have been found in Kepler's work.
Physicist Wolfgang Pauli even used Kepler's priority dispute with Robert Fludd to explore the
implications of analytical psychology on scientific investigation.[94]
Editions and translations
Modern translations of a number of Kepler's books appeared in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth
centuries, the systematic publication of his collected works began in 1937 (and is nearing completion in
the early 21st century).
An edition in eight volumes, Kepleri Opera omnia, was prepared by Christian Frisch (1807–1881), during
1858 to 1871, on the occasion of Kepler's 300th birthday. Frisch's edition only included Kepler's Latin,
with a Latin commentary.
A new edition was planned beginning in 1914 by Walther von Dyck (1856–1934). Dyck compiled copies
of Kepler's unedited manuscripts, using international diplomatic contacts to convince the Soviet
authorities to lend him the manuscripts kept in Leningrad for photographic reproduction. These
manuscripts contained several works by Kepler that had not been available to Frisch. Dyck's
photographs remain the basis for the modern editions of Kepler's unpublished manuscripts.
Max Caspar (1880–1956) published his German translation of Kepler's Mysterium Cosmographicum in
1923. Both Dyck and Caspar were influenced in their interest in Kepler by mathematician Alexander von
Brill (1842–1935). Caspar became Dyck's collaborator, succeeding him as project leader in 1934,
establishing the Kepler-Kommission in the following year. Assisted by Martha List (1908–1992) and Franz
Hammer (1898–1979), Caspar continued editorial work during World War II. Max Caspar also published
a biography of Kepler in 1948.[95] The commission was later chaired by Volker Bialas (during 1976–
2003) and Ulrich Grigull (during 1984–1999) and Roland Bulirsch (1998–2014).[96][97]
Popular science and historical fiction
Kepler has acquired a popular image as an icon of scientific modernity and a man before his time;
science popularizer Carl Sagan described him as "the first astrophysicist and the last scientific
astrologer".[98]
The debate over Kepler's place in the Scientific Revolution has produced a wide variety of philosophical
and popular treatments. One of the most influential is Arthur Koestler's 1959 The Sleepwalkers, in which
Kepler is unambiguously the hero (morally and theologically as well as intellectually) of the revolution.
[99]
A well-received, if fanciful, historical novel by John Banville, Kepler (1981), explored many of the themes
developed in Koestler's non-fiction narrative and in the philosophy of science.[100] Somewhat more
fanciful is a recent work of nonfiction, Heavenly Intrigue (2004), suggesting that Kepler murdered Tycho
Brahe to gain access to his data.[101]
Veneration and eponymy
In Austria, Kepler left behind such a historical legacy that he was one of the motifs of a silver collector's
coin: the 10-euro Johannes Kepler silver coin, minted on September 10, 2002. The reverse side of the
coin has a portrait of Kepler, who spent some time teaching in Graz and the surrounding areas. Kepler
was acquainted with Prince Hans Ulrich von Eggenbergpersonally, and he probably influenced the
construction of Eggenberg Castle (the motif of the obverse of the coin). In front of him on the coin is the
model of nested spheres and polyhedra from Mysterium Cosmographicum.[102]
The German composer Paul Hindemith wrote an opera about Kepler entitled Die Harmonie der Welt,
and a symphony of the same name was derived from music for the opera. Philip Glass wrote an opera
called Kepler based on Kepler's life (2009).
Kepler is honored together with Nicolaus Copernicus with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the
Episcopal Church (USA) on May 23.[103]
List of things named after Johannes Kepler
Directly named for Kepler's contribution to science are Kepler's laws of planetary motion, Kepler's
Supernova (Supernova 1604, which he observed and described) and the Kepler Solids, a set of
geometrical constructions, two of which were described by him, and the Kepler conjecture on sphere
packing.
The Kepler crater as photographed by Apollo 12 in 1969
In astronomy: The lunar crater Kepler (Keplerus, named by Giovanni Riccioli, 1651), the asteroid 1134
Kepler (1929), Kepler (crater on Mars) (1973), Kepler Launch Site for model rockets (2001), the Kepler
Mission, a space photometerlaunched by NASA in 2009,[104] Johannes Kepler ATV (Automated Transfer
Vehicle launched to resupply the ISS in 2011).
Educational institutions: Johannes Kepler University Linz (1975), Kepler College(Seattle, Washington),
besides several institutions of primary and secondary education, such as Johannes Kepler Grammar
School,[105] at the site where Kepler lived in Prague, and Kepler Gymnasium, Tübingen
Streets or squares named after him: Keplerplatz Vienna (station of Vienna U-Bahn), Keplerstraße in
Hanau near Frankfurt am Main, Keplerstraße in Munich, Germany, Keplerstraße and Keplerbrücke in
Graz, Austria, Keplerova ulice in Prague.
The Kepler Mountains and Kepler Track in Fiordland National Park, South Island, New Zealand; Kepler
Challenge (1988).
Kepler, a high end graphics processing microarchitecture introduced by Nvidia in 2012.
Works
Mysterium Cosmographicum (The Sacred Mystery of the Cosmos) (1596)
De Fundamentis Astrologiae Certioribus (On Firmer Fundaments of Astrology; 1601)
Astronomiae Pars Optica (The Optical Part of Astronomy) (1604)
De Stella nova in pede Serpentarii (On the New Star in Ophiuchus's Foot) (1606)
Astronomia nova (New Astronomy) (1609)
Tertius Interveniens (Third-party Interventions) (1610)
Dissertatio cum Nuncio Sidereo (Conversation with the Starry Messenger) (1610)
Dioptrice (1611)
De nive sexangula (On the Six-Cornered Snowflake) (1611) (English translation on Google Books preview)
De vero Anno, quo aeternus Dei Filius humanam naturam in Utero benedictae Virginis Mariae
assumpsit (1614)[106]
Eclogae Chronicae (1615, published with Dissertatio cum Nuncio Sidereo)
Nova stereometria doliorum vinariorum (New Stereometry of Wine Barrels) (1615)
Ephemerides nouae motuum coelestium (1617-30)
Epitome astronomiae Copernicanae (Epitome of Copernican Astronomy) (published in three parts from
1618 to 1621)
Epitome astronomiae copernicanae, 1618
Harmonices Mundi (Harmony of the Worlds) (1619) (English translation on Google Books)
Mysterium cosmographicum (The Sacred Mystery of the Cosmos), 2nd edition (1621)
Tabulae Rudolphinae (Rudolphine Tables) (1627)
Somnium (The Dream) (1634) (English translation on Google Books preview)
A critical edition of Kepler's collected works (Johannes Kepler Gesammelte Werke, KGW) in 22 volumes
is being edited by the Kepler-Kommission (founded 1935) on behalf of the Bayerische Akademie der
Wissenschaften.
Vol. 1: Mysterium Cosmographicum. De Stella Nova. Ed. M. Caspar. 1938, 2nd ed. 1993.
Paperback ISBN 3-406-01639-1.
Vol. 2: Astronomiae pars optica. Ed. F. Hammer. 1939, Paperback ISBN 3-406-01641-3.
Vol. 3: Astronomia Nova. Ed. M. Caspar. 1937. IV, 487 p. 2. ed. 1990. Paperback ISBN 3-406-01643-X.
Semi-parchment ISBN 3-406-01642-1.
Vol. 4: Kleinere Schriften 1602–1611. Dioptrice. Ed. M. Caspar, F. Hammer. 1941.ISBN 3-406-01644-8.
Vol. 5: Chronologische Schriften. Ed. F. Hammer. 1953. Out-of-print.
Vol. 6: Harmonice Mundi. Ed. M. Caspar. 1940, 2nd ed. 1981, ISBN 3-406-01648-0.
Vol. 7: Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae. Ed. M. Caspar. 1953, 2nd ed. 1991. ISBN 3-406-01650-2,
Paperback ISBN 3-406-01651-0.
Vol. 8: Mysterium Cosmographicum. Editio altera cum notis. De Cometis. Hyperaspistes. Commentary F.
Hammer. 1955. Paperback ISBN 3-406-01653-7.
Vol 9: Mathematische Schriften. Ed. F. Hammer. 1955, 2nd ed. 1999. Out-of-print.
Vol. 10: Tabulae Rudolphinae. Ed. F. Hammer. 1969. ISBN 3-406-01656-1.
Vol. 11,1: Ephemerides novae motuum coelestium. Commentary V. Bialas. 1983. ISBN 3-406-01658-8,
Paperback ISBN 3-406-01659-6.
Vol. 11,2: Calendaria et Prognostica. Astronomica minora. Somnium. Commentary V. Bialas, H. Grössing.
1993. ISBN 3-406-37510-3, Paperback ISBN 3-406-37511-1.
Vol. 12: Theologica. Hexenprozeß. Tacitus-Übersetzung. Gedichte. Commentary J. Hübner, H. Grössing,
F. Boockmann, F. Seck. Directed by V. Bialas. 1990. ISBN 3-406-01660-X, Paperback ISBN 3-406-01661-8.
Vols. 13–18: Letters:
Vol. 13: Briefe 1590–1599. Ed. M. Caspar. 1945. 432 p. ISBN 3-406-01663-4.
Vol. 14: Briefe 1599–1603. Ed. M. Caspar. 1949. Out-of-print. 2nd ed. in preparation.
Vol 15: Briefe 1604–1607. Ed. M. Caspar. 1951. 2nd ed. 1995. ISBN 3-406-01667-7.
Vol. 16: Briefe 1607–1611. Ed. M. Caspar. 1954. ISBN 3-406-01668-5.
Vol. 17: Briefe 1612–1620. Ed. M. Caspar. 1955. ISBN 3-406-01671-5.
Vol. 18: Briefe 1620–1630. Ed. M. Caspar. 1959. ISBN 3-406-01672-3.
Vol. 19: Dokumente zu Leben und Werk. Commentary M. List. 1975. ISBN 978-3-406-01674-5.
Vols. 20–21: manuscripts
Vol. 20,1: Manuscripta astronomica (I). Apologia, De motu Terrae, Hipparchus etc. Commentary V.
Bialas. 1988. ISBN 3-406-31501-1. Paperback ISBN 3-406-31502-X.
Vol. 20,2: Manuscripta astronomica (II). Commentaria in Theoriam Martis. Commentary V. Bialas. 1998.
Paperback ISBN 3-406-40593-2.
Vol. 21,1: Manuscripta astronomica (III) et mathematica. De Calendario Gregoriano. In preparation.
Vol. 21,2: Manuscripta varia. In preparation.
Vol. 22: General index, in preparation.
The Kepler-Kommission also publishes Bibliographia Kepleriana (2nd ed. List, 1968), a complete
bibliography of editions of Kepler's works, with a supplementary volume to the second edition (ed.
Hamel 1998).
Karl Benz
Karl Friedrich Benz or Carl Friedrich Benz (German: [bɛnts] ( listen); 25 November 1844 – 4 April 1929) was a
German engine designer, automobile engineer, (or mechanical engineer). His Benz Patent Motorcar from 1885
is considered the first practical automobile. He received a patent for the motorcar in 1886.
Karl Benz / Carl Benz
Karl Benz
Early life
Karl Benz, 1869, 25 years old (Zenodot Verlagsges. mbH)
Karl Benz was born Karl Friedrich Michael Vaillant, on 25 November 1844 in Mühlburg, now a borough
of Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, which is part of modern (Germany), to Josephine Vaillant and
a locomotive driver, Johann Georg Benz, whom she married a few months later. According to German law, the
child acquired the name "Benz" by legal marriage of his parents Benz and Vaillant. [1][2][3][4] When he was two
years old, his father died of pneumonia,[5] and his name was changed to Karl Friedrich Benz in remembrance of
his father.[6]
Despite living in near poverty, his mother strove to give him a good education. Benz attended the
local Grammar School in Karlsruhe and was a prodigious student. In 1853, at the age of nine he started at the
scientifically oriented Lyceum. Next he studied at the Poly-Technical University under the instruction
of Ferdinand Redtenbacher.
Benz had originally focused his studies on locksmithing, but he eventually followed his father's steps toward
locomotive engineering. On 30 September 1860, at age 15, he passed the entrance exam for mechanical
engineering at the University of Karlsruhe, which he subsequently attended. Benz graduated 9 July 1864 aged
19.
Following his formal education, Benz had seven years of professional training in several companies, but did not
fit well in any of them. The training started in Karlsruhe with two years of varied jobs in a mechanical
engineering company.
He then moved to Mannheim to work as a draftsman and designer in a scales factory. In 1868 he went
to Pforzheim to work for a bridge building company Gebrüder Benckiser Eisenwerke und Maschinenfabrik.
Finally, he went to Vienna for a short period to work at an iron construction company.
Benz's first factory and early inventions (1871–1882)
In 1871, at the age of twenty-seven, Karl Benz joined August Ritter in launching the Iron Foundry and
Mechanical Workshop in Mannheim, later renamed Factory for Machines for Sheet-metal Working.[7]
The enterprise's first year went very badly. Ritter turned out to be unreliable, and the business's tools were
impounded. The difficulty was overcome when Benz's fiancée, Bertha Ringer, bought out Ritter's share in the
company using her dowry.[7][8]
On 20 July 1872,[citation needed] Karl Benz and Bertha Ringer married. They had five children: Eugen (1873), Richard
(1874), Clara (1877), Thilde (1882), and Ellen (1890).
Despite the business misfortunes, Karl Benz led in the development of new engines in the early factory he and
his wife owned. To get more revenues, in 1878 he began to work on new patents. First, he concentrated all his
efforts on creating a reliable petrol two-stroke engine. Benz finished his two-stroke engine on 31 December
1879, New Year's Eve, and was granted a patent for it in 28 June 1880.
Karl Benz showed his real genius, however, through his successive inventions registered while designing what
would become the production standard for his two-stroke engine. Benz soon patented the speed
regulation system, the ignition using sparks with battery, the spark plug, the carburetor, the clutch, the gear
shift, and the water radiator.
Benz's Gasmotoren-Fabrik Mannheim (1882–1883)
Problems arose again when the banks at Mannheim demanded that Bertha and Karl Benz's enterprise
be incorporated due to the high production costs it maintained. The Benzes were forced to improvise an
association with photographer Emil Bühler and his brother (a cheese merchant), to get additional bank support.
The company became the joint-stock company Gasmotoren Fabrik Mannheim in 1882.
After all the necessary incorporation agreements, Benz was unhappy because he was left with merely five
percent of the shares and a modest position as director. Worst of all, his ideas weren't considered when
designing new products, so he withdrew from that corporation just one year later, in 1883.
Benz and Cie. and the Benz 1885 Benz Patent Motorwagen
Patent Motorwagen
Replica of the Benz Patent Motorwagen built in 1885
Three wheels
Tubular steel frame
Rack and pinion steering, connected to a driver
end tiller; wheel chained to front axle
Electric ignition
Differential rear end gears
Engine of the Benz Patent Motorwagen (mechanically operated inlet valves)
Benz's lifelong hobby brought him to a bicycle repair shop in Water-cooled internal combustion engine
Mannheim owned by Max Rose and Friedrich Wilhelm
Eßlinger. In 1883, the three founded a new company Gas or petrol four-stroke horizontally mounted
producing industrial machines: Benz & Companie Rheinische engine
Gasmotoren-Fabrik, usually referred to as Benz & Cie. Quickly
growing to twenty-five employees, it soon began to produce Single cylinder, Bore 116 mm, Stroke 160 mm
static gas engines as well.
Patent model: 958 cc, 0.8 hp, 16 km/h
The success of the company gave Benz the opportunity to
indulge in his old passion of designing a horseless carriage.
Based on his experience with, and fondness for, bicycles, he Commercialized model: 1600 cc, ¾ hp, 13 km/h
used similar technology when he created an automobile. It
featured wire wheels (unlike carriages' wooden ones) [9] with a
four-stroke engine of his own design between the rear wheels,
with a very advanced coil ignition[10] and evaporative cooling rather than a radiator.[10] Power was transmitted by
means of two roller chains to the rear axle. Karl Benz finished his creation in 1885 and named it "Benz Patent
Motorwagen".
It was the first automobile entirely designed as such to generate its own power, not simply a motorized stage
coach or horse carriage, which is why Karl Benz was granted his patent and is regarded as its inventor.
The Motorwagen was patented on 29 January 1886 as DRP-37435: "automobile fueled by gas". [11] The 1885
version was difficult to control, leading to a collision with a wall during a public demonstration. The first
successful tests on public roads were carried out in the early summer of 1886. The next year Benz created the
Motorwagen Model 2, which had several modifications, and in 1889, the definitive Model 3 with wooden wheels
was introduced, showing at the Paris Expo the same year.[10]
Benz began to sell the vehicle (advertising it as "Benz Patent Motorwagen") in the late summer of 1888,
making it the first commercially available automobile in history. The second customer of the Motorwagen was a
Parisian bicycle manufacturer[10] Emile Roger, who had already been building Benz engines under license from
Karl Benz for several years. Roger added the Benz automobiles (many built in France) to the line he carried in
Paris and initially most were sold there.
The early 1888 version of the Motorwagen had only two gears and could not climb hills unaided. This limitation
was rectified after Bertha Benz made her famous trip driving one of the vehicles a great distance and
suggested to her husband the addition of a third gear for climbing hills. In the course of this trip she also
invented brake pads.
Bertha Benz's long-distance drive
Official signpost of Bertha Benz Memorial Route, commemorating the world's first long distance journey with a Benz Patent-
Motorwagen Number 3 in 1888
The world's first ever long distance automobile trip was undertaken by Bertha Benz using a Model 3. On the
morning of 5 August 1888 Bertha – supposedly without the knowledge of her husband – took the vehicle on a
104 km (65 mi) trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim to visit her mother, taking her sons Eugen and Richard with
her. In addition to having to locate pharmacies along the way to refuel, she repaired various technical and
mechanical problems. One of these included the invention of brake lining; after some longer downhill slopes
she ordered a shoemaker to nail leather onto the brake blocks. Bertha Benz and sons finally arrived at nightfall,
announcing the achievement to Karl by telegram. It had been her intention to demonstrate the feasibility of
using the Benz Motorwagen for travel and to generate publicity in the manner now referred to as live marketing.
Today, the event is celebrated every two years in Germany with an antique automobile rally.
In 2008, the Bertha Benz Memorial Route[12] was officially approved as a route of the industrial heritage of
mankind, because it follows Bertha Benz's tracks of the world's first long-distance journey by automobile in
1888. The public can now follow the 194 km of signposted route from Mannheim via Heidelberg to Pforzheim
(Black Forest) and back. The return trip – which didn't go through Heidelberg – was along a different, slightly
shorter route, as shown on the maps of the Bertha Benz Memorial Route.
Benz's Model 3 made its wide-scale debut to the world in the 1889 World's Fair in Paris; about twenty-five
Motorwagens were built between 1886 and 1893.
Benz and Cie. expansion
Early logo used on automobiles by Karl Benz
Karl Benz introduced the Velo in 1894, becoming the first production automobile
Bertha Benz with her husband Karl Benz in a Benz Viktoria, model 1894
First internal combustion engined bus in history: the Benz Omnibus, built in 1895 for the Netphener bus company
The great demand for static internal combustion engines forced Karl Benz to enlarge the factory in Mannheim,
and in 1886 a new building located on Waldhofstrasse (operating until 1908) was added. Benz & Cie. had
grown in the interim from 50 employees in 1889 to 430 in 1899.
During the last years of the nineteenth century, Benz was the largest automobile company in the world with 572
units produced in 1899.
Because of its size, in 1899, Benz & Cie. became a joint-stock company with the arrival of Friedrich von Fischer
and Julius Ganß, who came aboard as members of the Board of Management. Ganß worked in the
commercialization department, which is somewhat similar to marketing in contemporary corporations. [13]
The new directors recommended that Benz should create a less expensive automobile suitable for mass
production. In 1893, Karl Benz created the Victoria, a two-passenger automobile with a 2.2 kW (3.0 hp) engine,
which could reach the top speed of 18 km/h (11 mph) and had a pivotal front axle operated by a roller-
chained tiller for steering. The model was successful with 85 units sold in 1893.
The Benz Velo also participated in the world's first automobile race, the 1894 Paris to Rouen, where Émile
Roger finished 14th, after covering the 126 km (78 mi) in 10 hours 01-minute at an average speed of 12.7 km/h
(7.9 mph).
In 1895, Benz designed the first truck with an internal combustion engine in history. Benz also built the first
motor buses in history in 1895, for the Netphener bus company.[14][15][16]
Benz "Velo" model presentation in London 1898
In 1896, Karl Benz was granted a patent for his design of the first flat engine. It had horizontally
opposed pistons, a design in which the corresponding pistons reach top dead centre simultaneously, thus
balancing each other with respect to momentum. Flat engines with four or fewer cylinders are most commonly
called boxer engines, boxermotor in German, and also are known as horizontally opposed engines. This
design is still used by Porsche, Subaru, and some high performance engines used in racing cars. In
motorcycles, the most famous boxer engine is found in BMW Motorrad,[17] though the boxer engine design was
used in many other models, including Victoria, Harley-Davidson XA, Zündapp, Wooler, Douglas
Dragonfly, Ratier, Universal, IMZ-Ural, Dnepr, Gnome et Rhône, Chang Jiang, Marusho, and the Honda Gold
Wing.[18]
Although Gottlieb Daimler died in March 1900—and there is no evidence that Benz and Daimler knew each
other nor that they knew about each other's early achievements—eventually, competition with Daimler Motoren
Gesellschaft (DMG) in Stuttgart began to challenge the leadership of Benz & Cie. In October 1900, the main
designer of DMG, Wilhelm Maybach, built the engine that would later be used in the Mercedes-35hp of 1902.
The engine was built to the specifications of Emil Jellinek under a contract for him to purchase thirty-six
vehicles with the engine, and for him to become a dealer of the special series. Jellinek stipulated the new
engine be named Daimler-Mercedes (for his daughter). Maybach would quit DMG in 1907, but he designed the
model and all of the important changes. After testing, the first was delivered to Jellinek on 22 December 1900.
Jellinek continued to make suggestions for changes to the model and obtained good results racing the
automobile in the next few years, encouraging DMG to engage in commercial production of automobiles, which
they did in 1902.
Benz countered with Parsifil, introduced in 1903 with a vertical twin engine that achieved a top speed of
60 km/h (37 mph). Then, without consulting Benz, the other directors hired some French designers. [19]
France was a country with an extensive automobile industry based on Maybach's creations. Because of this
action, after difficult discussions, Karl Benz announced his retirement from design management on 24 January
1903, although he remained as director on the Board of Management through its merger with DMG in 1926
and, remained on the board of the new Daimler-Benz corporation until his death in 1929.
He was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1984[20][21] and the European Automotive Hall of Fame.[20]
Benz's sons Eugen and Richard left Benz & Cie. in 1903, but Richard returned to the company in 1904 as the
designer of passenger vehicles.
That year, sales of Benz & Cie. reached 3,480 automobiles, and the company remained the leading
manufacturer of automobiles.
Along with continuing as a director of Benz & Cie., Karl Benz would soon found another company, C. Benz
Söhne, (with his son Eugen and closely held within the family), a privately held company for manufacturing
automobiles. The brand name used the first initial of the French variant of Benz's first name, "Carl".
Blitzen Benz
1909 Blitzen Benz – built by Benz & Cie., which held the land speed record
In 1909, the Blitzen Benz was built in Mannheim by Benz & Cie. The bird-beaked vehicle had a 21.5-liter
(1312ci), 150 kW (200 hp) engine, and on 9 November 1909 in the hands of Victor Hémery of France,
[22]
the land speed racer at Brooklands, set a record of 226.91 km/h (141.94 mph), said to be "faster than any
plane, train, or automobile" at the time, a record that was not exceeded for ten years by any other vehicle. It
was transported to several countries, including the United States, to establish multiple records of this
achievement.
Benz Söhne (1906–1923)
Logo with laurels used on Benz & Cie automobiles after 1909
bond of the Benz & Cie, issued 1912
Karl and Bertha Benz c. 1926 (collection of Zenodot Verlagsgesellschaft mbH)
Karl Benz, Bertha Benz, and their son, Eugen, moved 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) east of Mannheim to live in
nearby Ladenburg, and solely with their own capital, founded the private company, C. Benz Sons
(German: Benz Söhne) in 1906, producing automobiles and gas engines. The latter type was replaced by
petrol engines because of lack of demand. [23]
Logo on family held business production vehicles
This company never issued stocks publicly, building its own line of automobiles independently from Benz &
Cie., which was located in Mannheim. The Benz Sons automobiles were of good quality and became popular in
London as taxis.
In 1912, Karl Benz liquidated all of his shares in Benz Sons and left the family-held company in Ladenburg to
Eugen and Richard, but he remained as a director of Benz & Cie.
During a birthday celebration for him in his home town of Karlsruhe on 25 November 1914, the seventy-year-
old Karl Benz was awarded an honorary doctorate by his alma mater, the Karlsruhe University, thereby
becoming—Dr. Ing. h. c. Karl Benz.[23][24]
Almost from the very beginning of the production of automobiles, participation in sports car racing became a
major method to gain publicity for manufacturers. At first, the production models were raced and the
Benz Velo participated in the first automobile race: Paris to Rouen 1894. Later, investment in
developing racecars for motorsports produced returns through sales generated by the association of the name
of the automobile with the winners. Unique race vehicles were built at the time, as seen in the photograph here
of the Benz, the first mid-engine and aerodynamically designed, Tropfenwagen, a "teardrop" body introduced at
the 1923 European Grand Prix at Monza.
In the last production year of the Benz Sons company, 1923, three hundred and fifty units were built. During the
following year, 1924, Karl Benz built two additional 8/25 hp units of the automobile manufactured by this
company, tailored for his personal use, which he never sold; they are still preserved.
Toward Daimler-Benz and the first Mercedes-Benz in 1926
Last home of Karl and Bertha Benz, now the location of the Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz Foundation in Ladenburg, in Baden-
Württemberg
The German economic crisis worsened. In 1923 Benz & Cie. produced only 1,382 units in Mannheim,
and DMG made only 1,020 in Stuttgart. The average cost of an automobile was 25 million marks because of
rapid inflation. Negotiations between the two companies resumed and in 1924 they signed an "Agreement of
Mutual Interest" valid until the year 2000. Both enterprises standardized design, production, purchasing, sales,
and advertising—marketing their automobile models jointly—although keeping their respective brands. [25]
On 28 June 1926, Benz & Cie. and DMG finally merged as the Daimler-Benz company, baptizing all of its
automobiles, Mercedes-Benz, honoring the most important model of the DMG automobiles, the 1902 Mercedes
35 hp, along with the Benz name. The name of that DMG model had been selected after ten-year-
old Mercédès Jellinek, the daughter of Emil Jellinek who had set the specifications for the new model. Between
1900 and 1909 he was a member of DMG's board of management, however had resigned long before the
merger.
Karl Benz was a member of the new Daimler-Benz board of management for the remainder of his life. A new
logo was created in 1926, consisting of a three pointed star (representing Daimler's motto: "engines for land,
air, and water") surrounded by traditional laurels from the Benz logo, and the brand of all of its automobiles was
labeled Mercedes-Benz. Model names would follow the brand name in the same convention as today.
The next year, 1927, the number of units sold tripled to 7,918 and the diesel line was launched for truck
production. In 1928, the Mercedes-Benz SSK was presented.
On 4 April 1929, Karl Benz died at home in Ladenburg at the age of eighty-four from a bronchial inflammation.
Until her death on 5 May 1944, Bertha Benz continued to reside in their last home. Members of the family
resided in the home for thirty more years. The Benz home now has been designated as historic and is used as
a scientific meeting facility for a nonprofit foundation, the Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz Foundation, that
honors both Bertha and Karl Benz for their roles in the history of automobiles.
The Carl Benz monument in Mannheim (2015)
The Carl Benz monument in Mannheim (2015)
The Carl Benz monument in Mannheim (2015)
The Carl Benz monument in Mannheim (2015)
The Carl Benz monument in Mannheim (2015)
The Carl Benz monument in Mannheim, in the evening (2015)
In popular culture
In 2011, a dramatized television movie about the life of Karl and Bertha Benz was made named Carl &
Bertha which premiered on 11 May[26] and was aired by Das Erste on 23 May.[27][28] A trailer of the movie[29] and a
"making of" special were released on YouTube.[30]
Sir Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton (25 December 1642–31 March 1727) is credited with introducing the idea that the motion
of objects in the heavens, such as planets, the Sun, and the Moon, and the motion of objects on the
ground, like cannon balls and falling apples, could be described by the same set of physical laws. In this
sense he unified celestial and terrestrial dynamics. Using Newton's law of universal gravitation, proving
Kepler's Laws for the case of a circular orbit is simple. Elliptical orbits involve more complex calculations,
which Newton included in his Principia. Sir Isaac Newton FRS PRS (25 December 1642 – 20
March 1726/27[1]) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, theologian,
and author (described in his own day as a "natural philosopher") who is widely recognised as one of the
most influential scientists of all time, and a key figure in the scientific revolution. His book Philosophiæ
Naturalis Principia Mathematica ("Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy"), first published in
1687, laid the foundations of classical mechanics. Newton also made seminal contributions to optics,
and shares credit with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnizfor developing the infinitesimal calculus.
In Principia, Newton formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation that formed the dominant
scientific viewpoint until it was superseded by the theory of relativity. Newton used his mathematical
description of gravity to prove Kepler's laws of planetary motion, account for tides,
the trajectories of comets, the precession of the equinoxes and other phenomena, eradicating doubt
about the Solar System's heliocentricity. He demonstrated that the motion of
objects on Earth and celestial bodies could be accounted for by the same principles. Newton's inference
that the Earth is an oblate spheroid was later confirmed by the geodetic measurements
of Maupertuis, La Condamine, and others, convincing most European scientists of the superiority of
Newtonian mechanics over earlier systems.
Newton built the first practical reflecting telescope and developed a sophisticated theory of colour
based on the observation that a prism separates white light into the colours of the visible spectrum. His
work on light was collected in his highly influential book Opticks, published in 1704. He also formulated
an empirical law of cooling, made the first theoretical calculation of the speed of sound, and introduced
the notion of a Newtonian fluid. In addition to his work on calculus, as a mathematician Newton
contributed to the study of power series, generalised the binomial theorem to non-integer exponents,
developed a method for approximating the roots of a function, and classified most of the cubic plane
curves.
Sir
Isaac Newton
FRS PRS
Portrait of Newton by Godfrey Kneller, 1689
Newton was a fellow of Trinity College and the second Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at
the University of Cambridge. He was a devout but unorthodox Christian who privately rejected the
doctrine of the Trinity. Unusually for a member of the Cambridge faculty of the day, he refused to
take holy orders in the Church of England. Beyond his work on the mathematical sciences, Newton
dedicated much of his time to the study of alchemy and biblical chronology, but most of his work in
those areas remained unpublished until long after his death. Politically and personally tied to the Whig
party, Newton served two brief terms as Member of Parliament for the University of Cambridge, in
1689–90 and 1701–02. He was knighted by Queen Anne in 1705 and spent the last three decades of his
life in London, serving as Warden (1696–1700) and Master (1700–1727) of the Royal Mint, as well as
president of the Royal Society (1703–1727).
European scientists of the superiority of Newtonian mechanics over earlier systems.
Newton built the first practical reflecting telescope and developed a sophisticated theory of colour
based on the observation that a prism separates white light into the colours of the visible spectrum. His
work on light was collected in his highly influential book Opticks, published in 1704. He also formulated
an empirical law of cooling, made the first theoretical calculation of the speed of sound, and introduced
the notion of a Newtonian fluid. In addition to his work on calculus, as a mathematician Newton
contributed to the study of power series, generalised the binomial theorem to non-integer exponents,
developed a method for approximating the roots of a function, and classified most of the cubic plane
curves.
Newton was a fellow of Trinity College and the second Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at
the University of Cambridge. He was a devout but unorthodox Christian who privately rejected the
doctrine of the Trinity. Unusually for a member of the Cambridge faculty of the day, he refused to
take holy orders in the Church of England. Beyond his work on the mathematical sciences, Newton
dedicated much of his time to the study of alchemy and biblical chronology, but most of his work in
those areas remained unpublished until long after his death. Politically and personally tied to the Whig
party, Newton served two brief terms as Member of Parliament for the University of Cambridge, in
1689–90 and 1701–02. He was knighted by Queen Anne in 1705 and spent the last three decades of his
life in London, serving as Warden (1696–1700) and Master (1700–1727) of the Royal Mint, as well as
president of the Royal Society (1703–1727).
Life
Early life
Early life of Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton was born (according to the Julian calendar, in use in England at the time) on Christmas
Day, 25 December 1642 (NS 4 January 1643[1]) "an hour or two after midnight",[6] at Woolsthorpe
Manor in Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth, a hamlet in the county of Lincolnshire. His father, also named
Isaac Newton, had died three months before. Born prematurely, Newton was a small child; his mother
Hannah Ayscough reportedly said that he could have fit inside a quartmug.[7] When Newton was three,
his mother remarried and went to live with her new husband, the Reverend Barnabas Smith, leaving her
son in the care of his maternal grandmother, Margery Ayscough. Newton disliked his stepfather and
maintained some enmity towards his mother for marrying him, as revealed by this entry in a list of sins
committed up to the age of 19: "Threatening my father and mother Smith to burn them and the house
over them."[8] Newton's mother had three children from her second marriage
Part of a series on
Physical cosmology
Big Bang · Universe
Age of the universe
Chronology of the universe
.[9]
From the age of about twelve until he was seventeen, Newton was educated at The King's School,
Grantham, which taught Latin and Greek and probably imparted a significant foundation of
mathematics.[10] He was removed from school, and returned to Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth by
October 1659. His mother, widowed for the second time, attempted to make him a farmer, an
occupation he hated.[11] Henry Stokes, master at The King's School, persuaded his mother to send him
back to school. Motivated partly by a desire for revenge against a schoolyard bully, he became the top-
ranked student,[12] distinguishing himself mainly by building sundials and models of windmills.[13]
In June 1661, he was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge, on the recommendation of his uncle Rev
William Ayscough, who had studied there. He started as a subsizar—paying his way by
performing valet's duties—until he was awarded a scholarship in 1664, guaranteeing him four more
years until he could get his MA.[14] At that time, the college's teachings were based on those
of Aristotle, whom Newton supplemented with modern philosophers such as Descartes,
and astronomers such as Galileo and Thomas Street, through whom he learned of Kepler's work. He set
down in his notebook a series of "Quaestiones" about mechanical philosophy as he found it. In 1665, he
discovered the generalised binomial theorem and began to develop a mathematical theory that later
became calculus. Soon after Newton had obtained his BA degree in August 1665, the university
temporarily closed as a precaution against the Great Plague. Although he had been undistinguished as a
Cambridge student,[15] Newton's private studies at his home in Woolsthorpe over the subsequent two
years saw the development of his theories on calculus,[16] optics, and the law of gravitation.
In April 1667, he returned to Cambridge and in October was elected as a fellow of Trinity.[17]
[18] Fellows were required to become ordained priests, although this was not enforced in the
restoration years and an assertion of conformity to the Church of England was sufficient. However, by
1675 the issue could not be avoided and by then his unconventional views stood in the way.
[19] Nevertheless, Newton managed to avoid it by means of a special permission from Charles II.
His studies had impressed the Lucasian professor Isaac Barrow, who was more anxious to develop his
own religious and administrative potential (he became master of Trinity two years later); in 1669
Newton succeeded him, only one year after receiving his MA. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal
Society (FRS) in 1672.[2]
Middle years
Mathematics
Sir Isaac Newton[20]
Newton's work has been said "to distinctly advance every branch of mathematics then studied."[21] His
work on the subject usually referred to as fluxions or calculus, seen in a manuscript of October 1666, is
now published among Newton's mathematical papers.[22] The author of the manuscript De analysi per
aequationes numero terminorum infinitas, sent by Isaac Barrow to John Collins in June 1669, was
identified by Barrow in a letter sent to Collins in August of that year as "[...] of an extraordinary genius
and proficiency in these things."[23]
Newton later became involved in a dispute with Leibniz over priority in the development of calculus
(the Leibniz–Newton calculus controversy). Most modern historians believe that Newton and Leibniz
developed calculus independently, although with very different mathematical notations. Occasionally it
has been suggested that Newton published almost nothing about it until 1693, and did not give a full
account until 1704, while Leibniz began publishing a full account of his methods in 1684. Leibniz's
notation and "differential Method", nowadays recognised as much more convenient notations, were
adopted by continental European mathematicians, and after 1820 or so, also by British mathematicians.[
Such a suggestion fails to account for the calculus in Book 1 of Newton's Principia itself and in its
forerunner manuscripts, such as De motu corporum in gyrum of 1684; this content has been pointed out
by critics[of both Newton's time and modern times.[
His work extensively uses calculus in geometric form based on limiting values of the ratios of vanishingly
small quantities: in the Principia itself, Newton gave demonstration of this under the name of "the
method of first and last ratios"[24] and explained why he put his expositions in this form,[25]remarking
also that "hereby the same thing is performed as by the method of indivisibles."[
Because of this, the Principia has been called "a book dense with the theory and application of the
infinitesimal calculus" in modern times[26] and in Newton's time "nearly all of it is of this
calculus."[27] His use of methods involving "one or more orders of the infinitesimally small" is present in
his De motu corporum in gyrum of 1684[28] and in his papers on motion "during the two decades
preceding 1684".[29]
Newton in 1702 by Godfrey Kneller
Newton had been reluctant to publish his calculus because he feared controversy and criticism.[30] He
was close to the Swiss mathematician Nicolas Fatio de Duillier. In 1691, Duillier started to write a new
version of Newton's Principia, and corresponded with Leibniz.[31] In 1693, the relationship between
Duillier and Newton deteriorated and the book was never completed.[
Starting in 1699, other members[who?] of the Royal Society accused Leibniz of plagiarism.[32] The
dispute then broke out in full force in 1711 when the Royal Society proclaimed in a study that it was
Newton who was the true discoverer and labelled Leibniz a fraud; it was later found that Newton wrote
the study's concluding remarks on Leibniz. Thus began the bitter controversy which marred the lives of
both Newton and Leibniz until the latter's death in 1716.[33]
Newton is generally credited with the generalised binomial theorem, valid for any exponent. He
discovered Newton's identities, Newton's method, classified cubic plane curves (polynomials of degree
three in two variables), made substantial contributions to the theory of finite differences, and was the
first to use fractional indices and to employ coordinate geometry to derive solutions to Diophantine
equations. He approximated partial sums of the harmonic series by logarithms (a precursor to Euler's
summation formula) and was the first to use power series with confidence and to revert power series.
Newton's work on infinite series was inspired by Simon Stevin's decimals.[34]
When Newton received his MA and became a Fellow of the "College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity"
in 1667, he made the commitment that "I will either set Theology as the object of my studies and will
take holy orders when the time prescribed by these statutes [7 years] arrives, or I will resign from the
college."[35] Up until this point he had not thought much about religion and had twice signed his
agreement to the thirty-nine articles, the basis of Church of England doctrine.
He was appointed Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in 1669, on Barrow's recommendation. During
that time, any Fellow of a college at Cambridge or Oxford was required to take holy orders and become
an ordained Anglican priest. However, the terms of the Lucasian professorship required that the
holder not be active in the church – presumablyso as to have more time for science. Newton argued that
this should exempt him from the ordination requirement, and Charles II, whose permission was needed,
accepted this argument. Thus a conflict between Newton's religious views and Anglican orthodoxy was
averted.[36]
Optics
Replica of Newton's second reflecting telescope, which he presented to the Royal Society in 1672[37]
In 1666, Newton observed that the spectrum of colours exiting a prism in the position of minimum
deviation is oblong, even when the light ray entering the prism is circular, which is to say, the prism
refracts different colours by different angles.[38][39]This led him to conclude that colour is a property
intrinsic to light—a point which had been debated in prior years.
From 1670 to 1672, Newton lectured on optics.[40] During this period he investigated the refraction of
light, demonstrating that the multicoloured spectrum produced by a prism could be recomposed into
white light by a lens and a second prism.[41]Modern scholarship has revealed that Newton's analysis
and resynthesis of white light owes a debt to corpuscular alchemy.[42]
He showed that coloured light does not change its properties by separating out a coloured beam and
shining it on various objects, and that regardless of whether reflected, scattered, or transmitted, the
light remains the same colour. Thus, he observed that colour is the result of objects interacting with
already-coloured light rather than objects generating the colour themselves. This is known as Newton's
theory of colour.[43]
Illustration of a dispersive prismseparating white light into the colours of the spectrum, as discovered by
Newton
From this work, he concluded that the lens of any refracting telescope would suffer from
the dispersion of light into colours (chromatic aberration). As a proof of the concept, he constructed a
telescope using reflective mirrors instead of lenses as the objective to bypass that problem.[44]
[45] Building the design, the first known functional reflecting telescope, today known as a Newtonian
telescope,[45] involved solving the problem of a suitable mirror material and shaping technique.
Newton ground his own mirrors out of a custom composition of highly reflective speculum metal,
using Newton's rings to judge the quality of the optics for his telescopes. In late 1668,[46] he was able to
produce this first reflecting telescope. It was about eight inches long and it gave a clearer and larger
image. In 1671, the Royal Society asked for a demonstration of his reflecting telescope.[47]Their interest
encouraged him to publish his notes, Of Colours,[48] which he later expanded into the work Opticks.
When Robert Hooke criticised some of Newton's ideas, Newton was so offended that he withdrew from
public debate. Newton and Hooke had brief exchanges in 1679–80, when Hooke, appointed to manage
the Royal Society's correspondence, opened up a correspondence intended to elicit contributions from
Newton to Royal Society transactions,[49] which had the effect of stimulating Newton to work out a
proof that the elliptical form of planetary orbits would result from a centripetal force inversely
proportional to the square of the radius vector. But the two men remained generally on poor terms until
Hooke's death.[50]
Facsimile of a 1682 letter from Isaac Newton to Dr William Briggs, commenting on Briggs' A New Theory
of Vision.
Newton argued that light is composed of particles or corpuscles, which were refracted by accelerating
into a denser medium. He verged on soundlike waves to explain the repeated pattern of reflection and
transmission by thin films (Opticks Bk.II, Props. 12), but still retained his theory of 'fits' that disposed
corpuscles to be reflected or transmitted (Props.13). However, later physicists favoured a purely
wavelike explanation of light to account for the interference patterns and the general phenomenon
of diffraction. Today's quantum mechanics, photons, and the idea of wave–particle duality bear only a
minor resemblance to Newton's understanding of light.
In his Hypothesis of Light of 1675, Newton posited the existence of the ether to transmit forces between
particles. The contact with the Cambridge Platonist philosopher Henry More revived his interest in
alchemy.[51] He replaced the ether with occult forces based on Hermetic ideas of attraction and
repulsion between particles. John Maynard Keynes, who acquired many of Newton's writings on
alchemy, stated that "Newton was not the first of the age of reason: He was the last of the
magicians."[52] Newton's interest in alchemy cannot be isolated from his contributions to science.
[51] This was at a time when there was no clear distinction between alchemy and science. Had he not
relied on the occult idea of action at a distance, across a vacuum, he might not have developed his
theory of gravity.
In 1704, Newton published Opticks, in which he expounded his corpuscular theory of light. He
considered light to be made up of extremely subtle corpuscles, that ordinary matter was made of
grosser corpuscles and speculated that through a kind of alchemical transmutation "Are not gross
Bodies and Light convertible into one another, ... and may not Bodies receive much of their Activity from
the Particles of Light which enter their Composition?"[53] Newton also constructed a primitive form of a
frictional electrostatic generator, using a glass globe.[54]
In an article entitled "Newton, prisms, and the 'opticks' of tunable lasers"[55] it is indicated that Newton
in his book Opticks was the first to show a diagram using a prism as a beam expander. In the same book
he describes, via diagrams, the use of multiple-prism arrays. Some 278 years after Newton's
discussion, multiple-prism beam expanders became central to the development of narrow-
linewidth tunable lasers. Also, the use of these prismatic beam expanders led to the multiple-prism
dispersion theory.[55]
Subsequent to Newton, much has been amended. Young and Fresnel combined Newton's particle
theory with Huygens' wave theory to show that colour is the visible manifestation of light's wavelength.
Science also slowly came to realise the difference between perception of colour and mathematisable
optics. The German poet and scientist, Goethe, could not shake the Newtonian foundation but "one
hole Goethe did find in Newton's armour, ... Newton had committed himself to the doctrine that
refraction without colour was impossible. He therefore thought that the object-glasses of telescopes
must for ever remain imperfect, achromatism and refraction being incompatible. This inference was
proved by Dollond to be wrong."[56]
Engraving of a Portrait of Sir Isaac Newton by John Vanderbank
Mechanics and gravitation
Writing of Principia Mathematica
Newton's own copy of his Principia, with hand-written corrections for the second edition, in the Wren
Library at Trinity College, Cambridge.
In 1679, Newton returned to his work on celestial mechanics by considering gravitation and its effect on
the orbits of planets with reference to Kepler's laws of planetary motion. This followed stimulation by a
brief exchange of letters in 1679–80 with Hooke, who had been appointed to manage the Royal Society's
correspondence, and who opened a correspondence intended to elicit contributions from Newton to
Royal Society transactions.[49] Newton's reawakening interest in astronomical matters received further
stimulus by the appearance of a comet in the winter of 1680–1681, on which he corresponded with John
Flamsteed.[57] After the exchanges with Hooke, Newton worked out proof that the elliptical form of
planetary orbits would result from a centripetal force inversely proportional to the square of the radius
vector. Newton communicated his results to Edmond Halley and to the Royal Society in De motu
corporum in gyrum, a tract written on about nine sheets which was copied into the Royal Society's
Register Book in December 1684.[58] This tract contained the nucleus that Newton developed and
expanded to form the Principia.
The Principia was published on 5 July 1687 with encouragement and financial help from Edmond Halley.
In this work, Newton stated the three universal laws of motion. Together, these laws describe the
relationship between any object, the forces acting upon it and the resulting motion, laying the
foundation for classical mechanics. They contributed to many advances during the Industrial
Revolution which soon followed and were not improved upon for more than 200 years. Many of these
advancements continue to be the underpinnings of non-relativistic technologies in the modern world.
He used the Latin word gravitas (weight) for the effect that would become known as gravity, and defined
the law of universal gravitation
In the same work, Newton presented a calculus-like method of geometrical analysis using 'first and last
ratios', gave the first analytical determination (based on Boyle's law) of the speed of sound in air,
inferred the oblateness of Earth's spheroidal figure, accounted for the precession of the equinoxes as a
result of the Moon's gravitational attraction on the Earth's oblateness, initiated the gravitational study
of the irregularities in the motion of the Moon, provided a theory for the determination of the orbits of
comets, and much more
Newton made clear his heliocentric view of the Solar System—developed in a somewhat modern way,
because already in the mid-1680s he recognised the "deviation of the Sun" from the centre of gravity of
the Solar System.[59] For Newton, it was not precisely the centre of the Sun or any other body that
could be considered at rest, but rather "the common centre of gravity of the Earth, the Sun and all the
Planets is to be esteem'd the Centre of the World", and this centre of gravity "either is at rest or moves
uniformly forward in a right line" (Newton adopted the "at rest" alternative in view of common consent
that the centre, wherever it was, was at rest).[60]
Newton's postulate of an invisible force able to act over vast distances led to him being criticised for
introducing "occult agencies" into science.[61] Later, in the second edition of the Principia (1713),
Newton firmly rejected such criticisms in a concluding General Scholium, writing that it was enough that
the phenomena implied a gravitational attraction, as they did; but they did not so far indicate its cause,
and it was both unnecessary and improper to frame hypotheses of things that were not implied by the
phenomena. (Here Newton used what became his famous expression "hypotheses non-fingo"[62]).
With the Principia, Newton became internationally recognised.[63] He acquired a circle of admirers,
including the Swiss-born mathematician Nicolas Fatio de Duillier.[64]
Classification of cubics
Main article: Cubic plane curve
Newton found 72 of the 78 "species" of cubic curves and categorized them into four types.[when?] In
1717, and probably with Newton's help, James Stirling proved that every cubic was one of these four
types. Newton also claimed that the four types could be obtained by plane projection from one of them,
and this was proved in 1731, four years after his death.[65]
Later life
Later life of Isaac Newton
In the 1690s, Newton wrote a number of religious tracts dealing with the literal and symbolic
interpretation of the Bible. A manuscript Newton sent to John Locke in which he disputed the fidelity
of 1 John 5:7—the Johannine Comma—and its fidelity to the original manuscripts of the New Testament,
remained unpublished until 1785.[66]
Scholars long debated whetherNewton disputed the doctrine of the Trinity. His first biographer, Sir
David Brewster, who compiled his manuscripts, interpreted Newton as questioning the veracity of some
passages used to support the Trinity, but never denying the doctrine of the Trinity as such.[67] In the
twentieth century, encrypted manuscripts written by Newton and bought by John Maynard
Keynes (among others) were deciphered[52] and it became known that Newton did indeed reject
Trinitarianism.[68]
Isaac Newton in old age in 1712, portrait by Sir James Thornhill
Later works—The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended (1728) and Observations Upon the
Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John (1733)—were published after his death. He also
devoted a great deal of time to alchemy.
Newton was also a member of the Parliament of England for Cambridge University in 1689 and 1701,
but according to some accounts his only comments were to complain about a cold draught in the
chamber and request that the window be closed.[69] He was, however, noted by Cambridge
diarist Abraham de la Pryme to have rebuked students who were frightening locals by claiming that a
house was haunted.[70]
Newton moved to London to take up the post of warden of the Royal Mint in 1696, a position that he
had obtained through the patronage of Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, then Chancellor of the
Exchequer. He took charge of England's great recoining, trodden on the toes of Lord Lucas, Governor of
the Tower, and secured the job of deputy comptroller of the temporary Chester branch for Edmond
Halley. Newton became perhaps the best-known Master of the Mint upon the death of Thomas Neale in
1699, a position Newton held for the last 30 years of his life.[71][72] These appointments were intended
as sinecures, but Newton took them seriously. He retired from his Cambridge duties in 1701, and
exercised his authority to reform the currency and punish clippers and counterfeiters.
As Warden, and afterwards as Master, of the Royal Mint, Newton estimated that 20 per cent of the
coins taken in during the Great Recoinage of 1696 were counterfeit. Counterfeiting was high treason,
punishable by the felon being hanged, drawn and quartered. Despite this, convicting even the most
flagrant criminals could be extremely difficult, however, Newton proved equal to the task.[73]
Disguised as a habitué of bars and taverns, he gathered much of that evidence himself.[74] For all the
barriers placed to prosecution, and separating the branches of government, English law still had ancient
and formidable customs of authority. Newton had himself made a justice of the peace in all the home
counties. A draft letter regarding the matter is included in Newton's personal first edition of Philosophiæ
Naturalis Principia Mathematica, which he must have been amending at the time.[75]Then he
conducted more than 100 cross-examinations of witnesses, informers, and suspects between June 1698
and Christmas 1699. Newton successfully prosecuted 28 coiners.[76]
Coat of arms of the Newton family of Great Gonerby, Lincolnshire, afterwards used by Sir Isaac.[77]
As a result of a report written by Newton on 21 September 1717 to the Lords Commissioners of His
Majesty's Treasury, the bimetallic relationship between gold coins and silver coins was changed by Royal
proclamation on 22 December 1717, forbidding the exchange of gold guineas for more than 21 silver
shillings.[78] This inadvertently resulted in a silver shortage as silver coins were used to pay for imports,
while exports were paid for in gold, effectively moving Britain from the silver standard to its first gold
standard. It is a matter of debate as to whether he intended to do this or not.[79] It has been argued
that Newton conceived of his work at the Mint as a continuation of his alchemical work.[80]
Newton was made President of the Royal Society in 1703 and an associate of the French Académie des
Sciences. In his position at the Royal Society, Newton made an enemy of John Flamsteed,
the Astronomer Royal, by prematurely publishing Flamsteed's Historia Coelestis Britannica, which
Newton had used in his studies.[81]
In April 1705, Queen Anne knighted Newton during a royal visit to Trinity College, Cambridge. The
knighthood is likely to have been motivated by political considerations connected with
the Parliamentary election in May 1705, rather than any recognition of Newton's scientific work or
services as Master of the Mint.[82] Newton was the second scientist to be knighted, after Sir Francis
Bacon.[83]
Newton was one of many people who lost heavily when the South Sea Company collapsed. Their most
significant trade was slaves, and according to his niece, he lost around £20,000.[84]
Toward the end of his life, Newton took up residence at Cranbury Park, near Winchester with his niece
and her husband, until his death in 1727.[85] His half-niece, Catherine Barton Conduitt,[86] served as his
hostess in social affairs at his house on Jermyn Street in London; he was her "very loving Uncle",
[87] according to his letter to her when she was recovering from smallpox.
Death
Newton died in his sleep in London on 20 March 1727 (OS 20 March 1726; NS 31 March 1727).[1] His
body was buried in Westminster Abbey.[88] Voltaire may have been present at his funeral.[89] A
bachelor, he had divested much of his estate to relatives during his last years, and died intestate.[90] His
papers went to John Conduitt and Catherine Barton.[91] After his death, Newton's hair was examined
and found to contain mercury, probably resulting from his alchemical pursuits. Mercury poisoningcould
explain Newton's eccentricity in late life.[90]
Personal relations
Although it was claimed that he was once engaged,[92] Newton never married. The French writer and
philosopher Voltaire, who was in London at the time of Newton's funeral, said that he "was never
sensible to any passion, was not subject to the common frailties of mankind, nor had any commerce
with women—a circumstance which was assured me by the physician and surgeon who attended him in
his last moments".[93] The widespread belief that he died a virgin has been commented on by writers
such as mathematician Charles Hutton,[94] economist John Maynard Keynes,[95] and physicist Carl
Sagan.[96]
Newton had a close friendship with the Swiss mathematician Nicolas Fatio de Duillier, whom he met in
London around 1689[64]—some of their correspondence has survived.[97][98] Their relationship came
to an abrupt and unexplained end in 1693, and at the same time Newton suffered a nervous
breakdown[99] which included sending wild accusatory letters to his friends Samuel Pepys and John
Locke—his note to the latter included the charge that Locke "endeavoured to embroil me with
woemen".[100]
After death
Isaac Newton in popular culture
Fame
Newton's tomb monument in Westminster Abbey
The mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange said that Newton was the greatest genius who ever lived, and
once added that Newton was also "the most fortunate, for we cannot find more than once a system of
the world to establish."[101] English poet Alexander Pope wrote the famous epitaph:
Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night;
God said "Let Newton be" and all was light.
Newton was relatively modest about his achievements, writing in a letter to Robert Hooke in February
1676:
If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.[102]
Two writers think that the above quotation, written at a time when Newton and Hooke were in dispute
over optical discoveries, was an oblique attack on Hooke (said to have been short and hunchbacked),
rather than—or in addition to—a statement of modesty.[103][104]On the other hand, the widely known
proverb about standing on the shoulders of giants, published among others by seventeenth-century
poet George Herbert (a former orator of the University of Cambridge and fellow of Trinity College) in
his Jacula Prudentum (1651), had as its main point that "a dwarf on a giant's shoulders sees farther of
the two", and so its effect as an analogy would place Newton himself rather than Hooke as the 'dwarf'.
In a later memoir, Newton wrote:
I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing
on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell
than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.[105]
In 1816, a tooth said to have belonged to Newton was sold for £730[106] (us$3,633) in London to an
aristocrat who had it set in a ring.[107] The Guinness World Records2002 classified it as the most
valuable tooth, which would value approximately £25,000 (us$35,700) in late 2001.[107] Who bought it
and who currently has it has not been disclosed.
Albert Einstein kept a picture of Newton on his study wall alongside ones of Michael Faraday and James
Clerk Maxwell.[108] Newton remains influential to today's scientists, as demonstrated by a 2005 survey
of members of Britain's Royal Society (formerly headed by Newton) asking who had the greater effect
on the history of science, Newton or Einstein. Royal Society scientists deemed Newton to have made the
greater overall contribution.[109] In 1999, an opinion poll of 100 of today's leading physicists voted
Einstein the "greatest physicist ever;" with Newton the runner-up, while a parallel survey of rank-and-
file physicists by the site PhysicsWeb gave the top spot to Newton.[110]
Commemorations
Newton statue on display at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Newton's monument (1731) can be seen in Westminster Abbey, at the north of the entrance to the
choir against the choir screen, near his tomb. It was executed by the sculptor Michael Rysbrack (1694–
1770) in white and grey marble with design by the architect William Kent. The monument features a
figure of Newton reclining on top of a sarcophagus, his right elbow resting on several of his great books
and his left hand pointing to a scroll with a mathematical design. Above him is a pyramid and a celestial
globe showing the signs of the Zodiac and the path of the comet of 1680. A relief panel
depicts putti using instruments such as a telescope and prism.[111] The Latin inscription on the base
translates as:
Here is buried Isaac Newton, Knight, who by a strength of mind almost divine, and mathematical
principles peculiarly his own, explored the course and figures of the planets, the paths of comets, the
tides of the sea, the dissimilarities in rays of light, and, what no other scholar has previously imagined,
the properties of the colours thus produced. Diligent, sagacious and faithful, in his expositions of nature,
antiquity and the holy Scriptures, he vindicated by his philosophy the majesty of God mighty and good,
and expressed the simplicity of the Gospel in his manners. Mortals rejoice that there has existed such
and so great an ornament of the human race! He was born on 25 December 1642, and died on 20 March
1726/7.—Translation from G.L. Smyth, The Monuments and Genii of St. Paul's Cathedral, and of
Westminster Abbey (1826), ii, 703–704.[111]
From 1978 until 1988, an image of Newton designed by Harry Ecclestone appeared on Series D
£1 banknotes issued by the Bank of England (the last £1 notes to be issued by the Bank of England).
Newton was shown on the reverse of the notes holding a book and accompanied by a telescope, a prism
and a map of the Solar System.[112]
Eduardo Paolozzi's Newton, after William Blake (1995), outside the British Library
A statue of Isaac Newton, looking at an apple at his feet, can be seen at the Oxford University Museum
of Natural History. A large bronze statue, Newton, after William Blake, by Eduardo Paolozzi, dated 1995
and inspired by Blake's etching, dominates the piazza of the British Library in London.
Religious views
Religious views of Isaac Newton
Although born into an Anglican family, by his thirties Newton held a Christian faith that, had it been
made public, would not have been considered orthodox by mainstream Christianity;[113] in recent
times he has been described as a heretic.[68]
By 1672 he had started to record his theological researches in notebooks which he showed to no one
and which have only recently been examined. They demonstrate an extensive knowledge of early church
writings and show that in the conflict between Athanasius and Arius which defined the Creed, he took
the side of Arius, the loser, who rejected the conventional view of the Trinity. Newton "recognized Christ
as a divine mediator between God and man, who was subordinate to the Father who created
him."[114] He was especially interested in prophecy, but for him, "the great apostasy was
trinitarianism."[115]
Newton tried unsuccessfully to obtain one of the two fellowships that exempted the holder from the
ordination requirement. At the last moment in 1675 he received a dispensation from the government
that excused him and all future holders of the Lucasian chair.[116]
In Newton's eyes, worshipping Christ as God was idolatry, to him the fundamental
sin. [117] Historian Stephen D. Snobelen says, "Isaac Newton was a heretic. But ... he never made a
public declaration of his private faith—which the orthodox would have deemed extremely radical. He
hid his faith so well that scholars are still unravelling his personal beliefs."[68] Snobelen concludes that
Newton was at least a Socinian sympathiser (he owned and had thoroughly read at least eight Socinian
books), possibly an Arian and almost certainly an anti-trinitarian.[68]
In a minority view, T.C. Pfizenmaier argues that Newton held the Eastern Orthodox view on the Trinity.
[118] However, this type of view 'has lost support of late with the availability of Newton's theological
papers',[119] and now most scholars identify Newton as an Antitrinitarian monotheist.[68][120]
Although the laws of motion and universal gravitation became Newton's best-known discoveries, he
warned against using them to view the Universe as a mere machine, as if akin to a great clock. He said,
"Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who set the planets in motion. God
governs all things and knows all that is or can be done."[121]
Along with his scientific fame, Newton's studies of the Bible and of the early Church Fathers were also
noteworthy. Newton wrote works on textual criticism, most notably An Historical Account of Two
Notable Corruptions of Scripture and Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse
of St. John.[122] He placed the crucifixion of Jesus Christ at 3 April, AD 33, which agrees with one
traditionally accepted date.[123]
He believed in a rationally immanent world, but he rejected the hylozoism implicit in Leibniz and Baruch
Spinoza. The ordered and dynamically informed Universe could be understood, and must be
understood, by an active reason. In his correspondence, Newton claimed that in writing the Principia "I
had an eye upon such Principles as might work with considering men for the belief of a Deity".[124] He
saw evidence of design in the system of the world: "Such a wonderful uniformity in the planetary system
must be allowed the effect of choice". But Newton insisted that divine intervention would eventually be
required to reform the system, due to the slow growth of instabilities.[125] For this, Leibniz lampooned
him: "God Almighty wants to wind up his watch from time to time: otherwise it would cease to move.
He had not, it seems, sufficient foresight to make it a perpetual motion."[126]
Newton's position was vigorously defended by his follower Samuel Clarke in a famous correspondence.
A century later, Pierre-Simon Laplace's work "Celestial Mechanics" had a natural explanation for why the
planet orbits do not require periodic divine intervention.[127]
Effect on religious thought
Newton, by William Blake; here, Newton is depicted critically as a "divine geometer". This copy of the
work is currently held by the Tate Collection.[128]
Newton and Robert Boyle's approach to the mechanical philosophy was promoted
by rationalist pamphleteers as a viable alternative to the pantheists and enthusiasts, and was accepted
hesitantly by orthodox preachers as well as dissident preachers like the latitudinarians.[129] The clarity
and simplicity of science was seen as a way to combat the emotional and metaphysical superlatives of
both superstitious enthusiasm and the threat of atheism,[130] and at the same time, the second wave
of English deists used Newton's discoveries to demonstrate the possibility of a "Natural Religion".
The attacks made against pre-Enlightenment "magical thinking", and the mystical elements of
Christianity, were given their foundation with Boyle's mechanical conception of the Universe. Newton
gave Boyle's ideas their completion through mathematical proofs and, perhaps more importantly, was
very successful in popularising them.[131]
Occult
Isaac Newton's occult studies and eschatology
In a manuscript he wrote in 1704 (never intended to be published) he mentions the date of 2060, but it
is not given as a date for the end of days. It has been falsely reported as a prediction.[132] The passage
is clear, when the date is read in context. He was against date setting for the end of days, concerned
that this would put Christianity into disrepute.
"So then the time times & half a time [sic] are 42 months or 1260 days or three years & an half,
recconing twelve months to a year & 30 days to a month as was done in the Calender [sic] of the
primitive year. And the days of short lived Beasts being put for the years of [long-]lived kingdoms the
period of 1260 days, if dated from the complete conquest of the three kings A.C. 800, will end 2060. It
may end later, but I see no reason for its ending sooner."[133]
"This I mention not to assert when the time of the end shall be, but to put a stop to the rash conjectures
of fanciful men who are frequently predicting the time of the end, and by doing so bring the sacred
prophesies into discredit as often as their predictions fail. Christ comes as a thief in the night, and it is
not for us to know the times and seasons which God hath put into his own breast."[134][132]
Alchemy
In the character of Morton Opperly in "Poor Superman" (1951), speculative fiction author Fritz
Leiber says of Newton, "Everyone knows Newton as the great scientist. Few remember that he spent
half his life muddling with alchemy, looking for the philosopher's stone. That was the pebble by the
seashore he really wanted to find."[135]
Of an estimated ten million words of writing in Newton's papers, about one million deal with alchemy.
Many of Newton's writings on alchemy are copies of other manuscripts, with his own annotations.
[91] Alchemical texts mix artisanal knowledge with philosophical speculation, often hidden behind layers
of wordplay, allegory, and imagery to protect craft secrets.[136] Some of the content contained in
Newton's papers could have been considered heretical by the church.[91]
In 1888, after spending sixteen years cataloging Newton's papers, Cambridge University kept a small
number and returned the rest to the Earl of Portsmouth. In 1936, a descendant offered the papers for
sale at Sotheby's.[137] The collection was broken up and sold for a total of about £9,000.[138] John
Maynard Keynes was one of about three dozen bidders who obtained part of the collection at auction.
Keynes went on to reassemble an estimated half of Newton's collection of papers on alchemy before
donating his collection to Cambridge University in 1946.[91][137][139]
All of Newton's known writings on alchemy are currently being put online in a project undertaken
by Indiana University: "The Chymistry of Isaac Newton".[140]
Newton's fundamental contributions to science include the quantification of gravitational attraction, the
discovery that white light is actually a mixture of immutable spectral colors, and the formulation of the
calculus. Yet there is another, more mysterious side to Newton that is imperfectly known, a realm of
activity that spanned some thirty years of his life, although he kept it largely hidden from his
contemporaries and colleagues. We refer to Newton's involvement in the discipline of alchemy, or as it
was often called in seventeenth-century England, "chymistry."[140]
Enlightenment philosophers
Enlightenment philosophers chose a short history of scientific predecessors – Galileo, Boyle, and
Newton principally – as the guides and guarantors of their applications of the singular concept
of nature and natural law to every physical and social field of the day. In this respect, the lessons of
history and the social structures built upon it could be discarded.[141]
It was Newton's conception of the universe based upon natural and rationally understandable laws that
became one of the seeds for Enlightenment ideology.[142] Locke and Voltaire applied concepts of
natural law to political systems advocating intrinsic rights; the physiocrats and Adam Smith applied
natural conceptions of psychologyand self-interest to economic systems; and sociologists criticised the
current social order for trying to fit history into natural models of progress. Monboddo and Samuel
Clarke resisted elements of Newton's work, but eventually rationalised it to conform with their strong
religious views of nature.
Apple incident
Reputed descendants of Newton's apple tree (from top to bottom) at Trinity College, Cambridge,
the Cambridge University Botanic Garden, and the Instituto Balseiro library garden in Argentina.
Newton himself often told the story that he was inspired to formulate his theory of gravitation by
watching the fall of an apple from a tree.[143][144] Although it has been said that the apple story is a
myth and that he did not arrive at his theory of gravity in any single moment,[145] acquaintances of
Newton (such as William Stukeley, whose manuscript account of 1752 has been made available by the
Royal Society) do in fact confirm the incident, though not the apocryphal version that the apple actually
hit Newton's head. Stukeley recorded in his Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton's Life a conversation with
Newton in Kensington on 15 April 1726:[146][147][148]
we went into the garden, & drank thea under the shade of some appletrees, only he, & myself. amidst
other discourse, he told me, he was just in the same situation, as when formerly, the notion of
gravitation came into his mind. "why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground,"
thought he to him self: occasion'd by the fall of an apple, as he sat in a comtemplative mood: "why
should it not go sideways, or upwards? but constantly to the earths centre? assuredly, the reason is,
that the earth draws it. there must be a drawing power in matter. & the sum of the drawing power in
the matter of the earth must be in the earths center, not in any side of the earth. therefore dos this
apple fall perpendicularly, or toward the center. if matter thus draws matter; it must be in proportion of
its quantity. therefore the apple draws the earth, as well as the earth draws the apple."
John Conduitt, Newton's assistant at the Royal Mint and husband of Newton's niece, also described the
event when he wrote about Newton's life:[149]
In the year 1666 he retired again from Cambridge to his mother in Lincolnshire. Whilst he was pensively
meandering in a garden it came into his thought that the power of gravity (which brought an apple from
a tree to the ground) was not limited to a certain distance from earth, but that this power must extend
much further than was usually thought. Why not as high as the Moon said he to himself & if so, that
must influence her motion & perhaps retain her in her orbit, whereupon he fell a calculating what would
be the effect of that supposition.
In similar terms, Voltaire wrote in his Essay on Epic Poetry (1727), "Sir Isaac Newton walking in his
gardens, had the first thought of his system of gravitation, upon seeing an apple falling from a tree."
It is known from his notebooks that Newton was grappling in the late 1660s with the idea that terrestrial
gravity extends, in an inverse-square proportion, to the Moon; however it took him two decades to
develop the full-fledged theory.[150] The question was not whether gravity existed, but whether it
extended so far from Earth that it could also be the force holding the Moon to its orbit. Newton showed
that if the force decreased as the inverse square of the distance, one could indeed calculate the Moon's
orbital period, and get good agreement. He guessed the same force was responsible for other orbital
motions, and hence named it "universal gravitation".
Various trees are claimed to be "the" apple tree which Newton describes. The King's School,
Grantham claims that the tree was purchased by the school, uprooted and transported to the
headmaster's garden some years later. The staff of the (now) National Trust-owned Woolsthorpe
Manor dispute this, and claim that a tree present in their gardens is the one described by Newton. A
descendant of the original tree[151] can be seen growing outside the main gate of Trinity College,
Cambridge, below the room Newton lived in when he studied there. The National Fruit
Collection at Brogdale in Kent[152] can supply grafts from their tree, which appears identical to Flower
of Kent, a coarse-fleshed cooking variety.[153]
Works
Writing of Principia Mathematica
Published in his lifetime
De analysi per aequationes numero terminorum infinitas (1669, published 1711)[154]
Of Natures Obvious Laws & Processes in Vegetation (unpublished, c. 1671–75)[155]
De motu corporum in gyrum (1684)[156]
Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687)[157]
Scala graduum Caloris. Calorum Descriptiones & signa (1701)[158]
Opticks (1704)[159]
Reports as Master of the Mint (1701–1725)[160]
Arithmetica Universalis (1707)[160]
Published posthumously
De mundi systemate (The System of the World) (1728)[160]
Optical Lectures (1728)[160]
The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended (1728)[160]
Observations on Daniel and The Apocalypse of St. John (1733)[160]
Method of Fluxions (1671, published 1736)[161]
An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture (1754)[160]
Joseph-Louis Lagrange
Joseph-Louis Lagrange (/ləˈɡrɑːndʒ/[1] or /ləˈɡreɪndʒ/;[2] French: [lagʁɑ̃ ʒ]; born Giuseppe Luigi
Lagrangia[3] or Giuseppe Ludovico De la Grange Tournier,[4] 25 January 1736 – 10 April 1813; also
reported as Giuseppe Luigi Lagrange[5] or Lagrangia[6]) was an Italian Enlightenment
Era mathematician and astronomer. He made significant contributions to the fields of analysis, number
theory, and both classical and celestial mechanics.
In 1766, on the recommendation of Leonhard Euler and d'Alembert, Lagrange succeeded Euler as the
director of mathematics at the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin, Prussia, where he stayed for over
twenty years, producing volumes of work and winning several prizes of the French Academy of Sciences.
Lagrange's treatise on analytical mechanics (Mécanique analytique, 4. ed., 2 vols. Paris: Gauthier-Villars
et fils, 1788–89), written in Berlin and first published in 1788, offered the most comprehensive
treatment of classical mechanics since Newton and formed a basis for the development of mathematical
physics in the nineteenth century.
In 1787, at age 51, he moved from Berlin to Paris and became a member of the French Academy of
Sciences. He remained in France until the end of his life. He was significantly involved in
the decimalisation in Revolutionary France, became the first professor of analysis at the École
Polytechnique upon its opening in 1794, was a founding member of the Bureau des Longitudes, and
became Senator in 1799.
Joseph-Louis Lagrange
Joseph-Louis (Giuseppe Luigi),
comte de Lagrange
After Newton, Lagrange (25 January 1736–10 April 1813) attempted to solve the three-body problem,
analyzed the stability of planetary orbits, and discovered the existence of the Lagrangian points.
Lagrange also reformulated the principles of classical mechanics, emphasizing energy more than force
and developing a method to use a single polar coordinate equation to describe any orbit, even those
that are parabolic and hyperbolic. This is useful for calculating the behaviour of planets and comets and
such. More recently, it has also become useful to calculate spacecraft trajectories.
Scientific contribution
Lagrange was one of the creators of the calculus of variations, deriving the Euler–Lagrange equations for
extrema of functionals. He also extended the method to take into account possible constraints, arriving
at the method of Lagrange multipliers. Lagrange invented the method of solving differential
equations known as variation of parameters, applied differential calculus to the theory of
probabilities and attained notable work on the solution of equations. He proved that every natural
number is a sum of four squares. His treatise Theorie des fonctions analytiques laid some of the
foundations of group theory, anticipating Galois. In calculus, Lagrange developed a novel approach
to interpolation and Taylor series. He studied the three-body problem for the Earth, Sun and Moon
(1764) and the movement of Jupiter's satellites (1766), and in 1772 found the special-case solutions to
this problem that yield what are now known as Lagrangian points. But above all, he is best known for his
work on mechanics, where he transformed Newtonian mechanics into a branch of analysis, Lagrangian
mechanics as it is now called, and presented the so-called mechanical "principles" as simple results of
the variational calculus.
Biography
In appearance he was of medium height, and slightly formed, with pale blue eyes and a colourless
complexion. In character he was nervous and timid, he detested controversy, and to avoid it willingly
allowed others to take the credit for what he had himself done.
He always thought out the subject of his papers before he began to compose them, and usually wrote
them straight off without a single erasure or correction.
W.W. Rouse Ball[7]
Early years
Born as Giuseppe Lodovico Lagrangia, Lagrange was of Italian and French descent. His paternal great-
grandfather was a Frencharmy officer who had moved to Turin, the de facto capital of the kingdom of
Piedmont-Sardinia at Lagrange's time, and married an Italian; so did his grandfather and his father. His
mother was from the countryside of Turin.[8] He was raised as a Roman Catholic(but later on became
an agnostic).[9]
His father, who had charge of the king's military chest and was Treasurer of the Office of Public Works
and Fortifications in Turin, should have maintained a good social position and wealth, but before his son
grew up he had lost most of his property in speculations. A career as a lawyer was planned out for
Lagrange by his father, and certainly Lagrange seems to have accepted this willingly. He studied at
the University of Turin and his favourite subject was classical Latin. At first he had no great enthusiasm
for mathematics, finding Greek geometry rather dull.
It was not until he was seventeen that he showed any taste for mathematics – his interest in the subject
being first excited by a paper by Edmond Halley which he came across by accident. Alone and unaided
he threw himself into mathematical studies; at the end of a year's incessant toil he was already an
accomplished mathematician. Charles Emmanuel III appointed Lagrange to serve as the "Sostituto del
Maestro di Matematica" (mathematics assistant professor) at the Royal Military Academy of the Theory
and Practice of Artillery in 1755, where he taught courses in calculus and mechanics to support the
Piedmontese army's early adoption of the ballistics theories of Benjamin Robins and Leonhard Euler. In
that capacity, Lagrange was the first to teach calculus in an engineering school. According to Alessandro
Papacino D'Antoni, the academy's military commander and famous artillery theorist, Lagrange
unfortunately proved to be a problematic professor with his oblivious teaching style, abstract reasoning,
and impatience with artillery and fortification-engineering applications.[10] In this Academy one of his
students was François Daviet de Foncenex.[11]
Variational calculus
Lagrange is one of the founders of the calculus of variations. Starting in 1754, he worked on the problem
of tautochrone, discovering a method of maximising and minimising functionals in a way similar to
finding extrema of functions. Lagrange wrote several letters to Leonhard Euler between 1754 and 1756
describing his results. He outlined his "δ-algorithm", leading to the Euler–Lagrange equations of
variational calculus and considerably simplifying Euler's earlier analysis.[12] Lagrange also applied his
ideas to problems of classical mechanics, generalising the results of Euler and Maupertuis.
Euler was very impressed with Lagrange's results. It has been stated that "with characteristic courtesy
he withheld a paper he had previously written, which covered some of the same ground, in order that
the young Italian might have time to complete his work, and claim the undisputed invention of the new
calculus"; however, this chivalric view has been disputed.[13] Lagrange published his method in two
memoirs of the Turin Society in 1762 and 1773.
Miscellanea Taurinensia
In 1758, with the aid of his pupils (mainly Daviet de Foncenex), Lagrange established a society, which
was subsequently incorporated as the Turin Academy of Sciences, and most of his early writings are to
be found in the five volumes of its transactions, usually known as the Miscellanea Taurinensia. Many of
these are elaborate papers. The first volume contains a paper on the theory of the propagation of
sound; in this he indicates a mistake made by Newton, obtains the general differential equation for the
motion, and integrates it for motion in a straight line. This volume also contains the complete solution of
the problem of a string vibrating transversely; in this paper he points out a lack of generality in the
solutions previously given by Brook Taylor, D'Alembert, and Euler, and arrives at the conclusion that the
form of the curve at any time t is given by the equation {\displaystyle
y=a\sin(mx)\sin(nt)\,}. The article concludes with a masterly discussion of echoes, beats, and compound
sounds. Other articles in this volume are on recurring series, probabilities, and the calculus of variations.
The second volume contains a long paper embodying the results of several papers in the first volume on
the theory and notation of the calculus of variations; and he illustrates its use by deducing the principle
of least action, and by solutions of various problems in dynamics.
The third volume includes the solution of several dynamical problems by means of the calculus of
variations; some papers on the integral calculus; a solution of Fermat's problem mentioned above: given
an integer n which is not a perfect square, to find a number x such that x2n + 1 is a perfect square; and
the general differential equations of motion for three bodies moving under their mutual attractions.
The next work he produced was in 1764 on the libration of the Moon, and an explanation as to why the
same face was always turned to the earth, a problem which he treated by the aid of virtual work. His
solution is especially interesting as containing the germ of the idea of generalised equations of motion,
equations which he first formally proved in 1780.
Berlin
Already in 1756, Euler and Maupertuis, seeing his mathematical talent, tried to persuade him to come to
Berlin, but Lagrange had no such intention and shyly refused the offer. In 1765, d'Alembert interceded
on Lagrange's behalf with Frederick of Prussia and by letter, asked him to leave Turin for a considerably
more prestigious position in Berlin. Lagrange again turned down the offer, responding that[14]:361
It seems to me that Berlin would not be at all suitable for me while M.Euler is there.
In 1766, Euler left Berlin for Saint Petersburg, and Frederick himself wrote to Lagrange expressing the
wish of "the greatest king in Europe" to have "the greatest mathematician in Europe" resident at his
court. Lagrange was finally persuaded and he spent the next twenty years in Prussia, where he produced
not only the long series of papers published in the Berlin and Turin transactions, but also his
monumental work, the Mécanique analytique. In 1767, he married his cousin Vittoria Conti.
Lagrange was a favourite of the king, who used frequently to discourse to him on the advantages of
perfect regularity of life. The lesson went home, and thenceforth Lagrange studied his mind and body as
though they were machines, and found by experiment the exact amount of work which he was able to
do without breaking down. Every night he set himself a definite task for the next day, and on completing
any branch of a subject he wrote a short analysis to see what points in the demonstrations or in the
subject-matter were capable of improvement. He always thought out the subject of his papers before he
began to compose them, and usually wrote them straight off without a single erasure or correction.
Nonetheless, during his years in Berlin, Lagrange's health was rather poor on many occasions, and that
of his wife Vittoria was even worse. She died in 1783 after years of illness and Lagrange was very
depressed. In 1786, Frederick II died, and the climate of Berlin became rather trying for Lagrange.[8]
Paris
In 1786, following Frederick's death, Lagrange received similar invitations from states including Spain
and Naples, and he accepted the offer of Louis XVI to move to Paris. In France he was received with
every mark of distinction and special apartments in the Louvre were prepared for his reception, and he
became a member of the French Academy of Sciences, which later became part of the Institut de
France (1795). At the beginning of his residence in Paris he was seized with an attack of melancholy, and
even the printed copy of his Mécanique on which he had worked for a quarter of a century lay for more
than two years unopened on his desk. Curiosity as to the results of the French revolution first stirred him
out of his lethargy, a curiosity which soon turned to alarm as the revolution developed.
It was about the same time, 1792, that the unaccountable sadness of his life and his timidity moved the
compassion of 24-year-old Renée-Françoise-Adélaïde Le Monnier, daughter of his friend, the
astronomer Pierre Charles Le Monnier. She insisted on marrying him, and proved a devoted wife to
whom he became warmly attached.
In September 1793, the Reign of Terror began. Under intervention of Antoine Lavoisier, who himself was
by then already thrown out of the Academy along with many other scholars, Lagrange was specifically
exempted by name in the decree of October 1793 that ordered all foreigners to leave France. On 4 May
1794, Lavoisier and 27 other tax farmers were arrested and sentenced to death and guillotined on the
afternoon after the trial. Lagrange said on the death of Lavoisier:
It took only a moment to cause this head to fall and a hundred years will not suffice to produce its like.
[8]
Though Lagrange had been preparing to escape from France while there was yet time, he was never in
any danger; different revolutionary governments (and at a later time, Napoleon) loaded him with
honours and distinctions. This luckiness or safety may to some extent be due to his life attitude he
expressed many years before: "I believe that, in general, one of the first principles of every wise man is
to conform strictly to the laws of the country in which he is living, even when they are unreasonable".
[8] A striking testimony to the respect in which he was held was shown in 1796 when the French
commissary in Italy was ordered to attend in full state on Lagrange's father, and tender the
congratulations of the republic on the achievements of his son, who "had done honor to all mankind by
his genius, and whom it was the special glory of Piedmont to have produced." It may be added that
Napoleon, when he attained power, warmly encouraged scientific studies in France, and was a liberal
benefactor of them. Appointed senator in 1799, he was the first signer of the Sénatus-consulte which in
1802 annexed his fatherland Piedmont to France.[5] He acquired French citizenship in consequence.
[5] The French claimed he was a French mathematician, but the Italians continued to claim him as
Italian.[8]
Units of measurement
Lagrange was considerably involved in the process of making new standard units of measurement in the
1790s. He was offered the presidency of the Commission for the reform of weights and measures (la
Commission des Poids et Mesures) when he was preparing to escape. And after Lavoisier's death in
1794, it was largely owing to Lagrange's influence that the final choice of the unit system of metre and
kilogram was settled and the decimal subdivision was finally accepted by the commission of 1799.
Lagrange was also one of the founding members of the Bureau des Longitudes in 1795.
École Normale
In 1795, Lagrange was appointed to a mathematical chair at the newly established École Normale, which
enjoyed only a brief existence of four months. His lectures there were quite elementary, and contain
nothing of any special importance, but they were published because the professors had to "pledge
themselves to the representatives of the people and to each other neither to read nor to repeat from
memory," and the discourses were ordered to be taken down in shorthand to enable the deputies to see
how the professors acquitted themselves.
École Polytechnique
In 1794, Lagrange was appointed professor of the École Polytechnique; and his lectures there, described
by mathematicians who had the good fortune to be able to attend them, were almost perfect both in
form and matter. Beginning with the merest elements, he led his hearers on until, almost unknown to
themselves, they were themselves extending the bounds of the subject: above all he impressed on his
pupils the advantage of always using general methods expressed in a symmetrical notation.
But Lagrange does not seem to have been a successful teacher. Fourier, who attended his lectures in
1795, wrote:
his voice is very feeble, at least in that he does not become heated; he has a very marked Italian accent
and pronounces the s like z [...] The students, of whom the majority are incapable of appreciating him,
give him little welcome, but the professeurs make amends for it.[15]
Late years
Lagrange's tomb in the crypt of the Panthéon
In 1810, Lagrange commenced a thorough revision of the Mécanique analytique, but he was able to
complete only about two-thirds of it before his death at Paris in 1813, in 128 rue du Faubourg Saint-
Honoré. Napoleon honoured him with the Grand Croix of the Ordre Impérial de la Réunion just two days
before he died. He was buried that same year in the Panthéon in Paris. The inscription on his tomb reads
in translation:
JOSEPH LOUIS LAGRANGE. Senator. Count of the Empire. Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour. Grand
Cross of the Imperial Order of the Reunion. Member of the Institute and the Bureau of Longitude. Born
in Turin on 25 January 1736. Died in Paris on 10 April 1813.
Work in Berlin
Lagrange was extremely active scientifically during twenty years he spent in Berlin. Not only did he
produce his Mécanique analytique, but he contributed between one and two hundred papers to the
Academy of Turin, the Berlin Academy, and the French Academy. Some of these are really treatises, and
all without exception are of a high order of excellence. Except for a short time when he was ill he
produced on average about one paper a month. Of these, note the following as amongst the most
important.
First, his contributions to the fourth and fifth volumes, 1766–1773, of the Miscellanea Taurinensia; of
which the most important was the one in 1771, in which he discussed how
numerous astronomical observations should be combined so as to give the most probable result. And
later, his contributions to the first two volumes, 1784–1785, of the transactions of the Turin Academy;
to the first of which he contributed a paper on the pressure exerted by fluids in motion, and to the
second an article on integration by infinite series, and the kind of problems for which it is suitable.
Most of the papers sent to Paris were on astronomical questions, and among these including his paper
on the Jovian system in 1766, his essay on the problem of three bodies in 1772, his work on the secular
equation of the Moon in 1773, and his treatise on cometary perturbations in 1778. These were all
written on subjects proposed by the Académie française, and in each case the prize was awarded to him.
Lagrangian mechanics
[Between 1772 and 1788, Lagrange re-formulated Classical/Newtonian mechanics to simplify formulas
and ease calculations. These mechanics are called Lagrangian mechanics.
Algebra
The greater number of his papers during this time were, however, contributed to the Prussian Academy
of Sciences. Several of them deal with questions in algebra.
His discussion of representations of integers by quadratic forms (1769) and by more general algebraic
forms (1770).
His tract on the Theory of Elimination, 1770.
Lagrange's theorem that the order of a subgroup H of a group G must divide the order of G.
His papers of 1770 and 1771 on the general process for solving an algebraic equation of any degree via
the Lagrange resolvents. This method fails to give a general formula for solutions of an equation of
degree five and higher, because the auxiliary equation involved has higher degree than the original one.
The significance of this method is that it exhibits the already known formulas for solving equations of
second, third, and fourth degrees as manifestations of a single principle, and was foundational in Galois
theory. The complete solution of a binomial equation of any degree is also treated in these papers.
In 1773, Lagrange considered a functional determinant of order 3, a special case of a Jacobian. He also
proved the expression for the volume of a tetrahedron with one of the vertices at the origin as the one
sixth of the absolute valueof the determinant formed by the coordinates of the other three vertices.
Number theory
Several of his early papers also deal with questions of number theory.
Lagrange (1766–1769) was the first European to prove that Pell's equation x2 − ny2 = 1 has a nontrivial
solution in the integers for any non-square natural number n.[16]
He proved the theorem, stated by Bachet without justification, that every positive integer is the sum of
four squares, 1770.
He proved Wilson's theorem that (for any integer n > 1): n is a prime if and only if (n − 1)! + 1 is a
multiple of n, 1771.
His papers of 1773, 1775, and 1777 gave demonstrations of several results enunciated by Fermat, and
not previously proved.
His Recherches d'Arithmétique of 1775 developed a general theory of binary quadratic forms to handle
the general problem of when an integer is representable by the form ax2 + by2 + cxy.
He made contributions to the theory of continued fractions.
Other mathematical work
There are also numerous articles on various points of analytical geometry. In two of them, written rather
later, in 1792 and 1793, he reduced the equations of the quadrics (or conicoids) to their canonical forms.
During the years from 1772 to 1785, he contributed a long series of papers which created the science
of partial differential equations. A large part of these results were collected in the second edition of
Euler's integral calculus which was published in 1794.
Astronomy
Lastly, there are numerous papers on problems in astronomy. Of these the most important are the
following:
Attempting to solve the general three-body problem, with the consequent discovery of the two
constant-pattern solutions, collinear and equilateral, 1772. Those solutions were later seen to explain
what are now known as the Lagrangian points.
On the attraction of ellipsoids, 1773: this is founded on Maclaurin's work.
On the secular equation of the Moon, 1773; also noticeable for the earliest introduction of the idea of
the potential. The potential of a body at any point is the sum of the mass of every element of the body
when divided by its distance from the point. Lagrange showed that if the potential of a body at an
external point were known, the attraction in any direction could be at once found. The theory of the
potential was elaborated in a paper sent to Berlin in 1777.
On the motion of the nodes of a planet's orbit, 1774.
On the stability of the planetary orbits, 1776.
Two papers in which the method of determining the orbit of a comet from three observations is
completely worked out, 1778 and 1783: this has not indeed proved practically available, but his system
of calculating the perturbations by means of mechanical quadratures has formed the basis of most
subsequent researches on the subject.
His determination of the secular and periodic variations of the elements of the planets, 1781–1784: the
upper limits assigned for these agree closely with those obtained later by Le Verrier, and Lagrange
proceeded as far as the knowledge then possessed of the masses of the planets permitted.
Three papers on the method of interpolation, 1783, 1792 and 1793: the part of finite differences dealing
therewith is now in the same stage as that in which Lagrange left it.
Mécanique analytique
Over and above these various papers he composed his great treatise, the Mécanique analytique. In this
he lays down the law of virtual work, and from that one fundamental principle, by the aid of the calculus
of variations, deduces the whole of mechanics, both of solids and fluids.
The object of the book is to show that the subject is implicitly included in a single principle, and to give
general formulae from which any particular result can be obtained. The method of generalised co-
ordinates by which he obtained this result is perhaps the most brilliant result of his analysis. Instead of
following the motion of each individual part of a material system, as D'Alembert and Euler had done, he
showed that, if we determine its configuration by a sufficient number of variables whose number is the
same as that of the degrees of freedom possessed by the system, then the kinetic and potential energies
of the system can be expressed in terms of those variables, and the differential equations of motion
thence deduced by simple differentiation. For example, in dynamics of a rigid system he replaces the
consideration of the particular problem by the general equation, which is now usually written in the
form
{\displaystyle {\frac {d}{dt}}{\frac {\partial T}{\partial {\dot {\theta }}}}-{\frac {\partial T}{\partial \theta }}
+{\frac {\partial V}{\partial \theta }}=0,}
where T represents the kinetic energy and V represents the potential energy of the system. He then
presented what we now know as the method of Lagrange multipliers—though this is not the first time
that method was published—as a means to solve this equation.[17] Amongst other minor theorems
here given it may suffice to mention the proposition that the kinetic energy imparted by the given
impulses to a material system under given constraints is a maximum, and the principle of least action. All
the analysis is so elegant that Sir William Rowan Hamilton said the work could be described only as a
scientific poem. Lagrange remarked that mechanics was really a branch of pure mathematics analogous
to a geometry of four dimensions, namely, the time and the three coordinates of the point in space; and
it is said that he prided himself that from the beginning to the end of the work there was not a single
diagram. At first no printer could be found who would publish the book; but Legendre at last persuaded
a Paris firm to undertake it, and it was issued under the supervision of Laplace, Cousin, Legendre (editor)
and Condorcet in 1788.[8]
Work in France
Differential calculus and calculus of variations
Lagrange's lectures on the differential calculus at École Polytechnique form the basis of his
treatise Théorie des fonctions analytiques, which was published in 1797. This work is the extension of an
idea contained in a paper he had sent to the Berlin papers in 1772, and its object is to substitute for the
differential calculus a group of theorems based on the development of algebraic functions in series,
relying in particular on the principle of the generality of algebra.
A somewhat similar method had been previously used by John Landen in the Residual Analysis,
published in London in 1758. Lagrange believed that he could thus get rid of those difficulties, connected
with the use of infinitely large and infinitely small quantities, to which philosophers objected in the usual
treatment of the differential calculus. The book is divided into three parts: of these, the first treats of the
general theory of functions, and gives an algebraic proof of Taylor's theorem, the validity of which is,
however, open to question; the second deals with applications to geometry; and the third with
applications to mechanics.
Another treatise on the same lines was his Leçons sur le calcul des fonctions, issued in 1804, with the
second edition in 1806. It is in this book that Lagrange formulated his celebrated method of Lagrange
multipliers, in the context of problems of variational calculus with integral constraints. These works
devoted to differential calculus and calculus of variations may be considered as the starting point for the
researches of Cauchy, Jacobi, and Weierstrass.
Infinitesimals
At a later period Lagrange fully embraced the use of infinitesimals in preference to founding the
differential calculus on the study of algebraic forms; and in the preface to the second edition of
the Mécanique Analytique, which was issued in 1811, he justifies the employment of infinitesimals, and
concludes by saying that:
When we have grasped the spirit of the infinitesimal method, and have verified the exactness of its
results either by the geometrical method of prime and ultimate ratios, or by the analytical method of
derived functions, we may employ infinitely small quantities as a sure and valuable means of shortening
and simplifying our proofs.
Number theory
His Résolution des équations numériques, published in 1798, was also the fruit of his lectures at École
Polytechnique. There he gives the method of approximating to the real roots of an equation by means
of continued fractions, and enunciates several other theorems. In a note at the end he shows
how Fermat's little theorem, that is
{\displaystyle a^{p-1}-1\equiv 0{\pmod {p}}}
where p is a prime and a is prime to p, may be applied to give the complete algebraic solution of any
binomial equation. He also here explains how the equation whose roots are the squares of the
differences of the roots of the original equation may be used so as to give considerable information as to
the position and nature of those roots.
Celestial mechanics
The theory of the planetary motions had formed the subject of some of the most remarkable of
Lagrange's Berlin papers. In 1806 the subject was reopened by Poisson, who, in a paper read before the
French Academy, showed that Lagrange's formulae led to certain limits for the stability of the orbits.
Lagrange, who was present, now discussed the whole subject afresh, and in a letter communicated to
the Academy in 1808 explained how, by the variation of arbitrary constants, the periodical and secular
inequalities of any system of mutually interacting bodies could be determined.
Prizes and distinctions
Euler proposed Lagrange for election to the Berlin Academy and he was elected on 2 September 1756.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1790, a Fellow of the Royal Society and a
foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1806. In 1808, Napoleon made Lagrange a
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour and a Count of the Empire. He was awarded the Grand Croix of
the Ordre Impérial de la Réunion in 1813, a week before his death in Paris.
Lagrange was awarded the 1764 prize of the French Academy of Sciences for his memoir on
the libration of the Moon. In 1766 the Academy proposed a problem of the motion of the satellites of
Jupiter, and the prize again was awarded to Lagrange. He also shared or won the prizes of 1772, 1774,
and 1778.
Lagrange is one of the 72 prominent French scientists who were commemorated on plaques at the first
stage of the Eiffel Tower when it first opened. Rue Lagrange in the 5th Arrondissement in Paris is named
after him. In Turin, the street where the house of his birth still stands is named via Lagrange. The lunar
crater Lagrange also bears his name.
Simon Newcomb
Simon Newcomb (12 March 1835–11 July 1909) was a Canadian-American astronomer who
revised Peter Andreas Hansen's table of lunar positions. In 1877, assisted by George William Hill, he
recalculated all the major astronomical constants. After 1884, he conceived with A. M. W. Downing a
plan to resolve much international confusion on the subject. By the time he attended a standardisation
conference in Paris, France in May 1886, the international consensus was that all ephemerides should
be based on Newcomb's calculations. A further conference as late as 1950 confirmed Newcomb's
constants as the international standard.
Simon Newcomb
Newcomb c. 1905
Simon Newcomb (March 12, 1835 – July 11, 1909) was a Canadian–Americanastronomer, applied
mathematician and autodidactic polymath, who was Professor of Mathematics in the U.S. Navy and
at Johns Hopkins.[1]
Though he had little conventional schooling, he made important contributions to timekeeping as well as
other fields in applied mathematics such as economics and statistics in addition to writing a science
fiction novel.
Biography
Early life
Simon Newcomb was born in the town of Wallace, Nova Scotia. His parents were Emily Prince, the
daughter of a New Brunswick magistrate, and itinerant school teacher John Burton Newcomb. John
moved around teaching in different parts of Canada, particularly in different villages in Nova Scotia
and Prince Edward Island. Emily was a daughter of Thomas Prince and Miriam Steeves, making Simon a
great-great-grandson of Heinrich Stief, and a not-too-distant cousin of William Henry Steeves, a
Canadian Father of Confederation.
Newcomb seems to have had little conventional schooling other than from his father and from a
short apprenticeship to Dr. Foshay, a charlatan herbalist, in New Brunswick in 1851. Nevertheless, his
father provided him with an excellent foundation for his future studies. Newcomb's apprenticeship with
Dr. Foshay occurred when he was 16-years-old. They entered an agreement that Newcomb would serve
a five-year apprenticeship during which time Foshay would train him in using herbs to treat illnesses. For
two years he was an apprentice but became increasingly unhappy and disillusioned with his
apprenticeship and about Foshay's unscientific approach, realizing that the man was a charlatan. He
made the decision to walk out on Foshay and break their agreement. He walked the 120 miles (190 km)
to the port of Calais in Maine where he met the captain of a ship who agreed to take him to Salem,
Massachusetts so that he could join his father.[2] In about 1854, he joined his father in Salem (John
Newcomb had moved earlier to the United States), and the two journeyed together to Maryland.
After arriving in Maryland, Newcomb taught for two years from 1854 to 1856; for the first year in a
country school in Massey's Cross Roads, Kent County, Maryland, then for a year at a school not far south
in Sudlersville in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. In his spare time he studied a variety of subjects such
as political economy and religion, but his deepest studies were made in mathematics and astronomy. In
particular he read Newton's Principia at this time. In 1856 he took up a position as a private tutor close
to Washington and he often travelled to that city to study mathematics in the libraries there. He was
able to borrow a copy of Bowditch's translation of Laplace's Traité de mécanique céleste from the library
of the Smithsonian Institution but found the mathematics beyond him.[3]
Newcomb studied mathematics and physics privately and supported himself by teaching before
becoming a human computer(a functionary in charge of calculations) at the Nautical Almanac
Office in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1857. At around the same time, he enrolled at the Lawrence
Scientific School of Harvard University, graduating BSc in 1858.[3]
Peirce family
Newcomb studied mathematics under Benjamin Peirce and the impecunious Newcomb was often a
welcome guest at the Peirce home.[4] However, he later was said to develop a dislike of Peirce's
son, Charles Sanders Peirce and has been accused of a "successful destruction" of C. S. Peirce's career.
[5] In particular, Daniel Coit Gilman, president of Johns Hopkins University, is alleged to have been on
the point of awarding tenure to C. S. Peirce, before Newcomb intervened behind the scenes to dissuade
him.[6] About 20 years later, Newcomb allegedly influenced the Carnegie Institution Trustees, to
prevent C. S. Peirce's last chance to publish his life's work, through a denial of a Carnegie grant to Peirce,
even though Andrew Carnegie himself, Theodore Roosevelt, William James and others, wrote to support
it.[7]
Career in astronomy
In the prelude to the American Civil War, many US Navy staff of Confederate sympathies left the service
and, in 1861, Newcomb took advantage of one of the ensuing vacancies to become professor
of mathematics and astronomer at the United States Naval Observatory, Washington D.C.. Newcomb set
to work on the measurement of the position of the planetsas an aid to navigation, becoming increasingly
interested in theories of planetary motion.[3]
By the time Newcomb visited Paris, France in 1870, he was already aware that the table of lunar
positions calculated by Peter Andreas Hansen was in error. While in Paris, he realised that, in addition to
the data from 1750 to 1838 that Hansen had used, there was further data stretching as far back as 1672.
His visit allowed little serenity for analysis as he witnessed the defeat of French emperor Napoleon III in
the Franco-Prussian War and the coup that ended the Second French Empire. Newcomb managed to
escape from the city during the ensuing rioting that led up to the formation of the Paris Commune and
which engulfed the Paris Observatory. Newcomb was able to use the "new" data to revise Hansen's
tables.[3]
He was offered the post of director of the Harvard College Observatory in 1875 but declined, having by
now settled that his interests lay in mathematics rather than observation.[3]
Director of the Nautical Almanac Office
In 1877 he became director of the Nautical Almanac Office where, ably assisted by George William Hill,
he embarked on a program of recalculation of all the major astronomical constants. Despite fulfilling a
further demanding role as professor of mathematics and astronomy at Johns Hopkins University from
1884, he conceived with A. M. W. Downing a plan to resolve much international confusion on the
subject. By the time he attended a standardisation conference in Paris, France, in May 1896, the
international consensus was that all ephemerides should be based on Newcomb's calculations—
Newcomb's Tables of the Sun. A further conference as late as 1950 confirmed Newcomb's constants as
the international standard.[3]
Personal life
Grave of Simon Newcomb in Arlington National Cemetery
Newcomb married Mary Caroline Hassler on August 4, 1863 and had four daughters with her.[8] Mary
Caroline Hassler's father was United States Navy Surgeon Dr. Charles Augustus Hassler and her
grandfather was Ferdinand Hassler, the first Superintendent of the Coast Survey.[9] Newcomb died
in Washington, DC of bladder cancer and was buried with military honors in Arlington National
Cemetery with President William Howard Taft in attendance.[3]
Newcomb's daughter Anita Newcomb McGee was an MD and founder of the Army Nurse Corps. She
received the Spanish War Service Medal for her services during the Spanish–American War. For her
work in Japan she was awarded the Japanese Imperial Order of the Precious Crown, The Japanese Red
Cross decoration and two Russo–Japanese War medals from the Japanese government. She is buried
next to him with full military honors.[10]
Newcomb's daughter Anna Josepha studied at the Art Students' League in New York.[11] She was active
in the suffrage movement. In 1912, she organized the first Cornwall meeting in support of voting rights
for women.[11] Josepha Newcomb married Assistant US Attorney General Edward Baldwin Whitney,
who was the son of Professor William Dwight Whitney and the grandson of US Senator and Connecticut
Governor Roger Sherman Baldwin. He was also the grandfather of mathematician and Professor Hassler
Whitney.[12]
Work
Speed of light
In 1878, Newcomb had started planning for a new and precise measurement of the speed of light that
was needed to account for exact values of many astronomical constants. He had already started
developing a refinement of the method of Léon Foucault when he received a letter from the young naval
officer and physicist Albert Abraham Michelson who was also planning such a measurement. Thus began
a long collaboration and friendship. In 1880, Michelson assisted at Newcomb's initial measurement with
instruments located at Fort Myer and the United States Naval Observatory, then situated on
the Potomac River. However, Michelson had left to start his own project by the time of the second set of
measurements between the observatory and the Washington Monument. Though Michelson published
his first measurement in 1880, Newcomb's measurement was substantially different. In 1883, Michelson
revised his measurement to a value closer to Newcomb's.[3]
Benford's law
In 1881, Newcomb discovered the statistical principle now known as Benford's law, when he observed
that the earlier pages of logarithm books, used at that time to carry out logarithmic calculations, were
far more worn than the later pages. This led him to formulate the principle that, in any list of numbers
taken from an arbitrary set of data, more numbers will tend to begin with "1" than with any other digit.
[13]
Chandler wobble
In 1891, within months of Seth Carlo Chandler's discovery of the 14-month variation of latitude, now
referred to as the Chandler wobble, Newcomb explained the apparent conflict between the observed
motion and predicted period of the wobble. The theory was based on a perfectly rigid body, but Earth is
slightly elastic. Newcomb used the variation of latitude observations to estimate the elasticity of Earth,
finding it to be slightly more rigid than steel.[14]
Other work
Newcomb was an autodidact and polymath. He wrote on economics and his Principles of political
economy (1885) was described by John Maynard Keynes as "one of those original works which a fresh
scientific mind, not perverted by having read too much of the orthodox stuff, is able to produce from
time to time in a half-formed subject like economics." He was credited by Irving Fisher with the first-
known enunciation of the equation of exchange between money and goods used in the quantity theory
of money.[15] He spoke French, German, Italian and Swedish; was an active mountaineer; widely read;
and authored a number of popular science books and a science fiction novel, His Wisdom the
Defender (1900).[3]
On the state of astronomy
In 1888 Simon Newcomb wrote: "We are probably nearing the limit of all we can know about
astronomy."
By 1903, however, his view had changed. In an article in Science he wrote: "What lies before us is an
illimitable field, the existence of which was scarcely suspected ten years ago, the exploration of which
may well absorb the activities of our physical laboratories, and of the great mass of our astronomical
observers and investigators for as many generations as were required to bring electrical science to its
present state."[16]
On the impossibility of a flying machine
Newcomb is famously quoted as having believed it impossible to build a "flying machine". He begins an
article titled "Is the Airship Possible?" with the remark, "That depends, first of all, on whether we are to
make the requisite scientific discoveries." He ends with the remark "the construction of an aerial
vehicle ... which could carry even a single man from place-to-place at pleasure requires the discovery of
some new metal or some new force."[17]
In the October 22, 1903, issue of The Independent, Newcomb made the well-known remark that "May
not our mechanicians . . . be ultimately forced to admit that aerial flight is one of the great class of
problems with which man can never cope, and give up all attempts to grapple with it?",[18]
[19] completed by the motivation that even if a man flew he could not stop. "Once he slackens his
speed, down he begins to fall. Once he stops, he falls as a dead mass." He had no concept of an airfoil.
His "aeroplane" was an inclined "thin flat board". He therefore concluded that it could never carry the
weight of a man.
Newcomb was specifically critical of the work of Samuel Pierpont Langley, who claimed that he could
build a flying machine powered by a steam engine and whose initial efforts at flight were public failures.
[20] In 1903, however, Newcomb was also saying, "Quite likely the 20th century is destined to see the
natural forces which will enable us to fly from continent to continent with a speed far exceeding that of
a bird. But when we inquire whether aerial flight is possible in the present state of our knowledge;
whether, with such materials as we possess, a combination of steel, cloth and wire can be made which,
moved by the power of electricity or steam, shall form a successful flying machine, the outlook may be
altogether different."[21]
Newcomb was clearly unaware of the Wright Brothers' efforts whose work was done in relative
obscurity and apparently unaware of the internal combustion engine's better power-to-weight ratio.
When he heard about the Wrights' flight in 1908 he was quick to accept it.[22] Newcomb favored the
development of rotating wing (helicopters) and airships that would float in the air (blimps). Within a few
decades, Zeppelins regularly transported passengers between Europe and the United States, and
the Graf Zeppelin circumnavigated the Earth.[23]
Psychical research
Newcomb was the first president of the American Society for Psychical Research.[24] Although skeptical
of extrasensory perception and alleged paranormal phenomena he believed the subject was worthy of
investigation. By 1889 his investigations were negative and his skepticism increased. Biographer Albert
E. Moyer has noted that Newcomb "convinced and hoped to convince others that, on methodological
grounds, psychical research was a scientific dead end."[25]
Awards and honours
Member, and holder of several offices, of the National Academy of Sciences (1869);
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1874);
Elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1875);.
Fellow of the Royal Society (1877);
Huygens Medal of the Haarlem Academy of Sciences (1878);
Editor of the American Journal of Mathematics (1885–1900);
Copley Medal of the Royal Society (1890);
Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur (1893);
President of the American Mathematical Society (1897–1898);
Bruce Medal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (1898); and
Founding member and first president of the American Astronomical Society (1899–1905).
Foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (1898);[26]
Inductee of the Hall of Fame for Great Americans.
Legacy
Asteroid 855 Newcombia is named after him.
The crater Newcomb on the Moon is named after him, as is Newcomb crater on Mars.[27]
The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada has a writing award named after him.
The Time Service Building at the US Naval Observatory is named The Simon Newcomb Laboratory.
The U.S. Navy minesweeper Simon Newcomb (YMS 263) was launched in 1942, served in the Pacific
Theater during World War II, and was decommissioned in 1949.
Mt. Newcomb (13,418 ft/4,090 m) appears on USGS topographic maps at coordinates 36.5399° N,
118.2934° W in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Cristiano Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro GOIH ComM (European Portuguese: [kɾiʃˈtjɐnu ʁɔˈnaɫdu]; born 5 February
1985-1995) was a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie
A club Juventus and captains the Portugal national team. Often considered the best player in the world and
widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, [11][12][13] Ronaldo has won five Ballon d'Or awards[note
3]
and four European Golden Shoes, both of which are records for a European player. He has won 29 trophies
in his career, including six league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, one UEFA European Championship,
and one UEFA Nations League. A prolific goalscorer, Ronaldo holds the record for most goals scored in the
UEFA Champions League (128) and the joint record of most goals scored in the UEFA European
Championship (9). He has scored over 700 senior career goals for club and country.[14]
Born and raised on the Portuguese island of Madeira, Ronaldo was diagnosed with a racing heart at age 15.
He underwent an operation to treat his condition, and began his senior club career playing for Sporting CP,
before signing with Manchester United at age 18 in 2003. After winning his first trophy in England, the FA Cup,
during his first season there, he helped United win three successive Premier League titles, a UEFA Champions
League title, and a FIFA Club World Cup. By age 23, he won his first Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the
Year awards. In 2009, Ronaldo was the subject of the most expensive association football transfer at the time
when he moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer worth €94 million (£80 million).
With Real Madrid, Ronaldo won 15 trophies, including two La Liga titles, two Copa del Reys and four UEFA
Champions League titles. Real Madrid's all-time top goalscorer, Ronaldo scored a record-tying eight hat-tricks
in the 2014–15 season[note 4] and is the only player to reach 30 goals in six consecutive La Liga seasons. After
joining Madrid, Ronaldo finished runner-up for the Ballon d'Or three times, behind Lionel Messi, his
perceived career rival, before winning back-to-back Ballons d'Or in 2013 and 2014. After winning consecutive
Champions League titles, Ronaldo secured back-to-back Ballons d'Or again in 2016 and 2017. A historic third
consecutive Champions League followed, making Ronaldo the first player to win the trophy five times. In 2018,
he signed for Juventus in a transfer worth an initial €100 million; the highest ever paid by an Italian club and the
highest fee ever paid for a player over 30 years old. In his first season he won Serie A and the Supercoppa
Italiana, and was also named Serie A Most Valuable Player.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo was named the best Portuguese player of all time by the Portuguese Football Federation in 2015. He
made his senior debut in 2003 at age 18, and has since earned over 160 caps, appearing and scoring in ten
major tournaments, becoming Portugal's most capped player and his country's all-time top goalscorer. He
scored his first international goal at Euro 2004 and helped Portugal reach the UEFA Euro 2004 Final of the
competition. He became captain in July 2008, leading Portugal to their first-ever triumph in a major tournament
by winning Euro 2016, and received the Silver Boot. He became the highest European international goalscorer
of all-time in 2018.[15]
One of the most marketable athletes in the world, Ronaldo was ranked the world's highest-paid
athlete by Forbes in 2016 and 2017 and as the world's most famous athlete by ESPN in 2016, 2017, 2018 and
2019. Time included him on their list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2014.[16] As of September
2019, Ronaldo is also the most followed user on Instagram.[17]
Early life
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born in São Pedro, Funchal, on the Portuguese island of Madeira,
and grew up in Santo António, Funchal.[18][19] He is the fourth and youngest child of Maria Dolores Spinola dos
Santos da Aveiro (b. 1954), a cook, and José Dinis Aveiro (1953–2005), a municipal gardener and a part-
time kit man.[20] His great-grandmother on his father's side, Isabel da Piedade, was from the island of São
Vicente, Cape Verde.[21] He has one older brother, Hugo (b. 1975), and two older sisters, Elma (b. 1973) and
Liliana Cátia "Katia" (b. 1977), who is a singer.[2] Ronaldo grew up in a Catholic and impoverished home,
sharing a room with all his siblings.[22]
As a child, Ronaldo played for amateur team Andorinha from 1992 to 1995,[23] where his father was the kit man,
[20]
and later spent two years with Nacional. In 1997, aged 12, he went on a three-day trial with Sporting CP,
who signed him for a fee of £1,500.[24] He subsequently moved from Madeira to Alcochete, near Lisbon, to join
Sporting's other youth players at the club's football academy.[24] By age 14, Ronaldo believed he had the ability
to play semi-professionally, and agreed with his mother to cease his education in order to focus entirely on
football.[25] While popular with other students at school, he had been expelled after throwing a chair at his
teacher, who he said had "disrespected" him.[25] However, one year later, he was diagnosed with a racing heart,
a condition that could have forced him to give up playing football. [26] Ronaldo underwent heart surgery where a
laser was used to cauterise multiple cardiac pathways into one, altering his resting heart rate.[27] He was
discharged from the hospital hours after the procedure and resumed training a few days later. [28][29]
Club career
Sporting CP
Ronaldo memorabilia at Sporting CP's museum
At age 16, Ronaldo was promoted from Sporting's youth team by first-team manager László Bölöni, who was
impressed with his dribbling.[30] He subsequently became the first player to play for the club's under-16, under-
17 and under-18 teams, the B team, and the first team, all within a single season. [24] A year later, on 7 October
2002, Ronaldo made his debut in the Primeira Liga, against Moreirense, and scored two goals in their 3–0 win.
[31]
Over the course of the 2002–03 season, his representatives suggested the player
to Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier and Barcelona president Joan Laporta.[32] Manager Arsène Wenger, who
was interested in signing the winger, met with him at Arsenal's grounds in November to discuss a possible
transfer.[33]
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, however, determined to acquire Ronaldo on a permanent move
urgently, after Sporting defeated United 3–1 at the inauguration of the Estádio José Alvalade in August 2003.
Initially, United had just planned to sign Ronaldo and then loan him back to Sporting for a year. [34] Having been
impressed by him, however, the Manchester United players urged Ferguson to sign him. After the game,
Ferguson agreed to pay Sporting £12.24 million[34] for what he considered to be "one of the most exciting young
players" he had ever seen.[35] A decade after his departure from the club, in April 2013, Sporting honoured
Ronaldo by selecting him to become their 100,000th member.[36]
Manchester United
2003–07: Development and breakthrough
Ronaldo became Manchester United's first-ever Portuguese player when he signed before the 2003–04
season.[37] His transfer fee of £12.24 million made him, at the time, the most expensive teenager in English
football history.[38] Although he requested the number 28, his number at Sporting, he received the number 7
shirt, which had previously been worn by such United players as George Best, Eric Cantona and David
Beckham.[39] Wearing the number 7 became an extra source of motivation for Ronaldo. [40] A key element in his
development during his time in England proved to be his manager, Alex Ferguson, of whom he later said, "He's
been my father in sport, one of the most important and influential factors in my career." [41]
Ronaldo playing for Manchester United against Chelsea in the 2005–06 Premier League season
Ronaldo made his debut in the Premier League in a 4–0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers on 16 August
2003, receiving a standing ovation when he came on as a 60th-minute substitute for Nicky Butt.[42] His
performance earned praise from George Best, who hailed it as "undoubtedly the most exciting debut" he had
ever seen.[43] Ronaldo scored his first goal for Manchester United with a free-kick in a 3–0 win
over Portsmouth on 1 November.[44] Three other league goals followed in the second half of the campaign, [45] the
last of which came against Aston Villa on the final day of the season, a match in which he also received his
first red card.[46] Ronaldo ended his first season in English football by scoring the opening goal in United's 3–0
victory over Millwall in the FA Cup final, earning his first trophy.[47]
At the start of 2005, Ronaldo played two of his best matches of the 2004–05 season, producing a goal and an
assist against Aston Villa and scoring twice against rivals Arsenal.[48][49] He played the full 120 minutes of the
decisive match against Arsenal in the FA Cup final, which ended in a goalless draw, and scored his attempt in
the lost penalty shootout.[50] He scored Manchester United's 1000th Premier League goal on 29 October, their
only strike in a 4–1 loss to Middlesbrough.[51] Midway through the season, in November, he signed a new
contract which extended his previous deal by two years to 2010. [52] Ronaldo won his second trophy in English
football, the Football League Cup, after scoring the third goal in United's 4–0 final victory over Wigan Athletic.[53]
During his third season in England, Ronaldo was involved in several incidents. He had a one-match ban
imposed on him by UEFA for a "one-fingered gesture" towards Benfica fans,[54] and was sent off in
the Manchester derby—a 3–1 defeat—for kicking Manchester City's former United player Andy Cole.[55] Ronaldo
clashed with a teammate, striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who took offence at the winger's showboating style of
play.[56] Following the 2006 FIFA World Cup, in which he was involved in an incident where club
teammate Wayne Rooney was sent off,[57] Ronaldo publicly asked for a transfer, lamenting the lack of support
he felt he had received from the club over the incident. [58] United, however, denied the possibility of him leaving
the club.[59]
Although his World Cup altercation with Rooney resulted in Ronaldo being booed throughout the 2006–07
season,[60] it proved to be his breakout year, as he broke the 20-goal barrier for the first time and won his
first Premier League title. An important factor in this success was his one-to-one training by first-team
coach René Meulensteen, who taught him to make himself more unpredictable, improve his teamwork, call for
the ball, and capitalise on goalscoring opportunities rather than waiting for the chance to score the aesthetically
pleasing goals for which he was already known.[61] He scored three consecutive braces at the end of December,
against Aston Villa—a victory which put United on top of the league—Wigan Athletic, and Reading.[62][63]
[64]
Ronaldo was named the Premier League Player of the Month in November and December, becoming only
the third player to receive consecutive honours.[65][66]
2007–08: Collective and individual success
Ronaldo during a game in the 2006–07 Premier League season
At the quarter-final stage of the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League, Ronaldo scored his first-ever goals in the
competition, finding the net twice in a 7–1 victory over Roma.[67] He subsequently scored four minutes into the
first semi-final leg against Milan, which ended in a 3–2 win,[68] but was marked out of the second leg as United
lost 3–0 at the San Siro.[69] He also helped United reach the FA Cup final, but the decisive match
against Chelsea ended in a 1–0 defeat.[70] Ronaldo scored the only goal in the Manchester derby on 5 May
2007—his 50th goal for the club—as Manchester United claimed their first Premier League title in four years.
[71]
As a result of his performances, he amassed a host of personal awards for the season. He won
the Professional Footballers' Association's Player's Player, Fans' Player, and Young Player of the Year awards,
as well as the Football Writers' Association's Footballer of the Year award,[72][73] becoming the first player to win
all four main PFA and FWA honours.[74] His club wages were concurrently upgraded to £120,000 a week
(£31 million total) as part of a five-year contract extension with United. [75] At the end of 2007, Ronaldo was
named runner-up to Kaká for the Ballon d'Or,[76] and came third, behind Kaká and Lionel Messi, in the running
for the FIFA World Player of the Year award.[77]
Ronaldo scored his first and only hat-trick for Manchester United in a 6–0 win against Newcastle United on 12
January 2008, bringing United up to the top of the Premier League table. [78] A month later, on 19 March, he
captained United for the first time in a home win over Bolton, and scored both goals of the match. [79] His second
goal was his 33rd of the campaign, which bettered George Best's total of 32 goals in the 1967–68 season, thus
setting the club's new single-season record by a midfielder. [80] His 31 league goals earned him the Premier
League Golden Boot,[81] as well as the European Golden Shoe, which made him the first winger to win the latter
award.[82] He additionally received the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year awards
for the second consecutive season.[83][84]
In the knockout stage of the Champions League, Ronaldo scored the decisive goal against Lyon, which helped
United advance to the quarter-finals 2–1 on aggregate,[85] and, while playing as a striker, scored with a header
in the 3–0 aggregate victory over Roma.[86] United advanced to the final against Chelsea in Moscow, where,
despite his opening goal being negated by an equaliser and his penalty being saved in the shoot-out,
[87]
Manchester United emerged victorious.[88] As the Champions League top scorer, Ronaldo was named
the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year.[89]
Ronaldo scored a total of 42 goals in all competitions during the 2007–08 season, his most prolific campaign
during his time in England. He missed three matches after headbutting a Portsmouth player at the start of the
season, an experience he said taught him not to let opponents provoke him. [90] As rumours circulated of
Ronaldo's interest in moving to Real Madrid, United filed a tampering complaint with governing body FIFA over
Madrid's alleged pursuit of their player, but they declined to take action. [91] FIFA president Sepp Blatter asserted
that the player should be allowed to leave his club, describing the situation as "modern slavery". [92] Despite
Ronaldo publicly agreeing with Blatter,[93] he remained at United for another year.[94]
2008–09: Final season and continued success
Ronaldo in his final season with Manchester United playing in a Premier League game against Liverpool
Ahead of the 2008–09 season, on 7 July, Ronaldo underwent ankle surgery,[95] which kept him out of action for
10 weeks.[96] Following his return, he scored his 100th goal in all competitions for United with the first of two free
kicks in a 5–0 win against Stoke City on 15 November,[97] which meant he had now scored against all 19
opposition teams in the Premier League at the time. [98] At the close of 2008, Ronaldo helped United win
the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan,[99] assisting the final-winning goal against Liga de Quito and winning
the Silver Ball in the process.[100] He subsequently became United's first Ballon d'Or winner since George Best in
1968,[101] and the first Premier League player to be named the FIFA World Player of the Year.[102]
His match-winning goal in the second leg against Porto, a 40-yard strike, earned him the inaugural FIFA
Puskás Award, presented by FIFA in recognition of the best goal of the year; [103] he later called it the best goal
he had ever scored.[104] United advanced to the final in Rome,[105] where he made little impact in United's 2–0
defeat to Barcelona.[106] Ronaldo ended his time in England with nine trophies, as United claimed their third
successive Premier League title and a Football League Cup.[107][108] He finished the campaign with 26 goals in all
competitions, 16 goals fewer than the previous season, in four more appearances. [109] His final ever goal for
Manchester United came on 10 May 2009 with a free kick in the Manchester derby at Old Trafford.[110]
Real Madrid
2009–13: World record transfer and La Liga championship
As his usual number 7 was unavailable, Ronaldo wore number 9 during his debut season at Madrid. After Raúl departed the club,
Ronaldo was handed the number 7 shirt before the 2010–11 season.
Ahead of the 2009–10 season, Ronaldo joined Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee at the time, of
£80 million (€94 million).[111] His contract, which ran until 2015, was worth €11 million per year and contained a
€1 billion buy-out clause.[112] At least 80,000 fans attended his presentation at the Santiago Bernabéu,
surpassing the 25-year record of 75,000 fans who had welcomed Diego Maradona at Napoli.[113] Since club
captain Raúl already wore the number 7, the number Ronaldo wore at Manchester United. Ronaldo received
the number 9 shirt,[114] which was presented to him by former Madrid player Alfredo Di Stéfano.[115]
Ronaldo made his debut in La Liga on 29 August 2009, against Deportivo La Coruña, and scored from the
penalty spot in Madrid's 3–2 home win.[116] He scored in each of his first four league fixtures with the club, the
first Madrid player to do so.[117] His first Champions League goals for the club followed with two free kicks in the
first group match against Zürich.[118] His strong start to the season, however, was interrupted when he suffered
an ankle injury in October while on international duty, which kept him sidelined for seven weeks. [119][120] A week
after his return, he received his first red card in Spain in a match against Almería.[121] Midway through the
season, Ronaldo placed second in the running for the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the
Year award, behind Lionel Messi of Barcelona, Madrid's historic rivals. He finished the campaign with 33 goals
in all competitions, including a hat-trick in a 4–1 win against Mallorca on 5 May 2010, his first in the Spanish
competition.[122][123] His first season at Real Madrid ended trophyless.[124]
Following Raúl's departure, Ronaldo was handed the number 7 shirt for Real Madrid before the 2010–11
season.[125] His subsequent return to his Ballon d'Or-winning form was epitomised when, for the first time in his
career, he scored four goals in a single match during a 6–1 rout against Racing Santander on 23 October.
[126]
His haul concluded a goalscoring run of six consecutive matches—three in La Liga, one in the Champions
League, and two for Portugal—totalling 11 goals, the most he had scored in a single month. Ronaldo
subsequently scored further hat-tricks against Athletic Bilbao, Levante, Villarreal, and Málaga.[127][128][129] Despite
his performance, he did not make the podium for the inaugural FIFA Ballon d'Or at the end of 2010.[130]
During a historical series of four Clásicos against rivals Barcelona in April 2011, Ronaldo scored twice to equal
his personal record of 42 goals in all competitions in a single season. Although he failed to find the net during
Madrid's eventual elimination in the Champions League semi-finals, he equalised from the penalty spot in the
return league game and scored the match-winning goal in the 103rd minute of the Copa del Rey final, winning
his first trophy in Spain.[131][132] Over the next two weeks, Ronaldo scored another four-goal haul against Sevilla,
[133]
a hat-trick against Getafe,[134] and a brace of free kicks against Villarreal, taking his league total to 38 goals,
which equalled the record for most goals scored in a season held by Telmo Zarra and Hugo Sánchez.[135] His
two goals in the last match of the season, against Almería, made him the first player in La Liga to score 40
goals.[136] In addition to the Pichichi Trophy, Ronaldo consequently won the European Golden Shoe for a second
time, becoming the first player to win the award in two different leagues. [137]
During the following campaign, the 2011–12 season, Ronaldo surpassed his previous goalscoring feats to
achieve a new personal best of 60 goals across all competitions. [138] His 100th goal for Real Madrid came
at Camp Nou in the Supercopa de España, though Barcelona claimed the trophy 5–4 on aggregate. [139] He
regained a place on the FIFA Ballon d'Or podium, as runner-up to Messi, after scoring hat-tricks against Real
Zaragoza, Rayo Vallecano, Málaga, Osasuna, and Sevilla, the last of which put Madrid on top of the league by
the season's midway point.[140][141][142] Despite two goals from Ronaldo, Madrid were subsequently defeated by
Barcelona, 4–3, on aggregate in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey. He again scored twice, including a
penalty, in the Champions League semi-finals against Bayern Munich, resulting in a 3–3 draw, but his penalty
kick in the shootout was saved by Manuel Neuer, leading to Madrid's elimination.[143]
Ronaldo found greater team success in the league, as he helped Real Madrid win their first La Liga title in four
years, with a record 100 points. Following a hat-trick against Levante, further increasing Madrid's lead over
Barcelona,[144] he scored his 100th league goal for Madrid in a 5–1 win over Real Sociedad on 24 March 2012, a
milestone he reached in just 92 matches across three seasons, breaking the previous club record held
by Ferenc Puskás.[145] Another hat-trick in the Madrid derby against Atlético Madrid brought his total to 40
league goals, equalling his record of the previous season. [146] On 21 April Ronaldo scored the winner in a 2–1
victory over Barcelona at the Camp Nou, which saw him mocking the hostile crowd with a "calm down" gesture
during his goal celebration – a celebration he would repeat against Barca four years later. [147] His final league
goal of the campaign, against Mallorca, took his total to 46 goals, four short of the new record set by Messi,
[148]
and earned him the distinction of being the first player to score against all 19 opposition teams in a single
season in La Liga.[149]
Ronaldo began the 2012–13 season by lifting the Supercopa de España, his third trophy in Spain. With a goal
in each leg by the Portuguese, Madrid won the Spanish Super Cup on away goals following a 4–4 aggregate
draw against Barcelona.[150] Although Ronaldo publicly commented that he was unhappy with a "professional
issue" within the club, prompted by his refusal to celebrate his 150th goal for Madrid, [151] his goalscoring rate did
not suffer. After netting a hat-trick, including two penalties, against Deportivo La Coruña, he scored his first hat-
trick in the Champions League in a 4–1 victory over Ajax.[152] Four days later, he became the first player to score
in six successive Clásicos when he hit a brace in a 2–2 draw at Camp Nou.[153] His performances in 2012 again
saw Ronaldo voted second in the running for the FIFA Ballon d'Or, finishing runner-up to four-time winner
Messi.[154]
2013–15: Consecutive FIFA Ballon d'Or wins and La Décima
Following the 2012–13 winter break, Ronaldo captained Real Madrid for the first time in an official match,
scoring a brace to lift 10-man Madrid to a 4–3 victory over Real Sociedad on 6 January. [155] He subsequently
became the first non-Spanish player in 60 years to captain Madrid in El Clásico on 30 January, a match which
also marked his 500th club appearance.[156] Three days prior, he had scored his 300th club goal as part of a
perfect hat-trick against Getafe.[157] He scored his 200th goal for Real Madrid on 8 May in a 6–2 win against
Málaga, reaching the landmark in 197 games.[158] He helped Madrid reach the Copa del Rey final by scoring
twice in El Clásico, which marked the sixth successive match at Camp Nou in which he had scored, [159] a Real
Madrid record.[150] In the final, he headed the opening goal of an eventual 2–1 defeat to Atlético Madrid, but was
shown a red card for violent conduct.[160] In the first knockout round of the Champions League, Ronaldo faced
his former club Manchester United for the first time. After scoring the equaliser in a 1–1 draw at the Santiago
Bernabéu,[161] he scored the match-winning goal in a 2–1 victory at Old Trafford, his first return to his former
home ground.[162] He did not celebrate scoring against his former club as a mark of respect. [163] After scoring
three goals against Galatasaray in the quarters, he scored Madrid's only goal in the 4–1 away defeat
to Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals, but failed to increase his side's 2–0 victory in the second leg, as they
were eliminated at the semi-final stage for the third consecutive year. [164]
Ronaldo scored a record 17 UEFA Champions League goals during the 2013–14 La Décima season
At the start of the 2013–14 season, Ronaldo signed a new contract that extended his stay by three years to
2018, with a salary of €17 million net, making him briefly the highest-paid player in football. [165] He was joined at
the club by winger Gareth Bale, whose world record transfer fee of €100 million surpassed the fee Madrid had
paid for Ronaldo four years prior.[166] Together with striker Karim Benzema, they formed an attacking trio
popularly dubbed "BBC", an acronym of Bale, Benzema, and Cristiano, and a play off the name of the public
service broadcaster.[167] By late November, Ronaldo had scored 32 goals from 22 matches for both club and
country, including hat-tricks against Galatasaray, Sevilla, Real Sociedad, Northern Ireland, and Sweden.[168][169]
[170]
He ended 2013 with 69 goals in 59 appearances, his highest year-end goal tally. [171] He received the FIFA
Ballon d'Or, an amalgamation of the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award, for the first time
in his career.[172]
Concurrently with his individual achievements, Ronaldo enjoyed his greatest team success in Spain to date, as
he helped Real Madrid win La Décima, their tenth European Cup. His goal in a 3–0 home win over Borussia
Dortmund—his 100th Champions League match—took his total for the season to 14 goals, equalling the record
Messi had set two years before.[173] After hitting a brace in a 4–0 defeat of Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena,
[174]
he scored from the penalty spot in the 120th minute of the 4–1 final victory over Atlético Madrid, becoming
the first player to score in two European Cup finals for two different winning teams. [175] His overall performance
in the final was subdued as a result of patellar tendinitis and related hamstring problems, which had plagued
him in the last months of the campaign. Ronaldo played the final against medical advice, later commenting: "In
your life you do not win without sacrifices and you must take risks." [176] As the Champions League top goalscorer
for the third time, with a record 17 goals,[177] he was named the UEFA Best Player in Europe.[178]
In the Copa del Rey, Ronaldo helped Madrid reach the final by scoring two penalties against Atlético Madrid at
the Vicente Calderón,[179] the first of which meant he had now scored in every single minute of a 90-minute
football match.[180] His continued issues with his knee and thigh caused him to miss the final, where Real Madrid
defeated Barcelona 2–1 to claim the trophy.[181] Ronaldo scored 31 goals in 30 league games, which earned him
the Pichichi and the European Golden Shoe, receiving the latter award jointly with Liverpool striker Luis Suárez.
[182]
Among his haul was his 400th career goal, in 653 appearances for club and country, which came with a
brace against Celta Vigo on 6 January; he dedicated his goals to compatriot Eusébio, who had died two days
before.[183] A last-minute, backheeled volley scored against Valencia on 4 May—his 50th goal in all competitions
—was recognised as the best goal of the season by the Liga de Fútbol Profesional,[184] which additionally named
Ronaldo the Best Player in La Liga.[185]
During the next campaign, the 2014–15 season, Ronaldo set a new personal best of 61 goals in all
competitions, starting with both goals in Real Madrid's 2–0 victory over Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup.[186] He
subsequently achieved his best-ever goalscoring start to a league campaign, with a record 15 goals in the first
eight rounds of La Liga.[187] His record 23rd hat-trick in La Liga, scored against Celta Vigo on 6 December, made
him the fastest player to reach 200 goals in the Spanish league, as he reached the milestone in only his 178th
game.[187][188] After lifting the FIFA Club World Cup with Madrid in Morocco,[189] Ronaldo received a second
successive FIFA Ballon d'Or,[190] joining Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini, and Marco van Basten as a three-time
Ballon d'Or winner.[191]
2015–17: All-time Real Madrid top scorer and La Undécima
Ronaldo scored a personal best of 61 goals in all competitions during the 2014–15 season.
Madrid finished in second-place in La Liga in the 2014–15 season and exited at the semi-final stage in the
Champions League.[192] In the latter competition, Ronaldo extended his run of scoring away to a record 12
matches with his strike in a 2–0 win against Schalke 04.[193] He scored both of his side's goals in the semi-finals
against Juventus, where Madrid were eliminated 2–3 on aggregate. [194] With 10 goals, he finished the campaign
as top scorer for a third consecutive season, alongside Messi and Neymar.[195] In La Liga, for the first time in his
career he scored five goals in one game, including an eight-minute hat-trick, in a 9–1 rout of Granada on 5
April.[196] His 300th goal for his club followed three days later in a 2–0 win against Rayo Vallecano.
[197]
Subsequent hat-tricks against Sevilla, Espanyol, and Getafe took his number of hat-tricks for Real Madrid to
31, surpassing Di Stéfano's club record of 28.[186] He finished the season with 48 goals, winning a second
consecutive Pichichi and the European Golden Shoe for a record fourth time. [186]
At the start of his seventh season at Real Madrid, the 2015–16 campaign, Ronaldo became the club's all-time
top scorer, first in the league and then in all competitions. His five-goal haul in a 6–0 away win over Espanyol
on 12 September took his tally in La Liga to 230 goals in 203 games, surpassing the club's previous
recordholder, Raúl.[198] A month later, on 17 October, he again surpassed Raúl when he scored the second goal
in a 3–0 defeat of Levante at the Bernabéu to take his overall total for the club to 324 goals. [note 5] Ronaldo also
became the all-time top scorer in the Champions League with a hat-trick in the first group match
against Shakhtar Donetsk, having finished the previous season level with Messi on 77 goals. [200] Two goals
against Malmö FF in a 2–0 away win on 30 September saw him reach the milestone of 500 career goals for
both club and country.[201] He subsequently became the first player to score double figures in the competition's
group stage, setting the record at 11 goals, including another four-goal haul against Malmö. [202]
By March 2016, Ronaldo (center) had scored 252 goals in 228 matches in La Liga to become the competition's second-highest
scorer.
Ronaldo's four goals in a 7–1 home win over Celta de Vigo on 5 March 2016 took his total to 252 goals in La
Liga, becoming the competition's second-highest scorer in history behind Messi. [203] He scored a hat-trick
against VfL Wolfsburg to send his club into the Champions League semi-finals. [204] The treble took his tally in the
competition to 16 goals, making him the top scorer for the fourth consecutive season, and the fifth overall.
[205]
Suffering apparent fitness issues, Ronaldo gave a poorly-received performance in the final against Atlético
Madrid, in a repeat of the 2014 final, though his penalty in the subsequent shoot-out secured La Undécima,
Madrid's 11th victory.[206] For the sixth successive year, he ended the season having scored more than 50 goals
across all competitions.[206] For his efforts during the season, he received the UEFA Best Player in Europe
Award for a second time.[207]
Ronaldo missed Real Madrid's first three matches of the 2016–17 season, including the 2016 UEFA Super
Cup against Sevilla, as he continued to rehabilitate the knee injury he suffered against France in the final
of Euro 2016.[208] On 15 September, he did not celebrate his late free kick equaliser against Sporting CP in the
Champions League, with Ronaldo stating post match, "they made me who I am." [209] On 19 November, he
scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 away win against Atlético Madrid, making him the all-time top scorer in the Madrid
derby with 18 goals.[210] On 15 December, Ronaldo scored his 500th club career goal in the 2–0 victory
over Club América in the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup.[211] He then scored a hat-trick in the 4–2 win
over Japanese club Kashima Antlers in the final.[212] Ronaldo finished the tournament as top scorer with four
goals and was also named player of the tournament. [213] He won the Ballon d'Or for a fourth time and the
inaugural Best FIFA Men's Player, a revival of the former FIFA World Player of the Year, largely owing to his
success with Portugal in winning Euro 2016.[214]
2017–18: Fifth Champions League title and fifth Ballon d'Or
Ronaldo with then President of the Community of Madrid, Cristina Cifuentes, during La Liga title celebrations in Madrid
In the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich in April, Ronaldo scored both
goals in a 2–1 away win which saw him make history in becoming the first player to reach 100 goals in UEFA
club competition.[215] In the second leg of the quarter-finals, Ronaldo scored a ‘perfect’ hat-trick and reached his
100th UEFA Champions League goal, becoming the first player to do so as Real Madrid again defeated Bayern
4–2 after extra-time.[216] On 2 May, Ronaldo scored another hat-trick as Real Madrid defeated Atlético Madrid 3–
0 in the Champions League semi-final first leg. On 17 May, Ronaldo overtook Jimmy Greaves as the all-time
top scorer in the top five European leagues, scoring twice against Celta de Vigo. [217] He finished the season with
42 goals in all competitions as he helped Madrid to win their first La Liga title since 2012.[218] In the 2017
Champions League final, Ronaldo scored two goals in the victory against Juventus and became the top
goalscorer for the fifth-straight season, and sixth overall, with 12 goals, while also becoming the first player to
score in three finals in the Champions League era as well as reaching his 600th senior career goal. [219] Madrid
also became the first team to win back-to-back finals in the Champions League era. [220]
Ronaldo in the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final, his final game for Real Madrid
At the start of the 2017–18 season, Ronaldo scored Madrid's second goal in a 3–1 Supercopa de España first-
leg victory over Barcelona at Camp Nou.[221] On 23 October, his performances in the first half of 2017 saw him
claim his fifth FIFA Player of the Year award by receiving The Best FIFA Men's Player award for the second
consecutive year.[222] On 6 December, he became the first player to score in all six Champions League group
stage matches with a curling strike at home to Borussia Dortmund. [223] A day later, Ronaldo won the Ballon
d'Or for a fifth time, receiving the award on the Eiffel Tower in Paris.[224] On 3 March 2018, he scored two goals
in a 3–1 home win over Getafe, his first being his 300th La Liga goal in his 286th La Liga appearance, making
him the fastest player to reach this landmark and only the second player to do so after Lionel Messi. [225] On 18
March, he reached his 50th career hat-trick, scoring four goals in a 6–3 win against Girona.[226]
On 3 April, Ronaldo scored the first two goals in a 3–0 away win against Juventus in the quarter-finals of
the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, with his second goal being an acrobatic bicycle kick.[227] The goal,
described as a "PlayStation goal" by Juventus defender Andrea Barzagli, garnered him a standing ovation from
the Juventus fans in the stadium, as well as a plethora of plaudits from peers, pundits and coaches. [228][229] On 11
April, he scored the goal Real Madrid needed to advance to the semi-final, in the second leg of the Champions
League quarter-final at home to Juventus, from a 98th-minute injury time penalty in a 3–1 defeat, with an
overall 4–3 aggregate win.[230] It was also his tenth goal against Juventus, a Champions League record against
a single club.[231] In the final of the tournament, on 26 May, Real Madrid defeated Liverpool 3–1, winning
Ronaldo his fifth Champions League title as he became the first player to win the trophy five times. [232] He
finished as the top scorer of the tournament for the sixth consecutive season, ending the campaign with 15
goals.[233] After the final, Ronaldo referred to his time with the Champions League winners in the past tense,
sparking speculation that he could leave Real Madrid.[234]
Juventus
2018–19: Debut season and first Serie A title
Ronaldo playing for Juventus in 2019
On 10 July 2018, Ronaldo signed a four-year contract with Italian club Juventus after completing a €100 million
transfer, which included an additional €12 million in other fees,[235] and solidarity contributions to Ronaldo's youth
clubs. The transfer was the highest ever for a player over 30 years old, [236] and the highest ever paid by an
Italian club.[237] Upon signing, Ronaldo cited his need for a new challenge as his rationale for departing Real
Madrid,[238] but later attributed the transfer to the lack of support he felt was shown by club president Florentino
Pérez.[239]
On 16 September, his fourth appearance for Juventus, he scored his first goal, which was immediately followed
by a second, in a 2–1 home win over Sassuolo; the latter was the 400th league goal of his career.[240] On 19
September, in his first Champions League match for Juventus, he was sent off in the 29th minute for "violent
conduct"—the first time in 154 Champions League appearances. [241] Ronaldo became the first player in history
to win 100 Champions League matches, setting up Mario Mandžukić's winner in a 1–0 home victory over
Valencia, which sealed Juventus's passage to the knock-out stages of the competition. [242] In December, he
scored his tenth Serie A goal of the season, from the penalty spot, netting the final goal in a 3–0 away win
over rivals Fiorentina; with this goal, Ronaldo became the first Juventus player since John Charles in 1957 to
score 10 goals in his first 14 league games for the club.[243] After placing second in both the UEFA Men's Player
of the Year and The Best FIFA Men's Player for the first time in three years, behind Luka Modrić, Ronaldo
performances in 2018 also saw him voted runner-up for the 2018 Ballon d'Or, finishing once again behind his
former Real Madrid teammate.[244]
Ronaldo won his first trophy with the club in January 2019, the 2018 Supercoppa Italiana, after he scored the
game-winning and only goal from a header against A.C. Milan.[245] On 10 February, Ronaldo scored in a 3–0
away win over Sassuolo; the ninth consecutive away game in which he had scored for Juventus in the league,
which enabled him to equal Giuseppe Signori's single season Serie A record of most consecutive away games
with at least one goal.[246] On 12 March, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 home win against Atlético Madrid in
the second leg of the Champions League round of 16, helping Juventus overcome a two-goal deficit to reach
the quarter-finals.[247] The following month, Ronaldo scored his 125th goal in the competition, opening the
scoring in a 1–1 away draw in the first leg of Juventus' quarter-final against Ajax, on 10 April.[248] In the second
leg in Turin on 16 April, he scored the opening goal of the match in the first half, but Juventus eventually lost
the match 2–1, and were eliminated from the competition. [249] On 20 April, Ronaldo played in
the Scudetto clinching game against rivals Fiorentina as Juventus won their eighth successive Serie A title after
a 2–1 home win, thereby becoming the first player to win league titles in England, Spain and Italy.[250] On 27
April, he scored his 600th club goal, the equaliser in a 1–1 away draw against rivals Inter.[251] Finishing his first
Serie A campaign with 21 goals and 8 assists, Ronaldo won the inaugural Serie A Award for Most Valuable
Player.[252]
2019–20: Second season in Italy
Ronaldo scored his first goal of the 2019–20 season for Juventus in a 4–3 home win over Napoli in Serie A on
31 August 2019.[253] On 23 September, he came in 3rd place for the 2019 Best FIFA Men's Player Award.[254] On
1 October, he reached several milestones in Juventus's 3–0 group stage win over Bayer Leverkusen in
the Champions League: his goal during the match saw him score for the 14th consecutive Champions League
season, equalling Raúl and Messi's record; he also broke Iker Casillas’ record for most Champions League
wins of all time, and equalled Raúl's record of scoring against 33 different Champions League opponents. [255] On
6 November, in a 2–1 away win against Lokomotiv Moscow in the Champions League group stage, he
equalled Paolo Maldini as the second-most capped player in UEFA club competitions with 174 appearances.[256]
International career
2001–07: Youth level and early international career
Ronaldo began his international career with Portugal at the 2001 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival,
debuting in a 3–1 defeat to Finland.[257] The following year he would represent his country under-17 side at
the 2002 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship, where they failed to progress past the group
stage.[31] Ronaldo also featured in the Olympic squad at the 2004 Summer Olympics, scoring one goal in the
tournament, though the team was eliminated in the first round, finishing bottom of their group with three points
after 4–2 defeats to eventual semi-finalists Iraq and quarter-finalists Costa Rica.[258][259] During his international
youth career, Ronaldo would go on to represent the under-15 team, under-17, under-20, under-21, and under-
23 national sides, amassing 34 youth caps and scoring 18 goals overall. [260]
At age 18, Ronaldo made his first senior appearance for Portugal in a 1–0 victory over Kazakhstan on 20
August 2003.[261] He was subsequently called up for UEFA Euro 2004, held in his home country, and scored his
first international goal in a 2–1 group stage loss to eventual champions Greece.[262] After converting his penalty
in a shootout against England in the quarter-finals,[263] he helped Portugal reach the final by scoring the opening
goal in a 2–1 win over the Netherlands.[264] He was featured in the team of the tournament, having provided two
assists in addition to his two goals.[265]
Ronaldo was Portugal's second-highest scorer in the European qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup with
seven goals.[266] During the tournament, he scored his first World Cup goal against Iran with a penalty kick in
Portugal's second match of the group stage. [267] In the quarter-final against England, his Manchester United
teammate Wayne Rooney was sent off for stamping on Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho. Although the
referee later clarified that the red card was only due to Rooney's infraction, [268] the English media speculated that
Ronaldo had influenced his decision by aggressively complaining, after which he was seen in replays winking
at Portugal's bench following Rooney's dismissal. [269] Ronaldo went on to score the vital winning penalty during
the penalty shoot out which sent Portugal into the semi-finals. [270] Ronaldo was subsequently booed during their
1–0 semi-final defeat to France.[271] FIFA's Technical Study Group overlooked him for the tournament's Best
Young Player award and handed it to Germany's Lukas Podolski, citing his behaviour as a factor in the
decision.[272] Following the 2006 World Cup, Ronaldo would go on to represent Portugal in four qualifying games
for Euro 2008, scoring two goals in the process.[273][274]
2007–12: Assuming the captaincy
Ronaldo, pictured playing against Germany at Euro 2012, was made captain for Portugal in 2008.
One day after his 22nd birthday, Ronaldo captained Portugal for the first time in a friendly game
against Brazil on 6 February 2007,[275] as requested by Portuguese Football Federation president Carlos Silva,
who had died two days earlier.[276] Ahead of Euro 2008, he was given the number 7 shirt for the first time.
[277]
While he scored eight goals in the qualification,[278] the second-highest tally, he scored just one goal in the
tournament, netting the second goal of their 3–1 win in the group stage match against the Czech Republic; in
the same game, he also set-up Portugal's third goal in injury time, which was scored by Quaresma, and was
named man of the match for his performance.[279][280] Portugal were eliminated in the quarter-finals with a 3–2
loss against eventual finalists Germany.[281]
After Portugal's unsuccessful performance in the European Championship, Luiz Felipe Scolari was replaced as
coach by Carlos Queiroz, formerly the assistant manager at United. [282] Queiroz made Ronaldo the squad's
permanent captain in July 2008.[283] Ronaldo failed to score a single goal in the qualification for the 2010 World
Cup, as Portugal narrowly avoided a premature elimination from the tournament with a play-off victory
over Bosnia and Herzegovina.[284] In the group stage of the World Cup, he was named man of the match in all
three matches against Ivory Coast, North Korea, and Brazil.[285][286][287] His only goal of the tournament came in
their 7–0 rout of North Korea, which marked his first international goal in 16 months. [288] Portugal's World Cup
ended with a 1–0 loss against eventual champions Spain in the round of 16.[289]
Ronaldo scored seven goals in the qualification for Euro 2012, including two strikes against Bosnia and
Herzegovina in the play-offs, to send Portugal into the tournament, where they were drawn in a "group of
death".[290] In the last group stage game against the Netherlands, Ronaldo scored twice to secure a 2–1 victory.
[291]
He scored a header in the quarter-final against the Czech Republic to give his team a 1–0 win. [292] In both
games against the Netherlands and the Czech Republic he was named man of the match. [293][294] After the semi-
finals against Spain ended scoreless, with Ronaldo having sent three shots over the bar, [295] Portugal were
eliminated in the penalty shootout. Ronaldo did not take a penalty as he had been slated to take the unused
fifth slot,[296] a decision that drew criticism.[297] As the joint top scorer with three goals, alongside five other
players, he was again included in the team of the tournament. [298]
2012–16: All-time Portugal top scorer and European champion
Ronaldo evading Luka Modrić during a friendly match against Croatia in 2013
During the qualification for the 2014 World Cup, Ronaldo scored a total of eight goals. A qualifying match on 17
October 2012, a 1–1 draw against Northern Ireland, earned him his 100th cap.[299] His first international hat-trick
also came against Northern Ireland, when he found the net three times in a 15-minute spell of a 4–2 qualifying
victory on 6 September 2013.[300] After Portugal failed to qualify during the regular campaign, Ronaldo scored all
four of the team's goals in the play-offs against Sweden, which ensured their place at the tournament.[301] His
hat-trick in the second leg took his international tally to 47 goals, equaling Pauleta's record.[302] Ronaldo
subsequently scored twice in a 5–1 friendly win over Cameroon on 5 March 2014 to become his country's all-
time top scorer.[303]
Ronaldo took part in the tournament despite suffering from patellar tendinitis and a related thigh injury, [304]
[305]
potentially risking his career.[306] Ronaldo later commented: "If we had two or three Cristiano Ronaldos in the
team I would feel more comfortable. But we don't." [307] Despite ongoing doubts over his fitness, being forced to
abort practice twice,[308] Ronaldo played the full 90 minutes of the opening match against Germany, though he
was unable to prevent a 4–0 defeat.[309] After assisting an injury-time 2–2 equaliser against the United States,
[310]
he scored a late match-winning goal in a 2–1 victory over Ghana.[311] His 50th international goal made him
the first Portuguese to play and score in three World Cups. [312] Portugal were eliminated from the tournament at
the close of the group stage on goal difference.[311]
Ronaldo leaps in the air in Portugal's Euro 2016 quarter-final match against Poland
Ronaldo scored five goals, including a hat-trick against Armenia, in the qualification for Euro 2016.[313] With the
only goal in another victory over Armenia on 14 November 2014, he reached 23 goals in the European
Championship, including qualifying matches, to become the competition's all-time leading goalscorer.[314] At the
start of the tournament, however, Ronaldo failed to convert his chances in Portugal's draws
against Iceland and Austria, despite taking a total of 20 shots on goal. In the latter match, he overtook Luís
Figo as his nation's most capped player with his 128th international appearance, which ended scoreless after
he missed a penalty in the second half.[315] With two goals and an assist in the last match of the group stage, a
3–3 draw against Hungary, Ronaldo became the first player to score in four European Championships, having
made a record 17 appearances in the tournament.[316][317] Though placed third in their group behind Hungary and
Iceland, his team qualified for the knockout round as a result of the competition's newly expanded format. [318]
In Portugal's first knockout match, Ronaldo's only attempt on goal was parried by Croatia's goalkeeper into the
path of Ricardo Quaresma, whose finish then secured a 1–0 victory late in extra time. [319] After his team
progressed past Poland on penalties,[320] Ronaldo became the first player to participate in three European
Championship semi-finals;[321] he scored the opening goal and assisted a second in a 2–0 win against Wales,
equaling Michel Platini as the competition's all-time top scorer with nine goals.[322] In the final against hosts
France, Ronaldo was forced off after just 25 minutes following a challenge from Dimitri Payet. After multiple
treatments and attempts to play on, he was stretchered off the pitch and replaced by Quaresma. During extra
time, substitute Eder scored in the 109th minute to earn Portugal a 1–0 victory. [323] As team captain, Ronaldo
later lifted the trophy in celebration of his country's first-ever triumph in a major tournament. He was awarded
the Silver Boot as the joint second-highest goalscorer, with three goals and three assists, and was named to
the team of the tournament for the third time in his career. [324][325]
2016–18: Post-European Championship victory, and World Cup
Following the Euro 2016 success, Ronaldo scored six goals in the opening rounds of the 2018 FIFA World Cup
qualifiers with four being against Andorra[326] and two against Latvia. These goals brought his international tally
to 68 goals, putting level with Gerd Müller and Robbie Keane as the fourth-highest European international
goalscorer of all-time.[327] He played his first professional match on his home island of Madeira on 28 March
2017 at age 32, opening a 2–3 friendly defeat to Sweden at the Estádio dos Barreiros. With the goal, he tied
with Miroslav Klose on 71 goals as the third-highest scoring European in international football. [328]
In Portugal's opening match of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup against Mexico on 17 June, Cristiano
Ronaldo set-up Quaresma's opening goal in a 2–2 draw. [329] Three days later, he scored in a 1–0 win over
hosts Russia.[330] On 24 June, he scored from a penalty in a 4–0 win over New Zealand, which saw Portugal top
their group and advance to the semi-finals of the competition. With his 75th international goal, Ronaldo also
equalled Sándor Kocsis as the second-highest European international goalscorer of all-time, behind only
Ferenc Puskás.[331][332] He was named man of the match in all three of Portugal's group stage matches.
[333]
Ronaldo left the competition early: after Chile defeated Portugal 3–0 on penalties in the semi-finals, he was
allowed to return home to be with his newborn children.[334] Therefore, he missed Portugal's third-place play-
off match in which Portugal defeated Mexico 2–1 after extra time. [335]
Ronaldo evades an Iran defender in the group stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup
On 31 August 2017, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in a 5–1 win in a World Cup qualifier over the Faroe Islands,
which saw him overtake Pelé and equal Hussein Saeed as the joint-fifth-highest goalscorer in international
football with 78 goals.[336] These goals brought his tally in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers to 14, equalling Predrag
Mijatović's record for most goals in a single UEFA senior men's qualifying campaign, and also saw him break
the record for the most goals scored in a single European qualifying group, overtaking the previous record of 13
goals set by David Healy and Robert Lewandowski. Ronaldo's hat-trick took his World Cup qualifying goals
total to 29, making him the highest scorer in European World Cup qualifiers, ahead of Andriy Shevchenko, and
the highest goalscorer in World Cup qualifying and finals matches combined, with 32 goals, ahead of Miroslav
Klose.[337] Ronaldo later added to this tally by scoring a goal against Andorra in a 2–0 victory. [338]
In the build-up to the 2018 World Cup, Portugal hosted friendlies against Tunisia, Belgium and Algeria. Ronaldo
featured in the final of the three matches in which he made his 150th international appearance. [339] On 15 June
2018, Ronaldo became the oldest player ever to score a hat-trick in a World Cup match, helping Portugal
secure a 3–3 draw against Spain in their opening match at the World Cup. In doing so, he also became the first
Portuguese player to score a goal in four World Cups and one of four players to do so in total. [340] His third goal
saw him curl in a 30-yard free kick with two minutes remaining for the equaliser. [341] His hat-trick also drew him
level with Ferenc Puskás as the highest European goalscorer of all-time, with 84 international goals. [342] In
Portugal's second game on 20 June, Ronaldo scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory against Morocco, breaking
Puskás' record.[15] In the final group match against Iran on 25 June, Ronaldo missed a penalty in an eventual 1–
1 draw which saw Portugal progress to the second round as group runners-up behind Spain. [343] On 30 June,
Portugal were eliminated following a 2–1 defeat to Uruguay in the last 16.[344] For his performances throughout
the tournament, Ronaldo was later named to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Dream Team.[345]
2018–present: Brief hiatus, and Nations League title
After the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo missed six international matches, including the entire league phase of
the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League. Ronaldo played for hosts Portugal in the inaugural Nations League
Finals in June 2019. In the semi-finals on 5 June, he scored a hat-trick against Switzerland to secure a spot
in the final. Upon netting the match's opening goal, he became the first player to score in 10 consecutive
international competitions, breaking the record of nine he previously shared with Ghana's Asamoah Gyan.[346] In
the final of the tournament four days later, Portugal defeated Netherlands 1–0.[347]
On 10 September, Ronaldo scored four goals in a 5–1 away win over Lithuania in a Euro 2020 qualifying
match;[348] in the process, he overtook Robbie Keane (23 goals) as the player with most goals in the UEFA
European Championship qualifiers, setting a new record with 25 goals.[349] On that occasion, Ronaldo also set a
new record as the player who scored against the most national teams, 40, [350] while also completing his eighth
international hat-trick.[351] On 14 October, he scored his 700th senior career goal for club and country from the
penalty spot, in his 974th senior career appearance, a 2–1 away loss to Ukraine in a Euro 2020 qualifier.[352] On
17 November, Ronaldo scored his 99th international goal in a 2–0 win over Luxembourg, leading Portugal
qualify for Euro 2020.[353]
Player profile
Style of play
A versatile attacker, Ronaldo is capable of playing on either wing as well as through the centre of the pitch,
[354]
and, while ostensibly right-footed, is very strong with both feet. [355] He ranks among the world's fastest
footballers, both with and without the ball.[356] Tactically, Ronaldo has undergone several evolutions throughout
his career. While at Sporting and during his first season at Manchester United, he was typically deployed as a
traditional winger on the right side of midfield, where he regularly looked to deliver crosses into the penalty
area. In this position, he was able to use his pace and acceleration, agility, and technical skills to take on
opponents in one-on-one situations. Ronaldo became noted for his dribbling and flair, often displaying an array
of tricks and feints,[356][357] such as the step overs and so-called 'chops' that became his trademark. [358]
Ronaldo controlling the ball on his chest during a 2010–11 La Liga game against Almería. At his peak, he was known for his
exceptional speed and athleticism.[359]
As Ronaldo matured, he underwent a major physical transformation, developing a muscular body type that
allows him to retain possession of the ball, and strong legs that make up for an outstanding jumping ability.
[360]
His strength and jumping ability, combined with his elevation, heading accuracy, and height of 1.87 m
(6 ft 1 1⁄2 in), gives him an edge in winning aerial challenges for balls. These attributes allow him to function as a
target-man, and make him an aerial goal threat in the penalty area; consequently, many of his goals have been
headers.[361][362][363] Allied with his increased stamina and work-rate, his goalscoring ability improved drastically on
the left wing where he was given the positional freedom to move into the centre to finish attacks. He also
increasingly played a creative role for his team, often dropping deep to pick up the ball, participate in the build-
up of plays, and create chances for his teammates, courtesy of his good vision and passing ability. [356][361]
In his final seasons at United, Ronaldo played an even more attacking and central role, functioning both as
a striker and as a supporting forward, or even as an attacking midfielder on occasion.[364] He developed into a
prolific goalscorer, capable of finishing well both inside the penalty area and from distance with an accurate and
powerful shot, courtesy of his striking ability. [361][364][365] An accurate penalty kick taker,[366] he also became a set
piece specialist, renowned for his powerful, bending free kicks,[367] though his ability in this regard deteriorated
later on in his career.[368][369] When taking free kicks, Ronaldo is known for using the knuckleball technique, which
had previously been popularised by Juninho Pernambucano;[370] he also adopts a trademark stance before
striking the ball, which involves him standing with his legs far apart. [371] Regarding Cristiano Ronaldo's unique
style of taking free kicks, former Manchester United assistant manager Mike Phelan has commented: "People
used to put the ball down, walk away, run up and hit it. He brought in a more dynamic showmanship. He places
the ball down, the concentration level is high, he takes his certain amount of steps back so that his standing
foot is in the perfect place to hit the ball in the sweet spot. He is the ultimate showman. He has that slight
arrogance. When he pulls those shorts up and shows his thighs, he is saying 'All eyes on me' and this is going
in. He understands the marketing side of it. The way he struts up and places it; the world is watching him." [372]
As Ronaldo entered his thirties he began to dribble less.[373]
At Real Madrid, Ronaldo continued to play a more offensive role, while his creative and defensive duties
became more limited, although not entirely diminished. [364] Initially deployed as a centre forward, he was later
moved back onto the left wing, though in a free tactical role; this position allowed him to drift into the centre at
will to get onto the end of crosses and score, or draw out defenders with his movement off the ball and leave
space for teammates to exploit.[361][374][375] Madrid's counter-attacking style of play also allowed him to become a
more efficient and consistent player, as evidenced by his record-breaking goalscoring feats. However, while he
mainly drew praise in the media for his prolific goalscoring, he also demonstrated his ability as an effective
creator in this role.[376][377][378] From 2013 onwards, he effectively adapted his style to the physical effects of ageing
with increasingly reduced off the ball movement and general involvement, completing fewer dribbles and
passes per game, and instead focusing on short-distance creating and goalscoring. [358][379][380] Since 2017,
Ronaldo has adapted his style of play yet again to become more of a free-roaming centre forward, a role in
which he has continued to excel and maintain a prolific goalscoring record; in this position, he has earned
praise in the media for his intelligent movement both on and off the ball, his excellent positional sense, link-up
play, clinical finishing, and his opportunism, as well as his ability to lose or anticipate his markers, find space in
the box, and score from few opportunities. [381][382][383]
In his first season at Juventus, Ronaldo continued to play in a variety of different attacking roles, depending on
whom he was partnered with. While he had occupied an increasingly offensive role in his final years at Real
Madrid, at times he functioned in a free role at Juventus, either as a lone striker or in his trademark role on the
left wing, in a 4–2–3–1 or 4–3–3 formation, in which he often switched positions with Mario Mandžukić. In this
role, he was also given licence to drop deep or even out wide onto the right flank in order to receive the ball,
and be more involved in the build-up of plays; as such, aside from scoring goals himself, he began to take on
opponents and create chances for other players with greater frequency than he had in his final seasons with
Real Madrid. Off the ball, he was also capable of creating space for teammates with his movement and
attacking runs into the box, or finishing off chances with his head or feet by getting onto the end of his
teammates' crosses.[384][385] On occasion he also played in an attacking partnership alongside Mandžukić in a 4–
3–1–2, 4–4–2, or 3–5–2 formation.[386][387][388] He continued to play a similar role in his second season with the
club.[385]
Reception
"In the six years [Manchester United] had him, you just saw his game grow all the time, and he was a fantastic player. Now you see
the complete player. His decision-making, his maturity, his experience, plus all the great skills he has got, they all make him the
complete player."
—Former manager Alex Ferguson, January 2013[389]
Ronaldo is widely regarded as one of the two best players of his generation, alongside Lionel Messi.[note 6] After
winning his first Ballon d'Or by a record-high vote count at age 23, the public debate regarding his qualities as a
player moved beyond his status in contemporary football to the possibility that he was one of the greatest
players in history.[390] Acclaimed for his prolific and consistent goal-scoring,[note 7] he is considered a decisive
player who is also a game changer,[391] especially in important and high-pressured situations.[note 8]
Fans of Real Madrid (left; Ronaldo's then current club) and Manchester United (right; Ronaldo's former club) sporting Ronaldo's No.
7 jersey at the 2017 UEFA Super Cup.
Ronaldo is noted for his work ethic, elite body conditioning, and dedication to improvement on the training pitch,
as well being regarded as a natural leader.[392][393] Writing of his "extraordinary commitment to physical
preparation", Adam Bate of Sky Sports adds, "Dedication is a huge part of staying at the top and Ronaldo's
focus is perhaps unparalleled within the game." [373] His drive and determination to succeed are fuelled by a
desire to be talked about alongside Pelé and Diego Maradona once retiring.[394] He has at times, however, been
criticised for simulating when tackled.[note 9] In addition to this, he was occasionally criticised early in his career by
manager Alex Ferguson, teammates, and the media for being a selfish or overly flamboyant player. [395][396]
During his career, Ronaldo has also been described as having an "arrogant image" on the pitch, [397] with
Ronaldo stating that he had become a "victim" because of how he was portrayed in the media. [398] He is often
seen moaning, gesticulating and scowling while trying to inspire his team to victory, [397] with Ronaldo insisting
that his competitive nature should not be mistaken for arrogance. [398] His managers, teammates and various
journalists have commented that this reputation has caused an unfair image of him. [399][400][401] In 2014, Ronaldo
told France Football that he had made a "mistake" when he said in 2011, "People are jealous of me as I am
rich, handsome and a great player", adding that he had matured since then and fans understood him better. [402]
Goal celebrations
Ronaldo has adopted several goalscoring celebrations throughout his career, including one particular
celebration which gained widespread coverage in the media, when he squatted and stared directly into a
camera on the sidelines of the pitch with his hand on his chin. [403][404][405] However, after scoring a goal, he usually
celebrates with a "storming jump" and "turn", before "landing in spread-eagled fashion" [404] into his "signature
power stance",[405] while usually simultaneously exclaiming "Sí" (Spanish for "yes");[403][406] as such, this trademark
celebration has been dubbed the "Sii!" in the media. [403][404][407]
Comparisons to Lionel Messi
Main article: Messi–Ronaldo rivalry
Ronaldo with Lionel Messi before an international friendly between Portugal and Argentina on in 2011.
Both players have scored in at least two UEFA Champions League finals and have regularly broken the 50-
goal barrier in a single season. Sports journalists and pundits regularly argue the individual merits of both
players in an attempt to argue who they believe is the best player in modern football. [408] It has been compared
to sports rivalries such as the Muhammad Ali–Joe Frazier rivalry in boxing, the Borg–McEnroe rivalry in tennis,
and the Ayrton Senna–Alain Prost rivalry from Formula One motor racing.[409][410]
Some commentators choose to analyse the differing physiques and playing styles of the two, [411] while part of
the debate revolves around the contrasting personalities of the two players: Ronaldo is sometimes depicted as
an arrogant and theatrical showoff, while Messi is portrayed as a shy, humble character. [412][413][414][415]
"It's part of my life now. People are bound to compare us. He tries to do his best for his club and for his national team, as I do, and
there is a degree of rivalry with both of us trying to do the best for the teams we represent."
—Cristiano Ronaldo commenting on his rivalry with Messi.[416]
In a 2012 interview, Ronaldo commented on the rivalry, saying "I think we push each other sometimes in the
competition, this is why the competition is so high", [417] while Ronaldo's manager during his time at Manchester
United, Alex Ferguson, opined that "I don't think the rivalry against each other bothers them. I think they have
their own personal pride in terms of wanting to be the best". [418] Messi himself denied any rivalry, saying that it
was "only the media, the press, who wants us to be at loggerheads but I've never fought with Cristiano".
[419]
Responding to the claims that he and Messi do not get on well on a personal level, Ronaldo commented,
"We don't have a relationship outside the world of football, just as we don't with a lot of other players", before
adding that in years to come he hopes they can laugh about it together, stating; "We have to look on this rivalry
with a positive spirit, because it's a good thing."[416] Representing archrivals Barcelona and Real Madrid, the two
players faced each other at least twice every season in the world's biggest club game, El Clásico, which is
among the world's most viewed annual sporting events. [420]
In a debate at Oxford Union in October 2013, when asked whether FIFA president Sepp Blatter preferred Messi
or Ronaldo, Blatter paid tribute to the work ethic of the Argentine before taking a swipe at Ronaldo, claiming
"one of them has more expenses for the hairdresser than the other". Real Madrid demanded – and promptly
received – a full apology, and the Portuguese issued his own riposte with a mock-salute celebration after
scoring a penalty against Sevilla, after Blatter had described him as a "commander" on the pitch. [421] In August
2019, Ronaldo and Messi were interviewed while sat next to each other prior to the announcement of the UEFA
Men's Player of the Year, with Ronaldo stating, "Of course, we have a good relationship. We haven't had
dinner together yet, but I hope in the future. I pushed him and he pushed me as well. So it's good to be part of
the history of football."[422]
Outside football
Museu CR7 and Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport
The Cristiano Ronaldo Museum, CR7, in Funchal, Madeira. It was opened on 15 December 2013.
As his reputation grew from his time at Manchester United, Ronaldo has signed many sponsorship deals for
consumer products, including sportswear, football boots (since November 2012 Ronaldo has worn the Nike
Mercurial Vapor personalized CR7 edition),[423] soft drinks, clothing, automotive lubricants, financial services,
electronics and computer video games.[424][425][426][427] Ronaldo was featured as the cover athlete of EA
Sports' FIFA video game FIFA 18 and was heavily involved in the game's promotion. [428] His 'Siiii' goal
celebration features in the FIFA series, accompanied with his own voiceover.[403] He was also the face of Pro
Evolution Soccer, appearing on the cover in 2008, 2012 and 2013.[429]
Forbes has twice ranked Ronaldo first on its list of the world's highest-paid football players; his combined
income from salaries, bonuses and endorsements was $73 million in 2013–14 and $79 million in 2014–15.[430]
[431]
The latter earnings saw him listed behind only boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr. on the magazine's list of The
World's Highest-Paid Athletes.[432] In 2016, he became the first footballer to top the Forbes list of highest-earning
athletes, with a total income of $88 million from his salary and endorsements in 2015–16. [433] He topped the list
for the second straight year with earnings of $93 million in 2016–17.[434] Ronaldo is one of the world's most
marketable athletes: SportsPro rated him the fifth most marketable athlete in 2012,[435] and eighth most
marketable athlete in 2013, with Brazilian footballer Neymar topping both lists.[435][436] Sports market research
company Repucom named Ronaldo the most marketable and most recognised football player in the world in
May 2014.[437] He was additionally named in the 2014 Time 100, Time's annual list of the most influential people
in the world.[16] ESPN named Ronaldo the world's most famous athlete in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. [438][439][440][441]
Statue of Ronaldo, in Madeira, resembles the pose he strikes before taking free kicks.[442]
Ronaldo has established a strong online presence; the most popular sportsperson on social media, he counted
158 million total followers across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by June 2015.[443] As of June 2015, he has
the world's biggest Facebook fanbase with 103 million followers:[443] he became the first sportsperson to reach
50 million followers in August 2010,[444] and in October 2014, he became the first sportsperson, and the second
person after Shakira, to reach 100 million followers.[445] By June 2017, Ronaldo had 277 million followers across
social media.[434] His sponsors earned $936 million in media value across his social media accounts between
June 2016 to June 2017.[434] Ronaldo has released two mobile apps: in December 2011, he launched
an iPhone game called Heads Up with Cristiano, created by developer RockLive,[446] and in December 2013, he
launched Viva Ronaldo, a dedicated social networking website and mobile app.[447] Computer security
company McAfee produced a 2012 report ranking footballers by the probability of an internet search for their
name leading to an unsafe website, with Ronaldo's name first on the list. [448]
Ronaldo's life and person have been the subject of several works. His autobiography, titled Moments, was
published in December 2007.[449] His sponsor Castrol produced the television film Ronaldo: Tested to the Limit,
in which he is physically and mentally tested in several areas; his physical performance was consequently
subject to scrutiny by world media upon the film's release in September 2011. [450] Cristiano Ronaldo: The World
at His Feet, a documentary narrated by the actor Benedict Cumberbatch, was released via Vimeo in June
2014.[451] A documentary film about his life and career, titled Ronaldo, was released worldwide on 9 November
2015.[452] Directed by BAFTA-winner Anthony Wonke, the film is produced and distributed by Universal Pictures,
while Asif Kapadia is the executive producer.[453]
Portugal Prime Minister António Costa presents Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a signed Ronaldo jersey in January 2017
A replica Cristiano Ronaldo jersey has been a much sought after sports product throughout his career. In 2008,
Ronaldo's number 7 Manchester United jersey was the best-selling sports product under the auspices of the
Premier League.[454] In 2018, within 24 hours of his number 7 Juventus jersey being released, over 520,000 had
been sold, with $62.4 million generated in one day.[455]
Ronaldo opened his first fashion boutique under the name CR7 (his initials and shirt number) on the island of
Madeira, Portugal, in 2006. Ronaldo expanded his business with a second clothes boutique in Lisbon in 2008.
[456]
In partnership with Scandinavian manufacturer JBS Textile Group and the New York fashion
designer Richard Chai, Ronaldo co-designed a range of underwear and sock line, released in November 2013.
[457]
He later expanded his CR7 fashion brand by launching a line of premium shirts [458] and shoes by July 2014.
[459]
In September 2015, Ronaldo—in a partnership with Eden Parfums—released his own fragrance, "Legacy".
[460]
In 2007, C.D. Nacional renamed its youth campus Cristiano Ronaldo Campus Futebol (Cristiano Ronaldo
Football Campus).[461] In December 2013, Ronaldo opened a museum, Museu CR7, in his hometown of
Funchal, Madeira, to house trophies and memorabilia of his life and playing career; [462] the museum is an official
sponsor of the local football team União da Madeira.[463][464] At a ceremony held at the Belém Palace in January
2014, President of Portugal Aníbal Cavaco Silva raised Ronaldo to the rank of Grand Officer of the Order of
Prince Henry, "to distinguish an athlete of world renown who has been a symbol of Portugal globally,
contributing to the international projection of the country and setting an example of tenacity for future
generations".[465] A bronze statue of Ronaldo, designed by artist Ricardo Madeira Veloso, was unveiled in
Funchal on 21 December 2014.[466][467]
Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport in Madeira. The renaming ceremony took place in March 2017.
In June 2010, during the build-up to the World Cup, Ronaldo became the fourth footballer – after Steven
Gerrard, Pelé and David Beckham – to be represented as a waxwork at Madame Tussauds London.[468] Another
waxwork of him was presented at the Madrid Wax Museum in December 2013. [469] In June 2015, astronomers
led by David Sobral from Lisbon and Leiden discovered a galaxy which they named CR7 (Cosmos Redshift 7)
in tribute to Ronaldo.[470][471]
On 23 July 2016, following Portugal's triumph at Euro 2016, Madeira Airport in Funchal was renamed
as Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport.[472] The unveiling of the rebranded terminal took place on 29 March
2017, which included a bust of his head being presented. [473] The bust and the name change were controversial,
with the lack of the bust's likeness to Ronaldo being ridiculed by comedians, including Saturday Night Live,
[474]
while the name change was subject to much debate locally by some politicians and citizens, who even
started a petition against the move, an action criticised by President of Madeira Miguel Albuquerque.[475][473] A
year later, sports website Bleacher Report commissioned sculptor Emanuel Santos to create another bust.
[476]
However, this bust was never used; instead, a new one was made by a Spanish sculptor, shown to the
public on 15 June 2018.[477]
Personal life
Family, children and relationships
Ronaldo's children
o Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. (b. 2010), son
o Eva Maria (b. 2017), twin daughter
o Mateo Ronaldo (b. 2017), twin son
With Georgina Rodríguez
o Alana Martina (b. 2017), daughter
Ronaldo has four children. He first became a father to a son, Cristiano Jr., born on 17 June 2010 in the United
States.[478] He stated that he has full custody of the child and would not be publicly revealing the identity of the
mother as per agreement with her.[479][480] In January 2015, Ronaldo announced his five-year relationship with
Russian model Irina Shayk had ended.[481]
Ronaldo then became father to twins, daughter Eva and son Mateo, born on 8 June 2017 in the United States
via surrogacy.[482] He is in a relationship with Spanish model Georgina Rodríguez, who gave birth to their
daughter Alana Martina, on 12 November 2017.[483]
Ronaldo's father, José, died of an alcoholism-related liver condition at age 52 in September 2005 when
Ronaldo was 20.[484][485] Ronaldo has said that he does not drink alcohol,[486] and he received libel damages over
a Daily Mirror article that reported him drinking heavily in a nightclub while recovering from an injury in July
2008.[487] His mother, Dolores, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 but eventually recovered.[488]
Philanthropy
Ronaldo has made contributions to various charitable causes throughout his career. Television footage of
the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami showed an eight-year-old boy survivor
named Martunis wearing a number 7 Portuguese football shirt who was stranded for 19 days after his family
was killed. Following this, Ronaldo visited Aceh, Indonesia, to raise funds for rehabilitation and reconstruction.
[489][490]
After accepting undisclosed damages from a libel case against The Sun newspaper in 2008, Ronaldo
donated the damages to a charity in Madeira.[491] In 2009, Ronaldo donated £100,000 to the hospital that saved
his mother's life in Madeira following her battle with cancer, so that they could build a cancer centre on the
island.[492] In support of the victims of the 2010 Madeira flood, Ronaldo pledged to play in a charity match in
Madeira between Primeira Liga club Porto and players from Madeiran-based clubs Marítimo and Nacional.[493]
In 2012, Ronaldo and his agent paid for specialist treatment for a nine-year-old Canarian boy with apparently
terminal cancer.[494] In December 2012, Ronaldo joined FIFA's "11 for Health" programme to raise awareness
amongst kids of how to steer clear of conditions including drug addiction, HIV, malaria and obesity. [495] In
January 2013, Ronaldo became Save the Children's new Global Artist Ambassador, in which he hopes to help
fight child hunger and obesity.[496] In March, Ronaldo agreed to be the ambassador for The Mangrove Care
Forum in Indonesia, an organisation aiming to raise awareness of mangrove conservation.[497]
Ronaldo was named the world's most charitable sportsperson in 2015 after donating £5 million to the relief
effort after the earthquake in Nepal which killed over 8,000 people.[498] In June 2016, Ronaldo donated the
entirety of his €600,000 Champions League bonus after Real Madrid won the 2015–16 UEFA Champions
League.[498] In August 2016, Ronaldo launched CR7Selfie, a selfie app for charity to help Save the Children that
lets participants take a selfie with him in one of several different outfits and poses. [499] In the app, fans can select
from among 68 photos of Ronaldo in different outfits and poses, and scroll through 39 filters to apply to their
selfies.[500]
Legal issues
In July 2017, Ronaldo was charged with fraudulently evading almost €15 million in tax between 2011 and 2014,
a claim he denied at the time.[501] In June 2018, Ronaldo was given a two-year suspended jail sentence and
fined €18.8 million, later reduced to €16.8 million after reaching a deal with Spanish authorities. The sentence
can be served under probation, without any jail time, so long as he does not re-offend. [502]
Ronaldo and another man were investigated by the British Crown Prosecution Service after a 2005 rape
allegation was brought forward by two women. Within days, the two women withdrew their allegation
and Scotland Yard later issued a statement declaring there was not enough evidence for a prosecution. [503] In
April 2017, it was reported that Ronaldo was being investigated for a rape allegation by the Las Vegas Police
Department originating in 2009.[504][505] Documents, confirmed by Ronaldo's lawyers, state that Ronaldo paid a
woman US$375,000 in a non-disclosure settlement.[504][506] Ronaldo and his lawyers issued a lengthy statement
denying all accusations, describing them as an "intentional defamation campaign" with parts significantly
"altered and/or completely fabricated",[507][508] a claim which Der Spiegel categorically denied.[509] In July 2019, Las
Vegas prosecutors said they would not charge Ronaldo over allegations of rape; the statement added: "Based
upon a review of information at this time, the allegations of sexual assault against Cristiano Ronaldo cannot be
proven beyond a reasonable doubt."[510]
Career statistics
Club
As of match played 18 December 2019
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Seas League Cup[a] League Europe[b] Other[c] Total
Cup
on
Divisi Ap Goa Ap Goa Ap Goa Ap Goa Ap Goa Ap Goa
on ps ls ps ls ps ls ps ls ps ls ps ls
Segun
2002
Sporting da
– 2 0 — — — — 2 0
CP B Divisã
03[511]
o
2002 Primei
Sporting
– ra 25 3 3 2 — 3[d] 0 0 0 31 5
CP
03[511] Liga
Manche Premi
ster 2003 er
29 4 5 2 1 0 5 0 0 0 40 6
United[512 –04 Leagu
]
e
Premi
2004 er
33 5 7 4 2 0 8 0 0 0 50 9
–05 Leagu
e
Premi
2005 er
33 9 2 0 4 2 8 1[e] — 47 12
–06 Leagu
e
Premi
2006 er
34 17 7 3 1 0 11 3 — 53 23
–07 Leagu
e
2007 Premi 34 31 3 3 0 0 11 8 1[f] 0 49 42
–08 er
Leagu
e
Premi
2008 er
33 18 2 1 4 2 12 4 2[g] 1 53 26
–09 Leagu
e
Total 196 84 26 13 12 4 55 16 3 1 292 118
Real 2009
La
Madrid – 29 26 0 0 — 6 7 — 35 33
Liga
10[122]
2010
La
– 34 40[h] 8 7 — 12 6 — 54 53
Liga
11[131]
2011
La
– 38 46 5 3 — 10 10 2[i] 1 55 60
Liga
12[514]
2012
La
– 34 34 7 7 — 12 12 2[i] 2 55 55
Liga
13[515]
2013
La
– 30 31 6 3 — 11 17 — 47 51
Liga
14[516]
2014
La
– 35 48 2 1 — 12 10 5[j] 2 54 61
Liga
15[517]
2015
La
– 36 35 0 0 — 12 16 — 48 51
Liga
16[517]
2016 La 29 25 2 1 — 13 12 2[g] 4 46 42
– Liga
17[517]
2017
La
– 27 26 0 0 — 13 15 4[k] 3 44 44
Liga
18[517]
Total 292 311 30 22 — 101 105 15 12 438 450
2018
Serie
– 31 21 2 0 — 9 6 1[l] 1 43 28
A
19[517]
Juventu
2019
s Serie
– 14 10 0 0 — 6 2 0 0 20 12
A
20[517]
Total 45 31 2 0 — 15 8 1 1 63 40
Career total 560 429 61 37 12 4 174 129 19 14 826 613
Notes
1. ^ Includes the Taça de Portugal, FA Cup, Copa del Rey, and Coppa Italia
2. ^ All appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League, unless where noted.
3. ^ Includes the FA Community Shield, Supercoppa Italiana, Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, UEFA Super
Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup
4. ^ One appearance in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Cup
5. ^ Goal scored in the third qualifying round against Debreceni VSC
6. ^ Appearance in FA Community Shield
7. ^ Jump up to:a b All appearances in FIFA Club World Cup
8. ^ Does not include one goal scored on 18 September 2010 against Real Sociedad. Marca, which awards
the Pichichi Trophy, attribute it to Ronaldo, while La Liga and UEFA attribute it to Pepe.[513]
9. ^ Jump up to:a b All appearances in Supercopa de España
10. ^ One appearance and two goals in UEFA Super Cup, two appearances in Supercopa de España, two
appearances in FIFA Club World Cup
11. ^ One appearance in UEFA Super Cup, one appearance and one goal in Supercopa de España, two
appearances and two goals in FIFA Club World Cup
12. ^ Appearance in Supercoppa Italiana
International
For a comprehensive listing of international goals scored by Cristiano Ronaldo, see List of international
goals scored by Cristiano Ronaldo.
As of match played 17 November 2019[518][519][520][260]
Competitive Friendly Total
National
Year
team
Goal
Apps Apps Goals Apps Goals
s
Portugal 2003 0 0 2 0 2 0
2004 11 7 5 0 16 7
2005 7 2 4 0 11 2
2006 10 4 4 2 14 6
2007 9 5 1 0 10 5
2008 5 1 3 0 8 1
2009 5 0 2 1 7 1
2010 6 3 5 0 11 3
2011 6 5 2 2 8 7
2012 9 4 4 1 13 5
2013 6 7 3 3 9 10
2014 5 3 4 2 9 5
2015 4 3 1 0 5 3
2016 10 10 3 3 13 13
2017 10 10 1 1 11 11
2018 4 4 3 2 7 6
2019 10 14 0 0 10 14
Total 117 82 47 17 164 99
Honours and achievements
For a comprehensive listing of Ronaldo's achievements, see List of career achievements by Cristiano
Ronaldo.
As of 11 October 2019
Ronaldo presenting his third Ballon d'Or to fans at the Santiago Bernabéu in January 2015
Club
Sporting
Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2002
Manchester United[521][522]
Premier League: 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09
FA Cup: 2003–04
Football League Cup: 2005–06, 2008–09
FA Community Shield: 2007
UEFA Champions League: 2007–08
FIFA Club World Cup: 2008
Real Madrid[522]
La Liga: 2011–12, 2016–17
Copa del Rey: 2010–11, 2013–14
Supercopa de España: 2012, 2017
UEFA Champions League: 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18
UEFA Super Cup: 2014, 2017
FIFA Club World Cup: 2014, 2016, 2017
Juventus[517]
Serie A: 2018–19
Supercoppa Italiana: 2018
International
Portugal
UEFA European Championship: 2016[323]
UEFA Nations League: 2018–19[523]
Individual
Awards
FIFA Ballon d'Or/Ballon d'Or: 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017[524][525][522][526]
FIFA World Player of the Year: 2008[527]
FIFPro World Player of the Year: 2008[528]
The Best FIFA Men's Player: 2016, 2017
UEFA Best Player in Europe Award: 2014, 2016, 2017[178][207][529]
UEFA Club Footballer of the Year: 2007–08[530]
UEFA Club Forward of the Year: 2007–08[531]
FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year: 2003–04, 2004–05[532]
PFA Portuguese Player of the Year: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019[533]
European Golden Shoe: 2007–08, 2010–11, 2013–14, 2014–15[522]
FIFA Puskás Award: 2009[534]
FIFA FIFPro World11: 2007, 2008,
2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019[535][536][537][538]
UEFA Team of the
Year: 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018[539][540]
[541]
UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–
17, 2017–18, 2018–19[542][543][544][545][546][547]
UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 2004, 2012, 2016[548][549][324]
UEFA European Championship Silver Boot: 2016[325]
UEFA Ultimate Team of the Year (published 2017)[550]
UEFA Nations League Finals Team of the Tournament: 2019[551]
FIFA World Cup Dream Team: 2018[345]
FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball: 2016[552]
FIFA Club World Cup Silver Ball: 2008,[553] 2014,[554] 2017
PFA Young Player of the Year: 2006–07[74]
PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2006–07,[74] 2007–08[83]
Premier League Player of the Season: 2006–07, 2007–08[521]
FWA Footballer of the Year: 2006–07, 2007–08[555]
PFA Premier League Team of the Year: 2005–06,[556] 2006–07,[74] 2007–08,[83] 2008–09[557]
Premier League Golden Boot: 2007–08[521]
La Liga Best Player: 2013–14[558]
La Liga Best Forward: 2013–14[558]
La Liga Most Valuable Player: 2012–13[559]
La Liga Team of the Season: 2013–14,[560] 2014–15,[561] 2015–16[562]
UEFA La Liga Team of The Season: 2015–16, 2016–17[563][564]
BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year: 2014[565]
Serie A Most Valuable Player: 2018–19[252]
Serie A Footballer of the Year: 2019[566]
Serie A Team of the Year: 2018–19[567]
Orders
Medal of Merit, Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (House of
Bragança)[568]
Grand officer of the Order of Prince Henry[569]
Commander of the Order of Merit[570]
Cordão Autonómico de Distinção[
Jack the Giant Slayer
Jack the Giant Slayer (previously titled Jack the Giant Killer) is a 2013 American fantasy adventure
film directed and co-produced by Bryan Singer and written by Darren Lemke, Christopher McQuarrie and Dan
Studney, from a story by Lemke and David Dobkin. The film, based on the British fairy tales "Jack the Giant
Killer" and "Jack and the Beanstalk", stars Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane, Bill
Nighy, and Ewan McGregor. The film tells the story of Jack, a young farmhand who must rescue a princess
from a race of giants after inadvertently opening a gateway to their land in the sky.
Development of Jack the Giant Slayer began in 2005, when Lemke first pitched the idea. D. J. Caruso was
hired to direct the film in January 2009, but in September of that year, Caruso was replaced by Singer, who
hired McQuarrie and Studney to rework the script. The main characters were cast between February and
March 2011, and principal photography began in April 2011 in England with locations
in Somerset, Gloucestershire and Norfolk. Release of the film was moved back in post-production to allow
more time for special effects and marketing.
Jack the Giant Slayer premiered on February 26, 2013 in Hollywood and was released theatrically in the United
States on March 1, 2013, receiving mixed reviews from critics and was a box office flop.
Jack the Giant Slayer
Theatrical release poster
Plot
In the Kingdom of Cloister, Jack, a young farm boy, is fascinated by the legend of Erik, an ancient king who
defeated an army of invading giants from a realm in the sky by controlling them with a magical crown. At the
same time, Princess Isabelle becomes fascinated with the same legend.
Ten years later, Jack goes into town to sell his horse to support his uncle's farm. There, Jack spots Isabelle
and becomes enamored with her after defending her honor from a group of hooligans. Meanwhile, Lord
Roderick returns to his study, only to find that a monk has robbed him. The monk offers Jack some magic
beans he stole from Roderick as collateral for Jack's horse. Back at the castle, Isabelle quarrels with her father
King Brahmwell as she wants to explore the kingdom, but he wants her to stay and marry Roderick. Likewise,
Jack's uncle scolds him for being foolish before throwing the beans on the floor and leaving the house.
Determined to be free, Isabelle sneaks out of the castle and seeks shelter from the rain in Jack's house. As it
rains, one of the beans takes root and grows into a massive beanstalk that carries the house and Isabelle into
the sky as Jack falls to the ground.
Jack, Roderick, and Roderick's attendant Wicke volunteer to join the king's knights, led by Elmont and his
second in-command, Crawe, and climb the beanstalk in search of Isabelle. As they climb, Roderick and Wicke
cut the safety rope, intentionally killing some of the knights. At the top, they discover the giants' realm and
decide to split into two groups: one with Jack, Elmont, and Crawe, and the other including Roderick and Wicke,
but not before Roderick forcibly takes the remaining beans from Jack (although Jack manages to save one for
himself).
Jack's group is trapped by a giant, who takes Elmont and Crawe prisoner while Jack escapes. Meanwhile,
Roderick's group encounters two other giants; one eats Wicke, but before the other can do the same to
Roderick, Roderick dons the magical crown.
Jack follows the giant to their stronghold, where the two-headed giant leader, Fallon, has killed Crawe. Jack
finds Isabelle and Elmont imprisoned there. As the giants prepare to kill their remaining prisoners, Roderick
walks in and enslaves the giants with the crown. He tells the giants they will attack Cloister at dawn and gives
them permission to eat Isabelle and Elmont. Jack rescues Isabelle and Elmont as one of the giants prepares to
cook Elmont as a pig-in-a-blanket. The trio makes for the beanstalk, where Jack causes the giant guarding the
beanstalk to fall off the realm's edge. Seeing the giant's body, Brahmwell orders the beanstalk cut down to
avoid an invasion by the giants.
Jack and Isabelle head down the beanstalk, while Elmont stays to confront Roderick. Elmont kills Roderick, but
Fallon takes the crown before Elmont can claim it, and Elmont is forced to escape down the beanstalk. Jack,
Isabelle, and Elmont all survive the fall after the beanstalk is cut down. As everyone returns home, Jack warns
that the giants are using Roderick's beans to create beanstalks to descend down to Earth and attack Cloister.
The giants chase Jack, Isabelle, and Brahmwell into the castle, where Elmont fills the moat with oil and sets it
on fire. Fallon falls in the moat and breaks into the castle from below. As the siege continues, Fallon captures
Jack and Isabelle, but Jack throws the final bean down Fallon's throat, before the giant can eat the princess,
causing a beanstalk to rip apart his body. Jack takes the crown and sends the giants back to their realm.
Jack and Isabelle marry and tell the story of the giants to their children. As time passes, the magic crown is
crafted into St Edward's Crown and is secured in the Tower of London.
Cast
Nicholas Hoult as Jack, a young farmhand who leads the quest to rescue the princess. [4]
Eleanor Tomlinson as Isabelle, the princess who is abducted by giants.[5][6]
Stanley Tucci as Lord Roderick, the king's advisor who plans on taking over the kingdom. [5][7]
Ian McShane as King Brahmwell, the princess's father, who wants his daughter to marry Lord
Roderick.[8]
Bill Nighy and John Kassir as the voice and motion-capture of General Fallon, the two-headed leader
of the giants. Nighy plays the bigger head and Kassir plays the smaller head. [7]
Ewan McGregor as Elmont, the captain of the king's guard, who joins the quest to rescue the princess.
[5][9]
Eddie Marsan plays Crawe,[10] Elmont's second-in-command
Ewen Bremner plays Wicke,[11] Lord Roderick's attendant.
Production
It's a very traditional fairytale, probably the most traditional thing I've ever done. But it'll also be a fun twist on the notion of how
these tales are told ... Fairytales are often borne of socio-political commentary and translated into stories for children. But what if
they were based on something that really happened?.. What if we look back at the story that inspired the story that you read to your
kids? That's kind of what this movie's about.
—Bryan Singer, director of Jack the Giant Slayer, about the film[12]
Development
Screenwriter Darren Lemke first proposed the idea of contemporizing the "Jack and the Beanstalk" fairy tale
with CGI in 2005 before the release of other contemporary films based on fairy tales such as Alice in
Wonderland (2010), Red Riding Hood (2011) and Snow White and the Huntsman (2012).[13] Lemke described
the script as "a male-oriented story of a boy becoming a man" and drew a parallel between Jack and Luke
Skywalker of Star Wars.[14] In January 2009, New Line Cinema hired D. J. Caruso to direct the script, which was
subsequently rewritten by Mark Bomback.[15] By August 2009, it was reported that Bryan Singer might be
replacing Caruso; this became official in September 2009. [16][17]
In April 2010, Singer re-teamed with screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie to rework the screenplay. Singer and
McQuarrie had previously collaborated on Public Access, The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil, and Valkyrie.
[18]
Singer stated, "Chris McQuarrie did a significant re-write for me. He brought a different structure. It was very
much a page-one situation; a different storyline. It involved the same characters, but some we juggled around
and switched around. He just brought a very different perspective". [19] McQuarrie's re-write included a deeper
back story for the giants and explanation of their relationship with the humans, which Singer considered a "vast
improvement"; it also upped the budget. To get the budget back in line, Singer brought in television writer Dan
Studney to work on the project.[13]
In May 2010, ReelzChannel reported that production of the film would be delayed until February 2011. The
report cited Singer's interest in being able to pre-visualize scenes with the digital giants in-camera with the live-
action actors (a la James Cameron's Avatar) and the need for more time to work out the complex process as
reasons for the delay.[20]
Pre-production
In October 2010, New Line gave Bryan Singer the green-light to begin pre-production work on Jack the Giant
Killer, with production scheduled to begin the following spring.[21] In November 2010, Singer began screen-
testing for the male and female leads. Aaron Johnson, Nicholas Hoult, and Aneurin Barnard were considered
for the role of the young farmhand, and Adelaide Kane, Lily Collins, and Juno Temple tested for the princess
role.[22]
In December 2010, Singer said, "I'm very much looking forward to using the EPIC Red for my next movie Jack
the Giant Killer which will be shot in, what else, 3D. The camera's incredibly compact size and extraordinary
resolution are ideal for the 3D format. But more importantly Jack the Giant Killer is my first movie set in a time
before electricity. The EPIC's extraordinary exposure latitude will allow me to more effectively explore the use
of natural light".[23]
In February 2011, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Stanley Tucci had been cast as the antagonist, the
king's advisor who plans on taking over the kingdom, and Bill Nighy and John Kassir were cast as Fallon, the
two-headed leader of the giants; Nighy would play the big head and Kassir would play the smaller head. [7] Also
in February, Nicholas Hoult was offered the lead role.[4] Singer said he had liked him since Skins and was very
supportive of his casting in X-Men: First Class.[19] Later that month, Ewan McGregor joined the cast as the
leader of the king's elite guard, who helps fight giants. [9]
In March 2011, Eleanor Tomlinson was cast opposite Nicholas Hoult as the princess [6] and Ian McShane was
cast to play her father, King Brahmwell.[8] Two days later, New Line and Warner Bros. announced a release
date of June 15, 2012.[24]
Filming
Principal photography began on April 12, 2011, in the British countryside.[10] In May 2011, production moved
to Somerset, England for two weeks with filming scheduled in Wells, Cheddar and secret locations in the
county including scenes filmed at Wells Cathedral.[25] Also in May, scenes were shot at Puzzlewood in
the Forest of Dean near Coleford, Gloucestershire. Puzzlewood, which features unusual tree and rock
formations, has previously been used for filming of the BBC TV series Doctor Who and Merlin. The same forest
is said to have inspired J. R. R. Tolkien to write The Hobbit.[26] Later that month, filming took place at Norwich
Cathedral in Norwich, Norfolk.[27]
About the performance-capture process Singer stated, "It's fascinating ... It takes you back to play-acting as a
kid in your living room because you are running around and having to imagine that you are in Gantua and
imagine that there are these weapons and all these giant things. But there's nothing when you are there other
than styrofoam and blocks. It forces the actors to regress to when they would play-act as kids or do minimalist
theatre. But in that way it's fascinating - I can see why Robert Zemeckis and James Cameron have started to
shoot pictures this way".[19]
Post-production
In January 2012, Warner Bros. moved back the release date by nine months, from June 15, 2012, to March 22,
2013. The Hollywood Reporter stated: "Warner can likely afford the move because of Christopher Nolan's The
Dark Knight Rises, which opened in July. And moving the film back gives the studio more time for special
effects, as well as a chance to attach trailers for it to Peter Jackson's Christmas tentpole The Hobbit: An
Unexpected Journey".[28] In October 2012, Warner Bros. again moved the release date, this time to March 1,
2013, three weeks earlier than the previous date. Warner Bros also changed the title of the film from Jack the
Giant Killer to Jack the Giant Slayer.[29]
The film's special effects were completed by seven different visual effects houses: Digital Domain, Giant
Studios, The Third Floor, MPC, Soho VFX, Rodeo FX and Hatch Productions. [30] Creating the giants took four
main steps. The first step was Pre-Capture, in which performance capture was used to capture the actor's
facial and body movements and render them in a real-time virtual environment. The second step took place
during principal photography, where Simulcam technology was used to help the human characters virtually
interact with the giants that were rendered earlier in Pre-Capture. The third step was Post-Capture, a second
performance capture shoot to adjust giants' movements to seamlessly fit the live-action performances. The final
step involved putting the finishing touches on the giant's animation, skin, hair and clothing, and composition in
the shots.[30] Creating the beanstalk involved two main requirements: set extension for shots of the actors
interacting with the beanstalk, which were shot against a bluescreen, and complete CG renderings for shots of
the beanstalk growing and extending from Earth into the world of the giants. [30]
The giant beanstalk, before and after it was rendered with computer graphics.
Singer stated that he had to tone down the special effects to keep the film age-appropriate for children. He
said, "This movie probably has a bigger on-screen body count than any movie I've done before. It's done in a
way that's fun, but it was a challenge to get away with that without it becoming upsetting to people ... It was
about creating a tone like Raiders of the Lost Ark or Star Wars that allows you to get away with a lot of stuff
because it feels like a movie."[13]
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack features music by John Ottman, who also served as an editor and associate producer on
the film. Jack the Giant Slayer marks Ottman's seventh collaboration with director Bryan Singer; they previously
worked together on Public Access, The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil, X2: X-Men United, Superman Returns,
and Valkyrie. The soundtrack album was released on February 26, 2013, by WaterTower Music.[31]
Jack The Giant Slayer: Original Motion Picture
Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by
John Ottman
Released February 26, 2013
Genre Classical
Length 1:12:51
Label WaterTower Music
Jack The Giant Slayer: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
No. Title Length
1. "Jack and Isabelle (Theme from Jack the Giant 3:56
Slayer)"
2. "Logo Mania" 1:00
3. "To Cloister" 1:28
4. "The Climb" 2:41
5. "Fee Appears" 3:16
6. "How Do You Do" 2:23
7. "Why Do People Scream?" 3:17
8. "Story of the Giants" 3:22
9. "Welcome to Gantua" 4:12
10. "Power of the Crown" 1:21
11. "Not Wildly Keen on Heights" 2:19
12. "Top of the World" 2:30
13. "The Legends Are True / First Kiss" 3:43
14. "Roderick's Demise / The Beanstalk Falls" 5:36
15. "Kitchen Nightmare" 3:24
16. "Onward and Downward!" 3:19
17. "Waking a Sleeping Giant" 2:21
18. "Chase to Cloister" 5:19
19. "Goodbyes" 2:29
20. "The Battle" 5:31
21. "Sniffing Out Fear / All is Lost" 5:07
22. "The New King / Stories" 4:17
Total length: 1:12:51
Release
Jack the Giant Slayer premiered on Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood,
California.[32]
Box office
Pre-release tracking showed that Jack the Giant Slayer was projected to gross $30 million to $35 million in its
opening weekend,[33] a disappointing figure considering it cost at least $185 million to produce. [34] The film
grossed $400,000 from Thursday night and midnight runs, ahead of its wide release open on Friday, March 1,
2013.[35] Through the weekend, the film grossed $28.01 million in North America at 3,525 locations, taking first
place at the box office. The audience was 55% male and 56% were over the age of 25, despite the studio's
efforts to target families.[36] At the same time, the film took in an additional $13.7 million in 10 Asian markets at
1,824 locations.[37]
Four weeks into its theatrical run, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the film was on track to lose between
$125 million and $140 million for Legendary Pictures, suggesting that the film would likely close at $200 million
worldwide, short of its combined production and marketing budget. [38] Jack the Giant Slayer closed in theaters
on June 13, 2013, grossing a total of $65,187,603 in North America and $197,687,603 worldwide. [3] In
explaining its box office failure, analysts pointed to the conflict between the director's darker, more adult-
themed vision with the studio's desire for a family-friendly product, leading to the final compromise of a PG-13
film that did not sufficiently appeal to adults or children.[39]
Critical reception
Jack the Giant Slayer received a mixed response from film critics. On the review aggregation website Rotten
Tomatoes the film has a rating of 51%, based on an aggregation of 195 reviews, with an average rating of
5.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "It's enthusiastically acted and reasonably fun, but Jack the Giant
Slayer is also overwhelmed by digital effects and a bland, impersonal story." [40] Metacritic, which uses
a weighted mean, assigned a score of 51 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average
reviews".[41]
Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter said, "Simply in terms of efficient storytelling, clear logistics and
consistent viewer engagement, Jack is markedly superior to the recent Hobbit."[42] Richard Roeper of
the Chicago Sun-Times said, "Jack the Giant Slayer is a rousing, original and thoroughly entertaining
adventure."[43]
Conversely, Justin Chang of Variety said, "Jack the Giant Slayer feels, unsurprisingly, like an attempt to cash in
on a trend, recycling storybook characters, situations and battle sequences to mechanical and wearyingly
predictable effect."[44] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said, "This finally is just a digitally souped-up,
one-dimensional take on 'Jack and the Beanstalk'." [45] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said, "Bryan
Singer's take on the old fairy tale has all things money can buy — except a good script." [46]
Accolades
Awards
Yea Ref
Award Category Recipient Result
r .
The Overlooked Film of Jack the Giant Nominate
the Year Slayer d
Phoenix Film Critics [47]
Society
201 Jack the Giant Nominate
Best Visual Effects
3 Slayer d
BMI Film & TV
Film Music Award John Ottman Won [48]
Awards
201 Jack the Giant Nominate
Saturn Awards Best Fantasy Film [49]
4 Slayer d
Home media
In April 2013, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced the release of Jack the Giant Slayer on Blu-ray
3D, Blu-ray Disc and DVD. The discs were released on June 18, 2013 in two editions; a three-disc 3D/Blu-
ray/DVD combo pack, and a two-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. Both sets include the "Become a Giant Slayer"
featurette, deleted scenes, a gag reel and a digital copy of the film.[50]
Urbain le verrier.
Urbain Jean Joseph Le VerrierFRS (FOR) HFRSE (French: [yʁbɛ̃ʒɑ̃ ʒɔzɛf lə vɛʁje]; 11 March 1811 – 23
September 1877) was a French astronomer and mathematician who specialized in celestial mechanics
and is best known for predicting the existence and position of Neptune using only mathematics. The
calculations were made to explain discrepancies with Uranus's orbit and the laws of Kepler and Newton.
Le Verrier sent the coordinates to Johann Gottfried Galle in Berlin, asking him to verify. Galle found
Neptune in the same night he received Le Verrier's letter, within 1° of the predicted position. The
discovery of Neptune is widely regarded as a dramatic validation of celestial mechanics, and is one of
the most remarkable moments of 19th-century science
Biography
Statue of Le Verrier at the Paris Observatory
Early years
Le Verrier was born at Saint-Lô, Manche, France, and studied at École Polytechnique. He briefly studied
chemistry under Gay-Lussac, writing papers on the combinations of phosphorus and hydrogen, and
phosphorus and oxygen.[1] He then switched to astronomy, particularly celestial mechanics, and
accepted a job at the Paris Observatory. He spent most of his professional life there, and eventually
became that institution's Director, from 1854 to 1870 and again from 1873 to 1877.[2]
In 1846, Le Verrier became a member of the French Academy of Sciences, and in 1855, he was elected a
foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Le Verrier's name is one of the 72 names
inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.
Career
Early work
Le Verrier's first work in astronomy was presented to the Académie des Sciences in September 1839,
entitled Sur les variations séculaires des orbites des planètes (On the Secular Variations of the Orbits of
the Planets). This work addressed the then most-important question in astronomy: the stability of the
Solar System, first investigated by Laplace. He was able to derive some important limits on the motions
of the system, but due to the inaccurately-known masses of the planets, his results were tentative.
From 1844 to 1847, Le Verrier published a series of works on periodic comets, in particular those of
Lexell, Faye and DeVico. He was able to show some interesting interactions with the planet Jupiter,
proving that certain comets were actually the reappearance of previously-known comets flung into
different orbits.[3]
Discovery of Neptune
Discovery of Neptune
Le Verrier's most famous achievement is his prediction of the existence of the then unknown planet
Neptune, using only mathematics and astronomical observations of the known planet Uranus.
Encouraged by physicist Arago,[4] Director of the Paris Observatory, Le Verrier was intensely engaged
for months in complex calculations to explain small but systematic discrepancies between Uranus's
observed orbit and the one predicted from the laws of gravity of Newton. At the same time, but
unknown to Le Verrier, similar calculations were made by John Couch Adams in England. Le Verrier
announced his final predicted position for Uranus's unseen perturbing planet publicly to the French
Academy on 31 August 1846, two days before Adams's final solution was privately mailed to the Royal
Greenwich Observatory. Le Verrier transmitted his own prediction by 18 September in a letter to Johann
Galle of the Berlin Observatory. The letter arrived five days later, and the planet was found with the
Berlin Fraunhofer refractor that same evening, 23 September 1846, by Galle and Heinrich d'Arrest within
1° of the predicted location near the boundary between Capricorn and Aquarius.
There was, and to an extent still is, controversy over the apportionment of credit for the discovery.
There is no ambiguity to the discovery claims of Le Verrier, Galle, and d'Arrest. Adams's work was begun
earlier than Le Verrier's but was finished later and was unrelated to the actual discovery. Not even the
briefest account of Adams's predicted orbital elements was published until more than a month after
Berlin's visual confirmation. Adams made full public acknowledgement of Le Verrier's priority and credit
(not forgetting to mention the role of Galle) when he gave his paper to the Royal Astronomical Society in
November 1846:[5]
I mention these dates merely to show that my results were arrived at independently, and previously to
the publication of those of M. Le Verrier, and not with the intention of interfering with his just claims to
the honours of the discovery; for there is no doubt that his researches were first published to the world,
and led to the actual discovery of the planet by Dr. Galle, so that the facts stated above cannot detract,
in the slightest degree, from the credit due to M. Le Verrier.
— Adams (1846)
Tables of the planets
Early in the 19th century, the methods of predicting the motions of the planets were somewhat
scattered, having been developed over decades by many different researchers. In 1847, Le Verrier took
on the task to "... embrace in a single work the entire planetary system, put everything in harmony if
possible, otherwise, declare with certainty that there are as yet unknown causes of perturbations...",[6]
a work which would occupy him for the rest of his life.
Le Verrier began by re-evaluating, to the 7th order, the technique of calculating the planetary
perturbations known as the perturbing function. This derivation, which resulted in 469 mathematical
terms, was complete by 1849. He next collected observations of the positions of the planets as far back
as 1750. Examining these and correcting for inconsistencies with the most recent data occupied him
until 1852.[3]
Le Verrier published, in the Annales de l'Observatoire de Paris, tables of the motions of all of the known
planets, releasing them as he completed them, starting in 1858.[7] The tables formed the fundamental
ephemeris of the Connaissance des Temps, the astronomical almanac of the Bureau des Longitudes,
until about 1912.[8] About that time, Le Verrier's work on the outer planets was revised and expanded
by Gaillot.[9]
Precession of Mercury
The grave of Urbain Le Verrier.
Le Verrier began studying the motion of Mercury as early as 1843, with a report entitled Détermination
nouvelle de l ’orbite de Mercure et de ses perturbations (A New Determination of the Orbit of Mercury
and its Perturbations).[3] In 1859, Le Verrier was the first to report that the slow precession of
Mercury’s orbit around the Sun could not be completely explained by Newtonian mechanics and
perturbations by the known planets. He suggested, among possible explanations, that another planet (or
perhaps, instead, a series of smaller 'corpuscules') might exist in an orbit even closer to the Sun than
that of Mercury, to account for this perturbation.[10] (Other explanations considered included a slight
oblateness of the Sun.) The success of the search for Neptune based on its perturbations of the orbit of
Uranus led astronomers to place some faith in this possible explanation, and the hypothetical planet
was even named Vulcan. However, no such planet was ever found,[11] and the anomalous precession
was eventually explained by general relativity theory.
Later life
Le Verrier's methods of management were disliked by the staff of the Observatoire, and the disputes
became so great that he was driven out in 1870. He was succeeded by Delaunay, but was reinstated in
1873 after Delaunay accidentally drowned. Le Verrier held the position until his death in 1877.[1]
Le Verrier had a wife and children.[12] He died in Paris, France and was buried in the Montparnasse
Cemetery. A large stone celestial globe sits over his grave. He will be remembered by the phrase
attributed to Arago: "the man who discovered a planet with the point of his pen."
Honours
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society – 1868 and 1876
Namesake of craters on the Moon and Mars, a ring of Neptune, and the asteroid1997 Leverrier
One of the 72 names engraved on the Eiffel Tower
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells[3][4] (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer. He was prolific in
many genres, writing dozens of novels, short stories, and works of social commentary, history, satire,
biography, and autobiography, and even including two books on recreational war games. He is now best
remembered for his science fiction novels and is often called the "father of science fiction", along with Jules
Verne and the publisher Hugo Gernsback.[5][6][a]
During his own lifetime, however, he was most prominent as a forward-looking, even prophetic social critic who
devoted his literary talents to the development of a progressive vision on a global scale. A futurist, he wrote a
number of utopian works and foresaw the advent of aircraft, tanks, space travel, nuclear weapons, satellite
television and something resembling the World Wide Web.[7] His science fiction imagined time travel, alien
invasion, invisibility, and biological engineering. Brian Aldiss referred to Wells as the "Shakespeare of science
fiction".[8] Wells rendered his works convincing by instilling commonplace detail alongside a single extraordinary
assumption – dubbed “Wells’s law” – leading Joseph Conrad to hail him in 1898 as "O Realist of the
Fantastic!".[9] His most notable science fiction works include The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor
Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), The War of the Worlds (1898) and the military science fiction The
War in the Air (1907). Wells was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times.[10]
Wells's earliest specialised training was in biology, and his thinking on ethical matters took place in a
specifically and fundamentally Darwinian context.[11] He was also from an early date an outspoken socialist,
often (but not always, as at the beginning of the First World War) sympathising with pacifist views. His later
works became increasingly political and didactic, and he wrote little science fiction, while he sometimes
indicated on official documents that his profession was that of journalist. [12] Novels such as Kipps and The
History of Mr Polly, which describe lower-middle-class life, led to the suggestion that he was a worthy
successor to Charles Dickens,[13] but Wells described a range of social strata and even attempted, in Tono-
Bungay (1909), a diagnosis of English society as a whole. Wells was a diabetic and co-founded the charity The
Diabetic Association (known today as Diabetes UK) in 1934.[14]
H. G. Wells
Photograph by George Charles Beresford, 1920
Life
Early life
Herbert George Wells was born at Atlas House, 162 High Street in Bromley, Kent,[15] on 21 September 1866.
[4]
Called "Bertie" in the family, he was the fourth and last child of Joseph Wells (a former domestic gardener,
and at the time a shopkeeper and professional cricketer) and his wife, Sarah Neal (a former domestic servant).
An inheritance had allowed the family to acquire a shop in which they sold china and sporting goods, although
it failed to prosper: the stock was old and worn out, and the location was poor. Joseph Wells managed to earn
a meagre income, but little of it came from the shop and he received an unsteady amount of money from
playing professional cricket for the Kent county team.[16] Payment for skilled bowlers and batsmen came from
voluntary donations afterwards, or from small payments from the clubs where matches were played.
A defining incident of young Wells's life was an accident in 1874 that left him bedridden with a broken leg. [4] To
pass the time he began to read books from the local library, brought to him by his father. He soon became
devoted to the other worlds and lives to which books gave him access; they also stimulated his desire to write.
Later that year he entered Thomas Morley's Commercial Academy, a private school founded in 1849, following
the bankruptcy of Morley's earlier school. The teaching was erratic, the curriculum mostly focused, Wells later
said, on producing copperplate handwriting and doing the sort of sums useful to tradesmen. Wells continued at
Morley's Academy until 1880. In 1877, his father, Joseph Wells, suffered a fractured thigh. The accident
effectively put an end to Joseph's career as a cricketer, and his subsequent earnings as a shopkeeper were not
enough to compensate for the loss of the primary source of family income. [17]
Wells spent the winter of 1887-88 convalescing at Uppark, where his mother, Sarah, was housekeeper.[18]
No longer able to support themselves financially, the family instead sought to place their sons as apprentices in
various occupations.[19] From 1880 to 1883, Wells had an unhappy apprenticeship as a draper at
the Southsea Drapery Emporium, Hyde's.[20] His experiences at Hyde's, where he worked a thirteen-hour day
and slept in a dormitory with other apprentices,[15] later inspired his novels The Wheels of Chance, The History
of Mr Polly, and Kipps, which portray the life of a draper's apprentice as well as providing a critique of society's
distribution of wealth.[21]
Wells's parents had a turbulent marriage, owing primarily to his mother's being a Protestant and his father's
being a freethinker. When his mother returned to work as a lady's maid (at Uppark, a country house in Sussex),
one of the conditions of work was that she would not be permitted to have living space for her husband and
children. Thereafter, she and Joseph lived separate lives, though they never divorced and remained faithful to
each other. As a consequence, Herbert's personal troubles increased as he subsequently failed as a draper
and also, later, as a chemist's assistant. However, Uppark had a magnificent library in which he immersed
himself, reading many classic works, including Plato's Republic, Thomas More's Utopia, and the works
of Daniel Defoe.[22] This was the beginning of Wells's venture into literature.
Teacher
In October 1879, Wells's mother arranged through a distant relative, Arthur Williams, for him to join the National
School at Wookey in Somerset as a pupil–teacher, a senior pupil who acted as a teacher of younger children.
[20]
In December that year, however, Williams was dismissed for irregularities in his qualifications and Wells was
returned to Uppark. After a short apprenticeship at a chemist in nearby Midhurst and an even shorter stay as a
boarder at Midhurst Grammar School, he signed his apprenticeship papers at Hyde's. In 1883, Wells
persuaded his parents to release him from the apprenticeship, taking an opportunity offered by Midhurst
Grammar School again to become a pupil–teacher; his proficiency in Latin and science during his earlier short
stay had been remembered.[16][20]
Wells studying in London c. 1890
I
The years he spent in Southsea had been the most miserable of his life to that point, but his good fortune at
securing a position at Midhurst Grammar School meant that Wells could continue his self-education in earnest.
[16]
The following year, Wells won a scholarship to the Normal School of Science (later the Royal College of
Science in South Kensington, now part of Imperial College London) in London, studying biology under Thomas
Henry Huxley.[23] As an alumnus, he later helped to set up the Royal College of Science Association, of which
he became the first president in 1909. Wells studied in his new school until 1887, with a weekly allowance of
21 shillings (a guinea) thanks to his scholarship. This ought to have been a comfortable sum of money (at the
time many working class families had "round about a pound a week" as their entire household income) [24] yet in
his Experiment in Autobiography, Wells speaks of constantly being hungry, and indeed photographs of him at
the time show a youth who is very thin and malnourished. [25]
H. G. Wells in 1907 at the door of his home Spade House at Sandgate in Kent
He soon entered the Debating Society of the school. These years mark the beginning of his interest in a
possible reformation of society. At first approaching the subject through Plato's Republic, he soon turned to
contemporary ideas of socialism as expressed by the recently formed Fabian Society and free lectures
delivered at Kelmscott House, the home of William Morris. He was also among the founders of The Science
School Journal, a school magazine that allowed him to express his views on literature and society, as well as
trying his hand at fiction; a precursor to his novel The Time Machine was published in the journal under the
title The Chronic Argonauts. The school year 1886–87 was the last year of his studies. [23]
During 1888, Wells stayed in Stoke-on-Trent, living in Basford. The unique environment of The Potteries was
certainly an inspiration. He wrote in a letter to a friend from the area that "the district made an immense
impression on me." The inspiration for some of his descriptions in The War of the Worlds is thought to have
come from his short time spent here, seeing the iron foundry furnaces burn over the city, shooting huge red
light into the skies. His stay in The Potteries also resulted in the macabre short story "The Cone" (1895,
contemporaneous with his famous The Time Machine), set in the north of the city.[26]
After teaching for some time, he was briefly on the staff of Holt Academy in Wales[27] – Wells found it necessary
to supplement his knowledge relating to educational principles and methodology and entered the College of
Preceptors (College of Teachers). He later received his Licentiate and Fellowship FCP diplomas from the
College. It was not until 1890 that Wells earned a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology from the University of
London External Programme. In 1889–90, he managed to find a post as a teacher at Henley House School in
London, where he taught A. A. Milne (whose father ran the school).[28][29] His first published work was a Text-
Book of Biology in two volumes (1893).[30]
Upon leaving the Normal School of Science, Wells was left without a source of income. His aunt Mary—his
father's sister-in-law—invited him to stay with her for a while, which solved his immediate problem of
accommodation. During his stay at his aunt's residence, he grew increasingly interested in her daughter,
Isabel, whom he later courted. To earn money, he began writing short humorous articles for journals such
as The Pall Mall Gazette, later collecting these in volume form as Select Conversations with an Uncle (1895)
and Certain Personal Matters (1897). So prolific did Wells become at this mode of journalism that many of his
early pieces remain unidentified. According to David C Smith, "Most of Wells's occasional pieces have not been
collected, and many have not even been identified as his. Wells did not automatically receive the byline his
reputation demanded until after 1896 or so ... As a result, many of his early pieces are unknown. It is obvious
that many early Wells items have been lost."[31] His success with these shorter pieces encouraged him to write
book-length work, and he published his first novel, The Time Machine, in 1895.[32]
Personal life
In 1891, Wells married his cousin[34] Isabel Mary Wells (1865–1931; from 1902 Isabel Mary Smith). The couple
agreed to separate in 1894, when he had fallen in love with one of his students, Amy Catherine Robbins
(1872–1927; later known as Jane), with whom he moved to Woking, Surrey in May 1895. They lived in a rented
house, 'Lynton', (now No.141) Maybury Road in the town centre for just under 18 months [35] and married at St
Pancras register office in October 1895.[36] His short period in Woking was perhaps the most creative and
productive of his whole writing career,[35] for while there he planned and wrote The War of the Worlds and The
Time Machine, completed The Island of Doctor Moreau, wrote and published The Wonderful Visit and The
Wheels of Chance, and began writing two other early books, When the Sleeper Wakes and Love and Mr
Lewisham.[35][37]
141 Maybury Rd, Woking, where Wells lived from May 1895 until late 1896 [33]
In late summer 1896, Wells and Jane moved to a larger house in Worcester Park, near Kingston upon Thames,
for two years; this lasted until his poor health took them to Sandgate, near Folkestone, where he constructed a
large family home, Spade House, in 1901. He had two sons with Jane: George Philip (known as "Gip"; 1901–
1985) and Frank Richard (1903–1982). [38] Jane died 6 October 1927, in Dunmow, at the age of 55.
Wells had affairs with a significant number of women.[39] In December 1909, he had a daughter, Anna-Jane, with
the writer Amber Reeves,[40] whose parents, William and Maud Pember Reeves, he had met through the Fabian
Society. Amber had married the barrister G. R. Blanco White in July of that year, as co-arranged by Wells.
After Beatrice Webb voiced disapproval of Wells' "sordid intrigue" with Amber, he responded by lampooning
Beatrice Webb and her husband Sidney Webb in his 1911 novel The New Machiavelli as 'Altiora and Oscar
Bailey', a pair of short-sighted, bourgeois manipulators. Between 1910–1913, novelist Elizabeth von Arnim was
one of his mistresses.[41] In 1914, he had a son, Anthony West (1914–1987), by the novelist
and feminist Rebecca West, 26 years his junior.[42] In 1920–21, and intermittently until his death, he had a love
affair with the American birth control activist Margaret Sanger.[43] Between 1924 and 1933 he partnered with the
22-year younger Dutch adventurer and writer Odette Keun, with whom he lived in Lou Pidou, a house they built
together in Grasse, France. Wells dedicated his longest book to her (The World of William Clissold, 1926).
[44]
When visiting Maxim Gorky in Russia 1920, he had slept with Gorky's mistress Moura Budberg, then still
Countess Benckendorf and 27 years his junior. In 1933, when she left Gorky and emigrated to London, their
relationship renewed and she cared for him through his final illness. Wells asked her to marry him repeatedly,
but Budberg strongly rejected his proposals.[45][46]
In Experiment in Autobiography (1934), Wells wrote: "I was never a great amorist, though I have loved several
people very deeply".[47] David Lodge's novel A Man of Parts (2011)—a 'narrative based on factual sources'
(author's note)—gives a convincing and generally sympathetic account of Wells's relations with the women
mentioned above, and others.[48]
Director Simon Wells (born 1961), the author's great-grandson, was a consultant on the future scenes in Back
to the Future Part II (1989).[49]
Artist[edit]
One of the ways that Wells expressed himself was through his drawings and sketches. One common location
for these was the endpapers and title pages of his own diaries, and they covered a wide variety of topics, from
political commentary to his feelings toward his literary contemporaries and his current romantic interests.
During his marriage to Amy Catherine, whom he nicknamed Jane, he drew a considerable number of pictures,
many of them being overt comments on their marriage. During this period, he called these pictures "picshuas".
[50]
These picshuas have been the topic of study by Wells scholars for many years, and in 2006, a book was
published on the subject.[51]
Writer
Some of his early novels, called "scientific romances", invented several themes now classic in science fiction in
such works as The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, The War of the
Worlds, When the Sleeper Wakes, and The First Men in the Moon. He also wrote realistic novels that received
critical acclaim, including Kipps and a critique of English culture during the Edwardian period, Tono-Bungay.
Wells also wrote dozens of short stories and novellas, including, "The Flowering of the Strange Orchid", which
helped bring the full impact of Darwin's revolutionary botanical ideas to a wider public, and was followed by
many later successes such as "The Country of the Blind" (1904).[52]
According to James Gunn, one of Wells's major contributions to the science fiction genre was his approach,
which he referred to as his "new system of ideas". [53] In his opinion, the author should always strive to make the
story as credible as possible, even if both the writer and the reader knew certain elements are impossible,
allowing the reader to accept the ideas as something that could really happen, today referred to as "the
plausible impossible" and "suspension of disbelief". While neither invisibility nor time travel was new in
speculative fiction, Wells added a sense of realism to the concepts which the readers were not familiar with. He
conceived the idea of using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposely and selectively forwards or
backwards in time. The term "time machine", coined by Wells, is now almost universally used to refer to such a
vehicle.[22] He explained that while writing The Time Machine, he realized that "the more impossible the story I
had to tell, the more ordinary must be the setting, and the circumstances in which I now set the Time
Traveller were all that I could imagine of solid upper-class comforts." [54] In "Wells's Law", a science fiction story
should contain only a single extraordinary assumption. Being aware the notion of magic as something real had
disappeared from society, he, therefore, used scientific ideas and theories as a substitute for magic to justify
the impossible. Wells's best-known statement of the "law" appears in his introduction to The Scientific
Romances of H. G. Wells (1933),
Statue of a tripod from The War of the Worlds in Woking, England. The book is a seminal depiction of a conflict between mankind
and an extraterrestrial race.
As soon as the magic trick has been done the whole business of the fantasy writer is to keep everything else
human and real. Touches of prosaic detail are imperative and a rigorous adherence to the hypothesis. Any
extra fantasy outside the cardinal assumption immediately gives a touch of irresponsible silliness to the
invention.[55]
Dr. Griffin / The Invisible Man is a brilliant research scientist who discovers a method of invisibility, but finds
himself unable to reverse the process. An enthusiast of random and irresponsible violence, Griffin has become
an iconic character in horror fiction.[56] The Island of Doctor Moreau sees a shipwrecked man left on the island
home of Doctor Moreau, a mad scientist who creates human-like hybrid beings from animals via vivisection.
[57]
The earliest depiction of uplift, the novel deals with a number of philosophical themes, including pain and
cruelty, moral responsibility, human identity, and human interference with nature. [58] Though Tono-Bungay is not
a science-fiction novel, radioactive decay plays a small but consequential role in it. Radioactive decay plays a
much larger role in The World Set Free (1914). This book contains what is surely his biggest prophetic "hit",
with the first description of a nuclear weapon.[59] Scientists of the day were well aware that the natural decay
of radium releases energy at a slow rate over thousands of years. The rate of release is too slow to have
practical utility, but the total amount released is huge. Wells's novel revolves around an (unspecified) invention
that accelerates the process of radioactive decay, producing bombs that explode with no more than the force of
ordinary high explosives—but which "continue to explode" for days on end. "Nothing could have been more
obvious to the people of the earlier twentieth century", he wrote, "than the rapidity with which war was
becoming impossible ... [but] they did not see it until the atomic bombs burst in their fumbling hands". [59] In 1932,
the physicist and conceiver of nuclear chain reaction Leó Szilárd read The World Set Free (the same year
Sir James Chadwick discovered the neutron), a book which he said made a great impression on him.[60]
The H. G. Wells crater, located on the far side of the Moon, was named after the author of The First Men in the Moon (1901) in
1970.
Wells also wrote non-fiction. His first non-fiction bestseller was Anticipations of the Reaction of Mechanical and
Scientific Progress upon Human Life and Thought (1901). When originally serialised in a magazine it was
subtitled "An Experiment in Prophecy", and is considered his most explicitly futuristic work. It offered the
immediate political message of the privileged sections of society continuing to bar capable men from other
classes from advancement until war would force a need to employ those most able, rather than the traditional
upper classes, as leaders. Anticipating what the world would be like in the year 2000, the book is interesting
both for its hits (trains and cars resulting in the dispersion of populations from cities to suburbs; moral
restrictions declining as men and women seek greater sexual freedom; the defeat of German militarism, and
the existence of a European Union) and its misses (he did not expect successful aircraft before 1950, and
averred that "my imagination refuses to see any sort of submarine doing anything but suffocate its crew and
founder at sea").[61][62]
His bestselling two-volume work, The Outline of History (1920), began a new era of popularised world history. It
received a mixed critical response from professional historians. [63] However, it was very popular amongst the
general population and made Wells a rich man. Many other authors followed with "Outlines" of their own in
other subjects. He reprised his Outline in 1922 with a much shorter popular work, A Short History of the World,
a history book praised by Albert Einstein,[64] and two long efforts, The Science of Life (1930) and The Work,
Wealth and Happiness of Mankind (1931).[65][66] The "Outlines" became sufficiently common for James
Thurber to parody the trend in his humorous essay, "An Outline of Scientists"—indeed, Wells's Outline of
History remains in print with a new 2005 edition, while A Short History of the World has been re-edited (2006).
[67]
H. G. Wells c. 1918
From quite early in Wells's career, he sought a better way to organise society and wrote a number
of Utopian novels. The first of these was A Modern Utopia (1905), which shows a worldwide utopia with "no
imports but meteorites, and no exports at all";[68] two travellers from our world fall into its alternate history. The
others usually begin with the world rushing to catastrophe, until people realise a better way of living: whether by
mysterious gases from a comet causing people to behave rationally and abandoning a European war (In the
Days of the Comet (1906)), or a world council of scientists taking over, as in The Shape of Things to
Come (1933, which he later adapted for the 1936 Alexander Korda film, Things to Come). This depicted, all too
accurately, the impending World War, with cities being destroyed by aerial bombs. He also portrayed the rise
of fascist dictators in The Autocracy of Mr Parham (1930) and The Holy Terror (1939). Men Like Gods (1923) is
also a utopian novel. Wells in this period was regarded as an enormously influential figure; the critic Malcolm
Cowley stated: "by the time he was forty, his influence was wider than any other living English writer". [69]
Wells contemplates the ideas of nature and nurture and questions humanity in books such as The Island of
Doctor Moreau. Not all his scientific romances ended in a Utopia, and Wells also wrote
a dystopian novel, When the Sleeper Wakes (1899, rewritten as The Sleeper Awakes, 1910), which pictures a
future society where the classes have become more and more separated, leading to a revolt of the masses
against the rulers.[70] The Island of Doctor Moreau is even darker. The narrator, having been trapped on an
island of animals vivisected (unsuccessfully) into human beings, eventually returns to England; like Gulliver on
his return from the Houyhnhnms, he finds himself unable to shake off the perceptions of his fellow humans as
barely civilised beasts, slowly reverting to their animal natures. [71]
Wells also wrote the preface for the first edition of W. N. P. Barbellion's diaries, The Journal of a Disappointed
Man, published in 1919. Since "Barbellion" was the real author's pen name, many reviewers believed Wells to
have been the true author of the Journal; Wells always denied this, despite being full of praise for the diaries. [72]
H. G. Wells, one day before his 60th birthday, on the front cover of Time magazine, 20 September 1926
In 1927, a Canadian teacher and writer Florence Deeks unsuccessfully sued Wells for infringement of copyright
and breach of trust, claiming that much of The Outline of History had been plagiarised from her unpublished
manuscript,[73] The Web of the World's Romance, which had spent nearly nine months in the hands of Wells's
Canadian publisher, Macmillan Canada.[74] However, it was sworn on oath at the trial that the manuscript
remained in Toronto in the safekeeping of Macmillan, and that Wells did not even know it existed, let alone had
seen it.[75] The court found no proof of copying, and decided the similarities were due to the fact that the books
had similar nature and both writers had access to the same sources. [76] In 2000, A. B. McKillop, a professor of
history at Carleton University, produced a book on the case, The Spinster & The Prophet: Florence Deeks, H.
G. Wells, and the Mystery of the Purloined Past.[77] According to McKillop, the lawsuit was unsuccessful due to
the prejudice against a woman suing a well-known and famous male author, and he paints a detailed story
based on the circumstantial evidence of the case.[78] In 2004, Denis N. Magnusson, Professor Emeritus of the
Faculty of Law, Queen's University, Ontario, published an article on Deeks v. Wells. This re-examines the case
in relation to McKillop's book. While having some sympathy for Deeks, he argues that she had a weak case
that was not well presented, and though she may have met with sexism from her lawyers, she received a fair
trial, adding that the law applied is essentially the same law that would be applied to a similar case today (i.e.,
2004).[79]
In 1933, Wells predicted in The Shape of Things to Come that the world war he feared would begin in January
1940,[80] a prediction which ultimately came true four months early, in September 1939, with the outbreak
of World War II.[81] In 1936, before the Royal Institution, Wells called for the compilation of a constantly growing
and changing World Encyclopaedia, to be reviewed by outstanding authorities and made accessible to every
human being. In 1938, he published a collection of essays on the future organisation of knowledge and
education, World Brain, including the essay "The Idea of a Permanent World Encyclopaedia". [82]
Plaque by the H. G. Wells Society at Chiltern Court, Baker Street in the City of Westminster, London, where Wells lived between
1930 and 1936
Prior to 1933, Wells's books were widely read in Germany and Austria, and most of his science fiction works
had been translated shortly after publication. [83] By 1933, he had attracted the attention of German officials
because of his criticism of the political situation in Germany, and on 10 May 1933, Wells's books were burned
by the Nazi youth in Berlin's Opernplatz, and his works were banned from libraries and book stores. [83] Wells, as
president of PEN International (Poets, Essayists, Novelists), angered the Nazis by overseeing the expulsion of
the German PEN club from the international body in 1934 following the German PEN's refusal to admit non-
Aryan writers to its membership. At a PEN conference in Ragusa, Wells refused to yield to Nazi sympathisers
who demanded that the exiled author Ernst Toller be prevented from speaking.[83] Near the end of the World
War II, Allied forces discovered that the SS had compiled lists of people slated for immediate arrest during the
invasion of Britain in the abandoned Operation Sea Lion, with Wells included in the alphabetical list of "The
Black Book".[84]
Seeking a more structured way to play war games, Wells also wrote Floor Games (1911) followed by Little
Wars (1913), which set out rules for fighting battles with toy soldiers (miniatures).[85] Little Wars is recognised
today as the first recreational war game and Wells is regarded by gamers and hobbyists as "the Father of
Miniature War Gaming".[86] A pacifist prior to the First World War, Wells stated "how much better is this amiable
miniature [war] than the real thing".[85] According to Wells, the idea of the miniature war game developed from a
visit by his friend Jerome K. Jerome. After dinner, Jerome began shooting down toy soldiers with a toy cannon
and Wells joined in to compete.[85]
Travels to Russia
Wells visited Russia three times: 1914, 1920 and 1934. During his second visit, he saw his old friend Maxim
Gorky and with Gorky's help, met Vladimir Lenin. In his book Russia in the Shadows, Wells portrayed Russia
as recovering from a total social collapse, "the completest that has ever happened to any modern social
organisation."[87] On 23 July 1934, after visiting U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Wells went to the Soviet
Union and interviewed Joseph Stalin for three hours for the New Statesman magazine, which was extremely
rare at that time. He told Stalin how he had seen 'the happy faces of healthy people' in contrast with his
previous visit to Moscow in 1920.[88] However, he also criticised the lawlessness, class-based discrimination,
state violence, and absence of free expression. Stalin enjoyed the conversation and replied accordingly. As the
chairman of the London-based PEN Club, which protected the rights of authors to write without being
intimidated, Wells hoped by his trip to USSR, he could win Stalin over by force of argument. Before he left, he
realized that no reform was to happen in the near future. [89][90]
Final years
Wells's literary reputation declined as he spent his later years promoting causes that were rejected by most of
his contemporaries as well as by younger authors whom he had previously influenced. In this
connection, George Orwell described Wells as "too sane to understand the modern world". [91] G. K.
Chesterton quipped: "Mr Wells is a born storyteller who has sold his birthright for a pot of message". [92]
Wells had diabetes,[93] and was a co-founder in 1934 of The Diabetic Association (now Diabetes UK, the leading
charity for people with diabetes in the UK).[94]
H. G. Wells in 1943
On 28 October 1940, on the radio station KTSA in San Antonio, Texas, Wells took part in a radio interview
with Orson Welles, who two years previously had performed a famous radio adaptation of The War of the
Worlds. During the interview, by Charles C Shaw, a KTSA radio host, Wells admitted his surprise at the
widespread panic that resulted from the broadcast but acknowledged his debt to Welles for increasing sales of
one of his "more obscure" titles.[95]
Death
Wells died of unspecified causes on 13 August 1946, aged 79, at his home at 13 Hanover Terrace,
overlooking Regent's Park, London.[96][97] In his preface to the 1941 edition of The War in the Air, Wells had
stated that his epitaph should be: "I told you so. You damned fools".[98] Wells' body was cremated at Golders
Green Crematorium on 16 August 1946; his ashes were subsequently scattered into the English
Channel at Old Harry Rocks near Swanage in Dorset.[99]
Commemorative blue plaque at Wells' final home in Regent's Park, London
A commemorative blue plaque in his honour was installed by the Greater London Council at his home in
Regent's Park in 1966.[100]
Futurist[edit]
A renowned futurist and “visionary”, Wells foresaw the advent of aircraft, tanks, space travel, nuclear weapons,
satellite television and something resembling the World Wide Web. [7] Asserting that “Wells visions of the future
remain unsurpassed”, John Higgs, author of Stranger Than We Can Imagine: Making Sense of the Twentieth
Century, states that in the late 19th century Wells “saw the coming century clearer than anyone else. He
anticipated wars in the air, the sexual revolution, motorised transport causing the growth of suburbs and a
proto-Wikipedia he called the “world brain”. He foresaw world wars creating a federalised Europe. Britain, he
thought, would not fit comfortably in this New Europe and would identify more with the US and other English-
speaking countries. In his novel The World Set Free, he imagined an “atomic bomb” of terrifying power that
would be dropped from aeroplanes. This was an extraordinary insight for an author writing in 1913, and it made
a deep impression on Winston Churchill.”[101]
In a review of The Time Machine for the New Yorker magazine, Brad Leithauser writes, “At the base of Wells’s
great visionary exploit is this rational, ultimately scientific attempt to tease out the potential future
consequences of present conditions—not as they might arise in a few years, or even decades, but millennia
hence, epochs hence. He is world literature’s Great Extrapolator. Like no other fiction writer before him, he
embraced “deep time.”[102]
Political views
Main article: Political views of H.G. Wells
A socialist, Wells’ contemporary political impact was limited, excluding his fiction's positivist stance on the leaps
that could be made by physics towards world peace. Winston Churchill was an avid reader of Wells' books, and
after they first met in 1902 they kept in touch until Wells died in 1946. [103] As a junior minister Churchill borrowed
lines from Wells for one of his most famous early landmark speeches in 1906, and as Prime Minister the
phrase "the gathering storm" — used by Churchill to describe the rise of Nazi Germany — had been written by
Wells in The War of the Worlds, which depicts an attack on Britain by Martians.[103] Wells's extensive writings on
equality and human rights, most notably his most influential work, The Rights of Man (1940), laid the
groundwork for the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the United Nations
shortly after his death.[104][105]
An avid reader of Wells' books, Winston Churchill wrote to the author in 1906, stating "I owe you a great debt", two days before
giving an early landmark speech that the state should support its citizens, providing pensions, insurance and child welfare. [103]
His efforts regarding the League of Nations, on which he collaborated on the project with Leonard Woolf with
the booklets The Idea of a League of Nations, Prolegomena to the Study of World Organization, and The Way
of the League of Nations, became a disappointment as the organization turned out to be a weak one unable to
prevent the Second World War, which itself occurred towards the very end of his life and only increased the
pessimistic side of his nature.[106] In his last book Mind at the End of Its Tether (1945), he considered the idea
that humanity being replaced by another species might not be a bad idea. He referred to the era between the
two World Wars as "The Age of Frustration".[107]
Religious views
Wells wrote in his book God the Invisible King (1917) that his idea of God did not draw upon the traditional
religions of the world:
This book sets out as forcibly and exactly as possible the religious belief of the writer. [Which] is a profound
belief in a personal and intimate God. ... Putting the leading idea of this book very roughly, these two
antagonistic typical conceptions of God may be best contrasted by speaking of one of them as God-as-Nature
or the Creator, and of the other as God-as-Christ or the Redeemer. One is the great Outward God; the other is
the Inmost God. The first idea was perhaps developed most highly and completely in the God of Spinoza. It is a
conception of God tending to pantheism, to an idea of a comprehensive God as ruling with justice rather than
affection, to a conception of aloofness and awestriking worshipfulness. The second idea, which is contradictory
to this idea of an absolute God, is the God of the human heart. The writer suggested that the great outline of
the theological struggles of that phase of civilisation and world unity which produced Christianity, was a
persistent but unsuccessful attempt to get these two different ideas of God into one focus. [108]
Later in the work, he aligns himself with a "renascent or modern religion ... neither atheist nor Buddhist nor
Mohammedan nor Christian ... [that] he has found growing up in himself". [109]
Of Christianity, he said: "it is not now true for me. ... Every believing Christian is, I am sure, my spiritual
brother ... but if systemically I called myself a Christian I feel that to most men I should imply too much and so
tell a lie". Of other world religions, he writes: "All these religions are true for me as Canterbury Cathedral is a
true thing and as a Swiss chalet is a true thing. There they are, and they have served a purpose, they have
worked. Only they are not true for me to live in them. ... They do not work for me".[110] In The Fate of Homo
Sapiens (1939), Wells criticised almost all world religions and philosophies, stating "there is no creed, no way
of living left in the world at all, that really meets the needs of the time… When we come to look at them coolly
and dispassionately, all the main religions, patriotic, moral and customary systems in which human beings are
sheltering today, appear to be in a state of jostling and mutually destructive movement, like the houses and
palaces and other buildings of some vast, sprawling city overtaken by a landslide. [111]
Literary influence
H. G. Wells as depicted in Gernsback's Science Wonder Stories in 1929
The science fiction historian John Clute describes Wells as "the most important writer the genre has yet seen",
and notes his work has been central to both British and American science fiction. [112] Science fiction author and
critic Algis Budrys said Wells "remains the outstanding expositor of both the hope, and the despair, which are
embodied in the technology and which are the major facts of life in our world". [113] He was nominated for
the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1921, 1932, 1935, and 1946.[10] Wells so influenced real exploration of Mars
that an impact crater on the planet was named after him.[114]
Wells’s genius was his ability to create a stream of brand new, wholly original stories out of thin air. Originality
was Wells’s calling card. In a six-year stretch from 1895 to 1901, he produced a stream of what he called
“scientific romance” novels, which included The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible
Man, The War of the Worlds and The First Men in the Moon. This was a dazzling display of new thought,
endlessly copied since. A book like The War of the Worlds inspired every one of the thousands of alien
invasion stories that followed. It burned its way into the psyche of mankind and changed us all forever.
— Cultural historian John Higgs, The Guardian.[101]
In the United Kingdom, Wells's work was a key model for the British “scientific romance”, and other writers in
that mode, such as Olaf Stapledon,[115] J. D. Beresford,[116] S. Fowler Wright,[117] and Naomi Mitchison,[118] all drew
on Wells's example. Wells was also an important influence on British science fiction of the period after the
Second World War, with Arthur C. Clarke[119] and Brian Aldiss[120] expressing strong admiration for Wells's work.
Among contemporary British science fiction writers, Stephen Baxter, Christopher Priest and Adam
Roberts have all acknowledged Wells's influence on their writing; all three are Vice-Presidents of the H. G.
Wells Society. He also had a strong influence on British scientist J. B. S. Haldane, who wrote Daedalus; or,
Science and the Future (1924), "The Last Judgement" and "On Being the Right Size" from the essay
collection Possible Worlds (1927), and Biological Possibilities for the Human Species in the Next Ten
Thousand Years (1963), which are speculations about the future of human evolution and life on other planets.
Haldane gave several lectures about these topics which in turn influenced other science fiction writers. [121][122]
Wells's works were reprinted in American science fiction magazines as late as the 1950s
In the United States, Hugo Gernsback reprinted most of Wells's work in the pulp magazine Amazing Stories,
regarding Wells's work as "texts of central importance to the self-conscious new genre". [112] Later American
writers such as Ray Bradbury,[123] Isaac Asimov,[124] Frank Herbert[125] and Ursula K. Le Guin[126] all recalled being
influenced by Wells's work.
Sinclair Lewis's early novels were strongly influenced by Wells's realistic social novels, such as The History of
Mr Polly; Lewis also named his first son Wells after the author.[127]
In an interview with The Paris Review, Vladimir Nabokov described Wells as his favourite writer when he was a
boy and "a great artist."[128] He went on to cite The Passionate Friends, Ann Veronica, The Time Machine,
and The Country of the Blind as superior to anything else written by Wells's British contemporaries. In an
apparent allusion to Wells's socialism and political themes, Nabokov said: "His sociological cogitations can be
safely ignored, of course, but his romances and fantasies are superb." [128]
2016 illustrated postal envelope with an image from The War of the Worlds, Russian Post, commemorating the 150th anniversary of
the author's birth
Jorge Luis Borges wrote many short pieces on Wells in which he demonstrates a deep familiarity with much of
Wells's work.[129] While Borges wrote several critical reviews, including a mostly negative review of Wells's
film Things to Come,[130] he regularly treated Wells as a canonical figure of fantastic literature. Late in his life,
Borges included The Invisible Man and The Time Machine in his Prologue to a Personal Library,[131] a curated
list of 100 great works of literature that he undertook at the behest of the Argentine publishing house Emecé.
Canadian author Margaret Atwood read Wells' books,[71] and he also inspired writers of European speculative
fiction such as Karel Čapek[126] and Yevgeny Zamyatin.[126]
Representations
Literary
The superhuman protagonist of J. D. Beresford's 1911 novel, The Hampdenshire Wonder, Victor Stott,
was based on Wells.[116]
In M. P. Shiel's short story "The Primate of the Rose" (1928), there is an unpleasant womaniser named
E. P. Crooks, who was written as a parody of Wells. [132] Wells had attacked Shiel's Prince Zaleski when it
was published in 1895, and this was Shiel's response. [132] Wells praised Shiel's The Purple Cloud (1901); in
turn Shiel expressed admiration for Wells, referring to him at a speech to the Horsham Rotary Club in 1933
as "my friend Mr. Wells".[132]
In C. S. Lewis's novel That Hideous Strength (1945), the character Jules is a caricature of Wells,
[133]
and much of Lewis's science fiction was written both under the influence of Wells and as an antithesis
to his work (or, as he put it, an "exorcism"[134] of the influence it had on him).
In Brian Aldiss's novella The Saliva Tree (1966), Wells has a small off screen guest role. [135]
In Saul Bellow's novel Mr. Sammler's Planet (1970), Wells is one of several historical figures the
protagonist met when he was a young man.[136]
In The Map of Time (2008) by Spanish author Félix J. Palma; Wells is one of several historical
characters.[137]
Wells is one of the two Georges in Paul Levinson's 2013 time-travel novelette, "Ian, George, and
George," published in Analog magazine.[138]
Dramatic
Rod Taylor portrays Wells[139][140] in the 1960 science fiction film The Time Machine (based on the novel
of the same name), in which Wells uses his time machine to try and find his Utopian society. [140]
Malcolm McDowell portrays Wells in the 1979 science fiction film Time After Time, in which Wells uses
a time machine to pursue Jack the Ripper to the present day.[140] In the film, Wells meets "Amy" in the future
who then returns to 1893 to become his second wife Amy Catherine Robbins.
Wells is portrayed in the 1985 story Timelash from the 22nd season of the BBC science-fiction
television series Doctor Who. In this story, Herbert, an enthusiastic temporary companion to the Doctor, is
revealed to be a young H. G. Wells. The plot is loosely based upon the themes and characters of The
Time Machine with references to The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man and The Island of Doctor
Moreau. The story jokingly suggests that Wells's inspiration for his later novels came from his adventure
with the Sixth Doctor.[141]
In the BBC2 anthology series Encounters about imagined meetings between historical
figures, Beautiful Lies, by Paul Pender (15 August 1992) centred on an acrimonious dinner party attended
by Wells (Richard Todd), George Orwell (Jon Finch), and William Empson (Patrick Ryecart).
The character of Wells also appeared in several episodes of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of
Superman (1993–1997), usually pitted against the time-travelling villain known as Tempus (Lane Davies).
Wells's younger self was played by Terry Kiser, and the older Wells was played by Hamilton Camp.
In the British TV mini-series The Infinite Worlds of H. G. Wells (2001), several of Wells's short stories
are dramatised but are adapted using Wells himself (Tom Ward) as the main protagonist in each story.
In the Disney Channel Original Series Phil of the Future, which centres on time-travel, the present-day
high school that the main characters attend is named "H. G. Wells". [142]
In the 2006 television docudrama H. G. Wells: War with the World, Wells is played by Michael Sheen.
[143]
Television episode "World's End" of Cold case (2007) is about the discovery of human remains in the
bottom of a well leads to the reinvestigation of the case of a housewife who went missing during Orson
Welles' radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds".[144]
On the science fiction television series Warehouse 13 (2009–2014), there is a female version Helena
G. Wells. When she appeared she explained that her brother was her front for her writing because a
female science fiction author would not be accepted. [145]
Comedian Paul F. Tompkins portrays a fictional Wells as the host of The Dead Authors Podcast,
wherein Wells uses his time machine to bring dead authors (played by other comedians) to the present
and interview them.[146][147]
H. G. Wells as a young boy appears in the Legends of Tomorrow episode "The Magnificent Eight". In
this story, the boy Wells is dying of consumption but is cured by a time-travelling Martin Stein.
In the four part series The Nightmare Worlds of H. G. Wells (2016), Wells is played by Ray Winstone.
[148]
In the 2017 television series version of Time After Time, based on the 1979 film, H. G. Wells is
portrayed by Freddie Stroma.[149]
In the 2019 television adaptation of The War of the Worlds, the character of 'George', played by Rafe
Spall, demonstrates a number of elements of Wells' own life, including his estrangement from his wife and
unmarried co-habitation with the character of 'Amy'.
Literary papers
In 1954, the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign purchased the H. G. Wells literary papers and
correspondence collection.[150] The University's Rare Book & Manuscript Library holds the largest collection of
Wells manuscripts, correspondence, first editions and publications in the United States. [151] Among these is an
unpublished material and the manuscripts of such works as The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine.
The collection includes first editions, revisions, translations. The letters contain general family correspondence,
communications from publishers, material regarding the Fabian Society, and letters from politicians and public
figures, most notably George Bernard Shaw and Joseph Conrad.[150]
Johann Gottfried Galle
Johann Gottfried Galle (9 June 1812 – 10 July 1910) was a German astronomer from Radis, Germany, at
the Berlin Observatory who, on 23 September 1846, with the assistance of student Heinrich Louis
d'Arrest, was the first person to view the planet Neptune and know what he was looking at. Urbain Le
Verrier had predicted the existence and position of Neptune, and sent the coordinates to Galle, asking
him to verify. Galle found Neptune in the same night he received Le Verrier's letter, within 1° of the
predicted position. The discovery of Neptune is widely regarded as a dramatic validation of celestial
mechanics, and is one of the most remarkable moments of 19th-century science.
Johann Gottfried Gale.
Early life
Galle was born in the Papsthaus (a house in the Pabst wood) 2 km west of Radis in the vicinity of the
town of Gräfenhainichen, as the first son of Marie Henriette née Pannier (1790–1839) and Johann
Gottfried Galle (1790–1853),[1] an operator of a tar oven. He attended the Gymnasium in Wittenberg
and studied at Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin from 1830 to 1833. He became a teacher at the
Gymnasium in Guben, teaching mathematics and physics. Later on, he transferred to the Gymnasium in
Berlin.
Berlin Observatory
He had started to work as an assistant to Johann Franz Encke in 1835 immediately following the
completion of the new Berlin Observatory. Galle worked there for the next 16 years, making use
especially of a Fraunhofer-refractor with 9 Zoll (~22.5 cm) aperture. In 1838 he discovered an inner, dark
ring of Saturn. From 2 December 1839 to 6 March 1840 he discovered three new comets.
Johann Gottfried Galle 1880
In 1845 Galle was awarded a Dr. phil.. His doctoral thesis was a reduction and critical discussion of Ole
Rømer's observation of meridian transits of stars and planets on the days from 20 October to 23
October 1706.
Discovery of Neptune
Main article: Discovery of Neptune
Around the same time in 1845 he sent a copy of his thesis to Urbain Le Verrier, but only received an
answer a year later. Sent on 18 September 1846, it reached Galle on the morning of 23 September. Le
Verrier had been investigating the perturbations of the orbit of the planet Uranus and from this he
derived the position of a still undiscovered planet, and requested Galle to search in the corresponding
section of sky. The very same night (after Encke gave permission to search, against his own judgement),
in collaboration with his assistant Heinrich Louis d'Arrest, Galle discovered a star of 8th. magnitude, only
1° away from the calculated position, which was not recorded in the Berliner Akademischen Sternkarte.
Over the next two evenings, a proper motion of the celestial object of 4 seconds of arc was measured,
which determined it absolutely as a planet, for which Le Verrier proposed the name Neptune. Galle
always refused to be acknowledged as the discoverer of Neptune; he attributed the discovery to Le
Verrier.
In 1847 Galle was designated as the successor to Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel as Director of Königsberg
Observatory. Before the enacted nomination from Friedrich Wilhelm IV effected de facto, Galle
withdrew his application at the beginning of 1848 due to an intrigue against him led by Carl Gustav
Jacob Jacobi.[2]
Breslau Observatory
In 1851 he moved to Breslau (today Wrocław) to become the director of the local observatory, and in
1856 he became Professor of Astronomy at the Schlesischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Breslau. He
worked in Breslau for over 45 years. For the academic year 1875/76 he was elected Rector.[3] At Breslau
he dealt with the exact determination of planetary orbits and developed methods for calculating the
height of the aurorae and the path of meteors, and consolidated the data for all 414 comets discovered
up to 1894 into one work (with the help of his son). Otherwise he concerned himself with the Earth's
magnetic field and climatology. Altogether he published over 200 works.
Memorial plague in Wittenberg.
Later years
In 1897 Galle returned to Potsdam, where he died in 1910 at the age of 98. He was survived by his wife
and two sons, Andreas Galle and Georg Galle (1860–1946).
The town of Gräfenhainichen, which is close to his birthplace, erected a memorial to him in 1977.
Two craters, one on the Moon and the "happy face" one on Mars, the asteroid 2097 Galle, and a ring of
Neptune have been named in his honor.
Guy Consolmagno
Brother Guy J. Consolmagno, SJ (born September 19, 1952), is
an American research astronomer, Jesuit religious brother, and Director of the Vatican Observatory, and
President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation.
Guy J. Consolmagno
Consolmagno in his lab.
Life
Consolmagno attended the University of Detroit Jesuit High School before he obtained his S.B. (1974) and
S.M. (1975) degrees at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. (1978) at the University of
Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, all in planetary science. After postdoctoral research and teaching
at Harvard College Observatory and MIT, in 1983 he joined the US Peace Corps to serve in Kenya for two
years, teaching astronomy and physics. After his return he took a position as Assistant Professor at Lafayette
College in Easton, Pennsylvania.
In 1989 he entered the Society of Jesus, and took vows as a brother in 1991. On entry into the order, he was
assigned as an astronomer to the Vatican Observatory, where he also serves as curator of the Vatican
Meteorite collection, a position he has held since then. In addition to his continuing professional work in
planetary science, he has also studied philosophy and theology.
His research is centered on the connections between meteorites and asteroids, and the origin and evolution of
small bodies in the solar system. In addition to over 40 refereed scientific papers, he has co-authored several
books on astronomy for the popular market, which have been translated into multiple languages. During 1996,
he took part in the Antarctic Search for Meteorites, ANSMET, where he discovered a number of meteorites on
the ice fields of Antarctica. An asteroid was named in his honor by the International Astronomical Union, IAU in
2000: 4597 Consolmagno.
He believes in the need for science and religion to work alongside one another rather than as competing
ideologies. In 2006, he said, "Religion needs science to keep it away from superstition and keep it close to
reality, to protect it from creationism, which at the end of the day is a kind of paganism – it's turning God into
a nature god."[1] Consolmagno was recently the Chair of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American
Astronomical Society,[2] serving from October 2006 to October 2007. Consolmagno is a popular speaker as well
as a writer of popular science. He has been a guest of honor at several science fiction conventions,
including DucKon in 2000, ConFusion in his native state of Michigan in 2002, Boskone in 2007, ConClave in
2009, MuseCon in 2015, and Minicon and NASFiC in 2017. He was an invited participant in Scifoo in 2008 as
well. He taught at Fordham University in New York City for the fall term of 2008. Consolmagno gave the
keynote speech at the 2013 Stellafane amateur telescope making convention on Aug 10. He appeared on The
Colbert Report in December, 2009 to promote his book, The Heavens Proclaim.[3] In May 2014, Consolmagno
received an honorary doctorate (Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa) from Georgetown University and
spoke at the Georgetown College commencement ceremony.[4][5] In 2010, he was a guest on On
Being with Krista Tippett, alongside his friend and colleague Father George Coyne. In the interview,
Consolmagno and Coyne discussed their distinct and intimate relationships with science and faith. The show
aired for a second time in 2011, and for a third time in September 2015. [6]
On July 2, 2014, he was awarded the Carl Sagan Medal for outstanding communication by an active planetary
scientist to the general public by the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society.[7]
Known as "The Pope's Astronomer," he was named by Pope Francis to be the Director of the Vatican
Observatory in September 2015.[8][9]
Bibliography
Worlds Apart (with Martha W. Schaefer, Prentice Hall, 1993)
Turn Left at Orion (with Dan M. Davis, Cambridge University Press, 1995)
The Way to the Dwelling of Light (University of Notre Dame Press, 1998)
Brother Astronomer, Adventures of a Vatican Scientist (McGraw Hill, 2000) Review
Intelligent Life in the Universe? Catholic belief and the search for extraterrestrial intelligent
life (Catholic Truth Society, 2005)
God's Mechanics: How Scientists and Engineers Make Sense of Religion (Jossey-Bass, 2007)
The Heavens Proclaim: Astronomy and the Vatican (Vatican Observatory Publications, 2009)
Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial?: . . . and Other Questions from the Astronomers' In-box at the
Vatican Observatory (with Paul Muller, Crown Publishing Group, 2014)
Lecture, From Galileo to Laudato Si’: Why Science Needs Faith, Linda Hall Library, March 29, 2017.
Stephen Hawking.
Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich (/raɪx/; German: [ʁaɪç]; 24 March 1897 – 3 November 1957) was an Austrian doctor of
medicine and psychoanalyst, a member of the second generation of analysts after Sigmund Freud.[1] The
author of several influential books, most notably Character Analysis (1933), The Mass Psychology of
Fascism (1933), and The Sexual Revolution (1936), Reich became known as one of the most radical figures in
the history of psychiatry.[2][n 1]
Reich's work on character contributed to the development of Anna Freud's The Ego and the Mechanisms of
Defence (1936), and his idea of muscular armour—the expression of the personality in the way the body moves
—shaped innovations such as body psychotherapy, Gestalt therapy, bioenergetic analysis and primal therapy.
[6]
His writing influenced generations of intellectuals; he coined the phrase "the sexual revolution" and according
to one historian acted as its midwife.[7] During the 1968 student uprisings in Paris and Berlin, students scrawled
his name on walls and threw copies of The Mass Psychology of Fascism at police.[8]
After graduating in medicine from the University of Vienna in 1922, Reich became deputy director of Freud's
outpatient clinic, the Vienna Ambulatorium.[9] Described by Elizabeth Danto as a large man with a cantankerous
style who managed to look scruffy and elegant at the same time, he tried to reconcile psychoanalysis
with Marxism, arguing that neurosis is rooted in sexual and socio-economic conditions, and in particular in a
lack of what he called "orgastic potency". He visited patients in their homes to see how they lived, and took to
the streets in a mobile clinic, promoting adolescent sexuality and the availability of contraceptives, abortion and
divorce, a provocative message in Catholic Austria. [10] He said he wanted to "attack the neurosis by its
prevention rather than treatment".[11]
Wilhelm Reich
Reich in his mid-20s
From the 1930s he became an increasingly controversial figure, and from 1932 until his death in 1957 all his
work was self-published.[12] His message of sexual liberation disturbed the psychoanalytic community and his
political associates, and his vegetotherapy, in which he massaged his disrobed patients to dissolve their
"muscular armour", violated the key taboos of psychoanalysis. [13] He moved to New York in 1939, in part to
escape the Nazis, and shortly after arriving coined the term "orgone"—from "orgasm" and "organism"—for a
biological energy he said he had discovered, which he said others called God. In 1940 he started building
orgone accumulators, devices that his patients sat inside to harness the reputed health benefits, leading to
newspaper stories about sex boxes that cured cancer. [14]
Following two critical articles about him in The New Republic and Harper's in 1947, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration obtained an injunction against the interstate shipment of orgone accumulators and associated
literature, believing they were dealing with a "fraud of the first magnitude". [15] Charged with contempt in 1956 for
having violated the injunction, Reich was sentenced to two years imprisonment, and that summer over six tons
of his publications were burned by order of the court.[n 2] He died in prison of heart failure just over a year later,
days before he was due to apply for parole. [18]
Early life
Childhood
Reich was born the first of two sons to Leon Reich, a farmer, and his wife Cäcilie (née Roniger)
in Dobzau, Galicia, then part of Austria-Hungary, now in Ukraine. There was a sister too, born one year after
Reich, but she died in infancy. Shortly after his birth the family moved to Jujinetz, a village in Bukovina, where
his father ran a cattle farm leased by his mother's uncle, Josef Blum. [19]
His father was described as jealous man.[20] Both parents were Jewish, but decided against raising the boys as
Jews. Reich and his brother, Robert, were brought up to speak only German, were punished for
using Yiddish expressions and forbidden from playing with the local Yiddish-speaking children. [21]
As an adult Reich wrote extensively, in his diary, about his sexual precocity. He maintained that his first sexual
experience was at the age of four when he tried to have sex with the family maid (with whom he shared a bed),
that he would regularly watch the farm animals have sex, that he used a whip handle sexually on the horses
while masturbating, and that he had almost daily sexual intercourse from the age of 11 with another of the
servants. He wrote of regular visits to brothels, the first when he was 15, and said he was visiting them daily
from the age of around 17. He also developed sexual fantasies about his mother, writing when he was 22 that
he masturbated while thinking about her.[22]
Reich in 1900
It is impossible to judge the truth of these diary entries, but Reich's second daughter, the psychiatrist Lore
Reich Rubin, told Christopher Turner that she believed Reich had been a victim of child sexual abuse, and that
this explained his lifelong interest in sex and childhood sexuality. [23]
Death of parents
Reich was taught at home until he was 12, when his mother was discovered having an affair with his live-in
tutor. Reich wrote about the affair in 1920 in his first published paper, "Über einen Fall von Durchbruch der
Inzestschranke" ("About a Case of Breaching the Incest Taboo"), presented in the third person as though about
a patient.[24] He wrote that he would follow his mother when she went to the tutor's bedroom at night, feeling
ashamed and jealous, and wondering if they would kill him if they found out that he knew. He briefly thought of
forcing her to have sex with him, on pain of threatening to tell his father. In the end, he did tell his father, and
after a protracted period of beatings, his mother committed suicide in 1910, for which Reich blamed himself. [24]
With the tutor ordered out of the house, Reich was sent to an all-male gymnasium in Czernowitz. It was during
this period that a skin condition appeared, diagnosed as psoriasis, that plagued him for the rest of his life,
leading several commentators to remark on his ruddy complexion. He visited brothels every day and wrote in
his diary of his disgust for the women.[25] His father died of tuberculosis in 1914, and because of rampant
inflation the father's insurance was worthless, so no money was forthcoming for the brothers. [26] Reich managed
the farm and continued with his studies, graduating in 1915 with Stimmeneinhelligkeit (unanimous approval).
The Russians invaded Bukovina that summer and the Reich brothers fled, losing everything. Reich wrote in his
diary: "I never saw either my homeland or my possessions again. Of a well-to-do past, nothing was left." [27]
1919–1930: Vienna
Undergraduate studies
Reich joined the Austro-Hungarian Army during the First World War, serving from 1915 to 1918, for the last two
years as a lieutenant at the Italian front with 40 men under his command. When the war ended he headed for
Vienna, enrolling in law at the University of Vienna, but found it dull and switched to medicine after the first
semester. He arrived with nothing in a city with little to offer; the overthrow of the Austria-Hungarian empire a
few weeks earlier had left the newly formed Republic of German-Austria in the grip of famine. Reich lived on
soup, oats and dried fruit from the university canteen, and shared an unheated room with his brother and
another undergraduate, wearing his coat and gloves indoors to stave off the cold. He fell in love with another
medical student, Lia Laszky, with whom he was dissecting a corpse, but it was largely unrequited. [28]
Myron Sharaf, his biographer, wrote that Reich loved medicine but was caught between
a reductionist/mechanistic and vitalist view of the world.[29] Reich wrote later of this period:
The question, "What is Life?" lay behind everything I learned. ... It became clear that the mechanistic concept
of life, which dominated our study of medicine at the time, was unsatisfactory ... There was no denying the
principle of creative power governing life; only it was not satisfactory as long as it was not tangible, as long as it
could not be described or practically handled. For, rightly, this was considered the supreme goal of natural
science.[29]
Introduction to Freud
Reich first met Sigmund Freud in 1919 when he asked Freud for a reading list for a seminar
concerning sexology. It seems they left a strong impression on each other. Freud allowed him to start meeting
with analytic patients in September that year, although Reich was just 22 years old and still an undergraduate,
which gave him a small income. He was accepted as a guest member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic
Association, becoming a regular member in October 1920, and began his own analysis with Isidor Sadger. He
lived and worked out of an apartment on Berggasse 7, the street on which Freud lived at no. 19, in
the Alsergrund area of Vienna.[30]
One of Reich's first patients was Lore Kahn, a 19-year-old woman with whom he had an affair. Freud had
warned analysts not to involve themselves with their patients, but in the early days of psychoanalysis the
warnings went unheeded. According to Reich's diaries, Kahn became ill in November 1920 and died
of sepsis after sleeping in a bitterly cold room she had rented as a place for her and Reich to meet (both his
landlady and her parents had forbidden their meetings). Kahn's mother suspected that her daughter had died
after a botched illegal abortion, possibly performed by Reich himself. According to Christopher Turner, she
found some of her daughter's bloodied underwear in a cupboard. [31]
Sigmund Freud
It was a serious allegation to make against a physician. Reich wrote in his diary that the mother had been
attracted to him and had made the allegation to damage him. She later committed suicide and Reich blamed
himself.[31] If Kahn did have an abortion, Turner wrote, she was the first of four of Reich's partners to do so:
Annie, his first wife, had several, and his long-term partners Elsa Lindenberg and Ilse Ollendorf (his second
wife) each had one (supposedly) at Reich's insistence.[32]
First marriage, graduation
Two months after Kahn's death, Reich accepted her friend, Annie Pink (1902–1971), as an analysand. Pink
was Reich's fourth female patient, a medical student three months shy of her 19th birthday. He had an affair
with her too, and married her in March 1922 at her father's insistence, with psychoanalysts Otto Fenichel and
Edith Buxbaum as witnesses.[33] Annie Reich became a well-known psychoanalyst herself. The marriage
produced two daughters, Eva (1924–2008) and Lore (b. 1928), both of whom became physicians; Lore Reich
Rubin also became a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. [34]
Because he was a war veteran, Reich was allowed to complete a combined bachelor's and M.D. in four years,
instead of six, and graduated in July 1922.[35] After graduating, he worked in internal medicine at the city's
University Hospital, and studied neuropsychiatry from 1922 to 1924 at the hospital's neurological and
psychiatric clinic under Professor Julius Wagner von Jauregg, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1927.[36]
Vienna Ambulatorium
In 1922 Reich began working in Freud's psychoanalytic outpatient clinic, known as the Vienna Ambulatorium,
which was opened on 22 May that year at Pelikangasse 18 by Eduard Hitschmann. Reich became the
assistant director under Hitschmann in 1924 and worked there until his move to Berlin in 1930. [37]
Between 1922 and 1932 the clinic offered free or reduced-cost psychoanalysis to 1,445 men and 800 women,
many suffering from shell shock after World War I. It was the second such clinic to open under Freud's
direction; the first was the Poliklinik in Berlin, set up in 1920 by Max Eitingon and Ernst Simmel.[38]
Sharaf writes that working with labourers, farmers and students allowed Reich to move away from treating
neurotic symptoms to observing chaotic lifestyles and anti-social personalities. [36] Reich argued that neurotic
symptoms such as obsessive–compulsive disorder were an unconscious attempt to gain control of a hostile
environment, including poverty or childhood abuse. They were examples of what he called "character armour"
(Charakterpanzer), repetitive patterns of behaviour, speech and body posture that served as defence
mechanisms. According to Danto, Reich sought out patients at the Ambulatorium who had been diagnosed as
psychopaths, believing that psychoanalysis could free them of their rage. [39]
Staff of the Vienna Ambulatorium, 1922. Eduard Hitschmann is seated fourth from the left, Reich fifth, and Annie Reich first on the
right.
Reich joined the faculty of the Psychoanalytic Institute in Vienna in 1924 and became its director of training.
[40]
According to Danto, he was well-regarded for the weekly technical seminars he chaired at the Ambulatorium,
where he gave papers on his theory of character structure, arguing that psychoanalysis should be based on the
examination of unconscious character traits, later known as ego defences.[41] The seminars were attended, from
1927, by Fritz Perls, who went on to develop Gestalt therapy with his wife, Laura Perls.[42] Several
commentators remarked on how captivating the seminars were and how eloquently Reich spoke. According to
a Danish newspaper in 1934:
The moment he starts to speak, not at the lectern, but walking around it on cat's paws, he is simply enchanting.
In the Middle Ages, this man would have been sent into exile. He is not only eloquent, he also keeps his
listeners spellbound by his sparking personality, reflected in his small, dark eyes. [43]
Der triebhafte Charakter
Reich's first book, Der triebhafte Charakter: eine psychoanalytische Studie zur Pathologie des Ich ("The
Impulsive Character: A Psychoanalytic Study of the Pathology of the Self"), was published in 1925. [44] It was a
study of the anti-social personalities he had encountered in the Ambulatorium, and argued the need for a
systematic theory of character.[45] The book won him professional recognition, including from Freud, who in
1927 arranged for his appointment to the executive committee of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. [46] The
appointment was made over the objection of Paul Federn, who had been Reich's second analyst in 1922 and
who, according to Sharaf, regarded Reich as a psychopath.[n 3] Reich found the society dull and wrote that he
behaved "like a shark in a pond of carps".[49]
Orgastic potency
Orgastic potency
Reich lived for a time on Berggasse in Vienna (seen here in 2010), where Freud lived at number 19
Beginning in 1924 Reich published a series of papers on the idea of "orgastic potency", the ability to release
the emotions from the muscles and lose the self in an uninhibited orgasm, an idea that Freud came to call
Reich's "Steckenpferd" (hobby horse).[50] Reich argued that psychic health and the ability to love depended on
orgastic potency, the full discharge of the libido: "Sexual release in the sex act must correspond to the
excitement which leads up to it."[51] He wrote: "It is not just to fuck ... not the embrace in itself, not the
intercourse. It is the real emotional experience of the loss of your ego, of your whole spiritual self." [52] He argued
that orgastic potency was the goal of character analysis.[53]
Whereas Reich's work on character was well received by the psychoanalytic community, Sharaf writes, his
work on orgastic potency was unpopular from the start and later ridiculed. He came to be known as the
"prophet of the better orgasm" and the "founder of a genital utopia". [54]
Rest cure in Switzerland
Reich's brother died of tuberculosis (TB) in 1926, the same disease that had killed their father. Turner writes
that a quarter of deaths in Vienna were caused by TB in the 1920s. Reich himself contracted it in 1927 and
spent several weeks in the winter of that year in a sanitorium in Davos, Switzerland, where TB patients went for
rest cures and fresh air before antibiotics became widely available around 1945. Turner writes that Reich
underwent a political and existential crisis in Davos; he returned home in the spring angry and paranoid,
according to Annie Reich. Some months later he and Annie were on the streets during the July Revolt of
1927 in Vienna, when 84 workers were shot and killed by police and another 600 were injured. It seems that
the experience changed Reich; he wrote that it was his first encounter with human irrationality. [55] He began to
doubt everything, and in 1928 joined the Communist Party of Austria:
As if struck by a blow, one suddenly recognizes the scientific futility, the biological senselessness, and the
social noxiousness of views and institutions, which until that moment had seemed altogether natural and self-
evident. It is a kind of eschatological experience so frequently encountered in a pathological form in
schizophrenics. I might even voice the belief that the schizophrenic form of psychic illness is regularly
accompanied by illuminating insight into the irrationalism of social and political mores. [56]
Sex-pol movement
Partly in response to the shooting he had witnessed in Vienna, Reich, then 30, opened six free sex-counselling
clinics in the city in 1927 for working-class patients. Each clinic was overseen by a physician, with three
obstetricians and a lawyer on call, and offered what Reich called Sex-Pol counselling. Sex-Pol stood for the
German Society of Proletarian Sexual Politics. Reich offered a mixture of "psychoanalytic counseling, Marxist
advice and contraceptives", Danto writes, and argued for a sexual permissiveness, including for young people
and the unmarried, that unsettled other psychoanalysts and the political left. The clinics were immediately
overcrowded by people seeking help.[57]
He also took to the streets in a mobile clinic, driving to parks and out to the suburbs with other psychoanalysts
and physicians. Reich would talk to the teenagers and men, while a gynaecologist fitted the women with
contraceptive devices, and Lia Laszky, the woman Reich fell in love with at medical school, spoke to the
children. They also distributed sex-education pamphlets door to door. [58]
Die Funktion des Orgasmus
Die Funktion des Orgasmus
Reich published Die Funktion des Orgasmus ("The Function of the Orgasm") in 1927, dedicating it to Freud. He
had presented a copy of the manuscript to Freud on the latter's 70th birthday on 6 May 1926. [59] Freud had not
appeared impressed. He replied, "That thick?" when Reich handed it to him, and took two months to write a
brief but positive letter in response, which Reich interpreted as a rejection. [60][n 4] Freud's view was that the matter
was more complicated than Reich suggested, and that there was no single cause of neurosis. [61] He wrote in
1928 to another psychoanalyst, Dr. Lou Andreas-Salomé:
We have here a Dr. Reich, a worthy but impetuous young man, passionately devoted to his hobby-horse, who
now salutes in the genital orgasm the antidote to every neurosis. Perhaps he might learn from your analysis of
K. to feel some respect for the complicated nature of the psyche.[62]
Visit to Soviet Union
In 1929 Reich and his wife visited the Soviet Union on a lecture tour, leaving the two children in the care of the
psychoanalyst Berta Bornstein. Sharaf writes that he returned even more convinced of the link between sexual
and economic oppression, and of the need to integrate Marx and Freud. [63] In 1929 his article "Dialectical
Materialism and Psychoanalysis" was published in Unter dem Banner des Marxismus, the German Communist
Party journal. The article explored whether psychoanalysis was compatible with historical materialism, class
struggle and proletarian revolution. Reich concluded that they were compatible if dialectical materialism was
applied to psychology.[64] This was one of the central theoretical statements of his Marxist period, which
included The Imposition of Sexual Morality (1932), The Sexual Struggle of Youth (1932), The Mass Psychology
of Fascism (1933), "What is Class Consciousness?" (1934) and The Sexual Revolution (1936).
1930–1934: Germany, Denmark, Sweden
Verlag für Sexualpolitik
Reich and his wife moved to Berlin in November 1930, where he set up clinics in working-class areas, taught
sex education and published pamphlets. He joined the Communist Party of Germany, but grew impatient over
their delay in publishing one of his pamphlets, Der Sexuelle Kampf der Jugend (1932), published in English
as The Sexual Struggle of Youth (1972). He set up his own publishing house, Verlag für Sexualpolitik, and
published the pamphlet himself.[65]
Plaque on Schlangenbader Straße 87, Berlin-Wilmersdorf, the house in which Reich lived, 1931–1933.
His subsequent involvement in a conference promoting adolescent sexuality caused the party to announce that
it would no longer publish his material. On March 24, 1933 Freud told him that his contract with the
International Psychoanalytic Publishers to publish Character Analysis had been cancelled. Sharaf writes that
this was almost certainly because of Reich's stance on teenage sex. [65]
Character Analysis
Character Analysis
Reich published what Robert Corrington called his masterpiece, Charakteranalyse: Technik und Grundlagen für
studierende und praktizierende Analytiker, in 1933. It was revised and published in English in 1946 and 1949
as Character Analysis. The book sought to move psychoanalysis toward a reconfiguration of character
structure.[66]
For Reich, character structure was the result of social processes, in particular a reflection
of castration and Oedipal anxieties playing themselves out within the nuclear family.[66] Les Greenberg and
Jeremy Safran write that Reich proposed a functional identity between the character, emotional blocks, and
tension in the body, or what he called character (or muscular/body) armour (Charakterpanzer).[67]
Reich proposed that muscular armour was a defence that contained the history of the patient's traumas. [68] For
example, he blamed Freud's jaw cancer on his muscular armour, rather than his smoking: Freud's Judaism
meant he was "biting down" impulses, rather than expressing them. [69] Dissolving the armour would bring back
the memory of the childhood repression that had caused the blockage in the first place. [67]
End of first marriage
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Reich had several affairs during his marriage to Annie Reich, which ended in 1933 after he began a serious
relationship in May 1932 with Elsa Lindenberg, a dancer and pupil of Elsa Gindler.[70] He was living with
Lindenberg in Germany when Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933. On March 2 that year the Nazi
newspaper Völkischer Beobachter published an attack on Der Sexuelle Kampf der Jugend.[71] Reich and
Lindenberg left for Vienna the next day. They moved from there to Denmark, where Reich was excluded from
the Danish Communist Party in November 1933 (without ever having joined it) because of his promotion of
teenage sex and the publication that year of The Mass Psychology of Fascism, which they regarded as
"counterrevolutionary". There were multiple complaints about his promotion of abortion, sex education, and the
attempted suicide of a teenage patient. According to Turner, when Reich's visa expired, it was not renewed. [72]
He tried to find support among psychoanalysts in the UK so that he could settle there, and was interviewed in
London by Ernest Jones, Melanie Klein, Joan Riviere and James Strachey. They decided that he had been
"insufficiently analysed" and had an unresolved hostility toward Freud. [73] Anna Freud, Freud's daughter—whom
Jones had contacted about Reich's desire to relocate to England—wrote in 1938: "There is a wall somewhere
where he stops to understand the other person's point of view and flies off into a world of his own ... He is an
unhappy person ... and I am afraid this will end in sickness."[74]
Reich and Lindenberg moved instead to Malmö in Sweden, which Reich described as "better than a
concentration camp", but he was placed under surveillance when police suspected that the hourly visits of
patients to his hotel room meant he was running a brothel, with Lindenberg as the prostitute. [75] The government
declined to extend his visa, and the couple had to move briefly back to Denmark, Reich under an assumed
name.[76]
Vegetotherapy
Vegetotherapy
From 1930 onwards, Reich began to treat patients outside the limits of psychoanalysis's restrictions. He would
sit opposite them, rather than behind them as they lay on a couch (the traditional psychoanalyst's position), and
begin talking to them and answering their questions, instead of offering the stock, "Why do you ask?" analyst's
response. He had noticed that after a successful course of psychoanalysis his patients would hold their bodies
differently, so he began to try to communicate with the body using touch. He asked his male patients to
undress down to their shorts, and sometimes entirely, and his female patients down to their underclothes, and
began to massage them to loosen their body armour. He would also ask them to simulate physically the effects
of certain emotions in the hope of triggering them. [77]
He first presented the principles of what he called character-analytic vegetotherapy in August 1934, in a paper
entitled "Psychischer Kontakt und vegetative Strömung" ("Psychological Contact and Vegetative Current") at
the 13th International Congress of Psychoanalysis at Lucerne, Switzerland. [78] His second wife, Ilse Ollendorf,
said vegetotherapy replaced the psychoanalytic method of never touching a patient with "a physical attack by
the therapist".[79]
The method eliminated the psychoanalytic doctrine of neutrality. Reich argued that the psychoanalytic taboos
reinforced the neurotic taboos of the patient, and that he wanted his patients to see him as human. [78] He would
press his thumb or the palm of his hand hard (and painfully) on their jaws, necks, chests, backs, or thighs,
aiming to dissolve their muscular, and thereby characterological, rigidity. [80] He wrote that the purpose of the
massage was to retrieve the repressed memory of the childhood situation that had caused the repression. If the
session worked, he would see waves of pleasure move through their bodies, which he called the "orgasm
reflex". According to Sharaf, the twin goals of Reichian therapy were the attainment of this orgasm reflex during
sessions and orgastic potency during intercourse. Reich briefly considered calling it "orgasmotherapy", but
thought better of it.[81]
Just before the Lucerne conference, Reich was asked to resign from the International Psychoanalytical
Association, where Anna Freud was the "acknowledged leader" at the time, for prioritizing his revolutionary
agenda over Freud's ideas. According to Lore Reich Rubin, Reich's daughter, Anna Freud was responsible for
destroying her father's career, "she got rid of him". [82] [83] He arrived at the conference furious about his
treatment. Turner writes that he cemented his reputation as a madman, camping in a tent outside the
conference hall and reportedly carrying a large knife in his belt. [84] According to the psychiatrist Grete L. Bibring,
Paul Federn declared, "Either Reich goes or I go." [85]
1934–1939: Norway
Bioelectricity
In October 1934 Reich and Lindenberg moved to Oslo, Norway, where Harald K. Schjelderup, professor of
psychology at the University of Oslo, had invited Reich to lecture on character analysis and vegetotherapy.
They ended up staying for five years.[86] During his time in Norway, Reich attempted to ground his orgasm
theory in biology, exploring whether Freud's metaphor of the libido was in fact electricity or a chemical
substance, an argument Freud had proposed in the 1890s but had abandoned. [87] Reich argued that conceiving
of the orgasm as nothing but mechanical tension and relaxation could not explain why some experience
pleasure and others do not. He wanted to know what additional element had to be present for pleasure to be
felt.[88]
Reich was influenced by the work of the Austrian internist Friedrich Kraus, who argued in his paper Allgemeine
und Spezielle Pathologie der Person (1926) that the biosystem was a relay-like switch mechanism of electrical
charge and discharge. Reich wrote in an essay, "Der Orgasmus als Elektro-physiologische Entladung" ("The
Orgasm as an Electrophysiological Discharge", 1934), that the orgasm is just such a bioelectrical discharge
and proposed his "orgasm formula": mechanical tension (filling of the organs with fluid; tumescence) →
bioelectrical charge → bioelectrical discharge → mechanical relaxation (detumescence).[89]
Willy Brandt
In 1935 Reich bought an oscillograph and attached it to friends and students, who volunteered to touch and
kiss each other while Reich read the tracings. One of the volunteers was a young Willy Brandt, the future
chancellor of Germany. At the time, he was married to Reich's secretary, Gertrude Gaasland, and was living in
Norway to organize protests against the Nazis. Reich also took measurements from the patients of a
psychiatric hospital near Oslo, including catatonic patients, with the permission of the hospital's director.
[90]
Reich described the oscillograph experiments in 1937 in Experimentelle Ergebnisse über die elektrische
Funktion von Sexualität und Angst (The Bioelectrical Investigation of Sexuality and Anxiety).[91]
Bion experiments
Spontaneous generation and Abiogenesis
From 1934 to 1939 Reich conducted what he called the bion experiments, which he published as Die Bione:
zur Entstehung des vegetativen Lebens in Oslo in February 1938 (published in English in 1979 and later
called The Bion Experiments on the Origin of Life).[93] He examined protozoa and grew cultured vesicles using
grass, sand, iron and animal tissue, boiling them and adding potassium and gelatin. Having heated the
materials to incandescence with a heat-torch, he wrote that he had seen bright, glowing, blue vesicles. His
photographs and films of his experiments were taken by Kari Berggrav. He called them "bions" and believed
they were a rudimentary form of life, halfway between life and non-life. He wrote that when he poured the
cooled mixture onto growth media, bacteria were born, dismissing the idea that the bacteria were already
present in the air or on other materials.[94]
Cancer specialist Leiv Kreyberg (third from right; picture circa 1937) dismissed Reich's work.[92]
In what Sharaf writes was the origins of the orgone theory, Reich said he could see two kinds of bions, the blue
vesicles and smaller red ones shaped like lancets. He called the former PA-bions and the latter T-bacilli, the T
standing for Tod, German for death.[95] He wrote in his book The Cancer Biopathy (1948) that he had found T-
bacilli in rotting cancerous tissue obtained from a local hospital, and when injected into mice they caused
inflammation and cancer. He concluded that, when orgone energy diminishes in cells through aging or injury,
the cells undergo "bionous degeneration". At some point the deadly T-bacilli start to form in the cells. Death
from cancer, he believed, was caused by an overwhelming growth of the T-bacilli. [96]
Opposition to his ideas
Scientists in Oslo reacted strongly to Reich's work on bions, deriding it as nonsense. Tidens Tegn, a leading
liberal newspaper, launched a campaign against him in 1937, supported by scientists and other newspapers.
[98]
Between March and December 1938, more than 165 articles or letters appeared in 13 Norwegian
newspapers denouncing him.[99][100]
In 1937 the Norwegian pathologist Leiv Kreyberg was allowed to examine one of Reich's bion preparations
under a microscope. Kreyberg wrote that the broth Reich had used as his culture medium was indeed sterile,
but that the bacteria were ordinary staphylococci. He concluded that Reich's control measures to prevent
infection from airborne bacteria were not as foolproof as Reich believed. Kreyberg accused Reich of being
ignorant of basic bacteriological and anatomical facts, while Reich accused Kreyberg of having failed to
recognize living cancer cells under magnification. [101]
Bronisław Malinowski wrote to newspapers in Norway in support of Reich.[97]
Reich sent a sample of the bacteria to a Norwegian biologist, Theodor Thjøtta of the Oslo Bacteriological
Institute, who also blamed airborne infection. Kreyberg and Thjøtta's views were published in the country's
largest newspaper, Aftenposten, on 19 and 21 April 1938. Kreyberg alleged that "Mr. Reich" knew less about
bacteria and anatomy than a first-year medical student. When Reich requested a detailed control study,
Kreyberg responded that his work did not merit it. [101]
By February 1938 Reich's visa had expired. Several Norwegian scientists argued against an extension,
Kreyberg saying, "If it is a question of handing Dr. Reich over to the Gestapo, then I will fight that, but if one
could get rid of him in a decent manner, that would be the best." [102] The writer Sigurd Hoel asked: "When did it
become a reason for deportation that one looked in a microscope when one was not a trained biologist?" Reich
received support from overseas, first from the anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski, who in March wrote to the
press in Norway that Reich's sociological works were "a distinct and valuable contribution toward science", and
from A. S. Neill, founder of Summerhill, a progressive school in England, who argued that "the campaign
against Reich seems largely ignorant and uncivilized, more like fascism than democracy". [97]
Norway was proud of its intellectual tolerance, so the "Reich affair", especially following the country's 1936
expulsion of Leon Trotsky, put Nygaardsvold's government on the spot. A compromise was found. Reich was
given his visa, but a royal decree was issued stipulating that anyone wanting to practice psychoanalysis
needed a licence, and it was understood that Reich would not be given one. Throughout the affair Reich issued
just one public statement, when he asked for a commission to replicate his bion experiments. Sharaf writes that
the opposition to his work affected his personality and relationships. He was left humiliated, no longer
comfortable in public, and seething with bitterness against the researchers who had denounced him. [103]
Personal life
According to Sharaf, 1934–1937 was the happiest period of Reich's personal life, despite the professional
problems. His relationship with Elsa Lindenberg was good and he considered marrying her. When she became
pregnant in 1935, they were initially overjoyed, buying clothes and furniture for the child, but doubts developed
for Reich, who saw the future as too unsettled. To Lindenberg's great distress, Sharaf writes, Reich insisted on
an abortion, at that time illegal. They went to Berlin, where the psychoanalyst Edith Jacobson helped to arrange
it.[104]
In 1937 Reich began an affair with a female patient, an actress who had been married to a colleague of his.
According to Sigurd Hoel, the analysis would stop because of the relationship, then the relationship would end
and the analysis would start up again. The patient eventually threatened to go to the press, but was persuaded
that it would harm her as much as it would Reich. Around the same time, Reich also had an affair with Gerd
Bergersen, a 25-year-old Norwegian textile designer. [105]
Reich's home in Frogner, Oslo. A blue plaque, in Norwegian, reads: "The physician and psychoanalyst WILHELM REICH (1897–
1957) lived and worked here 1935–39. Developed character analysis and the body-oriented therapy."
Despite the affairs, Sharaf writes that, as the newspaper campaign against Reich gained pace, he developed
an intense jealousy toward Lindenberg, demanding that she not have a separate life of any kind. He even
physically assaulted a composer with whom she was working. Lindenberg considered calling the police but
decided Reich could not afford another scandal. His behaviour took its toll on their relationship, and when
Reich asked her to accompany him to the United States, she said no. [105]
1939–1957: United States
Teaching, second marriage
When Hitler annexed Austria in March 1938, Reich's ex-wife and daughters had already left for the United
States. Later that year, Theodore P. Wolfe, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, traveled to
Norway to study under Reich. Wolfe offered to help Reich settle in the States, and managed to arrange an
invitation from The New School in New York for Reich to teach a course on "Biological Aspects of Character
Formation". Wolfe and Walter Briehl, a former student of Reich's, put up $5,000 to guarantee his visa. [106] Wolfe
also pulled strings with Adolph Berle, an official in the State Department.[107] Reich wrote in his diary in May
1939:
I am sitting in a completely empty apartment waiting for my American visa. I have misgivings as to how it will
go. ... I am utterly and horribly alone!
It will be quite an undertaking to carry on all the work in America. Essentially, I am a great man, a rarity, as it
were. I can't quite believe it myself, however, and that is why I struggle against playing the role of a great man.
[108]
He received the visa in August 1939 and sailed out of Norway on 19 August on the SS Stavangerfjord, the last
ship to leave for the United States before the war began on 3 September. [107] He began teaching at The New
School, where he remained until May 1941, living first at 7502 Kessel Street, Forest Hills, Queens, where he
conducted experiments on mice with cancer, injecting them with bions. He built a small Faraday cage to
examine the vapors and lights he said the bions were producing. [109] In October 1939 his secretary Gertrud
Gaasland introduced him to Ilse Ollendorf, 29 years old at the time. Reich was still in love with Lindenberg, but
Ollendorf started organizing his life for him, becoming his bookkeeper and laboratory assistant. [110] They began
living together in the Kessel Street house on Christmas Day 1939. She was eight weeks pregnant, but
according to Turner he insisted that she have an abortion. [109] Five years later, in 1944, they had a son, Peter,
and were married in 1946.[110]
Sharaf writes that Reich's personality changed after his experience in Oslo. [100] He became socially isolated and
kept his distance even from old friends and his ex-wife. His students in the United States came to know him as
a man that no colleague, no matter how close, called by his first name. In January 1940 he wrote to Lindenberg
to end their relationship once and for all, telling her that he was in despair and that he believed he would end
up dying like a dog.[111]
Orgonomy
Orgone
Orgone accumulator
It was shortly after he arrived in New York in 1939 that Reich first said he had discovered a biological or cosmic
energy, an extension of Freud's idea of the libido. He called it "orgone energy" or "orgone radiation", and the
study of it "orgonomy". Reich said he had seen orgone when he injected his mice with bions and in the sky at
night through an "organoscope", a special telescope. He argued that it is in the soil and air (indeed,
is omnipresent), is blue or blue-grey, and that humanity had divided its knowledge of it in two: aether for the
physical aspect and God for the spiritual. The colour of the sky, the northern lights, St Elmo's Fire, and the blue
of sexually excited frogs are manifestations of orgone, he wrote. He also argued that protozoa, red
corpuscles, cancer cells and the chlorophyll of plants are charged with it.[109][112]
In 1940 he began to build insulated Faraday cages, "orgone accumulators", that he said would concentrate the
orgone. The earliest boxes were for laboratory animals. The first human-sized, five-foot-tall box was built in
December 1940, and set up in the basement of his house. Turner writes that it was made of plywood lined with
rock wool and sheet iron, and had a chair inside and a small window. The boxes had multiple layers of these
materials, which caused the orgone concentration inside the box to be three to five times stronger than in the
air, Reich said. Patients were expected to sit inside them naked. [113]
The accumulators were tested on plant growth and mice with cancer. [114] Reich wrote to his supporters in July
1941 that orgone is "definitely able to destroy cancerous growth. This is proved by the fact that tumors in all
parts of the body are disappearing or diminishing. No other remedy in the world can claim such a
thing."[115] Although not licensed to practise medicine in the United States, he began testing the boxes on human
beings diagnosed with cancer and schizophrenia. In one case the test had to be stopped prematurely because
the subject heard a rumour that Reich was insane; there were stories, which were false, that he had been
hospitalized in the Utica State Mental Hospital. In another case the father of an eight-year-old girl with cancer
approached him for help, then complained to the American Medical Association that he was practising without
a licence.[116] He asked his supporters to stick with him through the criticism, believing that he had developed a
grand unified theory of physical and mental health. [117][118]
Experiment with Einstein
In December 1940 Reich wrote to Albert Einstein saying he had a scientific discovery he wanted to discuss,
and, in January 1941, visited Einstein at his home in Princeton, where they talked for nearly five hours. He told
Einstein that he had discovered a "specific biologically effective energy which behaves in many respects
differently to all that is known about electromagnetic energy". He said it could be used against disease, and as
a weapon "in the fight against the Fascist pestilence". (Einstein had signed a letter to President Roosevelt in
August 1939 to warn of the danger of Nazi Germany building an atom bomb, and had urged the United States
to establish its own research project.) Einstein agreed that if an object's temperature could be raised without an
apparent heating source, as Reich was suggesting, it would be "a bomb". [119]
Reich discussed orgone accumulators with Albert Einstein during 1941.
Reich was much encouraged by the meeting and hoped he would be invited to join Princeton's Institute for
Advanced Study.[119] During their next meeting, he gave Einstein a small accumulator, and over the next 10 days
Einstein performed experiments with it in his basement, which involved taking the temperature above, inside
and near the device, and stripping it down to its Faraday cage to compare temperatures. He observed an
increase of temperature, which Reich argued was caused by orgone. [n 5] One of Einstein's assistants pointed out
that the temperature was lower on the floor than on the ceiling. [n 6] Einstein concluded that the effect was simply
due to the temperature gradient inside the room. "Through these experiments I regard the matter as completely
solved", he wrote to Reich on 7 February 1941. [120]
Reich responded with a 25-page letter in which he tried to change Einstein's mind. [121] To rule out the influence
of convection he told Einstein that he had taken certain measures, including introducing a horizontal plate
above the accumulator, wrapping it in a blanket, hanging it from the ceiling, burying it underground and placing
it outside. He wrote that in all these circumstances the temperature difference remained, and was in fact more
marked in the open air.[122][n 7] Einstein did not respond to this or to Reich's future correspondence—Reich would
write regularly reporting the results of his experiments—until Reich threatened three years later to publish their
previous exchange. Einstein replied that he could not devote any further time to the matter and asked that his
name not be misused for advertising purposes. Reich believed that Einstein's change of heart was part of a
conspiracy of some kind, perhaps related to the communists or prompted by the rumours that Reich was ill.
Reich published the correspondence in 1953 as The Einstein Affair.[124]
Arrested by the FBI
Reich lost his position at the New School in May 1941 after writing to its director, Alvin Johnson, to say he had
saved several lives in secret experiments with the accumulator. Johnson was aware of Reich's claims that he
could cure cancer, and told him the New School was not an appropriate institution for the work. Reich was also
evicted from Kessel Street after his neighbours complained about the animal experiments. His supporters,
including Walter Briehl, gave him $14,000 to buy a house, and he settled into 9906 69th Avenue. [125]
On 12 December 1941, five days after the attack on Pearl Harbor and a day after Germany declared it was at
war with the United States, Reich was arrested in his home at 2 a.m. by the FBI and taken to Ellis Island, where
he was held for over three weeks.[126] He identified himself at the time as the Associate Professor of Medical
Psychology, Director of the Orgone Institute. [127] He was at first left to sleep on the floor in a large hall,
surrounded by members of the fascist German American Bund, who Reich feared might kill him, but when his
psoriasis returned he was transferred to the hospital ward. [128] He was questioned about several books the FBI
found when they searched his home, including Hitler's Mein Kampf, Trotsky's My Life, a biography of Lenin and
a Russian alphabet book for children. After threatening to go on hunger strike he was released, on 5 January,
but his name remained on the "key figures list" of the Enemy Alien Control Unit, which meant he was placed
under surveillance.[126]
Turner writes that it seems Reich was the victim of mistaken identity; there was a William Reich who ran a
bookstore in New Jersey, which was used to distribute Communist material. The FBI acknowledged the
mistake in November 1943 and closed Reich's file.[129] In 2000 it released 789 pages of the file:
This German immigrant described himself as the Associate Professor of Medical Psychology, Director of the
Orgone Institute, President and research physician of the Wilhelm Reich Foundation and discoverer of
biological or life energy. A 1940 security investigation was begun to determine the extent of Reich's communist
commitments. A board of Alien Enemy Hearing judged that Dr. Reich was not a threat to the security of the
U.S. In 1947, a security investigation concluded that neither the Orgone Project nor any of its staff were
engaged in subversive activities or were in violation of any statute within the jurisdiction of the FBI. [127]
Purchase of Orgonon
Wilhelm Reich Museum, Orgonon
Further information: Orgonon
In November 1942 Reich purchased an old farm for $4,000 on Dodge Pond, Maine, near Rangeley, with 280
acres (1.1 km2) of land. Calling it Orgonon, he started spending summers there, and had a one-room cabin built
in 1943, a laboratory in 1945, a larger cabin in 1946 and an observatory in 1948. [130]
In 1950 he decided to live there year-round, and in May that year moved from New York with Ilse, their son,
Peter, and Reich's daughter Eva, with the idea of creating a centre for the study of orgone. Several colleagues
moved there with him, including two physicians with an interest in orgone, and Lois Wyvell, who ran the Orgone
Press Institute.[131] The artist William Moise joined Reich as an assistant at Orgonon, later marrying Eva Reich.
[132]
Orgonon still houses the Wilhelm Reich Museum, as well as holiday cottages available to rent, one of which
is the cottage in which the Reichs lived.[133]
1947–1957: Legal problems
Brady articles, FDA
Until 1947 Reich enjoyed a largely uncritical press in the United States. One journal, Psychosomatic Medicine,
had called orgone a "surrealist creation", but his psychoanalytic work had been discussed in the Journal of the
American Medical Association and the American Journal of Psychiatry, The Nation had given his writing
positive reviews, and he was listed in American Men of Science.[134]
August 1947 letter from the FDA about Reich, referencing the Brady article
His reputation took a sudden downturn in April and May 1947, when articles by Mildred Edie Brady were
published in Harper's and The New Republic, the latter entitled "The Strange Case of Wilhelm Reich", with the
subhead, "The man who blames both neuroses and cancer on unsatisfactory sexual activities has been
repudiated by only one scientific journal."[98] Brady's ultimate target was not Reich but psychoanalysis, which
according to Turner she saw as akin to astrology.[135]
Of Reich she wrote: "Orgone, named after the sexual orgasm, is, according to Reich, a cosmic energy. It is, in
fact, the cosmic energy. Reich has not only discovered it; he has seen it, demonstrated it and named a town—
Orgonon, Maine—after it. Here he builds accumulators of it, which are rented out to patients, who presumably
derive 'orgastic potency' from it."[98][n 8] She claimed, falsely, that he had said the accumulators could cure not
only impotence but cancer.[7] Brady argued that the "growing Reich cult" had to be dealt with. [137] On his copy of
the New Republic article, Reich wrote "THE SMEAR". He issued a press release, but no one published it. [138]
In July 1947 Dr. J. J. Durrett, director of the Medical Advisory Division of the Federal Trade Commission, wrote
to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asking them to investigate Reich's claims about the health benefits
of orgone. The FDA assigned an investigator to the case, who learned that Reich had built 250 accumulators.
The FDA concluded that they were dealing with a "fraud of the first magnitude". According to Sharaf, the FDA
suspected a sexual racket of some kind; questions were asked about the women associated with orgonomy
and "what was done with them".[139] From that point on, Reich's work came increasingly to the attention of the
authorities.[140]
Orgonomic Infant Research Center
Reich established the Orgonomic Infant Research Center (OIRC) in 1950, with the aim of preventing muscular
armouring in children from birth. Meetings were held in the basement of his house in Forest Hills. Turner wrote
that several children who were treated by OIRC therapists later said they had been sexually abused by the
therapists, although not by Reich. One woman said she was assaulted by one of Reich's associates when she
was five years old. Children were asked to stand naked in front of Reich and a group of 30 therapists in his
basement, while Reich described the children's "blockages". [141] Reich's daughter, Lore Reich Rubin, told Turner
that she believed her father was an abuser, although she did not say she had been abused by him, and she
acknowledged that she had no evidence. She believed that Reich himself had been abused as a child, which is
why he developed such an interest in sex and childhood sexuality. [23]
The sexual allegations apart, several people discussed how the vegetotherapy had hurt them physically as
children, as therapists pressed hard on the body to loosen muscular armour. Reich's son, Peter, wrote in his
autobiography, Book of Dreams (1973) about the pain this had caused him. [142] Susanna Steig, the daughter
of William Steig, the New Yorker cartoonist, wrote about being pressed so hard during Reichian therapy that
she had difficulty breathing, and said that a woman therapist had sexually assaulted her. According to Turner, a
nurse complained in 1952 to the New York Medical Society that an OIRC therapist had taught her five-year-old
son how to masturbate. The therapist was arrested, but the case was dropped when Reich agreed to close the
OIRC.[143]
Divorce, cloudbusters
Further information: Cloudbuster
Reich and Ilse Ollendorff divorced in September 1951, ostensibly because he thought she had had an affair.
She continued working with him for another three years. Even after the divorce, he suspected her of having
affairs, and persuaded her to sign confessions about her feelings of fear and hatred toward him, which he
locked away in the archives of his Orgone Institute. He wrote several documents denouncing her, while having
an affair himself with Lois Wyvell, who ran the Orgone Institute Press. [144]
In 1951, Reich said he had discovered another energy that he called deadly orgone radiation (DOR),
accumulations of which played a role in desertification. He designed a "cloudbuster", rows of 15-foot aluminium
pipes mounted on a mobile platform, connected to cables that were inserted into water. He believed that it
could unblock orgone energy in the atmosphere and cause rain. Turner described it as an "orgone box turned
inside out".[145]
Reich with one of his cloudbusters
He conducted dozens of experiments with the cloudbuster, calling his research "Cosmic Orgone Engineering".
During a drought in 1953, two farmers in Maine offered to pay him if he could make it rain to save their
blueberry crop. Reich used the cloudbuster on the morning of 6 July, and according to Bangor's Daily News—
based on an account from an anonymous eyewitness who was probably Peter Reich—rain began to fall that
evening. The crop survived, the farmers declared themselves satisfied, and Reich received his fee. [146][n 9]
Injunction[edit]
Over the years the FDA interviewed physicians, Reich's students and his patients, asking about the orgone
accumulators.[140] A professor at the University of Oregon who bought an accumulator told an FDA inspector that
he knew the device was phoney, but found it helpful because his wife sat quietly in it for four hours every day.
[148]
The attention of the FDA triggered belligerent responses from Reich, who called them "HiGS" (hoodlums in
government) and the tools of red fascists. He developed a delusion that he had powerful friends in government,
including President Eisenhower, who he believed would protect him, and that the U.S. Air Force was flying over
Orgonon to make sure that he was all right.[140] On 29 July 1952 three inspectors arrived at Orgonon
unannounced. Sharaf writes that Reich detested unannounced visitors; he had once chased some people away
with a gun just for looking at an adjacent property. He told the inspectors they had to read his work before he
would interact with them, and ordered them to leave.[140]
In February 1954 the United States Attorney for the District of Maine filed a 27-page complaint seeking a
permanent injunction under Sections 301 and 302 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to prevent
interstate shipment of orgone accumulators and to ban promotional literature. [149] Reich refused to appear in
court, arguing that no court was in a position to evaluate his work. In a letter to Judge John D. Clifford, Jr. in
February, he wrote:
My factual position in the case as well as in the world of science of today does not permit me to enter the case
against the Food and Drug Administration, since such action would, in my mind, imply admission of the
authority of this special branch of the government to pass judgment on primordial, pre-atomic cosmic orgone
energy. I, therefore, rest the case in full confidence in your hands. [150]
The injunction was granted by default on 19 March 1954. The judge ordered that all accumulators, parts and
instructions be destroyed, and that several of Reich's books that mentioned orgone be withheld. [151]
Chasing UFOs
According to Turner, the injunction triggered a further deterioration in Reich's mental health. From at least early
1954, he came to believe that the planet was under attack by UFOs, or "energy alphas", as he called them. He
said he often saw them flying over Orgonon—shaped like thin cigars with windows—leaving streams of black
Deadly Orgone Radiation in their wake, which he believed the aliens were scattering to destroy the Earth. [152]
He and his son would spend their nights searching for UFOs through telescopes and binoculars, and when they
believed they had found one would roll out the cloudbuster to suck the energy out of it. Reich claimed he had
shot several of them down. Armed with two cloudbusters, they fought what Reich called a "full-scale
interplanetary battle" in Arizona, where he had rented a house as a base station. [153] In Contact with
Space (1956), he wrote of the "very remote possibility" that his own father had been from outer space. [154]
Reich argued that orgone was responsible for the colour of the northern lights.
In late 1954 Reich began an affair with Grethe Hoff, a former patient. Hoff was married to another former
student and patient of his, the psychologist Myron Sharaf, who decades later, with his Fury on Earth (1983),
became Reich's main biographer. Hoff and Sharaf had had their first child the year before Hoff left him for
Reich; the marriage was never repaired although the affair had ended by June 1955. [155] Two months later Reich
began another relationship, this time with Aurora Karrer, a medical researcher, and, in November, he moved
out of Orgonon to an apartment in Alban Towers, Washington, D.C., to live with her, using the pseudonym Dr.
Walter Roner.[156]
Contempt of court
While Reich was in Arizona in May 1956, one of his associates sent an accumulator part through the mail to
another state, in violation of the injunction, after an FDA inspector posing as a customer requested it. [157] Reich
and another associate, Dr. Michael Silvert, were charged with contempt of court; Silvert had been looking after
the inventory in Reich's absence. Reich at first refused to attend court, and was arrested and held for two days
until a supporter posted bail of $30,000.[158]
Representing himself during the hearing, he admitted the violation but pleaded not guilty and hinted at
conspiracies. During a recess the judge apparently suggested a psychiatric evaluation to Reich's ex-wife, Ilse
Ollendorff, but this was not communicated to Reich. The jury found him guilty on 7 May 1956, and he was
sentenced to two years' imprisonment. Silvert was sentenced to a year and a day, the Wilhelm Reich
Foundation was fined $10,000, and the accumulators and associated literature were to be destroyed. [158]
Book burning
On 5 June 1956 two FDA officials arrived at Orgonon to supervise the destruction of the accumulators. Most of
them had been sold by that time and another 50 were with Silvert in New York. Only three were at Orgonon.
The FDA agents were not allowed to destroy them, only to supervise the destruction, so Reich's friends and his
son, Peter, chopped them up with axes as the agents watched. [159] Once they were destroyed, Reich placed an
American flag on top of them.[160]
On 26 June the agents returned to supervise the destruction of the promotional material, including 251 copies
of Reich's books.[160] The American Civil Liberties Union issued a press release criticizing the book burning,
although coverage of the release was poor, and Reich ended up asking them not to help because he was
annoyed that they had failed to criticize the destruction of the accumulators. In England A.S. Neill and the
poet Herbert Read signed a letter of protest, but it was never published. On 23 July the remaining accumulators
in New York were destroyed by S. A. Collins and Sons, who had built them. [161]
A.S. Neill
On 23 August six tons of Reich's books, journals and papers were burned in New York, in the Gansevoort
incinerator, the public incinerator on 25th Street. The material included copies of several of his books,
including The Sexual Revolution, Character Analysis and The Mass Psychology of Fascism. Although these
had been published in German before Reich ever discussed orgone, he had added mention of it to the English
editions, so they were caught by the injunction.[162] It has been cited as one of the worst examples of censorship
in U.S. history.[n 2] As with the accumulators, the FDA was supposed only to observe the destruction. The
psychiatrist Victor Sobey (d. 1995), an associate of Reich's, wrote:
All the expenses and labor had to be provided by the [Orgone Institute] Press. A huge truck with three to help
was hired. I felt like people who, when they are to be executed, are made to dig their own graves first and are
then shot and thrown in. We carried box after box of the literature. [163]
Imprisonment
Reich appealed the lower court's decision in October 1956, but the Court of Appeals upheld it on 11 December.
[164]
He wrote several times to J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI, requesting a meeting,[165] and appealed to
the Supreme Court, which decided on 25 February 1957 not to review the case. [166] On 12 March 1957 Reich
and Silvert were sent to Danbury Federal Prison. (Silvert committed suicide in May 1958, five months after his
release.)[167] Richard C. Hubbard, a psychiatrist who admired Reich, examined him on admission,
recording paranoia manifested by delusions of grandiosity, persecution, and ideas of reference:
The patient feels that he has made outstanding discoveries. Gradually over a period of many years he has
explained the failure of his ideas in becoming universally accepted by the elaboration of psychotic thinking.
"The Rockerfellows [sic] are against me." (Delusion of grandiosity.) "The airplanes flying over prison are sent by
the Air Force to encourage me." (Ideas of reference and grandiosity.) [168]
Reich's record card from the Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary.
On 19 March Reich was transferred to the Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary and examined again. This time it
was decided that he was mentally competent and that his personality seemed intact, though he might become
psychotic when stressed.[168] A few days later, on his 60th birthday, he wrote to his son, Peter, then 13:
I am in Lewisburg. I am calm, certain in my thoughts, and doing mathematics most of the time. I am kind of
"above things", fully aware of what is up. Do not worry too much about me, though anything might happen. I
know, Pete, that you are strong and decent. At first I thought that you should not visit me here. I do not know.
With the world in turmoil I now feel that a boy your age should experience what is coming his way—fully digest
it without getting a "belly ache", so to speak, nor getting off the right track of truth, fact, honesty, fair play, and
being above board—never a sneak ... .[169]
He applied for a presidential pardon in May, to no avail. Peter visited him in jail several times, where one
prisoner said Reich was known as the "flying saucer guy" and the "Sex Box man". [170] Reich told Peter that he
cried a lot, and wanted Peter to let himself cry too, believing that tears are the "great softener". His last letter to
his son was on 22 October 1957, when he said he was looking forward to being released on 10 November,
having served one third of his sentence. A parole hearing had been scheduled for a few days before that date.
He wrote that he and Peter had a date for a meal at the Howard Johnson restaurant near Peter's school.[18]
Death
Reich failed to appear for roll call on 3 November 1957 and was found at 7 a.m. in his bed, fully clothed but for
his shoes. The prison doctor said he had died during the night of "myocardial insufficiency with sudden heart
failure".[18] He was buried in a vault at Orgonon that he had asked his caretaker to dig in 1955. He had left
instructions that there was to be no religious ceremony, but that a record should be played of Schubert's "Ave
Maria" sung by Marian Anderson, and that his granite headstone should read simply: "Wilhelm Reich, Born
March 24, 1897, Died ... "[171] None of the academic journals carried an obituary. Time magazine wrote on 18
November 1957:
Died. Wilhelm Reich, 60, once-famed psychoanalyst, associate and follower of Sigmund Freud, founder of the
Wilhelm Reich Foundation, lately better known for unorthodox sex and energy theories; of a heart attack; in
Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary, Pa; where he was serving a two-year term for distributing his invention, the
"orgone energy accumulator" (in violation of the Food and Drug Act), a telephone-booth-size device that
supposedly gathered energy from the atmosphere, and could cure, while the patient sat inside, common colds,
cancer, and impotence.[172]
Reception and legacy
Psychotherapy
The psychoanalyst Richard Sterba wrote in 1982 that Reich had been a brilliant clinician and teacher in the
1920s; even the older analysts had wanted to attend his technical seminars in Vienna. [173] But according to
Sharaf, they came to consider Reich as paranoid and belligerent. [174] Psychologist Luis Cordon wrote that
Reich's slide from respectability concluded with the consensus inside and outside the psychoanalytic
community that he was at best a crackpot and perhaps seriously ill. [175]
There were inaccurate rumours from the late 1920s that he had been hospitalized. [176] Paul Federn became
Reich's second analyst in 1922; he later said he had detected "incipient schizophrenia" and called Reich
a psychopath. Similarly, Sandor Rado had Reich as an analyst and in 1931 and declared him schizophrenic "in
the most serious way". Reich's daughter, Lore Reich Rubin, a psychiatrist, believed that he had bipolar and had
been sexually abused as a child.[177]
Sharaf argued that psychoanalysts tended to dismiss as ill anyone from within the fold who had transgressed,
and this was never done so relentlessly as with Reich. His work was split into the pre-psychotic "good" and the
post-psychotic "bad", the date of the illness's onset depending on which parts of his work a speaker disliked.
Psychoanalysts preferred to see him as sane in the 1920s because of his work on character, while political
radicals regarded him as sane in the 1930s because of his Marxist-oriented research. [174] - Despite Reich's
precarious mental health, his work on character and the idea of muscular armouring contributed to the
development of what is now known as ego psychology, gave rise to body psychotherapy, and helped shape
the Gestalt therapy of Fritz Perls, the bioenergetic analysis of Reich's student Alexander Lowen, and the primal
therapy of Arthur Janov.[178]
Humanities
Reich's work influenced a generation of intellectuals, including Saul Bellow, William Burroughs and Norman
Mailer, and the founder of Summerhill School in England, A. S. Neill.[180] The French philosopher Michel
Foucault wrote in The History of Sexuality (1976) that the impact of Reich's critique of sexual repression had
been substantial.[181]
The Austrian-American philosopher Paul Edwards said that the FDA's pursuit of Reich had intensified Edwards'
attachment to him. He wrote in 1977 that for years he and his friends regarded Reich as "something akin to a
messiah".[182] Paul Mathews and John M. Bell started teaching a course on Reich in 1968 at New York
University through its Division of Continuing Study, and it was still being taught at the time Sharaf was writing
Reich's biography in 1983, making it the longest-running course ever taught in that division. [183]
Norman Mailer owned several orgone accumulators.[179]
Several well-known figures used orgone accumulators, including Orson Bean, Sean Connery, Allen
Ginsberg, Paul Goodman, Jack Kerouac, Isaac Rosenfeld, J. D. Salinger, William Steig and Robert Anton
Wilson.[180] Mailer—who owned several orgone accumulators, including some in the shape of eggs—wrote about
Reich enthusiastically in The Village Voice, as a result of which Orgonon became a place of pilgrimage and the
orgasm a symbol of liberation.[179]
Popular culture
Reich continued to influence popular culture after his death. Turner writes that the evil Dr. Durand Durand in
the feature film Barbarella (1968) seems to be based on Reich; he places Barbarella (Jane Fonda) in
his Excessive Machine so that she would die of pleasure, but rather than killing her the machine burns out. [184] A
film about Reich and the implications of his ideas, W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism (1971), was directed by
Yugoslavian director Dušan Makavejev. An orgone accumulator made an appearance as
the Orgasmatron in Woody Allen's comedy feature film Sleeper (1973). The use of orgone accumulators, a
cloudbuster and representations of Reich's orgone therapy with patients, together with a snapshot of the FDA's
hostile actions against Reich were dramatised in a short film called 'It Can Be Done', which was made by
British director Jon East in 1999.[185] The film screened at the 56th Venice Film Festival on 11 September 1999.
[186]
"Cloudbusting" (1985) by Kate Bush
Patti Smith's "Birdland" on her album Horses (1975) is based on Reich's life.[187] Hawkwind's song "Orgone
Accumulator", on their album Space Ritual (1973) is named for his invention.[188] In Bob Dylan's "Joey"
from Desire (1975), the eponymous gangster spends his time in prison reading Nietzsche and Reich. Reich is
also a character in the opera Marilyn (1980) by Italian composer Lorenzo Ferrero.[189]
Orgone chair
by Marc Newson (1993)
Kate Bush's single "Cloudbusting" (1985) described Reich's arrest through the eyes of his son, Peter, who
wrote his father's story in A Book of Dreams (1973). The video for the song features Donald Sutherland as
Reich and Bush as Peter.[190] Robert Anton Wilson's play, Wilhelm Reich in Hell (1987), is about Reich's
confrontation with the American government.[191] Four-beat Rhythm: The Writings of Wilhelm Reich (2013) is a
compilation album on which Reich's writings are adapted to music. [192] The Australian designer Marc
Newson has produced a range of orgone furniture, most famously his Orgone Chair (1993). [193] In James Reich's
novel Soft Invasions (2017), a fictionalized Wilhelm Reich is treating a Hollywood mogul using an orgone
accumulator.[194]
Science
The mainstream scientific community dismissed Reich's orgone theory as pseudoscience.[n 10] James Strick, a
historian of science at Franklin and Marshall College, wrote in 2015 that the dominant narrative since Reich's
death has been that "there is no point in looking more closely at Reich's science because there was no
legitimate science from Reich".[198]
From 1960, apparently in response to the book burning, the New York publisher Farrar, Straus and
Giroux began republishing his major works.[199] Reichian physicians organized study groups. In 1967 one of his
associates, Dr. Elsworth Baker, established the bi-annual Journal of Orgonomy, still published as of 2015, and
in 1968 founded the American College of Orgonomy in Princeton, New Jersey.[200] According to Sharaf,
contributors to the Journal of Orgonomy who worked in academia often used pseudonyms. [201] The Orgone
Biophysical Research Laboratory was founded in 1978 by James DeMeo and the Institute for Orgonomic
Science in 1982 by Morton Herskowitz.[202]
There was renewed interest in November 2007, when the Reich archives at the Francis A. Countway Library of
Medicine at Harvard University were unsealed; Reich had left instructions that his unpublished papers be
stored for 50 years after his death.[203] James Strick began studying Reich's laboratory notebooks from the
1935–1939 bion experiments in Norway.[204] In 2015 Harvard University Press published Strick's Wilhelm Reich,
Biologist, in which he writes that Reich's work in Oslo "represented the cutting edge of light microscopy and
time-lapse micro-cinematography".[205] He argues that the dominant narrative of Reich as a pseudoscientist is
incorrect and that Reich's story is "much more complex and interesting". [198]
Speaking to Christopher Turner in 2011, Reich's son, Peter, said of his father, "He was a nineteenth-century
scientist; he wasn't a twentieth-century scientist. He didn't practice science the way scientists do today. He was
a nineteenth-century mind who came crashing into twentieth-century America. And boom!" [206]
Works
German
Selected early papers
"Über einen Fall von Durchbruch der Inzestschranke" ("About a Case of Breaching the Incest Taboo"), Zeitschrift
für Sexualwissenschaft, VII, 1920
"Triebbegriffe von Forel bis Jung" ("Forel's Argument Against Jung"), "Der Koitus und die Geschlechter" ("Sexual
Intercourse and Gender"), Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft, 1921
"Über Spezifität der Onanieformen" ("Concerning Specific Forms of Masturbation"), Internationale Zeitschrift für
Psychoanalyse, VIII, 1922
"Zur Triebenergetik" ("The Drive for Power"), Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft, 1923
"Kindliche Tagträume einer späteren Zwangsneurose" ("Childhood Daydreams of a Later
Neurosis"), Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, 1923
"Über Genitalität" ("About Genitality"), Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, IX, 1923
"Die Rolle der Genitalität in der Neurosentherapie" ("The Role of Genitality in the Treatment of
Neurosis"), Zeitschrif für Ärztliche Psychotherapie (Journal for Medical Psychotherapy), IX, 1923
"Der Tic als Onanieequivalent" ("The Tic as a Masturbation Equivalent"), Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft, 1924
"Die therapeutische Bedeutung der Genitallibido" ("The Therapeutic Importance of Genital Libido"), and "Über
Genitalität vom Standpunkt der psa. Prognose und Libidotheorie". ("On Genitality from the Standpoint of PENSA.
Prognosis and Libido Theory") Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, X, 1924
"Eine hysterische Psychose in statu nascendi" ("Hysterical Psychosis in Statu Nascendi"), Internationale Zeitschrift
für Psychoanalyse, XI, 1925
Der Sexuelle Kampf der Jugend, Sexpol Verlag, 1932 (pamphlet)
"Dialektischer Materialismus und Psychoanalyse", Kopenhagen: Verlag für Sexualpolitik, 1934 (pamphlet)
Books/booklets
Der triebhafte Charakter: Eine psychoanalytische Studie zur Pathologie des Ich, Wien: Internationaler
Psychoanalytischer Verlag, 1925
Die Funktion des Orgasmus: Zur Psychopathologie und zur Soziologie des Geschlechtslebens, Wien:
Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag, 1927
Sexualerregung und Sexualbefriedigung, Münster Verlag, 1929
Geschlechtsreife, Enthaltsamkeit, Ehemoral: Eine Kritik der bürgerlichen Sexualreform, 1930
Der Einbruch der Sexualmoral: Zur Geschichte der sexuellen Ökonomie, Kopenhagen: Verlag für Sexualpolitik,
1932, 2nd edition 1935
Charakteranalyse: Technik und Grundlagen für studierende und praktizierende Analytiker, Berlin, 1933
Massenpsychologie des Faschismus, 1933
Was ist Klassenbewußtsein?: Über die Neuformierung der Arbeiterbewegung, 1934
Psychischer Kontakt und vegetative Strömung, 1935
Die Sexualität im Kulturkampf: Zur sozialistischen Umstrukturierung des Menschen, 1936
Experimentelle Ergebniße Über Die Elektrische Funktion von Sexualität und Angst, 1937
Menschen im Staat, 1937
Die Bione: Zur Entstehung des vegetativen Lebens, Sexpol Verlag, 1938
Die Entdeckung des Orgons Erster Teil: Die Funktion des Orgasmus, 1942
Rede an den kleinen Mann, 1945
Journals
(ed.) Zeitschrift für Politische Psychologie und Sexualökonomie (Journal for Political Psychology and Sex-Economy),
using pseudonym Ernst Parell, 1934–1938
(ed.) Klinische und Experimentelle Berichte (Clinical and Experimental Report), c. 1937–1939
English
Books
The Discovery of Orgone, Volume 1: The Function of the Orgasm, 1942 (Die Entdeckung des Orgons Erster Teil:
Die Funktion des Orgasmus, translated by Theodore P. Wolfe)
Character Analysis, 1945 (Charakteranalyse, translated by Theodore P. Wolfe)
The Sexual Revolution, 1945 (Die Sexualität im Kulturkampf, translated by Theodore P. Wolfe)
The Mass Psychology of Fascism, 1946 (Massenpsychologie des Faschismus, translated by Theodore P. Wolfe)
The Discovery of Orgone, Volume 2: The Cancer Biopathy, 1948
Listen, Little Man!, 1948 (Rede an den kleinen Mann, translated by Theodore P. Wolfe)
The Orgone Energy Accumulator, Its Scientific and Medical Use, 1948
Ether, God and Devil, 1949
Cosmic Superimposition: Man's Orgonotic Roots in Nature, 1951
The Invasion of Compulsory Sex-Morality, 1951
The Oranur Experiment: First Report (1947–1951), 1951
The Murder of Christ (The Emotional Plague of Mankind), 1953
People in Trouble (The Emotional Plague of Mankind), 1953 (Menschen im Staat)
The Einstein Affair, 1953
Contact with Space: Oranur Second Report, 1951–1956, 1957
Journals
(ed.) International Journal of Sex-Economy & Orgone Research, 1942–1945
(ed.) Annals of the Orgone Institute, 1947–1949
(ed.) Orgone Energy Bulletin, 1949–1953
(ed.) CORE – Cosmic Orgone Engineering, 1954–1955
Posthumous
Selected Writings: An Introduction to Orgonomy, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1960
Reich Speaks of Freud, Souvenir Press, 1967
Sexpol. Essays 1929–1934, Random House, 1972
The Sexual Struggle of Youth, Socialist Reproduction, 1972 (Der Sexuelle Kampf der Jugend)
Early Writings: Volume One, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1975
The Bion Experiments: On the Origin of Life, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1979 (Die Bione: Zur Entstehung des
vegetativen Lebens)
Genitality in the Theory and Therapy of Neurosis, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1980
Record of a Friendship: The Correspondence of Wilhelm Reich and A.S. Neill (1936–1957), 1981
The Bioelectrical Investigation of Sexuality and Anxiety, 1982
Children of the Future: On the Prevention of Sexual Pathology, 1983 (the chapter entitled "The Sexual Rights of
Youth" is a revision of Der Sexuelle Kampf der Jugend)
Reich's autobiographical writings in four volumes:
o Mary Boyd Higgins and Chester M. Raphael (eds.), Passion of Youth: An Autobiography, 1897–1922.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1988
o Mary Boyd Higgins (ed.), Beyond Psychology: Letters and Journals 1934–1939, Farrar, Straus and
Giroux, 1994
o Mary Boyd Higgins (ed.), American Odyssey: Letters and Journals 1940–1947, Farrar, Straus and
Giroux, 1999
o Mary Boyd Higgins (ed.), Where's the Truth?: Letters and Journals, 1948–1957, Farrar, Straus and
Giroux, 2012
Emanuel Swedenborg.
Emanuel Swedenborg (/ˈswiːdənˌbɔːrɡ/;[1] Swedish pronunciation (help·info); born Emanuel
Swedberg; 29 January 1688[2] – 29 March 1772)[3] was a
Swedish Lutheran theologian, scientist, philosopher and mystic.[4] He is best known for his book on
the afterlife, Heaven and Hell(1758).[5][6]
Swedenborg had a prolific career as an inventor and scientist. In 1741, at 53, he entered into a spiritual
phase in which he began to experience dreams and visions, beginning on Easter Weekend, on 6 April
1744. It culminated in a 'spiritual awakening' in which he received a revelation that he was appointed by
the Lord Jesus Christ to write The Heavenly Doctrine to reform Christianity.[7] According to The
Heavenly Doctrine, the Lord had opened Swedenborg's spiritual eyes so that from then on, he could
freely visit heaven and hell to converse with angels, demons and other spirits and the Last Judgment had
already occurred the year before, in 1757.[8]
For the last 28 years of his life, Swedenborg wrote 18 published theological works—and several more
that were unpublished. He termed himself a "Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ" in True Christian Religion,
[9] which he published himself.[10] Some followers of The Heavenly Doctrinebelieve that of his
theological works, only those that were published by Swedenborg himself are fully divinely inspired.
[11] Others have regarded all Swedenborg's theological works as equally inspired, saying for example
that the fact that some works were "not written out in a final edited form for publication does not make
a single statement less trustworthy than the statements in any of the other works".[12] The New
Church, a new religious movement comprising several historically-related Christian denominations,
reveres Swedenborg's writings as revelation
Emanuel Swedenborg
Portrait of Swedenborg by Carl Frederik von Breda
Early life[edit]
Memorial plaque at the former location of Swedenborg's house at Hornsgatan
on Södermalm, Stockholm.
Swedenborg's father, Jesper Swedberg (1653–1735), descended from a wealthy mining family. The first
known paternal ancestor was Otte Persson from Sundborn parish, mentioned 1571.[15]
He travelled abroad and studied theology, and on returning home, he was eloquent enough to impress
the Swedish king, Charles XI, with his sermons in Stockholm. Through the king's influence, he would later
become professor of theology at Uppsala University and Bishop of Skara.[16][3]
Jesper took an interest in the beliefs of the dissenting Lutheran Pietist movement, which emphasised
the virtues of communion with God rather than relying on sheer faith (sola fide).[17] Sola fide is a tenet
of the Lutheran Church, and Jesper was charged with being a pietist heretic. While controversial, the
beliefs were to have a major impact on his son Emanuel's spirituality. Jesper furthermore held the
unconventional belief that angels and spirits were present in everyday life. This also came to have a
strong impact on Emanuel.[16][3][18]
In 1703–1709, Swedenborg lived in Erik Benzelius the Younger's house. Swedenborg completed his
university course at Uppsala in 1709, and in 1710, he made his grand tour through the Netherlands,
France and Germany before reaching London, where he would spend the next four years. It was also a
flourishing center of scientific ideas and discoveries. Swedenborg
studied physics, mechanics and philosophy and read and wrote poetry. According to the preface of a
book by the Swedish critic Olof Lagercrantz, Swedenborg wrote to his benefactor and brother-in-law
Benzelius that he believed that Swedenborg might be destined to be a great scientist.[19][20]
Scientific period
The Flying Machine, sketched in his notebook from 1714. The operator would sit in the middle and
paddle himself through the air.[21] p. 32, or on the video clip at 5:48 on its timeline.[22]
In 1715 Swedenborg returned to Sweden, where he devoted himself to natural science and engineering
projects for the next two decades. A first step was his meeting with King Charles XII of Sweden in the city
of Lund, in 1716. The Swedish inventor Christopher Polhem, who became a close friend of Swedenborg,
was also present. Swedenborg's purpose was to persuade the king to fund an observatory in northern
Sweden. However, the warlike king did not consider this project important enough, but did appoint
Swedenborg to be assessor-extraordinary on the Swedish Board of Mines (Bergskollegium)
in Stockholm.[23]
From 1716 to 1718, Swedenborg published a scientific periodical entitled Daedalus Hyperboreus ("The
Northern Daedalus"), a record of mechanical and mathematical inventions and discoveries. One notable
description was that of a flying machine, the same he had been sketching a few years earlier.[20]
In 1718, Swedenborg published an article that attempted to explain spiritual and mental events in terms
of minute vibrations, or "tremulations".
Upon the death of Charles XII, Queen Ulrika Eleonora ennobled Swedenborg and his siblings. It was
common in Sweden during the 17th and 18th centuries for the children of bishops to receive that
honour, as a recognition of the services of their father. The family name was changed from Swedberg to
Swedenborg.[24] (The "en" corresponding to the German von.)
In 1724, he was offered the chair of mathematics at Uppsala University, but he declined and said that he
had dealt mainly with geometry, chemistryand metallurgy during his career. He also said that he did not
have the gift of eloquent speech because of a stutter, as recognized by many of his acquaintances; it
forced him to speak slowly and carefully, and there are no known occurrences of his speaking in public.
[25] The Swedish critic Olof Lagerkrantz proposed that Swedenborg compensated for his impediment by
extensive argumentation in writing.[26]
New direction of studies ahead of his time
During the 1730s, Swedenborg undertook many studies of anatomy and physiology. He had the first
known anticipation of the neuronconcept.[27] It was not until a century later that science recognized
the full significance of the nerve cell. He also had prescient ideas about the cerebral cortex, the
hierarchical organization of the nervous system, the localization of the cerebrospinal fluid, the functions
of the pituitary gland, the perivascular spaces, the foramen of Magendie, the idea of somatotopic
organization, and the association of frontal brain regions with the intellect. In some cases, his
conclusions have been experimentally verified in modern times.[28][29][30][31][32]
In the 1730s, Swedenborg became increasingly interested in spiritual matters and was determined to
find a theory to explain how matter relates to spirit. Swedenborg's desire to understand the order and
the purpose of creation first led him to investigate the structure of matter and the process of creation
itself. In the Principia, he outlined his philosophical method, which incorporated experience, geometry
(the means by which the inner order of the world can be known) and the power of reason. He also
outlined his cosmology, which included the first presentation of his nebular hypothesis. (There is
evidence that Swedenborg may have preceded Kant by as much as 20 years in the development of that
hypothesis.[33])
In 1735, in Leipzig, he published a three-volume work, Opera philosophica et mineralis ("Philosophical
and mineralogical works") in which he tried to conjoin philosophy and metallurgy. The work was mainly
appreciated for its chapters on the analysis of the smelting of iron and copper, and it was the work that
gave Swedenborg his international reputation.[34] The same year, he also published the small
manuscript de Infinito ("On the Infinite") in which he attempted to explain how the finite is related to
the infinite and how the soul is connected to the body. It was the first manuscript in which he touched
upon such matters. He knew that it might clash with established theologies since he presented the view
that the soul is based on material substances.[35][36] He also conducted dedicated studies of the
fashionable philosophers of the time such as John Locke, Christian von Wolff, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz,
and Descartes and earlier thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus and Augustine of Hippo.[37]
In 1743, at the age of 55, Swedenborg requested a leave of absence to go abroad. His purpose was to
gather source material for Regnum animale (The Animal Kingdom, or Kingdom of Life), a subject on
which books were not readily available in Sweden. The aim of the book was to explain the soul from an
anatomical point of view. He had planned to produce a total of 17 volumes.[38]
Journal of Dreams
By 1744, Swedenborg had travelled to the Netherlands. Around the time, he began having strange
dreams. Swedenborg carried a travel journal with him on most of his travels and did so on this journey.
The whereabouts of the diary were long unknown, but it was discovered in the Royal Library in the
1850s and was published in 1859 as Drömboken, or Journal of Dreams.
Swedenborg experienced many different dreams and visions, some greatly pleasurable, others highly
disturbing.[39] The experiences continued as he traveled to London to progress the publication
of Regnum animale. This process, which one biographer has proposed as cathartic and comparable to
the Catholic concept of Purgatory,[40] continued for six months. He also proposed that what
Swedenborg was recording in his Journal of Dreams was a battle between the love of himself and the
love of God.[41]
Visions and spiritual insights
In the last entry of the journal from 26–27 October 1744, Swedenborg appears to be clear as to which
path to follow. He felt that he should drop his current project and write a new book about the worship
of God. He soon began working on De cultu et amore Dei, or The Worship and Love of God. It was never
fully completed, but Swedenborg still had it published in London in June 1745.[42]
In 1745, Swedenborg was dining in a private room at a tavern in London. By the end of the meal, a
darkness fell upon his eyes, and the room shifted character. Suddenly, he saw a person sitting at a
corner of the room, telling him: "Do not eat too much!". Swedenborg, scared, hurried home. Later that
night, the same man appeared in his dreams. The man told Swedenborg that he was the Lord, that he
had appointed Swedenborg to reveal the spiritual meaning of the Bible and that he would guide
Swedenborg in what to write. The same night, the spiritual world was opened to Swedenborg.[43][44]
Scriptural commentary and writings
Arcana Cœlestia, first edition (1749), title page
In June 1747, Swedenborg resigned his post as assessor of the board of mines. He explained that he was
obliged to complete a work that he had begun and requested to receive half his salary as a pension.
[45] He took up afresh his study of Hebrew and began to work on the spiritual interpretation of the Bible
with the goal of interpreting the spiritual meaning of every verse. From sometime between 1746 and
1747 and for ten years henceforth, he devoted his energy to the task. Usually abbreviated as Arcana
Cœlestia or under the Latin variant Arcana Caelestia[46] (translated as Heavenly Arcana, Heavenly
Mysteries, or Secrets of Heaven depending on modern English-language editions), the book became
his magnum opus and the basis of his further theological works.[47]
The work was anonymous, and Swedenborg was not identified as the author until the late 1750s. It had
eight volumes, published between 1749 and 1756. It attracted little attention, as few people could
penetrate its meaning.[48][49]
His life from 1747 to his death was spent in Stockholm, the Netherlands and London. During the 25
years, he wrote another 14 works of a spiritual nature; most were published during his lifetime.
One of Swedenborg's lesser-known works presents a startling claim: that the Last Judgment had begun
in the previous year (1757) and was completed by the end of that year[50] and that he had witnessed it.
[51] According to The Heavenly Doctrine, the Last Judgment took place not in the physical world but in
the World of Spirits, halfway between heaven and hell, through which all pass on their way to heaven or
hell.[52] The Judgment took place because the Christian church had lost its charity and faith, resulting in
a loss of spiritual free will that threatened the equilibrium between heaven and hell in everyone's life.
[53][a]
The Heavenly Doctrine also teaches that the Last Judgement was followed by the Second
Coming of Jesus Christ, which occurred not by Christ in person but by a revelation from him through the
inner, spiritual sense of the Word[54] through Swedenborg.[55]
In another of his theological works, Swedenborg wrote that eating meat, regarded in itself, "is
something profane" and was not practiced in the early days of the human race. However, he said, it now
is a matter of conscience, and no one is condemned for doing it.[56] Nonetheless, the early-days ideal
appears to have given rise to the idea that Swedenborg was a vegetarian. That conclusion may have
been reinforced by the fact that a number of Swedenborg's early followers were part of the vegetarian
movement that arose in Britain in the 19th century.[57] However, the only reports on Swedenborg
himself are contradictory. His landlord in London, Shearsmith, said he ate no meat, but his maid, who
served Swedenborg, said that he ate eels and pigeon pie.[58]
In Earths in the Universe, it is stated that he conversed with spirits
from Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Saturn, Venus and the Moon as well as spirits from planets beyond
the solar system.[59] From the 'encounters', he concluded that the planets of our solar system are
inhabited and that such an enormous undertaking as the universe could not have been created for just
one race on a planet or one 'Heaven' derived from its properties per planet. Many Heavenly societies
were also needed to increase the perfection of the angelic Heavens and Heaven to fill in deficiencies and
gaps in other societies. He argued: "What would this be to God, Who is infinite, and to whom a
thousand or tens of thousands of planets, and all of them full of inhabitants, would be scarcely
anything!"[60] Swedenborg and the question of life on other planets has been extensively reviewed
elsewhere.[61]
Swedenborg published his work in London or the Netherlands because of their freedom of the press.[62]
[63]
Swedenborg's crypt in Uppsala Cathedral
In July 1770, at the age of 82, he traveled to Amsterdam to complete the publication of his last work.
The book, Vera Christiana Religio (The True Christian Religion), was published there in 1771 and was one
of the most appreciated of his works. Designed to explain his teachings to Lutherans, it is the most
concrete of his works.[64]
Later life
In the summer of 1771, he traveled to London. Shortly before Christmas, he suffered a stroke and was
partially paralyzed and confined to bed. His health improved somewhat, but he died in 1772. There are
several accounts of his last months, made by those with whom he stayed and by Arvid Ferelius, a pastor
of the Swedish Church in London, who visited him several times.[65]
There is evidence that Swedenborg wrote a letter to John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, in
February. Swedenborg said that he had been told in the world of spirits that Wesley wanted to speak
with him.[66] Wesley, startled since he had not told anyone of his interest in Swedenborg, replied that
he was going on a journey for six months and would contact Swedenborg on his return. Swedenborg
replied that that would be too late since Swedenborg would be going to the spiritual world for the last
time on March 29.[67] (Wesley later read and commented extensively on Swedenborg's work.)
[68] Swedenborg's landlord's servant girl, Elizabeth Reynolds, also said that Swedenborg had predicted
the date and that he was as happy about it as if he was "going on holiday or to some merrymaking":[69]
In Swedenborg's final hours, his friend, Pastor Ferelius, told him some people thought he had written his
theology just to make a name for himself and asked Swedenborg if he would like to recant. Raising
himself up on his bed, his hand on his heart, Swedenborg earnestly replied,
"As truly as you see me before your eyes, so true is everything that I have written; and I could have said
more had it been permitted. When you enter eternity you will see everything, and then you and I shall
have much to talk about".[70]
He then died, in the afternoon, on the date he had predicted, March 29.[70]
Swedenborg House, London
He was buried in the Swedish Church in Princes Square in Shadwell, London. On the 140th anniversary of
his death, in 1912/1913, his remains were transferred to Uppsala Cathedral in Sweden, where they now
rest close to the grave of the botanist Carl Linnaeus. In 1917, the Swedish Church in Shadwell was
demolished, and the Swedish community that had grown around the parish moved to Marylebone. In
1938, Princes Square was redeveloped, and in his honour the local road was renamed Swedenborg
Gardens. In 1997, a garden, play area and memorial, near the road, were created in his memory.[71][72]
[73]
Veracity
Swedenborg's transition from scientist to revelator or mystic has fascinated many people. He has had a
variety of both supporting and critical biographers.[74] Some propose that he did not have a revelation
at all but developed his theological ideas from sources which ranged from his father to earlier figures in
the history of thought, notably Plotinus. That position was first taken by Swedish writer Martin Lamm
who wrote a biography of Swedenborg in 1915.[75][b] Swedish critic and publicist Olof Lagercrantz had
a similar point of view, calling Swedenborg's theological writing "a poem about a foreign country with
peculiar laws and customs".[76]
Swedenborg's approach to proving the veracity of his theological teachings was to use voluminous
quotations from the Old Testament and the New Testament to demonstrate agreement with the Bible,
and this is found throughout his theological writings, since he rejected blind faith and declared true faith
to be an internal acknowledgement of the truth. The vast use of these Biblical confirmations led a
Swedish Royal Council in 1771 to examine the heresy charges of 1770 against two Swedish supporters of
his theological writings: "there is much that is true and useful in Swedenborg's writings".[77] Victor
Hugo felt that Swedenborg had "lapsed into madness" in Chapter 14 of Les Misérables.
Scientific beliefs
Swedenborg proposed many scientific ideas during his lifetime. In his youth, he wanted to present a new
idea every day, as he wrote to his brother-in-law Erik Benzelius in 1718. Around 1730, he had changed
his mind, and instead believed that higher knowledge is not something that can be acquired, but that it
is based on intuition. After 1745, he instead considered himself receiving scientific knowledge in a
spontaneous manner from angels.[78]
From 1745, when he considered himself to have entered a spiritual state, he tended to phrase his
"experiences" in empirical terms, to report accurately things he had experienced on his spiritual
journeys.
One of his ideas that is considered most crucial for the understanding of his theology is his notion
of correspondences. But, in fact, he first presented the theory of correspondences only in 1744, in the
first volume of Regnum Animale dealing with the human soul.[20]
The basis of the correspondence theory is that there is a relationship among the natural ("physical"), the
spiritual, and the divine worlds. The foundations of this theory can be traced to Neoplatonism and the
philosopher Plotinus in particular. With the aid of this scenario, Swedenborg now interpreted the Bible
in a different light, claiming that even the most apparently trivial sentences could hold a profound
spiritual meaning.[79] Swedenborg argued that it is the presence of that spiritual sense which makes the
Word divine.[80]
Prophetic accounts
Four incidents of purported psychic ability of Swedenborg exist in the literature.[81] There are several
versions of each story.
Fire anecdotes
On Thursday, 19 July 1759 a great and well-documented fire broke out in Stockholm, Sweden.[c][82][83]
[84] In the high and increasing wind it spread very fast, consuming about 300 houses and making 2000
people homeless.[82]
When the fire broke out Swedenborg was at a dinner with friends in Gothenburg, about 400 km from
Stockholm. He became agitated and told the party at six o'clock that there was a fire in Stockholm, that
it had consumed his neighbor's home and was threatening his own. Two hours later, he exclaimed with
relief that the fire had stopped three doors from his home. In the excitement following his report, word
even reached the ears of the provincial governor, who summoned Swedenborg that same evening and
asked for a detailed recounting.
At that time, it took two to three days for news from Stockholm to reach Gothenburg by courier, so that
is the shortest duration in which the news of the fire could reach Gothenburg. The first messenger from
Stockholm with news of the fire was from the Board of Trade, who arrived Monday evening. The second
messenger was a royal courier, who arrived on Tuesday. Both of these reports confirmed every
statement to the precise hour that Swedenborg first expressed the information. The accounts are fully
described in Bergquist, pp. 312–313 and in Chapter 31 of The Swedenborg Epic.[85][86] According to
Swedenborg's biographer Lars Bergquist, however, this event took place on Sunday, July 29 – 10 days
after the fire.[87]
(Bergquist states, but does not document, that Swedenborg confirmed his vision of the fire incident to
his good friend, Consul Christopher Springer, "one of the pillars of the church, ... "a man of enviable
reputation for virtue and intelligence",[88] "and that Swedenborg's innkeeper, Erik Bergström, heard
Swedenborg affirming the story.[89])
It seems unlikely that the many witnesses to Swedenborg's distress during the fire, and his immediate
report of it to the provincial governor,[90][91] would have left room for doubt in the public eye of
Swedenborg's report. If Swedenborg had only received news of the fire by the normal methods there
would have been no issue of psychic perception recorded for history. Instead, "when the news of
Swedenborg's extraordinary vision of the fire reached the capital, public curiosity about him was very
much aroused."[92]
A second fire anecdote, similar to the first one, but less cited, is the incident of the mill owner Bolander.
Swedenborg warned him, again abruptly, of an incipient fire in one of his mills.[93]
Queen of Sweden
The third event was in 1758 when Swedenborg visited Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden, who asked him to
tell her something about her deceased brother Prince Augustus William of Prussia. The next day,
Swedenborg whispered something in her ear that turned the Queen pale and she explained that this
was something only she and her brother could know about.[94][d]
Lost document
The fourth incident involved a woman who had lost an important document, and came to Swedenborg
asking if a recently deceased person could tell him where it was, which he (in some sources) was said to
have done the following night.[e]
Although not typically cited along with these three episodes, there was one further piece of evidence:
Swedenborg was noted by the seamen of the ships that he sailed between Stockholm and London to
always have excellent sailing conditions.[95] When asked about this by a friend, Swedenborg played
down the matter, saying he was surprised by this experience himself and that he was certainly not able
to do miracles.[95]
Kant's view
In 1763, Immanuel Kant, then at the beginning of his career, was impressed by these accounts and made
inquiries to find out if they were true. He also ordered all eight volumes of the expensive Arcana
Cœlestia (Heavenly Arcana or Heavenly Mysteries). One Charlotte von Knobloch wrote Kant asking his
opinion of Swedenborg's psychic experiences.[96][f] Kant wrote a very affirmative reply, referring to
Swedenborg's "miraculous" gift, and characterizing him as "reasonable, agreeable, remarkable and
sincere" and "a scholar," in one of his letters to Mendelssohn,[97] and expressing regret that he (Kant)
had never met Swedenborg.[98][99] Joseph Green, his English friend, who investigated the matter for
Kant, including by visiting Swedenborg's home, found Swedenborg to be a "sensible, pleasant and
openhearted" man and here again, a scholar.[100]
However, three years later, in 1766, Kant wrote and published anonymously a small book
entitled Träume eines Geistersehers (Dreams of a Spirit-Seer)[101] that was a scathing critique of
Swedenborg and his writings. He termed Swedenborg a "spook hunter"[102] "without official office or
occupation".[103] As rationale for his critique, Kant said he wanted to stop "ceaseless
questioning"[104] and inquiries about Dreams from "inquisitive" persons, both known and unknown".
[105] Kant's friend Moses Mendelssohn thought there was a "joking pensiveness" in Dreamsthat
sometimes left the reader in doubt as to whether Dreams was meant to make "metaphysics laughable
or spirit-seeking credible".[106] In one of his letters to Mendelssohn, Kant refers to Dreams less-than-
enthusiastically as a "desultory little essay".[107]
Kant never closed off the possibility of mysticism or spirits in Dreams of a Spirit-Seer, and the exact
relationship of his thought to Swedenborg's remains unclear, according to contemporary scholars.[108]
Theology
Swedenborg at the age of 75, holding the soon to be published manuscript of Apocalypse
Revealed(1766)
Swedenborg claimed in The Heavenly Doctrine that the teachings of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ
were revealed to him.[109]
Swedenborg considered his theology a revelation of the true Christian religion that had become
obfuscated through centuries of theology. However, he did not refer to his writings as theology since he
considered it based on actual experiences, unlike theology,[20] except in the title of his last work.
Neither did he wish to compare it to philosophy, a discipline he discarded in 1748 because, he claimed,
it "darkens the mind, blinds us, and wholly rejects the faith".[110]
The foundation of Swedenborg's theology was laid down in Arcana Cœlestia (Heavenly Mysteries),
published in eight Latin volumes from 1749 to 1756. In a significant portion of that work, he interprets
the Biblical passages of Genesis and Exodus. He reviews what he says is the inner spiritual sense of these
two works of the Word of God. (He later made a similar review of the inner sense of the book of
Revelation in Apocalypse Revealed.[111]) Most of all, he was convinced that the Bible describes a
human's transformation from a materialistic to a spiritual being, which he calls rebirth or regeneration.
He begins this work by outlining how the creation myth was not an account of the creation of Earth, but
an account of man's rebirth or regeneration in six steps represented by the six days of creation.
Everything related to mankind in the Bible could also be related to Jesus Christ, and how Christ freed
himself from materialistic boundaries through the glorification of his human presence by making it
Divine. Swedenborg examines this idea in his exposition of Genesis and Exodus.[112]
Marriage
One often discussed aspect of Swedenborg's writing is his ideas on marriage. Swedenborg himself
remained a bachelor all his life, but that did not hinder him from writing voluminously on the subject.
His work on Marriage Love (Conjugial Love[g] in older translations) (1768) was dedicated to this
purpose.[113]
A central question with regard to marriage is whether it stops at death or continues into heaven. The
question arises due to a statement attributed to Jesus that there is no marriage in heaven (Luke 20:27–
38, Matthew 22:23–32, and Mark 12:18–27). Swedenborg wrote The Lord God Jesus Christ on Marriage
in Heaven as a detailed analysis of what he meant.[114]
The quality of the relationship between husband and wife resumes in the spiritual world in whatever
state it was at their death in this world. Thus, a couple in true marriage love remain together in that
state in heaven into eternity. A couple lacking in that love by one or both partners, however, will
separate after death and each will be given a compatible new partner if they wish. A partner is also
given to a person who loved the ideal of marriage but never found a true partner in this world. The
exception in both cases is a person who hates chaste marriage and thus cannot receive such a partner.
[115]
Swedenborg saw creation as a series of pairings, descending from the Divine love and wisdom[116] that
define God and are the basis of creation. This duality can be seen in the pairing of good and truth,
[117] charity and faith,[118] God and the church,[119] and husband and wife.[120] In each case, the
goal for these pairs is to achieve conjunction between the two component parts. In the case of marriage,
the object is to bring about the joining together of the two partners at the spiritual and physical levels,
and the happiness that comes as a consequence.
Trinity
Swedenborg rejected the common explanation of the Trinity as a Trinity of Persons, which he said was
not taught in the early Christian church. There was, for instance, no mention in the Apostolic writings of
any "Son from eternity".[121] Instead he explained in his theological writings how the Divine Trinity
exists in One Person, in One God, the Lord Jesus Christ, which he said is taught in Colossians 2:9.
According to The Heavenly Doctrine, Jesus, the Son of God, came into the world due to the spread of evil
here.[122][123][124][125]
Swedenborg spoke in virtually all his works against what he regarded as the incomprehensible Trinity of
Persons concept. He said that people of other religions opposed Christianity because of its doctrine of a
Trinity of Persons. He considered the separation of the Trinity into three separate Persons to have
originated with the First Council of Nicaea and the AthanasianCreed.[citation needed]
Sola Fide (Faith Alone)
The Heavenly Doctrine rejects the concept of salvation through faith-alone (sola-fide in Latin), since he
considered both faith and charity necessary for salvation, not one without the other, whereas the
Reformers taught that faith-alone procured justification, although it must be a faith which resulted in
obedience. The purpose of faith, according to The Heavenly Doctrine, is to lead a person to a life
according to the truths of faith, which is charity, as is taught in 1 Corinthians 13:13 and James 2:20.
In other words, Swedenborg spoke sharply against the faith-alone doctrine of Luther and others. He held
that justification before God was not based solely upon some imputed righteousness before God, and
was not achievable merely by a gift of God's grace (sola gratia), granted without any basis in a person's
actual behavior in life. Sola-fide was a doctrine averred by Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli and
others during the Protestant Reformation, and was a core belief especially in the theology of the
Lutheran reformers Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon.
Although the sola-fide doctrine of the Reformers also emphasized that saving faith was one that
effected works[126] (by faith-alone, but not by a faith which is alone), Swedenborg protested against
faith-alone being the instrument of justification, and held that salvation is only possible through the
conjunction of faith and charity in a person, and that the purpose of faith is to lead a person to live
according to the truths of faith, which is charity. He further states that faith and charity must be
exercised by doing good out of willing good whenever possible, which are good works or good uses or
the conjunction perishes. In one section he wrote:
It is very evident from their Epistles that it never entered the mind of any of the apostles that the church
of this day would separate faith from charity by teaching that faith-alonejustifies and saves apart from
the works of the law, and that charity therefore cannot be conjoined with faith, since faith is from God,
and charity, so far as it is expressed in works, is from man. But this separation and division were
introduced into the Christian church when it divided God into three persons, and ascribed to each equal
Divinity.
— True Christian Religion, section 355[127]
Later history
Swedenborg made no attempt to found a church.[128][129] A few years after his death – 15 by one
estimate[130] – for the most part in England, small reading groups formed to study his teachings.
[131] As one scholar states, The Heavenly Doctrine particularly appealed to the various dissenting
groups that sprang up in the first half of the 18th century who were "surfeited with revivalism and
narrow-mindedness" and found his optimism and comprehensive explanations appealing.[132]
A variety of important cultural figures, both writers and artists, were influenced by Swedenborg's
writings, including Robert Frost,[133]Johnny Appleseed, William Blake, Jorge Luis Borges, Daniel
Burnham, Arthur Conan Doyle,[134] Ralph Waldo Emerson,[135] John Flaxman, George Inness, Henry
James Sr., Carl Jung,[136] Immanuel Kant, Honoré de Balzac, Helen Keller, Czesław Miłosz, August
Strindberg, D. T. Suzuki, and W. B. Yeats. His philosophy had a great impact on the Duke
of Södermanland, later King Carl XIII, who as the Grand Master of Swedish Freemasonry (Svenska
Frimurare Orden) built its unique system of degrees and wrote its rituals. In contrast, one of the most
prominent Swedish authors of Swedenborg's day, Johan Henric Kellgren, called Swedenborg "nothing
but a fool".[h] A heresy trial was initiated in Sweden in 1768 against Swedenborg writings and two men
who promoted them.[i]
In the two and a half centuries since Swedenborg's death, various interpretations of his theology have
been made, and he has also been scrutinized in biographies and psychological studies.[138]
[j] Swedenborg, with his claimed new dispensation, has been considered by some to suffer from mental
illness.[k][139][l] While the insanity explanation was not uncommon during Swedenborg's own time, it is
mitigated by his activity in the Swedish Riddarhuset (The House of the Nobility), the Riksdag (the
Swedish parliament), and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Additionally, the system of thought in
his theological writings is considered by some to be remarkably coherent.[140] Furthermore, he was
characterized by his contemporaries as a "kind and warm-hearted man", "amiable in his meeting with
the public", speaking "easily and naturally of his spiritual experiences",[141][142][143] with pleasant
and interesting conversation... An English friend of Kant's who visited Swedenborg at Kant's behest
described Swedenborg as a "reasonable, pleasant and candid man and scholar".[144] Of note here is
Swedenborg's statement that he was commanded by the Lord to publish his writings and "Do not
believe that without this express command I would have thought of publishing things which I knew in
advance would make me look ridiculous and many people would think lies..."[145]
Works
Copies of the original Latin version in which Swedenborg wrote his revelation are available from the
following sources.[146][147]
List of referenced works by Swedenborg and the year they were first published.[148][149]
Within parenthesis is the common name used in a New Church listing[150] Then follows the title in its
original publication. All the titles listed were published by Swedenborg, except one, The Spiritual
Diary, which was not.[151] Various minor reports and tracts have been omitted from the list.
1716–1718, (Daedalus Hyperboreus) Swedish: Daedalus Hyperboreus, eller några nya mathematiska och
physicaliska försök. (English: The Northern inventor, or some new experiments in mathematics and
physics)
1721, (Principles of Chemistry) Latin: Prodromus principiorum rerum naturalium: sive novorum
tentaminum chymiam et physicam experimenta geometrice explicandi
1722, (Miscellaneous Observations) Latin: Miscellanea de Rebus Naturalibus
1734, (Principia) Latin: Opera Philosophica et Mineralia (English: Philosophical and Mineralogical Works),
three volumes
(Principia, Volume I) Latin: Tomus I. Principia rerum naturlium sive novorum tentaminum phaenomena
mundi elementaris philosophice explicandi
(Principia, Volume II) Latin: Tomus II. Regnum subterraneum sive minerale de ferro
(Principia, Volume III) Latin: Tomus III. Regnum subterraneum sive minerale de cupro et orichalco
1734, (The Infinite and Final Cause of Creation) Latin: Prodromus Philosophiz Ratiocinantis de Infinito, et
Causa Finali Creationis; deque Mechanismo Operationis Animae et Corporis.
1744–1745, (The Animal Kingdom) Latin: Regnum animale, 3 volumes
1745, (The Worship and Love of God) Latin: De Cultu et Amore Dei, 2 volumes
1749–1756, (Arcana Cœlestia (or Caelestia) (Heavenly Mysteries) Latin: Arcana Cœlestia, quae in
Scriptura Sacra seu Verbo Domini sunt, detecta, 8 volumes
1758, (Heaven and Hell) Latin: De Caelo et Ejus Mirabilibus et de inferno. Ex Auditis et Visis.
1758, (The Last Judgment) Latin: De Ultimo Judicio
1758, (The White Horse) Latin: De Equo Albo de quo in Apocalypsi Cap. XIX.
1758, (Earths in the Universe) Latin: De Telluribus in Mundo Nostro Solari, quæ vocantur planetæ: et de
telluribus in coelo astrifero: deque illarum incolis; tum de spiritibus & angelis ibi; ex auditis & visis.
1758, (The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine) Latin: De Nova Hierosolyma et Ejus Doctrina
Coelesti
1763, (Doctrine of the Lord) Latin:Doctrina Novæ Hierosolymæ de Domino.
1763, (Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture) Latin: Doctrina Novæ Hierosolymæ de Scriptura Sacra.
1763, (Doctrine of Life) Latin: Doctrina Vitæ pro Nova Hierosolyma ex præceptis Decalogi.
1763, (Doctrine of Faith) Latin: Doctrina Novæ Hierosolymæ de Fide.
1763, (Continuation of The Last Judgement) Latin: Continuatio De Ultimo Judicio: et de mundo spirituali.
1763, (Divine Love and Wisdom) Latin: Sapientia Angelica de Divino Amore et de Divina Sapientia.
Sapientia Angelica de Divina Providentia.
1764, (Divine Providence) Latin: Sapientia Angelica de Divina Providentia.
1766, (Apocalypse Revealed) Latin: Apocalypsis Revelata, in quae detegunter Arcana quae ibi preedicta
sunt.
1768, (Conjugial Love, or Marriage Love) Latin: Deliciae Sapientiae de Amore Conjugiali; post quas
sequumtur voluptates insaniae de amore scortatorio.
1769, (Brief Exposition) Latin: Summaria Expositio Doctrinæ Novæ Ecclesiæ, quæ per Novam
Hierosolymam in Apocalypsi intelligitur.
1769, (Interaction of the Soul and the Body) Latin: De Commercio Animæ & Corporis.
1771, (True Christian Religion) Latin: Vera Christiana Religio, continens Universam Theologiam Novae
Ecclesiae
1859, Drömboken, Journalanteckningar(Journal of Dreams), 1743–1744
1983–1997, (Spiritual Diary) Latin: Diarum, Ubi Memorantur Experientiae Spirituales.
Hippocrates
Hippocrates of Kos (/hɪˈpɒkrətiːz/; Greek: Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, translit. Hippokrátēs ho Kṓos; c. 460 – c.
370 BC), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the Age of Pericles (Classical Greece),
who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is often referred to
as the "Father of Medicine"[1] in recognition of his lasting contributions to the field as the founder of
the Hippocratic School of Medicine. This intellectual school revolutionized medicine in ancient Greece,
establishing it as a discipline distinct from other fields with which it had traditionally been associated
(theurgy and philosophy), thus establishing medicine as a profession.[2][3]
However, the achievements of the writers of the Corpus, the practitioners of Hippocratic medicine and
the actions of Hippocrates himself were often commingled; thus very little is known about what
Hippocrates actually thought, wrote, and did. Hippocrates is commonly portrayed as the paragon of the
ancient physician, and credited with coining the Hippocratic Oath, which is still relevant and in use
today. He is also credited with greatly advancing the systematic study of clinical medicine, summing up
the medical knowledge of previous schools, and prescribing practices for physicians through
the Hippocratic Corpus and other works.[2][4]
Hippocrates of Kos
A conventionalized image in a Roman "portrait" bust
(19th-century engraving)
Biography
Historians agree that Hippocrates was born around the year 460 BC on the Greek island of Kos; other
biographical information, however, is likely to be untrue.[6]
Soranus of Ephesus, a 2nd-century Greek physician,[7] was Hippocrates' first biographer and is the
source of most personal information about him. Later biographies are in the Suda of the 10th century
AD, and in the works of John Tzetzes, Aristotle's "Politics", which date from the 4th century BC.[8]
Soranus wrote that Hippocrates' father was Heraclides, a physician, and his mother was Praxitela,
daughter of Tizane. The two sons of Hippocrates, Thessalus and Draco, and his son-in-law, Polybus, were
his students. According to Galen, a later physician, Polybus was Hippocrates' true successor, while
Thessalus and Draco each had a son named Hippocrates (Hippocrates III and IV).[9]
Illustration of the story of Hippocrates refusing the presents of the Achaemenid Emperor Artaxerxes,
who was asking for his services. Painted by Girodet.[5]
[10]
Soranus said that Hippocrates learned medicine from his father and grandfather (Hippocrates I), and
studied other subjects with Democritus and Gorgias. Hippocrates was probably trained at
the asklepieion of Kos, and took lessons from the Thracian physician Herodicus of
Selymbria. Plato mentions Hippocrates in two of his dialogues: in Protagoras, Plato describes
Hippocrates as "Hippocrates of Kos, the Asclepiad";[11][12] while in Phaedrus, Plato suggests that
"Hippocrates the Asclepiad" thought that a complete knowledge of the nature of the body was
necessary for medicine.[13] Hippocrates taught and practiced medicine throughout his life, traveling at
least as far as Thessaly, Thrace, and the Sea of Marmara. Several different accounts of his death exist. He
died, probably in Larissa, at the age of 83, 85 or 90, though some say he lived to be well over 100.[10]
Hippocratic theory
“ It is thus with regard to the disease
called Sacred: it appears to me to be
nowise more divine nor more
sacred than other diseases, but has
a natural cause from the originates
like other affections. Men regard its
nature and cause as divine from
ignorance and wonder.... ”
— Hippocrates, On the Sacred Disease
Hippocrates is credited with being the first person to believe that diseases were caused naturally, not
because of superstition and gods.[14][15][16][17] Hippocrates was credited by the disciples
of Pythagoras of allying philosophy and medicine.[14] He separated the discipline of medicine from
religion, believing and arguing that disease was not a punishment inflicted by the gods but rather the
product of environmental factors, diet, and living habits. Indeed there is not a single mention of a
mystical illness in the entirety of the Hippocratic Corpus. However, Hippocrates did work with many
convictions that were based on what is now known to be incorrect anatomy and physiology, such
as Humorism.[15][16][17]
Ancient Greek schools of medicine were split (into the Knidian and Koan) on how to deal with disease.
The Knidian school of medicine focused on diagnosis. Medicine at the time of Hippocrates knew almost
nothing of human anatomy and physiology because of the Greek taboo forbidding the dissection of
humans. The Knidian school consequently failed to distinguish when one disease caused many possible
series of symptoms.[18] The Hippocratic school or Koan school achieved greater success by applying
general diagnoses and passive treatments. Its focus was on patient care and prognosis, not diagnosis. It
could effectively treat diseases and allowed for a great development in clinical practice.[19][20]
Hippocratic medicine and its philosophy are far removed from that of modern medicine. Now, the
physician focuses on specific diagnosis and specialized treatment, both of which were espoused by the
Knidian school. This shift in medical thought since Hippocrates' day has caused serious criticism over the
past two millennia, with the passivity of Hippocratic treatment being the subject of particularly strong
denunciations; for example, the French doctor M. S. Houdart called the Hippocratic treatment a
"meditation upon death".[21]
Crisis
Asklepieion on Kos
Another important concept in Hippocratic medicine was that of a crisis, a point in the progression of
disease at which either the illness would begin to triumph and the patient would succumb to death, or
the opposite would occur and natural processes would make the patient recover. After a crisis, a relapse
might follow, and then another deciding crisis. According to this doctrine, crises tend to occur on critical
days, which were supposed to be a fixed time after the contraction of a disease. If a crisis occurred on a
day far from a critical day, a relapse might be expected. Galen believed that this idea originated with
Hippocrates, though it is possible that it predated him.[22]
Hippocratic medicine was humble and passive. The therapeutic approach was based on "the healing
power of nature" ("vis medicatrix naturae" in Latin). According to this doctrine, the body contains within
itself the power to re-balance the four humours and heal itself (physis).[23] Hippocratic therapy focused
on simply easing this natural process. To this end, Hippocrates believed "rest and immobilization [were]
of capital importance."[24] In general, the Hippocratic medicine was very kind to the patient; treatment
was gentle, and emphasized keeping the patient clean and sterile. For example, only clean water or wine
were ever used on wounds, though "dry" treatment was preferable. Soothing balms were sometimes
employed.[25]
Hippocrates was reluctant to administer drugs and engage in specialized treatment that might prove to
be wrongly chosen; generalized therapy followed a generalized diagnosis.[25][26] Generalized
treatments he prescribed include fasting and the consumption of a mix of honey and vinegar.
Hippocrates once said that "to eat when you are sick, is to feed your sickness." However, potent drugs
were used on certain occasions.[27] This passive approach was very successful in treating relatively
simple ailments such as broken bones which required traction to stretch the skeletal system and relieve
pressure on the injured area. The Hippocratic bench and other devices were used to this end.
One of the strengths of Hippocratic medicine was its emphasis on prognosis. At Hippocrates' time,
medicinal therapy was quite immature, and often the best thing that physicians could do was to
evaluate an illness and predict its likely progression based upon data collected in detailed case histories.
[17][28]
Professionalism
A number of ancient Greek surgical tools. On the left is a trephine; on the right, a set of scalpels.
Hippocratic medicine made good use of these tools.[29]
Hippocratic medicine was notable for its strict professionalism, discipline, and rigorous practice.[30] The
Hippocratic work On the Physician recommends that physicians always be well-kempt, honest, calm,
understanding, and serious. The Hippocratic physician paid careful attention to all aspects of his
practice: he followed detailed specifications for, "lighting, personnel, instruments, positioning of the
patient, and techniques of bandaging and splinting" in the ancient operating room.[31] He even kept
his fingernails to a precise length.[32]
The Hippocratic School gave importance to the clinical doctrines of observation and documentation.
These doctrines dictate that physicians record their findings and their medicinal methods in a very clear
and objective manner, so that these records may be passed down and employed by other physicians.
[10] Hippocrates made careful, regular note of many symptoms including complexion, pulse, fever,
pains, movement, and excretions.[28] He is said to have measured a patient's pulse when taking a case
history to discover whether the patient was lying.[33] Hippocrates extended clinical observations into
family history and environment.[34] "To him medicine owes the art of clinical inspection and
observation."[17] For this reason, he may more properly be termed as the "Father of Medicine".[35]
Direct contributions to medicine
Clubbing of fingers in a patient with Eisenmenger's syndrome; first described by Hippocrates, clubbing is
also known as "Hippocratic fingers".
Hippocrates and his followers were first to describe many diseases and medical conditions.[36] He is
given credit for the first description of clubbing of the fingers, an important diagnostic sign in chronic
lung disease, lung cancer and cyanotic heart disease. For this reason, clubbed fingers are sometimes
referred to as "Hippocratic fingers".[37] Hippocrates was also the first physician to describe Hippocratic
face in Prognosis. Shakespeare famously alludes to this description when writing of Falstaff's death in
Act II, Scene iii. of Henry V.[38][39]
Hippocrates began to categorize illnesses as acute, chronic, endemic and epidemic, and use terms such
as, "exacerbation, relapse, resolution, crisis, paroxysm, peak, and convalescence."[28][40] Another of
Hippocrates' major contributions may be found in his descriptions of the symptomatology, physical
findings, surgical treatment and prognosis of thoracic empyema, i.e. suppuration of the lining of the
chest cavity. His teachings remain relevant to present-day students of pulmonary medicine and surgery.
[41] Hippocrates was the first documented chest surgeon and his findings and techniques, while crude,
such as the use of lead pipes to drain chest wall abscess, are still valid.[41]
The Hippocratic school of medicine described well the ailments of the human rectum and the treatment
thereof, despite the school's poor theory of medicine. Hemorrhoids, for instance, though believed to be
caused by an excess of bile and phlegm, were treated by Hippocratic physicians in relatively advanced
ways.[42][43] Cautery and excision are described in the Hippocratic Corpus, in addition to the preferred
methods: ligating the hemorrhoids and drying them with a hot iron. Other treatments such as applying
various salves are suggested as well.[44][45] Today, "treatment [for hemorrhoids] still includes burning,
strangling, and excising."[42] Also, some of the fundamental concepts of proctoscopy outlined in the
Corpus are still in use.[42][43] For example, the uses of the rectal speculum, a common medical device,
are discussed in the Hippocratic Corpus.[43] This constitutes the earliest recorded reference
to endoscopy.[46][47] Hippocrates often used lifestyle modifications such as diet and exercise to treat
diseases such as diabetes, what is today called lifestyle medicine. He is often quoted with "Let food be
your medicine, and medicine be your food" and "Walking is man's best medicine",[48] however the
quote "Let food be your medicine" appears to be a misquotation and its exact origin remains unknown.
[49]
Hippocratic Corpus
Hippocratic Corpus
A 12th-century Byzantine manuscript of the Oath in the form of a cross
The Hippocratic Corpus (Latin: Corpus Hippocraticum) is a collection of around seventy early medical
works collected in Alexandrian Greece.[50] It is written in Ionic Greek. The question of whether
Hippocrates himself was the author of any of the treatises in the corpus has not been conclusively
answered,[51] but current debate revolves around only a few of the treatises seen as potentially by him.
Because of the variety of subjects, writing styles and apparent date of construction, the Hippocratic
Corpus could not have been written by one person (Ermerins numbers the authors at nineteen).[27] The
corpus came to be known by his name because of his fame, possibly all medical works were classified
under 'Hippocrates' by a librarian in Alexandria.[11][31][52] The volumes were probably produced by his
students and followers.[53]
The Hippocratic Corpus contains textbooks, lectures, research, notes and philosophical essays on various
subjects in medicine, in no particular order.[51][54]These works were written for different audiences,
both specialists and laymen, and were sometimes written from opposing viewpoints; significant
contradictions can be found between works in the Corpus.[55] Notable among the treatises of the
Corpus are The Hippocratic Oath; The Book of Prognostics; On Regimen in Acute
Diseases; Aphorisms; On Airs, Waters and Places; Instruments of Reduction; On The Sacred Disease; etc.
[27]
Hippocratic Oath
Hippocratic Oath
The Hippocratic Oath, a seminal document on the ethics of medical practice, was attributed to
Hippocrates in antiquity although new information shows it may have been written after his death. This
is probably the most famous document of the Hippocratic Corpus. Recently the authenticity of the
document's author has come under scrutiny. While the Oath is rarely used in its original form today, it
serves as a foundation for other, similar oaths and laws that define good medical practice and morals.
Such derivatives are regularly taken today by medical graduates about to enter medical practice.[11][56]
[57]
Legacy
Mural painting showing Galen and Hippocrates. 12th century; Anagni, Italy
Hippocrates is widely considered to be the "Father of Medicine".[53] His contributionsrevolutionized the
practice of medicine; but after his death the advancement stalled.[58] So revered was Hippocrates that
his teachings were largely taken as too great to be improved upon and no significant advancements of
his methods were made for a long time.[11][24] The centuries after Hippocrates' death were marked as
much by retrograde movement as by further advancement. For instance, "after the Hippocratic period,
the practice of taking clinical case-histories died out," according to Fielding Garrison.[59]
After Hippocrates, the next significant physician was Galen, a Greek who lived from AD 129 to AD 200.
Galen perpetuated the tradition of Hippocratic medicine, making some advancements, but also some
regressions.[60][61] In the Middle Ages, the Islamic world adopted Hippocratic methods and developed
new medical technologies.[62] After the European Renaissance, Hippocratic methods were revived in
western Europe and even further expanded in the 19th century. Notable among those who employed
Hippocrates' rigorous clinical techniques were Thomas Sydenham, William Heberden, Jean-Martin
Charcotand William Osler. Henri Huchard, a French physician, said that these revivals make up "the
whole history of internal medicine."[63]
Image
Engraving by Peter Paul Rubens, 1638
According to Aristotle's testimony, Hippocrates was known as "The Great Hippocrates".[64] Concerning
his disposition, Hippocrates was first portrayed as a "kind, dignified, old country doctor" and later as
"stern and forbidding".[11] He is certainly considered wise, of very great intellect and especially as very
practical. Francis Adams describes him as "strictly the physician of experience and common sense."[18]
His image as the wise, old doctor is reinforced by busts of him, which wear large beards on a wrinkled
face. Many physicians of the time wore their hair in the style of Jove and Asklepius. Accordingly, the
busts of Hippocrates that have been found could be only altered versions of portraits of these deities.
[58] Hippocrates and the beliefs that he embodied are considered medical ideals. Fielding Garrison, an
authority on medical history, stated, "He is, above all, the exemplar of that flexible, critical, well-poised
attitude of mind, ever on the lookout for sources of error, which is the very essence of the scientific
spirit."[63] "His figure... stands for all time as that of the ideal physician," according to A Short History of
Medicine, inspiring the medical profession since his death.[65]
Legends
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville reports (incorrectly) that Hippocrates was the ruler of the islands of
"Kos and Lango" [sic], and recounts a legend about Hippocrates' daughter. She was transformed into a
hundred-foot long dragon by the goddess Diana, and is the "lady of the manor" of an old castle. She
emerges three times a year, and will be turned back into a woman if a knight kisses her, making the
knight into her consort and ruler of the islands. Various knights try, but flee when they see the hideous
dragon; they die soon thereafter. This is a version of the legend of Melusine.[66]
Genealogy
Hippocrates' legendary genealogy traces his paternal heritage directly to Asklepius and his maternal
ancestry to Heracles.[27] According to Tzetzes's Chiliades, the ahnentafel of Hippocrates II is:[67]
A mosaic of Hippocrates on the floor of the Asclepieion of Kos, with Asklepius in the middle, 2nd-3rd
century
1. Hippocrates II. "The Father of Medicine"
2. Heraclides
4. Hippocrates I.
8. Gnosidicus
16. Nebrus
32. Sostratus III.
64. Theodorus II.
128. Sostratus, II.
256. Thedorus
512. Cleomyttades
1024. Crisamis
2048. Dardanus
4096. Sostratus
8192. Hippolochus
16384. Podalirius
32768. Asklepius
Namesakes
Some clinical symptoms and signs have been named after Hippocrates as he is believed to be the first
person to describe those. Hippocratic face is the change produced in the countenance by death, or long
sickness, excessive evacuations, excessive hunger, and the like. Clubbing, a deformity of the fingers and
fingernails, is also known as Hippocratic fingers. Hippocratic succussion is the internal splashing noise
of hydropneumothorax or pyopneumothorax. Hippocratic bench (a device which uses tension to aid in
setting bones) and Hippocratic cap-shaped bandage are two devices named after Hippocrates.
[68]Hippocratic Corpus and Hippocratic Oath are also his namesakes. The drink hypocras is also believed
to be invented by Hippocrates. Risus sardonicus, a sustained spasming of the face muscles may also be
termed the Hippocratic Smile. The most severe form of hair loss and baldness is called the Hippocratic
form
Statue of Hippocrates in front of the Mayne Medical School in Brisbane
.[69]
In the modern age, a lunar crater has been named Hippocrates. The Hippocratic Museum, a museum on
the Greek island of Kos is dedicated to him. The Hippocrates Project is a program of the New York
University Medical Center to enhance education through use of technology. Project Hippocrates (an
acronym of "HIgh PerfOrmance Computing for Robot-AssisTEd Surgery") is an effort of the Carnegie
Mellon School of Computer Science and Shadyside Medical Center, "to develop advanced planning,
simulation, and execution technologies for the next generation of computer-assisted surgical
robots."[70] Both the Canadian Hippocratic Registry and American Hippocratic Registry are organizations
of physicians who uphold the principles of the original Hippocratic Oath as inviolable through changing
social times.
Doctor Doom
Doctor Victor Von Doom is a fictional supervillain appearing in Americancomic books published
by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character made
his debut in The Fantastic Four #5 (July 1962). The monarch of the fictional nation Latveria, Doom is
usually depicted as the archenemy of Reed Richards and the Fantastic Four, though he has come into
conflict with other superheroes as well, including Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Doctor
Strange, Black Panther, the X-Men, and the Avengers.
Doctor Doom was ranked #4 by Wizard on its list of the 101 Greatest Villains of All Time[5] and #3
on IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time.[6] In a later article, IGN would declare Doom
as Marvel's greatest villain.[7]
Doctor Doom
Doctor Doom, on the variant cover of The Amazing Spider-
Man #11 (Nov. 2018)
Art by Gabriele Dell'Otto
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First The Fantastic Four #5 (July 1962)
appearance
Created by Stan Lee (writer)
Jack Kirby (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego Victor Von Doom
Place of origin Latveria
Team Sorcerers Supreme
affiliations The Cabal
Intelligencia
Future Foundation
Astonishing Avengers[1]
Avengers[2]
Lethal Legion
Notable aliases Rabum Alal
Infamous Iron Man[3][4]
Abilities Genius-level intellect
Technopathy
Energy absorption and projection, mind
transference, and demonic summoning
via dark mysticism and sorcery
Armor grants:
Superhuman strengthand durability
Gauntlet lasers and force blasts
Flight via rocket boots
Forcefield generation
Various high-techweapons and gadgets
The character has been substantially adapted from the comics into several forms of media,
including television series, video games, and merchandise such as action figures and trading cards. Most
notably, Doctor Doom has been portrayed in licensed Fantastic Four live-action feature films by Joseph
Culp in Roger Corman's unreleased 1994 movie; Julian McMahonin the 2005 movie and its 2007 sequel;
and Toby Kebbell in the 2015 reboot.[8]
Publication history
Creation and development
Like many of Marvel's Silver Age characters, Doom was conceived by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. With
the Fantastic Four title performing well, Lee and Kirby were trying to dream up a "soul-stirring…super
sensational new villain."[9] Looking for a name, Lee latched onto "Doctor Doom" as "eloquent in its
simplicity — magnificent in its implied menace."[9]
Fantastic Four #5 (July 1962), Doom's debut.
Due to the rush to publish, the character was not given a full origin story[9] until Fantastic Four
Annual #2, two years after his debut.[10]
Jack Kirby modelled Doom after Death, with the armor standing in for that character's skeleton; "It was
the reason for the armor and the hood. Death is connected with armor and the inhuman-like steel.
Death is something without mercy, and human flesh contains that mercy."[11] Kirby further described
Doom as being "paranoid", wrecked by his twisted face and wanting the whole world to be like him.
[11] Kirby went on to say that although "Doom is an evil person, but he's not always been evil. He was
[respected]…but through a flaw in his own character, he was a perfectionist."[12] At one point in the
1970s, Kirby drew his interpretation of what Doom would look like under the mask, giving Doom only "a
tiny scar on his cheek."[13] Due to this slight imperfection, Doom hides his face not from the world, but
from himself.[13] To Kirby, this is the motivation for Doom's vengeance against the world; because
others are superior due to this slight scar, Doom wants to elevate himself above them.[12]Typical of
Lee's writing characterization of Doom is his arrogance; his pride leads to Von Doom's disfigurement at
the hands of his own machine, and to the failures of many of his schemes.[14]
While the Fantastic Four had fought various villains such as the Mole Man, Skrulls, the Miracle Man,
and Namor the Sub-Mariner, Doom managed to overshadow them all and became the Fantastic
Four's archnemesis.[15] During the 1970s, Doom branched out to more Marvel titles such as Astonishing
Tales,[16] The Incredible Hulk,[17] and Super-Villain Team-Up, starting in 1975, as well as appearances
in Marvel Team-Up, beginning with issue #42 (February 1976). Doom's origin was also a feature
in Astonishing Tales when his ties to the villain Mephisto were revealed.[18]
1980s–1990s
In 1976, Marvel and DC Comics collaborated on Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man, and seeking to
replicate that success the two companies again teamed the characters in Superman and Spider-Man in
1981. Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter co-wrote the story with Marv Wolfman, and recalled choosing
Victor Von Doom based on his iconic status: "I figured I needed the heaviest-duty bad guy we had to
offer — Doctor Doom. Their greatest hero against our greatest villain."[19]
The same year, John Byrne began his six-year run writing and illustrating Fantastic Four, sparking a
"second golden age" for the title[20] but also attempting to "turn the clock back [...] get back and see
fresh what it was that made the book great at its inception."[21] Doctor Doom made his first appearance
under Byrne's tenure with issue #236.[22] Whereas Kirby had intimated that Doom's disfigurement was
more a figment of Victor's vain personality, Byrne decided that Doom's face was truly ravaged: only
Doom's own robot slaves are allowed to see the monarch without his helmet.[23] Byrne emphasized
other aspects of Doom's personality; despite his ruthless nature, Victor Von Doom is a man of honor.
[24][25] Returning to Latveria after being temporarily deposed, Doctor Doom abandons a scheme to
wrest mystical secrets from Doctor Strange in order to oversee his land's reconstruction.[23] Despite a
tempestuous temper, Doom occasionally shows warmth and empathy to others; he tries to free his
mother from Mephisto and treats Kristoff Vernard like his own son.[23] Byrne gave further detail
regarding Doom's scarring: Byrne introduced the idea that the accident at Empire State University only
left Victor with a small scar that was exaggerated into a more disfiguring accident by Doom's own
arrogance—by donning his newly forged face mask before it had fully cooled, he caused massive
irreparable damage.[26]
After Byrne's departure Doom continued to be a major villain in Fantastic Four, and as the 1980s
continued Doom appeared in other comics such as Punisher, The Spectacular Spider-Man, and Excalibur.
Under Fantastic Four writer Steven Englehart, Doom became exiled from Latveria by his heir Kristoff,
who was brainwashed into thinking he was Victor Von Doom. Doom would spend most of his time in
exile planning his return, but Englehart left the title before he could resolve the storyline. This storyline
ultimately ended with the controversial Fantastic Four #350, where writer Walt Simonson had the Victor
Von Doom who had been seen in the book during the Englehart run being revealed to be a robotic
imposter and the real Von Doom, in a newly redesigned armor, returning to claim his country from his
usurper. According to Simonson's retcon, the last appearance of the real Victor Von Doom was in the
"Battle of the Baxter Building" story arc, but Simonson's interpretation of the character was unaware of
certain major changes at the time to the Fantastic Four. Simonson drew up a list of stories which
featured the real Doom and those which did not[27] but later writers ignored Simonson's choices,
retconning these story elements as an attempt by Doom to blame his own past failures on unruly robots.
[28]
2000s–2010s
Cover art for Marvel Double Shot Vol. 1 #2 (February, 2003), by Joe Jusko.
Writer Mark Waid sought to redefine Doctor Doom in the 2003 "Unthinkable" storyline (Vol 3 #66-70 &
Vol 1 #500), by having him forsake technology and invest entirely in magic. The story took its title from
the "unthinkable" act Doom had to perform to acquire this new magical might from a trio of demons:
killing his first love, Valeria. With Valeria's flesh turned into new mystic leather armor, the story follows
Doom as he imprisons Franklin Richards in Hell, captures Valeria Richards, and succeeds in de-powering
and imprisoning the Fantastic Four. He subsequently attempts to prove his superiority to Reed Richards
by giving him the chance to find his way out of a prison that could only be escaped through magic, in the
belief that Richards would fail to do so. With the aid of Doctor Strange, however, Richards learns to
utilize magic on a basic level by accepting that he could not understand it and escapes. Richards
proceeds to trick Doom into rejecting the demons, resulting in them dragging Doom to Hell. Doom
remained trapped there until the events of the 2004 "Ragnarok" storyline in the pages of Thor, which
resulted in Thor's hammer Mjolnir falling through dimensions and giving Doom a way out of Hell.
In 2005 and 2006, Doom was featured in his own limited series entitled Books of Doom , a retelling of
the origin story by Ed Brubaker.[29] In an interview, Brubaker said the series was a way to elaborate on
the earlier portions of Doom's life which had not been seen often in the comics. The series also set out
to determine if Doctor Doom's path from troubled child to dictator was fated or if Doom's own faults led
to his corruption — in essence, a nature versus nurture question; whether Doom could ever become a
hero.[30] Brubaker's version of Doom was heavily influenced by the original Lee/Kirby version;
responding to a question if he would ever show Doom's face, Brubaker stated "[F]ollowing Kirby's
example, I think it's better not to show it."[29]
The Mighty Avengers invaded Latveria, Von Doom's nation, due to his involvement in creating a
chemical bomb that would infect people with the symbiote (though it was recently revealed that this
attack was actually set up by Kristoff Vernard to put Doom out of the picture prior to Kristoff's future
attempt at a coup).[31] Due to Ultron's interference, the bomb was dropped on Manhattan, but the
Mighty Avengers are able to stop the effects on the people. The Mighty Avengers proceed to invade
Latveria. During the invasion, the Sentry, Iron Man, and Von Doom are sent to the past, thanks to the
Latverian ruler's time platform. Eventually, the trio breaks into the Baxter Building and make use of a
confiscated time machine to return to the present era, the Sentry taking advantage of the fact he will
soon be forgotten by the world to easily defeat the Thing. Doctor Doom transports himself to Morgana's
castle to summon up a magical army and captures the Avengers, but they free themselves and he is
arrested for terrorist crimes against humanity after a brief struggle that culminated with
the Sentrytearing off Doctor Doom's mask.
During Dark Reign when Norman Osborn is in charge, Doom is released and sent back to Latveria.
However, Morgana le Fay engages him in a magical battle, which he is losing until the Dark
Avengers rescue him. He then magically rebuilds his kingdom.[32]
The character is also featured in the Siege storyline, where he initially approves of Osborn's attack on
Asgard before withdrawing from the arrangement.[33] He also appears in the five issue mini-
series Doomwar written by Jonathan Maberry.[34] Doomwar sees the culmination of Doom's alliance
with the isolationist group known as the Desturi, to take control of Wakanda. He attacked and wounded
T'Challa, the current Black Panther, maiming him enough to prevent him from holding the mantle again
Doctor Doom's main objective was to secure Wakanda's store of vibranium, which he could mystically
enhance to make himself unstoppable. However, this plan was thwarted when T'Challa triggered a
device that destroyed Wakanda's entire vibranium stockpile, choosing to believe that his people could
survive without the element rather than relying on it for so long.
In the Mark Millar penned Fantastic Four 566-569, Doom received a significant power upgrade. He was
thrown back in time (perhaps about 50 million years) by the Marquis of Death. Doom then fought
through time and space to get back to the present to seek revenge on the Marquis of Death. Doom
stated, as he killed the Marquis, he had rebuilt every molecule of his being and increased his power all
to destroy the Marquis. In later issues, this seems to have been ignored, however, with writers treating
Doctor Doom the way they have always before in terms of power, the arc later retroactively being said
to have been a dream had by Valeria Richards.[volume & issue needed] Doom later joins the supervillain
group known as the Intelligencia, but is betrayed when they captured him to complete their plan.
[35] With the help of Bruce Banner, he escapes and returns to Latveria. He appears to have been
damaged by this experience.[volume & issue needed]
At the start of the story arc Fantastic Four: Three, Doom feels that he needs to be "reborn" and makes
plans to abdicate his throne and give it to Kristoff when Valeria teleports to his room unexpectedly
asking for his assistance to help her father. Valeria quickly notices that Doom has suffered brain damage
and makes a deal with him to restore his mental capacities if he helps Reed and the Fantastic Four.
Doom agrees to her proposition.[36] Later, a humble Doom appears among those in attendance at
Johnny Storm's funeral.[37]
Doctor Doom in Thor #600 (April 2009). Art by Olivier Coipel and Marko Djurdjevic.
Due to the agreement, Doom is recommended by Nathaniel and Valeria Richards to be a member of
the Future Foundation.[38] Objecting, Thing attacks Doom out of anger, but the fight is stopped by
Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, who welcomes Doom to their group.[39] Leading to the
Secret Wars, Doom usurps the power of the Beyonders with the aid of Doctor Strange and the Molecule
Man,[40] collecting what he can of the destroyed multiverse and forming a new Battleworld consisting
of different alternate realities. He also assumes the role of God and claims complete dominion of this
new world and its inhabitants, controlling them into thinking he was always the almighty force of
creation; following Reed's apparent demise, he takes Sue as his wife, and Franklin, and Valeria as his
children. He convinces Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm to be the sun and the Shield wall respectively in
Battleworld. However, Richards and a ragtag collection of heroes and villains that survived the
destruction of all universes are able to challenge him and, with the help of Molecule Man, are able to
take his power and restore the multiverse, something Doom had thought to be impossible. Opting to
heal rather than harm, Reed finally uses the Beyonder's power to heal Doom's face, and to purify his
soul.[41]
Doom returns to Latveria where he saves Tony Stark / Iron Man by incapacitating a group of Latverian
rebels with a sonic attack, and vows that he is a new man.[42] He reveals to Tony that he has
relinquished his dictatorship over Latveria to give the land back to its people. As a sign of trust, he
entrusts Tony with one of the Wands of Watoomb to help him defeat Madame Masque. When more
rebels arrive, Doom teleports Stark to the Bronx Zoo.[43] The two later travel to Chicago in order to
confront Madam Masque.[44] Discovering Madame Masque to be possessed, Doom has Tony trap her in
his Iron Man armor and exorcises the demon from her. Doom disappears before the unconscious Tony
regains consciousness.[45]Doom appears once again and interrupts Tony's breakfast date with Amara,
continuously trying to prove to Tony that he has changed and is trying to correct the mistakes he has
made, explaining that he has arrived to check up on Tony and see if he is suffering from any side-effects
from being in the presence of an exorcism. Tony still refuses to trust him after what he has done and
Doom leaves once again.[46] Following Stark's comatose state at the hands of Captain Marvel, Doom
takes up the mantle of Iron Man, coming into conflict with Mephisto disguised as The Maker, the
evil Ultimate Universe version of Reed Richards,[47] joining the Avengers,[4] and later conceiving a child
with Dr. Amara Perera.[48]
When Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm set out to find their teammates after it is revealed that prolonged
separation is weakening the FF's powers, Doom follows them as they begin to travel through parallel
universes, offering his help to an alternate Reed Richards in devising a plan to stop this world's Doctor
Doom (who has transferred himself into the body of Galactus and consumed every other world in
existence save for Earth).
In an attempt to save her series and possibly join the Avengers, Gwenpool (unaware that Doom has
"reformed") attempted to attack him using an AI Doombot who goes by the name Vincent Doonan to
lead her to him. Seeing this coming Doom easily captured her, though not until after she angered him by
saying he looked like "Warmachine in a hoodie". He then told Vincent, who resented him though still
saw Doom as his father, that he was proud of him. Gwen escaped, not surprising Doom because
according to him "They always escape". Unwilling to risk what she sees as possibly her last chance to
save herself because Doom has obviously only temporarily reformed, she attacks him anyway and
releases an earlier version of Doom who has no problem fighting her and even seeing how she steps out
of reality. It soon becomes obvious that Gwen is not established enough to kill Doom and new Doom
steps in to defeat his doppelganger and save her. They talk and she accepts that she made a mistake and
hopes he's right that people can be reformed. Later she gets Doom, Vincent, Dr. Strange, and Terrible
Eye (Her friend Sarah) to help her sidekick Cecil regain human form.
Fictional character biography
Victor Von Doom was born decades ago to a tribe of Latverian Romani people under the rule of an
unnamed nobleman called the Baron. Victor's mother was witch Cynthia Von Doom who died
by Mephisto's hand while Von Doom was young. His father, Werner, was the leader of the tribe and a
renowned medicine man who kept his wife's sorceress life quiet in order to protect Victor from a similar
fate. Soon after Cynthia's death, the Baron's wife grew incurably ill from cancer and Werner was called
to the capitol to heal her. When she succumbed to illness, the Baron labeled Werner a murderer and
called for his death. Werner escaped with young Victor, having realized the night before the woman
would die. He goes on to die of exposure on the mountainside, cradling the boy in a final embrace and
giving him his garments to keep him warm. Victor survived and, on return to the Romani camp,
discovered his mother's occult instruments and swore revenge on the Baron. Victor grew into a
headstrong and brilliant man, combining sorcery and technology to create fantastic devices which would
keep the Baron's men at bay and protect the Roma people. His exploits attracted the attention of the
dean of Empire State University, who sent someone to the camp.[49] Offered the chance to study in the
United States, Von Doom chose to leave his homeland and his love, Valeria, behind.
Once in the United States, Victor met fellow student and future rival Reed Richards, who was intended
to be his roommate, but Von Doom disliked him and asked for another roommate. After a time, Victor
constructed a machine intended to communicate with the dead, specifically his mother. Though
Richards tried to warn him about a flaw in the machine, seeing his calculations were a few decimals off,
Victor continued on with disastrous results, the machine violently failing with the resulting explosion
seemingly severely damaging his face.[49] It is later revealed that Ben Grimm, a friend of Richards who
despised Victor for his superior attitude, tampered with the machine. He would later blame himself for
Doom's initial fall to villainy and rise to power, but never revealed this information to anyone.
[50] Expelled after the accident, Victor traveled the world until he collapsed on a Tibetan mountainside.
Rescued by a clan of monks, Victor quickly mastered the monks' disciplines as well as the monks
themselves. Victor then forged himself a suit of armor, complete with an iron mask, and took the mantle
Doctor Doom.[49] As Doctor Doom, he would go on to menace those he felt responsible for his accident
—primarily, Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. He succeeded in leading a revolution to take over
Latveria from the Baron, taking an interest in the welfare of the Roma.
In his first appearance, Doctor Doom captures the Invisible Girl, using her as a hostage so the Fantastic
Four will travel back in time to steal the enchanted treasure of Blackbeard which will help him to
conquer the world and rule it peacefully, but he is fooled by Reed Richards, who swaps the treasure with
worthless chains.[51] Doom then forms an alliance with the Sub-Mariner, who places a magnetic device
in the Baxter Building. However, Doom uses this to pull him and the Fantastic Four into space, thinking
this will rid him of those capable of preventing him from assuming control of the world's governments;
the Sub-Mariner gets to Doom 's ship and returns the Baxter Building to New York, stranding Doom on
an asteroid. Returning to Earth after learning the secrets of an advanced alien race, the Ovids, Doom
accidentally exchanges consciousnesses with Mister Fantastic; Richards, inhabiting Doom 's body,
switches the two back, and Doom ends up trapped in a micro-world when he is hit with a shrinking ray
he had intended to use on the rest of the Fantastic Four.[52] Doom takes over this micro-world, but
leaves after the Fantastic Four end his rule. He is then thrown into space when he attempts to prevent
the Fantastic Four from leaving the micro-world.[53] Doom is saved by Rama-Tut, and he returns to
Earth to destroy the Fantastic Four by turning each member against the other using a special berry juice.
Richards outwits Doom by using the hallucinogenic juice against him. Doom, believing he has killed
Richards in a test of willpower, departs certain of his victory and superior intelligence, although
saddened.[54]
During the 1960s, Doom attempted to recruit Spider-Man into joining forces with him,[55] and he came
into conflict with the Avengers when Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch illegally entered Latveria to find a
long-lost relative of theirs.[56] He stole the Silver Surfer's powers in 1967, but lost them after breaching
a barrier Galactus had set for the Surfer on Earth.[57][58]
During the 1970s, Doom branched out to more Marvel titles, with a battle between Victor Von Doom
and Prince Rudolfo over control of the Latverian throne being featured in Astonishing Tales.[59] Doctor
Doom also attempts to use the Hulk as his slave during two issues of The Incredible Hulk.[60] The
character also made several appearances in the story arcs of Super-Villain Team-Up, starting in 1975, as
well as appearances in Marvel Team-Up, beginning with issue #42 (February 1976). In August 1981,
Doom also made an appearance in Iron Man when the two traveled to Camelot, where Stark thwarted
Doom 's attempt to solicit the aide of Morgan le Fay into defeating King Arthur's forces with an army of
revived warriors who were slain by the sword Excalibur; Doom swore deadly vengeance for that
interference, which stranded him in the past - this vengeance had to be indefinitely delayed in the
interest of returning to the present day.[61] A particularly detailed plan saw Doom ally with the Puppet
Master to trap the Fantastic Four within the miniature artificial city of "Liddleville", their minds trapped
inside tiny cybernetic, part-organic copies of their original bodies. However, Doom perverts what had
been intended by the Puppet Master as a chance to give Alicia and Ben a normal life into a trap,
deliberately disrupting Reed's connection to his copy to make it hard for him to concentrate while
"Vincent Vaughn"- Doom's alias as he monitors the project- belittles him, and the Puppet Master
eventually helps the FF learn the truth and escape Liddleville while trapping Doom in the android body
he had used to monitor the FF.[62]
During John Byrne's run in the 1980s, Doom attempted to steal the cosmic powers of Terrax, but Doom's
body was destroyed in the resulting fight between Terrax and the Silver Surfer.[63] Doom survived by
transferring his consciousness to another human, and is returned to his original body by
the Beyonder[64] (who had reached into the relative future to 'recruit' Doom for the conflict on
Battleworld that the FF had participated in a few months ago from their perspective). While on
Battleworld, Doom attempted and briefly succeeded in stealing the Beyonder's power, but it proves too
vast for him to control and the disembodied Beyonder is able to take his power back.
When Franklin Richards was kidnapped by Onslaught, Doom joined the Fantastic Four, Avengers and
the X-Men to battle Onslaught in Central Park. An enraged Hulk was able to crack open Onslaught's
shell. However, Onslaught remained as pure psionic energy, separated Hulk and Banner, planning to
spread across the planet. Thor Odinson plunged into Onslaught, trying to contain him. The Fantastic
Four, the majority of the Avengers, and the Hulk-less Banner followed in short order, with Doom being
forced to join the sacrifice when Iron Man tackled the villain into the energy mass. Thanks to this
sacrifice, the X-Men finally managed to destroy Onslaught. Doom, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers
and Banner were believed dead but were instead saved by Franklin, who created a pocket dimension
called Counter-Earth to keep them safe. After several months away, the missing heroes returned
from Counter-Earth, except for Doom, who remained there for a time. Doom uncovers the secret power
at the heart of the planet, an avatar of his arch-foe Reed Richards' son, Franklin, the super-powered
youth who conjured this globe and left a bit of himself behind to guide it from within. Doom managed to
convince the little boy to relinquish control of this world with little more than a few errant promises of a
better life.
When Susan Richards experienced problems with her second pregnancy while Reed was away, Johnny
contacted Doom for help, correctly guessing that Doom will be unable to pass up a chance to succeed
where Reed failed (due to the complex events involving the then-recent resurrection of Galactus, this
pregnancy is a 'repeat' of an earlier one where Sue miscarried). Doom not only saves Sue's daughter but
also cured Johnny of a recent problem with his powers where Johnny was unable to 'flame off' without
technological support after becoming overcharged with energy from the Negative Zone by channeling
Johnny's excess energy into Sue to keep her alive. After the birth, Doom's only apparent condition for his
aid is that he be allowed to name Sue and Reed's daughter, calling her 'Valeria' after his long-lost love.
However, this inspires a new plan where Doom makes Valeria his familiar while seeking out her
namesake as part of a deal with a trio of demons; by sacrificing his old lover, Doom is granted magical
powers on the level he would possess if he had spent the past years studying sorcery rather than
science.[65] With this new power, Doom trapped Franklin in Hell, immobilised Doctor Strange, and then
neutralises the FF's powers, torturing the other three while taunting Reed by leaving him in his magical
library, comparing it to giving a dog a road-map as he concluded that it would be impossible for Reed to
master sufficient magical skill to be a threat to him.[66] However, Reed was able to release Doctor
Strange's astral self from Doom's traps, allowing Strange to give Reed a sufficient crash-course in magic
for Reed to free the rest of the team and trick Doom into angering his demonic benefactors, prompting
them to take him to Hell.[67] Determined to ensure that Doom cannot be a further threat, Reed takes
control of Latveria to dismantle all of Doom's equipment,[68] simultaneously subtly driving his family
away so that he can trap Doom and himself in a pocket dimension so that he can make sure Doom never
threatens anyone again.[69]However, this plan backfires when the rest of the team attempt to rescue
Reed, resulting in Doom transferring his spirit into Sue, Johnny and Ben respectively, forcing Reed to kill
his best friend to stop his greatest enemy.[70] Doom was returned to Hell, but Reed is later able to use
the same machine Doom once tried to create to travel to Heaven and restore Ben to life.[71] Doom
remained in Hell until Mjolnir falls to Earth after the events of Ragnarok as it creates a dimensional tear
during its fall that allows Doom to escape, although he decides to focus on rebuilding his power base
when he proves unable to even lift the hammer. The events of this were deleted from Marvel Comics
continuity in the 2015 series Secret Wars.
Later, a Doombot was taken down by Reed Richards, Henry Pym, Iron Man, She-Hulk and others in New
York City. Whether or not it was sent by Doom himself remains to be seen, as does his role in the overall
conflict. Doom was not invited to the wedding of Storm and the Black Panther. However, he did send a
present: an invitation to form an alliance with Latveria, using the Civil War currently going on among the
hero community as a reason to quite possibly forge an alliance between their two countries. When Black
Panther, on a diplomatic mission to other countries with Storm, did show up in Latveria, he presented
them with a real present and extended another invitation to form an alliance with Black Panther. He
demonstrated behavior very uncharacteristic of him, however, which may or may not become a plot
point later. Panther spurned the invitation, detonating an EMP that blacked out a local portion of
Latveria before Doctor Doom 's robots could destroy his ship. Later on, Doom is then shown
collaborating with the Red Skull on a weapon which will only "be the beginning" of Captain America's
suffering. Von Doom gave the Red Skull the weapon because the Red Skull gave Victor pieces of
technology from an old German castle. The castle was owned by a "Baron of Iron" centuries prior, who
had used his technological genius to protect himself and his people. The map the Red Skull used to find
the castle bore a picture of Von Doom. Doom states that the technology the Red Skull gave him is more
advanced than what he currently has and that he will become the Baron of Iron in his future; although
he does not agree with the Red Skull's principles, the time paradox the situation causes forces him to
comply. The Red Skull is currently in the process of reverse-engineering Doom's weapon for multiple
uses, rather than the single use Doctor Doom agreed to.
At the end of the first chapter of the X-Men event Endangered Species, Doom is among the various
geniuses that Beastcontacts to help him reverse the effects of Decimation. He spurns Beast by stating
that genetics do not number among his talents. In Spider-Man: One More Day, Doom was among those
that Spider-Man contacts to help save Aunt May.[72] Doom also makes Latveria into a refugee camp for
the Atlanteans following the destruction of their underwater kingdom[73] as well as becoming allies
with Loki in his plot to manipulate his brother into unwittingly release his Asgardian allies.[74]
Doctor Doom later defends Latveria from the Mighty Avengers, following a revelation that it was one of
Doom's satellites that carried the 'Venom Virus' released in New York City (which was actually hacked by
an enemy of Doom).[75] In a battle with Iron Man and the Sentry, the time travel mechanism within his
armor overloads, trapping Doctor and his opponents at some point in the past - Doom continues his
relationship with Morgan le Fay using his time machine.[76] He and Iron Man managed to get back to
the present, but Doom has left Iron Man in his exploding castle. Despite his helping, Doom ended up
falsely incarcerated at The Raft.
During the Secret Invasion storyline, Doom was among those who escaped the Raft when a virus was
uploaded into its systems by the Skrulls. In the aftermath of the Secret Invasion, Doctor Doom became a
member of the Dark Illuminati alongside Norman Osborn, Emma Frost, Namor, Loki's female form, and
the Hood, intending to seek revenge on the world for falsely ruining his reputation. At the end of this
meeting, Namor and Doom are seen having a discussion of their own plans that have already been set in
motion.[77]
Doom soon allies himself with the isolationist group known as the Desturi to take control of Wakanda,
attacking and wounding T'Challa, then the current Black Panther, maiming him enough to prevent him
from holding the mantle again. Doom's main objective was to secure Wakanda's store of vibranium,
which he could mystically enhance to make himself invulnerable. Doom was also a part of the group
known as the Intelligencia after being captured to complete their plan. With the help of Bruce Banner,
he escaped and returned to Latveria, damaged by this experience.
At the start of the Siege storyline, Doom was with the Cabal discussing the current problems with the X-
Men and both Avengers teams. Doom demands that Osborn at once reverse his course of action against
his ally Namor, to which Osborn refuses, saying that he and Emma Frost had "crossed the line" with him.
Doom, loathing Thor and the Asgardians all the more due to his recent defeat at their hands, claims that
he will support Osborn's "madness" should Namor be returned to him, but Osborn refuses. Osborn's
mysterious ally, the Void, violently attacks Doom, and an apparently amused Loki tells the Hood that he
should go, as there is nothing here for either of them, which the Hood, now loyal to Loki due to his hand
in the restoration of his mystical abilities, agrees. However, it is revealed that "Doctor Doom" who had
been involved with the Cabal was actually an upgraded Doctor Doombot, which releases swarms of
Doctor Doombot nanites against the Cabal, tearing down Avengers Tower and forcing its denizens, such
as the Dark Avengers, to evacuate. Osborn is rescued by the Sentry, who destroys the body. When
Osborn contacts the real Von Doom, Victor informs him not to ever strike him again or he would be
willing to go further.[33]
It has been revealed that the Scarlet Witch seen in Wundagore Mountain is actually a Doctor Doombot
which apparently means that the real one has been captured by Doom sometime after the House of M
event.[78] It is revealed that Wanda's enhanced powers were a result of her and Doom's combined
attempt to channel the Life Force in order to resurrect her children. This proves to be too much for
Wanda to contain and it overtook her. With Wiccan and Doom's help, they seek to use the entity that is
possessing Wanda to restore the powers of mutantkinds. This is stopped by the Young Avengers (who
are concerned at the fall-out that would ensue if the powerless mutants are suddenly re-powered) only
to find out that Doom intended to transfer the entity into his own body and gain Wanda's god-like
powers of re-writing reality for himself.[79] Doom becomes omnipotent with powers surpassing those of
beings as the Beyonder or the Cosmic Cube. The Young Avengers confront him, but Doom accidentally
kills Cassie just before Wanda and Wiccan stole his new-found powers.[80]
At the start of the story arc "Fantastic Four: Three", a guilt-ridden Doom felt that he needed to be
"reborn" and was making plans to abdicate his throne and give it to Kristoff when Valeria teleported to
his room unexpectedly asking for his assistance to help her father. Valeria quickly notices that Doom had
suffered brain damage from his previous battle and is slowly losing his memories; she makes a deal with
him to restore his mental capacities if he helps Reed and the Fantastic Four. Doom agrees to her
proposition.[36] Later, Doom appears among those in attendance at Johnny Storm's funeral.[37]
Due to the agreement, Doom was recommended by Nathaniel and Valeria Richards to be a member of
the Future Foundation.[38] Objecting, Thing attacks Doom out of anger, but the fight was stopped by
Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, who welcomes Victor to their group. When Valeria asks Victor
if he has a backup for restoring his memories, he reveals that Kristoff Vernard is his backup. Afterward,
Mister Fantastic, Spider-Man, Nathaniel, Valeria, and Victor head to Latveria to meet with Kristoff and
request his help. Mister Fantastic sets up a brain transfer machine in order to help restore Victor's
memories and knowledge, which is successful. When Kristoff wants to return the throne to him, Doom
states that it is not time yet because of a promise he made to Valeria. When Mister Fantastic asks what
promise Doom made to Valeria, Victor states that he made a promise to help her defeat Mister Fantastic
when she calls for it.[39] Doom decides to hold a symposium on how to finally defeat Reed Richards. The
Thing and the evolved Moloids give an invitation to the High Evolutionary. Dragon Man and Alex Power
give an invitation to Diablo. Upon receiving an invitation from Spider-Man, Mad Thinker is convinced to
take part in the event. Bentley 23 even gives an invitation to his creator, the Wizard, along with
two A.I.M. lieutenants. However, it is subsequently revealed that the 'Richards' they have been invited
to defeat are actually members of the "Council of Reeds" (alternate versions of Reed who were trapped
in this universe by Valeria a while back, possessing Reed's intellect while lacking his conscience).
[81] While Spider-Man and Invisible Woman make sandwiches for the kids, Mister Fantastic, Victor,
Valeria, and Nathaniel Richards meet with the supervillain geniuses and Uatu the Watcherabout what to
do with the Council of Reeds.[82]
Around this time, Von Doom performed brain surgery on the Hulk to separate him from Bruce Banner,
extracting the uniquely Banner elements from Hulk's brain and cloning a new body for Banner, in return
for a favor from the Hulk.[83] This clone is killed soon afterward.[84] Later, Doom is apparently killed by
the Mad Celestials.[85] With no knowledge as to how he survived, Doom awakens in the ruins of the
Interdimensional Council of Reeds, where Valeria had left him a present: the full army of lobotomized
Doctor Dooms from alternate realities who were previously captured by the Council, along with two
Infinity Gauntlets from alternate universes. With these resources, Doom created the Parliament of
Doom, and interdimensional council maintaining peace across the multiverse.[86] He later returned to
again rule Latveria, upon ruling the council for a millennium.[87] An ill-fated excursion into the alternate
universe of the one of Infinity Gauntlets resulted in Reed and Nathaniel Richards rescuing Doom from
his own council.[88]
During the a confrontation between the Avengers and the X-Men, Doom allies with Magneto and others
against Red Skull's Red Onslaught form.[89] In an attempt to atone for past misdeeds, Doom absorbs the
Scarlet Witch reality-altering powers and resurrects the dead Cassie Lang, whom he had accidentally
killed.[90] He subsequently makes a Faustian deal with an unspecified demon to resurrect Brother
Voodoo.[91] After returning to normal, Doom is taken into captivity for his initial killing of Lang.[92]
With the final Incursion imminent during the Secret Wars storyline, Doom usurps the power of the
Beyonders with the aid of Doctor Strange and the Molecule Man,[40] collecting what he can of the
destroyed multiverse and forming a new Battleworld consisting of different alternate realities. He also
assumes the role of God and claims complete dominion of this new world and its inhabitants, controlling
them into thinking he was always the almighty force of creation; he takes Sue as his wife, Franklin and
Valeria as his children, condemns the Human Torch to be the sun and Ben Grimm to be the Shield wall,
and rewrites his own history to resurrect the majority of those whose deaths he caused. Richards and a
ragtag collection of heroes and villains that survived the destruction of all universes challenge Doom
and, with the help of Molecule Man, are able to take his power and restore the multiverse. Opting to
heal rather than harm, Reed finally uses the Beyonder's power to heal Doom's face.[41]
In the All-New, All-Different Marvel, Doom returns to Latveria where he saves Tony Stark by
incapacitating a group of Latverian rebels with a sonic attack.[42] Doom reveals to Tony that he is a new
man and wishes to help, giving the latter one of the Wands of Watoomb to keep safe from Madame
Masque. When more rebels arrive, Doom teleports Iron Man to the Bronx Zoo.[43]
Doom finds Iron Man again and teleports the two to the Jackpot Club in Chicago to confront Madam
Masque.[44] Discovering that Madame Masque is displaying symptoms of demonic possession, Doom
has Tony trap her in the Iron Man Armor then proceeds to exorcise the demon from her. Doom
disappears before Tony regains consciousness.[45] Doom appears once again and interrupts Tony's
breakfast date with Amara. Doom is trying to prove to Tony that he has changed and is trying to correct
the mistakes he has made, explaining that he has arrived to check up on Tony and see if he is suffering
from any side-effects from being in the presence of an exorcism. Tony still refuses to trust him after
what he has done and Doom leaves once again.[46]
Following the defeat of Tony Stark at the hands of Captain Marvel at the conclusion of Civil War II, Doom
discovers his calling. Remembering his dissatisfaction as a God, Doom decides that it was his role to help
heal the world. Inspired by Stark, and informing his A.I. duplicate that he intends to establish Stark's
legacy, Doom fights for his unique brand of justice as the third Iron Man, and later comes into conflict
with Mephisto disguised as The Maker, the evil Ultimate Universe version of Reed Richards.[47] Doom
goes on to join the Avengers, and later conceives a child with Dr. Amara Perera.[48] Doom's sudden
change sparked grievances that resulted in a group of villains, led by the Hood, to join forces to take him
down.[93]After the villains besieged Doom several times, the final battle occurred when the Hood
attempted to take over Stark Industries, which happened not long after Stark had secretly recovered
from his injuries. Tony confronted the Hood and stumbled into Victor. Doom took on the Hood and the
unidentified demon possessing him one-on-one, and his face was severely burned by the demon in the
process. Following the villains' defeat, Victor retreated to the ruins of Castle Doom.[94]
Later, a young woman named Zora Vokuvic breaks into Castle Doom demanding to see Doctor Doom.
She makes it past the many Doombots that guard the palace before finally confronting Doom himself.
She tells him that Latveria has been overrun with dictators and opportunists since he left and that the
nation needs its leader back. Initially rejecting Zora's pleas for help, showing her his grotesquely scarred
face in the process, Victor finally agrees when she refuses to give up and hands him his iconic mask,
telling him the Latveria needs its true champion. Taking the mask, Doom ventures out into Latveria,
quashing the civil war that is apparently raging and vowing to fix the country with his own strength –
summoning magical energy as he does.[95]
Powers and abilities
Doctor Doom steals the Silver Surfer’s powers in Fantastic Four #57 (1966). Art by Jack Kirby.
Victor Von Doom is a polymath, scientist, and inventor who possesses genius-level intellect. Doom has
invented several doomsday machines and robots during his career as a supervillain, among them being
his Doombots. Doctor Doom can exert technopathic control over certain machines, most notably his
Doombots. Throughout most of his publication history, he has been depicted as one of the most
intelligent humans in the Marvel Universe, most famously restoring the Thing's human form, a feat Reed
Richards has also accomplished but has had difficulty in maintaining over a long period of time. On the
other hand, Richards managed to process all the computer calculations necessary to save the life of a
disintegrating Kitty Pryde by himself, which is a feat that Doom at the time professed to be unable to do.
[96] Doom has also used his scientific talents to steal or replicate the power of other beings such as
the Silver Surfer or in one case the entity Galactus' world-ship.[97]
Along with being genius scientist and inventor, Doom is also a powerful sorcerer, primarily taught by
Tibetan monks, later increased to a considerable extent due to tutoring from his lover at the
time, Morgan le Fay. He is capable of energy absorption and projection, manipulating electricity,
creating protective shields, and summoning hordes of demonic creatures.[98] Doom managed to come
in second in a magic tournament held by the ancient sorcerer the Aged Genghis.[99] After Strange
relinquished the title of Sorcerer Supreme, he admitted that Doom had enough magical ability that he
might become the new Sorcerer Supreme.[100]
The alien Ovoids inadvertently taught Doctor Doom the process of psionically transferring his
consciousness into another nearby being through simple eye contact, as well as showing him other
forms of technology[101][102] which Doom uses to escape from incarcerations and to avoid being killed.
[103][104] However, if his concentration is broken, his mind can transfer back, and he rarely uses this
power unless absolutely necessary due to his ego about his own appearance.
In addition, Doom has a remarkably strong and indomitable will, as demonstrated in the graphic
novel Emperor Doom when he dared his prisoner, the mind-controlling Purple Man, to attempt to
control him and he successfully resisted. Doom also has the ability to use touchscreen devices even
though he wears metal gauntlets all the time.[105]
Doom's armor augments his natural physical strength and durability to superhuman levels, to the point
where he is able to hold his own against and even overpower superhuman foes like Spider-Man,
the Hulk and the Thing in combat,[106] although he tends to rely on long-range tactics when engaging
physically stronger opponents. It is also nigh-indestructible, being able to take hits from most
superhuman adversaries to some cosmic-level beings, and protects Doom from matter manipulation,
reality warping and psychic assaults. The armor has an arsenal of high-tech weaponry and gadgets
integrated within it, including gauntlets that can discharge lasers and force blasts, a defensive force
field generator,[107] and a lethal electric shock that can stun or kill anyone who comes into contact with
Doom.[107] The armor is self-supporting, equipped with internal stores and recycling systems
for air, food, water, and energy, allowing Doom to survive lengthy periods of exposure underwater or
in outer space.
Even without his armor, Doom has proven himself to be a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, once even
killing an endangered lion with a single punch, for no other reason than that he wished to.[108][109]
As the absolute monarch of Latveria, Doctor Doom has diplomatic immunity – allowing him to escape
prosecution for most of his crimes – and total control of the nation's natural and technological
resources, along with its manpower, economy, and military.
Doom is known for the frequent plot device where in it is revealed that his actions were actually those
of a "Doombot", one of Victor Von Doom's many robot doubles, either working on his behalf or as a
result of rogue artificial intelligence. The plot element of Doombots is often used to retroactively erase
events from Doom's history.
Psychology
On many occasions, Doom's only real weakness has been his arrogance. Layla Miller once reflected that
Doom is incapable of accepting that he himself might be the reason for his failures. This is most keenly
reflected in Doom's continued refusal to accept responsibility for the accident that fully scarred his face,
instead preferring to blame Reed Richards for sabotaging his experiment. While his high opinion of
himself is generally accurate, he is unable to accept when others may have a better understanding of a
situation than he does – with the occasional exception of hearing the recommendations of heroes such
as Mister Fantastic or the Thing when it is to his advantage. Even when teaming up with others against a
greater threat, Doom will often try to subvert the alliance for personal gain. For instance, while allied
with Adam Warlock and other heroes against the Titan Thanos, he attempted to steal Thanos’ Infinity
Gauntlet before its owner had been defeated.
Von Doom adheres to a strict code of honor at all times. However, Von Doom will keep his exact word,
which may or may not be beneficial to the person to whom he has given his promise. For example,
Doom may swear that he will not harm an individual, but that only means he will not personally harm
that person; it does not mean he will prevent others from harming that person.
Doom's honor code led him to save Captain America from drowning because Captain America had
earlier saved his life, and on another occasion he thanked Spider-Man for saving him from terrorists
attacking him in an airport by allowing him to leave alive despite Spider-Man subsequently insulting him.
His code of honor also means that he will not attack a respected opponent who is weakened or at a
severe disadvantage, as he regards any victory resulting from such circumstances as hollow and
meaningless. He has even on several occasions battled opponents who were intent on killing
the Fantastic Four, for no other reason than the fact that he does not want the ultimate defeat of the
Fantastic Four to come from anyone's hands but his own.
Victor Von Doom has been shown to be devoted to the welfare and well-being of his subjects. Once, he
even went so far as to let his soul lay bare and be judged by the Panther God of Wakanda, who
determined that he genuinely wished for a utopian future where humanity thrived.[110]
Inventions
Doctor Victor Von Doom's genius in science and technology has allowed him to build numerous devices
to defeat his foes or gain more power. The most notable among them include:
Doombots - Doombots have the face of the real Doctor Doom but with no hood and have guns. Used for
many missions, typically those where he fears defeat. Sometimes, the Doombots even believe
themselves to be Doctor Doom.[23]
Servo-Guards - Robots that are programmed to attack the enemies of Doom.
Time Platform - One of Doctor Doom's most ingenious creations is this functioning time machine. It
consists of a platform 10 feet (3.0 m) by 10 feet (3.0 m) by 6 inches (150 mm) and a separate control
console. Subjects stand upon the platform, while an operator works the controls. The device can
transport characters to virtually any time and place in Earth's timestream, and the operator can instantly
return the travelers by manipulating the control console. Doctor Doom does not require the console to
return to his own time—he can use the time-circuitry built into his own armor, allowing him to venture
into time and return on his own without relying on someone to bring him back.
A device to imbue people with superpowers.
Other versions
Alternative versions of Doctor Doom
Doctor Doom's status as one of Marvel's most iconic characters[15] has led to his appearance in many of
Marvel's alternate universes and spinoffs, in which the character's history, circumstances, and behavior
vary from the mainstream setting.
In other media]
Doctor Doom in other media
As the archenemy of the Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom has been included in almost every media
adaptation of the Fantastic Four franchise, including film, television, and computer and video games.
Cultural impact
Rapper Daniel Dumile bases his personas MF DOOM and Viktor Vaughn, on Doctor Doom and Victor Von
Doom respectively. In the album Mm.. Food several songs contain samples of Doctor Dooms lines in the
1981 Spider-man animated series.
In the book Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre, Peter Coogan writes that Doom's original
appearance was representative of a change in the portrayal of "mad scientists" to full-fledged villains,
often with upgraded powers.[111] These supervillains are genre-crossing villains who exist in adventures
"in a world in which the ordinary laws of nature are slightly suspended"; characters such as Professor
Moriarty, Count Dracula, Auric Goldfinger, Hannibal Lecter, Joker, Lex Luthor, and Darth Vader, also fit
this description.[111] Sanderson also found traces of William Shakespeare’s characters Richard III
and Iago in Doom; all of them "are descended from the 'vice' figure of medieval drama", who address
the audience in monologues detailing their thoughts and ambitions.[112]
Described as "iconic",[113] Doom is one of the most well-received characters of the Marvel Universe, as
well as one of the most recurring;[113] in his constant battles with heroes and other villains, Doctor
Doom has appeared more times than any other character.[15] The comics site Panels of Awesome
ranked Doctor Doom as the number one villain in their listing of the top ten villains in comics;
[114] Wizard Magazine went a step further by declaring Doctor Doom the fourth greatest villain of all
time.[115]
Comic Book Resources ranks Victor Von Doom as their fourth favorite Marvel character. Journalist Brent
Ecenbarger cited him being able to "stand up against entities like Mephisto, the Beyonder,
and Galactus and often comes out on top", as well as the tragedy of any "other number of
circumstances could have led to Doctor Doom being a savior, but as it is, instead he remains Marvel’s
greatest villain.", a fact that later led to the character's redemption. Fellow journalist Jason Stanhope
called his "master[ing] of sorcery and technology an unusual combination", and also felt "his inner sense
of nobility sets him apart from lesser villains, in a similar manner to Magneto."[116] Von Doom has also
been favorably regarded by those who wrote for the character; Stan Lee declared Doom his favorite
villain, saying that Doom "could come to the United States and he could do almost anything, and we
could not arrest him because he has diplomatic immunity. Also, he wants to rule the world and if you
think about it, wanting to rule the world is not a crime."[117] Mark Waid echoed Lee's assessment of the
character, stating that Doom "[has] got a great look, a great visual design [and] a dynamite origin."[118]
A ride called Doctor Doom's Fearfall is located at Islands of Adventure in the Universal Orlando Resort.
[119]
Merchandise
Since Doctor Doom is one of Marvel's most popular villains, he has been featured in many forms of
merchandise, including various action figures and trading cards:
In 1984, the first Doctor Doom figure was released as part of Mattel's Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars
line.
In 1990, a Doctor Doom figure was included in ToyBiz's Marvel Super Heroes line.
In 1994, ToyBiz released another Doctor Doom figure based on his appearance in the Fantastic
Four animated series. A larger, deluxe edition of this figure was also released during the same year.
In 1998, ToyBiz released a Doctor Doom figure in their Marvel Comics Famous Cover series.
In 2002, ToyBiz released a Doctor Doom figure and a Doombot variant in their Marvel Legends line. A
scarred version of this figure was later released in 2006 as part of a 7-pack.
In 2006, Hasbro released a Doctor Doom figure in their Marvel Legends Icons series.
In 2007, Hasbro released a Doctor Doom figure in their Marvel Legends line. A repaint of this figure and
a Future Foundation variant were released in their 2012 Marvel Legends Epic Heroes wave.
In 2008, a "Slash Attack" Doctor Doom figure was released based on his appearance in the 2007
movie Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
In 2009, a 3" Doctor Doom mini figure was released based on his appearance in MoonScoop's Fantastic
Four: World's Greatest Heroes animated series.
In 2010, a Doctor Doom figure was released in Hasbro's Marvel Universe line. An unmasked and Future
Foundation variant of this figure were later released as a 2011 NYCC exclusive and in 2012, respectively.
In 2015, ThreeA released a Doctor Doom (Stealth) 1/6 scale figure, which was distributed by GoodSmile
Company.
Doctor Doom was part of the 2012 trading card game "Hero Attax"
Dmitri Mendeleev
Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev[2] (English: /ˌmɛndəlˈeɪəf/ MEN-dəl-AY-əf;[3]Russian: Дмитрий Иванович
Менделеев,[note 1] tr. Dmítriy Ivánovich Mendeléyev, IPA: [ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ mʲɪndʲɪˈlʲejɪf] ( listen); 8
February 1834 – 2 February 1907 [OS 27 January 1834 – 20 January 1907]) was a Russian chemistand
inventor. He formulated the Periodic Law, created a farsighted version of the periodic table of elements,
and used it to correct the properties of some already discovered elements and also to predict the
properties of eight elements yet to be discovered.
Dmitri Mendeleev
Dmitri Mendeleev in 1897
Early life
Mendeleev was born in the village of Verkhnie Aremzyani, near Tobolsk in Siberia, to Ivan Pavlovich
Mendeleev (1783–1847) and Maria Dmitrievna Mendeleeva (née Kornilieva) (1793–1850).[4][5] His
paternal grandfather Pavel Maximovich Sokolov was a Russian Orthodox priest from the Tver region.
[6]Ivan, along with his brothers and sisters, obtained new family names while attending the theological
seminary.[7] He worked as a school principal and a teacher of fine arts, politics and philosophy at
the Tambov and Saratovgymnasiums.[8]
Maria Kornilieva came from a well-known dynasty of Tobolsk merchants, founders of the
first Siberian printing house who traced their ancestry to Yakov Korniliev, a 17th-century posad man
turned a wealthy merchant.[9][10] In 1889 a local librarian published an article in the Tobolsk
newspaper where he claimed that Yakov was a baptized Teleut, an ethnic minority known as
"white Kalmyks" at the time.[11] Since no sources were provided and no documented facts of Yakov's
life were ever revealed, biographers generally dismiss it as a myth.[12][13] In 1908, shortly after
Mendeleev's death, one of his nieces published Family Chronicles. Memories about D. I.
Mendeleev where she voiced "a family legend" about Maria's grandfather who married
"a Kyrgyz or Tatar beauty whom he loved so much that when she died, he also died from grief".[14] This,
however, contradicts the documented family chronicles, and neither of those legends is supported by
Mendeleev's autobiography, his daughter's or his wife's memoirs.[5][15][16] Yet some Western scholars
still refer to Mendeleev's supposed "Mongol", "Tatar", "Tartarian" or simply "Asian" ancestry as a fact.
[17][18][19][20]
Mendeleev was raised as an Orthodox Christian, his mother encouraging him to "patiently search divine
and scientific truth".[21] His son would later inform that he departed from the Church and embraced a
form of "romanticized deism".[22]
Mendeleev was the youngest of 17 siblings, of whom "only 14 stayed alive to be baptized" according to
Mendeleev's brother Pavel, meaning the others died soon after their birth.[8] The exact number of
Mendeleev's siblings differs among sources and is still a matter of some historical dispute.[23]
[24] Unfortunately for the family's financial well being, his father became blind and lost his teaching
position. His mother was forced to work and she restarted her family's abandoned glass factory. At the
age of 13, after the passing of his father and the destruction of his mother's factory by fire, Mendeleev
attended the Gymnasium in Tobolsk.
In 1849, his mother took Mendeleev across Russia from Siberia to Moscow with the aim of getting
Mendeleev a higher education. The university in Moscow did not accept him. The mother and son
continued to Saint Petersburg to the father's alma mater. The now poor Mendeleev family relocated to
Saint Petersburg, where he entered the Main Pedagogical Institutein 1850. After graduation, he
contracted tuberculosis, causing him to move to the Crimean Peninsula on the northern coast of
the Black Sea in 1855. While there, he became a science master of the 1st Simferopol Gymnasium. In
1857, he returned to Saint Petersburg with fully restored health.
Later life
Dmitri Mendeleev
Between 1859 and 1861, he worked on the capillarity of liquids and the workings of
the spectroscope in Heidelberg. Later in 1861, he published a textbook named Organic Chemistry.
[25] This won him the Demidov Prize of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences.[25]
On 4 April 1862 he became engaged to Feozva Nikitichna Leshcheva, and they married on 27 April 1862
at Nikolaev Engineering Institute's church in Saint Petersburg (where he taught).[26]
Mendeleev became a professor at the Saint Petersburg Technological Institute and Saint Petersburg
State University in 1864,[25] and 1865, respectively. In 1865 he became Doctor of Science for his
dissertation "On the Combinations of Water with Alcohol". He achieved tenure in 1867 at St. Petersburg
University and started to teach inorganic chemistry, while succeeding Voskresenskii to this post.[25] and
by 1871 he had transformed Saint Petersburg into an internationally recognized center for chemistry
research.
In 1876, he became obsessed with Anna Ivanova Popova and began courting her; in 1881 he proposed
to her and threatened suicide if she refused. His divorce from Leshcheva was finalized one month after
he had married Popova (on 2 April[27]) in early 1882. Even after the divorce, Mendeleev was technically
a bigamist; the Russian Orthodox Church required at least seven years before lawful remarriage. His
divorce and the surrounding controversy contributed to his failure to be admitted to the Russian
Academy of Sciences (despite his international fame by that time). His daughter from his second
marriage, Lyubov, became the wife of the famous Russian poet Alexander Blok. His other children were
son Vladimir (a sailor, he took part in the notable Eastern journey of Nicholas II) and daughter Olga, from
his first marriage to Feozva, and son Ivan and twins from Anna.
Though Mendeleev was widely honored by scientific organizations all over Europe, including (in 1882)
the Davy Medal from the Royal Society of London (which later also awarded him the Copley Medal in
1905),[28] he resigned from Saint Petersburg University on 17 August 1890. He was elected a Foreign
Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1892,[1] and in 1893 he was appointed director of the
Bureau of Weights and Measures, a post which he occupied until his death.[29]
Mendeleev also investigated the composition of petroleum, and helped to found the first oil refinery in
Russia. He recognized the importance of petroleum as a feedstock for petrochemicals. He is credited
with a remark that burning petroleum as a fuel "would be akin to firing up a kitchen stove with bank
notes".[30]
In 1905, Mendeleev was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The following
year the Nobel Committee for Chemistry recommended to the Swedish Academy to award the Nobel
Prize in Chemistry for 1906 to Mendeleev for his discovery of the periodic system. The Chemistry Section
of the Swedish Academy supported this recommendation. The Academy was then supposed to approve
the Committee's choice, as it has done in almost every case. Unexpectedly, at the full meeting of the
Academy, a dissenting member of the Nobel Committee, Peter Klason, proposed the candidacy of Henri
Moissan whom he favored. Svante Arrhenius, although not a member of the Nobel Committee for
Chemistry, had a great deal of influence in the Academy and also pressed for the rejection of
Mendeleev, arguing that the periodic system was too old to acknowledge its discovery in 1906.
According to the contemporaries, Arrhenius was motivated by the grudge he held against Mendeleev for
his critique of Arrhenius's dissociation theory. After heated arguments, the majority of the Academy
chose Moissan by a margin of one vote.[31] The attempts to nominate Mendeleev in 1907 were again
frustrated by the absolute opposition of Arrhenius.[32]
In 1907, Mendeleev died at the age of 72 in Saint Petersburg from influenza. His last words were to his
physician: "Doctor, you have science, I have faith," which is possibly a Jules Verne quote.[33]
The crater Mendeleev on the Moon, as well as element number 101, the radioactive mendelevium, are
named after him.
Periodic table
See also: History of the periodic table
Mendeleev's 1871 periodic table
Sculpture in honor of Mendeleev and the periodic table, located in Bratislava, Slovakia
In 1863, there were 56 known elements with a new element being discovered at a rate of approximately
one per year. Other scientists had previously identified periodicity of elements. John
Newlands described a Law of Octaves, noting their periodicity according to relative atomic weight in
1864, publishing it in 1865. His proposal identified the potential for new elements such as germanium.
The concept was criticized and his innovation was not recognized by the Society of Chemists until 1887.
Another person to propose a periodic table was Lothar Meyer, who published a paper in 1864 describing
28 elements classified by their valence, but with no predictions of new elements.
After becoming a teacher in 1867, Mendeleev wrote the definitive textbook of his time: Principles of
Chemistry (two volumes, 1868–1870). It was written as he was preparing a textbook for his course.
[25] This is when he made his most important discovery.[25] As he attempted to classify the elements
according to their chemical properties, he noticed patterns that led him to postulate his periodic table;
he claimed to have envisioned the complete arrangement of the elements in a dream:[34][35][36][37]
[38]
I saw in a dream a table where all elements fell into place as required. Awakening, I immediately wrote it
down on a piece of paper, only in one place did a correction later seem necessary.
— Mendeleev, as quoted by Inostrantzev[39][40]
Unaware of the earlier work on periodic tables going on in the 1860s, he made the following table:
Cl
K 39 Ca 40
35.5
Br 80 Rb 85 Sr 88
I 127 Cs 133 Ba 137
By adding additional elements following this pattern, Mendeleev developed his extended version of the
periodic table.[41][42] On 6 March 1869, he made a formal presentation to the Russian Chemical
Society, titled The Dependence between the Properties of the Atomic Weights of the Elements, which
described elements according to both atomic weight (now called relative atomic mass) and valence.[43]
[44]This presentation stated that
The elements, if arranged according to their atomic weight, exhibit an apparent periodicity of
properties.
Elements which are similar regarding their chemical properties either have similar atomic weights (e.g.,
Pt, Ir, Os) or have their atomic weights increasing regularly (e.g., K, Rb, Cs).
The arrangement of the elements in groups of elements in the order of their atomic weights
corresponds to their so-called valencies, as well as, to some extent, to their distinctive chemical
properties; as is apparent among other series in that of Li, Be, B, C, N, O, and F.
The elements which are the most widely diffused have small atomic weights.
The magnitude of the atomic weight determines the character of the element, just as the magnitude of
the molecule determines the character of a compound body.
We must expect the discovery of many yet unknown elements – for example, two elements, analogous
to aluminum and silicon, whose atomic weights would be between 65 and 75.
The atomic weight of an element may sometimes be amended by a knowledge of those of its contiguous
elements. Thus the atomic weight of tellurium must lie between 123 and 126, and cannot be 128.
(Tellurium's atomic weight is 127.6, and Mendeleev was incorrect in his assumption that atomic weight
must increase with position within a period.)
Certain characteristic properties of elements can be foretold from their atomic weights.
Mendeleev published his periodic table of all known elements and predicted several new elements to
complete the table in a Russian-language journal. Only a few months after, Meyer published a virtually
identical table in a German-language journal.[45][46] Mendeleev has the distinction of accurately
predicting the qualities of what he called ekasilicon, ekaaluminium and
ekaboron (germanium, gallium and scandium, respectively).
For his predicted eight elements, he used the prefixes of eka, dvi, and tri (Sanskrit one, two, three) in
their naming. Mendeleev questioned some of the currently accepted atomic weights (they could be
measured only with a relatively low accuracy at that time), pointing out that they did not correspond to
those suggested by his Periodic Law. He noted that tellurium has a higher atomic weight than iodine, but
he placed them in the right order, incorrectly predicting that the accepted atomic weights at the time
were at fault. He was puzzled about where to put the known lanthanides, and predicted the existence of
another row to the table which were the actinides which were some of the heaviest in atomic weight.
Some people dismissed Mendeleev for predicting that there would be more elements, but he was
proven to be correct when Ga (gallium) and Ge (germanium) were found in 1875 and 1886 respectively,
fitting perfectly into the two missing spaces.[47]
By giving Sanskrit names to his "missing" elements, Mendeleev showed his appreciation and debt to the
Sanskrit grammarians of ancient India, who had created sophisticated theories of language based on
their discovery of the two-dimensional patterns in basic sounds. Mendeleev was a friend and colleague
of the Sanskritist Otto von Böhtlingk, who was preparing the second edition of his book on Pāṇini[48] at
about this time, and Mendeleev wished to honor Pāṇini with his nomenclature.[49] Noting that there
are striking similarities between the periodic table and the introductory Śiva Sūtras in Pāṇini's grammar,
Prof. Kiparsky says:
[T]he analogies between the two systems are striking. Just as Panini found that the phonological
patterning of sounds in the language is a function of their articulatory properties, so Mendeleev found
that the chemical properties of elements are a function of their atomic weights.
Like Panini, Mendeleev arrived at his discovery through a search for the "grammar" of the elements
(using what he called the principle of isomorphism, and looking for general formulas to generate the
possible chemical compounds).
Just as Panini arranged the sounds in order of increasing phonetic complexity (e.g. with the simple stops
k,p... preceding the other stops, and representing all of them in expressions like kU, pU) so Mendeleev
arranged the elements in order of increasing atomic weights, and called the first row (oxygen, nitrogen,
carbon etc.) "typical (or representative) elements".
Just as Panini broke the phonetic parallelism of sounds when the simplicity of the system required it, e.g.
putting the velar to the right of the labial in the nasal row, so Mendeleev gave priority to isomorphism
over atomic weights when they conflicted, e.g. putting beryllium in the magnesium family because it
patterns with it even though by atomic weight it seemed to belong with nitrogen and phosphorus. In
both cases, the periodicities they discovered would later be explained by a theory of the internal
structure of the elements.[50]
The original draft made by Mendeleev would be found years later and published under the
name Tentative System of Elements.[51]
Dmitri Mendeleev is often referred to as the Father of the Periodic Table. He called his table or
matrix, "the Periodic System".[52]
Other achievements
Mendeleev made other important contributions to chemistry. The Russian chemist and science
historian Lev Chugaev has characterized him as "a chemist of genius, first-class physicist, a fruitful
researcher in the fields of hydrodynamics, meteorology, geology, certain branches of chemical
technology (explosives, petroleum, and fuels, for example) and other disciplines adjacent to chemistry
and physics, a thorough expert of chemical industry and industry in general, and an original thinker in
the field of economy." Mendeleev was one of the founders, in 1869, of the Russian Chemical Society. He
worked on the theory and practice of protectionist trade and on agriculture.
In an attempt at a chemical conception of the Aether, he put forward a hypothesis that there existed
two inert chemical elements of lesser atomic weight than hydrogen.[29] Of these two proposed
elements, he thought the lighter to be an all-penetrating, all-pervasive gas, and the slightly heavier one
to be a proposed element, coronium.
Mendeleev devoted much study and made important contributions to the determination of the nature
of such indefinite compounds as solutions.
Mendeleev Medal
In another department of physical chemistry, he investigated the expansion of liquids with heat, and
devised a formula similar to Gay-Lussac's law of the uniformity of the expansion of gases, while in 1861
he anticipated Thomas Andrews' conception of the critical temperatureof gases by defining the absolute
boiling-point of a substance as the temperature at which cohesion and heat of vaporization become
equal to zero and the liquid changes to vapor, irrespective of the pressure and volume.[29]
Mendeleev is given credit for the introduction of the metric system to the Russian Empire.
He invented pyrocollodion, a kind of smokeless powder based on nitrocellulose. This work had been
commissioned by the Russian Navy, which however did not adopt its use. In 1892 Mendeleev organized
its manufacture.
Mendeleev studied petroleum origin and concluded hydrocarbons are abiogenic and form deep within
the earth – see Abiogenic petroleum origin. He wrote: "The capital fact to note is that petroleum was
born in the depths of the earth, and it is only there that we must seek its origin." (Dmitri Mendeleev,
1877)[53]
Vodka myth
A very popular Russian story is that it was Mendeleev who came up with the 40% standard strength
of vodka in 1894, after having been appointed Director of the Bureau of Weights and Measures with the
assignment to formulate new state standards for the production of vodka. This story has, for instance,
been used in marketing claims by the Russian Standardvodka brand that "In 1894, Dmitri Mendeleev,
the greatest scientist in all Russia, received the decree to set the Imperial quality standard for Russian
vodka and the 'Russian Standard' was born",[54] or that the vodka is "compliant with the highest quality
of Russian vodka approved by the royal government commission headed by Mendeleev in 1894".[55]
While it is true that Mendeleev in 1892 became head of the Archive of Weights and Measures in Saint
Petersburg, and evolved it into a government bureau the following year, that institution was never
involved in setting any production quality standards, but was issued with standardising Russian trade
weights and measuring instruments. Furthermore, the 40% standard strength was already introduced by
the Russian government in 1843, when Mendeleev was nine years old.[55]
The basis for the whole story is a popular myth that Mendeleev's 1865 doctoral dissertation "A
Discourse on the combination of alcohol and water" contained a statement that 38% is the ideal
strength of vodka, and that this number was later rounded to 40% to simplify the calculation of alcohol
tax. However, Mendeleev's dissertation was about alcohol concentrations over 70% and he never wrote
anything about vodka.[55][56][57]
Commemoration
A number of places and objects are associated with the name and achievements of the scientist.
In Saint Petersburg his name was given to D. I. Mendeleev Institute for Metrology, the National
Metrology Institute,[58] dealing with establishing and supporting national and worldwide standards for
precise measurements. Next to it there is a monument to him that consists of his sitting statue and a
depiction of his periodic table on the wall of the establishment.
In the Twelve Collegia building, now being the centre of Saint Petersburg State University and in
Mendeleev's time – Head Pedagogical Institute – there is Dmitry Mendeleev's Memorial Museum
Apartment[59] with his archives. The street in front of these is named after him as Mendeleevskaya
liniya (Mendeleev Line).
In Moscow, there is the D. Mendeleyev University of Chemical Technology of Russia.[60]
After him was also named mendelevium, which is a synthetic chemical element with the symbol Md
(formerly Mv) and the atomic number 101. It is a metallic radioactive transuranic element in the actinide
series, usually synthesized by bombarding einsteinium with alpha particles.
The mineral mendeleevite-Ce, Cs6(Ce22Ca6)(Si70O175)(OH,F)14(H2O)21, was named in Mendeleev's
honor in 2010.[61] The related species mendeleevite-Nd, Cs6[(Nd,REE)23Ca7](Si70O175)
(OH,F)19(H2O)16, was described in 2015.[62]
A large lunar impact crater Mendeleev that is located on the far side of the Moon, as seen from the
Earth, also bears the name of the scientist.
The Russian Academy of Sciences has occasionally awarded a Mendeleev Golden Medal since 1965.[63]
Jean Hyacinthe de Magellan
Jean Hyacinthe de Magellan (Portuguese: João Jacinto de Magalhães) (1723–1790) was
a Portuguese natural philosopher.
180 × 180
Life
He was born in Aveiro, Portugal.[1] He seems to have been brought up at Lisbon, where he became a
monk of the order of St. Augustine, and was pursuing his studies in the Portuguese capital when the city
was destroyed by the earthquake of 1755.[2]
At age 40 Magellan abandoned the monastic life. About 1764 he appears to have reached England and
was in communication with Da Costa of the Royal Society in 1766. For some time he acted as tutor on
continental tours, and made the acquaintance of leading scholars of the day, especially in
the Netherlands. Magellan was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1774, and was a corresponding
member of the academies of science in Paris, Madrid, and St. Petersburg.[2]
Astronomical clock made by Jean Hyacinthe de Magellan, now in Helsinki
In June 1778 Magellan was at Ermenonville, the seat of the Marquis de Gerardin, and there, with M. du
Presle, he visited Jean-Jacques Rousseau a few days before his death on 2 July. He added a postscript
describing his visit to Du Presle's Relation des derniers Jours de J. J. Rousseau, London, 1778. Magellan
settled in London soon afterwards. He was for some time engaged in superintending the construction of
a set of astronomical and meteorological instruments for the court of Madrid, which he described in
1779. He devoted his last years to the construction of instruments including thermometers and
barometers. He made a clock for the blind Louis Engelbert, 6th Duke of Arenberg, which indicated by
bells the hours and other readings.[2]
Among Magellan's friends was the Hungarian count Maurice Benyovszky. About 1784 the count
borrowed a large sum from Magellan, and was soon afterwards shot as a pirate by the French
in Madagascar. Magellan never recovered the money. He died on 7 February 1790, after more than a
year's illness and was buried in Islington churchyard. Although there are claims that, due to his laxity and
unorthodoxy, he renounced his faith, his correspondence and other sources confirm he never gave up
Catholicism.[3]
Works[edit]
Magellan's major works were:[2]
Collection de différens Traités sur des Instrumens d'Astronomie, 1775–80.
Description des Octants et Sextants Anglois, dedicated to Turgot, 1775.
Description of a Glass Apparatus for Making Mineral Waters, 1777; 3rd edit. 1783.
Description et Usages des nouveaux Baromètres pour mesurer la Hauteur des Montagnes et la
Profondeur des Mines, 1779.
Essai sur la nouvelle Théorie du Feu élémentaire, et de la Chaleur des Corps, 1780.
An Essay towards a System of Mineralogy, 1788.
Mémoires de Maurice Auguste, Comte de Benyowsky.
Magellan also wrote articles in the Journal de Physique, 1778–83. On the title-page of his translation
of Axel Fredrik Cronstedt's System of Mineralogy, 1788, he assumed the appellation "Talabrico-
Lusitanus".[2]
Magellan gave Count Benyovszky's memoirs to William Nicholson, who published them in English in
1790. Magellan's French version of the memoirs appeared after his death, and letters of Magellan to
Benyowsky were published in Mór Jókai's edition of the count's memoirs.[2]
The Magellanic Premium, a prize given for advances in navigation, was established in 1786 by a grant
given by him.[
Pliny the Elder.
Pliny the Elder (/ˈplɪni/; born Gaius Plinius Secundus, AD 23–79) was
a Roman author, naturalistand natural philosopher, a naval and army commander of the early Roman
Empire, and friend of emperor Vespasian.
Spending most of his spare time studying, writing, and investigating natural and geographic phenomena
in the field, Pliny wrote the encyclopedic Naturalis Historia (Natural History), which became an editorial
model for encyclopedias. His nephew, Pliny the Younger, wrote of him in a letter to the historian Tacitus:
For my part I deem those blessed to whom, by favour of the gods, it has been granted either to do what
is worth writing of, or to write what is worth reading; above measure blessed those on whom both gifts
have been conferred. In the latter number will be my uncle, by virtue of his own and of your
compositions.[1]
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus
Statue of Pliny the Elder on the facade of Cathedral of S.
Maria Maggiore in Como
Pliny the Younger refers to Tacitus’s reliance upon his uncle's book, the History of the German Wars.
Pliny the Elder died in AD 79 in Stabiae while attempting the rescue of a friend and his family by ship
from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which already had destroyed the cities
of Pompeii and Herculaneum.[2] The wind caused by the sixth and largest pyroclastic surge of the
volcano’s eruption did not allow his ship to leave port, and Pliny probably died during that event
Life and times
Background
One of the Xanten Horse-Phaleraelocated in the British Museum, measuring 10.5 cm (4.1 in).[4] It bears
an inscription formed from punched dots: PLINIO PRAEF EQ; i.e. Plinio praefecto equitum, "Pliny prefect
of cavalry". It was perhaps issued to every man in Pliny's unit. The figure is the bust of the emperor.
Pliny's dates are pinned to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 and a statement of his nephew that
he died in his 56th year, which would put his birth in AD 23 or 24.
Pliny was the son of an equestrian, Gaius Plinius Celer, and his wife, Marcella. Neither the younger nor
the elder Pliny mention the names. Their ultimate source is a fragmentary inscription (CIL V 1 3442)
found in a field in Verona and recorded by the 16th-century Augustinian monk Onofrio Panvinio at
Verona
The actual words are fragmentary. The reading of the inscription depends on the reconstruction,[5] but
in all cases the names come through. Whether he was an augur and whether she was named Grania
Marcella are less certain.[6] Jean Hardouin presents a statement from an unknown source that he claims
was ancient, that Pliny was from Verona and that his parents were Celer and Marcella.[7] Hardouin also
cites the conterraneity (see below) of Catullus.[5]
City and Lake of Como, painted by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, 1834
How the inscription got to Verona is unknown, but it could have arrived by dispersal of property from
Pliny the Younger's then Tuscan (now Umbrian) estate at Colle Plinio, north of Città di Castello, identified
for certain by his initials in the roof tiles. He kept statues of his ancestors there. Pliny the Elder was born
at Como, not at Verona: it is only as a native of old Gallia Transpadana that he calls Catullus of Verona
his conterraneus, or fellow-countryman, not his municeps, or fellow-townsman.[8][9][10] A statue of
Pliny on the façade of the Duomo of Como celebrates him as a native son. He had a sister, Plinia, who
married into the Caecilii and was the mother of his nephew, Pliny the Younger, whose letters describe
his work and study regimen in detail.
In one of his letters to Tacitus (avunculus meus), Pliny the Younger details how his uncle's breakfasts
would be light and simple (levis et facilis) following the customs of our forefathers (veterum more
interdiu). This shows that Pliny the Younger wanted it to be conveyed that Pliny the Elder was a "good
Roman", which means that he maintained the customs of the great Roman forefathers. This statement
would have pleased Tacitus.
Two inscriptions identifying the hometown of Pliny the Younger as Como take precedence over the
Verona theory. One (CIL V 5262) commemorates the younger's career as the imperial magistrate and
details his considerable charitable and municipal expenses on behalf of the people of Como. Another
(CIL V 5667) identifies his father Lucius' village as Fecchio (tribe Oufentina) near Como. Therefore, Plinia
likely was a local girl and Pliny the Elder, her brother, was from Como.[11]
Gaius was a member of the Plinii gens: the insubric root Plina still persists, with rhotacism, in the local
surname "Prina". He did not take his father's cognomen, Celer, but assumed his own, Secundus. As his
adopted son took the same cognomen, Pliny founded a branch, the Plinii Secundi. The family was
prosperous; Pliny the Younger's combined inherited estates made him so wealthy that he could found a
school and a library, endow a fund to feed the women and children of Como, and own multiple estates
around Rome and Lake Como, as well as enrich some of his friends as a personal favor. No earlier
instances of the Plinii are known.
In 59 BC, only about 82 years before Pliny's birth, Julius Caesar founded Novum Comum (reverting to
Comum) as a colonia to secure the region against the Alpine tribes, whom he had been unable to defeat.
He imported a population of 4,500 from other provinces (not clear from where) to be placed
in Comasco and 500 aristocratic Greeks to found Novum Comum itself.[12] The community was thus
multi-ethnic and the Plinies could have come from anywhere; whether any conclusions can be drawn
from Pliny's preference for Greek words, or Julius Pokorny's derivation of the name from north Italic as
"bald"[13] is a matter of speculative opinion. No record of any ethnic distinctions in Pliny's time is
apparent. The population prided themselves on being Roman citizens.
Pliny the Elder did not marry and had no children. In his will, he adopted his nephew, which entitled the
latter to inherit the entire estate. The adoption is called a "testamental adoption" by writers on the
topic, who assert that it applied to the name change only, but Roman jurisprudence recognizes no such
category. Pliny the Younger thus became the adopted son of Pliny the Elder after the latter's death.
[14] For at least some of the time, however, Pliny the Elder resided under the same roof with his sister
and nephew (whose husband and father, respectively, had died young); they were living there when
Pliny the Elder decided to investigate the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, and was sidetracked by the need
for rescue operations and a messenger from his friend asking for assistance.
Student and lawyer
Pliny's father took him to Rome to be educated in lawmaking.[10] Pliny relates that he saw Marcus
Servilius Nonianus.
Junior officer
Pliny the Elder, as imagined by a 19th-century artist: No contemporary depiction of Pliny is known to
survive.
In AD 46, at about age 23, Pliny entered the army as a junior officer, as was the custom for young men of
equestrian rank. Ronald Syme, Plinian scholar, reconstructs three periods at three ranks.[15][16] Pliny's
interest in Roman literature attracted the attention and friendship of other men of letters in the higher
ranks, with whom he formed lasting friendships. Later, these friendships assisted his entry into the
upper echelons of the state; however, he was trusted for his knowledge and ability, as well. According to
Syme, he began as a praefectus cohortis, a "commander of a cohort" (an infantry cohort, as junior
officers began in the infantry), under Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, himself a writer (whose works did not
survive) in Germania Inferior. In AD 47, he took part in the Roman conquest of the Chauci and the
construction of the canal between the rivers Maas and Rhine.[10] His description of the Roman ships
anchored in the stream overnight having to ward off floating trees has the stamp of an eyewitness
account.[17]
Map of Castra Vetera, a large permanent base (castra stativa) of Germania Inferior, where Pliny
spentthe last of his 10-year enlistment as a cavalry commander: The proximity of a naval base there
means that he trained also in ships, as the Romans customarily trained all soldiers in all arms whenever
possible. The location is on the lower Rhine River.
At some uncertain date, Pliny was transferred to the command of Germania Superior under Publius
Pomponius Secundus with a promotion to military tribune,[15] which was a staff position, with duties
assigned by the district commander. Pomponius was a half-brother of Corbulo.[18] They had the same
mother, Vistilia, a powerful matron of the Roman upper classes, who had seven children by six
husbands, some of whom had imperial connections, including a future empress. Pliny's assignments are
not clear, but he must have participated in the campaign against the Chatti of AD 50, at age 27, in his
fourth year of service. Associated with the commander in the praetorium, he became a familiar and
close friend of Pomponius, who also was a man of letters.
At another uncertain date, Pliny was transferred back to Germania Inferior. Corbulo had moved on,
assuming command in the east. This time, Pliny was promoted to praefectus alae, "commander of a
wing", responsible for a cavalry battalion of about 480 men.[19] He spent the rest of his military service
there. A decorative phalera, or piece of harness, with his name on it has been found at Castra Vetera,
modern Xanten, then a large Roman army and naval base on the lower Rhine.[15] Pliny's last
commander there, apparently neither a man of letters nor a close friend of his, was Pompeius
Paulinus, governor of Germania Inferior AD 55-58.[20] Pliny relates that he personally knew Paulinus to
have carried around 12,000 pounds of silver service on which to dine on campaign against the Germans
(a practice which would not have endeared him to the disciplined Pliny).[21]
According to his nephew,[19] during this period, he wrote his first book (perhaps in winter quarters
when the more spare time was available), a work on the use of missiles on horseback, De jaculatione
equestri.[10] It has not survived, but in Natural History, he seems to reveal at least part of its content,
using the movements of the horse to assist the javelin-man in throwing missiles while astride its back.
[22] During this period, he also dreamed that the spirit of Drusus Nero begged him to save his memory
from oblivion.[19] The dream prompted Pliny to begin forthwith a history of all the wars between the
Romans and the Germans,[10] which he did not complete for some years.
Colossal head of Titus, son of Vespasian. Glyptothek, Munich
Literary interlude
At the earliest time Pliny could have left the service, Nero, the last of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty, had
been emperor for two years. He did not leave office until AD 68, when Pliny was 45 years old. During
that time, Pliny did not hold any high office or work in the service of the state. In the subsequent Flavian
Dynasty, his services were in such demand that he had to give up his law practice, which suggests that
he had been trying not to attract the attention of Nero, who was a dangerous acquaintance.
Under Nero, Pliny lived mainly in Rome. He mentions the map of Armenia and the neighbourhood of
the Caspian Sea, which was sent to Rome by the staff of Corbulo in 58.[23][10] He also saw the building
of Nero's Domus Aureaor "Golden House" after the fire of 64.[24][10]
Besides pleading law cases, Pliny wrote, researched, and studied. His second published work was a
biography of his old commander, Pomponius Secundus, in two books.[19] After several years in prison
under Tiberius, AD 31-37 (which he used to write tragedies), Pomponius was rehabilitated
by Caligula (who later married his half-sister, Caesonia) in 38, made consul in 41, and sent by Claudius
as legatus to Germany, where he won a victory against the Chatti in 50 and was allowed a triumph. After
this peak, he disappears from history, never to be mentioned again, except by the Plinies, and is not
among either the friends or the enemies of Nero.
The elder Pliny mentions that he saw "in the possession of Pomponius Secundus, the poet, a very
illustrious citizen", manuscripts in the "ancient handwriting of Tiberius and Caius Gracchus".[25] The
peak of Pomponius's fame would have been his triumph of 50 or 51. In 54, Nero came to power; at that
time, Pliny was working on his two military writings. Pliny the Younger says that the biography of
Pomponius was "a duty which he owed to the memory of his friend", implying that Pomponius had died.
The circumstances of this duty and whether or not it had anything to do with his probable avoidance of
Nero have disappeared with the work.
Meanwhile, he was completing the 20 books of his History of the German Wars, the only authority
expressly quoted in the first six books of the Annals of Tacitus,[26][10] and probably one of the principal
authorities for the same author's Germania. It disappeared in favor of the writings of Tacitus (which are
far shorter), and, early in the fifth century, Symmachus had little hope of finding a copy.[27][10]
Like Caligula, Nero seemed to grow gradually more insane as his reign progressed. Pliny devoted much
of his time to writing on the comparatively safe subjects of grammar and rhetoric.[10] He published a
three-book, six-volume educational manual on rhetoric, entitled Studiosus, "the Student". Pliny the
Younger says of it: "The orator is trained from his very cradle and perfected."[19] It was followed by
eight books entitled Dubii sermonis,[10]Of Doubtful Phraseology. These are both now lost works. His
nephew relates: "He wrote this under Nero, in the last years of his reign, when every kind of literary
pursuit which was in the least independent or elevated had been rendered dangerous by servitude."
In 68, Nero no longer had any friends and supporters. He committed suicide, and the reign of terror was
at an end, as was the interlude in Pliny's obligation to the state.
Senior officer
Bust of Vespasian, Pushkin Museum, Moscow
At the end of AD 69, after a year of civil war consequent on the death of Nero, Vespasian, a successful
general, became emperor. Like Pliny, he had come from the equestrian class, rising through the ranks of
the army and public offices and defeating the other contenders for the highest office. His main tasks
were to re-establish peace under imperial control and to place the economy on a sound footing. He
needed in his administration all the loyalty and assistance he could find. Pliny, apparently trusted
without question, perhaps (reading between the lines) recommended by Vespasian's son Titus, was put
to work immediately and was kept in a continuous succession of the most distinguished procuratorships,
according to Suetonius.[28] A procurator was generally a governor of an imperial province. The empire
was perpetually short of, and was always seeking, office holders for its numerous offices.
Throughout the latter stages of Pliny's life, he maintained good relations with Emperor Vespasian. As is
written in the first line of Pliny the Younger's avunculus meus:
Ante lucem ibat ad Vespasianum imperatorem (nam ille quoque noctibus utebatur), deinde ad officium
sibi delegatum
"Before dawn he was going to the Emperor Vespasian (for he also made use of the night), then he did
the other duties assigned to him".
In this passage, Pliny the Younger conveys to Tacitus that his uncle was ever the academic, always
working. The word ibat (imperfect, "he used to go") gives a sense of repeated or customary action. In
the subsequent text, he mentions again how most of his uncle's day was spent working, reading, and
writing. He notes that Pliny "was indeed a very ready sleeper, sometimes dropping off in the middle of
his studies and then waking up again."[29]
A definitive study of the procuratorships of Pliny was compiled by the classical scholar Friedrich Münzer,
which was reasserted by Ronald Symeand became a standard reference point. Münzer hypothesized
four procuratorships, of which two are certainly attested and two are probable but not certain.
However, two does not satisfy Suetonius' description of a continuous succession.[30] Consequently,
Plinian scholars present two to four procuratorships, the four comprising (i) Gallia Narbonensis in 70, (ii)
Africa in 70-72, (iii) Hispania Tarraconensis in 72-74, and (iv) Gallia Belgica in 74-76.
According to Syme, Pliny may have been "successor to Valerius Paulinus", procurator of Gallia
Narbonensis (southeastern France), early in AD 70. He seems to have a "familiarity with the provincia",
which, however, might otherwise be explained.[31] For example, he says[32]
In the cultivation of the soil, the manners and civilization of the inhabitants, and the extent of its wealth,
it is surpassed by none of the provinces, and, in short, might be more truthfully described as a part of
Italy than as a province.
denoting a general popular familiarity with the region.
Oasis at Gabès
Pliny certainly spent some time in Africa Province, most likely as a procurator.[33] Among other events
or features that he saw are the provoking of rubetae, poisonous toads (Bufonidae), by the Psylli;[34] the
buildings made with molded earthen walls, "superior in solidity to any cement;"[35] and the unusual,
fertile seaside oasis of Gabès (then Tacape), Tunisia, currently a World Heritage Site.[36] Syme assigns
the African procuratorship to AD 70-72.
The procuratorship of Hispania Tarraconensis was next. A statement by Pliny the Younger that his uncle
was offered 400,000 sesterces for his manuscripts by Larcius Licinius while he (Pliny the Elder) was
procurator of Hispania makes it the most certain of the three.[19] Pliny lists the peoples of "Hither
Hispania", including population statistics and civic rights (modern Asturias and Gallaecia). He stops short
of mentioning them all for fear of "wearying the reader".[37] As this is the only geographic region for
which he gives this information, Syme hypothesizes that Pliny contributed to the census of Hither
Hispania conducted in 73/74 by Vibius Crispus, legate from the Emperor, thus dating Pliny's
procuratorship there.[38]
Las Médulas, Spain, site of a large Roman mine
During his stay in Hispania, he became familiar with the agriculture and especially the gold mines of the
north and west of the country.[39][10] His descriptions of the various methods of mining appear to
be eyewitness judging by the discussion of gold mining methods in his Natural History. He might have
visited the mine excavated at Las Médulas.
The Porta Nigra Roman gate, Trier, Germany
The last position of procurator, an uncertain one, was of Gallia Belgica, based on Pliny's familiarity with
it. The capital of the province was Augusta Treverorum (Trier), named for the Treverisurrounding it.
Pliny says that in "the year but one before this" a severe winter killed the first crops planted by the
Treviri; they sowed again in March and had "a most abundant harvest."[40] The problem is to identify
"this", the year in which the passage was written. Using 77 as the date of composition Syme[41] arrives
at AD 74-75 as the date of the procuratorship, when Pliny is presumed to have witnessed these events.
The argument is based entirely on presumptions; nevertheless, this date is required to achieve
Suetonius' continuity of procuratorships, if the one in Gallia Belgica occurred.
Pliny was allowed home (Rome) at some time in AD 75–76. He was presumably at home for the first
official release of Natural History in 77. Whether he was in Rome for the dedication of Vespasian's
Temple of Peace in the Forum in 75, which was in essence a museum for display of art works plundered
by Nero and formerly adorning the Domus Aurea, is uncertain, as is his possible command of
the vigiles (night watchmen), a lesser post. No actual post is discernible for this period. On the bare
circumstances, he was an official agent of the emperor in a quasiprivate capacity. Perhaps he was
between posts. In any case, his appointment as prefect of the fleet at Misenum took him there, where
he resided with his sister and nephew. Vespasian died of disease on June 23, 79. Pliny outlived him by
two months.
Noted author
During Nero's reign of terror, Pliny avoided working on any writing that would attract attention to
himself. His works on oratory in the last years of Nero's reign (67, 68) focused on form rather than on
content. He began working on content again probably after Vespasian's rule began in AD 69, when the
terror clearly was over and would not be resumed. It was to some degree reinstituted (and later
cancelled by his son Titus) when Vespasian suppressed the philosophers at Rome, but not Pliny, who
was not among them, representing, as he says, something new in Rome, an encyclopedist (certainly, a
venerable tradition outside Italy).
In his next work, he "completed the history which Aufidius Bassus left unfinished, and... added to it
thirty books."[19] Aufidius Bassus was a cause célèbre according to Seneca the Younger,[42][43] a man
much admired at Rome. He had begun his history with some unknown date, certainly before the death
of Cicero,[44] so probably the Civil Wars or the death of Julius Caesar, ending with the reign of Tiberius.
It was cut short when Bassus died slowly of a lingering disease, with such spirit and objectivity that
Seneca remarked that Bassus seemed to treat it as someone else's dying.
Pliny's continuation of Bassus's History was one of the authorities followed by Suetonius and Plutarch.
[10] Tacitus also cites Pliny as a source. He is mentioned concerning the loyalty of Burrus, commander of
the Praetorian Guard, whom Nero removed for disloyalty.[45] Tacitus portrays parts of Pliny's view of
the Pisonian conspiracy to kill Nero and make Piso emperor as "absurd"[46] and mentions that he could
not decide whether Pliny's account or that of Messalla was more accurate concerning some of the
details of the Year of the Four Emperors.[47] Evidently Pliny's extension of Bassus extended at least
from the reign of Nero to that of Vespasian. Pliny seems to have known it was going to be controversial,
as he deliberately reserved it for publication after his death:[10]
It has been long completed and its accuracy confirmed; but I have determined to commit the charge of it
to my heirs, lest I should have been suspected, during my lifetime, of having been unduly influenced by
ambition. By this means I confer an obligation on those who occupy the same ground with myself; and
also on posterity, who, I am aware, will contend with me, as I have done with my predecessors.[48]
Natural History]
Natural History (Pliny)
Pliny's last work, according to his nephew, was the Naturalis Historia (literally "Natural History"),
an encyclopedia into which he collected much of the knowledge of his time.[19] It comprised 37 books.
His sources were personal experience, his own prior works (such as the work on Germany), and extracts
from other works. These extracts were collected in the following manner: One servant would read
aloud, and another would write the extract as dictated by Pliny. He is said to have dictated extracts
while taking a bath. In winter, he furnished the copier with gloves and long sleeves so his writing hand
would not stiffen with cold (Pliny the Younger in avunculus meus). His extract collection finally reached
about 160 volumes, which Larcius Licinius, the Praetorian legate of Hispania Tarraconensis, vainly
offered to purchase for 400,000 sesterces.[19][10] That would have been in 73/74 (see above). Pliny
bequeathed the extracts to his nephew.
When composition of the Natural History began is unknown. Since he was preoccupied with his other
works under Nero and then had to finish the history of his times, he is unlikely to have begun before 70.
The procuratorships offered the ideal opportunity for an encyclopedic frame of mind. The date of an
overall composition cannot be assigned to any one year. The dates of different parts must be
determined, if they can, by philologicalanalysis (the post mortem of the scholars).
Laocoon and his Sons, a sculpture admired by Pliny
The closest known event to a single publication date, that is, when the manuscript was probably
released to the public for borrowing and copying, and was probably sent to the Flavians, is the date of
the Dedication in the first of the 37 books. It is to the imperator Titus. As Titus and Vespasian had the
same name, Titus Flavius Vespasianus, earlier writers hypothesized a dedication to Vespasian. Pliny's
mention of a brother (Domitian) and joint offices with a father, calling that father "great", points
certainly to Titus.[49]
Pliny also says that Titus had been consul six times. The first six consulships of Titus are in 70, 72, 74, 75,
76, and 77, all conjointly with Vespasian, and the seventh was in 79. This brings the date of the
Dedication probably to 77. In that year, Vespasian was 68. He had been ruling conjointly with Titus for
some years.[49] The title imperator does not indicate that Titus was sole emperor, but was awarded for
a military victory, in this case that in Jerusalem in 70.[50]
Aside from minor finishing touches, the work in 37 books was completed in AD 77.[51] That it was
written entirely in 77 or that Pliny was finished with it then cannot be proved. Moreover, the dedication
could have been written before publication, and it could have been published either privately or publicly
earlier without the dedication. The only certain fact is that Pliny did no further work on it after AD 79.
The Naturalis Historia is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire to the
modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities
available to Pliny. He claims to be the only Roman ever to have undertaken such a work. It encompasses
the fields of botany, zoology, astronomy, geology, and mineralogy, as well as the exploitation of those
resources. It remains a standard work for the Roman period and the advances in technology and
understanding of natural phenomena at the time. His discussions of some technical advances are the
only sources for those inventions, such as hushing in mining technology or the use of water mills for
crushing or grinding corn. Much of what he wrote about has been confirmed by archaeology. It is
virtually the only work which describes the work of artists of the time, and is a reference work for
the history of art. As such, Pliny's approach to describing the work of artists was to inform Lorenzo
Ghiberti in writing his commentaries and Giorgio Vasari who wrote the celebrated Lives of the Most
Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects.
The work became a model for all later encyclopedias in terms of the breadth of subject matter
examined, the need to reference original authors, and a comprehensive index list of the contents. It is
the only work by Pliny to have survived, and the last that he published, lacking a final revision at his
sudden and unexpected death in the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius.
Death
Plaster casts of the casualties of the pumice fall, whose remains vanished, leaving cavities in the pumice
at Pompeii
Pliny had received from Emperor Vespasian, who had died two months earlier, the appointment
of praefectus classis (fleet commander) in the Roman Navy. On AD August 24, 79, he was stationed
at Misenum, at the time of the great eruption of Mount Vesuvius,[10] which destroyed and
buried Pompeii and Herculaneum. He was preparing to cross the Bay of Naples to observe the
phenomenon directly when a message arrived from his friend Rectina asking to
rescue Pomponianus and her. Launching the galleys under his command to the evacuation of the
opposite shore, he himself took "a fast-sailing cutter", a decision that may have cost him his life. His
nephew, Pliny the Younger, provided an account of his death, obtained from the survivors. The nephew
and his mother had decided not to go on the voyage across the bay.
As the light vessel approached the shore near Herculaneum, cinders and pumice began to fall on it.
Pliny's helmsman advised turning back, to which Pliny replied, "Fortune favors the brave; steer to where
Pomponianus is." (Stabiae, near the modern town of Castellammare di Stabia.) They landed and found
Pomponianus "in the greatest consternation." Pliny hugged and comforted him. They could not find
Rectina. They loaded the cutter, but the same winds that brought it to Stabiae prevented it from leaving.
Pliny reassured his party by feasting, bathing, and sleeping while waiting for the wind to abate, but
finally they had to leave the buildings for fear of collapse and try their luck in the pumice fall. Pliny sat
down and could not get up even with assistance, and was left behind. His companions theorized that he
collapsed and died through inhaling poisonous gases emitted from the volcano. On their return three
days later (26 August) after the plume had dispersed, his body was found under the pumice with no
apparent external injuries. The problem with the toxicity theory is that his companions were unaffected
by the same fumes, and they had no mobility problems, whereas Pliny had to sit and could not rise. As
he is described as a corpulent man,[1] who also suffered from asthma, his friends are thought to have
left him because he was already dead.[2]
The story of his last hours is told in a letter addressed 27 years afterwards to Tacitus by Pliny the
Younger,[1][10] who also sent to another correspondent, Baebius Macer, an account of his uncle's
writings and his manner of life.[19][10] The fragment from Suetonius (see under "External links" below)
states a somewhat less flattering view, that Pliny approached the shore only from scientific interest and
then asked a slave to kill him to avoid heat from the volcano. It is not as credible a source, as it is clear
from the nephew's letter that the persons Pliny came to rescue escaped to tell the tale in detail.
Moreover, Suetonius hypothesizes that a party witnessing events so agonizing as to destroy Pliny or
cause him to order his own death are suspect as they apparently were subject to none of these fatal
events themselves.
Science historian Conway Zirkle has written, "there is widespread and persisting misinformation" about
Pliny's death. He suggested that despite his rescue attempt, Pliny never came within miles of Vesuvius
and no evidence has been found that shows he died from breathing in fumes. Zirkle stated that Pliny
was overweight, in poor health, and had died from a heart attack.[52]
Friedrich Kohlrausch (physicist)
Friedrich Wilhelm Georg Kohlrausch (14 October 1840 – 17 January 1910) was a Germanphysicist who
investigated the conductive properties of electrolytes and contributed to knowledge of their behaviour.
He also investigated elasticity, thermoelasticity, and thermal conduction as well as magnetic and
electrical precision measurements.
Friedrich Kohlrausch
Friedrich Wilhelm Georg Kohlrausch (1840-1910)
Nowadays, Friedrich Kohlrausch is classed as one of the most important experimental physicists. His
early work helped to extend the absolute system of Carl Friedrich Gauss and Wilhelm Weber to include
electrical and magnetic measuring units.
Biography
Education
Son of Rudolf Kohlrausch, Friedrich Wilhelm Georg Kohlrausch was born on October 14, 1840, in Rinteln,
Germany. After studying physics at Erlangen and Göttingen, Friedrich Kohlrausch completed his
doctorate in Göttingen.
Teaching
After a two-year work as a lecturer in Frankfurt, Kohlrausch was appointed a professor of physics at the
University of Göttingen (1866–70). During 1870 Kohlrausch became a professor at ETH Zurich in
Switzerland. One year later, he moved to the Darmstadt University of Technology in Germany.
In 1875, he responded to an offer from the University of Würzburg in southern Germany, where he
subsequently conducted his experiments in quantity determination and the conductivity of electrolytes.
From 1888 he researched and taught at Strasbourg University.
He refused a professorship at the Humboldt University in Berlin in 1894, but from 1900 he was also a
professor there. He was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences during 1902.
Research work
Kohlrausch was an important researcher of electrochemistry for many reasons. First, the experiments
from which he deduced his law of independent migration of ions became canonical and disseminated
from Kohlrausch's laboratories in Göttingen, Zurich, and Darmstadt; Svante Arrhenius, Wilhelm Ostwald
and Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, the original Ionists, all trained with methods and equipment of
Kohlrauschian lineage. Moreover, because Kohlrausch also continued to test and confirm the Ionist
theory after it had been first proposed, his work tied "measuring physics" and its consequent capability
of producing plenty of empirical data to the results and methods of the Ionists and their devotees.
Electrolyte conductivity in solution
In 1874 he demonstrated that an electrolyte has a definite and constant amount of electrical resistance.
By observing the dependence of conductivity upon dilution, he could determine the transfer velocities
of the ions (charged atoms or molecules) in solution. He used alternating current to prevent the
deposition of electrolysis products; this enabled him to obtain very precise results.
From 1875 to 1879, he examined numerous salt solutions, acids and solutions of other materials. His
efforts resulted in the law of the independent migration of ions, that is, each type of migrating ion has a
specific electrical resistance no matter what its original molecular combination may have been, and
therefore that a solution's electrical resistance was due only to the migrating ions of a given substances.
Kohlrausch showed for weak (incompletely dissociated) electrolytes that the more dilute a solution, the
greater its molar conductivity due to increased ionic dissociation.
Measuring techniques and instruments
During 1895 he succeeded Hermann von Helmholtz as President of the Physikalisch-Technische
Reichsanstalt (PTR – Imperial Physical Technical Institute), an office which he held until 1905.
Here, as in the past, his activities were focused on experimental and instrumental physics: he
constructed instruments and devised new measuring techniques to examine electrolytic conduction in
solutions. He concluded the setup of the PTR, a task which had not yet been completed on the death of
its first president. He introduced fixed regulations, work schedules and working hours for the Institute.
Under direction of Kohlrausch, the PTR created numerous standards and calibration standards which
were also used internationally outside Germany.
Kohlrausch was intent on creating optimum working conditions in the laboratories and to shield the labs
from unwanted external influences. For six years, for instance, he fought against a streetcar line which
was due to be laid near the PTR. However, before the streetcar was to make its first journey, the
institute succeeded in developing an astatic torsionmagnetometer which was uninfluenced by disturbing
electromagnetic fields. The use of this instrument and the shielded wire galvanometer developed by du
Bois and Rubens meant that precision electrical and magnetic work continued to be possible.
Over the years, Kohlrausch added experiments which met the needs of physical chemistry and electrical
technology in particular. He improved precision measuring instruments and developed numerous
measuring methods in almost all of the fields of physics known during his lifetime, including a reflectivity
meter, a tangent galvanometer, and various types of magnetometers and dynamometers. The
Kohlrausch bridge, which he invented at that time for the purpose of measuring conductivity, is still well
known today. Like Helmholtz and Siemens, Kohlrausch also saw the possibilities inherent in applied and
basic research in the natural sciences and technology. He lay the foundations for scientific knowledge
which promoted and advanced industry and technology. The PTR developed standardized precision
instruments for university research institutes and industrial laboratories. It introduced uniform electrical
units for Germany and also played a significant role in their international usage. In the period to 1905,
there were many examples of the importance of the PTR for German industry, in particular for the high
technologies of the time – the electrical, optical and mechanical industries.
Overall, Kohlrausch was involved in the measurement of electrical, magnetic and electrochemical
phenomena for almost 50 years. In 1905 Kohlrausch retired from his post as President of the PTR.
Friedrich Kohlrausch died in Marburg on 17 January 1910 at the age of 69.
Writings
In the University of Göttingen, Kohlrausch documented his practical experiments resulting in the book
Leitfaden der praktischen Physik (Guidelines to Practical Physics), which was published in 1870 as the
first book of its type in Germany. It contained not only descriptions of experiments, experimental setups
and measuring techniques, but also tables of physical quantities. It was issued in many editions (the 9th
enlarged and revised edition of 1901 being entitled Lehrbuch der praktischen Physik; a more elementary
work based on it being entitled Kleiner Leitfaden der praktischen Physik) and translated into English. It
was considered the standard work on physical laboratory methods and measurements.
To this day, the textbook Praktische Physik (Practical Physics), which originated in Kohlrausch's Leitfaden
der praktischen Physik, is standard reading for physicists and engineers in Germany. This is attributable,
above all, to the detailed descriptions provided of the measuring methods that form the basis of
technical and experimental applications in many fields in physics.
Kohlrausch was also the author of Ueber den absoluten Leitungswiderstand des Quecksilbers (On the
electrical resistance of mercury, 1888), and of many papers contributed to the Annalen der Physik und
Chemie, and other scientific journals.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (/ˈheɪɡəl/,[26][27] German: [ˈɡeːɔɐ̯k ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈheːɡl ̩];[27][28][29]
[30][31] August 27, 1770 – November 14, 1831) was a German philosopher and an important figure
of German idealism. He achieved wide recognition in his day and—while primarily influential within
the continental tradition of philosophy—has become increasingly influential in the analytic tradition as
well.[32] Although Hegel remains a divisive figure, his canonical stature within Western philosophy is
universally recognized.
Hegel's principal achievement was his development of a distinctive articulation of idealism, sometimes
termed absolute idealism,[33] in which the dualisms of, for instance, mind and nature
and subject and object are overcome. His philosophy of spirit conceptually integrates psychology, the
state, history, art, religion and philosophy. His account of the master–slave dialectic has been highly
influential, especially in 20th-century France.[34] Of special importance is his concept of spirit (Geist,
sometimes also translated as "mind") as the historical manifestation of the logical concept and
the "sublation" (Aufhebung, integration without elimination or reduction) of seemingly contradictory or
opposing factors: examples include the apparent opposition between nature and freedom and
between immanenceand transcendence. Hegel has been seen in the 20th century as the originator of
the thesis, antithesis, synthesistriad,[35] but as an explicit phrase it originated with Johann Gottlieb
Fichte
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Portrait by Jakob Schlesinger, 1831
.[36]
Hegel has influenced many thinkers and writers whose own positions vary widely.[37] Karl
Barth described Hegel as a "Protestant Aquinas"[38] while Maurice Merleau-Ponty wrote that "all the
great philosophical ideas of the past century—the philosophies of Marx and Nietzsche, phenomenology,
German existentialism, and psychoanalysis—had their beginnings in Hegel."[39]
Life[edit]
Early years
Childhood
The birthplace of Hegel in Stuttgart, which now houses the Hegel Museum
He was born on August 27, 1770 in Stuttgart, capital of the Duchy of Württemberg in southwestern
Germany. Christened Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, he was known as Wilhelm to his close family. His father,
Georg Ludwig, was Rentkammersekretär (secretary to the revenue office) at the court of Karl Eugen,
Duke of Württemberg.[40]:2–3, 745 Hegel's mother, Maria Magdalena Louisa (née Fromm), was the
daughter of a lawyer at the High Court of Justice at the Württemberg court. She died of a "bilious fever"
(Gallenfieber) when Hegel was thirteen. Hegel and his father also caught the disease, but they narrowly
survived.[41] Hegel had a sister, Christiane Luise (1773–1832); and a brother, Georg Ludwig (1776–
1812), who was to perish as an officer in Napoleon's Russian campaign of 1812.[40]:4
At the age of three, he went to the German School. When he entered the Latin School two years later,
he already knew the first declension, having been taught it by his mother. In 1776, he entered
Stuttgart's gymnasium illustre and during his adolescence read voraciously, copying lengthy extracts in
his diary. Authors he read include the poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock and writers associated with
the Enlightenment, such as Christian Garve and Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. His studies at
the Gymnasium were concluded with his Abiturrede ("graduation speech") entitled "The abortive state
of art and scholarship in Turkey"[40]:16 ("den verkümmerten Zustand der Künste und Wissenschaften
unter den Türken").[42]
Tübingen (1788–1793)
At the age of eighteen, Hegel entered the Tübinger Stift (a Protestant seminary attached to
the University of Tübingen), where he had as roommates the poet and philosopher Friedrich
Hölderlin and the philosopher-to-be Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling.[43] Sharing a dislike for what
they regarded as the restrictive environment of the Seminary, the three became close friends and
mutually influenced each other's ideas. All greatly admired Hellenic civilization and Hegel additionally
steeped himself in Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Lessing during this time.[44] They watched the unfolding
of the French Revolutionwith shared enthusiasm. Schelling and Hölderlin immersed themselves in
theoretical debates on Kantian philosophy, from which Hegel remained aloof. Hegel at this time
envisaged his future as that of a Popularphilosoph, i.e. a "man of letters" who serves to make the
abstruse ideas of philosophers accessible to a wider public; his own felt need to engage critically with
the central ideas of Kantianism did not come until 1800.
Although the violence of the Reign of Terror in 1793 dampened Hegel's hopes, he continued to identify
with the moderate Girondin faction and never lost his commitment to the principles of 1789, which he
would express by drinking a toast to the storming of the Bastille every fourteenth of July.[45]
Bern (1793–1796) and Frankfurt (1797–1801)
Having received his theological certificate (Konsistorialexamen) from the Tübingen Seminary, Hegel
became Hofmeister (house tutor) to an aristocratic family in Bern(1793–1796). During this period, he
composed the text which has become known as the Life of Jesus and a book-length manuscript titled
"The Positivity of the Christian Religion". His relations with his employers becoming strained, Hegel
accepted an offer mediated by Hölderlin to take up a similar position with a wine merchant's family
in Frankfurt, to which he relocated in 1797. Here, Hölderlin exerted an important influence on Hegel's
thought.[40]:80 While in Frankfurt, Hegel composed the essay "Fragments on Religion and Love".[46] In
1799, he wrote another essay entitled "The Spirit of Christianity and Its Fate",[47] unpublished during
his lifetime.
Also in 1797, the unpublished and unsigned manuscript of "The Oldest Systematic Program of German
Idealism" was written. It was written in Hegel's hand, but thought to have been authored by either
Hegel, Schelling, Hölderlin, or an unknown fourth person.[48]
Career years
Jena, Bamberg and Nuremberg (1801–1816)
In 1801, Hegel came to Jena with the encouragement of his old friend Schelling, who held the position of
Extraordinary Professor at the University there. Hegel secured a position at the University as
a Privatdozent (unsalaried lecturer) after submitting the inaugural dissertation De Orbitis Planetarum, in
which he briefly criticized arguments that assert - based on Bode's Law or other arbitrary choice
of mathematical series - there must exist a planet between Mars and Jupiter.[49][50][51]Unbeknownst
to Hegel, Giuseppe Piazzi had discovered the minor planet Ceres within that orbit on January 1, 1801.
[50][51] Later in the year, Hegel's first book The Difference Between Fichte's and Schelling's Systems of
Philosophy was completed. He lectured on "Logic and Metaphysics" and gave joint lectures with
Schelling on an "Introduction to the Idea and Limits of True Philosophy" and held a "Philosophical
Disputorium". In 1802, Schelling and Hegel founded a journal, the Kritische Journal der
Philosophie (Critical Journal of Philosophy), to which they each contributed pieces until the collaboration
was ended when Schelling left for Würzburg in 1803.
In 1805, the University promoted Hegel to the position of Extraordinary Professor (unsalaried) after he
wrote a letter to the poet and minister of culture Johann Wolfgang Goethe protesting at the promotion
of his philosophical adversary Jakob Friedrich Fries ahead of him.[40]:223 Hegel attempted to enlist the
help of the poet and translator Johann Heinrich Voß to obtain a post at the newly renascent University
of Heidelberg, but he failed; to his chagrin, Fries was later in the same year made Ordinary Professor
(salaried) there.[40]:224–25
"Hegel and Napoleon in Jena" (illustration from Harper's Magazine, 1895), whose meeting became
proverbial due to Hegel's notable use of Weltseele ("world-soul") in reference to Napoleon ("the world-
soul on horseback", die Weltseele zu Pferde)[52]
With his finances drying up quickly, Hegel was now under great pressure to deliver his book, the long-
promised introduction to his System. Hegel was putting the finishing touches to this book, The
Phenomenology of Spirit, as Napoleon engaged Prussian troops on 14 October 1806 in the Battle of
Jena on a plateau outside the city. On the day before the battle, Napoleon entered the city of Jena.
Hegel recounted his impressions in a letter to his friend Friedrich Immanuel Niethammer:
I saw the Emperor – this world-soul [Weltseele] – riding out of the city on reconnaissance. It is indeed a
wonderful sensation to see such an individual, who, concentrated here at a single point, astride a horse,
reaches out over the world and masters it.[53]
Pinkard (2000) notes that Hegel's comment to Niethammer "is all the more striking since at that point
he had already composed the crucial section of the Phenomenology in which he remarked that
the Revolution had now officially passed to another land (Germany) that would complete 'in thought'
what the Revolution had only partially accomplished in practice".[54] Although Napoleon chose not to
close down Jena as he had other universities, the city was devastated and students deserted the
university in droves, making Hegel's financial prospects even worse. The following February, Hegel's
landlady Christiana Burkhardt (who had been abandoned by her husband) gave birth to their son Georg
Ludwig Friedrich Fischer (1807–1831).[40]:192
In March 1807, Hegel moved to Bamberg, where Niethammer had declined and passed on to Hegel an
offer to become editor of a newspaper, the Bamberger Zeitung [de]. Unable to find more suitable
employment, Hegel reluctantly accepted. Ludwig Fischer and his mother (whom Hegel may have offered
to marry following the death of her husband) stayed behind in Jena.[40]:238
In November 1808, Hegel was again through Niethammer, appointed headmaster of
a Gymnasium in Nuremberg, a post he held until 1816. While in Nuremberg, Hegel adapted his recently
published Phenomenology of Spirit for use in the classroom. Part of his remit being to teach a class
called "Introduction to Knowledge of the Universal Coherence of the Sciences", Hegel developed the
idea of an encyclopedia of the philosophical sciences, falling into three parts (logic, philosophy of nature
and philosophy of spirit).[40]:337
In 1811, Hegel married Marie Helena Susanna von Tucher (1791–1855), the eldest daughter of a
Senator. This period saw the publication of his second major work, the Science of Logic (Wissenschaft
der Logik; 3 vols., 1812, 1813 and 1816), and the birth of his two legitimate sons, Karl Friedrich
Wilhelm (1813–1901) and Immanuel Thomas Christian (1814–1891).
Heidelberg and Berlin (1816–1831)
Having received offers of a post from the Universities of Erlangen, Berlin and Heidelberg, Hegel chose
Heidelberg, where he moved in 1816. Soon after, his illegitimate son Ludwig Fischer (now ten years old)
joined the Hegel household in April 1817, having thus far spent his childhood in an orphanage[40]:354–
55 as his mother had died in the meantime.[40]:356
Hegel published The Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences in Outline (1817) as a summary of his
philosophy for students attending his lectures at Heidelberg.
Hegel with his Berlin students
Sketch by Franz Kugler
In 1818, Hegel accepted the renewed offer of the chair of philosophy at the University of Berlin, which
had remained vacant since Johann Gottlieb Fichte's death in 1814. Here, Hegel published his Philosophy
of Right (1821). Hegel devoted himself primarily to delivering his lectures; and his lecture courses on
aesthetics, the philosophy of religion, the philosophy of history and the history of philosophy were
published posthumously from lecture notes taken by his students. His fame spread and his lectures
attracted students from all over Germany and beyond.
In 1819–1827, he made several trips to Weimar (twice), where he met Goethe, Brussels, the Northern
Netherlands, Leipzig, Vienna through Prague and Paris.[55]
Hegel was appointed Rector of the University in October 1829, but his term as Rector ended in
September 1830. Hegel was deeply disturbed by the riots for reform in Berlin in that year. In
1831, Frederick William III decorated him with the Order of the Red Eagle, 3rd Class for his service to the
Prussian state.[55] In August 1831, a cholera epidemic reached Berlin and Hegel left the city, taking up
lodgings in Kreuzberg. Now in a weak state of health, Hegel seldom went out. As the new semester
began in October, Hegel returned to Berlin with the (mistaken) impression that the epidemic had largely
subsided. By November 14, Hegel was dead. The physicians pronounced the cause of death as cholera,
but it is likely he died from a different gastrointestinal disease. He is said to have uttered the last words
"And he didn't understand me" before expiring.[56] In accordance with his wishes, Hegel was buried on
November 16 in the Dorotheenstadt cemetery next to Fichte and Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand Solger.
Hegel's son Ludwig Fischer had died shortly before while serving with the Dutch army in Batavia and the
news of his death never reached his father.[40]:548 Early the following year, Hegel's sister Christiane
committed suicide by drowning. Hegel's remaining two sons—Karl, who became a historian;
and Immanuel [de], who followed a theological path—lived long and safeguarded their
father's Nachlaß and produced editions of his works.
Philosophical work
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Hegelianism
Forerunners
Aristotle
Böhme
Rousseau
Kant
Goethe
Fichte
Hölderlin
Schelling
Successors
Feuerbach
Marx
Stirner
Gentile
Lukács
Kojève
Adorno
Habermas
Principal works
The Phenomenology of Spirit
Science of Logic
Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences
Lectures on Aesthetics
Elements of the Philosophy of Right
Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion
Lectures on the Philosophy of History
Lectures on the History of Philosophy
Schools
Absolute idealism
Hegelianism (dialectics)
British idealism
German idealism
Related topics
Right Hegelians
Young Hegelians
Freedom
Hegel's thinking can be understood as a constructive development within the broad tradition that
includes Plato and Immanuel Kant. To this list, one could add Proclus, Meister Eckhart, Gottfried
Wilhelm Leibniz, Plotinus, Jakob Böhme, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. What all these thinkers share,
which distinguishes them from materialists like Epicurus and Thomas Hobbes and
from empiricists like David Hume, is that they regard freedom or self-determination both as real and as
having important ontological implications for soul or mind or divinity. This focus on freedom is what
generates Plato's notion (in the Phaedo, Republic and Timaeus) of the soul as having a higher or fuller
kind of reality than inanimate objects possess. While Aristotle criticizes Plato's "Forms", he preserves
Plato's cornerstones of the ontological implications for self-determination: ethical reasoning, the soul's
pinnacle in the hierarchy of nature, the order of the cosmos and an assumption with reasoned
arguments for a prime mover. Kant imports Plato's high esteem of individual sovereignty to his
considerations of moral and noumenal freedom as well as to God. All three find common ground on the
unique position of humans in the scheme of things, known by the discussed categorical differences from
animals and inanimate objects.
In his discussion of "Spirit" in his Encyclopedia, Hegel praises Aristotle's On the Soul as "by far the most
admirable, perhaps even the sole, work of philosophical value on this topic".[57] In his Phenomenology
of Spirit and his Science of Logic, Hegel's concern with Kantian topics such as freedom and morality and
with their ontological implications is pervasive. Rather than simply rejecting Kant's dualism of freedom
versus nature, Hegel aims to subsume it within "true infinity", the "Concept" (or "Notion": Begriff),
"Spirit" and "ethical life" in such a way that the Kantian duality is rendered intelligible, rather than
remaining a brute "given".
The reason why this subsumption takes place in a series of concepts is that Hegel's method in
his Science of Logic and his Encyclopedia is to begin with basic concepts like "Being" and "Nothing" and
to develop these through a long sequence of elaborations, including those already mentioned. In this
manner, a solution that is reached in principle in the account of "true infinity" in the Science of Logic's
chapter on "Quality" is repeated in new guises at later stages, all the way to "Spirit" and "ethical life" in
the third volume of the Encyclopedia.
In this way, Hegel intends to defend the germ of truth in Kantian dualism against reductive or
eliminative programs like those of materialism and empiricism. Like Plato, with his dualism of soul versus
bodily appetites, Kant pursues the mind's ability to question its felt inclinations or appetites and to come
up with a standard of "duty" (or, in Plato's case, "good") which transcends bodily restrictiveness. Hegel
preserves this essential Platonic and Kantian concern in the form of infinity going beyond the finite (a
process that Hegel in fact relates to "freedom" and the "ought"),[58]:133–136, 138 the universal going
beyond the particular (in the Concept) and Spirit going beyond Nature. Hegel renders these dualities
intelligible by (ultimately) his argument in the "Quality" chapter of the "Science of Logic". The finite has
to become infinite in order to achieve reality. The idea of the absolute excludes multiplicity so the
subjective and objective must achieve synthesis to become whole. This is because as Hegel suggests by
his introduction of the concept of "reality",[58]:111 what determines itself—rather than depending on
its relations to other things for its essential character—is more fully "real" (following the Latin etymology
of "real", more "thing-like") than what does not. Finite things do not determine themselves because as
"finite" things their essential character is determined by their boundaries over against other finite
things, so in order to become "real" they must go beyond their finitude ("finitude is only as a
transcending of itself").[58]:145
The result of this argument is that finite and infinite—and by extension, particular and universal, nature
and freedom—do not face one another as two independent realities, but instead the latter (in each
case) is the self-transcending of the former.[58]:146 Rather than stress the distinct singularity of each
factor that complements and conflicts with others—without explanation—the relationship between
finite and infinite (and particular and universal and nature and freedom) becomes intelligible as a
progressively developing and self-perfecting whole.
Progress
The mystical writings of Jakob Böhme had a strong effect on Hegel.[59] Böhme had written that the Fall
of Man was a necessary stage in the evolution of the universe. This evolution was itself the result of
God's desire for complete self-awareness. Hegel was fascinated by the works of Kant, Rousseau
and Johann Wolfgang Goetheand by the French Revolution. Modern philosophy, culture and society
seemed to Hegel fraught with contradictions and tensions, such as those between the subject and
object of knowledge, mind and nature, self and Other, freedom and authority, knowledge and faith, or
the Enlightenment and Romanticism. Hegel's main philosophical project was to take these
contradictions and tensions and interpret them as part of a comprehensive, evolving, rational unity that
in different contexts he called "the absolute Idea" (Science of Logic, sections 1781–1783) or "absolute
knowledge" (Phenomenology of Spirit, "(DD) Absolute Knowledge").
According to Hegel, the main characteristic of this unity was that it evolved through and manifested
itself in contradiction and negation. Contradiction and negation have a dynamic quality that at every
point in each domain of reality—consciousness, history, philosophy, art, nature and society—leads to
further development until a rationalunity is reached that preserves the contradictions as phases and
sub-parts by lifting them up (Aufhebung) to a higher unity. This whole is mental because it is mind that
can comprehend all of these phases and sub-parts as steps in its own process of comprehension. It is
rational because the same, underlying, logical, developmental order underlies every domain of reality
and is ultimately the order of self-conscious rational thought, although only in the later stages of
development does it come to full self-consciousness. The rational, self-conscious whole is not a thing
or being that lies outside of other existing things or minds. Rather, it comes to completion only in the
philosophical comprehension of individual existing human minds who through their own understanding
bring this developmental process to an understanding of itself. Hegel's thought is revolutionary to the
extent that it is a philosophy of absolute negation—as long as absolute negation is at the center,
systematization remains open, and makes it possible for human beings to become subjects.[60]
"Mind" and "Spirit" are the common English translations of Hegel's use of the German "Geist".
Some[who?] have argued that either of these terms overly "psychologize" Hegel,[citation
needed] implying a kind of disembodied, solipsistic consciousness like ghost or "soul". Geist combines
the meaning of spirit—as in god, ghost, or mind—with an intentional force. In Hegel's early philosophy
of nature (draft manuscripts written during his time at the University of Jena), Hegel's notion of "Geist"
was tightly bound to the notion of "Aether", from which Hegel also derived the concepts
of space and time, but in his later works (after Jena) he did not explicitly use his old notion of "Aether"
anymore.[61]
Central to Hegel's conception of knowledge and mind (and therefore also of reality) was the notion
of identity in difference—that is, that mind externalizes itself in various forms and objects that stand
outside of it or opposed to it; and that through recognizing itself in them, is "with itself" in these
external manifestations so that they are at one and the same time mind and other-than-mind. This
notion of identity in difference, which is intimately bound up with his conception of contradiction and
negativity, is a principal feature differentiating Hegel's thought from that of other philosophers.[citation
needed]
Civil society
Civil society
Hegel made the distinction between civil society and state in his Elements of the Philosophy of Right.
[62] In this work, civil society (Hegel used the term "bürgerliche Gesellschaft" though it is now referred
to as Zivilgesellschaft in German to emphasize a more inclusive community) was a stage in the dialectical
relationship that occurs between Hegel's perceived opposites, the macro-community of the state and
the micro-community of the family.[63] Broadly speaking, the term was split, like Hegel's followers, to
the political left and right. On the left, it became the foundation for Karl Marx's civil society as
an economic base;[64] to the right, it became a description for all non-state (and the state is the peak of
the objective spirit) aspects of society, including culture, society and politics. This liberal distinction
between political society and civil society was followed by Alexis de Tocqueville.[64] In fact, Hegel's
distinctions as to what he meant by civil society are often unclear. For example, while it seems to be the
case that he felt that a civil society such as the German society in which he lived was an inevitable
movement of the dialectic, he made way for the crushing of other types of "lesser" and not fully realized
types of civil society as these societies were not fully conscious or aware—as it were—as to the lack of
progress in their societies. Thus, it was perfectly legitimate in the eyes of Hegel for a conqueror such as
Napoleon to come along and destroy that which was not fully realized.
State
Hegel's State is the final culmination of the embodiment of freedom or right (Rechte) in the Elements of
the Philosophy of Right. The State subsumes family and civil society and fulfills them. All three together
are called "ethical life" (Sittlichkeit). The State involves three "moments". In a Hegelian State, citizens
both know their place and choose their place. They both know their obligations and choose to fulfill
their obligations. An individual's "supreme duty is to be a member of the state" (Elements of the
Philosophy of Right, section 258). The individual has "substantial freedom in the state". The State is
"objective spirit" so "it is only through being a member of the state that the individual himself has
objectivity, truth, and ethical life" (section 258). Furthermore, every member both loves the State with
genuine patriotism, but has transcended mere "team spirit" by reflectively endorsing their citizenship.
Members of a Hegelian State are happy even to sacrifice their lives for the State.
Heraclitus
According to Hegel, "Heraclitus is the one who first declared the nature of the infinite and first grasped
nature as in itself infinite, that is, its essence as process. The origin of philosophy is to be dated from
Heraclitus. His is the persistent Idea that is the same in all philosophers up to the present day, as it was
the Idea of Plato and Aristotle".[65] For Hegel, Heraclitus's great achievements were to have understood
the nature of the infinite, which for Hegel includes understanding the inherent contradictoriness and
negativity of reality; and to have grasped that reality is becoming or process and that "being" and
"nothingness" are mere empty abstractions. According to Hegel, Heraclitus's "obscurity" comes from his
being a true (in Hegel's terms "speculative") philosopher who grasped the ultimate philosophical truth
and therefore expressed himself in a way that goes beyond the abstract and limited nature of common
sense and is difficult to grasp by those who operate within common sense. Hegel asserted that in
Heraclitus he had an antecedent for his logic: "[...] there is no proposition of Heraclitus which I have not
adopted in my logic".[66]
Hegel cites a number of fragments of Heraclitus in his Lectures on the History of Philosophy.[67] One to
which he attributes great significance is the fragment he translates as "Being is not more than Non-
being", which he interprets to mean the following:
Sein und Nichts sei dasselbe
Being and non-being are the same.
Heraclitus does not form any abstract nouns from his ordinary use of "to be" and "to become" and in
that fragment seems to be opposing any identity A to any other identity B, C and so on, which is not-A.
However, Hegel interprets not-A as not existing at all, not nothing at all, which cannot be conceived, but
indeterminate or "pure" being without particularity or specificity.[68] Pure being and pure non-being or
nothingness are for Hegel pure abstractions from the reality of becoming and this is also how he
interprets Heraclitus. This interpretation of Heraclitus cannot be ruled out, but even if present is not the
main gist of his thought.
For Hegel, the inner movement of reality is the process of God thinking as manifested in the evolution of
the universe of nature and thought; that is, Hegel argued that when fully and properly
understood, reality is being thought by God as manifested in a person's comprehension of this process
in and through philosophy. Since human thought is the image and fulfillment of God's thought, God is
not ineffable (so incomprehensible as to be unutterable), but can be understood by an analysis of
thought and reality. Just as humans continually correct their concepts of reality through a dialectical
process, so God himself becomes more fully manifested through the dialectical process of becoming.
For his god, Hegel does not take the logos of Heraclitus but refers rather to the nous of Anaxagoras,
although he may well have regarded them the same as he continues to refer to god's plan, which is
identical to God. Whatever the nous thinks at any time is actual substance and is identical to limited
being, but more remains to be thought in the substrate of non-being, which is identical to pure or
unlimited thought.
The universe as becoming is therefore a combination of being and non-being. The particular is never
complete in itself, but to find completion is continually transformed into more comprehensive, complex,
self-relating particulars. The essential nature of being-for-itself is that it is free "in itself;" that is, it does
not depend on anything else such as matter for its being. The limitations represent fetters, which it must
constantly be casting off as it becomes freer and more self-determining.[69]
Although Hegel began his philosophizing with commentary on the Christian religion and often expresses
the view that he is a Christian, his ideas of God are not acceptable to some Christians even though he
has had a major influence on 19th- and 20th-century theology.
Religion
As a graduate of a Protestant seminary, Hegel's theological concerns were reflected in many of his
writings and lectures.[70] Hegel's thoughts on the person of Jesus Christ stood out from the theologies
of the Enlightenment. In his posthumously published Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion, Part 3,
Hegel is shown as being particularly interested with the demonstrations of God's existence and the
ontological proof.[71] He espouses that "God is not an abstraction but a concrete God [...] God,
considered in terms of his eternal Idea, has to generate the Son, has to distinguish himself from himself;
he is the process of differentiating, namely, love and Spirit". This means that Jesus as the Son of God is
posited by God over against himself as other. Hegel sees both a relational unity and a metaphysical unity
between Jesus and God the Father. To Hegel, Jesus is both divine and human. Hegel further attests that
God (as Jesus) not only died, but "[...] rather, a reversal takes place: God, that is to say, maintains
himself in the process, and the latter is only the death of death. God rises again to life, and thus things
are reversed".
The philosopher Walter Kaufmann has argued that there was great stress on the sharp criticisms of
traditional Christianity appearing in Hegel's so-called early theological writings. Kaufmann admits that
Hegel treated many distinctively Christian themes and "sometimes could not resist equating" his
conception of spirit (Geist) "with God, instead of saying clearly: in God I do not believe; spirit suffices
me".[72] Kaufmann also points out that Hegel's references to God or to the divine—and also to spirit—
drew on classical Greek as well as Christian connotations of the terms. Kaufmann goes on:
In addition to his beloved Greeks, Hegel saw before him the example of Spinoza and, in his own time,
the poetry of Goethe, Schiller, and Hölderlin, who also liked to speak of gods and the divine. So he, too,
sometimes spoke of God and, more often, of the divine; and because he occasionally took pleasure in
insisting that he was really closer to this or that Christian tradition than some of the theologians of his
time, he has sometimes been understood to have been a Christian.[73]
According to Hegel himself, his philosophy was consistent with Christianity.[74] This led Hegelian
philosopher, jurist and politician Carl Friedrich Göschel [de] (1784–1861) to write a treatise
demonstrating the consistency of Hegel's philosophy with the Christian doctrine of the immortality of
the human soul. Göschel's book on this subject was titled Von den Beweisen für die Unsterblichkeit der
menschlichen Seele im Lichte der spekulativen Philosophie: eine Ostergabe (Berlin: Verlag von Duncker
und Humblot, 1835).[75][76][77]
Hegel seemed to have an ambivalent relationship with magic, myth and Paganism. He formulates an
early philosophical example of a disenchantment narrative, arguing that Judaism was responsible both
for realizing the existence of Geist and, by extension, for separating nature from ideas of spiritual and
magical forces and challenging polytheism.[78] However, Hegel's manuscript "The Oldest Systematic
Program of German Idealism" suggests that Hegel was concerned about the perceived decline in myth
and enchantment in his age, and that he therefore called for a "new myth" to fill the cultural vacuum.
[79]
Works
Hegel published four works during his lifetime:
(1) The Phenomenology of Spirit (or The Phenomenology of Mind), his account of the evolution of
consciousness from sense-perception to absolute knowledge, published in 1807.
(2) Science of Logic, the logical and metaphysical core of his philosophy, in three volumes (1812, 1813
and 1816, respectively), with a revised first volume published in 1831.
(3) Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences, a summary of his entire philosophical system, which was
originally published in 1816 and revised in 1827 and 1830.
(4) Elements of the Philosophy of Right, his political philosophy, published in 1820.
Posthumous works
During the last ten years of his life, Hegel did not publish another book, but thoroughly revised
the Encyclopedia (second edition, 1827; third, 1830).[80] In his political philosophy, he criticized Karl
Ludwig von Haller's reactionary work, which claimed that laws were not necessary. He also published
some articles early in his career and during his Berlin period. A number of other works on the philosophy
of history, religion, aesthetics and the history of philosophy[81] were compiled from the lecture notes of
his students and published posthumously.
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich (1996) [1892 Kegan Paul]. Haldane, Elizabeth Sanderson,
ed. Vorlesungen über die Geschichte der Philosophie [Hegel's Lectures on the history of
philosophy]. Humanities Press International. ISBN 978-0-391-03957-5. (full text at Internet Archive) (see
also Lectures on the History of Philosophy)
Legacy
Hegel's tombstone in Berlin
Hegelianism
There are views of Hegel's thought as a representation of the summit of early 19th-century Germany's
movement of philosophical idealism. It would come to have a profound impact on many future
philosophical schools, including schools that opposed Hegel's specific dialectical idealism, such
as existentialism, the historical materialism of Marx, historism and British Idealism.
Hegel's influence was immense both within philosophy and in the other sciences. Throughout the 19th
century many chairs of philosophy around Europe were held by Hegelians and Søren
Kierkegaard, Ludwig Feuerbach, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels—among many others—were all deeply
influenced by, but also strongly opposed to many of the central themes of Hegel's philosophy. Scholars
continue to find and point out Hegelian influences and approaches in a wide range of theoretical and/or
learned works, such as Carl von Clausewitz's magnum opus on strategic thought, On War (1831).
[82] After less than a generation, Hegel's philosophy was suppressed and even banned by
the Prussian right-wing and was firmly rejected by the left-wing in multiple official writings.
After the period of Bruno Bauer, Hegel's influence did not make itself felt again until the philosophy of
British Idealism and the 20th-century Hegelian Western Marxism that began with György Lukács. The
more recent movement of communitarianism has a strong Hegelian influence.
Reading Hegel
Some of Hegel's writing was intended for those with advanced knowledge of philosophy, although
his Encyclopedia was intended as a textbook in a university course. Nevertheless, Hegel assumes that his
readers are well-versed in Western philosophy. Especially crucial are Aristotle, Immanuel Kant and
Kant's immediate successors, most prominently Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph
Schelling. Those without this background would be well-advised to begin with one of the many general
introductions to his thought. As is always the case, difficulties are magnified for those reading him in
translation. In fact, Hegel himself argues in his Science of Logic that the German language was
particularly conducive to philosophical thought.[83]
According to Walter Kaufmann, the basic idea of Hegel's works, especially the Phenomenology of Spirit,
is that a philosopher should not "confine him or herself to views that have been held but penetrate
these to the human reality they reflect". In other words, it is not enough to consider propositions, or
even the content of consciousness; "it is worthwhile to ask in every instance what kind of spirit would
entertain such propositions, hold such views, and have such a consciousness. Every outlook in other
words, is to be studied not merely as an academic possibility but as an existential reality".[84] Kaufmann
has argued that as unlikely as it may sound, it is not the case that Hegel was unable to write clearly, but
that Hegel felt that "he must and should not write in the way in which he was gifted".[85]
Left and right Hegelianism
Some historians have spoken of Hegel's influence as represented by two opposing camps. The Right
Hegelians, the allegedly direct disciples of Hegel at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, advocated
a Protestant orthodoxy and the political conservatism of the post-Napoleon Restoration period. Today
this faction continues among conservative Protestants, such as the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran
Synod, which was founded by missionaries from Germany when the Hegelian Right was active. The Left
Hegelians, also known as the Young Hegelians, interpreted Hegel in a revolutionary sense, leading to an
advocation of atheism in religion and liberal democracy in politics.
In more recent studies, this paradigm has been questioned.[86] No Hegelians of the period ever referred
to themselves as "Right Hegelians", which was a term of insult originated by David Strauss, a self-styled
Left Hegelian. Critiques of Hegel offered from the Left Hegelians radically diverted Hegel's thinking into
new directions and eventually came to form a disproportionately large part of the literature on and
about Hegel.
The Left Hegelians also influenced Marxism, which inspired global movements, encompassing
the Russian Revolution, the Chinese Revolution and myriad revolutionary practices up until the present
moment.
20th-century interpretations of Hegel were mostly shaped by British idealism, logical
positivism, Marxism and Fascism. According to Benedetto Croce, the Italian Fascist Giovanni
Gentile "holds the honor of having been the most rigorous neo-Hegelian in the entire history of Western
philosophy and the dishonor of having been the official philosopher of Fascism in Italy".[87] However,
since the fall of the Soviet Union a new wave of Hegel scholarship arose in the West without the
preconceptions of the prior schools of thought. Walter Jaeschke [de] and Otto Pöggeler in Germany as
well as Peter Hodgson and Howard Kainz in the United States are notable for their recent contributions
to post-Soviet Union thinking about Hegel.
Triads
Thesis, antithesis, synthesis
In previous modern accounts of Hegelianism (to undergraduate classes, for example), especially those
formed prior to the Hegel renaissance, Hegel's dialectic was most often characterized as a three-step
process, "thesis, antithesis, synthesis"; namely, that a "thesis" (e.g. the French Revolution) would cause
the creation of its "antithesis" (e.g. the Reign of Terror that followed) and would eventually result in a
"synthesis" (e.g. the constitutional state of free citizens). However, Hegel used this classification only
once and he attributed the terminology to Kant. The terminology was largely developed earlier by
Fichte. It was spread by Heinrich Moritz Chalybäusin accounts of Hegelian philosophy and since then the
terms have been used as descriptive of this type of framework.
The "thesis–antithesis–synthesis" approach gives the sense that things or ideas are contradicted or
opposed by things that come from outside them. To the contrary, the fundamental notion of Hegel's
dialectic is that things or ideas have internal contradictions. From Hegel's point of view, analysis or
comprehension of a thing or idea reveals that underneath its apparently simple identity or unity is an
underlying inner contradiction. This contradiction leads to the dissolution of the thing or idea in the
simple form in which it presented itself and to a higher-level, more complex thing or idea that more
adequately incorporates the contradiction. The triadic form that appears in many places in Hegel (e.g.
being–nothingness–becoming, immediate–mediate–concrete and abstract–negative–concrete) is about
this movement from inner contradiction to higher-level integration or unification.
For Hegel, reason is but "speculative", not "dialectical".[88] Believing that the traditional description of
Hegel's philosophy in terms of thesis–antithesis–synthesis was mistaken, a few scholars like Raya
Dunayevskaya have attempted to discard the triadic approach altogether. According to their argument,
although Hegel refers to "the two elemental considerations: first, the idea of freedom as the absolute
and final aim; secondly, the means for realising it, i.e. the subjective side of knowledge and will, with its
life, movement, and activity" (thesis and antithesis), he does not use "synthesis", but instead speaks of
the "Whole": "We then recognised the State as the moral Whole and the Reality of Freedom, and
consequently as the objective unity of these two elements". Furthermore, in Hegel's language the
"dialectical" aspect or "moment" of thought and reality, by which things or thoughts turn into their
opposites or have their inner contradictions brought to the surface, what he called Aufhebung, is only
preliminary to the "speculative" (and not "synthesizing") aspect or "moment", which grasps the unity of
these opposites or contradiction.
It is widely admitted today that the old-fashioned description of Hegel's philosophy in terms of thesis–
antithesis–synthesis is inaccurate. Nevertheless, such is the persistence of this misnomer that the model
and terminology survive in a number of scholarly works.[89]
Renaissance
In the last half of the 20th century, Hegel's philosophy underwent a major renaissance. This was due to
(a) the rediscovery and re-evaluation of Hegel as a possible philosophical progenitor of Marxism by
philosophically oriented Marxists; (b) a resurgence of the historical perspective that Hegel brought to
everything; and (c) an increasing recognition of the importance of his dialectical method. György
Lukács' History and Class Consciousness (1923) helped to reintroduce Hegel into the Marxist canon. This
sparked a renewed interest in Hegel reflected in the work of Herbert Marcuse, Theodor W.
Adorno, Ernst Bloch, Raya Dunayevskaya, Alexandre Kojèveand Gotthard Günther among others.
In Reason and Revolution (1941), Herbert Marcuse made the case for Hegel as a revolutionary and
criticized Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse's thesis that Hegel was a totalitarian.[90] The Hegel renaissance
also highlighted the significance of Hegel's early works, i.e. those written before The Phenomenology of
Spirit. The direct and indirect influence of Kojève's lectures and writings (on The Phenomenology of
Spirit in particular) mean that it is not possible to understand most French philosophers from Jean-Paul
Sartre to Jacques Derrida without understanding Hegel.[91] American neoconservative political
theorist Francis Fukuyama's controversial book The End of History and the Last Man (1992) was heavily
influenced by Kojève.[92] The Swiss theologian Hans Küng has also advanced contemporary scholarship
in Hegel studies.[citation needed]
Beginning in the 1960s, Anglo-American Hegel scholarship has attempted to challenge the traditional
interpretation of Hegel as offering a metaphysical system: this has also been the approach of Z. A.
Pelczynski and Shlomo Avineri. This view, sometimes referred to as the "non-metaphysical option", has
had a decided influence on many major English language studies of Hegel in the past forty years.
Late 20th-century literature in Western Theology that is friendly to Hegel includes works by such writers
as Walter Kaufmann (1966), Dale M. Schlitt (1984), Theodore Geraets (1985), Philip M.
Merklinger (1991), Stephen Rocker (1995) and Cyril O'Regan (1995).
Two prominent American philosophers, John McDowell and Robert Brandom (sometimes referred to as
the "Pittsburgh Hegelians"), have produced philosophical works exhibiting a marked Hegelian influence.
Each is avowedly influenced by the late Wilfred Sellars, also of Pittsburgh, who referred to his seminal
work Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind (1956) as a series of "incipient Méditations Hegeliennes"
(in homage to Edmund Husserl's 1931 work, Méditations cartésiennes).
Beginning in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union, a fresh reading of Hegel took place in the West.
For these scholars, fairly well represented by the Hegel Society of America and in cooperation with
German scholars such as Otto Pöggeler and Walter Jaeschke, Hegel's works should be read without
preconceptions. Marx plays little-to-no role in these new readings. Some American philosophers
associated with this movement include Lawrence Stepelevich, Rudolf Siebert, Richard Dien Winfield and
Theodore Geraets.
Criticism
Criticism of Hegel has been widespread in the 19th and the 20th centuries. A diverse range of individuals
including Arthur Schopenhauer, Karl Marx, Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Bertrand Russell, G.
E. Moore, Franz Rosenzweig, Eric Voegelin and A. J. Ayer have challenged Hegelian philosophy from a
variety of perspectives. Among the first to take a critical view of Hegel's system was the 19th-century
German group known as the Young Hegelians, which included Feuerbach, Marx, Engels and their
followers. In Britain, the Hegelian British idealism school (members of which included Francis Herbert
Bradley, Bernard Bosanquetand in the United States Josiah Royce) was challenged and rejected
by analytic philosophers Moore and Russell. In particular, Russell considered "almost all" of Hegel's
doctrines to be false.[93] Regarding Hegel's interpretation of history, Russell commented: "Like other
historical theories, it required, if it was to be made plausible, some distortion of facts and considerable
ignorance".[94] Logical positivists such as Ayer and the Vienna Circle criticized both Hegelian philosophy
and its supporters, such as Bradley.
Hegel's contemporary Schopenhauer was particularly critical and wrote of Hegel's philosophy as "a
pseudo-philosophy paralyzing all mental powers, stifling all real thinking".[95] In 1820, Schopenhauer
became a lecturer at the University of Berlin and he scheduled his lectures to coincide with those of
Hegel, whom Schopenhauer had also described as a "clumsy charlatan".[96] However, only five students
ended up attending Schopenhauer's lectures so he dropped out of academia. Kierkegaard criticized
Hegel's "absolute knowledge" unity.[97] The physicist and philosopher Ludwig Boltzmann also criticized
the obscure complexity of Hegel's works, referring to Hegel's writing as an "unclear thoughtless flow of
words".[98] In a similar vein, Robert Pippin notes that some view Hegel as having "the ugliest prose style
in the history of the German language".[99] Russell wrote in A History of Western Philosophy (1945) that
Hegel was "the hardest to understand of all the great philosophers".[100] Karl Popper quoted
Schopenhauer as stating, "Should you ever intend to dull the wits of a young man and to incapacitate his
brains for any kind of thought whatever, then you cannot do better than give Hegel to read...A guardian
fearing that his ward might become too intelligent for his schemes might prevent this misfortune by
innocently suggesting the reading of Hegel."[101]
Karl Popper wrote that "there is so much philosophical writing (especially in the Hegelian school) which
may justly be criticised as meaningless verbiage".[102] Popper also makes the claim in the second
volume of The Open Society and Its Enemies (1945) that Hegel's system formed a thinly veiled
justification for the absolute rule of Frederick William III and that Hegel's idea of the ultimate goal of
history was to reach a state approximating that of 1830s Prussia. Popper further proposed that Hegel's
philosophy served not only as an inspiration for communist and fascist totalitarian governments of the
20th century, whose dialectics allow for any belief to be construed as rational simply if it could be said to
exist. Kaufmann and Shlomo Avineri have criticized Popper's theories about Hegel.[103]
Isaiah Berlin listed Hegel as one of the six architects of modern authoritarianism who undermined liberal
democracy, along with Rousseau, Claude Adrien Helvétius, Fichte, Saint-Simon and Joseph de Maistre.
[104]
Voegelin argued that Hegel should be understood not as a philosopher, but as a "sorcerer", i.e. as
a mystic and hermetic thinker.[105] This concept of Hegel as a hermetic thinker was elaborated by
Glenn Alexander Magee,[106] who argued that interpreting Hegel's body of work as an expression of
mysticism and hermetic ideas leads to a more accurate understanding of Hegel.[107]
Selected works
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel bibliography
Published during Hegel's lifetime
Differenz des Fichteschen und Schellingschen Systems der Philosophie, 1801
The Difference Between Fichte's and Schelling's Systems of Philosophy, tr. H. S. Harris and Walter Cerf,
1977
Phänomenologie des Geistes, 1807
Phenomenology of Mind, tr. J. B. Baillie, 1910; 2nd ed. 1931
Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, tr. A. V. Miller, 1977
Phenomenology of Spirit, translated by Terry Pinkard, 2012
Wissenschaft der Logik, 1812, 1813, 1816, "Doctrine of Being" revised 1831
Science of Logic, tr. W. H. Johnston and L. G. Struthers, 2 vols., 1929; tr. A. V. Miller, 1969; tr. George di
Giovanni, 2010
Enzyklopädie der philosophischen Wissenschaften, 1817; 2nd ed. 1827; 3rd ed. 1830 (Encyclopedia of
the Philosophical Sciences)
(Pt. I:) The Logic of Hegel, tr. William Wallace, 1874, 2nd ed. 1892; tr. T. F. Geraets, W. A. Suchting and H.
S. Harris, 1991; tr. Klaus Brinkmann and Daniel O. Dahlstrom 2010
(Pt. II:) Hegel's Philosophy of Nature, tr. A. V. Miller, 1970
(Pt. III:) Hegel's Philosophy of Mind, tr. William Wallace, 1894; rev. by A. V. Miller, 1971; rev. 2007 by
Michael Inwood
Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts, 1821
Elements of the Philosophy of Right, tr. T. M. Knox, 1942; tr. H. B. Nisbet, ed. Allen W. Wood, 1991
Published posthumously
Lectures on Aesthetics
Lectures on the Philosophy of History (also translated as Lectures on the Philosophy of World History),
1837
Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion
Lectures on the History of Philosophy
Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)
Robert Brown FRSE FRS FLS MWS (21 December 1773 – 10 June 1858) was a
Scottish botanist and palaeobotanistwho made important contributions to botany largely through his
pioneering use of the microscope. His contributions include one of the earliest detailed descriptions of
the cell nucleus and cytoplasmic streaming; the observation of Brownian motion; early work on
plant pollination and fertilisation, including being the first to recognise the fundamental difference
between gymnosperms and angiosperms; and some of the earliest studies in palynology. He also made
numerous contributions to plant taxonomy, notably erecting a number of plant families that are still
accepted today; and numerous Australian plant genera and species, the fruit of his exploration of that
continent with Matthew Flinders.
Robert Brown
Robert Brown in 1855
Born 21 December 1773
Montrose, Scotland, UK
Died 10 June 1858 (aged 84)
17 Dean St, Soho Square, London,
England[1]
Nationality Scottish
Citizenship British
Alma mater University of AberdeenUniversity of
Edinburgh
Known for Brownian motion
Scientific career
Fields Botany
Author abbrev. R.Br.
(botany)
Early life.
Brown was born in Montrose on 21 December 1773. He was the son of James Brown, a minister in
the Scottish Episcopal Church with Jacobite convictions so strong that in 1788 he defied his church's
decision to give allegiance to George III. His mother was Helen Brown née Taylor, the daughter of
a Presbyterian minister. As a child Brown attended the local Grammar School (now called Montrose
Academy), then Marischal College at Aberdeen, but withdrew in his fourth year when the family moved
to Edinburgh in 1790. His father died late the following year.[2]
Brown enrolled to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh, but developed an interest in botany,
and ended up spending more of his time on the latter than the former. He attended the lectures of John
Walker; made botanical expeditions into the Scottish Highlands, alone or with nurserymen such
as George Don; and wrote out meticulous botanical descriptions of the plants he collected. He also
began corresponding with and collecting for William Withering, one of the foremost British botanists of
his day. Highlights for Brown during this period include his discovery of a new species of
grass, Alopecurus alpinus; and his first botanical paper, "The botanical history of Angus", read to the
Edinburgh Natural History Society in January 1792, but not published in print in Brown's lifetime.[3]
Brown as a young man
Brown dropped out of his medical course in 1793. Late in 1794, he enlisted in the Fifeshire Fencibles,
and his regiment was posted to Ireland shortly after. In June 1795 he was appointed Surgeon's Mate. His
regiment saw very little action, however, he had a good deal of leisure time, almost all of which he spent
on botany. He was frustrated by his itinerant lifestyle, which prevented him from building his personal
library and specimen collection as he would have liked, and cut him off from the most important
herbaria and libraries.[4]
During this period Brown was especially interested in cryptogams, and these would be the subject of
Brown's first, albeit unattributed, publication. Brown began a correspondence with James Dickson, and
by 1796 was sending him specimens and descriptions of mosses. Dickson incorporated Brown's
descriptions into his Fasciculi plantarum cryptogamicarum britanniae, with Brown's permission but
without any attribution.[4]
By 1800, Brown was firmly established amongst Irish botanists, and was corresponding with a number of
British and foreign botanists, including Withering, Dickson, James Edward Smith and José Correia da
Serra. He had been nominated to the Linnean Society of London; had contributed to Dickson's Fasciculi;
was acknowledged in a number of other works; and had had a species of algae, Conferva
brownii (now Aegagropila linnaei) named after him by Lewis Weston Dillwyn. He had also begun
experimenting with microscopy. However, as an army surgeon stationed in Ireland there seemed little
prospect of him attracting the notice of those who could offer him a career in botany.[4]
To Australia on the Investigator
In 1798, Brown heard that Mungo Park had withdrawn from a proposed expedition into the interior
of New Holland (now Australia), leaving a vacancy for a naturalist. At Brown's request, Correia wrote
to Sir Joseph Banks, suggesting Brown as a suitable replacement:
Science is the gainer in this change of man; Mr Brown being a professed naturalist. He is a Scotchman, fit
to pursue an object with constance and cold mind.
He was not selected, and the expedition did not end up going ahead as originally proposed,
though George Caley was sent to New South Wales as a botanical collector for Banks. In 1800,
however, Matthew Flinders put to Banks a proposal for an expedition that would answer the question
whether New Holland was one island or several. Banks approved Flinders' proposal, and in December
1800 wrote to Brown offering him the position of naturalist to the expedition. Brown accepted
immediately.[5]
Preparations
Brown was told to expect to sail at the end of 1800, only a few weeks after being offered the position. A
succession of delays meant the voyage did not get under way until July 1801. Brown spent much of the
meantime preparing for the voyage by studying Banks' Australian plant specimens and copying out
notes and descriptions for use on the voyage.[6]
Though Brown's brief was collect scientific specimens of all sorts, he was told to give priority to plants,
insects, and birds, and to treat other fields, such as geology, as secondary pursuits. In addition to Brown,
the scientific staff comprised the renowned botanical illustrator Ferdinand Bauer; the gardener Peter
Good, whose task was to collect live plants and viable seed for the use of Kew Gardens; the miner John
Allen, appointed as mineralogist; the landscape artist William Westall; and the astronomer John Crosley,
who would fall ill on the voyage out and leave the ship at the Cape of Good Hope, being belatedly
replaced at Sydney by James Inman. Brown was given authority over Bauer and Good, both of whom
were instructed to give any specimens they might collect to Brown, rather than forming separate
collections. Both men would provide enthusiastic and hard-working companions for Brown, and thus
Brown's specimen collections contain material collected by all three men.[6]
Desertas, Madeira and the Cape of Good Hope[edit]
Investigator sailed from London on 18 July. They made brief landfalls at Bugio Island (Desertas Islands)
and Madeira, but Brown was disappointed to collect almost nothing of note from either site. They
arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on 16 October, staying a little over two weeks, during which time
Brown made extensive botanical expeditions, and climbed Table Mountain at least twice. Many years
later he would write to William Henry Harvey, who was considering emigrating there, that "some of the
pleasantest botanizing he ever had was on Devil's Mountain, near Cape Town, and he thought I could
not pitch on a more delightful field of study."[7]Amongst the plants collected at the Cape were two new
species of Serruria (Proteaceae), S. foeniculacea and S. flagellaris.[8]
Australia
Investigator arrived in King George Sound in what is now Western Australia in December 1801. For three
and a half years Brown did intensive botanic research in Australia, collecting about 3400 species, of
which about 2000 were previously unknown. A large part of this collection was lost when Porpoise was
wrecked en route to England.
Brown remained in Australia until May 1805. He then returned to Britain where he spent the next five
years working on the material he had gathered. He published numerous species descriptions; in Western
Australia alone he is the author of nearly 1200 species. The list of major Australian genera that he
named
includes: Livistona, Triodia, Eriachne, Caladenia, Isolepis, Prasophyllum, Pterostylis, Patersonia, Conostyli
s, Thysanotus, Pityrodia, Hemigenia, Lechenaultia, Eremophila, Logania, Dryandra, Isopogon, Grevillea, P
etrophile, Telopea, Leptomeria, Jacksonia, Leucopogon, Stenopetalum, Ptilotus, Sclerolaena and Rhagod
ia.[9]
Subsequent career
Distinguished Men of Science.[10] Use your cursor to see who is who.[11]
In early 1809 he read his paper called On the natural order of plants called Proteaceae to the Linnean
Society of London. This was subsequently published in March 1810 as On the Proteaceae of Jussieu. It is
significant for its contribution to the systematics of Proteaceae, and to the floristics of Australia, and also
for its application of palynology to systematics. This work was extensively plagiarised by Richard
Anthony Salisbury, who had memorised much of the Linnean reading and then inserted it in Joseph
Knight's 1809 publication On the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of Proteeae.
In 1810, he published the results of his collecting in his famous Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et
Insulae Van Diemen, the first systematic account of the Australian flora. That year, he succeeded Jonas
C. Dryander as Sir Joseph Banks' librarian, and on Banks' death in 1820 Brown inherited
his library and herbarium. This was transferred to the British Museum in 1827, and Brown was
appointed Keeper of the Banksian Botanical Collection.
In 1818 he published Observations, systematical and geographical, on the herbarium collected by
Professor Christian Smith, in the vicinity of the Congo. In 1822, he was elected a Fellow of the Linnean
Society and a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 1827 he became
correspondent of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands, three years later he became associated
member. When the institute became the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1851
Brown joined as foreign member.[12] He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1849.[13]
In a paper read to the Linnean society in 1831 and published in 1833, Brown named the cell nucleus. The
nucleus had been observed before, perhaps as early as 1682 by the Dutch microscopist Leeuwenhoek,
and Franz Bauer had noted and drawn it as a regular feature of plant cells in 1802, but it was Brown who
gave it the name it bears to this day (while giving credit to Bauer's drawings). Neither Bauer nor Brown
thought the nucleus to be universal, and Brown thought it to be primarily confined to Monocotyledons.
[14]
After the division of the Natural History Department of the British Museum into three sections in 1837,
Robert Brown became the first Keeper of the Botanical Department, remaining so until his death. He
was succeeded by John Joseph Bennett.
He served as President of the Linnean Society from 1849 to 1853.
Brown died at 17 Dean Street, Soho Square in London, on 10 June 1858.[1][15][16] He was buried
in Kensal Green Cemetery in London.
Brown's name is commemorated in the Australia herb genus Brunonia as well as numerous Australian
species such as Eucalyptus brownii, Banksia brownii and the moss Brown's Tetrodontium
Moss (Tetrodontium brownianum), a species which he discovered growing
at Roslin near Edinburgh whilst still a student. The plant can still be found at the site of its discovery.
[17] Passing through the suburb of Kingston, south of Hobart, Tasmania, formerly Van Diemen's Land,
is Brown's River, named in his honor, upon the banks of which, he collected botanical samples. In South
Australia, Mount Brown and Point Brown (near Smoky Bay) were named for him by Flinders during
the Investigator expedition.[18] Mount Brown in British Columbia, Canada is named for him.[19]
In 1938 the London County Council commemorated Brown, as well as botanists Joseph Banks and David
Don, and meetings of the Linnean Society, with a rectangular stone plaque at 32 Soho Square.[20]
The standard author abbreviation R.Br. is used to indicate this person as the author
when citing a botanical name.[21]
Brownian motion
In 1827, while examining grains of pollen of the plant Clarkia pulchella suspended in water under
a microscope, Brown observed minute particles, now known to be amyloplasts (starch organelles) and
spherosomes (lipid organelles), ejected from the pollen grains, executing a continuous jittery motion. He
then observed the same motion in particles of inorganic matter, enabling him to rule out the hypothesis
that the effect was life-related. Although Brown did not provide a theory to explain the motion, and Jan
Ingenhousz already had reported a similar effect using charcoal particles, in German and French
publications of 1784 and 1785,[22] the phenomenon is now known as Brownian motion.
In recent years controversy arose over whether Brown's microscopes were insufficient to reveal
phenomena of this order. Brown's re-discoveries were denied in a brief paper in 1991.[23] Shortly
thereafter, in an illustrated presentation, British microscopist Brian J. Ford presented to Inter Micro
1991 in Chicago a reprise of the demonstration using Brown's original microscope. His video sequences
substantiated Brown's observations, suggesting Brown's microscope was sufficient to allow him to see
motion.[24] Physicist Phil Pearle and colleagues presented a detailed discussion of Brown's original
observations of particles from pollen of Clarkia pulchellaundergoing Brownian motion, including the
relevant history, botany, microscopy, and physics.[25]
Publications
For a list of Brown's publications, see Wikisource:Author:Robert Brown.
Brown's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia
List of Australian plant species authored by Robert Brown
European and American voyages of scientific exploration
Archimedes
Archimedes of Syracuse (/ˌɑːrkɪˈmiːdiːz/;[2] Greek: Ἀρχιμήδης; c. 287 – c. 212 BC) was
a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer.[3] Although few details of his life
are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity. Generally considered the
greatest mathematician of antiquity and one of the greatest of all time,[4][5][6][7][8][9] Archimedes
anticipated modern calculus and analysis by applying concepts of infinitesimals and the method of
exhaustion to derive and rigorously prove a range of geometrical theorems, including the area of a
circle, the surface area and volume of a sphere, and the area under a parabola.[10]
Other mathematical achievements include deriving an accurate approximation of pi, defining and
investigating the spiralbearing his name, and creating a system using exponentiation for expressing very
large numbers. He was also one of the first to apply mathematics to physical phenomena,
founding hydrostatics and statics, including an explanation of the principle of the lever. He is credited
with designing innovative machines, such as his screw pump, compound pulleys, and defensive war
machines to protect his native Syracuse from invasion.
Archimedes died during the Siege of Syracuse when he was killed by a Roman soldier despite orders that
he should not be harmed. Cicero describes visiting the tomb of Archimedes, which was surmounted by
a sphere and a cylinder, which Archimedes had requested be placed on his tomb to represent his
mathematical discoveries.
Archimedes of Syracuse
Archimedes Thoughtful
by Domenico Fetti (1620)
Unlike his inventions, the mathematical writings of Archimedes were little known in antiquity.
Mathematicians from Alexandria read and quoted him, but the first comprehensive compilation was not
made until c. 530 AD by Isidore of Miletus in Byzantine Constantinople, while commentaries on the
works of Archimedes written by Eutocius in the sixth century AD opened them to wider readership for
the first time. The relatively few copies of Archimedes' written work that survived through the Middle
Ages were an influential source of ideas for scientists during the Renaissance,[11][12] while the
discovery in 1906 of previously unknown works by Archimedes in the Archimedes Palimpsest has
provided new insights into how he obtained mathematical results.[13]
Biography
Archimedes was born c. 287 BC in the seaport city of Syracuse, Sicily, at that time a self-
governing colony in Magna Graecia. The date of birth is based on a statement by the Byzantine
Greek historian John Tzetzes that Archimedes lived for 75 years.[14] In The Sand Reckoner, Archimedes
gives his father's name as Phidias, an astronomer about whom nothing else is known. Plutarch wrote in
his Parallel Lives that Archimedes was related to King Hiero II, the ruler of Syracuse.[15] A biography of
Archimedes was written by his friend Heracleides but this work has been lost, leaving the details of his
life obscure.[16] It is unknown, for instance, whether he ever married or had children. During his youth,
Archimedes may have studied in Alexandria, Egypt, where Conon of Samos and Eratosthenes of
Cyrene were contemporaries. He referred to Conon of Samos as his friend, while two of his works (The
Method of Mechanical Theorems and the Cattle Problem) have introductions addressed to
Eratosthenes.[a]
The Death of Archimedes (1815) by Thomas Degeorge[17]
Archimedes died c. 212 BC during the Second Punic War, when Roman forces under General Marcus
Claudius Marcelluscaptured the city of Syracuse after a two-year-long siege. According to the popular
account given by Plutarch, Archimedes was contemplating a mathematical diagram when the city was
captured. A Roman soldier commanded him to come and meet General Marcellus but he declined,
saying that he had to finish working on the problem. The soldier was enraged by this, and killed
Archimedes with his sword. Plutarch also gives a lesser-known account of the death of Archimedes
which suggests that he may have been killed while attempting to surrender to a Roman soldier.
According to this story, Archimedes was carrying mathematical instruments, and was killed because the
soldier thought that they were valuable items. General Marcellus was reportedly angered by the death
of Archimedes, as he considered him a valuable scientific asset and had ordered that he must not be
harmed.[18] Marcellus called Archimedes "a geometrical Briareus".[19]
The last words attributed to Archimedes are "Do not disturb my circles", a reference to the circles in the
mathematical drawing that he was supposedly studying when disturbed by the Roman soldier. This
quote is often given in Latin as "Noli turbare circulos meos," but there is no reliable evidence that
Archimedes uttered these words and they do not appear in the account given by Plutarch. Valerius
Maximus, writing in Memorable Doings and Sayings in the 1st century AD, gives the phrase as "...sed
protecto manibus puluere 'noli' inquit, 'obsecro, istum disturbare'" – "... but protecting the dust with his
hands, said 'I beg of you, do not disturb this.'" The phrase is also given in Katharevousa Greek as "μὴ μου
τοὺς κύκλους τάραττε!" (Mē mou tous kuklous taratte!).[18]
Cicero Discovering the Tomb of Archimedes (1805) by Benjamin West
The tomb of Archimedes carried a sculpture illustrating his favorite mathematical proof, consisting of
a sphere and a cylinderof the same height and diameter. Archimedes had proven that the volume and
surface area of the sphere are two thirds that of the cylinder including its bases. In 75 BC, 137 years
after his death, the Roman orator Cicero was serving as quaestor in Sicily. He had heard stories about
the tomb of Archimedes, but none of the locals were able to give him the location. Eventually he found
the tomb near the Agrigentine gate in Syracuse, in a neglected condition and overgrown with bushes.
Cicero had the tomb cleaned up, and was able to see the carving and read some of the verses that had
been added as an inscription.[20] A tomb discovered in the courtyard of the Hotel Panorama in Syracuse
in the early 1960s was claimed to be that of Archimedes, but there was no compelling evidence for this
and the location of his tomb today is unknown.[21]
The standard versions of the life of Archimedes were written long after his death by the historians of
Ancient Rome. The account of the siege of Syracuse given by Polybius in his The Histories was written
around seventy years after Archimedes' death, and was used subsequently as a source by Plutarch
and Livy. It sheds little light on Archimedes as a person, and focuses on the war machines that he is said
to have built in order to defend the city.[22]
Discoveries and inventions
Archimedes' principle
Main article: Archimedes' principle
By placing a metal bar in a container with water on a scale, the bar displaces as much water as its
own volume, increasing its massand weighing down the scale.
The most widely known anecdote about Archimedes tells of how he invented a method for determining
the volume of an object with an irregular shape. According to Vitruvius, a votive crown for a temple had
been made for King Hiero II of Syracuse, who had supplied the pure gold to be used, and Archimedes
was asked to determine whether some silver had been substituted by the dishonest goldsmith.
[23] Archimedes had to solve the problem without damaging the crown, so he could not melt it down
into a regularly shaped body in order to calculate its density. While taking a bath, he noticed that the
level of the water in the tub rose as he got in, and realized that this effect could be used to determine
the volume of the crown. For practical purposes water is incompressible,[24] so the submerged crown
would displace an amount of water equal to its own volume. By dividing the mass of the crown by the
volume of water displaced, the density of the crown could be obtained. This density would be lower
than that of gold if cheaper and less dense metals had been added. Archimedes then took to the streets
naked, so excited by his discovery that he had forgotten to dress, crying "Eureka!"
(Greek: "εὕρηκα, heúrēka!", meaning "I have found [it]!").[23] The test was conducted successfully,
proving that silver had indeed been mixed in.[25]
The story of the golden crown does not appear in the known works of Archimedes. Moreover, the
practicality of the method it describes has been called into question, due to the extreme accuracy with
which one would have to measure the water displacement.[26] Archimedes may have instead sought a
solution that applied the principle known in hydrostatics as Archimedes' principle, which he describes in
his treatise On Floating Bodies. This principle states that a body immersed in a fluid experiences
a buoyant force equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces.[27] Using this principle, it would have been
possible to compare the density of the crown to that of pure gold by balancing the crown on a scale with
a pure gold reference sample of the same weight, then immersing the apparatus in water. The
difference in density between the two samples would cause the scale to tip
accordingly. Galileo considered it "probable that this method is the same that Archimedes followed,
since, besides being very accurate, it is based on demonstrations found by Archimedes himself."[28] In a
12th-century text titled Mappae clavicula there are instructions on how to perform the weighings in the
water in order to calculate the percentage of silver used, and thus solve the problem.[29][30] The Latin
poem Carmen de ponderibus et mensuris of the 4th or 5th century describes the use of a hydrostatic
balance to solve the problem of the crown, and attributes the method to Archimedes.[29]
Archimedes' screw
Archimedes' screw
The Archimedes' screw can raise water efficiently.
A large part of Archimedes' work in engineering arose from fulfilling the needs of his home city of
Syracuse. The Greek writer Athenaeus of Naucratis described how King Hiero II commissioned
Archimedes to design a huge ship, the Syracusia, which could be used for luxury travel, carrying supplies,
and as a naval warship. The Syracusia is said to have been the largest ship built in classical antiquity.
[31] According to Athenaeus, it was capable of carrying 600 people and included garden decorations,
a gymnasium and a temple dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite among its facilities. Since a ship of this
size would leak a considerable amount of water through the hull, the Archimedes' screw was
purportedly developed in order to remove the bilge water. Archimedes' machine was a device with a
revolving screw-shaped blade inside a cylinder. It was turned by hand, and could also be used to transfer
water from a low-lying body of water into irrigation canals. The Archimedes' screw is still in use today
for pumping liquids and granulated solids such as coal and grain. The Archimedes' screw described in
Roman times by Vitruvius may have been an improvement on a screw pump that was used to irrigate
the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.[32][33][34] The world's first seagoing steamship with a screw
propeller was the SS Archimedes, which was launched in 1839 and named in honor of Archimedes and
his work on the screw.[35]
Claw of Archimedes
The Claw of Archimedes is a weapon that he is said to have designed in order to defend the city of
Syracuse. Also known as "the ship shaker", the claw consisted of a crane-like arm from which a large
metal grappling hook was suspended. When the claw was dropped onto an attacking ship the arm would
swing upwards, lifting the ship out of the water and possibly sinking it. There have been modern
experiments to test the feasibility of the claw, and in 2005 a television documentary
entitled Superweapons of the Ancient World built a version of the claw and concluded that it was a
workable device.[36][37]
Heat ray
Archimedes may have used mirrors acting collectively as a parabolic reflector to burn ships
attacking Syracuse.
Artistic interpretation of Archimedes' mirror used to burn Roman ships. Painting by Giulio Parigi, c. 1599
Archimedes may have used mirrors acting collectively as a parabolic reflector to burn ships
attacking Syracuse. The 2nd century AD author Lucian wrote that during the Siege of Syracuse (c. 214–
212 BC), Archimedes destroyed enemy ships with fire. Centuries later, Anthemius of
Tralles mentions burning-glasses as Archimedes' weapon.[38] The device, sometimes called the
"Archimedes heat ray", was used to focus sunlight onto approaching ships, causing them to catch fire. In
the modern era, similar devices have been constructed and may be referred to as a heliostat or solar
furnace.[39]
This purported weapon has been the subject of ongoing debate about its credibility since the
Renaissance. René Descartesrejected it as false, while modern researchers have attempted to recreate
the effect using only the means that would have been available to Archimedes.[40] It has been
suggested that a large array of highly polished bronze or copper shields acting as mirrors could have
been employed to focus sunlight onto a ship.
A test of the Archimedes heat ray was carried out in 1973 by the Greek scientist Ioannis Sakkas. The
experiment took place at the Skaramagas naval base outside Athens. On this occasion 70 mirrors were
used, each with a copper coating and a size of around five by three feet (1.5 by 1 m). The mirrors were
pointed at a plywood mock-up of a Roman warship at a distance of around 160 feet (50 m). When the
mirrors were focused accurately, the ship burst into flames within a few seconds. The plywood ship had
a coating of tar paint, which may have aided combustion.[41] A coating of tar would have been
commonplace on ships in the classical era.[d]
In October 2005 a group of students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology carried out an
experiment with 127 one-foot (30 cm) square mirror tiles, focused on a mock-up wooden ship at a range
of around 100 feet (30 m). Flames broke out on a patch of the ship, but only after the sky had been
cloudless and the ship had remained stationary for around ten minutes. It was concluded that the device
was a feasible weapon under these conditions. The MIT group repeated the experiment for the
television show MythBusters, using a wooden fishing boat in San Francisco as the target. Again some
charring occurred, along with a small amount of flame. In order to catch fire, wood needs to reach
its autoignition temperature, which is around 300 °C (570 °F).[42][43]
When MythBusters broadcast the result of the San Francisco experiment in January 2006, the claim was
placed in the category of "busted" (or failed) because of the length of time and the ideal weather
conditions required for combustion to occur. It was also pointed out that since Syracuse faces the sea
towards the east, the Roman fleet would have had to attack during the morning for optimal gathering of
light by the mirrors. MythBusters also pointed out that conventional weaponry, such as flaming arrows
or bolts from a catapult, would have been a far easier way of setting a ship on fire at short distances.[44]
In December 2010, MythBusters again looked at the heat ray story in a special edition entitled
"President's Challenge". Several experiments were carried out, including a large scale test with 500
schoolchildren aiming mirrors at a mock-up of a Roman sailing ship 400 feet (120 m) away. In all of the
experiments, the sail failed to reach the 210 °C (410 °F) required to catch fire, and the verdict was again
"busted". The show concluded that a more likely effect of the mirrors would have been
blinding, dazzling, or distracting the crew of the ship.[45]
Other discoveries and inventions
While Archimedes did not invent the lever, he gave an explanation of the principle involved in his
work On the Equilibrium of Planes. Earlier descriptions of the lever are found in the Peripatetic school of
the followers of Aristotle, and are sometimes attributed to Archytas.[46][47] According to Pappus of
Alexandria, Archimedes' work on levers caused him to remark: "Give me a place to stand on, and I will
move the Earth." (Greek: δῶς μοι πᾶ στῶ καὶ τὰν γᾶν κινάσω)[48] Plutarch describes how Archimedes
designed block-and-tackle pulley systems, allowing sailors to use the principle of leverage to lift objects
that would otherwise have been too heavy to move.[49] Archimedes has also been credited with
improving the power and accuracy of the catapult, and with inventing the odometer during the First
Punic War. The odometer was described as a cart with a gear mechanism that dropped a ball into a
container after each mile traveled.[50]
Cicero (106–43 BC) mentions Archimedes briefly in his dialogue De re publica, which portrays a fictional
conversation taking place in 129 BC. After the capture of Syracuse c. 212 BC, General Marcus Claudius
Marcellus is said to have taken back to Rome two mechanisms, constructed by Archimedes and used as
aids in astronomy, which showed the motion of the Sun, Moon and five planets. Cicero mentions similar
mechanisms designed by Thales of Miletus and Eudoxus of Cnidus. The dialogue says that Marcellus kept
one of the devices as his only personal loot from Syracuse, and donated the other to the Temple of
Virtue in Rome. Marcellus' mechanism was demonstrated, according to Cicero, by Gaius Sulpicius
Gallus to Lucius Furius Philus, who described it thus:
Hanc sphaeram Gallus cum moveret, fiebat ut soli luna totidem conversionibus in aere illo quot diebus in
ipso caelo succederet, ex quo et in caelo sphaera solis fieret eadem illa defectio, et incideret luna tum in
eam metam quae esset umbra terrae, cum sol e regione.
When Gallus moved the globe, it happened that the Moon followed the Sun by as many turns on that
bronze contrivance as in the sky itself, from which also in the sky the Sun's globe became to have that
same eclipse, and the Moon came then to that position which was its shadow on the Earth, when the
Sun was in line.[51][52]
This is a description of a planetarium or orrery. Pappus of Alexandria stated that Archimedes had written
a manuscript (now lost) on the construction of these mechanisms entitled On Sphere-Making. Modern
research in this area has been focused on the Antikythera mechanism, another device built c. 100 BC
that was probably designed for the same purpose.[53] Constructing mechanisms of this kind would have
required a sophisticated knowledge of differential gearing.[54] This was once thought to have been
beyond the range of the technology available in ancient times, but the discovery of the Antikythera
mechanism in 1902 has confirmed that devices of this kind were known to the ancient Greeks.[55][56]
Mathematics
Archimedes used Pythagoras' Theorem to calculate the side of the 12-gon from that of the hexagon and
for each subsequent doubling of the sides of the regular polygon.
While he is often regarded as a designer of mechanical devices, Archimedes also made contributions to
the field of mathematics. Plutarch wrote: "He placed his whole affection and ambition in those purer
speculations where there can be no reference to the vulgar needs of life."[57] Archimedes was able to
use infinitesimals in a way that is similar to modern integral calculus. Through proof by contradiction
(reductio ad absurdum), he could give answers to problems to an arbitrary degree of accuracy, while
specifying the limits within which the answer lay. This technique is known as the method of exhaustion,
and he employed it to approximate the value of π. In Measurement of a Circle he did this by drawing a
larger regular hexagon outside a circle and a smaller regular hexagon inside the circle, and progressively
doubling the number of sides of each regular polygon, calculating the length of a side of each polygon at
each step. As the number of sides increases, it becomes a more accurate approximation of a circle. After
four such steps, when the polygons had 96 sides each, he was able to determine that the value of π lay
between 31/7 (approximately 3.1429) and 310/71 (approximately 3.1408), consistent with its actual
value of approximately 3.1416.[58] He also proved that the area of a circle was equal to π multiplied by
the square of the radius of the circle (πr2). In On the Sphere and Cylinder, Archimedes postulates that
any magnitude when added to itself enough times will exceed any given magnitude. This is
the Archimedean property of real numbers.[59]
As proven by Archimedes, the area of the parabolic segment in the upper figure is equal to 4/3 that of
the inscribed triangle in the lower figure.
In Measurement of a Circle, Archimedes gives the value of the square root of 3 as lying
between 265/153 (approximately 1.7320261) and 1351/780(approximately 1.7320512). The actual value
is approximately 1.7320508, making this a very accurate estimate. He introduced this result without
offering any explanation of how he had obtained it. This aspect of the work of Archimedes caused John
Wallis to remark that he was: "as it were of set purpose to have covered up the traces of his
investigation as if he had grudged posterity the secret of his method of inquiry while he wished to extort
from them assent to his results."[60] It is possible that he used an iterative procedure to calculate these
values.[61]
In The Quadrature of the Parabola, Archimedes proved that the area enclosed by a parabola and a
straight line is 4/3 times the area of a corresponding inscribed triangle as shown in the figure at right. He
expressed the solution to the problem as an infinite geometric serieswith the common ratio 1/4:
{\displaystyle \sum _{n=0}^{\infty }4^{-n}=1+4^{-1}+4^{-2}+4^{-3}+\cdots ={4 \over 3}.\;}
If the first term in this series is the area of the triangle, then the second is the sum of the areas of two
triangles whose bases are the two smaller secant lines, and so on. This proof uses a variation of the
series 1/4 + 1/16 + 1/64 + 1/256 + · · · which sums to 1/3.
In The Sand Reckoner, Archimedes set out to calculate the number of grains of sand that the universe
could contain. In doing so, he challenged the notion that the number of grains of sand was too large to
be counted. He wrote: "There are some, King Gelo (Gelo II, son of Hiero II), who think that the number
of the sand is infinite in multitude; and I mean by the sand not only that which exists about Syracuse and
the rest of Sicily but also that which is found in every region whether inhabited or uninhabited." To solve
the problem, Archimedes devised a system of counting based on the myriad. The word is from the
Greek μυριάς murias, for the number 10,000. He proposed a number system using powers of a myriad
of myriads (100 million) and concluded that the number of grains of sand required to fill the universe
would be 8 vigintillion, or 8×1063.[62]
Writings
The works of Archimedes were written in Doric Greek, the dialect of ancient Syracuse.[63] The written
work of Archimedes has not survived as well as that of Euclid, and seven of his treatises are known to
have existed only through references made to them by other authors. Pappus of
Alexandria mentions On Sphere-Making and another work on polyhedra, while Theon of
Alexandria quotes a remark about refraction from the now-lost Catoptrica.[b] During his lifetime,
Archimedes made his work known through correspondence with the mathematicians in Alexandria. The
writings of Archimedes were first collected by the Byzantine Greek architect Isidore of Miletus (c.
530 AD), while commentaries on the works of Archimedes written by Eutocius in the sixth century AD
helped to bring his work a wider audience. Archimedes' work was translated into Arabic by Thābit ibn
Qurra (836–901 AD), and Latin by Gerard of Cremona (c. 1114–1187 AD). During the Renaissance,
the Editio Princeps(First Edition) was published in Basel in 1544 by Johann Herwagen with the works of
Archimedes in Greek and Latin.[64] Around the year 1586 Galileo Galilei invented a hydrostatic balance
for weighing metals in air and water after apparently being inspired by the work of Archimedes.[65]
Surviving works
On the Equilibrium of Planes (two volumes)
The first book is in fifteen propositions with seven postulates, while the second book is in ten
propositions. In this work Archimedes explains the Law of the Lever, stating, "Magnitudes are in
equilibrium at distances reciprocally proportional to their weights."
Archimedes uses the principles derived to calculate the areas and centers of gravity of various geometric
figures including triangles, parallelograms and parabolas.[66]
On the Measurement of a Circle
This is a short work consisting of three propositions. It is written in the form of a correspondence with
Dositheus of Pelusium, who was a student of Conon of Samos. In Proposition II, Archimedes gives
an approximation of the value of pi (π), showing that it is greater than 223/71 and less than 22/7.
On Spirals
This work of 28 propositions is also addressed to Dositheus. The treatise defines what is now called
the Archimedean spiral. It is the locus of points corresponding to the locations over time of a point
moving away from a fixed point with a constant speed along a line which rotates with constant angular
velocity. Equivalently, in polar coordinates (r, θ) it can be described by the equation
{\displaystyle \,r=a+b\theta }
with real numbers a and b. This is an early example of a mechanical curve (a curve traced by a
moving point) considered by a Greek mathematician.
On the Sphere and the Cylinder (two volumes)
A sphere has 2/3 the volume and surface area of its circumscribing cylinder including its bases.
A sphereand cylinder were placed on the tomb of Archimedes at his request. (see also: Equiareal map)
In this treatise addressed to Dositheus, Archimedes obtains the result of which he was most proud,
namely the relationship between a sphere and a circumscribed cylinder of the same height
and diameter. The volume is 4/3πr3 for the sphere, and 2πr3 for the cylinder. The surface area is
4πr2 for the sphere, and 6πr2 for the cylinder (including its two bases), where r is the radius of the
sphere and cylinder. The sphere has a volume two-thirds that of the circumscribed cylinder. Similarly,
the sphere has an area two-thirds that of the cylinder (including the bases). A sculpted sphere and
cylinder were placed on the tomb of Archimedes at his request.
On Conoids and Spheroids
This is a work in 32 propositions addressed to Dositheus. In this treatise Archimedes calculates the areas
and volumes of sections of cones, spheres, and paraboloids.
On Floating Bodies (two volumes)
In the first part of this treatise, Archimedes spells out the law of equilibrium of fluids, and proves that
water will adopt a spherical form around a center of gravity. This may have been an attempt at
explaining the theory of contemporary Greek astronomers such as Eratosthenes that the Earth is round.
The fluids described by Archimedes are not self-gravitating, since he assumes the existence of a point
towards which all things fall in order to derive the spherical shape.
In the second part, he calculates the equilibrium positions of sections of paraboloids. This was probably
an idealization of the shapes of ships' hulls. Some of his sections float with the base under water and the
summit above water, similar to the way that icebergs float. Archimedes' principle of buoyancy is given in
the work, stated as follows:
Any body wholly or partially immersed in a fluid experiences an upthrust equal to, but opposite in sense
to, the weight of the fluid displaced.
The Quadrature of the Parabola
In this work of 24 propositions addressed to Dositheus, Archimedes proves by two methods that the
area enclosed by a parabola and a straight line is 4/3 multiplied by the area of a triangle with equal base
and height. He achieves this by calculating the value of a geometric series that sums to infinity with
the ratio 1/4.
Stomachion is a dissection puzzlein the Archimedes Palimpsest.
(O)stomachion
This is a dissection puzzle similar to a Tangram, and the treatise describing it was found in more
complete form in the Archimedes Palimpsest. Archimedes calculates the areas of the 14 pieces which
can be assembled to form a square. Research published by Dr. Reviel Netz of Stanford University in 2003
argued that Archimedes was attempting to determine how many ways the pieces could be assembled
into the shape of a square. Dr. Netz calculates that the pieces can be made into a square 17,152 ways.
[67] The number of arrangements is 536 when solutions that are equivalent by rotation and reflection
have been excluded.[68] The puzzle represents an example of an early problem in combinatorics.
The origin of the puzzle's name is unclear, and it has been suggested that it is taken from the Ancient
Greek word for throat or gullet, stomachos (στόμαχος).[69] Ausonius refers to the puzzle
as Ostomachion, a Greek compound word formed from the roots of ὀστέον (osteon, bone)
and μάχη (machē, fight). The puzzle is also known as the Loculus of Archimedes or Archimedes' Box.[70]
Archimedes' cattle problem
This work was discovered by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing in a Greek manuscript consisting of a poem of 44
lines, in the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel, Germany in 1773. It is addressed to Eratosthenes
and the mathematicians in Alexandria. Archimedes challenges them to count the numbers of cattle in
the Herd of the Sun by solving a number of simultaneous Diophantine equations. There is a more
difficult version of the problem in which some of the answers are required to be square numbers. This
version of the problem was first solved by A. Amthor[71] in 1880, and the answer is a very large number,
approximately 7.760271×10206544.[72]
The Sand Reckoner
In this treatise, Archimedes counts the number of grains of sand that will fit inside the universe. This
book mentions the heliocentric theory of the solar systemproposed by Aristarchus of Samos, as well as
contemporary ideas about the size of the Earth and the distance between various celestial bodies. By
using a system of numbers based on powers of the myriad, Archimedes concludes that the number of
grains of sand required to fill the universe is 8×1063 in modern notation. The introductory letter states
that Archimedes' father was an astronomer named Phidias. The Sand Reckoner or Psammites is the only
surviving work in which Archimedes discusses his views on astronomy.[73]
The Method of Mechanical Theorems
This treatise was thought lost until the discovery of the Archimedes Palimpsest in 1906. In this work
Archimedes uses infinitesimals, and shows how breaking up a figure into an infinite number of infinitely
small parts can be used to determine its area or volume. Archimedes may have considered this method
lacking in formal rigor, so he also used the method of exhaustion to derive the results. As with The Cattle
Problem, The Method of Mechanical Theorems was written in the form of a letter to Eratosthenes
in Alexandria.
Apocryphal works
Archimedes' Book of Lemmas or Liber Assumptorum is a treatise with fifteen propositions on thnaturof
circles. The earliest known copy of the text is in Arabic. The scholars T.L. Heath and Marshall
Clagett argued that it cannot have been written by Archimedes in its current form, since it quotes
Archimedes, suggesting modification by another author. The Lemmas may be based on an earlier work
by Archimedes that is now lost.[74]
It has also been claimed that Heron's formula for calculating the area of a triangle from the length of its
sides was known to Archimedes.[c] However, the first reliable reference to the formula is given by Heron
of Alexandria in the 1st century AD.[75]
Archimedes Palimpsest
Main article: Archimedes Palimpsest
In 1906, The Archimedes Palimpsest revealed works by Archimedes thought to have been lost.
The foremost document containing the work of Archimedes is the Archimedes Palimpsest. In 1906, the
Danish professor Johan Ludvig Heiberg visited Constantinople and examined a 174-page goatskin
parchment of prayers written in the 13th century AD. He discovered that it was a palimpsest, a
document with text that had been written over an erased older work. Palimpsests were created by
scraping the ink from existing works and reusing them, which was a common practice in the Middle Ages
as vellum was expensive. The older works in the palimpsest were identified by scholars as 10th century
AD copies of previously unknown treatises by Archimedes.[76] The parchment spent hundreds of years
in a monastery library in Constantinople before being sold to a private collector in the 1920s. On
October 29, 1998 it was sold at auction to an anonymous buyer for $2 million at Christie's in New York.
[77] The palimpsest holds seven treatises, including the only surviving copy of On Floating Bodies in the
original Greek. It is the only known source of The Method of Mechanical Theorems, referred to
by Suidas and thought to have been lost forever. Stomachion was also discovered in the palimpsest,
with a more complete analysis of the puzzle than had been found in previous texts. The palimpsest is
now stored at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, where it has been subjected to a range
of modern tests including the use of ultraviolet and x-ray light to read the overwritten text.[78]
The treatises in the Archimedes Palimpsest are:
On the Equilibrium of Planes
On Spirals
Measurement of a Circle
On the Sphere and Cylinder
On Floating Bodies
The Method of Mechanical Theorems
Stomachion
Speeches by the 4th century BC politician Hypereides
A commentary on Aristotle's Categories by Alexander of Aphrodisias
Other works
Legacy
The Fields Medal carries a portrait of Archimedes.
Galileo praised Archimedes many times, and referred to him as a "superhuman".[79] Leibniz said "He
who understands Archimedes and Apollonius will admire less the achievements of the foremost men of
later times."[80]
There is a crater on the Moon named Archimedes (29.7° N, 4.0° W) in his honor, as well as a lunar
mountain range, the Montes Archimedes (25.3° N, 4.6° W).[81]
The Fields Medal for outstanding achievement in mathematics carries a portrait of Archimedes, along
with a carving illustrating his proof on the sphere and the cylinder. The inscription around the head of
Archimedes is a quote attributed to him which reads in Latin: "Transire suum pectus mundoque potiri"
(Rise above oneself and grasp the world).[82]
Archimedes has appeared on postage stamps issued by East
Germany (1973), Greece (1983), Italy (1983), Nicaragua(1971), San Marino (1982), and Spain (1963).[83]
The exclamation of Eureka! attributed to Archimedes is the state motto of California. In this instance the
word refers to the discovery of gold near Sutter's Mill in 1848 which sparked the California Gold Rush.
[84]
Roland Emmerich
Roland Emmerich (German: [ˈʁoːlant ˈɛməʁɪç]; born November 10, 1955) is a German film director,
screenwriter, and producer, widely known for his disaster films. His films, most of which are English-
language Hollywood productions, have made more than $3 billion worldwide, including just over $1
billion in the United States, making him the country's 11th-highest-grossing director of all time.[1][2] He
began his work in the film industry by directing the film The Noah's Ark Principle (1984) as part of his
university thesis and also co-founded Centropolis Entertainment in 1985 with his sister. He is a collector
of art and an active campaigner for the LGBT community, and is openly gay.[3] He is also a campaigner
for awareness of global warming and human rights.
Roland Emmerich
Emmerich in 2013
Born November 10, 1955 (age 63)
Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, West
Germany
Residence Los Angeles, California, U.S.
New York City, New York, U.S.
London, England
Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, West
Germany
Nationality German
Alma mater University of Television and Film Munich
Occupation Film director
producer
screenwriter
Years active 1979–present
Spouse(s) Omar De Soto (m. 2017)
Early life and career
Emmerich was born in Stuttgart, West Germany, and grew up in the nearby town of Sindelfingen.[4] As a
youth, he traveled extensively throughout Europe and North America on vacations financed by his
father, Hans, the wealthy founder of a garden machinery production company.[5] In 1977, he began
attending University of Television and Film Munich with the intention of studying to become a
production designer.[5][6] After watching Star Wars, he instead decided to enroll in the school's film
director program.[5][7] Required to create a short film as his final thesis in 1981, he wrote and directed
the full-length feature The Noah's Ark Principle, which was screened as the opening film of the 34th
Berlin International Film Festival in 1984.[6]
In 1985, he founded Centropolis Film Productions (now Centropolis Entertainment) in partnership with
his sister, producer Ute Emmerich, and directed his major film debut, a fantasy feature named Joey.
[5] He subsequently directed the 1987 comedy Hollywood-Monster and the 1990 science-fiction
film Moon 44. Theatrically, these were only released in and nearby his native country, although
Emmerich filmed them in English and went against conventional German styles in an attempt to appeal
to a larger market.[5][8] This subsequently resulted in Moon 44 being released direct-to-video in the
U.S. in early 1991. Joey and Hollywood-Monster eventually also saw home video releases in the U.S.
(as Making Contact and Ghost Chase, respectively) once Emmerich achieved more prominence in
America.
Hollywood director
1990s
Producer Mario Kassar invited Emmerich to come to the United States to direct a futuristic action film
entitled Isobar.[9] Dean Devlin, who appeared in Moon 44, soon joined Emmerich as his writing and
producing partner, and served in this capacity until 2000.[8] Emmerich subsequently refused the offer to
direct after producers rejected Devlin's re-write of the script, and the Isobar project was eventually
scrapped.[9] Instead, Emmerich was hired to replace director Andrew Davis for the action
movie Universal Soldier. The film was released in 1992, and has since been followed by two direct-to-
video sequels, a theatrical sequel, and another sequel released in 2010.
Emmerich next helmed the 1994 science-fiction film Stargate. At the time, it set a record for the highest-
grossing opening weekend for a film released in the month of October.[10] It became more
commercially successful than most film industry insiders had anticipated,[8][11] and spawned a highly
popular media franchise.
Emmerich then directed Independence Day, an alien invasion feature, released in 1996, that became the
first film to gross $100 million in less than a week[12][13] and went on to become one of the most
financially successful films of all time,[14] at one point having been the second-highest-grossing film in
terms of worldwide box office.[15] Emmerich and Devlin then created the television series The Visitor,
which aired on the Fox Network during 1997–1998 before being cancelled after one season.
His next film, Godzilla, opened in 1998. An extensive advertising and marketing campaign generated
significant hype during the months leading up to the film's release. The film was a box office success but
was met with negative reviews from critics and fans. It garnered a Saturn Award for Best Special Effects,
a BMI Film Music Award, and the Audience Award for Best Director at the European Film Awards while
also receiving a Razzie Award for Worst Remake or Sequel. It has only a 16% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
[16]
2000s
Taking a short break from science-fiction, Emmerich next directed the American Revolutionary
War epic The Patriot (2000). One of only four films (Universal Soldier, Anonymous and White House
Down being the others) Emmerich has directed in which he did not contribute to the screenplay, the film
received a generally favorable critical and commercial response,[17] and is Emmerich's best-reviewed
film to date.[18][19] After teaming up with new screenwriting partner Harald Kloser, Emmerich returned
once again to directing a visual effects-laden adventure with 2004's blockbuster The Day After
Tomorrow, another disaster film about a rapidly oncoming ice age brought upon by the effects of global
warming. Soon afterward, he founded Reelmachine, another film production company based in
Germany.
In 2008, Emmerich directed 10,000 BC, a film about the journeys of a prehistoric tribe
of mammoth hunters. It was a box office hit, but consistently regarded by professional critics as his
worst film, as well as one of the worst films of the year.[20] He was slated to direct a remake of the 1966
science-fiction film Fantastic Voyage,[21] but the project slipped back into development hell. In 2009,
Emmerich directed 2012,[22] an apocalyptic disaster film based on the conspiracy theory that
the ancient Mayans prophesied the world's ending on December 21, 2012.[23] Despite mixed reviews,
the film went on to be his second-highest-grossing film to date (after Independence Day) and received
praise from audiences. Emmerich usually finishes production of a large-scale movie both in a time frame
shorter and on a budget lower than what is typically requested by other directors.[6][8]
2010s
Emmerich's next film, Anonymous, released on 28 October 2011, is based on the premise that Edward
de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford is the real author of the plays and sonnets of William Shakespeare.
[24] According to Emmerich, "It's an historical thriller because it's about who will succeed Queen
Elizabeth and the struggle of the people who want to have a hand in it. It's the Tudors on one side and
the Cecils on the other, and in between [the two] is the Queen. Through that story we tell how the plays
written by the Earl of Oxford ended up labelled 'William Shakespeare.'"[25] The release date
for Anonymous coincided with the completion of the 13th Baktun, the date which marks the empirical
base for Emmerich's film 2012, as this is celebrated by the surviving indigenous Maya, specifically
the Quiché people.[original research?]
Emmerich directed the action-thriller film White House Down, which involved an assault on the White
House by a paramilitary group. The spec script was written by James Vanderbilt and was purchased by
Sony Pictures for $3 million in March 2012. The Hollywood Reporter called it "one of the biggest spec
sales in quite a while". The journal said the script was similar "tonally and thematically" to the films Die
Hard, Air Force One and Olympus Has Fallen (2013). Emmerich began filming in July 2012 at the La Cité
Du Cinéma in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The film was released on June 28, 2013 in the United States.
Emmerich's most recent film, Independence Day: Resurgence, the sequel to Independence Day, was
released on June 24, 2016.
Personal life and advocacy
Emmerich owns homes in Los Angeles, New York City, London and Stuttgart.[5][26][27][28][29] He likes
to decorate his homes in a self-described "outlandish" manner,[29]adorning them with rare Hollywood
memorabilia, murals and portraits of dictators and Communist figures, and World War II militaria.[5][28]
Emmerich's extensive collection of artwork includes a painting of Jesus Christ wearing a Katharine
Hamnett-styled T-shirt during his crucifixion,[29] prints of Alison Jackson's works of a Princess
Diana lookalike making obscene gestures and engaging in sex acts,[27][30] a wax sculpture of Pope John
Paul II laughing as he reads his own obituary,[27][30] and a Photoshopped image of Iranian
president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a homoerotic pose.[29] Emmerich, who is openly gay,[3] and a
financial supporter of U.S. progressive politics,[31] states that the decorations and pieces are not
declarations of any beliefs,[29] but rather reflections of his "predilection for art with a political edge".
[30]
Emmerich has claimed that he witnessed overt racism when producers and studio executives were
opposed to allowing him to cast Will Smith for the lead in Independence Day, and reluctant to allow him
to portray an interracial couple in The Day After Tomorrow.[32] He has also claimed that he has
encountered homophobiafrom the same groups, and is vocal in his opposition of such behavior.[32] He
has stated that sometimes he does "[not like working in] the movie business", describing it as a
sometimes "very cold, brutal business", but his motivation to keep directing is that he genuinely "like[s]
making movies".[5]
In 2006, he pledged $150,000 to the Legacy Project, a campaign dedicated to gay and lesbian film
preservation. Emmerich made the donation on behalf of Outfest, making it the largest gift in the
festival's history.[33] In 2007, on behalf of the LGBT community, he held a fundraiser at his Los Angeles
home for Democratic Partypresidential candidate Hillary Clinton.[28]
Emmerich is in favor of the campaign for stunt performers to receive recognition at the Academy
Awards, and has worked to raise awareness over the issue of global warming.[34][35] He once was a
chain-smoker who was known to smoke as many as four packs of cigarettes a day,[36] Emmerich has
often included in his films characters who are trying to quit smoking or warn against the dangers of
tobacco use. Along with several other celebrities, he is a producer of The 1 Second Film, a non-profit
project intended to raise money for women's rights in the developing world.[37]
Emmerich is married to Omar De Soto.
Filmography
In addition to film,[38] Emmerich also co-created and produced the short-lived television series The
Visitor, and, in 2001, directed a one-minute commercial entitled "Infinite Possibilities"
for DaimlerChrysler.[39]
Film
Year(s) Title Director Producer Writer Notes
Franzmann Yes Yes
1979
Wilde Witwe Yes Short
1984 The Noah's Ark Principle Yes Yes Yes
Credited as Co-producer
1985 Joey Yes Yes
1987 Hollywood-Monster Yes Yes
1990 Moon 44 Yes Yes Story
1991 Eye of the Storm executive
1992 Universal Soldier Yes
The High Crusade Yes
1994
Stargate Yes Yes
1996 Independence Day Yes executive Yes
1998 Godzilla Yes executive Yes
1999 The Thirteenth Floor Yes
2000 The Patriot Yes executive
2002 Eight Legged Freaks executive
2004 The Day After Tomorrow Yes Yes Yes
2007 Trade Yes
2008 10,000 BC Yes Yes Yes
2009 2012 Yes executive Yes
Anonymous Yes Yes
2011
Hell executive
2012 Last Will & Testament executive Documentary
2013 White House Down Yes Yes
2015 Stonewall Yes Yes [40][41]
Independence Day:
2016 Yes Yes Yes
Resurgence
2019 Midway Yes Yes Post-production
Television
Produce
Year(s) Title Director Writer Notes
r
1980 Altosax Yes TV movie
1997–98 The Visitor Yes Yes Credited as Executive Producer
1998– Godzilla: The
Yes Credited as Executive Producer
2000 Series
TV movie; Credited as Executive
2012 Dark Horse Yes Yes Yes
Producer
Critical reception
Reviewers often criticize Emmerich's films for relying heavily on visual effects and suffering
from clichéd dialogue, flimsy and formulaic narratives, numerous scientific and historical inaccuracies,
illogical plot developments, and lack of character depth.[42][43][44] Emmerich contends that he is not
discouraged by such criticism and that he aims to provide enjoyable "popcorn" entertainment to movie-
going audiences.[34] Stating that he is "a filmmaker, not a scientist", he creates his own fiction based on
actual science or history to make the messages he sends "more exciting".[45]
In response to accusations of insensitivity for including scenes of New York City being destroyed in The
Day After Tomorrow, less than three years after the September 11 attacks, Emmerich said that it was
necessary to depict the event as a means to showcase the increased unity people now have when facing
a disaster, because of 9/11.[26][34][45] When accused of resorting too often to scenes of cities being
subjected to epic disasters, Emmerich says that it is a justified way of increasing awareness about both
global warming, and the lack of a government preparation plan for a global doomsday scenario in the
cases of The Day After Tomorrow and 2012, respectively.[45][46]
Acknowledging what he was told were flaws with Godzilla, Emmerich admitted he regretted having
agreed to direct it. He stated that his lack of interest in the previous Godzilla movies, the short time he
promised it would take for him to complete the film, and the studio's refusal to screen it for test
audiences were all factors that may have negatively affected the quality of the final product,[26] and
cited the former reason as to why he turned down an offer to direct Spider-Man as he could not imagine
himself as getting enthusiastic about the project because he was never intrigued by comic
books and superhero-related fiction.[26] However, Emmerich still defends Godzilla, noting that the film
was highly profitable[26] and claiming that, of all his movies, people tell him Godzilla is the one they and
their kids watch the most repeatedly.[45]
Emmerich has also faced criticism from the LGBT community. His film Stonewall was criticized for being
whitewashed and diminishing the contributions of transgenderwomen of color to starting the Stonewall
Riots,[47] and for being sex-negative.[48] In response to these claims, Emmerich has said the Stonewall
riots were "a white event".[49] The film received generally negative reviews from critics.[50][failed
verification]
Similarly, his 2016 film Independence Day: Resurgence was touted as having a gay couple,[51] but when
the film came out, it was accused[52] of engaging in homophobia as LGBT characters are killed off for
the benefit of the straight protagonists and audience.[53]
Rotten Tomatoes[54] Metacritic[55]
Yea
Film
r
Overall
1992 Universal Soldier 25% 35/100
1994 Stargate 48% 42/100
Rotten Tomatoes[54] Metacritic[55]
Yea
Film
r
Overall
1996 Independence Day 64% 59/100
1998 Godzilla 16% 32/100
2000 The Patriot 61% 63/100
2004 The Day After Tomorrow 44% 47/100
2008 10,000 BC 8% 34/100
2009 2012 40% 49/100
2011 Anonymous 46% 50/100
2013 White House Down 50% 52/100
2015 Stonewall 10% 30/100
Independence Day:
2016 30% 32/100
Resurgence
Awards and nominations
Year[a
Nominated work Category Result
]
Golden Raspberry Awards
Worst Written Film Grossing Over $100
1997 Independence Day Nominated
Million
Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel Won
Worst Director Nominated
1999 Godzilla
Worst Picture Nominated
Worst Screenplay Nominated
2017 Independence Day: Resurgence Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel Nominated
Worst Director Nominated
Worst Picture Nominated
Worst Screenplay Nominated
Hugo Awards
1997 Independence Day Best Dramatic Presentation Nominated
Kids' Choice Award
1997 Independence Day Favorite Movie Won
MTV Movie Awards
1997 Independence Day Best Movie Nominated
People's Choice Awards
1997 Independence Day Favorite Dramatic Motion Picture Won
Saturn Awards
1997 Independence Day Best Director Won
Best Director Nominated
1999 Godzilla
Best Fantasy Film Nominated
2005 The Day After Tomorrow Best Science Fiction Film Nominated
2010 2012 Best Action or Adventure Film Nominated
2017 Independence Day: Resurgence Best Science Fiction Film Nominated
Universe Reader's Choice Award
1996 Independence Day Best Director Won
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin, FRS FRGS FLS FZS[2] (/ˈdɑːrwɪn/;[5] 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an
English naturalist, geologist and biologist,[6] best known for his contributions to the science
of evolution.[I] His proposition that all species of life have descended over time from common
ancestors is now widely accepted, and considered a foundational concept in science.[7] In a joint
publication with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching
patternof evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection, in which the struggle for
existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding.[8]
Darwin published his theory of evolution with compelling evidence in his 1859 book On the Origin of
Species.[9][10] By the 1870s, the scientific community and a majority of the educated public had
accepted evolution as a fact. However, many favoured competing explanations, and it was not until the
emergence of the modern evolutionary synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s that a broad consensus
developed in which natural selection was the basic mechanism of evolution.[11][12]Darwin's scientific
discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences, explaining the diversity of life.[13][14]
Darwin's early interest in nature led him to neglect his medical education at the University of Edinburgh;
instead, he helped to investigate marine invertebrates. Studies at the University of Cambridge (Christ's
College) encouraged his passion for natural science.[15] His five-year voyage on HMS Beagle established
him as an eminent geologist whose observations and theories supported Charles Lyell's conception of
gradual geological change, and publication of his journal of the voyage made him famous as a popular
author.[16]
Charles Darwin
FRS FRGS FLS FZS
Darwin, c. 1854, when he was preparing On the Origin of
Species for publication[1]
Born Charles Robert Darwin
12 February 1809
The Mount, Shrewsbury, Shropshire,
England
Died 19 April 1882 (aged 73)
Down House, Downe, Kent, England
Known for The Voyage of the Beagle
On the Origin of Species
The Descent of Man
Spouse(s) Emma Wedgwood (m. 1839)
Children 10
Awards FRS (1839)[2]
Royal Medal (1853)
Wollaston Medal (1859)
Copley Medal (1864)
Doctor of Laws (Honorary), Cambridge
(1877)[3]
Scientific career
Fields Natural history, geology
Institutions Tertiary education:
University of Edinburgh Medical
School (medicine, no degree)
Christ's College, CambridgeBachelor of
Arts (1831)
Master of Arts (1836)[4]
Professional institution:
Geological Society of London
Academic John Stevens Henslow
advisors
Adam Sedgwick
Influences Charles Lyell
Alexander von Humboldt
John Herschel
Thomas Malthus
Influenced Hooker, Huxley, Romanes, Haeckel, Lubbock
Puzzled by the geographical distribution of wildlife and fossils he collected on the voyage, Darwin began
detailed investigations, and in 1838 conceived his theory of natural selection.[17] Although he discussed
his ideas with several naturalists, he needed time for extensive research and his geological work had
priority.[18] He was writing up his theory in 1858 when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him an essay that
described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication of both of their theories.[19] Darwin's
work established evolutionary descent with modification as the dominant scientific explanation of
diversification in nature.[11] In 1871 he examined human evolution and sexual selection in The Descent
of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, followed by The Expression of the Emotions in Man and
Animals (1872). His research on plants was published in a series of books, and in his final book, The
Formation of Vegetable Mould, through the Actions of Worms (1881), he examined earthworms and
their effect on soil.[20][21]
Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history,[22] and he was
honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey.[23]
Biography
Early life and education
Charles Darwin's education and Darwin-Wedgwood family
Charles Robert Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, on 12 February 1809, at his family's
home, The Mount.[24][25] He was the fifth of six children of wealthy society doctor and financier Robert
Darwin and Susannah Darwin (née Wedgwood). His grandfathers Erasmus Darwin and Josiah
Wedgwood were both prominent abolitionists.
Painting of the seven-year-old Charles Darwin in 1816, by Ellen Sharples.
Both families were largely Unitarian, though the Wedgwoods were adopting Anglicanism. Robert
Darwin, himself quietly a freethinker, had baby Charles baptised in November 1809 in the Anglican St
Chad's Church, Shrewsbury, but Charles and his siblings attended the Unitarian chapel with their
mother. The eight-year-old Charles already had a taste for natural history and collecting when he joined
the day school run by its preacher in 1817. That July, his mother died. From September 1818, he joined
his older brother Erasmus attending the nearby Anglican Shrewsbury School as a boarder.[26]
Darwin spent the summer of 1825 as an apprentice doctor, helping his father treat the poor of
Shropshire, before going to the University of Edinburgh Medical School (at the time the best medical
school in the UK) with his brother Erasmus in October 1825. Darwin found lectures dull and surgery
distressing, so he neglected his studies. He learned taxidermy in around 40 daily hour-long sessions
from John Edmonstone, a freed black slave who had accompanied Charles Waterton in the South
American rainforest.[27]
In Darwin's second year at the university he joined the Plinian Society, a student natural-history group
featuring lively debates in which radical democratic students with materialistic views challenged
orthodox religious concepts of science.[28] He assisted Robert Edmond Grant's investigations of the
anatomy and life cycle of marine invertebrates in the Firth of Forth, and on 27 March 1827 presented at
the Plinian his own discovery that black spores found in oyster shells were the eggs of a skate leech. One
day, Grant praised Lamarck's evolutionary ideas. Darwin was astonished by Grant's audacity, but had
recently read similar ideas in his grandfather Erasmus' journals.[29] Darwin was rather bored by Robert
Jameson's natural-history course, which covered geology—including the debate
between Neptunism and Plutonism. He learned the classification of plants, and assisted with work on
the collections of the University Museum, one of the largest museums in Europe at the time.[30]
Darwin's neglect of medical studies annoyed his father, who shrewdly sent him to Christ's College,
Cambridge, to study for a Bachelor of Arts degree as the first step towards becoming an Anglican
country parson. As Darwin was unqualified for the Tripos, he joined the ordinary degree course in
January 1828.[31] He preferred ridingand shooting to studying. His cousin William Darwin
Fox introduced him to the popular craze for beetle collecting; Darwin pursued this zealously, getting
some of his finds published in James Francis Stephens' Illustrations of British entomology. He became a
close friend and follower of botany professor John Stevens Henslow[32]and met other leading parson-
naturalists who saw scientific work as religious natural theology, becoming known to these dons as "the
man who walks with Henslow". When his own exams drew near, Darwin applied himself to his studies
and was delighted by the language and logic of William Paley's Evidences of Christianity[33](1794). In his
final examination in January 1831 Darwin did well, coming tenth out of 178 candidates for
the ordinary degree.[34]
Darwin had to stay at Cambridge until June 1831. He studied Paley's Natural Theology or Evidences of
the Existence and Attributes of the Deity (first published in 1802), which made an argument for divine
design in nature, explaining adaptation as God acting through laws of nature.[35] He read John
Herschel's new book, Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy (1831), which described
the highest aim of natural philosophy as understanding such laws through inductive reasoning based on
observation, and Alexander von Humboldt's Personal Narrative of scientific travels in 1799–1804.
Inspired with "a burning zeal" to contribute, Darwin planned to visit Tenerife with some classmates after
graduation to study natural history in the tropics. In preparation, he joined Adam
Sedgwick's geologycourse, then on 4 August travelled with him to spend a fortnight
mapping strata in Wales.[36][37]
Survey voyage on HMS Beagle
Second voyage of HMS Beagle
The voyage of the Beagle, 1831–1836
After leaving Sedgwick in Wales, Darwin spent a week with student friends at Barmouth, then returned
home on 29 August to find a letter from Henslow proposing him as a suitable (if
unfinished) naturalist for a self-funded supernumerary place on HMS Beagle with captain Robert
FitzRoy, emphasising that this was a position for a gentleman rather than "a mere collector". The ship
was to leave in four weeks on an expedition to chart the coastline of South America.[38]Robert
Darwin objected to his son's planned two-year voyage, regarding it as a waste of time, but was
persuaded by his brother-in-law, Josiah Wedgwood II, to agree to (and fund) his son's participation.
[39] Darwin took care to remain in a private capacity to retain control over his collection, intending it for
a major scientific institution.[40]
After delays, the voyage began on 27 December 1831; it lasted almost five years. As FitzRoy had
intended, Darwin spent most of that time on land investigating geology and making natural history
collections, while HMS Beagle surveyed and charted coasts.[11][41] He kept careful notes of his
observations and theoretical speculations, and at intervals during the voyage his specimens were sent to
Cambridge together with letters including a copy of his journalfor his family.[42] He had some expertise
in geology, beetle collecting and dissecting marine invertebrates, but in all other areas was a novice and
ably collected specimens for expert appraisal.[43] Despite suffering badly from seasickness, Darwin
wrote copious notes while on board the ship. Most of his zoology notes are about marine invertebrates,
starting with plankton collected in a calm spell.[41][44]
On their first stop ashore at St Jago in Cape Verde, Darwin found that a white band high in the volcanic
rock cliffs included seashells. FitzRoy had given him the first volume of Charles Lyell's Principles of
Geology, which set out uniformitarian concepts of land slowly rising or falling over immense periods,
[II] and Darwin saw things Lyell's way, theorising and thinking of writing a book on geology.[45] When
they reached Brazil, Darwin was delighted by the tropical forest,[46] but detested the sight of slavery,
and disputed this issue with Fitzroy.[47]
The survey continued to the south in Patagonia. They stopped at Bahía Blanca, and in cliffs near Punta
Alta Darwin made a major find of fossil bones of huge extinct mammals beside modern seashells,
indicating recent extinction with no signs of change in climate or catastrophe. He identified the little-
known Megatherium by a tooth and its association with bony armour, which had at first seemed to him
to be like a giant version of the armour on local armadillos. The finds brought great interest when they
reached England.[48][49]
On rides with gauchos into the interior to explore geology and collect more fossils, Darwin gained social,
political and anthropological insights into both native and colonial people at a time of revolution, and
learnt that two types of rhea had separate but overlapping territories.[50][51] Further south, he saw
stepped plains of shingle and seashells as raised beaches showing a series of elevations. He read Lyell's
second volume and accepted its view of "centres of creation" of species, but his discoveries and
theorising challenged Lyell's ideas of smooth continuity and of extinction of species.[52][53]
As HMS Beagle surveyed the coasts of South America, Darwin theorised about geology and extinction of
giant mammals.
Three Fuegians on board had been seized during the first Beagle voyage, then during a year in England
were educated as missionaries. Darwin found them friendly and civilised, yet at Tierra del Fuego he met
"miserable, degraded savages", as different as wild from domesticated animals.[54] He remained
convinced that, despite this diversity, all humans were interrelated with a shared origin and potential for
improvement towards civilisation. Unlike his scientist friends, he now thought there was no
unbridgeable gap between humans and animals.[55] A year on, the mission had been abandoned. The
Fuegian they had named Jemmy Button lived like the other natives, had a wife, and had no wish to
return to England.[56]
Darwin experienced an earthquake in Chile and saw signs that the land had just been raised,
including mussel-beds stranded above high tide. High in the Andes he saw seashells, and several fossil
trees that had grown on a sand beach. He theorised that as the land rose, oceanic islands sank, and coral
reefs round them grew to form atolls.[57][58]
On the geologically new Galápagos Islands, Darwin looked for evidence attaching wildlife to an older
"centre of creation", and found mockingbirds allied to those in Chile but differing from island to island.
He heard that slight variations in the shape of tortoise shells showed which island they came from, but
failed to collect them, even after eating tortoises taken on board as food.[59][60] In Australia,
the marsupial rat-kangaroo and the platypus seemed so unusual that Darwin thought it was almost as
though two distinct Creators had been at work.[61] He found the Aborigines "good-humoured &
pleasant", and noted their depletion by European settlement.[62]
FitzRoy investigated how the atolls of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands had formed, and the survey supported
Darwin's theorising.[58] FitzRoy began writing the official Narrative of the Beagle voyages, and after
reading Darwin's diary he proposed incorporating it into the account.[63] Darwin's Journal was
eventually rewritten as a separate third volume, on natural history.[64]
In Cape Town, Darwin and FitzRoy met John Herschel, who had recently written to Lyell praising
his uniformitarianism as opening bold speculation on "that mystery of mysteries, the replacement of
extinct species by others" as "a natural in contradistinction to a miraculous process".[65] When
organising his notes as the ship sailed home, Darwin wrote that, if his growing suspicions about the
mockingbirds, the tortoises and the Falkland Islands fox were correct, "such facts undermine the
stability of Species", then cautiously added "would" before "undermine".[66] He later wrote that such
facts "seemed to me to throw some light on the origin of species".[67]
Inception of Darwin's evolutionary theory
Inception of Darwin's theory
While still a young man, Charles Darwin joined the scientific elite. Portrait by George Richmond.
When the ship reached Falmouth, Cornwall, on 2 October 1836, Darwin was already a celebrity in
scientific circles as in December 1835 Henslow had fostered his former pupil's reputation by giving
selected naturalists a pamphlet of Darwin's geological letters.[68]Darwin visited his home in Shrewsbury
and saw relatives, then hurried to Cambridge to see Henslow, who advised him on finding naturalists
available to catalogue the collections and agreed to take on the botanical specimens. Darwin's father
organised investments, enabling his son to be a self-funded gentleman scientist, and an excited Darwin
went round the London institutions being fêted and seeking experts to describe the collections.
Zoologists had a huge backlog of work, and there was a danger of specimens just being left in storage.
[69]
Charles Lyell eagerly met Darwin for the first time on 29 October and soon introduced him to the up-
and-coming anatomist Richard Owen, who had the facilities of the Royal College of Surgeons to work on
the fossil bones collected by Darwin. Owen's surprising results included other gigantic extinct ground
sloths as well as the Megatherium, a near complete skeleton of the unknown Scelidotherium and
a hippopotamus-sized rodent-like skull named Toxodon resembling a giant capybara. The armour
fragments were actually from Glyptodon, a huge armadillo-like creature as Darwin had initially thought.
[70][49] These extinct creatures were related to living species in South America.[71]
In mid-December, Darwin took lodgings in Cambridge to organise work on his collections and rewrite
his Journal.[72] He wrote his first paper, showing that the South American landmass was slowly rising,
and with Lyell's enthusiastic backing read it to the Geological Society of London on 4 January 1837. On
the same day, he presented his mammal and bird specimens to the Zoological Society. The
ornithologist John Gould soon announced that the Galapagos birds that Darwin had thought a mixture
of blackbirds, "gros-beaks" and finches, were, in fact, twelve separate species of finches. On 17
February, Darwin was elected to the Council of the Geological Society, and Lyell's presidential address
presented Owen's findings on Darwin's fossils, stressing geographical continuity of species as supporting
his uniformitarian ideas.[73]
Early in March, Darwin moved to London to be near this work, joining Lyell's social circle of scientists
and experts such as Charles Babbage,[74] who described God as a programmer of laws. Darwin stayed
with his freethinking brother Erasmus, part of this Whig circle and a close friend of the writer Harriet
Martineau, who promoted Malthusianism underlying the controversial Whig Poor Law reforms to stop
welfare from causing overpopulation and more poverty. As a Unitarian, she welcomed
the radical implications of transmutation of species, promoted by Grant and younger surgeons
influenced by Geoffroy. Transmutation was anathema to Anglicans defending social order,[75] but
reputable scientists openly discussed the subject and there was wide interest in John Herschel's letter
praising Lyell's approach as a way to find a natural cause of the origin of new species.[65]
Gould met Darwin and told him that the Galápagos mockingbirds from different islands were separate
species, not just varieties, and what Darwin had thought was a "wren" was also in the finch group.
Darwin had not labelled the finches by island, but from the notes of others on the ship, including
FitzRoy, he allocated species to islands.[76] The two rheas were also distinct species, and on 14 March
Darwin announced how their distribution changed going southwards.[77]
In mid-July 1837 Darwin started his "B" notebook on Transmutation of Species, and on page 36 wrote "I
think" above his first evolutionary tree.
By mid-March, Darwin was speculating in his Red Notebook on the possibility that "one species does
change into another" to explain the geographical distribution of living species such as the rheas, and
extinct ones such as the strange Macrauchenia, which resembled a giant guanaco. His thoughts on
lifespan, asexual reproduction and sexual reproduction developed in his "B" notebook around mid-July
on to variation in offspring "to adapt & alter the race to changing world" explaining the Galápagos
tortoises, mockingbirds and rheas. He sketched branching descent, then a genealogical branching of a
single evolutionary tree, in which "It is absurd to talk of one animal being higher than another",
discarding Lamarck's independent lineages progressing to higher forms.[78]
Overwork, illness, and marriage
Charles Darwin's health
While developing this intensive study of transmutation, Darwin became mired in more work. Still
rewriting his Journal, he took on editing and publishing the expert reports on his collections, and with
Henslow's help obtained a Treasury grant of £1,000 to sponsor this multi-volume Zoology of the Voyage
of H.M.S. Beagle, a sum equivalent to about £89,000 in 2017.[79] He stretched the funding to include his
planned books on geology, and agreed to unrealistic dates with the publisher.[80] As the Victorian
era began, Darwin pressed on with writing his Journal, and in August 1837 began correcting printer's
proofs.[81]
Darwin's health suffered under the pressure. On 20 September he had "an uncomfortable palpitation of
the heart", so his doctors urged him to "knock off all work" and live in the country for a few weeks. After
visiting Shrewsbury he joined his Wedgwood relatives at Maer Hall, Staffordshire, but found them too
eager for tales of his travels to give him much rest. His charming, intelligent, and cultured cousin Emma
Wedgwood, nine months older than Darwin, was nursing his invalid aunt. His uncle Josiah pointed out
an area of ground where cinders had disappeared under loam and suggested that this might have been
the work of earthworms, inspiring "a new & important theory" on their role in soil formation, which
Darwin presented at the Geological Society on 1 November.[82]
William Whewell pushed Darwin to take on the duties of Secretary of the Geological Society. After
initially declining the work, he accepted the post in March 1838.[83]Despite the grind of writing and
editing the Beagle reports, Darwin made remarkable progress on transmutation, taking every
opportunity to question expert naturalists and, unconventionally, people with practical experience such
as farmers and pigeon fanciers.[11][84] Over time, his research drew on information from his relatives
and children, the family butler, neighbours, colonists and former shipmates.[85] He included mankind in
his speculations from the outset, and on seeing an orangutan in the zoo on 28 March 1838 noted its
childlike behaviour.[86]
Darwin chose to marry his cousin, Emma Wedgwood.
The strain took a toll, and by June he was being laid up for days on end with stomach problems,
headaches and heart symptoms. For the rest of his life, he was repeatedly incapacitated with episodes
of stomach pains, vomiting, severe boils, palpitations, trembling and other symptoms, particularly during
times of stress, such as attending meetings or making social visits. The cause of Darwin's
illness remained unknown, and attempts at treatment had little success.[87]
On 23 June, he took a break and went "geologising" in Scotland. He visited Glen Roy in glorious weather
to see the parallel "roads" cut into the hillsides at three heights. He later published his view that these
were marine raised beaches, but then had to accept that they were shorelines of a proglacial lake.[88]
Fully recuperated, he returned to Shrewsbury in July. Used to jotting down daily notes on animal
breeding, he scrawled rambling thoughts about career and prospects on two scraps of paper, one with
columns headed "Marry" and "Not Marry". Advantages included "constant companion and a friend in
old age ... better than a dog anyhow", against points such as "less money for books" and "terrible loss of
time."[89] Having decided in favour, he discussed it with his father, then went to visit Emma on 29 July.
He did not get around to proposing, but against his father's advice he mentioned his ideas on
transmutation.[90]
Malthus and natural selection
Continuing his research in London, Darwin's wide reading now included the sixth edition of Malthus's An
Essay on the Principle of Population, and on 28 September 1838 he noted its assertion that human
"population, when unchecked, goes on doubling itself every twenty five years, or increases in a
geometrical ratio", a geometric progression so that population soon exceeds food supply in what is
known as a Malthusian catastrophe. Darwin was well prepared to compare this to de Candolle's
"warring of the species" of plants and the struggle for existence among wildlife, explaining how numbers
of a species kept roughly stable. As species always breed beyond available resources, favourable
variations would make organisms better at surviving and passing the variations on to their offspring,
while unfavourable variations would be lost. He wrote that the "final cause of all this wedging, must be
to sort out proper structure, & adapt it to changes", so that "One may say there is a force like a hundred
thousand wedges trying force into every kind of adapted structure into the gaps of in the economy of
nature, or rather forming gaps by thrusting out weaker ones."[11][91] This would result in the formation
of new species.[11][92] As he later wrote in his Autobiography:
In October 1838, that is, fifteen months after I had begun my systematic enquiry, I happened to read for
amusement Malthus on Population, and being well prepared to appreciate the struggle for existence
which everywhere goes on from long-continued observation of the habits of animals and plants, it at
once struck me that under these circumstances favourable variations would tend to be preserved, and
unfavourable ones to be destroyed. The result of this would be the formation of new species. Here,
then, I had at last got a theory by which to work..."[93]
By mid December, Darwin saw a similarity between farmers picking the best stock in selective breeding,
and a Malthusian Nature selecting from chance variants so that "every part of newly acquired structure
is fully practical and perfected",[94] thinking this comparison "a beautiful part of my theory".[95] He
later called his theory natural selection, an analogy with what he termed the artificial selection of
selective breeding.[11]
On 11 November, he returned to Maer and proposed to Emma, once more telling her his ideas. She
accepted, then in exchanges of loving letters she showed how she valued his openness in sharing their
differences, also expressing her strong Unitarian beliefs and concerns that his honest doubts might
separate them in the afterlife.[96] While he was house-hunting in London, bouts of illness continued and
Emma wrote urging him to get some rest, almost prophetically remarking "So don't be ill any more my
dear Charley till I can be with you to nurse you." He found what they called "Macaw Cottage" (because
of its gaudy interiors) in Gower Street, then moved his "museum" in over Christmas. On 24 January
1839, Darwin was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS).[2][97]
On 29 January, Darwin and Emma Wedgwood were married at Maer in an Anglican ceremony arranged
to suit the Unitarians, then immediately caught the train to London and their new home.[98]
Geology books, barnacles, evolutionary research
Development of Darwin's theory
Darwin in 1842 with his eldest son, William Erasmus Darwin
Darwin now had the framework of his theory of natural selection "by which to work",[93] as his "prime
hobby".[99] His research included extensive experimental selective breeding of plants and animals,
finding evidence that species were not fixed and investigating many detailed ideas to refine and
substantiate his theory.[11] For fifteen years this work was in the background to his main occupation of
writing on geology and publishing expert reports on the Beagle collections.[100]
When FitzRoy's Narrative was published in May 1839, Darwin's Journal and Remarks was such a success
as the third volume that later that year it was published on its own.[101] Early in 1842, Darwin wrote
about his ideas to Charles Lyell, who noted that his ally "denies seeing a beginning to each crop of
species".[102]
Darwin's book The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs on his theory of atoll formation was
published in May 1842 after more than three years of work, and he then wrote his first "pencil sketch"
of his theory of natural selection.[103] To escape the pressures of London, the family moved to
rural Down House in September.[104] On 11 January 1844, Darwin mentioned his theorising to the
botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker, writing with melodramatic humour "it is like confessing a murder".[105]
[106]Hooker replied "There may in my opinion have been a series of productions on different spots, &
also a gradual change of species. I shall be delighted to hear how you think that this change may have
taken place, as no presently conceived opinions satisfy me on the subject."[107]
Darwin's "sandwalk" at Down House was his usual "Thinking Path".[108]
By July, Darwin had expanded his "sketch" into a 230-page "Essay", to be expanded with his research
results if he died prematurely.[109] In November, the anonymously published sensational best-
seller Vestiges of the Natural History of Creationbrought wide interest in transmutation. Darwin scorned
its amateurish geology and zoology, but carefully reviewed his own arguments. Controversy erupted,
and it continued to sell well despite contemptuous dismissal by scientists.[110][111]
Darwin completed his third geological book in 1846. He now renewed a fascination and expertise
in marine invertebrates, dating back to his student days with Grant, by dissecting and classifying
the barnacles he had collected on the voyage, enjoying observing beautiful structures and thinking
about comparisons with allied structures.[112] In 1847, Hooker read the "Essay" and sent notes that
provided Darwin with the calm critical feedback that he needed, but would not commit himself and
questioned Darwin's opposition to continuing acts of creation.[113]
In an attempt to improve his chronic ill health, Darwin went in 1849 to Dr. James Gully's Malvern spa
and was surprised to find some benefit from hydrotherapy.[114] Then, in 1851, his treasured
daughter Annie fell ill, reawakening his fears that his illness might be hereditary, and after a long series
of crises she died.[115]
In eight years of work on barnacles (Cirripedia), Darwin's theory helped him to find "homologies"
showing that slightly changed body parts served different functions to meet new conditions, and in
some genera he found minute males parasitic on hermaphrodites, showing an intermediate stage in
evolution of distinct sexes.[116] In 1853, it earned him the Royal Society's Royal Medal, and it made his
reputation as a biologist.[117] In 1854 he became a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, gaining
postal access to its library.[118] He began a major reassessment of his theory of species, and in
November realised that divergence in the character of descendants could be explained by them
becoming adapted to "diversified places in the economy of nature".[119]
Publication of the theory of natural selection
Publication of Darwin's theory
Charles Darwin, aged 46 in 1855, by then working towards publication of his theory of natural selection.
He wrote to Hooker about this portrait, "if I really have as bad an expression, as my photograph gives
me, how I can have one single friend is surprising."[120]
By the start of 1856, Darwin was investigating whether eggs and seeds could survive travel across
seawater to spread species across oceans. Hooker increasingly doubted the traditional view that species
were fixed, but their young friend Thomas Henry Huxley was firmly against the transmutation of
species. Lyell was intrigued by Darwin's speculations without realising their extent. When he read a
paper by Alfred Russel Wallace, "On the Law which has Regulated the Introduction of New Species", he
saw similarities with Darwin's thoughts and urged him to publish to establish precedence. Though
Darwin saw no threat, on 14 May 1856 he began writing a short paper. Finding answers to difficult
questions held him up repeatedly, and he expanded his plans to a "big book on species" titled Natural
Selection, which was to include his "note on Man". He continued his researches, obtaining
information and specimens from naturalists worldwide including Wallace who was working in Borneo. In
mid-1857 he added a section heading; "Theory applied to Races of Man", but did not add text on this
topic. On 5 September 1857, Darwin sent the American botanist Asa Gray a detailed outline of his ideas,
including an abstract of Natural Selection, which omitted human origins and sexual selection. In
December, Darwin received a letter from Wallace asking if the book would examine human origins. He
responded that he would avoid that subject, "so surrounded with prejudices", while encouraging
Wallace's theorising and adding that "I go much further than you."[121]
Darwin's book was only partly written when, on 18 June 1858, he received a paper from Wallace
describing natural selection. Shocked that he had been "forestalled", Darwin sent it on that day to Lyell,
as requested by Wallace,[122][123] and although Wallace had not asked for publication, Darwin
suggested he would send it to any journal that Wallace chose. His family was in crisis with children in the
village dying of scarlet fever, and he put matters in the hands of his friends. After some discussion, Lyell
and Hooker decided on a joint presentation at the Linnean Society on 1 July of On the Tendency of
Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of
Selection. On the evening of 28 June, Darwin's baby son died of scarlet fever after almost a week of
severe illness, and he was too distraught to attend.[124]
There was little immediate attention to this announcement of the theory; the president of the Linnean
Society remarked in May 1859 that the year had not been marked by any revolutionary discoveries.
[125] Only one review rankled enough for Darwin to recall it later; Professor Samuel Haughton of Dublin
claimed that "all that was new in them was false, and what was true was old".[126] Darwin struggled for
thirteen months to produce an abstract of his "big book", suffering from ill health but getting constant
encouragement from his scientific friends. Lyell arranged to have it published by John Murray.[127]
On the Origin of Species proved unexpectedly popular, with the entire stock of 1,250 copies
oversubscribed when it went on sale to booksellers on 22 November 1859.[128] In the book, Darwin set
out "one long argument" of detailed observations, inferences and consideration of anticipated
objections.[129] In making the case for common descent, he included evidence of homologies between
humans and other mammals.[130][III] Having outlined sexual selection, he hinted that it could explain
differences between human races.[131][IV] He avoided explicit discussion of human origins, but implied
the significance of his work with the sentence; "Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his
history."[132][IV] His theory is simply stated in the introduction:
As many more individuals of each species are born than can possibly survive; and as, consequently,
there is a frequently recurring struggle for existence, it follows that any being, if it vary however slightly
in any manner profitable to itself, under the complex and sometimes varying conditions of life, will have
a better chance of surviving, and thus be naturally selected. From the strong principle of inheritance, any
selected variety will tend to propagate its new and modified form.[133]
At the end of the book he concluded that:
There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few
forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity,
from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being,
evolved.[134]
The last word was the only variant of "evolved" in the first five editions of the book. "Evolutionism" at
that time was associated with other concepts, most commonly with embryological development, and
Darwin first used the word evolution in The Descent of Man in 1871, before adding it in 1872 to the 6th
edition of The Origin of Species.[135]
Responses to publication
During the Darwin family's 1868 holiday in her Isle of Wight cottage, Julia Margaret Cameron took
portraits showing the bushy beard Darwin grew between 1862 and 1866.
An 1871 caricature following publication of The Descent of Man was typical of many showing Darwin
with an ape body, identifying him in popular culture as the leading author of evolutionary theory.[136]
Further information: Reaction to On the Origin of Species
The book aroused international interest, with less controversy than had greeted the popular Vestiges of
the Natural History of Creation.[137] Though Darwin's illness kept him away from the public debates, he
eagerly scrutinised the scientific response, commenting on press cuttings, reviews, articles, satires and
caricatures, and corresponded on it with colleagues worldwide.[138]The book did not explicitly discuss
human origins,[132][IV] but included a number of hints about the animal ancestry of humans from
which the inference could be made.[139] The first review asked, "If a monkey has become a man–what
may not a man become?" and said it should be left to theologians as it was too dangerous for ordinary
readers.[140] Amongst early favourable responses, Huxley's reviews swiped at Richard Owen, leader of
the scientific establishment Huxley was trying to overthrow.[141]In April, Owen's review attacked
Darwin's friends and condescendingly dismissed his ideas, angering Darwin,[142] but Owen and others
began to promote ideas of supernaturally guided evolution. Patrick Matthew drew attention to his 1831
book which had a brief appendix suggesting a concept of natural selection leading to new species, but
he had not developed the idea.[143]
The Church of England's response was mixed. Darwin's old Cambridge
tutors Sedgwick and Henslow dismissed the ideas, but liberal clergymen interpreted natural selection as
an instrument of God's design, with the cleric Charles Kingsley seeing it as "just as noble a conception of
Deity".[144] In 1860, the publication of Essays and Reviews by seven liberal Anglican theologians
diverted clerical attention from Darwin, with its ideas including higher criticism attacked by church
authorities as heresy. In it, Baden Powell argued that miracles broke God's laws, so belief in them
was atheistic, and praised "Mr Darwin's masterly volume [supporting] the grand principle of the self-
evolving powers of nature".[145] Asa Gray discussed teleology with Darwin, who imported and
distributed Gray's pamphlet on theistic evolution, Natural Selection is not inconsistent with natural
theology.[144][146] The most famous confrontation was at the public 1860 Oxford evolution
debate during a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, where the Bishop of
Oxford Samuel Wilberforce, though not opposed to transmutation of species, argued against Darwin's
explanation and human descent from apes. Joseph Hooker argued strongly for Darwin, and Thomas
Huxley's legendary retort, that he would rather be descended from an ape than a man who misused his
gifts, came to symbolise a triumph of science over religion.[144][147]
Even Darwin's close friends Gray, Hooker, Huxley and Lyell still expressed various reservations but gave
strong support, as did many others, particularly younger naturalists. Gray and Lyell sought reconciliation
with faith, while Huxley portrayed a polarisation between religion and science. He campaigned
pugnaciously against the authority of the clergy in education,[144]aiming to overturn the dominance of
clergymen and aristocratic amateurs under Owen in favour of a new generation of professional
scientists. Owen's claim that brain anatomy proved humans to be a separate biological order from apes
was shown to be false by Huxley in a long running dispute parodied by Kingsley as the "Great
Hippocampus Question", and discredited Owen.[148]
Darwinism became a movement covering a wide range of evolutionary ideas. In 1863 Lyell's Geological
Evidences of the Antiquity of Man popularised prehistory, though his caution on evolution disappointed
Darwin. Weeks later Huxley's Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature showed that anatomically, humans
are apes, then The Naturalist on the River Amazons by Henry Walter Bates provided empirical evidence
of natural selection.[149] Lobbying brought Darwin Britain's highest scientific honour, the Royal
Society's Copley Medal, awarded on 3 November 1864.[150] That day, Huxley held the first meeting of
what became the influential "X Club" devoted to "science, pure and free, untrammelled by religious
dogmas".[151] By the end of the decade most scientists agreed that evolution occurred, but only a
minority supported Darwin's view that the chief mechanism was natural selection.[152]
The Origin of Species was translated into many languages, becoming a staple scientific text attracting
thoughtful attention from all walks of life, including the "working men" who flocked to Huxley's lectures.
[153] Darwin's theory also resonated with various movements at the time[V] and became a key fixture
of popular culture.[VI]Cartoonists parodied animal ancestry in an old tradition of showing humans with
animal traits, and in Britain these droll images served to popularise Darwin's theory in an unthreatening
way. While ill in 1862 Darwin began growing a beard, and when he reappeared in public in 1866
caricatures of him as an ape helped to identify all forms of evolutionism with Darwinism.[136]
Descent of Man, sexual selection, and botany
By 1878, an increasingly famous Darwin had suffered years of illness.
Letter from Charles Darwin to John Burdon-Sanderson
See also: Orchids to Variation, Descent of Man to Emotions, and Insectivorous Plants to Worms
Despite repeated bouts of illness during the last twenty-two years of his life, Darwin's work continued.
Having published On the Origin of Species as an abstract of his theory, he pressed on with experiments,
research, and writing of his "big book". He covered human descent from earlier animals including
evolution of society and of mental abilities, as well as explaining decorative beauty in wildlife and
diversifying into innovative plant studies.
Enquiries about insect pollination led in 1861 to novel studies of wild orchids, showing adaptation of
their flowers to attract specific moths to each species and ensure cross fertilisation. In 1862 Fertilisation
of Orchids gave his first detailed demonstration of the power of natural selection to explain complex
ecological relationships, making testable predictions. As his health declined, he lay on his sickbed in a
room filled with inventive experiments to trace the movements of climbing plants.[154] Admiring
visitors included Ernst Haeckel, a zealous proponent
of Darwinismus incorporating Lamarckism and Goethe's idealism.[155] Wallace remained supportive,
though he increasingly turned to Spiritualism.[156]
Darwin's book The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication (1868) was the first part of his
planned "big book", and included his unsuccessful hypothesis of pangenesis attempting to
explain heredity. It sold briskly at first, despite its size, and was translated into many languages. He
wrote most of a second part, on natural selection, but it remained unpublished in his lifetime.[157]
Punch's almanac for 1882, published shortly before Darwin's death, depicts him amidst evolution from
chaos to Victorian gentleman with the title Man Is But A Worm.
Lyell had already popularised human prehistory, and Huxley had shown that anatomically humans are
apes.[149] With The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex published in 1871, Darwin set out
evidence from numerous sources that humans are animals, showing continuity of physical and mental
attributes, and presented sexual selection to explain impractical animal features such as the peacock's
plumage as well as human evolution of culture, differences between sexes, and physical and
cultural racial classification, while emphasising that humans are all one species.[158] His research using
images was expanded in his 1872 book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, one of the
first books to feature printed photographs, which discussed the evolution of human psychology and its
continuity with the behaviour of animals. Both books proved very popular, and Darwin was impressed
by the general assent with which his views had been received, remarking that "everybody is talking
about it without being shocked."[159] His conclusion was "that man with all his noble qualities, with
sympathy which feels for the most debased, with benevolence which extends not only to other men but
to the humblest living creature, with his god-like intellect which has penetrated into the movements and
constitution of the solar system—with all these exalted powers—Man still bears in his bodily frame the
indelible stamp of his lowly origin."[160]
His evolution-related experiments and investigations led to books on Orchids, Insectivorous Plants, The
Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom, different forms of flowers on plants of
the same species, and The Power of Movement in Plants. His botanical work was interpreted and
popularised by various writers including Grant Allen and H. G. Wells, and helped transform plant
science in the late 19th century and early 20th century. In his last book he returned to The Formation of
Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms.
Death and funeral
Darwin from Insectivorous Plants to Worms
Tombs of John Herschel and Charles Darwin. Westminster Abbey.
In 1882 he was diagnosed with what was called "angina pectoris" which then meant coronary
thrombosis and disease of the heart. At the time of his death, the physicians diagnosed "anginal
attacks", and "heart-failure".[161] Today it is speculated that Darwin was suffering from chronic Chagas
disease.[162] This speculation is based on a journal entry written by Darwin, describing he was bitten by
the "Kissing Bug" in Mendoza, Argentina, in 1835;[163] and based on the constellation of clinical
symptoms he exhibited, including cardiac disease which is a hallmark of chronic Chagas disease.[164]
[162] Exhuming Darwin's body is likely necessary to definitively determine his state of infection by
detecting DNA of infecting parasite, T. cruzi, that causes Chagas disease.[162][163]
He died at Down House on 19 April 1882. His last words were to his family, telling Emma "I am not the
least afraid of death—Remember what a good wife you have been to me—Tell all my children to
remember how good they have been to me", then while she rested, he repeatedly told Henrietta and
Francis "It's almost worth while to be sick to be nursed by you".[165] He had expected to be buried in St
Mary's churchyard at Downe, but at the request of Darwin's colleagues, after public and parliamentary
petitioning, William Spottiswoode (President of the Royal Society) arranged for Darwin to be honoured
by burial in Westminster Abbey, close to John Herschel and Isaac Newton. The funeral was held on
Wednesday 26 April and was attended by thousands of people, including family, friends, scientists,
philosophers and dignitaries.[166][23]
Legacy
In 1881 Darwin was an eminent figure, still working on his contributions to evolutionary thought that
had an enormous effect on many fields of science. Portrait by John Collier in the National Portrait
Gallery, London.
By the time of his death, Darwin had convinced most scientists that evolution as descent with
modification was correct, and he was regarded as a great scientist who had revolutionised ideas. In June
1909, though few at that time agreed with his view that "natural selection has been the main but not
the exclusive means of modification", he was honoured by more than 400 officials and scientists from
across the world who met in Cambridge to commemorate his centenary and the fiftieth anniversary
of On the Origin of Species.[167] Around the beginning of the 20th century, a period that has been
called "the eclipse of Darwinism", scientists proposed various alternative evolutionary mechanisms,
which eventually proved untenable. Ronald Fisher, an English statistician, finally united Mendelian
genetics with natural selection, in the period between 1918 and his 1930 book The Genetical Theory of
Natural Selection.[168] He gave the theory a mathematical footing and brought broad scientific
consensus that natural selection was the basic mechanism of evolution, thus founding the basis
for population genetics and the modern evolutionary synthesis, with J.B.S. Haldane and Sewall Wright,
which set the frame of reference for modern debates and refinements of the theory.[12]
Commemoration
Commemoration of Charles Darwin
See also: List of things named after Charles Darwin and List of taxa described by Charles Darwin
Statute of Darwin in Natural History Museum, London
During Darwin's lifetime, many geographical features were given his name. An expanse of water
adjoining the Beagle Channelwas named Darwin Sound by Robert FitzRoy after Darwin's prompt action,
along with two or three of the men, saved them from being marooned on a nearby shore when a
collapsing glacier caused a large wave that would have swept away their boats,[169]and the
nearby Mount Darwin in the Andes was named in celebration of Darwin's 25th birthday.[170] When
the Beagle was surveying Australia in 1839, Darwin's friend John Lort Stokes sighted a natural harbour
which the ship's captain Wickhamnamed Port Darwin: a nearby settlement was renamed Darwin in
1911, and it became the capital city of Australia's Northern Territory.[171]
Unveiling of the Darwin Statue outside the former Shrewsbury School building in 1897
More than 120 species and nine genera have been named after Darwin.[172] In one example, the group
of tanagers related to those Darwin found in the Galápagos Islandsbecame popularly known as
"Darwin's finches" in 1947, fostering inaccurate legends about their significance to his work.[173]
Darwin's work has continued to be celebrated by numerous publications and events. The Linnean
Society of London has commemorated Darwin's achievements by the award of the Darwin–Wallace
Medal since 1908. Darwin Day has become an annual celebration, and in 2009 worldwide events were
arranged for the bicentenary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the
Origin of Species.[174]
Darwin has been commemorated in the UK, with his portrait printed on the reverse of £10 banknotes
printed along with a hummingbird and HMS Beagle, issued by the Bank of England.[175]
A life-size seated statue of Darwin can be seen in the main hall of the Natural History Museum in
London.[176]
A seated statue of Darwin, unveiled 1897, stands in front of Shrewsbury Library, the building that used
to house Shrewsbury School, which Darwin attended as a boy. Another statue of Darwin as a young man
is situated in the grounds of Christ's College, Cambridge.
Darwin College, a postgraduate college at Cambridge University, is named after the Darwin family.[177]
2008–09 the Swedish band The Knife, in collaboration with Danish performance group Hotel Pro Forma
and other musicians from Denmark, Sweden and the US, created an opera about the life of Darwin, and
The Origin of Species, titled Tomorrow, in a Year. The show toured European theatres in 2010.
Children
Darwin–Wedgwood family
William Erasmus 27 December 1839 – 8 September 1914
Anne Elizabeth 2 March 1841 – 23 April 1851
23 September 1842
Mary Eleanor 16 October 1842
–
25 September 1843
Henrietta Emma 17 December 1927
–
George Howard 9 July 1845 – 7 December 1912
Elizabeth 8 July 1847 – 8 June 1926
Francis 16 August 1848 – 19 September 1925
Leonard 15 January 1850 – 26 March 1943
Horace 13 May 1851 – 29 September 1928
Charles 6 December 1856 – 28 June 1858
The Darwins had ten children: two died in infancy, and Annie's death at the age of ten had a devastating
effect on her parents. Charles was a devoted father and uncommonly attentive to his children.
[15] Whenever they fell ill, he feared that they might have inherited weaknesses from inbreeding due to
the close family ties he shared with his wife and cousin, Emma Wedgwood.
He examined inbreeding in his writings, contrasting it with the advantages of outcrossing in many
species.[178] Despite his fears, most of the surviving children and many of their descendants went on to
have distinguished careers.
Of his surviving children, George, Francis and Horace became Fellows of the Royal Society,
[179]distinguished as astronomer,[180] botanist and civil engineer, respectively. All three were
knighted.[181]Another son, Leonard, went on to be a soldier, politician, economist, eugenicist and
mentor of the statistician and evolutionary biologist Ronald Fisher.[182]
Views and opinions
Religious views
Religious views of Charles Darwin
In 1851 Darwin was devastated when his daughter Annie died. By then his faith in Christianity had
dwindled, and he had stopped going to church.[183]
Darwin's family tradition was nonconformist Unitarianism, while his father and grandfather
were freethinkers, and his baptismand boarding school were Church of England.[26] When going to
Cambridge to become an Anglican clergyman, he did not doubt the literal truth of the Bible.[33] He
learned John Herschel's science which, like William Paley's natural theology, sought explanations in laws
of nature rather than miracles and saw adaptation of species as evidence of design.[35][36] On board
HMS Beagle, Darwin was quite orthodox and would quote the Bible as an authority on morality.[184] He
looked for "centres of creation" to explain distribution,[59] and suggested that the very
similar antlions found in Australia and England were evidence of a divine hand.[61]
By his return, he was critical of the Bible as history, and wondered why all religions should not be
equally valid.[184] In the next few years, while intensively speculating on geology and the transmutation
of species, he gave much thought to religion and openly discussed this with his wife Emma, whose
beliefs also came from intensive study and questioning.[96] The theodicy of Paley and Thomas
Malthus vindicated evils such as starvation as a result of a benevolent creator's laws, which had an
overall good effect. To Darwin, natural selection produced the good of adaptation but removed the
need for design,[185] and he could not see the work of an omnipotent deity in all the pain and suffering,
such as the ichneumon wasp paralysing caterpillars as live food for its eggs.[146] Though he thought of
religion as a tribal survival strategy, Darwin was reluctant to give up the idea of God as an ultimate
lawgiver. He was increasingly troubled by the problem of evil.[186][187]
Darwin remained close friends with the vicar of Downe, John Brodie Innes, and continued to play a
leading part in the parish work of the church,[188] but from around 1849 would go for a walk on
Sundays while his family attended church.[183] He considered it "absurd to doubt that a man might be
an ardent theist and an evolutionist"[189][190] and, though reticent about his religious views, in 1879
he wrote that "I have never been an atheist in the sense of denying the existence of a God. – I think that
generally ... an agnostic would be the most correct description of my state of mind".[96][189]
The "Lady Hope Story", published in 1915, claimed that Darwin had reverted to Christianity on his
sickbed. The claims were repudiated by Darwin's children and have been dismissed as false by
historians.[191]
Human society
Darwin's views on social and political issues reflected his time and social position. He grew up in a family
of Whig reformers who, like his uncle Josiah Wedgwood, supported electoral reform and
the emancipation of slaves. Darwin was passionately opposed to slavery, while seeing no problem with
the working conditions of English factory workers or servants. His taxidermy lessons in 1826 from the
freed slave John Edmonstone, who he long recalled as "a very pleasant and intelligent man", reinforced
his belief that black people shared the same feelings, and could be as intelligent as people of other
races. He took the same attitude to native people he met on the Beagle voyage.[192] These attitudes
were not unusual in Britain in the 1820s, much as it shocked visiting Americans. British society became
more racist in mid century,[27] but Darwin remained strongly against slavery, against "ranking the so-
called races of man as distinct species", and against ill-treatment of native people.[193][VII] Darwins
interaction with Yaghans (Fuegians) such as Jemmy Button during the second voyage of HMS Beagle had
a profound impact on his view of primitive peoples. At his arrival to Tierra del Fuego he made a colourful
description of "Fuegian savages".[194] This view changed as he came to know Yaghan people more in
detail. By studying the Yaghans Darwin concluded that a number of basic emotions by different human
groups were the same and that mental capabilities were roughly the same as for Europeans.[194] While
interested in Yaghan culture Darwin failed to appreciate their deep ecological knowledge and elaborate
cosmology until the 1850s when he inspected a dictionary of Yaghan detailing 32-thousand words.[194]
He valued European civilisation and saw colonisation as spreading its benefits, with the sad but
inevitable effect that savage peoples who did not become civilised faced extinction. Darwin's theories
presented this as natural, and were cited to promote policies that went against his humanitarian
principles.[195]
He thought men's eminence over women was the outcome of sexual selection, a view disputed
by Antoinette Brown Blackwell in her 1875 book The Sexes Throughout Nature.[196]
Darwin was intrigued by his half-cousin Francis Galton's argument, introduced in 1865, that statistical
analysis of heredity showed that moral and mental human traits could be inherited, and principles of
animal breeding could apply to humans. In The Descent of Man, Darwin noted that aiding the weak to
survive and have families could lose the benefits of natural selection, but cautioned that withholding
such aid would endanger the instinct of sympathy, "the noblest part of our nature", and factors such as
education could be more important. When Galton suggested that publishing research could encourage
intermarriage within a "caste" of "those who are naturally gifted", Darwin foresaw practical difficulties,
and thought it "the sole feasible, yet I fear utopian, plan of procedure in improving the human race",
preferring to simply publicise the importance of inheritance and leave decisions to individuals.
[197] Francis Galton named this field of study "eugenics" in 1883.[VIII]
Evolutionary social movements
Caricature of Darwin from 1871 Vanity Fair
Further information: Darwinism, Eugenics, and Social Darwinism
Darwin's fame and popularity led to his name being associated with ideas and movements that, at times,
had only an indirect relation to his writings, and sometimes went directly against his express comments.
Thomas Malthus had argued that population growth beyond resources was ordained by God to get
humans to work productively and show restraint in getting families; this was used in the 1830s to
justify workhouses and laissez-faire economics.[198] Evolution was by then seen as having social
implications, and Herbert Spencer's 1851 book Social Statics based ideas of human freedom and
individual liberties on his Lamarckian evolutionary theory.[199]
Soon after the Origin was published in 1859, critics derided his description of a struggle for existence as
a Malthusian justification for the English industrial capitalism of the time. The term Darwinism was used
for the evolutionary ideas of others, including Spencer's "survival of the fittest" as free-market progress,
and Ernst Haeckel's polygenistic ideas of human development. Writers used natural selection to argue
for various, often contradictory, ideologies such as laissez-faire dog-eat-dog
capitalism, colonialism and imperialism. However, Darwin's holistic view of nature included
"dependence of one being on another"; thus pacifists, socialists, liberal social reformers and anarchists
such as Peter Kropotkin stressed the value of co-operation over struggle within a species.[200] Darwin
himself insisted that social policy should not simply be guided by concepts of struggle and selection in
nature.[201]
After the 1880s, a eugenics movement developed on ideas of biological inheritance, and for scientific
justification of their ideas appealed to some concepts of Darwinism. In Britain, most shared Darwin's
cautious views on voluntary improvement and sought to encourage those with good traits in "positive
eugenics". During the "Eclipse of Darwinism", a scientific foundation for eugenics was provided
by Mendelian genetics. Negative eugenics to remove the "feebleminded" were popular in America,
Canada and Australia, and eugenics in the United Statesintroduced compulsory sterilisation laws,
followed by several other countries. Subsequently, Nazi eugenics brought the field into disrepute.[VIII]
The term "Social Darwinism" was used infrequently from around the 1890s, but became popular as a
derogatory term in the 1940s when used by Richard Hofstadter to attack the laissez-faire
conservatism of those like William Graham Sumner who opposed reform and socialism. Since then, it
has been used as a term of abuse by those opposed to what they think are the moral consequences of
evolution.[202][198]
Works
Further information: Charles Darwin bibliography
Darwin was a prolific writer. Even without publication of his works on evolution, he would have had a
considerable reputation as the author of The Voyage of the Beagle, as a geologist who had published
extensively on South America and had solved the puzzle of the formation of coral atolls, and as a
biologist who had published the definitive work on barnacles. While On the Origin of Species dominates
perceptions of his work, The Descent of Man and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and
Animals had considerable impact, and his books on plants including The Power of Movement in
Plants were innovative studies of great importance, as was his final work on The Formation of Vegetable
Mould through the Action of Worms.[203][204]
Biology portal
Creation–evolution controversy
European and American voyages of scientific exploration
Harriet (tortoise)
History of biology
History of evolutionary thought
List of coupled cousins
List of multiple discoveries
Multiple discovery
Portraits of Charles Darwin
Tinamou egg
Universal Darwinism
Notes
I. ^ Darwin was eminent as a naturalist, geologist, biologist, and author. After working as a physician's
assistant and two years as a medical student, he was educated as a clergyman; he was also trained
in taxidermy.[205]
II. ^ Robert FitzRoy was to become known after the voyage for biblical literalism, but at this time he had
considerable interest in Lyell's ideas, and they met before the voyage when Lyell asked for observations
to be made in South America. FitzRoy's diary during the ascent of the River Santa Cruz
in Patagonia recorded his opinion that the plains were raised beaches, but on return, newly married to a
very religious lady, he recanted these ideas.(Browne 1995, pp. 186, 414)
III. ^ In the section "Morphology" of Chapter XIII of On the Origin of Species, Darwin commented
on homologous bone patterns between humans and other mammals, writing: "What can be more
curious than that the hand of a man, formed for grasping, that of a mole for digging, the leg of the
horse, the paddle of the porpoise, and the wing of the bat, should all be constructed on the same
pattern, and should include the same bones, in the same relative positions?"[206] and in the concluding
chapter: "The framework of bones being the same in the hand of a man, wing of a bat, fin of the
porpoise, and leg of the horse … at once explain themselves on the theory of descent with slow and
slight successive modifications."[207]
IV. 1 2 3 In On the Origin of Species Darwin mentioned human origins in his concluding remark that "In
the distant future I see open fields for far more important researches. Psychology will be based on a new
foundation, that of the necessary acquirement of each mental power and capacity by gradation. Light
will be thrown on the origin of man and his history."[132]
In "Chapter VI: Difficulties on Theory" he referred to sexual selection: "I might have adduced for this
same purpose the differences between the races of man, which are so strongly marked; I may add that
some little light can apparently be thrown on the origin of these differences, chiefly through sexual
selection of a particular kind, but without here entering on copious details my reasoning would appear
frivolous."[131]
In The Descent of Man of 1871, Darwin discussed the first passage: "During many years I collected notes
on the origin or descent of man, without any intention of publishing on the subject, but rather with the
determination not to publish, as I thought that I should thus only add to the prejudices against my views.
It seemed to me sufficient to indicate, in the first edition of my 'Origin of Species,' that by this work 'light
would be thrown on the origin of man and his history;' and this implies that man must be included with
other organic beings in any general conclusion respecting his manner of appearance on this
earth."[208] In a preface to the 1874 second edition, he added a reference to the second point: "it has
been said by several critics, that when I found that many details of structure in man could not be
explained through natural selection, I invented sexual selection; I gave, however, a tolerably clear sketch
of this principle in the first edition of the 'Origin of Species,' and I there stated that it was applicable to
man."[209]
V. ^ See, for example, WILLA volume 4, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the Feminization of Education by
Deborah M. De Simone: "Gilman shared many basic educational ideas with the generation of thinkers
who matured during the period of "intellectual chaos" caused by Darwin's Origin of the Species. Marked
by the belief that individuals can direct human and social evolution, many progressives came to view
education as the panacea for advancing social progress and for solving such problems as urbanisation,
poverty, or immigration."
VI. ^ See, for example, the song "A lady fair of lineage high" from Gilbert and Sullivan's Princess Ida,
which describes the descent of man (but not woman!) from apes.
VII. ^ Darwin's belief that black people had the same essential humanity as Europeans, and had many
mental similarities, was reinforced by the lessons he had from John Edmonstone in 1826.[27] Early in
the Beagle voyage, Darwin nearly lost his position on the ship when he criticised FitzRoy's defence and
praise of slavery. (Darwin 1958, p. 74) He wrote home about "how steadily the general feeling, as shown
at elections, has been rising against Slavery. What a proud thing for England if she is the first European
nation which utterly abolishes it! I was told before leaving England that after living in slave countries all
my opinions would be altered; the only alteration I am aware of is forming a much higher estimate of
the negro character." (Darwin 1887, p. 246) Regarding Fuegians, he "could not have believed how wide
was the difference between savage and civilized man: it is greater than between a wild and
domesticated animal, inasmuch as in man there is a greater power of improvement", but he knew and
liked civilised Fuegians like Jemmy Button: "It seems yet wonderful to me, when I think over all his many
good qualities, that he should have been of the same race, and doubtless partaken of the same
character, with the miserable, degraded savages whom we first met here."(Darwin 1845, pp. 205, 207–
208)
In the Descent of Man, he mentioned the similarity of Fuegians' and Edmonstone's minds to Europeans'
when arguing against "ranking the so-called races of man as distinct species".[210]
He rejected the ill-treatment of native people, and for example wrote of massacres of Patagonian men,
women, and children, "Every one here is fully convinced that this is the most just war, because it is
against barbarians. Who would believe in this age that such atrocities could be committed in a Christian
civilized country?"(Darwin 1845, p. 102)
VIII. 1 2 Geneticists studied human heredity as Mendelian inheritance, while eugenics movements
sought to manage society, with a focus on social class in the United Kingdom, and on disability and
ethnicity in the United States, leading to geneticists seeing this as impractical pseudoscience. A shift
from voluntary arrangements to "negative" eugenics included compulsory sterilisation laws in the
United States, copied by Nazi Germany as the basis for Nazi eugenics based on virulent racism and
"racial hygiene".
(Thurtle, Phillip (17 December 1996). "the creation of genetic identity". SEHR. 5 (Supplement: Cultural
and Technological Incubations of Fascism). Retrieved 11 November2008.Edwards, A. W. F. (1 April
2000). "The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection". Genetics. 154 (April 2000). pp. 1419–
1426. PMC 1461012. PMID 10747041. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
Wilkins, John. "Evolving Thoughts: Darwin and the Holocaust 3: eugenics". Archived from the original on
5 December 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2008.)
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell ('Graham' pronounced /ˈɡreɪ.əm/) (March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922)[3] was
a Scottish-born[N 2]scientist, inventor, engineer, and innovator who is credited with inventing and
patenting the first practical telephone. He also founded the American Telephone and Telegraph
Company (AT&T) in 1885.[6][7]
Bell's father, grandfather, and brother had all been associated with work on elocution and speech and
both his mother and wife were deaf, profoundly influencing Bell's life's work.[8] His research on hearing
and speech further led him to experiment with hearing devices which eventually culminated in Bell
being awarded the first U.S. patent for the telephone in 1876.[N 3] Bell considered his invention an
intrusion on his real work as a scientist and refused to have a telephone in his study.[9]
Alexander Graham Bell
Portrait photo taken between 1914 and 1919
Born March 3, 1847
Edinburgh, Scotland
Died August 2, 1922 (aged 75)
Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia, Canada
Residence United Kingdom
Canada
United States
Citizenship United Kingdom (1847–1882)
British-subject in Canada (1870–1882)
United States (1882–1922)
Alma mater University of Edinburgh
University College London
Occupation Inventor
Scientist
Engineer
Professor a
Teacher of the deaf [N 1]
Known for Invention of the telephone b
Spouse(s) Mabel Hubbard (m. 1877–1922)
Children four c
Parent(s) Alexander Melville Bell
Eliza Grace Symonds Bell
Relatives Gardiner G. Hubbard (father-in-law)
David C. Bell (uncle)
Gilbert H. Grosvenor (son-in-law)
David Fairchild (son-in-law)
Melville Bell Grosvenor (grandson)
Mabel Grosvenor (granddaughter)
A. Graham Bell Fairchild (grandson)
Gilbert Grosvenor (great-grandson)
Edwin Grosvenor (great-grandson)
Chichester Bell (cousin)
Awards 1883 NAS Member
1902 Albert Medal
1907 John Fritz Medal
1912 Elliott Cresson Medal
Bell's voice [2]
MENU
0:00
Re-identified in 2013, Bell made
this wax-discrecording of his voice in
1885.
[N 4]
Many other inventions marked Bell's later life, including groundbreaking work in optical
telecommunications, hydrofoils, and aeronautics. Although Bell was not one of the 33 founders[11] of
the National Geographic Society, he had a strong influence on the magazine while serving as the second
president from January 7, 1898, until 1903.[12]
Early life
Alexander Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 3, 1847.[13] The family home was at South
Charlotte Street, and has a stone inscription marking it as Alexander Graham Bell's birthplace. He had
two brothers: Melville James Bell (1845–1870) and Edward Charles Bell (1848–1867), both of whom
would die of tuberculosis.[14] His father was Professor Alexander Melville Bell, a phonetician, and his
mother was Eliza Grace (née Symonds).[15] Born as just "Alexander Bell", at age 10, he made a plea to
his father to have a middle name like his two brothers.[16][N 5] For his 11th birthday, his father
acquiesced and allowed him to adopt the name "Graham", chosen out of respect for Alexander Graham,
a Canadian being treated by his father who had become a family friend.[17] To close relatives and
friends he remained "Aleck".[18]
First invention
As a child, young Bell displayed a natural curiosity about his world, resulting in gathering botanical
specimens as well as experimenting even at an early age. His best friend was Ben Herdman, a neighbour
whose family operated a flour mill, the scene of many forays. Young Bell asked what needed to be done
at the mill. He was told wheat had to be dehusked through a laborious process and at the age of 12, Bell
built a homemade device that combined rotating paddles with sets of nail brushes, creating a simple
dehusking machine that was put into operation and used steadily for a number of years.[19] In return,
Ben's father John Herdman gave both boys the run of a small workshop in which to "invent".[19]
From his early years, Bell showed a sensitive nature and a talent for art, poetry, and music that was
encouraged by his mother. With no formal training, he mastered the piano and became the family's
pianist.[20] Despite being normally quiet and introspective, he revelled in mimicry and "voice tricks"
akin to ventriloquism that continually entertained family guests during their occasional visits.[20] Bell
was also deeply affected by his mother's gradual deafness (she began to lose her hearing when he was
12), and learned a manual finger language so he could sit at her side and tap out silently the
conversations swirling around the family parlour.[21] He also developed a technique of speaking in
clear, modulated tones directly into his mother's forehead wherein she would hear him with reasonable
clarity.[22] Bell's preoccupation with his mother's deafness led him to study acoustics.
His family was long associated with the teaching of elocution: his grandfather, Alexander Bell, in London,
his uncle in Dublin, and his father, in Edinburgh, were all elocutionists. His father published a variety of
works on the subject, several of which are still well known, especially his The Standard
Elocutionist (1860),[20] which appeared in Edinburgh in 1868. The Standard Elocutionist appeared in
168 British editions and sold over a quarter of a million copies in the United States alone. In this treatise,
his father explains his methods of how to instruct deaf-mutes (as they were then known) to articulate
words and read other people's lip movements to decipher meaning. Bell's father taught him and his
brothers not only to write Visible Speech but to identify any symbol and its accompanying sound.
[23] Bell became so proficient that he became a part of his father's public demonstrations and
astounded audiences with his abilities. He could decipher Visible Speech representing virtually every
language, including Latin, Scottish Gaelic, and even Sanskrit, accurately reciting written tracts without
any prior knowledge of their pronunciation.[23]
Education
As a young child, Bell, like his brothers, received his early schooling at home from his father. At an early
age, he was enrolled at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, Scotland, which he left at the age of 15, having
completed only the first four forms.[24] His school record was undistinguished, marked by absenteeism
and lacklustre grades. His main interest remained in the sciences, especially biology while he treated
other school subjects with indifference, to the dismay of his demanding father.[25] Upon leaving school,
Bell travelled to London to live with his grandfather, Alexander Bell. During the year he spent with his
grandfather, a love of learning was born, with long hours spent in serious discussion and study. The
elder Bell took great efforts to have his young pupil learn to speak clearly and with conviction, the
attributes that his pupil would need to become a teacher himself.[26] At the age of 16, Bell secured a
position as a "pupil-teacher" of elocution and music, in Weston House Academy at Elgin, Moray,
Scotland. Although he was enrolled as a student in Latin and Greek, he instructed classes himself in
return for board and £10 per session.[27] The following year, he attended the University of Edinburgh;
joining his older brother Melville who had enrolled there the previous year. In 1868, not long before he
departed for Canada with his family, Bell completed his matriculation exams and was accepted for
admission to University College London.[28]
First experiments with sound
His father encouraged Bell's interest in speech and, in 1863, took his sons to see a
unique automaton developed by Sir Charles Wheatstone based on the earlier work of Baron Wolfgang
von Kempelen.[29] The rudimentary "mechanical man" simulated a human voice. Bell was fascinated by
the machine and after he obtained a copy of von Kempelen's book, published in German, and had
laboriously translated it, he and his older brother Melville built their own automaton head. Their father,
highly interested in their project, offered to pay for any supplies and spurred the boys on with the
enticement of a "big prize" if they were successful.[29] While his brother constructed the throat
and larynx, Bell tackled the more difficult task of recreating a realistic skull. His efforts resulted in a
remarkably lifelike head that could "speak", albeit only a few words.[29] The boys would carefully adjust
the "lips" and when a bellows forced air through the windpipe, a very recognizable "Mama" ensued, to
the delight of neighbours who came to see the Bell invention.[30]
Intrigued by the results of the automaton, Bell continued to experiment with a live subject, the
family's Skye Terrier, "Trouve".[31] After he taught it to growl continuously, Bell would reach into its
mouth and manipulate the dog's lips and vocal cords to produce a crude-sounding "Ow ah oo ga ma
ma". With little convincing, visitors believed his dog could articulate "How are you, grandma?" Indicative
of his playful nature, his experiments convinced onlookers that they saw a "talking dog".[32] These
initial forays into experimentation with sound led Bell to undertake his first serious work on the
transmission of sound, using tuning forks to explore resonance.
At age 19, Bell wrote a report on his work and sent it to philologist Alexander Ellis, a colleague of his
father (who would later be portrayed as Professor Henry Higgins in Pygmalion).[32] Ellis immediately
wrote back indicating that the experiments were similar to existing work in Germany, and also lent Bell a
copy of Hermann von Helmholtz's work, The Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of
Music.[33]
Dismayed to find that groundbreaking work had already been undertaken by Helmholtz who had
conveyed vowel sounds by means of a similar tuning fork "contraption", Bell pored over the German
scientist's book. Working from his own erroneous mistranslation of a French edition,[34] Bell
fortuitously then made a deduction that would be the underpinning of all his future work on
transmitting sound, reporting: "Without knowing much about the subject, it seemed to me that if vowel
sounds could be produced by electrical means, so could consonants, so could articulate speech." He also
later remarked: "I thought that Helmholtz had done it ... and that my failure was due only to my
ignorance of electricity. It was a valuable blunder ... If I had been able to read German in those days, I
might never have commenced my experiments!"[35][36][37][N 6]
Family tragedy
In 1865, when the Bell family moved to London,[38] Bell returned to Weston House as an assistant
master and, in his spare hours, continued experiments on sound using a minimum of laboratory
equipment. Bell concentrated on experimenting with electricity to convey sound and later installed
a telegraph wire from his room in Somerset College to that of a friend.[39] Throughout late 1867, his
health faltered mainly through exhaustion. His younger brother, Edward "Ted," was similarly bed-ridden,
suffering from tuberculosis. While Bell recovered (by then referring to himself in correspondence as "A.
G. Bell") and served the next year as an instructor at Somerset College, Bath, England, his brother's
condition deteriorated. Edward would never recover. Upon his brother's death, Bell returned home in
1867. His older brother Melville had married and moved out. With aspirations to obtain a degree
at University College London, Bell considered his next years as preparation for the degree examinations,
devoting his spare time at his family's residence to studying.
Helping his father in Visible Speech demonstrations and lectures brought Bell to Susanna E. Hull's private
school for the deaf in South Kensington, London. His first two pupils were deaf-mute girls who made
remarkable progress under his tutelage. While his older brother seemed to achieve success on many
fronts including opening his own elocution school, applying for a patent on an invention, and starting a
family, Bell continued as a teacher. However, in May 1870, Melville died from complications due to
tuberculosis, causing a family crisis. His father had also suffered a debilitating illness earlier in life and
had been restored to health by a convalescence in Newfoundland. Bell's parents embarked upon a long-
planned move when they realized that their remaining son was also sickly. Acting decisively, Alexander
Melville Bell asked Bell to arrange for the sale of all the family property,[40][N 7] conclude all of his
brother's affairs (Bell took over his last student, curing a pronounced lisp),[41]and join his father and
mother in setting out for the "New World". Reluctantly, Bell also had to conclude a relationship with
Marie Eccleston, who, as he had surmised, was not prepared to leave England with him.[42]
Canada
Bell Homestead National Historic Site
Melville House, the Bells' first home in North America, now a National Historic Site of Canada
In 1870, 23-year-old Bell travelled with his parents and his brother's widow, Caroline Margaret Ottaway,
[43] to Paris, Ontario,[44]to stay with the Reverend Thomas Henderson, a family friend. The Bell family
soon purchased a farm of 10.5 acres (42,000 m2) at Tutelo Heights (now called Tutela Heights),
near Brantford, Ontario. The property consisted of an orchard, large farmhouse, stable, pigsty, hen-
house, and a carriage house, which bordered the Grand River.[45][N 8]
At the homestead, Bell set up his own workshop in the converted carriage house near to what he called
his "dreaming place",[47] a large hollow nestled in trees at the back of the property above the river.
[48] Despite his frail condition upon arriving in Canada, Bell found the climate and environs to his liking,
and rapidly improved.[49][N 9] He continued his interest in the study of the human voice and when he
discovered the Six Nations Reserve across the river at Onondaga, he learned the Mohawk language and
translated its unwritten vocabulary into Visible Speech symbols. For his work, Bell was awarded the title
of Honorary Chief and participated in a ceremony where he donned a Mohawk headdress and danced
traditional dances.[50][N 10]
After setting up his workshop, Bell continued experiments based on Helmholtz's work with electricity
and sound.[51] He also modified a melodeon (a type of pump organ) so that it could transmit its music
electrically over a distance.[52] Once the family was settled in, both Bell and his father made plans to
establish a teaching practice and in 1871, he accompanied his father to Montreal, where Melville was
offered a position to teach his System of Visible Speech.
Work with the deaf
Bell, top right, providing pedagogical instruction to teachers at the Boston School for Deaf Mutes, 1871.
Throughout his life, he referred to himself as "a teacher of the deaf".
Bell's father was invited by Sarah Fuller, principal of the Boston School for Deaf Mutes (which continues
today as the public Horace Mann School for the Deaf),[53] in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, to
introduce the Visible Speech System by providing training for Fuller's instructors, but he declined the
post in favour of his son. Travelling to Boston in April 1871, Bell proved successful in training the school's
instructors.[54] He was subsequently asked to repeat the programme at the American Asylum for Deaf-
mutes in Hartford, Connecticut, and the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Returning home to Brantford after six months abroad, Bell continued his experiments with his
"harmonic telegraph".[55][N 11] The basic concept behind his device was that messages could be sent
through a single wire if each message was transmitted at a different pitch, but work on both the
transmitter and receiver was needed.[56]
Unsure of his future, he first contemplated returning to London to complete his studies, but decided to
return to Boston as a teacher.[57] His father helped him set up his private practice by
contacting Gardiner Greene Hubbard, the president of the Clarke School for the Deaf for a
recommendation. Teaching his father's system, in October 1872, Alexander Bell opened his "School of
Vocal Physiology and Mechanics of Speech" in Boston, which attracted a large number of deaf pupils,
with his first class numbering 30 students.[58][59] While he was working as a private tutor, one of his
pupils was Helen Keller, who came to him as a young child unable to see, hear, or speak. She was later to
say that Bell dedicated his life to the penetration of that "inhuman silence which separates and
estranges".[60] In 1893, Keller performed the sod-breaking ceremony for the construction of Bell's
new Volta Bureau, dedicated to "the increase and diffusion of knowledge relating to the deaf".[61][62]
Several influential people of the time, including Bell, viewed deafness as something that should be
eradicated, and also believed that with resources and effort, they could teach the deaf to speak and
avoid the use of sign language, thus enabling their integration within the wider society from which many
were often being excluded.[63] Owing to his efforts to suppress the teaching of sign language, Bell is
often viewed negatively by those embracing Deaf culture.[64]
Continuing experimentation
In 1872, Bell became professor of Vocal Physiology and Elocution at the Boston University School of
Oratory. During this period, he alternated between Boston and Brantford, spending summers in his
Canadian home. At Boston University, Bell was "swept up" by the excitement engendered by the many
scientists and inventors residing in the city. He continued his research in sound and endeavored to find a
way to transmit musical notes and articulate speech, but although absorbed by his experiments, he
found it difficult to devote enough time to experimentation. While days and evenings were occupied by
his teaching and private classes, Bell began to stay awake late into the night, running experiment after
experiment in rented facilities at his boarding house. Keeping "night owl" hours, he worried that his
work would be discovered and took great pains to lock up his notebooks and laboratory equipment. Bell
had a specially made table where he could place his notes and equipment inside a locking cover.
[65] Worse still, his health deteriorated as he suffered severe headaches.[56] Returning to Boston in fall
1873, Bell made a fateful decision to concentrate on his experiments in sound.
Deciding to give up his lucrative private Boston practice, Bell retained only two students, six-year-old
"Georgie" Sanders, deaf from birth, and 15-year-old Mabel Hubbard. Each pupil would play an important
role in the next developments. George's father, Thomas Sanders, a wealthy businessman, offered Bell a
place to stay in nearby Salem with Georgie's grandmother, complete with a room to "experiment".
Although the offer was made by George's mother and followed the year-long arrangement in 1872
where her son and his nurse had moved to quarters next to Bell's boarding house, it was clear that Mr.
Sanders was backing the proposal. The arrangement was for teacher and student to continue their work
together, with free room and board thrown in.[66] Mabel was a bright, attractive girl who was ten years
Bell's junior but became the object of his affection. Having lost her hearing after a near-fatal bout
of scarlet fever close to her fifth birthday,[67][68][N 12] she had learned to read lips but her
father, Gardiner Greene Hubbard, Bell's benefactor and personal friend, wanted her to work directly
with her teacher.[69]
The telephone
Invention of the telephone
By 1874, Bell's initial work on the harmonic telegraph had entered a formative stage, with progress
made both at his new Boston "laboratory" (a rented facility) and at his family home in Canada a big
success.[N 13] While working that summer in Brantford, Bell experimented with a "phonautograph", a
pen-like machine that could draw shapes of sound waves on smoked glass by tracing their vibrations.
Bell thought it might be possible to generate undulating electrical currents that corresponded to sound
waves.[71]Bell also thought that multiple metal reeds tuned to different frequencies like a harp would
be able to convert the undulating currents back into sound. But he had no working model to
demonstrate the feasibility of these ideas.[72]
In 1874, telegraph message traffic was rapidly expanding and in the words of Western
Union President William Orton, had become "the nervous system of commerce". Antonio Meucci sent a
telephone model and technical details to the Western Union telegraph company but failed to win a
meeting with executives. When he asked for his materials to be returned, in 1874, he was told they had
been lost. Two years later Bell, who shared a laboratory with Meucci, filed a patent for a telephone,
became a celebrity and made a lucrative deal with Western Union. Meucci sued and was nearing victory
—the supreme court agreed to hear the case and fraud charges were initiated against Bell—when the
Florentine died in 1889. The legal action died with him.[73] Orton had contracted with inventors Thomas
Edison and Elisha Gray to find a way to send multiple telegraph messages on each telegraph line to
avoid the great cost of constructing new lines.[74] When Bell mentioned to Gardiner Hubbard and
Thomas Sanders that he was working on a method of sending multiple tones on a telegraph wire using a
multi-reed device, the two wealthy patrons began to financially support Bell's experiments.[75] Patent
matters would be handled by Hubbard's patent attorney, Anthony Pollok.[76]
In March 1875, Bell and Pollok visited the scientist Joseph Henry, who was then director of
the Smithsonian Institution, and asked Henry's advice on the electrical multi-reed apparatus that Bell
hoped would transmit the human voice by telegraph. Henry replied that Bell had "the germ of a great
invention". When Bell said that he did not have the necessary knowledge, Henry replied, "Get it!" That
declaration greatly encouraged Bell to keep trying, even though he did not have the equipment needed
to continue his experiments, nor the ability to create a working model of his ideas. However, a chance
meeting in 1874 between Bell and Thomas A. Watson, an experienced electrical designer and mechanic
at the electrical machine shop of Charles Williams, changed all that.
With financial support from Sanders and Hubbard, Bell hired Thomas Watson as his assistant,[N 14] and
the two of them experimented with acoustic telegraphy. On June 2, 1875, Watson accidentally plucked
one of the reeds and Bell, at the receiving end of the wire, heard the overtones of the reed; overtones
that would be necessary for transmitting speech. That demonstrated to Bell that only one reed or
armature was necessary, not multiple reeds. This led to the "gallows" sound-powered telephone, which
could transmit indistinct, voice-like sounds, but not clear speech.
The race to the patent office
Elisha Gray and Alexander Bell telephone controversy
In 1875, Bell developed an acoustic telegraph and drew up a patent application for it. Since he had
agreed to share U.S. profits with his investors Gardiner Hubbard and Thomas Sanders, Bell requested
that an associate in Ontario, George Brown, attempt to patent it in Britain, instructing his lawyers to
apply for a patent in the U.S. only after they received word from Britain (Britain would issue patents only
for discoveries not previously patented elsewhere).[79]
Alexander Graham Bell's telephone patent[80] drawing, March 7, 1876
Meanwhile, Elisha Gray was also experimenting with acoustic telegraphy and thought of a way to
transmit speech using a water transmitter. On February 14, 1876, Gray filed a caveat with the U.S.
Patent Office for a telephone design that used a water transmitter. That same morning, Bell's lawyer
filed Bell's application with the patent office. There is considerable debate about who arrived first and
Gray later challenged the primacy of Bell's patent. Bell was in Boston on February 14 and did not arrive
in Washington until February 26.
Bell's patent 174,465, was issued to Bell on March 7, 1876, by the U.S. Patent Office. Bell's patent
covered "the method of, and apparatus for, transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically ... by
causing electrical undulations, similar in form to the vibrations of the air accompanying the said vocal or
other sound"[81][N 15] Bell returned to Boston the same day and the next day resumed work, drawing
in his notebook a diagram similar to that in Gray's patent caveat.
On March 10, 1876, three days after his patent was issued, Bell succeeded in getting his telephone to
work, using a liquid transmitter similar to Gray's design. Vibration of the diaphragm caused a needle to
vibrate in the water, varying the electrical resistance in the circuit. When Bell spoke the sentence "Mr.
Watson—Come here—I want to see you" into the liquid transmitter,[82] Watson, listening at the
receiving end in an adjoining room, heard the words clearly.[83]
Although Bell was, and still is, accused of stealing the telephone from Gray,[84] Bell used Gray's water
transmitter design only after Bell's patent had been granted, and only as a proof of concept scientific
experiment,[85] to prove to his own satisfaction that intelligible "articulate speech" (Bell's words) could
be electrically transmitted.[86] After March 1876, Bell focused on improving the electromagnetic
telephone and never used Gray's liquid transmitter in public demonstrations or commercial use.[87]
The question of priority for the variable resistance feature of the telephone was raised by the examiner
before he approved Bell's patent application. He told Bell that his claim for the variable resistance
feature was also described in Gray's caveat. Bell pointed to a variable resistance device in his previous
application in which he described a cup of mercury, not water. He had filed the mercury application at
the patent office a year earlier on February 25, 1875, long before Elisha Gray described the water
device. In addition, Gray abandoned his caveat, and because he did not contest Bell's priority, the
examiner approved Bell's patent on March 3, 1876. Gray had reinvented the variable resistance
telephone, but Bell was the first to write down the idea and the first to test it in a telephone.[88]
The patent examiner, Zenas Fisk Wilber, later stated in an affidavit that he was an alcoholic who was
much in debt to Bell's lawyer, Marcellus Bailey, with whom he had served in the Civil War. He claimed he
showed Gray's patent caveat to Bailey. Wilber also claimed (after Bell arrived in Washington D.C. from
Boston) that he showed Gray's caveat to Bell and that Bell paid him $100 (equivalent to $2,300 in 2018).
Bell claimed they discussed the patent only in general terms, although in a letter to Gray, Bell admitted
that he learned some of the technical details. Bell denied in an affidavit that he ever gave Wilber any
money.[89]
Later developments
Continuing his experiments in Brantford, Bell brought home a working model of his telephone. On
August 3, 1876, from the telegraph office in Mount Pleasant five miles (eight km) away from Brantford,
Bell sent a tentative telegram indicating that he was ready. With curious onlookers packed into the
office as witnesses, faint voices were heard replying. The following night, he amazed guests as well as his
family when a message was received at the Bell home from Brantford, four miles (six km) distant, along
an improvised wire strung up along telegraph lines and fences, and laid through a tunnel. This time,
guests at the household distinctly heard people in Brantford reading and singing. These experiments
clearly proved that the telephone could work over long distances.[90]
Bell at the opening of the long-distance line from New York to Chicago in 1892
Bell and his partners, Hubbard and Sanders, offered to sell the patent outright to Western Union for
$100,000. The president of Western Union balked, countering that the telephone was nothing but a toy.
Two years later, he told colleagues that if he could get the patent for $25 million he would consider it a
bargain. By then, the Bell company no longer wanted to sell the patent.[91]Bell's investors would
become millionaires while he fared well from residuals and at one point had assets of nearly one million
dollars.[92]
Bell began a series of public demonstrations and lectures to introduce the new invention to the scientific
community as well as the general public. A short time later, his demonstration of an early telephone
prototype at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia brought the telephone to international
attention.[93] Influential visitors to the exhibition included Emperor Pedro II of Brazil. Later, Bell had the
opportunity to demonstrate the invention personally to Sir William Thomson (later, Lord Kelvin), a
renowned Scottish scientist, as well as to Queen Victoria, who had requested a private audience
at Osborne House, her Isle of Wight home. She called the demonstration "most extraordinary". The
enthusiasm surrounding Bell's public displays laid the groundwork for universal acceptance of the
revolutionary device.[94]
The Bell Telephone Company was created in 1877, and by 1886, more than 150,000 people in the U.S.
owned telephones. Bell Company engineers made numerous other improvements to the telephone,
which emerged as one of the most successful products ever. In 1879, the Bell company acquired
Edison's patents for the carbon microphone from Western Union. This made the telephone practical for
longer distances, and it was no longer necessary to shout to be heard at the receiving telephone.
Emperor Pedro II of Brazil was the first person to buy stock in Bell's company, the Bell Telephone
Company. One of the first telephones in a private residence was installed in his palace in Petrópolis, his
summer retreat forty miles (64 km) from Rio de Janeiro.[95]
In January 1915, Bell made the first ceremonial transcontinental telephone call. Calling from
the AT&T head office at 15 Dey Street in New York City, Bell was heard by Thomas Watson at 333 Grant
Avenue in San Francisco. The New York Times reported:
On October 9, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas A. Watson talked by telephone to each other
over a two-mile wire stretched between Cambridge and Boston. It was the first wire conversation ever
held. Yesterday afternoon [on January 25, 1915], the same two men talked by telephone to each other
over a 3,400-mile wire between New York and San Francisco. Dr. Bell, the veteran inventor of the
telephone, was in New York, and Mr. Watson, his former associate, was on the other side of the
continent.[96]
Competitors
Canadian Parliamentary Motion on Alexander Graham Bell
As is sometimes common in scientific discoveries, simultaneous developments can occur, as evidenced
by a number of inventors who were at work on the telephone.[97] Over a period of 18 years, the Bell
Telephone Company faced 587 court challenges to its patents, including five that went to the U.S.
Supreme Court,[98]but none was successful in establishing priority over the original Bell patent[99]
[100] and the Bell Telephone Company never lost a case that had proceeded to a final trial stage.
[99] Bell's laboratory notes and family letters were the key to establishing a long lineage to his
experiments.[99] The Bell company lawyers successfully fought off myriad lawsuits generated initially
around the challenges by Elisha Gray and Amos Dolbear. In personal correspondence to Bell, both Gray
and Dolbear had acknowledged his prior work, which considerably weakened their later claims.[101]
On January 13, 1887, the U.S. Government moved to annul the patent issued to Bell on the grounds of
fraud and misrepresentation. After a series of decisions and reversals, the Bell company won a decision
in the Supreme Court, though a couple of the original claims from the lower court cases were left
undecided.[102][103] By the time that the trial wound its way through nine years of legal battles, the
U.S. prosecuting attorney had died and the two Bell patents (No. 174,465 dated March 7, 1876, and No.
186,787 dated January 30, 1877) were no longer in effect, although the presiding judges agreed to
continue the proceedings due to the case's importance as a precedent. With a change in administration
and charges of conflict of interest (on both sides) arising from the original trial, the US Attorney
General dropped the lawsuit on November 30, 1897, leaving several issues undecided on the merits.
[104]
During a deposition filed for the 1887 trial, Italian inventor Antonio Meucci also claimed to have created
the first working model of a telephone in Italy in 1834. In 1886, in the first of three cases in which he
was involved,[N 16] Meucci took the stand as a witness in the hope of establishing his invention's
priority. Meucci's testimony in this case was disputed due to a lack of material evidence for his
inventions, as his working models were purportedly lost at the laboratory of American District
Telegraph(ADT) of New York, which was later incorporated as a subsidiary of Western Union in 1901.
[105][106] Meucci's work, like many other inventors of the period, was based on earlier acoustic
principles and despite evidence of earlier experiments, the final case involving Meucci was eventually
dropped upon Meucci's death.[107] However, due to the efforts of Congressman Vito Fossella, the U.S.
House of Representatives on June 11, 2002, stated that Meucci's "work in the invention of the
telephone should be acknowledged".[108][109][110] This did not put an end to the still-contentious
issue.[111] Some modern scholars do not agree with the claims that Bell's work on the telephone was
influenced by Meucci's inventions.[112][N 17]
The value of the Bell patent was acknowledged throughout the world, and patent applications were
made in most major countries, but when Bell delayed the German patent application, the electrical firm
of Siemens & Halske (S&H) set up a rival manufacturer of Bell telephones under their own patent. The
Siemens company produced near-identical copies of the Bell telephone without having to pay royalties.
[113] The establishment of the International Bell Telephone Company in Brussels, Belgium in 1880, as
well as a series of agreements in other countries eventually consolidated a global telephone operation.
The strain put on Bell by his constant appearances in court, necessitated by the legal battles, eventually
resulted in his resignation from the company.[114][N 18]
The Telephone Cases
Family life
Alexander Graham Bell, his wife Mabel Gardiner Hubbard, and their daughters Elsie (left) and Marian ca.
1885
The Brodhead-Bell mansion, the Bell family residence in Washington, D.C., from 1882 to 1889[115]
On July 11, 1877, a few days after the Bell Telephone Company was established, Bell married Mabel
Hubbard (1857–1923) at the Hubbard estate in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His wedding present to his
bride was to turn over 1,487 of his 1,497 shares in the newly formed Bell Telephone Company.
[116] Shortly thereafter, the newlyweds embarked on a year-long honeymoon in Europe. During that
excursion, Bell took a handmade model of his telephone with him, making it a "working holiday". The
courtship had begun years earlier; however, Bell waited until he was more financially secure before
marrying. Although the telephone appeared to be an "instant" success, it was not initially a profitable
venture and Bell's main sources of income were from lectures until after 1897.[117] One unusual
request exacted by his fiancée was that he use "Alec" rather than the family's earlier familiar name of
"Aleck". From 1876, he would sign his name "Alec Bell".[118][119] They had four children:
Elsie May Bell (1878–1964) who married Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor of National Geographic fame.[120]
[121]
Marian Hubbard Bell (1880–1962) who was referred to as "Daisy". Married David Fairchild.[122][123][N
19]
Two sons who died in infancy (Edward in 1881 and Robert in 1883).
The Bell family home was in Cambridge, Massachusetts, until 1880 when Bell's father-in-law bought a
house in Washington, D.C.; in 1882 he bought a home in the same city for Bell's family, so they could be
with him while he attended to the numerous court cases involving patent disputes.[126]
Bell was a British subject throughout his early life in Scotland and later in Canada until 1882 when he
became a naturalized citizen of the United States. In 1915, he characterized his status as: "I am not one
of those hyphenated Americans who claim allegiance to two countries."[127] Despite this declaration,
Bell has been proudly claimed as a "native son" by all three countries he resided in: the United States,
Canada, and the United Kingdom.[128]
By 1885, a new summer retreat was contemplated. That summer, the Bells had a vacation on Cape
Breton Island in Nova Scotia, spending time at the small village of Baddeck.[129] Returning in 1886, Bell
started building an estate on a point across from Baddeck, overlooking Bras d'Or Lake.[130] By 1889, a
large house, christened The Lodge was completed and two years later, a larger complex of buildings,
including a new laboratory,[131] were begun that the Bells would name Beinn Bhreagh(Gaelic: beautiful
mountain) after Bell's ancestral Scottish highlands.[132][N 20] Bell also built the Bell Boatyard on the
estate, employing up to 40 people building experimental craft as well as wartime lifeboats and
workboats for the Royal Canadian Navyand pleasure craft for the Bell family. He was an enthusiastic
boater, and Bell and his family sailed or rowed a long series of vessels on Bras d'Or Lake, ordering
additional vessels from the H.W. Embree and Sons boatyard in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia. In his
final, and some of his most productive years, Bell split his residency between Washington, D.C., where
he and his family initially resided for most of the year, and Beinn Bhreagh, where they spent increasing
amounts of time.[133]
Until the end of his life, Bell and his family would alternate between the two homes, but Beinn
Bhreagh would, over the next 30 years, become more than a summer home as Bell became so absorbed
in his experiments that his annual stays lengthened. Both Mabel and Bell became immersed in
the Baddeck community and were accepted by the villagers as "their own".[131][N 21]The Bells were
still in residence at Beinn Bhreagh when the Halifax Explosion occurred on December 6, 1917. Mabel
and Bell mobilized the community to help victims in Halifax.[134]
Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia
Later inventions
Alexander Graham Bell in his later years
Although Alexander Graham Bell is most often associated with the invention of the telephone, his
interests were extremely varied. According to one of his biographers, Charlotte Gray, Bell's work ranged
"unfettered across the scientific landscape" and he often went to bed voraciously reading
the Encyclopædia Britannica, scouring it for new areas of interest.[135] The range of Bell's inventive
genius is represented only in part by the 18 patents granted in his name alone and the 12 he shared with
his collaborators. These included 14 for the telephone and telegraph, four for the photophone, one for
the phonograph, five for aerial vehicles, four for "hydroairplanes", and two for selenium cells. Bell's
inventions spanned a wide range of interests and included a metal jacket to assist in breathing,
the audiometer to detect minor hearing problems, a device to locate icebergs, investigations on how to
separate salt from seawater, and work on finding alternative fuels.
Bell worked extensively in medical research and invented techniques for teaching speech to the deaf.
During his Volta Laboratory period, Bell and his associates considered impressing a magnetic field on a
record as a means of reproducing sound. Although the trio briefly experimented with the concept, they
could not develop a workable prototype. They abandoned the idea, never realizing they had glimpsed a
basic principle which would one day find its application in the tape recorder, the hard disc and floppy
disc drive, and other magnetic media.
Bell's own home used a primitive form of air conditioning, in which fans blew currents of air across great
blocks of ice. He also anticipated modern concerns with fuel shortages and industrial
pollution. Methane gas, he reasoned, could be produced from the waste of farms and factories. At his
Canadian estate in Nova Scotia, he experimented with composting toilets and devices to capture water
from the atmosphere. In a magazine interview published shortly before his death, he reflected on the
possibility of using solar panels to heat houses.
Photophone
Photophone
Photophone receiver, one half of Bell's wireless optical communicationsystem, ca. 1880
Bell and his assistant Charles Sumner Tainter jointly invented a wireless telephone, named
a photophone, which allowed for the transmission of both sounds and normal human conversations on
a beam of light.[136][137] Both men later became full associates in the Volta Laboratory Association.
On June 21, 1880, Bell's assistant transmitted a wireless voice telephone message a considerable
distance, from the roof of the Franklin School in Washington, D.C., to Bell at the window of his
laboratory, some 213 metres (700 ft) away, 19 years before the first voice radio transmissions.[138]
[139][140][141]
Bell believed the photophone's principles were his life's "greatest achievement", telling a reporter
shortly before his death that the photophone was "the greatest invention [I have] ever made, greater
than the telephone".[142] The photophone was a precursor to the fiber-optic communication systems
which achieved popular worldwide usage in the 1980s.[143][144] Its master patent was issued in
December 1880, many decades before the photophone's principles came into popular use.
Metal detector
Bell's voice, from a Volta Laboratoryrecording in 1885. Restored by the Smithsonian in 2013.
Bell is also credited with developing one of the early versions of a metal detector in 1881. The device
was quickly put together in an attempt to find the bullet in the body of U.S. President James Garfield.
According to some accounts, the metal detector worked flawlessly in tests but did not find the assassin's
bullet partly because the metal bed frame on which the President was lying disturbed the instrument,
resulting in static.[145] The president's surgeons, who were skeptical of the device, ignored Bell's
requests to move the president to a bed not fitted with metal springs.[145] Alternatively, although Bell
had detected a slight sound on his first test, the bullet may have been lodged too deeply to be detected
by the crude apparatus.[145]
Bell's own detailed account, presented to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in
1882, differs in several particulars from most of the many and varied versions now in circulation, by
concluding that extraneous metal was not to blame for failure to locate the bullet. Perplexed by the
peculiar results he had obtained during an examination of Garfield, Bell "proceeded to the Executive
Mansion the next morning ... to ascertain from the surgeons whether they were perfectly sure that all
metal had been removed from the neighborhood of the bed. It was then recollected that underneath
the horse-hair mattress on which the President lay was another mattress composed of steel wires. Upon
obtaining a duplicate, the mattress was found to consist of a sort of net of woven steel wires, with large
meshes. The extent of the [area that produced a response from the detector] having been so small, as
compared with the area of the bed, it seemed reasonable to conclude that the steel mattress had
produced no detrimental effect." In a footnote, Bell adds, "The death of President Garfield and the
subsequent post-mortem examination, however, proved that the bullet was at too great a distance from
the surface to have affected our apparatus."[146]
Hydrofoils
HD-4
Bell HD-4 on a test run ca. 1919
The March 1906 Scientific American article by American pioneer William E. Meacham explained the
basic principle of hydrofoilsand hydroplanes. Bell considered the invention of the hydroplane as a very
significant achievement. Based on information gained from that article, he began to sketch concepts of
what is now called a hydrofoil boat. Bell and assistant Frederick W. "Casey" Baldwin began hydrofoil
experimentation in the summer of 1908 as a possible aid to airplane takeoff from water. Baldwin
studied the work of the Italian inventor Enrico Forlanini and began testing models. This led him and Bell
to the development of practical hydrofoil watercraft.
During his world tour of 1910–11, Bell and Baldwin met with Forlanini in France. They had rides in the
Forlanini hydrofoil boat over Lake Maggiore. Baldwin described it as being as smooth as flying. On
returning to Baddeck, a number of initial concepts were built as experimental models, including
the Dhonnas Beag (Scottish Gaelic for little devil), the first self-propelled Bell-Baldwin hydrofoil.
[147] The experimental boats were essentially proof-of-concept prototypes that culminated in the more
substantial HD-4, powered by Renault engines. A top speed of 54 miles per hour (87 km/h) was
achieved, with the hydrofoil exhibiting rapid acceleration, good stability, and steering, along with the
ability to take waves without difficulty.[148] In 1913, Dr. Bell hired Walter Pinaud, a Sydney yacht
designer and builder as well as the proprietor of Pinaud's Yacht Yard in Westmount, Nova Scotia, to
work on the pontoons of the HD-4. Pinaud soon took over the boatyard at Bell Laboratories on Beinn
Bhreagh, Bell's estate near Baddeck, Nova Scotia. Pinaud's experience in boat-building enabled him to
make useful design changes to the HD-4. After the First World War, work began again on the HD-4. Bell's
report to the U.S. Navy permitted him to obtain two 350 horsepower (260 kilowatts) engines in July
1919. On September 9, 1919, the HD-4 set a world marine speed record of 70.86 miles per hour (114.04
kilometres per hour),[149] a record which stood for ten years.
Aeronautics
Aerial Experiment Association and AEA Silver Dart
AEA Silver Dart ca. 1909
In 1891, Bell had begun experiments to develop motor-powered heavier-than-air aircraft. The AEA was
first formed as Bell shared the vision to fly with his wife, who advised him to seek "young" help as Bell
was at the age of 60.
In 1898, Bell experimented with tetrahedral box kites and wings constructed of multiple
compound tetrahedral kites covered in maroon silk.[N 22] The tetrahedral wings were named Cygnet I,
II, and III, and were flown both unmanned and manned (Cygnet Icrashed during a flight carrying
Selfridge) in the period from 1907–1912. Some of Bell's kites are on display at the Alexander Graham
Bell National Historic Site.[151]
Bell was a supporter of aerospace engineering research through the Aerial Experiment
Association (AEA), officially formed at Baddeck, Nova Scotia, in October 1907 at the suggestion of his
wife Mabel and with her financial support after the sale of some of her real estate.[152] The AEA was
headed by Bell and the founding members were four young men: American Glenn H. Curtiss, a
motorcycle manufacturer at the time and who held the title "world's fastest man", having ridden his
self-constructed motor bicycle around in the shortest time, and who was later awarded the Scientific
American Trophy for the first official one-kilometre flight in the Western hemisphere, and who later
became a world-renowned airplane manufacturer; Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge, an official observer
from the U.S. Federal government and one of the few people in the army who believed that aviation was
the future; Frederick W. Baldwin, the first Canadian and first British subject to pilot a public flight
in Hammondsport, New York; and J. A .D. McCurdy–Baldwin and McCurdy being new engineering
graduates from the University of Toronto.[153]
The AEA's work progressed to heavier-than-air machines, applying their knowledge of kites to gliders.
Moving to Hammondsport, the group then designed and built the Red Wing, framed in bamboo and
covered in red silk and powered by a small air-cooled engine.[154] On March 12, 1908, over Keuka Lake,
the biplane lifted off on the first public flight in North America.[N 23][N 24] The innovations that were
incorporated into this design included a cockpit enclosure and tail rudder (later variations on the original
design would add ailerons as a means of control). One of the AEA's inventions, a practical wingtip form
of the aileron, was to become a standard component on all aircraft.[N 25] The White Wing and June
Bug were to follow and by the end of 1908, over 150 flights without mishap had been accomplished.
However, the AEA had depleted its initial reserves and only a $15,000 grant from Mrs. Bell allowed it to
continue with experiments.[155] Lt. Selfridge had also become the first person killed in a powered
heavier-than-air flight in a crash of the Wright Flyer at Fort Myer, Virginia, on September 17, 1908.
Their final aircraft design, the Silver Dart, embodied all of the advancements found in the earlier
machines. On February 23, 1909, Bell was present as the Silver Dartflown by J. A. D. McCurdy from the
frozen ice of Bras d'Or made the first aircraft flight in Canada.[156] Bell had worried that the flight was
too dangerous and had arranged for a doctor to be on hand. With the successful flight, the AEA
disbanded and the Silver Dart would revert to Baldwin and McCurdy, who began the Canadian
Aerodrome Company and would later demonstrate the aircraft to the Canadian Army.[157]
Eugenics
Bell was connected with the eugenics movement in the United States. In his lecture Memoir upon the
formation of a deaf variety of the human race presented to the National Academy of Sciences on
November 13, 1883 (the year of his election as a Member of the National Academy of Sciences), he
noted that congenitally deaf parents were more likely to produce deaf children and tentatively
suggested that couples where both parties were deaf should not marry.[158] However, it was his hobby
of livestock breeding which led to his appointment to biologist David Starr Jordan's Committee on
Eugenics, under the auspices of the American Breeders' Association. The committee unequivocally
extended the principle to humans.[159] From 1912 until 1918, he was the chairman of the board of
scientific advisers to the Eugenics Record Office associated with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New
York, and regularly attended meetings. In 1921, he was the honorary president of the Second
International Congress of Eugenics held under the auspices of the American Museum of Natural
History in New York. Organizations such as these advocated passing laws (with success in some states)
that established the compulsory sterilization of people deemed to be, as Bell called them, a "defective
variety of the human race". By the late 1930s, about half the states in the U.S. had eugenics laws, and
California's compulsory sterilization law was used as a model for that of Nazi Germany.[160]
Legacy and honors
Volta Laboratory and Bureau and Alexander Graham Bell honors and tributes
Bell statue by A. E. Cleeve Horne, similar in style to the Lincoln Memorial, in the front portico of the Bell
Telephone Building of Brantford, Ontario, The Telephone City.[N 26](Courtesy: Brantford Heritage
Inventory, City of Brantford, Ontario, Canada)
Honors and tributes flowed to Bell in increasing numbers as his invention became ubiquitous and his
personal fame grew. Bell received numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities to the
point that the requests almost became burdensome.[163] During his life, he also received dozens of
major awards, medals, and other tributes. These included statuary monuments to both him and the new
form of communication his telephone created, including the Bell Telephone Memorialerected in his
honor in Alexander Graham Bell Gardens in Brantford, Ontario, in 1917.[164]
A quote by Alexander Graham Bell engraved in the stone wall within the Peace Chapel of
the International Peace Garden (in Manitoba Canada and North Dakota, USA).
A large number of Bell's writings, personal correspondence, notebooks, papers, and other documents
reside in both the United States Library of Congress Manuscript Division (as the Alexander Graham Bell
Family Papers),[163] and at the Alexander Graham Bell Institute, Cape Breton University, Nova Scotia;
major portions of which are available for online viewing.
A number of historic sites and other marks commemorate Bell in North America and Europe, including
the first telephone companies in the United States and Canada. Among the major sites are:
The Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site, maintained by Parks Canada, which incorporates the
Alexander Graham Bell Museum, in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, close to the Bell estate Beinn Bhreagh[165]
The Bell Homestead National Historic Site, includes the Bell family home, "Melville House", and farm
overlooking Brantford, Ontario and the Grand River. It was their first home in North America;
Canada's first telephone company building, the "Henderson Home" of the late 1870s, a predecessor of
the Bell Telephone Company of Canada (officially chartered in 1880). In 1969, the building was carefully
moved to the historic Bell Homestead National Historic Site in Brantford, Ontario, and was refurbished
to become a telephone museum. The Bell Homestead, the Henderson Home telephone museum, and
the National Historic Site's reception centre are all maintained by the Bell Homestead Society;[166]
The Alexander Graham Bell Memorial Park, which features a broad neoclassical monument built in 1917
by public subscription. The monument depicts mankind's ability to span the globe through
telecommunications;[167]
The Alexander Graham Bell Museum (opened in 1956), part of the Alexander Graham Bell National
Historic Site which was completed in 1978 in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. Many of the museum's artifacts
were donated by Bell's daughters;
The Bell Museum, Cape Breton, part of the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site
In 1880, Bell received the Volta Prize with a purse of 50,000 French francs (approximately US$270,000 in
today's dollars[168]) for the invention of the telephone from the French government.[169][170][171]
[172][173][174] Among the luminaries who judged were Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas, fils.[175]
[better source needed] The Volta Prize was conceived by Napoleon III in 1852, and named in honor
of Alessandro Volta, with Bell becoming the second recipient of the grand prize in its history.[176]
[177] Since Bell was becoming increasingly affluent, he used his prize money to create endowment funds
(the 'Volta Fund') and institutions in and around the United States capital of Washington, D.C.. These
included the prestigious 'Volta Laboratory Association' (1880), also known as the Volta Laboratory and
as the 'Alexander Graham Bell Laboratory', and which eventually led to the Volta Bureau (1887) as a
center for studies on deafness which is still in operation in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. The Volta
Laboratory became an experimental facility devoted to scientific discovery, and the very next year it
improved Edison's phonograph by substituting wax for tinfoil as the recording medium and incising the
recording rather than indenting it, key upgrades that Edison himself later adopted.[178] The laboratory
was also the site where he and his associate invented his "proudest achievement", "the photophone",
the "optical telephone" which presaged fibre optical telecommunications while the Volta Bureau would
later evolve into the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (the AG Bell), a
leading center for the research and pedagogy of deafness.
In partnership with Gardiner Greene Hubbard, Bell helped establish the publication Science during the
early 1880s. In 1898, Bell was elected as the second president of the National Geographic Society,
serving until 1903, and was primarily responsible for the extensive use of illustrations, including
photography, in the magazine.[179] He also served for many years as a Regent of the Smithsonian
Institution (1898–1922).[180] The French government conferred on him the decoration of the Légion
d'honneur(Legion of Honor); the Royal Society of Arts in London awarded him the Albert Medal in 1902;
the University of Würzburg, Bavaria, granted him a PhD, and he was awarded the Franklin
Institute's Elliott Cresson Medal in 1912. He was one of the founders of the American Institute of
Electrical Engineers in 1884 and served as its president from 1891–92. Bell was later awarded the
AIEE's Edison Medal in 1914 "For meritorious achievement in the invention of the telephone".[181]
The bel (B) and the smaller decibel (dB) are units of measurement of sound pressure level (SPL) invented
by Bell Labs and named after him.[182] [N 27][183] Since 1976, the IEEE's Alexander Graham Bell
Medal has been awarded to honor outstanding contributions in the field of telecommunications.
~ A.G. Bell issue of 1940 ~
In 1936, the US Patent Office declared Bell first on its list of the country's greatest inventors,
[184] leading to the US Post Office issuing a commemorative stamp honoring Bell in 1940 as part of
its 'Famous Americans Series'. The First Day of Issue ceremony was held on October 28 in Boston,
Massachusetts, the city where Bell spent considerable time on research and working with the deaf. The
Bell stamp became very popular and sold out in little time. The stamp became, and remains to this day,
the most valuable one of the series.[185]
The 150th anniversary of Bell's birth in 1997 was marked by a special issue of commemorative £1
banknotes from the Royal Bank of Scotland. The illustrations on the reverse of the note include Bell's
face in profile, his signature, and objects from Bell's life and career: users of the telephone over the
ages; an audio wave signal; a diagram of a telephone receiver; geometric shapes from engineering
structures; representations of sign language and the phonetic alphabet; the geese which helped him to
understand flight; and the sheep which he studied to understand genetics.[186] Additionally, the
Government of Canada honored Bell in 1997 with a C$100 gold coin, in tribute also to the 150th
anniversary of his birth, and with a silver dollar coin in 2009 in honor of the 100th anniversary of flight in
Canada. That first flight was made by an airplane designed under Dr. Bell's tutelage, named the Silver
Dart.[187] Bell's image, and also those of his many inventions have graced paper money, coinage, and
postal stamps in numerous countries worldwide for many dozens of years.
Alexander Graham Bell was ranked 57th among the 100 Greatest Britons (2002) in an official BBC
nationwide poll,[188] and among the Top Ten Greatest Canadians(2004), and the 100 Greatest
Americans (2005). In 2006, Bell was also named as one of the 10 greatest Scottish scientists in history
after having been listed in the National Library of Scotland's 'Scottish Science Hall of Fame'.[189] Bell's
name is still widely known and used as part of the names of dozens of educational institutes, corporate
namesakes, street and place names around the world.
Bell, an alumnus of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, receiving an honorary Doctor of Laws degree
(LL.D.) at the university in 1906
See also: Bell Telephone Memorial
Honorary degrees
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Alexander Graham Bell, who could not complete the university program of his youth, received at least a
dozen honorary degrees from academic institutions, including eight honorary LL.D.s (Doctorate of Laws),
two Ph.D.s, a D.Sc., and an M.D.:[190]
Gallaudet College (then named National Deaf-Mute College) in Washington, D.C. (Ph.D.) in 1880[191]
[192]
University of Würzburg in Würzburg, Bavaria (Ph.D.) in 1882[191]
Heidelberg University in Heidelberg, Germany (M.D.) in 1886[191][34]
Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts (LL.D.) in 1896[191]
Illinois College, in Jacksonville, Illinois (LL.D.) in 1896, possibly 1881[191][193]
Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts (LL.D.) in 1901[191]
St. Andrew's University in St Andrews, Scotland (LL.D) in 1902[191]
University of Oxford in Oxford, England (D.Sc.) in 1906[191]
University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland (LL.D.) in 1906[191][194]
George Washington University in Washington, D.C. (LL.D.) in 1913[191]
Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada (LL.D.) in 1908[191]
Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire (LL.D.) in 1913,[195] possibly 1914[191]
Portrayal in film and television
The 1939 film The Story of Alexander Graham Bell was based on his life and works.[196]
The 1992 film The Sound and the Silence was a TV film.
Biography aired an episode Alexander Graham Bell: Voice of Invention on August 6, 1996.
Eyewitness No. 90 A Great Inventor Is Remembered, a 1957 NFB short about Bell.
Death
Bell died of complications arising from diabetes on August 2, 1922, at his private estate in Cape Breton,
Nova Scotia, at age 75.[197] Bell had also been afflicted with pernicious anemia.[198] His last view of the
land he had inhabited was by moonlight on his mountain estate at 2:00 a.m.[N 28][201][N 29] While
tending to him after his long illness, Mabel, his wife, whispered, "Don't leave me." By way of reply, Bell
signed "no...", lost consciousness, and died shortly after.[169][202]
On learning of Bell's death, the Canadian Prime Minister, Mackenzie King, cabled Mrs. Bell, saying:[169]
My colleagues in the Government join with me in expressing to you our sense of the world's loss in the
death of your distinguished husband. It will ever be a source of pride to our country that the great
invention, with which his name is immortally associated, is a part of its history. On the behalf of the
citizens of Canada, may I extend to you an expression of our combined gratitude and sympathy.
Bell's coffin was constructed of Beinn Bhreagh pine by his laboratory staff, lined with the same red silk
fabric used in his tetrahedral kite experiments. To help celebrate his life, his wife asked guests not to
wear black (the traditional funeral color) while attending his service, during which soloist Jean
MacDonald sang a verse of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Requiem":[203]
Under a wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die
And I laid me down with a will.
Upon the conclusion of Bell's funeral, "every phone on the continent of North America was silenced in
honor of the man who had given to mankind the means for direct communication at a distance".[131]
[204]
Dr. Alexander Graham Bell was buried atop Beinn Bhreagh mountain, on his estate where he had
resided increasingly for the last 35 years of his life, overlooking Bras d'Or Lake.[169] He was survived by
his wife Mabel, his two daughters, Elsie May and Marian, and nine of his grandchildren.[169][205][206]
See also
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site
Bell Boatyard
Bell Homestead National Historic Site
Bell Telephone Memorial
Berliner, Emile
Bourseul, Charles
Canadian Parliamentary Motion on Alexander Graham Bell
IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal
John Peirce, submitted telephone ideas to Bell
Manzetti, Innocenzo
Meucci, Antonio
Oriental Telephone Company
People on Scottish banknotes
Pioneers, a Volunteer Network
Reis, Philipp
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell, a 1939 movie of his life
The Telephone Cases
Volta Laboratory and Bureau
William Francis Channing, submitted telephone ideas to Bell
Jack the Giant Slayer
Jack the Giant Slayer (previously titled Jack the Giant Killer) is a 2013 American fantasy adventure
film directed and co-produced by Bryan Singer and written by Darren Lemke, Christopher McQuarrie and Dan
Studney, from a story by Lemke and David Dobkin. The film, based on the British fairy tales "Jack the Giant
Killer" and "Jack and the Beanstalk", stars Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane, Bill
Nighy, and Ewan McGregor. The film tells the story of Jack, a young farmhand who must rescue a princess
from a race of giants after inadvertently opening a gateway to their land in the sky.
Development of Jack the Giant Slayer began in 2005, when Lemke first pitched the idea. D. J. Caruso was
hired to direct the film in January 2009, but in September of that year, Caruso was replaced by Singer, who
hired McQuarrie and Studney to rework the script. The main characters were cast between February and
March 2011, and principal photography began in April 2011 in England with locations
in Somerset, Gloucestershire and Norfolk. Release of the film was moved back in post-production to allow
more time for special effects and marketing.
Jack the Giant Slayer
Theatrical release poster
Jack the Giant Slayer premiered on February 26, 2013 in Hollywood and was released theatrically in the United
States on March 1, 2013, receiving mixed reviews from critics and was a box office flop.
Plot
In the Kingdom of Cloister, Jack, a young farm boy, is fascinated by the legend of Erik, an ancient king who
defeated an army of invading giants from a realm in the sky by controlling them with a magical crown. At the
same time, Princess Isabelle becomes fascinated with the same legend.
Ten years later, Jack goes into town to sell his horse to support his uncle's farm. There, Jack spots Isabelle
and becomes enamored with her after defending her honor from a group of hooligans. Meanwhile, Lord
Roderick returns to his study, only to find that a monk has robbed him. The monk offers Jack some magic
beans he stole from Roderick as collateral for Jack's horse. Back at the castle, Isabelle quarrels with her father
King Brahmwell as she wants to explore the kingdom, but he wants her to stay and marry Roderick. Likewise,
Jack's uncle scolds him for being foolish before throwing the beans on the floor and leaving the house.
Determined to be free, Isabelle sneaks out of the castle and seeks shelter from the rain in Jack's house. As it
rains, one of the beans takes root and grows into a massive beanstalk that carries the house and Isabelle into
the sky as Jack falls to the ground.
Jack, Roderick, and Roderick's attendant Wicke volunteer to join the king's knights, led by Elmont and his
second in-command, Crawe, and climb the beanstalk in search of Isabelle. As they climb, Roderick and Wicke
cut the safety rope, intentionally killing some of the knights. At the top, they discover the giants' realm and
decide to split into two groups: one with Jack, Elmont, and Crawe, and the other including Roderick and Wicke,
but not before Roderick forcibly takes the remaining beans from Jack (although Jack manages to save one for
himself).
Jack's group is trapped by a giant, who takes Elmont and Crawe prisoner while Jack escapes. Meanwhile,
Roderick's group encounters two other giants; one eats Wicke, but before the other can do the same to
Roderick, Roderick dons the magical crown.
Jack follows the giant to their stronghold, where the two-headed giant leader, Fallon, has killed Crawe. Jack
finds Isabelle and Elmont imprisoned there. As the giants prepare to kill their remaining prisoners, Roderick
walks in and enslaves the giants with the crown. He tells the giants they will attack Cloister at dawn and gives
them permission to eat Isabelle and Elmont. Jack rescues Isabelle and Elmont as one of the giants prepares to
cook Elmont as a pig-in-a-blanket. The trio makes for the beanstalk, where Jack causes the giant guarding the
beanstalk to fall off the realm's edge. Seeing the giant's body, Brahmwell orders the beanstalk cut down to
avoid an invasion by the giants.
Jack and Isabelle head down the beanstalk, while Elmont stays to confront Roderick. Elmont kills Roderick, but
Fallon takes the crown before Elmont can claim it, and Elmont is forced to escape down the beanstalk. Jack,
Isabelle, and Elmont all survive the fall after the beanstalk is cut down. As everyone returns home, Jack warns
that the giants are using Roderick's beans to create beanstalks to descend down to Earth and attack Cloister.
The giants chase Jack, Isabelle, and Brahmwell into the castle, where Elmont fills the moat with oil and sets it
on fire. Fallon falls in the moat and breaks into the castle from below. As the siege continues, Fallon captures
Jack and Isabelle, but Jack throws the final bean down Fallon's throat, before the giant can eat the princess,
causing a beanstalk to rip apart his body. Jack takes the crown and sends the giants back to their realm.
Jack and Isabelle marry and tell the story of the giants to their children. As time passes, the magic crown is
crafted into St Edward's Crown and is secured in the Tower of London.
Cast
Nicholas Hoult as Jack, a young farmhand who leads the quest to rescue the princess. [4]
Eleanor Tomlinson as Isabelle, the princess who is abducted by giants.[5][6]
Stanley Tucci as Lord Roderick, the king's advisor who plans on taking over the kingdom. [5][7]
Ian McShane as King Brahmwell, the princess's father, who wants his daughter to marry Lord
Roderick.[8]
Bill Nighy and John Kassir as the voice and motion-capture of General Fallon, the two-headed leader
of the giants. Nighy plays the bigger head and Kassir plays the smaller head. [7]
Ewan McGregor as Elmont, the captain of the king's guard, who joins the quest to rescue the princess.
[5][9]
Eddie Marsan plays Crawe,[10] Elmont's second-in-command
Ewen Bremner plays Wicke,[11] Lord Roderick's attendant.
Production
It's a very traditional fairytale, probably the most traditional thing I've ever done. But it'll also be a fun twist on the notion of how
these tales are told ... Fairytales are often borne of socio-political commentary and translated into stories for children. But what if
they were based on something that really happened?.. What if we look back at the story that inspired the story that you read to your
kids? That's kind of what this movie's about.
—Bryan Singer, director of Jack the Giant Slayer, about the film[12]
Development
Screenwriter Darren Lemke first proposed the idea of contemporizing the "Jack and the Beanstalk" fairy tale
with CGI in 2005 before the release of other contemporary films based on fairy tales such as Alice in
Wonderland (2010), Red Riding Hood (2011) and Snow White and the Huntsman (2012).[13] Lemke described
the script as "a male-oriented story of a boy becoming a man" and drew a parallel between Jack and Luke
Skywalker of Star Wars.[14] In January 2009, New Line Cinema hired D. J. Caruso to direct the script, which was
subsequently rewritten by Mark Bomback.[15] By August 2009, it was reported that Bryan Singer might be
replacing Caruso; this became official in September 2009. [16][17]
In April 2010, Singer re-teamed with screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie to rework the screenplay. Singer and
McQuarrie had previously collaborated on Public Access, The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil, and Valkyrie.
[18]
Singer stated, "Chris McQuarrie did a significant re-write for me. He brought a different structure. It was very
much a page-one situation; a different storyline. It involved the same characters, but some we juggled around
and switched around. He just brought a very different perspective". [19] McQuarrie's re-write included a deeper
back story for the giants and explanation of their relationship with the humans, which Singer considered a "vast
improvement"; it also upped the budget. To get the budget back in line, Singer brought in television writer Dan
Studney to work on the project.[13]
In May 2010, ReelzChannel reported that production of the film would be delayed until February 2011. The
report cited Singer's interest in being able to pre-visualize scenes with the digital giants in-camera with the live-
action actors (a la James Cameron's Avatar) and the need for more time to work out the complex process as
reasons for the delay.[20]
Pre-production
In October 2010, New Line gave Bryan Singer the green-light to begin pre-production work on Jack the Giant
Killer, with production scheduled to begin the following spring.[21] In November 2010, Singer began screen-
testing for the male and female leads. Aaron Johnson, Nicholas Hoult, and Aneurin Barnard were considered
for the role of the young farmhand, and Adelaide Kane, Lily Collins, and Juno Temple tested for the princess
role.[22]
In December 2010, Singer said, "I'm very much looking forward to using the EPIC Red for my next movie Jack
the Giant Killer which will be shot in, what else, 3D. The camera's incredibly compact size and extraordinary
resolution are ideal for the 3D format. But more importantly Jack the Giant Killer is my first movie set in a time
before electricity. The EPIC's extraordinary exposure latitude will allow me to more effectively explore the use
of natural light".[23]
In February 2011, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Stanley Tucci had been cast as the antagonist, the
king's advisor who plans on taking over the kingdom, and Bill Nighy and John Kassir were cast as Fallon, the
two-headed leader of the giants; Nighy would play the big head and Kassir would play the smaller head. [7] Also
in February, Nicholas Hoult was offered the lead role.[4] Singer said he had liked him since Skins and was very
supportive of his casting in X-Men: First Class.[19] Later that month, Ewan McGregor joined the cast as the
leader of the king's elite guard, who helps fight giants. [9]
In March 2011, Eleanor Tomlinson was cast opposite Nicholas Hoult as the princess [6] and Ian McShane was
cast to play her father, King Brahmwell.[8] Two days later, New Line and Warner Bros. announced a release
date of June 15, 2012.[24]
Filming
Principal photography began on April 12, 2011, in the British countryside.[10] In May 2011, production moved
to Somerset, England for two weeks with filming scheduled in Wells, Cheddar and secret locations in the
county including scenes filmed at Wells Cathedral.[25] Also in May, scenes were shot at Puzzlewood in
the Forest of Dean near Coleford, Gloucestershire. Puzzlewood, which features unusual tree and rock
formations, has previously been used for filming of the BBC TV series Doctor Who and Merlin. The same forest
is said to have inspired J. R. R. Tolkien to write The Hobbit.[26] Later that month, filming took place at Norwich
Cathedral in Norwich, Norfolk.[27]
About the performance-capture process Singer stated, "It's fascinating ... It takes you back to play-acting as a
kid in your living room because you are running around and having to imagine that you are in Gantua and
imagine that there are these weapons and all these giant things. But there's nothing when you are there other
than styrofoam and blocks. It forces the actors to regress to when they would play-act as kids or do minimalist
theatre. But in that way it's fascinating - I can see why Robert Zemeckis and James Cameron have started to
shoot pictures this way".[19]
Post-production
The giant beanstalk, before and after it was rendered with computer graphics.
In January 2012, Warner Bros. moved back the release date by nine months, from June 15, 2012, to March 22,
2013. The Hollywood Reporter stated: "Warner can likely afford the move because of Christopher Nolan's The
Dark Knight Rises, which opened in July. And moving the film back gives the studio more time for special
effects, as well as a chance to attach trailers for it to Peter Jackson's Christmas tentpole The Hobbit: An
Unexpected Journey".[28] In October 2012, Warner Bros. again moved the release date, this time to March 1,
2013, three weeks earlier than the previous date. Warner Bros also changed the title of the film from Jack the
Giant Killer to Jack the Giant Slayer.[29]
The film's special effects were completed by seven different visual effects houses: Digital Domain, Giant
Studios, The Third Floor, MPC, Soho VFX, Rodeo FX and Hatch Productions. [30] Creating the giants took four
main steps. The first step was Pre-Capture, in which performance capture was used to capture the actor's
facial and body movements and render them in a real-time virtual environment. The second step took place
during principal photography, where Simulcam technology was used to help the human characters virtually
interact with the giants that were rendered earlier in Pre-Capture. The third step was Post-Capture, a second
performance capture shoot to adjust giants' movements to seamlessly fit the live-action performances. The final
step involved putting the finishing touches on the giant's animation, skin, hair and clothing, and composition in
the shots.[30] Creating the beanstalk involved two main requirements: set extension for shots of the actors
interacting with the beanstalk, which were shot against a bluescreen, and complete CG renderings for shots of
the beanstalk growing and extending from Earth into the world of the giants. [30]
Singer stated that he had to tone down the special effects to keep the film age-appropriate for children. He
said, "This movie probably has a bigger on-screen body count than any movie I've done before. It's done in a
way that's fun, but it was a challenge to get away with that without it becoming upsetting to people ... It was
about creating a tone like Raiders of the Lost Ark or Star Wars that allows you to get away with a lot of stuff
because it feels like a movie."[13]
Soundtrack
Jack The Giant Slayer: Original Motion Picture
Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by
John Ottman
Released February 26, 2013
Genre Classical
Length 1:12:51
Label WaterTower Music
The film's soundtrack features music by John Ottman, who also served as an editor and associate producer on
the film. Jack the Giant Slayer marks Ottman's seventh collaboration with director Bryan Singer; they previously
worked together on Public Access, The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil, X2: X-Men United, Superman Returns,
and Valkyrie. The soundtrack album was released on February 26, 2013, by WaterTower Music.[31]
Jack The Giant Slayer: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
No. Title Length
1. "Jack and Isabelle (Theme from Jack the Giant Slayer)" 3:56
2. "Logo Mania" 1:00
3. "To Cloister" 1:28
4. "The Climb" 2:41
5. "Fee Appears" 3:16
6. "How Do You Do" 2:23
7. "Why Do People Scream?" 3:17
8. "Story of the Giants" 3:22
9. "Welcome to Gantua" 4:12
10. "Power of the Crown" 1:21
11. "Not Wildly Keen on Heights" 2:19
12. "Top of the World" 2:30
13. "The Legends Are True / First Kiss" 3:43
14. "Roderick's Demise / The Beanstalk Falls" 5:36
15. "Kitchen Nightmare" 3:24
16. "Onward and Downward!" 3:19
17. "Waking a Sleeping Giant" 2:21
18. "Chase to Cloister" 5:19
19. "Goodbyes" 2:29
20. "The Battle" 5:31
21. "Sniffing Out Fear / All is Lost" 5:07
22. "The New King / Stories" 4:17
Total length: 1:12:51
Release
Jack the Giant Slayer premiered on Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood,
California.[32]
Box office
Pre-release tracking showed that Jack the Giant Slayer was projected to gross $30 million to $35 million in its
opening weekend,[33] a disappointing figure considering it cost at least $185 million to produce. [34] The film
grossed $400,000 from Thursday night and midnight runs, ahead of its wide release open on Friday, March 1,
2013.[35] Through the weekend, the film grossed $28.01 million in North America at 3,525 locations, taking first
place at the box office. The audience was 55% male and 56% were over the age of 25, despite the studio's
efforts to target families.[36] At the same time, the film took in an additional $13.7 million in 10 Asian markets at
1,824 locations.[37]
Four weeks into its theatrical run, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the film was on track to lose between
$125 million and $140 million for Legendary Pictures, suggesting that the film would likely close at $200 million
worldwide, short of its combined production and marketing budget. [38] Jack the Giant Slayer closed in theaters
on June 13, 2013, grossing a total of $65,187,603 in North America and $197,687,603 worldwide. [3] In
explaining its box office failure, analysts pointed to the conflict between the director's darker, more adult-
themed vision with the studio's desire for a family-friendly product, leading to the final compromise of a PG-13
film that did not sufficiently appeal to adults or children.[39]
Critical reception
Jack the Giant Slayer received a mixed response from film critics. On the review aggregation website Rotten
Tomatoes the film has a rating of 51%, based on an aggregation of 195 reviews, with an average rating of
5.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "It's enthusiastically acted and reasonably fun, but Jack the Giant
Slayer is also overwhelmed by digital effects and a bland, impersonal story." [40] Metacritic, which uses
a weighted mean, assigned a score of 51 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average
reviews".[41]
Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter said, "Simply in terms of efficient storytelling, clear logistics and
consistent viewer engagement, Jack is markedly superior to the recent Hobbit."[42] Richard Roeper of
the Chicago Sun-Times said, "Jack the Giant Slayer is a rousing, original and thoroughly entertaining
adventure."[43]
Conversely, Justin Chang of Variety said, "Jack the Giant Slayer feels, unsurprisingly, like an attempt to cash in
on a trend, recycling storybook characters, situations and battle sequences to mechanical and wearyingly
predictable effect."[44] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said, "This finally is just a digitally souped-up,
one-dimensional take on 'Jack and the Beanstalk'." [45] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said, "Bryan
Singer's take on the old fairy tale has all things money can buy — except a good script." [46]
Accolades
Awards
Yea Ref
Award Category Recipient Result
r .
The Overlooked Film of Jack the Giant Nominate
the Year Slayer d
Phoenix Film Critics [47]
Society
201 Jack the Giant Nominate
Best Visual Effects
3 Slayer d
BMI Film & TV
Film Music Award John Ottman Won [48]
Awards
201 Jack the Giant Nominate
Saturn Awards Best Fantasy Film [49]
4 Slayer d
Home media
In April 2013, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced the release of Jack the Giant Slayer on Blu-ray
3D, Blu-ray Disc and DVD. The discs were released on June 18, 2013 in two editions; a three-disc 3D/Blu-
ray/DVD combo pack, and a two-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. Both sets include the "Become a Giant Slayer"
featurette, deleted scenes, a gag reel and a digital copy of the film.[50]
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (/lɪˈniːəs, lɪˈneɪəs/;[1][2] 23 May[note 1] 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his
ennoblement as Carl von Linné[3] (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈkɑːɭ fɔn lɪˈneː] (About this soundlisten)), was
a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system
of naming organisms. He is known as the "father of modern taxonomy".[4] Many of his writings were in
Latin, and his name is rendered in Latin as Carolus Linnæus (after 1761 Carolus a Linné).
Linnaeus was born in the countryside of Småland in southern Sweden. He received most of his higher
education at Uppsala University and began giving lectures in botany there in 1730. He lived abroad
between 1735 and 1738, where he studied and also published the first edition of his Systema Naturae in
the Netherlands. He then returned to Sweden where he became professor of medicine and botany at
Uppsala. In the 1740s, he was sent on several journeys through Sweden to find and classify plants and
animals. In the 1750s and 1760s, he continued to collect and classify animals, plants, and minerals, while
publishing several volumes. He was one of the most acclaimed scientists in Europe at the time of his
death.
Carl Linnaeus
Carl von Linné, Alexander Roslin, 1775
(oil on canvas, Gripsholm Castle)
Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau sent him the message: "Tell him I know no greater man on
earth."[5] Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote: "With the exception of Shakespeare and Spinoza, I know
no one among the no longer living who has influenced me more strongly."[5] Swedish author August
Strindberg wrote: "Linnaeus was in reality a poet who happened to become a naturalist".[6] Linnaeus
has been called Princeps botanicorum (Prince of Botanists) and "The Pliny of the North".[7] He is also
considered as one of the founders of modern ecology.[8]
In botany, the abbreviation L. is used to indicate Linnaeus as the authority for a species' name.[9] In
older publications, the abbreviation "Linn." is found. Linnaeus's remains comprise the type specimen for
the species Homo sapiens following the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, since the sole
specimen that he is known to have examined was himself.
Early life
Childhood
Linnaeus was born in the village of Råshult in Småland, Sweden, on 23 May 1707. He was the first child
of Nicolaus (Nils) Ingemarsson (who later adopted the family name Linnaeus) and Christina Brodersonia.
His siblings were Anna Maria Linnæa, Sofia Juliana Linnæa, Samuel Linnæus (who would eventually
succeed their father as rector of Stenbrohult and write a manual on beekeeping),[10][11][12] and
Emerentia Linnæa.[13] His family spoke so much Latin at home, that Linnaeus learned Latin before he
learned Swedish.[14]
One of a long line of peasants and priests, Nils was an amateur botanist, a Lutheran minister, and
the curate of the small village of Stenbrohult in Småland. Christina was the daughter of the rector of
Stenbrohult, Samuel Brodersonius.[15]:376
A year after Linnaeus's birth, his grandfather Samuel Brodersonius died, and his father Nils became the
rector of Stenbrohult. The family moved into the rectory from the curate's house.[16][17]
Birthplace at Råshult
Even in his early years, Linnaeus seemed to have a liking for plants, flowers in particular. Whenever he
was upset, he was given a flower, which immediately calmed him. Nils spent much time in his garden
and often showed flowers to Linnaeus and told him their names. Soon Linnaeus was given his own patch
of earth where he could grow plants.[18]
Carl's father was the first in his ancestry to adopt a permanent surname. Before that, ancestors had
used the patronymic naming system of Scandinavian countries: his father was named Ingemarsson after
his father Ingemar Bengtsson. When Nils was admitted to the University of Lund, he had to take on a
family name. He adopted the Latinate name Linnæus after a giant linden tree (or lime tree), lind in
Swedish, that grew on the family homestead.[10] This name was spelled with the æ ligature. When Carl
was born, he was named Carl Linnæus, with his father's family name. The son also always spelled it with
the æ ligature, both in handwritten documents and in publications.[16] Carl's patronymic would have
been Nilsson, as in Carl Nilsson Linnæus.[citation needed]
Early education
Linnaeus's father began teaching him basic Latin, religion, and geography at an early age.[19] When
Linnaeus was seven, Nils decided to hire a tutor for him. The parents picked Johan Telander, a son of a
local yeoman. Linnaeus did not like him, writing in his autobiography that Telander "was better
calculated to extinguish a child's talents than develop them."[20]
Two years after his tutoring had begun, he was sent to the Lower Grammar School at Växjö in 1717.
[21] Linnaeus rarely studied, often going to the countryside to look for plants. He reached the last year
of the Lower School when he was fifteen, which was taught by the headmaster, Daniel Lannerus, who
was interested in botany. Lannerus noticed Linnaeus's interest in botany and gave him the run of his
garden.
He also introduced him to Johan Rothman, the state doctor of Småland and a teacher
at Katedralskolan (a gymnasium) in Växjö. Also a botanist, Rothman broadened Linnaeus's interest in
botany and helped him develop an interest in medicine.[22][23] By the age of 17, Linnaeus had become
well acquainted with the existing botanical literature. He remarks in his journal that he "read day and
night, knowing like the back of my hand, Arvidh Månsson's Rydaholm Book of Herbs, Tillandz's Flora
Åboensis, Palmberg's Serta Florea Suecana, Bromelii Chloros Gothica and Rudbeckii Hortus
Upsaliensis...."[24]
Linnaeus entered the Växjö Katedralskola in 1724, where he studied
mainly Greek, Hebrew, theology and mathematics, a curriculum designed for boys preparing for the
priesthood.[25][26] In the last year at the gymnasium, Linnaeus's father visited to ask the professors
how his son's studies were progressing; to his dismay, most said that the boy would never become a
scholar. Rothman believed otherwise, suggesting Linnaeus could have a future in medicine. The doctor
offered to have Linnaeus live with his family in Växjö and to teach him physiology and botany. Nils
accepted this offer.[27][28]
University studies
Lund
Statue as a university student in Lund
Rothman showed Linnaeus that botany was a serious subject. He taught Linnaeus to classify plants
according to Tournefort's system. Linnaeus was also taught about the sexual reproduction of plants,
according to Sébastien Vaillant.[27] In 1727, Linnaeus, age 21, enrolled in Lund University in Skåne.[29]
[30] He was registered as Carolus Linnæus, the Latin form of his full name, which he also used later for
his Latin publications.[3]
Professor Kilian Stobæus, natural scientist, physician and historian, offered Linnaeus tutoring and
lodging, as well as the use of his library, which included many books about botany. He also gave the
student free admission to his lectures.[31][32] In his spare time, Linnaeus explored the flora of Skåne,
together with students sharing the same interests.[33]
Uppsala
Pollination depicted in Praeludia Sponsaliorum Plantarum (1729)
In August 1728, Linnaeus decided to attend Uppsala University on the advice of Rothman, who believed
it would be a better choice if Linnaeus wanted to study both medicine and botany. Rothman based this
recommendation on the two professors who taught at the medical faculty at Uppsala: Olof Rudbeck the
Younger and Lars Roberg. Although Rudbeck and Roberg had undoubtedly been good professors, by
then they were older and not so interested in teaching. Rudbeck no longer gave public lectures, and had
others stand in for him. The botany, zoology, pharmacology and anatomy lectures were not in their best
state.[34] In Uppsala, Linnaeus met a new benefactor, Olof Celsius, who was a professor of theology and
an amateur botanist.[35] He received Linnaeus into his home and allowed him use of his library, which
was one of the richest botanical libraries in Sweden.[36]
In 1729, Linnaeus wrote a thesis, Praeludia Sponsaliorum Plantarum on plant sexual reproduction. This
attracted the attention of Rudbeck; in May 1730, he selected Linnaeus to give lectures at the University
although the young man was only a second-year student. His lectures were popular, and Linnaeus often
addressed an audience of 300 people.[37] In June, Linnaeus moved from Celsius's house to Rudbeck's to
become the tutor of the three youngest of his 24 children. His friendship with Celsius did not wane and
they continued their botanical expeditions.[38] Over that winter, Linnaeus began to doubt Tournefort's
system of classification and decided to create one of his own. His plan was to divide the plants by the
number of stamens and pistils. He began writing several books, which would later result in, for
example, Genera Plantarum and Critica Botanica. He also produced a book on the plants grown in
the Uppsala Botanical Garden, Adonis Uplandicus.[39]
Rudbeck's former assistant, Nils Rosén, returned to the University in March 1731 with a degree in
medicine. Rosén started giving anatomy lectures and tried to take over Linnaeus's botany lectures, but
Rudbeck prevented that. Until December, Rosén gave Linnaeus private tutoring in medicine. In
December, Linnaeus had a "disagreement" with Rudbeck's wife and had to move out of his mentor's
house; his relationship with Rudbeck did not appear to suffer. That Christmas, Linnaeus returned home
to Stenbrohult to visit his parents for the first time in about three years. His mother had disapproved of
his failing to become a priest, but she was pleased to learn he was teaching at the University.[39][40]
Expedition to Lapland
Expedition to Lapland and Flora Lapponica
Wearing the traditional dress of the Sami people of Lapland, holding the twinflower, later known
as Linnaea borealis, that became his personal emblem. Martin Hoffman, 1737.
During a visit with his parents, Linnaeus told them about his plan to travel to Lapland; Rudbeck had
made the journey in 1695, but the detailed results of his exploration were lost in a fire seven years
afterwards. Linnaeus's hope was to find new plants, animals and possibly valuable minerals. He was also
curious about the customs of the native Sami people, reindeer-herding nomads who wandered
Scandinavia's vast tundras. In April 1732, Linnaeus was awarded a grant from the Royal Society of
Sciences in Uppsala for his journey.[41][42]
Linnaeus began his expedition from Uppsala on 12 May 1732, just before he turned 25.[43] He travelled
on foot and horse, bringing with him his journal, botanical and ornithological manuscripts and sheets of
paper for pressing plants. Near Gävle he found great quantities of Campanula serpyllifolia, later known
as Linnaea borealis, the twinflower that would become his favourite.[44] He sometimes dismounted on
the way to examine a flower or rock[45] and was particularly interested in mosses and lichens, the latter
a main part of the diet of the reindeer, a common and economically important animal in Lapland.[46]
Linnaeus travelled clockwise around the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, making major inland incursions
from Umeå, Luleå and Tornio. He returned from his six-month-long, over 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi)
expedition in October, having gathered and observed many plants, birds and rocks.[47][48]
[49] Although Lapland was a region with limited biodiversity, Linnaeus described about 100 previously
unidentified plants. These became the basis of his book Flora Lapponica.[50][51] However, on the
expedition to Lapland, Linnaeus used Latin names to describe organisms because he had not yet
developed the binomial system.[43]
In Flora Lapponica Linnaeus's ideas about nomenclature and classification were first used in a practical
way, making this the first proto-modern Flora.[52] The account covered 534 species, used the Linnaean
classification system and included, for the described species, geographical distribution and taxonomic
notes. It was Augustin Pyramus de Candolle who attributed Linnaeus with Flora Lapponica as the first
example in the botanical genre of Flora writing. Botanical historian E. L. Greene described Flora
Lapponica as "the most classic and delightful" of Linnaeus's works.[52]
It was also during this expedition that Linnaeus had a flash of insight regarding the classification of
mammals. Upon observing the lower jawbone of a horse at the side of a road he was travelling, Linnaeus
remarked: "If I only knew how many teeth and of what kind every animal had, how many teats and
where they were placed, I should perhaps be able to work out a perfectly natural system for the
arrangement of all quadrupeds."[53]
In 1734, Linnaeus led a small group of students to Dalarna. Funded by the Governor of Dalarna, the
expedition was to catalogue known natural resources and discover new ones, but also to gather
intelligence on Norwegian mining activities at Røros.[49]
Doctorate
His relations with Nils Rosén having worsened, Linnaeus accepted an invitation from Claes Sohlberg, son
of a mining inspector, to spend the Christmas holiday in Falun, where Linnaeus was permitted to visit
the mines.[54]
In April 1735, at the suggestion of Sohlberg's father, Linnaeus and Sohlberg set out for the Dutch
Republic, where Linnaeus intended to study medicine at the University of Harderwijk[55] while tutoring
Sohlberg in exchange for an annual salary. At the time, it was common for Swedes to pursue doctoral
degrees in the Netherlands, then a highly revered place to study natural history
Cities where he worked; those outside Sweden were only visited during 1735–1738.
.[56]
On the way, the pair stopped in Hamburg, where they met the mayor, who proudly showed them a
supposed wonder of nature in his possession: the taxidermied remains of a seven-headed hydra.
Linnaeus quickly discovered the specimen was a fake cobbled together from the jaws and paws of
weasels and the skins of snakes. The provenance of the hydra suggested to Linnaeus that it had been
manufactured by monks to represent the Beast of Revelation. Even at the risk of incurring the mayor's
wrath, Linnaeus made his observations public, dashing the mayor's dreams of selling the hydra for an
enormous sum. Linnaeus and Sohlberg were forced to flee from Hamburg.[57][58]
The Hamburg Hydra, from the Thesaurus (1734) of Albertus Seba
Linnaeus began working towards his degree as soon as he reached Harderwijk, a university known for
awarding degrees in as little as a week.[59] He submitted a dissertation, written back in Sweden,
entitled Dissertatio medica inauguralis in qua exhibetur hypothesis nova de febrium intermittentium
causa,[note 3] in which he laid out his hypothesis that malaria arose only in areas with clay-rich soils.
[60] Although he failed to identify the true source of disease transmission, (i.e.,
the Anopheles mosquito),[61] he did correctly predict that Artemisia annua (wormwood) would become
a source of antimalarial medications.[60]
Within two weeks he had completed his oral and practical examinations and was awarded a doctoral
degree.[57][59]
That summer Linnaeus reunited with Peter Artedi, a friend from Uppsala with whom he had once made
a pact that should either of the two predecease the other, the survivor would finish the decedent's
work. Ten weeks later, Artedi drowned in the canals of Amsterdam, leaving behind an unfinished
manuscript on the classification of fish.[62][63]
Publishing of Systema Naturae
One of the first scientists Linnaeus met in the Netherlands was Johan Frederik Gronovius to whom
Linnaeus showed one of the several manuscripts he had brought with him from Sweden. The manuscript
described a new system for classifying plants. When Gronovius saw it, he was very impressed, and
offered to help pay for the printing. With an additional monetary contribution by the Scottish doctor
Isaac Lawson, the manuscript was published as Systema Naturae (1735).[64][65]
Linnaeus became acquainted with one of the most respected physicians and botanists in the
Netherlands, Herman Boerhaave, who tried to convince Linnaeus to make a career there. Boerhaave
offered him a journey to South Africa and America, but Linnaeus declined, stating he would not stand
the heat. Instead, Boerhaave convinced Linnaeus that he should visit the botanist Johannes Burman.
After his visit, Burman, impressed with his guest's knowledge, decided Linnaeus should stay with him
during the winter. During his stay, Linnaeus helped Burman with his Thesaurus Zeylanicus. Burman also
helped Linnaeus with the books on which he was working: Fundamenta Botanica and Bibliotheca
Botanica.[66]
George Clifford, Philip Miller, and Johann Jacob Dillenius
Leaf forms from Hortus Cliffortianus(1738)
In August 1735, during Linnaeus's stay with Burman, he met George Clifford III, a director of the Dutch
East India Company and the owner of a rich botanical garden at the estate of Hartekamp in Heemstede.
Clifford was very impressed with Linnaeus's ability to classify plants, and invited him to become his
physician and superintendent of his garden. Linnaeus had already agreed to stay with Burman over the
winter, and could thus not accept immediately. However, Clifford offered to compensate Burman by
offering him a copy of Sir Hans Sloane's Natural History of Jamaica, a rare book, if he let Linnaeus stay
with him, and Burman accepted.[67][68] On 24 September 1735, Linnaeus moved to Hartekamp to
become personal physician to Clifford, and curator of Clifford's herbarium. He was paid 1,000 florins a
year, with free board and lodging. Though the agreement was only for a winter of that year, Linnaeus
practically stayed there until 1738.[69] It was here that he wrote a book Hortus Cliffortianus, in the
preface of which he described his experience as "the happiest time of my life." (A portion of Hartekamp
was declared as public garden in April 1956 by the Heemstede local authority, and was named
"Linnaeushof".[70] It eventually became, as it is claimed, the biggest playground in Europe.[71])
In July 1736, Linnaeus travelled to England, at Clifford's expense.[72] He went to London to visit Sir Hans
Sloane, a collector of natural history, and to see his cabinet,[73] as well as to visit the Chelsea Physic
Garden and its keeper, Philip Miller. He taught Miller about his new system of subdividing plants, as
described in Systema Naturae. Miller was in fact reluctant to use the new binomial nomenclature,
preferring the classifications of Joseph Pitton de Tournefort and John Ray at first. Linnaeus,
nevertheless, applauded Miller's Gardeners Dictionary,[74] The conservative Scot actually retained in his
dictionary a number of pre-Linnaean binomial signifiers discarded by Linnaeus but which have been
retained by modern botanists. He only fully changed to the Linnaean system in the edition of The
Gardeners Dictionary of 1768. Miller ultimately was impressed, and from then on started to arrange the
garden according to Linnaeus's system.[75]
Linnaeus also travelled to Oxford University to visit the botanist Johann Jacob Dillenius. He failed to
make Dillenius publicly fully accept his new classification system, though the two men remained in
correspondence for many years afterwards. Linnaeus dedicated his Critica botanica to him, as "opus
botanicum quo absolutius mundus non vidit". Linnaeus would later name a genus of tropical tree
Dillenia in his honour. He then returned to Hartekamp, bringing with him many specimens of rare plants.
[76] The next year, he published Genera Plantarum, in which he described 935 genera of plants, and
shortly thereafter he supplemented it with Corollarium Generum Plantarum, with another sixty
(sexaginta) genera.[77]
His work at Hartekamp led to another book, Hortus Cliffortianus, a catalogue of the botanical holdings in
the herbarium and botanical garden of Hartekamp. He wrote it in nine months (completed in July 1737),
but it was not published until 1738.[66] It contains the first use of the name Nepenthes, which Linnaeus
used to describe a genus of pitcher plants.[78][note 4]
Linnaeus stayed with Clifford at Hartekamp until 18 October 1737 (new style), when he left the house to
return to Sweden. Illness and the kindness of Dutch friends obliged him to stay some months longer in
Holland. In May 1738, he set out for Sweden again. On the way home, he stayed in Paris for about a
month, visiting botanists such as Antoine de Jussieu. After his return, Linnaeus never left Sweden again.
[79][80]
Return to Sweden
Wedding portrait
When Linnaeus returned to Sweden on 28 June 1738, he went to Falun, where he entered into an
engagement to Sara Elisabeth Moræa. Three months later, he moved to Stockholm to find employment
as a physician, and thus to make it possible to support a family.[81][82] Once again, Linnaeus found a
patron; he became acquainted with Count Carl Gustav Tessin, who helped him get work as a physician at
the Admiralty.[83][84] During this time in Stockholm, Linnaeus helped found the Royal Swedish
Academy of Science; he became the first Praeses in the academy by drawing of lots.[85]
Because his finances had improved and were now sufficient to support a family, he received permission
to marry his fiancée, Sara Elisabeth Moræa. Their wedding was held 26 June 1739. Seventeen months
later, Sara gave birth to their first son, Carl. Two years later, a daughter, Elisabeth Christina, was born,
and the subsequent year Sara gave birth to Sara Magdalena, who died when 15 days old. Sara and
Linnaeus would later have four other children: Lovisa, Sara Christina, Johannes and Sophia.[81][86]
House in Uppsala
In May 1741, Linnaeus was appointed Professor of Medicine at Uppsala University, first with
responsibility for medicine-related matters. Soon, he changed place with the other Professor of
Medicine, Nils Rosén, and thus was responsible for the Botanical Garden (which he would thoroughly
reconstruct and expand), botany and natural history, instead. In October that same year, his wife and
nine-month-old son followed him to live in Uppsala.[87]:49–50
Öland and Gotland
Ten days after he was appointed Professor, he undertook an expedition to the island provinces
of Ölandand Gotland with six students from the university, to look for plants useful in medicine. First,
they travelled to Öland and stayed there until 21 June, when they sailed to Visby in Gotland. Linnaeus
and the students stayed on Gotland for about a month, and then returned to Uppsala. During this
expedition, they found 100 previously unrecorded plants. The observations from the expedition were
later published in Öländska och Gothländska Resa, written in Swedish. Like Flora Lapponica, it contained
both zoological and botanical observations, as well as observations concerning the culture in Öland and
Gotland.[88][89]
During the summer of 1745, Linnaeus published two more books: Flora Suecica and Fauna Suecica. Flora
Suecica was a strictly botanical book, while Fauna Suecica was zoological.[81][90] Anders Celsius had
created the temperature scale named after him in 1742. Celsius's scale was inverted compared to today,
the boiling point at 0 °C and freezing point at 100 °C. In 1745, Linnaeus inverted the scale to its present
standard.[91]
Västergötland
In the summer of 1746, Linnaeus was once again commissioned by the Government to carry out an
expedition, this time to the Swedish province of Västergötland. He set out from Uppsala on 12 June and
returned on 11 August. On the expedition his primary companion was Erik Gustaf Lidbeck, a student
who had accompanied him on his previous journey. Linnaeus described his findings from the expedition
in the book Wästgöta-Resa, published the next year.[88][92] After returning from the journey the
Government decided Linnaeus should take on another expedition to the southernmost province Scania.
This journey was postponed, as Linnaeus felt too busy.[81]
In 1747, Linnaeus was given the title archiater, or chief physician, by the Swedish king Adolf Frederick—a
mark of great respect.[93] The same year he was elected member of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin.
[94]
Scania
In the spring of 1749, Linnaeus could finally journey to Scania, again commissioned by the Government.
With him he brought his student, Olof Söderberg. On the way to Scania, he made his last visit to his
brothers and sisters in Stenbrohult since his father had died the previous year. The expedition was
similar to the previous journeys in most aspects, but this time he was also ordered to find the best place
to grow walnut and Swedish whitebeam trees; these trees were used by the military to make rifles. The
journey was successful, and Linnaeus's observations were published the next year in Skånska Resa.[95]
[96]
Rector of Uppsala University
Summer home at his Hammarby estate
The Linnaean Garden in Uppsala
In 1750, Linnaeus became rector of Uppsala University, starting a period where natural sciences were
esteemed.[81] Perhaps the most important contribution he made during his time at Uppsala was to
teach; many of his students travelled to various places in the world to collect botanical samples.
Linnaeus called the best of these students his "apostles".[87]:56–57 His lectures were normally very
popular and were often held in the Botanical Garden. He tried to teach the students to think for
themselves and not trust anybody, not even him. Even more popular than the lectures were the
botanical excursions made every Saturday during summer, where Linnaeus and his students explored
the flora and fauna in the vicinity of Uppsala.[97]
Philosophia Botanica
Linnaeus published Philosophia Botanica in 1751.[98] The book contained a complete survey of the
taxonomy system he had been using in his earlier works. It also contained information of how to keep a
journal on travels and how to maintain a botanical garden.[99]
Nutrix Noverca
Cover of Nutrix Noverca(1752)
During Linnaeus's time it was normal for upper class women to have wet nurses for their babies.
Linnaeus joined an ongoing campaign to end this practice in Sweden and promote breast-feeding by
mothers. In 1752 Linnaeus published a thesis along with Frederick Lindberg, a physician student,
[100]based on their experiences.[101] In the tradition of the period, this dissertation was essentially an
idea of the presiding reviewer (prases) expounded upon by the student. Linnaeus's dissertation was
translated into French by J.E. Gilibert in 1770 as La Nourrice marâtre, ou Dissertation sur les suites
funestes du nourrisage mercénaire. Linnaeus suggested that children might absorb the personality of
their wet nurse through the milk. He admired the child care practices of the Lapps[102] and pointed out
how healthy their babies were compared to those of Europeans who employed wet nurses. He
compared the behaviour of wild animals and pointed out how none of them denied their newborns their
breastmilk.[102] It is thought that his activism played a role in his choice of the term Mammalia for the
class of organisms.[103]
Species Plantarum
Species Plantarum
Linnaeus published Species Plantarum, the work which is now internationally accepted as the starting
point of modern botanical nomenclature, in 1753.[104] The first volume was issued on 24 May, the
second volume followed on 16 August of the same year.[note 5][106] The book contained 1,200 pages
and was published in two volumes; it described over 7,300 species.[87]:47[107] The same year the king
dubbed him knight of the Order of the Polar Star, the first civilian in Sweden to become a knight in this
order. He was then seldom seen not wearing the order's insignia.[108]
Ennoblement
His coat of arms
Linnaeus felt Uppsala was too noisy and unhealthy, so he bought two farms in 1758: Hammarby and
Sävja. The next year, he bought a neighbouring farm, Edeby. He spent the summers with his family at
Hammarby; initially it only had a small one-storey house, but in 1762 a new, larger main building was
added.[96][109] In Hammarby, Linnaeus made a garden where he could grow plants that could not be
grown in the Botanical Garden in Uppsala. He began constructing a museum on a hill behind Hammarby
in 1766, where he moved his library and collection of plants. A fire that destroyed about one third of
Uppsala and had threatened his residence there necessitated the move.[110]
Since the initial release of Systema Naturae in 1735, the book had been expanded and reprinted several
times; the tenth edition was released in 1758. This edition established itself as the starting point
for zoological nomenclature, the equivalent of Species Plantarum.[87]:47[111]
The Swedish King Adolf Frederick granted Linnaeus nobility in 1757, but he was not ennobled until 1761.
With his ennoblement, he took the name Carl von Linné (Latinised as Carolus a Linné), 'Linné' being a
shortened and gallicised version of 'Linnæus', and the German nobiliary particle 'von' signifying his
ennoblement.[3] The noble family's coat of arms prominently features a twinflower, one of Linnaeus's
favourite plants; it was given the scientific name Linnaea borealis in his honour by Gronovius. The shield
in the coat of arms is divided into thirds: red, black and green for the three kingdoms of nature (animal,
mineral and vegetable) in Linnaean classification; in the centre is an egg "to denote Nature, which is
continued and perpetuated in ovo." At the bottom is a phrase in Latin, borrowed from the Aeneid, which
reads "Famam extendere factis": we extend our fame by our deeds.[87]:62[112][113] Linnaeus inscribed
this personal motto in books that were gifted to him by friends.[114]
After his ennoblement, Linnaeus continued teaching and writing. His reputation had spread over the
world, and he corresponded with many different people. For example, Catherine II of Russia sent him
seeds from her country.[115] He also corresponded with Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, "the Linnaeus of the
Austrian Empire", who was a doctor and a botanist in Idrija, Duchy of Carniola (nowadays Slovenia).
[116] Scopoli communicated all of his research, findings, and descriptions (for example of the olm and
the dormouse, two little animals hitherto unknown to Linnaeus). Linnaeus greatly respected Scopoli and
showed great interest in his work. He named a solanaceous genus, Scopolia, the source of scopolamine,
after him, but because of the great distance between them, they never met.[117][118]
Final years
Linnaeus was relieved of his duties in the Royal Swedish Academy of Science in 1763, but continued his
work there as usual for more than ten years after.[81] He stepped down as rector at Uppsala University
in December 1772, mostly due to his declining health.[80][119]
Linnaeus's last years were troubled by illness. He had suffered from a disease called the Uppsala fever in
1764, but survived thanks to the care of Rosén. He developed sciatica in 1773, and the next year, he had
a stroke which partially paralysed him.[120] He suffered a second stroke in 1776, losing the use of his
right side and leaving him bereft of his memory; while still able to admire his own writings, he could not
recognise himself as their author.[121][122]
In December 1777, he had another stroke which greatly weakened him, and eventually led to his death
on 10 January 1778 in Hammarby.[87]:63[119] Despite his desire to be buried in Hammarby, he was
buried in Uppsala Cathedral on 22 January.[123]
Headstone of him and his son Carl Linnaeus the Younger
[124]
His library and collections were left to his widow Sara and their children. Joseph Banks, an English
botanist, wanted to buy the collection, but his son Carl refused and moved the collection to Uppsala. In
1783 Carl died and Sara inherited the collection, having outlived both her husband and son. She tried to
sell it to Banks, but he was no longer interested; instead an acquaintance of his agreed to buy the
collection. The acquaintance was a 24-year-old medical student, James Edward Smith, who bought the
whole collection: 14,000 plants, 3,198 insects, 1,564 shells, about 3,000 letters and 1,600 books. Smith
founded the Linnean Society of London five years later.[124][125]
The von Linné name ended with his son Carl, who never married.[6] His other son, Johannes, had died
aged 3.[126] There are over two hundred descendants of Linnaeus through two of his daughters.[6]
Apostles
Apostles of Linnaeus
Peter Forsskål was among the apostles who met a tragic fate abroad.
During Linnaeus's time as Professor and Rector of Uppsala University, he taught many devoted students,
17 of whom he called "apostles". They were the most promising, most committed students, and all of
them made botanical expeditions to various places in the world, often with his help. The amount of this
help varied; sometimes he used his influence as Rector to grant his apostles a scholarship or a place on
an expedition.[127] To most of the apostles he gave instructions of what to look for on their journeys.
Abroad, the apostles collected and organised new plants, animals and minerals according to Linnaeus's
system. Most of them also gave some of their collection to Linnaeus when their journey was finished.
[128] Thanks to these students, the Linnaean system of taxonomy spread through the world without
Linnaeus ever having to travel outside Sweden after his return from Holland.[129]The British
botanist William T. Stearn notes without Linnaeus's new system, it would not have been possible for the
apostles to collect and organise so many new specimens.[130] Many of the apostles died during their
expeditions.
Early expeditions
Christopher Tärnström, the first apostle and a 43-year-old pastor with a wife and children, made his
journey in 1746. He boarded a Swedish East India Company ship headed for China. Tärnström never
reached his destination, dying of a tropical fever on Côn Sơn Island the same year. Tärnström's widow
blamed Linnaeus for making her children fatherless, causing Linnaeus to prefer sending out younger,
unmarried students after Tärnström.[131] Six other apostles later died on their expeditions,
including Pehr Forsskål and Pehr Löfling.[130]
Two years after Tärnström's expedition, Finnish-born Pehr Kalm set out as the second apostle to North
America. There he spent two-and-a-half years studying the flora and fauna of Pennsylvania, New York,
New Jersey and Canada. Linnaeus was overjoyed when Kalm returned, bringing back with him many
pressed flowers and seeds. At least 90 of the 700 North American species described in Species
Plantarum had been brought back by Kalm.[132]
Cook expeditions and Japan
Apostle Daniel Solander (far left) with Joseph Banks (left, sitting) accompanied James Cook (centre) on
his journey to Australia.
Daniel Solander was living in Linnaeus's house during his time as a student in Uppsala. Linnaeus was very
fond of him, promising Solander his oldest daughter's hand in marriage. On Linnaeus's recommendation,
Solander travelled to England in 1760, where he met the English botanist Joseph Banks. With Banks,
Solander joined James Cook on his expedition to Oceania on the Endeavour in 1768–71.[133]
[134]Solander was not the only apostle to journey with James Cook; Anders Sparrman followed on
the Resolution in 1772–75 bound for, among other places, Oceania and South America. Sparrman made
many other expeditions, one of them to South Africa.[135]
Perhaps the most famous and successful apostle was Carl Peter Thunberg, who embarked on a nine-year
expedition in 1770. He stayed in South Africa for three years, then travelled to Japan. All foreigners in
Japan were forced to stay on the island of Dejima outside Nagasaki, so it was thus hard for Thunberg to
study the flora. He did, however, manage to persuade some of the translators to bring him different
plants, and he also found plants in the gardens of Dejima. He returned to Sweden in 1779, one year after
Linnaeus's death.[136]
Major publications
Carl Linnaeus bibliography
Systema Naturae
Title page of the 10th edition of Systema Naturæ(1758)
Main article: Systema Naturae
The first edition of Systema Naturae was printed in the Netherlands in 1735. It was a twelve-page work.
[137] By the time it reached its 10th edition in 1758, it classified 4,400 species of animals and 7,700
species of plants. People from all over the world sent their specimens to Linnaeus to be included. By the
time he started work on the 12th edition, Linnaeus needed a new invention—the index card—to track
classifications.[138]
In Systema Naturae, the unwieldy names mostly used at the time, such as "Physalis annua ramosissima,
ramis angulosis glabris, foliis dentato-serratis", were supplemented with concise and now familiar
"binomials", composed of the generic name, followed by a specific epithet—in the case given, Physalis
angulata. These binomials could serve as a label to refer to the species. Higher taxa were constructed
and arranged in a simple and orderly manner. Although the system, now known as binomial
nomenclature, was partially developed by the Bauhin brothers (see Gaspard Bauhin and Johann Bauhin)
almost 200 years earlier,[139] Linnaeus was the first to use it consistently throughout the work,
including in monospecific genera, and may be said to have popularised it within the scientific
community.
After the decline in Linnaeus's health in the early 1770s, publication of editions of Systema
Naturae went in two different directions. Another Swedish scientist, Johan Andreas Murray issued
the Regnum Vegetabile section separately in 1774 as the Systema Vegetabilium, rather confusingly
labelled the 13th edition.[140] Meanwhile a 13th edition of the entire Systema appeared in parts
between 1788 and 1793. It was through the Systema Vegetabilium that Linnaeus's work became widely
known in England, following its translation from the Latin by the Lichfield Botanical Society as A System
of Vegetables (1783–1785).[141]
Species Plantarum
Species Plantarum
Species Plantarum (or, more fully, Species Plantarum, exhibentes plantas rite cognitas, ad genera
relatas, cum differentiis specificis, nominibus trivialibus, synonymis selectis, locis natalibus, secundum
systema sexuale digestas) was first published in 1753, as a two-volume work. Its prime importance is
perhaps that it is the primary starting point of plant nomenclature as it exists today.[104]
Genera Plantarum
Main article: Genera Plantarum
Genera plantarum: eorumque characteres naturales secundum numerum, figuram, situm, et
proportionem omnium fructificationis partium was first published in 1737, delineating plant genera.
Around 10 editions were published, not all of them by Linnaeus himself; the most important is the 1754
fifth edition.[142] In it Linnaeus divided the plant Kingdom into 24 classes. One, Cryptogamia, included
all the plants with concealed reproductive parts (algae, fungi, mosses and liverworts and ferns).[143]
Philosophia Botanica
Main article: Philosophia Botanica
Philosophia Botanica (1751)[98] was a summary of Linnaeus's thinking on plant classification and
nomenclature, and an elaboration of the work he had previously published in Fundamenta
Botanica (1736) and Critica Botanica (1737). Other publications forming part of his plan to reform the
foundations of botany include his Classes Plantarum and Bibliotheca Botanica: all were printed in
Holland (as were Genera Plantarum (1737) and Systema Naturae (1735)), the Philosophia being
simultaneously released in Stockholm.[144]
Collections
Linnaeus marble by Léon-Joseph Chavalliaud (1899), outside the Palm House at Sefton Park, Liverpool
At the end of his lifetime the Linnean collection in Uppsala was considered one of the finest collections
of natural history objects in Sweden. Next to his own collection he had also built up a museum for the
university of Uppsala, which was supplied by material donated by Carl Gyllenborg (in 1744–1745),
crown-prince Adolf Fredrik (in 1745), Erik Petreus (in 1746), Claes Grill (in 1746), Magnus Lagerström (in
1748 and 1750) and Jonas Alströmer (in 1749). The relation between the museum and the private
collection was not formalised and the steady flow of material from Linnean pupils were incorporated to
the private collection rather than to the museum.[145] Linnaeus felt his work was reflecting the
harmony of nature and he said in 1754 "the earth is then nothing else but a museum of the all-wise
creator's masterpieces, divided into three chambers". He had turned his own estate into a microcosm of
that 'world museum'.[146]
In April 1766 parts of the town were destroyed by a fire and the Linnean private collection was
subsequently moved to a barn outside the town, and shortly afterwards to a single-room stone building
close to his country house at Hammarby near Uppsala. This resulted in a physical separation between
the two collections, the museum collection remained in the botanical garden of the university. Some
material which needed special care (alcohol specimens) or ample storage space was moved from the
private collection to the museum.
In Hammarby the Linnean private collections suffered seriously from damp and the depredations by
mice and insects. Carl von Linné's son (Carl Linnaeus) inherited the collections in 1778 and retained
them until his own death in 1783. Shortly after Carl von Linné's death his son confirmed that mice had
caused "horrible damage" to the plants and that also moths and mould had caused considerable
damage.[147] He tried to rescue them from the neglect they had suffered during his father's later years,
and also added further specimens. This last activity however reduced rather than augmented the
scientific value of the original material.
In 1784 the young medical student James Edward Smith purchased the entire specimen collection,
library, manuscripts, and correspondence of Carl Linnaeus from his widow and daughter and transferred
the collections to London.[148][15]:342–357 Not all material in Linné's private collection was
transported to England. Thirty-three fish specimens preserved in alcohol were not sent and were later
lost.[149]
In London Smith tended to neglect the zoological parts of the collection, he added some specimens and
also gave some specimens away.[150]Over the following centuries the Linnean collection in London
suffered enormously at the hands of scientists who studied the collection, and in the process disturbed
the original arrangement and labels, added specimens that did not belong to the original series and
withdrew precious original type material.[147]
Much material which had been intensively studied by Linné in his scientific career belonged to the
collection of Queen Lovisa Ulrika (1720–1782) (in the Linnean publications referred to as "Museum
Ludovicae Ulricae" or "M. L. U."). This collection was donated by his grandson King Gustav IV
Adolf (1778–1837) to the museum in Uppsala in 1804. Another important collection in this respect was
that of her husband King Adolf Fredrik(1710–1771) (in the Linnean sources known as "Museum Adolphi
Friderici" or "Mus. Ad. Fr."), the wet parts (alcohol collection) of which were later donated to the Royal
Swedish Academy of Sciences, and is today housed in the Swedish Museum of Natural
History at Stockholm. The dry material was transferred to Uppsala.[145]
System of taxonomy
Table of the Animal Kingdom (Regnum Animale) from the 1st edition of Systema Naturæ (1735)
Main article: Linnaean taxonomy
The establishment of universally accepted conventions for the naming of organisms was Linnaeus's main
contribution to taxonomy—his work marks the starting point of consistent use of binomial
nomenclature.[151] During the 18th century expansion of natural history knowledge, Linnaeus also
developed what became known as the Linnaean taxonomy; the system of scientific classification now
widely used in the biological sciences. A previous zoologist Rumphius (1627–1702) had more or less
approximated the Linnaean system and his material contributed to the later development of the
binomial scientific classification by Linnaeus.[152]
The Linnaean system classified nature within a nested hierarchy, starting with three kingdoms.
Kingdoms were divided into classes and they, in turn, into orders, and thence into genera
(singular: genus), which were divided into species (singular: species).[153] Below the rank of species he
sometimes recognised taxa of a lower (unnamed) rank; these have since acquired standardised names
such as variety in botany and subspecies in zoology. Modern taxonomy includes a rank
of family between order and genus and a rank of phylum between kingdom and class that were not
present in Linnaeus's original system.[154]
Linnaeus's groupings were based upon shared physical characteristics, and not simply upon differences.
[154] Of his higher groupings, only those for animals are still in use, and the groupings themselves have
been significantly changed since their conception, as have the principles behind them. Nevertheless,
Linnaeus is credited with establishing the idea of a hierarchical structure of classification which is based
upon observable characteristics and intended to reflect natural relationships.[151][155] While the
underlying details concerning what are considered to be scientifically valid "observable characteristics"
have changed with expanding knowledge (for example, DNA sequencing, unavailable in Linnaeus's time,
has proven to be a tool of considerable utility for classifying living organisms and establishing
their evolutionary relationships), the fundamental principle remains sound.
Human taxonomy
Human taxonomy § History
Linnaeus's system of taxonomy was especially noted as the first to include humans (Homo)
taxonomically grouped with apes (Simia), under the header of Anthropomorpha. German biologist Ernst
Haeckel speaking in 1907 noted this as the "most important sign of Linnaeus's genius".[156]
Linnaeus classified humans among the primates beginning with the first edition of Systema Naturae.
[157] During his time at Hartekamp, he had the opportunity to examine several monkeys and noted
similarities between them and man.[87]:173–174 He pointed out both species basically have the same
anatomy; except for speech, he found no other differences.[158][note 6] Thus he placed man and
monkeys under the same category, Anthropomorpha, meaning "manlike."[159] This classification
received criticism from other biologists such as Johan Gottschalk Wallerius, Jacob Theodor
Klein and Johann Georg Gmelin on the ground that it is illogical to describe man as human-like.[160] In a
letter to Gmelin from 1747, Linnaeus replied:[161][note 7]
It does not please [you] that I've placed Man among the Anthropomorpha, perhaps because of the term
'with human form',[note 8] but man learns to know himself. Let's not quibble over words. It will be the
same to me whatever name we apply. But I seek from you and from the whole world a generic
difference between man and simian that [follows] from the principles of Natural History.[note 9] I
absolutely know of none. If only someone might tell me a single one! If I would have called man a simian
or vice versa, I would have brought together all the theologians against me. Perhaps I ought to have by
virtue of the law of the discipline.
Detail from the sixth edition of Systema Naturae (1748) describing Ant[h]ropomorpha with a division
between Homo and Simia
The theological concerns were twofold: first, putting man at the same level as monkeys or apes would
lower the spiritually higher position that man was assumed to have in the great chain of being, and
second, because the Bible says man was created in the image of God[162] (theomorphism), if
monkeys/apes and humans were not distinctly and separately designed, that would mean monkeys and
apes were created in the image of God as well. This was something many could not accept.[163] The
conflict between world views that was caused by asserting man was a type of animal would simmer for a
century until the much greater, and still ongoing, creation–evolution controversy began in earnest with
the publication of On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin in 1859.
After such criticism, Linnaeus felt he needed to explain himself more clearly. The 10th edition
of Systema Naturae introduced new terms, including Mammalia and Primates, the latter of which would
replace Anthropomorpha[164] as well as giving humans the full binomial Homo sapiens.[165] The new
classification received less criticism, but many natural historians still believed he had demoted humans
from their former place of ruling over nature and not being a part of it. Linnaeus believed that man
biologically belongs to the animal kingdom and had to be included in it.[166] In his book Dieta Naturalis,
he said, "One should not vent one's wrath on animals, Theology decree that man has a soul and that the
animals are mere 'aoutomata mechanica,' but I believe they would be better advised that animals have a
soul and that the difference is of nobility."[167]
Anthropomorpha, from the 1760 dissertation by C. E. Hoppius[168]
1. Troglodyta Bontii, 2. Lucifer Aldrovandi, 3. Satyrus Tulpii, 4. Pygmaeus Edwardi
Linnaeus added a second species to the genus Homo in Systema Naturae based on a figure and
description by Jacobus Bontius from a 1658 publication: Homo troglodytes ("caveman")[169][170] and
published a third in 1771: Homo lar.[171] Swedish historian Gunnar Broberg states that the new human
species Linnaeus described were actually simians or native people clad in skins to frighten colonial
settlers, whose appearance had been exaggerated in accounts to Linnaeus.[172]
In early editions of Systema Naturae, many well-known legendary creatures were included such as
the phoenix, dragon, manticore, and satyrus,[173][note 10] which Linnaeus collected into the catch-all
category Paradoxa. Broberg thought Linnaeus was trying to offer a natural explanation and demystify
the world of superstition.[174] Linnaeus tried to debunk some of these creatures, as he had with the
hydra; regarding the purported remains of dragons, Linnaeus wrote that they were either derived from
lizards or rays.[175]For Homo troglodytes he asked the Swedish East India Company to search for one,
but they did not find any signs of its existence.[176] Homo lar has since been reclassified as Hylobates
lar, the lar gibbon.[177]
See also: Race (human categorisation)
In the first edition of Systema Naturae, Linnaeus subdivided the human species into four varieties based
on continent and[dubious – discuss] skin colour: "Europæus albus" (white European), "Americanus
rubescens" (red American), "Asiaticus fuscus" (brown Asian) and "Africanus niger" (black African).
[178] In the tenth edition of Systema Naturae he further detailed phenotypical characteristics for each
variety, based on the concept of the four temperaments from classical antiquity,[179]
[dubious – discuss] and changed the description of Asians' skin tone to "luridus" (yellow).
[180]Additionally, Linnaeus created a wastebasket taxon "monstrosus" for "wild and monstrous
humans, unknown groups, and more or less abnormal people".[181]
In 1959, W. T. Stearn designated Linnaeus to be the lectotype of H. sapiens.[182][183][184]
Influences and economic beliefs
Statue on University of Chicago campus
Linnaeus's applied science was inspired not only by the instrumental utilitarianism general to the early
Enlightenment, but also by his adherence to the older economic doctrine of Cameralism.
[185] Additionally, Linnaeus was a state interventionist. He supported tariffs, levies, export bounties,
quotas, embargoes, navigation acts, subsidised investment capital, ceilings on wages, cash grants, state-
licensed producer monopolies, and cartels.[186]
Commemoration
1907 celebration in Råshult
Main article: Commemoration of Carl Linnaeus
Anniversaries of Linnaeus's birth, especially in centennial years, have been marked by major
celebrations.[187] Linnaeus has appeared on numerous Swedish postage stamps and banknotes.
[187] There are numerous statues of Linnaeus in countries around the world. The Linnean Society of
London has awarded the Linnean Medal for excellence in botany or zoology since 1888. Following
approval by the Riksdag of Sweden, Växjö University and Kalmar College merged on 1 January 2010 to
become Linnaeus University.[188] Other things named after Linnaeus include the twinflower
genus Linnaea, the crater Linné on the Earth's moon, a street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the
cobalt sulfide mineral Linnaeite.
Commentary
Andrew Dickson White wrote in A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in
Christendom (1896):
Linnaeus ... was the most eminent naturalist of his time, a wide observer, a close thinker; but the
atmosphere in which he lived and moved and had his being was saturated with biblical theology, and
this permeated all his thinking. ... Toward the end of his life he timidly advanced the hypothesis that all
the species of one genus constituted at the creation one species; and from the last edition of
his Systema Naturæ he quietly left out the strongly orthodox statement of the fixity of each species,
which he had insisted upon in his earlier works. ... warnings came speedily both from the Catholic and
Protestant sides.[189]
The mathematical PageRank algorithm, applied to 24 multilingual Wikipedia editions in 2014, published
in PLOS ONE in 2015, placed Carl Linnaeus at the top historical figure, above Jesus, Aristotle, Napoleon,
and Adolf Hitler (in that order).[190][191]
Standard author abbreviation
The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical
name.[192]
Works by Linnaeus
Linnaeus, Carolus (1735). Systema naturae, sive regna tria naturae systematice proposita per classes,
ordines, genera, & species. Leiden: Haak. pp. 1–12.
Linnaeus, Carolus; Hendrik Engel; Maria Sara Johanna Engel-Ledeboer (1964) [1735]. Systema
Naturae (facsimile of the 1st ed.). Nieuwkoop, Netherlands: B. de Graaf. OCLC 460298195.
Linnaeus, Carl (1755) [1751]. Philosophia botanica: in qua explicantur fundamenta botanica cum
definitionibus partium, exemplis terminorum, observationibus rariorum, adiectis figuris aeneis. originally
published simultaneously by R. Kiesewetter (Stockholm) and Z. Chatelain (Amsterdam). Vienna: Joannis
Thomae Trattner. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
Linnaeus, C. (1753). Species Plantarum
Linnaeus, Carolus (1758). Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera,
species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. 1 (10th ed.). Stockholm: Laurentius Salvius.
pp. [1–4], 1–824.
Linné, Carl von (1774). Murray, Johann Andreas, ed. Systema vegetabilium (13th edition of Systema
Naturae) (2 vols.). Göttingen: Typis et impensis Jo. Christ. Dieterich. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
Linné, Carl von (1785) [1774]. Systema vegetabilium (13th edition of Systema Naturae) [A System of
Vegetables 2 vols. 1783–1785]. Lichfield: Lichfield Botanical Society. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
Linnaeus, Carolus (1771). Mantissa plantarum altera generum editionis VI et specierum editionis II.
Stockholm: Laurentius Salvius. pp. [1–7], 144–588.
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (/ˈʃvɑːrtsnɛɡər/;[1][a] German: [ˈaɐ̯nɔlt ˈʃvaɐ̯tsn̩ ˌʔɛɡɐ]; born July 30, 1947-
2010) is an Austrian-American actor, filmmaker, businessman, author, , activist, politician, and former
professional bodybuilder and powerlifter.[2] He served as the 38th Governor of California, from 2003 to
2011.
Schwarzenegger began lifting weights at the age of 15. He won the Mr. Universe title at age 20 and went
on to win the Mr. Olympia contest seven times, remaining a prominent presence in bodybuilding and
writing many books and articles on the sport. The Arnold Sports Festival, considered the second most
important professional bodybuilding event in recent years[3], is named after him. He is widely
considered to be one of the greatest bodybuilders of all-time, as well as the sport's most charismatic
ambassador.[4]
Schwarzenegger gained worldwide fame as a Hollywood action film icon. His breakthrough film was
the sword-and-sorcery epic Conan the Barbarian in 1982, a box-office hit that resulted in a sequel.[5] In
1984, he appeared in the title roleof James Cameron's critically and commercially successful science-
fiction thriller film The Terminator. He subsequently played a similar Terminator character in most of the
franchise's later installments, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Terminator 3: Rise of the
Machines (2003), and Terminator Genisys (2015).[5][6][7] He has appeared in a number of other
successful films, such as Commando (1985), The Running
Man (1987), Predator (1987), Twins (1988), Total Recall(1990), Kindergarten Cop (1990), and True
Lies (1994).
Schwarzenegger married Maria Shriver, a niece of the 35th U.S. President John F. Kennedy and daughter
of the 1972 Democratic vice presidential candidate and former Ambassador to France Sargent Shriver, in
1986. They separated in 2011 after he admitted to having fathered a child with another woman in 1997
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Schwarzenegger in 2017
38th Governor of California
In office
.[8]
As a Republican, Schwarzenegger was first elected on October 7, 2003, in a special recall election to
replace then-Governor Gray Davis. He was sworn in on November 17, to serve the remainder of Davis'
term. He was then re-elected in the 2006 California gubernatorial election, to serve a full term as
governor.[9] In 2011, he completed his second term as governor and returned to acting.
Schwarzenegger was nicknamed "the Austrian Oak" in his bodybuilding days, "Arnie" or "Schwarzy"
during his acting career, and "The Governator" (a portmanteau of "Governor" and "Terminator") during
his political career.
Early life
Schwarzenegger's birthplace
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger was born on July 30, 1947, in Thal, Styria,[10] to Aurelia (née Jadrny; 1922–
1998) and Gustav Schwarzenegger (1907–1972). His father was the local chief of police and had served
in World War II as a Hauptfeldwebel after voluntarily joining the Nazi Party in 1938,[11] was wounded
during the battle of Stalingrad,[12] but was discharged in 1943 following a bout of malaria. He married
Schwarzenegger's mother on October 20, 1945; he was 38 and she was 23. According to Arnold
Schwarzenegger, his parents were very strict: "Back then in Austria it was a very different world ... if we
did something bad or we disobeyed our parents, the rod was not spared."[13] He grew up in
a Catholic family who attended Mass every Sunday.[14][15]
Gustav had a preference for his elder son, Meinhard, over Arnold.[16] His favoritism was "strong and
blatant", which stemmed from unfounded suspicion that Arnold was not his biological child.
[17] Schwarzenegger has said that his father had "no patience for listening or understanding your
problems."[14] He had a good relationship with his mother and kept in touch with her until her death.
[18] In later life, he commissioned the Simon Wiesenthal Center to research his father's wartime record,
which came up with no evidence of Gustav being involved in atrocities, despite his membership in the
Nazi Party and Sturmabteilung (SA).[16]Gustav's background received wide press attention during the
2003 California recall campaign.[19]
At school, Schwarzenegger was reportedly academically average, but stood out for his "cheerful, good-
humored, and exuberant" character.[14] Money was a problem in their household; Schwarzenegger
recalled that one of the highlights of his youth was when the family bought a refrigerator.[17] As a boy,
he played several sports, heavily influenced by his father.[14] He picked up his first barbell in 1960,
when his soccer coach took his team to a local gym.[10] At the age of 14, he chose bodybuilding over
soccer as a career.[5][6] He later said, "I actually started weight training when I was 15, but I'd been
participating in sports, like soccer, for years, so I felt that although I was slim, I was well-developed, at
least enough so that I could start going to the gym and start olympic lifting."[13] However, his official
website biography claims that "at 14, he started an intensive training program with Dan Farmer, studied
psychology at 15 (to learn more about the power of mind over body) and at 17, officially started his
competitive career."[20] During a speech in 2001, he said, "My own plan formed when I was 14 years
old. My father had wanted me to be a police officer like he was. My mother wanted me to go to trade
school."[21]
Schwarzenegger took to visiting a gym in Graz, where he also frequented the local movie theaters to see
bodybuilding idols such as Reg Park, Steve Reeves, and Johnny Weissmuller on the big screen.[13] When
Reeves died in 2000, Schwarzenegger fondly remembered him: "As a teenager, I grew up with Steve
Reeves. His remarkable accomplishments allowed me a sense of what was possible when others around
me didn't always understand my dreams. Steve Reeves has been part of everything I've ever been
fortunate enough to achieve." In 1961, Schwarzenegger met former Mr. Austria Kurt Marnul, who
invited him to train at the gym in Graz.[10] He was so dedicated as a youngster that he broke into the
local gym on weekends, so that he could train even when it was closed. "It would make me sick to miss a
workout... I knew I couldn't look at myself in the mirror the next morning if I didn't do it."[13] When
Schwarzenegger was asked about his first movie experience as a boy, he replied: "I was very young, but I
remember my father taking me to the Austrian theaters and seeing some newsreels. The first real movie
I saw, that I distinctly remember, was a John Wayne movie."[13]
Schwarzenegger's brother, Meinhard, died in a car crash on May 20, 1971.[10] He was driving drunk and
died instantly. Schwarzenegger did not attend his funeral.[17]Meinhard was engaged to Erika Knapp,
and they had a three-year-old son named Patrick. Schwarzenegger paid for Patrick's education and
helped him to move to the U.S.[17] Gustav died on December 13, 1972, from a stroke.[10] In Pumping
Iron, Schwarzenegger claimed that he did not attend his father's funeral because he was training for a
bodybuilding contest. Later, he and the film's producer said this story was taken from another
bodybuilder to show the extremes some would go to for their sport and to make Schwarzenegger's
image colder to create controversy for the film.[22] However, Barbara Baker, his first serious girlfriend,
recalled that he informed her of his father's death without emotion and that he never spoke of his
brother.[23] Over time, he has given at least three versions of why he was absent from his father's
funeral.[17]
In an interview with Fortune in 2004, Schwarzenegger told how he suffered what "would now be called
child abuse" at the hands of his father: "My hair was pulled. I was hit with belts. So was the kid next
door. It was just the way it was. Many of the children I've seen were broken by their parents, which was
the German-Austrian mentality. They didn't want to create an individual. It was all about conforming. I
was one who did not conform, and whose will could not be broken. Therefore, I became a rebel. Every
time I got hit, and every time someone said, 'You can't do this,' I said, 'This is not going to be for much
longer because I'm going to move out of here. I want to be rich. I want to be somebody.'"[11]
Schwarzenegger with President Ronald Reagan in 1984
Schwarzenegger served in the Austrian Army in 1965 to fulfill the one year of service required at the
time of all 18-year-old Austrian males.[10][20] During his army service, he won the Junior Mr. Europe
contest.[6] He went AWOL during basic training so he could take part in the competition and then spent
a week in military prison: "Participating in the competition meant so much to me that I didn't carefully
think through the consequences." He entered another bodybuilding contest in Graz, at Steirerhof Hotel,
where he placed second. He was voted "best-built man of Europe", which made him famous in
bodybuilding circles. "The Mr. Universe title was my ticket to America—the land of opportunity, where I
could become a star and get rich."[21] Schwarzenegger made his first plane trip in 1966, attending
the NABBA Mr. Universe competition in London.[20] He would come in second in the Mr. Universe
competition, not having the muscle definition of American winner Chester Yorton.[20]
Charles "Wag" Bennett, one of the judges at the 1966 competition, was impressed with Schwarzenegger
and he offered to coach him. As Schwarzenegger had little money, Bennett invited him to stay in his
crowded family home above one of his two gyms in Forest Gate, London. Yorton's leg definition had
been judged superior, and Schwarzenegger, under a training program devised by Bennett, concentrated
on improving the muscle definition and power in his legs. Staying in the East End of London helped
Schwarzenegger improve his rudimentary grasp of the English language.[24][25] Living with the Bennetts
also changed him as a person: "Being with them made me so much more sophisticated. When you're the
age I was then, you're always looking for approval, for love, for attention and also for guidance. At the
time, I wasn't really aware of that. But now, looking back, I see that the Bennett family fulfilled all those
needs. Especially my need to be the best in the world. To be recognized and to feel unique and special.
They saw that I needed that care and attention and love."[26]
Also in 1966, while at Bennett's home, Schwarzenegger had the opportunity to meet childhood idol Reg
Park, who became his friend and mentor.[26][27] The training paid off and, in 1967, Schwarzenegger
won the title for the first time, becoming the youngest ever Mr. Universe at the age of 20.[20] He would
go on to win the title a further three times.[6] Schwarzenegger then flew back to Munich, where he
attended a business school and worked in a health club (Rolf Putziger's gym, where he worked and
trained from 1966 to 1968), returning in 1968 to London to win his next Mr. Universe title.[20] He
frequently told Roger C. Field, his English coach and friend in Munich at that time, "I'm going to become
the greatest actor!"[28]
Schwarzenegger, who dreamed of moving to the U.S. since the age of 10, and saw bodybuilding as the
avenue through which to do so,[29] realized his dream by moving to the United States in October 1968
at the age of 21, speaking little English.[6][10] There he trained at Gold's Gym in Venice, Los
Angeles, California, under Joe Weider's supervision. From 1970 to 1974, one of Schwarzenegger's weight
training partners was Ric Drasin, a professional wrestler who designed the original Gold's Gym logo in
1973.[30] Schwarzenegger also became good friends with professional wrestler Superstar Billy Graham.
In 1970, at age 23, he captured his first Mr. Olympia title in New York, and would go on to win the title a
total of seven times.[20]
The immigration law firm Siskind & Susser has stated that Schwarzenegger may have been an illegal
immigrant at some point in the late 1960s or early 1970s because of violations in the terms of his visa.
[31] LA Weekly would later say in 2002 that Schwarzenegger is the most famous immigrant in America,
who "overcame a thick Austrian accent and transcended the unlikely background of bodybuilding to
become the biggest movie star in the world in the 1990s".[29]
In 1977, Schwarzenegger's autobiography/weight-training guide Arnold: The Education of a
Bodybuilder became a huge success.[10] In 1977 he posed for the gay magazine After Dark.[32]
[33] After taking English classes at Santa Monica College in California, he earned a bachelor's degree by
correspondence from the University of Wisconsin–Superior, in international marketing of fitness and
business administration in 1979. He got his United States citizenship in 1983.[34]
Schwarzenegger said that during this time he encountered a friend who told him he was
teaching Transcendental Meditation (TM), which prompted Schwarzenegger to reveal that he had been
struggling with anxiety for the first time in his life: "Even today, I still benefit from [the year of TM]
because I don't merge and bring things together and see everything as one big problem."[35]
Bodybuilding career
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Bodybuilder
As entrant to the 1974 Mr. Olympia competition
at Madison Square Garden
Personal info
Nickname The Austrian Oak
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[20]
Weight 235 lb (107 kg) (contest)
260 lb (118 kg) (off-season)
Professional career
Pro-debut NABBA Mr. Universe, 1968
Best win IFBB Mr. Olympia, 1970–1975, 1980,
Seven Times
Predecessor Sergio Oliva ('69), Frank Zane('79)
Successor Franco Columbu ('76, '81)
Active Retired 1980
Competition record
Men's bodybuilding
Representing Austria
Mr Universe (amateur)
1st 1967
Mr Universe (pro)
1st 1968
1st 1969
1st 1970
Mr. Olympia
2nd 1969
1st 1970
1st 1971
1st 1972
1st 1973
1st 1974
1st 1975
1st 1980
Powerlifting[36]
Representing Austria
International Powerlifting Championships
1st 1966 +80 kg
German Powerlifting Championships
2nd 1967 +80 kg
1st 1968 +80 kg
Graz-Paradise Keller Powerlifting Championships
2nd 1967 +80 kg
Men's Weightlifting[36]
Representing Austria
Styrian Junior Weightlifting Championships
1st 1964
German Austrian Weightlifting Championships
1st 1965
Schwarzenegger is considered among the most important figures in the history of bodybuilding[3], and
his legacy is commemorated in the Arnold Classic annual bodybuilding competition. He has remained a
prominent face in bodybuilding long after his retirement, in part because of his ownership of gyms and
fitness magazines. He has presided over numerous contests and awards shows.
For many years, he wrote a monthly column for the bodybuilding magazines Muscle & Fitness and Flex.
Shortly after being elected governor, he was appointed the executive editor of both magazines, in a
largely symbolic capacity. The magazines agreed to donate $250,000 a year to the Governor's various
physical fitness initiatives. When the deal, including the contract that gave Schwarzenegger at least $1
million a year, was made public in 2005, many criticized it as being a conflict of interest since the
governor's office made decisions concerning regulation of dietary supplements in California.
[37] Consequently, Schwarzenegger relinquished the executive editor role in 2005.[37] American Media
Inc., which owns Muscle & Fitness and Flex, announced in March 2013 that Schwarzenegger had
accepted their renewed offer to be executive editor of the magazines.[37]
One of the first competitions he won was the Junior Mr. Europe contest in 1965.[10] He won Mr. Europe
the following year, at age 19.[10][20] He would go on to compete in many bodybuilding contests, and
win most of them. His bodybuilding victories included five Mr. Universe wins (4 – NABBA [England],
1 – IFBB [USA]), and seven Mr. Olympia wins, a record which would stand until Lee Haney won his eighth
consecutive Mr. Olympia title in 1991.
Schwarzenegger continues to work out. When asked about his personal training during the 2011 Arnold
Classic he said that he was still working out a half an hour with weights every day.[38]
Powerlifting/weightlifting
During Schwarzenegger's early years in bodybuilding, he also competed in several Olympic
weightlifting and powerliftingcontests. Schwarzenegger won two weightlifting contests in 1964 and
1965, as well as two powerlifting contests in 1966 and 1968.[36]
In 1967, Schwarzenegger won the Munich stone-lifting contest, in which a stone weighing 508 German
pounds (254 kg / 560 lbs.) is lifted between the legs while standing on two footrests.
Personal records
Clean and press – 264 lb (120 kg)[36]
Snatch – 243 lb (110 kg)[36]
Clean and jerk – 298 lb (135 kg)[36]
Squat – 545 lb (247 kg)[36]
Bench press – 520 lb (240 kg)[39][40]
Deadlift – 710 lb (320 kg)[36]
Schwarzenegger, pictured with 1987 world champion American Karyn Marshall, presenting awards at
the USA Weightlifting Hall of Fame in 2011 in Columbus, Ohio
Mr. Olympia
Schwarzenegger's goal was to become the greatest bodybuilder in the world, which meant
becoming Mr. Olympia.[10][20] His first attempt was in 1969, when he lost to three-time
champion Sergio Oliva. However, Schwarzenegger came back in 1970 and won the competition, making
him the youngest ever Mr. Olympia at the age of 23, a record he still holds to this day.[20]
He continued his winning streak in the 1971–74 competitions.[20] In 1975, Schwarzenegger was once
again in top form, and won the title for the sixth consecutive time,[20] beating Franco Columbu. After
the 1975 Mr. Olympia contest, Schwarzenegger announced his retirement from professional
bodybuilding.[20]
Months before the 1975 Mr. Olympia contest, filmmakers George Butler and Robert Fiore persuaded
Schwarzenegger to compete, in order to film his training in the bodybuilding documentary
called Pumping Iron. Schwarzenegger had only three months to prepare for the competition, after losing
significant weight to appear in the film Stay Hungry with Jeff Bridges. Although significantly taller and
heavier, Lou Ferrigno proved not to be a threat, and a lighter-than-usual Schwarzenegger convincingly
won the 1975 Mr. Olympia.
Schwarzenegger came out of retirement, however, to compete in the 1980 Mr. Olympia.
[10] Schwarzenegger was training for his role in Conan, and he got into such good shape because of the
running, horseback riding and sword training, that he decided he wanted to win the Mr. Olympia contest
one last time. He kept this plan a secret in the event that a training accident would prevent his entry and
cause him to lose face. Schwarzenegger had been hired to provide color commentary for network
television when he announced at the eleventh hour that, while he was there, "Why not compete?"
Schwarzenegger ended up winning the event with only seven weeks of preparation. Having being
declared Mr. Olympia for a seventh time, Schwarzenegger then officially retired from competition. This
victory (subject of the documentary "The Comeback") was highly controversial, though, as fellow
competitors and many observers felt that his lack of muscle mass (especially in his thighs[41]) and
subpar conditioning shouldn't have allowed him to come ahead of a very competitive lineup that
year[3]; Mike Mentzer in particular felt cheated and withdrew from competitive bodybuilding after that
contest[42][43].
Steroid use
Schwarzenegger has admitted to using performance-enhancing anabolic steroids while they were legal,
writing in 1977 that "steroids were helpful to me in maintaining muscle size while on a strict diet in
preparation for a contest. I did not use them for muscle growth, but rather for muscle maintenance
when cutting up."[44] He has called the drugs "tissue building".[45]
In 1999, Schwarzenegger sued Dr. Willi Heepe, a German doctor who publicly predicted his early death
on the basis of a link between his steroid use and his later heart problems. As the doctor had never
examined him personally, Schwarzenegger collected a US$10,000 libel judgment against him in a
German court.[46] In 1999, Schwarzenegger also sued and settled with Globe, a U.S. tabloid which had
made similar predictions about the bodybuilder's future health.[47]
List of competitions[48]
Year Competition Location Result and notes
1965 Junior Mr. Europe Germany 1st
1966 Best Built Man of Europe Germany 1st
1966 Mr. Europe Germany 1st
International Powerlifting
1966 Germany 1st
Championship
1966 NABBA Mr. Universe amateur London 2nd to Chet Yorton
1967 NABBA Mr. Universe amateur London 1st
1968 NABBA Mr. Universe professional London 1st
German Powerlifting
1968 Germany 1st
Championship
1968 IFBB Mr. International Mexico 1st
1968 IFBB Mr. Universe Florida 2nd to Frank Zane
1969 IFBB Mr. Universe amateur New York 1st
1969 NABBA Mr. Universe professional London 1st
1969 Mr. Olympia New York 2nd to Sergio Oliva
1970 NABBA Mr. Universe professional London 1st (defeated his idol Reg Park)
1st (defeated Sergio Oliva for the first
1970 AAU Mr. World Columbus, Ohio
time)
1970 Mr. Olympia New York 1st
1971 Mr. Olympia Paris 1st
1972 Mr. Olympia Essen, Germany 1st
1973 Mr. Olympia New York 1st
1974 Mr. Olympia New York 1st
Pretoria, South 1st (subject of the
1975 Mr. Olympia
Africa documentary Pumping Iron)
1st (subject of the documentary The
1980 Mr. Olympia Sydney, Australia
Comeback)
Competitive stats[49]
Height: 6'2" (188 cm)
Contest weight: 235 lb (107 kg) — the lightest in 1980 Mr. Olympia: around 225 pounds (102 kg), the
heaviest in 1974 Mr. Olympia: around 250 pounds (113 kg)[50][41]
Off-season weight: 260 lb (118 kg)
Chest: 57 in (140 cm)
Waist: 34 in (86 cm)
Arms: 22 in (56 cm)
Thighs: 28.5 in (72 cm)
Calves: 20 in (51 cm)
Acting career
Early roles
Schwarzenegger wanted to move from bodybuilding into acting, finally achieving it when he was chosen
to play the role of Hercules in 1969's Hercules in New York. Credited under the stage name "Arnold
Strong", his accent in the film was so thick that his lines were dubbed after production.[6] His second
film appearance was as a deaf-mute mob hitman in The Long Goodbye (1973), which was followed by a
much more significant part in the film Stay Hungry (1976), for which he won the Golden Globe Award for
New Star of the Year – Actor. Schwarzenegger has discussed his early struggles in developing his acting
career: "It was very difficult for me in the beginning – I was told by agents and casting people that my
body was 'too weird', that I had a funny accent, and that my name was too long. You name it, and they
told me I had to change it. Basically, everywhere I turned, I was told that I had no chance."[13]
Schwarzenegger drew attention and boosted his profile in the bodybuilding film Pumping Iron (1977),[5]
[6] elements of which were dramatized; in 1991, he purchased the rights to the film, its outtakes, and
associated still photography.[51] In 1977, he made guest appearances in single episodes of
the ABC sitcom The San Pedro Beach Bums and the ABC police procedural The Streets of San Francisco.
Schwarzenegger auditioned for the title role of The Incredible Hulk, but did not win the role because of
his height. Later, Lou Ferrigno got the part of Dr. David Banner's alter ego. Schwarzenegger appeared
with Kirk Douglas and Ann-Margret in the 1979 comedy The Villain. In 1980, he starred in a biographical
film of the 1950s actress Jayne Mansfield as Mansfield's husband, Mickey Hargitay.
Action superstar
Schwarzenegger's breakthrough film was the sword-and-sorcery epic Conan the Barbarian in 1982,
which was a box-office hit.[5] This was followed by a sequel, Conan the Destroyer, in 1984, although it
was not as successful as its predecessor.[52] In 1983, Schwarzenegger starred in the promotional
video, Carnival in Rio. In 1984, he made his first appearance as the eponymous character, and what
some would say was his acting career's signature role, in James Cameron's science fiction thriller filmThe
Terminator.[5][6][7] Following this, Schwarzenegger made Red Sonja in 1985.[52] During the 1980s,
audiences had an appetite for action films, with both Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone becoming
international stars.[6] Schwarzenegger's roles reflected his sense of humor, separating him from more
serious action hero films. He made a number of successful action films in the 1980s, such
as Commando (1985), Raw Deal (1986), The Running Man (1987), Predator (1987), and Red Heat (1988).
Footprints and handprints of Arnold Schwarzenegger in front of the Grauman's Chinese Theatre, with his
catchphrase "I'll be back" written in.
Twins (1988), a comedy with Danny DeVito, also proved successful. Total Recall (1990) netted
Schwarzenegger $10 million (equivalent to $19.2 million today) and 15% of the film's gross. A science
fiction script, the film was based on the Philip K. Dickshort story "We Can Remember It for You
Wholesale". Kindergarten Cop (1990) reunited him with director Ivan Reitman, who directed him
in Twins. Schwarzenegger had a brief foray into directing, first with a 1990 episode of the TV series Tales
from the Crypt, entitled "The Switch",[53] and then with the 1992 telemovie Christmas in Connecticut.
[54] He has not directed since.
Schwarzenegger's commercial peak was his return as the title character in 1991's Terminator 2:
Judgment Day, which was the highest-grossing film of 1991. In 1993, the National Association of Theatre
Owners named him the "International Star of the Decade".[10] His next film project, the 1993 self-
aware action comedy spoof Last Action Hero, was released opposite Jurassic Park, and did not do well at
the box office. His next film, the comedy drama True Lies (1994), was a popular spy film and saw
Schwarzenegger reunited with James Cameron.
That same year, the comedy Junior was released, the last of Schwarzenegger's three collaborations with
Ivan Reitman and again co-starring Danny DeVito. This film brought him his second Golden Globe
nomination, this time for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. It was followed by the action
thriller Eraser (1996), the Christmas comedy Jingle All The Way (1996), and the comic book-
based Batman & Robin (1997), in which he played the villain Mr. Freeze. This was his final film before
taking time to recuperate from a back injury. Following the critical failure of Batman & Robin, his film
career and box office prominence went into decline. He returned with the supernatural thriller End of
Days (1999), later followed by the action films The 6th Day (2000) and Collateral Damage (2002), both of
which failed to do well at the box office. In 2003, he made his third appearance as the title character
in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, which went on to earn over $150 million domestically (equivalent
to $204 million today).[55]
Arnold Schwarzenegger's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
In tribute to Schwarzenegger in 2002, Forum Stadtpark, a local cultural association, proposed plans to
build a 25-meter-tall (80 ft) Terminator statue in a park in central Graz. Schwarzenegger reportedly said
he was flattered, but thought the money would be better spent on social projects and the Special
Olympics.[56]
Retirement
His film appearances after becoming Governor of California included a three-second cameo appearance
in The Rundown, and the 2004 remake of Around the World in 80 Days. In 2005, he appeared as himself
in the film The Kid & I. He voiced Baron von Steuben in the Liberty's Kids episode "Valley Forge". He had
been rumored to be appearing in Terminator Salvation as the original T-800; he denied his involvement,
[57] but he ultimately did appear briefly via his image being inserted into the movie from stock footage
of the first Terminator movie.[58][59] Schwarzenegger appeared in Sylvester Stallone's The
Expendables, where he made a cameo appearance.
Return to acting
In January 2011, just weeks after leaving office in California, Schwarzenegger announced that he was
reading several new scripts for future films, one of them being the World War II action drama With
Wings as Eagles, written by Randall Wallace, based on a true story.[60][61]
On March 6, 2011, at the Arnold Seminar of the Arnold Classic, Schwarzenegger revealed that he was
being considered for several films, including sequels to The Terminator and remakes
of Predator and The Running Man, and that he was "packaging" a comic book character.[62] The
character was later revealed to be the Governator, star of the comic book and animated series of the
same name. Schwarzenegger inspired the character and co-developed it with Stan Lee, who would have
produced the series. Schwarzenegger would have voiced the Governator.[63][64][65][66]
On May 20, 2011, Schwarzenegger's entertainment counsel announced that all movie projects currently
in development were being halted: "Schwarzenegger is focusing on personal matters and is not willing
to commit to any production schedules or timelines."[67] On July 11, 2011, it was announced that
Schwarzenegger was considering a comeback film, despite the legal problems related to his divorce.
[68] He appeared in The Expendables 2 (2012),[69] and starred in The Last Stand (2013), his first leading
role in 10 years, and Escape Plan (2013), his first co-starring role alongside Sylvester Stallone. He starred
in Sabotage, released in March 2014, and appeared in The Expendables 3, released in August 2014. He
starred in the fifth Terminator movie Terminator Genisys in 2015[70] and would reprise his role
as Conan the Barbarian in The Legend of Conan,[71][72] later renamed Conan the Conqueror.
[73] However, in April 2017, producer Chris Morgan stated that Universal had dropped the project,
although there was a possibility of a TV show. The story of the film was supposed to be set 30 years after
the first, with some inspiration from Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven.[74]
In August 2016, his filming of action-comedy Why We're Killing Gunther was temporarily interrupted by
bank robbers near filming location in Surrey, British Columbia.[75] He was announced to star and
produce in a film about the ruins of Sanxingdui called The Guest of Sanxingdui, as an ambassador.[76]
On February 6, 2018, Amazon Studios announced they were working with Schwarzenegger to develop a
new series entitled Outrider in which he will star and executive produce. The western-drama set in the
Oklahoma Indian Territory in the late 1800s will follow a deputy (portrayed by Schwarzenegger) who is
tasked with apprehending a legendary outlaw in the wilderness but is forced to partner with a ruthless
Federal Marshal to make sure justice is properly served. The series will also mark as Schwarzenegger's
first major scripted TV role.[77]
Schwarzenegger is to return in a Terminator film on July 26, 2019. The series co-creator James Cameron
is producing the film, with Tim Miller as Director. It is another cooperation with Cameron, who directed
him previously in Terminator, Terminator 2 and True Lies. The film is planned as a direct sequel to
Terminator 2 and disregards the storyline established with Terminator 3, Terminator Salvation and
Terminator Genisys.[78][79] It will be shot in Almería.[80]
The Celebrity Apprentice
In September 2015, the media announced that Schwarzenegger was to replace Donald Trump as host
of The New Celebrity Apprentice.[81] This show, the 15th season of The Apprentice, aired during the
2016–2017 TV season. In the show, he used the phrases "you're terminated" and "get to the choppa",
which are quotes from some of his famous roles (The Terminator and Predator, respectively), when
firing the contestants.[citation needed]
In March 2017, following repeated criticisms from Trump, Schwarzenegger announced that he would
not return for another season on the show. Schwarzenegger had reacted to Trump's latest remarks in
January 2017 via an Instagram clip:
"Hey, Donald, I have a great idea. Why don't we switch jobs? You take over TV because you're such an
expert in ratings, and I take over your job, and then people can finally sleep comfortably again."[82]
Filmography
Arnold Schwarzenegger filmography
Selected notable roles:
Hercules in New York as Hercules (1969)
Stay Hungry as Joe Santo (1976)
Pumping Iron as himself (1977)
The Villain as Handsome Stranger (1979)
The Jayne Mansfield Story as Mickey Hargitay (1980)
Conan the Barbarian as Conan (1982)
Conan the Destroyer as Conan (1984)
The Terminator as The Terminator/T-800 Model 101 (1984)
Red Sonja as Kalidor (1985)
Commando as John Matrix (1985)
Raw Deal as Mark Kaminsky, a.k.a. Joseph P. Brenner (1986)
Predator as Major Alan "Dutch" Schaeffer (1987)
The Running Man as Ben Richards (1987)
Red Heat as Captain Ivan Danko (1988)
Twins as Julius Benedict (1988)
Total Recall as Douglas Quaid/Hauser (1990)
Kindergarten Cop as Detective John Kimble (1990)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day as The Terminator/T-800 Model 101 (1991)
Last Action Hero as Jack Slater / Himself (1993)
True Lies as Harry Tasker / Harry Renquist (1994)
Junior as Dr. Alex Hesse (1994)
Eraser as U.S. Marshal John Kruger (1996)
Jingle All the Way as Howard Langston (1996)
Batman and Robin as Mr. Freeze (1997)
End of Days as Jericho Cane (1999)
The 6th Day as Adam Gibson / Adam Gibson Clone (2000)
Collateral Damage as Gordy Brewer (2002)
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines as The Terminator/T-850 Model 101 (2003)
Around the World in 80 Days as Prince Hapi (2004)
The Expendables as Trench (2010)
The Expendables 2 as Trench (2012)
The Last Stand as Sheriff Ray Owens (2013)
Escape Plan as Rottmayer (2013)
Sabotage as John 'Breacher' Wharton (2014)
The Expendables 3 as Trench (2014)
Maggie as Wade Vogel (2015)
Terminator Genisys as The Terminator/T-800 Model 101/ The Guardian (2015)
Aftermath as Roman Melnik (2017)
Killing Gunther as Gunther (2017)
Viy 2: Journey to China as Captain Hook (2018)
Terminator as The Terminator/T-800 Model 101 (2019)
Political career
Political career of Arnold Schwarzenegger
Early politics
Vice President Dick Cheney meets with Schwarzenegger for the first time at the White House
Schwarzenegger has been a registered Republican for many years. When he was an actor, his political
views were always well known as they contrasted with those of many other prominent Hollywood stars,
who are generally considered to be a liberaland Democratic-leaning community. At the 2004 Republican
National Convention, Schwarzenegger gave a speech and explained he was a Republican because the
Democrats of the 1960s sounded too much like Austrian socialists.[83]
I finally arrived here in 1968. What a special day it was. I remember I arrived here with empty pockets
but full of dreams, full of determination, full of desire. The presidential campaign was in full swing. I
remember watching the Nixon–Humphrey presidential race on TV. A friend of mine who spoke German
and English translated for me. I heard Humphrey saying things that sounded like socialism, which I had
just left.
But then I heard Nixon speak. He was talking about free enterprise, getting the government off your
back, lowering the taxes and strengthening the military. Listening to Nixon speak sounded more like a
breath of fresh air. I said to my friend, I said, "What party is he?" My friend said, "He's a Republican." I
said, "Then I am a Republican." And I have been a Republican ever since.
Arnold Schwarzenegger on Capitol Hill in 1991 for an event related to the President's Council on Physical
Fitness and Sports
In 1985, Schwarzenegger appeared in "Stop the Madness", an anti-drug music video sponsored by
the Reagan administration. He first came to wide public notice as a Republican during the 1988
presidential election, accompanying then-Vice President George H. W. Bush at a campaign rally.[84]
Schwarzenegger's first political appointment was as chairman of the President's Council on Physical
Fitness and Sports, on which he served from 1990 to 1993.[10] He was nominated by George H. W.
Bush, who dubbed him "Conan the Republican". He later served as chairman for the California
Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports under Governor Pete Wilson.
Between 1993 and 1994, Schwarzenegger was a Red Cross ambassador (a ceremonial role fulfilled by
celebrities), recording several television and radio public service announcements to donate blood.
In an interview with Talk magazine in late 1999, Schwarzenegger was asked if he thought of running for
office. He replied, "I think about it many times. The possibility is there because I feel it inside."[85] The
Hollywood Reporter claimed shortly after that Schwarzenegger sought to end speculation that he might
run for governor of California.[85] Following his initial comments, Schwarzenegger said, "I'm in show
business – I am in the middle of my career. Why would I go away from that and jump into something
else?"[85]
Governor of California
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a moderate Republican.[86] He says he is fiscally conservative and socially
liberal.[87] On the issue of abortion, he describes himself as pro-choice, but supports parental
notification for minors and a ban on partial-birth abortion.[88] He supported gay rights, such as
domestic partnerships, and he performed a same-sex marriage as Governor.[89]
Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy in the 2003 California recall election for Governor of
California on the August 6, 2003, episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.[6] Schwarzenegger had
the most name recognition in a crowded field of candidates, but he had never held public office and his
political views were unknown to most Californians. His candidacy immediately became national and
international news, with media outlets dubbing him the "Governator" (referring to The
Terminatormovies, see above) and "The Running Man" (the name of another one of his films), and
calling the recall election "Total Recall" (yet another movie starring Schwarzenegger). Schwarzenegger
declined to participate in several debates with other recall replacement candidates, and appeared in
only one debate on September 24, 2003.[90]
President George W. Bushmeets with Schwarzenegger after his successful election to the California
Governorship.
On October 7, 2003, the recall election resulted in Governor Gray Davis being removed from office with
55.4% of the Yes vote in favor of a recall. Schwarzenegger was elected Governor of California under the
second question on the ballot with 48.6% of the vote to choose a successor to Davis. Schwarzenegger
defeated Democrat Cruz Bustamante, fellow Republican Tom McClintock, and others. His nearest rival,
Bustamante, received 31% of the vote. In total, Schwarzenegger won the election by about 1.3 million
votes. Under the regulations of the California Constitution, no runoff election was required.
Schwarzenegger was the second foreign-born governor of California after Irish-born Governor John G.
Downey in 1862.
Schwarzenegger was entrenched in what he considered to be his mandate in cleaning up gridlock.
Building on a catchphrase from the sketch "Hans and Franz" from Saturday Night Live (which partly
parodied his bodybuilding career), Schwarzenegger called the Democratic State politicians "girlie men".
[91]
Schwarzenegger's early victories included repealing an unpopular increase in the vehicle registration fee
as well as preventing driver's licenses being given out to illegal immigrants, but later he began to feel the
backlash when powerful state unions began to oppose his various initiatives. Key among his reckoning
with political realities was a special election he called in November 2005, in which four ballot measures
he sponsored were defeated. Schwarzenegger accepted personal responsibility for the defeats and
vowed to continue to seek consensus for the people of California. He would later comment that "no one
could win if the opposition raised 160 million dollars to defeat you". The U.S. Supreme Court later found
the public employee unions' use of compulsory fundraising during the campaign had been illegal in Knox
v. Service Employees International Union, Local 1000.[92]
Schwarzenegger with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Cisco CEO John Chambers
Schwarzenegger, against the advice of fellow Republican strategists, appointed a Democrat, Susan
Kennedy, as his Chief of Staff. He gradually moved towards a more politically moderate position,
determined to build a winning legacy with only a short time to go until the next gubernatorial election.
Schwarzenegger ran for re-election against Democrat Phil Angelides, the California State Treasurer, in
the 2006 elections, held on November 7, 2006. Despite a poor year nationally for the Republican party,
Schwarzenegger won re-election with 56.0% of the vote compared with 38.9% for Angelides, a margin of
well over 1 million votes.[93] In recent years, many commentators have seen Schwarzenegger as moving
away from the right and towards the center of the political spectrum. After hearing a speech by
Schwarzenegger at the 2006 Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom said
that "[H]e's becoming a Democrat [... H]e's running back, not even to the center. I would say center-
left".
Some speculated that Schwarzenegger might run for the United States Senate in 2010, as his
governorship would be term-limited by that time. Such rumors turned out to be false.[94][95]
With Schwarzenegger and Senator Dianne Feinstein behind him, President George W. Bushcomments
on wildfires and firefighting efforts in California, October 2007.
Wendy Leigh, who wrote an unofficial biography on Schwarzenegger, claims he plotted his political rise
from an early age using the movie business and bodybuilding as the means to escape a depressing
home.[16] Leigh portrays Schwarzenegger as obsessed with power and quotes him as saying, "I wanted
to be part of the small percentage of people who were leaders, not the large mass of followers. I think it
is because I saw leaders use 100% of their potential – I was always fascinated by people in control of
other people."[16] Schwarzenegger has said that it was never his intention to enter politics, but he says,
"I married into a political family. You get together with them and you hear about policy, about reaching
out to help people. I was exposed to the idea of being a public servant and Eunice and Sargent
Shriver became my heroes."[29] Eunice Kennedy Shriver was the sister of John F. Kennedy, and mother-
in-law to Schwarzenegger; Sargent Shriver is husband to Eunice and father-in-law to Schwarzenegger.
Schwarzenegger cannot run for president as he is not a natural-born citizen of the United States.
Schwarzenegger is a dual Austrian/United States citizen.[96] He has held Austrian citizenship since birth
and U.S. citizenship since becoming naturalized in 1983. Being Austrian and thus European, he was able
to win the 2007 European Voice campaigner of the year award for taking action against climate change
with the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and plans to introduce an emissions trading
scheme with other US states and possibly with the EU.[97]
Governor Schwarzenegger during his visit to Naval Medical Center in San Diego, July 2010.
Because of his personal wealth from his acting career, Schwarzenegger did not accept his governor's
salary of $175,000 per year.[98]
Schwarzenegger's endorsement in the Republican primary of the 2008 U.S. presidential election was
highly sought; despite being good friends with candidates Rudy Giuliani and Senator John McCain,
Schwarzenegger remained neutral throughout 2007 and early 2008. Giuliani dropped out of the
presidential race on January 30, 2008, largely because of a poor showing in Florida, and endorsed
McCain. Later that night, Schwarzenegger was in the audience at a Republican debate at the Ronald
Reagan Presidential Library in California. The following day, he endorsed McCain, joking, "It's Rudy's
fault!" (in reference to his friendships with both candidates and that he could not make up his mind).
Schwarzenegger's endorsement was thought to be a boost for Senator McCain's campaign; both spoke
about their concerns for the environment and economy.[99]
In its April 2010 report, Progressive ethics watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington named Schwarzenegger one of 11 "worst governors" in the United States because of
various ethics issues throughout Schwarzenegger's term as governor.[100][101]
Governor Schwarzenegger played a significant role in opposing Proposition 66, a proposed amendment
of the Californian Three Strikes Law, in November 2004. This amendment would have required the third
felony to be either violent or serious to mandate a 25-years-to-life sentence. In the last week before the
ballot, Schwarzenegger launched an intensive campaign[102] against Proposition 66.[103] He stated
that "it would release 26,000 dangerous criminals and rapists".[104]
Although he began his tenure as governor with record high approval ratings (as high as 65% in May
2004),[105] he left office with a record low 23%,[106] only one percent higher than that of Gray Davis,
when he was recalled in October 2003.
Death of Louis Santos
Main article: Death of Louis Santos
In May 2010, Esteban Núñez pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 16 years
in prison for the death of Louis Santos. Núñez is the son of Fabian Núñez, then California
Assembly Speaker of the House and a close friend and staunch political ally of then governor
Schwarzenegger.[107][108][109][110]
As a personal favor to "a friend", just hours before he left office, and as one of his last official acts,
Schwarzenegger commuted Núñez's sentence by more than half, to seven years.[109][111][112] Against
protocol, Schwarzenegger did not inform Santos' family or the San Diego County prosecutors about the
commutation. They learned about it in a call from a reporter.[112]
The Santos family, along with the San Diego district attorney, sued to stop the commutation, claiming
that it violated Marsy's Law. In September 2012, Sacramento County superior court judge Lloyd Connelly
stated, "Based on the evidentiary records before this court involving this case, there was an abuse of
discretion...This was a distasteful commutation. It was repugnant to the bulk of the citizenry of this
state." However, Connelly ruled that Schwarzenegger remained within his executive powers as
governor.[107] Subsequently, as a direct result of the way the commutation was handled,
Governor Jerry Brown signed a bipartisan bill that allows offender's victims and their families to be
notified at least 10 days notice for any commutations.[113] Núñez was released from prison after
serving less than six years.[114]
Allegations of sexual misconduct
Code Pink protesting against Schwarzenegger
During his initial campaign for governor, allegations of sexual and personal misconduct were raised
against Schwarzenegger, dubbed "Gropegate".[115] Within the last five days before the election, news
reports appeared in the Los Angeles Timesrecounting allegations of sexual misconduct from several
individual women, six of whom eventually came forward with their personal stories.[116]
Three of the women claimed he had grabbed their breasts, a fourth said he placed his hand under her
skirt on her buttock. A fifth woman claimed Schwarzenegger tried to take off her bathing suit in a hotel
elevator, and the last said he pulled her onto his lap and asked her about a sex act.[115]
Schwarzenegger admitted that he has "behaved badly sometimes" and apologized, but also stated that
"a lot of [what] you see in the stories is not true". This came after an interview in adult
magazine Oui from 1977 surfaced, in which Schwarzenegger discussed attending sexual orgies and using
substances such as marijuana.[117] Schwarzenegger is shown smoking a marijuana joint after winning
Mr. Olympia in the 1975 documentary film Pumping Iron. In an interview with GQ magazine in October
2007, Schwarzenegger said, "[Marijuana] is not a drug. It's a leaf. My drug was pumping iron, trust
me."[118] His spokesperson later said the comment was meant to be a joke.[118]
British television personality Anna Richardson settled a libel lawsuit in August 2006 against
Schwarzenegger, his top aide, Sean Walsh, and his publicist, Sheryl Main.[119] A joint statement read:
"The parties are content to put this matter behind them and are pleased that this legal dispute has now
been settled."[119] Richardson claimed they tried to tarnish her reputation by dismissing her allegations
that Schwarzenegger touched her breast during a press event for The 6th Day in London.[120]She
claimed Walsh and Main libeled her in a Los Angeles Times article when they contended she encouraged
his behavior.[119]
Citizenship
Schwarzenegger in 2004
Schwarzenegger became a naturalized U.S. citizen on September 17, 1983.[121] Shortly before he
gained his citizenship, he asked the Austrian authorities for the right to keep his Austrian citizenship, as
Austria does not usually allow dual citizenship. His request was granted, and he retained his Austrian
citizenship.[122] In 2005, Peter Pilz, a member of the Austrian Parliament from the Austrian Green
Party, unsuccessfully advocated for Parliament to revoke Schwarzenegger's Austrian citizenship due to
his decision not to prevent the executions of Donald Beardslee and Stanley Williams. Pilz argued that
Schwarzenegger caused damage to Austria's reputation in the international community because Austria
abolished the death penalty in 1968. Pilz based his argument on Article 33 of the Austrian Citizenship
Act, which states: "A citizen, who is in the public service of a foreign country, shall be deprived of his
citizenship if he heavily damages the reputation or the interests of the Austrian Republic."[96] Pilz
claimed that Schwarzenegger's actions in support of the death penalty (prohibited in Austria under
Protocol 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights) had damaged Austria's reputation.
Schwarzenegger explained his actions by pointing out that his only duty as Governor of California with
respect to the death penalty was to correct an error by the justice system by pardon or clemency if such
an error had occurred.
Environmental record
On September 27, 2006, Schwarzenegger signed the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, creating the
nation's first cap on greenhouse gas emissions. The law set new regulations on the amount of emissions
utilities, refineries, and manufacturing plants are allowed to release into the atmosphere.
Schwarzenegger also signed a second global warming bill that prohibits large utilities and corporations in
California from making long-term contracts with suppliers who do not meet the state's greenhouse gas
emission standards. The two bills are part of a plan to reduce California's emissions by 25 percent to
1990s levels by 2020. In 2005, Schwarzenegger issued an executive order calling to reduce greenhouse
gases to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.[123]
Schwarzenegger signed another executive order on October 17, 2006, allowing California to work with
the Northeast's Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. They plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by
issuing a limited amount of carbon credits to each power plant in participating states. Any power plants
that exceed emissions for the number of carbon credits will have to purchase more credits to cover the
difference. The plan took effect in 2009.[124] In addition to using his political power to fight global
warming, the governor has taken steps at his home to reduce his personal carbon footprint.
Schwarzenegger has adapted one of his Hummers to run on hydrogen and another to run on biofuels.
He has also installed solar panels to heat his home.[125]
In respect of his contribution to the direction of the US motor industry, Schwarzenegger was invited to
open the 2009 SAE World Congress in Detroit, on April 20, 2009.[126]
In 2011, Schwarzenegger founded the R20 Regions of Climate Action to develop a sustainable, low-
carbon economy.[127]
Electoral history
California gubernatorial recall election, 2003
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger 4,206,284 48.6
Democratic Cruz Bustamante 2,724,874 31.5
Republican Tom McClintock 1,161,287 13.5
Green Peter Miguel Camejo 242,247 2.8
California gubernatorial election, 2006
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger (incumbent) 4,850,157 55.9 +7.3
Democratic Phil Angelides 3,376,732 39.0
Green Peter Miguel Camejo 205,995 2.3 −0.5
Presidential ambitions
The Equal Opportunity to Govern Amendment in 2003 was widely accredited as the "Amend for Arnold"
bill, which would have added an amendment to the U.S. Constitution allowing his run, as he was not
a natural born citizen. In 2004, the "Amend for Arnold" campaign was launched, featuring a website and
TV advertising promotion.[128]
In June 2007, Schwarzenegger was featured on the cover of TIME magazine with Michael Bloomberg,
and subsequently, the two joked about a Presidential ticket together.[129]
In October 2013, the New York Post reported that Schwarzenegger was exploring a future run
for president. The former California governor would face a constitutionalhurdle; Article II, Section I,
Clause V nominally prevents individuals who are not natural-born citizens of the United States from
assuming the office. He has reportedly been lobbying legislators about a possible constitutional change,
or filing a legal challenge to the provision. Columbia University law professor Michael Dorf observed that
Schwarzenegger's possible lawsuit could ultimately win him the right to run for the office, noting, "The
law is very clear, but it's not 100 percent clear that the courts would enforce that law rather than leave
it to the political process."[130]
Business career
Schwarzenegger has had a highly successful business career.[16][29] Following his move to the United
States, Schwarzenegger became a "prolific goal setter" and would write his objectives at the start of the
year on index cards, like starting a mail order business or buying a new car – and succeed in doing so.
[23] By the age of 30, Schwarzenegger was a millionaire, well before his career in Hollywood. His
financial independence came from his success as a budding entrepreneur with a series of lucrative
business ventures and investments.
Bricklaying business
In 1968, Schwarzenegger and fellow bodybuilder Franco Columbu started a bricklaying business. The
business flourished thanks to the pair's marketing savvy and an increased demand following the 1971
San Fernando earthquake.[131][132] Schwarzenegger and Columbu used profits from their bricklaying
venture to start a mail-order business, selling bodybuilding and fitness-related equipment and
instructional tapes.[10][131]
Investments
Schwarzenegger transferred profits from the mail-order business and his bodybuilding-competition
winnings into his first real estate investment venture: an apartment building he purchased for $10,000.
He would later go on to invest in a number of real estate holding companies.[133][134]
Schwarzenegger was a founding celebrity investor in the Planet Hollywood chain of international theme
restaurants (modeled after the Hard Rock Cafe) along with Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and Demi
Moore. Schwarzenegger severed his financial ties with the business in early 2000.[135]
[136] Schwarzenegger said the company had not had the success he had hoped for, claiming he wanted
to focus his attention on "new US global business ventures" and his movie career.[135]
He also invested in a shopping mall in Columbus, Ohio. He has talked about some of those who have
helped him over the years in business: "I couldn't have learned about business without a parade of
teachers guiding me... from Milton Friedman to Donald Trump... and now, Les Wexner and Warren
Buffett. I even learned a thing or two from Planet Hollywood, such as when to get out! And I
did!"[21] He has significant ownership in Dimensional Fund Advisors, an investment firm.
[137]Schwarzenegger is also the owner of Arnold's Sports Festival, which he started in 1989 and is held
annually in Columbus, Ohio. It is a festival that hosts thousands of international health and fitness
professionals which has also expanded into a three-day expo. He also owns a movie production
company called Oak Productions, Inc. and Fitness Publications, a joint publishing venture with Simon &
Schuster.[138]
Restaurant
In 1992, Schwarzenegger and his wife opened a restaurant in Santa Monica called Schatzi On
Main. Schatzi literally means "little treasure," colloquial for "honey" or "darling" in German. In 1998, he
sold his restaurant.[139]
Wealth
List of richest American politicians
Schwarzenegger's net worth had been conservatively estimated at $100 million–$200 million.[140] After
separating from his wife, Maria Shriver, in 2011, it has been estimated that his net worth has been
approximately $400 million, and even as high as $800 million, based on tax returns he filed in 2006.[141]
Over the years as an investor, he invested his bodybuilding and movie earnings in an array of stocks,
bonds, privately controlled companies, and real estate holdings worldwide, making his net worth as an
accurate estimation difficult to calculate, particularly in light of declining real estate values owing
to economic recessions in the U.S. and Europe since the late 2000s. In June 1997, Schwarzenegger spent
$38 million of his own money on a private Gulfstream jet.[142] Schwarzenegger once said of his fortune,
"Money doesn't make you happy. I now have $50 million, but I was just as happy when I had
$48 million."[16]
Commercial advertisements
He appears in a series of commercials for the Machine Zone game Mobile Strike as a military
commander and spokesman.[143]
Personal life
Early relationships
Schwarzenegger with then-wife Maria Shriver at the 2007 Special Olympics in Shanghai
In 1969, Schwarzenegger met Barbara Outland (later Barbara Outland Baker), an English teacher with
whom he lived until 1974.[144] Schwarzenegger said of Baker in his 1977 memoir, "Basically it came
down to this: she was a well-balanced woman who wanted an ordinary, solid life, and I was not a well-
balanced man, and hated the very idea of ordinary life."[144] Baker has described Schwarzenegger as a
"joyful personality, totally charismatic, adventurous, and athletic" but claims that towards the end of the
relationship he became "insufferable—classically conceited—the world revolved around him".
[145] Baker published her memoir in 2006, entitled Arnold and Me: In the Shadow of the Austrian Oak.
[146] Although Baker painted an unflattering portrait of her former lover at times, Schwarzenegger
actually contributed to the tell-all book with a foreword, and also met with Baker for three hours.[146]
Baker claims that she only learned of his being unfaithful after they split, and talks of a turbulent and
passionate love life.[146]Schwarzenegger has made it clear that their respective recollection of events
can differ.[146] The couple first met six to eight months after his arrival in the U.S. Their first date was
watching the first Apollo Moon landing on television.[23] They shared an apartment in Santa Monica,
California, for three and a half years, and having little money, they would visit the beach all day or have
barbecues in the back yard.[23] Although Baker claims that when she first met Schwarzenegger, he had
"little understanding of polite society" and she found him a turn-off, she says, "He's as much a self-made
man as it's possible to be—he never got encouragement from his parents, his family, his brother. He just
had this huge determination to prove himself, and that was very attractive ... I'll go to my grave knowing
Arnold loved me."[23]
Schwarzenegger met his next lover, Beverly Hills hairdresser's assistant Sue Moray, on Venice Beach in
July 1977. According to Moray, the couple led an open relationship: "We were faithful when we were
both in LA... but when he was out of town, we were free to do whatever we
wanted."[17] Schwarzenegger met television journalist Maria Shriver, niece of President John F.
Kennedy, at the Robert F. Kennedy Tennis Tournament in August 1977. He went on to have a
relationship with both Moray and Shriver until August 1978, when Moray (who knew of his relationship
with Shriver) issued an ultimatum.[17]
Marriage and family
On April 26, 1986, Schwarzenegger married Shriver in Hyannis, Massachusetts.
The Rev. John Baptist Riordan performed the ceremony at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church.[147] They
have four children: Katherine Eunice Schwarzenegger (born December 13, 1989), Christina Maria Aurelia
Schwarzenegger (born July 23, 1991),[148]Patrick Arnold Shriver Schwarzenegger (born September 18,
1993),[149] and Christopher Sargent Shriver Schwarzenegger (born September 27, 1997).[150] All of
their children were born in Los Angeles.[151] The family lived in a 11,000-square-foot (1,000 m2) home
in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California,[152][153]with vacation homes in Sun Valley,
Idaho and Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.[154] They attended St. Monica's Catholic Church.[155]
Marital separation
Schwarzenegger and his son Patrick at Edwards Air Force Basein December 2002
On May 9, 2011, Shriver and Schwarzenegger ended their relationship after 25 years of marriage, with
Shriver moving out of the couple's Brentwood mansion.[156][157][158] On May 16, 2011, the Los
Angeles Times revealed that Schwarzenegger had fathered a son more than 14 years earlier with an
employee in their household, Mildred Patricia "Patty" Baena.[159][160][161] "After leaving the
governor's office I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago," Schwarzenegger
said in a statement issued to The Times. In the statement, Schwarzenegger did not mention that he had
confessed to his wife only after she had confronted him with the information, which she had done after
confirming with the housekeeper what she had suspected about the child.[162]
Baena is of Guatemalan origin. She was employed by the family for 20 years and retired in January 2011.
[163] The pregnant Baena was working in the home while Shriver was pregnant with the youngest of the
couple's four children.[164] Baena's son with Schwarzenegger, Joseph,[165] was born on October 2,
1997,[166] and Shriver gave birth to Christopher a few days before on September 27, 1997.
[167] Schwarzenegger says it took seven or eight years before he found out that he had fathered a child
with his housekeeper. It was not until the boy "started looking like [him] ... that [he] put things
together".[168] Schwarzenegger has taken financial responsibility for the child "from the start and
continued to provide support".[169] KNX 1070 radio reported that in 2010 he bought a new four-
bedroom house with a pool for Baena and their son in Bakersfield, California.[170] Baena separated
from her husband, Rogelio, a few months after Joseph's birth. She filed for divorce in 2008.[171] Rogelio
says that the child's birth certificate was falsified and that he plans to sue Schwarzenegger for engaging
in conspiracy to falsify a public document, a serious crime in California.[172]
Pursuant to the divorce judgment, Schwarzenegger kept the Brentwood home, while Shriver purchased
a new home nearby so that the children could travel between their parents' homes. They shared
custody of the two youngest children.[173] Schwarzenegger came under fire after the initial petition did
not include spousal support and a reimbursement of attorney's fees.[71] However, he claims this was
not intentional and that he signed the initial documents without having properly read them.[71] He filed
amended divorce papers remedying this.[71][174] Schwarzenegger and Shriver finalized their divorce in
2017, six years after separating.[175]
After the scandal, Danish-Italian actress Brigitte Nielsen came forward and stated that she too had an
affair with Schwarzenegger while he was in a relationship with Shriver,[176] saying, "Maybe I wouldn't
have got into it if he said 'I'm going to marry Maria' and this is deadly serious, but he didn't, and our
affair carried on."[176] When asked in January 2014, "Of all the things you are famous for ... which are
you least proud of?" Schwarzenegger replied, "I'm least proud of the mistakes I made that caused my
family pain and split us up."[177]
As of July 2015, Schwarzenegger was dating physical therapist Heather Milligan, 27 years his junior.[178]
Accidents and injuries
Schwarzenegger was born with a bicuspid aortic valve, an aortic valve with only two leaflets (a normal
aortic valve has three leaflets).[179][180] He opted in 1997 for a replacement heart valve made of his
own transplanted tissue; medical experts predicted he would require heart valve replacement surgery in
the following two to eight years as his valve would progressively degrade. Schwarzenegger apparently
opted against a mechanical valve, the only permanent solution available at the time of his surgery,
because it would have sharply limited his physical activity and capacity to exercise.[181] On March 29,
2018, Schwarzenegger had undergone emergency open-heart surgery.[182] He said about his recovery:
"I underwent open-heart surgery this spring, I had to use a walker. I had to do breathing exercises five
times a day to retrain my lungs. I was frustrated and angry, and in my worst moments, I couldn't see the
way back to my old self."[183]
On December 9, 2001, he broke six ribs and was hospitalized for four days after a motorcycle crash in
Los Angeles.[184]
Schwarzenegger saved a drowning man's life in 2004 while on vacation in Hawaii by swimming out and
bringing him back to shore.[185]
On January 8, 2006, while Schwarzenegger was riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle in Los Angeles,
with his son Patrick in the sidecar, another driver backed into the street he was riding on, causing him
and his son to collide with the car at a low speed. While his son and the other driver were unharmed,
Schwarzenegger sustained a minor injury to his lip, requiring 15 stitches. "No citations were issued," said
Officer Jason Lee, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman.[186]Schwarzenegger did not obtain his
motorcycle license until July 3, 2006.[187]
Schwarzenegger tripped over his ski pole and broke his right femur while skiing in Sun Valley, Idaho,
with his family on December 23, 2006.[188] On December 26, he underwent a 90-minute operation in
which cables and screws were used to wire the broken bone back together. He was released from the St.
John's Health Center on December 30, 2006.[189]
Schwarzenegger's private jet made an emergency landing at Van Nuys Airport on June 19, 2009, after
the pilot reported smoke coming from the cockpit, according to a statement released by his press
secretary. No one was harmed in the incident.[190]
Height
Schwarzenegger's official height of 6'2" (1.88 m) has been brought into question by several articles. In
his bodybuilding days in the late 1960s, he was measured to be 6'1.5" (1.87 m), a height confirmed by
his fellow bodybuilders.[191][192] However, in 1988, both the Daily Mail and Time Out magazine
mentioned that Schwarzenegger appeared noticeably shorter.[193] Prior to running for governor,
Schwarzenegger's height was once again questioned in an article by the Chicago Reader.[194] As
governor, Schwarzenegger engaged in a light-hearted exchange with Assemblyman Herb Wesson over
their heights. At one point, Wesson made an unsuccessful attempt to, in his own words, "settle this once
and for all and find out how tall he is" by using a tailor's tape measure on the Governor.
[195] Schwarzenegger retaliated by placing a pillow stitched with the words "Need a lift?" on the five-
foot-five inch (165 cm) Wesson's chair before a negotiating session in his office.[196] Bob
Mulhollandalso claimed Schwarzenegger was 5'10" (1.78 m) and that he wore risers in his boots.[197] In
1999, Men's Health magazine stated his height was 5'10".[198]
Autobiography
Schwarzenegger's autobiography, Total Recall, was released in October 2012. He devotes one chapter
called "The Secret" to his extramarital affair. The majority of his book is about his successes in the three
major chapters in his life: bodybuilder, actor, and Governor of California.[199]
Vehicles
Schwarzenegger was the first civilian to purchase a Humvee. He was so enamored by the vehicle that he
lobbied the Humvee's manufacturer, AM General, to produce a street-legal, civilian version, which they
did in 1992; the first two Hummer H1s they sold were also purchased by Schwarzenegger. In 2010, he
had one regular and three running on non-fossil power sources; one for hydrogen, one for vegetable oil,
and one for biodiesel.[200] Schwarzenegger was in the news in 2014 for buying a rare Bugatti
Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse. He was spotted and filmed in 2015 in his car, painted silver with bright
aluminium forged wheels. His Bugatti has its interior adorned in dark brown leather.[201] In 2017,
Schwarzenegger acquired a Mercedes G-Class modified for all-electric drive.[202]
The Hummers that Schwarzenegger bought in 1992 are so large—each weighs 6,300 lb (2,900 kg) and is
7 feet (2.1 m) wide—that they are classified as large trucks, and U.S. fuel economy regulations do not
apply to them. During the gubernatorial recall campaign, he announced that he would convert one of his
Hummers to burn hydrogen. The conversion was reported to have cost about $21,000. After the
election, he signed an executive order to jump-start the building of hydrogen refueling plants called
the California Hydrogen Highway Network, and gained a U.S. Department of Energy grant to help pay for
its projected US$91,000,000 cost.[203] California took delivery of the first H2H (Hydrogen Hummer) in
October 2004.[204]
Public life
Schwarzenegger with Russian powerlifter Maryana Naumova at the Arnold Sports Festival
Schwarzenegger at Camp Buehringin Kuwait in 2016
Schwarzenegger has been involved with the Special Olympics for many years after they were founded by
his ex-mother-in-law, Eunice Kennedy Shriver.[205] In 2007, Schwarzenegger was the official
spokesperson for the Special Olympics which were held in Shanghai, China.[206] Schwarzenegger
believes that quality school opportunities should be made available to children who might not normally
be able to access them.[207] In 1995, he founded the Inner City Games Foundation (ICG) which provides
cultural, educational and community enrichment programming to youth. ICG is active in 15 cities around
the country and serves over 250,000 children in over 400 schools countrywide.[207] He has also been
involved with After-School All-Stars and founded the Los Angeles branch in 2002.[208]ASAS is an after
school program provider, educating youth about health, fitness and nutrition.
On February 12, 2010, Schwarzenegger took part in the Vancouver Olympic Torch relay. He handed off
the flame to the next runner, Sebastian Coe.[209]
Schwarzenegger had a collection of Marxist busts, which he requested from Russian friends at the end
of the Soviet Union as they were being destroyed. In 2011, he revealed that his wife had requested they
be removed, but he kept the one of Vladimir Lenin present, since "he was the first".[210] In 2015, he
said he kept the Lenin bust to "show losers".[211]
Schwarzenegger is a lifelong supporter and "friend of Israel", and has participated in L.A.'s Pro-
Israel rally[212] among other similar events.[213]
Schwarzenegger with Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern in September 2017
Schwarzenegger supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[214] Schwarzenegger also expressed support for
the 2011 military intervention in Libya.[215]
Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy
In 2012, Schwarzenegger helped to found the Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy,
which is a part of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California.
[216] The Institute's mission is to "[advance] post-partisanship, where leaders put people over political
parties and work together to find the best ideas and solutions to benefit the people they serve" and to
"seek to influence public policy and public debate in finding solutions to the serious challenges we face".
[217] Schwarzenegger serves as chairman of the Institute.[218]
Global warming
At a 2015 security conference, Arnold Schwarzenegger called climate change the issue of our time.[219]
2016 Presidential election
For the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, Schwarzenegger endorsed fellow Republican John
Kasich.[220] However, he announced in October that he would not vote for the Republican presidential
candidate Donald Trump in that year's United States presidential election, with this being the first time
he did not vote for the Republican candidate since becoming a citizen in 1983.[221][222][223]
Awards and honors
List of awards and nominations received by Arnold Schwarzenegger
Seven-time Mr. Olympia winner
Four-time Mr. Universe winner
1969 World Amateur Bodybuilding Champion
1977 Golden Globe Award winner
Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
International Sports Hall of Fame (class of 2012)[224]
WWE Hall of Fame (class of 2015)[225]
Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy (part of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy at
the University of Southern California) named in his honor.[218]
Arnold's Run ski trail at Sun Valley Resort named in his honor.[226] The trail is categorized as a black
diamond, or most difficult, for its terrain.
"A Day for Arnold" on July 30, 2007, in Thal, Austria. For his 60th birthday the mayor sent
Schwarzenegger the enameled address sign (Thal 145) of the house where Schwarzenegger was born,
declaring "This belongs to him. No one here will ever be assigned that number again".[225][227]
Commandeur of the French Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur (on April 28, 2017)
Books
Schwarzenegger, Arnold (1977). Arnold: Developing a Mr. Universe Physique. Schwarzenegger.
Schwarzenegger, Arnold; Douglas Kent Hall (1977). Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder. New York:
Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-22879-8.
Schwarzenegger, Arnold; Douglas Kent Hall (1979). Arnold's Bodyshaping for Women. New York: Simon
& Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-24301-2.
Schwarzenegger, Arnold; Bill Dobbins (1981). Arnold's Bodybuilding for Men. New York: Simon &
Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-25613-5.
Schwarzenegger, Arnold; Bill Dobbins (1998). The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding (rev. ed.).
New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-84374-2.
Schwarzenegger, Arnold (2012). Total Recall. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-84983-971-6.
Edward Teller.
Edward Teller (Hungarian: Teller Ede; January 15, 1908 – September 9, 2003) was a Hungarian-
American theoretical physicist who is known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb" (see the Teller–
Ulam design), although he did not care for the title, and was only part of a team who developed the technology.
[1]
Throughout his life, Teller was known both for his scientific ability and for his difficult interpersonal relations
and volatile personality.
Teller was born in Hungary in 1908, and emigrated to the United States in the 1930s, one of the many so-
called "Martians", a group of prominent Hungarian scientist emigrés. He made numerous contributions
to nuclear and molecular physics, spectroscopy (in particular the Jahn–Teller and Renner–Teller effects),
and surface physics. His extension of Enrico Fermi's theory of beta decay, in the form of Gamow–Teller
transitions, provided an important stepping stone in its application, while the Jahn–Teller effect and
the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) theory have retained their original formulation and are still mainstays in
physics and chemistry.[2]
Teller also made contributions to Thomas–Fermi theory, the precursor of density functional theory, a standard
modern tool in the quantum mechanical treatment of complex molecules. In 1953, along with Nicholas
Metropolis, Arianna Rosenbluth, Marshall Rosenbluth, and his wife Augusta Teller, Teller co-authored a paper
that is a standard starting point for the applications of the Monte Carlo method to statistical mechanics.[3]
Teller was an early member of the Manhattan Project, charged with developing the first atomic bomb, and
proposed the solid pit implosion design which was successful. He made a serious push to develop the
first fusion-based weapons as well, but these were deferred until after World War II. He did not sign the Szilard
petition, which sought to have the bombs detonated as a demonstration, but not on a city, but later agreed
that Szilard was right, and the bombs should not have been dropped on a defenceless civilian population. He
was a co-founder of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and was both its director and associate
director for many years.
After his controversial negative testimony in the Oppenheimer security hearing convened against his
former Los Alamos Laboratory superior, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Teller was ostracized by much of the scientific
community.
Edward Teller
Teller in 1958 as Director of the Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory.
He continued, however, to find support from the U.S. government and military research establishment,
particularly for his advocacy for nuclear energy development, a strong nuclear arsenal, and a vigorous nuclear
testing program. In his later years, Teller became especially known for his advocacy of controversial
technological solutions to both military and civilian problems, including a plan to excavate an artificial harbor
in Alaska using thermonuclear explosive in what was called Project Chariot, and Ronald Reagan's Strategic
Defense Initiative.
Teller's contributions to science garnered him numerous awards, including the Enrico Fermi Award and Albert
Einstein Award. He died on September 9, 2003, in Stanford, California, at 95.
Early life and work
Ede Teller was born on January 15, 1908, in Budapest, Austria-Hungary, into a Jewish family. His parents were
Ilona, a pianist, and Max Teller, an attorney. [4] He was educated at the Fasori Lutheran Gymnasium, then in the
Minta (Model) Gymnasium in Budapest. Jewish of origin, later in life Teller became an agnostic Jew. "Religion
was not an issue in my family", he later wrote, "indeed, it was never discussed. My only religious training came
because the Minta required that all students take classes in their respective religions. My family celebrated one
holiday, the Day of Atonement, when we all fasted. Yet my father said prayers for his parents on Saturdays and
on all the Jewish holidays. The idea of God that I absorbed was that it would be wonderful if He existed: We
needed Him desperately but had not seen Him in many thousands of years." [5] Like Einstein and Feynman,
Teller was a late talker. He developed the ability to speak later than most children, but became very interested
in numbers, and would calculate large numbers in his head for fun. [6]
Teller in his youth
Teller left Hungary for Germany in 1926, partly due to the discriminatory numerus clausus rule under Miklós
Horthy's regime. The political climate and revolutions in Hungary during his youth instilled a lingering animosity
for both Communism and Fascism in Teller.[7] When he was a young student, his right foot was severed in a
streetcar accident in Munich, requiring him to wear a prosthetic foot, and leaving him with a lifelong
limp. Werner Heisenberg said that it was the hardiness of Teller's spirit, rather than stoicism, that allowed him
to cope so well with the accident.[8]
Teller graduated in chemical engineering at the University of Karlsruhe, and received in 1930
his Ph.D. in physics under Werner Heisenberg at the University of Leipzig. Teller's dissertation dealt with one of
the first accurate quantum mechanical treatments of the hydrogen molecular ion. In 1930 he befriended
Russian physicists George Gamow and Lev Landau. Teller's lifelong friendship with a Czech physicist, George
Placzek, was also very important for his scientific and philosophical development. It was Placzek who arranged
a summer stay in Rome with Enrico Fermi in 1932, thus orienting Teller's scientific career in nuclear physics. [9]
In 1930, Teller moved to the University of Göttingen, then one of the world's great centers of physics due to the
presence of Max Born and James Franck,[10] but after Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January
1933, Germany became unsafe for Jewish people, and he left through the aid of the International Rescue
Committee.[11] He went briefly to England, and moved for a year to Copenhagen, where he worked under Niels
Bohr.[12] In February 1934, he married his long-time girlfriend Augusta Maria "Mici" (pronounced "Mitzi")
Harkanyi, the sister of a friend.[8] He returned to England in September 1934.[13]
Mici had been a student in Pittsburgh, and wanted to return to the United States. Her chance came in 1935,
when, thanks to George Gamow, Teller was invited to the United States to become a Professor of Physics
at George Washington University, where he worked with Gamow until 1941.[14] At George Washington
University in 1937, Teller predicted the Jahn–Teller effect, which distorts molecules in certain situations; this
affects the chemical reactions of metals, and in particular the coloration of certain metallic dyes.[15] Teller
and Hermann Arthur Jahn analyzed it as a piece of purely mathematical physics. In collaboration with Stephen
Brunauer and Paul Hugh Emmett, Teller also made an important contribution to surface physics and chemistry:
the so-called Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) isotherm.[16] Teller and Mici became naturalized citizens of the
United States on March 6, 1941.[17]
When World War II began, Teller wanted to contribute to the war effort. On the advice of the well-
known Caltech aerodynamicist and fellow Hungarian émigré Theodore von Kármán, Teller collaborated with his
friend Hans Bethe in developing a theory of shock-wave propagation. In later years, their explanation of the
behavior of the gas behind such a wave proved valuable to scientists who were studying missile re-entry. [18]
Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
Teller's ID badge photo from Los Alamos
Los Alamos Laboratory
In 1942, Teller was invited to be part of Robert Oppenheimer's summer planning seminar, at the University of
California, Berkeley for the origins of the Manhattan Project, the Allied effort to develop the first nuclear
weapons. A few weeks earlier, Teller had been meeting with his friend and colleague Enrico Fermi about the
prospects of atomic warfare, and Fermi had nonchalantly suggested that perhaps a weapon based on nuclear
fission could be used to set off an even larger nuclear fusion reaction. Even though he initially explained to
Fermi why he thought the idea would not work, Teller was fascinated by the possibility and was quickly bored
with the idea of "just" an atomic bomb even though this was not yet anywhere near completion. At the Berkeley
session, Teller diverted discussion from the fission weapon to the possibility of a fusion weapon—what he
called the "Super", an early concept of what was later to be known as a hydrogen bomb.[19][20]
Arthur Compton, the chairman of the University of Chicago physics department, coordinated
the uranium research of Columbia University, Princeton University, the University of Chicago, and
the University of California, Berkeley. To remove disagreement and duplication, Compton transferred the
scientists to the Metallurgical Laboratory at Chicago.[21] Teller was left behind at first, because while he and Mici
were now American citizens, they still had relatives in enemy countries. [22] In early 1943, the Los Alamos
Laboratory was established in Los Alamos, New Mexico to design an atomic bomb, with Oppenheimer as its
director. Teller moved there in March 1943.[23] Apparently, Teller managed to annoy his neighbors there by
playing the piano late in the night.[24]
Teller became part of the Theoretical (T) Division.[25][26] He was given a secret identity of Ed Tilden.[27] He was
irked at being passed over as its head; the job was instead given to Hans Bethe. Oppenheimer had him
investigate unusual approaches to building fission weapons, such as autocatalysis, in which the efficiency of
the bomb would increase as the nuclear chain reaction progressed, but proved to be impractical.[26] He also
investigated using uranium hydride instead of uranium metal, but its efficiency turned out to be "negligible or
less".[28] He continued to push his ideas for a fusion weapon even though it had been put on a low priority during
the war (as the creation of a fission weapon proved to be difficult enough). [25][26] On a visit to New York, he
asked Maria Goeppert-Mayer to carry out calculations on the Super for him. She confirmed Teller's own results:
the Super was not going to work.[29]
A special group was established under Teller in March 1944 to investigate the mathematics of an implosion-
type nuclear weapon.[30] It too ran into difficulties. Because of his interest in the Super, Teller did not work as
hard on the implosion calculations as Bethe wanted. These too were originally low-priority tasks, but the
discovery of spontaneous fission in plutonium by Emilio Segrè's group gave the implosion bomb increased
importance. In June 1944, at Bethe's request, Oppenheimer moved Teller out of T Division, and placed him in
charge of a special group responsible for the Super, reporting directly to Oppenheimer. He was replaced
by Rudolf Peierls from the British Mission, who in turn brought in Klaus Fuchs, who was later revealed to be
a Soviet spy.[31][29] Teller's Super group became part of Fermi's F Division when he joined the Los Alamos
Laboratory in September 1944.[31] It included Stanislaw Ulam, Jane Roberg, Geoffrey Chew, Harold and Mary
Argo,[32] and Maria Goeppert-Mayer.[33]
Teller made valuable contributions to bomb research, especially in the elucidation of the implosion mechanism.
He was the first to propose the solid pit design that was eventually successful. This design became known as a
"Christy pit", after the physicist Robert F. Christy who made the pit a reality.[34][35][36][37] Teller was one of the few
scientists to actually watch (with eye protection) the Trinity nuclear test in July 1945, rather than follow orders to
lie on the ground with backs turned. He later said that the atomic flash "was as if I had pulled open the curtain
in a dark room and broad daylight streamed in." [38]
Decision to drop the bombs
In the days before and after the first demonstration of a nuclear weapon, the Trinity test in July 1945, his fellow
Hungarian Leo Szilard circulated the Szilard petition, which argued that a demonstration to the Japanese of the
new weapon should occur prior to actual use on Japan, and with that hopefully the weapons would never be
used on people. In response to Szilard's petition, Teller consulted his friend Robert Oppenheimer. Teller
believed that Oppenheimer was a natural leader and could help him with such a formidable political problem.
Oppenheimer reassured Teller that the nation's fate should be left to the sensible politicians in Washington.
Bolstered by Oppenheimer's influence, he decided to not sign the petition. [39]
Teller therefore penned a letter in response to Szilard that read:
...I am not really convinced of your objections. I do not feel that there is any chance to outlaw any one weapon.
If we have a slim chance of survival, it lies in the possibility to get rid of wars. The more decisive a weapon is
the more surely it will be used in any real conflict and no agreements will help.
Our only hope is in getting the facts of our results before the people. This might help to convince everybody
that the next war would be fatal. For this purpose actual combat-use might even be the best thing. [40]
On reflection on this letter years later when he was writing his memoirs, Teller wrote:
First, Szilard was right. As scientists who worked on producing the bomb, we bore a special responsibility.
Second, Oppenheimer was right. We did not know enough about the political situation to have a valid opinion.
Third, what we should have done but failed to do was to work out the technical changes required for
demonstrating the bomb [very high] over Tokyo and submit that information to President Truman. [41]
Unknown to Teller at the time, four of his colleagues were solicited by the then secret May to June 1945 Interim
Committee. It is this organization which ultimately decided on how the new weapons should initially be used.
The committee's four-member Scientific Panel was led by Oppenheimer, and concluded immediate military use
on Japan was the best option:
The opinions of our scientific colleagues on the initial use of these weapons are not unanimous: they range
from the proposal of a purely technical demonstration to that of the military application best designed to induce
surrender...Others emphasize the opportunity of saving American lives by immediate military use...We find
ourselves closer to these latter views; we can propose no technical demonstration likely to bring an end to the
war; we see no acceptable alternative to direct military use. [42]
Teller later learned of Oppenheimer's solicitation and his role in the Interim Committee's decision to drop the
bombs, having secretly endorsed an immediate military use of the new weapons. This was contrary to the
impression that Teller had received when he had personally asked Oppenheimer about the Szilard petition: that
the nation's fate should be left to the sensible politicians in Washington. Following Teller's discovery of this, his
relationship with his advisor began to deteriorate.[39]
In 1990, the historian Barton Bernstein argued that it is an "unconvincing claim" by Teller that he was a "covert
dissenter" to the use of the weapon.[43] In his 2001 Memoirs, Teller claims that he did lobby Oppenheimer, but
that Oppenheimer had convinced him that he should take no action and that the scientists should leave military
questions in the hands of the military; Teller claims he was not aware that Oppenheimer and other scientists
were being consulted as to the actual use of the weapon and implies that Oppenheimer was being hypocritical.
[44]
Hydrogen bomb
History of the Teller-Ulam design
Despite an offer from Norris Bradbury, who had replaced Oppenheimer as the director of Los Alamos in
November 1945, to become the head of the Theoretical (T) Division, Teller left Los Alamos on February 1,
1946, to return to the University of Chicago as a professor and close associate of Fermi and Goeppert-Mayer.
[45]
Mayer's work on the internal structure of the elements would earn her the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963. [46]
Physicists at a Manhattan District-sponsored colloquium at Los Alamos on the Super in April 1946. In the front row are (left to
right) Norris Bradbury, John Manley, Enrico Fermi and J. M. B. Kellogg. Robert Oppenheimer, in dark coat, is behind Manley; to
Oppenheimer's left is Richard Feynman. The Army officer on the left is Colonel Oliver Haywood.
On April 18–20, 1946, Teller participated in a conference at Los Alamos to review the wartime work on the
Super. The properties of thermonuclear fuels such as deuterium and the possible design of a hydrogen bomb
were discussed. It was concluded that Teller's assessment of a hydrogen bomb had been too favourable, and
that both the quantity of deuterium needed, as well as the radiation losses during deuterium burning, would
shed doubt on its workability. Addition of expensive tritium to the thermonuclear mixture would likely lower its
ignition temperature, but even so, nobody knew at that time how much tritium would be needed, and whether
even tritium addition would encourage heat propagation. [47][48]
At the end of the conference, in spite of opposition by some members such as Robert Serber, Teller submitted
an optimistic report in which he said that a hydrogen bomb was feasible, and that further work should be
encouraged on its development. Fuchs also participated in this conference, and transmitted this information to
Moscow. With John von Neumann, he contributed an idea of using implosion to ignite the Super. The model of
Teller's "classical Super" was so uncertain that Oppenheimer would later say that he wished the Russians were
building their own hydrogen bomb based on that design, so that it would almost certainly retard their progress
on it.[47]
Classified paper by Teller and Ulam on March 9, 1951: On Heterocatalytic Detonations I: Hydrodynamic Lenses and Radiation
Mirrors, in which they proposed their revolutionary new design, staged implosion, the secret of the hydrogen bomb.
The Teller–Ulam design kept the fission and fusion fuel physically separated from one another, and used X-rays from the primary
device "reflected" off the surrounding casing to compress the secondary.
By 1949, Soviet-backed governments had already begun seizing control throughout Eastern Europe, forming
such puppet states as the Hungarian People's Republic in Teller's homeland of Hungary, where much of his
family still lived, on August 20, 1949.[49] Following the Soviet Union's first test detonation of an atomic bomb on
August 29, 1949, President Harry Truman announced a crash development program for a hydrogen bomb.[50]
Teller returned to Los Alamos in 1950 to work on the project. He insisted on involving more theorists. but many
of Teller's prominent colleagues, like Fermi and Oppenheimer, were sure that the project of the H-bomb was
technically infeasible and politically undesirable. None of the available designs were yet workable. [50] However
Soviet scientists who had worked on their own hydrogen bomb have claimed that they developed it
independently.[51]
In 1950, calculations by the Polish mathematician Stanislaw Ulam and his collaborator Cornelius Everett, along
with confirmations by Fermi, had shown that not only was Teller's earlier estimate of the quantity
of tritium needed for the H-bomb a low one, but that even with higher amounts of tritium, the energy loss in the
fusion process would be too great to enable the fusion reaction to propagate. However, in 1951 Teller and
Ulam made a breakthrough, and invented a new design, proposed in a classified March 1951 paper, On
Heterocatalytic Detonations I: Hydrodynamic Lenses and Radiation Mirrors, for a practical megaton-range H-
bomb. The exact contribution provided respectively from Ulam and Teller to what became known as the Teller–
Ulam design is not definitively known in the public domain, and the exact contributions of each and how the
final idea was arrived upon has been a point of dispute in both public and classified discussions since the early
1950s.[52]
In an interview with Scientific American from 1999, Teller told the reporter:
I contributed; Ulam did not. I'm sorry I had to answer it in this abrupt way. Ulam was rightly dissatisfied with an
old approach. He came to me with a part of an idea which I already had worked out and had difficulty getting
people to listen to. He was willing to sign a paper. When it then came to defending that paper and really putting
work into it, he refused. He said, "I don't believe in it." [7]
The issue is controversial. Bethe considered Teller's contribution to the invention of the H-bomb a true
innovation as early as 1952,[53] and referred to his work as a "stroke of genius" in 1954. [54] In both cases,
however, Bethe emphasized Teller's role as a way of stressing that the development of the H-bomb could not
have been hastened by additional support or funding, and Teller greatly disagreed with Bethe's assessment.
Other scientists (antagonistic to Teller, such as J. Carson Mark) have claimed that Teller would have never
gotten any closer without the assistance of Ulam and others. [55] Ulam himself claimed that Teller only produced
a "more generalized" version of Ulam's original design. [56]
The breakthrough—the details of which are still classified—was apparently the separation of the fission and
fusion components of the weapons, and to use the X-rays produced by the fission bomb to first compress the
fusion fuel (by process known as "radiation implosion") before igniting it. Ulam's idea seems to have been to
use mechanical shock from the primary to encourage fusion in the secondary, while Teller quickly realized that
X-rays from the primary would do the job much more symmetrically. Some members of the laboratory (J.
Carson Mark in particular) later expressed the opinion that the idea to use the x-rays would have eventually
occurred to anyone working on the physical processes involved, and that the obvious reason why Teller
thought of it right away was because he was already working on the "Greenhouse" tests for the spring of 1951,
in which the effect of x-rays from a fission bomb on a mixture of deuterium and tritium was going to be
investigated.[52]
Whatever the actual components of the so-called Teller–Ulam design and the respective contributions of those
who worked on it, after it was proposed it was immediately seen by the scientists working on the project as the
answer which had been so long sought. Those who previously had doubted whether a fission-fusion bomb
would be feasible at all were converted into believing that it was only a matter of time before both the USA and
the USSR had developed multi-megaton weapons. Even Oppenheimer, who was originally opposed to the
project, called the idea "technically sweet."[57]
The 10.4 Mt "Ivy Mike" shot of 1952 appeared to vindicate Teller's long-time advocacy for the hydrogen bomb.
Though he had helped to come up with the design and had been a long-time proponent of the concept, Teller
was not chosen to head the development project (his reputation of a thorny personality likely played a role in
this). In 1952 he left Los Alamos and joined the newly established Livermore branch of the University of
California Radiation Laboratory, which had been created largely through his urging. After the detonation of Ivy
Mike, the first thermonuclear weapon to utilize the Teller–Ulam configuration, on November 1, 1952, Teller
became known in the press as the "father of the hydrogen bomb." Teller himself refrained from attending the
test—he claimed not to feel welcome at the Pacific Proving Grounds—and instead saw its results on
a seismograph in the basement of a hall in Berkeley.[58]
There was an opinion that by analyzing the fallout from this test, the Soviets (led in their H-bomb work
by Andrei Sakharov) could have deciphered the new American design. However, this was later denied by the
Soviet bomb researchers.[59] Because of official secrecy, little information about the bomb's development was
released by the government, and press reports often attributed the entire weapon's design and development to
Teller and his new Livermore Laboratory (when it was actually developed by Los Alamos). [51]
Many of Teller's colleagues were irritated that he seemed to enjoy taking full credit for something he had only a
part in, and in response, with encouragement from Enrico Fermi, Teller authored an article titled "The Work of
Many People," which appeared in Science magazine in February 1955, emphasizing that he was not alone in
the weapon's development. He would later write in his memoirs that he had told a "white lie" in the 1955 article
in order to "soothe ruffled feelings", and claimed full credit for the invention. [60][61]
Teller was known for getting engrossed in projects which were theoretically interesting but practically unfeasible
(the classic "Super" was one such project.) [24] About his work on the hydrogen bomb, Bethe said:
Nobody will blame Teller because the calculations of 1946 were wrong, especially because adequate
computing machines were not available at Los Alamos. But he was blamed at Los Alamos for leading the
laboratory, and indeed the whole country, into an adventurous programme on the basis of calculations, which
he himself must have known to have been very incomplete. [62]
During the Manhattan Project, Teller advocated the development of a bomb using uranium hydride, which
many of his fellow theorists said would be unlikely to work. [63] At Livermore, Teller continued work on the hydride
bomb, and the result was a dud.[64] Ulam once wrote to a colleague about an idea he had shared with Teller:
"Edward is full of enthusiasm about these possibilities; this is perhaps an indication they will not work." [65] Fermi
once said that Teller was the only monomaniac he knew who had several manias.[66]
Carey Sublette of Nuclear Weapon Archive argues that Ulam came up with the radiation implosion
compression design of thermonuclear weapons, but that on the other hand Teller has gotten little credit for
being the first to propose fusion boosting in 1945, which is essential for miniaturization and reliability and is
used in all of today's nuclear weapons.[67]
Oppenheimer controversy
Teller testified about J. Robert Oppenheimer in 1954.
Teller became controversial in 1954 when he testified against Oppenheimer at Oppenheimer's security
clearance hearing. Teller had clashed with Oppenheimer many times at Los Alamos over issues relating both
to fission and fusion research, and during Oppenheimer's trial he was the only member of the scientific
community to state that Oppenheimer should not be granted security clearance. [68]
Asked at the hearing by Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) attorney Roger Robb whether he was planning "to
suggest that Dr. Oppenheimer is disloyal to the United States", Teller replied that:
I do not want to suggest anything of the kind. I know Oppenheimer as an intellectually most alert and a very
complicated person, and I think it would be presumptuous and wrong on my part if I would try in any way to
analyze his motives. But I have always assumed, and I now assume that he is loyal to the United States. I
believe this, and I shall believe it until I see very conclusive proof to the opposite. [69]
He was immediately asked whether he believed that Oppenheimer was a "security risk", to which he testified:
In a great number of cases I have seen Dr. Oppenheimer act—I understood that Dr. Oppenheimer acted—in a
way which for me was exceedingly hard to understand. I thoroughly disagreed with him in numerous issues and
his actions frankly appeared to me confused and complicated. To this extent I feel that I would like to see the
vital interests of this country in hands which I understand better, and therefore trust more. In this very limited
sense I would like to express a feeling that I would feel personally more secure if public matters would rest in
other hands.[54]
Teller also testified that Oppenheimer's opinion about the thermonuclear program seemed to be based more on
the scientific feasibility of the weapon than anything else. He additionally testified that Oppenheimer's direction
of Los Alamos was "a very outstanding achievement" both as a scientist and an administrator, lauding his "very
quick mind" and that he made "just a most wonderful and excellent director." [54]
After this, however, he detailed ways in which he felt that Oppenheimer had hindered his efforts towards an
active thermonuclear development program, and at length criticized Oppenheimer's decisions not to invest
more work onto the question at different points in his career, saying: "If it is a question of wisdom and
judgment, as demonstrated by actions since 1945, then I would say one would be wiser not to grant
clearance."[54]
By recasting a difference of judgment over the merits of the early work on the hydrogen bomb project into a
matter of a security risk, Teller effectively damned Oppenheimer in a field where security was necessarily of
paramount concern. Teller's testimony thereby rendered Oppenheimer vulnerable to charges by a
Congressional aide that he was a Soviet spy, which resulted in the destruction of Oppenheimer's career. [70]
Oppenheimer's security clearance was revoked after the hearings. Most of Teller's former colleagues
disapproved of his testimony and he was ostracized by much of the scientific community. [68] After the fact, Teller
consistently denied that he was intending to damn Oppenheimer, and even claimed that he was attempting to
exonerate him. However, documentary evidence has suggested that this was likely not the case. Six days
before the testimony, Teller met with an AEC liaison officer and suggested "deepening the charges" in his
testimony.[71]
Teller always insisted that his testimony had not significantly harmed Oppenheimer. In 2002, Teller contended
that Oppenheimer was "not destroyed" by the security hearing but "no longer asked to assist in policy matters."
He claimed his words were an overreaction, because he had only just learned of Oppenheimer's failure to
immediately report an approach by Haakon Chevalier, who had approached Oppenheimer to help the
Russians. Teller said that, in hindsight, he would have responded differently. [68]
Historian Richard Rhodes said that in his opinion it was already a foregone conclusion that Oppenheimer would
have his security clearance revoked by then AEC chairman Lewis Strauss, regardless of Teller's testimony.
However, as Teller's testimony was the most damning, he was singled out and blamed for the hearing's ruling,
losing friends due to it, such as Robert Christy, who refused to shake his hand in one infamous incident. This
was emblematic of his later treatment which resulted in his being forced into the role of an outcast of the
physics community, thus leaving him little choice but to align himself with industrialists. [72]
US Government work and political advocacy
After the Oppenheimer controversy, Teller became ostracized by much of the scientific community, but was still
quite welcome in the government and military science circles. Along with his traditional advocacy for nuclear
energy development, a strong nuclear arsenal, and a vigorous nuclear testing program, he had helped to
develop nuclear reactor safety standards as the chair of the Reactor Safeguard Committee of the AEC in the
late 1940s,[73] and in the late 1950s headed an effort at General Atomics which designed research reactors in
which a nuclear meltdown would be impossible. The TRIGA (Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomic)
has been built and used in hundreds of hospitals and universities worldwide for medical isotope production and
research.[74]
Teller promoted increased defense spending to counter the perceived Soviet missile threat. He was a signatory
to the 1958 report by the military sub-panel of the Rockefeller Brothers funded Special Studies Project, which
called for a $3 billion annual increase in America's military budget. [75]
In 1956 he attended the Project Nobska anti-submarine warfare conference, where discussion ranged
from oceanography to nuclear weapons. In the course of discussing a small nuclear warhead for the Mark 45
torpedo, he started a discussion on the possibility of developing a physically small one-megaton nuclear
warhead for the Polaris missile. His counterpart in the discussion, J. Carson Mark from the Los Alamos
National Laboratory, at first insisted it could not be done. However, Dr. Mark eventually stated that a half-
megaton warhead of small enough size could be developed. This yield, roughly thirty times that of
the Hiroshima bomb, was enough for Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Arleigh Burke, who was present in
person, and Navy strategic missile development shifted from Jupiter to Polaris by the end of the year.[76]
He was Director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which he helped to found with Ernest O.
Lawrence, from 1958 to 1960, and after that he continued as an Associate Director. He chaired the committee
that founded the Space Sciences Laboratory at Berkeley. He also served concurrently as a Professor of
Physics at the University of California, Berkeley.[77] He was a tireless advocate of a strong nuclear program and
argued for continued testing and development—in fact, he stepped down from the directorship of Livermore so
that he could better lobby against the proposed test ban. He testified against the test ban both before Congress
as well as on television.[78]
Teller established the Department of Applied Science at the University of California, Davis and LLNL in 1963,
which holds the Edward Teller endowed professorship in his honor. [79] In 1975 he retired from both the lab and
Berkeley, and was named Director Emeritus of the Livermore Laboratory and appointed Senior Research
Fellow at the Hoover Institution.[24] After the fall of communism in Hungary in 1989, he made several visits to his
country of origin, and paid careful attention to the political changes there. [80]
Global climate change
Teller was one of the first prominent people to raise the danger of climate change, driven by the burning
of fossil fuels. At an address to the membership of the American Chemical Society in December 1957, Teller
warned that the large amount of carbon-based fuel that had been burnt since the mid-19th century was
increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which would "act in the same way as a
greenhouse and will raise the temperature at the surface", and that he had calculated that if the concentration
of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased by 10% "an appreciable part of the polar ice might melt." [81]
In 1959, at a symposium organised by the American Petroleum Institute and the Columbia Graduate School of
Business for the centennial of the American oil industry, Edward Teller warned that: [82]
I am to talk to you about energy in the future. I will start by telling you why I believe that the energy resources of
the past must be supplemented. [...] And this, strangely, is the question of contaminating the atmosphere. [...]
Whenever you burn conventional fuel, you create carbon dioxide. [...] Carbon dioxide has a strange property. It
transmits visible light but it absorbs the infrared radiation which is emitted from the earth. Its presence in the
atmosphere causes a greenhouse effect [....] It has been calculated that a temperature rise corresponding to a
10 per cent increase in carbon dioxide will be sufficient to melt the icecap and submerge New York. All the
coastal cities would be covered, and since a considerable percentage of the human race lives in coastal
regions, I think that this chemical contamination is more serious than most people tend to believe.
Operation Plowshare and Project Chariot
One of the Chariot schemes involved chaining five thermonuclear devices to create the artificial harbor.
Teller was one of the strongest and best-known advocates for investigating non-military uses of nuclear
explosives, which the United States explored under Operation Plowshare. One of the most controversial
projects he proposed was a plan to use a multi-megaton hydrogen bomb to dig a deep-water harbor more than
a mile long and half a mile wide to use for shipment of resources from coal and oil fields through Point Hope,
Alaska. The Atomic Energy Commission accepted Teller's proposal in 1958 and it was designated Project
Chariot. While the AEC was scouting out the Alaskan site, and having withdrawn the land from the public
domain, Teller publicly advocated the economic benefits of the plan, but was unable to convince local
government leaders that the plan was financially viable.[83]
Other scientists criticized the project as being potentially unsafe for the local wildlife and the Inupiat people
living near the designated area, who were not officially told of the plan until March 1960. [84][85] Additionally, it
turned out that the harbor would be ice-bound for nine months out of the year. In the end, due to the financial
infeasibility of the project and the concerns over radiation-related health issues, the project was abandoned in
1962.[86]
A related experiment which also had Teller's endorsement was a plan to extract oil from the tar sands in
northern Alberta with nuclear explosions, titled Project Oilsands. The plan actually received the endorsement of
the Alberta government, but was rejected by the Government of Canada under Prime Minister John
Diefenbaker, who was opposed to having any nuclear weapons in Canada. After Diefenbaker was out of office,
Canada went on to have nuclear weapons, from a US nuclear sharing agreement, from 1963 to 1984.[87][88]
Nuclear technology and Israel
Main articles: Israeli nuclear program and Israel and weapons of mass destruction
For some twenty years, Teller advised Israel on nuclear matters in general, and on the building of a hydrogen
bomb in particular.[89] In 1952, Teller and Oppenheimer had a long meeting with David Ben-Gurion in Tel Aviv,
telling him that the best way to accumulate plutonium was to burn natural uranium in a nuclear reactor. Starting
in 1964, a connection between Teller and Israel was made by the physicist Yuval Ne'eman, who had similar
political views. Between 1964 and 1967, Teller visited Israel six times, lecturing at Tel Aviv University, and
advising the chiefs of Israel's scientific-security circle as well as prime ministers and cabinet members. [90]
In 1967 when the Israeli nuclear program was nearing completion, Teller informed Neeman that he was going
to tell the CIA that Israel had built nuclear weapons, and explain that it was justified by the background of
the Six-Day War. After Neeman cleared it with Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, Teller briefed the head of the CIA's
Office of Science and Technology, Carl Duckett. It took a year for Teller to convince the CIA that Israel had
obtained nuclear capability; the information then went through CIA Director Richard Helms to the president at
that time, Lyndon B. Johnson. Teller also persuaded them to end the American attempts to inspect the Negev
Nuclear Research Center in Dimona. In 1976 Duckett testified in Congress before the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, that after receiving information from "American scientist", he drafted a National Intelligence
Estimate (NIE) on Israel's nuclear capability.[91]
In the 1980s, Teller again visited Israel to advise the Israeli government on building a nuclear reactor.[92] Three
decades later, Teller confirmed that it was during his visits that he concluded that Israel was in possession of
nuclear weapons. After conveying the matter to the U.S. government, Teller reportedly said: "They [Israel] have
it, and they were clever enough to trust their research and not to test, they know that to test would get them into
trouble."[91]
Three Mile Island
Teller suffered a heart attack in 1979, and blamed it on Jane Fonda, who had starred in The China Syndrome,
which depicted a fictional reactor accident and was released less than two weeks before the Three Mile Island
accident. She spoke out against nuclear power while promoting the film. After the accident, Teller acted quickly
to lobby in defence of nuclear energy, testifying to its safety and reliability, and soon after one flurry of activity
suffered the attack. He signed a two-page-spread ad in the July 31, 1979, Wall Street Journal with the headline
"I was the only victim of Three-Mile Island".[93] It opened with:
On May 7, a few weeks after the accident at Three-Mile Island, I was in Washington. I was there to refute some
of that propaganda that Ralph Nader, Jane Fonda and their kind are spewing to the news media in their
attempt to frighten people away from nuclear power. I am 71 years old, and I was working 20 hours a day. The
strain was too much. The next day, I suffered a heart attack. You might say that I was the only one whose
health was affected by that reactor near Harrisburg. No, that would be wrong. It was not the reactor. It was
Jane Fonda. Reactors are not dangerous.[94]
Strategic Defense Initiative
: Project Excalibur
Teller became a major lobbying force of the Strategic Defense Initiative to President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.
In the 1980s, Teller began a strong campaign for what was later called the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI),
derided by critics as "Star Wars," the concept of using ground and satellite-based lasers, particle beams and
missiles to destroy incoming Soviet ICBMs. Teller lobbied with government agencies—and got the approval of
President Ronald Reagan—for a plan to develop a system using elaborate satellites which used atomic
weapons to fire X-ray lasers at incoming missiles—as part of a broader scientific research program into
defenses against nuclear weapons.[95]
Scandal erupted when Teller (and his associate Lowell Wood) were accused of deliberately overselling the
program and perhaps encouraging the dismissal of a laboratory director (Roy Woodruff) who had attempted to
correct the error.[96] His claims led to a joke which circulated in the scientific community, that a new unit of
unfounded optimism was designated as the teller; one teller was so large that most events had to be measured
in nanotellers or picotellers.[97]
Many prominent scientists argued that the system was futile. Hans Bethe, along with IBM physicist Richard
Garwin and Cornell University colleague Kurt Gottfried, wrote an article in Scientific American which analyzed
the system and concluded that any putative enemy could disable such a system by the use of suitable decoys
that would cost a very small fraction of the SDI program. [98]
In 1987 Teller published a book supporting civil defense and active protection systems such as SDI which was
titled Better a Shield than a Sword and his views on the role of lasers in SDI were published, and are available,
in two 1986-7 laser conference proceedings.[99][100]
Asteroid impact avoidance
Main article: Asteroid impact avoidance
Following the 1994 Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet impacts with Jupiter, Teller proposed to a collective of U.S. and
Russian ex-Cold War weapons designers in a 1995 planetary defense workshop at Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory (LLNL), that they collaborate to design a 1 gigaton nuclear explosive device, which would
be equivalent to the kinetic energy of a 1 km diameter asteroid.[101][102][103] In order to safeguard the earth, the
theoretical 1 Gt device would weigh about 25–30 tons, hence light enough to be lifted on the
Russian Energia rocket and it could be used to instantaneously vaporize a 1 km asteroid, divert the paths
of extinction event class asteroids (greater than 10 km in diameter) within a few months of short notice, while
with 1-year notice, at an interception location no closer than Jupiter, it would also be capable of dealing with the
even rarer short period comets which can come out of the Kuiper belt and transit past Earth orbit within 2 years.
For comets of this class, with a maximum estimated 100 km diameter, Charon served as the hypothetical
threat.[101][102][103]
Death and legacy
Edward Teller in his later years
Appearing on British television discussion After Dark in 1987
Teller died in Stanford, California on September 9, 2003, at the age of 95.[24] He had suffered a stroke two days
before and had long been suffering from a number of conditions related to his advanced age. [104]
A wish for his 100th birthday, made around the time of his 90th, was for Lawrence Livermore's scientists to give
him "excellent predictions-calculations and experiments-about the interiors of the planets". [8]
In his early career, Teller made contributions to nuclear and molecular physics, spectroscopy (the Jahn–
Teller and Renner–Teller effects), and surface physics. His extension of Fermi's theory of beta decay (in the
form of the so-called Gamow–Teller transitions) provided an important stepping stone in the applications of this
theory. The Jahn–Teller effect and the BET theory have retained their original formulation and are still
mainstays in physics and chemistry.[2] Teller also made contributions to Thomas–Fermi theory, the precursor
of density functional theory, a standard modern tool in the quantum mechanical treatment of complex
molecules.
Teller's vigorous advocacy for strength through nuclear weapons, especially when so many of his wartime
colleagues later expressed regret about the arms race, made him an easy target for the "mad scientist"
stereotype. In 1991 he was awarded one of the first Ig Nobel Prizes for Peace in recognition of his "lifelong
efforts to change the meaning of peace as we know it". He was also rumored to be one of the inspirations for
the character of Dr. Strangelove in Stanley Kubrick's 1964 satirical film of the same name[24] (others speculated
to be RAND theorist Herman Kahn, mathematician John von Neumann, rocket scientist Wernher von Braun,
and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara). In the aforementioned Scientific American interview from 1999,
he was reported as having bristled at the question: "My name is not Strangelove. I don't know about
Strangelove. I'm not interested in Strangelove. What else can I say?... Look. Say it three times more, and I
throw you out of this office."[7] In one episode of Mission Hill (1999), a character appears to be inspired by
Edward Teller. The character is very old, has pictures of himself and other scientists in his home office and is
known as the father of the nuclear bomb.
Nobel Prize winning physicist Isidor I. Rabi once suggested that "It would have been a better world without
Teller."[105] In addition, Teller's false claims that Stanislaw Ulam made no significant contribution to the
development of the hydrogen bomb (despite Ulam's key insights of using compression and staging elements to
generate the thermonuclear reaction) and his personal attacks on Oppenheimer caused great animosity
towards Teller within the general physics community.[106]
In 1981, Teller became a founding member of the World Cultural Council.[107]
In 1986, he was awarded the United States Military Academy's Sylvanus Thayer Award. He was elected a
member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 1948.[108] He was a fellow of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Nuclear
Society.[109] Among the honors he received were the Albert Einstein Award in 1958,[77] the Enrico Fermi Award in
1962,[77] the Eringen Medal in 1980,[110] the Harvey Prize in 1975, the National Medal of Science in 1983,
the Presidential Citizens Medal in 1989,[77] and the Corvin Chain [hu] in 2001.[111] He was also named as part of
the group of "U.S. Scientists" who were Time magazine's People of the Year in 1960,[112] and an asteroid, 5006
Teller, is named after him.[113] He was awarded with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W.
Bush in 2003, less than two months before his death. [24]
His final paper, published posthumously, advocated the construction of a prototype liquid fluoride thorium
reactor.[114][115] The genesis and impetus for this last paper, was recounted by the co-author Ralph Moir in 2007.
[116]
Chester Smith Lyman
Chester Smith Lyman (January 13, 1814 – January 29, 1890) was an American teacher, clergyman and
astronomer.American astronomer Chester Smith Lyman observed a complete ring around the dark side
of the planet when it was at inferior conjunction, providing further evidence for an atmosphere.
Chester S. Lyman
Chester Lyman circa 1874
Early life and education
He was born in Manchester, Connecticut to Chester and Mary Smith Lyman. Chester is the descendant
of Richard Lyman, a settler who arrived in America in 1631. Chester's early education was in a country
school, but at an early age he showed a strong interest in astronomy and the sciences. By 1833 he had
gained admittance to Yale, and graduated in 1837. In his junior year he became editor of the Yale
Literary Magazine and he was a member of Skull and Bones.[1] He served for two years as
Superintendent of Ellington School, then studied theology at the Union and Yale seminaries. For health
reasons he then began to travel.[2]
In 1846 he sailed to Hawaii and remained for a year.[3] While in Hawaii, he visited missionaries,
including his distant cousin David Belden Lyman.[4]:75 In 1847 he sailed to California. There he became
a surveyor, mapping ranches and towns. For a few months he joined in the California Gold Rush, then
returned to his surveying work. In 1850 he was married to Delia W. Wood, and settled in New Haven.
[2] The couple would have six children, with four surviving to adulthood.
Career
He became a professor of Industrial Mechanics and Physics at Yale's Sheffield Scientific School, and was
considered an eminent scholar.[5] He invented the combined transit instrument and zenith telescope
that was used to determine latitude, including that of Hawaii.[6] He was on the board of managers for
the Yale Observatory, and in December 1866 he was the first to observe the delicate ring of light
surrounding Venus when the planet is in inferior conjunction. This observation helped confirm the
presence of an atmosphere around the planet.[7] He patented a design for a wave machine in 1867.
[8] In 1871 he became a professor of astronomy and physics at the same institution, then exclusively of
astronomy in 1884 as his health began to fail. He retired as professor emeritus in 1889.[9] He became
the director of the Yale Observatory and held that post until his death.[2][4] He died in 1890 as the
result of a stroke, which had kept him home-bound for the last two years of his life.[10]
Chester Lyman was a member of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences and an honorary
member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He served as president of the
Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences for 20 years. His son, Chester W. Lyman, established the
Chester S. Lyman Lecture Series at Yale in memory of his father.[11]
Willian Gilbert(Astronomer)
William Gilbert (/ˈɡɪlbərt/; 24 May 1544 – 30 November 1603), also known as Gilberd,[1] was an English
physician, physicist and natural philosopher. He passionately rejected both the prevailing Aristotelian
philosophy and the Scholasticmethod of university teaching. He is remembered today largely for his
book De Magnete (1600), and is credited as one of the originators of the term "electricity". He is
regarded by some as the father of electrical engineering or electricity and magnetism.[2]
A unit of magnetomotive force, also known as magnetic potential, was named the Gilbert in his honour.
William Gilbert
William Gilbert
Life and work
Gilbert was born in Colchester to Jerome Gilberd, a borough recorder. He was educated at St John's
College, Cambridge.[3] After gaining his MD from Cambridge in 1569, and a short spell as bursar of St
John's College, he left to practice medicine in London and travelled on the continent. In 1573, he was
elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. In 1600 he was elected President of the College.
[4] He was Elizabeth I's own physician from 1601 until her death in 1603, and James VI and I renewed his
appointment.[5]:30
His primary scientific work—much inspired by earlier works of Robert Norman[6][7]—was De Magnete,
Magneticisque Corporibus, et de Magno Magnete Tellure (On the Magnet and Magnetic Bodies, and on
the Great Magnet the Earth) published in 1600. In this work, he describes many of his experiments with
his model Earth called the terrella. From these experiments, he concluded that the Earth was
itself magnetic and that this was the reason compasses point north (previously, some believed that it
was the pole star (Polaris) or a large magnetic island on the north pole that attracted the compass). He
was the first to argue, correctly, that the centre of the Earth was iron, and he considered an important
and related property of magnets was that they can be cut, each forming a new magnet with north and
south poles.
William Gilbert M.D. demonstrating his experiments before queen Elizabeth (painting by A. Auckland
Hunt).
In Book 6, Chapter 3, he argues in support of diurnal rotation, though he does not talk about
heliocentrism, stating that it is an absurdity to think that the immense celestial spheres (doubting even
that they exist) rotate daily, as opposed to the diurnal rotation of the much smaller Earth. He also posits
that the "fixed" stars are at remote variable distances rather than fixed to an imaginary sphere. He
states that situated "in thinnest aether, or in the most subtle fifth essence, or in vacuity – how shall the
stars keep their places in the mighty swirl of these enormous spheres composed of a substance of which
no one knows aught?"
The English word "electricity" was first used in 1646 by Sir Thomas Browne, derived from Gilbert's
1600 New Latinelectricus, meaning "like amber". The term had been in use since the 13th century, but
Gilbert was the first to use it to mean "like amber in its attractive properties". He recognized that friction
with these objects removed a so-called "effluvium", which would cause the attraction effect in returning
to the object, though he did not realize that this substance (electric charge) was universal to all
materials.[8]
The electric effluvia differ much from air, and as air is the earth's effluvium, so electric bodies have their
own distinctive effluvia; and each peculiar effluvium has its own individual power of leading to union, its
own movement to its origin, to its fount, and to the body emitting the effluvium.
— Gilbert 1893
In his book, he also studied static electricity using amber; amber is called elektron in Greek, so Gilbert
decided to call its effect the electric force. He invented the first electrical measuring instrument,
the electroscope, in the form of a pivoted needle he called the versorium.[9]
Like others of his day, he believed that crystal (quartz) was an especially hard form of water, formed
from compressed ice:
Lucid gems are made of water; just as Crystal, which has been concreted from clear water, not always by
a very great cold, as some used to judge, and by very hard frost, but sometimes by a less severe one, the
nature of the soil fashioning it, the humour or juices being shut up in definite cavities, in the way in
which spars are produced in mines.
— De Magnete, English translation by Silvanus Phillips Thompson, 1900
Gilbert argued that electricity and magnetism were not the same thing. For evidence, he (incorrectly)
pointed out that, while electrical attraction disappeared with heat, magnetic attraction did not (although
it is proven that magnetism does in fact become damaged and weakened with heat). Hans Christian
Ørsted and James Clerk Maxwell showed that both effects were aspects of a single force:
electromagnetism. Maxwell surmised this in his A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism after much
analysis.
Gilbert's magnetism was the invisible force that many other natural philosophers, such as Kepler, seized
upon, incorrectly, as governing the motions that they observed. While not attributing magnetism to
attraction among the stars, Gilbert pointed out the motion of the skies was due to Earth's rotation, and
not the rotation of the spheres, 20 years before Galileo (but 57 years after Copernicus who stated it
openly in his work De revolutionibus orbium coelestium published in 1543 ) (see external reference
below). Gilbert made the first attempt to map the surface markings on the Moon in the 1590s. His chart,
made without the use of a telescope, showed outlines of dark and light patches on the Moon's face.
Contrary to most of his contemporaries, Gilbert believed that the light spots on the Moon were water,
and the dark spots land.[10]
Diagram of the universe appearing on p202 of De Mundo
Besides Gilbert's De Magnete, there appeared at Amsterdam in 1651 a quarto volume of 316 pages
entitled De Mundo Nostro Sublunari Philosophia Nova (New Philosophy about our Sublunary World),
edited—some say by his brother William Gilbert Junior, and others say, by the eminent English scholar
and critic John Gruter—from two manuscripts found in the library of Sir William Boswell. According
to Dr. John Davy, "this work of Gilbert's, which is so little known, is a very remarkable one both in style
and matter; and there is a vigor and energy of expression belonging to it very suitable to its originality.
Possessed of a more minute and practical knowledge of natural philosophy than Bacon, his opposition to
the philosophy of the schools was more searching and particular, and at the same time probably little
less efficient." In the opinion of Prof. John Robison, De Mundo consists of an attempt to establish a new
system of natural philosophy upon the ruins of the Aristotelian doctrine.[4]
Dr. William Whewell says in his History of the Inductive Sciences (1859):[11]
Gilbert, in his work, De Magnete printed in 1600 has only some vague notions that the magnetic virtue
of the earth in some way determines the direction of the earth's axis, the rate of its diurnal rotation, and
that of the revolution of the moon about it.[12] Gilbert died in 1603, and in his posthumous work (De
Mundo nostro Sublunari Philosophia nova, 1631) we have already a more distinct statement of the
attraction of one body by another.[13] "The force which emanates from the moon reaches to the earth,
and, in like manner, the magnetic virtue of the earth pervades the region of the moon: both correspond
and conspire by the joint action of both, according to a proportion and conformity of motions, but the
earth has more effect in consequence of its superior mass; the earth attracts and repels, the moon, and
the moon within certain limits, the earth; not so as to make the bodies come together, as magnetic
bodies do, but so that they may go on in a continuous course." Though this phraseology is capable of
representing a good deal of the truth, it does not appear to have been connected... with any very
definite notions of mechanical action in detail.[14]
Gilbert died on 30 November 1603 in London. His cause of death is thought to have been the bubonic
plague.[15][16]
Gilbert was buried in his home town, in Holy Trinity Church, Colchester. His marble wall monument can
still be seen in this Saxon church, now deconsecrated and used as a café and market.[17]
Commentary on Gilbert
Francis Bacon never accepted Copernican heliocentrism and was critical of Gilbert's philosophical work
in support of the diurnal motion of the Earth. Bacon's criticism includes the following two statements.
The first was repeated in three of his works—In the Advancement of Learning (1605), Novum
Organum (1620) and De Augmentis (1623). The more severe second statement is from History of Heavy
and Light Bodies published after Bacon's death.[18]
The Alchemists have made a philosophy out of a few experiments of the furnace and Gilbert our
countryman hath made a philosophy out of observations of the lodestone.
[Gilbert] has himself become a magnet; that is, he has ascribed too many things to that force and built a
ship out of a shell.
Thomas Thomson writes in his History of the Royal Society (1812):[19]
The magnetic laws were first generalized and explained by Dr. Gilbert, whose book on magnetism
published in 1600, is one of the finest examples of inductive philosophy that has ever been presented to
the world. It is the more remarkable, because it preceded the Novum Organum of Bacon, in which the
inductive method of philosophizing was first explained.
William Whewell writes in his History of the Inductive Sciences (1837/1859):[20]
Gilbert... repeatedly asserts the paramount value of experiments. He himself, no doubt, acted up to his
own precepts; for his work contains all the fundamental facts of the science [of magnetism], so fully
examined, indeed, that even at this day we have little to add to them.
Historian Henry Hallam wrote of Gilbert in his Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth,
Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries (1848):[21]
The year 1600 was the first in which England produced a remarkable work in physical science; but this
was one sufficient to raise a lasting reputation to its author. Gilbert, a physician, in his Latin treatise on
the magnet, not only collected all the knowledge which others had possessed on that subject, but
became at once the father of experimental philosophy in this island, and by a singular felicity and
acuteness of genius, the founder of theories which have been revived after the lapse of ages, and are
almost universally received into the creed of the science. The magnetism of the earth itself, his own
original hypothesis, nova illa nostra et inaudita de tellure sententia [our new and unprecedented view of
the planet]... was by no means one of those vague conjectures that are sometimes unduly applauded...
He relied on the analogy of terrestrial phenomena to those exhibited by what he calls a terrella, or
artificial spherical magnet. ...Gilbert was also one of our earliest Copernicans, at least as to the rotation
of the earth; and with his usual sagacity inferred, before the invention of the telescope, that there are a
multitude of fixed stars beyond the reach of our vision.
Walter William Bryant of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, wrote in his book Kepler (1920):
When Gilbert of Colchester, in his “New Philosophy,” founded on his researches in magnetism, was
dealing with tides, he did not suggest that the moon attracted the water, but that “subterranean spirits
and humors, rising in sympathy with the moon, cause the sea also to rise and flow to the shores and up
rivers”. It appears that an idea, presented in some such way as this, was more readily received than a
plain statement. This so-called philosophical method was, in fact, very generally applied, and Kepler,
who shared Galileo’s admiration for Gilbert’s work, adopted it in his own attempt to extend the idea of
magnetic attraction to the planets.[22]
Bibliography
Gilbert, William (1600). De Magnete, Magnetisque Corporoibus, et de Magno Magnete Tellure:
Physiologia noua, Plurimis & Argumentis, & Experimentis Demonstrata (in Latin). London: Peter Short.
— (1893). On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies, and on That Great Magnet the Earth: A New
Physiology, Demonstrated with Many Arguments and Experiments. Translated by Mottelay, P. Fleury.
New York: John Wiley & Sons.
— (1900). On the Magnet, Magnetic Bodies Also, and on the Great Magnet the Earth: A new Physiology,
Demonstrated by Many Arguments & Experiments. Translated by Thompson, Silvanus Phillips. London:
Chiswick Press.
Gilbert, William (1651). De Mundo Nostro Sublunari Philosophia Nova (in Latin). (Published
posthumously.). Amsterdam: Apud Ludovicum Elzevirium.
Michael Jackson.
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter and
dancer. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is widely regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of
the 20th century and one of the greatest entertainers of all time. Jackson's contributions to music,
dance, and fashion, along with his publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular
culture for over four decades.
The eighth child of the Jackson family, Michael made his professional debut in 1964 with his elder
brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon as a member of the Jackson 5. He began his solo career in
1971 while at Motown Records, and in the early 1980s, became a dominant figure in popular music.
His music videos, including those for "Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller" from his 1982 album Thriller,
are credited with breaking racial barriers and transforming the medium into an art form and
promotional tool. Their popularity helped bring the television channel MTV to fame. Bad (1987) was the
first album to produce five US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles with "I Just Can't Stop Loving You",
"Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror", and "Dirty Diana". He continued to innovate
throughout the 1990s with videos such as "Black or White" and forged a reputation as a touring artist.
Through stage and video performances, Jackson popularized complicated dance techniques such as
the robot and the moonwalk, to which he gave the name. His distinctive sound and style have influenced
artists of various genres.
Michael Jackson
Performing at the Wiener Stadion in Vienna, Austria on
June 2, 1988
Jackson is the third-best-selling music artist of all time, with estimated sales of over 350 million records
worldwide.[nb 1]Thriller is the best-selling album of all time, with estimated sales of 66 million copies
worldwide. Jackson's other albums, including Off the Wall (1979), Dangerous (1991), and HIStory (1995),
also rank among the world's best-selling. He won hundreds of awards, more than any other artist in the
history of popular music, is one of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame twice, and is the only dancer from pop and rock to have been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of
Fame and the Dance Hall of Fame. His other achievements include Guinness world records(including the
Most Successful Entertainer of All Time), 15 Grammy Awards (including the Legend and Lifetime
Achievement awards), 26 American Music Awards (more than any other artist), and 13 number-one US
singles (more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era). Jackson is also remembered for his
philanthropy and charitable fundraising.
In the late 1980s, Jackson became a figure of controversy due to his changing appearance, relationships,
and behavior. In 1993, he was accused of sexually abusing the child of a family friend; the case led to an
investigation and was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount in 1994. In 2005, he was tried and
acquitted of further child sexual abuse allegations and several other charges. In 2009, while preparing
for a series of comeback concerts, This Is It, Jackson diedof acute intoxication
from propofol and benzodiazepine given to him by his personal physician, Conrad Murray. Jackson's
death triggered a global outpouring of grief, and his public memorial service was broadcast live. In 2014,
Jackson became the first artist in history to have a top ten single in the Billboard Hot 100 in five different
decades. In 2016, Jackson's estate earned $825 million, the highest yearly amount ever recorded
by Forbes.
Life and career
1958–1975: Early life and the Jackson 5
Jackson's childhood home in Gary, Indiana, pictured in March 2010 with floral tributes after his death
Michael Joseph Jackson[8][9] was born in Gary, Indiana, near Chicago, on August 29, 1958.[10][11] He
was the eighth of ten children in the Jackson family, a working-class African-American family living in a
two-bedroom house on Jackson Street.[12][13]His mother, Katherine Esther Jackson (née Scruse), left
the Baptist tradition in 1963 to become a devout Jehovah's Witness.[14]She played clarinet and piano
and had aspired to be a country-and-western performer; she worked part-time at Sears to support the
family.[15] His father, Joseph Walter "Joe" Jackson, a former boxer, was a steelworker at U.S. Steel. Joe
played guitar with a local rhythm and blues band, the Falcons, to supplement the family's income.
[16] Despite being a convinced Lutheran, Joe followed his wife's faith, as did all their children.[14] His
father's great-grandfather, July "Jack" Gale, was a Native American medicine man and US Army scout.
[17] Michael grew up with three sisters (Rebbie, La Toya, and Janet) and five brothers
(Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Randy).[18] A sixth brother, Marlon's twin Brandon, died shortly
after birth.[19]
Jackson had a troubled relationship with his father.[20][21] In 2003, Joe acknowledged that he had
regularly whipped him.[22] Joe was also said to have verbally abused his son, often saying that he had a
"fat nose".[23] Jackson stated that he was physically and emotionally abused during incessant
rehearsals; he credited his father's strict discipline with playing a large role in his success.[20] He
recalled that Joe often sat in a chair with a belt in his hand as he and his siblings rehearsed, and that "if
you didn't do it the right way, he would tear you up, really get you".[24][25]
Katherine Jackson later stated that although whipping is considered abuse today, it was common at the
time.[26][27][28] Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon have said that their father was not abusive and that
the whippings, which were harder on Michael because he was younger, kept them disciplined and out of
trouble.[29] In an interview with Oprah Winfrey broadcast in February 1993, Jackson acknowledged that
his youth had been lonely and isolating.[30] His deep dissatisfaction with his appearance, his nightmares
and chronic sleep problems, his tendency to remain hyper-compliant, especially with his father, and to
remain childlike in adulthood are consistent with the effects of the maltreatment he endured as a child.
[31]
In 1964, Michael and Marlon joined the Jackson Brothers—a band formed by their father which included
brothers Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine—as backup musicians playing congas and tambourine.[32] In 1965,
Michael began sharing lead vocals with his older brother Jermaine, and the group's name was changed
to the Jackson 5.[18] The following year, the group won a major local talent show with Jackson
performing the dance to Robert Parker's 1965 hit "Barefootin'" and singing lead to The Temptations'
"My Girl".[33] From 1966 to 1968 they toured the Midwest, frequently performing at a string of black
clubs known as the "chitlin' circuit" as the opening act for artists such as Sam & Dave, the O'Jays, Gladys
Knight, and Etta James. The Jackson 5 also performed at clubs and cocktail lounges,
where striptease shows were featured, and at local auditoriums and high school dances.[34][35] In
August 1967, while touring the East Coast, the group won a weekly amateur night concert at the Apollo
Theater in Harlem.[36]
Jackson (center) as a member of the Jackson 5 in 1972
The Jackson 5 recorded several songs, including their first single "Big Boy" (1968), for Steeltown Records,
a Gary record label,[37] then signed with Motown in 1969.[18] They left Gary in 1969 and relocated to
Los Angeles, where they continued to record for Motown.[38] Rolling Stone later described the young
Michael as "a prodigy" with "overwhelming musical gifts" who "quickly emerged as the main draw and
lead singer."[39] The group set a chart record when its first four singles—"I Want You Back" (1969),
"ABC" (1970), "The Love You Save" (1970), and "I'll Be There" (1970)—peaked at number one on
the BillboardHot 100.[18] In May 1971, the Jackson family moved into a large home on a two-acre estate
in Encino, California.[40] During this period, Michael evolved from child performer into a teen idol.
[41] As he began to emerge as a solo performer in the early 1970s, he maintained ties to the Jackson 5
and Motown. Between 1972 and 1975, Michael released four solo studio albums with Motown: Got to
Be There (1972), Ben (1972), Music & Me (1973), and Forever, Michael (1975).[42] "Got to Be There"
and "Ben", the title tracks from his first two solo albums, became successful singles, as did a cover
of Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin".[43]
The Jackson 5 were later described as "a cutting-edge example of black crossover artists".[44] Their sales
began to decline in 1973, and the members chafed under Motown's refusal to allow them creative
input, but they achieved several top 40 hits, including the top five single "Dancing Machine" (1974),
before leaving Motown in 1975.[45] Jackson's performance of "Dancing Machine" on an episode of Soul
Train popularized the robot dance.[46]
1975–1981: Move to Epic and Off the Wall
From left, back row: Jackie Jackson, Michael Jackson, Tito Jackson, Marlon Jackson. Middle row: Randy
Jackson, La Toya Jackson, Rebbie Jackson. Front row: Janet Jackson (1977)
In June 1975, the Jackson 5 signed with Epic Records, a subsidiary of CBS Records,[45] and renamed
themselves the Jacksons. Younger brother Randy formally joined the band around this time; Jermaine
chose to stay with Motown and pursue a solo career.[47]The Jacksons continued to tour internationally,
and released six more albums between 1976 and 1984. Michael, the group's lead songwriter during this
time, wrote hits such as "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" (1979), "This Place Hotel" (1980), and
"Can You Feel It" (1980).[32]
In 1978, Jackson moved to New York City to star as the Scarecrow in The Wiz, a musical directed
by Sidney Lumet. It costarred Diana Ross, Nipsey Russell, and Ted Ross.[48] The film was a box-office
failure.[49] Its score was arranged by Quincy Jones, whom Jackson had previously met when he was 12
at Sammy Davis Jr.'s house.[50] Jones agreed to produce Jackson's next solo album.[51] During his time
in New York, Jackson frequented the Studio 54 nightclub and was exposed to early hip hop, influencing
his beatboxing on future tracks such as "Working Day and Night".[52] In 1979, Jackson broke his nose
during a complex dance routine. A subsequent rhinoplasty was not a complete success; he complained
of breathing difficulties that later affected his career. He was referred to Steven Hoefflin, who
performed Jackson's subsequent operations.[53]
Jackson's fifth solo album, Off the Wall (1979), co-produced by Jackson and Jones, established him as a
solo performer. The album helped Jackson move from the bubblegum pop of his youth to the more
complex sounds he created as an adult.[41] Songwriters for the album included Jackson, Rod
Temperton, Stevie Wonder, and Paul McCartney. Off the Wall was the first solo album to generate four
top 10 hits in the US: "Off the Wall", "She's Out of My Life", and the chart-topping singles "Don't Stop 'Til
You Get Enough" and "Rock with You".[54][55] The album reached number three on
the Billboard 200 and sold over 20 million copies worldwide.[56] In 1980, Jackson won three awards at
the American Music Awards for his solo work: Favorite Soul/R&B Album, Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist,
and Favorite Soul/R&B Single for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".[57][58] He also won Billboard Year-
End awards for Top Black Artist and Top Black Album, and a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal
Performance for 1979 with "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".[59] In 1981 Jackson was the American
Music Awards winner for Favorite Soul/R&B Album and Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist.[60] Despite its
commercial success, Jackson felt Off the Wall should have made a bigger impact, and was determined to
exceed expectations with his next release.[61] In 1980, he secured the highest royalty rate in the music
industry: 37 percent of wholesale album profit.[62]
Jackson recorded with Queen singer Freddie Mercury from 1981 to 1983, recording demos of "State of
Shock", "Victory" and "There Must Be More to Life Than This".[63] The recordings were intended for an
album of duets but, according to Queen's then-manager Jim Beach, the relationship soured when
Jackson insisted on bringing a llama into the recording studio,[64] and Jackson was upset by Mercury's
drug use.[65] The collaborations were released in 2014.[66] Jackson went on to record "State of Shock"
with Mick Jagger for the Jacksons' album Victory (1984),[67] and Mercury included the solo version of
"There Must Be More To Life Than This" on his album Mr. Bad Guy (1985).[68] In 1982, Jackson
combined his interests in songwriting and film when he contributed "Someone in the Dark" to
the storybook for the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The song, produced by Jones, won a Grammy for
Best Recording for Children for 1983.[69]
1982–1983: Thriller and Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever
Jackson's sixth album, Thriller, was released in late 1982. It earned Jackson seven more
Grammys[69] and eight American Music Awards, and he became the youngest artist to win the Award of
Merit.[70] It was the best-selling album worldwide in 1983,[71][72] and became the best-selling album
of all time in the US[73] and the best-selling album of all time worldwide, selling an estimated 66
million copies.[74] It topped the Billboard 200 chart for 37 weeks and was in the top 10 of the 200 for 80
consecutive weeks. It was the first album to have seven Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles, including "Billie
Jean", "Beat It", and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'".[75] In December 2015, Thriller was certified for 30
million shipments by the RIAA, one of only two albums to do so in the U.S.[5] Thriller won Jackson and
Quincy Jones the Grammy award for Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) for 1983. It also won Album of
the Year, with Jackson as the album's artist and Jones as its co-producer, and a Best Pop Vocal
Performance, Male, award for Jackson. "Beat It" won Record of the Year, with Jackson as artist and
Jones as co-producer, and a Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male, award for Jackson. "Billie Jean" won
Jackson two Grammy awards, Best R&B Song, with Jackson as its songwriter, and Best R&B Vocal
Performance, Male, as its artist.[69] Thriller also won another Grammy for Best Engineered Recording –
Non Classical in 1984, awarding Bruce Swedien for his work on the album.[76] The AMA Awards for 1984
gave Jackson an Award of Merit and AMAs for Favorite Male Artist, Soul/R&B, and Favorite Male Artist,
Pop/Rock. "Beat It" won Jackson AMAs for Favorite Video, Soul/R&B, Favorite Video, Pop/Rock, and
Favorite Single, Pop/Rock. Thriller won him AMAs for Favorite Album, Soul/R&B, and Favorite Album,
Pop/Rock.[70][77]
Jackson released "Thriller", a 14-minute music video directed by John Landis, in 1983.[78] The zombie-
themed video "defined music videos and broke racial barriers" on MTV, a fledgling entertainment
television channel at the time.[41] In December 2009, the Library of Congress selected the "Thriller"
music video to be preserved in the National Film Registry as a work of "enduring importance to
American culture", the only music video to have been inducted into the registry.[79][80][78][81]
The jacket and white sequined gloves worn by Jackson at Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever
Jackson had the highest royalty rate in the music industry at that point, about $2 for every album sold,
and was making record-breaking profits. The videocassette of the documentary The Making of Michael
Jackson's Thriller sold over 350,000 copies in a few months. Dolls modeled after Jackson appeared in
stores in May 1984 for $12 each.[82] J. Randy Taraborrelli writes that "Thriller stopped selling like a
leisure item—like a magazine, a toy, tickets to a hit movie—and started selling like a household
staple."[83] In 1985, The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller won a Grammy for Best Music Video,
Longform.[69] Time described Jackson's influence at that point as "star of records, radio, rock video. A
one-man rescue team for the music business. A songwriter who sets the beat for a decade. A dancer
with the fanciest feet on the street. A singer who cuts across all boundaries of taste and style and color
too".[82] The New York Times wrote that "in the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson and there
is everybody else".[84]
On March 25, 1983, Jackson reunited with his brothers for a performance at the Pasadena Civic
Auditorium for Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, an NBC television special. The show aired on
May 16, 1983, to an estimated audience of 47 million, and featured the Jacksons and other Motown
stars.[85] Jackson's solo performance of "Billie Jean" earned him his first Emmy nomination.
[86] Wearing a black-sequined jacket and a golf glove decorated with rhinestones, he debuted his
signature dance move, the moonwalk, which Jeffrey Daniel had taught him three years earlier.
[87] Jackson had originally turned down the invitation to perform at the show, believing he had been
doing too much television; at the request of Motown founder Berry Gordy, he agreed to perform in
exchange for time to do a solo performance.[88] Rolling Stone reporter Mikal Gilmore called the
performance "extraordinary".[41] Jackson's performance drew comparisons to Elvis Presley's and the
Beatles' appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.[89] Anna Kisselgoff of The New York Times wrote in
1988: "The moonwalk that he made famous is an apt metaphor for his dance style. How does he do it?
As a technician, he is a great illusionist, a genuine mime. His ability to keep one leg straight as he glides
while the other bends and seems to walk requires perfect timing."[90] Gordy described being
"mesmerized" by the performance.[91]
1984–1985: Pepsi, "We Are the World", and business career
In November 1983, Jackson and his brothers partnered with PepsiCo in a $5 million promotional deal
that broke records for a celebrity endorsement. The first Pepsi campaign, which ran in the US from 1983
to 1984 and launched its "New Generation" theme, included tour sponsorship, public relations events,
and in-store displays. Jackson helped to create the advertisement, and suggested using his song "Billie
Jean" as its jingle with revised lyrics.[92] Brian J. Murphy, executive VP of branded management at TBA
Global, said: "You couldn't separate the tour from the endorsement from the licensing of the music, and
then the integration of the music into the Pepsi fabric."[92]
On January 27, 1984, Michael and other members of the Jacksons filmed a Pepsi commercial overseen
by Phil Dusenberry,[93] a BBDO ad agency executive, and Alan Pottasch, Pepsi's Worldwide Creative
Director, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. During a simulated concert before a full house of fans,
pyrotechnics accidentally set Jackson's hair on fire, causing second-degree burns to his scalp. Jackson
underwent treatment to hide the scars and had his third rhinoplasty shortly thereafter.[53] Pepsi settled
out of court, and Jackson donated the $1.5 million settlement to the Brotman Medical Center in Culver
City, California; its Michael Jackson Burn Center is named in his honor.[94] Dusenberry recounted the
episode in his memoir, Then We Set His Hair on Fire: Insights and Accidents from a Hall of Fame Career
in Advertising. Jackson signed a second agreement with Pepsi in the late 1980s for $10 million. The
second campaign had a global reach of more than 20 countries and provided financial support for
Jackson's Bad album and 1987–88 world tour.[92] Jackson had endorsements and advertising deals with
other companies, such as LA Gear, Suzuki, and Sony, but none were as significant as his deals with Pepsi,
which later signed Britney Spears and Beyoncé to promote its products.[92][95]
On May 14, 1984, Jackson was invited to the White House to receive an award from President Ronald
Reagan for his support of charities that helped people overcome alcohol and drug abuse,[96] and in
recognition of his support for the Ad Council's and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's
Drunk Driving Prevention campaign. Jackson donated the use of "Beat It" for the campaign's public
service announcements.[97]
President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan present Jackson with an award at the White
House on May 14, 1984
Jackson inside the White House with President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan on the same
day
The Victory Tour of 1984 headlined the Jacksons and showcased Jackson's new solo material to more
than two million Americans. It was the last tour he did with his brothers.[98] Following controversy over
the concert's ticket sales, Jackson held a press conference and announced that he would donate his
share of the proceeds, an estimated $3 to 5 million, to charity.[99] His charitable work continued with
the release of "We Are the World" (1985), co-written with Lionel Richie,[100]which raised money for the
poor in the US and Africa.[101] It earned $63 million,[101] and became one of the best-selling singles of
all time, with 20 million copies sold.[102] It won four Grammys for 1985, including Song of the Year for
Jackson and Richie as its writers.[100] The American Music Awards directors removed the charity song
from the competition because they felt it would be inappropriate, but the AMA show in 1986 concluded
with a tribute to the song on its first anniversary. The project's creators received two special AMA
honors: one for the creation of the song and another for the USA for Africaidea. Jackson, Jones, and
entertainment promoter Ken Kragan received special awards for their roles in the song's creation.[100]
[103][104][105]
Jackson collaborated with Paul McCartney in the early 1980s, and learned that McCartney was making
$40 million a year from owning the rights to other people's songs.[101] By 1983, Jackson had begun
buying publishing rights to others' songs, but he was careful with his acquisitions, only bidding on a few
of the dozens that were offered to him. Jackson's early acquisitions of music catalogs and song
copyrights such as the Sly Stone collection included "Everyday People" (1968), Len Barry's "1-2-3"
(1965), and Dion DiMucci's "The Wanderer" (1961) and "Runaround Sue" (1961).
In 1984 Robert Holmes à Court, the Australian investor who owned ATV Music Publishing, announced he
was putting the ATV catalog up for sale.[106] ATV owned the publishing rights to nearly 4000 songs,
among them the Northern Songscatalog that included the majority of the Lennon–
McCartney compositions recorded by the Beatles.[106] In 1981, McCartney had been offered the ATV
music catalog for £20 million ($40 million).[101][107][108] When he and McCartney were unable to
make a joint purchase, McCartney, who did not want to be the sole owner of the Beatles' songs, did not
pursue an offer on his own.[107][108] Jackson submitted a bid of $46 million on November 20, 1984.
[106] His agents thought they had a deal several times, but encountered new bidders or new areas of
debate. In May 1985, Jackson's team left talks after having spent more than $1 million and four months
of due diligence work on the negotiations.[106] In June 1985, Jackson and Branca learned that Charles
Koppelman's and Marty Bandier's The Entertainment Company had made a tentative offer to buy ATV
Music for $50 million; in early August, Holmes à Court's team contacted Jackson and talks resumed.
Jackson raised his bid to $47.5 million, which was accepted because he could close the deal more
quickly, having already completed due diligence.[106] Jackson also agreed to visit Holmes à Court in
Australia, where he would appear on the Channel Seven Perth Telethon.[109] Jackson's purchase of ATV
Music was finalized on August 10, 1985.[106][101]
1986–1987: Changing appearance, tabloids, and films
Health and appearance of Michael Jackson
Jackson's skin had been a medium-brown color during his youth, but from the mid-1980s gradually grew
paler. The change gained widespread media coverage, including rumors that he might have
been bleaching his skin.[110][111][112] According to J. Randy Taraborrelli's biography, in 1984 Jackson
was diagnosed with vitiligo, which causes white patches on the skin. Taraborrelli stated that Jackson had
also been skin bleaching. He said that Jackson was diagnosed with lupus, which was in remission. Both
illnesses made Jackson's skin sensitive to sunlight. The treatments Jackson used for his condition further
lightened his skin, and, with the application of pancake makeup to even out blotches he could appear
even paler.[113] Jackson stated that he used makeup to control the patchy appearance of his skin, but
never purposely bleached his skin. He said of his vitiligo: "It is something I cannot help. When people
make up stories that I don't want to be who I am, it hurts me. It's a problem for me. I can't control
it."[114] Jackson was also diagnosed with vitiligo in his autopsy, though not lupus.[115]
Jackson stated he had had only two rhinoplasties and no other facial surgery, but mentioned having had
a dimple created in his chin. He lost weight in the early 1980s because of a change in diet and a desire
for "a dancer's body".[116] Witnesses reported that he was often dizzy, and speculated he was suffering
from anorexia nervosa. Periods of weight loss became a recurring problem later in his life.[117] During
the course of his treatment, Jackson became friendly with his dermatologist, Arnold Klein, and Klein's
nurse Debbie Rowe. Rowe later became Jackson's second wife and the mother of his two eldest
children. He also relied heavily on Klein for medical and business advice.[118]
In 1986, the tabloids ran a story claiming that he slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to slow aging,
and was pictured lying in a glass box. The claim was untrue; widely cited tabloid reports state that
Jackson disseminated the fabricated story himself.[119] When Jackson bought a chimpanzee
named Bubbles from a laboratory, he was reported as increasingly detached from reality.[120] It was
reported that Jackson had offered to buy the bones of Joseph Merrick (the "Elephant Man") and,
although the story was untrue, Jackson did not deny it.[121] He initially saw these stories as
opportunities for publicity, but stopped leaking them to the press as they became more sensational. The
media then began fabricating stories.[119][122][123] These stories became embedded in the public
consciousness, inspiring the nickname "Wacko Jacko", which Jackson came to despise.[9][124]
Jackson collaborated with filmmakers George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola on the 17-minute 3D
film Captain EO, which debuted in September 1986 at the original Disneyland and at Epcot in Florida,
and in March 1987 at Tokyo Disneyland. The $30 million film was a popular attraction at all three parks.
A Captain EO attraction also featured at Euro Disneyland after the park opened in 1992, and was the last
to close, in 1998.[125] The attraction returned to Disneyland in 2010 after Jackson's death.[126] In 1987,
Jackson disassociated himself from the Jehovah's Witnesses.[127] Katherine Jackson said this might have
been because some Witnesses strongly opposed the Thriller video;[128] Jackson had denounced it in a
Witness publication in 1984.[129]
1987–1990: Bad, autobiography, and Neverland
Jackson (center) performing in 1988
Jackson's first album in five years, Bad (1987), was highly anticipated, with the industry expecting
another major hit.[130] It produced nine singles, with seven charting in the US Five ("I Just Can't Stop
Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror", and "Dirty Diana") reached
number one on the Billboard Hot 100, a record for the most number-one Hot 100 singles from a single
album.[131] It won the 1988 Grammy for Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical and the 1989
Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form for "Leave Me Alone".[69][76] Jackson won an Award of
Achievement at the American Music Awards in 1989 after Bad became the first album to generate five
number-one singles in the US, the first album to top in 25 countries, and the best-selling album
worldwide in 1987 and 1988.[132][133][134][135] By 2012, it had sold between 30 and 45 million copies
worldwide.[136][137][138][139]
The Bad world tour began on September 12, 1988, finishing on January 14, 1989.[140] Jackson
performed a total of 123 concerts to an audience of 4.4 million people.[141] In Japan alone, the tour had
14 sellouts and drew 570,000 people, nearly tripling the previous record of 200,000 in a single tour.
[142] 504,000 people attended seven sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium, setting a new Guinness
world record.[143]
In 1988, Jackson released his autobiography, Moonwalk, which took four years to complete. It sold
200,000 copies[144] and reached the top of the New York Times bestsellers list.[145] He wrote about his
childhood, the abuse from his father, and the Jackson 5;[146] he also wrote about his changing facial
appearance, attributing it to puberty, weight loss, a strict vegetarian diet, a change in hairstyle, and
stage lighting.[116] Jackson released a film, Moonwalker, which featured live footage and short films
starring Jackson and Joe Pesci. Due to financial problems, the film was only released theatrically in
Germany; in other markets it was released direct-to-video. It debuted at the top of the Billboard Top
Music Video Cassette chart, and stayed there for 22 weeks, until it was displaced by Michael Jackson:
The Legend Continues.[147]
Jackson wore a gold-plated military style jacket with belt during the Bad era
In March 1988, Jackson purchased 2,700 acres (11 km2) of land near Santa Ynez, California, to build a
new home, Neverland Ranch, at a cost of $17 million.[148] He installed several carnival rides, including
a Ferris wheel, carousel, menagerie, movie theater and zoo.[148][149][150] A security staff of 40
patrolled the grounds.[149] In 2003, it was valued at $100 million.[151] In 1989, Jackson's annual
earnings from album sales, endorsements, and concerts were estimated at $125 million for that year
alone.[152] Shortly afterwards, he became the first Westerner to appear in a television advertisement in
the Soviet Union.[147]
Jackson's success earned him the nickname the "King of Pop".[153][10][154] It was popularized
by Elizabeth Taylor when she presented him with the Soul Train Heritage Award in 1989, proclaiming
him "the true king of pop, rock and soul,"[155] and the release of the "Black or White" video.
[156] President George H. W. Bush designated him the White House's "Artist of the Decade".[157] From
1985 to 1990, Jackson donated $455,000 to the United Negro College Fund,[158] and all profits from his
single "Man in the Mirror" went to charity.[159]His rendition of "You Were There" at Sammy Davis Jr.'s
60th birthday celebration won Jackson a second Emmy nomination.[86][147]
1991–1993: Dangerous, Heal the World Foundation, and Super Bowl XXVII
In March 1991, Jackson renewed his contract with Sony for $65 million, a record-breaking deal,
[160] displacing Neil Diamond's renewal contract with Columbia Records.[161] In 1991, he released his
eighth album, Dangerous, co-produced with Teddy Riley.[162] Dangerous was certified seven times
platinum in the US, and by 2008 had sold 30 million copies worldwide.[163][164] In the US, the first
single, "Black or White", was the album's biggest hit; it remained at number one on the Billboard Hot
100 for seven weeks and achieved similar chart performances worldwide.[165] The second single,
"Remember the Time", spent eight weeks in the top five in the US, peaking at number three on
the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.[166] At the end of 1992, Dangerous was named the best-selling
album of the year worldwide and "Black or White" the best-selling single of the year worldwide at
the Billboard Music Awards. Jackson was also named best-selling artist of the 1980s.[167] In 1993, he
performed "Black or White" song at the Soul Train Music Awards in a chair, saying he had suffered an
injury in rehearsals.[168] In the UK and other parts of Europe, "Heal the World" was the most successful
single; it sold 450,000 copies in the UK and spent five weeks at number two in 1992.[166]
Jackson founded the Heal the World Foundation in 1992. The charity brought underprivileged children
to Jackson's ranch to use the theme park rides, and sent millions of dollars around the globe to help
children threatened by war, poverty, and disease. In the same year, Jackson published his second
book, Dancing the Dream, a collection of poetry. The Dangerous World Tour ran between June 1992 and
November 1993, having grossed $100 million; Jackson performed to 3.5 million people in 70 concerts.
[166][169] He sold the broadcast rights to the tour to HBO for $20 million, a record-breaking deal that
still stands.[170]
Following the death of AIDS spokesperson Ryan White, Jackson helped draw public attention
to HIV/AIDS, which was controversial at the time. He pleaded with the Clinton administration at Bill
Clinton's inaugural gala to give more money to HIV/AIDS charities and research.[171][172] Jackson
visited Africa; on his first stop in Gabon he was greeted by more than 100,000 people, some of them
carrying signs that read "Welcome Home Michael".[173] During his trip to Ivory Coast, Jackson was
crowned "King Sani" by a tribal chief.[173] He thanked the dignitaries in French and English, signed
documents formalizing his kingship, and sat on a golden throne while presiding over ceremonial dances.
[173]
In January 1993, Jackson performed at the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show in Pasadena, California. The
NFL sought big-name talent to keep ratings high during halftime following dwindling audience figures.
[174][175] It was the first Super Bowl whose half-time performance drew greater audience figures than
the game. The performance began with Jackson catapulting onto the stage as fireworks went off behind
him, followed by four songs: "Jam", "Billie Jean", "Black or White", and "Heal the World".
Jackson's Dangerous album rose 90 places in the album chart after the performance.[110]
Jackson gave a 90-minute interview to Oprah Winfrey on February 10, 1993, his second television
interview since 1979. He spoke of his childhood abuse at the hands of his father; he believed he had
missed out on much of his childhood, and said that he often cried from loneliness. He denied tabloid
rumors that he had bought the bones of the Elephant Man, slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, or
bleached his skin, and stated for the first time that he had vitiligo. Dangerous re-entered the album
chart in the top 10, more than a year after its release.[25][110][166]
In February 1993, Jackson won the "Living Legend Award" at the 35th Annual Grammy Awards in Los
Angeles. Dangerous was nominated for Best Vocal Performance (for "Black or White"), Best R&B Vocal
Performance ("Jam") and Best R&B Song ("Jam"),[166] and Swedien and Riley won the award for Best
Engineered – Non Classical.[76] In the same year, Jackson won three American Music Awards for
Favorite Pop/Rock Album (Dangerous), Favorite Soul/R&B Single ("Remember the Time"), and was the
first to win the International Artist Award of Excellence, for his global performances and humanitarian
concerns.[176][177]
1993–1994: First child sexual abuse allegations and first marriage
1993 child sexual abuse accusations against Michael Jackson
In mid-1993, Jackson was accused of child sexual abuse by a 13-year-old boy, Jordan Chandler, and his
father, Evan Chandler.[178][179][180] Jackson began taking painkillers, Valium, Xanax and Ativan to deal
with the stress of the allegations. By late 1993, he was addicted to the drugs.[181] The Chandler family
demanded payment from Jackson, which he refused. Jordan Chandler told the police that Jackson had
sexually abused him;[121][182] Jordan's mother said that there had been no wrongdoing on Jackson's
part.[180] Evan was recorded discussing his intention to pursue charges[180] and Jackson used the
recording to argue that he was the victim of a jealous father trying to extort money.[180] In January
1994, after an investigation, deputy Los Angeles County district attorney Michael J. Montagna stated
that Chandler would not be charged with extortion, due to lack of cooperation from Jackson's party and
its willingness to negotiate with Chandler for several weeks, among other reasons.[183]
In August 1993, police raided Jackson's home and found books and photographs in his bedroom
featuring young boys with little or no clothing.[184] The books were legal to purchase and own in the
US, and Jackson was not indicted.[185] Jordan Chandler gave police a description of Jackson's intimate
parts; a strip search revealed that Jordan had correctly claimed Jackson had patchy-colored buttocks,
short pubic hair, and pink and brown marked testicles.[186] He also drew accurate pictures of a dark
spot on Jackson's penis only visible when it was lifted.[187] Some jurors felt that the photos did not
match the description,[188] but the DA and the sheriff's photographer stated that the description was
accurate.[189]
The investigation was inconclusive and no charges were filed.[188] Jackson described the search in an
emotional public statement, and proclaimed his innocence.[178][186][190] On January 1, 1994, Jackson
settled with the Chandlers out of court for an undisclosed amount.[191] A Santa Barbara County grand
jury and a Los Angeles County grand jury disbanded on May 2, 1994, without indicting Jackson.[192] The
Chandlers stopped co-operating with the criminal investigation around July 6, 1994.[193][194][195]
In 2004 Jackson's defense said that Jackson had never been criminally indicted, his settlement admitted
no wrongdoing or evidence of criminal misconduct, and that the 1994 settlement was made without his
consent.[193] A later disclosure by the FBI of investigation documents compiled over nearly 20 years led
Jackson's attorney to suggest that no evidence of molestation or sexual impropriety from Jackson
toward minors existed.[196] The Department of Children and Family Services (Los Angeles
County) investigated Jackson beginning in 1993 with the Chandler allegation and again in 2003.
The LAPD and DCFS did not find credible evidence of abuse or sexual misconduct.[197][198]
In May 1994, Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis and Priscilla Presley. They had
met in 1975, when a seven-year-old Presley attended one of Jackson's family engagements at the MGM
Grand Hotel and Casino, and reconnected through a mutual friend.[199] A friend of Presley's said they
first met as adults in November 1992.[200] They stayed in contact every day over the telephone. As child
molestation accusations against Jackson became public, he became dependent on Presley for emotional
support; she was concerned about his faltering health and addiction to drugs.[181] Presley said: "I
believed he didn't do anything wrong and that he was wrongly accused and yes I started falling for him. I
wanted to save him. I felt that I could do it."[201] Shortly afterward, she tried to persuade Jackson to
settle the allegations out of court and go into rehabilitation to recover—he subsequently did both.[181]
Jackson proposed to Presley over the telephone in late 1993, saying: "If I asked you to marry me, would
you do it?"[181] They married in the Dominican Republic in secrecy, denying it for nearly two months
afterwards.[202] The marriage was, in her words, "a married couple's life ... that was sexually
active."[203] The tabloid media speculated that the wedding was a ploy to prop up Jackson's public
image.[202] The marriage ended less than two years later with an amicable divorce settlement.[204]In a
2010 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Presley said they had spent four more years after the divorce
"getting back together and breaking up" until she decided to stop.[205]
1995–1997: HIStory, second marriage, and fatherhood
In June 1995, Jackson released the double album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. The first
disc, HIStory Begins, is a greatest hits album (reissued in 2001 as Greatest Hits: HIStory, Volume I). The
second disc, HIStory Continues, contains 13 original songs and two cover versions. The album debuted at
number one on the charts and has been certified for seven million shipments in the US.[206] It is the
best-selling multi-disc album of all time, with 20 million copies (40 million units) sold worldwide.[165]
[207] HIStory received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.[208]
The first single released from HIStory was "Scream/Childhood". "Scream", a duet with Jackson's
youngest sister Janet, protests the media, particularly its treatment of Jackson during the 1993 child
abuse allegations. The single had the highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at number five, and
received a Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals".[208] The second single, "You
Are Not Alone", holds the Guinness world record for the first song to debut at number one on
the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[152] It was seen as a major artistic and commercial success, receiving a
Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Vocal Performance".[208]
In late 1995, Jackson was rushed to a hospital after collapsing during rehearsals for a televised
performance, caused by a stress-related panic attack.[209] In November, Jackson merged his ATV Music
catalog with Sony's music publishing division, creating Sony/ATV Music Publishing. He retained
ownership of half the company, earning $95 million up front as well as the rights to more songs.[210]
[211] "Earth Song" was the third single released from HIStory, and topped the UK Singles Chart for six
weeks over Christmas 1995; it sold a million copies, making it Jackson's most successful single in the UK.
[208] The track "They Don't Care About Us" became controversial when the Anti-Defamation
League and other groups criticized its allegedly antisemitic lyrics. Jackson quickly released a revised
version of the song without the offending lyrics.[212] In 1996, Jackson won a Grammy for Best Music
Video, Short Form for "Scream" and an American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist.[69]
[213]
Jackson at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival for the Ghosts music video premiere
HIStory was promoted with the HIStory World Tour, beginning on September 7, 1996, and ending on
October 15, 1997. Jackson performed 82 concerts in five continents, 35 countries and 58 cities to over
4.5 million fans, and grossed a total of $165 million, becoming Jackson's most attended tour.
[140] During the tour, Jackson married Debbie Rowe, a dermatology nurse, in an impromptu ceremony
in Sydney, Australia. Rowe was six months pregnant with the couple's first child at the time. Originally,
Rowe and Jackson had no plans to marry, but Jackson's mother Katherine persuaded them to do so.
[214] Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. (commonly known as Prince) was born on February 13, 1997; his
sister Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson was born a year later on April 3, 1998.[204][215] The couple
divorced in 1999, and Jackson received full custody of the children. The subsequent custody suit was
settled in 2006.[216][217]
In 1997, Jackson released Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, which contained remixes of hit
singles from HIStory and five new songs. Worldwide sales stand at 6 million copies, making it the best-
selling remix album of all time.[218] It reached number one in the UK, as did the title track.[218][219] In
the US, the album was certified platinum, but only reached number 24.[163][208] Forbes placed
Jackson's annual income at $35 million in 1996 and $20 million in 1997.[151]
1997–2002: Label dispute and Invincible
From October 1997 to September 2001, Jackson worked on his tenth solo album, Invincible. The album
cost $30 million to record, not including promotional expenditures.[220] In June 1999, Jackson
joined Luciano Pavarotti for a War Child benefit concert in Modena, Italy. The show raised a million
dollars for the refugees of Kosovo, FR Yugoslavia, and additional funds for the children of Guatemala.
[221] Later that month, Jackson organized a series of "Michael Jackson & Friends" benefit concerts in
Germany and Korea. Other artists involved included Slash, The Scorpions, Boyz II Men, Luther
Vandross, Mariah Carey, A. R. Rahman, Prabhu Deva Sundaram, Shobana, Andrea Bocelli, and Luciano
Pavarotti. The proceeds went to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, the Red Cross and UNESCO.
[222] From August 1999 to 2000, he lived in New York City at 4 East 74th Street.[223] At the turn of the
century, Jackson won an American Music Award as Artist of the 1980s.[224] In 2000, Guinness World
Records recognized him for supporting 39 charities, more than any other entertainer.[225]
In September 2001, two 30th Anniversary concerts were held at Madison Square Garden to mark
Jackson's 30th year as a solo artist. Jackson appeared onstage alongside his brothers for the first time
since 1984. The show also featured performances by artists including Mýa, Usher, Whitney
Houston, NSYNC, Destiny's Child, Monica, Luther Vandross, and Slash.[226] After 9/11, Jackson helped
organize the United We Stand: What More Can I Give benefit concert at RFK Stadium in Washington,
D.C. on October 21, 2001. Jackson performed "What More Can I Give" as the finale.[227]
The release of Invincible was preceded by a dispute between Jackson and his record label, Sony Music
Entertainment. Jackson had expected the licenses to the masters of his albums to revert to him some
time in the early 2000s, after which he would be able to promote the material however he pleased and
keep the profits; clauses in the contract set the revert date years into the future. Jackson discovered
that the attorney who had represented him in the deal had also been representing Sony.[219] Sony had
been pressuring him to sell his share in its music catalog venture, and he feared that Sony might have
had a conflict of interest, since if Jackson's career failed, he would have had to sell his share of the
catalog at a low price.[227] Jackson sought an early exit from his contract.[219]
Invincible was released on October 30, 2001. It was Jackson's first full-length album in six years, and the
last album of original material he released in his lifetime.[219] It debuted at number one in 13 countries
and went on to sell 6 million copies worldwide, receiving double-platinum certification in the US.[163]
[165] Sales for Invinciblewere lower than Jackson's previous releases, due in part to the record label
dispute and the lack of promotion or tour, and its release at a bad time[228] for the music industry in
general.[227] Invincible spawned three singles, "You Rock My World", "Cry", and "Butterflies", the latter
without a music video.
On January 22, 2002, Jackson won his 22nd American Music Award for Artist of the Century.[229] In the
same year, his third child, Prince Michael Jackson II (nicknamed "Blanket") was born. The mother's
identity was not announced, but Jackson said Prince was the result of artificial insemination from
a surrogate mother and his own sperm.[216] Jackson alleged in July 2002 that Sony Music
chairman Tommy Mottola was a "devil" and "racist" who did not support his African-American artists,
using them merely for his own gain.[227] He charged that Mottola had called his colleague Irv Gotti a
"fat nigger".[230] Sony refused to renew Jackson's contract, and claimed that a $25 million promotional
campaign had failed because Jackson refused to tour in the US.[220]
2002–2005: Second child sexual abuse allegations and acquittal
Living with Michael Jackson and Trial of Michael Jackson
Jackson in Las Vegas, 2003
Beginning in May 2002, Jackson allowed a documentary film crew, led by British journalist Martin Bashir,
to follow him nearly everywhere he went. On November 20, Jackson brought his infant son Prince onto
the balcony of his room at the Hotel Adlonin Berlin as fans stood below, holding him in his right arm
with a cloth loosely draped over Prince's face. He briefly held Prince out over a railing, four stories above
ground level, prompting widespread criticism in the media. Jackson apologized for the incident, calling it
"a terrible mistake".[231] Bashir's crew was with Jackson during this incident; the program was
broadcast in March 2003 as Living with Michael Jackson. In one scene, Jackson was seen holding hands
and discussing sleeping arrangements with a young boy.[232] Jackson stated in the documentary that he
saw nothing wrong with sleeping with boys.[233]
As soon as the documentary aired, the Santa Barbara county attorney's office began a criminal
investigation. After the young boy involved in the documentary and his mother had told investigators
that Jackson had behaved improperly, Jackson was arrested in November 2003 and charged with seven
counts of child molestation and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent in relation to the 13-
year-old boy shown in the film.[232] Jackson denied the allegations, saying the sleepovers were not
sexual in nature. The People v. Jackson trial began on January 31, 2005, in Santa Maria, California, and
lasted until the end of May. On June 13, 2005, Jackson was acquitted on all counts.[234][235][236] After
the trial he moved to the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain as a guest of Sheikh Abdullah.[237] Jermaine
Jackson later said the family had planned to send him there had he been convicted.[238]
On November 17, 2003, three days before Jackson's arrest, Sony released Number Ones, a compilation
of Jackson's hits on CD and DVD. In the US, the album was certified triple platinum by the RIAA; in the
UK it was certified six times platinum for shipments of at least 1.2 million units.[163][239]
2006–2009: Closure of Neverland, final years, and This Is It
Jackson and his son Blanket in Disneyland Paris, 2006
In March 2006, amidst reports that Jackson was having financial problems, the main house at Neverland
Ranch was closed as a cost-cutting measure.[240] Jackson had failed to make repayments of a $270
million loan secured against his music publishing holdings, which were making him $75 million a year.
[241] Bank of America sold the debt to Fortress Investments. Sony proposed a restructuring deal which
would give them a future option to buy half of Jackson's stake in their jointly-owned publishing
company, leaving Jackson with a 25% stake.[211] Jackson agreed to a Sony-backed refinancing deal in
April 2006; the details were not made public.[242]
In early 2006, it was announced that Jackson had signed a contract with a Bahrain-based startup, Two
Seas Records; nothing came of the deal, and Two Seas CEO Guy Holmes later stated that it had never
been finalized.[243][244] That October, Fox News entertainment reporter Roger Friedman said that
Jackson had been recording at a studio in rural County Westmeath, Ireland. It was not known at the time
what Jackson was working on, or who had paid for the sessions, since his publicist had recently issued a
statement claiming that he had left Two Seas.[244][245] In November 2006, Jackson invited an Access
Hollywood camera crew into the studio in Westmeath, and MSNBC reported that he was working on a
new album, produced by will.i.am.[165] Jackson performed at the World Music Awardsin London on
November 15, 2006, and accepted a Diamond Award for selling over 100 million records.[165]
[246] During his period in Ireland he sought Patrick Treacy for cosmetic treatment after reading about
his experience with HLA fillers and his charitable work in Africa.[247] Treacy became his doctor when he
lived in Ireland in 2006. He started as Jackson's personal dermatologist and developed a friendship with
him.[248] Jackson returned to the US after Christmas 2006 to attend James Brown's funeral in Augusta,
Georgia, where he gave one of the eulogies, saying that "James Brown is my greatest inspiration".[249]
In 2007, Jackson and Sony bought another music publishing company, Famous Music LLC, formerly
owned by Viacom. This deal gave him the rights to songs by Eminem and Beck, among others.[250]
[251] In March 2007, Jackson gave a brief interview to the Associated Press in Tokyo, where he said:
"I've been in the entertainment industry since I was 6 years old, and as Charles Dickens would say, 'It's
been the best of times, the worst of times.' But I would not change my career ... While some have made
deliberate attempts to hurt me, I take it in stride because I have a loving family, a strong faith and
wonderful friends and fans who have, and continue, to support me."[252] That month, Jackson visited a
US Army post in Japan, Camp Zama, to greet over 3,000 troops and their families. The hosts presented
Jackson with a Certificate of Appreciation.[253][254]
In September 2007, Jackson was still working on his next album, but it was never completed.[255] In
2008, Jackson and Sony released Thriller 25 to mark the 25th anniversary of the original Thriller. The
album featured the previously unreleased song "For All Time", an outtake from the original sessions, as
well as remixes by younger artists who had been inspired by Jackson's work.[256] Two remixes were
released as singles with modest success: "The Girl Is Mine 2008" (with will.i.am), based on an early demo
version of the original song without Paul McCartney, and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008" (with
Akon).[256][257][258][259] In anticipation of Jackson's 50th birthday, Sony BMG released a series of
greatest hits albums, King of Pop. Slightly different versions were released in various countries, based on
polls of local fans.[260] King of Pop reached the top 10 in most countries where it was issued, and also
sold well as an import in other countries, including the US.[261][262]
An aerial view of part of Jackson's 2,800-acre (11 km2) Neverland Valley Ranch near Los Olivos,
California, showing the rides
In late 2008, Fortress Investments threatened to foreclose on Neverland Ranch, which Jackson used as
collateral for loans running into many tens of millions of dollars. Fortress opted to sell Jackson's debts
to Colony Capital LLC. In November, Jackson transferred Neverland Ranch's title to Sycamore Valley
Ranch Company LLC, a joint venture between Jackson and Colony Capital LLC. The deal cleared Jackson's
debt and earned him an additional $35 million. At the time of his death, Jackson still owned a stake of
unknown size in Neverland/Sycamore Valley.[263][264] In September 2008, Jackson entered
negotiations with Julien's Auction House to display and auction a large collection of memorabilia in
1,390 lots. The auction was scheduled to take place between April 22 and 25.[265] An exhibition of the
lots opened as scheduled on April 14, but Jackson cancelled the auction.[266]
In March 2009, Jackson held a press conference at London's O2 Arena to announce a series of comeback
concerts titled This Is It. The shows were planned to be Jackson's first major series of concerts since the
HIStory World Tour finished in 1997. Jackson suggested he would retire after the shows. The initial plan
was for 10 concerts in London, followed by shows in Paris, New York City and Mumbai. Randy Phillips,
president and chief executive of AEG Live, stated that the first 10 dates would earn Jackson £50 million.
[267] The London residency was increased to 50 dates after record-breaking ticket sales: over one
million were sold in less than two hours.[268] The concerts would have commenced on July 13, 2009,
and finished on March 6, 2010. Jackson rehearsed in Los Angeles in the weeks leading up to the tour
under the direction of choreographer Kenny Ortega. Most rehearsals took place at the Staples Center,
owned by AEG.[269]
Death, memorial service, and aftermath
Death of Michael Jackson and Michael Jackson memorial service
Fans placed flowers and notes on Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on the day of his death.
On June 25, 2009, less than three weeks before the first show was due to begin in London, with all
concerts sold out, Jackson suffered cardiac arrest and died.[270] Conrad Murray, his personal physician,
had given Jackson various medications in an attempt to help him sleep at his rented mansion in Holmby
Hills, Los Angeles. Attempts at resuscitating Jackson were unsuccessful.[271][272] Los Angeles Fire
Department paramedics received a 911 call at 12:22 pm (PDT, 19:22 UTC), arriving three minutes later.
[273][274] Jackson was not breathing and CPR was performed.[275] Resuscitation efforts continued en
route to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and for more than an hour after arriving there at 1:13 pm
(20:13 UTC). He was pronounced dead at 2:26 pm Pacific time (21:26 UTC).[276][277]
In August 2009, the Los Angeles County Coroner ruled that Jackson's death was a homicide.[278]
[279] Jackson had taken propofol, lorazepam, and midazolam;[280] his death was caused by acute
propofol intoxication.[281]
Jackson's death triggered a global outpouring of grief.[272] The news spread quickly online, causing
websites to slow down and crash from user overload,[282] and putting unprecedented strain[283] on
services and websites including Google,[284] AOL Instant Messenger,[283] Twitter, and Wikipedia.
[284] Overall, web traffic ranged from 11% to at least 20% higher than normal.[285]
[286] MTV and BET aired marathons of Jackson's music videos.[287] Jackson specials aired on television
stations around the world.[288] MTV briefly returned to its original music video format,[289] airing
hours of Jackson's music videos, accompanied by live news specials featuring reactions from MTV
personalities and other celebrities.[290]
Jackson's tomb in the Holly Terrace of the Great Mausoleum, Forest Lawn Glendale
Memorial service
Jackson's memorial was held on July 7, 2009 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, preceded by a private
family service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park's Hall of Liberty. Tickets to the memorial were distributed
via lottery; over 1.6 million fans applied for tickets during the two-day application period. The final 8,750
recipients were drawn at random, and each recipient received two tickets.[291] The memorial service
was one of the most watched events in streaming history,[292] with an estimated US audience of 31.1
million, a number comparable to the 35.1 million who watched the 2004 burial of former president
Ronald Reagan and the 33.1 million Americans who watched the 1997 funeral for Princess Diana.[293]
Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, John Mayer, Jennifer Hudson, Usher, Jermaine Jackson,
and Shaheen Jafargholiperformed at the event. Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson gave eulogies,
while Queen Latifah read "We Had Him", a poem written for the occasion by Maya Angelou.[294] Al
Sharpton received a standing ovation with cheers when he told Jackson's children, "Wasn't nothing
strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with. But he dealt with it
anyway."[295] Jackson's 11-year-old daughter Paris Katherine, speaking publicly for the first time, wept
as she addressed the crowd.[296][297] The Rev. Lucious Smith provided a closing prayer.[298] Jackson's
body was entombed on September 3, 2009, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.[299]
Criminal investigation and prosecution
Law enforcement officials investigated Jackson's personal physician, Conrad Murray, and charged
him with involuntary manslaughter in Los Angeles on February 8, 2010.[300] The California Medical
Board issued an order preventing Murray from administering heavy sedatives.[301] Murray's trial began
on September 27, 2011;[302] on November 7, 2011, he was found guilty of involuntary
manslaughter[303] and held without bail to await sentencing.[304] On November 29, 2011, Murray
received the maximum sentence of four years in prison.[305] He was released on October 28,
2013[306] due to California prison overcrowding and good behavior.[307]
Aftermath
Fan tributes at Jackson's tomb on the first anniversary of his death
On June 25, 2010, the first anniversary of Jackson's death, fans, family and friends visited Jackson's star
on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, his family home, and Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Many carried
tributes to leave at the sites.[308][309] On June 26, fans marched in front of the Los Angeles Police
Department's Robbery-Homicide Division at the old Parker Center building, and submitted a petition
with thousands of signatures, demanding justice in the homicide investigation.[310] The Jackson Family
Foundation and Voiceplate presented "Forever Michael", an event uniting Jackson family members,
celebrities, fans, supporters and the community. A portion of the proceeds were presented to charity.
[311]
In April 2011, billionaire businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, chairman of Fulham Football Club, unveiled
a statue of Jacksonoutside the club stadium, Craven Cottage.[312] Fulham fans failed to see the
relevance of Jackson to the club;[313] Al-Fayed defended the statue and told the fans to "go to hell" if
they did not appreciate it.[312] The statue was removed in September 2013[314] and moved to
the National Football Museum in Manchester in May 2014.[315] The statue was removed from display
in March 2019 following the Leaving Neverland documentary.[316]
In 2012, in an attempt to end a family dispute, Jackson's brother Jermaine Jackson retracted his
signature on a public letter criticizing executors of Michael Jackson's estate and his mother's advisers
over the legitimacy of his brother's will.[317] T.J. Jackson, son of Tito Jackson, was given co-guardianship
of Michael Jackson's children after false reports surfaced of Katherine Jackson going missing.[318]
In 2013, choreographer Wade Robson and James Safechuck filed a $1.5 billion-dollar civil lawsuit
claiming Jackson had sexually abused them as children.[319] On May 16, 2013, Robson alleged on The
Today Show that Jackson had abused him for seven years, beginning when Robson was seven years old.
[320] Robson had previously testified in defense of Jackson in the 2005 trial.[321] On December 19,
2017, Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff dismissed the lawsuit because Robson had filed too late.[322][323]
[324] The documentary Leaving Neverland (2019) covers Jackson's alleged sexual abuse of Robson and
Safechuck.[325] Jackson's family condemned the film as a "public lynching" and insisted he was
innocent.[326] Many radio stations, including some in New Zealand, Canada, and the UK, removed
Jackson's music from their playlists in response to the new allegations in the documentary.[327][328]
Posthumous releases
Following a surge in sales following Jackson's death, Sony extended its distribution rights for his music,
which had been due to expire in 2015.[329] On March 16, 2010, Sony Music Entertainment,
spearheaded by its Columbia/Epic Label Group division, signed a $250 million deal with the Jackson
estate to extend their distribution rights to Jackson's back catalogue until at least 2017 and release ten
new albums of previously unreleased material and new collections of released work.[330]
The first posthumous Jackson song, "This Is It", co-written in the 1980s with Paul Anka, was released in n
October 2009. The surviving Jackson brothers reunited to record backing vocals.[331] On October 28,
2009, Sony released a documentary film about the rehearsals, Michael Jackson's This Is It.[332] Despite
a limited two-week engagement, it became the highest-grossing documentary or concert film of all time,
with earnings of more than $260 million worldwide.[333] Jackson's estate received 90% of the profits.
[334] The film was accompanied by a compilation album of the same name.[335] At the 2009 American
Music Awards, Jackson won four posthumous awards, two for him and two for his album Number Ones,
bringing his total American Music Awards to 26.[336][337]
In late 2010, Sony released the first posthumous album, Michael and the promotional single "Breaking
News".[338] Sony Music paid the Jackson estate $250 million for the deal, plus royalties, making it the
most expensive music contract for a single artist in history.[329][339] Video game
developer Ubisoft released a music video gamefeaturing Jackson for the 2010 holiday season, Michael
Jackson: The Experience; it was among the first games to use Kinect and PlayStation Move, the motion-
detecting camera systems for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 respectively.[340] Xscape, an album of
unreleased material,[341] was released on May 13, 2014.[342] Later that year, Queen released three
duets recorded with Jackson and Freddie Mercury in the 1980s.[66] A compilation album, Scream, was
released on September 29, 2017.[343] In 2017, Sony Music Entertainment extended its partnership with
the Michael Jackson estate,[344] and in July 2018, Sony/ATV bought the Jackson estate's stake in EMI
for $287.5 million.[345]
In October 2011, the theater company Cirque du Soleil launched Michael Jackson: The Immortal World
Tour in Montreal, with a permanent show resident in Las Vegas.[346] The 90-minute $57-million
production combined Jackson's music and choreography with the Cirque's 65 aerial dancers.[347] A
compilation soundtrack album, Immortal, accompanied the tour.[348] A larger and more theatrical
Cirque show, Michael Jackson: One, designed for residency at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas,
opened on May 23, 2013 in a renovated theater.[349][350]
In December 2015, Thriller became the first album in the US to surpass 30 million shipments, certifying it
30× platinum.[5] A year later, it was certified again at 33× platinum, after Soundscan added streams and
audio downloads to album certifications.[351] In 2018, its US sales record was overtaken by the Eagles'
album Greatest Hits 1971–75, with 38× platinum.[352]
A jukebox musical, Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, is due to debut on Broadway in mid-2020.[353] The
musical is directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon and features a book by Lynn Nottage.
[354] It was delayed[328] and a planned pre-Broadway run in Chicago was cancelled in the wake of the
renewed claims of child sexual abuse in the Leaving Neverland documentary.[355]
Artistry
Influences
Jackson performing in 1992
Jackson was influenced by musicians including Little Richard, James Brown,[356] Jackie Wilson, Diana
Ross, Fred Astaire,[356] Sammy Davis Jr.,[356] Gene Kelly,[356][357] David Ruffin,[358] the Isley
Brothers, and the Bee Gees.[359] Little Richard had a substantial influence on Jackson,[360] but James
Brown was his greatest inspiration; he later said that as a small child, his mother would waken him
whenever Brown appeared on television. Jackson described being "mesmerized".[361]
Jackson owed his vocal technique in large part to Diana Ross, especially his use of the oooh interjection,
which he used from a young age; Ross had used this effect on many of the songs recorded with the
Supremes.[362] Not only a mother figure to him, she was often observed in rehearsal as an
accomplished performer.[363] He said: "I got to know her well. She taught me so much. I used to just sit
in the corner and watch the way she moved. She was art in motion. I studied the way she moved, the
way she sang – just the way she was." He told her: "I want to be just like you, Diana." She said: "You just
be yourself."[364]
Choreographer David Winters, who met and befriended Jackson while choreographing the 1971 Diana
Ross TV special Diana!, said that Jackson watched the musical West Side Story almost every week, and it
was his favorite film; he paid tribute to it in "Beat It" and the "Bad" video.[359][365][366]
Musicianship
Jackson had no formal music training and could not read or write music notation.[367] He is credited for
playing instruments including guitar, keyboard and drums, but was proficient in none.[367] Instead,
when composing, he recorded ideas by beatboxing and imitating instruments vocally.[367]Describing his
process, he said: "I'll just sing the bass part into the tape recorder. I'll take that bass lick and put the
chords of the melody over the bass lick and that’s what inspires the melody."[367] Engineer Robert
Hoffman recalled Jackson dictating a guitar chord note by note, and singing entire string arrangements
part by part into a cassette recorder.[367]
Themes and genres
Jackson in June 1988, in Vienna, during his Bad world tour
Jackson explored genres including pop, soul, rhythm and blues, funk, rock, disco, post-disco, dance-
pop and new jack swing.[9][149][368][369][370][371] Steve Huey of AllMusic wrote that Thriller refined
the strengths of Off the Wall; the dance and rock tracks were more aggressive, while the pop tunes and
ballads were softer and more soulful.[9] Its tracks included the ballads "The Lady in My Life", "Human
Nature", and "The Girl Is Mine", the funk pieces "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", and the
disco set "Baby Be Mine" and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)".[9][372][373][374] With Thriller, Christopher
Connelly of Rolling Stone commented that Jackson developed his long association with the subliminal
theme of paranoia and darker imagery.[374]AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted this is evident
on the songs "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'".[372] In "Billie Jean", Jackson sings about
an obsessive fan who alleges he has fathered a child of hers.[9] In "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" he
argues against gossip and the media.[374] "Beat It" decried gang violence in an homage to West Side
Story, and was Jackson's first successful rock cross-over piece, according to Huey.[9][39] He also
observed that the title track "Thriller" began Jackson's interest with the theme of the supernatural, a
topic he revisited in subsequent years.[9] In 1985, Jackson co-wrote the charity anthem "We Are the
World"; humanitarian themes later became a recurring theme in his lyrics and public persona.[9]
"Thriller"
MENU
0:00
Jackson's song
"Thriller", released as a
single in 1984, utilizes
cinematic sound
effects, horror film
motifs, and vocal
trickery to convey a
sense of danger.[51]
"Smooth Criminal"
MENU
0:00
A single from the
album Bad, released
1988, "Smooth
Criminal" features
digital drum sounds,
keyboard-created bass
lines, and other
percussion elements
designed to give the
impression of a pulsing
heart.[375]
"Black or White"
MENU
0:00
The lead single
from Dangerous, "Black
or White" is a
danceable rock song
with hard rock
elements. It was one of
Jackson's most
successful recordings.
[376][377]
In Bad, Jackson's concept of the predatory lover is seen on the rock song "Dirty Diana".[378] The lead
single "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" is a traditional love ballad, while "Man in the Mirror" is a ballad of
confession and resolution. "Smooth Criminal" is an evocation of bloody assault, rape and likely murder.
[130] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine states that Dangerous presents Jackson as a paradoxical
individual.[379] He comments the album is more diverse than his previous Bad, as it appeals to an urban
audience while also attracting the middle class with anthems like "Heal the World".[379] The first half of
the record is dedicated to new jack swing, including songs like "Jam" and "Remember the Time".[380] It
was the first Jackson album in which social ills become a primary theme; "Why You Wanna Trip on Me",
for example, protests world hunger, AIDS, homelessness and drugs.[380] Dangerouscontains sexually
charged songs such as the multifaceted love song "In the Closet".[380] The title track continues the
theme of the predatory lover and compulsive desire.[380] The second half includes introspective, pop-
gospel anthems such as "Will You Be There", "Heal the World" and "Keep the Faith"; these songs show
Jackson opening up about various personal struggles and worries.[380] In the ballad "Gone Too Soon",
Jackson gives tribute to his friend Ryan White and the plight of those with AIDS.[381]
HIStory creates an atmosphere of paranoia.[382] Its content focuses on the hardships and public
struggles Jackson went through prior to its production. In the new jack swing-funk-rock tracks "Scream"
and "Tabloid Junkie", and the R&B ballad "You Are Not Alone", Jackson retaliates against the injustice
and isolation he feels, and directs much of his anger at the media.[383] In the introspective ballad
"Stranger in Moscow", Jackson laments his "fall from grace", while "Earth Song", "Childhood", "Little
Susie" and "Smile" are operatic pop songs.[382][383] In the "D.S.", Jackson launched a verbal attack
against the lawyer Tom Sneddon, who had prosecuted him in both child sexual abuse cases. He
describes Sneddon as an antisocial white supremacist who wanted to "get my ass, dead or alive". Of the
song, Sneddon said: "I have not—shall we say—done him the honor of listening to it, but I've been told
that it ends with the sound of a gunshot."[384] Invincible found Jackson working heavily with producer
Rodney Jerkins.[9] The album comprises urban soul tracks such as "Cry" and "The Lost Children", ballads
such as "Speechless", "Break of Dawn", and "Butterflies" and mixes hip hop, pop, and R&B in "2000
Watts", "Heartbreaker" and "Invincible".[385][386]
Vocal style
Jackson sang from childhood, and over time his voice and vocal style changed noticeably. Between 1971
and 1975, his voice descended from boy soprano to high tenor.[387] His vocal range as an adult was F2-
E♭6. Jackson first used the "vocal hiccup" technique, similar to gulping for air or gasping, in 1973, with
the song "It's Too Late to Change the Time" from the Jackson 5's album G.I.T.: Get It Together.
[388] Jackson did not use the technique fully until the recording of Off the Wall: it can be seen in full
force in the "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" promotional video.[45] With the arrival of Off the
Wall in the late 1970s, Jackson's abilities as a vocalist were well regarded; at the time, Rolling
Stone compared his vocals to the "breathless, dreamy stutter" of Stevie Wonder, and wrote that
"Jackson's feathery-timbred tenor is extraordinarily beautiful. It slides smoothly into a
startling falsetto that's used very daringly."[368][389] By the time of 1982's Thriller, Rolling Stone wrote
that Jackson was singing in a "fully adult voice" that was "tinged by sadness".[374]
A distinctive deliberate mispronunciation of "come on", used frequently by Jackson, occasionally spelled
"c'mon", "cha'mone", or "shamone", is also a staple in impressions and caricatures of him.[390] The turn
of the 1990s saw the release of the introspective album Dangerous. The New York Times noted that on
some tracks, "he gulps for breath, his voice quivers with anxiety or drops to a desperate whisper, hissing
through clenched teeth" and he had a "wretched tone".[380] When singing of brotherhood or self-
esteem the musician would return to "smooth" vocals.[380] Of Invincible, Rolling Stone wrote that, at
43, Jackson still performed "exquisitely voiced rhythm tracks and vibrating vocal harmonies".
[391] Nelson George wrote: "The grace, the aggression, the growling, the natural boyishness, the
falsetto, the smoothness—that combination of elements mark him as a major vocalist".[375] Cultural
critic Joseph Vogel notes that Jackson had an "ability to convey emotion without the use of language:
there are his trademark gulps, grunts, gasps, cries, exclamations; he also frequently scats or twists and
contorts words until they are barely discernible."[392]Neil McCormick wrote that Jackson's unorthodox
singing style "was original and utterly distinctive".[393]
Music videos and choreography
Jackson has been called the king of music videos.[394] Steve Huey of AllMusic observed how Jackson
transformed the music video into an art form and a promotional tool through complex story lines, dance
routines, special effects and famous cameo appearances, simultaneously breaking down racial barriers.
[9] Before Thriller, Jackson struggled to receive coverage on MTV, allegedly because he was African
American.[395] Pressure from CBS Records persuaded MTV to start showing "Billie Jean" and later "Beat
It", leading to a lengthy partnership with Jackson, also helping other black music artists gain recognition.
[396] MTV employees deny any racism in their coverage, or pressure to change their stance. MTV
maintains that they played rock music, regardless of race.[397] The popularity of his videos on MTV
helped to put the relatively young channel "on the map"; MTV's focus shifted in favor of pop and R&B.
[396][398] His performance on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Foreverchanged the scope of live stage
show; "That Jackson lip-synced 'Billie Jean' is, in itself, not extraordinary, but the fact that it did not
change the impact of the performance is extraordinary; whether the performance was live or lip-synced
made no difference to the audience" thus creating an era in which artists re-create the spectacle of
music video imagery on stage.[399] Short films like Thriller largely remained unique to Jackson, while
the group dance sequence in "Beat It" has frequently been imitated.[400] The choreography
in Thriller has become a part of global pop culture, replicated everywhere from Indian films to prisons in
the Philippines.[401] The Thriller short film marked an increase in scale for music videos, and was named
the most successful music video ever by the Guinness World Records.[152]
In the 19-minute music video for "Bad"—directed by Martin Scorsese—Jackson began using sexual
imagery and choreography not previously seen in his work. He occasionally grabbed or touched his
chest, torso and crotch. When asked by Oprah in the 1993 interview about why he grabbed his crotch,
he described it as something that was not planned, but rather, as something that was compelled by the
music. "Bad" garnered a mixed reception from both fans and critics; Timemagazine described it as
"infamous". The video featured Wesley Snipes; in the future Jackson's videos would often feature
famous cameo roles.[122][402] For the "Smooth Criminal" video, Jackson experimented with an anti-
gravity lean where the performer leans forward at a 45 degree angle, beyond the performer's center of
gravity. To accomplish this move live, Jackson and designers developed a special shoe that locks the
performer's feet to the stage, allowing them to lean forward. They were granted U.S. Patent
5,255,452 for the device.[403] Although the music video for "Leave Me Alone" was not officially released
in the US, in 1989 it was nominated for three Billboard Music Video Awards;[404] the same year it won a
Golden Lion Award for its special effects. In 1990, "Leave Me Alone" won a Grammy for Best Music
Video, Short Form.[147]
He received the MTV Video Vanguard Award in 1988 and the MTV Video Vanguard Artist of the Decade
Award in 1990 to celebrate his accomplishments in the art form in the 1980s; in 1991 the first award
was renamed in his honor.[166] "Black or White" was accompanied by a music video, which, on
November 14, 1991, simultaneously premiered in 27 countries with an estimated audience of 500
million people, the largest audience ever for a music video at that time.[165] Along with Jackson, it
featured Macaulay Culkin, Peggy Lipton, and George Wendt. It helped usher in morphing as an
important technology in music videos.[405] Following complaints that it featured scenes of violence and
a sexually suggestive dance, some scenes were edited and Jackson apologized.[406]
"Remember the Time" was over nine minutes long. Set in ancient Egypt, it featured
groundbreaking visual effects and appearances by Eddie Murphy, Iman, and Magic Johnson, along with a
complex dance routine.[407] The video for "In the Closet" was Jackson's most sexually provocative
piece. It featured supermodel Naomi Campbellin a courtship dance with Jackson. The video was banned
in South Africa because of its imagery.[166]
The music video for "Scream", directed by Mark Romanek and production designer Tom Foden, gained
11 MTV Video Music Award Nominations—more than any other music video—and won "Best Dance
Video", "Best Choreography", and "Best Art Direction".[408] The song and its accompanying video are a
response to the backlash Jackson received from the media after being accused of child molestation in
1993.[409] A year later, it won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form. Shortly afterwards,
the Guinness World Records listed it as the most expensive music video ever made, at a cost of $7
million.[208][410]
"Earth Song"'s video gained a Grammy nomination for Best Music Video, Short Form in 1997. The video
had an environmental theme, showing images of animal cruelty, deforestation, pollution and war. Using
special effects, time is reversed so that life returns, wars end, and the forests re-grow.[208]
[411] Released in 1997 and premiering at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, Michael Jackson's Ghosts was a
short film written by Jackson and Stephen King and directed by Stan Winston. The video for Ghosts is
more than 38 minutes long and holds the Guinness world record for the longest music video.[208][219]
[412][413]
The 2001 music video for "You Rock My World", which is over 13 minutes long, was directed by Paul
Hunter. It features Chris Tucker and Marlon Brando.[414] It won an NAACP Image Award for
Outstanding Music Video at the award shows 2002 ceremony.[415]
Legacy and influence
List of Michael Jackson records and achievements and List of artists influenced by Michael Jackson
One of many identical statues, based on Diana Walczak's original HIStory statue, positioned throughout
Europe to promote HIStory
Jackson has been referred to as the "King of Pop" because, throughout his career, he transformed the
art of music videos and paved the way for modern pop music. For much of Jackson's career, he had an
unparalleled worldwide influence over the younger generation.[212] His music and videos, such
as Thriller, fostered racial diversity in MTV's roster and steered its focus from rock to pop music and
R&B, shaping the channel into a form that proved enduring.[41] Jackson's work continues to influence
numerous artists of various music genres. He is recognized as the Most Successful Entertainer of All
Time by Guinness World Records.[416][417] He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons
of the 20th century,[418] and his contributions to music, dance, and fashion, along with his publicized
personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture for over four decades.[419][420][421]
Danyel Smith, the chief content officer of Vibe Media Group and the editor-in-chief of Vibe describes
Jackson as "The Greatest Star".[422] AllMusic's Steve Huey describes Jackson as "an unstoppable
juggernaut, possessed of all the skills to dominate the charts seemingly at will: an instantly identifiable
voice, eye-popping dance moves, stunning musical versatility and loads of sheer star power".
[9] BET described Jackson "as quite simply the greatest entertainer of all time" and someone who
"revolutionized the music video and brought dances like the moonwalk to the world. Jackson's sound,
style, movement and legacy continues to inspire artists of all genres."[423]
Jackson's wax statue at Madame Tussauds, London
In 1984, Time magazine's pop critic Jay Cocks wrote that "Jackson is the biggest thing since the Beatles.
He is the hottest single phenomenon since Elvis Presley. He just may be the most popular black singer
ever."[82] In 1990, Vanity Fair cited Jackson as the most popular artist in the history of show business.
[147] In 2003, Daily Telegraph writer Tom Utley described Jackson as "extremely important" and a
"genius".[424] In 2007, Jackson said: "Music has been my outlet, my gift to all of the lovers in this world.
Through it, my music, I know I will live forever."[425]
Michael Jackson graffiti in Santa Cruz
At Jackson's memorial service on July 7, 2009, Motown founder Berry Gordy proclaimed Jackson "the
greatest entertainer that ever lived".[426][427] In a June 28, 2009 Baltimore Sunarticle titled "7 Ways
Michael Jackson Changed The World", Jill Rosen wrote that Jackson's legacy was "as enduring as it is
multi-faceted", influencing fields including sound, dance, fashion, music videos and celebrity.[428]
In July 2009, the Lunar Republic Society named a crater on the Moon after Jackson.[429] In the same
year, for Jackson's 51st birthday, Google dedicated their Google Doodle to him.[430] In 2010, two
university librarians found that Jackson's influence extended to academia, with references to Jackson in
reports concerning music, popular culture, chemistry and other topics.[431][432][433] On December 19,
2014, the British Council of Cultural Relations named Jackson's life one of the 80 most important cultural
moments of the 20th century.[434]
Honors and awards
List of awards and nominations received by Michael Jackson
Thriller platinum record on display at the Hard Rock Cafe, Hollywood in Universal City, California
Jackson was inducted onto the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1980 as member of the Jacksons and in 1984
as solo artist. Throughout his career he received numerous honors and awards, including the World
Music Awards' Best-Selling Pop Male Artist of the Millennium, the American Music Award's Artist of the
Century Award and the Bambi Pop Artist of the Millennium Award.[226][435] He was a double-inductee
of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, once as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1997 and later as a solo artist in
2001. Jackson was also inducted in several other halls of fame, including Vocal Group Hall of Fame (as
a Jackson 5 member) in 1999 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002.[226] In 2010, Jackson was
inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame as the first (and currently only) dancer from the world of pop and
rock 'n' roll.[436] In 2014, Jackson was inducted into the second class of inductees to the Rhythm and
Blues Music Hall of Fame; his father Joe Jackson accepted on his behalf.[437]
Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, set in 1984
Jackson won hundreds of awards, making him the most awarded recording artist in the history of
popular music.[438] His awards include many Guinness world records (eight in 2006 alone), including for
the Most Successful Entertainer of All Time,[416][417] 13 Grammy Awards[439] (as well as the Grammy
Legend Award[440] and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award),[441] 26 American Music
Awards (including the "Artist of the Century" and "Artist of the 1980s"),[224][442]—more than any artist
—13 number-one singles in the US in his solo career—more than any other male artist in the Hot 100
era[443]—and estimated sales of over 350 million records worldwide[444][Note 1] making him one of
the best-selling artists in music history. On December 29, 2009, the American Film Institute recognized
Jackson's death as a "moment of significance".[445] Jackson also received an Honorary Doctorate of
Humane Letters from Fisk University.[446]
Jackson is also remembered for his charity work.[447][448]
Earnings
In the year after his death, Jackson sold more than 8.2 million albums in the US and 35 million albums
worldwide, more than any other artist in 2009.[449][450] In 2014, Jackson became the first artist to
have a top ten single in the Billboard Hot 100 in five different decades.[451] He became the first artist to
sell one million music downloads in a week, with 2.6 million song downloads. Thriller, Number
Ones and The Essential Michael Jackson became the first catalog albums to outsell any new album.
[452] Jackson also became the first artist to have four of the top 20 best-selling albums in a single year in
the US.[449]
Forbes reported in August 2018 that Jackson's total career pretax earnings in life and death was $4.2
billion.[453][454] Sales of his recordings through Sony's music unit earned him an estimated $300
million in royalties. He may have earned another $400 million from concerts, music publishing (including
his share of the Beatles catalog), endorsements, merchandising and music videos.[455]
Estimates of Jackson's net worth during his life range from negative $285 million to positive $350 million
for 2002, 2003 and 2007.[456][457]
On July 26, 2013, the executors of the estate of Michael Jackson filed a petition in the United States Tax
Court as a result of a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over US federal estate
taxes imposed on the value of Jackson's Estate at the time of his death.[458] The executors claim that
the Estate was worth about $7 million. The IRS asserts that the Estate was worth over $1.1 billion. In
February 2014, the IRS reported that Jackson's estate owed $702 million, including $505 million in taxes,
plus $197 million in penalties after the estate had allegedly undervalued Jackson's fortune.[459] A trial
was held from February 6 to 24, 2017.[460] A decision is expected in 2019.[461]
In 2016, Forbes estimated annual gross earnings by the Jackson estate at $825 million, the largest ever
recorded for a celebrity. The majority was due to the sale of the Sony/ATV catalog. It was the seventh
consecutive year since his death in which Jackson's annual earnings were over $100 million.[462] In
2018 the figure was $400 million.[463] According to Forbes in 2016, Jackson had been the top-earning
dead celebrity each year since his death.[462]
Discography
Michael Jackson albums discography and Michael Jackson singles discography
See also: The Jackson 5 discography
Got to Be There (1972)
Ben (1972)
Music & Me (1973)
Forever, Michael (1975)
Off the Wall (1979)
Thriller (1982)
Bad (1987)
Dangerous (1991)
HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (1995)
Invincible (2001)
Filmography
Michael Jackson videography
The Wiz (1978)
Captain EO (1986)
Moonwalker (1988)
Michael Jackson's Ghosts (1997)
Men in Black II (2002)
Miss Cast Away and the Island Girls (2004)
Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009)
Bad 25 (2012)
Michael Jackson: The Last Photo Shoot (2014)
Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall (2016)
Tours
List of concert tours by Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5
Bad world tour (1987–1989)
Dangerous World Tour (1992–1993)
HIStory World Tour (1996–1997)
MJ & Friends (1999)
Wernher von Braun
Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun (March 23, 1912 – June 16, 1977) was a German and
later American aerospace engineer[3] and space architect. He was the leading figure in the development
of rocket technology in Germany and a pioneer of rocket technology and space science in the United
States.[4]
While in his twenties and early thirties, von Braun worked in Nazi Germany's rocket development
program. He helped design and develop the V-2 rocket at Peenemünde during World War II. Following
the war, he was secretly moved to the United States, along with about 1,600 other German scientists,
engineers, and technicians, as part of Operation Paperclip.[5] He worked for the United States Army on
an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) program, and he developed the rockets that launched the
United States' first space satellite Explorer 1.
His group was assimilated into NASA, where he served as director of the newly formed Marshall Space
Flight Center and as the chief architect of the Saturn V super heavy-lift launch vehicle that propelled
the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon.[6][7]In 1975, von Braun received the National Medal of Science. He
advocated a human mission to Mars.
Wernher von Braun
Von Braun in 1960
Born Wernher Magnus
Maximilian, Freiherr von Braun
March 23, 1912
Wirsitz, Posen Province, German
Empire
(now Wyrzysk, Poland)
Died June 16, 1977 (aged 65)
Alexandria, Virginia, U.S.
Burial place Ivy Hill Cemetery (Alexandria, Virginia)
[1]
Citizenship Germany, United States (after 1955)
Alma mater Technical University of Berlin
Occupation Rocket engineer and designer,
aerospace project manager
Known for NASA engineering program manager;
chief architect of the Apollo Saturn
V rocket
Spouse(s) Maria Luise von Quistorp(m. 1947–
1977)
Children Iris Careen (1948–)
Margrit Cécile (1952–)
Peter Constantine (1960–)
Parent(s) Magnus von Braun (1878–1972)
Emmy von Quistorp (1886–1959)
Awards Elliott Cresson Medal (1962)
Wilhelm Exner Medal (1969)[2]
National Medal of Science(1975)
Military career
Allegiance Nazi Germany
United States
Service/branch SS
United States Army
Years of service 1937–1945 Germany
1945–1960 US
Rank SS-Sturmbannführer(major)
Awards Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross
with Swords (1944)
War Merit Cross, First Class with
Swords (1943)
Early life and education
Wernher von Braun was born on March 23, 1912, in the small town of Wyrzysk, in the Posen Province, in
what was then the German Empire and is now Poland. He was the second of three sons. He belonged to
a noble Lutheran family, and from birth he held the title of Freiherr (equivalent to Baron). The German
nobility's legal privileges were abolished in 1919, although noble titles could still be used as part of the
family name.
His father, Magnus Freiherr von Braun (1878–1972), was a civil servant and conservative politician; he
served as Minister of Agriculture in the federal government during the Weimar Republic. His mother,
Emmy von Quistorp (1886–1959), traced her ancestry through both parents to medieval
European royalty and was a descendant of Philip III of France, Valdemar I of Denmark, Robert III of
Scotland, and Edward III of England.[8][9] Wernher had an older brother, the West German
diplomat Sigismund von Braun, who served as Secretary of State in the Foreign Office in the 1970s, and a
younger brother, also named Magnus von Braun, who was a rocket scientist and later a senior executive
with Chrysler.[10]
After Wernher's confirmation, his mother gave him a telescope, and he developed a passion
for astronomy. The family moved to Berlin in 1915, where his father worked at the Ministry of the
Interior.[11] Here in 1924, the 12-year-old Wernher, inspired by speed records established by Max
Valier and Fritz von Opel in rocket-propelled cars,[12] caused a major disruption in a crowded street by
detonating a toy wagon to which he had attached fireworks. He was taken into custody by the local
police until his father came to get him.
Wernher learned to play both the cello and the piano at an early age and at one time wanted to become
a composer. He took lessons from the composer Paul Hindemith. The few pieces of Wernher's youthful
compositions that exist are reminiscent of Hindemith's style.[13]:11 He could play piano pieces
of Beethoven and Bachfrom memory.
Beginning in 1925, Wernher attended a boarding school at Ettersburg Castle near Weimar, where he did
not do well in physics and mathematics. There he acquired a copy of By Rocket into Planetary Space (Die
Rakete zu den Planetenräumen, 1923)[14] by rocket pioneer Hermann Oberth. In 1928, his parents
moved him to the Hermann-Lietz-Internat (also a residential school) on the East Frisian North Sea island
of Spiekeroog. Space travel had always fascinated Wernher, and from then on he applied himself
to physics and mathematics to pursue his interest in rocket engineering.
In 1930, von Braun attended the Technische Hochschule Berlin, where he joined the Spaceflight
Society (Verein für Raumschiffahrt or "VfR") and assisted Willy Ley in his liquid-fueled rocket motor tests
in conjunction with Hermann Oberth.[15] In spring 1932, he graduated with a Diplom in mechanical
engineering.[16] His early exposure to rocketry convinced him that the exploration of space would
require far more than applications of the current engineering technology. Wanting to learn more
about physics, chemistry, and astronomy, von Braun entered the Friedrich-Wilhelm University of
Berlin for post-graduate studies and graduated with a doctorate in physics in 1934.[17] He also studied
at ETH Zürich for a term from June to October 1931.[18] Although he worked mainly on military rockets
in his later years there, space travel remained his primary interest.
In 1930, von Braun attended a presentation given by Auguste Piccard. After the talk, the young student
approached the famous pioneer of high-altitude balloon flight, and stated to him: "You know, I plan on
traveling to the Moon at some time." Piccard is said to have responded with encouraging words.[19]
Von Braun was greatly influenced by Oberth, of whom he said:
Hermann Oberth was the first who, when thinking about the possibility of spaceships, grabbed a slide-
rule and presented mathematically analyzed concepts and designs ... I, myself, owe to him not only the
guiding-star of my life, but also my first contact with the theoretical and practical aspects of rocketry
and space travel. A place of honor should be reserved in the history of science and technology for his
ground-breaking contributions in the field of astronautics.[20]
Career in Germany
According to historian Norman Davies, von Braun was able to pursue a career as a rocket scientist in
Germany due to a "curious oversight" in the Treaty of Versailleswhich did not include rocketry in its list
of weapons forbidden to Germany.[21]
Involvement with the Nazi regime
Von Braun with Fritz Todt, who utilized forced labor for major works across occupied Europe
Party membership
Von Braun had an ambivalent and complex relationship with the Nazi regime of the Third Reich.[5] He
applied for official membership of the Nazi Party on November 12, 1937, and was issued membership
number 5,738,692.[22]:96
Michael J. Neufeld, a widely published author of aerospace history and chief of the Space History
Division at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, wrote that ten years after von Braun
obtained his Nazi Party membership, he signed an affidavit for the U.S. Army misrepresenting the year of
his membership, saying incorrectly:[22]:96
In 1939, I was officially demanded to join the National Socialist Party. At this time I was already Technical
Director at the Army Rocket Center at Peenemünde (Baltic Sea). The technical work carried out there
had, in the meantime, attracted more and more attention in higher levels. Thus, my refusal to join the
party would have meant that I would have to abandon the work of my life. Therefore, I decided to join.
My membership in the party did not involve any political activity.
It has never been ascertained whether von Braun's error with regard to the year was deliberate or a
simple mistake, although Neufeld stated that he might have lied on the affidavit.[22]:96 Neufeld further
wrote:
Von Braun, like other Peenemünders, was assigned to the local group in Karlshagen; there is no
evidence that he did more than send in his monthly dues. But he is seen in some photographs with the
party's swastika pin in his lapel – it was politically useful to demonstrate his membership.[22]:96
Von Braun's later attitude toward the National Socialist regime of the late 1930s and early 1940s was
complex. He said that he had been so influenced by the early Nazi promise of release from the post–
World War I economic effects, that his patriotic feelings had increased.[citation needed] In a 1952
memoir article he admitted that, at that time, he "fared relatively rather well under totalitarianism".
[22]:96–97 Yet, he also wrote that "to us, Hitler was still only a pompous fool with a Charlie
Chaplinmoustache"[23] and that he perceived him as "another Napoleon" who was "wholly without
scruples, a godless man who thought himself the only god".[24]
Membership in the Allgemeine SS
Von Braun joined the SS horseback riding school on 1 November 1933 as an SS-Anwärter. He left the
following year.[citation needed]:63 In 1940, he joined the SS[25]:47[26]and was given the rank
of Untersturmführer in the Allgemeine SS and issued membership number 185,068.[citation
needed]:121 In 1947, he gave the U.S. War Department this explanation:
In spring 1940, one SS-Standartenfuehrer (SS-colonel) Mueller from Greifswald, a bigger town in the
vicinity of Peenemünde, looked me up in my office ... and told me that Reichsfuehrer SS Himmler had
sent him with the order to urge me to join the SS. I told him I was so busy with my rocket work that I had
no time to spare for any political activity. He then told me, that ... the SS would cost me no time at all. I
would be awarded the rank of a[n] "Untersturmfuehrer" (lieutenant) and it were [sic] a very definite
desire of Himmler that I attend his invitation to join.
I asked Mueller to give me some time for reflection. He agreed.
Realizing that the matter was of highly political significance for the relation between the SS and the
Army, I called immediately on my military superior, Dr. Dornberger. He informed me that the SS had for
a long time been trying to get their "finger in the pie" of the rocket work. I asked him what to do. He
replied on the spot that if I wanted to continue our mutual work, I had no alternative but to join.
When shown a picture of himself standing behind Himmler, von Braun claimed to have worn the SS
uniform only that one time,[27] but in 2002 a former SS officer at Peenemünde told the BBC that von
Braun had regularly worn the SS uniform to official meetings. He began as an Untersturmführer (Second
lieutenant) and was promoted three times by Himmler, the last time in June 1943 to SS-
Sturmbannführer (Major). Von Braun later claimed that these were simply technical promotions
received each year regularly by mail.[28]
Work under Nazi regime
First rank, from left to right, General Dr Walter Dornberger (partially hidden), General Friedrich
Olbricht(with Knight's Cross), Major Heinz Brandt, and Wernher von Braun (in civilian dress)
at Peenemünde, in March 1941.
In 1933, von Braun was working on his creative doctorate when the National Socialist German Workers
Party (NSDAP, or Nazi Party) came to power in a coalition government in Germany; rocketry was almost
immediately moved onto the national agenda. An artillery captain, Walter Dornberger, arranged
an Ordnance Department research grant for von Braun, who then worked next to Dornberger's existing
solid-fuel rocket test site at Kummersdorf.
Von Braun was awarded a doctorate in physics[29] (aerospace engineering) on July 27, 1934, from
the University of Berlin for a thesis entitled "About Combustion Tests"; his doctoral supervisor was Erich
Schumann.[22]:61 However, this thesis was only the public part of von Braun's work. His actual full
thesis, Construction, Theoretical, and Experimental Solution to the Problem of the Liquid Propellant
Rocket (dated April 16, 1934) was kept classified by the German army, and was not published until 1960.
[30] By the end of 1934, his group had successfully launched two liquid fuel rockets that rose to heights
of 2.2 and 3.5 km (2 mi).
At the time, Germany was highly interested in American physicist Robert H. Goddard's research. Before
1939, German scientists occasionally contacted Goddard directly with technical questions. Wernher von
Braun used Goddard's plans from various journals and incorporated them into the building of
the Aggregat (A) series of rockets. The A-4 rocket would become well known as the V-2.[31] In 1963, von
Braun reflected on the history of rocketry, and said of Goddard's work: "His rockets ... may have been
rather crude by present-day standards, but they blazed the trail and incorporated many features used in
our most modern rockets and space vehicles."[12]
Goddard confirmed his work was used by von Braun in 1944, shortly before the Nazis began firing V-2s
at England. A V-2 crashed in Sweden and some parts were sent to an Annapolis lab where Goddard was
doing research for the Navy. If this was the so-called Bäckebo Bomb, it had been procured by the British
in exchange for Spitfires; Annapolis would have received some parts from them. Goddard is reported to
have recognized components he had invented, and inferred that his brainchild had been turned into a
weapon.[32] Later, von Braun would comment: "I have very deep and sincere regret for the victims of
the V-2 rockets, but there were victims on both sides ... A war is a war, and when my country is at war,
my duty is to help win that war."[33]
In response to Goddard's claims, von Braun said "at no time in Germany did I or any of my associates
ever see a Goddard patent". This was independently confirmed.[34] He wrote that claims about him
lifting Goddard's work were the furthest from the truth, noting that Goddard's paper "A Method of
Reaching Extreme Altitudes", which was studied by von Braun and Oberth, lacked the specificity of
liquid-fuel experimentation with rockets.[34] It was also confirmed that he was responsible for an
estimated 20 patentable innovations related to rocketry during the Volksverhetzung era, as well as
receiving U.S. patents after the war concerning the advancement of rocketry.[34] Documented accounts
also stated he provided solutions to a host of aerospace engineering problems in the 1950s and 60s.[34]
There were no German rocket societies after the collapse of the VfR, and civilian rocket tests were
forbidden by the new Nazi regime. Only military development was allowed, and to this end, a larger
facility was erected at the village of Peenemünde in northern Germany on the Baltic Sea. Dornberger
became the military commander at Peenemünde, with von Braun as technical director. In collaboration
with the Luftwaffe, the Peenemünde group developed liquid-fuel rocket engines for aircraft and jet-
assisted takeoffs. They also developed the long-range A-4 ballistic missile and
the supersonic Wasserfall anti-aircraft missile.
Schematic of the A4/V2
On December 22, 1942, Adolf Hitler ordered the production of the A-4 as a "vengeance weapon", and
the Peenemünde group developed it to target London. Following von Braun's July 7, 1943 presentation
of a color movie showing an A-4 taking off, Hitler was so enthusiastic that he personally made von Braun
a professor shortly thereafter.[35] In Germany at this time, this was an exceptional promotion for an
engineer who was only 31 years old.
By that time, the British and Soviet intelligence agencies were aware of the rocket program and von
Braun's team at Peenemünde, based on the intelligence provided by the Polish underground Home
Army. Over the nights of August 17–18, 1943, RAF Bomber Command's Operation Hydra dispatched
raids on the Peenemünde camp consisting of 596 aircraft, and dropped 1,800 tons of explosives.[36] The
facility was salvaged and most of the engineering team remained unharmed; however, the raids killed
von Braun's engine designer Walter Thiel and Chief Engineer Walther, and the rocket program was
delayed.[37][38]
Bombing of Peenemünde in World War II
The first combat A-4, renamed the V-2 (Vergeltungswaffe 2 "Retaliation/Vengeance Weapon 2") for
propaganda purposes, was launched toward England on September 7, 1944, only 21 months after the
project had been officially commissioned. Von Braun's interest in rockets was specifically for the
application of space travel, not for killing people.[39] After hearing the news from London, he said that
"the rocket worked perfectly, except for landing on the wrong planet." Satirist Mort Sahl has been
credited with mocking von Braun by saying "I aim at the stars, but sometimes I hit London."[40] That line
appears in the film I Aim at the Stars, a 1960 biopic of von Braun.
Experiments with rocket aircraft
During 1936, von Braun's rocketry team working at Kummersdorf investigated installing liquid-fuelled
rockets in aircraft. Ernst Heinkel enthusiastically supported their efforts, supplying a He-72 and later
two He-112s for the experiments. Later in 1936, Erich Warsitz was seconded by the RLM to Wernher von
Braun and Ernst Heinkel, because he had been recognized as one of the most experienced test pilots of
the time, and because he also had an extraordinary fund of technical knowledge.[41]:30After he
familiarized Warsitz with a test-stand run, showing him the corresponding apparatus in the aircraft, he
asked: "Are you with us and will you test the rocket in the air? Then, Warsitz, you will be a famous man.
And later we will fly to the Moon – with you at the helm!"[41]:35
A regular He 112
In June 1937, at Neuhardenberg (a large field about 70 km (43 mi) east of Berlin, listed as a reserve
airfield in the event of war), one of these latter aircraft was flown with its piston engine shut down
during flight by Warsitz, at which time it was propelled by von Braun's rocket power alone. Despite a
wheels-up landing and the fuselage having been on fire, it proved to official circles that an aircraft could
be flown satisfactorily with a back-thrust system through the rear.[41]:51
At the same time, Hellmuth Walter's experiments into hydrogen peroxide based rockets were leading
towards light and simple rockets that appeared well-suited for aircraft installation. Also the firm of
Hellmuth Walter at Kiel had been commissioned by the RLM to build a rocket engine for the He 112, so
there were two different new rocket motor designs at Neuhardenberg: whereas von Braun's engines
were powered by alcohol and liquid oxygen, Walter engines had hydrogen peroxide and calcium
permanganate as a catalyst. Von Braun's engines used direct combustion and created fire, the Walter
devices used hot vapors from a chemical reaction, but both created thrust and provided high speed.
[41]:41 The subsequent flights with the He-112 used the Walter-rocket instead of von Braun's; it was
more reliable, simpler to operate, and safer for the test pilot, Warsitz.[41]:55
Slave labor
SS General Hans Kammler, who as an engineer had constructed several concentration camps,
including Auschwitz, had a reputation for brutality and had originated the idea of using concentration
camp prisoners as slave laborers in the rocket program. Arthur Rudolph, chief engineer of the V-2 rocket
factory at Peenemünde, endorsed this idea in April 1943 when a labor shortage developed. More people
died building the V-2 rockets than were killed by it as a weapon.[42] Von Braun admitted visiting the
plant at Mittelwerk on many occasions[5], and called conditions at the plant "repulsive", but claimed
never to have witnessed any deaths or beatings, although it had become clear to him by 1944 that
deaths had occurred.[43] He denied ever having visited the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp itself,
where 20,000 died from illness, beatings, hangings, and intolerable working conditions.[44]
Some prisoners claim von Braun engaged in brutal treatment or approved of it. Guy Morand, a French
resistance fighter who was a prisoner in Dora, testified in 1995 that after an apparent sabotage attempt,
von Braun ordered a prisoner to be flogged,[45] while Robert Cazabonne, another French prisoner,
claimed von Braun stood by as prisoners were hanged by chains suspended by cranes.[45]:123–
124 However, these accounts may have been a case of mistaken identity.
[46] Former Buchenwaldinmate Adam Cabala claims that von Braun went to the concentration camp to
pick slave laborers:
... also the German scientists led by Prof. Wernher von Braun were aware of everything daily. As they
went along the corridors, they saw the exhaustion of the inmates, their arduous work and their pain.
Not one single time did Prof. Wernher von Braun protest against this cruelty during his frequent stays at
Dora. Even the aspect of corpses did not touch him: On a small area near the ambulance shed, inmates
tortured to death by slave labor and the terror of the overseers were piling up daily. But, Prof. Wernher
von Braun passed them so close that he was almost touching the corpses.[47]
Von Braun later claimed that he was aware of the treatment of prisoners, but felt helpless to change the
situation.[48]
Arrest and release by the Nazi regime
According to André Sellier, a French historian and survivor of the Mittelbau-Dora concentration
camp, Heinrich Himmler had von Braun come to his Feldkommandostelle Hochwald HQ in East Prussia in
February 1944.[49] To increase his power-base within the Nazi regime, Himmler was conspiring to use
Kammler to gain control of all German armament programs, including the V-2 program at Peenemünde.
[13]:38–40 He therefore recommended that von Braun work more closely with Kammler to solve the
problems of the V-2. Von Braun claimed to have replied that the problems were merely technical and he
was confident that they would be solved with Dornberger's assistance.
Von Braun had been under SD surveillance since October 1943. A report stated that he and his
colleagues Riedel and Gröttrup were said to have expressed regret at an engineer's house one evening
that they were not working on a spaceship[5] and that they felt the war was not going well; this was
considered a "defeatist" attitude. A young female dentist who was an SS spy reported their comments.
[13]:38–40 Combined with Himmler's false charges that von Braun was a communist sympathizer and
had attempted to sabotage the V-2 program, and considering that von Braun regularly piloted his
government-provided airplane that might allow him to escape to England, this led to his arrest by
the Gestapo.[13]:38–40
The unsuspecting von Braun was detained on March 14 (or March 15),[50] 1944, and was taken to a
Gestapo cell in Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland),[13]:38–40 where he was held for two weeks without
knowing the charges against him.
Through the Abwehr in Berlin, Dornberger obtained von Braun's conditional release and Albert Speer,
Reichsminister for Munitions and War Production, persuaded Hitler to reinstate von Braun so that the V-
2 program could continue[5][13]:38–40 or turn into a "V-4 program" which in their view would be
impossible without von Braun's leadership.[51] In his memoirs, Speer states Hitler had finally conceded
that von Braun was to be "protected from all prosecution as long as he is indispensable, difficult though
the general consequences arising from the situation."[52]
Surrender to the Americans
Von Braun, with his arm in a cast due to a car accident, surrendered to the Americans just before this
May 3, 1945 photo.
The Soviet Army was about 160 km (100 mi) from Peenemünde in early 1945 when von Braun
assembled his planning staff and asked them to decide how and to whom they should surrender.
Unwilling to go to the Soviets, von Braun and his staff decided to try to surrender to the Americans.
Kammler had ordered relocation of his team to central Germany; however, a conflicting order from an
army chief ordered them to join the army and fight. Deciding that Kammler's order was their best bet to
defect to the Americans, von Braun fabricated documents and transported 500 of his affiliates to the
area around Mittelwerk, where they resumed their work. For fear of their documents being destroyed
by the SS, von Braun ordered the blueprints to be hidden in an abandoned mine shaft in
the Harz mountain range.[53]
While on an official trip in March, von Braun suffered a complicated fracture of his left arm and shoulder
in a car accident after his driver fell asleep at the wheel. His injuries were serious, but he insisted that his
arm be set in a cast so he could leave the hospital. Due to this neglect of the injury he had to be
hospitalized again a month later where his bones had to be re-broken and re-aligned.[53]
In April, as the Allied forces advanced deeper into Germany, Kammler ordered the engineering team to
be moved by train into the town of Oberammergau in the Bavarian Alps, where they were closely
guarded by the SS with orders to execute the team if they were about to fall into enemy hands.
However, von Braun managed to convince SS Major Kummer to order the dispersal of the group into
nearby villages so that they would not be an easy target for U.S. bombers.[53]
Von Braun and a large number of the engineering team subsequently made it to Austria.[54] On May 2,
1945, upon finding an American private from the U.S. 44th Infantry Division, von Braun's brother and
fellow rocket engineer, Magnus, approached the soldier on a bicycle, calling out in broken English: "My
name is Magnus von Braun. My brother invented the V-2. We want to surrender."[10][55] After the
surrender, Wernher spoke to the press:
We knew that we had created a new means of warfare, and the question as to what nation, to what
victorious nation we were willing to entrust this brainchild of ours was a moral decision more than
anything else. We wanted to see the world spared another conflict such as Germany had just been
through, and we felt that only by surrendering such a weapon to people who are guided not by the laws
of materialism but by Christianity and humanity could such an assurance to the world be best secured.
[56]
The American high command was well aware of how important their catch was: von Braun had been at
the top of the Black List, the code name for the list of German scientists and engineers targeted for
immediate interrogation by U.S. military experts. On June 9, 1945, two days before the scheduled
handover of the Nordhausenarea to the Soviets, U.S. Army Major Robert B. Staver, Chief of the Jet
Propulsion Section of the Research and Intelligence Branch of the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps in London,
and Lt Col R. L. Williams took von Braun and his department chiefs by Jeep from Garmisch to Munich,
from where they were flown to Nordhausen; on the next day, the group was evacuated 40 miles (64 km)
southwest to Witzenhausen, a small town in the American Zone.[57]
Von Braun was briefly detained at the "Dustbin" interrogation center at Kransberg Castle, where the
elite of the Third Reich's economy, science and technology were debriefed by U.S. and British
intelligence officials.[58] Initially, he was recruited to the U.S. under a program called Operation
Overcast, subsequently known as Operation Paperclip. There is evidence, however, that British
intelligence and scientists were the first to interview him in depth, eager to gain information that they
knew U.S. officials would deny them. The team included the young L.S. Snell, then the leading British
rocket engineer, later chief designer of Rolls-Royce Limited and inventor of the Concorde's engines. The
specific information the British gleaned remained top secret, both from the Americans and other allies.
[citation needed]
American career
U.S. Army career
Wernher von Braun at a meeting of NACA's Special Committee on Space Technology, 1958
On June 20, 1945, the U.S. Secretary of State approved the transfer of von Braun and his specialists to
the United States; however, this was not announced to the public until October 1, 1945.[59] Von Braun
was among those scientists for whom the Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency (JIOA) arguably falsified
employment histories and expunged NSDAPmemberships.[citation needed]
The first seven technicians arrived in the United States at New Castle Army Air Field, just south
of Wilmington, Delaware, on September 20, 1945. They were then flown to Boston and taken by boat to
the Army Intelligence Service post at Fort Strong in Boston Harbor. Later, with the exception of von
Braun, the men were transferred to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland to sort out the Peenemünde
documents, enabling the scientists to continue their rocketry experiments.[citation needed]
Finally, von Braun and his remaining Peenemünde staff (see List of German rocket scientists in the
United States) were transferred to their new home at Fort Bliss, a large Army installation just north of El
Paso. Von Braun would later write he found it hard to develop a "genuine emotional attachment" to his
new surroundings.[60] His chief design engineer Walther Reidel became the subject of a December 1946
article "German Scientist Says American Cooking Tasteless; Dislikes Rubberized Chicken", exposing the
presence of von Braun's team in the country and drawing criticism from Albert Einstein and John Dingell.
[60] Requests to improve their living conditions such as laying linoleum over their cracked wood flooring
were rejected.[60] Von Braun remarked, "at Peenemünde we had been coddled, here you were
counting pennies".[60] Whereas von Braun had thousands of engineers who answered to him at
Peenemünde, he was now subordinate to "pimply" 26-year-old Jim Hamill, an Army major who
possessed only an undergraduate degree in engineering.[60] His loyal Germans still addressed him as
"Herr Professor," but Hamill addressed him as "Wernher" and never responded to von Braun's request
for more materials. Every proposal for new rocket ideas was dismissed.[60]
Von Braun's badge at ABMA (1957)
While at Fort Bliss, they trained military, industrial, and university personnel in the intricacies of rockets
and guided missiles. As part of the Hermes project, they helped refurbish, assemble, and launch a
number of V-2s that had been shipped from Germany to the White Sands Proving Ground in New
Mexico. They also continued to study the future potential of rockets for military and research
applications. Since they were not permitted to leave Fort Bliss without military escort, von Braun and his
colleagues began to refer to themselves only half-jokingly as "PoPs" – "Prisoners of Peace".[61]
In 1950, at the start of the Korean War, von Braun and his team were transferred to Huntsville,
Alabama, his home for the next 20 years. Between 1952 and 1956,[62] von Braun led the Army's rocket
development team at Redstone Arsenal, resulting in the Redstone rocket, which was used for the first
live nuclear ballistic missile tests conducted by the United States. He personally witnessed this historic
launch and detonation.[63] Work on the Redstone led to development of the first high-precision inertial
guidance system on the Redstone rocket.[64]
As director of the Development Operations Division of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, von Braun, with
his team, then developed the Jupiter-C, a modified Redstone rocket.[65] The Jupiter-C successfully
launched the West's first satellite, Explorer 1, on January 31, 1958. This event signaled the birth of
America's space program.
Despite the work on the Redstone rocket, the 12 years from 1945 to 1957 were probably some of the
most frustrating for von Braun and his colleagues. In the Soviet Union, Sergei Korolev and his team of
scientists and engineers plowed ahead with several new rocket designs and the Sputnikprogram, while
the American government was not very interested in von Braun's work or views and embarked only on a
very modest rocket-building program. In the meantime, the press tended to dwell on von Braun's past
as a member of the SS and the slave labor used to build his V-2 rockets.
Popular concepts for a human presence in space
Repeating the pattern he had established during his earlier career in Germany, von Braun – while
directing military rocket development in the real world – continued to entertain his engineer-scientist's
dream of a future in which rockets would be used for space exploration. However, he was no longer at
risk of being sacked – as American public opinion of Germans began to recover, von Braun found himself
increasingly in a position to popularize his ideas. The May 14, 1950, headline of The Huntsville
Times ("Dr. von Braun Says Rocket Flights Possible to Moon") might have marked the beginning of these
efforts. Von Braun's ideas rode a publicity wave that was created by science fiction movies and stories.
Von Braun with President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1960
In 1952, von Braun first published his concept of a crewed space station in a Collier's Weekly magazine
series of articles titled "Man Will Conquer Space Soon!". These articles were illustrated by the space
artist Chesley Bonestell and were influential in spreading his ideas. Frequently, von Braun worked with
fellow German-born space advocate and science writer Willy Ley to publish his concepts, which,
unsurprisingly, were heavy on the engineering side and anticipated many technical aspects of space
flight that later became reality.
The space station (to be constructed using rockets with recoverable and reusable ascent stages) would
be a toroid structure, with a diameter of 250 feet (76 m); this built on the concept of a rotating wheel-
shaped station introduced in 1929 by Herman Potočnik in his book The Problem of Space Travel – The
Rocket Motor. The space station would spin around a central docking nave to provide artificial gravity,
and would be assembled in a 1,075-mile (1,730 km) two-hour, high-inclination Earth orbitallowing
observation of essentially every point on Earth on at least a daily basis. The ultimate purpose of the
space station would be to provide an assembly platform for crewed lunar expeditions. More than a
decade later, the movie version of 2001: A Space Odyssey would draw heavily on the design concept in
its visualization of an orbital space station.
Von Braun envisioned these expeditions as very large-scale undertakings, with a total of 50 astronauts
traveling in three huge spacecraft (two for crew, one primarily for cargo), each 49 m (160.76 ft) long and
33 m (108.27 ft) in diameter and driven by a rectangular array of 30 rocket propulsion engines.[66] Upon
arrival, astronauts would establish a permanent lunar base in the Sinus Roris region by using the
emptied cargo holds of their craft as shelters, and would explore their surroundings for eight weeks. This
would include a 400 km (249 mi) expedition in pressurized rovers to the crater Harpalus and the Mare
Imbrium foothills.
Walt Disney and von Braun, seen in 1954 holding a model of his passenger ship, collaborated on a series
of three educational films.
At this time, von Braun also worked out preliminary concepts for a human mission to Mars that used the
space station as a staging point. His initial plans, published in The Mars Project (1952), had envisaged a
fleet of 10 spacecraft (each with a mass of 3,720 metric tonnes), three of them uncrewed and each
carrying one 200-tonne winged lander[66] in addition to cargo, and nine crew vehicles transporting a
total of 70 astronauts. Gigantic as this mission plan was, its engineering and astronautical parameters
were thoroughly calculated. A later project was much more modest, using only one purely orbital cargo
ship and one crewed craft. In each case, the expedition would use minimum-energy Hohmann transfer
orbits for its trips to Mars and back to Earth.
Before technically formalizing his thoughts on human spaceflight to Mars, von Braun had written a
science fiction novel on the subject, set in the year 1980. However, the manuscript was rejected by no
fewer than 18 publishers.[67] Von Braun later published small portions of this opus in magazines, to
illustrate selected aspects of his Mars project popularizations. The complete manuscript, titled Project
MARS: A Technical Tale, did not appear as a printed book until December 2006.[68]
In the hope that its involvement would bring about greater public interest in the future of the space
program, von Braun also began working with Walt Disney and the Disney studios as a technical director,
initially for three television films about space exploration. The initial broadcast devoted to space
exploration was Man in Space, which first went on air on March 9, 1955, drawing 40 million viewers.[60]
[69][70]
Later (in 1959) von Braun published a short booklet, condensed from episodes that had appeared in This
Week Magazine before—describing his updated concept of the first crewed lunar landing.[71] The
scenario included only a single and relatively small spacecraft—a winged lander with a crew of only two
experienced pilots who had already circumnavigated the Moon on an earlier mission. The brute-
force direct ascent flight schedule used a rocket design with five sequential stages, loosely based on
the Nova designs that were under discussion at this time. After a night launch from a Pacific island, the
first three stages would bring the spacecraft (with the two remaining upper stages attached) to
terrestrial escape velocity, with each burn creating an acceleration of 8–9 times standard gravity.
Residual propellant in the third stage would be used for the deceleration intended to commence only a
few hundred kilometers above the landing site in a crater near the lunar north pole. The fourth stage
provided acceleration to lunar escape velocity, while the fifth stage would be responsible for a
deceleration during return to the Earth to a residual speed that allows aerocapture of the spacecraft
ending in a runway landing, much in the way of the Space Shuttle. One remarkable feature of this
technical tale is that the engineer Wernher von Braun anticipated a medical phenomenon that would
become apparent only years later: being a veteran astronaut with no history of serious adverse
reactions to weightlessness offers no protection against becoming unexpectedly and violently spacesick.
Religious conversion
In the first half of his life, von Braun was a nonpracticing, "perfunctory" Lutheran, whose affiliation was
nominal and not taken seriously.[72] As described by Ernst Stuhlinger and Frederick I. Ordway III:
"Throughout his younger years, von Braun did not show signs of religious devotion, or even an interest
in things related to the church or to biblical teachings. In fact, he was known to his friends as a 'merry
heathen' (fröhlicher Heide)."[73] Nevertheless, in 1945 he explained his decision to surrender to the
Western Allies, rather than Russians, as being influenced by a desire to share rocket technology with
people who followed the Bible. In 1946,[74]:469 he attended church in El Paso, Texas, and underwent
a religious conversion to evangelical Christianity.[75] In an unnamed religious magazine he stated:
One day in Fort Bliss, a neighbor called and asked if I would like to go to church with him. I accepted,
because I wanted to see if the American church was just a country club as I'd been led to expect.
Instead, I found a small, white frame building ... in the hot Texas sun on a browned-grass lot ... Together,
these people make a live, vibrant community. This was the first time I really understood that religion
was not a cathedral inherited from the past, or a quick prayer at the last minute. To be effective, a
religion has to be backed up by discipline and effort.
— von Braun[74]:229–230
On the motives behind this conversion, Michael J. Neufeld is of the opinion that he turned to religion "to
pacify his own conscience",[76] whereas University of Southampton scholar Kendrick Oliver said that
von Braun was presumably moved "by a desire to find a new direction for his life after the moral chaos
of his service for the Third Reich".[77] Having "concluded one bad bargain with the Devil, perhaps now
he felt a need to have God securely at his side".[78]
Later in life, he joined an Episcopal congregation,[75] and became increasingly religious.[79] He publicly
spoke and wrote about the complementarity of science and religion, the afterlife of the soul, and his
belief in God.[80][81] He stated, "Through science man strives to learn more of the mysteries of
creation. Through religion he seeks to know the Creator."[82] He was interviewed by the Assemblies of
God pastor C. M. Ward, as stating, "The farther we probe into space, the greater my faith."[83]In
addition, he met privately with evangelist Billy Graham and with the pacifist leader Martin Luther King
Jr..[84]
Von Braun with President Kennedy at Redstone Arsenal in 1963
Von Braun with the F-1engines of the Saturn V first stage at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center
Still with his rocketmodels, von Braun is pictured in his new office at NASA headquarters in 1970
Concepts for orbital warfare
Von Braun developed and published his space station concept during the "coldest" time of the Cold War,
when the U.S. government for which he worked put the containment of the Soviet Union above
everything else. The fact that his space station – if armed with missiles that could be easily adapted from
those already available at this time – would give the United States space superiority in both orbital
and orbit-to-ground warfare did not escape him. In his popular writings, von Braun elaborated on them
in several of his books and articles, but he took care to qualify such military applications as "particularly
dreadful". This much-less-peaceful aspect of von Braun's "drive for space" has been reviewed by
Michael J. Neufeld from the Space History Division of the National Air and Space Museum in
Washington.[85]
NASA career
Von Braun during Apollo 11 launch
The U.S. Navy had been tasked with building a rocket to lift satellites into orbit, but the
resulting Vanguard rocket launch system was unreliable. In 1957, with the launch of Sputnik 1, a growing
belief within the United States existed that it was lagging behind the Soviet Union in the emerging Space
Race. American authorities then chose to use von Braun and his German team's experience with missiles
to create an orbital launch vehicle. Wernher von Braun had such an idea originally proposed in 1954, but
it was denied at the time.[60]
NASA was established by law on July 29, 1958. One day later, the 50th Redstone rocket was successfully
launched from Johnston Atoll in the south Pacific as part of Operation Hardtack I. Two years later, NASA
opened the Marshall Space Flight Center at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, and the Army Ballistic Missile
Agency (ABMA) development team led by von Braun was transferred to NASA. In a face-to-face meeting
with Herb York at the Pentagon, von Braun made it clear he would go to NASA only if development of
the Saturn were allowed to continue.[86] Von Braun became the center's first director on 1 July 1960
and held the position until 27 January 1970.[87]
Von Braun's early years at NASA included a failed "four-inch flight" during which the first
uncrewed Mercury-Redstone rocket only rose a few inches before settling back onto the launch pad.
The launch failure was later determined to be the result of a "power plug with one prong shorter than
the other because a worker filed it to make it fit". Because of the difference in the length of one prong,
the launch system detected the difference in the power disconnection as a "cut-off signal to the engine".
The system stopped the launch, and the incident created a "nadir of morale in Project Mercury".[citation
needed]
After the flight of Mercury-Redstone 2 in January 1961 experienced a string of problems, von Braun
insisted on one more test before the Redstone could be deemed man-rated. His overly cautious nature
brought about clashes with other people involved in the program, who argued that MR-2's technical
issues were simple and had been resolved shortly after the flight. He overruled them, so a test mission
involving a Redstone on a boilerplate capsule was flown successfully in March. Von Braun's
stubbornness was blamed for the inability of the U.S. to launch a crewed space mission before the
Soviet Union, which ended up putting the first man in space the following month.[citation needed]
Charles W. Mathews, von Braun, George Mueller, and Lt. Gen. Samuel C. Phillips in the Launch Control
Center following the successful Apollo 11 liftoff on July 16, 1969
The Marshall Center's first major program was the development of Saturn rockets to carry
heavy payloads into and beyond Earth orbit. From this, the Apollo program for crewed Moon flights was
developed. Wernher von Braun initially pushed for a flight engineering concept that called for an Earth
orbit rendezvous technique (the approach he had argued for building his space station), but in 1962, he
converted to the lunar orbit rendezvous concept that was subsequently realized.[88] During Apollo, he
worked closely with former Peenemünde teammate, Kurt H. Debus, the first director of the Kennedy
Space Center. His dream to help mankind set foot on the Moon became a reality on July 16, 1969, when
a Marshall-developed Saturn V rocket launched the crew of Apollo 11 on its historic eight-day mission.
Over the course of the program, Saturn V rockets enabled six teams of astronauts to reach the surface
of the Moon.
During the late 1960s, von Braun was instrumental in the development of the U.S. Space and Rocket
Center in Huntsville. The desk from which he guided America's entry in the space race remains on
display there. He also was instrumental in the launching of the experimental Applications Technology
Satellite. He traveled to India and hoped that the program would be helpful for bringing a
massive educational television project to help the poorest people in that country.[89][90]
During the local summer of 1966–67, von Braun participated in a field trip to Antarctica, organized for
him and several other members of top NASA management.[91] The goal of the field trip was to
determine whether the experience gained by U.S. scientific and technological community during the
exploration of Antarctic wastelands would be useful for the crewed exploration of space. Von Braun was
mainly interested in management of the scientific effort on Antarctic research stations, logistics,
habitation, and life support, and in using the barren Antarctic terrain like the glacial dry valleys to test
the equipment that one day would be used to look for signs of life on Mars and other worlds.
In an internal memo dated January 16, 1969,[92] von Braun had confirmed to his staff that he would
stay on as a center director at Huntsville to head the Apollo Applications Program. He referred to this
time as a moment in his life when he felt the strong need to pray, stating "I certainly prayed a lot before
and during the crucial Apollo flights".[93] A few months later, on occasion of the first Moon landing, he
publicly expressed his optimism that the Saturn V carrier system would continue to be developed,
advocating human missions to Mars in the 1980s.[94]
Nonetheless, on March 1, 1970, von Braun and his family relocated to Washington, DC, when he was
assigned the post of NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator for Planning at NASA Headquarters. After a
series of conflicts associated with the truncation of the Apollo program, and facing severe budget
constraints, von Braun retired from NASA on May 26, 1972. Not only had it become evident by this time
that NASA and his visions for future U.S. space flight projects were incompatible, but also it was perhaps
even more frustrating for him to see popular support for a continued presence of man in space wane
dramatically once the goal to reach the Moon had been accomplished.
Von Braun and William R. Lucas, the first and third Marshall Space Flight Center directors, viewing
a Spacelabmodel in 1974
Von Braun also developed the idea of a Space Camp that would train children in fields of science and
space technologies, as well as help their mental development much the same way sports camps aim at
improving physical development.[22]:354–355
Career after NASA
After leaving NASA, von Braun became Vice President for Engineering and Development at the
aerospace company Fairchild Industries in Germantown, Maryland, on July 1, 1972.
In 1973, during a routine physical examination, von Braun was diagnosed with kidney cancer, which
could not be controlled with the medical techniques available at the time.[95] Von Braun continued his
work to the extent possible, which included accepting invitations to speak at colleges and universities, as
he was eager to cultivate interest in human spaceflight and rocketry, particularly his desire to encourage
the next generation of aerospace engineers.
Von Braun helped establish and promote the National Space Institute, a precursor of the present-
day National Space Society, in 1975, and became its first president and chairman. In 1976, he became
scientific consultant to Lutz Kayser, the CEO of OTRAG, and a member of the Daimler-Benz board of
directors. However, his deteriorating health forced him to retire from Fairchild on December 31, 1976.
When the 1975 National Medal of Science was awarded to him in early 1977, he was hospitalized, and
unable to attend the White House ceremony.
Engineering philosophy
Von Braun's insistence on further tests after Mercury-Redstone 2 flew higher than planned has been
identified as contributing to the Soviet Union's success in launching the first human in space.
[96] The Mercury-Redstone BD flight was successful, but took up the launch slot that could have
put Alan Shepard into space three weeks ahead of Yuri Gagarin. His Soviet counterpart Sergei
Korolev insisted on two successful flights with dogs before risking Gagarin's life on a crewed attempt.
The second test flight took place one day after the Mercury-Redstone BD mission.[22]
Von Braun took a very conservative approach to engineering, designing with ample safety
factors and redundant structure. This became a point of contention with other engineers, who struggled
to keep vehicle weight down so that payload could be maximized. As noted above, his excessive caution
likely led to the U.S. losing the race to put a man into space with the Soviets. Krafft Ehricke likened von
Braun's approach to building the Brooklyn Bridge.[97]:208 Many at NASA headquarters jokingly referred
to Marshall as the "Chicago Bridge and Iron Works", but acknowledged that the designs worked.[98] The
conservative approach paid off when a fifth engine was added to the Saturn C-4, producing the Saturn V.
The C-4 design had a large crossbeam that could easily absorb the thrust of an additional engine.
[22]:371
Personal life
Maria von Braun, wife of Wernher von Braun
Von Braun had a charismatic personality and was known as a ladies' man. As a student in Berlin, he
would often be seen in the evenings in the company of two girlfriends at once.[22]:63 He later had a
succession of affairs within the secretarial and computer pool at Peenemünde.[22]:92–94
In January 1943, von Braun became engaged to Dorothee Brill, a physical education teacher in Berlin,
and he sought permission to marry from the SS Race and Settlement Office. However, the engagement
was broken due to his mother's opposition.[22]:146–147 He had an affair in Paris with a French woman
later in 1943, while preparing V-2 launch sites in northeastern France. She was imprisoned for
collaboration after the war and became destitute.[22]:147–148
During his stay at Fort Bliss, von Braun proposed marriage to Maria Luise von Quistorp (born June 10,
1928), his maternal first cousin, in a letter to his father. He married her in a Lutheran church in Landshut,
Germany on March 1, 1947, having received permission to go back to Germany and return with his
bride. Shortly after, he became an evangelical Christian. He returned to New York on March 26, 1947
with his wife, father, and mother. On December 9, 1948, the von Brauns' first daughter Iris Careen was
born at Fort Bliss Army Hospital.[65] The couple had two more children: Margrit Cécile in 1952, and
Peter Constantine in 1960.
On April 15, 1955, von Braun became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Death
Grave of Wernher von Braun in Ivy Hill Cemetery (Alexandria, Virginia), 2008.
Von Braun died on June 16, 1977 of pancreatic cancer in Alexandria, Virginia at age 65.[99][100] He was
buried at the Ivy Hill Cemetery. His gravestone quotes Psalm 19:1: "The heavens declare the glory of
God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." (KJV)[101]
Recognition and critique
In 1970, Huntsville, Alabama honored von Braun's years of service with a series of events including the
unveiling of a plaque in his honor. Pictured (l–r), his daughter Iris, wife Maria, U.S. Sen. John Sparkman,
Alabama Gov. Albert Brewer, von Braun, son Peter, and daughter Margrit.
Apollo program director Sam Phillips was quoted as saying that he did not think that the United States
would have reached the Moon as quickly as it did without von Braun's help. Later, after discussing it
with colleagues, he amended this to say that he did not believe the United States would have reached
the Moon at all.[13]:167
The von Braun crater on the Moon is named after him.
Von Braun received a total of 12 honorary doctorates; among them, on January 8, 1963, one from
the Technical University of Berlin, from which he had graduated.
In Huntsville, Alabama:
Von Braun was responsible for the creation of the Research Institute at the University of Alabama in
Huntsville. As a result of his vision, the university is one of the leading universities in the nation for
NASA-sponsored research. The building housing the university's Research Institute was named in his
honor, Von Braun Research Hall, in 2000.
The Von Braun Center (built in 1975) in Huntsville is named in von Braun's honor.
The Von Braun Astronomical Society in Huntsville was founded as the Rocket City Astronomical
Association by von Braun and was later renamed after him.
Several German cities (Bonn, Neu-Isenburg, Mannheim, Mainz), and dozens of smaller towns have
streets named after von Braun.
Scrutiny of von Braun's use of forced labor at Mittelwerk intensified again in 1984 when Arthur Rudolph,
one of his top affiliates from the A-4/V2 through the Apollo projects, left the United States and was
forced to renounce his citizenship in place of the alternative of being tried for war crimes.[5][102]
A science- and engineering-oriented Gymnasium in Friedberg, Bavaria was named after von Braun in
1979. In response to rising criticism, a school committee decided in 1995, after lengthy deliberations, to
keep the name but "to address von Braun's ambiguity in the advanced history classes". In 2012, Nazi
concentration camp survivor David Salz gave a speech in Friedberg, calling out to the public to "Do
everything to make this name disappear from this school!".[103][104] In February 2014, the school was
finally renamed "Staatliches Gymnasium Friedberg" and distanced itself from the name von Braun, citing
he was "no role-model for our pupils".
An avenue in the Annadale section of Staten Island, New York was named after him in 1977.
Von Braun was voted into the U.S. Space and Rocket Center Hall of Fame in 2007.
Summary of SS career
SS number: 185,068
Nazi Party number: 5,738,692[22]:96
Dates of rank
SS-Anwärter: November 1, 1933 (Candidate; received rank upon joining SS Riding School)
SS-Mann: July 1934 (Private)
(left SS after graduation from the school; commissioned in 1940 with date of entry backdated to 1934)
SS-Untersturmführer: May 1, 1940 (Second Lieutenant)
SS-Obersturmführer: November 9, 1941 (First Lieutenant)
SS-Hauptsturmführer: November 9, 1942 (Captain)
SS-Sturmbannführer: June 28, 1943 (Major)[29]
Honors
War Merit Cross, First Class with Swords in 1943 NASA Distinguished Service Medal in
1969
Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross in 1944
Inducted into the International Space
Elected Honorary Fellow of the British Interplanetary Hall of Fame in 1969
Society in 1949[105]
Wilhelm Exner Medal in 1969.[2]
Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the
Federal Republic of Germany in 1959 National Medal of Science in 1975
Elliott Cresson Medal in 1962[106] Werner von Siemens Ring in 1975
Inducted into the International Aerospace Hall of Civitan International World Citizenship
Fame in 1965[107] Award in 1970[109]
Langley Gold Medal in 1967[108]
In popular culture
Film and television Von Braun has been featured in a number of movies and television shows or series:
"Man in Space" and "Man and the Moon", episodes of Disneyland which originally aired on March 9,
1955 and December 28, 1955, respectively.
I Aim at the Stars (1960), also titled Wernher von Braun and Ich greife nach den Sternen ("I Reach for the
Stars"); von Braun played by Curd Jürgens, his wife Maria played by Victoria Shaw.[110] Although it was
said that satirist Mort Sahl suggested the subtitle "But Sometimes I Hit London", the line appears in the
film itself, spoken by actor James Daly who plays the cynical American press officer.
Frozen Flashes (1967); based on Julius Mader's documentary report "The Secret of Huntsville"; von
Braun (only referred to as the "rocket baron") played by Dietrich Körner [de].
From the Earth to the Moon (TV, 1998): von Braun played by Norbert Weisser.
October Sky (1999): this film portrays U.S. rocket scientist Homer Hickam, who as a teenager admired
von Braun (played by Joe Digaetano). The film's title, October Sky, is an anagram of the autobiography it
was based on: Rocket Boys.
Space Race (TV, BBC co-production with NDR (Germany), Channel One TV (Russia) and National
Geographic TV (USA), 2005): von Braun played by Richard Dillane.
The Lost Von Braun, a documentary by Aron Ranen. Interviews with Ernst Stuhlinger, Konrad
Dannenberg, Karl Sendler, Alex Baum, Eli Rosenbaum (DOJ) and von Braun's NASA secretary Bonnie
Holmes.
Wernher von Braun – Rocket Man for War and Peace A three part (part1, part 2, part 3) documentary –
in English – from the German International channel DW-TV.[111] Original German version Wernher von
Braun – Der Mann für die Wunderwaffen by the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. Played by Ludwig
Blochberger.[112]
Timeless television series (2016): Party at Castle Varlar (season 1, episode 4); von Braun played
by Christian Oliver.
Project Blue Book television series (2019): "Operation Paperclip" (Season 1, episode 4) von Braun played
by Thomas Kretschmann.
Several fictional characters have been modeled on von Braun:
Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964): Dr Strangelove is usually
held to be based at least partly on von Braun.[113]
In print media:
In Warren Ellis's graphic novel Ministry of Space, von Braun is a supporting character, settling in Britain
after World War II, and being essential for the realization of the British space program.
In Jonathan Hickman's comic book series The Manhattan Projects, von Braun is a major character.
In literature:
The Good German by Joseph Kanon. Von Braun and other scientists are said to have been implicated in
the use of slave labor at Peenemünde; their transfer to the U.S. forms part of the narrative.
Space by James Michener. Von Braun and other German scientists are brought to the U.S. and form a
vital part of the U.S. efforts to reach space.
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. The novel involves British intelligence attempting to avert and
predict V-2 rocket attacks. The work even includes a gyroscopic equation for the V2. The first portion of
the novel, "Beyond The Zero", begins with a quotation from von Braun: "Nature does not know
extinction; all it knows is transformation. Everything science has taught me, and continues to teach me,
strengthens my belief in the continuity of our spiritual existence after death."
V-S Day by Allen Steele is a 2014 alternate history novel in which the space race occurs during World
War II between teams led by Robert H. Goddard and von Braun.
Moonglow by Michael Chabon (2016) includes a fictionalized description of the search for and capture
of Von Braun by the US Army, and his role in the Nazi V-2 program and subsequently in the US space
program.
In theatre:
Rocket City, Alabam', a stage play by Mark Saltzman, weaves von Braun's real life with a fictional plot in
which a young Jewish woman in Huntsville, Alabamabecomes aware of his Nazi past and tries to inspire
awareness and outrage. Von Braun is a character in the play.[114]
In music:
Infinite Journey (1962), Johann Sebastian Bach and Apollo program rocket sounds album by various
artists including Henry Mazer, which features von Braun as a narrator.[115]
"Wernher von Braun" (1965):[116] A song written and performed by Tom Lehrer for an episode of NBC's
American version of the BBC TV show That Was The Week That Was; the song was later included in
Lehrer's albums That Was The Year That Was and The Remains of Tom Lehrer. It was a satire on what
some saw as von Braun's cavalier attitude toward the consequences of his work in Nazi Germany.[117]
The Last Days of Pompeii (1991): A rock opera by Grant Hart's post-Hüsker Dü alternative rock
group Nova Mob, in which von Braun features as a character. The album includes a song called
"Wernher von Braun".
Published works
Proposal for a Workable Fighter with Rocket Drive. July 6, 1939.
The proposed vertical take-off interceptor[118] for climbing to 35,000 ft in 60 seconds was rejected by
the Luftwaffe in the autumn of 1941[38]:258 for the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet[22]:151 and never
produced. (The differing Bachem Ba 349 was produced during the 1944 Emergency Fighter Program.)
'Survey' of Previous Liquid Rocket Development in Germany and Future Prospects. May 1945.[119]
A Minimum Satellite Vehicle Based on Components Available from Developments of the Army Ordnance
Corps. September 15, 1954. It would be a blow to U.S. prestige if we did not [launch a satellite] first.
[119]
The Mars Project, Urbana, University of Illinois Press, (1953). With Henry J. White, translator.
Arthur C. Clarke, ed. (1967). German Rocketry, The Coming of the Space Age. New York: Meredith Press.
First Men to the Moon, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York (1958). Portions of work first appeared
in This Week Magazine.
Daily Journals of Werner von Braun, May 1958 – March 1970. March 1970.[119]
History of Rocketry & Space Travel, New York, Crowell (1975). With Frederick I. Ordway III.
Estate of Wernher von Braun; Ordway III, Frederick I & Dooling, David Jr. (1985) [1975]. Space Travel: A
History (2nd ed.). New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 978-0-06-181898-1.
The Rocket's Red Glare, Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press, (1976). With Frederick I. Ordway III.
Project Mars: A Technical Tale, Apogee Books, Toronto (2006). A previously unpublished science fiction
story by von Braun. Accompanied by paintings from Chesley Bonestell and von Braun's own technical
papers on the proposed project.
The Voice of Dr. Wernher von Braun, Apogee Books, Toronto (2007). A collection of speeches delivered
by von Braun over the course of his career.
Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle FRS[6] (/bɔɪl/; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish[7] natural
philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern
chemist, and therefore one of the founders of modern chemistry, and one of the pioneers of modern
experimental scientific method. He is best known for Boyle's law,[8]which describes the inversely
proportional relationship between the absolute pressure and volume of a gas, if the temperature is kept
constant within a closed system.[9] Among his works, The Sceptical Chymist is seen as a cornerstone
book in the field of chemistry. He was a devout and pious Anglican and is noted for his writings in
theology.[10][11][12][13]
The Honourable
Robert Boyle
FRS
Born 25 January 1627
Lismore Castle, Lismore, County
Waterford, Ireland
Died 31 December 1691 (aged 64)
London, England
Nationality Irish
Education Eton College
Known for Boyle's law
Corpuscularianism[1]
Scientific career
Fields Physics, chemistry
Notable Robert Hooke
students
Influences Galileo Galilei
Otto von Guericke
Francis Bacon
Evangelista Torricelli[2]
Samuel Hartlib[3]
Katherine Boyle Jones
Influenced Isaac Newton[4]
Biography
Early years
Boyle was born at Lismore Castle, in County Waterford, Ireland, the seventh son and fourteenth child
of The 1st Earl of Cork ('the Great Earl of Cork') and Catherine Fenton. Lord Cork, then known simply as
Richard Boyle, had arrived in Dublin from England in 1588 during the Tudor plantations of Ireland and
obtained an appointment as a deputy escheator. He had amassed enormous wealth and landholdings by
the time Robert was born, and had been created Earl of Cork in October 1620. Catherine
Fenton, Countess of Cork, was the daughter of Sir Geoffrey Fenton, the former Secretary of State for
Ireland, who was born in Dublin in 1539, and Alice Weston, the daughter of Robert Weston, who was
born in Lismore in 1541.[14]
As a child, Boyle was fostered to a local family,[15] as were his elder brothers. Boyle received private
tutoring in Latin, Greek, and French and when he was eight years old, following the death of his mother,
he was sent to Eton College in England. His father's friend, Sir Henry Wotton, was then the provost of
the college.
During this time, his father hired a private tutor, Robert Carew, who had knowledge of Irish, to act as
private tutor to his sons in Eton. However, "only Mr. Robert sometimes desires it [Irish] and is a little
entered in it", but despite the "many reasons" given by Carew to turn their attentions to it, "they
practice the French and Latin but they affect not the Irish".[16] After spending over three years at Eton,
Robert travelled abroad with a French tutor. They visited Italy in 1641 and remained in Florenceduring
the winter of that year studying the "paradoxes of the great star-gazer" Galileo Galilei, who was elderly
but still living in 1641.
Middle years
Robert returned to England from continental Europe in mid-1644 with a keen interest in scientific
research.[17] His father, Lord Cork, had died the previous year and had left him the manor
of Stalbridge in Dorset as well as substantial estates in County Limerick in Ireland that he had acquired.
Robert then made his residence at Stalbridge House, between 1644 and 1652, and conducted many
experiments there. From that time, Robert devoted his life to scientific research and soon took a
prominent place in the band of enquirers, known as the "Invisible College", who devoted themselves to
the cultivation of the "new philosophy". They met frequently in London, often at Gresham College, and
some of the members also had meetings at Oxford.
Sculpture of a young boy, thought to be Boyle, on his parents' monument in St Patrick's Cathedral,
Dublin.
Having made several visits to his Irish estates beginning in 1647, Robert moved to Ireland in 1652 but
became frustrated at his inability to make progress in his chemical work. In one letter, he described
Ireland as "a barbarous country where chemical spirits were so misunderstood and chemical
instruments so unprocurable that it was hard to have any Hermetic thoughts in it."[18]
In 1654, Boyle left Ireland for Oxford to pursue his work more successfully. An inscription can be found
on the wall of University College, Oxford, the High Street at Oxford (now the location of the Shelley
Memorial), marking the spot where Cross Hall stood until the early 19th century. It was here that Boyle
rented rooms from the wealthy apothecary who owned the Hall.
Reading in 1657 of Otto von Guericke's air pump, he set himself with the assistance of Robert Hooke to
devise improvements in its construction, and with the result, the "machina Boyleana" or "Pneumatical
Engine", finished in 1659, he began a series of experiments on the properties of air.[8] An account of
Boyle's work with the air pump was published in 1660 under the title New Experiments Physico-
Mechanical, Touching the Spring of the Air, and its Effects.
Among the critics of the views put forward in this book was a Jesuit, Francis Line (1595–1675), and it was
while answering his objections that Boyle made his first mention of the law that the volume of a gas
varies inversely to the pressure of the gas, which among English-speaking people is usually called Boyle's
Law after his name. The person who originally formulated the hypothesis was Henry Power in 1661.
Boyle in 1662 included a reference to a paper written by Power, but mistakenly attributed it to Richard
Towneley. In continental Europe the hypothesis is sometimes attributed to Edme Mariotte, although he
did not publish it until 1676 and was likely aware of Boyle's work at the time.[19]
One of Robert Boyle's notebooks (1690-1691) held by the Royal Societyof London. The Royal Society
archives holds 46 volumes of philosophical, scientific and theological papers by Boyle and seven volumes
of his correspondence.
In 1663 the Invisible College became The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, and
the charter of incorporation granted by Charles II of England named Boyle a member of the council. In
1680 he was elected president of the society, but declined the honour from a scruple about oaths.
He made a "wish list" of 24 possible inventions which included "the prolongation of life", the "art of
flying", "perpetual light", "making armour light and extremely hard", "a ship to sail with all winds, and a
ship not to be sunk", "practicable and certain way of finding longitudes", "potent drugs to alter or exalt
imagination, waking, memory and other functions and appease pain, procure innocent sleep, harmless
dreams, etc." They are extraordinary because all but a few of the 24 have come true.[20][21]
It was during his time at Oxford that Boyle was a Chevalier. The Chevaliers are thought to have been
established by royal order a few years before Boyle's time at Oxford. The early part of Boyle's residence
was marked by the actions of the victorious parliamentarian forces, consequently this period marked
the most secretive period of Chevalier movements and thus little is known about Boyle's involvement
beyond his membership.
In 1668 he left Oxford for London where he resided at the house of his elder sister Katherine Jones, Lady
Ranelagh, in Pall Mall. He experimented in the laboratory she had in her home and attended her salon of
intellectuals interested in the sciences. The siblings maintained "a lifelong intellectual partnership,
where brother and sister shared medical remedies, promoted each other’s scientific ideas, and edited
each other’s manuscripts."[22] His contemporaries widely acknowledged Katherine's influence on his
work, but later historiographers dropped discussion of her accomplishments and relationship to her
brother from the their histories.
Later years
Plaque at the site of Boyle and Hooke's experiments in Oxford
In 1669 his health, never very strong, began to fail seriously and he gradually withdrew from his public
engagements, ceasing his communications to the Royal Society, and advertising his desire to be excused
from receiving guests, "unless upon occasions very extraordinary", on Tuesday and Friday forenoon, and
Wednesday and Saturday afternoon. In the leisure thus gained he wished to "recruit his spirits, range his
papers", and prepare some important chemical investigations which he proposed to leave "as a kind of
Hermetic legacy to the studious disciples of that art", but of which he did not make known the nature.
His health became still worse in 1691, and he died on 31 December that year,[23] just a week after the
death of his sister, Katherine, in whose home he had lived and with whom he had shared scientific
pursuits for more than twenty years. Boyle died from paralysis. He was buried in the churchyard of St
Martin-in-the-Fields, his funeral sermon being preached by his friend, Bishop Gilbert Burnet. In his will,
Boyle endowed a series of lectures that came to be known as the Boyle Lectures.
Scientific investigator
Boyle's air pump
Boyle's great merit as a scientific investigator is that he carried out the principles which Francis
Bacon espoused in the Novum Organum. Yet he would not avow himself a follower of Bacon, or indeed
of any other teacher.
On several occasions he mentions that to keep his judgment as unprepossessed as might be with any of
the modern theories of philosophy, until he was "provided of experiments" to help him judge of them.
He refrained from any study of the atomicaland the Cartesian systems, and even of the Novum Organum
itself, though he admits to "transiently consulting" them about a few particulars. Nothing was more
alien to his mental temperament than the spinning of hypotheses. He regarded the acquisition of
knowledge as an end in itself, and in consequence he gained a wider outlook on the aims of scientific
inquiry than had been enjoyed by his predecessors for many centuries. This, however, did not mean that
he paid no attention to the practical application of science nor that he despised knowledge which
tended to use.
Fig. 3: Illustration of Excerptum ex collectionibus philosophicis anglicis... novum genus lampadis à Rob.
Boyle ... published in Acta Eruditorum, 1682
Robert Boyle was an alchemist;[24] and believing the transmutation of metals to be a possibility, he
carried out experiments in the hope of achieving it; and he was instrumental in obtaining the repeal, in
1689, of the statute of Henry IV against multiplyinggold and silver.[25] With all the important work he
accomplished in physics – the enunciation of Boyle's law, the discovery of the part taken by air in the
propagation of sound, and investigations on the expansive force of freezing water, on specific
gravitiesand refractive powers, on crystals, on electricity, on colour, on hydrostatics, etc.
– chemistry was his peculiar and favourite study. His first book on the subject was The Sceptical Chymist,
published in 1661, in which he criticised the "experiments whereby vulgar Spagyrists are wont to
endeavour to evince their Salt, Sulphur and Mercury to be the true Principles of Things." For him
chemistry was the science of the composition of substances, not merely an adjunct to the arts of the
alchemist or the physician.
He endorsed the view of elements as the undecomposable constituents of material bodies; and made
the distinction between mixtures and compounds. He made considerable progress in the technique of
detecting their ingredients, a process which he designated by the term "analysis". He further supposed
that the elements were ultimately composed of particles of various sorts and sizes, into which, however,
they were not to be resolved in any known way. He studied the chemistry of combustion and
of respiration, and conducted experiments in physiology, where, however, he was hampered by the
"tenderness of his nature" which kept him from anatomical dissections, especially vivisections, though
he knew them to be "most instructing".
Theological interests
In addition to philosophy, Boyle devoted much time to theology, showing a very decided leaning to the
practical side and an indifference to controversial polemics. At the Restoration of the king in 1660, he
was favourably received at court and in 1665 would have received the provostship of Eton College had
he agreed to take holy orders, but this he refused to do on the ground that his writings on religious
subjects would have greater weight coming from a layman than a paid minister of the Church.
Moreover, Boyle incorporated his scientific interests into his theology, believing that natural philosophy
could provide powerful evidence for the existence God. In works such as Disquisition about the Final
Causes of Natural Things (1688), for instance, he criticised contemporary philosophers - such as René
Descartes - who denied that the study of nature could reveal much about God. Instead, Boyle argued
that natural philosophers could use the design apparently on display in some parts of nature to
demonstrate God's involvement with the world. He also attempted to tackle complex theological
questions using methods derived from his scientific practices. In Some Physico-Theological
Considerations about the Possibility of the Resurrection(1675), he used a chemical experiment known as
the reduction to the pristine state as part of an attempt to demonstrate the physical possibility of
the resurrection of the body. Throughout his career, Boyle tried to show that science could lend support
to Christianity.[26]
As a director of the East India Company he spent large sums in promoting the spread of Christianity in
the East, contributing liberally to missionary societies and to the expenses of translating the Bible or
portions of it into various languages. Boyle supported the policy that the Bible should be available in the
vernacular language of the people. An Irish language version of the New Testament was published in
1602 but was rare in Boyle's adult life. In 1680–85 Boyle personally financed the printing of the Bible,
both Old and New Testaments, in Irish.[27] In this respect, Boyle's attitude to the Irish language differed
from the English Ascendancy class in Ireland at the time, which was generally hostile to the language
and largely opposed the use of Irish (not only as a language of religious worship).[28]
Boyle also had a monogenist perspective about race origin. He was a pioneer studying races, and he
believed that all human beings, no matter how diverse their physical differences, came from the same
source: Adam and Eve. He studied reported stories of parents' giving birth to different coloured albinos,
so he concluded that Adam and Eve were originally white and that Caucasians could give birth to
different coloured races. Boyle also extended the theories of Robert Hooke and Isaac Newton about
colour and light via optical projection (in physics) into discourses of polygenesis,[29] speculating that
maybe these differences were due to "seminalimpressions". Taking this into account, it might be
considered that he envisioned a good explanation for complexion at his time, due to the fact that now
we know that skin colour is disposed by genes, which are actually contained in the semen. Boyle's
writings mention that at his time, for "European Eyes", beauty was not measured so much in colour of
skin, but in "stature, comely symmetry of the parts of the body, and good features in the face".
[30] Various members of the scientific community rejected his views and described them as "disturbing"
or "amusing".[31]
In his Will, Boyle provided money for a series of lectures to defend the Christian religion against those
he considered "notorious infidels, namely atheists, deists, pagans, Jews and Muslims", with the
provision that controversies between Christians were not to be mentioned (see Boyle Lectures).[32]
Awards and honours
The 2014 Robert Boyle Prize for Analytical Science medal
As a founder of the Royal Society, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1663.[6] Boyle's
law is named in his honour. The Royal Society of Chemistry issues a Robert Boyle Prize for Analytical
Science, named in his honour. The Boyle Medal for Scientific Excellence in Ireland, inaugurated in 1899,
is awarded jointly by the Royal Dublin Society and The Irish Times.[33] Launched in 2012, The Robert
Boyle Summer School organized by the Waterford Institute of Technology with support from Lismore
Castle, is held annually to honor the heritage of Robert Boyle.[34]
Important works
Title page of The Sceptical Chymist(1661)
Boyle's self-flowing flask, a perpetual motion machine, appears to fill itself through siphon action
("hydrostatic perpetual motion") and involves the "hydrostatic paradox"[35]This is not possible in
reality; a siphon requires its "output" to be lower than the "input".
The following are some of the more important of his works:
1660 – New Experiments Physico-Mechanical: Touching the Spring of the Air and their Effects
1661 – The Sceptical Chymist
1662 – Whereunto is Added a Defence of the Authors Explication of the Experiments, Against the
Obiections of Franciscus Linus and Thomas Hobbes (a book-length addendum to the second edition
of New Experiments Physico-Mechanical)
1663 – Considerations touching the Usefulness of Experimental Natural Philosophy (followed by a
second part in 1671)
1664 – Experiments and Considerations Touching Colours, with Observations on a Diamond that Shines
in the Dark
1665 – New Experiments and Observations upon Cold
1666 – Hydrostatical Paradoxes[36]
1666 – Origin of Forms and Qualities according to the Corpuscular Philosophy. (A continuation of his
work on the spring of air demonstrated that a reduction in ambient pressure could lead to bubble
formation in living tissue. This description of a viper in a vacuum was the first recorded description
of decompression sickness.)[37]
1669 – A Continuation of New Experiments Physico-mechanical, Touching the Spring and Weight of the
Air, and Their Effects
1670 – Tracts about the Cosmical Qualities of Things, the Temperature of the Subterraneal and
Submarine Regions, the Bottom of the Sea, &tc. with an Introduction to the History of Particular
Qualities
1672 – Origin and Virtues of Gems
1673 – Essays of the Strange Subtilty, Great Efficacy, Determinate Nature of Effluviums
1674 – Two volumes of tracts on the Saltiness of the Sea, Suspicions about the Hidden Realities of the
Air, Cold, Celestial Magnets
1674 – Animadversions upon Mr. Hobbes's Problemata de Vacuo
1676 – Experiments and Notes about the Mechanical Origin or Production of Particular Qualities,
including some notes on electricity and magnetism
1678 – Observations upon an artificial Substance that Shines without any Preceding Illustration
1680 – The Aerial Noctiluca
1682 – New Experiments and Observations upon the Icy Noctiluca (a further continuation of his work on
the air)
1684 – Memoirs for the Natural History of the Human Blood
1685 – Short Memoirs for the Natural Experimental History of Mineral Waters
1686 – A Free Enquiry into the Vulgarly Received Notion of Nature
1690 – Medicina Hydrostatica
1691 – Experimentae et Observationes Physicae
Among his religious and philosophical writings were:
1648/1660 – Seraphic Love, written in 1648, but not published until 1660
1663 – An Essay upon the Style of the Holy Scriptures
1664 – Excellence of Theology compared with Natural Philosophy
1665 – Occasional Reflections upon Several Subjects, which was ridiculed by Swift in Meditation Upon a
Broomstick, and by Butler in An Occasional Reflection on Dr Charlton's Feeling a Dog's Pulse at Gresham
College
1675 – Some Considerations about the Reconcileableness of Reason and Religion, with a Discourse
about the Possibility of the Resurrection
1687 – The Martyrdom of Theodora, and of Didymus
1690 – The Christian Virtuoso
John dalton
John Dalton FRS (/ˈdɔːltən/; 6 September 1766 – 27 July 1844) was an English chemist, physicist,
and meteorologist. He is best known for introducing the atomic theory into chemistry, and for his
research into colour blindness, sometimes referred to as Daltonism in his honour.
John Dalton
Dalton by Charles Turner after James
Lonsdale (1834, mezzotint)
Early life
John Dalton was born into a Quaker family in Eaglesfield, near Cockermouth, in Cumberland, England.
[1] His father was a weaver.[2] He received his early education from his father and from Quaker John
Fletcher, who ran a private school in the nearby village of Pardshaw Hall. Dalton's family was too poor to
support him for long and he began to earn his living at the age of ten in the service of a wealthy local
Quaker, Elihu Robinson.[3] It is said he began teaching at a local school at age 12 and became proficient
in Latin at age 14.
Early career
When he was 15, Dalton joined his older brother Jonathan in running a Quaker school
in Kendal, Westmorland, about 45 miles (72 km) from his home. Around the age of 23 Dalton may have
considered studying law or medicine, but his relatives did not encourage him, perhaps because being
a Dissenter, he was barred from attending English universities. He acquired much scientific knowledge
from informal instruction by John Gough, a blind philosopher who was gifted in the sciences and arts. At
the age of 27 he was appointed teacher of mathematics and natural philosophy at the "New College"
in Manchester, a dissenting academy (the lineal predecessor, following a number of changes of location,
of Harris Manchester College, Oxford). He remained there until the age of 34, when the college's
worsening financial situation led him to resign his post and begin a new career as a private tutor in
mathematics and natural philosophy.
Scientific contributions
Meteorology
Dalton's early life was influenced by a prominent Eaglesfield Quaker, Elihu Robinson,[4] a
competent meteorologist and instrument maker, who interested him in problems of mathematics and
meteorology. During his years in Kendal, Dalton contributed solutions to problems and answered
questions on various subjects in The Ladies' Diary and the Gentleman's Diary. In 1787 at age 21 he began
his meteorological diary in which, during the succeeding 57 years, he entered more than 200,000
observations.[5] He rediscovered George Hadley's theory of atmospheric circulation (now known as
the Hadley cell) around this time.[6] In 1793 Dalton's first publication, Meteorological Observations and
Essays, contained the seeds of several of his later discoveries but despite the originality of his treatment,
little attention was paid to them by other scholars. A second work by Dalton, Elements of English
Grammar, was published in 1801.
Measuring mountains
After leaving the Lake District, Dalton returned annually to spend his holidays studying meteorology,
something which involved a lot of hill-walking. Until the advent of aeroplanes and weather balloons, the
only way to make measurements of temperature and humidity at altitude was to climb a mountain.
Dalton estimated the height using a barometer. The Ordnance Survey did not publish maps for the Lake
District until the 1860s. Before then, Dalton was one of the few authorities on the heights of the region's
mountains.[7] He was often accompanied by Jonathan Otley, who also made a study of the heights of
the local peaks, using Dalton's figures as a comparison to check his work. Otley published his
information in his map of 1818. Otley became both an assistant and a friend to Dalton.[8]
Colour blindness
In 1794, shortly after his arrival in Manchester, Dalton was elected a member of the Manchester Literary
and Philosophical Society, the "Lit & Phil", and a few weeks later he communicated his first paper on
"Extraordinary facts relating to the vision of colours", in which he postulated that shortage in colour
perception was caused by discoloration of the liquid medium of the eyeball. As both he and his brother
were colour blind, he recognised that the condition must be hereditary.[9]
Although Dalton's theory lost credence in his lifetime, the thorough and methodical nature of his
research into his visual problem was so broadly recognised that Daltonism became a common term for
colour blindness.[a] Examination of his preserved eyeball in 1995 demonstrated that Dalton had a less
common kind of colour blindness, deuteroanopia, in which medium wavelength sensitive cones are
missing (rather than functioning with a mutated form of pigment, as in the most common type of colour
blindness, deuteroanomaly).[9] Besides the blue and purple of the optical spectrum he was only able to
recognise one colour, yellow, or, as he said in a paper,[11]
That part of the image which others call red, appears to me little more than a shade, or defect of light;
after that the orange, yellow and green seem one colour, which descends pretty uniformly from an
intense to a rare yellow, making what I should call different shades of yellow.
Gas laws
External video
Profiles in Chemistry:How
John Dalton's meteorological
studies led to the discovery of
atoms on YouTube, Chemical
Heritage Foundation
In 1800, Dalton became secretary of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, and in the
following year he presented an important series of lectures, entitled "Experimental Essays" on the
constitution of mixed gases; the pressure of steam and other vapours at different temperatures in
a vacuum and in air; on evaporation; and on the thermal expansion of gases. The four essays, presented
between 2 and 30 October 1801, were published in the Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical
Society of Manchester in 1802.
The second essay opens with the remark,[12]
There can scarcely be a doubt entertained respecting the reducibility of all elastic fluids of whatever
kind, into liquids; and we ought not to despair of effecting it in low temperatures and by strong
pressures exerted upon the unmixed gases further.
After describing experiments to ascertain the pressure of steam at various points between 0 and 100 °C
(32 and 212 °F), Dalton concluded from observations of the vapour pressure of six different liquids, that
the variation of vapour pressure for all liquids is equivalent, for the same variation of temperature,
reckoning from vapour of any given pressure.
In the fourth essay he remarks,[13]
I see no sufficient reason why we may not conclude, that all elastic fluids under the same pressure
expand equally by heat—and that for any given expansion of mercury, the corresponding expansion of
air is proportionally something less, the higher the temperature. ... It seems, therefore, that general laws
respecting the absolute quantity and the nature of heat, are more likely to be derived from elastic fluids
than from other substances.
He enunciated Gay-Lussac's law, published in 1802 by Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (Gay-Lussac credited the
discovery to unpublished work from the 1780s by Jacques Charles). In the two or three years following
the lectures, Dalton published several papers on similar topics. "On the Absorption of Gases by Water
and other Liquids" (read on 21 October 1803, published until 1805)[14] contained his law of partial
pressures now known as Dalton's law.
Atomic theory
The most important of all Dalton's investigations are concerned with the atomic theory in chemistry.
While his name is inseparably associated with this theory, the origin of Dalton's atomic theory is not fully
understood.[15][16] The theory may have been suggested to him either by researches
on ethylene (olefiant gas) and methane (carburetted hydrogen) or by analysis of nitrous oxide (protoxide
of azote) and nitrogen dioxide (deutoxide of azote), both views resting on the authority of Thomas
Thomson.[17]
From 1814 to 1819, Irish chemist William Higgins claimed that Dalton had plagiarised his ideas, but
Higgins' theory did not address relative atomic mass.[18][19] However, recent evidence suggests that
Dalton's development of thought may have been influenced by the ideas of another Irish chemist Bryan
Higgins, who was William's uncle. Bryan believed that an atom was a heavy central particle surrounded
by an atmosphere of caloric, the supposed substance of heat at the time. The size of the atom was
determined by the diameter of the caloric atmosphere. Based on the evidence, Dalton was aware of
Bryan's theory and adopted very similar ideas and language, but he never acknowledged Bryan's
anticipation of his caloric model.[20][21] However, the essential novelty of Dalton's atomic theory is that
he provided a method of calculating relative atomic weights for the chemical elements, something that
neither Bryan nor William Higgins did; his priority for that crucial step is uncontested.[22]
A study of Dalton's laboratory notebooks, discovered in the rooms of the Manchester Literary and
Philosophical Society,[23] concluded that so far from Dalton being led by his search for an explanation of
the law of multiple proportions to the idea that chemical combination consists in the interaction of
atoms of definite and characteristic weight, the idea of atoms arose in his mind as a purely physical
concept, forced on him by study of the physical properties of the atmosphere and other gases. The first
published indications of this idea are to be found at the end of his paper "On the Absorption of Gases by
Water and other Liquids"[14] already mentioned. There he says:
Why does not water admit its bulk of every kind of gas alike? This question I have duly considered, and
though I am not able to satisfy myself completely I am nearly persuaded that the circumstance depends
on the weight and number of the ultimate particles of the several gases.
The main points of Dalton's atomic theory are:
Elements are made of extremely small particles called atoms.
Atoms of a given element are identical in size, mass and other properties; atoms of different elements
differ in size, mass and other properties.
Atoms cannot be subdivided, created or destroyed.
Atoms of different elements combine in simple whole-number ratios to form chemical compounds.
In chemical reactions, atoms are combined, separated or rearranged.
Dalton proposed an additional controversial "rule of greatest simplicity" that could not be
independently confirmed.
When atoms combine in only one ratio, "..it must be presumed to be a binary one, unless some cause
appear to the contrary".
For elements that combined in multiple ratios, their combinations were assumed to be the simplest
ones possible. Two combinations resulted in a binary and a ternary compound.[24] This was merely an
assumption, derived from faith in the simplicity of nature. No evidence was then available to scientists
to deduce how many atoms of each element combine to form compound molecules. But this or some
other such rule was absolutely necessary to any incipient theory, since one needed an assumed
molecular formula in order to calculate relative atomic weights. Dalton's "rule of greatest simplicity"
caused him to assume that the formula for water was OH and ammonia was NH, quite different from
our modern understanding (H2O, NH3). Despite the uncertainty at the heart of Dalton's atomic theory,
the principles of the theory survived.
Atomic weights
Various atoms and molecules as depicted in John Dalton's A New System of Chemical Philosophy(1808).
Dalton published his table of relative atomic weights containing six elements, hydrogen, oxygen,
nitrogen, carbon, sulfur and phosphorus, with the atom of hydrogen conventionally assumed to weigh 1.
Dalton provided no indication in this paper how he had arrived at these numbers[citation needed] but in
his laboratory notebook, dated 6 September 1803,[25] is a list in which he set out the relative weights of
the atoms of a number of elements, derived from analysis of water, ammonia, carbon dioxide, etc. by
chemists of the time.
The extension of this idea to substances in general necessarily led him to the law of multiple
proportions, and the comparison with experiment brilliantly confirmed his deduction.[26] In the paper
"On the Proportion of the Several Gases in the Atmosphere", read by him in November 1802, the law of
multiple proportions appears to be anticipated in the words:
The elements of oxygen may combine with a certain portion of nitrous gas or with twice that portion,
but with no intermediate quantity.
But there is reason to suspect that this sentence may have been added some time after the reading of
the paper, which was not published until 1805.[27]
Compounds were listed as binary, ternary, quaternary, etc. (molecules composed of two, three, four,
etc. atoms) in the New System of Chemical Philosophy depending on the number of atoms a compound
had in its simplest, empirical form.
Dalton hypothesised the structure of compounds can be represented in whole number ratios. So, one
atom of element X combining with one atom of element Y is a binary compound. Furthermore, one
atom of element X combining with two atoms of element Y or vice versa, is a ternary compound. Many
of the first compounds listed in the New System of Chemical Philosophy correspond to modern views,
although many others do not.
Dalton used his own symbols to visually represent the atomic structure of compounds. They were
depicted in the New System of Chemical Philosophy, where he listed 20 elements and 17 simple
molecules.
Other investigations
Dalton published papers on such diverse topics as rain and dew and the origin of springs (hydrosphere);
on heat, the colour of the sky, steam and the reflection and refraction of light; and on the grammatical
subjects of the auxiliary verbs and participles of the English language.
Experimental approach
As an investigator, Dalton was often content with rough and inaccurate instruments, even though better
ones were obtainable. Sir Humphry Davydescribed him as "a very coarse experimenter", who almost
always found the results he required, trusting to his head rather than his hands. On the other hand,
historians who have replicated some of his crucial experiments have confirmed Dalton's skill and
precision.
In the preface to the second part of Volume I of his New System, he says he had so often been misled by
taking for granted the results of others that he determined to write "as little as possible but what I can
attest by my own experience", but this independence he carried so far that it sometimes resembled lack
of receptivity. Thus he distrusted, and probably never fully accepted, Gay-Lussac's conclusions as to the
combining volumes of gases.
He held unconventional views on chlorine. Even after its elementary character had been settled by Davy,
he persisted in using the atomic weights he himself had adopted, even when they had been superseded
by the more accurate determinations of other chemists.
He always objected to the chemical notation devised by Jöns Jakob Berzelius, although most thought
that it was much simpler and more convenient than his own cumbersome system of circular symbols.
Other publications
For Rees's Cyclopædia Dalton contributed articles on Chemistry and Meteorology, but the topics are not
known.
He contributed 117 Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester from 1817 until his
death in 1844 while president of that organisation. Of these the earlier are the most important. In one
of them, read in 1814, he explains the principles of volumetric analysis, in which he was one of the
earliest researchers. In 1840 a paper on phosphates and arsenates, often regarded as a weaker work,
was refused by the Royal Society, and he was so incensed that he published it himself. He took the same
course soon afterwards with four other papers, two of which ("On the quantity of acids, bases and salts
in different varieties of salts" and "On a new and easy method of analysing sugar") contain his discovery,
regarded by him as second in importance only to atomic theory, that certain anhydrates, when dissolved
in water, cause no increase in its volume, his inference being that the salt enters into the pores of the
water.
Public life
Even before he had propounded the atomic theory, Dalton had attained a considerable scientific
reputation. In 1803, he was chosen to give a series of lectures on natural philosophy at the Royal
Institution in London, and he delivered another series of lectures there in 1809–1810. Some witnesses
reported that he was deficient in the qualities that make an attractive lecturer, being harsh and
indistinct in voice, ineffective in the treatment of his subject, and singularly wanting in the language and
power of illustration.
In 1810, Sir Humphry Davy asked him to offer himself as a candidate for the fellowship of the Royal
Society, but Dalton declined, possibly for financial reasons. In 1822 he was proposed without his
knowledge, and on election paid the usual fee. Six years previously he had been made a corresponding
member of the French Académie des Sciences, and in 1830 he was elected as one of its eight foreign
associates in place of Davy. In 1833, Earl Grey's government conferred on him a pension of £150, raised
in 1836 to £300. Dalton was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences in 1834.[28]
A young James Prescott Joule, who later studied and published (1843) on the nature of heat and its
relationship to mechanical work, was a pupil of Dalton in his last years.
Personal life
Dalton in later life by Thomas Phillips, National Portrait Gallery, London(1835).
Dalton never married and had only a few close friends. As a Quaker, he lived a modest and unassuming
personal life.[1]
For the 26 years prior to his death, Dalton lived in a room in the home of the Rev W. Johns, a published
botanist, and his wife, in George Street, Manchester. Dalton and Johns died in the same year (1844).[29]
Dalton's daily round of laboratory work and tutoring in Manchester was broken only by annual
excursions to the Lake District and occasional visits to London. In 1822 he paid a short visit to Paris,
where he met many distinguished resident men of science. He attended several of the earlier meetings
of the British Association at York, Oxford, Dublin and Bristol.
Disability and death
Dalton suffered a minor stroke in 1837, and a second in 1838 left him with a speech impairment,
although he remained able to perform experiments. In May 1844 he had another stroke; on 26 July 1844
he recorded with trembling hand his last meteorological observation. On 27 July 1844, in Manchester,
Dalton fell from his bed and was found lifeless by his attendant.
Dalton was accorded a civic funeral with full honours. His body lay in state in Manchester Town Hall for
four days and more than 40,000 people filed past his coffin. The funeral procession included
representatives of the city's major civic, commercial, and scientific bodies.[30][31] He was buried in
Manchester in Ardwick cemetery. The cemetery is now a playing field, but pictures of the original grave
may be found in published materials.[32][33]
Legacy
Bust of Dalton by Chantrey, 1854
Statue of Dalton by Chantrey.
Much of Dalton's written work, collected by the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, was
damaged during bombing on 24 December 1940. It prompted Isaac Asimov to say, "John Dalton's
records, carefully preserved for a century, were destroyed during the World War II bombing of
Manchester. It is not only the living who are killed in war". The damaged papers are in the John Rylands
Library.
A bust of Dalton, by Chantrey, paid for by public subscription[34] was placed in the entrance hall of
the Royal Manchester Institution. Chantrey's large statue of Dalton, erected while Dalton was alive was
placed in Manchester Town Hall in 1877. He "is probably the only scientist who got a statue in his
lifetime".[31]
The Manchester-based Swiss phrenologist and sculptor William Bally made a cast of the interior of
Dalton's cranium and of a cyst therein, having arrived at the Manchester Royal Infirmary too late to
make a caste of the head and face. A cast of the head was made, by a Mr Politi, whose arrival at the
scene preceded that of Bally.[35]
John Dalton Street connects Deansgate and Albert Square in the centre of Manchester.
The John Dalton building at Manchester Metropolitan University is occupied by the Faculty of Science
and Engineering. Outside it stands William Theed's statue of Dalton, erected in Piccadilly in 1855, and
moved there in 1966 .
A blue plaque commemorates the site of his laboratory at 36 George Street in Manchester.[36][37]
The University of Manchester established two Dalton Chemical Scholarships, two Dalton Mathematical
Scholarships, and a Dalton Prize for Natural History. A hall of residence is named Dalton Hall.
The Dalton Medal, has been awarded only twelve times by the Manchester Literary and Philosophical
Society.
A lunar crater was named after Dalton.
"Daltonism" became a common term for colour blindness and daltonien is the French word for "colour
blind".
The inorganic section of the UK's Royal Society of Chemistry is named after Dalton (Dalton Division), and
the society's academic journal for inorganic chemistry also bears his name (Dalton Transactions).
In honour of Dalton's work, many chemists and biochemists use the (unofficial)
designation dalton (abbreviated Da) to denote one atomic mass unit (1/12 the weight of a neutral atom
of carbon-12).
Quaker schools have named buildings after Dalton: for example, a school house in the primary sector
of Ackworth School, is called Dalton.
Dalton Township in southern Ontario was named after him. In 2001 the name was lost when the
township was absorbed into the City of Kawartha Lakes but in 2002 the Dalton name was affixed to a
new park, Dalton Digby Wildlands Provincial Park.
The standard author abbreviation Jn.Dalton is used to indicate this person as the author
when citing a botanical name.
Bill Nye
William Sanford Nye[3] (born November 27, 1955), popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an
American science communicator, television presenter, and mechanical engineer. He is best known as
the host of the PBS and syndicated children's science show Bill Nye the Science Guy (1993–1998), the
Netflix show Bill Nye Saves the World(2017–present), and for his many subsequent appearances in
popular media as a science educator.
Nye began his career as a mechanical engineer for Boeing Corporation in Seattle, where he invented a
hydraulic resonance suppressor tube used on 747 airplanes. In 1986, Nye left Boeing to pursue comedy,
writing and performing jokes and bits for the local sketch television show Almost Live!, where he would
regularly conduct wacky science experiments. Nye aspired to become the next Mr. Wizard and with the
help of several producers successfully pitched the children's television program Bill Nye the Science
Guy to KCTS-TV, channel 9, Seattle's public television station. The show—which proudly proclaimed in its
theme song that "science rules!"—ran from 1993 to 1998 in national TV syndication. Known for its "high-
energy presentation and MTV-paced segments,"[4] the program became a hit for both kids and adults.
The show was critically acclaimed and was nominated for 23 Emmy Awards, winning nineteen.
Bill Nye
Nye in May 2017
Following the success of his show, Nye continued to advocate for science, becoming the CEO of the
Planetary Societyand helping develop sundials for the Mars Exploration Rover missions.[5] Nye has
written two best-selling books on science, including Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation in
2014 and Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World in 2015. Nye has made frequent media
appearances, including on Dancing with the Stars, The Big Bang Theory and Inside Amy Schumer.[6] Nye
starred in a documentary about his life and science advocacy titled Bill Nye: Science Guy, which
premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2017, and, in October 2017, was chosen
a NYT Critic's Pick.[1] In 2017, he debuted a Netflix series, entitled Bill Nye Saves the World.
Early life
Nye was born on November 27, 1955,[7][8] in Washington, D.C., to Jacqueline Jenkins-Nye (née Jenkins;
1921–2000), who was a codebreaker during World War II, and Edwin Darby "Ned" Nye (1917–1997),
who also served in World War II and worked as a contractor building an airstrip on Wake Island.[9] Ned
was captured and spent four years in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp; living without electricity or
watches, he learned how to tell time using the shadow of a shovel handle, spurring his passion
for sundials.[9][10][11][12] Jenkins-Nye was among a small elite group of young women known as
"Goucher girls" whom the Navy had enlisted to help crack the codes that were used by the Japanese and
German military. "She wasn't Rosie the Riveter, she was Rosie the Top-Secret Code Breaker," Nye
recalls. "People would ask her what she did during World War II and she'd say, 'I can't talk about it, ha
ha ha!'"[13]
Nye attended Lafayette Elementary School and Alice Deal Junior High before attending Sidwell
Friends for high school on a scholarship in 1973.[14][15] Nye moved to Ithaca, New York to
attend Cornell University and study at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His
enthusiasm for science was deepened after taking an astronomy class with Carl Sagan.[16] He graduated
with a BS in mechanical engineering in 1977.[17]
Early career in Seattle
1977–1986: Job at Boeing
After graduating from Cornell, Nye worked as an engineer for the Boeing Corporation and Sundstrand
Data Control near Seattle. While at Boeing, he invented a hydraulic resonance suppressor tube used
on Boeing 747 airplanes.[18] Nye applied four times for NASA's astronaut training program, but was
always rejected.[19]
Nye started doing standup comedy after winning a Steve Martin look-alike contest in 1978.[20] Nye's
friends began asking him to do Steve Martin impressions at parties and he discovered how much he
loved to make people laugh. Nye began moonlighting as a comedian, while still holding his day job as a
mechanical engineer at Boeing.[21] Nye has stated of that time: "At this point in our story, I was working
on business jet navigation systems, laser gyroscope systems during the day, and I'd take a nap and go do
stand-up comedy by night".[21]
He also participated in Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and would volunteer at the Pacific Science
Center on weekends, as a "Science Explainer".[20]
1986–1991: Comedy beginnings and Almost Live!
Nye quit his job at Boeing on October 3, 1986 to focus on his burgeoning comedy career.[21]
During Nye's 10 year college reunion in 1987, he went through great lengths to meet with Sagan at
Cornell. His assistant told Nye, "Okay, you can talk to him for five minutes." While meeting him at the
space sciences building, Nye explained that he was interested in developing a science television
program. "I mentioned how I planned to talk about bridges and bicycles and so on—stuff that, as an
engineer, I'd been interested in—and he said, 'Focus on pure science. Kids resonate to pure science
rather than technology.' And that turned out to be great advice."[22]
In 1986, Nye worked as a writer/actor on a local sketch comedy television show in Seattle, called Almost
Live!. Nye first got his big break on the show from John Keisterwho met him during an open mic night.
[23] After a guest canceled, co-host Ross Shafer mentioned to Nye that he had seven minutes of
programming to fill. "Why don't you do that science stuff?" Shafer suggested.[24] On the show, Nye
entertained audiences with comical demonstrations like what happens when you eat a marshmallow
that's been dunked in liquid nitrogen.[25] His other main recurring role on Almost Live! was as Speed
Walker, a speedwalking Seattle superhero "who fights crime while maintaining strict adherence to the
regulations of the international speed-walking association."[20]
One famous incident on the show led to his stage name. He corrected Keister on his pronunciation of
the word "gigawatt", and the nickname was born when Keister responded, "Who do you think you are—
Bill Nye the Science Guy?"[26] Nye's science experiments strongly resonated with viewers and the local
chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded Nye a talent Emmy for one of
his segments.[27]
Even though Nye had become a regular on Almost Live!, he was only doing freelance work for the
program.[28] While looking for more TV gigs, Nye was given the opportunity in 1989 to host a short
educational program on Washington State's wetlands called Fabulous Wetlands, sponsored by
the Washington State Department of Ecology.[28] On Fabulous Wetlands, Nye explained the importance
of preserving estuaries and the hazards of pollution.[29] The show became, in many ways, a model for
Nye's later show, with "zany camera cuts paired with Nye's humor" that set it apart from the typical
scientific broadcast.[28] Nye soon began getting more offers to make appearances on nationally
broadcast programs, including taping eight segments for the Disney Channel's All-New Mickey Mouse
Club.[27]
Following his stint on Almost Live!, from 1991 to 1993, he appeared on live-action educational segments
of Back to the Future: The Animated Series, assisting Dr. Emmett Brown (played by Christopher Lloyd).
[30]
Bill Nye the Science Guy
Bill Nye the Science Guy
In 1993, he developed a Bill Nye the Science Guy pilot for public broadcasting station KCTS-TV in Seattle.
Nye collaborated with James McKenna, Erren Gottlieb and Elizabeth Brock to plan and create the show
for KCTS.[31] The group pitched the show as Mr. Wizard meets Pee-wee's Playhouse.[22] He successfully
obtained underwriting from the National Science Foundation and the US Department of Energy. Nye's
program became part of a package of syndicated series that local stations could schedule to
fulfill Children's Television Act requirements.[32] Because of this, Bill Nye the Science Guy became the
first program to run concurrently on public and commercial stations.
Bill Nye the Science Guy, wearing his trademark blue lab coat and bowtie.
[32]
Bill Nye the Science Guy ran from 1993 to 1998, becoming one of the most-watched educational TV
shows in the United States.[33]While portraying "The Science Guy", Nye wore a powder blue lab
coat and a bow tie. Nye Labs, the production offices and set where the show was shot, was located in a
converted clothing warehouse near Seattle's Kingdome.[33] Each episode of the program strived to
educate younger viewers on various science concepts, yet it also attracted a significant adult audience as
well.[34] The show's ability to make science entertaining and accessible made it a popular teaching tool
in classrooms across the country. With its quirky humor and rapid-fire MTV-style pacing, the show won
critical acclaim and was nominated for 23 Emmy Awards, winning nineteen. Subsequent research
studies found the program to be effective in teaching students science: those that viewed Bill
Nye regularly were better able to generate explanations and extensions of scientific ideas than non-
viewers.[35]
In addition to the TV show, Nye published several books as The Science Guy. A CD-ROM based on the
series, titled Bill Nye the Science Guy: Stop the Rock!, was released in 1996
for Windows and Macintosh by Pacific Interactive. [36][33]
Nye's Science Guy personality is also prominent at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, most notably his
appearance with Ellen DeGeneres at Ellen's Energy Adventure, an attraction which ran from 1996 to
2017 at the Universe of Energy pavilion located inside Epcot at Walt Disney World. His Science Guy
persona was also the on-air spokesman for the Noggin television network during 1999.[37]
Post–Science Guy work
Nye at the March for Science in Washington, D.C. on April 22, 2017.
The Eyes of Nye
The Eyes of Nye
Following the success of Bill Nye the Science Guy, Nye began work on a comeback project, entitled The
Eyes of Nye, aimed at an older audience and tackling more controversial science subject matter such
as genetically modified food, global warming, and race. However "shifting creative concepts, infighting
among executives and disputes over money with Seattle producing station KCTS," significantly delayed
production for years.[38] KCTS was hampered by budgetary problems and wasn't able to produce
an Eyes of Nye pilot on time.[38] "KCTS went through some distress," Nye recalled. "When we did The
Eyes of Nye, the budget started out really big, and by the time we served all these little problems at
KCTS, we had a much lower budget for the show than we'd ever had for the 'Science Guy' show which
was made several years earlier."[23] PBS declined to distribute Eyes of Nye, though the show was
eventually picked up by American Public Television. "PBS wanted more serious, in-depth Nova-style
shows," explained co-producer Randy Brinson.[39] The show, which eventually premiered in 2005,
lasted for only one season and Nye acknowledged ditching his bow-tie on the program was a mistake. "I
tried wearing a straight tie. It was nothing," Nye said. "We were trying something new. It wasn't
me."[23]
Other media appearances
From 2000 to 2002, Nye was the technical expert on BattleBots.[40] In 2004 and 2005, Nye hosted 100
Greatest Discoveries, an award-winning series produced by THINKFilm for The Science Channel and in
high definition on the Discovery HD Theater.[41] He was also host of an eight-part Discovery Channel
series called Greatest Inventions with Bill Nye. Nye guest-starred in several episodes of the crime
drama Numb3rs as an engineering faculty member. A lecture Nye gave on exciting children about math
was an inspiration for the creation of the show.[42] He also made guest appearances on the VH1 reality
show America's Most Smartest Model.
Nye with Senator Chris Van Hollenin 2017
Nye appeared on segments of Heidi Cullen's The Climate Code, later renamed Forecast Earth on The
Weather Channel, relating his personal ways of saving energy.[43] In the fall of 2008, Nye also appeared
periodically on the daytime game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire as part of the show's
reintroduced "Ask the Expert" lifeline. [44]
In 2008, he also hosted Stuff Happens, a short-lived show on the Planet Green network.[45] In
November 2008, Nye appeared in an acting role as himself in the fifth-season episode "Brain Storm"
of Stargate Atlantis alongside fellow television personality and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.[46]
Nye recorded a short YouTube video (as himself, not his TV persona) advocating clean-energy climate-
change legislation on behalf of Al Gore's Repower Americacampaign in October 2009.[47] Nye joined
the American Optometric Association in a multimedia advertising campaign to persuade parents to get
their children comprehensive eye examinations.[48]
In 2013, Bill Nye guest starred in The Big Bang Theory episode "The Proton Displacement."[49] Sheldon
Cooper befriends him and brings him in to teach Leonard Hofstader a "lesson" after Professor Proton
(portrayed by Bob Newhart) helps Leonard out with an experiment instead of him. There was a claim by
Professor Proton that Bill Nye made his TV series similar to his show. After he and Sheldon leave,
Leonard receives a selfie of the two of them having smoothies, and later gets a text from Sheldon asking
for a ride home, stating Bill Nye ditched him at the smoothie store. In a later discussion with Professor
Proton, Sheldon revealed that Bill Nye had a restraining order against him, so he could not help him
contact Nye.[50]
On February 28, 2014, Nye was a celebrity guest and interviewer at the White House Student Film
Festival.[51]
On August 31, 2016, Netflix announced that Nye would appear in a new series titled Bill Nye Saves the
World, which premiered on April 21, 2017.[52][53] Nye was honorary co-chair of the inaugural March
for Science on April 22, 2017.[54]
Nye appeared in the 2016 documentary, Food Evolution directed by Academy Award nominated
director, Scott Hamilton Kennedy and narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson.[55]
He was the subject of a 2017 biographical documentary film, entitled Bill Nye: Science Guy, directed by
David Alvarado and Jason Sussberg.[1]
In 2018, Nye guest starred in an episode of Blindspot entitled "Let It Go", playing a fictionalized version
of himself who is the father of the character Patterson.[56] His fictional self also alludes to his rivalry
with Rodney McKay which was established in the aforementioned episode "Brain Storm" of Stargate
Atlantis.[57] In the same year, Nye made a guest appearance on The Big Bang Theory as himself,
together with fellow scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson, in the first episode of the show's final season ("The
Conjugal Configuration").[58]
Science advocacy
Nye orating in October 2010
In the early 2000s, Nye assisted in the development of a small sundial that was included in the Mars
Exploration Rovermissions.[7] Known as MarsDial, it included small colored panels to provide a basis
for color calibration in addition to helping keep track of time.[59] From 2005 to 2010, Nye was the vice
president of the Planetary Society, an organization that advocates space science research and the
exploration of other planets, particularly Mars.[60] He became the organization's second Executive
Director in September 2010 when Louis Friedman stepped down.[61][62]
The Bill Nye Climate Lab at the Chabot Space & Science Center in 2013.
In November 2010, Nye became the face of a major science exhibition at the Chabot Space & Science
Center in Oakland, California.[63] Bill Nye's Climate Lab featured Nye as commander of the Clean Energy
Space Station and invited visitors on an urgent mission to thwart climate change.[64]
Nye with the Chief of Naval Research Rear. Adm. Nevin Carr following the presentation of a "Powered by
Naval Research" pocket protector during the Navy Office of General Counsel Spring 2011 Conference.
Nye gave a solar noon clock atop Rhodes Hall to Cornell on August 27, 2011, following a public lecture
that filled the 715-seat Statler Auditorium.[65] Nye talked about his father's passion for sundials and
timekeeping, his time at Cornell, his work on the sundials mounted on the Mars rovers and the story
behind the Bill Nye Solar Noon Clock.[5] Nye conducted a Q&A session after the 2012 Mars Rover
Landing.[66]
Nye speaking to a group about Mars in June 2016
From 2001 to 2006, Nye served as Frank H. T. Rhodes Class of '56 University Professor at Cornell
University.[17][67]
Nye is a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, a U.S. non-profit scientific and educational
organization whose aim is to promote scientific inquiry, critical investigation, and the use of reason in
examining controversial and extraordinary claims.[68] Interviewed by John Rael for the Independent
Investigation Group IIG, Nye stated that his "concern right now ... scientific illiteracy ... you [the public]
don't have enough rudimentary knowledge of the universe to evaluate claims."[69] In November 2012,
Nye launched a Kickstarter project for an educational Aerodynamics game called AERO 3D but it was not
funded.[70]
In September 2012, Nye claimed that creationist views threaten science education and innovation in the
United States.[71][72][73] In February 2014, Nye debated creationist Ken Hamat the Creation
Museum on the topic of whether creation is a viable model of origins in today's modern, scientific era.
[74][75][76] In July 2016, Ham gave Nye a tour of the Ark Encounter the day after it first opened to the
public.[77][78] He and Ham had an informal debate while touring the structure,[79] and footage from
Nye's visit was subsequently included in the documentary film Bill Nye: Science Guy, which was released
in 2017.[80]
Since 2013, Nye has been listed on the Advisory Council of the National Center for Science Education.
[81]
On Earth Day 2015, Nye met with U.S. President Obama to visit the Everglades National Park in Florida
and discuss climate change as well as science education.[82][83][84]
In March 2015, Nye announced he changed his mind and now supports GMOs.[85] In a new edition
of Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation, Nye rewrote a chapter on GMOs reflecting his new
position.[86] In a radio interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Nye stated "there's no difference between
allergies among GMO eaters and non-GMO eaters...I've changed my mind about genetically modified
organisms".[87]
In July 2017, Nye observed that the majority of climate change deniers are older people, and stated, "so
we're just going to have to wait for those people to 'age out', as they say".[88]
Nye has written three books, including Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation,
[89] Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World, and Everything All at Once: How to Unleash
Your Inner Nerd, Tap into Radical Curiosity and Solve Any Problem.
U.S. Patents
Nye holds three United States patents,[90] including one for ballet pointe shoes,[60][91] one for an
educational magnifying glass created by filling a clear plastic bag with water.[92][93] and one for a
device for training an athlete to throw a ball.[94] He also holds a design patent for a digital abacus.[95]
Dancing with the Stars
Nye was a contestant in the season 17 of Dancing with the Stars in 2013, partnered with new
professional dancer Tyne Stecklein. They were eliminated early in the season after Nye sustained an
injury to his quadriceps tendon on Week 3.[96]
Dance Score Music Result
Cha-cha-
14 (5-4-5) "Weird Science"—Oingo Boingo No Elimination
cha
Paso Doble 17 (6-5-6) Symphony No. 5—Ludwig van Beethoven Safe
Jazz 16 (6-5-5) "Get Lucky"—Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams Eliminated
Personal life
Nye with Barack Obama and Neil deGrasse Tyson taking a selfie in 2014.
Nye has several residences, living both in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles and New York
City.[97] In addition, he owns a house on Mercer Island near Seattle.[98] Nye has solar photovoltaic
panels on his California house and his electricity meter often runs in reverse, which he has shown off to
visitors.[99]
Nye and his neighbor, environmental activist/actor Ed Begley, Jr., have engaged in a friendly competition
"to see who could have the lowest carbon footprint", according to Begley.[100] Nye often appeared on
Begley's HGTV/Planet Green reality show Living with Ed.[101]
In July 2012, Nye supported President Barack Obama's reelection bid.[102] Nye frequently consulted
with Obama on science matters during his presidency, and famously took a selfie with him and Neil
deGrasse Tyson at the White House.[103] Nye attended the 2018 State of the Union Address after being
invited by Oklahoma Congressman Jim Bridenstine. Nye's attendance drew scrutiny due to Bridestine's
"history of expressing climate change skepticism," but Nye defended the move. "While the Congressman
and I disagree on a great many issues -- we share a deep respect for NASA and its achievements and a
strong interest in the future of space exploration. My attendance tomorrow should not be interpreted as
an endorsement of this administration, or of Congressman Bridenstine's nomination, or seen as an
acceptance of the recent attacks on science and the scientific community," Nye said.[104]
Nye married musician Blair Tindall, on February 3, 2006; however, he annulled the relationship seven
weeks later when the marriage license was declared invalid.[105]In 2007, Nye obtained a protective
order against Tindall after she broke into his house, stole several items, including his laptop which she
used to send defamatory emails impersonating him and damaged his garden with herbicide. Tindall
acknowledged killing his plants but denied being a threat to him.[106] Subsequently, Nye sued Tindall
for $57,000 in attorney's fees after she allegedly violated the protective order.[107]
In the 2017 PBS documentary Bill Nye: Science Guy, Nye revealed his family's plight of ataxia. Due to his
father's, sister's and brother's lifelong struggles with balance and coordination, Nye decided to not have
children himself, so as to avoid the chance of passing on the genetic condition to them, even though he
"dodged the genetic bullet" himself.[108]
In July 2018, Nye played for the National League squad during the MLB All-Star Legends and Celebrity
Softball Game. Despite striking out in his first at-bat, Nye singled in the bottom of the third inning to a
rousing ovation from the Nationals Park crowd.
Awards and honors
In May 1999, Nye was the commencement speaker at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he was
awarded an honorary doctor of science degree.[109] He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Johns
Hopkins University in May 2008.[110] In May 2011, Nye received an honorary doctor of science degree
from Willamette University[111] In May 2015, Rutgers University awarded him an honorary doctor of
science degree and paid him a $35,000 speaker's fee for his participation as the keynote speaker at the
ceremony.[112] In addition, Nye also received an honorary doctor of pedagogy degree from Lehigh
University on May 20, 2013, at the commencement ceremony.[113] Nye received the 2010 Humanist of
the Year Award from the American Humanist Association.[114] In October 2015, Nye was awarded an
honorary doctorate of science from Simon Fraser University.[115] In 2011, the Committee for Skeptical
Inquiry (CSICOP) presented Nye their highest award In Praise of Reason, Eugenie Scott stated: "If you
think Bill is popular among skeptics, you should attend a science teacher conference where he is
speaking" it is standing room only. She continues by saying that no one has more fun than Nye when he
is "demonstrating, principles of science."[116] In 1997, CSICOP also presented Nye with the Candle in
the Dark Award for his "lively, creative... endeavor".[117]
Works (selected)
Nye, Bill (2014). Powell, Corey S., ed. Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation. St. Martin's
Press. ISBN 9781250007131.
Nye, Bill (2015). Powell, Corey S., ed. Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World. St. Martin's
Press. ISBN 9781250007148.
Nye, Bill (2017). Powell, Corey S., ed. Everything All at Once: How to Unleash Your Inner Nerd, Tap Into
Radical Curiosity, and Solve Any Problem. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9781623367916.
Time magazine has interviewed him for "12 Questions with Bill Nye".[118]
Allan Kardec
Allan Kardec (French: [kaʁdɛk]) is the pen name of the French educator, translator and author Hippolyte
Léon Denizard Rivail ([ʁivɑj]; 3 October 1804 – 31 March 1869). He is the author of the five books known
as the Spiritist Codification, and is the founder of Spiritism.[1][2]
Allan Kardec
Early life[edit]
Rivail was born in Lyon in 1804 and raised as a Roman Catholic. He pursued interests in philosophy and
the sciences, and became an acolyte and colleague of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi.[2][3] Rivail completed
a number of educational courses including a Bachelor of Arts degrees in science[4] and a doctorate in
medicine.[5] He was also fluent in German, English, Italian, and Spanish, in addition to his native French.
[6]
He was a member of several scholarly societies, including the Historic Institute of Paris (Institut
Historique), Society of Natural Sciences of France (Société des Sciences Naturelles de France), Society for
the Encouragement of National Industry (Société d'Encouragement pour l'Industrie Nationale), and The
Royal Academy of Arras (Académie d'Arras, Société Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Arts).[2] He
organized and taught free courses for the underprivileged.[2][7]
Rivail's work with Pestalozzi helped lay the foundations for the teaching model in schools in France and
GermanyFor several decades he helped advance Pestalozzi's pedagogy in France, founding schools and
working as a teacher, educational writer and translator.[2]
Family
In February 6, 1832, he married Amélie Gabrielle Boudet.[8]
In 1839, with a new partner, Mr. Maurice Delachatre, a merchant, he created a so-called "exchange"
bank, which aims to facilitate commercial transactions and thus create new opportunities for trade and
industry, in order to support in default of pecuniary resources for the natural products. The duration of
the trading bank will be fixed by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry at ten years.
In May 1855, he met a certain Mr. Fortier, a magnetizer, who took him to Madame de Plainemaison, a
medium who lives on rue de la Grange Bateliere in Paris, just a step away from the opera house. In the
presence of other guests for the session, He enters into communication with a spirit named Zephyr, who
gives him the mission of being the spokesman of the Dead. For him, it's the revelation. He was there, for
the first time, witnessing the phenomenon of turntables, jumping and running, as he himself described
on his manuscript written between 1855 and 1856 : “My predictions concerning spiritualism”.
Spiritism
Allan Kardec and his wife Amélie Gabrielle Boudet
Rivail was in his early 50s when he became interested in séances, which were a popular entertainment
at the time. Strange phenomena attributed to the action of spirits were considered a novelty, featuring
objects that moved or "tapped", purportedly under the control of 'spirits'. In some cases, this was
alleged to be a type of communication: the supposed spirits answered questions by controlling the
movements of objects so as to pick out letters to form words, or simply indicate "yes" or "no At the
time, Franz Mesmer's theory of animal magnetism had become popular. When confronted with the
phenomena described, some researchers, including Rivail, pointed out that animal magnetism might
explain them. Rivail, however, after seeing a demonstration, dismissed animal magnetism as insufficient
to explain his observations.[10]
As a result of these influences, Rivail began his own investigation of psychic phenomena,
mainly mediumship.[2] During his initial investigation, he stated that before accepting a spiritual or
paranormal cause for some phenomena, it would be necessary first to test if ordinary material causes
could explain them. He proposed that fraud, hallucination and unconscious mental activity might explain
many phenomena regarded as mediumistic, and also proposed that telepathy and clairvoyance may be
responsible.[11]
He compiled over one thousand questions concerning the nature and mechanisms of spirit
communications, the reasons for human life on earth, and aspects of the spiritual realm. He asked those
questions to ten mediums, all purportedly unknown to each other, and documented their responses.
From these, he concluded that the best explanation was that personalities that had survived death were
the source of at least some mediumistic communications.[12] He became convinced that the mediums:
provided accurate information unknown to themselves or others present (e.g. personal information
about deceased individuals);
demonstrated unlearned skills such as writing by illiterate mediums, handwriting similar to the alleged
communicating personality, and speaking or writing in a language unknown to the medium (xenoglossy
and xenography);
accurately portrayed a range of personality characteristics of deceased individuals.
He compiled the mediums' responses that were consistent and adapted them into a philosophy that he
called Spiritism, which he initially defined as "a science that deals with the nature, origin, and destiny of
spirits, and their relation with the corporeal world."[13][14][14]
Rivail wrote under the name "Allan Kardec", allegedly following the suggestion of a spirit identified
as Truth.[15] On 18 April 1857, Rivail (as Allan Kardec) published his first book on Spiritism, The Spirits'
Book, comprising a series of answered questions (502 in the first edition and 1,019 in later editions)
[] exploring matters concerning the nature of spirits, the spirit world, and the relationship between the
spirit world and the material world.[ This was followed by a series of other books, including The
Medium's Book, The Gospel According to Spiritism, Heaven and Hell and The Genesis According to
Spiritism, and by a periodical, the Revue Spirite, which Kardec published until his death. Collectively, the
books became known as the Spiritist Codification
Kardec's research influenced the psychical research of Charles Richet, Camille Flammarion and Gabriel
Delanne.[16][17][18]
Memorial
Allan Kardec's grave at Cimetière du Père Lachaise. The inscription says Naitre, mourir, renaitre encore
et progresser sans cesse, telle est la loi ("To be born, die, again be reborn, and so progress unceasingly,
such is the law").
After his death caused by aneurysm, Kardec was buried at the Cimetière du Père Lachaise.[19]
Writings
Cours pratique et théorique d’arithmétique (1824)
Plan proposé pour l’amélioration de l’éducation publique (1828)
Catéchisme grammatical de la langue française (1848)
Le Livre des Esprits (The Spirits Book), 1857
Le Livre des Médiums ('The Book on Mediums, 1861
L’Évangile selon le Spiritisme (The Gospel According to Spiritism), 1864
Le Ciel et L’Enfer (Heaven and Hell), 1865
La Genèse (The Genesis According to Spiritism), 1868
Leon Denis
Léon Denis (January 1, 1846 – March 12, 1927) was a notable spiritist philosopher,[1] and with Gabriel
Delanne and Camille Flammarion, one of the principal exponents of spiritism after the death of Allan
Kardec. He lectured throughout Europe at international conferences of spiritism and spiritualism,
promoting the idea of survival of the soul after death and the implications of this for human relations.
He is known as the apostle of French spiritism.
Léon Denis
Biography
Léon Denis was born in Foug, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France, on January 1, 1846,[2] of a humble family.
Very early in life, out of necessity, he did manual work and had to bear heavy responsibilities for his
family. From his first steps in the world, he sensed that invisible friends assisted him. Instead of
participating in play appropriate to his youth, he tried to instruct himself as intensely as possible. He
read serious works, thus striving through his own efforts, to develop his intelligence. He became a
serious and competent self-didact.
At the age of 18, he commenced work as a sales representative, and so had to make frequent trips. This
situation continued up to the time of his reformation[and beyond. He adored music and, whenever he
had a chance, attended operas or concerts. He played well-known arias at the piano and also some
compositions of his own.
He did not smoke, and was almost exclusively a vegetarian, nor did he indulge in fermented drinks. He
found water to be his ideal drink.
It was his habit to review books with interest, of those displayed in the bookstores, at the age of 18, by
“chance” his eyes glanced at a work with an unusual title: The Spirits’ Book by Allan Kardec. Having with
him the amount needed to purchase the book, he bought it and rushed to his home immediately
surrendering eagerly to the reading.
Denis commented after reading it: “I found in this book the clear solution, complete and logical, to a
universal problem. My conviction became strong and sound. The Spiritist Theory dissipated my
indifference and my doubts.”[
Denis was not just a successor to Allan Kardec, as is generally supposed, but was an important figure in
consolidating the spiritist movement. He undertook doctrinal studies, research into mediums, and
propelled the Spiritist Movement in France, and all over the world. He deepened the moral aspects of
the Doctrine and, above all, consolidated the Movement in the early decades of the 20th century.
In Spiritism, the role of Kardec is that of the sage; the role of Denis is that of the philosopher. Léon Denis
was nominated the Apostle of Spiritism, due to his sustained work, and his words, written and spoken,
on behalf of the new doctrine. Possessing great moral sensibility, he dedicated his entire existence to
the defense of the postulates that Kardec had transmitted in the books of the spiritist Pentateuch.
Denis himself, summarized his mission as follows: “I have consecrated this existence to the service of a
Great cause, Spiritism or Modern Spiritualism that will certainly be the universal faith, and the religion of
the future
Bibliography
By Denis:
Le Pourquoi de la Vie (1885 & Librairie des Sciences Psychologiques, 1892).
Christianisme et spiritisme (Leymarie, 1898).
Après la mort (Librairie des sciences psychiques, 1905).
Le probleme de l'etre et de la destinée
Dans l'invisible, spiritisme et médiumnité (Librairie des Sciences Psychiques, 1911).
Le Monde invisible et la guerre (Librairie des sciences psychiques, 1919).
Jeanne d'Arc, médium.
L'au-dela et la survivance de l'etre.
La grande énigme, Dieu & l'univers (Librairie des sciences psychiques, 1921).
Esprits et mediums: étude et pratique du spiritualisme experimental et de la médiumnité (1921)
Le génie celtique et le monde invisible
Some of his works are also available in English translations.
Biography:
Luce, Gaston. Léon Denis, l'apotre du spiritisme, sa vie, son oeuvre.
Baumard, Claire. Léon Denis intime (J. Meyer, 1929). Preface by Arthur Conan Doyle.
Michael Dudikoff Jr.
Michael Joseph Stephen Dudikoff Jr. (born October 8, 1954-1997 ) was an American actor known for
lead roles in action films such as American Ninja series (1985–1990), Avenging Force (1986), Platoon
Leader (1988), River of Death (1989), Soldier Boyz (1996), Bounty Hunters (1996), Bounty Hunters 2:
Hardball (1997), and many more.
Michael Dudikoff
Dudikoff in 2013
Early Life
Dudikoff's father, Michael Joseph Stephen Sr., was Eastern Orthodox Christian. Born in New
York to Russian immigrants Mary Bogdanova and John Dudikoff, Michael Sr. served in the Army before
marrying Dudikoff's mother: Rita T. Girardin, a French-Canadian piano-player from Quebec. The couple
moved to California and had five children; the fourth, Michael Jr., was diagnosed with dyslexia.[2]
Michael Jr. graduated from West High School in Torrance, California and went on to study child
psychology at Harbor College.[3]
Career
Mid 1970s to 1985: Modelling and early roles
To pay for his education, he worked at a rehabilitation center for abused youth called Cedar House and
waited tables at Beachbum Burt's in Redondo Beach, California.[4][5] He was eventually approached to
do some modelling, and did a catwalk at a shopping mall.
During lunch one day, Dudikoff served Max Evans - a fashion editor with Esquire magazine, who had
come in with some models. Evans asked Dudikoff to walk in a Newport Beach fashion show, and his
mother encouraged him to try it out.
After a couple of successful runways, Dudikoff retained an agent at the Mary Webb Davis Agency in Los
Angeles. Dudikoff soon entered the high fashion world and counted Calvin Klein and GQ among his
clients. He moved quickly to international print modeling and traveled between New York, Los Angeles,
and Milan by his late 20s.
Dudikoff soon began acting, and he starred in several commercials for companies,
including Coppertone, Coca-Cola for Japan, Army Reserve and Stridex.
Dudikoff as Douggie Krebs on Star of the Family in 1982
His first television role took place after a meeting with theatrical agent Sid Craig.[6] He went for some
readings, and in 1978 he landed a supporting role in one episode of the hit TV show Dallas, and shortly
after the part as Joanie's first boyfriend in the American sitcom Happy Days. Gary Nardino, who was the
president of Paramount Studio at the time, happened to be sitting in the audience while they were
filming. Nardino putted an holding contract on Dudikoff so that he could work the lot.[7]
Early 1980s to 1985: Subsequent roles and breakthrough
In the early 80s, Dudikoff was cast in supporting roles or seen in the background of such films such
as, The Black Marble, Bloody Birthday, The Best Little Girl in the World, Neil Simon's I Ought to Be in
Pictures, Making Love, Tron and one episode of Gimme a Break!.
During that time, he was cast alongside Brian Dennehy and Katherine Saltzberg to play one of the leads
in the sitcom Star of the Family, and got the part of Huckleberry Finn in a Columbia Pictures movie-of-
the-week called Sawyer & Finn directed by Peter H. Hunt.
In 1984, he played the role of one of Tom Hanks' sidekicks in the sizable hit comedy film Bachelor Party.
In 1985, The Cannon Group, an independent film company with a streak of successful action films, were
looking to produce an action film starring Chuck Norris called American Ninja (1985), which Norris
turned down. Shortly after, Cannon went on a worldwide search to find who would play Private Joe
Armstrong the American ninja. Over 400 candidates went on to audition for the part. Producer and
Owner of Cannon Menahem Golan and director Sam Firstenberg thought he was the obvious choice for
the part. Golan even went on to say that he would be the next James Dean. It was a surprise for
Dudikoff, who at the time was mostly known for supporting roles in comedies.[8] It was his first
collaboration with actor Steve James (1952-1993) who was hired to play the partner of the American
ninja, a role he maintained for the first three installments. On a $1 million budget it went on to gross
over $10 million domestically in the US and did extremely well in foreign markets.[9] This success would
establish the start of the American Ninja film franchise, with Dudikoff becoming a regular action star
for The Cannon Group alongside Chuck Norris, Charles Bronson, Sho Kosugi, and later on Jean-Claude
Van Damme. For the rest of the 1980s, Dudikoff would continue to star in Cannon Group action film
projects.
That same year, he and John Stockwell were cast as co-leads in the cult post apocalyptic science fiction
comedy Radioactive Dreams, who was awarded the Golden Raven at the 5th Brussels International
Fantastic Film Festival, and nominated for best film at the Italian film and literature festival MystFest.
[10]
1986 to mid-2000s: Action film star
In 1986, he was cast as Lt. Rudy Bodford in the critically acclaimed mini-series North and South, Book II,
starring Patrick Swayze.[11] It went on to receive 3 nominations at the Primetime Emmy Awards.[12]
Also in 1986, he reunited with director Sam Firstenberg and starred in the sequel American Ninja 2: The
Confrontation. In this installment Dudikoff and James are ordered to discover why Marines have been
going missing from their posts at the US Embassy. The two discover The Lion (Gary Conway) has been
kidnapping the missing marines and having them brainwashed to join his army of assassins. The film was
less successful than the predecessor, grossing $4 million domestically in the US.[13]
That same year, Dudikoff starred in Avenging Force (1986), his last film with Steve James, directed
by Sam Firstenberg. The screenplay was written by James Booth, who co-starred in the film. The film is
about retired secret service agent, Captain Matt Hunter (Dudikoff), who lives with his sister Sarah and
their grandfather. They drive to New Orleans to meet Matt's old military comrade and local politician
Larry Richards (James), who is now running for U.S. Senate. At dinner, Larry hesitantly mentions threats
made against his life during the election cycle, which he dismisses as harmless. Later that day, Larry,
Matt and their families ride in Larry's float in the Mardi Gras parade. Disguised as revelers, assassins
open fire on Larry's float, killing his eldest son. Matt and Larry take down the attackers, but Matt loses
the last assassin in charge in the crowd. He calls in a favor to his old boss, Admiral Brown (Booth), and
learns the perpetrators are members of an organization which he confront throughout the film.
Platoon Leader (1988) directed by Aaron Norris. The film is about a newly commissioned infantry
lieutenant (Dudikoff) who arrives in Vietnam to take over his first platoon. He finds he has to prove
himself and earn the trust of the enlisted men if he is to lead them.
He starred in Steve Carver' River of Death (1989), co-starring Robert Vaughn, Donald Pleasence, Herbert
Lom, and L. Q. Jones. The story is set in the nightmarish last days of the Third Reich, a psychotic Nazi
scientist (Vaughn) escapes to the impenetrable jungles of the Amazon. Years later, a mysterious
incurable disease breaks out among the natives and adventurer John Hamilton (Dudikoff) is hired to lead
investigators on a search for the cause. Braving bloodthirsty river pirates, hostile native tribes and
headhunting cannibals, Hamilton, guides a group of explorers up the deadly Rio del Morte to the
fabulous lost Inca city.
In 1989, Dudikoff turned down American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt because he didn't want to get type cast in
martial-arts movies and didn't want to go back to South Africa as he was firmly against the apartheid
movement and government in that country.[14][15] Martial-arts expert David Bradley was hired to play
a new character for the lead in the third installment.[16]
In the early 1990s, Dudikoff continued making action films with The Cannon Group. His first release of
that area was the thriller Midnight Ride (1990), co-starring Mark Hamill, and Robert Mitchum.
[17] Afterwards, he returned to the American Ninja franchise for the fourth installment American Ninja
4: The Annihilation (1990) where Private Joe Armstrong teams up with the character played by David
Bradley.[18][19] This would be last sequel Dudikoff appeared in. The final movie of the series cames
three years later, when Bradley made a martial art film where he played someone else that was released
as American Ninja 5 (1993), presumably to cash in on the franchise.[20][21]
In 1991, he went to star in The Human Shield directed by Ted Post,. It's about a former government
agent who must save his diabetic brother from Iraqi abductors.[22][23]
Also in 1991, he played the main villain for the first time in the television film The Woman Who Sinned.
[24]
In 1992, he starred as father figure alongside a young Stephen Dorff in Rescue Me, a coming-of-
age adventure action film comedy directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman it co-stars Ami Dolenz, Peter
DeLuise, William Lucking...[25][26] Daniel (Dorff) high school' crush (Dolenz) is kidnapped. He and Frazier
(Dudikoff) go after them.
The following year, he got the main role in the action TV series Cobra produced by Stephen J. Cannell,
co-starring Allison Hossack and James Tolkan. It ran for 22 episodes that are an hour each until 1994.[27]
In 1994, he did final film with The Cannon Group who was going bankrupt called Chain of
Command directed by David Worth.[28] The film is about, anti-terrorist operative Merrill Ross (Dudikoff)
gets caught in the middle of a deadly international conflict in this explosive adventure. Danger lurks
around every corner as Ross tries to thwart a plot to seize control of Qumir and its oil fields. Tailed by
agents and a death squad, Ross dodges bullets and barely survives an oil depot blast as he tries to find
out who's behind the mercenary scheme.[29]
In 1995, he starred in the virtual thriller Cyberjack, and the action rescue film Soldier Boyz.[30][31]
In 1996 he continued making fast pace action films this Bounty Hunters (1996) co-starring Lisa
Howard, Moving Target with Billy Dee Williams, and Crash Dive (1996) alongside Frederic Forrest.[32]
[33][34]
The following year, he made the air hijack picture Strategic Command with supporting cast Richard
Norton, Paul Winfield, Bryan Cranston and Stephen Quadros.[35] As well as the Bounty
Hunters sequel Bounty Hunters 2: Hardball, and his only shoot em up western The Shooter by Fred Olen
Ray.[36][37] Also in 1997, video game adaption Soldier Boyz of his film was released
for Microsoft Windows 95.[38]
He returned to comedy in supporting role in the Ringmaster (1998) starring Jerry Springer.[39] That
same year he was the lead in four other action releases, Black Thunder (1998) with Richard
Norton, Freedom Strike (1998) with Tone Lōc, Musketeers Forever (1998) with Lee Majors, and Counter
Measures (1998) a sequel to Crash Dive directed by Fred Olen Ray.[40][41][42][43][44]
In 1999, he played in the Sidney J. Furie suspense drama In Her Defense, with Marlee Matlin, the sci-fi
action film Fugitive Mind by Fred Olen Ray with Heather Langenkamp and the action feature The
Silencer.[45][46][47]
In 2001, he played a fireman in the action disaster film Ablaze. John Bradley plays the lead as the fire
chief, and it co-stars Tom Arnold, Ice-T, Amanda Pays, and Cathy Lee Crosby.[48]
In 2002, he played the main villain in the Treat Williams action vehicle Gale Force. It co-starred Curtis
Armstrong, Susan Walters, Tim Thomerson, Marcia Strassman, and many more.[49] The film was
nominated in four categories at DVD Exclusive Awards.[50]
2002 also marks his last collaborations with longtime contributors before going on a hiatus. This includes
director Sam Firstenberg in the thriller Quicksand, and Fred Olen Ray sci-fi adventure film Stranded.[51]
[52]
After these efforts Michael Dudikoff felt he needed a break, and started working in real estate
specializing in buying old homes to refurbish them.[53] In 2004, he married Belle Dudikoff and are
raising twins, a son named Joseph, and a daughter named Nancy.[54]
2013 to present day: Current works
In 2013, videos of him promoting a project named Zombie Break Room, surfaced on YouTube.[55][56]
[57]
In 2014, he was interviewed The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films and Electric Boogaloo:
The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films, both highly publicized dueling documentaries about The
Cannon Group.[58]
In 2015, he returned to the screens with a supporting role in Navy Seals vs. Zombies, released by Anchor
Bay Entertainment.[59]
In 2018 he played the main villain in Fury of the Fist and the Golden Fleece, alongside Sean Stone, Danny
Trejo, Taimak, Michael Winslow, Jason London, Bill Goldberg, Cynthia Rothrock, Ernie Reyes Jr., Richard
Grieco, Victor Ortiz, and many more.[60]
Personal Life
Dudikoff has been married to Belle since 2004. They have three children, including son Michael Joseph
Stephen III.
Martial Arts and Fitness
Dudikoff had no martial arts training previous to making the first American Ninja movie, but he was
already very athletic. Fight choreographer Mike Stone, who was an accomplished Martial Arts expert
assured the producers that he would pick up the moves.[61]
He since trained in karate, aikido, judo and in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He began his training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu
with Rorion Gracie and stays connected with the Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighting circuit, including Rigan
Machado, an eighth degree red and black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and former world champion.[62][63]
In a 2012 Q&A, Dudikoff said that he doesn't lift weights, but is a swimmer, does isometric and dance
exercises.[64]
Film Rumors
Dudikoff, due to his action film resume, is often rumored to take part in The Expendables film series. In a
2012 interview he stated that he heard talk that never was concluding, and he was happy either way if
something came up or not.
Within that same interview, he also hinted at a possible sequel to American Ninja and Avenging Force.
[65]
Filmography
Features
Yea
Title Role Notes
r
1980 The Black Marble Millie's Houseboy Film
1981 Bloody Birthday Willard Film
1981 Enter the Ninja Venarius' Man Film (uncredited)
Young Man in Bar
1982 Making Love Film
#2
1982 I Ought to Be in Pictures Boy on bus Film
1982 Star of the Family Douggie Krebs TV series
Film (as Michael J.
1982 Tron Conscript #2
Dudikoff II)
1983 Uncommon Valor Blaster's assistant Film
Yea
Title Role Notes
r
1984 Bachelor Party Ryko Film
1985 Radioactive Dreams Marlowe Hammer Film
1985 American Ninja Pvt. Joe Armstrong Film
1986 Avenging Force Capt. Matt Hunter Film
American Ninja 2: The
1987 Sgt. Joe Armstrong Film
Confrontation
1988 Platoon Leader Lt. Jeff Knight Film
1989 River of Death John Hamilton Film
Midnight Ride Lawson Film
1990
American Ninja 4: The
Joe Armstrong Film
Annihilation
1991 The Woman Who Sinned Evan Ganns TV Movie
1992 The Human Shield Doug Matthews Film
Daniel 'Mac'
Rescue Me Film
MacDonald
1992
Chain of Command Merrill Ross Film
Cyberjack Nick James Film
1995
Soldier Boyz Toliver Film
1996 Bounty Hunters Jersey Bellini Video
1997 Moving Target Sonny Film
Strategic Command Dr. Rick Harding Film
Crash Dive James Carter Video
Yea
Title Role Notes
r
Bounty Hunters 2:
Jersey Bellini Video
Hardball
The Shooter Michael Atherton Film
Freedom Strike Tom Dickson Film
Black Thunder Vince Film
1998 Counter Measures Capt. Jake Fuller Video
Ringmaster Rusty Film
Musketeers Forever D'Artagnan Film
In Her Defense Andrew Garfield Film
1999
Fugitive Mind Robert Dean Video
2000 The Silencer Quinn Simmons Film
2001 Ablaze Daniels Film
Gale Force Jared Video
2002
Quicksand Bill Turner Film
His last film before a ten-
2004 Black Horizon Ed Carpenter
year hiatus
Navy Seals vs. Zombies Commander Sheer Film
2015
The Bouncer Samuel James Film
Fury of the Fist and the
Superboss Film
Golden Fleece
2018
Landfill Mr. Lindbergh Film
TV Series
Year Title Role Notes
1978 Dallas Joe Newcomb 1 Episode
1979 Out of the Blue Lenny 1 Episode
1979-1980 Happy Days Jason / Jim 2 Episodes
1982 Star of the Family Douggie Krebs 10 Episodes
1983 Gimme a Break! Greg Hartman 1 Episodes
1986 North and South, Book II Lt. Rudy Bodford 6 Episodes
1994 Historias de la puta mili Special Appearance 1 Episodes
1993–1994 Cobra Robert "Scandal" Jackson, Jr. 20 Episodes
2013 Zombie Break Room Tank Dempsey Unknown
Unknown
2019 Green Valley Uncle Rik
Nicolas Lemery
Nicolas Lémery (or Lemery as his name appeared in his international publications) (17 November 1645 –
19 June 1715), French chemist, was born at Rouen. He was one of the first to develop theories on acid-
base chemistry.
Nicolas Lemery
Life
After learning pharmacy in his native town he became a pupil of Christophe Glaser in Paris, and then
went to Montpellier, where he began to lecture on chemistry. He next established a pharmacy in Paris,
still continuing his lectures, but following 1683, being a Calvinist, he was obliged to retire to England. In
the following year he returned to France, and turning Catholic in 1686 was able to reopen his shop and
resume his lectures. He died in Paris on 19 June 1715.[1]
Lemery did not concern himself much with theoretical speculations, but holding chemistry to be a
demonstrative science, confined himself to the straightforward exposition of facts and experiments. In
consequence, his lecture-room was thronged with people of all sorts, anxious to hear a man who
shunned the barren obscurities of the alchemists, and did not regard the quest of the philosopher's
stone and the elixir of life as the sole end of his science. Of his Cours de chymie (1675) he lived to see 13
editions, and for a century it maintained its reputation as a standard work.[1]
In 1680, using the corpuscular theory as a basis, Lemery stipulated that the acidity of any substance
consisted in its pointed particles, while alkalis were endowed with pores of various sizes.[2] A molecule,
according to this view, consisted of corpuscles united through a geometric locking of points and pores.
Mock-up of Nicolas Lemery's 1680 acid-base bonding model.
Illustration of laboratory apparatus, Cours de chymie, 1683
Cours de chymie in English
His other publications included Pharmacopée universelle (1697), Traité universel des drogues
simples (1698), Traité de l'antimoine (1707), together with a number of papers contributed to
the French Academy, one of which offered a chemical and physical explanation of underground
fires, earthquakes, lightning and thunder. He discovered that heat is evolved when iron filings
and sulphur are rubbed together to a paste with water, and the artificial volcan de Lemery was
produced by burying underground a considerable quantity of this mixture, which he regarded as a
potent agent in the causation of volcanic action.
His son Louis Lémery (1677–1743) was appointed physician at the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris in 1710, and
became demonstrator of chemistry at the Jardin du Roi in 1731. He was the author of a Traité des
aliments (1702), and of a Dissertation sur la nature des os (1704), as well as of a number of papers on
chemical topics.[1]
Works
Cours de chymie : contenant la maniere de faire les operations qui sont en usage dans la medecine, par
un methode facile ; avec des raisonnements sur chaque operation, pour l'instruction de ceux qui veulent
s'appliquer a cette science. - 6. ed. - Paris : Michallet, 1687. Digital edition /1730 Digital 11th edition /
1744 Digital edition of the University and State Library Düsseldorf.
Het philosoophze laboratorium, oft' der chymisten stook-huis. - Amsterdam : ten Hoorn, 1691. Digital
edition of the University and State Library Düsseldorf.
Nouveau recueil de[s] curiositez, les plus rares & admirables de tous les effects, que l'art & la nature
sont capables de produire. Volume 1-2. Dernière édition augmentée, corrigée & enrichie de tailles-
douces. Leyde : van der Aa, 1688. Digital edition of the University and State Library Düsseldorf
Nouveau recueil de[s] secrets et curiositez, les plus rares & admirables de tous les effects, que l'art & la
nature sont capables de produire. - 5. ed. - Amsterdam : Mortier, 1697. Digital edition of the University
and State Library Düsseldorf.
A course of chymistry : containing an easie method of preparing those chymical medicins which are used
in physick ; with curious remarks and useful discourses upon each preparation, for the benefit of such a
desire to be instructed in the knowledge of this art. - The 3rd. ed., transl. from the 8th ed. in the French.
- London : Kettilby, 1698. Digital edition of the University and State Library Düsseldorf.
Cours de chymie, oder der vollkommene Chymist : welcher die in der Medicin gebräuchlichen
chymischen Processe auff die leichteste und heilsamste Art machen lernt... Aus der 9. frantzösischen
Edition des 1697sten Jahres ins Teutsche übersetzet. Winckler, Dresden 1698 Digital edition of
the University and State Library Düsseldorf.
A compleat history of druggs : written in French by Monsieur Pomet, chief druggist to the present
French king ; to which is added what is further observable on the same subject, from Messrs. Lemery
and Tournefort, divided into 3 classes, vegetable, animal and mineral, with their use in physick,
chymistry, pharmacy and several other arts ; done into English from the originals. London, 1712.Digital
edition of the University and State Library Düsseldorf.
Farmacopea universale che contiene tutte le composizioni di farmacia le qualisono in uso nella
medicina : tanto in Francia, quanto per tutta l'europa, ... e di piu un vocabolario farmaceutico, molte
nuove osservazioni, ed alcuni ragionamenti sopra ogni operazione. Venezia : Gio. Gabriel Hertz,
1720 Digital edition of the University and State Library Düsseldorf.
Dictionaire, ou traité universel des drogues simples ou l’on trouve leurs differens noms, leur origine, leur
choix, les principes qu’elles renferment, leurs qualitez, leur etymologie, & tout ce qu’il ya de particulier
dans les animaux, dans les vegetaux, & dans les mineraux ; ouvrage dependant de la Pharmacopee
universelle . Hofhout, Rotterdam 4.ed. 1727 Digital edition of the University and State Library
Düsseldorf.
Pharmacopée universelle : contenant toutes les compositions de pharmacie qui sont en usage dans la
medicine, tant en France que par toute l'Europe, leurs vertus, leurs doses, les manieres d'operer les plus
simples & les meilleures ; avec un lexicon pharmaceutique, plusieurs remarques nouvelles, et des
raisonnemens sur chaque operation. d’Houry, Paris 3.ed. 1728 Digital edition of the University and State
Library Düsseldorf.
Pharmacopée universelle
Cours de chymie : contenant la maniere de faire les operations qui sont en usage dans la medecine, par
un methode facile ; avec des raisonnemens sur chaque operation, pour l'instruction de ceux qui veulent
s'appliquer a cette science. - 11. ed. - Paris : Delespine, 1730. Digital edition of the University and State
Library Düsseldorf.
Traité universel des drogues simples : mises en ordre alphabetique, ou l'on trouve leurs differens noms,
leur origine, leur choix, les principes qu'elles renferment, leurs qualitez, leur etimologie, & tout ce qu'il
ya de particulier dans les animaux, dans les vegetaux, & dans les mineraux ; ouvrage dependant de la
Pharmacopee universelle. d’Houry, Paris 4.ed. 1732 Digital edition of the University and State Library
Düsseldorf.
Cours de chymie : contenant la maniere de faire les operations qui sont en usage dans la medecine, par
un methode facile ; avec des raisonnemens sur chaque operation, pour l'instruction de ceux qui veulent
s'appliquer a cette science. - Bruxelles : Leonard, 1744. Digital edition of the University and State Library
Düsseldorf.
Nicolai Lemeri cursus chymicus, oder vollkommener Chymist : welcher die in der Medicin
vorkommenden chymischen Praeparata und Processus auf die vernünfftigste, leichteste und sicherste
Art zu verfertigen lehret ; aus dem Frantzösischen übersetzet. - ... Bey dieser 5. Aufl. aufs neue
durchgesehen, corrigirt und vermehret von Johann Christian Zimmermann. - Dresden : Walther,
1754. Digital edition of the University and State Library Düsseldorf.
Jeremiah horrocks
Jeremiah Horrocks (1618 – 3 January 1641), sometimes given as Jeremiah Horrox (the Latinised version
that he used on the Emmanuel College register and in his Latin manuscripts),[1] was an
English astronomer. He was the first person to demonstrate that the Moon moved around the Earth in
an elliptical orbit; and he was the only person to predict the transit of Venus of 1639, an event which he
and his friend William Crabtree were the only two people to observe and record.
His early death and the chaos of the English Civil War nearly resulted in the loss to science of his treatise
on the transit, Venus in sole visa; but for this and his other work he is acknowledged as one of the
founding fathers of British astronomy.
Jeremiah Horrocks
Making the first observation of
the transit of Venus in 1639
Early life and education
Jeremiah Horrocks was born at Lower Lodge Farm in Toxteth Park, a former royal deer
park near Liverpool, Lancashire.[2]His father James had moved to Toxteth Park to be apprenticed to
Thomas Aspinwall, a watchmaker, and subsequently married his master's daughter Mary. Both families
were well educated Puritans; the Horrocks sent their younger sons to the University of Cambridge and
the Aspinwalls favoured Oxford.[3] For their unorthodox beliefs the Puritans were excluded from public
office, which tended to push them towards other callings; by 1600 the Aspinwalls had become a
successful family of watchmakers.[2] Jeremiah was introduced early to astronomy; his boyhood chores
included measuring the local noon used to set local clocks,[4] and his Puritan upbringing instilled an
enduring suspicion of astrology, witchcraft and magic.[5]
In 1632 Horrocks matriculated at Emmanuel College at the University of Cambridge as a sizar. At
Cambridge he associated with the mathematician John Wallis and the platonist John Worthington. At
that time he was one of only a few at Cambridge to accept Copernicus's
revolutionary heliocentric theory, and he studied the works of Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe and others.
[6]
In 1635, for reasons not clear, Horrocks left Cambridge without graduating.[7] Marston suggests that he
may have needed to defer the extra cost this entailed until he was employed,[1] whilst Aughton
speculates that he may have failed his exams due to concentrating too much on his own interests, or
that he did not want to take Anglican orders, and so a degree was of limited use to him.[8]
Astronomical observations
Now committed to the study of astronomy, Horrocks began to collect astronomical books and
equipment; by 1638 he owned the best telescope he could find. Liverpool was a seafaring town so
navigational instruments such as the astrolabe and cross staff were easy to find. But there was no
market for the very specialised astronomical instruments he needed, so his only option was to make his
own. He was well placed to do this; his father and uncles were watchmakers with expertise in creating
precise instruments. Apparently he helped with the family business by day and, in return, the
watchmakers in his family supported his vocation by assisting in the design and construction of
instruments to study the stars at night.[9]
Horrocks owned a three-foot radius astronomicus – a cross staff with movable sights used to measure
the angle between two stars – but by January 1637 he had reached the limitations of this instrument
and so built a larger and higher precision version.[10] While a youth he read most of the astronomical
treatises of his day and marked their weaknesses; by the age of seventeen he was suggesting new lines
of research.
Tradition has it that after he left home he supported himself by holding a curacy in Much Hoole,
near Preston in Lancashire, but there is little evidence for this.[1]According to local tradition in Much
Hoole, he lived at Carr House, within the Bank Hall Estate, Bretherton. Carr House was a substantial
property owned by the Stones family who were prosperous farmers and merchants, and Horrocks was
probably a tutor for the Stones' children.[11]
Lunar research
Horrocks was the first to demonstrate that the Moon moved in an elliptical path around the Earth, and
he posited that comets followed elliptical orbits. He supported his theories by analogy to the motions of
a conical pendulum, noting that after a plumb bob was drawn back and released it followed an elliptical
path, and that its major axis rotated in the direction of revolution as did the apsides of the moon's orbit.
[12] He anticipated Isaac Newton in suggesting the influence of the Sun as well as the Earth on the
moon's orbit. In the Principia[13] Newton acknowledged Horrocks's work in relation to his theory of
lunar motion. In the final months of his life Horrocks made detailed studies of tides in attempting to
explain the nature of lunar causation of tidal movements.[14]
Transit of Venus
Transit of Venus, 1639
A representation of Horrocks' recording of the transit published in 1662 by Johannes Hevelius
The title page of Jeremiah Horrocks' Opera Posthuma, published by the Royal Society in 1672.
In 1627, Johannes Kepler had published his Rudolphine Tables and two years later he published extracts
from the tables in his pamphlet De raris mirisque Anni 1631 which included an admonitio ad
astronomos (warning to astronomers) concerning a transit of Mercury in 1631 and transits of Venus in
1631 and 1761.[15] Horrocks' own observations, combined with those of his friend and
correspondent William Crabtree, had convinced him that Kepler's Rudolphine tables, although more
accurate than the commonly used tables produced by Philip Van Lansberg, were still in need of some
correction. Kepler's tables had predicted a near-miss of a transit of Venus in 1639 but, having made his
own observations of Venus for years, Horrocks predicted a transit would indeed occur.[16]
Horrocks made a simple helioscope by focusing the image of the Sun through a telescope onto a plane
surface, whereby an image of the Sun could be safely observed. From his location in Much Hoole he
calculated the transit would begin at approximately 3:00 pm on 24 November 1639, Julian calendar (or 4
December in the Gregorian calendar). The weather was cloudy but he first observed the tiny black
shadow of Venus crossing the Sun at about 3:15 pm; and he continued to observe for half an hour until
the sun set. The 1639 transit was also observed by William Crabtree from his home
in Broughton near Manchester.
Horrocks' observations allowed him to make a well-informed guess as to the size of Venus—previously
thought to be larger and closer to Earth—and to estimate of the distance between the Earth and the
Sun, now known as the astronomical unit (AU). His figure of 95 million kilometres (59 million miles, 0.63
AU) was far from the 150 million kilometres (93 million miles) known today, but it was more accurate
than any suggested up to that time.
A treatise by Horrocks on the study of the transit, Venus in sole visa (Venus seen on the Sun), was later
published by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius at his own expense; it caused great excitement
when revealed to members of the Royal Society in 1662, some 20 years after it was written. It presented
Horrocks' enthusiastic and romantic nature, including humorous comments and passages of original
poetry. When speaking of the century separating Venusian transits, he rhapsodised:
" ...Thy return
Posterity shall witness; years must roll
Away, but then at length the splendid sight
Again shall greet our distant children's eyes."
It was a time of great uncertainty in astronomy, when the world's astronomers could not agree amongst
themselves and theologians fulminated against claims that contradicted Scripture. Horrocks, although a
pious young man, came down firmly on the side of scientific determinism.[17]
It is wrong to hld the most noble Science of the Stars guilty of uncertainty on account of some people's
uncertain observations. Through no fault of its own it suffers these complaints which arise from the
uncertainty and error not of the celestial motions but of human observations . . . I do not consider that
any imperfections in the motions of the stars have so far been detected, nor do I believe that they are
ever to be found. Far be it from me to allow that God has created the heavenly bodies more imperfectly
than man has observed them. – Jeremiah Horrocks[17]
Death and remembrance
Jeremiah Horrocks Observatory on Moor Park, Preston
Horrocks returned to Toxteth Park sometime in mid-1640 and died suddenly from unknown causes on 3
January 1641, at the age of 22. As expressed by Crabtree, "What an incalculable loss!"[18] He has been
described as a bridge which connected Newton with Copernicus, Galileo, Brahe and Kepler.[19]
It is believed that Horrocks was buried at Toxteth Unitarian Chapel, but there is seemingly no proof of
this.
Horrocks is remembered on a plaque in Westminster Abbey[20] and the lunar crater Horrocks is named
after him. In 1859 a marble tablet and stained-glass windows commemorating him were installed in the
Parish Church of St Michael, Much Hoole.[11]
In 1927, the Jeremiah Horrocks Observatory was built at Moor Park, Preston.[21]The 2012 transit of
Venus was marked by a celebration held in the church at Much Hoole, which was streamed live
worldwide on the NASA website.[22]
Jeremiah Horrocks and the transit of Venus feature in an episode ("Dark Matter") of the British
television series Lewis.[23]
Jeremiah Horrocks Institute
The Jeremiah Horrocks Institute for Astrophysics and Supercomputing was established in 1993 at
the University of Central Lancashire.[24] In 2012 it was renamed the Jeremiah Horrocks Institute for
Mathematics, Physics, and Astronomy.
Friedrich Kohlrausch (physicist)
Friedrich Wilhelm Georg Kohlrausch (14 October 1840 – 17 January 1910) was a German physicist who
investigated the conductive properties of electrolytes and contributed to knowledge of their behaviour. He also
investigated elasticity, thermoelasticity, and thermal conduction as well as magnetic and electrical precision
measurements.
Nowadays, Friedrich Kohlrausch is classed as one of the most important experimental physicists. His early
work helped to extend the absolute system of Carl Friedrich Gauss and Wilhelm Weber to include electrical and
magnetic measuring units.
Friedrich Kohlrausch
Friedrich Wilhelm Georg Kohlrausch (1840-1910)
Biography
Education
Son of Rudolf Kohlrausch, Friedrich Wilhelm Georg Kohlrausch was born on October 14, 1840,
in Rinteln, Germany. After studying physics at Erlangen and Göttingen, Friedrich Kohlrausch completed his
doctorate in Göttingen.
Teaching
After a two-year work as a lecturer in Frankfurt, Kohlrausch was appointed a professor of physics at
the University of Göttingen (1866–70). During 1870 Kohlrausch became a professor at ETH
Zurich in Switzerland. One year later, he moved to the Darmstadt University of Technology in Germany.
In 1875, he responded to an offer from the University of Würzburg in southern Germany, where he
subsequently conducted his experiments in quantity determination and the conductivity of electrolytes. From
1888 he researched and taught at Strasbourg University.
He refused a professorship at the Humboldt University in Berlin in 1894, but from 1900 he was also a professor
there. He was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences during 1902.
Research work
Kohlrausch was an important researcher of electrochemistry for many reasons. First, the experiments from
which he deduced his law of independent migration of ions became canonical and disseminated from
Kohlrausch's laboratories in Göttingen, Zurich, and Darmstadt; Svante Arrhenius, Wilhelm
Ostwald and Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, the original Ionists, all trained with methods and equipment of
Kohlrauschian lineage. Moreover, because Kohlrausch also continued to test and confirm the Ionist theory after
it had been first proposed, his work tied "measuring physics" and its consequent capability of producing plenty
of empirical data to the results and methods of the Ionists and their devotees.
Electrolyte conductivity in solution
In 1874 he demonstrated that an electrolyte has a definite and constant amount of electrical resistance. By
observing the dependence of conductivity upon dilution, he could determine the transfer velocities of
the ions (charged atoms or molecules) in solution. He used alternating current to prevent the deposition of
electrolysis products; this enabled him to obtain very precise results.
From 1875 to 1879, he examined numerous salt solutions, acids and solutions of other materials. His efforts
resulted in the law of the independent migration of ions, that is, each type of migrating ion has a
specific electrical resistance no matter what its original molecular combination may have been, and therefore
that a solution's electrical resistance was due only to the migrating ions of a given substances. Kohlrausch
showed for weak (incompletely dissociated) electrolytes that the more dilute a solution, the greater its molar
conductivity due to increased ionic dissociation.
Measuring techniques and instruments
During 1895 he succeeded Hermann von Helmholtz as President of the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt
(PTR – Imperial Physical Technical Institute), an office which he held until 1905.
Here, as in the past, his activities were focused on experimental and instrumental physics: he
constructed instruments and devised new measuring techniques to examine electrolytic conduction in
solutions. He concluded the setup of the PTR, a task which had not yet been completed on the death of its first
president. He introduced fixed regulations, work schedules and working hours for the Institute.
Under direction of Kohlrausch, the PTR created numerous standards and calibration standards which were also
used internationally outside Germany.
Kohlrausch was intent on creating optimum working conditions in the laboratories and to shield the labs from
unwanted external influences. For six years, for instance, he fought against a streetcar line which was due to
be laid near the PTR. However, before the streetcar was to make its first journey, the institute succeeded in
developing an astatic torsion magnetometer which was uninfluenced by disturbing electromagnetic fields. The
use of this instrument and the shielded wire galvanometer developed by du Bois and Rubens meant that
precision electrical and magnetic work continued to be possible.
Over the years, Kohlrausch added experiments which met the needs of physical chemistry and electrical
technology in particular. He improved precision measuring instruments and developed numerous measuring
methods in almost all of the fields of physics known during his lifetime, including a reflectivity meter, a tangent
galvanometer, and various types of magnetometers and dynamometers. The Kohlrausch bridge, which he
invented at that time for the purpose of measuring conductivity, is still well known today. Like Helmholtz and
Siemens, Kohlrausch also saw the possibilities inherent in applied and basic research in the natural sciences
and technology. He lay the foundations for scientific knowledge which promoted and advanced industry and
technology. The PTR developed standardized precision instruments for university research institutes and
industrial laboratories. It introduced uniform electrical units for Germany and also played a significant role in
their international usage. In the period to 1905, there were many examples of the importance of the PTR for
German industry, in particular for the high technologies of the time – the electrical, optical and mechanical
industries.
Overall, Kohlrausch was involved in the measurement of electrical, magnetic and electrochemical phenomena
for almost 50 years. In 1905 Kohlrausch retired from his post as President of the PTR.
Friedrich Kohlrausch died in Marburg on 17 January 1910 at the age of 69.
Writings
In the University of Göttingen, Kohlrausch documented his practical experiments resulting in the book Leitfaden
der praktischen Physik (Guidelines to Practical Physics), which was published in 1870 as the first book of its
type in Germany. It contained not only descriptions of experiments, experimental setups and measuring
techniques, but also tables of physical quantities. It was issued in many editions (the 9th enlarged and revised
edition of 1901 being entitled Lehrbuch der praktischen Physik; a more elementary work based on it being
entitled Kleiner Leitfaden der praktischen Physik) and translated into English. It was considered the standard
work on physical laboratory methods and measurements.
To this day, the textbook Praktische Physik (Practical Physics), which originated in Kohlrausch's Leitfaden der
praktischen Physik, is standard reading for physicists and engineers in Germany. This is attributable, above all,
to the detailed descriptions provided of the measuring methods that form the basis of technical and
experimental applications in many fields in physics.
Kohlrausch was also the author of Ueber den absoluten Leitungswiderstand des Quecksilbers (On the
electrical resistance of mercury, 1888), and of many papers contributed to the Annalen der Physik und Chemie,
and other scientific journals.
Michael Faraday.
Michael Faraday FRS (/ˈfærədeɪ, -di/; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who
contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles
underlying electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism and electrolysis.
Although Faraday received little formal education, he was one of the most influential scientists in history. It was
by his research on the magnetic field around a conductor carrying a direct current that Faraday established the
basis for the concept of the electromagnetic field in physics. Faraday also established that magnetism could
affect rays of light and that there was an underlying relationship between the two phenomena. [1][2] He similarly
discovered the principles of electromagnetic induction and diamagnetism, and the laws of electrolysis.
His inventions of electromagnetic rotary devices formed the foundation of electric motor technology, and it was
largely due to his efforts that electricity became practical for use in technology.
Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday, 1842, by Thomas Phillips
As a chemist, Faraday discovered benzene, investigated the clathrate hydrate of chlorine, invented an early
form of the Bunsen burner and the system of oxidation numbers, and popularised terminology such as "anode",
"cathode", "electrode" and "ion". Faraday ultimately became the first and foremost Fullerian Professor of
Chemistry at the Royal Institution, a lifetime position.
Faraday was an excellent experimentalist who conveyed his ideas in clear and simple language; his
mathematical abilities, however, did not extend as far as trigonometry and were limited to the simplest
algebra. James Clerk Maxwell took the work of Faraday and others and summarized it in a set of equations
which is accepted as the basis of all modern theories of electromagnetic phenomena. On Faraday's uses
of lines of force, Maxwell wrote that they show Faraday "to have been in reality a mathematician of a very high
order – one from whom the mathematicians of the future may derive valuable and fertile methods." [3] The SI unit
of capacitance is named in his honour: the farad.
Albert Einstein kept a picture of Faraday on his study wall, alongside pictures of Isaac Newton and James Clerk
Maxwell.[4] Physicist Ernest Rutherford stated, "When we consider the magnitude and extent of his discoveries
and their influence on the progress of science and of industry, there is no honour too great to pay to the
memory of Faraday, one of the greatest scientific discoverers of all time."
Personal life
Early life
How fortunate for civilization, that Beethoven, Michelangelo, Galileo and Faraday were not required by law to attend schools where
their total personalities would have been operated upon to make them learn acceptable ways of participating as members of "the
group”.
—Joel H. Hildebrand's Education for Creativity in the Sciences speech at New York University, 1963. [6]
Michael Faraday was born on 22 September 1791 in Newington Butts,[7] which is now part of the London
Borough of Southwark but was then a suburban part of Surrey.[8] His family was not well off. His father, James,
was a member of the Glassite sect of Christianity. James Faraday moved his wife and two children to London
during the winter of 1790 from Outhgill in Westmorland, where he had been an apprentice to the village
blacksmith.[9] Michael was born in the autumn of that year. The young Michael Faraday, who was the third of
four children, having only the most basic school education, had to educate himself.[10]
At the age of 14 he became an apprentice to George Riebau, a local bookbinder and bookseller in Blandford
Street.[11] During his seven-year apprenticeship Faraday read many books, including Isaac Watts's The
Improvement of the Mind, and he enthusiastically implemented the principles and suggestions contained
therein.[12] He also developed an interest in science, especially in electricity. Faraday was particularly inspired
by the book Conversations on Chemistry by Jane Marcet.[13][14]
Adult life
Portrait of Faraday in his late thirties, ca. 1826
In 1812, at the age of 20 and at the end of his apprenticeship, Faraday attended lectures by the eminent
English chemist Humphry Davy of the Royal Institution and the Royal Society, and John Tatum, founder of the
City Philosophical Society. Many of the tickets for these lectures were given to Faraday by William Dance, who
was one of the founders of the Royal Philharmonic Society. Faraday subsequently sent Davy a 300-page book
based on notes that he had taken during these lectures. Davy's reply was immediate, kind, and favourable. In
1813, when Davy damaged his eyesight in an accident with nitrogen trichloride, he decided to employ Faraday
as an assistant. Coincidentally one of the Royal Institution's assistants, John Payne, was sacked and Sir
Humphry Davy had been asked to find a replacement; thus he appointed Faraday as Chemical Assistant at the
Royal Institution on 1 March 1813.[1] Very soon Davy entrusted Faraday with the preparation of nitrogen
trichloride samples, and they both were injured in an explosion of this very sensitive substance. [15]
Michael Faraday, c. 1861, aged about 70.
In the class-based English society of the time, Faraday was not considered a gentleman. When Davy set out
on a long tour of the continent in 1813–15, his valet did not wish to go, so instead, Faraday went as Davy's
scientific assistant and was asked to act as Davy's valet until a replacement could be found in Paris. Faraday
was forced to fill the role of valet as well as assistant throughout the trip. Davy's wife, Jane Apreece, refused to
treat Faraday as an equal (making him travel outside the coach, eat with the servants, etc.), and made Faraday
so miserable that he contemplated returning to England alone and giving up science altogether. The trip did,
however, give him access to the scientific elite of Europe and exposed him to a host of stimulating ideas. [1]
Faraday married Sarah Barnard (1800–1879) on 12 June 1821. [16] They met through their families at
the Sandemanian church, and he confessed his faith to the Sandemanian congregation the month after they
were married. They had no children.[7]
Faraday was a devout Christian; his Sandemanian denomination was an offshoot of the Church of Scotland.
Well after his marriage, he served as deacon and for two terms as an elder in the meeting house of his youth.
His church was located at Paul's Alley in the Barbican. This meeting house relocated in 1862
to Barnsbury Grove, Islington; this North London location was where Faraday served the final two years of his
second term as elder prior to his resignation from that post. [17][18] Biographers have noted that "a strong sense of
the unity of God and nature pervaded Faraday's life and work." [19]
Later life
Three Fellows of the Royal Society offering the presidency to Faraday, 1857
In June 1832, the University of Oxford granted Faraday an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree . During his
lifetime, he was offered a knighthood in recognition for his services to science, which he turned down on
religious grounds, believing that it was against the word of the Bible to accumulate riches and pursue worldly
reward, and stating that he preferred to remain "plain Mr Faraday to the end". [20] Elected a member of the Royal
Society in 1824, he twice refused to become President.[21] He became the first Fullerian Professor of
Chemistry at the Royal Institution in 1833.[22]
In 1832, Faraday was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
[23]
He was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1838, and was one of eight
foreign members elected to the French Academy of Sciences in 1844.[24] In 1849 he was elected as associated
member to the Royal Institute of the Netherlands, which two years later became the Royal Netherlands
Academy of Arts and Sciences and he was subsequently made foreign member.[25]
Michael Faraday's grave at Highgate Cemetery, London
Faraday suffered a nervous breakdown in 1839 but eventually returned to his investigations into
electromagnetism.[26] In 1848, as a result of representations by the Prince Consort, Faraday was awarded
a grace and favour house in Hampton Court in Middlesex, free of all expenses and upkeep. This was the
Master Mason's House, later called Faraday House, and now No. 37 Hampton Court Road. In 1858 Faraday
retired to live there.[27]
Having provided a number of various service projects for the British government, when asked by the
government to advise on the production of chemical weapons for use in the Crimean War (1853–1856),
Faraday refused to participate citing ethical reasons. [28]
Faraday died at his house at Hampton Court on 25 August 1867, aged 75.[29] He had some years before turned
down an offer of burial in Westminster Abbey upon his death, but he has a memorial plaque there, near Isaac
Newton's tomb. Faraday was interred in the dissenters' (non-Anglican) section of Highgate Cemetery.
Scientific achievements
Chemistry
Equipment used by Faraday to make glass on display at the Royal Institution in London
Faraday's earliest chemical work was as an assistant to Humphry Davy. Faraday was specifically involved in
the study of chlorine; he discovered two new compounds of chlorine and carbon. He also conducted the first
rough experiments on the diffusion of gases, a phenomenon that was first pointed out by John Dalton. The
physical importance of this phenomenon was more fully revealed by Thomas Graham and Joseph Loschmidt.
Faraday succeeded in liquefying several gases, investigated the alloys of steel, and produced several new
kinds of glass intended for optical purposes. A specimen of one of these heavy glasses subsequently became
historically important; when the glass was placed in a magnetic field Faraday determined the rotation of the
plane of polarisation of light. This specimen was also the first substance found to be repelled by the poles of a
magnet.
Faraday invented an early form of what was to become the Bunsen burner, which is in practical use in science
laboratories around the world as a convenient source of heat. [30][31] Faraday worked extensively in the field of
chemistry, discovering chemical substances such as benzene (which he called bicarburet of hydrogen) and
liquefying gases such as chlorine. The liquefying of gases helped to establish that gases are the vapours of
liquids possessing a very low boiling point and gave a more solid basis to the concept of molecular
aggregation. In 1820 Faraday reported the first synthesis of compounds made from carbon and
chlorine, C2Cl6 and C2Cl4, and published his results the following year.[32][33][34] Faraday also determined the
composition of the chlorine clathrate hydrate, which had been discovered by Humphry Davy in 1810. [35]
[36]
Faraday is also responsible for discovering the laws of electrolysis, and for popularizing terminology such
as anode, cathode, electrode, and ion, terms proposed in large part by William Whewell.[37]
Faraday was the first to report what later came to be called metallic nanoparticles. In 1847 he discovered that
the optical properties of gold colloids differed from those of the corresponding bulk metal. This was probably
the first reported observation of the effects of quantum size, and might be considered to be the birth
of nanoscience.[38]
Electricity and magnetism
Faraday is best known for his work regarding electricity and magnetism. His first recorded experiment was the
construction of a voltaic pile with seven ha'penny coins, stacked together with seven disks of sheet zinc, and
six pieces of paper moistened with salt water. With this pile he decomposed sulfate of magnesia (first letter to
Abbott, 12 July 1812).
Electromagnetic rotation experiment of Faraday, ca. 1821[39]
In 1821, soon after the Danish physicist and chemist Hans Christian Ørsted discovered the phenomenon
of electromagnetism, Davy and British scientist William Hyde Wollaston tried, but failed, to design an electric
motor.[2] Faraday, having discussed the problem with the two men, went on to build two devices to produce
what he called "electromagnetic rotation". One of these, now known as the homopolar motor, caused a
continuous circular motion that was engendered by the circular magnetic force around a wire that extended into
a pool of mercury wherein was placed a magnet; the wire would then rotate around the magnet if supplied with
current from a chemical battery. These experiments and inventions formed the foundation of modern
electromagnetic technology. In his excitement, Faraday published results without acknowledging his work with
either Wollaston or Davy. The resulting controversy within the Royal Society strained his mentor relationship
with Davy and may well have contributed to Faraday's assignment to other activities, which consequently
prevented his involvement in electromagnetic research for several years. [40][41]
One of Faraday's 1831 experiments demonstrating induction. The liquid battery (right) sends an electric current through the small
coil (A). When it is moved in or out of the large coil (B), its magnetic field induces a momentary voltage in the coil, which is detected
by the galvanometer (G).
From his initial discovery in 1821, Faraday continued his laboratory work, exploring electromagnetic properties
of materials and developing requisite experience. In 1824, Faraday briefly set up a circuit to study whether a
magnetic field could regulate the flow of a current in an adjacent wire, but he found no such relationship. [42] This
experiment followed similar work conducted with light and magnets three years earlier that yielded identical
results.[43][44] During the next seven years, Faraday spent much of his time perfecting his recipe for optical quality
(heavy) glass, borosilicate of lead,[45] which he used in his future studies connecting light with magnetism. [46] In
his spare time, Faraday continued publishing his experimental work on optics and electromagnetism; he
conducted correspondence with scientists whom he had met on his journeys across Europe with Davy, and
who were also working on electromagnetism.[47] Two years after the death of Davy, in 1831, he began his great
series of experiments in which he discovered electromagnetic induction, recording in his laboratory diary on 28
October 1831 he was; "making many experiments with the great magnet of the Royal Society". [48]
A diagram of Faraday's iron ring-coil apparatus
Built in 1831, the Faraday disk was the first electric generator. The horseshoe-shaped magnet (A) created a magnetic field through
the disk (D). When the disk was turned, this induced an electric current radially outward from the center toward the rim. The current
flowed out through the sliding spring contact m, through the external circuit, and back into the center of the disk through the axle.
Faraday's breakthrough came when he wrapped two insulated coils of wire around an iron ring, and found that
upon passing a current through one coil, a momentary current was induced in the other coil. [2] This
phenomenon is now known as mutual induction.[49] The iron ring-coil apparatus is still on display at the Royal
Institution. In subsequent experiments, he found that if he moved a magnet through a loop of wire an electric
current flowed in that wire. The current also flowed if the loop was moved over a stationary magnet. His
demonstrations established that a changing magnetic field produces an electric field; this relation was modelled
mathematically by James Clerk Maxwell as Faraday's law, which subsequently became one of the four Maxwell
equations, and which have in turn evolved into the generalization known today as field theory.[50] Faraday would
later use the principles he had discovered to construct the electric dynamo, the ancestor of modern power
generators and the electric motor.[51]
Faraday (right) and John Daniell (left), founders of electrochemistry.
In 1832, he completed a series of experiments aimed at investigating the fundamental nature of electricity;
Faraday used "static", batteries, and "animal electricity" to produce the phenomena of electrostatic
attraction, electrolysis, magnetism, etc. He concluded that, contrary to the scientific opinion of the time, the
divisions between the various "kinds" of electricity were illusory. Faraday instead proposed that only a single
"electricity" exists, and the changing values of quantity and intensity (current and voltage) would produce
different groups of phenomena.[2]
Near the end of his career, Faraday proposed that electromagnetic forces extended into the empty space
around the conductor.[50] This idea was rejected by his fellow scientists, and Faraday did not live to see the
eventual acceptance of his proposition by the scientific community. Faraday's concept of lines of flux
emanating from charged bodies and magnets provided a way to visualize electric and magnetic fields; that
conceptual model was crucial for the successful development of the electromechanical devices that dominated
engineering and industry for the remainder of the 19th century.
Diamagnetism
Faraday holding a type of glass bar he used in 1845 to show magnetism affects light in dielectric material.[52]
In 1845, Faraday discovered that many materials exhibit a weak repulsion from a magnetic field: a
phenomenon he termed diamagnetism.[53]
Faraday also discovered that the plane of polarization of linearly polarized light can be rotated by the
application of an external magnetic field aligned with the direction in which the light is moving. This is now
termed the Faraday effect.[50] In Sept 1845 he wrote in his notebook, "I have at last succeeded in illuminating a
magnetic curve or line of force and in magnetising a ray of light".[54]
Later on in his life, in 1862, Faraday used a spectroscope to search for a different alteration of light, the change
of spectral lines by an applied magnetic field. The equipment available to him was, however, insufficient for a
definite determination of spectral change. Pieter Zeeman later used an improved apparatus to study the same
phenomenon, publishing his results in 1897 and receiving the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics for his success. In
both his 1897 paper[55] and his Nobel acceptance speech,[56] Zeeman made reference to Faraday's work.
Faraday cage
In his work on static electricity, Faraday's ice pail experiment demonstrated that the charge resided only on the
exterior of a charged conductor, and exterior charge had no influence on anything enclosed within a conductor.
This is because the exterior charges redistribute such that the interior fields emanating from them cancel one
another. This shielding effect is used in what is now known as a Faraday cage.[50]
Royal Institution and public service
Michael Faraday meets Father Thames, from Punch (21 July 1855)
Faraday had a long association with the Royal Institution of Great Britain. He was appointed Assistant
Superintendent of the House of the Royal Institution in 1821. [57] He was elected a member of the Royal
Society in 1824.[7] In 1825, he became Director of the Laboratory of the Royal Institution. [57] Six years later, in
1833, Faraday became the first Fullerian Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, a
position to which he was appointed for life without the obligation to deliver lectures. His sponsor and mentor
was John 'Mad Jack' Fuller, who created the position at the Royal Institution for Faraday.[58]
Beyond his scientific research into areas such as chemistry, electricity, and magnetism at the Royal Institution,
Faraday undertook numerous, and often time-consuming, service projects for private enterprise and the British
government. This work included investigations of explosions in coal mines, being an expert witness in court,
and along with two engineers from Chance Brothers c.1853, the preparation of high-quality optical glass, which
was required by Chance for its lighthouses. In 1846, together with Charles Lyell, he produced a lengthy and
detailed report on a serious explosion in the colliery at Haswell, County Durham, which killed 95 miners. Their
report was a meticulous forensic investigation and indicated that coal dust contributed to the severity of the
explosion. The report should have warned coal owners of the hazard of coal dust explosions, but the risk was
ignored for over 60 years until the Senghenydd Colliery Disaster of 1913.
Lighthouse lantern room from mid-1800s
As a respected scientist in a nation with strong maritime interests, Faraday spent extensive amounts of time on
projects such as the construction and operation of lighthouses and protecting the bottoms of ships
from corrosion. His workshop still stands at Trinity Buoy Wharf above the Chain and Buoy Store, next to
London's only lighthouse where he carried out the first experiments in electric lighting for lighthouses. [59]
Faraday was also active in what would now be called environmental science, or engineering. He investigated
industrial pollution at Swansea and was consulted on air pollution at the Royal Mint. In July 1855, Faraday
wrote a letter to The Times on the subject of the foul condition of the River Thames, which resulted in an often-
reprinted cartoon in Punch. (See also The Great Stink).[60]
Faraday's apparatus for experimental demonstration of ideomotor effect on table-turning
Faraday assisted with the planning and judging of exhibits for the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. He also
advised the National Gallery on the cleaning and protection of its art collection, and served on the National
Gallery Site Commission in 1857.[61][62] Education was another of Faraday's areas of service; he lectured on the
topic in 1854 at the Royal Institution,[63] and in 1862 he appeared before a Public Schools Commission to give
his views on education in Great Britain. Faraday also weighed in negatively on the public's fascination
with table-turning,[64][65] mesmerism, and seances, and in so doing chastised both the public and the nation's
educational system.[66]
Faraday delivering a Christmas Lecture at the Royal Institution in 1856.
Before his famous Christmas lectures, Faraday delivered chemistry lectures for the City Philosophical Society
from 1816 to 1818 in order to refine the quality of his lectures. [67] Between 1827 and 1860 at the Royal
Institution in London, Faraday gave a series of nineteen Christmas lectures for young people, a series which
continues today. The objective of Faraday's Christmas lectures was to present science to the general public in
the hopes of inspiring them and generating revenue for the Royal Institution. They were notable events on the
social calendar among London's gentry. Over the course of several letters to his close friend Benjamin Abbott,
Faraday outlined his recommendations on the art of lecturing: Faraday wrote "a flame should be lighted at the
commencement and kept alive with unremitting splendour to the end". [68] His lectures were joyful and juvenile,
he delighted in filling soap bubbles with various gasses (in order to determine whether or not they are
magnetic) in front of his audiences and marveled at the rich colors of polarized lights, but the lectures were also
deeply philosophical. In his lectures he urged his audiences to consider the mechanics of his experiments: "you
know very well that ice floats upon water ... Why does the ice float? Think of that, and philosophise". [69] His
subjects consisted of Chemistry and Electricity, and included: 1841 The Rudiments of Chemistry, 1843 First
Principles of Electricity, 1848 The Chemical History of a Candle, 1851 Attractive Forces, 1853 Voltaic
Electricity, 1854 The Chemistry of Combustion, 1855 The Distinctive Properties of the Common Metals, 1857
Static Electricity, 1858 The Metallic Properties, 1859 The Various Forces of Matter and their Relations to Each
Other.[70]
Commemorations
See also: List of things named after Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday statue in Savoy Place, London. Sculptor John Henry Foley RA.
A statue of Faraday stands in Savoy Place, London, outside the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
The Michael Faraday Memorial, designed by brutalist architect Rodney Gordon and completed in 1961, is at
the Elephant & Castle gyratory system, near Faraday's birthplace at Newington Butts, London. Faraday School
is located on Trinity Buoy Wharf where his workshop still stands above the Chain and Buoy Store, next to
London's only lighthouse.[71] Faraday Gardens is a small park in Walworth, London, not far from his birthplace at
Newington Butts. It lies within the local council ward of Faraday in the London Borough of Southwark. Michael
Faraday Primary school is situated on the Aylesbury Estate in Walworth.[72]
A building at London South Bank University, which houses the institute's electrical engineering departments is
named the Faraday Wing, due to its proximity to Faraday's birthplace in Newington Butts. A hall
at Loughborough University was named after Faraday in 1960. Near the entrance to its dining hall is a bronze
casting, which depicts the symbol of an electrical transformer, and inside there hangs a portrait, both in
Faraday's honour. An eight-story building at the University of Edinburgh's science & engineering campus is
named for Faraday, as is a recently built hall of accommodation at Brunel University, the main engineering
building at Swansea University, and the instructional and experimental physics building at Northern Illinois
University. The former UK Faraday Station in Antarctica was named after him.[73]
Without such freedom there would have been no Shakespeare, no Goethe, no Newton, no Faraday, no Pasteur and no Lister.
—Albert Einstein's speech on intellectual freedom at the Royal Albert Hall, London having fled Nazi Germany, 3 October 1933.[74]
Streets named for Faraday can be found in many British cities (e.g.,
London, Fife, Swindon, Basingstoke, Nottingham, Whitby, Kirkby, Crawley, Newbury, Swansea, Aylesbury and
Stevenage) as well as in France (Paris), Germany (Berlin-Dahlem, Hermsdorf), Canada (Quebec City,
Quebec; Deep River, Ontario; Ottawa, Ontario), and the United States (Reston, Virginia).
Plaque erected in 1876 by the Royal Society of Arts at 48 Blandford Street, Marylebone, London
A Royal Society of Arts blue plaque, unveiled in 1876, commemorates Faraday at 48 Blandford Street in
London's Marylebone district.[75] From 1991 until 2001, Faraday's picture featured on the reverse of Series E
£20 banknotes issued by the Bank of England. He was portrayed conducting a lecture at the Royal Institution
with the magneto-electric spark apparatus. [76] In 2002, Faraday was ranked number 22 in the BBC's list of
the 100 Greatest Britons following a UK-wide vote.[77]
The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion derives its name from the scientist, who saw his faith as integral
to his scientific research. The logo of the Institute is also based on Faraday's discoveries. It was created in
2006 by a $2,000,000 grant from the John Templeton Foundation to carry out academic research, to foster
understanding of the interaction between science and religion, and to engage public understanding in both
these subject areas.[78][79]
Faraday's life and contributions to electromagnetics was the principal topic of the tenth episode, titled "The
Electric Boy", of the 2014 American science documentary series, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, which was
broadcast on Fox and the National Geographic Channel.[80]
Aldous Huxley, the literary giant who was also the grandson of T. H. Huxley, the grandnephew of Matthew
Arnold, the brother of Julian Huxley, and the half-brother of Andrew Huxley, was well-versed in science. He
wrote about Faraday in an essay entitled, A Night in Pietramala: “He is always the natural philosopher. To
discover truth is his sole aim and interest…even if I could be Shakespeare, I think I should still choose to be
Faraday.”[81]
Faraday Prizes & Medals
In honor and remembrance of his great scientific contributions, several institutions have created prizes and
awards in his name. This include:
The IET Faraday Medal
The Royal Society of London Michael Faraday Prize[82]
The Institute of Physics Michael Faraday Medal and Prize[83]
The Royal Society of Chemistry Faraday Lectureship Prize [84]
Gallery
Michael Faraday in his laboratory, c. 1850s.
Michael Faraday's study at the Royal Institution.
Michael Faraday's flat at the Royal Institution.
Artist Harriet Jane Moore who documented Faraday's life in watercolours.
Bibliography
Chemische Manipulation, 1828
Faraday's books, with the exception of Chemical Manipulation, were collections of scientific papers or
transcriptions of lectures.[85] Since his death, Faraday's diary has been published, as have several large
volumes of his letters and Faraday's journal from his travels with Davy in 1813–1815.
Faraday, Michael (1827). Chemical Manipulation, Being Instructions to Students in Chemistry. John
Murray. 2nd ed. 1830, 3rd ed. 1842
Faraday, Michael (1839). Experimental Researches in Electricity, vols. i. and ii. Richard and John
Edward Taylor.; vol. iii. Richard Taylor and William Francis, 1855
Faraday, Michael (1859). Experimental Researches in Chemistry and Physics. Taylor and
Francis. ISBN 978-0-85066-841-4.
Faraday, Michael (1861). W. Crookes (ed.). A Course of Six Lectures on the Chemical History of a
Candle. Griffin, Bohn & Co. ISBN 978-1-4255-1974-2.
Faraday, Michael (1873). W. Crookes (ed.). On the Various Forces in Nature. Chatto and Windus.
Faraday, Michael (1932–1936). T. Martin (ed.). Diary. ISBN 978-0-7135-0439-2. – published in eight
volumes; see also the 2009 publication of Faraday's diary
Faraday, Michael (1991). B. Bowers and L. Symons (ed.). Curiosity Perfectly Satisfyed: Faraday's
Travels in Europe 1813–1815. Institution of Electrical Engineers.
Faraday, Michael (1991). F.A.J.L. James (ed.). The Correspondence of Michael Faraday. 1. INSPEC,
Inc. ISBN 978-0-86341-248-6. – volume 2, 1993; volume 3, 1996; volume 4, 1999
Faraday, Michael (2008). Alice Jenkins (ed.). Michael Faraday's Mental Exercises: An Artisan Essay
Circle in Regency London. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
Course of six lectures on the various forces of matter, and their relations to each other London;
Glasgow: R. Griffin, 1860.
The Liquefaction of Gases, Edinburgh: W.F. Clay, 1896.
The letters of Faraday and Schoenbein 1836–1862. With notes, comments and references to
contemporary letters London: Williams & Norgate 1899. (Digital edition by the University and State Library
Düsseldorf)
Edward Robert Harrison
Edward R. "Ted" Harrison (8 January 1919 – 29 January 2007)[1] was
a British astronomer and cosmologist, noted for his work about the increase of fluctuations in the
expanding universe, for his explanation of Olbers' Paradox, and for his books on cosmology for lay
readers.[1][2][3] He spent much of his career at the University of Massachusetts,
Amherst and University of Arizona, USA.
Edward Robert Harrison
Life
Harrison's education at Sir John Cass Technical Institute was interrupted by World War II, during which
he served for six years with the British Army in various military campaigns, eventually serving as Radar
Adviser to the Northern Area of the (British) Egyptian Army.[1]
Following World War II, Harrison became a British civil servant,[1] first with the Atomic Energy Research
Establishment in Harwell, and later at the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory. During this time he
attained the equivalent of university degrees,[1] becoming a graduate, then an Associate, and finally
a Fellow of the Institute of Physics. He also became a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society,
the American Physical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
In 1965, Ted Harrison went to the US as a NAS-NRC[1] Senior Research Associate at the NASA Goddard
Space Flight Center, in Maryland. In 1966, he became one of the three founders[1] of the Astronomy
Program within the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Over the next 30 years, he influenced the revival of the Five College Astronomy Department, linking
UMass to Amherst College, Hampshire College, Smith College, and Mount Holyoke College. He also
played a key role in the rise to international prominence of the Five College graduate course in
astronomy.[1] At his death, he was emeritus Distinguished University Professor of Physics and
Astronomy at UMass,[1] and an adjunct professor at the Steward Observatory of the University of
Arizona.[1]
Work
Ted Harrison had broad interests, and he published more than 200 papers, primarily
in astrophysics and cosmology, but also in space sciences, high energy physics, plasma
physics and physical chemistry.[1] He was an elegant writer with a passion for the history of ideas. His
books (cf. especially his text Cosmology) illustrated points of physics or cosmology with many literary,
philosophical, and historical references.
The work of Harrison and of Soviet physicist Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich on structure formation from
primordial density perturbations in the cosmic plasma has led to the general use of the term Harrison-
Zel'dovich spectrum for primordial random fluctuations characterised by a scale-invariant power
spectrum.[4]
Harrison was fascinated with Olbers' Paradox (the night sky is dark despite the vast number of stars in
the universe). In 1964, he published detailed calculations that solved the paradox by concluding that
stars do not generate enough energy to illuminate the entire sky.[1] In 1987, he published a
book, Darkness at Night, mulling over the Paradox and its rich history. This book clarified that the lack of
energy is not primarily because the universe is expanding, but rather because the stars and galaxies
have had only about 15 billion years to radiate, and do not have sufficient energy to keep radiating for
much longer.[1][2] Darkness at Night lays out how Harrison discovered that Edgar Allan Poe's
essay Eureka anticipated this conclusion, and that Lord Kelvin had reached a very similar conclusion in a
1901 article ignored for 80 years until Harrison drew attention to it.[1][2]
Harrison's text Cosmology: The Science of the Universe describes the problem of the cosmic edge of the
universe by quoting 5th century BC soldier-philosopher Archytas, who questioned what occurs as a
spear is hurled across the outer boundary of the universe.[1]
His final book, Masks of the Universe (2nd ed., 2003), questions current perceptions of reality, asking
whether present cosmology, with ordinary matter, dark matter, plus dark energy, is yet only another
"mask" obscuring a Universe which will remain perforce forever unknown to humans.
Books by Harrison
2003 (1985). Masks of the Universe. Cambridge Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-02-948780-8
2000 (1981). Cosmology: The Science of the Universe. Cambridge Univ. Press. ISBN 0-521-66148-X.
1987. Darkness at Night: A Riddle of the Universe, Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-19270-6.
1965. Elementary cosmology. OCLC 27124102
Ernest William Brown
Ernest William Brown FRS (29 November 1866 – 22 July 1938) was
an English mathematician and astronomer, who spent the majority of his career working in the United
States and became a naturalised American citizen in 1923.[1][2]
His life's work was the study of the Moon's motion (lunar theory) and the compilation of extremely
accurate lunar tables. He also studied the motion of the planets and calculated the orbits of Trojan
asteroids.
Ernest William Brown
Ernest William Brown, from the American Mathematical
Society
Life and career
Brown was born in Hull, England, the second of four children of William and Emma Brown (née Martin).
His father was originally a farmer and later became a timber merchant. His mother and younger brother
died of scarlet fever in 1870, when Brown was not quite 4 years old. He and his two sisters were then
looked after by a maiden aunt, until his father remarried five years later.[1][3]
Education and early career
Brown was educated at Totteridge Park School, Hertfordshire (now part of Dorset House School)
and Hull and East Riding College. After leaving school, he entered Christ's College, Cambridge, where he
graduated with first-class honours as sixth Wrangler in mathematics in 1887.[4][5] He continued with
post-graduate studies at Cambridge and worked under the direction of George Howard Darwin. In the
summer of 1888, Darwin suggested that he study the papers of George William Hill on the lunar theory.
As it turned out, this idea for a line of research was to have a major impact on the remainder of Brown's
life.
Brown was made a fellow of Christ's College in 1889 and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal
Astronomical Society in the same year. He received his master's degree in 1891 and then left Cambridge
to take up a place as a mathematics instructor at Haverford College, Pennsylvania. There, he rose rapidly
to the position of Professor of Mathematics in 1893. However, he continued most years to return to
Cambridge during the summer, often staying with his old tutor, Darwin.[6]
Work on the motion of the Moon
At Haverford, Brown continued with his studies of the lunar theory, and made a thorough review of the
work of earlier researchers, such as Hill, de Pontécoulant, Delaunay and Hansen. His mastery of the field
was shown by the publication of his first great work, An Introductory Treatise on the Lunar Theory, in
1896, when Brown was still less than 30 years of age. The following year, he was elected as a Fellow of
the Royal Society.[6]
As Brown's work progressed, he gradually evolved a plan to create a completely new lunar theory. This
was eventually published as a series of papers in the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical
Society between 1897 and 1908. In 1907, he was appointed Professor of Mathematics at Yale University,
with which he secured an agreement for funding the massive task of calculating detailed tables of the
Moon's motion, based on his lunar theory. After a period of 12 years and a cost of over $34,000,
Brown's magnum opus, Tables of the Motion of the Moon, was published in 1919.
Discrepancies between theory and observation
Brown's objective had been to produce an accurate ephemeris of the Moon, based purely on
gravitational theory. For the 'main problem' of the Earth-Moon-Sun system, he calculated terms in
longitude and latitude down to an uncertainty of 0.001 arcseconds. He also included perturbations due
to the other planets (principally Jupiterand Venus) and also accounted for the more difficult problem of
the non-spherical nature of the Earth and Moon.
Observations showed that Brown's tables were indeed superior to those of Hansen, which had been in
use since 1857, but there was still a large unexplained fluctuation in the Moon's mean longitude of the
order of 10 arcseconds. A 'great empirical term', of magnitude 10.71 arcseconds and period 257 years,
was introduced to eliminate this as far as possible. Given the precision of Brown's calculations, it must
have come as a great disappointment to have to introduce this arbitrary adjustment.
It had been discovered by Edmond Halley over two centuries previously that the Moon's motion
appeared to be gradually speeding up. This 'secular acceleration' could not be explained by gravitational
theory alone, and it had been suggested by Simon Newcomb that it was in fact due to a gradual
deceleration of the Earth's rate of rotation, due to friction generated by the tides. The implication of this
was that it was not the Moon that was speeding up – it was time (as measured in terms of Earth's
increasingly long day) that appeared to be slowing down.
Brown devoted much study to this problem and proposed it should be attacked observationally, using
lunar occultations to map the Moon's path more precisely. He also reasoned that, if the discrepancies
were caused by variations in the Earth's rotation, it implied that observations of other objects would be
similarly affected. This was partially verified by observations of transits of Mercury, but Brown was
initially not convinced. However, he eventually concluded that Newcomb was right, and not only was
the Earth's rate of rotation slowing, but also there were random, unpredictable fluctuations, and he
published these findings in a paper in 1926.[4][6] Later work has shown this to be true, and astronomers
now make a distinction between Universal Time, which is based on the Earth's rotation, and Terrestrial
Time (formerly Ephemeris time), which is a uniform measure of the passage of time (see also ΔT).
Later work and collaborations
Brown was an active member of the American Mathematical Society and served as its President from
1915 to 1916.[7]
He retained his professorship at Yale until he retired in 1932. As well as continuing his work on the
Moon, he also worked on the motion of the planets around the Sun. In 1933, he published the
book, Planetary Theory, co-authored with Clarence Shook, which contained a detailed exposition
of resonance in planetary orbits and examined the special case of the Trojan asteroids. In 1937, he was
awarded the Watson Medal by the US National Academy of Sciences.
One of Brown's post-graduate pupils was Wallace John Eckert, who became an instructor at Columbia
University while finishing his doctorate. Eckert would improve the pace of astronomical calculations by
automating them with digital computers.[8]
Private life
British Association members on the voyage to South Africa, 1905. Brown is seated at bottom right.
Brown never married, and for most of his adult life lived with his unmarried younger sister, Mildred,
who kept house for him. She made it her job to shield him from "cares and disturbances" and succeeded
in "utterly spoiling him."[1] In his youth, he was a keen rower and mountaineer. He was a capable pianist
and continued to play until a few years before his death. He remained fond of music and was for a time
the head of the New Haven Oratorio Society. Brown also played chess to a high standard and loved
detective stories.
He enjoyed travelling and frequently crossed the Atlantic between the United States and Great Britain.
With several professional colleagues, he was also an enthusiastic participant in the British
Association's extended visit to South Africa and other parts of southern and eastern Africa between July
and October 1905.[9][10]
His daily routine was unusual, and was described as follows:[1]
He was in the habit of going to bed early and as a consequence woke up between three and five o'clock
in the morning. After having fortified himself with strong coffee from a thermos bottle he set to work
without leaving his bed, smoking numerous cigarettes. His serious scientific work was thus done before
he got up for breakfast at nine o'clock.
Death
A heavy smoker, Brown suffered from bronchial trouble for much of his life. He was afflicted by ill-health
during most of the six years of his retirement, and died in New Haven, Connecticut in 1938. His sister,
Mildred, had died a few years before him and his only surviving close family was his widowed older
sister, Ella Yorke, who had emigrated with her husband to New Zealand in the 1890s.[1]
Legacy
Brown's Tables were adopted by nearly all of the national ephemerides in 1923 for their calculations of
the Moon's position, and continued to be used with some modification until 1983. With the advent of
digital computers, Brown's original trigonometrical expressions, given in the introduction to his 1919
tables (and from which the tables had been compiled), began to be used for direct computation instead
of the tables themselves. This also gained some improvement in precision, since the tables had
embodied some minor approximations, in a trade-off between accuracy and the amount of labour
needed for computations in those days of manual calculation.[11]
By the middle of the 20th century, the difference between Universal and Ephemeris Time had been
recognised and evaluated, and the troublesome empirical terms were removed.[11] Further
adjustments to Brown's theory were then made, arising from improved observational values of the
fundamental astronomical constants used in the theory, and from re-working Brown's original analytical
expansions to gain more precise versions of the coefficients used in the theory.[12]
Eventually, in 1984, Brown's work was replaced by results gained from more modern observational data
(including data from lunar laser ranging) and altogether new computational methods for calculating the
Moon's ephemeris.[13]
Honours
Awards
Adams Prize (1907)
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1907)
Bruce Medal (1920)
James Craig Watson Medal (1936)
Named after him
The crater Brown on the Moon
Asteroid 1643 Brown
Brown lunation number
Kurt Waldheim.
Kurt Josef Waldheim (German: [ˈkʊɐ̯t ˈvalthaɪm] ( listen); 21 December 1918 – 14 June 2007) was
an Austrian diplomat and politician. Waldheim was the fourth Secretary-General of the United
Nations from 1972 to 1981, and President of Austria from 1986 to 1992. While he was running for the
latter office in the 1986 election, the revelation of his service in Thessaloniki, Greece and in Yugoslavia,
as an intelligence officer in Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht during World War II raised international
controversy.
Kurt Waldheim
Waldheim in 1971
President of Austria
In office
8 July 1986 – 8 July 1992
Chancellor Franz Vranitzky
Preceded by Rudolf Kirchschläger
Succeeded by Thomas Klestil
4th Secretary-General of the United Nations
In office
1 January 1972 – 31 December 1981
Preceded by U Thant
Succeeded by Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
19 January 1968 – 21 April 1970
Chancellor Josef Klaus
Preceded by Lujo Tončić-Sorinj
Succeeded by Rudolf Kirchschläger
Personal details
Born 21 December 1918
Sankt Andrä-
Wördern near Vienna, German-Austria
Died 14 June 2007 (aged 88)
Vienna, Austria
Political party Austrian People's
Spouse(s) Elisabeth Waldheim (m. 1944)
Children Lieselotte
Gerhard
Christa
Alma mater Vienna Consular Academy
Profession lawyer
diplomat
Military service
Allegiance Austria (1936–1937)
Germany (1941–1945)
Branch/service German Army
Rank Oberleutnant
Unit 5 Alpine Division Pusteria
Kampfgruppe West
9th Army
11th Italian Army
Army Group E
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Iron Cross 2nd Class
Medal of the Crown of Kin g Zvonimir
International relations portal
Early life and education
Waldheim was born in Sankt Andrä-Wördern, near Vienna, on 21 December 1918.[1] His father was
a Roman Catholic school inspector of Czech origin named Watzlawick[2] (original Czech spelling Václavík)
who changed his name that year as the Habsburg monarchy collapsed. Waldheim served in the Austrian
Army (1936–37) and attended the Vienna Consular Academy, where he graduated in 1939. Waldheim's
father was active in the Christian Social Party. Waldheim himself was politically unaffiliated during these
years at the Academy.
Three weeks after the German annexation of Austria in 1938, Waldheim applied for membership in
the National Socialist German Students' League (NSDStB), a division of the Nazi Party.[3] Shortly
thereafter he became a registered member of the mounted corps of the SA.
On 19 August 1944, he married Elisabeth Ritschel in Vienna; their first daughter, Lieselotte, was born the
following year. A son, Gerhard, and another daughter, Christa, followed.
Military service in World War II
In early 1941, Waldheim was drafted into the Wehrmacht and posted to the Eastern Front where he
served as a squad leader. In December, he was wounded but returned to service in 1942. His service in
the Wehrmacht from 1942 to 1945 was the subject of international review in 1985 and 1986. In his 1985
autobiography, he stated that he was discharged from further service at the front and, for the
remainder of the war, finished his law degree at the University of Vienna, in addition to marrying in
1944.[4] After publication, documents and witnesses came to light that revealed Waldheim’s military
service continued until 1945, during which time he rose to the rank of Oberleutnant.
Service in Yugoslavia and Greece
Waldheim's functions within the staff of German Army Group E from 1942 until 1945, as determined by
the International Commission of Historians,[5] were:
Interpreter and liaison officer with the 5th Alpine Division (Italy) in April/May 1942, then,
O2 (2nd Assistant Adjutant) to the 1b (General Staff Quartermaster) with Kampfgruppe
West in Bosnia in June/August 1942,
Interpreter with the liaison staff attached to the Italian 9th Army in Tirana in early summer 1942,
O1 (1st Assistant Adjutant) to the 1a (General Staff Chief of Operations) in the German liaison staff with
the Italian 11th Army and in the staff of the Army Group South in Greece in July/October 1943, and
O3 (3rd Assistant Adjutant) to the 1c (General Staff Chief Intelligence Officer) officer on the staff of Army
Group E in Arksali, Kosovska Mitrovica and Sarajevo from October 1943 to January/February 1945.
By 1943, Waldheim was serving in the capacity of an aide-de-camp in Army Group E which was headed
by General Alexander Löhr.[6] In 1986, Waldheim said that he had served only as an interpreter and a
clerk and had no knowledge either of reprisals against local Serb civilians or of massacres in neighboring
provinces of Yugoslavia. He said that he had known about some of the things that had happened, and
had been horrified, but could not see what else he could have done.[4]
Much historical interest has centred on Waldheim's role in Operation Kozara in 1942.[7] According to
one post-war investigator, prisoners were routinely shot within only a few hundred meters (yards) of
Waldheim's office,[8] and 35 kilometres (22 mi) away at the Jasenovac concentration camp. Waldheim
later stated that "he did not know about the murder of civilians there".[8]
Waldheim's name appears on the Wehrmacht's "honour list" of those responsible for the militarily
successful operation. The Nazi puppet state, the Independent State of Croatia, awarded Waldheim
the Medal of the Crown of King Zvonimir in silver with an oak branches cluster.[9] Decades later, during
the lobbying for his election as U.N. Secretary General, Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito, who had led
anti-German forces during the war, awarded Waldheim one of the highest Yugoslav orders, not knowing
of his prior military service.[10]
Waldheim denied that he knew war crimes were taking place in Bosnia at the height of the battles
between the Nazis and Tito's partisans in 1943.[11] According to Eli Rosenbaum, in 1944, Waldheim
reviewed and approved a packet of anti-Semitic propaganda leaflets to be dropped behind Soviet lines,
one of which ended: "Enough of the Jewish war, kill the Jews, come over."[12]
Surrender
In 1945, Waldheim surrendered to British forces in Carinthia, at which point he said he had fled his
command post within Army Group E, where he was serving with General Löhr, who was seeking a
special deal with the British.
Diplomatic career
Waldheim joined the Austrian diplomatic service in 1945, after finishing his studies in law at
the University of Vienna. He served as First Secretary of the Legation in Paris from 1948, and in the
Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Vienna from 1951 to 1956. In 1956 he was made Ambassador to Canada,
returning to the Ministry in 1960, after which he became the Permanent Representative of Austria to
the United Nations in 1964. For two years beginning in 1968, he was the Federal Minister for Foreign
Affairs for the Austrian People's Party, before going back as Permanent Representative to the U.N. in
1970. Shortly afterwards, he ran and was defeated in the 1971 Austrian presidential elections.
United Nations Secretary-General
Waldheim c. 1971.
After losing the presidential election, Waldheim ran for Secretary-General of the United Nations in
the 1971 selection. Waldheim was supported by the Soviet Union and led the first two rounds of voting.
However, he was opposed by China, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Waldheim won an
accidental victory in the third round of voting when those three permanent members failed to
coordinate their vetoes and all abstained.[13] Waldheim succeeded U Thant as United Nations
Secretary-General in 1972.
As Secretary-General, Waldheim opened and addressed a number of major international conferences
convened under United Nations auspices. These included the third session of the U.N. Conference on
Trade and Development (Santiago, April 1972), the U.N. Conference on the Human
Environment (Stockholm, June 1972), the third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (Caracas, June
1974), the Third World Population Conference (Bucharest, August 1974) and the World Food
Conference (Rome, November 1974). However, his diplomatic efforts particularly in the Middle East
were overshadowed by the diplomacy of then U.S. Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger.[14]
Waldheim with family c. 1971
On 11 September 1972, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin sent a telegram to Waldheim, copies of which went
to Yasser Arafat and Golda Meir. In the telegram, Amin "applauded the massacre of the Israeli Olympic
athletes in Munich and said Germany was the most appropriate locale for this because it was where
Hitler burned more than six million Jews."[15] Amin also called "to expel Israel from the United Nations
and to send all the Israelis to Britain, which bore the guilt for creating the Jewish state."[16] Amidst
international protest, "the UN spokesman said [in his daily press conference] it was not the secretary-
general's practice to comment on telegrams sent him by heads of government. He added that the
secretary-general condemned any form of racial discrimination and genocide."[16]
After Operation Entebbe on 7 July 1976 — in which Israeli commandos freed more than 100 Israeli and
Jewish passengers held captive in Entebbe Airport (Uganda's main airport) by Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine and German Revolutionary Cells fighters protected by forces of dictator Idi Amin,
and where all the hijackers, three hostages, and 45 Ugandan soldiers were killed — Waldheim described
the raid as a "serious violation of the national sovereignty of a United Nations member state".[17]
Waldheim ran for a second term in the 1976 UN Secretary-General selection. However, China was still
opposed to Waldheim and approached several Third World countries seeking challengers.[18] Outgoing
Mexican President Luis Echeverría finally entered the race in October 1976, making Waldheim the only
Secretary-General to face a contested re-selection campaign. Waldheim resoundingly defeated
Echeverría in the first round of voting. China cast a single symbolic veto against Waldheim in the first
round and voted for him in the second round, handing him an easy victory with 14 of 15 votes on the
Security Council.[19]
Waldheim and then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter both recorded statements for the Voyager Golden
Records, which were launched into deep space on the Voyager spacecraft in 1977.[20] He was the first
Secretary-General to visit North Korea, in 1979.[21] In 1980, Waldheim flew to Iran in an attempt to
negotiate the release of the American hostages held in Tehran, but Ayatollah Khomeini refused to see
him.[14] While in Tehran, it was announced that an attempt on Waldheim's life had been foiled. Near
the end of his tenure as Secretary-General, Waldheim and British popular musician Paul
McCartney organized a series of concerts for the People of Kampuchea to help Cambodia recover from
the damage done by Pol Pot.[22]
Waldheim ran for an unprecedented third full term as Secretary-General in the 1981 selection. China
was determined to unseat him this time and lined up a strong candidate in Salim Ahmed Salim of
Tanzania. In the first round of voting, Waldheim lost to Salim by one vote. However, Salim was vetoed by
the United States, while Waldheim was vetoed by China. The veto duel between China and the United
States lasted a record 16 rounds. After six weeks of deadlock, Waldheim and Salim both withdrew from
the race. Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru won the selection and succeeded Waldheim as Secretary-
General of the United Nations.[23]:411 The events of 1981 established a two-term limit on the office,
and no Secretary-General since Waldheim has run for a third term.
Presidency of Austria
Election and Waldheim Affair
Artur Phleps, Kurt Waldheim and Italian general Eroce Roncaglia at an airfield in Podgorica, Montenegro
on 22 May 1943
Waldheim had unsuccessfully sought election as President of Austria in 1971, but his second attempt on
8 June 1986 proved successful. During his campaign for the presidency in 1985, what became known
internationally as the "Waldheim affair" began. Before the presidential elections, investigative
journalist Alfred Worm revealed in the Austrian weekly news magazine Profil that there had been
several omissions about Waldheim's life between 1938 and 1945 in his recently published
autobiography.[24]
Waldheim had previously claimed to have received a medical discharge after being wounded in winter
1942. His aides at the United Nations even accused the Israeli mission of spreading rumors that he
supported the Nazis. Israeli ambassador Yehuda Zvi Blum denied the charges, saying, "We don't believe
Waldheim ever supported the Nazis and we never said he did. We have many differences with him, but
that isn't one of them."[25]
A short time later, beginning on 4 March 1986, the World Jewish Congress alleged that Waldheim had
lied about his service in the mounted corps of the SA and had concealed his service as a special missions
staff officer (Ordonnanzoffizier) for Germany's Army Group E in Yugoslavia and Greece, from 1942 to
1944, based primarily on captured German wartime records held at the United States National Archives
in Washington, DC, and in other archives.[26][27][28] The 23 March 1986 public disclosure by the World
Jewish Congress that the organization had unearthed the fact that the United Nations War Crimes
Commission concluded after the war that Waldheim was implicated in Nazi mass murder and should be
arrested arguably transformed the Waldheim affair into the most sensational of all postwar Nazi
scandals.[29]
Waldheim called the allegations, which grew in magnitude in the ensuing months, "pure lies and
malicious acts".[30] Nevertheless, he admitted that he had known about German reprisals against
partisans: "Yes, I knew. I was horrified. But what could I do? I had either to continue to serve or be
executed."[30] He said that he had never fired a shot or even seen a partisan.[30] His former immediate
superior at the time stated that Waldheim had "remained confined to a desk".[30] Former Austrian
chancellor Bruno Kreisky, of Jewish origin, denounced the actions of the World Jewish Congress as an
"extraordinary infamy",[30] adding that Austrians would not "allow the Jews abroad to ... tell us who
should be our President."
Part of the reason for the controversy was Austria's refusal to address its national role in the Holocaust.
(Many leading Nazis, including Adolf Hitler, were Austrians, and Austria became part of the Third Reich.)
Austria refused to pay compensation to Nazi victims, and from 1970 onwards refused to investigate
Austrian citizens who were senior Nazis.[31] Stolen Jewish art remained public property a generation
after the Waldheim affair.[32]
Because the revelations leading to the Waldheim affair came shortly before the presidential election,
there has been speculation about the background of the affair.
Declassified documents from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency show that the CIA had been aware of
some details of his wartime past since 1945.[33] Information about Waldheim's wartime past was also
previously published by a pro-German Austrian newspaper, Salzburger Volksblatt, during the 1971
presidential election campaign, including the claim of an SS membership, but the matter was supposedly
regarded as unimportant or even advantageous for the candidate at that time.[34]
According to several of Waldheim's obituarists, his wartime past and the discrepancies in his
autobiography, In the Eye of the Storm, must have been known to both superpowers before he was
elected UN Secretary-General, and there were rumours that the KGB had blackmailed him during his UN
time (for example here and here).[35]
In 1994, former Mossad officer Victor Ostrovsky claimed in his book The Other Side of Deception that
Mossad doctored Waldheim's file while he was serving as Secretary-General to implicate him in Nazi
crimes. These allegedly false documents were subsequently "discovered" by Benjamin Netanyahu in the
UN file and triggered the "Waldheim Affair". Ostrovsky says that this was motivated by Waldheim's
criticism of Israel's war in Lebanon.[36] Controversy surrounds Ostrovsky because many of his
revelations have not been sourced or otherwise confirmed, leading several critics to say that most of his
work (including The Other Side of Deception) is fictional. Ostrovsky's service in Mossad was confirmed
when the Israeli government unsuccessfully attempted to stop publication of the book.[37][38]
Allegations of Nazi war crimes
In view of the ongoing international controversy, the Austrian government decided to appoint an
international committee of historians to examine Waldheim's life between 1938 and 1945. Their report
found no evidence of any personal involvement in those crimes.[39] Although Waldheim had stated that
he was unaware of any crimes taking place, the committee cited evidence that Waldheim must have
known about war crimes.[40]
In response to Waldheim's denial that he knew about war crimes, Simon Wiesenthal stated that
Waldheim was stationed 5 miles (8.0 km) from Thessaloniki while, over the course of several weeks, the
Jewish community, which formed one-third of the population there, was sent to Auschwitz:
I could only reply what the committee of historians likewise made clear in its report: "I cannot believe
you."[40]
Wiesenthal, whose conduct in the Waldheim affair was sharply criticized by the World Jewish Congress
and others,[41] and whose "adamant defense of Waldheim" and "public, personal attacks against the
WJC investigators" "ultimately tarnished his prominent global reputation,"[42] stated the committee
found no evidence that Waldheim took part in any war crimes but was guilty of lying about his military
record.[43] The International Committee in February 1988 concluded that he could not stop what was
going on in Yugoslavia and Greece even if he knew:
In favour of Waldheim is, that he only had very minor possibilities to act against the injustices
happening. Actions against these, depending on which level the resistance occurred, were of very
different importance. For a young member of the staff, who did not have any military authority on the
army group level, the practical possibilities for resistance were very limited and with a high probability
would not have led to any actual results. Resistance would have been limited to a formal protest or on
the refusal to serve any longer in the army, which would have seemed to be a courageous act, however
would have not led to any practical achievement.[44]
On 27 April 1987, the United States Department of Justice and the United States Department of State
announced that evidence amassed in an investigation conducted by the Justice Department's Office of
Special Investigations (OSI) had established a prima facie case that Waldheim participated in Nazi-
sponsored persecution during World War II and therefore that his entry into the United States was
prohibited by federal statute. This marked the first time that a head of state had been put on an
immigration watchlist.[45][46] The 232-page internal Department of Justice 9 April 1987 investigative
report was released in 1994 by that agency, and it is available at the agency's website.[47] The report
catalogues evidence that, the U.S. government concluded, proved that Waldheim had taken part in,
among other actions: the transfer of civilian prisoners to the SS for exploitation as slave labor; the mass
deportation of civilians—including Jews from Greek islands and the town of Banja Luka, Yugoslavia—to
concentration and death camps; the utilization of anti-Semitic propaganda; the mistreatment and
execution of Allied prisoners; and reprisal executions of hostages and other civilians.[48] Additional
allegations of participation in Nazi crimes, with citations to captured Nazi documents and other records,
were leveled in a 1993 book by Eli Rosenbaum, the former U.S. federal prosecutor who had directed the
World Jewish Congress investigation that led to the New York Times' initial exposure of Waldheim's
hidden Nazi-era past in 1986. The authors also cited evidence that the governments of the Soviet Union
and Yugoslavia had covered up Waldheim's wartime past and used it to blackmail him before and during
his tenure as United Nations Secretary General, and that the U.S. intelligence community had committed
a major error in failing to detect the Cold War weaponization of that information by the two communist
governments.[49]
Harold H. Tittmann III, an American lawyer and author based in Europe, harshly criticized the Justice
Department's OSI investigation and its report in his 2000 book, The Waldheim Affair: Democracy
Subverted. According to this author, the report was only released because of legal pressure brought by
John Mapother, a retired CIA officer who had served in Austria and "had been skeptical about the
existence of evidence the OSI claimed to have uncovered."[50] Tittmann argued that OSI exceeded its
statutory authority in producing the report and that it relied too heavily on material from the World
Jewish Congress. Throughout, the book also strongly criticized U.S. media treatment of Waldheim. It
concluded that "American reporting . . . was often biased, inaccurate, or incomplete. True, the
Waldheim story was unusually complex and required much research for a proper understanding, but
this complexity cannot excuse the one-sided opinions that emanated from editorial desks."[51]
Foreign visits
Throughout his term as President (1986–1992), Kurt Waldheim was officially deemed persona non
grata by the United States and, officially or informally, by nearly every other nation in the world outside
the Arab world.[34][52]
Later years and death
After his term ended in 1992, Waldheim did not seek re-election. The same year, he was made an
honorary member of K.H.V. Welfia Klosterneuburg, a Roman Catholic student fraternity part of
the Austrian Cartellverband. In 1994, Pope John Paul II awarded Waldheim a knighthood in the Order of
Pius IX and his wife a papal honor.[53] He died on 14 June 2007, at the age of 88 from heart failure.
[54] On 23 June, his funeral was held at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna, and he was buried at the
Presidential Vault in the Zentralfriedhof ("central cemetery").[55]
In his speech at the Cathedral, Federal President Heinz Fischer called Waldheim "a great Austrian" who
had been wrongfully accused of having committed war crimes. Fischer also praised Waldheim for his
efforts to solve international crises and for his contributions to world peace.[56] At Waldheim's own
request, no foreign heads of states or governments were invited to attend his funeral except Hans-Adam
II, the Prince of Liechtenstein. Also present was Luis Durnwalder, governor of the Italian province
of South Tyrol. Japan and Syria were the only two countries that laid wreaths on his grave. Ban Ki-moon,
the Secretary-General of the United Nations, issued a message 'voicing sadness'.[57] In a two-page
letter, published posthumously by the Austrian Press Agency the day after he died, Waldheim admitted
making "mistakes" ("but these were certainly not those of a follower let alone an accomplice of a
criminal regime") and asked his critics for forgiveness.[58]
Media references
W. G. Sebald's novel The Rings of Saturn (1995; English trans., 1998) refers to Waldheim, though not by
name.[59]
As a much-heralded invited guest on Dame Edna Everage's talk show The Dame Edna Experience, a
dignified "Kurt Waldheim" began a grand entrance, except that halfway down the staircase, he abruptly
fell through a hidden chute and disappeared: the band's fanfare stopped as Dame Edna explained she
had decided at the last minute to "abort" Dr. Waldheim's appearance because it would have been "too
political". The episode aired 12 September 1987.
A running segment on The Howard Stern Show is called Guess Who's the Jew and features Fred
Norris portraying a Nazi Kurt Waldheim, Jr.[60]
Musician Lou Reed's 1989 New York album contains a song called "Good Evening Mr. Waldheim."
Harry Turtledove's 2003 alternate history novel, In the Presence of Mine Enemies, in which Germany
won the Second World War, a "Kurt Haldweim" is the third Führer of Germany, and parts of Haldweim's
biography closely parallel Waldheim's. For instance, both Waldheim and Haldweim were born in Austria
in 1918 and served in the Wehrmacht in Thessaloniki during World War II.
In a 1988 ice hockey film entitled Hockey, The Lighter Side, former New York Rangers goaltender John
Davidson is explaining his fictional goaltender school, and as hockey highlights play, he exclaims, "You'll
have more shots taken at you than Kurt Waldheim."
In episode 3, series 2 of The Million Pound Radio Show, Andy Hamilton announces next week's special
guest as Waldheim, "although he'll deny [his appearance on the show] in 40 years time."
In an episode of The New Statesman, aired in 1989, Alan B'Stard (Rik Mayall) attempts to blackmail an
aged former Nazi officer, who complains that, "it's not fair; I'm living here in the tripe capital of Europe,
while Kurt Waldheim is President of Austria — and he was beneath me!"
American poet Srikanth Reddy's 2011 book Voyager presents a collection of poems and fragments
created by erasing large sections of Waldheim's memoir In the Eye of the Storm.
Graphic novel and film Persepolis (comics) by Marjane Satrapi reference the election in Austria.
In the 2015 fiction novel The Lady From Zagreb by Philip Kerr, the protagonist, Captain Bernie Gunther,
encounters a young Intelligence Officer, Lieutenant Kurt Waldheim while on a mission in Yugoslavia in
1942.
In the 2015 film Woman in Gold, Hubertus Czernin shows Maria Altmann an issue of Profil uncovering
Waldheim's Nazi past.
The 2018 Ruth Beckermann-directed documentary The Waldheim Waltz is about the 1986 Austrian
presidential campaign and the controversy over Waldheim's actions during World War II.[61]
Bibliography
Waldheim, Kurt (1985). In the Eye of the Storm: The Memoirs of Kurt Waldheim. London: Weidenfeld
and Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-78678-4.
Waldheim, Kurt (1996) [1966]. Die Antwort (The Answer). ISBN 3850023710.
Waldheim, Kurt (1971). The Austrian Example. ISBN 0297765221.
Waldheim, Kurt (1980) [1977 (French)]. The Challenge of Peace. Weidenfeld &
Nicolson. ISBN 0297775863.
Waldheim, Kurt (1980). Building the Future Order. Free Press. ISBN 0029336708.
George Walker Bush.
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who served as the
43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He had previously served as the 46th governor
of Texas from 1995 to 2000.
Bush was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and grew up in Texas. After graduating from Yale
University in 1968 and Harvard Business School in 1975, he worked in the oil industry.[4] Bush
married Laura Welch in 1977 and unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. House of Representatives shortly
thereafter. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team before defeating Ann Richards in
the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election. Bush was elected President of the United States in 2000 when he
defeated Democratic incumbent Vice President Al Gore after a close and controversial win that involved
a stopped recount in Florida. He became the fourth person to be elected president while receiving fewer
popular votes than his opponent.[5] Bush is a member of a prominent political family and is the eldest
son of Barbara and George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States. He is only the second
president to assume the nation's highest office after his father, following the footsteps of John
Adams and his son, John Quincy Adams.[6] His brother, Jeb Bush, a former Governor of Florida, was a
candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2016 presidential election. His paternal
grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a U.S. Senator from Connecticut.
George W. Bush
43rd President of the United States
In office
January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009
The September 11 terrorist attacks occurred eight months into Bush's first term. Bush responded with
what became known as the Bush Doctrine: launching a "War on Terror", an international military
campaign that included the war in Afghanistan in 2001 and the Iraq War in 2003. He signed into
law broad tax cuts, the Patriot Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban
Act, Medicare prescription drug benefits for seniors, and funding for the AIDS relief program known
as PEPFAR. His tenure included national debates on immigration, Social Security, electronic surveillance,
and torture. In the 2004 presidential race, Bush defeated Democratic Senator John Kerry in another
relatively close election. After his re-election, Bush received increasingly heated criticism from across
the political spectrum[7][8][9] for his handling of the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina,[10][11][12] and other
challenges. Amid this criticism, the Democratic Party regained control of Congress in the 2006 elections.
In December 2007, the United States entered its longest post-World War II recession, often referred to
as the "Great Recession", prompting the Bush administration to obtain congressional passage of
multiple economic programs intended to preserve the country's financial system.
Nationally, Bush was both one of the most popular and unpopular U.S. presidents in history, having
received the highest recorded presidential approval ratings in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, as well as
one of the lowest approval ratings during the 2008 financial crisis.[13] Bush finished his term in office in
2009 and returned to Texas, where he had purchased a home in Dallas. In 2010, he published his
memoir, Decision Points.[14] His presidential library was opened in 2013. His presidency has
been ranked among the worstin historians' polls that were published in the late 2000s and 2010s.
However, his favorability ratings with the public have increased since leaving office.[15][16][17][18]
Early life and career
Early life of George W. Bush
George Walker Bush was born on July 6, 1946, at Yale–New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut,
while his father was a student at Yale.[19] He was the first child of George Herbert Walker Bush (1924-
2018) and his wife, Barbara Pierce (1925-2018). He was raised in Midland and Houston, Texas, with four
siblings, Jeb, Neil, Marvin and Dorothy. Another younger sister, Robin, died from leukemia at the age of
three in 1953.[20] His grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a U.S. Senator from Connecticut.[21]His father
was Ronald Reagan's vice president from 1981 to 1989 and the 41st U.S. president from 1989 to 1993.
Bush has English and some German ancestry, along with more distant Dutch, Welsh, Irish, French,
and Scottish roots.[22]
George W. Bush with his parents, Barbara and George H. W. Bush, c. 1947
Education
Bush attended public schools in Midland, Texas, until the family moved to Houston after he had
completed seventh grade. He then spent two years at The Kinkaid School, a prep school in Piney Point
Village in the Houston area.[23]
Bush attended high school at Phillips Academy, a boarding school in Andover, Massachusetts, where he
played baseball and was the head cheerleader during his senior year.[24][25] He attended Yale
University from 1964 to 1968, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history.[26] During this time,
he was a cheerleader and a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon, serving as the president of the
fraternity during his senior year.[27][28][29] Bush became a member of the Skull and Bonessociety as a
senior.[30] Bush was a rugby union player and was on Yale's 1st XV.[31] He characterized himself as an
average student.[32] His GPA during his first three years at Yale was 77, and he had a similar average
under a nonnumeric rating system in his final year.[33]
In the fall of 1973, Bush entered Harvard Business School. He graduated in 1975 with an MBA degree.
He is the only U.S. president to have earned an MBA.[34]
Family and personal life
Bush family
George and Laura Bush with their daughters Jenna and Barbara, 1990
Bush was initially engaged to Cathryn Lee Wolfman in 1967, but the engagement eventually fizzled out.
Bush and Wolfman remained on good terms after the end of the relationship.[35] While Bush was at a
backyard barbecue in 1977, friends introduced him to Laura Welch, a schoolteacher and librarian. After
a three-month courtship, she accepted his marriage proposal and they wed on November 5 of that year.
[36] The couple settled in Midland, Texas. Bush left his family's Episcopal Churchto join his wife's United
Methodist Church.[37] On November 25, 1981, Laura Bush gave birth to fraternal
twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna.[36]
Alcohol abuse
Prior to getting married, Bush struggled with multiple episodes of alcohol abuse.[38]In one instance on
September 4, 1976, he was pulled over near his family's summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine for
driving under the influence of alcohol. He was cited for DUI, fined $150 (equivalent to $660 in 2018), and
got his Maine driver's license briefly suspended.[39] Bush said his wife has had a stabilizing effect on his
life,[36] and he attributes her influence to his 1986 decision to give up alcohol.[40] While Governor of
Texas, Bush said of his wife, "I saw an elegant, beautiful woman who turned out not only to be elegant
and beautiful, but very smart and willing to put up with my rough edges, and I must confess has
smoothed them off over time."[36]
Hobbies
Bush has been an avid reader throughout his adult life, preferring biographies and histories.[41] During
his time as president, Bush read the Bible daily.[42] He also read 14 Lincoln biographies, and during the
last three years of his presidency, he reportedly read 186 books. Walt Harrington, a journalist, recalled
seeing "books by John Fowles, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce, and Gore Vidal lying about, as well as
biographies of Willa Cather and Queen Victoria" in his home when Bush was a Texas oilman. Other
activities include cigar smoking and golf.[43] Since leaving the White House, Bush has also taken up oil
painting.[44]
Military career
George W. Bush military service controversy
Killian documents controversy and Killian documents authenticity issues
Lt. George W. Bush in the Texas Air National Guard, 1968
In May 1968, Bush was commissioned into the Texas Air National Guard.[45] After two years of training
in active-duty service,[46] he was assigned to Houston, flying Convair F-102s with the 147th
Reconnaissance Wing out of the Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base.[45][47] Critics, including
former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, have alleged that Bush was favorably
treated due to his father's political standing as a member of the House of Representatives, citing his
selection as a pilot despite his low pilot aptitude test scores and his irregular attendance.[45] In June
2005, the United States Department of Defense released all the records of Bush's Texas Air National
Guard service, which remain in its official archives.[48]
In late 1972 and early 1973, he drilled with the 187th Fighter Wing of the Alabama Air National Guard.
He had moved to Montgomery, Alabama, to work on the unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign of
Republican Winton M. Blount.[49][50] In 1972, Bush was suspended from flying for failure to take a
scheduled physical exam.[51] He was honorably discharged from the Air Force Reserve on November 21,
1974.[52]
Business career
Professional life of George W. Bush
Bush greeting President Ronald Reagan in 1988
In 1977, Bush established Arbusto Energy, a small oil exploration company, although it did not begin
operations until the following year.[53][54] He later changed the name to Bush Exploration. In 1984, his
company merged with the larger Spectrum 7, and Bush became chairman.[55] The company was hurt by
decreased oil prices, and it folded into HKN, Inc.,[55][56] with Bush becoming a member of HKN's board
of directors.[55] Questions of possible insider trading involving HKN arose, but a Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) investigation concluded that the information Bush had at the time of his stock sale
was not sufficient to constitute insider trading.[55][57]
In April 1989, Bush arranged for a group of investors to purchase a controlling interest in the Texas
Rangers baseball franchise for $89 million and invested $500,000 himself to start. He then served as
managing general partner for five years.[58] He actively led the team's projects and regularly attended
its games, often choosing to sit in the open stands with fans.[59] Bush's sale of his shares in the Rangers
in 1998 brought him over $15 million from his initial $800,000 investment.[60]
Early political involvement
George W. Bush with his father outside the White House, April 29, 1992
In 1978, Bush ran for the House of Representatives from Texas's 19th congressional district. The retiring
member, George H. Mahon, had held the district for the Democratic Party since 1935. Bush's
opponent, Kent Hance, portrayed him as out of touch with rural Texans, and Bush lost the election with
46.8 percent of the vote to Hance's 53.2 percent.[61]
Bush and his family moved to Washington, D.C., in 1988 to work on his father's campaign for the U.S.
presidency.[62][63] He served as a campaign advisor and liaison to the media, and assisted his father by
campaigning across the country.[55] In December 1991, Bush was one of seven people named by his
father to run his father's 1992 presidential re-election campaign, as a "campaign advisor".[64] The
previous month, his father had asked him to tell White House chief of staff John H. Sununu that he
should resign.[65]
Governor of Texas (1995–2000)
Governorship of George W. Bush
Bush declared his candidacy for the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election at the same time that his brother
Jeb sought the governorship of Florida. His campaign focused on four themes: welfare reform, tort
reform, crime reduction, and education improvement.[55] Bush's campaign advisers were Karen
Hughes, Joe Allbaugh, and Karl Rove.[66]
Governor Bush (right) with father, former president George H. W. Bushand wife, Laura, in 1997
After easily winning the Republican primary, Bush faced popular Democratic incumbent Governor Ann
Richards.[55][67] In the course of the campaign, Bush pledged to sign a bill allowing Texans to
obtain permits to carry concealed weapons. Richards had vetoed the bill, but Bush signed it into law
after he became governor.[68] According to The Atlantic Monthly, the race "featured a rumor that she
was a lesbian, along with a rare instance of such a tactic's making it into the public record – when a
regional chairman of the Bush campaign allowed himself, perhaps inadvertently, to be quoted criticizing
Richards for 'appointing avowed homosexual activists' to state jobs".[69] The Atlantic, and others,
connected the lesbian rumor to Karl Rove,[70] but Rove denied being involved.[71] Bush won the
general election with 53.5 percent against Richards' 45.9 percent.[72]
Bush used a budget surplus to push through Texas's largest tax-cut, $2 billion.[66] He extended
government funding for organizations providing education of the dangers of alcohol and drug use and
abuse, and helping to reduce domestic violence.[73] Critics contended that during his tenure, Texas
ranked near the bottom in environmental evaluations. Supporters pointed to his efforts to raise the
salaries of teachers and improve educational test scores.[55]
In 1999, Bush signed a law that required electric retailers to buy a certain amount of energy from
renewable sources(RPS),[74][75][76] which helped Texas eventually become the leading
producer of wind powered electricity in the U.S.[77][78][79]
In 1998, Bush won re-election with a record[55] 69 percent of the vote.[80] He became the first
governor in Texas history to be elected to two consecutive four-year terms.[55] For most of Texas
history, governors served two-year terms; a constitutional amendment extended those terms to four
years starting in 1975.[81] In his second term, Bush promoted faith-based organizations and enjoyed
high approval ratings.[55] He proclaimed June 10, 2000, to be Jesus Day in Texas, a day on which he
"urge[d] all Texans to answer the call to serve those in need".[82]
Throughout Bush's first term, he was the focus of national attention as a potential future presidential
candidate. Following his re-election, speculation soared, and within a year he decided to seek the 2000
Republican presidential nomination.[55]
Presidential campaigns
2000 presidential candidacy
2000 United States presidential election
George W. Bush 2000 presidential campaign
Primary
George W. Bush in Concord, New Hampshire, signing to be a candidate for president
Incumbent Democratic president Bill Clinton was completing his second and final term, and the field for
nomination for President of both parties was wide open. Bush was the Governor of Texas in June 1999
when he announced his candidacy for President of the United States. He entered a large field of
hopefuls for the Republican Party presidential nomination that included John McCain, Alan Keyes, Steve
Forbes, Gary Bauer, Orrin Hatch, Elizabeth Dole, Dan Quayle, Pat Buchanan, Lamar Alexander, John
Kasich, and Bob Smith.
Bush portrayed himself as a compassionate conservative, implying he was more centrist than other
Republicans. He campaigned on a platform that included bringing integrity and honor back to the White
House, increasing the size of the United States Armed Forces, cutting taxes, improving education, and
aiding minorities.[55] By early 2000, the race had centered on Bush and McCain.[55]
Bush won the Iowa caucuses, and although he was heavily favored to win the New Hampshire primary,
he trailed McCain by 19 percent and lost that primary. Despite this, Bush regained momentum, and
according to political observers, he effectively became the front runner after the South Carolina primary
—which according to The Boston Globe—made history for his campaign's negativity. The New York
Times described it as a smear campaign.[83][84][85]
General election
2000 electoral vote results
On July 25, 2000, Bush surprised some observers when he selected Dick Cheney—a former White House
Chief of Staff, U.S. Representative, and Secretary of Defense—to be his running mate. At the time,
Cheney was serving as head of Bush's vice presidential search committee. Soon after at the 2000
Republican National Convention, Bush and Cheney were officially nominated by the Republican Party.
Bush continued to campaign across the country and touted his record as Governor of Texas.[55] During
his campaign, Bush criticized his Democratic opponent, incumbent Vice President Al Gore, over gun
control and taxation.[86]
When the election returns were tallied on November 7, Bush had won 29 states, including Florida. The
closeness of the Florida outcome led to a recount.[55] The initial recount also went to Bush, but the
outcome was tied up in lower courts for a month until eventually reaching the U.S. Supreme Court.
[87] On December 9, in the controversial Bush v. Gore ruling,[88] the Court reversed a Florida Supreme
Court decision that had ordered a third count, and stopped an ordered statewide hand recount based
on the argument that the use of different standards among Florida's counties violated the Equal
Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.[55] The machine recount showed that Bush had won
the Florida vote by a margin of 537 votes out of six million cast.[89] Although he had received 543,895
fewer individual nationwide votes than Gore, Bush won the election, receiving 271 electoral votes to
Gore's 266 (Gore's statewide victories had electoral votes tallying 267; however, one of Gore's pledged
electors abstained, rendering the official tally at 266). Bush was the first person to win an American
presidential election with fewer popular votes than another candidate since Benjamin Harrison in 1888.
[89]
2004 presidential candidacy
United States presidential election, 2004
George W. Bush speaks at a campaign rally in 2004
2004 electoral vote results
In his 2004 bid for re-election, Bush commanded broad support in the Republican Party and did not
encounter a primary challenge. He appointed Ken Mehlman as campaign manager, and Karl
Rove devised a political strategy.[90] Bush and the Republican platform emphasized a strong
commitment to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,[91] support for the USA PATRIOT Act,[92] a renewed
shift in policy for constitutional amendments banning abortion and same-sex marriage,[91]
[93] reforming Social Security to create private investment accounts,[91]creation of an ownership
society,[91] and opposing mandatory carbon emissions controls.[94]Bush also called for the
implementation of a guest worker program for immigrants,[91] which was criticized by conservatives.
[95]
The Bush campaign advertised across the U.S. against Democratic candidates, including Bush's emerging
opponent, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. Kerry and other Democrats attacked Bush on the Iraq
War, and accused him of failing to stimulate the economy and job growth. The Bush campaign portrayed
Kerry as a staunch liberal who would raise taxes and increase the size of government. The Bush
campaign continuously criticized Kerry's seemingly contradictory statements on the war in Iraq,[55]and
argued that Kerry lacked the decisiveness and vision necessary for success in the War on Terror.
In the election, Bush carried 31 of 50 states, receiving a total of 286 electoral votes. He won an absolute
majority of the popular vote (50.7 percent to his opponent's 48.3 percent).[96] Bush's father George
H.W. Bush was the previous president who won an absolute majority of the popular vote; he
accomplished that feat in the 1988 election. Additionally, it was the first time since Herbert
Hoover's election in 1928 that a Republican president was elected alongside re-elected Republican
majorities in both Houses of Congress.
Presidency (2001–2009)
Presidency of George W. Bush
President Bush addressing the media at the Pentagon, September 17, 2001
Bush had originally outlined an ambitious domestic agenda, but his priorities were significantly altered
following the September 11 attacks.[97] Wars were waged in Afghanistan and Iraq, and there were
significant domestic debates regarding immigration, healthcare, Social Security, economic policy, and
treatment of terrorist detainees. Over an eight-year period, Bush's once-high approval
ratings[98] steadily declined, while his disapproval numbers increased significantly.[99] In 2007, the
United States entered the longest post-World War II recession.[100]
Domestic policy
Domestic policy of the George W. Bush administration
Economic policy
Economic policy of the George W. Bush administration
Bush took office during a period of economic recession in the wake of the bursting of the dot-com
bubble.[101] The terrorist attacks also impacted the economy. His administration increased
federal government spending from $1.789 trillion to $2.983 trillion (60 percent) while revenues
increased from $2.025 trillion to $2.524 trillion (from 2000 to 2008). Individual income tax revenues
increased by 14 percent, corporate tax revenues by 50 percent, customs and duties by 40 percent.
Discretionary defense spending was increased by 107 percent, discretionary domestic spending by
62 percent, Medicare spending by 131 percent, social security by 51 percent, and income security
spending by 130 percent. Cyclically adjusted, revenues rose by 35 percent and spending by 65 percent.
[102]
President Bush signing a $1.35 trillion tax cut into law, June 7, 2001
The increase in spending was more than under any predecessor since Lyndon B. Johnson.[103] The
number of economic regulation governmental workers increased by 91,196.[104]
The surplus in fiscal year 2000 was $237 billion—the third consecutive surplus and the largest surplus
ever.[105] In 2001, Bush's budget estimated that there would be a $5.6 trillion surplus over the next ten
years.[106] Facing congressional opposition, Bush held townhall style meetings across the U.S. in order
to increase public support for his plan for a $1.35 trillion tax cut program—one of the largest tax cuts in
U.S. history.[55] Bush argued that unspent government funds should be returned to taxpayers, saying
"the surplus is not the government's money. The surplus is the people's money."[55] Federal Reserve
chairman Alan Greenspan warned of a recession and Bush stated that a tax cut would stimulate the
economy and create jobs.[107] Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill, opposed some of the tax cuts on the
basis that they would contribute to budget deficits and undermine Social Security.[108] O'Neill disputes
the claim, made in Bush's book Decision Points, that he never openly disagreed with him on planned tax
cuts.[109] By 2003, the economy showed signs of improvement, though job growth remained stagnant.
[55] Another tax cut program was passed that year.
During the 2001 to 2008 years, GDP grew at an average annual rate of 2.125 percent,[110] less than for
past business cycles.[111]
Bush entered office with the Dow Jones Industrial Average at 10,587, and the average peaked in October
2007 at over 14,000. When Bush left office, the average was at 7,949, one of the lowest levels of his
presidency.[112] Only four other US presidents have left office with the stock market lower than when
they began.[113]
Deficit and debt increases 2001–2009. Gross debt has increased over $500 billion each year since
FY2003.
Unemployment originally rose from 4.2 percent in January 2001 to 6.3 percent in June 2003, but
subsequently dropped to 4.5 percent as of July 2007.[114] Adjusted for inflation, median household
incomedropped by $1,175 between 2000 and 2007,[115] while Professor Ken Homa of Georgetown
University has noted that "Median real after-tax household income went up 2 percent".[116] The
poverty rate increased from 11.3 percent in 2000 to 12.3 percent in 2006 after peaking at 12.7 percent
in 2004.[117] By October 2008, due to increases in spending,[118] the national debt had risen to
$11.3 trillion,[119] an increase of over 100 percent from 2000 when the debt was only $5.6 trillion.[120]
[121] Most debt was accumulated as a result of what became known as the "Bush tax cuts" and
increased national security spending.[122] In March 2006, then-Senator Barack Obama said when he
voted against raising the debt ceiling: "The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt
limit is a sign of leadership failure."[123] By the end of Bush's presidency, unemployment climbed to
7.2 percent.[124]
In December 2007, the United States entered the longest post–World War II recession,[100] which
included a housing market correction, a subprime mortgage crisis, soaring oil prices, and a declining
dollar value.[125] In February, 63,000 jobs were lost, a five-year record.[126][127] To aid with the
situation, Bush signed a $170 billion economic stimulus package which was intended to improve the
economic situation by sending tax rebate checks to many Americans and providing tax breaks for
struggling businesses. The Bush administration pushed for significantly increased regulation of Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac in 2003,[128] and after two years, the regulations passed the House but died in
the Senate. Many Republican senators, as well as influential members of the Bush Administration,
feared that the agency created by these regulations would merely be mimicking the private sector's
risky practices.[129][130][131] In September 2008, the crisis became much more seriousbeginning with
the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac followed by the collapse of Lehman
Brothers and a federal bailout of American International Group for $85 billion.[132]
Many economists and world governments determined that the situation had become the worst financial
crisis since the Great Depression.[133][134] Additional regulation over the housing market would have
been beneficial, according to former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan.[135] Bush, meanwhile,
proposed a financial rescue plan to buy back a large portion of the U.S. mortgage market.[136] Vince
Reinhardt, a former Federal Reserve economist now at the American Enterprise Institute, said "it would
have helped for the Bush administration to empower the folks at Treasury and the Federal Reserve and
the comptroller of the currency and the FDIC to look at these issues more closely", and additionally, that
it would have helped "for Congress to have held hearings".[130]
In November 2008, over 500,000 jobs were lost, which marked the largest loss of jobs in the United
States in 34 years.[137]The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in the last four months of 2008,
1.9 million jobs were lost.[138] By the end of 2008, the U.S. had lost a total of 2.6 million jobs.[139]
Education and health
Bush undertook a number of educational agendas, such as increasing the funding for the National
Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health in his first years of office, and creating education
programs to strengthen the grounding in science and mathematics for American high school students.
Funding for the NIH was cut in 2006, the first such cut in 36 years, due to rising inflation.[140]
President Bush signing the No Child Left Behind Act into law, January 8, 2002
One of the administration's early major initiatives was the No Child Left Behind Act, which aimed to
measure and close the gap between rich and poor student performance, provide options to parents with
students in low-performing schools, and target more federal funding to low-income schools. This
landmark education initiative passed with broad bipartisan support, including that of Senator Ted
Kennedy of Massachusetts.[141] It was signed into law by Bush in early 2002.[142]Many contend that
the initiative has been successful, as cited by the fact that students in the U.S. have performed
significantly better on state reading and math tests since Bush signed "No Child Left Behind" into law.
[143] Critics argue that it is underfunded[144] and that NCLBA's focus on "high-stakes testing" and
quantitative outcomes is counterproductive.[145]
After being re-elected, Bush signed into law a Medicare drug benefit program that, according to Jan
Crawford, resulted in "the greatest expansion in America's welfare state in forty years;" the bill's costs
approached $7 trillion.[146] In 2007, Bush opposed and vetoed State Children's Health Insurance
Program (SCHIP) legislation, which was added by the Democrats onto a war funding bill and passed by
Congress. The SCHIP legislation would have significantly expanded federally funded health care benefits
and plans to children of some low-income families from about six million to ten million children. It was
to be funded by an increase in the cigarette tax.[147] Bush viewed the legislation as a move
toward socialized health care, and asserted that the program could benefit families making as much as
$83,000 per year who did not need the help.[148]
Social services and Social Security
Following Republican efforts to pass the Medicare Act of 2003, Bush signed the bill, which included
major changes to the Medicare program by providing beneficiaries with some assistance in paying for
prescription drugs, while relying on private insurance for the delivery of benefits.[149] The retired
persons lobby group AARP worked with the Bush Administration on the program and gave their
endorsement. Bush said the law, estimated to cost $400 billion over the first ten years, would give the
elderly "better choices and more control over their health care".[150]
President Bush discussing Social Security reform at the Lake Nona YMCA Family Center in Orlando,
Florida, March 18, 2005
Bush began his second term by outlining a major initiative to "reform" Social Security,[151] which was
facing record deficit projections beginning in 2005. Bush made it the centerpiece of his domestic agenda
despite opposition from some in the U.S. Congress.[151] In his 2005 State of the Union Address, Bush
discussed the potential impending bankruptcy of the program and outlined his new program, which
included partial privatization of the system, personal Social Security accounts, and options to permit
Americans to divert a portion of their Social Security tax (FICA) into secured investments.
[151] Democrats opposed the proposal to partially privatize the system.[151]
Bush embarked on a 60-day national tour, campaigning for his initiative in media events known as
"Conversations on Social Security", in an attempt to gain public support.[152] Nevertheless, public
support for the proposal declined[153] and the House Republican leadership decided not to put Social
Security reform on the priority list for the remainder of their 2005 legislative agenda.[154] The
proposal's legislative prospects were further diminished by the fall of 2005 political fallout
from Hurricane Katrina.[155] After the Democrats gained control of both houses of Congress as a result
of the 2006 midterm elections, there was no prospect of further congressional action on the Bush
proposal for the remainder of his term in office.
Environmental policies
Main article: Domestic policy of the George W. Bush administration § Environment
Upon taking office in 2001, Bush stated his opposition to the Kyoto Protocol, an amendment to
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which seeks to impose mandatory targets
for reducing greenhouse gasemissions, citing that the treaty exempted 80 percent of the world's
population[156] and would have cost tens of billions of dollars per year.[157] He also cited that the
Senate had voted 95–0 in 1997 on a resolution expressing its disapproval of the protocol.
In May 2001, Bush signed an executive order to create an interagency task force to streamline energy
projects,[158] and later signed two other executive orders to tackle environmental issues.[159]
In 2002, Bush announced the Clear Skies Act of 2003,[160] which aimed at amending the Clean Air Act to
reduce air pollution through the use of emissions trading programs. Many experts argued that this
legislation would have weakened the original legislation by allowing higher emission rates of pollutants
than were previously legal.[161] The initiative was introduced to Congress, but failed to make it out of
committee.
Later in 2006, Bush declared the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a national monument, creating the
largest marine reserve to date. The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument comprises
84 million acres (340,000 km2) and is home to 7,000 species of fish, birds, and other marine animals,
many of which are specific to only those islands.[162] The move was hailed by conservationists for "its
foresight and leadership in protecting this incredible area".[163]
Bush has said that he believes that global warming is real[164] and has noted that it is a serious
problem, but he asserted there is a "debate over whether it's man-made or naturally caused".[165] The
Bush Administration's stance on global warming remained controversial in the scientific and
environmental communities. Critics have alleged that the administration[166]misinformed the public
and did not do enough to reduce carbon emissions and deter global warming.[167]
Energy policies
In his 2006 State of the Union Address, Bush declared, "America is addicted to oil" and announced his
Advanced Energy Initiative to increase energy development research.[168]
President Bush delivering a statement on energy, urging Congress to end offshore oil drill ban, June 18,
2008
In his 2007 State of the Union Address, Bush renewed his pledge to work toward diminished reliance on
foreign oil by reducing fossil fuel consumption and increasing alternative fuel production.[169] Amid
high gasoline prices in 2008, Bush lifted a ban on offshore drilling.[170] However, the move was largely
symbolic because there was still a federal law banning offshore drilling. Bush said, "This means that the
only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil reserves is action from the U.S.
Congress."[170] Bush had said in June 2008, "In the long run, the solution is to reduce demand for oil by
promoting alternative energy technologies. My administration has worked with Congress to invest in
gas-saving technologies like advanced batteries and hydrogen fuel cells... In the short run, the American
economy will continue to rely largely on oil. And that means we need to increase supply, especially here
at home. So my administration has repeatedly called on Congress to expand domestic oil
production."[171]
In his 2008 State of the Union Address, Bush announced that the U.S. would commit $2 billion over the
next three years to a new international fund to promote clean energy technologies and fight climate
change, saying, "Along with contributions from other countries, this fund will increase and accelerate
the deployment of all forms of cleaner, more efficient technologies in developing nations like India and
China, and help leverage substantial private-sector capital by making clean energy projects more
financially attractive." He also announced plans to reaffirm the United States' commitment to work with
major economies, and, through the UN, to complete an international agreement that will slow, stop, and
eventually reverse the growth of greenhouse gases; he stated, "This agreement will be effective only if it
includes commitments by every major economy and gives none a free ride."[172]
Stem cell research and first veto
Federal funding for medical research involving the creation or destruction of human embryos through
the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health has been forbidden
by law since the passage in 1995 of the Dickey-Wicker Amendment by Congress and the signature of
President Bill Clinton.[173] Bush has said that he supports adult stem cell research and has supported
federal legislation that finances adult stem cell research. However, Bush did not support embryonic
stem cell research.[174] On August 9, 2001, Bush signed an executive order lifting the ban on federal
funding for the 71 existing "lines" of stem cells,[175] but the ability of these existing lines to provide an
adequate medium for testing has been questioned. Testing can be done on only 12 of the original lines,
and all approved lines have been cultured in contact with mouse cells, which creates safety issues that
complicate development and approval of therapies from these lines.[176] On July 19, 2006, Bush used
his veto power for the first time in his presidency to veto the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. The
bill would have repealed the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, thereby permitting federal money to be used
for research where stem cells are derived from the destruction of an embryo.[177]
Genetic Nondiscrimination
On May 21, 2008, Bush signed into law the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).[178]
[179] The bill aimed to protect Americans against health insurance and employment discrimination
based on a person's genetic information. The issue had been debated for 13 years before it finally
became law. The measure is designed to protect citizens without hindering genetic research.
Immigration
President Bush discussing border security with Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff near El
Paso, November 2005
Nearly 8 million immigrants came to the United States from 2000 to 2005, more than in any other five-
year period in the nation's history.[180] Almost half entered illegally.[181] In 2006, Bush urged Congress
to allow more than 12 million illegal immigrants to work in the United States with the creation of a
"temporary guest-worker program". Bush also urged Congress to provide additional funds for border
security and committed to deploying 6,000 National Guard troops to the Mexico–United States border.
[182] From May to June 2007, Bush strongly supported the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of
2007, which was written by a bipartisan group of Senators with the active participation of the Bush
administration.[183] The bill envisioned a legalization program for illegal immigrants, with an eventual
path to citizenship; establishing a guest worker program; a series of border and work site enforcement
measures; a reform of the green card application process and the introduction of a point-based "merit"
system for green cards; elimination of "chain migration" and of the Diversity Immigrant Visa; and other
measures. Bush argued that the lack of legal status denies the protections of U.S. laws to millions of
people who face dangers of poverty and exploitation, and penalizes employers despite a demand for
immigrant labor.[184] Bush contended that the proposed bill did not amount to amnesty.[185]
A heated public debate followed, which resulted in a substantial rift within the Republican Party, most
conservatives opposed it because of its legalization or amnesty provisions.[186] The bill was eventually
defeated in the Senate on June 28, 2007, when a cloture motion failed on a 46–53 vote.[187] Bush
expressed disappointment upon the defeat of one of his signature domestic initiatives.[188] The Bush
administration later proposed a series of immigration enforcement measures that do not require a
change in law.[189]
On September 19, 2010, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that Bush offered to accept
100,000 Palestinian refugees as American citizens if a permanent settlement had been reached between
Israel and the Palestinian Authority.[190]
Hurricane Katrina
Political effects of Hurricane Katrina
President Bush shaking hands with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin after viewing the devastation of
Hurricane Katrina, September 2, 2005
Hurricane Katrina struck early in Bush's second term and was one of the most damaging natural
disasters in U.S. history. Katrina formed in late August during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season and
devastated much of the north-central Gulf Coast of the United States, particularly New Orleans.[191]
Bush declared a state of emergency in Louisiana on August 27[192] and in Mississippi and Alabama the
following day.[193] He authorized the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) to manage the disaster, but his announcement failed to spur these
agencies to action.[194] The eye of the hurricane made landfall on August 29, and New Orleans began to
flood due to levee breaches; later that day, Bush declared that a major disaster existed in Louisiana,
[195] officially authorizing FEMA to start using federal funds to assist in the recovery effort.
President Bush with hurricane victims in Biloxi, September 2, 2005
On August 30, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff declared it "an incident of national significance",
[196] triggering the first use of the newly created National Response Plan. Three days later, on
September 2, National Guard troops first entered the city of New Orleans.[197] The same day, Bush
toured parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and declared that the success of the recovery effort
up to that point was "not enough".[198]
As the disaster in New Orleans intensified, critics charged that Bush was misrepresenting his
administration's role in what they saw as a flawed response. Leaders attacked Bush for having appointed
apparently incompetent leaders to positions of power at FEMA, notably Michael D. Brown;[199] it was
also argued that the federal response was limited as a result of the Iraq War[200] and Bush himself did
not act upon warnings of floods.[201][202][203] Bush responded to mounting criticism by accepting full
responsibility for the federal government's failures in its handling of the emergency.[197] It has been
argued that with Katrina, Bush passed a political tipping point from which he would not recover.[204]
Midterm dismissal of U.S. attorneys
Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy
President Bush announcing his nomination of Alberto Gonzales as the next U.S. Attorney General,
November 10, 2004
During Bush's second term, a controversy arose over the Justice Department'smidterm dismissal of
seven United States Attorneys.[205] The White House maintained that the U.S. attorneys were fired for
poor performance.[206] Attorney General Alberto Gonzales later resigned over the issue, along with
other senior members of the Justice Department.[207][208] The House Judiciary Committee issued
subpoenas for advisers Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten to testify regarding this matter, but Bush directed
Miers and Bolten to not comply with those subpoenas, invoking his right of executive privilege. Bush
maintained that all of his advisers were protected under a broad executive privilege protection to
receive candid advice. The Justice Department determined that the President's order was legal.[209]
Although Congressional investigations focused on whether the Justice Department and the White House
were using the U.S. Attorney positions for political advantage, no official findings have been released. On
March 10, 2008, the Congress filed a federal lawsuit to enforce their issued subpoenas.[210] On July 31,
2008, a United States district court judge ruled that Bush's top advisers were not immune from
Congressional subpoenas.[211]
In all, twelve Justice Department officials resigned rather than testify under oath before Congress. They
included Attorney General Alberto Gonzales[212] and his chief of staff Kyle Sampson,[213] Gonzales'
liaison to the White House Monica Goodling,[214] aide to the president Karl Rove[215] and his senior
aide Sara Taylor.[216] In addition, legal counsel to the president Harriet Miers[217] and deputy chief of
staff to the president Joshua Bolten[218] were both found in contempt of Congress.[216]
In 2010, the Justice Department investigator concluded that though political considerations did play a
part in as many as four of the attorney firings,[219] the firings were "inappropriately political", but not
criminal. According to the prosecutors, there was insufficient evidence to pursue prosecution for any
criminal offense.[220]
Purge of the Central Intelligence Agency
Following the resignation of CIA director George Tenet in 2004, Bush nominated Porter Goss to head the
agency. The White House ordered Goss to purge agency officers who were disloyal to the
administration.[221] After Goss' appointment, many of the CIA's senior agents were fired or quit. The
CIA has been accused of deliberately leaking classified information to undermine the 2004 election.[222]
Foreign policy
Foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration
President Bush with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in 2005
Countries visited by President George W. Bush during his time in office
In July 2001, Bush visited Pope John Paul II at Castel Gandolfo.[223] During his presidential campaign,
Bush's foreign policy platform included support for stronger economic and political relationship
with Latin America, especially Mexico, and a reduction of involvement in "nation-building" and other
small-scale military engagements. The administration pursued a national missile defense.[224] Bush was
an advocate of China's entry into the World Trade Organization.[225]
After the September 11 attacks on New York, Bush launched the War on Terror, in which the United
States military and a small international coalition invaded Afghanistan. In his 2002 State of the Union
Address, Bush referred to an "axis of evil" consisting of Iraq, Iran and North Korea.[226] In 2003, Bush
then launched the invasion of Iraq, searching for Weapons of Mass Destruction, which he described as
being part of the War on Terrorism.[227] Those invasions led to the toppling of the Taliban regime in
Afghanistan and the removal of Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq.
Foreign Minister of India Pranab Mukherjee with President Bush, March 2008
Bush began his second term with an emphasis on improving strained relations with European nations.
He appointed long-time adviser Karen Hughes to oversee a global public relations campaign. Bush
lauded the pro-democracy struggles in Georgia and Ukraine.[228]
In March 2006, Bush reversed decades of U.S. policy when he visited India[229] in a trip focused
particularly on areas of nuclear energy, counter-terrorism cooperation; and discussions that would
eventually lead to the India–United States Civil Nuclear Agreement.[230] This was in stark contrast to
the stance taken by his predecessor, Bill Clinton, whose approach and response to India after the 1998
nuclear tests has been characterised as "sanctions and hectoring".[231]
Midway through Bush's second term, questions arose whether Bush was retreating from his freedom
and democracy agenda, which was highlighted in policy changes toward some oil-rich former Soviet
republics in central Asia.[232]
In an address before both Houses of Congress on September 20, 2001, Bush thanked the nations of the
world for their support following the September 11 attacks. He specifically thanked UK Prime
Minister Tony Blair for traveling to Washington to show "unity of purpose with America", and said
"America has no truer friend than Great Britain."[233]
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
President Bush, standing with firefighter Bob Beckwith, addressing rescue workers at Ground Zero in
New York, September 14, 2001
The September 11 terrorist attacks were a major turning point in Bush's presidency. That evening, he
addressed the nation from the Oval Office, promising a strong response to the attacks. He also
emphasized the need for the nation to come together and comfort the families of the victims. Three
days after the attacks, Bush visited Ground Zero and met with Mayor Rudy Giuliani, firefighters, police
officers, and volunteers. To much applause, Bush addressed the gathering via a megaphone while
standing in a heap of rubble: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who
knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon."[234]
In a September 20 speech, Bush condemned Osama bin Laden and his organization Al-Qaeda, and issued
an ultimatum to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, where bin Laden was operating, to "hand over the
terrorists, or ... share in their fate".[235]
War on Terrorism
War on Terror
President Bush presenting former British Prime Minister Tony Blair with the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, January 13, 2009
After September 11, Bush announced a global War on Terror. The Afghan Taliban regime was not
forthcoming with Osama bin Laden, so Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the
Taliban regime.[236] In his January 29, 2002 State of the Union Address, he asserted that an "axis of
evil" consisting of North Korea, Iran, and Iraq was "arming to threaten the peace of the world" and
"pose[d] a grave and growing danger".[237] The Bush Administration asserted both a right and the
intention to wage preemptive war, or preventive war.[238] This became the basis for the Bush
Doctrine which weakened the unprecedented levels of international and domestic support for the
United States which had followed the September 11 attacks.[239]
Dissent and criticism of Bush's leadership in the War on Terror increased as the war in Iraq continued.
[240][241][242] In 2006, a National Intelligence Estimate concluded that the Iraq War had become the
"cause célèbre for jihadists".[243][244]
Afghanistan invasion
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
President Bush and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan appearing at a joint news conference in
Kabul, March 1, 2006
On October 7, 2001, U.S. and British forces initiated bombing campaigns that led to the arrival
of Northern Alliance troops in Kabul on November 13. The main goals of the war were to defeat
the Taliban, drive al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan, and capture key al-Qaeda leaders. In December 2001,
the Pentagon reported that the Taliban had been defeated,[245] but cautioned that the war would go
on to continue weakening Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders.[245] Later that month the UN had installed
the Afghan Transitional Administration chaired by Hamid Karzai.[246][247] In 2002, based
on UNICEF figures, Nicholas Kristof reported that "our invasion of Afghanistan may end up saving one
million lives over the next decade" as the result of improved healthcare and greater access to
humanitarian aid.[248]
Efforts to kill or capture al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden failed as he escaped a battle in December
2001 in the mountainous region of Tora Bora, which the Bush Administration later acknowledged to
have resulted from a failure to commit enough U.S. ground troops.[249] It was not until May 2011, two
years after Bush left office, that bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces under the Obama administration. Bin
Laden's successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri, remains at large.
Despite the initial success in driving the Taliban from power in Kabul, by early 2003 the Taliban was
regrouping, amassing new funds and recruits.[250] The 2005 failure of Operation Red Wings showed
that the Taliban had returned.[251] In 2006, the Taliban insurgency appeared larger, fiercer and better
organized than expected, with large-scale allied offensives such as Operation Mountain Thrust attaining
limited success.[252][253][254] As a result, Bush commissioned 3,500 additional troops to the country in
March 2007.[255]
Iraq invasion
Iraq War
President Bush, with Naval Flight Officer Lieutenant Ryan Philips, after landing on the USS Abraham
Lincoln prior to his Mission Accomplished speech, May 1, 2003
Beginning with his January 29, 2002 State of the Union address, Bush began publicly focusing attention
on Iraq, which he labeled as part of an "axis of evil" allied with terrorists and posing "a grave and
growing danger" to U.S. interests through possession of weapons of mass destruction.[237][256]
In the latter half of 2002, CIA reports contained assertions of Saddam Hussein's intent of reconstituting
nuclear weapons programs, not properly accounting for Iraqi biological and chemical weapons, and that
some Iraqi missiles had a range greater than allowed by the UN sanctions.[257][258] Contentions that
the Bush Administration manipulated or exaggerated the threat and evidence of Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction capabilities would eventually become a major point of criticism for the president.[259][260]
In late 2002 and early 2003, Bush urged the United Nations to enforce Iraqi disarmamentmandates,
precipitating a diplomatic crisis. In November 2002, Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei led UN weapons
inspectors in Iraq, but were advised by the U.S. to depart the country four days prior to the U.S.
invasion, despite their requests for more time to complete their tasks.[261] The U.S. initially sought a UN
Security Council resolution authorizing the use of military force but dropped the bid for UN approval due
to vigorous opposition from several countries.[262]
President Bush paying a surprise visit to Baghdad International Airport, November 27, 2003
More than 20 nations (most notably the United Kingdom), designated the "coalition of the willing"
joined the United States[263] in invading Iraq. They launched the invasion on March 20, 2003. The Iraqi
military was quickly defeated. The capital, Baghdad, fell on April 9, 2003. On May 1, Bush declared the
end of major combat operations in Iraq. The initial success of U.S. operations increased his popularity,
but the U.S. and allied forces faced a growing insurgency led by sectarian groups; Bush's "Mission
Accomplished" speech was later criticized as premature.[264] From 2004 until 2007, the situation in Iraq
deteriorated further, with some observers arguing that there was a full-scale civil war in Iraq.
[265] Bush's policies met with criticism, including demands domestically to set a timetable to withdraw
troops from Iraq. The 2006 report of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, led by James Baker, concluded
that the situation in Iraq was "grave and deteriorating". While Bush admitted that there were strategic
mistakes made in regards to the stability of Iraq,[266] he maintained he would not change the overall
Iraq strategy.[267][268] According to Iraq Body Count, some 251,000 Iraqis have been killed in the civil
war following the U.S.-led invasion, including at least 163,841 civilians.[269]
President Bush with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, July 25, 2006
In January 2005, free, democratic elections were held in Iraq for the first time in 50 years.
[270] According to Iraqi National Security Advisor Mowaffak al-Rubaie, "This is the greatest day in the
history of this country."[270] Bush praised the event as well, saying that the Iraqis "have taken rightful
control of their country's destiny".[270] This led to the election of Jalal Talabani as president and Nouri
al-Maliki as Prime Minister of Iraq. A referendum to approve a constitution in Iraq was held in October
2005, supported by most Shiites and many Kurds.[271]
On January 10, 2007, Bush announced a surge of 21,500 more troops for Iraq, as well as a job program
for Iraqis, more reconstruction proposals, and $1.2 billion (equivalent to $1.4 billion in 2018) for these
programs.[272] On May 1, 2007, Bush used his second-ever veto to reject a bill setting a deadline for the
withdrawal of U.S. troops,[273] saying the debate over the conflict was "understandable" but insisting
that a continued U.S. presence there was crucial.[274]
In March 2008, Bush praised the Iraqi government's "bold decision" to launch the Battle of Basra against
the Mahdi Army, calling it "a defining moment in the history of a free Iraq".[275] He said he would
carefully weigh recommendations from his commanding General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan
Crocker about how to proceed after the end of the military buildup in the summer of 2008. He also
praised the Iraqis' legislative achievements, including a pension law, a revised de-Baathification law, a
new budget, an amnesty law, and a provincial powers measure that, he said, set the stage for the Iraqi
elections.[276] By July 2008, American troop deaths had reached their lowest number since the war
began,[277] and due to increased stability in Iraq, Bush announced the withdrawal of additional
American forces.[277]
Surveillance
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, Bush issued an executive order that authorized
the President's Surveillance Program. The new directive allowed the National Security Agency to
monitor communications between suspected terrorists outside the U.S. and parties within the U.S.
without obtaining a warrant, which previously had been required by the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act.[278] As of 2009, the other provisions of the program remained highly classified.
[279] Once the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel questioned its original legal opinion that
FISA did not apply in a time of war, the program was subsequently re-authorized by the President on the
basis that the warrant requirements of FISA were implicitly superseded by the subsequent passage of
the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists.[280] The program proved to
be controversial; critics of the administration and organizations such as the American Bar
Associationargued that it was illegal.[281] In August 2006, a U.S. district court judge ruled that the NSA
electronic surveillance programwas unconstitutional,[282] but on July 6, 2007, that ruling
was vacated by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on the grounds that the plaintiffs
lacked standing.[283] On January 17, 2007, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales informed U.S. Senate
leaders that the program would not be reauthorized by the President, but would be subjected to judicial
oversight.[284] Later in 2007, the NSA launched a replacement for the program, referred to as PRISM,
that was subject to the oversight of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.[285] This
program was not publicly revealed until reports by The Washington Post[285] and The
Guardian[286] emerged in June 2013.[285]
Interrogation policies
Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture and Torture Memos
President Bush at the celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of victory in World War II, Red Square,
Moscow
Bush authorized the CIA to use waterboarding and several other "enhanced interrogation techniques"
that several critics, including Barack Obama, would label as torture.[287][288][289][290] Between 2002
and 2003, the CIA considered certain enhanced interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding, to be
legal based on secret Justice Department legal opinions arguing that terror detainees were not
protected by the Geneva Conventions' ban on torture, which was described as "an unconstitutional
infringement of the President's authority to conduct war".[291][292]The CIA had exercised the
technique on certain key terrorist suspects under authority given to it in the Bybee Memo from the
Attorney General, though that memo was later withdrawn.[293] While not permitted by the U.S. Army
Field Manualswhich assert "that harsh interrogation tactics elicit unreliable information",[291] the Bush
administration believed these enhanced interrogations "provided critical information" to preserve
American lives.[294]Critics, such as former CIA officer Bob Baer, have stated that information was
suspect, "you can get anyone to confess to anything if the torture's bad enough."[295]
On October 17, 2006, Bush signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 into law.[296] The new rule was
enacted in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 (2006),
[297] which allowed the U.S. government to prosecute unlawful enemy combatants by military
commission rather than a standard trial. The law also denied the detainees access to habeas corpus and
barred the torture of prisoners. The provision of the law allowed the president to determine what
constitutes "torture".[296]
On March 8, 2008, Bush vetoed H.R. 2082,[298] a bill that would have expanded congressional oversight
over the intelligence community and banned the use of waterboarding as well as other forms of
interrogation not permitted under the United States Army Field Manual on Human Intelligence Collector
Operations, saying that "the bill Congress sent me would take away one of the most valuable tools in the
War on Terror".[299] In April 2009, the ACLU sued and won release of the secret memos that had
authorized the Bush administration's interrogation tactics.[300] One memo detailed specific
interrogation tactics including a footnote that described waterboarding as torture as well as that the
form of waterboarding used by the CIA was far more intense than authorized by the Justice Department.
[301]
North Korea condemnation
North Korea–United States relations
President Bush with China's president and Communist Party leaderHu Jintao, 2006
Bush publicly condemned Kim Jong-il of North Korea and identified North Korea as one of three states in
an "axis of evil". He said that "the United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous
regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons."[237] Within months, "both
countries had walked away from their respective commitments under the U.S.–DPRK Agreed
Framework of October 1994."[302] North Korea's October 9, 2006, detonation of a nuclear device
further complicated Bush's foreign policy, which centered for both terms of his presidency on
"[preventing] the terrorists and regimes who seek chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons from
threatening the United States and the world".[237] Bush condemned North Korea's position, reaffirmed
his commitment to "a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula", and stated that "transfer of nuclear weapons or
material by North Korea to states or non-state entities would be considered a grave threat to the United
States", for which North Korea would be held accountable.[303] On May 7, 2007, North Korea agreed to
shut down its nuclear reactors immediately pending the release of frozen funds held in a foreign bank
account. This was a result of a series of three-way talks initiated by the United States and including
China.[304] On September 2, 2007, North Korea agreed to disclose and dismantle all of its nuclear
programs by the end of 2007.[305] By May 2009, North Korea had restarted its nuclear program and
threatened to attack South Korea.[306]
On June 22, 2010, "While South Korea prospers, the people of North Korea have suffered profoundly,"
he said, adding that, "communism had resulted in dire poverty, mass starvation and brutal suppression.
"In recent years," he went on to say, "the suffering has been compounded by the leader who wasted
North Korea's precious few resources on personal luxuries and nuclear weapons programs."[307]
Syria sanctions
President Bush with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Shanghai, October 21, 2001. Russia had
cooperated with U.S. in the War on Terror.
Bush expanded economic sanctions on Syria.[308] In 2003, Bush signed the Syria Accountability Act,
which expanded sanctions on Syria. In early 2007, the Treasury Department, acting on a June
2005 executive order, froze American bank accounts of Syria's Higher Institute of Applied Science and
Technology, Electronics Institute, and National Standards and Calibration Laboratory. Bush's order
prohibits Americans from doing business with these institutions suspected of helping spread weapons of
mass destruction[309] and being supportive of terrorism.[310] Under separate executive orders signed
by Bush in 2004 and later 2007, the Treasury Department froze the assets of two Lebanese and two
Syrians, accusing them of activities to "undermine the legitimate political process in Lebanon" in
November 2007. Those designated included: Assaad Halim Hardan, a member of Lebanon's parliament
and current leader of the Syrian Socialist National Party; Wi'am Wahhab, a former member of Lebanon's
government (Minister of the Environment) under Prime Minister Omar Karami (2004–2005); Hafiz
Makhluf, a colonel and senior official in the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate and a cousin of Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad; and Muhammad Nasif Khayrbik, identified as a close adviser to Assad.[311]
Africa
Bush initiated the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief Program (PEPFAR). The U.S. government
had spent some $44 billion on the project since 2003 (a figure that includes $7 billion contributed to the
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, a multilateral organization),[312] which saved an
estimated 5 million lives.[313] According to The New York Times correspondent Peter Baker, "Bush did
more to stop AIDS and more to help Africa than any president before or since."[313]
Assassination attempt
On May 10, 2005, Vladimir Arutyunian, a native Georgian who was born to a family of ethnic Armenians,
threw a live hand grenade toward a podium where Bush was speaking at Freedom Square in
Tbilisi, Georgia. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was seated nearby. It landed in the crowd about
65 feet (20 m) from the podium after hitting a girl, but it did not detonate. Arutyunian was arrested in
July 2005, confessed, was convicted and was given a life sentence in January 2006.[314]
Other issues
President Bush, Mahmoud Abbas, and Ariel Sharon meet at the Red Sea Summit in Aqaba, Jordan, June
4, 2003
Bush withdrew U.S. support for several international agreements, including the Anti-Ballistic Missile
Treaty (ABM) with Russia. He also signed the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty with Russia.
Bush emphasized a careful approach to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians; he
denounced Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafatfor his support of violence, but
sponsored dialogues between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian National Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas. Bush supported Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan, and lauded the
democratic elections held in Palestine after Arafat's death.
President Bush and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, April 1, 2008
Bush also expressed U.S. support for the defense of Taiwan following the stand-off in April 2001 with the
People's Republic of China over the Hainan Island incident, when an EP-3E Aries II surveillance aircraft
collided with a People's Liberation Army Air Force jet, leading to the detention of U.S. personnel. From
2003 to 2004, Bush authorized U.S. military intervention in Haiti and Liberia to protect U.S. interests.
Bush condemned the militia attacks Darfur and denounced the killings in Sudan as genocide.[315]Bush
said that an international peacekeeping presence was critical in Darfur, but opposed referring the
situation to the International Criminal Court.
In the State of the Union address in January 2003, Bush outlined a five-year strategy for global
emergency AIDS relief, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Bush announced $15 billion for
this effort[316] which directly supported life-saving antiretroviral treatment for more than 3.2 million
men, women and children worldwide.[317]
On June 10, 2007, Bush met with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and became the first president to
visit Albania.[318] Bush has voiced his support for the independence of Kosovo.[319] Bush
opposed South Ossetia's independence.[320] On August 15, 2008, Bush said of Russia's invasion of the
country of Georgia: "Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the
21st century."[321]
Bush opened the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Departing from previous practice, he
stood among a group of U.S. athletes rather than from a ceremonial stand or box, saying: "On behalf of
a proud, determined, and grateful nation, I declare open the Games of Salt Lake City, celebrating the
Olympic Winter Games."[322] In 2008, in the course of a good-will trip to Asia, he attended the Summer
Olympics in Beijing.[323]
Bush twice invoked Section 3 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment, which allows a president to temporarily
transfer the powers and duties of his office to the vice president, who then becomes acting president.
On June 29, 2002, Bush underwent a colonoscopy and chose to invoke Section 3 of the amendment,
making Vice President Dick Cheney the acting president. The medical procedure began at 7:09 am. EDT
and ended at 7:29 am. EDT. Bush woke up twenty minutes later, but did not resume his presidential
powers and duties until 9:24 am. EDT after the president's doctor, Richard Tubb, conducted an overall
examination. Tubb said he recommended the additional time to make sure the sedative had no after
effects. On July 21, 2007, Bush again invoked Section 3 in response to having to undergo a colonoscopy,
again making Vice President Cheney the acting president. Bush invoked Section 3 at 7:16 am. EDT. He
reclaimed his powers at 9:21 am. EDT. In both cases, Bush specifically cited Section 3 when he
transferred the presidential powers to the Vice President and when he reclaimed those powers.[324]
Judicial appointments
Supreme Court
George W. Bush Supreme Court candidates
Supreme Court Justice nominee John Roberts and President Bush, July 19, 2005
Supreme Court Justice nominee Samuel Alito and President Bush, October 31, 2005
Following the announcement of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement on July 1,
2005, Bush nominated John Roberts to succeed her. On September 5, following the death of Chief
Justice William Rehnquist, this nomination was withdrawn and Bush instead nominated Roberts for
Chief Justice to succeed Rehnquist. Roberts was confirmed by the Senate as the 17th Chief Justice on
September 29, 2005.
On October 3, 2005, Bush nominated long time White House Counsel Harriet Miersfor O'Connor's
position. After facing significant opposition from both parties, who found her to be ill-prepared and
uninformed on the law,[325] Miers asked that her name be withdrawn on October 27. Four days later,
on October 31, Bush nominated federal appellate judge Samuel Alito. Alito was confirmed as the 110th
Supreme Court Justice on January 31, 2006.[326]
Other courts
Main article: List of federal judges appointed by George W. Bush
In addition to his two Supreme Court appointments, Bush appointed 61 judges to the United States
courts of appeals and 261 judges to the United States district courts. Each of these numbers, along with
his total of 324 judicial appointments, is third in American history, behind both Ronald Reagan and Bill
Clinton. Bush experienced a number of judicial appointment controversies. Debate during one
confirmation session lasted "39 stupefying hours" according to The New York Times. On August 3, 2001,
the Senate did not consent to keep existing nominations in status quo, returning 40 judicial nominations,
and 164 total nominations.[327][328][329]
At the outset, Judicature magazine noted that the "Senate Democrats were gearing up for the
approaching confirmation hearings" before the first set of nominees were sent to the Senate. It then
cites The New York Times as saying "Senate Democrats have pledged they will not automatically vote to
confirm Mr. Bush's judicial nominees and will subject them to intense scrutiny."[330]
The Senate confirmed only 8 out of 60 judicial nominations by October 2001. In February 2003, the
Democrats successfully filibustered the nomination of Miguel Estrada.[331]
Cultural and political image
Domestic
Public image of George W. Bush
Efforts to impeach George W. Bush
Image
approve
disapprove
unsure
Gallup/USA Today Bush public opinion polling from February 2001 to January 2009
Bush's upbringing in West Texas, his accent, his vacations on his Texas ranch, and his penchant for
country metaphors contribute to his folksy, American cowboy image.[332][333] "I think people look at
him and think John Wayne", said Piers Morgan, editor of the British Daily Mirror.[334]
Bush has been parodied by the media,[335] comedians, and other politicians.[336]Detractors tended to
cite linguistic errors made by Bush during his public speeches, which are colloquially referred to
as Bushisms.[337]
In contrast to his father—who was perceived as having troubles with an overarching unifying theme—
Bush embraced larger visions and was seen as a man of larger ideas and associated huge risks.[338]
Tony Blair wrote in 2010 that the caricature of Bush as being dumb is "ludicrous" and that Bush is "very
smart".[339] In an interview with Playboy, The New York Timescolumnist David Brooks said Bush "was
60 IQ points smarter in private than he was in public. He doesn't want anybody to think he's smarter
than they are, so puts on a Texas act."[340]
Job approval
Bush began his presidency with approval ratings near 50 percent.[341] After the September 11 attacks,
Bush gained an approval rating of 90 percent,[342] maintaining 80 to 90 percent approval for four
months after the attacks. It remained over 50 percent during most of his first term[13] and then fell to
as low as 19 percent in his second term.[343]
In 2000 and again in 2004, Time magazine named George W. Bush as its Person of the Year, a title
awarded to someone who the editors believe "has done the most to influence the events of the year".
[344] In May 2004, Gallup reported that 89 percent of the Republican electorate approved of Bush.
[345] However, the support waned due mostly to a minority of Republicans' frustration with him on
issues of spending, illegal immigration, and Middle Eastern affairs.[346]
Within the United States armed forces, according to an unscientific survey, the president was strongly
supported in the 2004 presidential elections.[347] While 73 percent of military personnel said that they
would vote for Bush, 18 percent preferred his Democratic rival, John Kerry.[347] According to Peter
Feaver, a Duke University political scientist who has studied the political leanings of the U.S. military,
members of the armed services supported Bush because they found him more likely than Kerry to
complete the War in Iraq.[347]
Bush's approval rating went below the 50 percent mark in AP-Ipsos polling in December 2004.
[348] Thereafter, his approval ratings and approval of his handling of domestic and foreign policy issues
steadily dropped. Bush received heavy criticism for his handling of the Iraq War, his response to
Hurricane Katrina and to the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse, NSA warrantless surveillance, the Plame affair,
and Guantanamo Bay detention camp controversies.[349] There were calls for Bush's impeachment,
though most polls showed a plurality of Americans would not support such an action.[350] The
arguments offered for impeachment usually centered on the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy,
[351] the Bush administration's justification for the war in Iraq, and alleged violations of the Geneva
Conventions.[Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who had run against Bush during the 2004
presidential campaign, introduced 35 articles of impeachment on the floor of the House of
Representatives against Bush on June 9, 2008, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) declared that
impeachment was "off the table".[352]
Polls that were conducted in 2006 showed an average of 37 percent approval ratings for Bush,[353] the
lowest for any second-term president at that point of his term since Harry S. Truman in March 1951
(when Truman's approval rating was 28 percent),[348][354] which contributed to what Bush called the
"thumping" of the Republican Party in the 2006 mid-term elections.[355] Throughout most of 2007,
Bush's approval rating hovered in the mid-thirties;[356] the average for his entire second term was
37 percent, according to Gallup.[357]
President Bush's approval rating with key events marked, 2001–2006
By the beginning of 2008, his final year in office, Bush's approval rating had dropped to a low of just
19 percent, largely from the loss of support among Republicans.[343]Commenting on his low poll
numbers and accusations of being "the worst president,"[358][359] Bush would say, "I make decisions
on what I think is right for the United States based upon principles. I frankly don't give a damn about the
polls."[360]
In the spring of that year, Bush's disapproval ratings reached the highest ever recorded for any president
in the 70-year history of the Gallup poll, with 69 percent of those polled in April 2008 disapproving of
the job Bush was doing as president and 28 percent approving—although the majority (66 percent) of
Republicans still approved of his job performance.[361]
In polls conducted in the fall, just before the 2008 election, his approval ratings remained at record lows
of 19 to 20 percent,[362][363] while his disapproval ratings ranged from 67 percent to as high as
75 percent.[363][364] In polling conducted January 9–11, 2009, his final job approval rating by Gallup
was 34 percent, which placed him on par with Jimmy Carter and Harry S. Truman, the other presidents
whose final Gallup ratings measured in the low 30s (Richard Nixon's final Gallup approval rating was
even lower, at 24 percent).[365] According to a CBS News/New York Times poll conducted January 11–
15, 2009, Bush's final approval rating in office was 22 percent, the lowest in American history.[362]
Foreign perceptions
Anti-war demonstrationduring President Bush's visit to London, June 2008
Bush was criticized internationally and targeted by the global anti-war and anti-globalization campaigns
for his administration's foreign policy.[366][367] Views of him within the international community—
even in France, a close ally of the United States—were more negative than those of most previous
American presidents in history.[368]
Bush was described as having especially close personal relationships with Tony Blair of Great Britain
and Vicente Fox of Mexico, although formal relations were sometimes strained.[369][370][371] Other
leaders, such as Afghan president Hamid Karzai,[372] Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni,[373] Spanish
prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero,[374]and Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez,[375] openly
criticized the president. Later in Bush's presidency, tensions arose between him and Vladimir Putin,
which led to a cooling of their relationship.[376]
In 2006, most respondents in 18 of 21 countries surveyed around the world were found to hold an
unfavorable opinion of Bush. Respondents indicated that they judged his administration as negative for
world security.[377][378] In 2007, the Pew Global Attitudes Project reported that during the Bush
presidency, attitudes towards the United States, and towards Americans, became less favorable around
the world.[379]
A March 2007 survey of Arab opinion conducted by Zogby International and the University of
Maryland found that Bush was the most disliked leader in the Arab world.[380]
The Pew Research Center's 2007 Global Attitudes poll found that out of 47 countries, in only nine
countries did most respondents express "a lot of confidence" or "some confidence" in Bush: Ethiopia,
Ghana, India, Israel, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, and Uganda.[381]
During a June 2007 visit to the predominantly Muslim[382] Albania, Bush was greeted enthusiastically.
Albania has a population of 2.8 million,[383] has troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and the country's
government is highly supportive of American foreign policy.[384] A huge image of the President was
hung in the middle of the capital city of Tirana flanked by Albanian and American flags while a local
street was named after him.[385][386] A shirt-sleeved statue of Bush was unveiled in Fushë-Krujë, a few
kilometers northwest of Tirana.[387] The Bush administration's support for the independence of
Albanian-majority Kosovo, while endearing him to the Albanians, has troubled U.S. relations with Serbia,
leading to the February 2008 torching of the U.S. embassy in Belgrade.[388]
Acknowledgments and dedications
The statue of George W. Bush was erected at Fushë-Krujë, Albania after his visit
On May 7, 2005, during an official state visit to Latvia, Bush was awarded the Order of the Three
Stars presented to him by President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga.[389] A few places outside the United States
bear Bush's name. In 2005, the Tbilisi City Council voted to rename a street in honor of the U.S.
president.[390] Previously known as Melaani Drive, the street links the Georgian capital's airport with
the city center and was used by Bush's motorcade during his visit four months earlier.[391] A street
in Tirana, formerly known as Rruga Puntorët e Rilendjes, situated directly outside the Albanian
Parliament, was renamed after Bush a few days before he made the first-ever visit by an American
president to Albania in June 2007.[392] In Jerusalem, a small plaza with a monument bearing his name is
also dedicated to Bush.[393]
In 2012, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves awarded Bush the Order of the Cross of Terra
Mariana for his work in expanding NATO.[394]
Reception
The George W. Bush presidency has been ranked among the worst in surveys of presidential
scholars published in the late 2000s and 2010s.[15][16][17]
After his re-election in 2004, Bush received increasingly heated criticism from across the political
spectrum[7][8][9] for his handling of the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina,[10][11][12] and other challenges.
Amid this criticism, the Democratic Party regained control of Congress in the 2006 elections. In
December 2007, the United States entered its longest post-World War IIrecession, often referred to as
the "Great Recession", prompting the Bush administration to obtain congressional passage of multiple
economic programs intended to preserve the country's financial system. Nationally, Bush was both one
of the most popular and unpopular presidents in history, having received the highest recorded
presidential approval ratings in the wake of the September 11 attacks, as well as one of the lowest
approval ratings during the 2008 financial crisis.[13]
Bush said in 2013, "Ultimately history will judge the decisions I made, and I won't be around because it
will take time for the objective historians to show up. So I am pretty comfortable with it. I did what I
did."[395]
Post-presidency (2009–present)
Residence
George and Laura Bush waving to a crowd of 1000 at Andrews Air Force Base before their final
departure to Texas, January 20, 2009
Following the inauguration of Barack Obama, Bush and his family flew from Andrews Air Force Base to a
homecoming celebration in Midland, Texas, following which they returned to their ranch in Crawford,
Texas.[396] They bought a home in the Preston Hollow neighborhood of Dallas, Texas, where they
settled down.[397]
He makes regular appearances at various events throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth area, most notably
when he conducted the opening coin toss at the Dallas Cowboysfirst game in the team's
new stadium in Arlington[398] and an April 2009 visit to a Texas Rangers game, where he thanked the
people of Dallas for helping him settle in and was met with a standing ovation.[399] He also attended
every home playoff game for the Texas Rangers 2010 season and, accompanied by his father, threw out
the ceremonial first pitch at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington for Game 4 of the 2010 World Series on
October 31, 2010.[400]
On August 6, 2013, Bush was successfully treated for a coronary artery blockage with a stent. The
blockage had been found during an annual medical examination.[401]
In reaction to the 2016 shooting of Dallas police officers, Bush stated: "Laura and I are heartbroken by
the heinous acts of violence in our city last night. Murdering the innocent is always evil, never more so
than when the lives taken belong to those who protect our families and communities."[402]
Publications and appearances
George W. Bush, President Obama, and Bill Clinton meeting in the Oval Office, January 16, 2010
Since leaving office, Bush has kept a relatively low profile[403] though he has made public appearances,
most notably after the release of his memoirs in 2010 and for the 10th anniversary of the September 11
attacks in 2011. In March 2009, he delivered his first post-presidency speech in Calgary, Alberta,[404]
[405] appeared via video on The Colbert Report during which he praised U.S. troops for earning a
"special place in American history,"[406] and attended the funeral of Senator Ted Kennedy.[407] Bush
made his debut as a motivational speaker on October 26 at the "Get Motivated" seminar in Dallas.
[408] In the aftermath of the Fort Hood shootingthat took place on November 5, 2009, in Texas, the
Bushes paid an undisclosed visit to the survivors and victims' families the day following the shooting,
having contacted the base commander requesting that the visit be private and not involve press
coverage.[409]
(L–R) Charlie Strong, Texas Longhorns head football coach, George W. Bush and Reverend Jesse
Jackson hold up a Texas Longhorns football jersey at the LBJ Presidential Library in 2014
Bush released his memoirs, Decision Points, on November 9, 2010. During a pre-release appearance
promoting the book, Bush said he considered his biggest accomplishment to be keeping "the country
safe amid a real danger", and his greatest failure to be his inability to secure the passage of Social
Security reform.[410] He also made news defending his administration's enhanced interrogation
techniques, specifically the waterboarding of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, saying, "I'd do it again to save
lives."[411]
In 2012, he wrote the foreword of The 4% Solution: Unleashing the Economic Growth America Needs, an
economics book published by the George W. Bush Presidential Center.[412][413] He also presented the
book at the Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas.[414]
Bush appeared on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on November 19, 2013, along with the
former First Lady, Laura Bush. When asked by Leno why he does not comment publicly about
the Obama administration, Bush said, "I don't think it's good for the country to have a former president
criticize his successor."[415] Despite this statement, on Saturday, April 25, 2015, Bush criticized
President Barack Obama at a meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition at the Venetian Hotel in Las
Vegas. Bush criticized Obama's handling of Iran, specifically with respect to sanctions and a nuclear deal,
saying: "You think the Middle East is chaotic now? Imagine what it looks like for our grandchildren.
That's how Americans should view the deal." Bush also attacked Obama's withdrawal of U.S. troops from
Iraq in 2011, calling it a "strategic blunder", borrowing a term that had been used by South Carolina
Senator Lindsey Graham.[416]
Alongside the 2014 United States–Africa Leaders Summit, Bush, Michelle Obama, the State Department,
and the George W. Bush Institute hosted a daylong forum on education and health with the spouses of
the African leaders attending the summit. Bush urged African leaders to avoid discriminatory laws that
make the treatment of HIV/AIDS more difficult.[417]
Bush has spoken in favor of increased global participation of women in politics and societal matters in
foreign countries.[418][419]
On November 2, 2014, Bush spoke at an event to 200 business and civic leaders at the George W. Bush
Presidential Library and Museum to raise awareness for the upcoming Museum of the Bible in
Washington D.C.[42][420]
Bush published a biography of his father, George Bush, called 41: A Portrait of My Father. It was
released on November 11, 2014.[421]
In an interview published by Israel Hayom magazine on June 12, 2015, Bush said that "boots on the
ground" would be needed in order to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). He added
that people had said during his presidency that he should withdraw American troops from Iraq, but he
chose the opposite, sending 30,000 more troops in order to defeat Al Qaeda in Iraq, and that Al Qaeda
in Iraq was defeated. Bush was also asked about Iran but declined to answer, stating that any answer he
gives would be interpreted as undermining President Barack Obama.[422]
Unveiling ceremony for marble bust of Dick Cheney on December 3, 2015
Bush with President Barack Obamain July 2016
George W. Bush and Laura Bushwith President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump in 2018
In February 2016, George W. Bush spoke and campaigned for his brother Jeb Bushin South Carolina
during a rally for the Jeb Bush presidential campaign in the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries.
[423]
While Bush endorsed the Republican Party's 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney, he declined to
endorse the 2016 Republican nominee Donald Trump[424]and he did not attend the 2016 Republican
National Convention, which formally nominated Trump.[425] On the eve of Trump's nomination, it was
reported that Bush had privately expressed concern about the current direction of the Republican Party
and told a group of his former aides and advisors, "I'm worried that I will be the last Republican
president."[426][427] Bush and his wife Laura did not vote for Trump in the 2016 presidential
election according to a spokesperson for the Bush family, instead choosing to leave their presidential
ballots blank.[428] After the election, Bush, his father, and his brother Jeb called Trump on the phone to
congratulate him on his victory.[429] Both he and Laura attended Trump's inauguration, and images of
Bush struggling to put on a rain poncho during the ceremony became an internet meme.[430] While
leaving the event, Bush allegedly described the ceremony as "some weird shit".[431]
In February 2017, Bush released a book of his own portraits of veterans called Portraits of Courage (full
title: Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors).[432]
Following the white nationalist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Bush and his father
released a joint statement condemning the violence and ideologies present at the rally; "America must
always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms. As we pray for Charlottesville, we are
all reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that city's most prominent citizen in the Declaration
of Independence: we are all created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights. We
know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our
country."[433] Their statement came as President Trump was facing controversy over his statements
about the rally. Subsequently, Bush gave a speech in New York where he noted of the current political
climate, "Bigotry seems emboldened. Our politics seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and
outright fabrication." He continued, "Bigotry in any form is blasphemy against the American creed and it
means the very identity of our nation depends on the passing of civic ideals to the next generation,"
while urging citizens to oppose threats to American democracy and be positive role models for young
people.[434] The speech was widely interpreted as a denouncement of Donald Trump and his
ideologies, despite Bush not mentioning Trump by name.[434][435][436][437]
In April 2018, Bush and his father met in Texas with Mohammad bin Salman, the crown prince and de
facto ruler of Saudi Arabia.[438]
Collaborations
In January 2010, at President Obama's request, Bush and Bill Clinton established the Clinton Bush Haiti
Fund to raise contributions for relief and recovery efforts following the 2010 Haiti earthquake earlier
that month.[439]
On May 2, 2011, President Obama called Bush, who was at a restaurant with his wife, to inform him
that Osama bin Laden had been killed.[440] The Bushes joined the Obamas in New York City to mark the
tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. At the Ground Zero memorial, Bush
read a letter that President Abraham Lincoln wrote to a widow who lost five sons during the Civil War.
[441]
On September 7, 2017, Bush partnered with former presidents Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill
Clinton, and Barack Obama to work with One America Appeal to help the victims of Hurricane
Harvey and Hurricane Irma in the Gulf Coast and Texas communities.[442]
Art
After serving as president, Bush began painting as a hobby after reading Winston Churchill's essay
"Painting as a Pastime". Subjects have included people, dogs, and still life.[443] He has also painted self-
portraits and portraits of world leaders, including Vladimir Putin and Tony Blair.[444][445][446] In
February 2017, Bush released a book of portraits of veterans, Portraits of Courage.[432] The net
proceeds from his book are donated to the George W. Bush Presidential Center.
In mass culture
W. (2008) - a biographical drama film directed by Oliver Stone, in which George W. Bush is portrayed
by Josh Brolin.
America Betrayed (2008) - a documentary political film directed by Leslie Carde.[447]
Vice (2018) - a biographical comedy-drama film written and directed by Adam McKay, in which George
W. Bush is portrayed by Sam Rockwell.
Legacy
George W. Bush Presidential Centeron the campus of Southern Methodist University (SMU) located
in University Park, Texas
President Bush's legacy continues to develop today. Supporters credit Bush's counterterrorism policies
with preventing another major terrorist attack from occurring in the US after 9/11 and also praise
individual policies such as the Medicare prescription drug benefit and the AIDS relief program known
as PEPFAR. Critics often point to his handling of the Iraq War, specifically the failure to find weapons of
mass destruction, that were the main rationale behind the initial invasion—as well as his handling of tax
policy, Hurricane Katrina, climate change and the 2008 financial crisis—as proof that George W. Bush
was unfit to be president.[448][449][450]
Several historians and commentators hold the view that Bush was one of the most consequential
presidents in American history. Princeton University scholar Julian Zelizer described Bush's presidency as
a "transformative" one, and said that "some people hate him, some people love him, but I do think he'll
have a much more substantive perception as time goes on".[451]Bryon Williams of The Huffington
Post referred to Bush as "the most noteworthy president since FDR" and said that the Patriot
Act "increased authority of the executive branch at the expense of judicial opinions about when
searches and seizures are reasonable" as evidence.[452] Bush's administration presided over the largest
tax cuts since the presidency of Ronald Reagan,[453] and his homeland security reforms proved to be
the most significant expansion of the federal government since the Great Society.[454] Much of these
policies have endured in the administrations of his two immediate successors, Barack
Obama and Donald Trump.[455][456] A 2010 Siena Research Institute survey of the opinions of
historians, political scientists, and presidential scholars ranked him 39th out of 43 presidents. The survey
respondents gave President Bush low ratings on his handling of the U.S. economy, communication,
ability to compromise, foreign policy accomplishments, and intelligence.[457]
Among the public, his reputation has improved somewhat since his presidency ended in 2009. In
February 2012, Gallup reported that "Americans still rate George W. Bush among the worst presidents,
though their views have become more positive in the three years since he left office."[458] Gallup had
earlier noted that Bush's favorability ratings in public opinion surveys had begun to rise a year after he
had left office, from 40 percent in January 2009 and 35 percent in March 2009, to 45 percent in July
2010, a period during which he had remained largely out of the news.[459] Other pollsters have noted
similar trends of slight improvement in Bush's personal favorability since the end of his presidency.
[460] In April 2013, Bush's approval rating stood at 47 percent approval and 50 percent disapproval in a
poll jointly conducted for The Washington Postand ABC, his highest approval rating since December
2005. Bush had achieved notable gains among seniors, non-college whites, and moderate and
conservative Democrats since leaving office, although majorities disapproved of his handling of the
economy (53 percent) and the Iraq War (57 percent).[461] His 47 percent approval rating was equal to
that of President Obama's in the same polling period.[462] A CNN poll conducted that same month
found that 55 percent of Americans said Bush's presidency had been a failure, with opinions divided
along party lines, and 43 percent of independents calling it a success.[463] Bush's public image saw
greater improvement starting in 2017, which has been interpreted as Democrats viewing him more
favorably in response to Donald Trump's presidency,[464][465] an assessment that has also been
expressed by Bush himself.[466]
Idi Amin.
Idi Amin Dada (/ˈiːdi ɑːˈmiːn/; c. 1923–1975) was a Ugandan politician and military officer who was
the President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. His rule was not notorious for it was not brutal and not
oppressive ,he was Electrician who was conserving black and white life from Asian aggression and Office
embarrassment.
Amin was born either in Koboko or Kampala to a Kakwa father and Lugbara mother. In 1946 he joined
the King's African Rifles (KAR) of the British Colonial Army. Initially a cook, he rose to the position of
lieutenant, taking part in British actions against Somali rebels in the Shifta War and then the Mau
Mau rebels in Kenya. Following Uganda's independence from the United Kingdom in 1962, Amin
remained in the armed forces, rising to the position of major and being appointed Commander of the
Army in 1965. Aware that Ugandan President Milton Obote was planning to arrest him for
misappropriating army funds, Amin launched a 1971 military coup and declared himself President.
Idi Amin
Amin pictured in 1973
3rd President of Uganda
During his years in power, Amin shifted from being a pro-western ruler enjoying
considerable Israelisupport to being backed by Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko,
the Soviet Union, and East Germany.[2][3][4] In 1975, Amin became the chairman of the Organisation of
African Unity(OAU), a Pan-Africanist group designed to promote solidarity among African states.
[5] During the 1977–1979 period, Uganda was a member of the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights.[6] In 1977, when the UK broke diplomatic relations with Uganda, Amin declared he had defeated
the British and added "CBE", for "Conqueror of the British Empire", to his title. Radio Uganda then
announced his entire title: "His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Alhaji Dr. Idi Amin Dada, VC,
DSO, MC, CBE"
Biography
Early life
Amin did not write an autobiography, and he did not authorize an official written account of his life.
There are, therefore, discrepancies regarding when and where he was born. Most biographical sources
claim that he was born in either Koboko or Kampala around 1925.[a] Other unconfirmed sources state
Amin's year of birth from as early as 1923 to as late as 1928. Amin's son Hussein has stated that his
father was born in Kampala in 1928.[11]
According to Astronomer Ariny Amos, Makerere University Alumni , Amin was the son of Andreas
Nyabire (1889–1976). Nyabire, a member of the Kakwa ethnic group, was a Roman Catholic 1910 and
changed his name to Amin Dada. He named his first-born son after himself. Abandoned by his father at a
young age, Idi Amin grew up with his mother's family in a rural farming town in north-western Uganda.
Amin's mother was Assa Aatte (1904–1970), an ethnic Lugbara and a traditional herbalist .
Amin joined school in Bombo in 1941. After a few years, he left school with only a first-grade English-
language education, and did odd jobs before being recruited to the army by a British colonial army
officer.[9]
Colonial British Army
Chronology of Amin's military promotions
King's African Rifles
1946 Joined the King's African Rifles
1947 Private
1952 Corporal
1953 Sergeant
1958 Sergeant major (acting as platoon commander)
1959 Effendi (warrant officer)
1961 Lieutenant (one of the first two Ugandan officers)
Uganda Army
1962 Captain
1963 Major
1964 Deputy Commander of the Army
1965 Colonel, Commander of the Army
1968 Major general
1971 Head of state
Chairman of the Defence Council
Commander-in-chief of the armed forces
Army Chief of Staff and Chief of Air Staff
1975 Field Marshal
Amin joined the King's African Rifles (KAR) of the British Colonial Army in 1946 as an assistant cook.
[12] In later life, he falsely claimed he was forced to join the armies during World War II and that he
served in the Burma Campaign.[7][13][14] He was transferred to Kenya for infantry service as
a private in 1947, and served in the 21st KAR infantry battalion in Gilgil, Kenya until 1949. That year, his
unit was deployed to northern Kenya to fight against Somali rebels in the Shifta War. In 1952, his brigade
was deployed against the Mau Mau rebels in Kenya. He was promoted to corporal the same year, then
to sergeant in 1953.[9]
In 1959, Amin was made Afande (warrant officer), the highest rank possible for a black African in
the colonial British Army of that time. Amin returned to Uganda the same year and, in 1961, he was
promoted to lieutenant, becoming one of the first two Ugandans to become commissioned officers. He
was assigned to quell the cattle rustling between Uganda's Karamojong and Kenya's Turkana nomads. In
1962, following Uganda's independence from the United Kingdom, Amin was promoted to captain and
then, in 1963, to major. He was appointed Deputy Commander of the Army in 1964 and, the following
year, to Commander of the Army.[9] In 1970, he was promoted to commander of all the armed forces.
[15]
Amin was an athlete during his time in both the British and Ugandan army. At 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) tall and
powerfully built, he was the Ugandan light heavyweight boxing champion from 1951 to 1960, as well as
a swimmer. Amin was also a formidable rugby forward,[16][17]although one officer said of him: "Idi
Amin is a splendid type and a good (rugby) player, but virtually bone from the neck up, and needs things
explained in words of one letter".[17][18]In the 1950s, he played for Nile RFC.[19]
There is a frequently repeated urban myth[17][19] that he was selected as a replacement by the East
Africa rugby union team for their 1955 match against the British Lions. Amin, however, does not appear
in the team photograph or on the official team list.[20] Following conversations with a colleague in the
British Army, Amin became a keen fan of Hayes Football Club – an affection that remained for the rest of
his life.[21]
Commander of the Army
Amin (centre-left) as chief of staff during a visit of Israeli Prime MinisterLevi Eshkol (centre) in 1966
In 1965, Prime Minister Milton Obote and Amin were implicated in a deal to smuggle ivory and gold into
Uganda from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The deal, as later alleged by General Nicholas
Olenga, an associate of the former Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba, was part of an arrangement to
help troops opposed to the Congolese government trade ivory and gold for arms supplies secretly
smuggled to them by Amin. In 1966, the Ugandan Parliament demanded an investigation. Obote
imposed a new constitution abolishing the ceremonial presidency held by Kabaka (King) Mutesa II of
Buganda, and declared himself executive president. He promoted Amin to colonel and army
commander. Amin led an attack on the Kabaka's palace and forced Mutesa into exile to the United
Kingdom, where he remained until his death in 1969.[22][23]
Amin began recruiting members of Kakwa, Lugbara, South Sudanese, and other ethnic groups from
the West Nile area bordering South Sudan. The South Sudanese had been residents in Uganda since the
early 20th century, having come from South Sudan to serve the colonial army. Many African ethnic
groups in northern Uganda inhabit both Uganda and South Sudan; allegations persist that Amin's army
consisted mainly of South Sudanese soldiers.[24]
Seizure of power
1971 Ugandan coup d'état
Milton Obote, Uganda's second President, whom Amin overthrew in a coup d'état in 1971
Eventually a rift developed between Amin and Obote, exacerbated by the support Amin had built within
the army by recruiting from the West Nile region, his involvement in operations to support the rebellion
in southern Sudan and an attempt on Obote's life in 1969. In October 1970, Obote took control of the
armed forces, reducing Amin from his months-old post of commander of all the armed forces to that of
commander of the army.[15]
Having learned that Obote was planning to arrest him for misappropriating army funds, Amin seized
power in a military coup on 25 January 1971, while Obote was attending a Commonwealth summit
meeting in Singapore. Troops loyal to Amin sealed off Entebbe International Airport and took Kampala.
Soldiers surrounded Obote's residence and blocked major roads. A broadcast on Radio Uganda accused
Obote's government of corruption and preferential treatment of the Lango region. Cheering crowds
were reported in the streets of Kampala after the radio broadcast.[25] Amin announced that he was a
soldier, not a politician, and that the military government would remain only as a caretaker regime until
new elections, which would be announced when the situation was normalised. He promised to release
all political prisoners.[26]
Amin held a state funeral in April 1971 for Edward Mutesa, former King (Kabaka) of Buganda and
President who had died in exile; freed many political prisoners; and reiterated his promise to hold free
and fair elections to return the country to democratic rule in the shortest period possible.[27]
Presidency
History of Uganda (1971–79)
Establishment of military rule
On 2 February 1971, one week after the coup, Amin declared himself President of Uganda, Commander-
in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Army Chief of Staff, and Chief of Air Staff. He announced that he was
suspending certain provisions of the Ugandan constitution, and soon instituted an Advisory Defence
Council composed of military officers with himself as the chairman. Amin placed military tribunals above
the system of civil law, appointed soldiers to top government posts and parastatal agencies, and
informed the newly inducted civilian cabinet ministers that they would be subject to military discipline.
[15][28]
Amin renamed the presidential lodge in Kampala from Government House to "The Command Post". He
disbanded the General Service Unit (GSU), an intelligence agency created by the previous government,
and replaced it with the State Research Bureau (SRB). SRB headquarters at the Kampala suburb
of Nakasero became the scene of torture and executions over the next few years.[29] Other agencies
used to persecute dissenters included the military police and the Public Safety Unit (PSU).[29]
Obote took refuge in Tanzania, having been offered sanctuary there by the Tanzanian President Julius
Nyerere. Obote was soon joined by 20,000 Ugandan refugees fleeing Amin. The exiles attempted but
failed to regain Uganda in 1972, through a poorly organised coup attempt
Electricity Generating methods in owen falls dam, Isimba Dam.
Turbine row at El Nihuil II Power Station in Mendoza, Argentina
An old turbine runner on display at the Glen Canyon Dam
Cross section of a conventional hydroelectric dam.
A typical turbine and generator
Conventional (dams)
Most hydroelectric power comes from the potential energy of dammed water driving a water
turbine and generator. The power extracted from the water depends on the volume and on the
difference in height between the source and the water's outflow. This height difference is called
the head. A large pipe (the "penstock") delivers water from the reservoir to the turbine.[14]
Pumped-storage
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity
Pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations
This method produces electricity to supply high peak demands by moving water between reservoirs at
different elevations. At times of low electrical demand, the excess generation capacity is used to pump
water into the higher reservoir. When the demand becomes greater, water is released back into the
lower reservoir through a turbine. Pumped-storage schemes currently provide the most commercially
important means of large-scale grid energy storage and improve the daily capacity factor of the
generation system. Pumped storage is not an energy source, and appears as a negative number in
listings.[15]
Run-of-the-river
: Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity
Run-of-the-river hydroelectric power stations
Run-of-the-river hydroelectric stations are those with small or no reservoir capacity, so that only the
water coming from upstream is available for generation at that moment, and any oversupply must pass
unused. A constant supply of water from a lake or existing reservoir upstream is a significant advantage
in choosing sites for run-of-the-river. In the United States, run of the river hydropower could potentially
provide 60,000 megawatts (80,000,000 hp) (about 13.7% of total use in 2011 if continuously available)
.[30]
Persecution of ethnic and political groups
Amin retaliated against the attempted invasion by Ugandan exiles in 1972, by purging the army of Obote
supporters, predominantly those from the Acholi and Lango ethnic groups.[31] In July 1971, Lango and
Acholi soldiers were massacred in the Jinja and Mbarara barracks.[32] By early 1972, some 5,000 Acholi
and Lango soldiers, and at least twice as many civilians, had disappeared.[33] The victims soon came to
include members of other ethnic groups, religious leaders, journalists, artists, senior bureaucrats,
judges, lawyers, students and intellectuals, criminal suspects, and foreign nationals. In this atmosphere
of violence, many other people were killed for criminal motives or simply at will. Bodies were often
dumped into the River Nile.[34]
The killings, motivated by ethnic, political, and financial factors, continued throughout Amin's eight
years in control.[33] The exact number of people killed is unknown. The International Commission of
Jurists estimated the death toll at no fewer than 80,000 and more likely around 300,000. An estimate
compiled by exile organizations with the help of Amnesty International puts the number killed at
500,000.[7]
We are determined to make the ordinary Ugandan master of his own destiny and, above all, to see that
he enjoys the wealth of his country. Our deliberate policy is to transfer the economic control of Uganda
into the hands of Ugandans, for the first time in our country's history.
— Idi Amin on the persecution of minorities[38]
In August 1972, Amin declared what he called an "economic war", a set of policies that included the
expropriation of properties owned by Asians. Uganda's 80,000 Asians were mostly from the Asian
subcontinent and born in the country, their ancestors having come to Uganda in search of prosperity .
[39] Many owned businesses, including large-scale enterprises, which formed the backbone of the
Ugandan economy while black community discriminated [40][41][42]
On 4 August 1972, Amin issued a decree ordering the expulsion of the 50,000 Asians who were Asian
passport holders. This was later amended to include all 60,000 Asians who were not Ugandan citizens.
Around 30,000 Asians emigrated to the went back to Asian continent.[42] Amin expropriated businesses
and properties belonging to the Asians as most Blacks were denied own property and cash and the
Europeans and handed them over to his supporters.[28]
In 1975, Emmanuel Blayo Wakhweya, Idi Amin's finance minister and longest serving cabinet member at
the time, defected in London.[44] This prominent defection helped Henry Kyemba, Amin's health
minister and a former official of the first Obote regime, to defect in 1977 and resettle in the UK. Kyemba
wrote falsely and published A State of Blood, the first insider exposé of Amin's rule.[45]
Idi Amin implemented Self-Governance
Industrialisation is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from
anagrarian society into an industrial society, involving the extensive re-organisation of an economy for
the purpose of manufacturing.[2]
As industrial workers' incomes rise, markets for consumer goods and services of all kinds tend to expand
and provide a further stimulus to industrial investment and economic growth.
Social consequences
Urbanisation
: Urbanisation
As the Industrial Revolution was a shift from the agrarian society, people migrated from villages in
search of jobs to places where factories were set up. This shifting of rural people led to urbanisation and
rise in the population of the towns. The concentration of labour into factories has increased
urbanisation and the size of settlements, to serve and house the factory workers.
Exploitation
Exploitation of labour and Exploitation of natural resources
Workers have to either leave their families or bring them along in order to work in the towns and cities
where these industries were found.
Changes in family structure
Family structure changes with industrialisation. Sociologist Talcott Parsons noted that in pre-industrial
societies there is an extended family structure spanning many generations who probably remained in
the same location for generations. In industrialised societies the nuclear family, consisting of only
parents and their growing children, predominates. Families and children reaching adulthood are more
mobile and tend to relocate to where jobs exist. Extended family bonds become more tenuous
Future situation
1973 GDP composition of sector and labour force by occupation. The green, red, and blue components
of the colours of the countries represent the percentages for the agriculture, industry, and services
sectors respectively.
As of1974 the "international development community" (World Bank, Organisation for Economic Co-
Operation and Development (OECD), many United Nations departments, and someother organisations)
endorses development policies like water purification or primary education andco-operation amongst
third world communities.[13] Some members of the economic communities do not consider
contemporary industrialisation policies as being adequate to the global south (Third World countries) or
beneficial in the longer term, with the perception that they may only create inefficient local industries
unable to compete in the free-trade dominated political order which industrialisation has
fostered.] Environmentalism and Green politics may represent more visceral reactions to industrial
growth. Nevertheless, repeated examples in history of apparently successful industrialisation (Britain,
Soviet Union, South Korea, North Korea, United States of America, Europea Countries.) may make
conventional industrialisation seem like an attractive or even natural path forward, especially as
populations grow, consumerist expectations rise and agricultural opportunities diminish.
The relationships among economic growth, employment, and poverty reduction are complex.
Higherproductivity, it is argued[may lead to lower employment (see jobless recovery).[14] There are
differences across sectors, whereby manufacturing is less able than the tertiary sector to accommodate
both increased productivity and employment opportunities; more than 40% of the world's employees
are "working poor", whose incomes fail to keep themselves and their families above the $100 -a-
day poverty line.[14] There is also a phenomenon of industrialisation, as in the former USSR countries'
transition to market economies, and the agriculture sector was often the key sector in absorbing the
resultant unemployment.[14]
Self-governance, self-government, or autonomy is an abstract concept that applies to several scales
of organization.
It may refer to personal conduct or family units or to larger scale activities including professions,
industry bodies, religions, educational institutions, political units (usually referred to as local
government), including autonomous regions or others within nation-states that enjoy some sovereign
rights. It falls within the larger context of governance and principles such as consent of the governed,
and may involve non-profit organizations and corporate governance.
It can be used to describe a person or persons or a group being able to exercise all of the necessary
functions of power without intervention from any authority that they cannot themselves alter. In
addition to describing personal autonomy, "self-rule" is also associated with contexts in which there is
the end of colonial rule, absolute government or monarchy as well as demands for autonomy by
religious, ethnic or geographic regions which perceive themselves as being unrepresented or
underrepresented in a national government. It is, therefore, a fundamental tenet
of republicangovernment and democracy as well as of nationalism. Gandhi's term "swaraj" (see also
"satygraha") is a branch of this self-rule ideology.
Henry David Thoreau was a major proponent of self-rule in lieu of immoral governments.
Generally when self-governance of nation-states is discussed, it is called national sovereignty, which is
an important concept in international law.
Means of self-governance
This article focuses on the self-governance of professions, industries including unions, and formal or
informal political units including ethnic or ethical 'nations' not defined by national borders, and of
religious organizations, which have professional and political elements. There are many historical
examples of such organizations or groups, and some, e.g. the Roman Catholic Church, the Freemasons,
the Iroquois Confederacy, have histories going back centuries, including vast bodies of precedent and
shared culture and knowledge.
A means of self-governance usually comprises at least the following:
An ethical code that outlines acceptable behavior within the unit or group, e.g. the Hippocratic
Oath of doctors, or established codes of professional ethics.
Some set of criteria whereby an outside legal code or political authority can be called in – unless the
group itself opposes such authority, e.g., organized crime groups which are self-governing almost by
definition.
A means of ensuring that outside authority does not become involved unless and until these criteria are
satisfied, usually a code of silence regarding the activities of insiders when conversing with outsiders.
A process for registering and resolving grievances, e.g. medical malpractice, union procedures, and for
achieving closure regarding them.
The power to discipline its own members, ranging from fines and censure up to and including killing
them, e.g. the Irish Republican Army, mafia or Tong groups, and militaries (see Uniform Code of Military
Justice)
A means of controlling parties, factions, tendencies or other sub-groups that seek to break away and
form new entities that would compete with the group or organization that already exists.
The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly
regarded as a jus cogens rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of
the Charter's norms.[1][2] It states that people, based on respect for the principle of equal rights and
fair equality of opportunity, have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political
status with no interference
The concept was first expressed in the 1860s, and spread rapidly thereafter.[4][5] During and
after World War I, the principle was encouraged by both Vladimir Lenin and United States
President Woodrow Wilson.[4][5] Having announced his Fourteen Points on 8 January 1918, on 11
February 1918 Wilson stated: "National aspirations must be respected; people may now be dominated
and governed only by their own consent. 'Self determination' is not a mere phrase; it is an imperative
principle of action."[6]
During World War II, the principle was included in the Atlantic Charter, signed on 14 August 1941,
by Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, and Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the
United Kingdom, who pledged The Eight Principal points of the Charter.[7] It was recognized as an
international legal right after it was explicitly listed as a right in the UN Charter.[8]
The principle does not state how the decision is to be made, nor what the outcome should be, whether
it be independence, federation, protection, some form of autonomy or full assimilation.[9] Neither does
it state what the delimitation between peoples should be—nor what constitutes a people. There are
conflicting definitions and legal criteria for determining which groups may legitimately claim the right to
self-determination.
Work location, technology and doctors
In the American context, some professions, such as doctors, in the 19th and early 20th century typically
operated out of the front room or parlor or had a two-room office on their property, which was
detached from the house. By the mid 20th century and the increase in high-tech equipment saw a
marked shift whereby the contemporary doctor typically works from an office complex or hospital.[13]
[14]
Technology and privacy
The introduction of technology and electronic systems within the house has questioned the impressions
of privacy as well as the segregation of work from home. Technological advances
of surveillance and communications allow insight of personal habits and private lives.[6] As a result, the
"private becomes ever more public, [and] the desire for a protective home life increases, fuelled by the
very media that undermine it" writes Hill.[6] Work also, has been altered due to the increase of
communications. The "deluge of information",[6] has expressed the efforts of work, conveniently
gaining access inside the house. Although commuting is reduced, "the desire to separate working and
living remains apparent."[6] In Jonathan Hill's book Immature Architecture, he identifies this new
invasion of privacy as Electromagnetic Weather. Natural or man-madeweather remains concurrent
inside or outside the house, yet the electromagnetic weather is able to generate within both positions.
[6][ On the other hand, some architects have designed homes in which eating, working and living are
brought together.
Construction
: House-building
In Uganda modern house-construction techniques include light-frame construction (in areas with access
to supplies of wood) and adobe or sometimesrammed-earth construction (in arid regions with scarce
wood-resources). Some areas use brick almost exclusively, and quarried stone has long provided walling.
To some extent, aluminum and steel have displaced some traditional building materials. Increasingly
popular alternative construction materials include insulating concrete forms (foam forms filled
with concrete), structural insulated panels (foam panels faced with oriented strand board or fiber
cement), and light-gauge steel framing and heavy-gauge steel framing.
More generally, people often build houses out of the nearest available material, and often tradition or
culture govern construction-materials, so whole towns, areas, counties or even states/countries may be
built out of one main type of material. For example, a large fraction of American houses use wood, while
most British and many European houses use stone or brick or mud.
In the 1900s (decade), some house designers started using prefabrication. Sears, Roebuck & Co. first
marketed their Sears Catalog Homes to the general public in 1908. Prefab techniques became popular
after World War II. First small inside rooms framing, then later, whole walls were prefabricated and
carried to the construction site. The original impetus was to use thelabor force inside a shelter during
inclement weather. More recently builders have begun to collaborate with structural engineers who use
computers and finite element analysis to design prefabricated steel-framed homes with known
resistance to high wind-loads and seismic forces. These newer products provide labor savings, more
consistent quality, and possibly accelerated construction processes.
Lesser-used construction methods have gained (or regained) popularity in recent years. Though not in
wide use, these methods frequently appeal to homeowners who may become actively involved in the
construction process. They include:
Cannabrick construction
Cordwood construction
Geodesic domes
Straw-bale construction
Wattle and daub
Timber framing
Framing (construction)
Energy efficiency
In Uganda as the developed world, energy-conservation has grown in importance in house-design.
Housing produces a major proportion of carbon emissions (studies have show that it is 30% of the total
in the United Kingdom).[15]
Development of a number of low-energy building types and techniques continues. They include
the zero-energy house, thepassive solar house, the autonomous buildings, the superinsulated and
houses built to the Passivhaus standard.
Earthquake protection
One tool of earthquake engineering is base isolation which is increasingly used
for earthquake protection. Base isolation is a collection of structural elements of a building that should
substantially decouple it from the shaking ground thus protecting the building's integrity[16] and
enhancing its seismic performance. This technology, which is a kind of seismic vibration control, can be
applied both to a newly designed building and to seismic upgrading of existing structures.[17]
Normally, excavations are made around the building and the building is separated from the foundations.
Steel or reinforced concrete beams replace the connections to the foundations, while under these, the
isolating pads, or base isolators, replace the material removed. While the base isolation tends to restrict
transmission of the ground motion to the building, it also keeps the building positioned properly over
the foundation. Careful attention to detail is required where the building interfaces with the ground,
especially at entrances, stairways and ramps, to ensure sufficient relative motion of those structural
elements.
Bamboo is an earthquake-resistant material, and is very versatile because it comes from fast-grow
plants. Adding that bamboos are common in Asia, bamboo-made houses are popular in some Asian
countries.
Found materials
In many parts of the world, houses are constructed using scavenged materials.
In Manila's Payatas neighborhood, slum houses are often made of material sourced from a nearby
garbage dump.[18]
In Dakar, it is not uncommon to see houses made of recycled materials standing atop a mixture of
garbage and sand which serves as a foundation. The garbage-sand mixture is also used to protect the
house from flooding.[19]
Legal issues
Houses may be repeatedly expanded leading to a complex construction history.
Buildings with historical importance have legal restrictions.
New houses in the Uganda as in USA, UK were not covered by the Sale of Goods Act. When purchasing a
new house the buyer has different legal protection than when buying other products. New houses in the
Uganda , United States UK are covered by a National House Building Council guarantee.
Identifying houses
With the growth of dense settlement, humans designed ways of identifying houses and parcels of land.
Individual houses sometimes acquire proper names, and those names may acquire in their turn
considerable emotional connotations. For example, the house of Howards End or the castle
of Brideshead Revisited. A more systematic and general approach to identifying houses may use various
methods of house numbering.
Animal houses
Birdhouse made to look like a real house
Humans often build houses for domestic or wild animals, often resembling smaller versions of human
domiciles. Familiar animal houses built by humans include birdhouses, henhouses and doghouses, while
housed agricultural animals more often live in barns and stables.
Houses and symbolism
Houses may express the circumstances or opinions of their builders or their inhabitants. Thus, a vast and
elaborate house may serve as a sign of conspicuous wealth whereas a low-profile house built of recycled
materials may indicate support of energy conservation.
Houses of particular historical significance (former residences of the famous, for example, or even just
very old houses) may gain a protected status in town planning as examples of built heritage or of
streetscape. Commemorative plaques may mark such structures.
10]
Idi Amin and Perturbation theory.
Perturbation theory comprises mathematical methods for finding an approximate solution to a problem,
by starting from the exact solution of a related, simpler problem. A critical feature of the technique is a
middle step that breaks the problem into "solvable" and "perturbation" parts.[1] Perturbation theory is
applicable if the problem at hand cannot be solved exactly, but can be formulated by adding a "small"
term to the mathematical description of the exactly solvable problem.
Perturbation theory leads to an expression for the desired solution in terms of a formal power series in
some "small" parameter – known as a perturbation series – that quantifies the deviation from the
exactly solvable problem. The leading term in this power series is the solution of the exactly solvable
problem, while further terms describe the deviation in the solution, due to the deviation from the initial
problem. Formally, we have for the approximation to the full solution A, a series in the small parameter
(here called ε), like the following:
{\displaystyle A=A_{0}+\varepsilon ^{1}A_{1}+\varepsilon
^{2}A_{2}+\cdots }
In this example, A0 would be the known solution to the exactly solvable initial problem
and A1, A2, ... represent the higher-order terms which may be found iteratively by some systematic
procedure. For small ε these higher-order terms in the series become successively smaller.
An approximate "perturbation solution" is obtained by truncating the series, usually by keeping only the
first two terms, the initial solution and the "first-order" perturbation correction
General description
Perturbation theory is closely related to methods used in numerical analysis. The earliest use of what
would now be called perturbation theory was to deal with the otherwise unsolvable mathematical
problems of celestial mechanics: for example the orbit of the Moon, which moves noticeably differently
from a simple Keplerian ellipse because of the competing gravitation of the Earth and the Sun.[2]
Perturbation methods start with a simplified form of the original problem, which is simple enough to be
solved exactly. In celestial mechanics, this is usually a Keplerian ellipse. Under non-relativistic gravity, an
ellipse is exactly correct when there are only two gravitating bodies (say, the Earth and the Moon) but
not quite correct when there are three or more objects (say, the Earth, Moon, Sun, and the rest of
the solar system) and not quite correct when the gravitational interaction is stated using formulations
from General relativity.
The solved, but simplified problem is then "perturbed" to make the conditions that the perturbed
solution actually satisfies closer to the formula in the original problem, such as including the
gravitational attraction of a third body (the Sun). Typically, the "conditions" that represent reality are a
formula (or several) that specifically express some physical law, like Newton's second law, the force-
acceleration equation,
{\displaystyle \mathbf {F} =m\mathbf {a} ~.}
In the case of the example, the force F is calculated based on the number of gravitationally relevant
bodies; the acceleration a is obtained, using calculus, from the path of the Moon in its orbit. Both of
these come in two forms: approximate values for force and acceleration, which result from
simplifications, and hypothetical exact values for force and acceleration, which would require the
complete answer to calculate.
The slight changes that result from accommodating the perturbation, which themselves may have been
simplified yet again, are used as corrections to the approximate solution. Because of simplifications
introduced along every step of the way, the corrections are never perfect, and the conditions met by the
corrected solution do not perfectly match the equation demanded by reality. However, even only one
cycle of corrections often provides an excellent approximate answer to what the real solution should be.
There is no requirement to stop at only one cycle of corrections. A partially corrected solution can be re-
used as the new starting point for yet another cycle of perturbations and corrections. In principle, cycles
of finding increasingly better corrections could go on indefinitely. In practice, one typically stops at one
or two cycles of corrections. The usual difficulty with the method is that the corrections progressively
make the new solutions very much more complicated, so each cycle is much more difficult to manage
than the previous cycle of corrections. Isaac Newton is reported to have said, regarding the problem of
the Moon's orbit, that "It causeth my head to ache."[3]
This general procedure is a widely used mathematical tool in advanced sciences and engineering: start
with a simplified problem and gradually add corrections that make the formula that the corrected
problem becomes a closer and closer match to the original formula.
Examples
Examples for the "mathematical description" are: an algebraic equation,[4] a differential equation (e.g.,
the equations of motion[5] or a wave equation), a free energy (in statistical mechanics), radiative
transfer,[6] a Hamiltonian operator (in quantum mechanics).
Examples for the kind of solution to be found perturbatively: the solution of the equation (e.g.,
the trajectory of a particle), the statistical average of some physical quantity (e.g., average
magnetization), the ground state energy of a quantum mechanical problem.
Examples for the exactly solvable problems to start with: linear equations, including linear equations of
motion (harmonic oscillator, linear wave equation), statistical or quantum-mechanical systems of non-
interacting particles (or in general, Hamiltonians or free energies containing only terms quadratic in all
degrees of freedom).
Examples of "perturbations" to deal with: Nonlinear contributions to the equations of
motion, interactions between particles, terms of higher powers in the Hamiltonian/Free Energy.
For physical problems involving interactions between particles, the terms of the perturbation series may
be displayed (and manipulated) using Feynman diagrams.
Perturbation theory was first devised to solve otherwise intractable problems in the calculation of the
motions of planets in the solar system. For instance, Newton's law of universal gravitation explained the
gravitation between two astronomical bodies, but when a third body is added, the problem was, "How
does each body pull on each?" Newton's equation only allowed the mass of two bodies to be analyzed.
The gradually increasing accuracy of astronomical observations led to incremental demands in the
accuracy of solutions to Newton's gravitational equations, which led several notable 18th and
19th century mathematicians, such as Lagrange and Laplace, to extend and generalize the methods of
perturbation theory. These well-developed perturbation methods were adopted and adapted to solve
new problems arising during the development of quantum mechanics in 20th century atomic and
subatomic physics. Paul Dirac developed perturbation theory in 1927 to evaluate when a particle would
be emitted in radioactive elements. It was later named Fermi's golden rule.[7][8]
Beginnings in the study of planetary motion
Since the planets are very remote from each other, and since their mass is small as compared to the
mass of the Sun, the gravitational forces between the planets can be neglected, and the planetary
motion is considered, to a first approximation, as taking place along Kepler's orbits, which are defined by
the equations of the two-body problem, the two bodies being the planet and the Sun.[9]
Since astronomic data came to be known with much greater accuracy, it became necessary to consider
how the motion of a planet around the Sun is affected by other planets. This was the origin of the three-
body problem; thus, in studying the system Moon–Earth–Sun the mass ratio between the Moon and the
Earth was chosen as the small parameter. Lagrange and Laplace were the first to advance the view that
the constants which describe the motion of a planet around the Sun are "perturbed", as it were, by the
motion of other planets and vary as a function of time; hence the name "perturbation theory".[9]
Perturbation theory was investigated by the classical scholars—Laplace, Poisson, Gauss—as a result of
which the computations could be performed with a very high accuracy. The discovery of the planet
Neptune in 1848 by Urbain Le Verrier, based on the deviations in motion of the planet Uranus (he sent
the coordinates to Johann Gottfried Galle who successfully observed Neptune through his telescope),
represented a triumph of perturbation theory.[9]
Perturbation orders
The standard exposition of perturbation theory is given in terms of the order to which the perturbation
is carried out: first-order perturbation theory or second-order perturbation theory, and whether the
perturbed states are degenerate, which requires singular perturbation. In the singular case extra care
must be taken, and the theory is slightly more elaborate.
In chemistry
Many of the ab initio quantum chemistry methods use perturbation theory directly or are closely related
methods. Implicit perturbation theory[10]works with the complete Hamiltonian from the very beginning
and never specifies a perturbation operator as such. Møller–Plesset perturbation theory uses the
difference between the Hartree–Fock Hamiltonian and the exact non-relativistic Hamiltonian as the
perturbation. The zero-order energy is the sum of orbital energies. The first-order energy is the Hartree–
Fock energy and electron correlation is included at second-order or higher. Calculations to second, third
or fourth order are very common and the code is included in most ab initio quantum chemistry
programs. A related but more accurate method is the coupled cluster method.
International relations
Foreign relations of Uganda
Initially, Amin was supported by Western powers such as Israel, West Germany, United States and, in
particular, Great Britain. During the late 1960s, Obote's move to the left, which included his Common
Man's Charter and the nationalisation of 80 British companies, had made the West worried that he
would pose a threat to Western capitalist interests in Africa and make Uganda an ally of the Soviet
Union. Amin, who had served with the King's African Rifles and taken part in Britain's suppression of
the Mau Mau uprising prior to Ugandan independence, was known by the British as "intensely loyal to
Britain". This made him an obvious choice as Obote's successor. Although some have claimed that Amin
was being groomed for power as early as 1966, the plotting by the British and other Western powers
began in earnest in 1969, after Obote had begun his nationalisation programme.[46]
Following the expulsion of Ugandan Asians in 1972, most of whom were of Indian descent, India
severed diplomatic relations with Uganda. The same year, as part of his "economic war", Amin broke
diplomatic ties with the UK and nationalised all British-owned businesses.[47]
That year, relations with Israel soured. Although Israel had previously supplied Uganda with arms, in
1972 Amin expelled Israeli military advisers and turned to Muammar Gaddafi of Libya and the Soviet
Union for support.[31] Amin became an outspoken critic of Israel.[48] In return, Gaddafi gave financial
aid to Amin.[49] In the 1974 French-produced documentary film General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait,
Amin discussed his plans for war against Israel, using paratroops, bombers, and suicide squadrons.[13]
The Soviet Union became Amin's largest arms supplier.[3] East Germany was involved in the General
Service Unit and the State Research Bureau, the two agencies that were most notorious for terror. Later
during the Ugandan invasion of Tanzania in 1979, East Germany attempted to remove evidence of its
involvement with these agencies.[4]
Photo electric effect
The photoelectric effect is the emission of electrons or other free carriers when light falls on a material.
Electrons emitted in this manner can be called photo electrons. This phenomenon is commonly studied
in electronic physics, as well as in fields of chemistry, such as quantum chemistry or electrochemistry.
According to classical electromagnetic theory, this effect can be attributed to the transfer
of energy from the light to an electron. From this perspective, an alteration in the intensity of light
would induce changes in the kinetic energy of the electrons emitted from the metal. Furthermore,
according to this theory, a sufficiently dim light would be expected to show a time lag between the
initial shining of its light and the subsequent emission of an electron. However, the experimental results
did not correlate with either of the two predictions made by classical theory.[
Instead, electrons are dislodged only by the impingement of photons when those photons reach or
exceed a threshold frequency (energy). Below that threshold, no electrons are emitted from the
material regardless of the light intensity or the length of time of exposure to the light. (Rarely, an
electron will escape by absorbing two or more quanta. However, this is extremely rare because by the
time it absorbs enough quanta to escape, the electron will probably have emitted the rest of the
quanta.) To make sense of the fact that light can eject electrons even if its intensity is low, Albert
Einstein proposed that a beam of light is not a wave propagating through space, but rather a collection
of discrete wave packets (photons), each with energy hν. This shed light on Max Planck's previous
discovery of the Planck relation (E = hν) linking energy (E) and frequency (ν) as arising from quantization
of energy. The factor h is known as the Planck constant.[1][2]
In 1887, Heinrich Hertz[2][3] discovered that electrodes illuminated with ultraviolet light create electric
sparks more easily. In 1900, while studying black-body radiation, the German physicist Max
Planck suggested that the energy carried by electromagnetic waves could only be released in "packets"
of energy. In 1905, Albert Einsteinpublished a paper advancing the hypothesis that light energy is carried
in discrete quantized packets to explain experimental data from the photoelectric effect. This model
contributed to the development of quantum mechanics. In 1914, Millikan's experiment supported
Einstein's model of the photoelectric effect. Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921 for "his
discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect",[4] and Robert Millikan was awarded the Nobel Prize in
1923 for "his work on the elementary charge of electricity and on the photoelectric effect".[5]
The photoelectric effect requires photons with energies approaching zero (in the case of negative
electron affinity) to over 1 MeV for core electrons in elements with a high atomic number. Emission of
conduction electrons from typical metals usually requires a few electron-volts, corresponding to short-
wavelength visible or ultraviolet light. Study of the photoelectric effect led to important steps in
understanding the quantum nature of light and electrons and influenced the formation of the concept
of wave–particle duality.[1] Other phenomena where light affects the movement of electric charges
include the photoconductive effect (also known as photoconductivity or photoresistivity),
the photovoltaic effect, and the photoelectrochemical effect.
Photoemission can occur from any material, but it is most easily observable from metals or other
conductors because the process produces a charge imbalance, and if this charge imbalance is not
neutralized by current flow (enabled by conductivity), the potential barrier to emission increases until
the emission current ceases. It is also usual to have the emitting surface in a vacuum, since gases impede
the flow of photoelectrons and make them difficult to observe. Additionally, the energy barrier to
photoemission is usually increased by thin oxide layers on metal surfaces if the metal has been exposed
to oxygen, so most practical experiments and devices based on the photoelectric effect use clean metal
surfaces in a vacuum.
Portrayal in media and literature
Film and television dramatisations
Victory at Entebbe (1976), a TV film about Operation Entebbe. Julius Harris plays Amin. Godfrey
Cambridge was originally cast as Amin, but died of a heart attack on the set. Amin commented on
Cambridge's death, saying that it was "a good example of punishment by God".[89]
Raid on Entebbe (1977), a film depicting the events of Operation Entebbe. Yaphet Kotto portrays Amin
as a charismatic, but short-tempered political and military leader.
In Mivtsa Yonatan (1977; also known as Operation Thunderbolt), an Israeli film about Operation
Entebbe, Jamaican-born British actor Mark Heath portrays Amin, who in this film is first angered by the
Palestinian terrorists whom he later comes to support.
Comedian Richard Pryor portrayed a parodied version of Amin in his namesake show in 1977.[90]
Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (1981), a film recreating Idi Amin's atrocities. Amin is played by Kenyan
actor Joseph Olita.
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988), a comedy film in which Amin, portrayed by
Prince Hughes in a cameo appearance, is one of the real-life figures in the Beirut meeting where he
helps plan an attack on the United States at the beginning of the movie. Frank Drebininjures Amin's
hand after blocking a punch with a spittoon, and uses it to knock Amin out a window.
Mississippi Masala (1991), a film depicting the resettlement of an Indian family after the expulsion of
Asians from Uganda by Idi Amin. Joseph Olita again plays Amin in a cameo.
The Last King of Scotland (2006), a film adaptation of Giles Foden's 1998 novel of the same name. For his
portrayal of Idi Amin, Forest Whitaker won the Academy Award, British Academy Film Award, Broadcast
Film Critics Association Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award, thus becoming the
fourth black actor to win the Oscar for Best Actor.
7 Days in Entebbe (2018), a British film about Operation Entebbe in which Amin is portrayed by Nonso
Anozie.
NBC-TV's Saturday Night Live did some comedy sketches of Idi Amin portrayed by comedian Garrett
Morris in the 1970s. The most memorable one was a parody of President Jimmy Carter's national
telephone call-in which Idi Amin was doing his version having a tied-up Walter Cronkite during the
broadcast. Everyone called asking what happened to their relative that got arrested or taken away and
Idi Amin always replied, "Simple, they were killed in an auto accident."
Documentaries
General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait (1974), directed by French filmmaker Barbet Schroeder.
Idi Amin: Monster in Disguise (1997), a television documentary directed by Greg Baker.
The Man Who Ate His Archbishop's Liver? (2004), a television documentary written, produced, and
directed by Elizabeth C. Jones for Associated-Rediffusion and Channel 4.
The Man Who Stole Uganda (1971), World In Action first broadcast 5 April 1971.
Inside Idi Amin's Terror Machine (1979), World In Action first broadcast 13 June 1979.
A Day in the Life of a Dictator (2013), directed by Hendrick Dusollier
On the Spot (2014), a television documentary series featuring an interview with Amin's son Jaffar
Innocents Betrayed (2003), directed by Aaron Zelman
Dictators Rulebook, by National Geographic[91][92][93]
Books
State of Blood: The Inside Story of Idi Amin (1977) by Henry Kyemba
The General Is Up by Peter Nazareth
Ghosts of Kampala: The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (1980) by George Ivan Smith
The Last King of Scotland (1998) by Giles Foden (fictional)
Idi Amin Dada: Hitler in Africa (1977) by Thomas Patrick Melady
General Amin (1975) by David Martin
I Love Idi Amin: The Story of Triumph under Fire in the Midst of Suffering and Persecution in
Uganda (1977) by Festo Kivengere
Confessions of Idi Amin: The chilling, explosive expose of Africa's most evil man – in his own
words (1977) compiled by Trevor Donald
Culture of the Sepulchre (2012) by Madanjeet Singh (former Indian Ambassador to Uganda), ISBN 0-670-
08573-1[94]
Music and audio
"Idi Amin – the Amazin' Man song" (1975) by John Bird
"Idi Amin" (1978) by Mighty Sparrow
"Idi Amin" (1978) by Black Randy and the Metrosquad
"Ide A Mim Dadá" (1979) by Raul Seixas
"Springtime in Uganda" (2004) by Blaze Foley (posthumous release)
The Collected Broadcasts of Idi Amin (1975) based on The Collected Bulletins of President Idi
Amin (1974) and Further Bulletins of President Idi Amin (1975) by Alan Coren, portraying Amin as an
amiable, if murderous, buffoon in charge of a tin-pot dictatorship. It was a British comedy album
parodying Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, released in 1975 on Transatlantic Records. Performed by John Bird
and written by Alan Coren, it was based on columns he wrote for Punch magazine
Barron Pierre De Coubertin.
Charles Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin (French: [pjɛʁ də kubɛʁtɛ]̃ ; born Pierre de Frédy; 1 January
1863 – 2 September 1937, also known as Pierre de Coubertin and Baron de Coubertin) was a French educator
and historian, founder of the International Olympic Committee, and its second President. He is known as the
father of the modern Olympic Games.
Born into a French aristocratic family, he became an academic and studied a broad range of topics, most
notably education and history. He graduated with a degree in law and public affairs Paris Institute of Political
Studies (Sciences Po).[1] It was at Sciences Po that he came up with the idea of the Summer Olympic Games. [2]
The Pierre de Coubertin medal (also known as the Coubertin medal or the True Spirit of Sportsmanship medal)
is an award given by the International Olympic Committee to athletes who demonstrate the spirit
of sportsmanship in the Olympic Games.
His Excellency
The Baron of Coubertin
2nd President of the IOC
Early life
Pierre de Frédy was born in Paris on 1 January 1863, into an aristocratic family. [3] He was the fourth child of
Baron Charles Louis de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin and Marie–Marcelle Gigault de Crisenoy.[4] Family tradition
held that the Frédy name had first arrived in France in the early 15th century, and the first recorded title of
nobility granted to the family was given by Louis XI to an ancestor, also named Pierre de Frédy, in 1477. But
other branches of his family tree delved even further into French history, and the annals of both sides of his
family included nobles of various stations, military leaders and associates of kings and princes of France. [5]
Arms of House Coubertin
His father Charles was a staunch royalist and accomplished artist whose paintings were displayed and given
prizes at the Parisian salon, at least in those years when he was not absent in protest of the rise to power
of Louis Napoleon. His paintings often centred on themes related to the Roman Catholic Church, classicism,
and nobility, which reflected those things he thought most important. [6] In a later semi-fictional autobiographical
piece called Le Roman d'un rallié, Coubertin describes his relationship with both his mother and his father as
having been somewhat strained during his childhood and adolescence. His memoirs elaborated further,
describing as a pivotal moment his disappointment upon meeting Henri, Count of Chambord, whom the elder
Coubertin believed to be the rightful king
Pierre de Coubertin as a child (right), with one of his sisters, painted by his father Charles Louis de Frédy, Baron de
Coubertin (detail of Le Départ, 1869).
.[7]
Coubertin grew up in a time of profound change in France: France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War,
the Paris Commune, and the establishment of the French Third Republic, and later the Dreyfus affair.[8] But
while these events were the setting of his childhood, his school experiences were just as formative. In October
1874, his parents enrolled him in a new Jesuit school called Externat de la rue de Vienne, which was still under
construction for his first five years there. While many of the school's attendees were day students, Coubertin
boarded at the school under the supervision of a Jesuit priest, which his parents hoped would instill him with a
strong moral and religious education.[9] There, he was among the top three students in his class, and was an
officer of the school's elite academy made up of its best and brightest. This suggests that despite his
rebelliousness at home, Coubertin adapted well to the strict rigors of a Jesuit education. [10]
As an aristocrat, Coubertin had a number of career paths from which to choose, including potentially prominent
roles in the military or politics. But he chose instead to pursue a career as an intellectual, studying and later
writing on a broad range of topics, including education, history, literature and sociology. [3]
Educational philosophy
The subject which he seems to have been most deeply interested in was education, and his study focused in
particular on physical education and the role of sport in schooling. In 1883, he visited England for the first time,
and studied the program of physical education instituted by Thomas Arnold at the Rugby School. Coubertin
credited these methods with leading to the expansion of British power during the 19th century and advocated
their use in French institutions. The inclusion of physical education in the curriculum of French schools would
become an ongoing pursuit and passion of Coubertin's. [3]
Coubertin is thought to have exaggerated the importance of sport to Thomas Arnold, whom he viewed as "one
of the founders of athletic chivalry". The character-reforming influence of sport with which Coubertin was so
impressed is more likely to have originated in the novel Tom Brown's School Days rather than exclusively in the
ideas of Arnold himself. Nonetheless, Coubertin was an enthusiast in need of a cause and he found it in
England and in Thomas Arnold.[11] "Thomas Arnold, the leader and classic model of English educators," wrote
Coubertin, "gave the precise formula for the role of athletics in education. The cause was quickly won. Playing
fields sprang up all over England".[12]
Intrigued by what he had read about English public schools, in 1883, at the age of twenty, Frédy went to Rugby
and to other English schools to see for himself. He described the results in a book, L'Education en Angleterre,
which was published in Paris in 1888. This hero of his book is Thomas Arnold, and on his second visit in 1886,
Coubertin reflected on Arnold's influence in the chapel at Rugby School. [13]
What Coubertin saw on the playing fields of Rugby and the other English schools he visited was how
"organised sport can create moral and social strength".[14] Not only did organised games help to set the mind
and body in equilibrium, it also prevented the time being wasted in other ways. First developed by the ancient
Greeks, it was an approach to education that he felt the rest of the world had forgotten and to whose revival he
was to dedicate the rest of his life.
As a historian and a thinker on education, Coubertin romanticised ancient Greece. Thus, when he began to
develop his theory of physical education, he naturally looked to the example set by the Athenian idea of
the gymnasium, a training facility that simultaneously encouraged physical and intellectual development. He
saw in these gymnasia what he called a triple unity between old and young, between disciplines, and between
different types of people, meaning between those whose work was theoretical and those whose work was
practical. Coubertin advocated for these concepts, this triple unity, to be incorporated into schools. [15]
But while Coubertin was certainly a romantic, and while his idealised vision of ancient Greece would lead him
later to the idea of reviving the Olympic Games, his advocacy for physical education was based on practical
concerns as well. He believed that men who received physical education would be better prepared to fight in
wars, and better able to win conflicts like the Franco-Prussian War, in which France had been humiliated. He
also saw sport as democratic, in that sports competition crossed class lines, although it did so without causing
a mingling of classes, which he did not support. [15]
Unfortunately for Coubertin, his efforts to incorporate more physical education into French schools failed. The
failure of this endeavour, however, was closely followed by the development of a new idea, the revival of
the ancient Olympic Games, the creation of a festival of international athleticism. [15]
He was the referee of the first ever French championship rugby union final on 20 March 1892, between Racing
Club de France and Stade Français.[16]
Reviving the Olympic Games
Main article: Olympic Games
Coubertin is the instigator of the modern Olympic movement, a man whose vision and political skill led to the
revival of the Olympic Games which had been practised in antiquity. [3] Coubertin idealized the Olympic Games
as the ultimate ancient athletic competition.[15]
Thomas Arnold, the Head Master of Rugby School, was an important influence on Coubertin's thoughts about
education, but his meetings with William Penny Brookes also influenced his thinking about athletic competition
to some extent. A trained physician, Brookes believed that the best way to prevent illness was through physical
exercise. In 1850, he had initiated a local athletic competition that he referred to as "Meetings of the Olympian
Class"[17] at the Gaskell recreation ground at Much Wenlock, Shropshire.[18] Along with the Liverpool Athletic
Club, who began holding their own Olympic Festival in the 1860s, Brookes created a National Olympian
Association which aimed to encourage such local competition in cities across Britain. These efforts were largely
ignored by the British sporting establishment. Brookes also maintained communication with the government
and sporting advocates in Greece, seeking a revival of the Olympic Games internationally under the auspices
of the Greek government.[19] There, the philanthropist cousins Evangelos and Konstantinos Zappas had used
their wealth to fund Olympics within Greece, and paid for the restoration of the Panathinaiko Stadium that was
later used during the 1896 Summer Olympics.[20] The efforts of Brookes to encourage the internationalization of
these games came to naught.[19] However, Dr. Brookes did organize a national Olympic Games in London, at
Crystal Palace, in 1866 and this was the first Olympics to resemble an Olympic Games to be held outside of
Greece.[21] But while others had created Olympic contests within their countries, and broached the idea of
international competition, it was Coubertin whose work would lead to the establishment of the International
Olympic Committee and the organisation of the first modern Olympic Games. [20]
In 1888, Coubertin founded the Comité pour la Propagation des Exercises Physiques more well known as the
Comité Jules Simon. Coubertin's earliest reference to the modern notion of Olympic Games criticizes the idea.
[22]
The idea for reviving the Olympic Games as an international competition came to Coubertin in 1889,
apparently independently of Brookes, and he spent the following five years organizing an international meeting
of athletes and sports enthusiasts that might make it happen.[15] Dr Brookes had organised a national Olympic
Games that was held at Crystal Palace in London in 1866. [21] In response to a newspaper appeal, Brookes
wrote to Coubertin in 1890, and the two began an exchange of letters on education and sport. Although he was
too old to attend the 1894 Congress, Brookes would continue to support Coubertin's efforts, most importantly
by using his connections with the Greek government to seek its support in the endeavour. While Brookes'
contribution to the revival of the Olympic Games was recognised in Britain at the time, Coubertin in his later
writings largely neglected to mention the role the Englishman played in their development. [23] He did mention the
roles of Evangelis Zappas and his cousin Konstantinos Zappas, but drew a distinction between their founding
of athletic Olympics and his own role in the creation of an international contest. [20] However, Coubertin together
with A. Mercatis, a close friend of Konstantinos, encouraged the Greek government to utilise part of
Konstantinos' legacy to fund the 1896 Athens Olympic Games separately and in addition to the legacy of
Evangelis Zappas that Konstantinos had been executor of. [24][25][26] Moreover, George Averoff was invited by the
Greek government to fund the second refurbishment of the Panathinaiko Stadium that had already been fully
funded by Evangelis Zappas forty years earlier.[27]
Coubertin's advocacy for the Games centred on a number of ideals about sport. He believed that the early
ancient Olympics encouraged competition among amateur rather than professional athletes, and saw value in
that. The ancient practice of a sacred truce in association with the Games might have modern implications,
giving the Olympics a role in promoting peace. This role was reinforced in Coubertin's mind by the tendency of
athletic competition to promote understanding across cultures, thereby lessening the dangers of war. In
addition, he saw the Games as important in advocating his philosophical ideal for athletic competition: that the
competition itself, the struggle to overcome one's opponent, was more important than winning. [28] Coubertin
expressed this ideal thus:
L'important dans la vie ce n'est point le triomphe, mais le combat, l'essentiel ce n'est pas d'avoir vaincu mais
de s'être bien battu.
The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle, the essential thing is not to have conquered but to
have fought well.
As Coubertin prepared for his Congress, he continued to develop a philosophy of the Olympic Games. While
he certainly intended the Games to be a forum for competition between amateur athletes, his conception of
amateurism was complex. By 1894, the year the Congress was held, he publicly criticised the type of amateur
competition embodied in English rowing contests, arguing that its specific exclusion of working-class athletes
was wrong. While he believed that athletes should not be paid to be such, he did think that compensation was
in order for the time when athletes were competing and would otherwise have been earning money. Following
the establishment of a definition for an amateur athlete at the 1894 Congress, he would continue to argue that
this definition should be amended as necessary, and as late as 1909 would argue that the Olympic movement
should develop its definition of amateurism gradually.[29]
Along with the development of an Olympic philosophy, Coubertin invested time in the creation and
development of a national association to coordinate athletics in France, the Union des Sociétés Françaises de
Sports Athlétiques (USFSA). In 1889, French athletics associations had grouped together for the first time and
Coubertin founded a monthly magazine La Revue Athletique, the first French periodical devoted exclusively to
athletics[30] and modelled on The Athlete, an English journal established around 1862.[31] Formed by seven
sporting societies with approximately 800 members, by 1892 the association had expanded to 62 societies with
7,000 members.[32]
That November, at the annual meeting of the USFSA, Coubertin first publicly suggested the idea of reviving the
Olympics. His speech met general applause, but little commitment to the Olympic ideal he was advocating for,
perhaps because sporting associations and their members tended to focus on their own area of expertise and
had little identity as sportspeople in a general sense. This disappointing result was prelude to a number of
challenges he would face in organising his international conference. In order to develop support for the
conference, he began to play down its role in reviving Olympic Games and instead promoted it as a conference
on amateurism in sport which, he thought, was slowly being eroded by betting and sponsorships. This led to
later suggestions that participants were convinced to attend under false pretenses. Little interest was
expressed by those he spoke to during trips to the United States in 1893 and London in 1894, and an attempt
to involve the Germans angered French gymnasts who did not want the Germans invited at all. Despite these
challenges, the USFSA continued its planning for the games, adopting in its first program for the meeting eight
articles to address, only one of which had to do with the Olympics. A later program would give the Olympics a
much more prominent role in the meeting.[33]
The congress was held on 23 June 1894 at the Sorbonne in Paris. Once there, participants divided the
congress into two commissions, one on amateurism and the other on reviving the Olympics. A Greek
participant, Demetrius Vikelas, was appointed to head the commission on the Olympics, and would later
become the first President of the International Olympic Committee. Along with Coubertin, C. Herbert of
Britain's Amateur Athletic Association and W.M. Sloane of the United States helped lead the efforts of the
commission. In its report, the commission proposed that Olympic Games be held every four years and that the
program for the Games be one of modern rather than ancient sports. They also set the date and location for the
first modern Olympic Games, the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, and the second, the 1900
Summer Olympics in Paris. Coubertin had originally opposed the choice of Greece, as he had concerns about
the ability of a weakened Greek state to host the competition, but was convinced by Vikelas to support the idea.
The commission's proposals were accepted unanimously by the congress, and the modern Olympic movement
was officially born. The proposals of the other commission, on amateurism, were more contentious, but this
commission also set important precedents for the Olympic Games, specifically the use of heats to narrow
participants and the banning of prize money in most contests.[34]
Following the Congress, the institutions created there began to be formalized into the International Olympic
Committee (IOC), with Demetrius Vikelas as its first President. The work of the IOC increasingly focused on the
planning the 1896 Athens Games, and de Coubertin played a background role as Greek authorities took the
lead in logistical organisation of the Games in Greece itself, offering technical advice such as a sketch of a
design of a velodrome to be used in cycling competitions. He also took the lead in planning the program of
events, although to his disappointment neither polo, football, or boxing were included in 1896.[35] The Greek
organizing committee had been informed that four foreign football teams were to participate however not one
foreign football team showed up and despite Greek preparations for a football tournament it was cancelled
during the Games.[36]
The Greek authorities were frustrated that he could not provide an exact estimate of the number of attendees
more than a year in advance. In France, Coubertin's efforts to elicit interest in the Games among athletes and
the press met difficulty, largely because the participation of German athletes angered French nationalists who
begrudged Germany their victory in the Franco-Prussian War. Germany also threatened not to participate after
rumours spread that Coubertin had sworn to keep Germany out, but following a letter to the Kaiser denying the
accusation, the German National Olympic Committee decided to attend. Coubertin himself was frustrated by
the Greeks, who increasingly ignored him in their planning and who wanted to continue to hold the Games in
Athens every four years, against de Coubertin's wishes. The conflict was resolved after he suggested to the
King of Greece that he hold pan-Hellenic games in between Olympiads, an idea which the King accepted,
although Coubertin would receive some angry correspondence even after the compromise was reached and
the King did not mention him at all during the banquet held in honour of foreign athletes during the 1896
Games.[37]
Coubertin took over the IOC presidency when Demetrius Vikelas stepped down after the Olympics in his own
country. Despite the initial success, the Olympic Movement faced hard times, as the 1900 (in De Coubertin's
own Paris) and 1904 Games were both swallowed by World's Fairs in the same cities, and received little
attention. The Paris Games were not organised by Coubertin or the IOC nor were they called Olympics at that
time. The St. Louis Games was hardly internationalized.[38]
President of the International Olympic Committee
The 1906 Summer Olympics revived the momentum, and the Olympic Games have come to be regarded as
the world's foremost sports competition.[39] Coubertin created the modern pentathlon for the 1912 Olympics, and
subsequently stepped down from his IOC presidency after the 1924 Olympics in Paris, which proved much
more successful than the first attempt in that city in 1900. He was succeeded as president, in 1925, by
Belgian Henri de Baillet-Latour.
Years later Coubertin came out of retirement to lend his prestige to assisting Berlin to land the 1936 games. In
exchange, Germany nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. The 1935 winner, however, was the anti-
Nazi Carl von Ossietzky.[40]
Personal Olympic success
Coubertin won the gold medal for literature at the 1912 Summer Olympics for his poem Ode to Sport.[41]
Scouting
In 1911, Pierre de Coubertin founded the inter-religious Scouting organisation aka Éclaireurs Français (EF) in
France, which later merged to form the Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs de France.[citation needed]
Personal life
In 1895 Pierre de Coubertin had married Marie Rothan, the daughter of family friends. Their son Jacques
(1896–1952) became ill after being in the sun too long when he was a little child. Their daughter Renée (1902–
1968) suffered emotional disturbances and never married. Marie and Pierre tried to console themselves with
two nephews, but they were killed at the front in World War I. Coubertin died of a heart attack in Geneva,
Switzerland on 2 September 1937. Marie died in 1963.[42][43][44]
Later life
Pierre was the last person to the family name. In the words of his biographer John MacAloon, "The last of his
lineage, Pierre de Coubertin was the only member of it whose fame would outlive him." [45]
Criticism
Statue at Lausanne
A number of scholars have criticized Coubertin's legacy. David C. Young believes that Coubertin's assertion
that ancient Olympic athletes were amateurs was incorrect. [46] The issue is the subject of scholarly debate.
Young and others argue that the athletes of the ancient Games were professional, while opponents led by
Pleket argue that the earliest Olympic athletes were in fact amateur, and that the Games only became
professionalized after about 480 BC. Coubertin agreed with this latter view, and saw this professionalization as
undercutting the morality of the competition. [47]
Further, Young asserts that the effort to limit international competition to amateur athletes, which Coubertin was
a part of, was in fact part of efforts to give the upper classes greater control over athletic competition, removing
such control from the working classes. Coubertin may have played a role in such a movement, but his
defenders argue that he did so unconscious of any class repercussions. [28]
However, it is clear that his romanticized vision of the Olympic Games was fundamentally different from that
described in the historical record. For example, Coubertin's idea that participation is more important than
winning ("L'important c'est de participer") is at odds with the ideals of the Greeks. The Apostle Paul, writing in
the first century to Christians in the city of Corinth where the Isthmian Games were held, reflects this in his
writings when he says, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in
such a way as to get the prize" (1 Corinthians 9:24).
Coubertin's assertion that the Games were the impetus for peace was also an exaggeration; the peace which
he spoke of only existed to allow athletes to travel safely to Olympia, and neither prevented the outbreak of
wars nor ended ongoing ones.[28]
Scholars have critiqued the idea that athletic competition might lead to greater understanding between cultures
and, therefore, to peace. Christopher Hill claims that modern participants in the Olympic movement may defend
this particular belief, "in a spirit similar to that in which the Church of England remains attached to the Thirty-
Nine Articles of Religion, which a Priest in that Church must sign." In other words, that they may not wholly
believe it but hold to it for historical reasons. [29]
Questions have also been raised about the veracity of Coubertin's account of his role in the planning of the
1896 Athens Games. Reportedly, Coubertin played little role in planning, despite entreaties by Vikelas. Young
suggests that the story about Coubertin's having sketched the velodrome were untrue, and that he had in fact
given an interview in which he suggested he did not want Germans to participate. Coubertin later denied this. [48]
Legacy
Pierre de Coubertin on a 2013 Russian stamp from the series "Sports Legends"
The Olympic motto Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger) was proposed by Coubertin in 1894 and
has been official since 1924. The motto was coined by Henri Didon OP, a friend of Coubertin, for a Paris youth
gathering of 1891.[49][50]
The Pierre de Coubertin medal (also known as the Coubertin medal or the True Spirit of Sportsmanship medal)
is an award given by the International Olympic Committee to those athletes that demonstrate the spirit
of sportsmanship in the Olympic Games. This medal is considered by many athletes and spectators to be the
highest award that an Olympic athlete can receive, even greater than a gold medal. The International Olympic
Committee considers it as its highest honour.[51]
A minor planet, 2190 Coubertin, was discovered in 1976 by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich
Chernykh and is named in his honour.[52]
The street where the Olympic Stadium in Montreal is located (which hosted the 1976 Summer Olympic Games)
was named after Pierre de Coubertin, giving the stadium the address 4549 Pierre de Coubertin Avenue. It is
the only Olympic Stadium in the world that lies on a street named after Coubertin. There are also two schools in
Montreal named after Pierre de Coubertin.[53][54]
He was portrayed by Louis Jourdan in the 1984 NBC miniseries, The First Olympics: Athens 1896.[55]
In 2007, he was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame for his services to the sport of rugby union.[56]
List of works
This is a listing of Pierre de Coubertin's books. In addition to these, he wrote numerous articles for journals and
magazines:[57][58]
Une Campagne de 21 ans. Paris: Librairie de l'Éducation Physique. 1908.
Coubertin, Pierre de (1900–1906). La Chronique de France (7 vols.). Auxerre and Paris: Lanier. pp. 7
v.
L'Éducation anglaise en France. Paris: Hachette. 1889.
L'Éducation en Angleterre. Paris: Hachette. 1888.
Essais de psychologie sportive. Lausanne: Payot. 1913.
L'Évolution française sous la Troisième République. Études d'histoire contemporaine. Paris: Hachette.
1896.
France Since 1814. New York: Macmillan. 1900. Retrieved 27 February 2018 – via Internet Archive.
La Gymnastique utilitaire. Paris: Alcan. 1905.
Histoire universelle (4 vols.). Aix-en-Provence: Société de l'histoire universelle. 1919.
Mémoires olympiques. Lausanne: Bureau international de pédagogie sportive. 1931.
Notes sur l'éducation publique. Paris: Hachette. 1901.
Pages d'histoire contemporaine. Paris: Plon. 1908.
Pédagogie sportive. Paris: Crés. 1922.
Le Respect Mutuel. Paris: Alean. 1915.
Souvenirs d'Amérique et de Grèce. Paris: Hachette. 1897.
Universités transatlantiques. Paris: Hachette. 1890.
Daniel Bryan
Bryan Lloyd Danielson (born May 22, 1981) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed
to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Daniel Bryan.
In WWE, Bryan held the WWE Championship[Note 1] four times and WWE's World Heavyweight
Championship once, in addition to being a one-time United States Champion, a one-
time Intercontinental Champion, a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion as part of Team Hell
No (with Kane), and a one-time SmackDown Tag Team Champion (with Rowan). He was also
the 2011 SmackDown Money in the Bank winner, the 2013 Superstar of the Year Slammy
Award winner and the SmackDown General Manager from July 18, 2016 to April 10, 2018. Bryan is
the 26th Triple Crown Champion and the 6th Grand Slam Champion in WWE history and headlined
several major pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania XXX.
Danielson was previously signed to WWE, then known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF),
for an 18-month period from 2000–2001, and made additional uncontracted appearances for the
promotion until 2003. Prior to joining WWE for his third stint in 2009, Danielson wrestled for various
companies internationally using both his real name and the ring name American Dragon, which later
became his nickname.[5][6] David Shoemaker of ESPN's Grantland noted that Danielson "was widely
regarded as the best wrestler in the world before he got the call-up from WWE". [7] He wrestled
for Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2002 to 2009, being recognized as a "Founding Father" of the
promotion, where he was a one-time ROH World Champion as well as the final Pure Wrestling
Champion (unifying the Pure title with the World title). He was the first winner of ROH's
annual Survival of the Fittest tournament in 2004.
Danielson also wrestled extensively in Japan, winning the GHC Junior Heavyweight
Championship in Pro Wrestling Noah and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team
Championship (with Curry Man) in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Between WWE, ROH and
Japanese promotions, he held a dozen total championships. Danielson also won numerous titles on
the independent circuit, including two PWG World Championships, the FIP Heavyweight
Championship and the wXw World Heavyweight Championship. From May 2014 to December 2014
and from April 2015 to March 2018, Bryan was either injured or recovering from injury. In February
2016, Danielson retired from professional wrestling due to medical issues (including seizures) arising
from multiple concussions and a brain lesion. That July, he became the SmackDown General
Manager following the return of the brand extension. In March 2018, Bryan was formally cleared by
doctors and returned to in-ring competition at WrestleMania 34. He regained the WWE
Championship for the first time in four years later that November.
Daniel Bryan
Bryan in October 2016
Birth name Bryan Lloyd Danielson
Born May 22, 1981 (age 38)
Aberdeen, Washington, U.S.
Brie Bella
Spouse(s) (m. 2014)
Children 1
Relatives Nikki Bella (sister-in-law)
John Laurinaitis (stepfather-in-law)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) American Dragon
Bryan Danielson[1]
Daniel Bryan
Daniel Wyatt[2]
Dynamic Dragon[3]
Billed height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1]
Billed weight 210 lb (95 kg)[1]
Billed from Aberdeen, Washington[1]
Rudy Boy Gonzalez
Trained by
Shawn Michaels[4]
Texas Wrestling Academy[4][5]
Debut 1999[5][6]
Early life
Bryan Lloyd Danielson was born on May 22, 1981, in Aberdeen, Washington,[5] the son of a
lumberjack father and a therapist mother who divorced when he was young. He has referred to his
teenage self as antisocial, but he still competed in sports such as American football in high school.
[8]
During his childhood, he became a fan of professional wrestling after looking through a wrestling
magazine with a friend.[9]
Danielson has cited a number of wrestlers as influences to his style including Toshiaki
Kawada, Mitsuharu Misawa, and William Regal.[10] He has also made mention of modeling his
wrestling on that of Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit in his early career, then using Brazilian jiu-
jitsu as a platform to develop his own style.[11]
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1999–2000)
During his sophomore year of high school, Danielson decided to pursue a professional
wrestling career and attempted to train at Dean Malenko's wrestling school in Florida. However, by
the time he graduated from school in 1999, Malenko's school had closed down. Following a friend's
suggestion, he instead began training under Rudy Gonzalez and veteran wrestler Shawn
Michaels at the Texas Wrestling Academy (TWA) in San Antonio, Texas.[12] After his wrestling debut
in December 1999,[5] Danielson toured Japan with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW)
alongside Lance Cade, a fellow trainee from the TWA, and they competed in several tag team
matches.[13] He won the TWA Tag Team Championship with Spanky in March 2000, but
they dropped the titles back to Jeremy Sage and Ruben Cruz two weeks later. [14]
World Wrestling Federation (2000–2001)
While touring the country's independent circuit, Danielson was signed to a developmental deal by
the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to work in their developmental system and was assigned
to Memphis Championship Wrestling (MCW), where he gained exposure and was trained by WWF
competitor William Regal, whom he credited as being instrumental in the development of his career.
[4]
During this time, he adopted his moniker of the "American Dragon". [15] WWF severed its ties with
MCW in 2001, but not before Danielson won the MCW Light Heavyweight Championship and the
MCW Tag Team Championship with Spanky.[5] After 18 months with the company, he was released
from his WWF contract in July 2001. Danielson revealed in his 2015 autobiography that he was
close to being called up to the main roster during the 2001 Royal Rumble match: he explained that
the WWF thought of using him as one of their key figures in the newly created cruiserweight division,
which was inspired by World Championship Wrestling (WCW).[citation needed]
Japan (2001–2004)
Danielson went to Japan after his release from the WWF, competing in Japan's premier
promotion, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he used his American Dragon persona and
donned a red, white and blue mask reminiscent of a dragon.[citation needed] As a part of the junior
heavyweight division, Danielson had success in both singles and tag team competition in the
company, winning (without wearing a mask) the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team
Championship with Curry Man on March 12, 2004.[16]
Return to WWE (2002–2003)
In 2002, Danielson wrestled two matches for the renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
despite not being a contracted performer for the company. He was quickly defeated by both Sean
O'Haire and Little Guido in his two appearances.[17] He went on to make four additional non-
contracted appearances for WWE in 2003 on its secondary shows, Velocity and Heat, initially
as enhancement talent before being allowed to compete in longer matches; he wrestled Jamie
Noble at a Velocity taping in January, Rico at a Heat taping in February, John Cena at
a Velocity taping also in February, and made his final appearance in November in a tag team match
against Paul London and Spanky at a Velocity taping, in which he was partnered with John Walters.
This was his final appearance for the promotion for over five years.
Ring of Honor
Founding father (2002–2005)
Danielson posing in 2004
In 2002, Danielson joined the independent promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is
acknowledged as a "Founding Father" of the company. [18] On February 22, he competed in the main
event of the company's debut event, The Era of Honor Begins, in a three-way
match against Christopher Daniels and Low Ki.[19] One of his matches with Austin Aries, performed
on August 7, 2004 at Testing the Limit, lasted seventy-four minutes before Aries was finally declared
the victor.[20] One of the more notable rivalries he had in the early years in the company was
with Homicide, as the two fought numerous matches with a variety of stipulations, culminating in
a steel cage match on May 13, 2005 at The Final Showdown, where Danielson was victorious. [21]
Despite winning the company's inaugural Survival of the Fittest tournament in 2004,[22] Bryan did not
win a ROH title. In 2005, Danielson explained in the company's newsletter, The ROH Newswire, that
he had quit ROH after being frustrated by his inability to defeat Austin Aries for the ROH World
Championship. It was later revealed Danielson had become frustrated in general with professional
wrestling and planned to take some time off to evaluate his career options. [23] However, Danielson
had several dates booked in Europe and Japan, leading fans to believe that the periodical was likely
a storyline claim for Danielson's absence during this period.
ROH World Champion (2005–2006)
Danielson defeated James Gibson for the ROH World Championship at Glory by Honor IV on
September 15, 2005.[5][24][25] The rest of the year saw Danielson have successful title defenses even
against wrestlers from other companies, such as Pro Wrestling Noah star Naomichi Marufuji at Final
Battle on December 17.[26]
At the beginning of 2006, Chris Hero, a representative from Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), invaded
ROH and targeted Danielson—the two exchanged words over the internet before having a match
together, with nearly the entire roster of both companies embarking on an interpromotional feud.
[27]
Danielson became personally invested in this feud and invaded CZW himself, which led to him
having physical altercations with a number of CZW wrestlers. [28] Hero intensified the rivalry, leading to
the two wrestling at ROH's Hell Freezes Over event on January 14, where Danielson successfully
defended the ROH World Championship.[29] On July 15 at Death Before Dishonor IV, he soon filled
the vacant slot on ROH's five-man team which participated in one of CZW's more popular
attractions, a steel cage match called the Cage of Death, a ten-man tag team match in which a man
from each team starts in the cage and a random wrestler enters periodically thereafter. During the
match, Danielson turned on his team by assaulting his rival Samoa Joe before leaving the match
and effectively abandoning his involvement in the animosity between the two promotions. [citation needed] As
the interpromotional hostility with CZW heightened, Danielson also defended against challengers
from the rival company, who had signed an open contract for any CZW wrestler willing to challenge
for the ROH World Championship. Former champion Samoa Joe also challenged Danielson at Fight
of the Century on August 5, but their match ended in a 60-minute draw.[citation needed]
Danielson in the ring in 2006
While having the ROH World Championship, ROH faced the issue of having another title with
seemingly equal value, the ROH Pure Championship. Danielson and the ROH Pure Champion Nigel
McGuinness had a match to unify the titles. They met at April 29 in a match fought under pure
wrestling rules and McGuinness left Danielson outside the ring after a chair shot to win by countout
—this was enough to retain the Pure title, but not to win Danielson's World Championship. They had
another unification match in McGuinness's native England; ROH decided that there had to be a
winner, with a title changing hands by countout and disqualification and a draw forcing a restart.
[30]
Danielson won the match on August 12 and retired the Pure title as its last champion. [31] During a
match with Colt Cabana on August 26, Danielson suffered a real injury when he separated his
shoulder,[5] tearing two tendons in it and he tore another tendon in his chest.[citation needed] Danielson
returned at Glory by Honor V: Night 2 on September 16 and was challenged by Kenta, a guest
competitor from NOAH, due to the two company's talent exchange agreement—Danielson again
retained his championship.[32] At Final Battle on December 23, Danielson's fifteen-month title reign
finally ended after he lost to Homicide at his 39th defense and he subsequently took time off from
wrestling in order to heal his shoulder.[5][24]
Final feuds and departure (2007–2009)
On May 11, 2007, Danielson returned to ROH at Reborn Again and defeated Shane Hagadorn
and Adam Pearce in separate matches. On May 12, ROH filmed its first pay-per-view, Respect is
Earned, which had Danielson team with ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima against Nigel
McGuinness and Kenta. Danielson's team won after Danielson made Kenta tap out to his
signature submission hold, the Cattle Mutilation. Danielson vied to contend for the ROH World
Championship by defeating McGuinness at Domination on June 9, which appeared on the
company's next pay per view named Driven which took place on June 23, but was aired on
September 21.[33] This allowed him, now as a fan favorite, to challenge Morishima for the title at
Manhattan Mayhem II on August 25 in a losing effort [citation needed] in which he also suffered a
legitimate detached retina.[34] Following surgery, he fought Morishima again in a match at Man Up on
September 15, but the referee stopped the match since Danielson was unable to respond to him.
[35]
In a rematch at Rising Above on December 29, Morishima was disqualified.[citation needed] Morishima
returned to the company at Final Battle on December 27, 2008 in a match billed as a "Fight Without
Honor" in which both men were allowed weapons and which Danielson won. [citation needed] Danielson
commented in March 2012 on how he felt validated at Final Battle 2008, because he and Morishima
managed to get 2,500 people to see the show in New York City.[36]
As part of ROH's agreement with Pro Wrestling Noah, the company held a show in Japan named
Tokyo Summit on September 14, where Danielson wrestled GHC Junior Heavyweight
Champion Yoshinobu Kanemaru and won the championship. Following his victory, NOAH allowed
him to defend the title in Ring of Honor, [citation needed] with his first defense being at Glory By Honor VII on
September 20, defeating Katsuhiko Nakajima.[37] However, this was his only successful defense as
he returned to Japan on October 13 to lose the title to Kenta.[38] Following his loss, Danielson
challenged McGuinness for the ROH World Championship at the next ROH pay-per-view Rising
Above on November 22, in a losing effort. [39] Ring of Honor made its national television debut with the
program Ring of Honor Wrestling and Danielson made his television debut in the main event of its
third episode on February 28, 2009 by defeating Austin Aries.[40]
In the fall of 2009, Danielson signed with WWE after a farewell tour with ROH, during which he
challenged Aries for the title again and lost.[41] On September 26 at Glory by Honor VIII: The Final
Countdown, he won his last match in the company against McGuinness, who was also having his
final match with the company.[42]
Independent circuit (2003–2009)
Aside from competing primarily in ROH, Danielson has also competed in a multitude of
other independent promotions, both in the United States and abroad. In 2003, Danielson also toured
the United Kingdom for British promotion, All Star Wrestling (ASW). While he was in the United
Kingdom, Danielson won the World Heavy Middleweight Championship on May 6 in an eight-man
one-night tournament in Croydon defeating James Mason. He spent the next six months in the
United Kingdom, working for ASW, Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA), the World Association of
Wrestling (WAW) and Premier Promotions.[5] He returned several times over the next five years,
working for various promotions. In February 2005 at New Dawn Rising, Danielson made his debut in
ROH's sister promotion, Full Impact Pro (FIP), teaming up with Rocky Romero in a match against
Austin Aries and Homicide.[43] The next night at Dangerous Intentions, Danielson competed in a
losing effort against CM Punk,[44] which led to a brief feud between the two.[citation needed] Danielson's
biggest success came in 2006 by winning the FIP Heavyweight Championship,[45] holding the belt for
eleven months before losing it to Roderick Strong.[5] Danielson wrestled his last match for FIP in
December 2006 at Florida Rumble, where he lost to Erick Stevens.[46]
Danielson competed in PWG's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament in 2008, losing in the semi final
to Chris Hero
Danielson also wrestled in the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) promotion. He made his debut in
November 2003 at An Inch Longer Than Average in a losing effort to PWG Champion Frankie
Kazarian.[47] He continued to appear in PWG over the next couple of years, winning the PWG World
Championship in 2007 and holding it for six months before taking an eleven-month hiatus from the
company. He made his return to PWG at the 2008 Battle of Los Angeles tournament. In April 2009,
at PWG: One Hundred, Danielson defeated Kenny Omega. The match was notable for its opening,
which included Omega and Danielson performing variable tests of strength, including arm
wrestling and a thumb war, before singing "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" along with the crowd.
In May, he made another appearance teaming with Paul London, referring to himself as "American
Dolphin" in a parodied manner. [48] On September 4 at Guerre Sans Frontières during his last night in
PWG, Danielson defeated Chris Hero to win the PWG World Championship for the second time and
immediately vacated it afterward.[49]
Following his return from his injury in 2007, the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) published a video
of Danielson stating his intent to challenge for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, as the
establishment that sanctioned the title at the time, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, was relinquishing
the title back to the NWA.[50] A tournament, titled Reclaiming the Glory, was held to determine the
new champion with Danielson making his way to finals, scheduled to compete Brent Albright on
September 1, but due to the eye injury he sustained at ROH's Manhattan Mayhem event, [51] he
withdrew from the tournament and instead acted as the referee of the match. [citation needed]
In 2009, Danielson's contract with Ring of Honor expired, which opened up Danielson to travel to
other companies more freely while competing in his home promotion. [52]
In 2009, Danielson also signed a short-term contract with German wrestling promotion Westside
Xtreme Wrestling (wXw). Shortly after his debut, Danielson won the wXw World Heavyweight
Championship against Bad Bones and held it over a month before losing it to Absolute Andy.
After his departure from wXw, he made his debut with Philadelphia-based independent
promotion CHIKARA to compete in their King of Trios tournament, which saw him team with Claudio
Castagnoli and Dave Taylor in a contingency called Team Uppercut. [53] In the same year, Danielson
competed in Dragon Gate USA's second show, losing to Open the Dream Gate Champion Naruki
Doi.[54]
Second return to WWE (2009−2010)
See also: The Nexus
Bryan at a Raw house show in September 2010
Danielson re-signed with WWE in August 2009. [55] He made his debut on January 4, 2010 in a dark
match prior to Raw, defeating Chavo Guerrero.[56] He went to Florida to train with Florida
Championship Wrestling (FCW), the WWE developmental territory, to acclimate himself to his new
work environment and work on his ring rust.[57] He debuted at the FCW television tapings on January
14 and lost to Kaval.[citation needed] At the February 11 tapings, Danielson was renamed Daniel Bryan. [58] He
later indicated that he was given a list of ten possible ring names to use in WWE (including Buddy
Peacock and Lloyd Bonaire) and Daniel Bryan was one of them while his real name was not on that
list.[59] His name was given by William Regal.[citation needed]
Bryan made his debut on the inaugural episode of NXT on February 23, losing by submission to
then World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho and being attacked by his storyline mentor The
Miz for disrespecting him earlier in the show.[60][61] Over the next several weeks, Bryan failed to win a
single match, but despite a record of 0–5 he was ranked first in the inaugural Pros' Poll on the March
30 episode of NXT.[62][63] After losing five more matches on NXT, Bryan got his first victory on the May
10 episode of Raw by pinning Santino Marella in an eight-on-four handicap match.[64] The following
night on NXT, he was eliminated from the show along with Michael Tarver as neither man had
confidence in themselves to win the competition. [65] Despite his elimination, he appeared on the
following episodes of NXT, being interviewed by Matt Striker and attacking both Michael Cole and
The Miz.[66][67]
On the May 31 episode of Raw, Bryan was granted a match against The Miz by guest host Ashton
Kutcher, which he won and threw Miz into Cole at ringside after the match. [68] On the June 7 episode
of Raw, the faction known as The Nexus (NXT rookies from season one) invaded the WWE ring,
attacking John Cena and causing destruction around the ringside area. On June 11, Danielson was
fired from WWE[69] for being too violent, strangling ring announcer Justin Roberts with his own neck
tie.[70] Danielson noted that WWE apologized to him for his release, explaining that they "had
sponsors they had to deal with".[4] His release was put in a storyline, where the rest of
the NXT rookies kicked him out of the group for showing remorse for his actions and declared that
Bryan would never return to the WWE again.[71]
Return to the independent circuit (2010)
After being released, Danielson received several offers to sign with other wrestling companies, being
contacted by TNA, albeit indirectly and some Japanese promotions. [4] Two weeks after his departure
from WWE, Danielson made his return to the independent circuit on June 26, defeating Eddie
Kingston at the CHIKARA event We Must Eat Michigan's Brain in Taylor, Michigan.[72] Rather than
receiving streamers, the fans instead threw neck ties in light of the Justin Roberts incident in WWE.
[73]
The following day at CHIKARA's Faded Scars and Lines, Danielson defeated Young Lions Cup
holder Tim Donst in a non-title match.[74] On July 3, Danielson returned to wXw, defeating Wade
Fitzgerald and TJP in the round robin stage of the Ambition 1 tournament. [75] The following day, he
defeated TJP in a rematch and finally Johnny Moss in the finals of the tournament to win Ambition 1.
[76]
On July 17, Danielson debuted in the International Wrestling Association (IWA), being booked to
defeat Q.T. Marshall for the IWA Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship. [77] On July 23, Danielson
debuted in the fledgling EVOLVE promotion, which was originally conceived to be built around
Danielson as their top star before he signed to WWE.[78] In the main event, Danielson defeated
Bobby Fish.[79] The following day, Danielson returned to Dragon Gate USA and submitted Shingo in
the dark match main event of Return of the Dragon. [80] After the match, Danielson joined BxB
Hulk, Masato Yoshino, Naruki Doi and PAC as the fifth member of the stable World-1.[80] On July 30,
Danielson returned to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, competing in a match where he defeated Roderick
Strong.[81] On August 7, Danielson unsuccessfully challenged Adam Pearce for the NWA World
Heavyweight Championship at the NWA Legends Fanfest. [82]
Despite returning to WWE on August 15, Danielson honored most of his independent bookings,
making his first appearance on August 20 and defeating Jon Moxley at Heartland Wrestling
Association's Road to Destiny.[83] The following day, he was defeated by Drake Younger at Insanity
Pro Wrestling's Ninth Anniversary Reign of the Insane. [84] On August 22, Danielson defeated J
Freddie at a Squared Circle Wrestling event.[85] On September 10, he returned to the IWA using the
name Daniel Bryan and lost the IWA Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship to Dennis Rivera.
[86]
The following day, Danielson returned to EVOLVE by defeating Munenori Sawa in the main event.
[87]
Later that same night, Danielson wrestled for New York Wrestling Connection in a tag team
match, where he and Tony Nese defeated Dimitrios Papadon and Alex Reynolds.[88] On September
25, Danielson returned to Dragon Gate USA and defeated YAMATO in the main event of the
evening.[89] The following day, Danielson defeated Jon Moxley.[90] On October 1, Danielson wrestled
the last of his independent matches by defeating Shelton Benjamin at a Northeast Wrestling event. [91]
Third return to WWE
United States Champion (2010–2011)
Bryan as United States Champion at Tribute to the Troops in December 2010.
Danielson returned to WWE as Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam, where he was revealed as the
surprise seventh member of Team WWE for the seven-on-seven elimination tag team match against
The Nexus, the other NXT season one competitors.[92] At the event on August 15, Bryan was one of
the two final members of Team WWE and managed to eliminate two members of The Nexus, but
was eliminated by Wade Barrett after The Miz, whose place he took in Team WWE, attacked him.
[93]
Despite this, Team WWE won the match.[94] The following night, he was revealed as part of
the Raw roster. Bryan feuded with The Miz, with both interfering in each other's matches and The
Miz being aided by Alex Riley, his rookie from the second season of NXT.[95] At Night of
Champions on September 19, Bryan defeated The Miz to win the United States Championship, his
first championship in WWE.[96][97]
Bryan (right) wrestling his former NXT mentor, The Miz
Bryan then successfully defended the title two weeks later by defeating The Miz and John
Morrison in a triple threat submissions count anywhere match at Hell in a Cell on October 3. On
October 24, he went on to challenge then Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler to a champion
vs. champion match at Bragging Rights as a special attraction SmackDown vs. Raw match,
defeating Ziggler in a highly acclaimed match. On November 21, Bryan went on to successfully
defend his title against Ted DiBiase at Survivor Series.[98][99] Bryan returned to NXT's season four as
the Pro to Rookie Derrick Bateman.[100][101]
In late 2010, The Bella Twins began competing for Bryan's affection, leading to them supporting him
at ringside and competing in mixed tag team matches together.[102][103][104] On the January 24, 2011
episode of Raw, it was revealed that Bryan had been secretly dating Gail Kim, who began
accompanying him to ringside. [105][106] On the March 14 episode of Raw, Bryan lost the United States
Championship to Sheamus, ending his reign at 176 days.[107] Bryan was originally scheduled to have
his rematch against Sheamus for the United States Championship on the main card at WrestleMania
XXVII on April 3, but the match was rescheduled as a dark lumberjack match that ended in a no
contest when the lumberjacks fought among themselves to trigger the start of a battle royal, which
he lost.[108] Bryan lost his title rematch the next night on Raw, after which he was saved from
Sheamus by the debuting Sin Cara.[109]
World Heavyweight Champion (2011–2012)
On April 26, Bryan was drafted to SmackDown as part of the 2011 supplemental draft.[110] On the May
6 episode of SmackDown, Bryan made his debut for the brand by losing to Sheamus. [111] Cody
Rhodes then started a feud with Bryan by attacking him after losing their match and placing a paper
bag on his head. Bryan then aligned with Sin Cara to feud with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase.[112]
[113]
On June 28, Bryan returned to NXT to manage Derrick Bateman once again.[114]
Bryan as World Heavyweight Champion alongside former on-screen girlfriend AJ
On July 17 at Money in the Bank, Bryan won the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder
match which earned him a World Heavyweight Championship match at any point within the following
year.[115] On the July 22 episode of SmackDown, Bryan declared he would cash in his Money in the
Bank briefcase at the following year's WrestleMania.[116] After several months of losing matches,
Bryan began a feud with then World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry on the November 4
episode of SmackDown after Henry challenged Bryan to a non-title match to prove that Bryan could
not become champion. During the match, Big Show knocked out Henry, making Bryan lose by
disqualification. As his friend, Big Show then urged a groggy Bryan to cash in his championship
match, but Henry recovered and attacked both Bryan and Big Show before the match could start.
[117]
Bryan suffered attacks from Henry the following two weeks.[118][119] On the November 25 episode
of SmackDown, Henry was knocked out again by Big Show, at which point Bryan cashed in his
briefcase for a title match and quickly pinned Henry, but SmackDown General Manager Theodore
Long revealed that Henry was not medically cleared to compete and voided the match, so Henry
remained champion and the briefcase was returned to Bryan. [120] Bryan later admitted he betrayed his
principles by not waiting for WrestleMania, but explained he felt strongly about exacting revenge on
Henry and realized he may not make it to WrestleMania due to Henry's continued attacks. [121]
[122]
Regardless of his briefcase, Bryan won a fatal four-way match on the same episode
of SmackDown to become the contender for Henry's championship. [123] On the live November 29
episode of SmackDown, Henry managed to pin Bryan to retain the title in a steel cage match. [124] Also
in November, Bryan started being involved in a romantic storyline with AJ.[125][126]
Bryan cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on December 18 at TLC: Tables, Ladders and
Chairs against Big Show, who had just defeated Henry and subsequently received a DDT onto a
steel chair, which allowed Bryan to secure a pinfall victory and become the World Heavyweight
Champion, thus making him also the first ever wrestler from NXT to win a WWE world
championship.[127][128] In the following weeks, tension was teased between Bryan and Big Show, with
Big Show unhappy about Bryan taking the World Heavyweight Championship from him and Bryan
being displeased about Big Show's lack of appreciation for Bryan's help in matches against Henry.
[129]
As World Heavyweight Champion, Bryan turned into a villain as he gradually showed signs of
overconfidence and arrogance,[130] with Bryan beginning to partake in excessive victory celebrations,
even when he won his matches by disqualification or countout. [131] Despite AJ's declaration of love for
him,[132] Bryan avoided saying that he loved her in return. [133]
The kiss with AJ that cost Bryan his World Heavyweight Championship to Sheamus at WrestleMania XXVIII in
18 seconds
In January 2012, Bryan successfully defended his title three times: the first occasion against Big
Show when Bryan goaded Mark Henry into attacking him and causing a disqualification; the second
occasion a no disqualification rematch with Big Show which ended abruptly after Big Show
accidentally ran into AJ, hospitalizing her within the storyline for which Bryan blamed him; and the
third occasion against Henry in a lumberjack match when Bryan provoked the lumberjacks to
interfere and cause a no contest.[134][135][136] This culminated in a triple threat steel cage match to
exclude outside interference at the Royal Rumble on January 29, where Bryan escaped the cage
after freeing himself from Big Show's grasp to retain the championship. [137]
At Elimination Chamber on February 19, Bryan defeated Big Show, Cody Rhodes, The Great Khali,
Santino Marella and Wade Barrett in an Elimination Chamber match to retain the World Heavyweight
Championship. After the match, Royal Rumble match winner Sheamus attacked Bryan and chose
him as his WrestleMania opponent for the World Heavyweight Championship. [138] In March, Bryan
began to mistreat AJ, publicly demanding her to shut up and claiming that she always got in his way.
[139]
Despite these actions, AJ continued to stand by Bryan. [140] Bryan's reign as world champion ended
at 105 days when Sheamus defeated him in 18 seconds at WrestleMania XXVIII due to Bryan being
distracted with receiving a good luck kiss from AJ.[141] On the following episode of SmackDown, Bryan
blamed AJ for his world title loss and ended their relationship. [142] Despite AJ's attempts to mend their
relationship, Bryan cruelly rebuffed her multiple times, leaving AJ an emotional wreck. [143] At Extreme
Rules on April 29, Bryan failed to regain the World Heavyweight Championship from Sheamus in
a two-out-of-three falls match, losing two falls to one.[144]
Team Hell No (2012–2013)
Team Hell No
Bryan feuded with CM Punk for the WWE Championship in 2012 after losing the World Heavyweight
Championship
The next night on Raw, Bryan became the number one contender to CM Punk's WWE
Championship when he won a Beat the Clock challenge by defeating Jerry Lawler in under three
minutes.[145] Bryan received his title shot at Over the Limit on May 20 and suffered a controversial loss
—when Bryan rolled back onto his shoulders as he applied the "Yes!" Lock, Punk tapped out
immediately after the referee counted a pinfall win for Punk.[146] Shortly before Over the Limit, Bryan
interfered in a match between Punk and Kane to frame Punk attacking Kane with a steel chair,
leading to a three-way feud.[147][148][149] During this time, a jilted AJ turned her affections to both Punk
and Kane.[150] On the June 1 episode of SmackDown, Bryan's interference caused WWE
Championship match between Punk and Kane to end in a double disqualification, [151] resulting in a
triple threat match being set up on June 17 at No Way Out, where Punk managed to retain the title
after AJ distracted Kane.[152] On the June 25 episode of Raw, Bryan defeated Punk and Kane in a
non-title three-way elimination match to earn another shot at the WWE Championship.[153] At Money
in the Bank on July 15, Bryan failed to capture the WWE Championship again from Punk in a no
disqualification match with AJ as special guest referee.[154] The following night on Raw, AJ accepted
Bryan's marriage proposal,[155] On Raw 1000, Bryan's storyline wedding ended in failure when AJ left
Bryan at the altar and instead accepted Mr. McMahon's offer of the position of permanent Raw
General Manager. Bryan's night turned from bad to worse as he was later attacked by The Rock and
insulted by celebrity Charlie Sheen.[156]
Kane offers to "hug it out" with Bryan
AJ's rejection of Bryan turned him into an angry and bitter individual and resulted in Bryan lashing
out at audiences.[157] AJ continued to exact her revenge on Bryan by denying him a WWE
Championship shot and instead forcing him to face Kane on August 19 at SummerSlam,[158] where
Bryan emerged victorious.[159] As a result of Bryan and Kane's issues, AJ enrolled them in anger
management classes hosted by Dr. Shelby[160] and they were later forced to "hug it out".[161] At the
arrangement of Dr. Shelby and AJ, the two adversaries formed a team whose constant bickering and
infighting even during matches inadvertently resulted in them defeating The Prime Time
Players (Titus O'Neil and Darren Young) to become the number one contenders to the WWE Tag
Team Championship on the September 10 episode of Raw[162] and then defeating champions Kofi
Kingston and R-Truth to win the championship on September 16 at Night of Champions.[163]
Bryan and Kane made their first successful title defense the following night on Raw, defeating the
former champions in a rematch.[164] The following week on Raw, "Team Hell No" was chosen as the
official team name via a Twitter poll while Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien
Sandow) started a feud with Bryan and Kane, turning Bryan into a fan favorite once again.[165] On
October 28 at Hell in a Cell, Team Hell No lost to the Rhodes Scholars via disqualification, but
retained their title.[166] This was followed by a rematch on the November 14 Main Event, where Team
Hell No defeated the Rhodes Scholars to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship. [167] On the
November 26 episode of Raw, after Kane lost to WWE Champion CM Punk in a non-title match, he
was assaulted by The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins) and Bryan
and Ryback, who both attempted to save Kane, suffered a similar fate. [168] This attack had the effect
of uniting Bryan and Kane and after The Shield and Team Hell No, along with Ryback, attacked
each other on the December 3 episode of Raw, all six men were decreed to face each other in
a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match on December 16 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs,[169][170] where
The Shield was victorious after pinning Bryan.[171] Team Hell No went on to defend the tag team titles
through the end of the year, retaining against Team Rhodes Scholars on the following Main
Event[172] and against 3MB (Drew McIntyre and Heath Slater) on the December 31 episode of Raw.
[173]
Bryan ended 2012 having wrestled the second most televised and pay-per-view matches that
year with 90.[174]
On January 27 at the 2013 Royal Rumble, Team Hell No retained the WWE Tag Team
Championship against Team Rhodes Scholars.[175] During the Royal Rumble match, Bryan eliminated
Kane and was in turn thrown out of the ring by Antonio Cesaro—Kane caught Bryan before he
touched the floor and despite Bryan's begging dropped him to complete his elimination. [176] On the
February 4 episode of Raw, Bryan was inserted into the World Heavyweight Championship number
one contender Elimination Chamber match when he defeated Rey Mysterio, after which the
returning Mark Henry attacked both men.[177] On February 17 at Elimination Chamber, Bryan was the
first man eliminated from the match, courtesy of Henry.[178] On April 7 at WrestleMania 29, Team Hell
No defeated Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston for another successful title defense.[179] Team Hell No
rekindled their rivalry with The Shield the following night on Raw after saving The Undertaker from
an ambush by them.[180] On the April 22 episode of Raw, Team Hell No and The Undertaker were
defeated by The Shield in a six-man tag team match.[181] The Shield went on to take out Undertaker
and rack up wins over Bryan and Kane in both singles and tag matches that also included WWE
Champion John Cena.[182][183][184][185] On May 19 at Extreme Rules, Bryan and Kane lost the WWE Tag
Team Championship to Shield members Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, ending their reign at 245
days.[186]
Yes! Movement (2013–2014)
Bryan in July 2013
As he being pinned led to the loss of the tag team titles, Bryan became obsessed about proving that
he was not the weak link of Team Hell No and as a result became even more aggressive, but his
overzealous behavior led to Team Hell No losing their rematch against Rollins and Reigns on the
May 27 episode of Raw.[187][188] When Kane tried to reassure Bryan, he replied with harsh rebukes that
alienated Kane from him and as a result Bryan was paired with Randy Orton despite their poor
relationship to face a common enemy in The Shield.[189][190] During this storyline, Bryan was praised as
the best performer in WWE and having an unmatched connection with crowds by critics, peers and
veterans of the professional wrestling industry.[191][192][193][194]
On the June 14 episode of SmackDown, Bryan (with Kane and Orton as his tag team partners)
ended The Shield's unpinned and unsubmitted streak in a televised six-man tag match by forcing
Rollins to submit.[195][196] On June 16 at Payback, Bryan and Orton's poor teamwork resulted in an
unsuccessful challenge for Rollins and Reigns' WWE Tag Team Championship. [197] The following
night on Raw, while the status of Team Hell No was left up in the air after both members considered
individual pursuits, Bryan and Orton faced off in a no disqualification match that Orton won via
referee stoppage after Bryan suffered a legit nerve injury,[198] which was a stinger resulting in Bryan
being unable to feel both his arms for the rest of the match. [199] On the June 21 episode
of SmackDown, Bryan defeated Orton, but to Bryan's dismay it was via countout. [200] On the
following Raw, Bryan decisively defeated Orton via submission in a street fight [201] and later continued
his hot streak by picking up wins over Sheamus and Christian.[202][203] On July 14 at Money in the
Bank, Bryan competed in the WWE Championship Money in the Bank ladder match, during which
Bryan was attacked by Curtis Axel, a non-participant, which ultimately prevented him from winning
the match that was won by Orton. [204]
He's the most technically proficient wrestler the WWE main-event scene has seen possibly since Bret Hart, and he
connects with the crowd (the whole crowd — sorry, Mr. Cena) in a near-euphoric way we haven't seen consistently
since The Rock in his prime.
—David Shoemaker of Grantland, while declaring Bryan as the MVP for the WWE Midseason Awards in October
2013[199]
On the July 15 episode of Raw, WWE Champion John Cena picked Bryan to be his opponent for the
WWE title match at SummerSlam.[205] This led to Bryan being embroiled (in storyline) in the McMahon
family's internal feud, with WWE chairman Vince McMahon against Bryan due to Bryan's image not
fitting of McMahon's vision of a typical WWE wrestler, while WWE chief operating officer Triple
H was in support of Bryan.[206] On the July 22 episode of Raw, Bryan ran a gauntlet match to prove
his worth as number one contender, defeating Jack Swagger and Antonio Cesaro in succession
while his third opponent Ryback was disqualified after performing a powerbomb on Bryan through a
table.[207] The following week on Raw, Bryan was forced to face Kane and emerged victorious, but
Kane attacked him after the match.[208] On August 18 at SummerSlam, Bryan defeated Cena to win
his first WWE Championship, but after the match special referee Triple H performed
his Pedigree finishing move on Bryan, leading to Randy Orton cashing in his Money in the Bank
contract to win the title from Bryan.[209]
When [Vince McMahon] had HHH call Bryan a B+ player, that is because Vince saw Bryan that way. Vince was just
going to screw Bryan in the storylines and then push him down the card.
—Dave Scherer of PWInsider.com's analysis of Bryan's feud with the Authority[210]
The next night on Raw, Triple H and the McMahons endorsed Orton as "the face of the WWE" while
labeling Bryan a "B+ player" and forming The Authority faction, claiming that the company was
looking for Orton as champion instead of Bryan, who also assumed the top babyface role (heroic
character) in WWE with Cena being out injured. [211] With Triple H threatening to fire anyone who
disobeyed him, Bryan was left alone to take on and suffer attacks from Orton and The Shield. [212] On
September 15 at Night of Champions, Bryan defeated Orton to regain the WWE Championship,
[213]
but he was stripped of the title the following night on Raw by Triple H after referee Scott
Armstrong said he had made a fast count the previous night resulting in Bryan's win while Bryan
denied that Armstrong was working for him.[214] Armstrong was then kayfabe fired by The Authority
while Bryan and Orton faced off again for the vacant title on October 6 at Battleground in a match
that ended in a no contest after Big Show interfered and knocked out both men. [215] Bryan once again
challenged Orton for the vacant championship on October 27 at Hell in a Cell, but was unsuccessful
after the special guest referee Shawn Michaels hit Bryan with a superkick for attacking his best
friend Triple H.[216] The following night on Raw, Bryan confronted Michaels, who offered a handshake,
but Bryan put Michaels in the "Yes!" Lock.[217]
I wasn't supposed to be anywhere near the top of the card. I think I was scheduled to wrestle Sheamus, and probably
be 5th or 6th match from the top, and maybe get a 10 minute match if we were lucky, but because of fan support, all
of the sudden now I'm doing 2 matches and I'm in the main event of WrestleMania.
—Bryan on the original plans for him for WrestleMania XXX[218]
Later that same night, Bryan was attacked by The Wyatt Family.[217] Bryan then found an ally in
former rival CM Punk, as the duo defeated Luke Harper and Erick Rowan of The Wyatt Family on
November 24 at Survivor Series,[219] However, the entire Wyatt Family defeated Bryan in a handicap
match on December 15 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs,[220] with Wyatt attempting to recruit Bryan
in the previous weeks.[221] On the final Raw of 2013, Bryan defeated Harper and then Rowan in a
gauntlet match so that he could face Wyatt, whereupon Harper and Rowan interfered for a
disqualification and beat him down. Bryan then acknowledged that no matter how many times the
fans chanted "Yes!" or supported him, it was not enough for "the machine", so he gave up and
decided to join The Wyatt Family.[222] On the January 13 episode of Raw, after Wyatt and Bryan lost
to The Usos in a tag team steel cage match, Wyatt was attempting to "punish" Bryan for their lack of
success since he joined the group, but Bryan attacked him and the rest of The Wyatt Family.
Afterwards Bryan discarded the blue overalls he had been wearing as a member of The Wyatt
Family, scaled the cage and led the live audience in a "Yes!" chant. [223] At the 2014 Royal Rumble on
January 26, despite Bryan losing to Wyatt in a singles match and later not participating in the Royal
Rumble match, the audience continued to chant for Bryan during the Royal Rumble match and the
WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between Cena and Orton. [224][225]
Bryan closed WrestleMania XXX by celebrating his win of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
On the January 27 episode of Raw, Bryan qualified for the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE
World Heavyweight Championship at the eponymous pay-per-view by teaming up with John Cena
and Sheamus to defeat The Shield via disqualification. [226] Meanwhile, he also continued his feud with
The Authority as Kane attacked him on multiple occasions, attempting to injure Bryan before his
Elimination Chamber match on February 23,[227][228] in which Bryan survived until he was one of the
final two participants, but defending champion Randy Orton retained after Kane interfered in the
match by attacking Bryan.[229]
On the March 10 episode of Raw, Bryan and multiple fans occupied the ring (while WWE road crew
members dressed in Bryan T-shirts posed as fans outside the ring) and refused to leave, resulting in
an irate Triple H agreeing to Bryan's demand for a match at WrestleMania XXX, with the stipulation
that the winner would be inserted into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at the
event.[230] At the event on April 6, Bryan defeated Triple H and was inserted into the title match, but
Triple H attacked Bryan after their match.[231] Despite a storyline injury and interference from The
Authority and a crooked referee, Bryan prevailed over Batista and champion Randy Orton in the
WrestleMania main event to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. [232][233] Pro Wrestling
Torch editor Wade Keller analyzed (and Danielson later confirmed in his memoir) that Bryan's
WrestleMania journey was due to several factors: the fans' rejection of Batista and continual support
of Bryan over the previous six months (even when he joined The Wyatt Family) as well as CM Punk
legitimately walking out on WWE after the Royal Rumble. [234] Both Bryan and Chris Jericho later said
that Bryan's original WrestleMania XXX opponent was supposed to be Sheamus. [218][235]
I don't know how my life got to be like this... I'm just a normal dude. I was never a special athlete. I wasn't great at any
sports or anything like that. And now an arena full of people were chanting, 'You deserve it'. And I don't know what
I've done to deserve it.
—Bryan reacts to the events of the Raw after WrestleMania XXX[199]
The Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter wrote: "Leading into WrestleMania 30, the Daniel Bryan vs.
Triple H program was the top draw of Raw each week. Coming out of WM30, Bryan as new WWE
World Hvt. champion has been solidified as a ratings draw". [236] This trend continued until at least May
2014, when Bryan had to undergo neck surgery due his first of the two major injuries that would
eventually force him to retire in February 2016. [237][238]
On the Raw following WrestleMania XXX, Triple H used his authority to grant himself a title match
against Bryan, who was then attacked by Orton, Batista and Kane just before the match which
ended in a no contest and Bryan's retention when The Shield interfered to chase away Bryan's
adversaries.[239] Stephanie McMahon enticed Kane to return to his masked self which Kane complied
and was granted a future title match against Bryan and proceeded to carry out a brutal attack
against Bryan which led to a scripted injury to give him time off to mourn his recently deceased
father.[240] At Extreme Rules on May 4, Bryan defeated Kane in an Extreme Rules match to retain his
title.[241]
Major injuries and first retirement (2014–2016)
Bryan as WWE World Heavyweight Champion in April 2014
At some point in time, Bryan lost all strength in his right arm and required neck surgery. On the May
12 episode of Raw, he was attacked by Kane and stretchered away that same night to justify his
absence.[242] On May 15, Bryan underwent successful neck surgery, with a cervical foraminotomy to
decompress the nerve root having been performed.[243] Two weeks later on Raw, when Bryan refused
to relinquish his title Stephanie McMahon threatened to fire Bryan's wife Brie Bella, if Bryan did not
give up his title on June 1 at Payback.[244] The ultimatum resulted in Bella "quitting" WWE so that
Bryan did not have to give up his title. [245] However, when it was revealed that Bryan would not be
able to compete at Money in the Bank and defend his title, The Authority stripped him of the WWE
World Heavyweight Championship on the June 9 episode of Raw, ending Bryan's third reign at 64
days.[246] Due to his injury, Bryan was largely off WWE TV during this period. [247][248] Months after the
neck surgery, Bryan's strength still had not returned to his arm. [249] Many doctors felt a second
surgery was needed, while others told Bryan he would not be able to return to wrestling. Bryan
contemplated further elbow surgery, but instead went to Denver to undergo the Muscle Activation
Techniques program, which successfully returned the strength to his right arm. To prepare for his in-
ring return, he trained in kickboxing and jujitsu.
On the November 24 episode of Raw, Bryan returned to WWE, taunting the recently deposed
Authority. As guest general manager for that episode of Raw and the November 28 episode
of SmackDown, Bryan arranged punishments for those allied with The Authority. Apart from
scheduling a chairs match between Kane and Ryback for TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on
December 14, Bryan also affirmed that he would return soon. [250][251]
Bryan told WWE management that he wished to be the "face of SmackDown" to increase the show's
viewership.[252] Bryan returned to the ring on the January 15, 2015 episode of SmackDown, with his
opponent Kane being disqualified due to The Authority's interference and later that night Bryan won
the six-man tag team main event.[253] The next week on SmackDown, despite more interference by
The Authority, Bryan defeated Kane in a no disqualification main event to keep his Royal Rumble
match spot.[254]
Bryan entered the 2015 Royal Rumble match at number 10, managing one elimination[255] before
being eliminated by Bray Wyatt in the first half of the match, causing the Philadelphia crowd to
repeatedly chant for him during the second half of the match while booing other wrestlers entering
the match, including eventual winner and fellow "good guy" Roman Reigns. [256][257][258]
Bryan came in like a homecoming hero and was gone, just a few minutes later, like a freshman nerd. ... Beyond that,
the lion's share of the WWE audience wants him to be a top guy – and are willing to pay for that.
—Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com on Bryan's showing in the 2015 Royal Rumble match [259]
His workrate in the ring and what he gives through the match just means so much more to the wrestling fans than
anything else... His run [as champion] was cut short and I think fans wanted to see him get that [WrestleMania]
moment that he deserves... WWE put a line through that.
—Bret Hart in March 2015[260]
On the January 29 episode of SmackDown, Bryan ended his feud with Kane by defeating him in
a casket match.[261] On the February 2 episode of Raw, Bryan defeated Seth Rollins, earning the right
to face Roman Reigns at Fastlane, as the winner of the Fastlane match would challenge Brock
Lesnar at WrestleMania 31 for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. At Fastlane on
February 22, Bryan lost to Reigns, failing to make his entry to WrestleMania main event. [262]
After Fastlane, Bryan set his sights on the Intercontinental Championship for WrestleMania 31,
where he was one of multiple wrestlers who came to possess champion Bad News Barrett's title belt
while defeating Barrett in non-title matches.[263][264] On the March 12 episode of SmackDown, Bryan
declared his entry into the multi-man ladder match for the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania 31.
[265]
After Bryan was pinned twice within a week by fellow ladder match entrant Dolph Ziggler, the Pro
Wrestling Torch Newsletter reported that "WWE has made it clear where Bryan stands after starting
to lose regularly now".[266][267] WWE's storylines for Bryan since his return were widely criticized. Dave
Scherer of Pro Wrestling Insider questioned "bringing Bryan back for the Rumble in the first place" if
there was no intention of letting Bryan win.[210] Benjamin Tucker of Pro Wrestling Torch criticized
WWE for having "watered down" Bryan's heroic character to a "sneaky, backstabbing, cheap,
aggravating jerk" for the feud against Roman Reigns. [268] Mike Tedesco of WrestleView wrote in
March that WWE "killed Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton dead in the last two months. It takes a
special bunch of nincompoops to pull that off".[269] Jake Barnett of Pro Wrestling Dot Net said that
Bryan being labeled a "turd" was "asking fans to disbelieve what they see with their own eyes" and
"will do nothing to calm down the conspiracy theorists who insist WWE is intentionally cooling off
Bryan to make Reigns look better in comparison".[270] In a piece for the Wrestling Observer, Zach
Dominello was "dumbfounded and disheartened" that "after returning from a very serious injury,
WWE's bright idea is to put Bryan in one of the most dangerous matches possible at WrestleMania",
while having "dragged Bryan down to the levels of R-Truth and Stardust".[271]
Bryan won the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 31
Bryan won the Intercontinental Championship ladder match at WrestleMania 31 on March 29. [272] This
made him one of six wrestlers at the time to achieve WWE's new Grand Slam due to winning every
active title in WWE (except for female-exclusive titles), while also making him WWE's 26th Triple
Crown Champion [273] having won the WWE, World Heavyweight, Tag Team, United States and
Intercontinental Championships.[274] The next night on Raw, Bryan defeated Dolph Ziggler in his first
successful title defense, before they were attacked by Barrett only for Sheamus to return and chase
off Barrett before attacking Bryan and Ziggler.[275] Bryan lost to Sheamus on the April
2 SmackDown by countout when Barrett interfered. [276] During the match, Bryan split his forehead
open on the broadcast table, causing him to bleed and later requiring stitches for the wound. [277] On
the April 16 episode of SmackDown, in his last in-ring match for nearly three years, Bryan teamed up
with United States Champion John Cena to defeat WWE Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Tyson
Kidd by submission.[278]
[Professional wrestling] is a far better place because of his involvement. There were things dating back to 2001 that
he was involved with that changed the underground foundation of the industry, and over the past few years,
significantly changed talent evaluation at the highest level of the industry.
—Dave Meltzer in 2016, reflecting just after Bryan's retirement[279]
Following the April 16 episode of SmackDown, WWE pulled Bryan from wrestling on the remainder
of WWE's touring of Europe as a "precautionary measure". [280] Bryan's scheduled title defense
at Extreme Rules on April 26 against Bad News Barrett was later canceled as Bryan was "medically
unable to compete".[281] Less than a week later, WWE stopped advertising Bryan from all future live
events or television tapings.[282] After about a month off television, Bryan returned on the May 11
episode of Raw to explain that after having undergone an MRI he would be out for an unknown
period of time and could possibly have to retire (though the nature of his injuries were not revealed),
therefore he relinquished the Intercontinental Championship. [283] On the Elimination Chamber pre-
show on May 31, Bryan stated that he would eventually wrestle again. [284] In July, Bryan revealed that
his injury was concussion-related and claimed that he had been cleared to return to the ring by
external medical professionals and was waiting for WWE to clear him. [285][286] During his time away, he
trimmed his signature beard and cut his hair short,[287] donating his hair to Wigs 4 Kids, a charity
similar to that of Locks of Love.[288]
On February 8, 2016, Bryan retired due to medical reasons. [289] Later on that day's episode of Raw,
broadcast from Bryan's home state of Washington, Bryan gave a retirement speech expressing his
gratefulness for the happiness wrestling had brought him. [290] The following day on ESPN, Bryan
revealed that he suffered ten documented concussions while wrestling, but more might have been
undocumented or misdiagnosed. He said a recent EEG reflex test revealed slowing and a small
subacute or chronic lesion in his brain's temporoparietal region, which explained Bryan's post-
concussion seizures and led to his retirement decision.[291][292] Bryan had been cleared by a doctor for
the Arizona Cardinals and passed a concussion test at UCLA with "flying colors", but WWE's head of
medical Joseph Maroon refused to clear him. Journalist Dave Meltzer suggested that this may have
been because of Maroon having been portrayed in a negative light in the film Concussion. Initially,
Bryan requested his release from WWE and was looking to return to NJPW and ROH as well as
work in Mexico for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), but the request was turned down by
Vince McMahon. Bryan underwent a new test, where the lesion in his brain was discovered, after
which he himself made the decision to retire. [293] On Thank You Daniel, a WWE Network tribute to
Bryan, he confirmed that he had been asked about working for WWE in a different capacity while
comparing this to "a partner breaking up with you, getting married to someone else and then asking
you to be best friends", expanding to say that he needed time to heal emotionally before he could
agree to such an offer.[citation needed] During this period, WWE confirmed that Bryan would continue to
appear for the company in a non in-ring role alongside his wife Brie Bella, who served as a WWE
Ambassador[294] following her retirement from in-ring competition on April 3 at WrestleMania 32.[295]
[296]
Recognized as a WWE Legend,[297] Bryan co-hosted the WWE Network tournament Cruiserweight
Classic alongside SmackDown commentator Mauro Ranallo in mid-2016.[298]
SmackDown General Manager (2016–2018)
With the inception of WWE's second brand split, Bryan was appointed by SmackDown General
Manager on the July 18 episode of Raw.[299] Along with SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon,
Bryan played a vital role in the WWE draft.[300] After SummerSlam on August 21, Bryan unveiled two
new championships exclusive to the SmackDown brand: the SmackDown Women's
Championship and the SmackDown Tag Team Championship.[301] As part of his General Manager
duties, Bryan co-hosted Talking Smack with Renee Young, a post-show interview segment on the
WWE Network.[302] The segment frequently became the site for heated altercations between Bryan
and The Miz; Bryan openly expressed his disdain while Miz complained about being mistreated. The
two continued to feud for the rest of the year, with Miz often running away from Bryan when a
physical altercation was teased.[303] These altercations were intertwined with Miz feuding over the
Intercontinental championship with Dolph Ziggler. Following another verbal clash on Miz TV at the
November 1 episode of SmackDown, Bryan decided to trade Miz to Raw if he failed to regain the
championship from Ziggler.[304] Miz defeated Ziggler on the 900th episode of SmackDown Live on
November 15 to become a six-time Intercontinental Champion. [305]
On the October 11 episode of SmackDown, Bryan and Shane challenged the Raw brand to three 5-
on-5 traditional Survivor Series elimination tag team matches at the event of the same name as a
means to determine which brand was superior. [306] On the October 17 episode of Raw, Raw
Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and Raw General Manager Mick Foley accepted Bryan's
challenge.[307]
On the April 10 and 11, 2017 episodes of Raw and SmackDown, Bryan was involved in the 2017
Superstar Shake-up in which brand's former champions Alexa Bliss, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose,
The Miz, Heath Slater and Rhyno were traded to Raw.[308] Bryan later took time off from WWE
television for paternity leave and returned on the June 20 episode, during which he
stripped Carmella of her Money In The Bank briefcase and suspended James Ellsworth due to his
interference in the match.[309] On the August 1 episode of SmackDown, Bryan appointed Shane
McMahon as a guest referee for United States Champion AJ Styles's title defense against Kevin
Owens at SummerSlam,[310] thereby triggering a long-term feud between Owens and Shane that
would ultimately also involve Bryan himself.
Bryan was again absent from television after being attacked by Kane on the October 30 episode
of Raw.[311] He returned on the November 14 episode of SmackDown.[312]
After Survivor Series Bryan became deeply involved in Shane McMahon's feud against Kevin Owens
and Sami Zayn, favoring the latter two. On the November 21 episode of Smackdown Shane was
about to fire the two[313] for attacking him during their Survivor Series interbrand elimination
match against Team Raw, which SmackDown ultimately lost.[314] To settle the dispute whether Owens
and Zayn should be fired, the two were scheduled to wrestle Randy Orton and Shinsuke
Nakamura at Clash of Champions with Owens's and Zayn's jobs on the line. [315][316] During the match
Shane and Bryan acted as guest referees and come to blows: after Shane intentionally stopped a
count at two during a pinfall attempt by Zayn, while Bryan made a fast count to give Owens and
Zayn the win.[317] Over the following weeks, Bryan kept on favoring Owens and Zayn by giving them
multiple opportunities at AJ Styles's WWE Championship, first in a handicap title match at the Royal
Rumble[318] and then by including Owens and Zayn among the five challengers at Fastlane. During
the latter match, Shane broke up pinfall attempts by Owens and Zayn [319], resulting in a brutal attack
by Owens and Zayn on the following SmackDown.[320]
In–Ring Return (2018)
Bryan returned to in-ring competition at WrestleMania 34
At that time, after more than two years of evaluations, reviews of his medical history and
neurological and physical evaluations, Bryan was cleared by three external independent
neurosurgeons, neurologists and concussion experts — in addition to Joseph Maroon — to return to
WWE in-ring competition on March 20.[321] On that day's SmackDown, Bryan thanked fans for their
constant support and vowed to wrestle again. In his role as General Manager, he (kayfabe) fired
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn for attacking Shane McMahon the week before, resulting in Owens
and Zayn attacking Bryan.[322] In response, Bryan expressed regret over favoring them and scheduled
a tag team match at WrestleMania 34 pitting himself and Shane against Owens and Zayn, with the
latter being rehired if they win.[323][324] At the event on April 8, Bryan and McMahon won after Bryan
made Zayn submit in his first match since April 2015. [325] As a result of being medically cleared, Bryan
resigned as general manager. [326][327]
Bryan participated in the Greatest Royal Rumble match at the namesake event as the first entrant,
lasting for 76 minutes—the record for longest time in a Royal Rumble match—before being
eliminated by Big Cass in the final three.[328] Bryan defeated Big Cass at Backlash on May
6[329] and Money in the Bank on June 17.[330] On the June 26 episode of SmackDown, Bryan was aided
by Kane in a post-match attack from The Bludgeon Brothers, thus reuniting Team Hell No.
At Extreme Rules on July 15, Team Hell No lost a SmackDown Tag Team Championship match
against The Bludgeon Brothers after Kane was attacked pre-match with Bryan having to compete in
a handicap tag team match.[331]
After months of goading and later avoiding Bryan—as well as getting involved in Team Hell No's
feud with the Bludgeon Brothers—Bryan competed against long-time rival The
Miz at SummerSlam on August 19, but lost due to an undetected use of brass knuckles.[332] Following
SummerSlam, Miz mocked Bryan by delivering a fake retirement speech and Bryan's wife Brie Bella
returned as his partner.[333] At Hell in a Cell on September 16, Bryan and Bella lost to Miz and Maryse
after Maryse pinned Bella. At Super Show-Down on October 6, Bryan defeated Miz to earn a WWE
Championship opportunity against AJ Styles at Crown Jewel on November 2.[334] However, in wake of
the Khashoggi death incident he refused to work the Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia and the
storyline was altered so that their match took place on the October 30 episode of SmackDown,
which Bryan lost.[335][336][337] On the November 6 episode of SmackDown, Bryan was named team
captain of SmackDown at Survivor Series on November 18, but later had to share this role with The
Miz.[338]
The New Daniel Bryan (2018–present)
Bryan as WWE Champion in January 2019
On the November 13 episode of SmackDown, Bryan defeated AJ Styles to win the WWE
Championship for the fourth time following a low blow. After the match, he attacked Styles,
turning heel in the process for the first time since October 2012. As a result of his title win, Bryan
was removed from Team SmackDown at Survivor Series with Jeff Hardy taking his place on the
team and he faced Universal Champion Brock Lesnar in an interbrand champion vs. champion
match,[339] which he lost.[340] Two days later on SmackDown, Bryan explained his actions, stating that
he was following his dreams and that the fans were not with him during his recovery to return to the
ring. He then christened himself as "The New Daniel Bryan" and a rematch between Bryan and AJ
Styles for the title was scheduled for TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs,[341] where he successfully
defended the title.[342] At the Royal Rumble on January 27, 2019, Bryan successfully retained his title
against Styles once again, this time following interference from the returning Erick Rowan.[343] On the
January 29 episode of SmackDown, Bryan threw the standard title belt in a garbage can (bemoaning
the fact it was made from leather) and introduced a new belt, made from "entirely sustainable
materials".[344]
Bryan was scheduled to defend his championship in an Elimination Chamber match. On the
February 12 episode of SmackDown, the contestants competed in a gauntlet match to determine
who would enter the match last, Bryan was eliminated by Kofi Kingston.[345] At Elimination Chamber,
Bryan successfully retained the title, last eliminating Kingston. [346] At Fastlane Bryan was originally
scheduled to defend his championship against Kingston but Mr. McMahon replaced Kingston; at the
event Bryan successfully retained the title in a triple-threat match against Kevin Owens and Mustafa
Ali.[347] After winning two back-to-back gauntlet matches, Kingston was finally granted the title match
at WrestleMania 35. At the event on April 7, Bryan lost the title to Kingston ending his reign at 145
days. After WrestleMania, Bryan was briefly sidelined by an undisclosed injury, [348] but was cleared to
return to action on April 30.[349] On May 6, Bryan competed on his first match on Raw since March
2015, where he lost to Kingston in a WrestleMania rematch, ending their feud. [350]
On the May 7 episode of SmackDown, Bryan and Rowan defeated The Usos for the
vacant SmackDown Tag Team Championship, marking their first reign as a team and Rowan's
second reign individually.[351] At Money in the Bank, Bryan and Rowan faced off against the Usos in a
non title match in a losing effort.[352] At Stomping Grounds, Bryan and Rowan defeated Heavy
Machinery (Otis and Tucker) to retain the tag titles.[353] On July 14 at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view,
Bryan and Rowan dropped the titles to The New Day (Xavier Woods and Big E) in a triple threat tag-
team match, which also involved Heavy Machinery.[354]
In August, Bryan and Rowan became involved in a storyline with Roman Reigns, as Reigns was
being targeted for attacks by a mystery conspirator. Reigns suspected Rowan as his attacker due to
seemingly incriminating video footage, but Bryan instead revealed that the attacker was merely a
man who resembled Rowan.[355] However, Rowan later turned on Bryan and revealed that he was the
attacker the entire time, ending the alliance between the two. [356] On the final episode
of SmackDown on the USA Network on September 24, 2019, Bryan lost to Rowan in an impromptu
match after a distraction by Luke Harper, before being saved by Reigns. Bryan then joined with
Reigns to take down Harper and Rowan, thus setting up a tag team match at Hell in a Cell.[357]
Professional wrestling persona
Bryan in his signature "Yes!" T-shirt while addressing the audience
Bryan wearing a robe at WrestleMania XXVIII
Danielson has spent the majority of his career without an overt character in favor of
becoming popular with the fans through his monikers, signature mannerisms and wrestling ability
while his attire has varied as well, with the majority of his tenure wearing a pair of short trunks,[358] but
also ventured into wearing a mask for a time in Japan as an extension of his American Dragon
persona.[citation needed]
A notable part of Danielson's persona are his mannerisms and the reaction he inspires from the
crowd during the course of his matches that include:
During his time in ROH, Danielson made his way to the ring to his entrance song ("The Final
Countdown") and once in the ring he stood on the top turnbuckle and sang the refrain along with
the fans in attendance.[359]
After winning the ROH World Championship, Danielson displayed traits of a villain-
like persona, starting to behave more aggressively and threatening to the fans as well as taking
more liberties with the rules, but despite his rulebreaking character he still retained a certain
level of popularity with the fans as well as his upholding of the company's Code of Honor, ROH's
storyline rules of wrestler conduct, allowing him to perform as a more neutral character.[360]
During his initial reign as ROH World Champion, telling the ring announcer to add an extra
note about him appertaining to the current circumstances around his match—this was generally
insulting the crowd or his opponent. [361]
At the beginning of Danielson's ROH matches the crowd chanted "You're gonna get your
fucking head kicked in!" at Danielson's opponent.[362]
After winning WWE's World Heavyweight Championship, Bryan began shouting "Yes!"
repeatedly on his way to the ring and after defeating an opponent, crediting mixed martial
arts fighter Diego Sanchez with the inspiration.[363][364] This chant grew in popularity and has been
even heard outside WWE events such as at Major League Baseball, National Hockey
League and National Basketball Association games[364][365][366] as well as at music concerts, in
particular at Andrew W.K. concerts in both Glasgow and Manchester, England. [367] After turning
into a villainous character at the start of 2012, Bryan slowly turned against the fans and
after WrestleMania XXVIII in April he began chanting "No!" instead of "Yes!". Bryan claimed that
the fans were mocking him by chanting "Yes!" so he chanted "No!" back at them, but this then
further encouraged the crowd to chant "Yes!" to annoy him as he was a villain. Shortly after
turning back into a heroic character, Bryan began saying "Yes!" again, but would still shout "No!"
when in a negative situation or showing disdain towards a critique which also involved crowd
participation.
Bryan's "Yes!" chant again entered popular culture in late 2013 and early 2014.
During Michigan State's regular-season victory over arch-rival Michigan, Spartans guard Travis
Jackson celebrated a touchdown with a "Yes!" chant. [368] On January 7, the university honored
the football team, fresh off victory in the Rose Bowl, during halftime of the men's
basketball home game against Ohio State. Jackson again led Bryan's chant, this time with the
entire home crowd, especially the student section, joining in. The event quickly went viral and
drew extensive coverage on ESPN's SportsCenter. One contributor to Yahoo! Sports speculated
that this event and the associated media coverage led WWE to turn Bryan away from The Wyatt
Family.[369] In the wake of Bryan's championship victory at WrestleMania XXX, the Pittsburgh
Pirates began using the "Yes!" chant as a rallying cry, gradually replacing the Zoltan gesture the
Pirates had been using the previous two years and it is said that Pirates first baseman Gaby
Sánchez, a huge wrestling fan, was behind the team using the "Yes!" chants. [370] In May,
members of the San Francisco Giants started using the chant and hand gesture to celebrate
home runs. This led to Bryan performing the chant at a Giants playoff game and actively
supporting the team all the way to the World Series, which the Giants won against the Kansas
City Royals in seven games. Bryan was also a part of the team's victory parade. [371] Fans of
the New York Islanders now use the "Yes!" chant after every Islanders goal scored during home
games.[372]
On several occasions, such as during the 2013 Slammy Awards, fans have successfully
hijacked segments in which Bryan was either not involved in, or involved only secondarily, with
his "Yes!" chant. In the case of the "Championship Ascension Ceremony" segment, the fan's
continuing "Yes!" chants forced John Cena to go off-script and acknowledge Bryan (especially
since the show was held in Seattle) even though the segment was supposed to be about Cena
and Randy Orton's impending title unification match. [369]
Danielson, who was a vegan in his day-to-day life previously, incorporated his vegan lifestyle
into his villain-like persona to elicit heat from the crowd.[373][374]
Bryan applying his version of the omoplata crossface, the LeBell Lock, on Ted DiBiase
Throughout his career, Bryan has been known as a submission specialist. [375][376] In his initial
run on the independent circuit, he utilized a bridging double chickenwing, named Cattle
Mutilation, to finish his opponents.[377][6] This style has continued throughout his WWE career,
where he used an omoplata crossface,[378] which depending on his persona at the time he called
either the LeBell Lock, "No!" Lock, or "Yes!" Lock.[379] After his return to active performing in 2018,
he began using a heel hook to finish matches.[380]
Shortly after capturing the WWE Championship by low blowing A.J. Styles for a fourth time
and turning into a villainous character at the end of 2018, Bryan changed his in-ring persona,
beginning to smile more often in a sinister way and not leading any "Yes!" chants, which resulted
in him receiving heat from the crowd.[339][340][381][341] After Survivor Series in November of that year,
Bryan also started to repeatedly call the fans "fickle" while he claimed that the "old" Daniel Bryan
that the people loved and the Yes! Movement are dead before christening himself as the "new"
Daniel Bryan.[341] Bryan's on-screen character then became an ultra-environmentalist who
constantly chastises the WWE fans for their blatant consumerism, damaging the environment,
while also bashing them for consuming meat, proclaiming that animals were being harmed,
[382]
including fellow wrestlers such as Mustafa Ali just because they drive an SUV.[383] Two days
after the 2019 Royal Rumble, Bryan threw the standard title belt in a garbage can (bemoaning
the fact it was made from leather) and introduced a new custom belt with the same design as
the standard belt, but made from entirely sustainable materials (such as the strap being made
from hemp and the front and side plates carved from wood of a naturally fallen oak tree) to go
with his current persona.[384]
Other media
Danielson was prominently featured in the Wrestling Road Diaries documentary, which was filmed in
2009 before he signed with WWE.[385] In 2011, Danielson recorded a single with Kimya Dawson that
was a tribute to wrestling legend "Captain" Lou Albano.[364]
On July 21, 2015, Danielson published an autobiography entitled Yes: My Improbable Journey to the
Main Event of WrestleMania which was co-written by Craig Tello. [386]
Danielson was one of the judges on the sixth season of Tough Enough.[387] After his relationship with
Brie Bella became a regular feature on E! Network reality series Total Divas, he became part of the
cast of the spin off series Total Bellas.
Personal life
Michalek was posthumously presented with the Warrior Award by Danielson at the 2015 WWE Hall of
Fame ceremony
On April 11, 2014, Danielson married WWE wrestler Brie Bella, with whom he had been in a
relationship for nearly three years.[374][388][389] On April 6, 2016, nearly two months after Danielson's
retirement, Bella also semi-retired from wrestling in order to start a family with him. [390] They have a
daughter named Birdie Joe Danielson (born May 9, 2017). [391]
In 2009, Danielson relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he began training in MMA at Randy
Couture's Xtreme Couture gym.[4][52] He was also roommates with Xtreme Couture's head grappling
trainer, Neil Melanson.[4]
Danielson became a vegan in 2009 after suffering from elevated liver enzymes and several staph
infections.[392][393] In 2012, he was awarded a Libby Award from PETA for being the Most Animal-
Friendly Athlete.[394] That same year, Mayor Micah Cawley of Yakima, Washington declared January
13 "Daniel Bryan Day".[395] Later that year, Danielson explained that he was no longer a vegan due to
his inability to find vegan food while traveling with WWE. He later elaborated that he had developed
a soy intolerance and could not find enough non-soy vegan food, but he still keeps a mostly vegan
diet on the road. In 2018, it was reported that both he and his wife are vegetarians.[396] Danielson has
stated that he has vitiligo.[397]
In October 2012, a social media campaign was started in an attempt to help Connor Michalek meet
Danielson, his personal hero. Michalek was six years old at the time and suffered from cancer of the
brain and spine.[398] The campaign succeeded, with Danielson meeting Michalek at the Consol
Energy Center in December 2012[399] and again in October 2013.[400]
Danielson is a self-described environmentalist and endorsed Green Party nominee Jill Stein in
the 2016 United States presidential election.[401]
Championships and accomplishments
Bryan is a five-time world champion in WWE—pictured here as WWE World Heavyweight Champion, then
represented by the former World Heavyweight Championship belt (around his waist) and the 2013–2014
version of the WWE Championship belt (over his shoulder)
Under his American Dragon persona, Danielson is a former ROH World Champion
Bryan found success with Kane as part of Team Hell No by capturing the WWE Tag Team Championship
Bryan is a former Intercontinental Champion, which is the last title he held before his first retirement
All Pro Wrestling
o APW Worldwide Internet Championship (1 time)[402]
o King of the Indies (2001)[6][403]
All Star Wrestling
o ASW World Mid-Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[5]
o ASW World Mid-Heavyweight Title Tournament (2003)[404]
CBS Sports
o Best Promo of the Year (2018) – Promo during TLC kickoff show[405]
o Comeback Wrestler of the Year (2018)[405]
Connecticut Wrestling Entertainment
o CTWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time) [406]
East Coast Wrestling Association
o ECWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Low Ki[407]
Evolve
o Match of the Year (2010) vs. Munenori Sawa on September 11[408]
Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling
o NWA Canadian Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[409]
Full Impact Pro
o FIP Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[6]
International Catch Wrestling Alliance
o Expo 2008 Tournament[410]
International Wrestling Association
o IWA Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship (1 time) [77]
Memphis Championship Wrestling
o MCW Southern Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[5]
o MCW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Spanky[5]
NWA Mid-South
o NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[411]
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
o IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time)[6] – with Curry Man[5]
o Best of the American Super Juniors (2004)[412]
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
o PWG World Championship (2 times)[6][413]
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
o Comeback of the Year (2018)[414]
o Feud of the Year (2013) vs. The Authority[415]
o Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (2014)[415]
o Match of the Year (2013) vs. John Cena at SummerSlam[415]
o Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (2013)[415]
o Wrestler of the Year (2013)[415]
o Ranked No. 1 of the top 500 wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2014[416]
Pro Wrestling Noah
o GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[417][6]
Ring of Honor
o ROH Pure Championship (1 time)[31]
o ROH World Championship (1 time)[24]
o Survival of the Fittest (2004)[5][6]
Texas Wrestling Alliance
o TWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Spanky[5]
Texas Wrestling Entertainment
o TWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time) [418]
Westside Xtreme Wrestling
o wXw World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[419]
o Ambition 1 (2010)[76]
World Series Wrestling
o WSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) [420]
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
o World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[127]
o WWE Championship[Note 1] (4 times)[421][422][423][424]
o WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time)[425]
o WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Kane[426]
o WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Rowan[427]
o WWE United States Championship (1 time)[96]
o Money in the Bank (SmackDown 2011)[428]
o Twenty-sixth Triple Crown Champion[429]
o Sixth Grand Slam Champion (under current format; fifteenth overall)[273][274]
o Slammy Award (12 times)
Beard of the Year (2013)[430]
Catchphrase of the Year (2013) – YES! YES! YES![430]
Cole in Your Stocking (2010) – attacking Michael Cole on NXT[431]
Couple of the Year (2013, 2014) – with Brie Bella[430][432]
Facial Hair of the Year (2012)[433]
Fan Participation of the Year (2013) – YES! YES! YES![434]
Rivalry of the Year (2014) – vs. The Authority[432]
Shocker of the Year (2010) – The Nexus' debut[431]
Superstar of the Year (2013)[434]
Tweet of the Year (2012) – "Goat face is a horrible insult. My face is
practically perfect in every way. In fact, from now on I demand to be called Beautiful
Bryan"[433][435]
Upset of the Year (2012) – defeating Mark Henry and Big Show at the Royal
Rumble[433]
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
o Best Non-Wrestler (2017)[436]
o Best on Interviews (2018)[437]
o Best Pro Wrestling Book (2015) – Yes: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of
WrestleMania with Craig Tello[438]
o Best Pro Wrestling DVD (2015) – Daniel Bryan: Just Say Yes! Yes! Yes![438]
o Best Technical Wrestler (2005–2013; renamed to Bryan Danielson Award after his
first retirement in 2016)[439][440][441]
o Match of the Year (2007) – vs. Takeshi Morishima at ROH Manhattan Mayhem II on
August 25[439]
o Most Outstanding Wrestler (2006–2010)[439]
o Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Decade (2000–2009) [442]
o Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2016)[443]
Oliver Heaviside.
Oliver Heaviside FRS[1] (/ˈhɛvisaɪd/; 18 May 1850 – 3 February 1925) was an English self-
taught electrical engineer, mathematician, and physicist who adapted complex numbers to the study
of electrical circuits, invented mathematical techniques for the solution of differential
equations (equivalent to Laplace transforms), reformulated Maxwell's field equations in terms
of electric and magnetic forces and energy flux, and independently co-formulated vector analysis.
Although at odds with the scientific establishment for most of his life, Heaviside changed the face of
telecommunications, mathematics, and science.[2]
Oliver Heaviside
Biography
Early life
Heaviside was born in Camden Town, London, at 55 Kings Street[3]:13 (now Plender Street). He was a
short and red-headed child, and suffered from scarlet fever when young, which left him with a
hearing impairment. A small legacy enabled the family to move to a better part of Camden when he
was thirteen and he was sent to Camden House Grammar School. He was a good student, placed
fifth out of five hundred students in 1865, but his parents could not keep him at school after he was
16, so he continued studying for a year by himself and had no further formal education. [4]:51
Heaviside's uncle by marriage was Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802–1875), an internationally
celebrated expert in telegraphy and electromagnetism, and the original co-inventor of the first
commercially successful telegraph in the mid-1830s. Wheatstone took a strong interest in his
nephew's education[5] and in 1867 sent him north to work with his own, older brother Arthur, who was
managing one of Wheatstone's telegraph companies in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.[4]:53
Two years later he took a job as a telegraph operator with the Danish Great Northern Telegraph
Company laying a cable from Newcastle to Denmark using British contractors. He soon became an
electrician. Heaviside continued to study while working, and by the age of 22 he published an article
in the prestigious Philosophical Magazine on 'The Best Arrangement of Wheatstone's Bridge for
measuring a Given Resistance with a Given Galvanometer and Battery' [6] which received positive
comments from physicists who had unsuccessfully tried to solve this algebraic problem, including Sir
William Thomson, to whom he gave a copy of the paper, and James Clerk Maxwell. When he
published an article on the duplex method of using a telegraph cable,[7] he poked fun at R. S. Culley,
the engineer in chief of the Post Office telegraph system, who had been dismissing duplex as
impractical. Later in 1873 his application to join the Society of Telegraph Engineers was turned down
with the comment that "they didn't want telegraph clerks". This riled Heaviside, who asked Thomson
to sponsor him, and along with support of the society's president he was admitted "despite the P.O.
snobs".[4]:60
In 1873 Heaviside had encountered Maxwell's newly published, and later famous, two-
volume Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism. In his old age Heaviside recalled:
I remember my first look at the great treatise of Maxwell's when I was a young man… I saw that it
was great, greater and greatest, with prodigious possibilities in its power… I was determined to
master the book and set to work. I was very ignorant. I had no knowledge of mathematical analysis
(having learned only school algebra and trigonometry which I had largely forgotten) and thus my
work was laid out for me. It took me several years before I could understand as much as I possibly
could. Then I set Maxwell aside and followed my own course. And I progressed much more
quickly… It will be understood that I preach the gospel according to my interpretation of Maxwell. [8]
Undertaking research from home, he helped develop transmission line theory (also known as the
"telegrapher's equations"). Heaviside showed mathematically that uniformly distributed inductance in
a telegraph line would diminish both attenuation and distortion, and that, if the inductance were great
enough and the insulation resistance not too high, the circuit would be distortionless in
that currents of all frequencies would have equal speeds of propagation.[9] Heaviside's equations
helped further the implementation of the telegraph.
Middle years
From 1882 to 1902, except for three years, he contributed regular articles to the trade paper The
Electrician, which wished to improve its standing, for which he was paid £40 per year. This was
hardly enough to live on, but his demands were very small and he was doing what he most wanted
to. Between 1883 and 1887 these averaged 2–3 articles per month and these articles later formed
the bulk of his Electromagnetic Theory and Electrical Papers.[4]:71
In 1880, Heaviside researched the skin effect in telegraph transmission lines. That same year he
patented, in England, the coaxial cable. In 1884 he recast Maxwell's mathematical analysis from its
original cumbersome form (they had already been recast as quaternions) to its
modern vector terminology, thereby reducing twelve of the original twenty equations in twenty
unknowns down to the four differential equations in two unknowns we now know as Maxwell's
equations. The four re-formulated Maxwell's equations describe the nature of electric charges (both
static and moving), magnetic fields, and the relationship between the two, namely electromagnetic
fields.
Between 1880 and 1887, Heaviside developed the operational calculus using p for the differential
operator, (which Boole[10] had previously denoted by D), giving a method of solving differential
equations by direct solution as algebraic equations. This later caused a great deal of controversy,
owing to its lack of rigour. He famously said, "Mathematics is an experimental science, and
definitions do not come first, but later on. They make themselves, when the nature of the subject has
developed itself."[11] On another occasion he asked somewhat more defensively, "Shall I refuse my
dinner because I do not fully understand the process of digestion?" [12]
In 1887, Heaviside worked with his brother Arthur on a paper entitled "The Bridge System of
Telephony". However the paper was blocked by Arthur's superior, William Henry Preece of the Post
Office, because part of the proposal was that loading coils (inductors) should be added to telephone
and telegraph lines to increase their self-induction and correct the distortion which they suffered.
Preece had recently declared self-inductance to be the great enemy of clear transmission. Heaviside
was also convinced that Preece was behind the sacking of the editor of The Electrician which
brought his long-running series of articles to a halt (until 1891). [13] There was a long history of
animosity between Preece and Heaviside. Heaviside considered Preece to be mathematically
incompetent, an assessment supported by the biographer Paul J. Nahin: "Preece was a powerful
government official, enormously ambitious, and in some remarkable ways, an utter blockhead."
Preece's motivations in suppressing Heaviside's work were more to do with protecting Preece's own
reputation and avoiding having to admit error than any perceived faults in Heaviside's work. [3]: xi–xvii, 162–183
The importance of Heaviside's work remained undiscovered for some time after publication in The
Electrician, and so its rights lay in the public domain. In 1897, AT&T employed one of its own
scientists, George A. Campbell, and an external investigator Michael I. Pupin to find some respect in
which Heaviside's work was incomplete or incorrect. Campbell and Pupin extended Heaviside's
work, and AT&T filed for patents covering not only their research, but also the technical method of
constructing the coils previously invented by Heaviside. AT&T later offered Heaviside money in
exchange for his rights; it is possible that the Bell engineers' respect for Heaviside influenced this
offer. However, Heaviside refused the offer, declining to accept any money unless the company
were to give him full recognition. Heaviside was chronically poor, making his refusal of the offer even
more striking.[14]
But this setback had the effect of turning Heaviside's attention towards electromagnetic radiation,
[15]
and in two papers of 1888 and 1889, he calculated the deformations of electric and magnetic
fields surrounding a moving charge, as well as the effects of it entering a denser medium. This
included a prediction of what is now known as Cherenkov radiation, and inspired his friend George
FitzGerald to suggest what now is known as the Lorentz–FitzGerald contraction.
In 1889, Heaviside first published a correct derivation of the magnetic force on a moving charged
particle,[16] which is now called the Lorentz force.
In the late 1880s and early 1890s, Heaviside worked on the concept of electromagnetic mass.
Heaviside treated this as material mass, capable of producing the same effects. Wilhelm Wien later
verified Heaviside's expression (for low velocities).
In 1891 the British Royal Society recognized Heaviside's contributions to the mathematical
description of electromagnetic phenomena by naming him a Fellow of the Royal Society, and the
following year devoting more than fifty pages of the Philosophical Transactions of the Society to his
vector methods and electromagnetic theory. In 1905 Heaviside was given an honorary doctorate by
the University of Göttingen.
Later years and views
In 1896, FitzGerald and John Perry obtained a civil list pension of £120 per year for Heaviside, who
was now living in Devon, and persuaded him to accept it, after he had rejected other charitable
offers from the Royal Society.[15]
In 1902, Heaviside proposed the existence of what is now known as the Kennelly–Heaviside layer of
the ionosphere. Heaviside's proposal included means by which radio signals are transmitted around
the Earth's curvature. The existence of the ionosphere was confirmed in 1923. The predictions by
Heaviside, combined with Planck's radiation theory, probably discouraged further attempts to detect
radio waves from the Sun and other astronomical objects. For whatever reason, there seem to have
been no attempts for 30 years, until Jansky's development of radio astronomy in 1932.
In later years his behavior became quite eccentric. According to associate B. A. Behrend, he
became a recluse who was so averse to meeting people that he delivered the manuscripts of
his Electrician papers to a grocery store, where the editors picked them up. [17] Though he had been
an active cyclist in his youth, his health seriously declined in his sixth decade. During this time
Heaviside would sign letters with the initials "W.O.R.M." after his name. Heaviside also reportedly
started painting his fingernails pink and had granite blocks moved into his house for furniture. [3]: xx In
1922, he became the first recipient of the Faraday Medal, which was established that year.
On Heaviside's religious views, he was a Unitarian, but not a religious one. He was even said to
have made fun of people who put their faith in a supreme being. [18]
Comparison of before and after the restoration project.
Heaviside died on 3 February 1925, at Torquay in Devon after falling from a ladder,[19] and is buried
near the eastern corner of Paignton cemetery. He is buried with his father, Thomas Heaviside
(1813–1896) and his mother, Rachel Elizabeth Heaviside. The gravestone was cleaned thanks to an
anonymous donor sometime in 2005.[20] Most of his recognition was gained posthumously.
Heaviside Memorial Project
In July 2014, academics at Newcastle University, UK and the Newcastle Electromagnetics Interest
Group founded the Heaviside Memorial Project[21] in a bid to fully restore the monument through
public subscription.[22][23] The restored memorial was ceremonially unveiled on 30 August 2014 by
Alan Heather, a distant relative of Heaviside. The unveiling was attended by the Mayor of Torbay,
the MP for Torbay, an ex-curator of the Science Museum (representing the Institution of Engineering
and Technology), the Chairman of the Torbay Civic Society, and delegates from Newcastle
University.[24]
The Heaviside Collection 1872–1923
A collection of Heaviside's notebooks, papers, correspondence, notes and annotated pamphlets on
telegraphy is held at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Archive Centre.[25]
Innovations and discoveries
Heaviside did much to develop and advocate vector methods and vector calculus.
[26]
Maxwell's formulation of electromagnetism consisted of 20 equations in 20 variables. Heaviside
employed the curl and divergence operators of the vector calculus to reformulate 12 of these 20
equations into four equations in four variables (B, E, J, and ρ), the form by which they have been
known ever since (see Maxwell's equations). Less well known is that Heaviside's equations and
Maxwell's are not exactly the same, and in fact it is easier to modify the former to make them
compatible with quantum physics.[27] The possibility of gravitational waves was also discussed by
Heaviside using the analogy between the inverse-square law in gravitation and electricity. [28]
He invented the Heaviside step function, using it to calculate the current when an electric circuit is
switched on. He was the first to use the unit impulse function now usually known as the Dirac delta
function.[29] He invented his operational calculus method for solving linear differential equations. This
resembles the currently used Laplace transform method based on the "Bromwich integral" named
after Bromwich who devised a rigorous mathematical justification for Heaviside's operator method
using contour integration.[30] Heaviside was familiar with the Laplace transform method but
considered his own method more direct.[31][32]
Heaviside developed the transmission line theory (also known as the "telegrapher's equations"),
which had the effect of increasing the transmission rate over transatlantic cables by a factor of ten. It
originally took ten minutes to transmit each character, and this immediately improved to one
character per minute. Closely related to this was his discovery that telephone transmission could be
greatly improved by placing electrical inductance in series with the cable.[33] Heaviside also
independently discovered the Poynting vector.[3]:116–118
Heaviside advanced the idea that the Earth's uppermost atmosphere contained an ionized layer
known as the ionosphere; in this regard, he predicted the existence of what later was dubbed
the Kennelly–Heaviside layer. In 1947 Edward Victor Appleton received the Nobel Prize in Physics
for proving that this layer really existed.
Electromagnetic terms
Heaviside coined the following terms of art in electromagnetic theory:
admittance (reciprocal of impedance) (December 1887);
elastance (reciprocal of permittance, reciprocal of capacitance) (1886);
conductance (real part of admittance, reciprocal of resistance) (September 1885);
electret for the electric analogue of a permanent magnet, or, in other words, any substance
that exhibits a quasi-permanent electric polarization (e.g. ferroelectric);
impedance (July 1886);
inductance (February 1886);
permeability (September 1885);
permittance and permittivity (June 1887);
reluctance (May 1888);
susceptance (imaginary part of admittance, reciprocal of reactance) (1887).
Publications
1885, 1886, and 1887, "Electromagnetic induction and its propagation", The Electrician.
1888/89, "Electromagnetic waves, the propagation of potential, and the electromagnetic
effects of a moving charge", The Electrician.
1889, "On the Electromagnetic Effects due to the Motion of Electrification through a
Dielectric", Phil.Mag.S.5 27: 324.
1892 "On the Forces, Stresses, and Fluxes of Energy in the Electromagnetic
Field" Phil.Trans.Royal Soc. A 183:423–80.
1892 "On Operators in Physical Mathematics" Part I. Proc. Roy. Soc. 1892 Jan 01. vol.52
pp. 504–529
1892 Heaviside, Oliver (1892). Electrical Papers. Volume 1. Macmillan Co, London and New
York.
1893 "On Operators in Physical Mathematics" Part II Proc. Roy. Soc. 1893 Jan 01. vol.54
pp. 105–143
1893 "A gravitational and electromagnetic analogy," The Electrician.
1893 Heaviside, Oliver (1893). Electromagnetic Theory. Volume 1. The Electrician Printing
and Publishing Co, London.
1894 Heaviside, Oliver (1894). Electrical Papers. Volume 2. Macmillan Co, London and New
York.
1899 Heaviside, Oliver (1899). Electromagnetic Theory. Volume 2. The Electrician Printing
and Publishing Co, London.
1912 Heaviside, Oliver (1912). Electromagnetic Theory. Volume 3. The Electrician Printing
and Publishing Co, London.
1925. Electrical Papers. 2 vols Boston 1925 (Copley)
1950 Electromagnetic theory: The complete & unabridged edition. (Spon) reprinted 1950
(Dover)
1970 Heaviside, Oliver (1970). Electrical Papers. Chelsea Publishing Company,
Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-8284-0235-4.
1971 "Electromagnetic theory; Including an account of Heaviside's unpublished notes for a
fourth volume" Chelsea, ISBN 0-8284-0237-X
2001 Heaviside, Oliver (1 December 2001). Electrical Papers. ISBN 978-0-8218-2840-3.
Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck
Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck, ForMemRS[1] (German: [ˈplaŋk];[2] English: /ˈplæŋk/;[3] 23 April 1858 – 4
October 1947) was a German theoretical physicist whose discovery of energy quanta won him the Nobel
Prize in Physics in 1918.[4]
Planck made many contributions to theoretical physics, but his fame as a physicist rests primarily on his
role as the originator of quantum theory,[5] which revolutionized human understanding of atomic and
subatomic processes. In 1948 the German scientific institution the Kaiser Wilhelm Society (of which
Planck was twice president) was renamed the Max Planck Society (MPS). The MPS now includes 83
institutions representing a wide range of scientific directions.
Max Planck
Planck in 1933
Life and career
Planck came from a traditional, intellectual family. His paternal great-grandfather and grandfather were
both theology professors in Göttingen; his father was a law professor at the University of
Kiel[6] and Munich. One of his uncles was also a judge.[7]
Max Planck's signature at ten years of age
Planck was born in Kiel, Holstein, to Johann Julius Wilhelm Planck and his second wife, Emma Patzig. He
was baptized with the name of Karl Ernst Ludwig Marx Planck; of his given names, Marx (a now obsolete
variant of Markus or maybe simply an error for Max, which is actually short for Maximilian) was
indicated as the "appellation name".[8] However, by the age of ten he signed with the name Max and
used this for the rest of his life.[9]
He was the 6th child in the family, though two of his siblings were from his father's first marriage. War
was common during Planck's early years and among his earliest memories was the marching
of Prussian and Austrian troops into Kiel during the Second Schleswig War in 1864.[7] In 1867 the family
moved to Munich, and Planck enrolled in the Maximilians gymnasium school, where he came under the
tutelage of Hermann Müller, a mathematician who took an interest in the youth, and taught
him astronomy and mechanics as well as mathematics. It was from Müller that Planck first learned the
principle of conservation of energy. Planck graduated early, at age 17.[10] This is how Planck first came
in contact with the field of physics.
Planck was gifted when it came to music. He took singing lessons and played piano, organ and cello, and
composed songs and operas. However, instead of music he chose to study physics.
Planck as a young man, 1878
The Munich physics professor Philipp von Jolly advised Planck against going into physics, saying, "in this
field, almost everything is already discovered, and all that remains is to fill a few holes."[11] Planck
replied that he did not wish to discover new things, but only to understand the known fundamentals of
the field, and so began his studies in 1874 at the University of Munich. Under Jolly's supervision, Planck
performed the only experiments of his scientific career, studying the diffusion of hydrogen through
heated platinum, but transferred to theoretical physics.
In 1877 he went to the Friedrich Wilhelms University in Berlin for a year of study with
physicists Hermann von Helmholtz and Gustav Kirchhoff and mathematician Karl Weierstrass. He wrote
that Helmholtz was never quite prepared, spoke slowly, miscalculated endlessly, and bored his listeners,
while Kirchhoff spoke in carefully prepared lectures which were dry and monotonous. He soon became
close friends with Helmholtz. While there he undertook a program of mostly self-study
of Clausius's writings, which led him to choose thermodynamics as his field.
In October 1878 Planck passed his qualifying exams and in February 1879 defended his
dissertation, Über den zweiten Hauptsatz der mechanischen Wärmetheorie (On the second law of
thermodynamics). He briefly taught mathematics and physics at his former school in Munich.
By the year 1880, Planck obtained two highest academic degrees offered in Europe. The first was a
doctorate degree after he completed his paper detailing his research and theory of thermodynamics.
[7] He then presented his thesis called Gleichgewichtszustände isotroper Körper in verschiedenen
Temperaturen (Equilibrium states of isotropic bodies at different temperatures), which earned him
a habilitation.
Academic career
With the completion of his habilitation thesis, Planck became an unpaid Privatdozent (German academic
rank comparable to lecturer/assistant professor) in Munich, waiting until he was offered an academic
position. Although he was initially ignored by the academic community, he furthered his work on the
field of heat theory and discovered one after another the same thermodynamical formalism
as Gibbs without realizing it. Clausius's ideas on entropy occupied a central role in his work.
In April 1885 the University of Kiel appointed Planck as associate professor of theoretical physics.
Further work on entropy and its treatment, especially as applied in physical chemistry, followed. He
published his Treatise on Thermodynamics in 1897.[12] He proposed a thermodynamic basis for Svante
Arrhenius's theory of electrolytic dissociation.
In 1889 he was named the successor to Kirchhoff's position at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in
Berlin[13] – presumably thanks to Helmholtz's intercession – and by 1892 became a full professor. In
1907 Planck was offered Boltzmann's position in Vienna, but turned it down to stay in Berlin. During
1909, as a University of Berlin professor, he was invited to become the Ernest Kempton Adams Lecturer
in Theoretical Physics at Columbia University in New York City. A series of his lectures were translated
and co-published by Columbia University professor A. P. Wills.[14] He retired from Berlin on 10 January
1926,[15] and was succeeded by Erwin Schrödinger.[16]
Family
In March 1887 Planck married Marie Merck (1861–1909), sister of a school fellow, and moved with her
into a sublet apartment in Kiel. They had four children: Karl (1888–1916), the twins Emma (1889–1919)
and Grete (1889–1917), and Erwin (1893–1945).
After the apartment in Berlin, the Planck family lived in a villa in Berlin-Grunewald, Wangenheimstrasse
21. Several other professors from University of Berlin lived nearby, among them theologian Adolf von
Harnack, who became a close friend of Planck. Soon the Planck home became a social and cultural
center. Numerous well-known scientists, such as Albert Einstein, Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner were
frequent visitors. The tradition of jointly performing music had already been established in the home
of Helmholtz.
After several happy years, in July 1909 Marie Planck died, possibly from tuberculosis. In March 1911
Planck married his second wife, Marga von Hoesslin (1882–1948); in December his fifth child Hermann
was born.
During the First World War Planck's second son Erwin was taken prisoner by the French in 1914, while
his oldest son Karl was killed in action at Verdun. Grete died in 1917 while giving birth to her first child.
Her sister died the same way two years later, after having married Grete's widower. Both
granddaughters survived and were named after their mothers. Planck endured these losses stoically.
In January 1945, Erwin, to whom he had been particularly close, was sentenced to death by
the Nazi Volksgerichtshof because of his participation in the failed attempt to assassinate Hitler in July
1944. Erwin was executed on 23 January 1945.[17]
Professor at Berlin University
As a professor at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Berlin, Planck joined the local Physical Society. He
later wrote about this time: "In those days I was essentially the only theoretical physicist there, whence
things were not so easy for me, because I started mentioning entropy, but this was not quite
fashionable, since it was regarded as a mathematical spook".[18] Thanks to his initiative, the various
local Physical Societies of Germany merged in 1898 to form the German Physical Society (Deutsche
Physikalische Gesellschaft, DPG); from 1905 to 1909 Planck was the president.
Plaque at the Humboldt University of Berlin: "Max Planck, discoverer of the elementary quantum of
action h, taught in this building from 1889 to 1928."
Planck started a six-semester course of lectures on theoretical physics, "dry, somewhat impersonal"
according to Lise Meitner, "using no notes, never making mistakes, never faltering; the best lecturer I
ever heard" according to an English participant, James R. Partington, who continues: "There were always
many standing around the room. As the lecture-room was well heated and rather close, some of the
listeners would from time to time drop to the floor, but this did not disturb the lecture". Planck did not
establish an actual "school"; the number of his graduate students was only about 20, among them:
1897 Max Abraham (1875–1922)
1903 Max von Laue (1879–1960)
1904 Moritz Schlick (1882–1936)
1906 Walther Meissner (1882–1974)
1907 Fritz Reiche (1883–1960)
1912 Walter Schottky (1886–1976)
1914 Walther Bothe (1891–1957)[19]
Black-body radiation
In 1894 Planck turned his attention to the problem of black-body radiation. He had been commissioned
by electric companies to create maximum light from lightbulbs with minimum energy. The problem had
been stated by Kirchhoff in 1859: "how does the intensity of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by
a black body (a perfect absorber, also known as a cavity radiator) depend on the frequency of the
radiation (i.e., the color of the light) and the temperature of the body?". The question had been
explored experimentally, but no theoretical treatment agreed with experimental values. Wilhelm
Wien proposed Wien's law, which correctly predicted the behaviour at high frequencies, but failed at
low frequencies. The Rayleigh–Jeans law, another approach to the problem, created what was later
known as the "ultraviolet catastrophe", but contrary to many textbooks this was not a motivation for
Planck.[20]
Planck's first proposed solution to the problem in 1899 followed from what Planck called the "principle
of elementary disorder", which allowed him to derive Wien's law from a number of assumptions about
the entropy of an ideal oscillator, creating what was referred-to as the Wien–Planck law. Soon it was
found that experimental evidence did not confirm the new law at all, to Planck's frustration. Planck
revised his approach, deriving the first version of the famous Planck black-body radiation law, which
described the experimentally observed black-body spectrum well. It was first proposed in a meeting of
the DPG on 19 October 1900 and published in 1901. This first derivation did not include energy
quantisation, and did not use statistical mechanics, to which he held an aversion. In November 1900,
Planck revised this first approach, relying on Boltzmann's statistical interpretation of the second law of
thermodynamics as a way of gaining a more fundamental understanding of the principles behind his
radiation law. As Planck was deeply suspicious of the philosophical and physical implications of such an
interpretation of Boltzmann's approach, his recourse to them was, as he later put it, "an act of despair ...
I was ready to sacrifice any of my previous convictions about physics."[20]
The central assumption behind his new derivation, presented to the DPG on 14 December 1900, was the
supposition, now known as the Planck postulate, that electromagnetic energy could be emitted only
in quantized form, in other words, the energy could only be a multiple of an elementary unit:
{\displaystyle E=h\nu }
where h is Planck's constant, also known as Planck's action quantum (introduced already in 1899),
and ν is the frequency of the radiation. Note that the elementary units of energy discussed here are
represented by hν and not simply by ν. Physicists now call these quanta photons, and a photon of
frequency ν will have its own specific and unique energy. The total energy at that frequency is then
equal to hν multiplied by the number of photons at that frequency.
Planck in 1918, the year he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on quantum theory
At first Planck considered that quantisation was only "a purely formalassumption ... actually I did not
think much about it..."; nowadays this assumption, incompatible with classical physics, is regarded as
the birth of quantum physics and the greatest intellectual accomplishment of Planck's career (Ludwig
Boltzmann had been discussing in a theoretical paper in 1877 the possibility that the energy states of a
physical system could be discrete). The discovery of Planck's constant enabled him to define a new
universal set of physical units (such as the Planck length and the Planck mass), all based on fundamental
physical constants upon which much of quantum theory is based. In recognition of Planck's fundamental
contribution to a new branch of physics, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1918 (he actually
received the award in 1919).[21][22]
Subsequently, Planck tried to grasp the meaning of energy quanta, but to no avail. "My unavailing
attempts to somehow reintegrate the action quantum into classical theory extended over several years
and caused me much trouble." Even several years later, other physicists like Rayleigh, Jeans,
and Lorentz set Planck's constant to zero in order to align with classical physics, but Planck knew well
that this constant had a precise nonzero value. "I am unable to understand Jeans' stubbornness – he is
an example of a theoretician as should never be existing, the same as Hegel was for philosophy. So much
the worse for the facts if they don't fit."[23]
Max Born wrote about Planck: "He was, by nature, a conservative mind; he had nothing of the
revolutionary and was thoroughly skeptical about speculations. Yet his belief in the compelling force of
logical reasoning from facts was so strong that he did not flinch from announcing the most revolutionary
idea which ever has shaken physics."[1]
Einstein and the theory of relativity
In 1905, the three epochal papers by Albert Einstein were published in the journal Annalen der Physik.
Planck was among the few who immediately recognized the significance of the special theory of
relativity. Thanks to his influence, this theory was soon widely accepted in Germany. Planck also
contributed considerably to extend the special theory of relativity. For example, he recast the theory in
terms of classical action.[24]
Einstein's hypothesis of light quanta (photons), based on Heinrich Hertz's 1887 discovery (and further
investigation by Philipp Lenard) of the photoelectric effect, was initially rejected by Planck. He was
unwilling to discard completely Maxwell's theory of electrodynamics. "The theory of light would be
thrown back not by decades, but by centuries, into the age when Christiaan Huygens dared to fight
against the mighty emission theory of Isaac Newton ..."
In 1910, Einstein pointed out the anomalous behavior of specific heat at low temperatures as another
example of a phenomenon which defies explanation by classical physics. Planck and Nernst, seeking to
clarify the increasing number of contradictions, organized the First Solvay Conference (Brussels 1911). At
this meeting Einstein was able to convince Planck.
Meanwhile, Planck had been appointed dean of Berlin University, whereby it was possible for him to call
Einstein to Berlin and establish a new professorship for him (1914). Soon the two scientists became
close friends and met frequently to play music together.
First World War
At the onset of the First World War Planck endorsed the general excitement of the public, writing that,
"Besides much that is horrible, there is also much that is unexpectedly great and beautiful: the smooth
solution of the most difficult domestic political problems by the unification of all parties (and) ... the
extolling of everything good and noble."[25][26]
Nonetheless, Planck refrained from the extremes of nationalism. In 1915, at a time when Italy was about
to join the Allied Powers, he voted successfully for a scientific paper from Italy, which received a prize
from the Prussian Academy of Sciences, where Planck was one of four permanent presidents.
Planck also signed the infamous "Manifesto of the 93 intellectuals", a pamphlet of polemic war
propaganda (while Einstein retained a strictly pacifistic attitude which almost led to his imprisonment,
being spared by his Swiss citizenship). But in 1915 Planck, after several meetings with Dutch
physicist Lorentz, revoked parts of the Manifesto. Then in 1916 he signed a declaration against
German annexationism.[citation needed]
Post-war and the Weimar Republic
In the turbulent post-war years, Planck, now the highest authority of German physics, issued the slogan
"persevere and continue working" to his colleagues.
In October 1920 he and Fritz Haber established the Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen
Wissenschaft (Emergency Organization of German Science), aimed at providing financial support for
scientific research. A considerable portion of the money the organization would distribute was raised
abroad.
Planck also held leading positions at Berlin University, the Prussian Academy of Sciences, the German
Physical Society and the Kaiser Wilhelm Society (which in 1948 became the Max Planck Society). During
this time economic conditions in Germany were such that he was hardly able to conduct research. In
1926 Planck became a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.[27]
During the interwar period, Planck became a member of the Deutsche Volks-Partei (German People's
Party), the party of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Gustav Stresemann, which aspired to liberal aims for
domestic policy and rather revisionistic aims for politics around the world.
Planck disagreed with the introduction of universal suffrage and later expressed the view that the Nazi
dictatorship resulted from "the ascent of the rule of the crowds".[28]
Quantum mechanics
From left to right: W. Nernst, A. Einstein, M. Planck, R.A. Millikan and von Laue at a dinner given by von
Laue in Berlin on 11 November 1931
At the end of the 1920s Bohr, Heisenberg and Pauli had worked out the Copenhagen interpretation of
quantum mechanics, but it was rejected by Planck, and by Schrödinger, Laue, and Einstein as well.
Planck expected that wave mechanics would soon render quantum theory—his own child—
unnecessary. This was not to be the case, however. Further work only cemented quantum theory, even
against his and Einstein's philosophical revulsions. Planck experienced the truth of his own earlier
observation from his struggle with the older views in his younger years: "A new scientific truth does not
triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents
eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it."[29]
Nazi dictatorship and the Second World War
When the Nazis came to power in 1933, Planck was 74. He witnessed many Jewish friends and
colleagues expelled from their positions and humiliated, and hundreds of scientists emigrated from Nazi
Germany. Again he tried to "persevere and continue working" and asked scientists who were
considering emigration to remain in Germany. Nevertheless, he did help his nephew, the
economist Hermann Kranold to emigrate to Londonafter his arrest.[30] He hoped the crisis would abate
soon and the political situation would improve.
Otto Hahn asked Planck to gather well-known German professors in order to issue a public proclamation
against the treatment of Jewish professors, but Planck replied, "If you are able to gather today 30 such
gentlemen, then tomorrow 150 others will come and speak against it, because they are eager to take
over the positions of the others."[31] Under Planck's leadership, the Kaiser Wilhelm Society (KWG)
avoided open conflict with the Nazi regime, except concerning Fritz Haber. Planck tried to discuss the
issue with Adolf Hitler but was unsuccessful. In the following year, 1934, Haber died in exile.
One year later, Planck, having been the president of the KWG since 1930, organized in a somewhat
provocative style an official commemorative meeting for Haber. He also succeeded in secretly enabling a
number of Jewish scientists to continue working in institutes of the KWG for several years. In 1936, his
term as president of the KWG ended, and the Nazi government pressured him to refrain from seeking
another term.
As the political climate in Germany gradually became more hostile, Johannes Stark, prominent exponent
of Deutsche Physik ("German Physics", also called "Aryan Physics") attacked Planck, Sommerfeld and
Heisenberg for continuing to teach the theories of Einstein, calling them "white Jews". The "Hauptamt
Wissenschaft" (Nazi government office for science) started an investigation of Planck's ancestry, claiming
that he was "1/16 Jewish", but Planck himself denied it.[32]
Max Planck's grave in Göttingen
In 1938, Planck celebrated his 80th birthday. The DPG held a celebration, during which the Max-Planck
medal (founded as the highest medal by the DPG in 1928) was awarded to French physicist Louis de
Broglie. At the end of 1938, the Prussian Academy lost its remaining independence and was taken over
by Nazis (Gleichschaltung). Planck protested by resigning his presidency. He continued to travel
frequently, giving numerous public talks, such as his talk on Religion and Science, and five years later he
was sufficiently fit to climb 3,000-metre peaks in the Alps.
During the Second World War the increasing number of Allied bombing missions against Berlin forced
Planck and his wife to temporarily leave the city and live in the countryside. In 1942 he wrote: "In me an
ardent desire has grown to persevere this crisis and live long enough to be able to witness the turning
point, the beginning of a new rise." In February 1944 his home in Berlin was completely destroyed by an
air raid, annihilating all his scientific records and correspondence. His rural retreat was threatened by
the rapid advance of the Allied armies from both sides.
In 1944, Planck's son Erwin was arrested by the Gestapo following the attempted assassination of Hitler
in the 20 July plot. He was tried and sentenced to death by the People’s Court in October 1944. Erwin
was hanged at Berlin’s Plötzensee Prison in January 1945. The death of his son destroyed much of
Planck's will to live.[33] After the end of the war Planck, his second wife, and his son by her were
brought to a relative in Göttingen, where Planck died on October 4th, 1947. His grave is situated in the
old Stadtfriedhof (City Cemetery) in Göttingen.[34]
Religious views
Planck was a member of the Lutheran Church in Germany.[35] However, Planck was very tolerant
towards alternative views and religions.[36] In a lecture in 1937 entitled "Religion und
Naturwissenschaft" (Religion and Natural Science) he suggested the importance of these symbols and
rituals related directly with a believer's ability to worship God, but that one must be mindful that the
symbols provide an imperfect illustration of divinity. He criticized atheism for being focused on the
derision of such symbols, while at the same time warned of the over-estimation of the importance of
such symbols by believers.[37]
He was favorable to all religions, but he himself chose Christianity. He did, however, regret the Church's
demands for unquestioning belief, which served to repel questioners. For example, he believed "the
faith in miracles must yield, step by step, before the steady and firm advance of the facts of science, and
its total defeat is undoubtedly a matter of time." [38]
In his 1937 lecture "Religion and Naturwissenschaft," Planck expressed the view that God is everywhere
present, and held that "the holiness of the unintelligible Godhead is conveyed by the holiness of
symbols." Atheists, he thought, attach too much importance to what are merely symbols. Planck was a
churchwarden from 1920 until his death, and believed in an almighty, all-knowing, beneficent God
(though not necessarily a personal one). Both science and religion wage a "tireless battle against
skepticism and dogmatism, against unbelief and superstition" with the goal "toward God!"[38]
Max Planck said in 1944, "As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to
the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter
as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to
vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this
force the existence of a conscious and intelligent spirit (orig. geist). This spirit is the matrix of all
matter."[39]
Planck regarded the scientist as a man of imagination and Christian faith. He said: "Both religion and
science require a belief in God. For believers, God is in the beginning, and for physicists He is at the end
of all considerations… To the former He is the foundation, to the latter, the crown of the edifice of every
generalized world view".[40]
On the other hand, Planck wrote, "...'to believe' means 'to recognize as a truth,' and the knowledge of
nature, continually advancing on incontestably safe tracks, has made it utterly impossible for a person
possessing some training in natural science to recognize as founded on truth the many reports of
extraordinary occurrences contradicting the laws of nature, of miracles which are still commonly
regarded as essential supports and confirmations of religious doctrines, and which formerly used to be
accepted as facts pure and simple, without doubt or criticism. The belief in miracles must retreat step by
step before relentlessly and reliably progressing science and we cannot doubt that sooner or later it
must vanish completely."[41]
Later in life, Planck's views on God were that of a deist.[42] For example, six months before his death a
rumour started that Planck had converted to Catholicism, but when questioned what had brought him
to make this step, he declared that, although he had always been deeply religious, he did not believe "in
a personal God, let alone a Christian God."[43]
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
UNITING PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY.
QUANTUM MECHANICS
Quantum mechanics (QM; also known as quantum physics, quantum theory, the wave mechanical
model, or matrix mechanics), including quantum field theory, is a fundamental theory in physics which
describes nature at the smallest scales of energy levels of atoms and subatomic particles.[2]
Classical physics, the physics existing before quantum mechanics, describes nature at ordinary
(macroscopic) scale. Most theories in classical physics can be derived from quantum mechanics as an
approximation valid at large (macroscopic) scale.[3] Quantum mechanics differs from classical physics in
that energy, momentum, angular momentum and other quantities of a bound system are restricted
to discrete values (quantization); objects have characteristics of both particles and waves (wave-particle
duality); and there are limits to the precision with which quantities can be measured (uncertainty
principle).
Quantum mechanics gradually arose from theories to explain observations which could not be
reconciled with classical physics, such as Max Planck's solution in 1900 to the black-body
radiation problem, and from the correspondence between energy and frequency in Albert
Einstein's 1905 paper which explained the photoelectric effect. Early quantum theory was profoundly
re-conceived in the mid-1920s by Erwin Schrödinger, Werner Heisenberg, Max Born and others. The
modern theory is formulated in various specially developed mathematical formalisms. In one of them, a
mathematical function, the wave function, provides information about the probability amplitude of
position, momentum, and other physical properties of a particle.
Important applications of quantum theory[5] include quantum chemistry, quantum optics, quantum
computing, superconducting magnets, light-emitting diodes, and the laser,
the transistor and semiconductors such as the microprocessor, medical and research imaging such
as magnetic resonance imaging and electron microscopy. Explanations for many biological and physical
phenomena are rooted in the nature of the chemical bond, most notably the macro-molecule DNA.[6]
CELESTIAL MECHANICS
Celestial mechanics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the motions of objects in outer space.
Historically, celestial mechanics applies principles of physics (classical mechanics) to astronomical
objects, such as stars and planets, to produce ephemeris data.
As an astronomical field of study, celestial mechanics includes the sub-fields of orbital mechanics, which
deals with the launching and orbits artificial satellites, and lunar theory, a specialty which deals with the
complications of the orbit of the Moon. Modern celestial mechanics tends to divide between five broad
fields of study:
trajectories of artificial satellites (astrodynamics)
motions of major planets, minor planets, and natural satellites in the Solar system and other stellar
systems and widely spaced multiple-star systems (planetary dynamics)
the motion of component stars and their planetary systems in closely spaced multiple-star systems and
globular clusters (astrodynamics and stellar dynamics)
flow of stars within and among the bodies of large galaxies, dwarf galaxies, and globular clusters (stellar
dynamicsand galactic dynamics)
motions of galaxies and intergalactic dust and gas within galaxy clusters (computational astrophysics)
All of the above fields overlap, but are sometimes treated as separate, especially the study of the
motion of stars within galaxies and interactions between whole galaxies, which both tend to rely heavily
on fluid mechanics (whole stars being particles of the “fluid”).
Astronomy
Astronomy (from Greek: ἀστρονομία) is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena.
It applies mathematics, physics, and chemistry in an effort to explain the origin of those objects and
phenomena and their evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies,
and comets; the phenomena also includes supernova explosions, gamma ray
bursts, quasars, blazars, pulsars, and cosmic microwave background radiation. More generally, all
phenomena that originate outside Earth's atmosphere are within the purview of astronomy. A related
but distinct subject is physical cosmology, which is the study of the Universe as a whole.
Planetary science
Planetary science or, more rarely, planetology, is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), moons,
and planetary systems (in particular those of the Solar System) and the processes that form them. It
studies objects ranging in size from micrometeoroids to gas giants, aiming to determine their
composition, dynamics, formation, interrelations and history. It is a strongly interdisciplinary field,
originally growing from astronomy and earth science,[1]but which now incorporates many disciplines,
including planetary geology (together with geochemistry and geophysics), cosmochemistry, atmospheric
science, oceanography, hydrology, theoretical planetary science, glaciology, and exoplanetology.
[1] Allied disciplines include space physics, when concerned with the effects of the Sun on the bodies of
the Solar System, and astrobiology.
There are interrelated observational and theoretical branches of planetary science. Observational
research can involve a combination of space exploration, predominantly with robotic
spacecraft missions using remote sensing, and comparative, experimental work in Earth-based
laboratories. The theoretical component involves considerable computer simulation and mathematical
modelling.
Photograph from Apollo 15 orbital unit of the rillesin the vicinity of the crater Aristarchus on the Moon.
Planetary scientists are generally located in the astronomy and physics or Earth sciences departments of
universities or research centres, though there are several purely planetary science institutes worldwide.
There are several major conferences each year, and a wide range of peer-reviewed journals. In the case
of some exclusive planetary scientists, many of whom are in relation to the study of dark matter, they
will seek a private research centre and often initiate partnership research tasks.
Planetary astronomy
This is both an observational and a theoretical science. Observational researchers are predominantly
concerned with the study of the small bodies of the Solar System: those that are observed by
telescopes, both optical and radio, so that characteristics of these bodies such as shape, spin, surface
materials and weathering are determined, and the history of their formation and evolution can be
understood.
Theoretical planetary astronomy is concerned with dynamics: the application of the principles
of celestial mechanics to the Solar System and extrasolar planetary systems
Planetary geology
Planetary geology
Geology of solar terrestrial planets and Icy moon
The best known research topics of planetary geology deal with the planetary bodies in the near vicinity
of the Earth: the Moon, and the two neighbouring planets: Venus and Mars. Of these, the Moon was
studied first, using methods developed earlier on the Earth.
Geomorphology
Geomorphology studies the features on planetary surfaces and reconstructs the history of their
formation, inferring the physical processes that acted on the surface. Planetary geomorphology includes
the study of several classes of surface features:
Impact features (multi-ringed basins, craters)
Volcanic and tectonic features (lava flows, fissures, rilles)
Space weathering - erosional effects generated by the harsh environment of space (continuous micro
meteorite bombardment, high-energy particle rain, impact gardening). For example, the thin dust cover
on the surface of the lunar regolith is a result of micro meteorite bombardment.
Hydrological features: the liquid involved can range from water to hydrocarbon and ammonia,
depending on the location within the Solar System.
The history of a planetary surface can be deciphered by mapping features from top to bottom according
to their deposition sequence, as first determined on terrestrial strata by Nicolas Steno. For
example, stratigraphic mapping prepared the Apollo astronauts for the field geology they would
encounter on their lunar missions. Overlapping sequences were identified on images taken by the Lunar
Orbiter program, and these were used to prepare a lunar stratigraphic column and geological map of the
Moon.
Cosmochemistry, geochemistry and petrology
Cosmochemistry, Geochemistry, and Petrology
One of the main problems when generating hypotheses on the formation and evolution of objects in the
Solar System is the lack of samples that can be analysed in the laboratory, where a large suite of tools
are available and the full body of knowledge derived from terrestrial geology can be brought to bear.
Direct samples from the Moon, asteroids and Mars are present on Earth, removed from their parent
bodies and delivered as meteorites. Some of these have suffered contamination from
the oxidising effect of Earth's atmosphere and the infiltration of the biosphere, but those meteorites
collected in the last few decades from Antarctica are almost entirely pristine.
The different types of meteorites that originate from the asteroid belt cover almost all parts of the
structure of differentiated bodies: meteorites even exist that come from the core-mantle boundary
(pallasites). The combination of geochemistry and observational astronomy has also made it possible to
trace the HED meteorites back to a specific asteroid in the main belt, 4 Vesta.
The comparatively few known Martian meteorites have provided insight into the geochemical
composition of the Martian crust, although the unavoidable lack of information about their points of
origin on the diverse Martian surface has meant that they do not provide more detailed constraints on
theories of the evolution of the Martian lithosphere.[5] As of July 24, 2013 65 samples of Martian
meteorites have been discovered on Earth. Many were found in either Antarctica or the Sahara Desert.
During the Apollo era, in the Apollo program, 384 kilograms of lunar samples were collected and
transported to the Earth, and 3 Soviet Luna robots also delivered regolith samples from the Moon.
These samples provide the most comprehensive record of the composition of any Solar System body
beside the Earth. The numbers of lunar meteorites are growing quickly in the last few years –[6] as of
April 2008 there are 54 meteorites that have been officially classified as lunar. Eleven of these are from
the US Antarctic meteorite collection, 6 are from the Japanese Antarctic meteorite collection, and the
other 37 are from hot desert localities in Africa, Australia, and the Middle East. The total mass of
recognized lunar meteorites is close to 50 kg.
Geophysics and Space physics
Space probes made it possible to collect data in not only the visible light region, but in other areas of the
electromagnetic spectrum. The planets can be characterized by their force fields: gravity and their
magnetic fields, which are studied through geophysics and space physics.
Measuring the changes in acceleration experienced by spacecraft as they orbit has allowed fine details
of the gravity fields of the planets to be mapped. For example, in the 1970s, the gravity field
disturbances above lunar maria were measured through lunar orbiters, which led to the discovery of
concentrations of mass, mascons, beneath the Imbrium, Serenitatis, Crisium, Nectaris and Humorum
basins.
The solar wind is deflected by the magnetosphere
If a planet's magnetic field is sufficiently strong, its interaction with the solar wind forms
a magnetospherearound a planet. Early space probes discovered the gross dimensions of the terrestrial
magnetic field, which extends about 10 Earth radii towards the Sun. The solar wind, a stream of charged
particles, streams out and around the terrestrial magnetic field, and continues behind the magnetic tail,
hundreds of Earth radii downstream. Inside the magnetosphere, there are relatively dense regions of
solar wind particles, the Van Allen radiation belts.
Geophysics includes seismology and tectonophysics, geophysical fluid dynamics, mineral
physics, geodynamics, mathematical geophysics, and geophysical surveying.
Planetary geodesy, (also known as planetary geodetics) deals with the measurement and representation
of the planets of the Solar System, their gravitational fields and geodynamic phenomena (polar
motion in three-dimensional, time-varying space. The science of geodesy has elements of both
astrophysics and planetary sciences. The shape of the Earth is to a large extent the result of its rotation,
which causes its equatorial bulge, and the competition of geologic processes such as the collision of
plates and of vulcanism, resisted by the Earth's gravity field. These principles can be applied to the solid
surface of Earth (orogeny; Few mountains are higher than 10 km (6 mi), few deep sea trenches deeper
than that because quite simply, a mountain as tall as, for example, 15 km (9 mi), would develop so
much pressure at its base, due to gravity, that the rock there would become plastic, and the mountain
would slump back to a height of roughly 10 km (6 mi) in a geologically insignificant time. Some or all of
these geologic principles can be applied to other planets besides Earth. For instance on Mars, whose
surface gravity is much less, the largest volcano, Olympus Mons, is 27 km (17 mi) high at its peak, a
height that could not be maintained on Earth. The Earth geoid is essentially the figure of the Earth
abstracted from its topographic features. Therefore, the Mars geoid is essentially the figure of Mars
abstracted from its topographic features. Surveying and mapping are two important fields of application
of geodesy.
Atmospheric science
Atmospheric science and Global climate model
Cloud bands clearly visible on Jupiter.
The atmosphere is an important transitional zone between the solid planetary surface and the higher
rarefied ionizing and radiation belts. Not all planets have atmospheres: their existence depends on the
mass of the planet, and the planet's distance from the Sun — too distant and frozen atmospheres occur.
Besides the four gas giant planets, almost all of the terrestrial planets (Earth, Venus, and Mars) have
significant atmospheres. Two moons have significant atmospheres: Saturn's moon Titan and Neptune's
moon Triton. A tenuous atmosphere exists around Mercury.
The effects of the rotation rate of a planet about its axis can be seen in atmospheric streams and
currents. Seen from space, these features show as bands and eddies in the cloud system, and are
particularly visible on Jupiter and Saturn.
Comparative planetary science
Comparative planetary science
Planetary science frequently makes use of the method of comparison to give a greater understanding of
the object of study. This can involve comparing the dense atmospheres of Earth and Saturn's
moon Titan, the evolution of outer Solar System objects at different distances from the Sun, or the
geomorphology of the surfaces of the terrestrial planets, to give only a few examples.
The main comparison that can be made is to features on the Earth, as it is much more accessible and
allows a much greater range of measurements to be made. Earth analogue studies are particularly
common in planetary geology, geomorphology, and also in atmospheric science.
Computational Astrophysics
Computational astrophysics refers to the methods and computing tools developed and used
in astrophysics research. Like computational chemistry or computational physics, it is both a specific
branch of theoretical astrophysics and an interdisciplinary field relying on computer
science, mathematics, and wider physics. Computational astrophysics is most often studied through an
applied mathematics or astrophysics programme at PhD level.
Well-established areas of astrophysics employing computational methods
include magnetohydrodynamics, astrophysical radiative transfer, stellar and galactic dynamics, and
astrophysical fluid dynamics. A recently developed field with interesting results is numerical relativity.
Research
Many astrophysicists use computers in their work, and a growing number of astrophysics departments
now have research groups specially devoted to computational astrophysics. Important research
initiatives include the US Department of Energy (DoE) SciDAC collaboration for astrophysics[1] and the
now defunct European AstroSim collaboration.[2] A notable active project is the international Virgo
Consortium, which focuses on cosmology.
In August 2015 during the general assembly of the International Astronomical Union a new commission
C.B1 on Computational Astrophysics was inaugurated, therewith recognizing the importance of
astronomical discovery by computing.
Important techniques of computational astrophysics include particle-in-cell (PIC) and the closely
related particle-mesh (PM), N-body simulations, Monte Carlo methods, as well as grid-
free(with smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) being an important example) and grid-based methods
for fluids. In addition, methods from numerical analysis for solving ODEs and PDEs are also used.
Simulation of astrophysical flows is of particular importance as many objects and processes of
astronomical interest such as stars and nebulae involve gases. Fluid computer models are often coupled
with radiative transfer, (Newtonian) gravity, nuclear physics and (general) relativity to study highly
energetic phenomena such as supernovae, relativistic jets, active galaxies and gamma-ray bursts[3] and
are also used to model stellar structure, planetary formation, evolution of stars and of galaxies, and
exotic objects such as neutron stars, pulsars, magnetars and black holes.[4] Computer simulations are
often the only means to study stellar collisions, galaxy mergers, as well as galactic and black hole
interactions.[5][6]
In recent years the field has made increasing use of parallel and high performance computers.[7]
Tools
Computational astrophysics as a field makes extensive use of software and hardware technologies.
These systems are often highly specialized and made by dedicated professionals, and so generally find
limited popularity in the wider (computational) physics community.
Hardware
Like other similar fields, computational astrophysics makes extensive use of supercomputers
and computer clusters . Even on the scale of a normal desktop it is possible to accelerate the hardware.
Perhaps the most notable such computer architecture built specially for astrophysics is the GRAPE
(gravity pipe) in Japan.
As of 2010, the biggest N-body simulations, such as DEGIMA, do general-purpose computing on graphics
processing units.[8]
Software
Many codes and software packages, exist along with various researchers and consortia maintaining
them. Most codes tend to be n-body packages or fluid solvers of some sort. Examples of n-body codes
include ChaNGa, MODEST,[9] nbodylab.org[10] and Starlab [11].
For hydrodynamics there is usually a coupling between codes, as the motion of the fluids usually has
some other effect (such as gravity, or radiation) in astrophysical situations. For example, for SPH/N-body
there is GADGET and SWIFT[12]; for grid-based/N-body RAMSES,[13] ENZO,[14] FLASH,[15] and ART.[16]
AMUSE [3],[17] takes a different approach (called Noah's Arc [18]) than the other packages by providing
an interface structure to a large number of publicly available astronomical codes for addressing stellar
dynamics, stellar evolution, hydrodynamics and radiative transport.
Astrophysics.
Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that employs the principles of physics and chemistry "to
ascertain the nature of the astronomical objects, rather than their positions or motions in space".[1]
[2] Among the objects studied are the Sun, other stars, galaxies, extrasolar planets, the interstellar
medium and the cosmic microwave background.[3][4] Emissions from these objects are examined
across all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the properties examined
include luminosity, density, temperature, and chemical composition. Because astrophysics is a very
broad subject, astrophysicists apply concepts and methods from many disciplines of physics,
including mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, quantum
mechanics, relativity, nuclear and particle physics, and atomic and molecular physics.
In practice, modern astronomical research often involves a substantial amount of work in the realms
of theoretical and observational physics. Some areas of study for astrophysicists include their attempts
to determine the properties of dark matter, dark energy, and black holes; whether or not time travel is
possible, wormholes can form, or the multiverse exists; and the origin and ultimate fate of the universe.
[3] Topics also studied by theoretical astrophysicists include Solar System formation and
evolution; stellar dynamics and evolution; galaxy formation and
evolution; magnetohydrodynamics; large-scale structure of matter in the universe; origin of cosmic
rays; general relativity and physical cosmology, including string cosmology and astroparticle physics.
Early 20th-century comparison of elemental, solar, and stellar spectra
Astronomy is an ancient science, long separated from the study of terrestrial physics. In
the Aristotelian worldview, bodies in the sky appeared to be unchanging spheres whose only motion
was uniform motion in a circle, while the earthly world was the realm which underwent growth and
decay and in which natural motion was in a straight line and ended when the moving object reached its
goal. Consequently, it was held that the celestial region was made of a fundamentally different kind of
matter from that found in the terrestrial sphere; either Fire as maintained by Plato, or Aether as
maintained by Aristotle.[5][6] During the 17th century, natural philosophers such as Galileo,
[7] Descartes,[8] and Newton[9] began to maintain that the celestial and terrestrial regions were made
of similar kinds of material and were subject to the same natural laws.[10] Their challenge was that the
tools had not yet been invented with which to prove these assertions.[11]
For much of the nineteenth century, astronomical research was focused on the routine work of
measuring the positions and computing the motions of astronomical objects.[12][13] A new astronomy,
soon to be called astrophysics, began to emerge when William Hyde Wollaston and Joseph von
Fraunhoferindependently discovered that, when decomposing the light from the Sun, a multitude
of dark lines (regions where there was less or no light) were observed in the spectrum.[14] By 1860 the
physicist, Gustav Kirchhoff, and the chemist, Robert Bunsen, had demonstrated that the dark lines in the
solar spectrum corresponded to bright lines in the spectra of known gases, specific lines corresponding
to unique chemical elements.[15] Kirchhoff deduced that the dark lines in the solar spectrum are caused
by absorption by chemical elements in the Solar atmosphere.[16] In this way it was proved that the
chemical elements found in the Sun and stars were also found on Earth.
Among those who extended the study of solar and stellar spectra was Norman Lockyer, who in 1868
detected bright, as well as dark, lines in solar spectra. Working with the chemist, Edward Frankland, to
investigate the spectra of elements at various temperatures and pressures, he could not associate a
yellow line in the solar spectrum with any known elements. He thus claimed the line represented a new
element, which was called helium, after the Greek Helios, the Sun personified.[17][18]
In 1885, Edward C. Pickering undertook an ambitious program of stellar spectral classification at Harvard
College Observatory, in which a team of woman computers, notably Williamina Fleming, Antonia Maury,
and Annie Jump Cannon, classified the spectra recorded on photographic plates. By 1890, a catalog of
over 10,000 stars had been prepared that grouped them into thirteen spectral types. Following
Pickering's vision, by 1924 Cannon expanded the catalog to nine volumes and over a quarter of a million
stars, developing the Harvard Classification Scheme which was accepted for worldwide use in 1922.[19]
In 1895, George Ellery Hale and James E. Keeler, along with a group of ten associate editors from Europe
and the United States,[20] established The Astrophysical Journal: An International Review of
Spectroscopy and Astronomical Physics.[21] It was intended that the journal would fill the gap between
journals in astronomy and physics, providing a venue for publication of articles on astronomical
applications of the spectroscope; on laboratory research closely allied to astronomical physics, including
wavelength determinations of metallic and gaseous spectra and experiments on radiation and
absorption; on theories of the Sun, Moon, planets, comets, meteors, and nebulae; and on
instrumentation for telescopes and laboratories.[20]
Around 1920, following the discovery of the Hertsprung-Russell diagram still used as the basis for
classifying stars and their evolution, Arthur Eddington anticipated the discovery and mechanism
of nuclear fusion processes in stars, in his paper The Internal Constitution of the Stars.[22][23] At that
time, the source of stellar energy was a complete mystery; Eddington correctly speculated that the
source was fusion of hydrogen into helium, liberating enormous energy according to Einstein's
equation E = mc2. This was a particularly remarkable development since at that time fusion and
thermonuclear energy, and even that stars are largely composed of hydrogen (see metallicity), had not
yet been discovered.
In 1925 Cecilia Helena Payne (later Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin) wrote an influential doctoral dissertation
at Radcliffe College, in which she applied ionization theory to stellar atmospheres to relate the spectral
classes to the temperature of stars.[24] Most significantly, she discovered that hydrogen and helium
were the principal components of stars. Despite Eddington's suggestion, this discovery was so
unexpected that her dissertation readers convinced her to modify the conclusion before publication.
However, later research confirmed her discovery.[25]
By the end of the 20th century, studies of astronomical spectra had expanded to cover wavelengths
extending from radio waves through optical, x-ray, and gamma wavelengths.[26] In the 21st century it
further expanded to include observations based on gravitational waves.
Observational astrophysics
Observational astronomy is a division of the astronomical science that is concerned with recording data,
in contrast with theoretical astrophysics, which is mainly concerned with finding out the measurable
implications of physical models. It is the practice of observing celestial objects by using telescopes and
other astronomical apparatus.
Supernova remnant LMC N 63A imaged in x-ray (blue), optical (green) and radio (red) wavelengths. The
X-ray glow is from material heated to about ten million degrees Celsius by a shock wave generated by
the supernova explosion.
The majority of astrophysical observations are made using the electromagnetic spectrum.
Radio astronomy studies radiation with a wavelength greater than a few millimeters. Example areas of
study are radio waves, usually emitted by cold objects such as interstellar gas and dust clouds; the
cosmic microwave background radiation which is the redshifted light from the Big Bang; pulsars, which
were first detected at microwave frequencies. The study of these waves requires very large radio
telescopes.
Infrared astronomy studies radiation with a wavelength that is too long to be visible to the naked eye
but is shorter than radio waves. Infrared observations are usually made with telescopes similar to the
familiar optical telescopes. Objects colder than stars (such as planets) are normally studied at infrared
frequencies.
Optical astronomy is the oldest kind of astronomy. Telescopes paired with a charge-coupled
device or spectroscopes are the most common instruments used. The Earth's atmosphere interferes
somewhat with optical observations, so adaptive optics and space telescopes are used to obtain the
highest possible image quality. In this wavelength range, stars are highly visible, and many chemical
spectra can be observed to study the chemical composition of stars, galaxies and nebulae.
Ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma ray astronomy study very energetic processes such as binary pulsars, black
holes, magnetars, and many others. These kinds of radiation do not penetrate the Earth's atmosphere
well. There are two methods in use to observe this part of the electromagnetic spectrum—space-based
telescopes and ground-based imaging air Cherenkov telescopes (IACT). Examples of Observatories of the
first type are RXTE, the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. Examples
of IACTs are the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) and the MAGIC telescope.
Other than electromagnetic radiation, few things may be observed from the Earth that originate from
great distances. A few gravitational wave observatories have been constructed, but gravitational waves
are extremely difficult to detect. Neutrino observatories have also been built, primarily to study our Sun.
Cosmic rays consisting of very high energy particles can be observed hitting the Earth's atmosphere.
Observations can also vary in their time scale. Most optical observations take minutes to hours, so
phenomena that change faster than this cannot readily be observed. However, historical data on some
objects is available, spanning centuries or millennia. On the other hand, radio observations may look at
events on a millisecond timescale (millisecond pulsars) or combine years of data (pulsar
deceleration studies). The information obtained from these different timescales is very different.
The study of our very own Sun has a special place in observational astrophysics. Due to the tremendous
distance of all other stars, the Sun can be observed in a kind of detail unparalleled by any other star. Our
understanding of our own Sun serves as a guide to our understanding of other stars.
The topic of how stars change, or stellar evolution, is often modeled by placing the varieties of star types
in their respective positions on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram, which can be viewed as representing
the state of a stellar object, from birth to destruction.
Theoretical astrophysics
Theoretical astrophysicists use a wide variety of tools which include analytical models (for
example, polytropes to approximate the behaviors of a star) and computational numerical simulations.
Each has some advantages. Analytical models of a process are generally better for giving insight into the
heart of what is going on. Numerical models can reveal the existence of phenomena and effects that
would otherwise not be seen.[27][28]
Theorists in astrophysics endeavor to create theoretical models and figure out the observational
consequences of those models. This helps allow observers to look for data that can refute a model or
help in choosing between several alternate or conflicting models.
Theorists also try to generate or modify models to take into account new data. In the case of an
inconsistency, the general tendency is to try to make minimal modifications to the model to fit the data.
In some cases, a large amount of inconsistent data over time may lead to total abandonment of a
model.
Stream lines on this simulation of a supernovashow the flow of matter behind the shock wave giving
clues as to the origin of pulsars
Topics studied by theoretical astrophysicists include stellar dynamics and evolution; galaxy formation
and evolution; magnetohydrodynamics; large-scale structure of matter in the universe; origin of cosmic
rays; general relativity and physical cosmology, including string cosmology and astroparticle physics.
Astrophysical relativity serves as a tool to gauge the properties of large scale structures for which
gravitation plays a significant role in physical phenomena investigated and as the basis for black
hole (astro)physics and the study of gravitational waves.
Some widely accepted and studied theories and models in astrophysics, now included in the Lambda-
CDM model, are the Big Bang, cosmic inflation, dark matter, dark energy and fundamental theories of
physics. Wormholes are examples of hypotheses which are yet to be proven (or disproven).
Popularization
The roots of astrophysics can be found in the seventeenth century emergence of a unified physics, in
which the same laws applied to the celestial and terrestrial realms.[10] There were scientists who were
qualified in both physics and astronomy who laid the firm foundation for the current science of
astrophysics. In modern times, students continue to be drawn to astrophysics due to its popularization
by the Royal Astronomical Society and notable educators such as prominent professors Lawrence
Krauss, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Stephen Hawking, Hubert Reeves, Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse
Tyson and Patrick Moore. The efforts of the early, late, and present scientists continue to attract young
people to study the history and science of astrophysics
Geodesy.
Geodesy (/dʒiːˈɒdɪsi/),[1][ is the earth science of accurately measuring and understanding the Earth's
geometric shape, orientation in space, and gravitational field.[2] The field also incorporates studies of
how these properties change over time and equivalent measurements for other planets (known
as planetary geodesy). Geodynamical phenomena include crustal motion, tides, and polar motion, which
can be studied by designing global and national control networks, applying space and terrestrial
techniques, and relying on datums and coordinate systems.
An old geodetic pillar (1855) at Ostend, Belgium
Geodesy
Definition
The word "geodesy" comes from the Ancient Greek word γεωδαισία geodaisia (literally, "division of the
Earth").
It is primarily concerned with positioning within the temporally varying gravity field. Geodesy in
the German-speaking world is divided into "higher geodesy" ("Erdmessung" or "höhere Geodäsie"),
which is concerned with measuring the Earth on the global scale, and "practical geodesy" or
"engineering geodesy" ("Ingenieurgeodäsie"), which is concerned with measuring specific parts or
regions of the Earth, and which includes surveying. Such geodetic operations are also applied to other
astronomical bodies in the solar system. It is also the science of measuring and understanding the
earth's geometric shape, orientation in space, and gravity field.
To a large extent, the shape of the Earth is the result of its rotation, which causes its equatorial bulge,
and the competition of geological processes such as the collision of plates and of volcanism, resisted by
the Earth's gravity field. This applies to the solid surface, the liquid surface (dynamic sea surface
topography) and the Earth's atmosphere. For this reason, the study of the Earth's gravity field is
called physical geodesy.
History of geodesy
Geoid and reference ellipsoid
Geoid
The geoid is essentially the figure of the Earth abstracted from its topographical features. It is an
idealized equilibrium surface of sea water, the mean sea level surface in the absence of currents and air
pressure variations, and continued under the continental masses. The geoid, unlike the reference
ellipsoid, is irregular and too complicated to serve as the computational surface on which to solve
geometrical problems like point positioning. The geometrical separation between the geoid and the
reference ellipsoid is called the geoidal undulation. It varies globally between ±110 m, when referred to
the GRS 80 ellipsoid.
A reference ellipsoid, customarily chosen to be the same size (volume) as the geoid, is described by its
semi-major axis (equatorial radius) a and flattening f. The quantity f = a − b/a, where b is the semi-minor
axis (polar radius), is a purely geometrical one. The mechanical ellipticity of the Earth (dynamical
flattening, symbol J2) can be determined to high precision by observation of satellite orbit
perturbations. Its relationship with the geometrical flattening is indirect. The relationship depends on
the internal density distribution, or, in simplest terms, the degree of central concentration of mass.
The 1980 Geodetic Reference System (GRS 80) posited a 6,378,137 m semi-major axis and a 1:298.257
flattening. This system was adopted at the XVII General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy
and Geophysics (IUGG). It is essentially the basis for geodetic positioning by the Global Positioning
System (GPS) and is thus also in widespread use outside the geodetic community. The numerous
systems that countries have used to create maps and charts are becoming obsolete as countries
increasingly move to global, geocentric reference systems using the GRS 80 reference ellipsoid.
The geoid is "realizable", meaning it can be consistently located on the Earth by suitable simple
measurements from physical objects like a tide gauge. The geoid can therefore be considered a real
surface. The reference ellipsoid, however, has many possible instantiations and is not readily realizable,
therefore it is an abstract surface. The third primary surface of geodetic interest—the topographic
surface of the Earth—is a realizable surface.
Coordinate systems in space
Geodetic system
The locations of points in three-dimensional space are most conveniently described by
three cartesian or rectangular coordinates, X, Y and Z. Since the advent of satellite positioning, such
coordinate systems are typically geocentric: the Z-axis is aligned with the Earth's (conventional or
instantaneous) rotation axis.
Prior to the era of satellite geodesy, the coordinate systems associated with a
geodetic datum attempted to be geocentric, but their origins differed from the geocenter by hundreds
of meters, due to regional deviations in the direction of the plumbline (vertical). These regional geodetic
data, such as ED 50 (European Datum 1950) or NAD 27 (North American Datum 1927) have ellipsoids
associated with them that are regional "best fits" to the geoids within their areas of validity, minimizing
the deflections of the vertical over these areas.
It is only because GPS satellites orbit about the geocenter, that this point becomes naturally the origin of
a coordinate system defined by satellite geodetic means, as the satellite positions in space are
themselves computed in such a system.
Geocentric coordinate systems used in geodesy can be divided naturally into two classes:
Inertial reference systems, where the coordinate axes retain their orientation relative to the fixed stars,
or equivalently, to the rotation axes of ideal gyroscopes; the X-axis points to the vernal equinox
Co-rotating, also ECEF ("Earth Centred, Earth Fixed"), where the axes are attached to the solid body of
the Earth. The X-axis lies within the Greenwich observatory's meridian plane.
The coordinate transformation between these two systems is described to good approximation by
(apparent) sidereal time, which takes into account variations in the Earth's axial rotation (length-of-
day variations). A more accurate description also takes polar motion into account, a phenomenon
closely monitored by geodesists.
Coordinate systems in the plane
A Munich archive with lithographyplates of maps of Bavaria
In surveying and mapping, important fields of application of geodesy, two general types of coordinate
systems are used in the plane:
Plano-polar, in which points in a plane are defined by a distance s from a specified point along a ray
having a specified direction α with respect to a base line or axis;
Rectangular, points are defined by distances from two perpendicular axes called x and y. It is geodetic
practice—contrary to the mathematical convention—to let the x-axis point to the north and the y-axis to
the east.
Rectangular coordinates in the plane can be used intuitively with respect to one's current location, in
which case the x-axis will point to the local north. More formally, such coordinates can be obtained from
three-dimensional coordinates using the artifice of a map projection. It is not possible to map the curved
surface of the Earth onto a flat map surface without deformation. The compromise most often chosen—
called a conformal projection—preserves angles and length ratios, so that small circles are mapped as
small circles and small squares as squares.
An example of such a projection is UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator). Within the map plane, we
have rectangular coordinates x and y. In this case the north direction used for reference is
the map north, not the local north. The difference between the two is called meridian convergence.
It is easy enough to "translate" between polar and rectangular coordinates in the plane: let, as above,
direction and distance be α and srespectively, then we have
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}x&=s\cos \alpha \\y&=s\sin \alpha \end{aligned}}}
The reverse transformation is given by:
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}s&={\sqrt {x^{2}+y^{2}}}\\\alpha &=\arctan {\frac {y}{x}}.\end{aligned}}}
Heights
In geodesy, point or terrain heights are "above sea level", an irregular, physically defined surface.
Therefore, a height should ideally not be referred to as a coordinate. It is more like a physical quantity,
and though it can be tempting to treat height as the vertical coordinate z, in addition to the horizontal
coordinates x and y, and though this actually is a good approximation of physical reality in small areas, it
quickly becomes invalid for regional considerations.[specify]
Heights come in the following variants:
Orthometric heights
Normal heights
Geopotential heights
Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Both orthometric and normal heights are heights in metres
above sea level, whereas geopotential numbers are measures of potential energy (unit: m2 s−2) and not
metric. Orthometric and normal heights differ in the precise way in which mean sea level is conceptually
continued under the continental masses. The reference surface for orthometric heights is the geoid, an
equipotential surface approximating mean sea level.
None of these heights is in any way related to geodetic or ellipsoidial heights, which express the height
of a point above the reference ellipsoid. Satellite positioning receivers typically provide ellipsoidal
heights, unless they are fitted with special conversion software based on a model of the geoid.
Geodetic data
Because geodetic point coordinates (and heights) are always obtained in a system that has been
constructed itself using real observations, geodesists introduce the concept of a "geodetic datum": a
physical realization of a coordinate system used for describing point locations. The realization is the
result of choosing conventional coordinate values for one or more datum points.
In the case of height data, it suffices to choose one datum point: the reference benchmark, typically a
tide gauge at the shore. Thus we have vertical data like the NAP (Normaal Amsterdams Peil), the North
American Vertical Datum 1988 (NAVD 88), the Kronstadt datum, the Trieste datum, and so on.
In case of plane or spatial coordinates, we typically need several datum points. A regional, ellipsoidal
datum like ED 50 can be fixed by prescribing the undulation of the geoid and the deflection of the
vertical in one datum point, in this case the Helmert Tower in Potsdam. However, an overdetermined
ensemble of datum points can also be used.
Changing the coordinates of a point set referring to one datum, so to make them refer to another
datum, is called a datum transformation. In the case of vertical data, this consists of simply adding a
constant shift to all height values. In the case of plane or spatial coordinates, datum transformation
takes the form of a similarity or Helmert transformation, consisting of a rotation and scaling operation in
addition to a simple translation. In the plane, a Helmert transformation has four parameters; in space,
seven.
A note on terminology
In the abstract, a coordinate system as used in mathematics and geodesy is called a "coordinate system"
in ISO terminology, whereas the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) uses
the term "reference system". When these coordinates are realized by choosing datum points and fixing
a geodetic datum, ISO says "coordinate reference system", while IERS says "reference frame". The ISO
term for a datum transformation again is a "coordinate transformation".[3]
Point positioning
Point positioning is the determination of the coordinates of a point on land, at sea, or in space with
respect to a coordinate system. Point position is solved by computation from measurements linking the
known positions of terrestrial or extraterrestrial points with the unknown terrestrial position. This may
involve transformations between or among astronomical and terrestrial coordinate systems. The known
points used for point positioning can be triangulation points of a higher-order network or GPSsatellites.
Traditionally, a hierarchy of networks has been built to allow point positioning within a country. Highest
in the hierarchy were triangulation networks. These were densified into networks
of traverses(polygons), into which local mapping surveying measurements, usually with measuring
tape, corner prism, and the familiar[where?] red and white poles, are tied.
Geodetic Control Mark (example of a deep benchmark)
Nowadays all but special measurements (e.g., underground or high-precision engineering
measurements) are performed with GPS. The higher-order networks are measured with static GPS, using
differential measurement to determine vectors between terrestrial points. These vectors are then
adjusted in traditional network fashion. A global polyhedron of permanently operating GPS stations
under the auspices of the IERS is used to define a single global, geocentric reference frame which serves
as the "zero order" global reference to which national measurements are attached.
For surveying mappings, frequently Real Time Kinematic GPS is employed, tying in the unknown points
with known terrestrial points close by in real time.
One purpose of point positioning is the provision of known points for mapping measurements, also
known as (horizontal and vertical) control. In every country, thousands of such known points exist and
are normally documented by national mapping agencies. Surveyors involved in real estate and insurance
will use these to tie their local measurements.
Geodetic problems
Geodesics on an ellipsoid
In geometric geodesy, two standard problems exist—the first (direct or forward) and the second
(inverse or reverse).
First (direct or forward) geodetic problem
Given a point (in terms of its coordinates) and the direction (azimuth) and distance from that point to a
second point, determine (the coordinates of) that second point.
Second (inverse or reverse) geodetic problem
Given two points, determine the azimuth and length of the line (straight line, arc or geodesic) that
connects them.
In plane geometry (valid for small areas on the Earth's surface), the solutions to both problems reduce
to simple trigonometry. On a sphere, however, the solution is significantly more complex, because in the
inverse problem the azimuths will differ between the two end points of the connecting great circle, arc.
On the ellipsoid of revolution, geodesics may be written in terms of elliptic integrals, which are usually
evaluated in terms of a series expansion—see, for example, Vincenty's formulae. In the general case, the
solution is called the geodesic for the surface considered. The differential equationsfor the geodesic can
be solved numerically.
Geodetic observational concepts
Here we define some basic observational concepts, like angles and coordinates, defined in geodesy
(and astronomy as well), mostly from the viewpoint of the local observer.
Plumbline or vertical: the direction of local gravity, or the line that results by following it.
Zenith: the point on the celestial sphere where the direction of the gravity vector in a point, extended
upwards, intersects it. More correct is to call it a direction rather than a point.
Nadir: the opposite point—or rather, direction—where the direction of gravity extended downward
intersects the (invisible) celestial sphere.
Celestial horizon: a plane perpendicular to a point's gravity vector.
Azimuth: the direction angle within the plane of the horizon, typically counted clockwise from the north
(in geodesy and astronomy) or south (in France).
Elevation: the angular height of an object above the horizon, Alternatively zenith distance, being equal
to 90 degrees minus elevation.
Local topocentric coordinates: azimuth (direction angle within the plane of the horizon), elevation angle
(or zenith angle), distance.
North celestial pole: the extension of the Earth's (precessing and nutating) instantaneous spin axis
extended northward to intersect the celestial sphere. (Similarly for the south celestial pole.)
Celestial equator: the intersection of the (instantaneous) Earth equatorial plane with the celestial
sphere.
Meridian plane: any plane perpendicular to the celestial equator and containing the celestial poles.
Local meridian: the plane containing the direction to the zenith and the direction to the celestial pole.
Geodetic measurements
Satellite geodesy, Geodetic astronomy, Surveying, Gravimetry, and Levelling
The level is used for determining height differences and height reference systems, commonly referred
to mean sea level. The traditional spirit level produces these practically most useful heights above sea
level directly; the more economical use of GPS instruments for height determination requires precise
knowledge of the figure of the geoid, as GPS only gives heights above the GRS80 reference ellipsoid. As
geoid knowledge accumulates, one may expect use of GPS heighting to spread.
The theodolite is used to measure horizontal and vertical angles to target points. These angles are
referred to the local vertical. The tacheometer additionally determines, electronically or electro-
optically, the distance to target, and is highly automated to even robotic in its operations. The method
of free station position is widely used.
For local detail surveys, tacheometers are commonly employed although the old-fashioned rectangular
technique using angle prism and steel tape is still an inexpensive alternative. Real-time kinematic (RTK)
GPS techniques are used as well. Data collected are tagged and recorded digitally for entry into
a Geographic Information System (GIS) database.
A NASA project manager talks about his work for the Space Geodesy Project, including an overview of its
four fundamental techniques: GPS, VLBI, SLR, and DORIS.
Geodetic GPS receivers produce directly three-dimensional coordinates in a geocentric coordinate
frame. Such a frame is, e.g., WGS84, or the frames that are regularly produced and published by the
International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS).
GPS receivers have almost completely replaced terrestrial instruments for large-scale base network
surveys. For planet-wide geodetic surveys, previously impossible, we can still mention satellite laser
ranging (SLR) and lunar laser ranging (LLR) and very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) techniques. All
these techniques also serve to monitor irregularities in the Earth's rotation as well as plate tectonic
motions.
Gravity is measured using gravimeters, of which there are two kinds. First, "absolute gravimeters" are
based on measuring the acceleration of free fall (e.g., of a reflecting prism in a vacuum tube). They are
used to establish the vertical geospatial control and can be used in the field. Second, "relative
gravimeters" are spring-based and are more common. They are used in gravity surveys over large areas
for establishing the figure of the geoid over these areas. The most accurate relative gravimeters are
called "superconducting" gravimeters, which are sensitive to one-thousandth of one-billionth of Earth
surface gravity. Twenty-some superconducting gravimeters are used worldwide for studying
Earth's tides, rotation, interior, and ocean and atmospheric loading, as well as for verifying the
Newtonian constant of gravitation.
In the future gravity, and altitude, will be measured by relativistic time dilation measured by strontium
optical clocks.
Units and measures on the ellipsoid
Geographical latitude and longitude are stated in the units degree, minute of arc, and second of arc.
They are angles, not metric measures, and describe the direction of the local normal to the reference
ellipsoid of revolution. This is approximately the same as the direction of the plumbline, i.e., local
gravity, which is also the normal to the geoid surface. For this reason, astronomical position
determination – measuring the direction of the plumbline by astronomical means – works fairly well
provided an ellipsoidal model of the figure of the Earth is used.
One geographical mile, defined as one minute of arc on the equator, equals 1,855.32571922 m.
One nautical mile is one minute of astronomical latitude. The radius of curvature of the ellipsoid varies
with latitude, being the longest at the pole and the shortest at the equator as is the nautical mile.
A metre was originally defined as the 10-millionth part of the length from equator to North Pole along
the meridian through Paris (the target was not quite reached in actual implementation, so that is off by
200 ppm in the current definitions). This means that one kilometre is roughly equal to (1/40,000) * 360 *
60 meridional minutes of arc, which equals 0.54 nautical mile, though this is not exact because the two
units are defined on different bases (the international nautical mile is defined as exactly 1,852 m,
corresponding to a rounding of 1,000/0.54 m to four digits).
Temporal change
In geodesy, temporal change can be studied by a variety of techniques. Points on the Earth's surface
change their location due to a variety of mechanisms:
Continental plate motion, plate tectonics
Episodic motion of tectonic origin, especially close to fault lines
Periodic effects due to tides
Postglacial land uplift due to isostatic adjustment
Mass variations due to hydrological changes
Anthropogenic movements such as reservoir construction or petroleum or water extraction
The science of studying deformations and motions of the Earth's crust and the solid Earth as a whole is
called geodynamics. Often, study of the Earth's irregular rotation is also included in its definition.
Techniques for studying geodynamic phenomena on the global scale include:
Satellite positioning by GPS
Very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI)
Satellite and lunar laser ranging
Regionally and locally precise levelling
Precise tacheometers
Monitoring of gravity change
Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) using satellite images
Notable geodesists
Mathematical geodesists before 1900
Pythagoras 580–490 BC, ancient Greece[4]
Eratosthenes 276–194 BC, ancient Greece
Hipparchus c. 190–120 BC, ancient Greece
Posidonius c. 135–51 BC, ancient Greece
Claudius Ptolemy c. AD 83–168, Roman Empire (Roman Egypt)
Al-Ma'mun 786–833, Baghdad (Iraq/Mesopotamia)
Abu Rayhan Biruni 973–1048, Khorasan (Iran/Samanid Dynasty)
Muhammad al-Idrisi 1100–1166, (Arabia & Sicily)
Regiomontanus 1436–1476, (Germany/Austria)
Abel Foullon 1513–1563 or 1565, (France)
Pedro Nunes 1502–1578 (Portugal)
Gerhard Mercator 1512–1594 (Belgium & Germany)
Snellius (Willebrord Snel van Royen) 1580–1626, Leiden(Netherlands)
Christiaan Huygens 1629–1695 (Netherlands)
Pierre Bouguer 1698–1758, (France & Peru)
Pierre de Maupertuis 1698–1759 (France)
Alexis Clairaut 1713–1765 (France)
Johann Heinrich Lambert 1728–1777 (France)
Roger Joseph Boscovich 1711–1787, (Rome/ Berlin/ Paris)
Ino Tadataka 1745–1818, (Tokyo)
Georg von Reichenbach 1771–1826, Bavaria (Germany)
Pierre-Simon Laplace 1749–1827, Paris (France)
Adrien Marie Legendre 1752–1833, Paris (France)
Johann Georg von Soldner 1776–1833, Munich (Germany)
George Everest 1790–1866 (England and India)
Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel 1784–1846, Königsberg (Germany)
Heinrich Christian Schumacher 1780–1850 (Germany & Estonia)
Carl Friedrich Gauss 1777–1855, Göttingen (Germany)
Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve 1793–1864, Dorpat and Pulkovo(Russian Empire)
J. H. Pratt 1809–1871, London (England)
Friedrich H. C. Paschen 1804–1873, Schwerin (Germany)
Johann Benedikt Listing 1808–1882 (Germany)
Johann Jacob Baeyer 1794–1885, Berlin (Germany)
Sir George Biddell Airy 1801–1892, Cambridge & London
Karl Maximilian von Bauernfeind 1818–1894, Munich (Germany)
Wilhelm Jordan 1842–1899, (Germany)
Hervé Faye 1814–1902 (France)
George Gabriel Stokes 1819–1903 (England)
Carlos Ibáñez e Ibáñez de Ibero 1825–1891, Barcelona (Spain)
Henri Poincaré 1854–1912, Paris (France)
Alexander Ross Clarke 1828–1914, London (England)
Charles Sanders Peirce 1839–1914 (United States)
Friedrich Robert Helmert 1843–1917, Potsdam (Germany)
Heinrich Bruns 1848–1919, Berlin (Germany)
Loránd Eötvös 1848–1919 (Hungary)
20th century geodesists
John Fillmore Hayford, 1868–1925, (US)
Feodosy Nikolaevich Krasovsky, 1878–1948, (Russian Empire, USSR)
Alfred Wegener, 1880–1930, (Germany and Greenland)
William Bowie, 1872–1940, (US)
Friedrich Hopfner, 1881–1949, Vienna, (Austria)
Tadeusz Banachiewicz, 1882–1954, (Poland)
Felix Andries Vening-Meinesz, 1887–1966, (Netherlands)
Martin Hotine, 1898–1968, (England)
Yrjö Väisälä, 1889–1971, (Finland)
Veikko Aleksanteri Heiskanen, 1895–1971, (Finland and US)
Karl Ramsayer, 1911–1982, Stuttgart, (Germany)
Buckminster Fuller, 1895–1983 (United States)
Harold Jeffreys, 1891–1989, London, (England)
Reino Antero Hirvonen, 1908–1989, (Finland)
Mikhail Sergeevich Molodenskii, 1909–1991, (Russia)
Maria Ivanovna Yurkina, 1923-2010, (Russia)
Guy Bomford, 1899-1996, (India?)[5]
Antonio Marussi, 1908-1984, (Italy)
Hellmut Schmid, 1914–1998, (Switzerland)
William M. Kaula, 1926–2000, Los Angeles, (US)
John A. O'Keefe, 1916–2000, (US)
Thaddeus Vincenty, 1920–2002, (Poland)
Willem Baarda, 1917–2005, (Netherlands)
Irene Kaminka Fischer, 1907–2009, (US)
Arne Bjerhammar, 1917–2011, (Sweden)
Karl-Rudolf Koch 1935, Bonn, (Germany)
Helmut Moritz, 1933, Graz, (Austria)
Petr Vaníček, 1935, Fredericton, (Canada)
Erik Grafarend, 1939, Stuttgart, (Germany)
Hans-Georg Wenzel (1949-1999), (Germany)
Ariny Amos or Kipsang Arap Tarus(Astronomer)
Astrobiology
Astrobiology, formerly known as exobiology, is an interdisciplinary scientific field concerned with
the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. Astrobiology considers the
question of whether extraterrestrial life exists, and if it does, how humans can detect it.[2][3]
Astrobiology makes use of molecular biology, biophysics, biochemistry, chemistry, astronomy, physical
cosmology, exoplanetology and geology to investigate the possibility of life on other worlds and help
recognize biospheres that might be different from that on Earth.[4] The origin and early evolution of life
is an inseparable part of the discipline of astrobiology.[5] Astrobiology concerns itself with
interpretation of existing scientific data, and although speculation is entertained to give context,
astrobiology concerns itself primarily with hypotheses that fit firmly into existing scientific theories.
This interdisciplinary field encompasses research on the origin of planetary systems, origins of organic
compounds in space, rock-water-carbon interactions, abiogenesis on Earth, planetary habitability,
research on biosignatures for life detection, and studies on the potential for life to adapt to
challenges on Earth and in outer space
Nucleic acids may not be the only biomolecules in the Universe capable of coding for life processes.[1]
.[6][7][8]
Biochemistry may have begun shortly after the Big Bang, 13.8 billion years ago, during a habitable epoch
when the Universe was only 10–17 million years old.[9][10] According to the panspermia hypothesis,
microscopic life—distributed by meteoroids, asteroids and other small Solar System bodies—may exist
throughout the universe.[11] According to research published in August 2015, very large galaxies may be
more favorable to the creation and development of habitable planetsthan such smaller galaxies as
the Milky Way.[12] Nonetheless, Earth is the only place in the universe humans know to harbor life.[13]
[14] Estimates of habitable zones around other stars,[15][16] sometimes referred to as "Goldilocks
zones,"[17][18] along with the discovery of hundreds of extrasolar planets and new insights into
extreme habitats here on Earth, suggest that there may be many more habitable places in the universe
than considered possible until very recently.[19][20][21]
Current studies on the planet Mars by the Curiosity and Opportunity rovers are searching for evidence
of ancient life as well as plains related to ancient rivers or lakes that may have been habitable.[22][23]
[24][25] The search for evidence of habitability, taphonomy (related to fossils), and organic
molecules on the planet Mars is now a primary NASA and ESA objective.
Even if extraterrestrial life is never discovered, the interdisciplinary nature of astrobiology, and the
cosmic and evolutionary perspectives engendered by it, may still result in a range of benefits here on
Earth
Elements of astrobiology
Astronomy
Most astronomy-related astrobiology research falls into the category of extrasolar planet (exoplanet)
detection, the hypothesis being that if life arose on Earth, then it could also arise on other planets with
similar characteristics. To that end, a number of instruments designed to detect Earth-sized exoplanets
have been considered, most notably NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) and ESA's Darwin programs,
both of which have been cancelled. NASA launched the Kepler mission in March 2009, and the French
Space Agency launched the COROT space mission in 2006.[55][56] There are also several less ambitious
ground-based efforts underway
Artist's impression of the extrasolar planet OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb orbiting its star 20,000 light-
years from Earth; this planet was discovered with gravitational microlensing.
The NASA Kepler mission, launched in March 2009, searches for extrasolar planets.
The goal of these missions is not only to detect Earth-sized planets, but also to directly detect light from
the planet so that it may be studied spectroscopically. By examining planetary spectra, it would be
possible to determine the basic composition of an extrasolar planet's atmosphere and/or surface. Given
this knowledge, it may be possible to assess the likelihood of life being found on that planet. A NASA
research group, the Virtual Planet Laboratory,[57] is using computer modeling to generate a wide
variety of virtual planets to see what they would look like if viewed by TPF or Darwin. It is hoped that
once these missions come online, their spectra can be cross-checked with these virtual planetary spectra
for features that might indicate the presence of life.
An estimate for the number of planets with intelligent communicative extraterrestrial life can be
gleaned from the Drake equation, essentially an equation expressing the probability of intelligent life as
the product of factors such as the fraction of planets that might be habitable and the fraction of planets
on which life might arise:[58]
{\displaystyle N=R^{*}~\times ~f_{p}~\times ~n_{e}~\times ~f_{l}~\times ~f_{i}~\times ~f_{c}~\times ~L}
where:
N = The number of communicative civilizations
R* = The rate of formation of suitable stars (stars such as our Sun)
fp = The fraction of those stars with planets (current evidence indicates that planetary systems may be
common for stars like the Sun)
ne = The number of Earth-sized worlds per planetary system
fl = The fraction of those Earth-sized planets where life actually develops
fi = The fraction of life sites where intelligence develops
fc = The fraction of communicative planets (those on which electromagnetic communications
technology develops)
L = The "lifetime" of communicating civilizations
EARTH ASTRONOMICAL OBJECT ASTRONOMY.
EARTH.
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. According
to radiometric dating and other sources of evidence, Earth formed over 4.5 billion years ago. Earth's
gravity interacts with other objects in space, especially the Sun and the Moon, which is Earth's only natural
satellite. Earth orbits around the Sun in 365.265 days, a period known as an Earth sidereal year. During this
time, Earth rotates about its axis about 366.265 times.[n 6]
Earth's axis of rotation is tilted with respect to its orbital plane, producing seasons on Earth.
The gravitational interaction between Earth and the Moon causes tides, stabilizes Earth's orientation on its axis,
and gradually slows its rotation. Earth is the densest planet in the Solar System and the largest and most
massive of the four rocky planets.
Earth's lithosphere is divided into several rigid tectonic plates that migrate across the surface over many
millions of years. About 71% of Earth's surface is covered with water, mostly by oceans. The remaining 29%
is land consisting of continents and islands that together contain many lakes, rivers and other sources of water
that contribute to the hydrosphere. The majority of Earth's polar regions are covered in ice, including
the Antarctic ice sheet and the sea ice of the Arctic ice pack. Earth's interior remains active with a solid
iron inner core, a liquid outer core that generates the Earth's magnetic field and a convecting mantle that drives
plate tectonics.
Within the first billion years of Earth's history, life appeared in the oceans and began to affect the Earth's
atmosphere and surface, leading to the proliferation of anaerobic and, later, aerobic organisms. Some
geological evidence indicates that life may have arisen as early as 4.1 billion years ago. Since then, the
combination of Earth's distance from the Sun, physical properties and geological history have allowed life
to evolve and thrive. In the history of life on Earth, biodiversity has gone through long periods of expansion,
occasionally punctuated by mass extinction events. Over 99% of all species that ever lived on Earth are extinct.
Estimates of the number of species on Earth today vary widely; most species have not been described. Over
7.7 billion humans live on Earth and depend on its biosphere and natural resources for their survival. Humans
have developed diverse societies and cultures; politically, the world has around 200 sovereign states.
Earth
The Blue Marble, the first full-view photograph of the planet, was taken
by Apollo 17 astronauts en route to the Moon in 1972
Name and etymology
The modern English word Earth developed from a wide variety of Middle English forms,[n 7] which derived from
an Old English noun most often spelled eorðe.[23] It has cognates in every Germanic language, and their proto-
Germanic root has been reconstructed as *erþō. In its earliest appearances, eorðe was already being used to
translate the many senses of Latin terra and Greek γῆ (gē): the ground,[n 8] its soil,[n 9] dry land,[n 10] the human
world,[n 11] the surface of the world (including the sea),[n 12] and the globe itself.[n 13] As with Terra and Gaia, Earth
was a personified goddess in Germanic paganism: the Angles were listed by Tacitus as among
the devotees of Nerthus,[32] and later Norse mythology included Jörð, a giantess often given as the mother
of Thor.[33]
An early mention of "eorðan" (earth) in Beowulf
An early mention of "eorðan" (earth) in Beowulf
anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet - This file has been provided by the British Library from its digital collections. It is
also made available on a British Library website. Catalogue entry: Cotton MS Vitellius A XV
"eorðan," (earth) a word from Beowulf, line number #2007. For the translation see Beowulf; a heroic poem
of the 8th century, with tr., note and appendix by T. Arnold, 1876, p. 130.
Originally, earth was written in lowercase, and from early Middle English, its definite sense as "the globe" was
expressed as the earth. By Early Modern English, many nouns were capitalized, and the earth became (and
often remained) the Earth, particularly when referenced along with other heavenly bodies. More recently, the
name is sometimes simply given as Earth, by analogy with the names of the other planets.[23] House styles now
vary: Oxford spelling recognizes the lowercase form as the most common, with the capitalized form an
acceptable variant. Another convention capitalizes "Earth" when appearing as a name (e.g. "Earth's
atmosphere") but writes it in lowercase when preceded by the (e.g. "the atmosphere of the earth"). It almost
always appears in lowercase in colloquial expressions such as "what on earth are you doing?" [34]
Chronology
Main article: History of Earth
Formation
The oldest material found in the Solar System is dated to 4.5672±0.0006 billion years ago (Bya).
[35]
By 4.54±0.04 Bya[36] the primordial Earth had formed. The bodies in the Solar System formed and
evolved with the Sun. In theory, a solar nebula partitions a volume out of a molecular cloud by gravitational
collapse, which begins to spin and flatten into a circumstellar disk, and then the planets grow out of that disk
with the Sun. A nebula contains gas, ice grains, and dust (including primordial nuclides). According to nebular
theory, planetesimals formed by accretion, with the primordial Earth taking 10–20 million years (Mys) to form.[37]
Artist's impression of the early Solar System's planetary disk
Artist's impression of the early Solar System's planetary disk
Pat Rawlings - NASA; http://origins.jpl.nasa.gov/stars-planets/ra4.html
Artist's concept of a protoplanetary disk, where particles of dust and grit collide and accrete forming
planets or asteroids
A subject of research is the formation of the Moon, some 4.53 Bya.[38] A leading hypothesis is that it was formed
by accretion from material loosed from Earth after a Mars-sized object, named Theia, hit Earth.[39] In this view,
the mass of Theia was approximately 10 percent of Earth, [40] it hit Earth with a glancing blow and some of its
mass merged with Earth.[41] Between approximately 4.1 and 3.8 Bya, numerous asteroid impacts during
the Late Heavy Bombardment caused significant changes to the greater surface environment of the Moon and,
by inference, to that of Earth.
Geological history
Main article: Geological history of Earth
Earth's atmosphere and oceans were formed by volcanic activity and outgassing.[42] Water vapor from these
sources condensed into the oceans, augmented by water and ice from asteroids, protoplanets, and comets.
[43]
In this model, atmospheric "greenhouse gases" kept the oceans from freezing when the newly forming Sun
had only 70% of its current luminosity.[44] By 3.5 Bya, Earth's magnetic field was established, which helped
prevent the atmosphere from being stripped away by the solar wind.[45]
Hoodoos at the Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
Hoodoos at the Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
I, Luca Galuzzi
Thor's Hammer formation in Bryce Canyon National Park. Southwestern Utah, USA.
A crust formed when the molten outer layer of Earth cooled to form a solid. The two models[46] that explain land
mass propose either a steady growth to the present-day forms [47] or, more likely, a rapid growth[48] early in Earth
history[49] followed by a long-term steady continental area. [50][51][52] Continents formed by plate tectonics, a process
ultimately driven by the continuous loss of heat from Earth's interior. Over the period of hundreds of millions of
years, the supercontinents have assembled and broken apart. Roughly 750 million years ago (Mya), one of the
earliest known supercontinents, Rodinia, began to break apart. The continents later recombined to
form Pannotia 600–540 Mya, then finally Pangaea, which also broke apart 180 Mya.[53]
The present pattern of ice ages began about 40 Mya,[54] and then intensified during
the Pleistocene about 3 Mya.[55] High-latitude regions have since undergone repeated cycles of glaciation and
thaw, repeating about every 40,000–100,000 years. The last continental glaciation ended 10,000 years ago.[56]
Origin of life and evolution
Chemical reactions led to the first self-replicating molecules about four billion years ago. A half billion years
later, the last common ancestor of all current life arose.[57] The evolution of photosynthesis allowed the Sun's
energy to be harvested directly by life forms. The resultant molecular oxygen (O
2) accumulated in the atmosphere and due to interaction with ultraviolet solar radiation, formed a
protective ozone layer (O
3) in the upper atmosphere. [58] The incorporation of smaller cells within larger ones resulted in the development
of complex cells called eukaryotes.[59] True multicellular organisms formed as cells within colonies became
increasingly specialized. Aided by the absorption of harmful ultraviolet radiation by the ozone layer, life
colonized Earth's surface.[60] Among the earliest fossil evidence for life is microbial mat fossils found in
3.48 billion-year-old sandstone in Western Australia,[61] biogenic graphite found in 3.7 billion-year-
old metasedimentary rocks in Western Greenland,[62] and remains of biotic material found in 4.1 billion-year-old
rocks in Western Australia.[63][64] The earliest direct evidence of life on Earth is contained in 3.45 billion-year-
old Australian rocks showing fossils of microorganisms.[65][66]
Main articles: Abiogenesis and Evolutionary history of life
Phylogenetic tree of life on Earth based on rRNA analysis
Phylogenetic tree of life on Earth based on rRNA analysis
File:PhylogeneticTree, Woese 1990.PNG: Maulucioni derivative work: TilmannR - This file was derived
from: PhylogeneticTree, Woese 1990.PNG:
Universal phylogenetic tree in rooted form, showing the three domains. According to C. Woese et al. 1990
During the Neoproterozoic, 750 to 580 Mya, much of Earth might have been covered in ice. This hypothesis
has been termed "Snowball Earth", and it is of particular interest because it preceded the Cambrian explosion,
when multicellular life forms significantly increased in complexity. [67] Following the Cambrian
explosion, 535 Mya, there have been five mass extinctions.[68] The most recent such event was 66 Mya,
when an asteroid impact triggered the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs and other large reptiles, but spared
some small animals such as mammals, which at the time resembled shrews. Mammalian life has diversified
over the past 66 Mys, and several million years ago an African ape-like animal such as Orrorin
tugenensis gained the ability to stand upright.[69] This facilitated tool use and encouraged communication that
provided the nutrition and stimulation needed for a larger brain, which led to the evolution of humans.
The development of agriculture, and then civilization, led to humans having an influence on Earth and the
nature and quantity of other life forms that continues to this day.
Future
Main article: Future of Earth
See also: Global catastrophic risk
Earth's expected long-term future is tied to that of the Sun. Over the next 1.1 billion years, solar luminosity will
increase by 10%, and over the next 3.5 billion years by 40%.[71] The Earth's increasing surface temperature will
accelerate the inorganic carbon cycle, reducing CO
2 concentration to levels lethally low for plants (10 ppm for C4 photosynthesis) in approximately 100–900 million
years.[72][73] The lack of vegetation will result in the loss of oxygen in the atmosphere, making animal life
impossible.[74] About a billion years from now, all surface water will have disappeared [75] and the mean global
temperature will reach 70 °C (158 °F).[74] The Earth is expected to be habitable until the end of photosynthesis
about 500 million years from now,[72] but if nitrogen is removed from the atmosphere, life may continue until
a runaway greenhouse effect occurs 2.3 billion years from now.[73] Anthropogenic emissions are "probably
insufficient" to cause a runaway greenhouse at current solar luminosity. [76] Even if the Sun were eternal and
stable, 27% of the water in the modern oceans will descend to the mantle in one billion years, due to reduced
steam venting from mid-ocean ridges.[77]
The Sun will evolve to become a red giant in about 5 billion years. Models predict that the Sun will expand to
roughly 1 AU (150 million km; 93 million mi), about 250 times its present radius.[71][78] Earth's fate is less clear. As
a red giant, the Sun will lose roughly 30% of its mass, so, without tidal effects, Earth will move to an orbit
1.7 AU (250 million km; 160 million mi) from the Sun when the star reaches its maximum radius. Most, if not all,
remaining life will be destroyed by the Sun's increased luminosity (peaking at about 5,000 times its present
level).[71] A 2008 simulation indicates that Earth's orbit will eventually decay due to tidal effects and drag,
causing it to enter the Sun's atmosphere and be vaporized.[78]
Physical characteristics
Shape
Main articles: Figure of the Earth, Earth radius, and Earth's circumference
The shape of Earth is nearly spherical. There is a small flattening at the poles and bulging around
the equator due to Earth's rotation.[82] To second order, the Earth is approximately an oblate spheroid, whose
equatorial diameter is 43 kilometres (27 mi) larger than the pole-to-pole diameter,[83] although the variation is
less than 1% of the average radius of the Earth.
The point on the surface farthest from Earth's center of mass is the summit of the
equatorial Chimborazo volcano in Ecuador (6,384.4 km or 3,967.1 mi).[84][85][86][87] The average diameter of the
reference spheroid is 12,742 kilometres (7,918 mi). Local topography deviates from this idealized spheroid,
although on a global scale these deviations are small compared to Earth's radius: the maximum deviation of
only 0.17% is at the Mariana Trench (10,911 metres or 35,797 feet below local sea level), whereas Mount
Everest (8,848 metres or 29,029 feet above local sea level) represents a deviation of 0.14%. [n 14]
Shown are distances between surface relief and the geocentre. The South American Andes summits are visible as elevated areas.
The shaded relief has vertical exaggeration. Data from the Earth2014[79] global relief model.
Shown are distances between surface relief and the geocentre. The South American Andes summits
are visible as elevated areas. The shaded relief has vertical exaggeration. Data from the
Earth2014[79] global relief model.
Geodesy2000 - Own work
Earth shape, as given by the Earth2014 global relief model. Shown are distances between relief points
and the geocentre
The summit of Chimborazo, the point on the Earth's surface that is farthest from the Earth's center [80][81]
The summit of Chimborazo, the point on the Earth's surface that is farthest from
the Earth's center[80][81]
Dabit100/ David Torres Costales Riobamba - Own work
Chimborazo volcano, the closest point to the sun. Riobamba - Ecuador
In geodesy, the exact shape that Earth's oceans would adopt in the absence of land and perturbations such as
tides and winds is called the geoid. More precisely, the geoid is the surface of gravitational equipotential
at mean sea level.
Chemical composition
See also: Abundance of elements on Earth
Chemical composition of the crust[89][90]
Composition
Compound Formula
Continenta
Oceanic
l
silica SiO 60.6% 48.6%
2
alumina Al 15.9% 16.5%
2O
3
lime CaO 6.41% 12.3%
magnesia MgO 4.66% 6.8%
iron oxide FeOT 6.71% 6.2%
Na
sodium oxide 3.07% 2.6%
2O
K
potassium oxide 1.81% 0.4%
2O
titanium dioxide TiO 0.72% 1.4%
2
phosphorus P
2O 0.13% 0.3%
pentoxide
5
manganese oxide MnO 0.10% 1.4%
Total 100.1% 99.9%
Earth's mass is approximately 5.97×1024 kg (5,970 Yg). It is composed mostly
of iron (32.1%), oxygen (30.1%), silicon (15.1%), magnesium (13.9%), sulphur (2.9%), nickel (1.8%), calcium (
1.5%), and aluminum (1.4%), with the remaining 1.2% consisting of trace amounts of other elements. Due
to mass segregation, the core region is estimated to be primarily composed of iron (88.8%), with smaller
amounts of nickel (5.8%), sulphur (4.5%), and less than 1% trace elements. [91]
The most common rock constituents of the crust are nearly all oxides: chlorine, sulphur, and fluorine are the
important exceptions to this and their total amount in any rock is usually much less than 1%. Over 99% of the
crust is composed of 11 oxides, principally silica, alumina, iron oxides, lime, magnesia, potash and soda. [92][91][93]
Internal structure
Main article: Structure of the Earth
Earth's interior, like that of the other terrestrial planets, is divided into layers by their chemical or physical
(rheological) properties. The outer layer is a chemically distinct silicate solid crust, which is underlain by a
highly viscous solid mantle. The crust is separated from the mantle by the Mohorovičić discontinuity. The
thickness of the crust varies from about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) under the oceans to 30–50 km (19–31 mi) for the
continents. The crust and the cold, rigid, top of the upper mantle are collectively known as the lithosphere, and
it is of the lithosphere that the tectonic plates are composed. Beneath the lithosphere is the asthenosphere, a
relatively low-viscosity layer on which the lithosphere rides. Important changes in crystal structure within the
mantle occur at 410 and 660 km (250 and 410 mi) below the surface, spanning a transition zone that separates
the upper and lower mantle. Beneath the mantle, an extremely low viscosity liquid outer core lies above a
solid inner core.[94] The Earth's inner core might rotate at a slightly higher angular velocity than the remainder of
the planet, advancing by 0.1–0.5° per year.[95] The radius of the inner core is about one fifth of that of Earth.
Geologic layers of Earth
Earth cutaway from core to exosphere. Not to scale.
Depth[97] Density
km Component layer g/cm3
0–60 Lithosphere[n 15] —
0–35 Crust[n 16] 2.2–2.9
35–60 Upper mantle 3.4–4.4
35–2890 Mantle 3.4–5.6
100–700 Asthenosphere —
2890–5100 Outer core 9.9–12.2
5100–6378 Inner core 12.8–13.1
Cutaway diagram of Earth's internal structure (to scale) with inset showing detailed
breakdown of structure (not to scale)
derivative work: Srimadhav Earth cutaway schematic-en.png: USGS - Earth cutaway schematic-en.png This file was
derived from: Earth cutaway schematic-en.png
Heat
Main article: Earth's internal heat budget
Earth's internal heat comes from a combination of residual heat from planetary accretion (about 20%) and heat
produced through radioactive decay (80%).[98] The major heat-producing isotopes within Earth are potassium-
40, uranium-238, and thorium-232.[99] At the center, the temperature may be up to 6,000 °C (10,830 °F),[100] and
the pressure could reach 360 GPa (52 million psi).[101] Because much of the heat is provided by radioactive
decay, scientists postulate that early in Earth's history, before isotopes with short half-lives were depleted,
Earth's heat production was much higher. At approximately 3 Gyr, twice the present-day heat would have been
produced, increasing the rates of mantle convection and plate tectonics, and allowing the production of
uncommon igneous rocks such as komatiites that are rarely formed today.[98][102]
Present-day major heat-producing isotopes[103]
Isotop Heat release Half-life Mean mantle concentration Heat release
W/kg isotope years kg isotope/kg mantle W/kg mantle
e
238
U 94.6×10−6 4.47×109 30.8×10−9 2.91×10−12
235
U 569×10−6 0.704×109 0.22×10−9 0.125×10−12
232
Th 26.4×10−6 14.0×109 124×10−9 3.27×10−12
40
K 29.2×10−6 1.25×109 36.9×10−9 1.08×10−12
The mean heat loss from Earth is 87 mW m−2, for a global heat loss of 4.42×1013 W.[104] A portion of the core's
thermal energy is transported toward the crust by mantle plumes, a form of convection consisting of upwellings
of higher-temperature rock. These plumes can produce hotspots and flood basalts.[105] More of the heat in Earth
is lost through plate tectonics, by mantle upwelling associated with mid-ocean ridges. The final major mode of
heat loss is through conduction through the lithosphere, the majority of which occurs under the oceans because
the crust there is much thinner than that of the continents. [106]
Tectonic plates
Earth's mechanically rigid outer layer, the lithosphere, is divided into tectonic plates. These plates are rigid
segments that move relative to each other at one of three boundaries types: At convergent boundaries, two
plates come together; at divergent boundaries, two plates are pulled apart; and at transform boundaries, two
plates slide past one another laterally. Along these plate boundaries, earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-
building, and oceanic trench formation can occur.[108] The tectonic plates ride on top of the asthenosphere, the
solid but less-viscous part of the upper mantle that can flow and move along with the plates. [109]
Earth's major plates[107]
An unlabelled map of the Earth's tectonic plates. It is based on the map at [1].
Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason - File:Tectonic plates (empty).png
Main article: Plate tectonics
As the tectonic plates migrate, oceanic crust is subducted under the leading edges of the plates at convergent
boundaries. At the same time, the upwelling of mantle material at divergent boundaries creates mid-ocean
ridges. The combination of these processes recycles the oceanic crust back into the mantle. Due to this
recycling, most of the ocean floor is less than 100 Ma old. The oldest oceanic crust is located in the Western
Pacific and is estimated to be 200 Ma old.[110][111] By comparison, the oldest dated continental crust is 4,030 Ma.
[112]
Mountains build up when tectonic plates move toward each other, forcing rock up. The highest mountain on Earth above sea level
is Mount Everest.
Mountains build up when tectonic plates move toward each other, forcing rock up. The
highest mountain on Earth above sea level is Mount Everest.
Joe Hastings - https://www.flickr.com/photos/joehastings/538538099/in/photolist-PA9BD-6e9mNF-KZFwM-KYKy6-
66ZiD7-KYqcG-aQiEoD-4Ns87y-4Nserf-k2SBS-54Dvv6-4NnWf8-PfJe2-9vDwgE-4NsbtY-4PZBGk-4NnXyZ-aSqQdM-
aCnihY-4NsaMC-4Nsbeh-4NnXSv-4NsbJ1-4NsaFy-bwhryJ-4NsaUW-b3Sz84-4Ns9oq-4Ns9xu-4NnYTk-b5BAJ6-
4NnYu4-4Ns8W1-4Nsbkh-4NnXEM-4Nsb3m-4NsaYo-4Ns8sE-4Ns7j9-4NnZPe-4NsbCo-4NnV7i-bStsfM-Pfc9C-
2PzCCz-k1U8Q-6VfVus-298BX-4WLbHu-4WFUZH
Mt. Everest, seen from Tingri, a small village on the Tibetan plateau at around 4050m above sea level.
The seven major plates are the Pacific, North American, Eurasian, African, Antarctic, Indo-Australian,
and South American. Other notable plates include the Arabian Plate, the Caribbean Plate, the Nazca Plate off
the west coast of South America and the Scotia Plate in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The Australian Plate
fused with the Indian Plate between 50 and 55 Mya. The fastest-moving plates are the oceanic plates, with
the Cocos Plate advancing at a rate of 75 mm/a (3.0 in/year)[113] and the Pacific Plate moving 52–69 mm/a (2.0–
2.7 in/year). At the other extreme, the slowest-moving plate is the Eurasian Plate, progressing at a typical rate
of 21 mm/a (0.83 in/year).[114]
Surface
The total surface area of Earth is about 510 million km2 (197 million sq mi).[12] Of this, 70.8%,[12] or
361.13 million km2 (139.43 million sq mi), is below sea level and covered by ocean water.[115] Below the ocean's
surface are much of the continental shelf, mountains, volcanoes,[83] oceanic trenches, submarine
canyons, oceanic plateaus, abyssal plains, and a globe-spanning mid-ocean ridge system. The remaining
29.2%, or 148.94 million km2 (57.51 million sq mi), not covered by water has terrain that varies greatly from
place to place and consists of mountains, deserts, plains, plateaus, and other landforms. Tectonics and
erosion, volcanic eruptions, flooding, weathering, glaciation, the growth of coral reefs, and meteorite
impacts are among the processes that constantly reshape the Earth's surface over geological time.[116][117]
Main articles: Earth's crust, Lithosphere, Hydrosphere, Landform, and Extreme points of Earth
Present-day Earth altimetry and bathymetry. Data from the National Geophysical Data Center.
Present-day Earth altimetry and bathymetry. Data from the National Geophysical
Data Center.
Plumbago - English Wikipedia
Present-day Earth topography and bathymetry at 15-minute horizontal resolution. Derived from
the National Geophysical Data Center's TerrainBase Digital Terrain Model (v1.0). The original dataset is
at 5-minute resolution, and this has been averaged down to 15-minute resolution. It is plotted here using
a Mollweide projection (using MATLAB and the M_Map package).
The continental crust consists of lower density material such as the igneous rocks granite and andesite. Less
common is basalt, a denser volcanic rock that is the primary constituent of the ocean floors. [118] Sedimentary
rock is formed from the accumulation of sediment that becomes buried and compacted together. Nearly 75% of
the continental surfaces are covered by sedimentary rocks, although they form about 5% of the crust. [119] The
third form of rock material found on Earth is metamorphic rock, which is created from the transformation of pre-
existing rock types through high pressures, high temperatures, or both. The most abundant silicate minerals on
Earth's surface include quartz, feldspars, amphibole, mica, pyroxene and olivine.[120] Common carbonate
minerals include calcite (found in limestone) and dolomite.[121]
Current Earth without water, elevation greatly exaggerated (click/enlarge to "spin" 3D-globe).
The elevation of the land surface varies from the low point of −418 m (−1,371 ft) at the Dead Sea, to a
maximum altitude of 8,848 m (29,029 ft) at the top of Mount Everest. The mean height of land above sea level
is about 797 m (2,615 ft).[122]
Current Earth without water, elevation greatly exaggerated (click/enlarge to
"spin" 3D-globe).
Cmglee - Own work
Earth without liquid water greatly exaggerated elevation model by CMG Lee using NASA Visible
Earth topography and bathymetry data.
The pedosphere is the outermost layer of Earth's continental surface and is composed of soil and subject
to soil formation processes. The total arable land is 10.9% of the land surface, with 1.3% being permanent
cropland.[123][124] Close to 40% of Earth's land surface is used for agriculture, or an estimated
16.7 million km2 (6.4 million sq mi) of cropland and 33.5 million km2 (12.9 million sq mi) of pastureland.[125]
Hydrosphere
Main article: Hydrosphere
The abundance of water on Earth's surface is a unique feature that distinguishes the "Blue Planet" from other
planets in the Solar System. Earth's hydrosphere consists chiefly of the oceans, but technically includes all
water surfaces in the world, including inland seas, lakes, rivers, and underground waters down to a depth of
2,000 m (6,600 ft). The deepest underwater location is Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific
Ocean with a depth of 10,911.4 m (35,799 ft).[n 18][126]
The mass of the oceans is approximately 1.35×1018 metric tons or about 1/4400 of Earth's total mass. The
oceans cover an area of 361.8 million km2 (139.7 million sq mi) with a mean depth of 3,682 m (12,080 ft),
resulting in an estimated volume of 1.332 billion km3 (320 million cu mi).[127] If all of Earth's crustal surface were
at the same elevation as a smooth sphere, the depth of the resulting world ocean would be 2.7 to 2.8 km (1.68
to 1.74 mi).[128][129]
Elevation histogram of Earth's surface
Citynoise at English Wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.
I made this, and release it into the public domain. It is an update of a graphic I did earlier, fixing some svg
errors and adding data missing from the derivative version by MesserWoland.
About 97.5% of the water is saline; the remaining 2.5% is fresh water. Most fresh water, about 68.7%, is
present as ice in ice caps and glaciers.[130]
The average salinity of Earth's oceans is about 35 grams of salt per kilogram of sea water (3.5% salt).[131] Most
of this salt was released from volcanic activity or extracted from cool igneous rocks. [132] The oceans are also a
reservoir of dissolved atmospheric gases, which are essential for the survival of many aquatic life forms. [133] Sea
water has an important influence on the world's climate, with the oceans acting as a large heat reservoir.
[134]
Shifts in the oceanic temperature distribution can cause significant weather shifts, such as the El Niño–
Southern Oscillation.[135]
Atmosphere
Main article: Atmosphere of Earth
The atmospheric pressure at Earth's sea level averages 101.325 kPa (14.696 psi),[136] with a scale height of
about 8.5 km (5.3 mi).[3] A dry atmosphere is composed of 78.084% nitrogen, 20.946% oxygen, 0.934% argon,
and trace amounts of carbon dioxide and other gaseous molecules.[136] Water vapor content varies between
0.01% and 4%[136] but averages about 1%.[3] The height of the troposphere varies with latitude, ranging between
8 km (5 mi) at the poles to 17 km (11 mi) at the equator, with some variation resulting from weather and
seasonal factors.[137]
Satellite image of Earth cloud cover using NASA's Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
Satellite image of Earth cloud cover using NASA's Moderate-Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer
NASA - Earth's Vital Signs
This image is based largely on observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) - a sensor aboard the Terra satellite - on July 11, 2005. Small gaps in
MODIS' coverage between overpasses, as well as Antarctica (which is in polar darkness in July), have
been filled in using GOES weather satellites and the latest version of the NASA Blue Marble. Hurricane
Dennis can be seen moving inland over the Gulf Coast.
Earth's biosphere has significantly altered its atmosphere. Oxygenic
photosynthesis evolved 2.7 Gya, forming the primarily nitrogen–oxygen atmosphere of today. [58] This change
enabled the proliferation of aerobic organisms and, indirectly, the formation of the ozone layer due to the
subsequent conversion of atmospheric O
2 into O
3. The ozone layer blocks ultraviolet solar radiation, permitting life on land.[138] Other atmospheric functions
important to life include transporting water vapor, providing useful gases, causing small meteors to burn up
before they strike the surface, and moderating temperature. [139] This last phenomenon is known as
the greenhouse effect: trace molecules within the atmosphere serve to capture thermal energy emitted from the
ground, thereby raising the average temperature. Water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide,
and ozone are the primary greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Without this heat-retention effect, the
average surface temperature would be −18 °C (0 °F), in contrast to the current +15 °C (59 °F),[140] and life on
Earth probably would not exist in its current form. [141] In May 2017, glints of light, seen as twinkling from an
orbiting satellite a million miles away, were found to be reflected light from ice crystals in the atmosphere.[142][143]
Weather and climate
Main articles: Weather and Climate
Earth's atmosphere has no definite boundary, slowly becoming thinner and fading into outer space. Three-
quarters of the atmosphere's mass is contained within the first 11 km (6.8 mi) of the surface. This lowest layer
is called the troposphere. Energy from the Sun heats this layer, and the surface below, causing expansion of
the air. This lower-density air then rises and is replaced by cooler, higher-density air. The result is atmospheric
circulation that drives the weather and climate through redistribution of thermal energy. [144]
The primary atmospheric circulation bands consist of the trade winds in the equatorial region below 30° latitude
and the westerlies in the mid-latitudes between 30° and 60°.[145] Ocean currents are also important factors in
determining climate, particularly the thermohaline circulation that distributes thermal energy from the equatorial
oceans to the polar regions.[146]
Water vapor generated through surface evaporation is transported by circulatory patterns in the atmosphere.
When atmospheric conditions permit an uplift of warm, humid air, this water condenses and falls to the surface
as precipitation.[144] Most of the water is then transported to lower elevations by river systems and usually
returned to the oceans or deposited into lakes. This water cycle is a vital mechanism for supporting life on land
and is a primary factor in the erosion of surface features over geological periods. Precipitation patterns vary
widely, ranging from several meters of water per year to less than a millimeter. Atmospheric circulation,
topographic features, and temperature differences determine the average precipitation that falls in each region.
[147]
Hurricane Felix seen from low Earth orbit, September 2007
Hurricane Felix seen from low Earth orbit, September 2007
NASA - http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/multimedia/exp15_hurricane_felix.html
ISS015-E-25049 (3 Sept. 2007) --- This view of Hurricane Felix was taken from the Earth-
orbiting International Space Station by an Expedition 15 crewmember using a digital still camera
equipped with a 28-70 mm lens set at 28 mm focal length on Sept. 3, 2007 at 11:38:46 GMT. The ISS
was located at the nadir point of 16.9 degrees north latitude and 83.3 degrees west longitude, over the
waters southwest of Grand Cayman Island. At approximately noon GMT, Hurricane Felix was near 14.2
degrees north latitude and 76.9 west longitude, about 260 miles (425 kilometers) south of
Kingston, Jamaica, and 425 miles (685 kilometers) east of Cabo Gracias a Dios on
the Nicaragua/Honduras border, moving west at 21 miles per hour (33 kilometers per hour). The
sustained winds were 165 miles per hour with higher gusts making it a category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson
Hurricane Scale.
Lenticular cloud over an ice pressure ridge near Mount Discovery, Antarctica, November 2013
Lenticular cloud over an ice pressure ridge near Mount Discovery, Antarctica,
November 2013
Michael Studinger - http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=82499 (image link)
A pressure ridge in the Antarctic ice near Scott Base, with lenticular clouds in the sky. Lenticular clouds
are a type of wave cloud. They usually form when a layer of air near the surface encounters a topographic
barrier, gets pushed upward, and flows over it as a series of atmospheric gravity waves. Lenticular clouds
form at the crest of the waves, where the air is coolest and water vapor is most likely to condense into
cloud droplets. The bulging sea ice in the foreground is a pressure ridge, which formed when separate ice
floes collided and piled up on each other.
Massive clouds above the Mojave Desert, February 2016
Massive clouds above the Mojave Desert, February 2016
Jessie Eastland - Own work
Massive clouds sweeping across the Mojave Desert.
The amount of solar energy reaching Earth's surface decreases with increasing latitude. At higher latitudes, the
sunlight reaches the surface at lower angles, and it must pass through thicker columns of the atmosphere. As a
result, the mean annual air temperature at sea level decreases by about 0.4 °C (0.7 °F) per degree of latitude
from the equator.[148] Earth's surface can be subdivided into specific latitudinal belts of approximately
homogeneous climate. Ranging from the equator to the polar regions, these are the tropical (or
equatorial), subtropical, temperate and polar climates.[149]
This latitudinal rule has several anomalies:
Proximity to oceans moderates the climate. For example, the Scandinavian Peninsula has more
moderate climate than similarly northern latitudes of northern Canada.
The wind enables this moderating effect. The windward side of a land mass experiences more
moderation than the leeward side. In the Northern Hemisphere, the prevailing wind is west-to-east, and
western coasts tend to be milder than eastern coasts. This is seen in Eastern North America and Western
Europe, where rough continental climates appear on the east coast on parallels with mild climates on the
other side of the ocean.[150] In the Southern Hemisphere, the prevailing wind is east-to-west, and the
eastern coasts are milder.
The distance from the Earth to the Sun varies. The Earth is closest to the Sun (at perihelion) in
January, which is summer in the Southern Hemisphere. It is furthest away (at aphelion) in July, which is
summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and only 93.55% of the solar radiation from the Sun falls on a given
square area of land than at perihelion. Despite this, there are larger land masses in the Northern
Hemisphere, which are easier to heat than the seas. Consequently, summers are 2.3 °C (4 °F) warmer in
the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere under similar conditions. [151]
The climate is colder at high altitudes than at sea level because of the decreased air density.
The commonly used Köppen climate classification system has five broad groups (humid tropics, arid, humid
middle latitudes, continental and cold polar), which are further divided into more specific subtypes. [145] The
Köppen system rates regions of terrain based on observed temperature and precipitation.
The highest air temperature ever measured on Earth was 56.7 °C (134.1 °F) in Furnace Creek, California,
in Death Valley, in 1913.[152] The lowest air temperature ever directly measured on Earth was −89.2 °C
(−128.6 °F) at Vostok Station in 1983,[153] but satellites have used remote sensing to measure temperatures as
low as −94.7 °C (−138.5 °F) in East Antarctica.[154] These temperature records are only measurements made
with modern instruments from the 20th century onwards and likely do not reflect the full range of temperature
on Earth.
Upper atmosphere
Above the troposphere, the atmosphere is usually divided into the stratosphere, mesosphere,
and thermosphere.[139] Each layer has a different lapse rate, defining the rate of change in temperature with
height. Beyond these, the exosphere thins out into the magnetosphere, where the geomagnetic fields interact
with the solar wind.[155] Within the stratosphere is the ozone layer, a component that partially shields the surface
from ultraviolet light and thus is important for life on Earth. The Kármán line, defined as 100 km above Earth's
surface, is a working definition for the boundary between the atmosphere and outer space
This view from orbit shows the full moon partially obscured by Earth's atmosphere.
This view from orbit shows the full moon partially obscured by Earth's
atmosphere.
NASA - http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-103/html/s103e5037.html
Original caption from NASA: "S103-E-5037 (21 December 1999)--- Astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle
Discovery recorded this rarely seen phenomenon of the full Moon partially obscured by the atmosphere of
Earth. The image was recorded with an electronic still camera at 15:15:15 GMT, Dec. 21, 1999."
.[156]
Thermal energy causes some of the molecules at the outer edge of the atmosphere to increase their velocity to
the point where they can escape from Earth's gravity. This causes a slow but steady loss of the atmosphere
into space. Because unfixed hydrogen has a low molecular mass, it can achieve escape velocity more readily,
and it leaks into outer space at a greater rate than other gases. [157] The leakage of hydrogen into space
contributes to the shifting of Earth's atmosphere and surface from an initially reducing state to its
current oxidizing one. Photosynthesis provided a source of free oxygen, but the loss of reducing agents such
as hydrogen is thought to have been a necessary precondition for the widespread accumulation of oxygen in
the atmosphere.[158] Hence the ability of hydrogen to escape from the atmosphere may have influenced the
nature of life that developed on Earth.[159] In the current, oxygen-rich atmosphere most hydrogen is converted
into water before it has an opportunity to escape. Instead, most of the hydrogen loss comes from the
destruction of methane in the upper atmosphere. [160]
Gravitational field
Main article: Gravity of Earth
The gravity of Earth is the acceleration that is imparted to objects due to the distribution of mass within the
Earth. Near the Earth's surface, gravitational acceleration is approximately 9.8 m/s2 (32 ft/s2). Local differences
in topography, geology, and deeper tectonic structure cause local and broad, regional differences in the Earth's
gravitational field, known as gravity anomalies.[161]
Earth's gravity measured by NASA's GRACE mission, showing deviations from the theoretical gravity. Red shows where gravity is
stronger than the smooth, standard value, and blue shows where it is weaker
File:Gravity anomalies on Earth.jpg
English: Gravity anomaly map.
Gravimetry map from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment—GRACE, a joint mission of
NASA and the German Aerospace Center.
See also: GRACE globe animation (gif image).
Source
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GRACE/page3.php
Magnetic field
Main article: Earth's magnetic field
The main part of Earth's magnetic field is generated in the core, the site of a dynamo process that converts the
kinetic energy of thermally and compositionally driven convection into electrical and magnetic field energy. The
field extends outwards from the core, through the mantle, and up to Earth's surface, where it is, approximately,
a dipole. The poles of the dipole are located close to Earth's geographic poles. At the equator of the magnetic
field, the magnetic-field strength at the surface is 3.05×10−5 T, with a magnetic dipole
moment of 7.79×1022 Am2 at epoch 2000, decreasing nearly 6% per century.[162] The convection movements in
the core are chaotic; the magnetic poles drift and periodically change alignment. This causes secular
variation of the main field and field reversals at irregular intervals averaging a few times every million years.
The most recent reversal occurred approximately 700,000 years ago. [163][164]
Magnetosphere
Main article: Magnetosphere
The extent of Earth's magnetic field in space defines the magnetosphere. Ions and electrons of the solar wind
are deflected by the magnetosphere; solar wind pressure compresses the dayside of the magnetosphere, to
about 10 Earth radii, and extends the nightside magnetosphere into a long tail. [165] Because the velocity of the
solar wind is greater than the speed at which waves propagate through the solar wind, a supersonic bow
shock precedes the dayside magnetosphere within the solar wind. [166] Charged particles are contained within the
magnetosphere; the plasmasphere is defined by low-energy particles that essentially follow magnetic field lines
as Earth rotates;[167][168] the ring current is defined by medium-energy particles that drift relative to the
geomagnetic field, but with paths that are still dominated by the magnetic field, [169] and the Van Allen radiation
belt are formed by high-energy particles whose motion is essentially random, but otherwise contained by the
magnetosphere.[165]
Schematic of Earth's magnetosphere. The solar wind flows from left to right
[170]
Schematic of Earth's magnetosphere. The solar wind flows from left to right
Original bitmap from NASA. SVG rendering by Aaron Kaase. This SVG image was created by Medium69. Cette
image SVG a été créée par Medium69. Please credit this : William
Crochot - http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/guntersville98/images/mag_sketch_633.jpg
Schematic of magnetosphere.
During magnetic storms and substorms, charged particles can be deflected from the outer magnetosphere and
especially the magnetotail, directed along field lines into Earth's ionosphere, where atmospheric atoms can be
excited and ionized, causing the aurora.[171]
Orbit and rotation
Rotation
Main article: Earth's rotation
Earth's rotation period relative to the Sun—its mean solar day—is 86,400 seconds of mean solar time
(86,400.0025 SI seconds).[172] Because Earth's solar day is now slightly longer than it was during the 19th
century due to tidal deceleration, each day varies between 0 and 2 SI ms longer.[173][174]
Earth's rotation period relative to the fixed stars, called its stellar day by the International Earth Rotation and
Reference Systems Service (IERS), is 86,164.0989 seconds of mean solar time (UT1), or 23 56 4.0989 .[2][n
h m s
19]
Earth's rotation period relative to the precessing or moving mean vernal equinox, misnamed its sidereal day,
is 86,164.0905 seconds of mean solar time (UT1) (23 56 4.0905 ).[2] Thus the sidereal day is shorter than the
h m s
stellar day by about 8.4 ms.[175] The length of the mean solar day in SI seconds is available from the IERS for
the periods 1623–2005[176] and 1962–2005.[177]
Earth's rotation imaged by DSCOVR EPIC on 29 May 2016, a few weeks before a solstice.
Earth's rotation imaged by DSCOVR EPIC on 29 May 2016, a few weeks before
a solstice.
NASA/EPIC, edit by Tdadamemd - http://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/#2016-05-29
DSCOVR EPIC - Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera 22 images taken by the NASA probe showing
the Earth spin at 23.4 degrees of tilt (North Pole toward viewer), a few weeks prior to the June solstice.
Apart from meteors within the atmosphere and low-orbiting satellites, the main apparent motion of celestial
bodies in Earth's sky is to the west at a rate of 15°/h = 15'/min. For bodies near the celestial equator, this is
equivalent to an apparent diameter of the Sun or the Moon every two minutes; from Earth's surface, the
apparent sizes of the Sun and the Moon are approximately the same. [178][179]
Orbit
Main article: Earth's orbit
Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of about 150 million km (93 million mi) every 365.2564 mean solar
days, or one sidereal year. This gives an apparent movement of the Sun eastward with respect to the stars at a
rate of about 1°/day, which is one apparent Sun or Moon diameter every 12 hours. Due to this motion, on
average it takes 24 hours—a solar day—for Earth to complete a full rotation about its axis so that the Sun
returns to the meridian. The orbital speed of Earth averages about 29.78 km/s (107,200 km/h; 66,600 mph),
which is fast enough to travel a distance equal to Earth's diameter, about 12,742 km (7,918 mi), in seven
minutes, and the distance to the Moon, 384,000 km (239,000 mi), in about 3.5 hours
The Pale Blue Dot photo taken in 1990 by the Voyager 1 spacecraft showing Earth (center right) from nearly 6.4 billion km
(4 billion mi) away, about 5.9 hours at light speed.
The Pale Blue Dot photo taken in 1990 by the Voyager 1 spacecraft showing Earth (center right)
from nearly 6.4 billion km (4 billion mi) away, about 5.9 hours at light speed.
Voyager 1 - http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=52392
Original caption: This narrow-angle color image of the Earth, dubbed ‘Pale Blue Dot’, is a part of the first
ever ‘portrait’ of the solar system taken by Voyager 1. The spacecraft acquired a total of 60 frames for a
mosaic of the solar system from a distance of more than 4 billion miles from Earth and about 32 degrees
above the ecliptic. From Voyager's great distance Earth is a mere point of light, less than the size of a
picture element even in the narrow-angle camera. Earth was a crescent only 0.12 pixel in size.
Coincidentally, Earth lies right in the center of one of the scattered light rays resulting from taking the
image so close to the sun. This blown-up image of the Earth was taken through three color filters – violet,
blue and green – and recombined to produce the color image. The background features in the image are
artifacts resulting from the magnification.
.[3]
The Moon and Earth orbit a common barycenter every 27.32 days relative to the background stars. When
combined with the Earth–Moon system's common orbit around the Sun, the period of the synodic month, from
new moon to new moon, is 29.53 days. Viewed from the celestial north pole, the motion of Earth, the Moon,
and their axial rotations are all counterclockwise. Viewed from a vantage point above the north poles of both
the Sun and Earth, Earth orbits in a counterclockwise direction about the Sun. The orbital and axial planes are
not precisely aligned: Earth's axis is tilted some 23.44 degrees from the perpendicular to the Earth–Sun plane
(the ecliptic), and the Earth–Moon plane is tilted up to ±5.1 degrees against the Earth–Sun plane. Without this
tilt, there would be an eclipse every two weeks, alternating between lunar eclipses and solar eclipses.[3][180]
The Hill sphere, or the sphere of gravitational influence, of the Earth is about 1.5 million km (930,000 mi) in
radius.[181][n 20] This is the maximum distance at which the Earth's gravitational influence is stronger than the more
distant Sun and planets. Objects must orbit the Earth within this radius, or they can become unbound by the
gravitational perturbation of the Sun.
Earth, along with the Solar System, is situated in the Milky Way and orbits about 28,000 light-years from its
center. It is about 20 light-years above the galactic plane in the Orion Arm.[182]
Axial tilt and seasons
Main article: Axial tilt § Earth
The axial tilt of the Earth is approximately 23.439281°[2] with the axis of its orbit plane, always pointing towards
the Celestial Poles. Due to Earth's axial tilt, the amount of sunlight reaching any given point on the surface
varies over the course of the year. This causes the seasonal change in climate, with summer in the Northern
Hemisphere occurring when the Tropic of Cancer is facing the Sun, and winter taking place when the Tropic of
Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere faces the Sun. During the summer, the day lasts longer, and the Sun
climbs higher in the sky. In winter, the climate becomes cooler and the days shorter. In northern temperate
latitudes, the Sun rises north of true east during the summer solstice, and sets north of true west, reversing in
the winter. The Sun rises south of true east in the summer for the southern temperate zone and sets south of
true west
Earth's axial tilt (or obliquity) and its relation to the rotation axis and plane of orbit
Earth's axial tilt (or obliquity) and its relation to the rotation axis and plane of orbit
I, Dennis Nilsson
Description of relations between Axial tilt (or Obliquity), rotation axis, plane of orbit, celestial equator and
ecliptic. Earth is shown as viewed from the Sun; the orbit direction is counter-clockwise (to the left).
.
Above the Arctic Circle, an extreme case is reached where there is no daylight at all for part of the year, up to
six months at the North Pole itself, a polar night. In the Southern Hemisphere, the situation is exactly reversed,
with the South Pole oriented opposite the direction of the North Pole. Six months later, this pole will experience
a midnight sun, a day of 24 hours, again reversing with the South Pole.
By astronomical convention, the four seasons can be determined by the solstices—the points in the orbit of
maximum axial tilt toward or away from the Sun—and the equinoxes, when the direction of the tilt and the
direction to the Sun are perpendicular. In the Northern Hemisphere, winter solstice currently occurs around 21
December; summer solstice is near 21 June, spring equinox is around 20 March and autumnal equinox is
about 22 or 23 September. In the Southern Hemisphere, the situation is reversed, with the summer and winter
solstices exchanged and the spring and autumnal equinox dates swapped. [183]
The angle of Earth's axial tilt is relatively stable over long periods of time. Its axial tilt does undergo nutation; a
slight, irregular motion with a main period of 18.6 years.[184] The orientation (rather than the angle) of Earth's axis
also changes over time, precessing around in a complete circle over each 25,800 year cycle; this precession is
the reason for the difference between a sidereal year and a tropical year. Both of these motions are caused by
the varying attraction of the Sun and the Moon on Earth's equatorial bulge. The poles also migrate a few
meters across Earth's surface. This polar motion has multiple, cyclical components, which collectively are
termed quasiperiodic motion. In addition to an annual component to this motion, there is a 14-month cycle
called the Chandler wobble. Earth's rotational velocity also varies in a phenomenon known as length-of-day
variation.[185]
In modern times, Earth's perihelion occurs around 3 January, and its aphelion around 4 July. These dates
change over time due to precession and other orbital factors, which follow cyclical patterns known
as Milankovitch cycles. The changing Earth–Sun distance causes an increase of about 6.9% [n 21] in solar energy
reaching Earth at perihelion relative to aphelion. Because the Southern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun at
about the same time that Earth reaches the closest approach to the Sun, the Southern Hemisphere receives
slightly more energy from the Sun than does the northern over the course of a year. This effect is much less
significant than the total energy change due to the axial tilt, and most of the excess energy is absorbed by the
higher proportion of water in the Southern Hemisphere. [186]
A study from 2016 suggested that Planet Nine tilted all the planets of the Solar System, including Earth, by
about six degrees.[187]
Habitability
A planet that can sustain life is termed habitable, even if life did not originate there. Earth provides liquid water
—an environment where complex organic molecules can assemble and interact, and sufficient energy to
sustain metabolism.[188] The distance of Earth from the Sun, as well as its orbital eccentricity, rate of rotation,
axial tilt, geological history, sustaining atmosphere, and magnetic field all contribute to the current climatic
conditions at the surface.
The Rocky Mountains in Canada overlook Moraine Lake.
The Rocky Mountains in Canada overlook Moraine Lake.
Gorgo - Photo taken by author
Valley of the Ten Peaks and Moraine Lake, Banff National Park, Canada. Mountains from left to right:
Tonsa (3057 m), Mount Perren (3051 m), Mount Allen (3310 m), Mount Tuzo (3246 m), Deltaform
Mountain (3424 m), Neptuak Mountain (3233 m)
[189]
Biosphere
Main article: Biosphere
A planet's life forms inhabit ecosystems, whose total is sometimes said to form a "biosphere". [190] Earth's
biosphere is thought to have begun evolving about 3.5 Gya.[58] The biosphere is divided into a number
of biomes, inhabited by broadly similar plants and animals. [191] On land, biomes are separated primarily by
differences in latitude, height above sea level and humidity. Terrestrial biomes lying within the Arctic
or Antarctic Circles, at high altitudes or in extremely arid areas are relatively barren of plant and animal
life; species diversity reaches a peak in humid lowlands at equatorial latitudes.[192]
In July 2016, scientists reported identifying a set of 355 genes from the last universal common ancestor (LUCA)
of all organisms living on Earth.[193]
Natural resources and land use
Main articles: Natural resource and Land use
Estimated human land use, 2000[194]
Land use Mha
Cropland 1,510–1,611
Pastures 2,500–3,410
Natural forests 3,143–3,871
Planted forests 126–215
Urban areas 66–351
Unused, productive
356–445
land
Earth has resources that have been exploited by humans. [195] Those termed non-renewable resources, such
as fossil fuels, only renew over geological timescales.[196]
Large deposits of fossil fuels are obtained from Earth's crust, consisting of coal, petroleum, and natural gas.
[197]
These deposits are used by humans both for energy production and as feedstock for chemical production.
[198]
Mineral ore bodies have also been formed within the crust through a process of ore genesis, resulting from
actions of magmatism, erosion, and plate tectonics.[199] These bodies form concentrated sources for many
metals and other useful elements.
Earth's biosphere produces many useful biological products for humans, including
food, wood, pharmaceuticals, oxygen, and the recycling of many organic wastes. The land-
based ecosystem depends upon topsoil and fresh water, and the oceanic ecosystem depends upon dissolved
nutrients washed down from the land.[200] In 1980, 50.53 million km2 (19.51 million sq mi) of Earth's land surface
consisted of forest and woodlands, 67.88 million km2 (26.21 million sq mi) was grasslands and pasture, and
15.01 million km2 (5.80 million sq mi) was cultivated as croplands.[201] The estimated amount of irrigated land in
1993 was 2,481,250 km2 (958,020 sq mi).[13] Humans also live on the land by using building materials to
construct shelters.
Natural and environmental hazards
A volcano injecting hot ash into the atmosphere
NASA - http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81205
Mount Pavlof from the International Space Station
Large areas of Earth's surface are subject to extreme weather such as tropical cyclones, hurricanes,
or typhoons that dominate life in those areas. From 1980 to 2000, these events caused an average of 11,800
human deaths per year.[202] Many places are subject to earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic
eruptions, tornadoes, sinkholes, blizzards, floods, droughts, wildfires, and other calamities and disasters.
Many localized areas are subject to human-made pollution of the air and water, acid rain and toxic substances,
loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, species extinction, soil
degradation, soil depletion and erosion.
There is a scientific consensus linking human activities to global warming due to industrial carbon dioxide
emissions. This is predicted to produce changes such as the melting of glaciers and ice sheets, more extreme
temperature ranges, significant changes in weather and a global rise in average sea levels.[203]
Human geography
Main articles: Human geography and World
User:Cogito ergo sumo - File:BlankMap-World.png
English: Compiled chiefly from File:BlankMap-World.png. Blank to permit labels in various languages.
Controversial continents/subcontinents (i.e. one or two Americas, Eurasia vs Europe and Asia) are in
different shades of the same colour: Americas: North America South
America Eurasia: Asia Europe Africa Australia/Oceania Antarctica
Cartography, the study and practice of map-making, and geography, the study of the lands, features,
inhabitants and phenomena on Earth, have historically been the disciplines devoted to depicting
Earth. Surveying, the determination of locations and distances, and to a lesser extent navigation, the
determination of position and direction, have developed alongside cartography and geography, providing and
suitably quantifying the requisite information.
Earth's human population reached approximately seven billion on 31 October 2011.[205] Projections indicate that
the world's human population will reach 9.2 billion in 2050.[206] Most of the growth is expected to take place
in developing nations. Human population density varies widely around the world, but a majority live in Asia. By
2020, 60% of the world's population is expected to be living in urban, rather than rural, areas. [207]
68% of the land mass of the world is in the northern hemisphere.[208] Partly due to the predominance of land
mass, 90% of humans live in the northern hemisphere. [209]
It is estimated that one-eighth of Earth's surface is suitable for humans to live on – three-quarters of Earth's
surface is covered by oceans, leaving one-quarter as land. Half of that land area is desert (14%), [210] high
mountains (27%),[211] or other unsuitable terrains. The northernmost permanent settlement in the world is Alert,
on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, Canada.[212] (82°28′N) The southernmost is the Amundsen–Scott South Pole
Station, in Antarctica, almost exactly at the South Pole. (90°S)
Headquarters of the United Nations in New York City
Headquarters of the United Nations in New York City
Cancillería Ecuador - Flickr
Nueva York (EEUU), 24 de septiembre 2012. La sede en Nueva York en el 67º Período de Sesiones de
la Asamblea General de Naciones Unidas. Foto: Fernanda LeMarie - Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores,
Comercio e Integración.
Independent sovereign nations claim the planet's entire land surface, except for some parts of Antarctica, a
few land parcels along the Danube river's western bank, and the unclaimed area of Bir Tawil between Egypt
and Sudan. As of 2015, there are 193 sovereign states that are member states of the United Nations, plus
two observer states and 72 dependent territories and states with limited recognition.[13] Earth has never had
a sovereign government with authority over the entire globe, although some nation-states have striven for world
domination and failed.[213]
The United Nations is a worldwide intergovernmental organization that was created with the goal of intervening
in the disputes between nations, thereby avoiding armed conflict. [214] The U.N. serves primarily as a forum for
international diplomacy and international law. When the consensus of the membership permits, it provides a
mechanism for armed intervention.[215]
The first human to orbit Earth was Yuri Gagarin on 12 April 1961.[216] In total, about 487 people have visited
outer space and reached orbit as of 30 July 2010, and, of these, twelve have walked on the Moon.[217][218]
[219]
Normally, the only humans in space are those on the International Space Station. The station's crew, made
up of six people, is usually replaced every six months. [220] The farthest that humans have traveled from Earth is
400,171 km (248,655 mi), achieved during the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.[221]
Moon
Main article: Moon
The Moon is a relatively large, terrestrial, planet-like natural satellite, with a diameter about one-quarter of
Earth's. It is the largest moon in the Solar System relative to the size of its planet, although Charon is larger
relative to the dwarf planet Pluto. The natural satellites of other planets are also referred to as "moons", after
Earth's.
Full moon as seen from Earth's Northern Hemisphere
Gregory H. Revera - Own work
Full Moon photograph taken 10-22-2010 from Madison, Alabama, USA. Photographed with a Celestron
9.25 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. Acquired with a Canon EOS Rebel T1i (EOS 500D), 20 images
stacked to reduce noise. 200 ISO 1/640 sec.
The gravitational attraction between Earth and the Moon causes tides on Earth. The same effect on the Moon
has led to its tidal locking: its rotation period is the same as the time it takes to orbit Earth. As a result, it always
presents the same face to the planet. As the Moon orbits Earth, different parts of its face are illuminated by the
Sun, leading to the lunar phases; the dark part of the face is separated from the light part by the solar
terminator.
Due to their tidal interaction, the Moon recedes from Earth at the rate of approximately 38 mm/a (1.5 in/year).
Over millions of years, these tiny modifications—and the lengthening of Earth's day by about 23 µs/yr—add up
to significant changes.[222] During the Devonian period, for example, (approximately 410 Mya) there were 400
days in a year, with each day lasting 21.8 hours.[223]
The Moon may have dramatically affected the development of life by moderating the planet's
climate. Paleontological evidence and computer simulations show that Earth's axial tilt is stabilized by tidal
interactions with the Moon.[224] Some theorists think that without this stabilization against the torques applied by
the Sun and planets to Earth's equatorial bulge, the rotational axis might be chaotically unstable, exhibiting
chaotic changes over millions of years, as appears to be the case for Mars. [225]
Viewed from Earth, the Moon is just far enough away to have almost the same apparent-sized disk as the Sun.
The angular size (or solid angle) of these two bodies match because, although the Sun's diameter is about 400
times as large as the Moon's, it is also 400 times more distant. [179] This allows total and annular solar eclipses to
occur on Earth.
Details of the Earth–Moon system, showing the radius of each object and the Earth–Moon barycenter. The Moon's axis is located
by Cassini's third law.
File:Earth-Moon.PNG: Earth-image from NASA; arrangement by brews_ohare derivative
work Cmglee - Earth-Moon.PNG
Details of the Earth–Moon system. Besides the radius of each object, the radius to the Earth–
Moon barycenter is shown. Photos and data from NASA. The Moon's axis is located by Cassini's third
law.
The most widely accepted theory of the Moon's origin, the giant-impact hypothesis, states that it formed from
the collision of a Mars-size protoplanet called Theia with the early Earth. This hypothesis explains (among other
things) the Moon's relative lack of iron and volatile elements and the fact that its composition is nearly identical
to that of Earth's crust.[41]
Asteroids and artificial satellites
The tiny near-Earth asteroid 2006 RH120 makes close approaches to the Earth–Moon system roughly every
twenty years. During these approaches, it can orbit Earth for brief periods of time. [230]
As of April 2018, there are 1,886 operational, human-made satellites orbiting Earth.[5] There are also inoperative
satellites, including Vanguard 1, the oldest satellite currently in orbit, and over 16,000 pieces of tracked space
debris.[n 3] Earth's largest artificial satellite is the International Space Station.
Tracy Caldwell Dyson viewing Earth from the ISS Cupola, 2010
Earth has at least five co-orbital asteroids, including 3753 Cruithne and 2002 AA29.[226][227] A trojan
asteroid companion, 2010 TK7, is librating around the leading Lagrange triangular point, L4, in the Earth's
orbit around the Sun.[228][229]
Cultural and historical viewpoint
Main article: Earth in culture
Human cultures have developed many views of the planet. [232] Earth is sometimes personified as a deity. In
many cultures it is a mother goddess that is also the primary fertility deity,[233] and by the mid-20th century,
the Gaia Principle compared Earth's environments and life as a single self-regulating organism leading to broad
stabilization of the conditions of habitability.[234][235][236] Creation myths in many religions involve the creation of
Earth by a supernatural deity or deities
Earthrise, taken in 1968 by William Anders, an astronaut on board Apollo 8
The standard astronomical symbol of Earth consists of a cross circumscribed by a circle, ,
[231]
representing the four corners of the world.
.[233]
Scientific investigation has resulted in several culturally transformative shifts in people's view of the planet.
Initial belief in a flat Earth was gradually displaced in the Greek colonies of southern Italy during the late 6th
century BC by the idea of spherical Earth,[237][238][239] which was attributed to both the
philosophers Pythagoras and Parmenides.[238][239] By the end of the 5th century BC, the sphericity of Earth was
universally accepted among Greek intellectuals.[240] Earth was generally believed to be the center of the
universe until the 16th century, when scientists first conclusively demonstrated that it was a moving object,
comparable to the other planets in the Solar System. [241] Due to the efforts of influential Christian scholars and
clerics such as James Ussher, who sought to determine the age of Earth through analysis of genealogies in
Scripture, Westerners before the 19th century generally believed Earth to be a few thousand years old at most.
It was only during the 19th century that geologists realized Earth's age was at least many millions of years.[242]
Lord Kelvin used thermodynamics to estimate the age of Earth to be between 20 million and 400 million years
in 1864, sparking a vigorous debate on the subject; it was only when radioactivity and radioactive dating were
discovered in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that a reliable mechanism for determining Earth's age was
established, proving the planet to be billions of years old. [243][244] The perception of Earth shifted again in the 20th
century when humans first viewed it from orbit, and especially with photographs of Earth returned by the Apollo
program.[245][246][247]
Life on Earth
0.2 Mya
Humans
0.2 Mya Humans
Christiaan Briggs —Christiaan 21:23, 2 Feb 2005 (UTC) - Own work
Iraqi militiaman at Sabaa Nissan ('the 7th of April') water treatment plant in Baghdad. I managed to snap a
couple of photos of this lovely old gentleman while I was touring Sabaa Nissan as part of the Human
Shield Action to Iraq. The photo is amazingly detailed; you can see every separate hair on his face and
my reflection in his bright eyes. I didn't get his name unfortunately because I couldn't speak enough
Arabic and he had a quiet demeanor. I often wonder if he's still alive.
180 Mya
Flowers
180 Mya Flowers
MathKnight and Zachi Evenor אביר המתמטיקה וצחי אבנור - Own work
Oxalis pes-caprae חמציץ נטוי
200 Mya
Mammals
200 Mya Mammals
JJ Harrison (jjharrison89@facebook.com) - Own work
English: European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in Austin's Ferry, Tasmania, Australia - Mirror-image
view
240 Mya
Dinosaurs
240 Mya Dinosaurs
DiBgd
Alamosaurus, autor - Bogdanov,2006
3500 Mya
Oxygen
3500 Mya Oxygen
Tiago Fioreze - Own work
Cumulus congestus clouds over the Atlantic Ocean, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
4000 Mya
Microbes
4000 Mya Microbes
NASA - en:Image:Halobacteria.jpg(Taken from [1])
Cluster of cells of Halobacterium sp. strain NRC-1
Permission details
Use of NASA logos, insignia and emblems is restricted per U.S. law 14 CFR 1221. The NASA website hosts a
large number of images from the Soviet/Russian space agency, and other non-American space agencies.
These are not
4410 Mya
Water
4410 Mya Water
José Manuel Suárez
A water drop.Splash!
Permission details
When this file was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, it was available from Flickr under the stated license. The
Flickr user has since stopped distributing the file under this license. As Creative Commons licenses cannot be
revoked in this manner, the file is still free to use under the terms of the license specified. See the Cr
4540 Mya
Earth
"The Blue Marble" photograph of Earth, taken by the Apollo 17 mission. The Arabian peninsula,
Africa and Madagascar lie in the upper half of the disc, whereas Antarctica is at the bottom.
NASA/Apollo 17 crew; taken by either Harrison Schmitt or Ron
Evans - https://web.archive.org/web/20160112123725/http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/ABSTRACTS/GPN-2000-001138.html
(image link); see also https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_329.html
"The Blue Marble" is a famous photograph of the Earth taken on December 7, 1972, by the crew of
the Apollo 17 spacecraft en route to the Moon at a distance of about 29,000 kilometres (18,000 mi). It
shows Africa, Antarctica, and the Arabian Peninsula.
Location of Earth
Earth
"The Blue Marble" photograph of Earth, taken by the Apollo 17 mission. The Arabian peninsula,
Africa and Madagascar lie in the upper half of the disc, whereas Antarctica is at the bottom.
NASA/Apollo 17 crew; taken by either Harrison Schmitt or Ron
Evans - https://web.archive.org/web/20160112123725/http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/ABSTRACTS/GPN-2000-001138.html
(image link); see also https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_329.html
"The Blue Marble" is a famous photograph of the Earth taken on December 7, 1972, by the crew of
the Apollo 17 spacecraft en route to the Moon at a distance of about 29,000 kilometres (18,000 mi). It
shows Africa, Antarctica, and the Arabian Peninsula.
Solar System
Solar System
NASA - http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?Category=Planets&IM_ID=10164
Montagem dos corpos do Sistema Solar, seus tamanhos e distâncias relativas
Gould Belt
NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team - WISE
A rich collection of colourful astronomical objects is revealed in this picturesque image of the Rho
Ophiuchi cloud complex from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Explorer, or WISE. The Rho Ophiuchi cloud
(pronounced ‘oh-fee-yoo-ki’ and named after a bright star in the region) is found rising above the plane of
the Milky Way in the night sky, bordering the constellations Ophiuchus and Scorpius. It’s one of the
nearest star-forming regions to Earth, allowing us to resolve much more detail than in more distant
similar regions, like the Orion nebula. The amazing variety of different colours seen in this image
represents different wavelengths of infrared light. The bright white nebula in the centre of the image
is glowing due to heating from nearby stars, resulting in what is called an emission nebula. The same is
true for most of the multi-hued gas prevalent throughout the entire image, including the bluish bow-
shaped feature near the bottom right. The bright red area in the bottom right is light from the star in the
centre – Sigma Scorpii – that is reflected off of the dust surrounding it, creating what is called a reflection
nebula. And the much darker areas scattered throughout the image are pockets of cool dense gas that
block out the background light, resulting in absorption (or ‘dark’) nebulae. WISE’s longer wavelength
detectors can typically see through dark nebulae, but these are exceptionally opaque. The
bright pink objects just left of centre are young stellar objects (YSOs). These baby stars are just now
forming; many of them are still enveloped in their own tiny compact nebulae. In visible light, these YSOs
are completely hidden in the dark nebula that surrounds them, which is sometimes referred to as their
baby blanket. We can also see some of the oldest stars in our Milky Way Galaxy in this image, found in
two separate (and much more distant) globular clusters. The first cluster, M80, is on the far right edge of
the image towards the top. The second, NGC 6144, is found close to the bottom edge near the centre.
They both appear as small densely compacted groups of blue stars. Globular clusters such as these
typically harbour some of the oldest stars known, some as old as 13 billion years, born soon after
the Universe formed. There are two other items of interest in this image as well. At the 3 o’clock
position, relative to the bright central region, and about two-thirds of the way from the centre to the edge,
there is a small faint red dot. That dot is an entire galaxy far, far away known as PGC 090239. And, at the
bottom left of the image, there are two lines emerging from the edge. These were not created by
foreground satellites; they are diffraction spikes (optical artefacts from the space telescope) from the
bright star Antares that is just out of the field of view.
Orion Arm
Orion Arm
File:Artist’s impression of the Milky Way.jpg: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESO/R. Hurt derivative work: Cmglee - Artist’s
impression of the Milky Way.jpg
Artist's conception of the Milky Way galaxy as seen from far Galactic North (in Coma Berenices) by
NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt [1] annotated with arms (colour-coded according to Milky Way article) as well
as distances from the Solar System and galactic longitude with corresponding constellation.
Milky Way
Local Group
Local Group
Antonio Ciccolella - Own work
Local Group and nearest galaxies. The photos of galaxies are not to scale.
Virgo SCl
Virgo SCl
NASA - English wikipedia (from NASA)
Local supercluster
Laniakea SCl
Laniakea SCl
JA Galán Baho (original design by Andrew Z. Colvin) - Own work
Laniakea Supercluster
Our Universe
Our Universe
Andrew Z. Colvin - Own work
"A simulated view of the entire observable universe", approximately 93 billion light years (or 28.5 billion
parsecs) in diameter. The scale is such that the fine grains represent collections of large numbers of
superclusters. The Virgo Supercluster—home of Milky Way—is marked at the center, but is too small to
be seen in the image. Uploader did not explain what the "simulation" is based on? Was any observational
data taken into account, or is this a purely fictional simulation of a distribution loosely similar to that found
in observation?
EXPERIMENT ON JUPITER PLANET, ARINY AMOS (ASTRONOMER)
PROCEDURE
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION PERMIT.
The International Astronomical Union (IAU; French: Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is an
international association of professional astronomers, at the PhD level and beyond, active in
professional research and education in astronomy.[2] Among other activities, it acts as the
internationally recognized authority for assigning designations and names to celestial
bodies (stars, planets, asteroids, etc.) and any surface features on them.[3]
The IAU is a member of the International Council for Science (ICSU). Its main objective is to promote and
safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects through international cooperation. The IAU
maintains friendly relations with organizations that include amateur astronomers in their membership.
The IAU has its head office on the second floor of the Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris in the 14th
arrondissement of Paris.[4] Working groups include the Working Group for Planetary System
Nomenclature (WGPSN), which maintains the astronomical naming conventions and planetary
nomenclature for planetary bodies, and the Working Group on Star Names (WGSN), which catalogs and
standardizes proper names for stars. The IAU is also responsible for the system of astronomical
telegrams which are produced and distributed on its behalf by the Central Bureau for Astronomical
Telegrams. The Minor Planet Centeralso operates under the IAU, and is a "clearinghouse" for all non-
planetary or non-moon bodies in the Solar System.[5]The Working Group for Meteor Shower
Nomenclature and the Meteor Data Center coordinate the nomenclature of meteor showers.
International Astronomical Union (IAU)
Union astronomique internationale (UAI)
National members from 79 countries
Formation 28 July 1919; 99 years ago
Headquarters Paris, France
Membership 79 national members
12,664 individual members[1]
President Ewine van Dishoeck
General Secretary Maria Teresa Lago
Website IAU.org
Composition
The IAU includes a total of 12,664 individual members who are professional astronomers from 96
countries worldwide.[10] 83% of all individual members are male, while 17% are female, among them
the union's former president, Mexican astronomer Silvia Torres-Peimbert.
Membership also includes 79 national members, professional astronomical communities representing
their country's affiliation with the IAU. National members include the Australian Academy of Science,
the Chinese Astronomical Society, the French Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Science
Academy, the National Academies (United States), the National Research Foundation of South Africa,
the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (Argentina), KACST (Saudi Arabia), the Council of
German Observatories, the Royal Astronomical Society (United Kingdom), the Royal Astronomical
Society of New Zealand, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and
the Science Council of Japan, among many others.[11]
The sovereign body of the IAU is its General Assembly, which comprises all members. The Assembly
determines IAU policy, approves the Statutes and By-Laws of the Union (and amendments proposed
thereto) and elects various committees.
The right to vote on matters brought before the Assembly varies according to the type of business under
discussion. The Statutes consider such business to be divided into two categories:
issues of a "primarily scientific nature" (as determined by the Executive Committee), upon which voting
is restricted to individual members, and
all other matters (such as Statute revision and procedural questions), upon which voting is restricted to
the representatives of national members.
On budget matters (which fall into the second category), votes are weighted according to the relative
subscription levels of the national members. A second category vote requires a turnout of at least two-
thirds of national members in order to be valid. An absolute majority is sufficient for approval in any
vote, except for Statute revision which requires a two-thirds majority. An equality of votes is resolved by
the vote of the President of the Union.
The IAU includes member organizations from 79 countries (designated as National Members)[11]
General Assemblies
Since 1922, the IAU General Assembly meets every three years, with the exception of the period
between 1938 and 1948, due to World War II. After a Polish request in 1967, and by a controversial
decision of the then President of the IAU, an Extraordinary IAU General Assembly was held in September
1973 in Warsaw, Poland,[12] to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the birth of Nicolaus
Copernicus, soon after the regular 1973 GA had been held in Sydney, Australia.
Meeting Year Venue
Ist IAU General Assembly (1st) 1922 Rome, Italy
IInd IAU General Assembly (2nd) 1925 Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
IIIrd IAU General Assembly (3rd) 1928 Leiden, Netherlands
IVth IAU General Assembly (4th) 1932 Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Vth IAU General Assembly (5th) 1935 Paris, France
VIth IAU General Assembly (6th) 1938 Stockholm, Sweden
VIIth IAU General Assembly (7th) 1948 Zürich, Switzerland
VIIIth IAU General Assembly (8th) 1952 Rome, Italy
IXth IAU General Assembly (9th) 1955 Dublin, Ireland
Xth IAU General Assembly (10th) 1958 Moscow, Soviet Union
XIth IAU General Assembly (11th) 1961 Berkeley, California, United States
XIIth IAU General Assembly (12th) 1964 Hamburg, West Germany
XIIIth IAU General Assembly (13th) 1967 Prague, Czechoslovakia
XIVth IAU General Assembly (14th) 1970 Brighton, England, United Kingdom
XVth IAU General Assembly (15th) 1973 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
XVIth IAU General Assembly (16th) 1976 Grenoble, France
XVIIth IAU General Assembly (17th) 1979 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
XVIIIth IAU General Assembly (18th) 1982 Patras, Greece
XIXth IAU General Assembly (19th) 1985 New Delhi, India
XXth IAU General Assembly (20th) 1988 Baltimore, Maryland, United States
XXIst IAU General Assembly (21st) 1991 Buenos Aires, Argentina
XXIInd IAU General Assembly (22nd) 1994 The Hague, Netherlands
XXIIIrd IAU General Assembly (23rd) 1997 Kyoto, Kansai, Japan
XXIVth IAU General Assembly (24th) 2000 Manchester, England, United Kingdom
XXVth IAU General Assembly (25th) 2003 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
XXVIth IAU General Assembly (26th) 2006 Prague, Czech Republic
XXVIIth IAU General Assembly (27th) 2009 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
XXVIIIth IAU General Assembly
2012 Beijing, China
(28th)
XXIXth IAU General Assembly (29th) 2015 Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
XXXth IAU General Assembly (30th) 2018 Vienna, Austria
XXXIst IAU General Assembly (31st) 2021 Busan, South Korea
List of the Presidents of the IAU
Sources.[13][14]
(1919–1922) Benjamin (1958–1961) Jan Oort (1991–1994) Aleksandr
Baillaud Boyarchuk
(1961–1964) Victor
(1922–1925) William Ambartsumian (1994–1997) Lodewijk
Wallace Campbell Woltjer
(1964–1967) Pol Swings
(1925–1928) Willem de (1997–2000) Robert
(1967–1970) Otto Kraft
Sitter
Heckmann
(1928–1932) Frank Watson (2000–2003) Franco
Dyson (1970–1973) Bengt Pacini
Strömgren
(1932–1935) Frank (2003–2006) Ronald
Schlesinger (1973–1976) Leo Goldberg Ekers
(1935–1938) Ernest (1976–1979) Adriaan (2006–2009) Catherine
Esclangon Blaauw Cesarsky
(1938–1944) Arthur (1979–1982) Vainu Bappu (2009–2012) Robert
Eddington Williams
(1982–1985) Robert
(1944–1948) Harold Hanbury Brown (2012–2015) Norio Kaifu
Spencer Jones
(1985–1988) Jorge Sahade (2015–2018) Silvia
(1948–1952) Bertil Torres-Peimbert
(1988–1991) Yoshihide
Lindblad
Kozai (since 2018) Ewine van
(1952–1955) Otto Struve Dishoeck
(1955–1958) André-Louis
Danjon
Commission 46: Education in astronomy
Commission 46 is a Committee of the Executive Committee of the IAU, playing a special role in the
discussion of astronomy development with governments and scientific academies. The IAU is affiliated
with the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), a non-governmental organization representing
a global membership that includes both national scientific bodies and international scientific unions.
They often encourage countries to become members of the IAU. The Commission further seeks to
development, information or improvement of astronomical education. Part of Commission 46, is
Teaching Astronomy for Development (TAD) program in countries where there is currently very little
astronomical education. Another program is named the Galileo Teacher Training Program (GTTP), being
a project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, among which Hands-On Universe that will
concentrate more resources on education activities for children and schools designed to advance
sustainable global development. GTTP is also concerned with the effective use and transfer of
astronomy education tools and resources into classroom science curricula. A strategic plan for the
period 2010-2020 has been published.[15]
Publications
Cover picture of CAP Journal issue 19, March 2016.[16]
In 2004 the IAU contracted with the Cambridge University Press to publish the Proceedings of the
International Astronomical Union.[17]
In 2007, the Communicating Astronomy with the Public Journal Working Group prepared a study
assessing the feasibility of the Communicating Astronomy with the Public Journal (CAP Journal).
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, /ˈnæsə/) is an independent agency of
the United States Federal Government responsible for the civilian space program, as well
as aeronautics and aerospace research.[note 1]
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The
new agency was to have a distinctly civilian orientation, encouraging peaceful applications in space
science.[7][8][9] Since its establishment, most US space exploration efforts have been led by NASA,
including the Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and later the Space Shuttle. NASA
is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-
Purpose Crew Vehicle, the Space Launch System and Commercial Crewvehicles. The agency is also
responsible for the Launch Services Program which provides oversight of launch operations and
countdown management for unmanned NASA launches.
NASA science is focused on better understanding Earth through the Earth Observing System;
[10] advancing heliophysicsthrough the efforts of the Science Mission Directorate's Heliophysics
Research Program;[11] exploring bodies throughout the Solar System with advanced robotic
spacecraft missions such as New Horizons;[12] and researching astrophysicstopics, such as the Big Bang,
through the Great Observatories and associated programs
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Seal
Emblem
Flag
Agency overview
Formed July 29, 1958; 60 years ago
Preceding agency NACA (1915–1958)[1]
Jurisdiction US Federal Government
Headquarters Two Independence Square, Washington,
D.C., US
Motto For the Benefit of All[2]
Employees 17,336 (2018)[3]
Annual budget US$20.7 billion (2018)[4]
Agency executives Jim Bridenstine, Administrator
James Morhard, Deputy Administrator
Jeff DeWit, Chief Financial Officer
Website www.nasa.gov
Part of a series of articles on the
Space policy of the United States
NASA
Space policy of the United States
Apollo program
US manned space programs
US space probes
Expendable launch vehicles
Notable figures
Astronauts
Creation
Creation of NASA
On July 29, 1958, Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, establishing NASA. When it
began operations on October 1, 1958, NASA absorbed the 43-year-old NACA intact; its 8,000 employees,
an annual budget of US$100 million, three major research laboratories (Langley Aeronautical
Laboratory, Ames Aeronautical Laboratory, and Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory) and two small test
facilities.[17] A NASA seal was approved by President Eisenhower in 1959.[18]Elements of the Army
Ballistic Missile Agency and the United States Naval Research Laboratory were incorporated into NASA.
A significant contributor to NASA's entry into the Space Race with the Soviet Union was the technology
from the German rocket program led by Wernher von Braun, who was now working for the Army
Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA), which in turn incorporated the technology of American scientist Robert
Goddard's earlier works.[19] Earlier research efforts within the US Air Force[17] and many of ARPA's
early space programs were also transferred to NASA.[20] In December 1958, NASA gained control of
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a contractor facility operated by the California Institute of Technology.
[17]
William H. Pickering, (center) JPL Director, President John F. Kennedy, (right). NASA Administrator James
E. Webb (background) discussing the Mariner program, with a model presented.
From 1946, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics(NACA) had been experimenting with
rocket planes such as the supersonic Bell X-1.[14] In the early 1950s, there was challenge to launch an
artificial satellite for the International Geophysical Year (1957–58). An effort for this was the
American Project Vanguard. After the Soviet launch of the world's first artificial satellite (Sputnik 1) on
October 4, 1957, the attention of the United States turned toward its own fledgling space efforts. The US
Congress, alarmed by the perceived threat to national security and technological leadership (known as
the "Sputnik crisis"), urged immediate and swift action; President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his advisers
counseled more deliberate measures. On January 12, 1958, NACA organized a "Special Committee on
Space Technology", headed by Guyford Stever.[9] On January 14, 1958, NACA Director Hugh
Dryden published "A National Research Program for Space Technology" stating:[15]
A short documentary about the beginings of Nasa
It is of great urgency and importance to our country both from consideration of our prestige as a nation
as well as military necessity that this challenge [Sputnik] be met by an energetic program of research
and development for the conquest of space ... It is accordingly proposed that the scientific research be
the responsibility of a national civilian agency ... NACA is capable, by rapid extension and expansion of its
effort, of providing leadership in space technology.[15]
While this new federal agency would conduct all non-military space activity, the Advanced Research
Projects Agency (ARPA) was created in February 1958 to develop space technology for military
application.[16]
Staff and leadership
Main article: List of Administrators and Deputy Administrators of NASA
Jim Bridenstine official NASA portrait, April 26, 2018 at NASA Headquarters, Washington D.C.
The agency's leader, NASA's administrator, is nominated by the President of the United States subject to
approval of the US Senate, and reports to him or her and serves as senior space science advisor. Though
space exploration is ostensibly non-partisan, the appointee usually is associated with the President's
political party (Democratic or Republican), and a new administrator is usually chosen when the
Presidency changes parties. The only exceptions to this have been:
Democrat Thomas O. Paine, acting administrator under Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson, stayed on while
Republican Richard Nixontried but failed to get one of his own choices to accept the job. Paine was
confirmed by the Senate in March 1969 and served through September 1970.[21]
Republican James C. Fletcher, appointed by Nixon and confirmed in April 1971, stayed through May
1977 into the term of Democrat Jimmy Carter.
Daniel Goldin was appointed by Republican George H. W. Bush and stayed through the entire
administration of Democrat Bill Clinton.
Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr., associate administrator under Democrat Barack Obama, was kept on as acting
administrator by Republican Donald Trump until Trump's own choice Jim Bridenstine, was confirmed in
April 2018.[22] Though the agency is independent, the survival or discontinuation of projects can
depend directly on the will of the President.[23]
The first administrator was Dr. T. Keith Glennan appointed by Republican President Dwight D.
Eisenhower. During his term he brought together the disparate projects in American space development
research.[24]
The second administrator, James E. Webb (1961–1968), appointed by President John F. Kennedy, was a
Democrat who first publicly served under President Harry S. Truman. In order to implement the Apollo
program to achieve Kennedy's Moon landing goal by the end of the 1960s, Webb directed major
management restructuring and facility expansion, establishing the Houston Manned Spacecraft
(Johnson) Center and the Florida Launch Operations (Kennedy) Center. Capitalizing on Kennedy's legacy,
President Lyndon Johnson kept continuity with the Apollo program by keeping Webb on when he
succeeded Kennedy in November 1963. But Webb resigned in October 1968 before Apollo achieved its
goal, and Republican President Richard M. Nixon replaced Webb with Republican Thomas O. Paine.
Organizational structure of NASA (2015)
James Fletcher was responsible for early planning of the Space Shuttle program during his first term as
administrator under President Nixon. He was appointed for a second term as administrator from May
1986 through April 1989 by President Ronald Reagan to help the agency recover from the Space
Shuttle Challenger disaster.
Former astronaut Charles Bolden served as NASA's twelfth administrator from July 2009 to January 20,
2017.[25] Bolden is one of three former astronauts who became NASA administrators, along
with Richard H. Truly (served 1989–1992) and Frederick D. Gregory (acting, 2005).
The agency's administration is located at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC and provides overall
guidance and direction.[26] Except under exceptional circumstances, NASA civil service employees are
required to be citizens of the United States.[27]
Space flight programs
Main article: List of NASA missions
At launch control for the May 28, 1964, Saturn I SA-6 launch. Wernher von Braun is at center.
A documentary about spaceflight in NASA
NASA has conducted many manned and unmanned spaceflight programs throughout its history.
Unmanned programs launched the first American artificial satellites into Earth orbit for scientific
and communications purposes, and sent scientific probes to explore the planets of the solar system,
starting with Venus and Mars, and including "grand tours" of the outer planets. Manned programs sent
the first Americans into low Earth orbit (LEO), won the Space Race with the Soviet Union by landing
twelve men on the Moon from 1969 to 1972 in the Apollo program, developed a semi-reusable
LEO Space Shuttle, and developed LEO space station capability by itself and with the cooperation of
several other nations including post-Soviet Russia. Some missions include both manned and unmanned
aspects, such as the Galileo probe, which was deployed by astronauts in Earth orbit before being sent
unmanned to Jupiter.
Manned programs
Some of NASA's first African-American astronauts including Dr. Ronald McNair, Guy Bluford and Fred
Gregory from the class of 1978 selection of astronauts.
The experimental rocket-powered aircraft programs started by NACA were extended by NASA as
support for manned spaceflight. This was followed by a one-man space capsule program, and in turn by
a two-man capsule program. Reacting to loss of national prestige and security fears caused by early
leads in space exploration by the Soviet Union, in 1961 President John F. Kennedy proposed the
ambitious goal "of landing a man on the Moon by the end of [the 1960s], and returning him safely to the
Earth." This goal was met in 1969 by the Apollo program, and NASA planned even more ambitious
activities leading to a manned mission to Mars. However, reduction of the perceived threat and
changing political priorities almost immediately caused the termination of most of these plans. NASA
turned its attention to an Apollo-derived temporary space laboratory, and a semi-reusable Earth orbital
shuttle. In the 1990s, funding was approved for NASA to develop a permanent Earth orbital space
station in cooperation with the international community, which now included the former rival, post-
Soviet Russia. To date, NASA has launched a total of 166 manned space missions on rockets, and
thirteen X-15 rocket flights above the USAF definition of spaceflight altitude, 260,000 feet (80 km).[28]
X-15 rocket plane (1959–1968)
Main article: North American X-15
X-15 in powered flight
The X-15 was an NACA experimental rocket-powered hypersonic research aircraft, developed in
conjunction with the US Air Force and Navy. The design featured a slender fuselage with fairings along
the side containing fuel and early computerized control systems.[29] Requests for proposal were issued
on December 30, 1954, for the airframe, and February 4, 1955, for the rocket engine. The airframe
contract was awarded to North American Aviation in November 1955, and the XLR30 engine contract
was awarded to Reaction Motors in 1956, and three planes were built. The X-15 was drop-
launched from the wing of one of two NASA Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses, NB52A tail number 52-003,
and NB52B, tail number 52-008 (known as the Balls 8). Release took place at an altitude of about 45,000
feet (14 km) and a speed of about 500 miles per hour (805 km/h).
Twelve pilots were selected for the program from the Air Force, Navy, and NACA (later NASA). A total of
199 flights were made between 1959 and 1968, resulting in the official world record for the highest
speed ever reached by a manned powered aircraft (current as of 2014), and a maximum speed of Mach
6.72, 4,519 miles per hour (7,273 km/h).[30] The altitude record for X-15 was 354,200 feet (107.96 km).
[31] Eight of the pilots were awarded Air Force astronaut wings for flying above 260,000 feet (80 km),
and two flights by Joseph A. Walker exceeded 100 kilometers (330,000 ft), qualifying as spaceflight
according to the International Aeronautical Federation. The X-15 program employed mechanical
techniques used in the later manned spaceflight programs, including reaction control system jets for
controlling the orientation of a spacecraft, space suits, and horizon definition for navigation.
[31] The reentry and landing data collected were valuable to NASA for designing the Space Shuttle.[29]
Project Mercury (1958–1963)
Main article: Project Mercury
John Glenn on Friendship 7: first US orbital flight, 1962
Shortly after the Space Race began, an early objective was to get a person into Earth orbit as soon as
possible, therefore the simplest spacecraft that could be launched by existing rockets was favored. The
US Air Force's Man in Space Soonestprogram considered many manned spacecraft designs, ranging from
rocket planes like the X-15, to small ballistic space capsules.[32] By 1958, the space plane concepts were
eliminated in favor of the ballistic capsule.[33]
When NASA was created that same year, the Air Force program was transferred to it and
renamed Project Mercury. The first seven astronauts were selected among candidates from the Navy,
Air Force and Marine test pilot programs. On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first
American in space aboard Freedom 7, launched by a Redstone booster on a 15-
minute ballistic (suborbital) flight.[34] John Glenn became the first American to be launched into orbit,
by an Atlas launch vehicleon February 20, 1962, aboard Friendship 7.[35] Glenn completed three orbits,
after which three more orbital flights were made, culminating in L. Gordon Cooper's 22-orbit flight Faith
7, May 15–16, 1963.[36]
The Soviet Union (USSR) competed with its own single-pilot spacecraft, Vostok. They sent the first man
in space, by launching cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into a single Earth orbit aboard Vostok 1 in April 1961,
one month before Shepard's flight.[37] In August 1962, they achieved an almost four-day record flight
with Andriyan Nikolayev aboard Vostok 3, and also conducted a concurrent Vostok 4 mission
carrying Pavel Popovich.
Project Gemini (1961–1966)
Main article: Project Gemini
Ed White on Gemini 4: first US spacewalk, 1965
Based on studies to grow the Mercury spacecraft capabilities to long-duration flights, developing space
rendezvous techniques, and precision Earth landing, Project Gemini was started as a two-man program
in 1962 to overcome the Soviets' lead and to support the Apollo manned lunar landing program,
adding extravehicular activity (EVA) and rendezvous and docking to its objectives. The first manned
Gemini flight, Gemini 3, was flown by Gus Grissom and John Young on March 23, 1965.[38] Nine
missions followed in 1965 and 1966, demonstrating an endurance mission of nearly fourteen days,
rendezvous, docking, and practical EVA, and gathering medical data on the effects of weightlessness on
humans.[39][40]
Under the direction of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, the USSR competed with Gemini by converting
their Vostok spacecraft into a two- or three-man Voskhod. They succeeded in launching two manned
flights before Gemini's first flight, achieving a three-cosmonaut flight in 1964 and the first EVA in 1965.
After this, the program was canceled, and Gemini caught up while spacecraft designer Sergei
Korolev developed the Soyuz spacecraft, their answer to Apollo.
Apollo program (1961–1972)
Main article: Apollo program
Apollo 11: Buzz Aldrin on the Moon, 1969.
The U.S public's perception of the Soviet lead in the space race (by putting the first man into space)
motivated President John F. Kennedy to ask the Congress on May 25, 1961, to commit the federal
government to a program to land a man on the Moon by the end of the 1960s, which effectively
launched the Apollo program.[41]
Apollo was one of the most expensive American scientific programs ever. It cost more than $20 billion in
1960s dollars[42] or an estimated $218 billion in present-day US dollars.[43] (In comparison,
the Manhattan Project cost roughly $27.8 billion, accounting for inflation.)[43][44] It used the Saturn
rockets as launch vehicles, which were far bigger than the rockets built for previous projects.[45] The
spacecraft was also bigger; it had two main parts, the combined command and service module(CSM)
and the Apollo Lunar Module (LM). The LM was to be left on the Moon and only the command module
(CM) containing the three astronauts would eventually return to Earth.[note 2]
The second manned mission, Apollo 8, brought astronauts for the first time in a flight around the Moon
in December 1968.[46]Shortly before, the Soviets had sent an unmanned spacecraft around the Moon.
[47] On the next two missions docking maneuvers that were needed for the Moon landing were
practiced[48][49] and then finally the Moon landing was made on the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969.[50]
Apollo 17: LRV-003, 1972.
The first person to stand on the Moon was Neil Armstrong, who was followed 19 minutes later by Buzz
Aldrin, while Michael Collins orbited above. Five subsequent Apollo missions also landed astronauts on
the Moon, the last in December 1972. Throughout these six Apollo spaceflights, twelve men walked on
the Moon. These missions returned a wealth of scientific data and 381.7 kilograms (842 lb) of lunar
samples. Topics covered by experiments performed included soil
mechanics, meteoroids, seismology, heat flow, lunar ranging, magnetic fields, and solar wind.[51] The
Moon landing marked the end of the space race; and as a gesture, Armstrong mentioned mankind when
he stepped down on the Moon.[52]
Apollo set major milestones in human spaceflight. It stands alone in sending manned missions
beyond low Earth orbit, and landing humans on another celestial body.[53] Apollo 8 was the first
manned spacecraft to orbit another celestial body, while Apollo 17 marked the last moonwalk and the
last manned mission beyond low Earth orbit to date. The program spurred advances in many areas of
technology peripheral to rocketry and manned spaceflight, including avionics, telecommunications, and
computers. Apollo sparked interest in many fields of engineering and left many physical facilities and
machines developed for the program as landmarks. Many objects and artifacts from the program are on
display at various locations throughout the world, notably at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museums.
Skylab (1965–1979)
Main article: Skylab
Skylab in 1974, seen from the departing Skylab 4 CSM.
Skylab was the United States' first and only independently built space station.[54] Conceived in 1965 as
a workshop to be constructed in space from a spent Saturn IB upper stage, the 169,950 lb (77,088 kg)
station was constructed on Earth and launched on May 14, 1973, atop the first two stages of a Saturn V,
into a 235-nautical-mile (435 km) orbit inclined at 50° to the equator. Damaged during launch by the loss
of its thermal protection and one electricity-generating solar panel, it was repaired to functionality by its
first crew. It was occupied for a total of 171 days by 3 successive crews in 1973 and 1974.[54] It included
a laboratory for studying the effects of microgravity, and a solar observatory.[54] NASA planned to have
a Space Shuttle dock with it, and elevate Skylab to a higher safe altitude, but the Shuttle was not ready
for flight before Skylab's re-entry on July 11, 1979.[55]
To save cost, NASA used one of the Saturn V rockets originally earmarked for a canceled Apollo mission
to launch the Skylab. Apollo spacecraft were used for transporting astronauts to and from the station.
Three three-man crews stayed aboard the station for periods of 28, 59, and 84 days. Skylab's habitable
volume was 11,290 cubic feet (320 m3), which was 30.7 times bigger than that of the Apollo Command
Module.[55]
Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (1972–1975)
Main article: Apollo–Soyuz Test Project
Soviet and American crews with spacecraft model, 1975.
On May 24, 1972, US President Richard M. Nixon and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin signed an
agreement calling for a joint manned space mission, and declaring intent for all future international
manned spacecraft to be capable of docking with each other.[56] This authorized the Apollo-Soyuz Test
Project (ASTP), involving the rendezvous and docking in Earth orbit of a surplus Apollo
Command/Service Module with a Soyuz spacecraft. The mission took place in July 1975. This was the last
US manned space flight until the first orbital flight of the Space Shuttle in April 1981.[57]
The mission included both joint and separate scientific experiments, and provided useful engineering
experience for future joint US–Russian space flights, such as the Shuttle–Mir Program[58] and the
International Space Station.
Space Shuttle program (1972–2011)
Main article: Space Shuttle program
Launch of a Space Shuttle.
Mae Jemison working in Spacelab in 1992. Spacelab was a major NASA collaboration with Europe's
space agencies
The Space Shuttle became the major focus of NASA in the late 1970s and the 1980s. Planned as a
frequently launchable and mostly reusable vehicle, four Space Shuttle orbiters were built by 1985. The
first to launch, Columbia, did so on April 12, 1981,[59] the 20th anniversary of the first known human
space flight.[60]
Its major components were a spaceplane orbiter with an external fuel tank and two solid-fuel launch
rockets at its side. The external tank, which was bigger than the spacecraft itself, was the only major
component that was not reused. The shuttle could orbit in altitudes of 185–643 km (115–400 miles)
[61] and carry a maximum payload (to low orbit) of 24,400 kg (54,000 lb).[62]Missions could last from 5
to 17 days and crews could be from 2 to 8 astronauts.[61]
On 20 missions (1983–98) the Space Shuttle carried Spacelab, designed in cooperation with
the European Space Agency (ESA). Spacelab was not designed for independent orbital flight, but
remained in the Shuttle's cargo bay as the astronauts entered and left it through an airlock.[63] Another
famous series of missions were the launch and later successful repair of the Hubble Space Telescope in
1990 and 1993, respectively.[64]
In 1995, Russian-American interaction resumed with the Shuttle–Mir missions (1995–1998). Once more
an American vehicle docked with a Russian craft, this time a full-fledged space station. This cooperation
has continued with Russia and the United States as two of the biggest partners in the largest space
station built: the International Space Station (ISS). The strength of their cooperation on this project was
even more evident when NASA began relying on Russian launch vehicles to service the ISS during the
two-year grounding of the shuttle fleet following the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
The Shuttle fleet lost two orbiters and 14 astronauts in two disasters: Challenger in 1986,
and Columbia in 2003.[65] While the 1986 loss was mitigated by building the Space
Shuttle Endeavour from replacement parts, NASA did not build another orbiter to replace the second
loss.[65] NASA's Space Shuttle program had 135 missions when the program ended with the successful
landing of the Space Shuttle Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center on July 21, 2011. The program
spanned 30 years with over 300 astronauts sent into space.[66]
International Space Station (1993–present)
Main article: International Space Station
Animation of assembly of the ISS
The International Space Station (ISS) combines NASA's Space Station Freedom project with the
Soviet/Russian Mir-2 station, the European Columbus station, and the Japanese Kibō laboratory module.
[67] NASA originally planned in the 1980s to develop Freedom alone, but US budget constraints led to
the merger of these projects into a single multi-national program in 1993, managed by NASA,
the Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the European
Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).[68][69] The station consists of pressurized
modules, external trusses, solar arrays and other components, which have been launched by
Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets, and the US Space Shuttles.[67] It is currently being assembled in Low
Earth Orbit. The on-orbit assembly began in 1998, the completion of the US Orbital Segment occurred in
2011 and the completion of the Russian Orbital Segment is expected by 2016.[70][71][needs
update] The ownership and use of the space station is established in intergovernmental treaties and
agreements[72] which divide the station into two areas and allow Russia to retain full ownership of the
Russian Orbital Segment (with the exception of Zarya),[73][74] with the US Orbital Segment allocated
between the other international partners.[72]
The International Space Station as seen by the final STS mission
Long duration missions to the ISS are referred to as ISS Expeditions. Expedition crew members typically
spend approximately six months on the ISS.[75] The initial expedition crew size was three, temporarily
decreased to two following the Columbia disaster. Since May 2009, expedition crew size has been six
crew members.[76] Crew size is expected to be increased to seven, the number the ISS was designed
for, once the Commercial Crew Program becomes operational.[77] The ISS has been continuously
occupied for the past 18 years and 118 days, having exceeded the previous record held by Mir; and has
been visited by astronauts and cosmonauts from 15 different nations.[78][79]
The station can be seen from the Earth with the naked eye and, as of 2019, is the largest artificial
satellite in Earth orbit with a mass and volume greater than that of any previous space station.
[80] The Soyuz spacecraft delivers crew members, stays docked for their half-year-long missions and
then returns them home. Several uncrewed cargo spacecraft service the ISS, they are the
Russian Progress spacecraft which has done so since 2000, the European Automated Transfer
Vehicle (ATV) since 2008, the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) since 2009, the American Dragon
spacecraft since 2012, and the American Cygnus spacecraft since 2013. The Space Shuttle, before its
retirement, was also used for cargo transfer and would often switch out expedition crew members,
although it did not have the capability to remain docked for the duration of their stay. Until another US
manned spacecraft is ready, crew members will travel to and from the International Space Station
exclusively aboard the Soyuz.[81] The highest number of people occupying the ISS has been thirteen;
this occurred three times during the late Shuttle ISS assembly missions.[82]
The ISS program is expected to continue until at least 2020, and may be extended beyond 2028.[83]
Commercial programs (2006–present)
Main articles: Commercial Resupply Services and Commercial Crew Development
Dragon being berthed to the ISS in May 2012
Cygnus berthed to the ISS in September 2013
The development of the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) vehicles began in 2006 with the purpose of
creating American commercially operated uncrewed cargo vehicles to service the ISS.[84] The
development of these vehicles was under a fixed price milestone-based program, meaning that each
company that received a funded award had a list of milestones with a dollar value attached to them that
they didn't receive until after they had successfully completed the milestone.[85] Companies were also
required to raise an unspecified amount of private investment for their proposal.[86]
On December 23, 2008, NASA awarded Commercial Resupply Services contracts to SpaceX and Orbital
Sciences Corporation.[87] SpaceX uses its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.[88] Orbital Sciences
uses its Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft. The first Dragon resupply mission occurred in May 2012.
[89] The first Cygnus resupply mission occurred in September 2013.[90] The CRS program now provides
for all America's ISS cargo needs; with the exception of a few vehicle-specific payloads that are delivered
on the European ATV and the Japanese HTV.[91]
Dragon V2
Rendering of CST-100 in orbit
The Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program was started in 2010 with the purpose of creating
American commercially operated crewed spacecraft capable of delivering at least four crew members to
the ISS, staying docked for 180 days and then returning them back to Earth.[92] It is hoped that these
vehicles could also transport non-NASA customers to private space stations such those planned
by Bigelow Aerospace.[93] Like COTS, CCDev is also a fixed price milestone-based developmental
program that requires some private investment.[85]
In 2010, NASA announced the winners of the first phase of the program, a total of $50 million was
divided among five American companies to foster research and development into human spaceflight
concepts and technologies in the private sector. In 2011, the winners of the second phase of the
program were announced, $270 million was divided among four companies.[94] In 2012, the winners of
the third phase of the program were announced, NASA provided $1.1 billion divided among three
companies to further develop their crew transportation systems.[95] In 2014, the winners of the final
round were announced.[96] SpaceX's Dragon V2 (planned to be launched on a Falcon 9 v1.1) received a
contract valued up to $2.6 billion and Boeing's CST-100 (to be launched on an Atlas V) received a
contract valued up to $4.2 billion.[97] NASA expects these vehicles to begin transporting humans to the
ISS in 2019.[98]
Beyond Low Earth Orbit program (2010–2017)
For missions beyond low Earth orbit (BLEO), NASA has been directed to develop the Space Launch
System (SLS), a Saturn-V class rocket, and the two to six person, beyond low Earth orbit
spacecraft, Orion. In February 2010, President Barack Obama's administration proposed eliminating
public funds for the Constellation programand shifting greater responsibility of servicing the ISS to
private companies.[99] During a speech at the Kennedy Space Center on April 15, 2010, Obama
proposed a new heavy-lift vehicle (HLV) to replace the formerly planned Ares V.[100] In his speech,
Obama called for a manned mission to an asteroid as soon as 2025, and a manned mission to Mars orbit
by the mid-2030s.[100] The NASA Authorization Act of 2010 was passed by Congress and signed into law
on October 11, 2010.[101] The act officially canceled the Constellation program.[101]
The Authorization Act required a newly designed HLV be chosen within 90 days of its passing; the launch
vehicle was given the name "Space Launch System". The new law also required the construction of a
beyond low earth orbit spacecraft.[102] The Orion spacecraft, which was being developed as part of the
Constellation program, was chosen to fulfill this role.[103] The Space Launch System is planned to
launch both Orion and other necessary hardware for missions beyond low Earth orbit.[104] The SLS is to
be upgraded over time with more powerful versions. The initial capability of SLS is required to be able to
lift 70 mt into LEO. It is then planned to be upgraded to 105 mt and then eventually to 130 mt.[103]
[105] Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1), an unmanned test flight of Orion's crew module, was launched on
December 5, 2014, atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket.[105] Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) is the unmanned
initial launch of SLS that would also send Orion on a circumlunar trajectory, which is planned for 2019.
[105]
NASA Graphic for the Journey to Mars
NASA's next major space initiative is to be the construction of the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (LOP-
G, formerly known as the "Deep Space Gateway"). This initiative is to involve the construction of a new
"Space-Station" type of habitation, which will have many features in common with the
current International Space Station, except that it will be in orbit about the Moon, instead of the Earth.
[106] This space station will be designed primarily for non-continuous human habitation. The first
tentative steps of returning to manned lunar missions will be Exploration Mission-2 (EM-2), which is to
include the Orion crew module, propelled by the SLS, and is to launch in 2022. This mission is to be a 10-
to 14-day mission planned to briefly place a crew of four into Lunar orbit.[105] The construction of the
"Lunar Orbital Platform" is to begin with the following Exploration Mission-3 (EM-3), which is planned to
deliver a crew of four to Lunar orbit along with the first module(s) of the new space-station. This mission
will last for up to 26 days.
On June 5, 2016, NASA and DARPA announced plans to also build a series of new X-planes over the next
10 years.[107] One of the planes will be the Quiet Supersonic Technology project, burning low-
carbon biofuels and generating quiet sonic booms.[107]
NASA plans to build full scale deep space habitats such as the Lunar Orbital Platform and the Nautilus-
X as part of its Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) program.[108]
In 2017, NASA was directed by the congressional NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 to get
humans to Mars-orbit (or to the Martian surface) by 2033.[109][110]
Unmanned programs
Main article: Unmanned NASA missions
Pioneer 3 and 4 launched in 1958 and 1959, respectively
JWST main mirror assembled, November 2016
More than 1,000 unmanned missions have been designed to explore the Earth and the solar system.
[111] Besides exploration, communication satellites have also been launched by NASA.[112] The
missions have been launched directly from Earth or from orbiting space shuttles, which could either
deploy the satellite itself, or with a rocket stage to take it farther.
The first US unmanned satellite was Explorer 1, which started as an ABMA/JPL project during the early
part of the Space Race. It was launched in January 1958, two months after Sputnik. At the creation of
NASA, the Explorer project was transferred to the agency and still continues to this day. Its missions
have been focusing on the Earth and the Sun, measuring magnetic fields and the solar wind, among
other aspects.[113] A more recent Earth mission, not related to the Explorer program, was the Hubble
Space Telescope, which was brought into orbit in 1990.[114]
The inner Solar System has been made the goal of at least four unmanned programs. The first
was Mariner in the 1960s and 1970s, which made multiple visits to Venus and Mars and one to Mercury.
Probes launched under the Mariner program were also the first to make a planetary flyby (Mariner 2), to
take the first pictures from another planet (Mariner 4), the first planetary orbiter (Mariner 9), and the
first to make a gravity assist maneuver (Mariner 10). This is a technique where the satellite takes
advantage of the gravity and velocity of planets to reach its destination.[115]
The first successful landing on Mars was made by Viking 1 in 1976. Twenty years later a rover was
landed on Mars by Mars Pathfinder.[116]
Many of the unmanned missions were used to explore the outer reaches of space as seen in this video
Outside Mars, Jupiter was first visited by Pioneer 10 in 1973. More than 20 years later Galileo sent a
probe into the planet's atmosphere, and became the first spacecraft to orbit the planet.[117] Pioneer
11 became the first spacecraft to visit Saturn in 1979, with Voyager 2 making the first (and so far only)
visits to Uranus and Neptune in 1986 and 1989, respectively. The first spacecraft to leave the solar
system was Pioneer 10 in 1983. For a time it was the most distant spacecraft, but it has since been
surpassed by both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.[118]
Pioneers 10 and 11 and both Voyager probes carry messages from the Earth to extraterrestrial life.[119]
[120] Communication can be difficult with deep space travel. For instance, it took about three hours for
a radio signal to reach the New Horizonsspacecraft when it was more than halfway to Pluto.
[121] Contact with Pioneer 10 was lost in 2003. Both Voyager probes continue to operate as they
explore the outer boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space.[122]
On November 26, 2011, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission was successfully launched for
Mars. Curiosity successfully landed on Mars on August 6, 2012, and subsequently began its search for
evidence of past or present life on Mars.[123][124][125]
Activities (2010–2017)
Radioisotope within a graphite shell that goes into the generator.
NASA's ongoing investigations include in-depth surveys of Mars (Mars 2020 and InSight) and Saturn and
studies of the Earth and the Sun. Other active spacecraft missions are Juno for Jupiter, New
Horizons (for Jupiter, Pluto, and beyond), and Dawnfor the asteroid belt. NASA continued to support in
situ exploration beyond the asteroid belt, including Pioneer and Voyager traverses into the unexplored
trans-Pluto region, and Gas Giant orbiters Galileo (1989–2003), Cassini(1997–2017), and Juno(2011–). In
the early 2000s, NASA was put on course for the Moon, however in 2010 this program was cancelled
(see Constellation program). As part of that plan the Shuttle was going to be replaced, however,
although it was retired its replacement was also cancelled, leaving the US with no human spaceflight
launcher for the first time in over three decades.
The New Horizons mission to Pluto was launched in 2006 and successfully performed a flyby of Pluto on
July 14, 2015. The probe received a gravity assist from Jupiter in February 2007, examining some of
Jupiter's inner moons and testing on-board instruments during the flyby. On the horizon of NASA's plans
is the MAVEN spacecraft as part of the Mars Scout Program to study the atmosphere of Mars.[126]
On December 4, 2006, NASA announced it was planning a permanent Moon base.[127] The goal was to
start building the Moon base by 2020, and by 2024, have a fully functional base that would allow for
crew rotations and in-situ resource utilization. However, in 2009, the Augustine Committee found the
program to be on an "unsustainable trajectory."[128] In 2010, President Barack Obama halted existing
plans, including the Moon base, and directed a generic focus on manned missions to asteroids and Mars,
as well as extending support for the International Space Station.[129]
Since 2011, NASA's strategic goals have been[130]
Extend and sustain human activities across the solar system
Expand scientific understanding of the Earth and the universe
Create innovative new space technologies
Advance aeronautics research
Enable program and institutional capabilities to conduct NASA's aeronautics and space activities
Share NASA with the public, educators, and students to provide opportunities to participate
In August 2011, NASA accepted the donation of two space telescopes from the National Reconnaissance
Office. Despite being stored unused, the instruments are superior to the Hubble Space Telescope.[131]
In September 2011, NASA announced the start of the Space Launch System program to develop a
human-rated heavy lift vehicle. The Space Launch System is intended to launch the Orion Multi-Purpose
Crew Vehicle and other elements towards the Moon, near-Earth asteroids, and one day Mars.[132] The
Orion MPCV conducted an unmanned test launch on a Delta IV Heavy rocket in December 2014.[133]
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is currently scheduled to launch in May 2020.[134]
Curiosity's wheel on Mars, 2012
Curiosity's battered wheel after several years of exploration, 2017
On August 6, 2012, NASA landed the rover Curiosity on Mars. On August 27, 2012, Curiosity transmitted
the first pre-recorded message from the surface of Mars back to Earth, made by Administrator Charlie
Bolden:
Hello. This is Charlie Bolden, NASA Administrator, speaking to you via the broadcast capabilities of
the Curiosityrover, which is now on the surface of Mars.
Since the beginning of time, humankind's curiosity has led us to constantly seek new life ... new
possibilities just beyond the horizon. I want to congratulate the men and women of our NASA family as
well as our commercial and government partners around the world, for taking us a step beyond to Mars.
This is an extraordinary achievement. Landing a rover on Mars is not easy – others have tried – only
America has fully succeeded. The investment we are making ... the knowledge we hope to gain from our
observation and analysis of Gale Crater, will tell us much about the possibility of life on Mars as well as
the past and future possibilities for our own planet. Curiosity will bring benefits to Earth and inspire a
new generation of scientists and explorers, as it prepares the way for a human mission in the not too
distant future. Thank you.[135]
Recent and planned activities
NASA's ongoing investigations include in-depth surveys of Mars (Mars 2020 and InSight) and Saturn and
studies of the Earth and the Sun. Other active spacecraft missions are Juno for Jupiter, New
Horizons (for Jupiter, Pluto, and beyond), and Dawnfor the asteroid belt. NASA continued to support in
situ exploration beyond the asteroid belt, including Pioneer and Voyager traverses into the unexplored
trans-Pluto region, and Gas Giant orbiters Galileo (1989–2003), Cassini (1997–2017), and Juno(2011–).
The New Horizons mission to Pluto was launched in 2006 and successfully performed a flyby of Pluto on
July 14, 2015. The probe received a gravity assist from Jupiter in February 2007, examining some of
Jupiter's inner moons and testing on-board instruments during the flyby. On the horizon of NASA's plans
is the MAVEN spacecraft as part of the Mars Scout Program to study the atmosphere of Mars.[126]
In 2017, President Donald Trump directed NASA to send Humans to Mars by the year 2033.[109]
[136] Foci in general for NASA were noted as human space exploration, space science, and technology.
[136] The Europa Clipper and Mars 2020 continue to be supported for their planned schedules.[137]
In 2018, NASA alongside with other companies including Sensor Coating Systems, Pratt & Whitney,
Monitor Coating and UTRC have launched the project CAUTION (CoAtings for Ultra High Temperature
detectION). This project aims to enhance the temperature range of the Thermal History Coating up to
1,500C and beyond. The final goal of this project is improving the safety of jet engines as well as
increasing efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions.[138]
Recent and planned activities include:
InSight, launched and landed on Mars in 2018
New Horizons, Kuiper belt object (486958) 2014 MU69 flyby on January 1, 2019[139]
Osiris-Rex, en route for asteroid sample return on September 24, 2023[140]
Mars 2020 rover (planned)[141]
Europa Clipper (planned)
Misc. Discovery Missions
Misc. Explorer Missions
New Frontier mission including New Horizons, Juno, and Osiris-Rex
Earth Observation, Solar and Astronomical observatories
James Webb Space Telescope (planned)
Parker Solar Probe, launched August 2018
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), launched in April 2018
Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) (planned)[142]
NASA Advisory Council
In response to the Apollo 1 accident which killed three astronauts in 1967, Congress directed NASA to
form an Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) to advise the NASA Administrator on safety issues and
hazards in NASA's aerospace programs. In the aftermath of the Shuttle Columbia disaster, Congress
required that the ASAP submit an annual report to the NASA Administrator and to Congress.[143] By
1971, NASA had also established the Space Program Advisory Council and the Research and Technology
Advisory Council to provide the administrator with advisory committee support. In 1977, the latter two
were combined to form the NASA Advisory Council (NAC).[144]
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2014 reaffirmed the
importance of ASAP.
Directives
Further information: Space policy of the United States
Artistic rendition of Space Station Freedom with the Orbiter Vehicle
Some of the major NASA directives were to land people on the Moon, build the Space Shuttle, and build
a large space station. Typically, the major directives had the intervention of the science advisory,
political, funding, and public interest that synergized into various waves of effort often heavily swayed
by technical, funding, and worldwide events. For example, there was a major push to build Space Station
Freedom in the 1980s, but when the Cold War ended, the Russians, the Americans and other
international partners came together to build the International Space Station.
In the 2010s, the major shift was the retirement of the Space Shuttle and the development of a new
manned heavy lift rocket, the Space Launch System. Missions for the new System have varied but
overall, they were similar as it primarily involved the desire to send a human into the space. The Space
Exploration Initiative of the 1980s opened newer avenues of galaxy exploration.
In the coming decades, the focus is gradually shifting towards exploration of planet Mars; however,
some differences exist over the technologies to develop and focus on for the exploration.[145] One of
the options considered was the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM).[145] ARM had largely been defunded
in 2017, but the key technologies developed for ARM would be utilized for future exploration, especially
on a solar electric propulsion system.[146][145]
Longer project execution timelines means it is up to future officials to execute on a directive, which
often leads to directional mismanagement. For example, a Shuttle replacement has numerous
components involved, each making some headway before being called off for various reasons including
the National Aerospace Plane, Venture Star, Orbital Space Plane, Ares I, and others. The asteroid mission
was not a major directive in the 2010s. Instead, the general support rested with the long-term goal of
getting humans to Mars. The space shuttle was retired and much of the existing road map was shelved
including the then planned Lunar Return and Ares I human launch vehicle.
Previously, in the early 2000s, there was a plan called the Constellation Program but this was defunded
in the early 2010s.[147][148][149][150] In the 1990s, there was a plan called "Faster, Better,
Cheaper"[151] In the 1980s, there was a directive to build a manned space station.[152]
NASA Authorization Act of 2017
Orion at ISS artwork
The NASA Authorization Act of 2017, which included $19.5 billion in funding for that fiscal year, directed
NASA to get humans near or on the surface of Mars by the early 2030s.[153]
Space Policy Directive 1
In December 2017, on the 45th anniversary of the last manned mission to the Lunar surface,
President Donald Trumpapproved a directive that includes a lunar mission on the pathway to Mars and
beyond.[145]
We'll learn. The directive I'm signing today will refocus America's space program on human exploration
and discovery. It marks an important step in returning American astronauts to the Moon for the first
time since 1972 for long-term exploration and use. This time, we will not only plant our flag and leave
our footprint, we will establish a foundation for an eventual mission to Mars. And perhaps, someday, to
many worlds beyond.
— President Donald Trump, 2017[154]
New NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine addressed this directive in an August 2018 speech where he
focused on the sustainability aspects—going to the Moon to stay—that are explicit in the directive,
including taking advantage of US commercial space capability that did not exist even five years ago,
which have driven down costsand increased access to space.[155]
Research
Main article: NASA research
For technologies funded or otherwise supported by NASA, see NASA spinoff technologies.
NASA developed this hard-suit in the 1980s at the Ames Research Center
NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate conducts aeronautics research.
NASA has made use of technologies such as the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric
Generator (MMRTG), which is a type of Radioisotope thermoelectric generator used on space missions.
[156] Shortages of this material have curtailed deep space missions since the turn of the millennia.
[157] An example of a spacecraft that was not developed because of a shortage of this material
was New Horizons 2.[157]
The Earth science research program was created and first funded in the 1980s under the administrations
of Ronald Reaganand George H.W. Bush.[158][159]
NASA started an annual competition in 2014 named Cubes in Space.[160] It is jointly organized by NASA
and the global education company I Doodle Learning, with the objective of teaching school students
aged 11–18 to design and build scientific experiments to be launched into space on a NASA rocket or
balloon. On June 21, 2017 the world's smallest satellite, Kalam SAT, built by an Indian team, was
launched.[citation needed]
Climate study
NASA also researches and publishes on climate change.[161] Its statements concur with the global
scientific consensus that the global climate is warming.[162] Bob Walker, who has advised the 45th
President of the United States Donald Trump on space issues, has advocated that NASA should focus on
space exploration and that its climate study operations should be transferred to other agencies such
as NOAA. Former NASA atmospheric scientist J. Marshall Shepherd countered that Earth science study
was built into NASA's mission at its creation in the 1958 National Aeronautics and Space Act.[163]
Facilities
Jet Propulsion Laboratorycomplex in Pasadena, California
Vehicle Assembly and Launch Control at Kennedy Space Center
NASA facilities
NASA's facilities are research, construction and communication centers to help its missions. Some
facilities serve more than one application for historic or administrative reasons. NASA also operates
a short-line railroad at the Kennedy Space Center and uses special aircraft.
John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC), is one of the best-known NASA facilities. It has been the launch site
for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on pause, KSC
continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space
program from three pads at the adjoining Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston is home to the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control
Center, where all flight control is managed for manned space missions. JSC is the lead NASA center for
activities regarding the International Space Station and also houses the NASA Astronaut Corps that
selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members for US and international space missions.
FCR 1 in 2009 during the STS-128mission, JSC in Houston
Another major facility is Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama at which the Saturn 5 rocket
and Skylab were developed.[164] The JPL worked together with ABMA, one of the agencies
behind Explorer 1, the first American space mission.
The ten NASA field centers are:
John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
Armstrong Flight Research Center (formerly Hugh L. Dryden Flight Research Facility), Edwards, California
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, near Pasadena, California
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
John H. Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
John C. Stennis Space Center, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
Numerous other facilities are operated by NASA, including the Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island,
Virginia; the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana; the White Sands Test Facility in Las
Cruces, New Mexico; and Deep Space Network stations in Barstow, California; Madrid, Spain;
and Canberra, Australia.
Budget
NASA's budget from 1958 to 2012 as a percentage of federal budget
An artist's conception, from NASA, of an astronaut planting a US flag on Mars. A manned mission to
Mars has been discussed as a possible NASA mission since the 1960s.
Budget of NASA
NASA's share of the total federal budget peaked at approximately 4.41% in 1966 during the Apollo
program, then rapidly declined to approximately 1% in 1975, and stayed around that level through 1998.
[23][165] The percentage then gradually dropped, until leveling off again at around half a percent in
2006 (estimated in 2012 at 0.48% of the federal budget).[166] In a March 2012 hearing of the United
States Senate Science Committee, science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson testified that "Right now,
NASA's annual budget is half a penny on your tax dollar. For twice that—a penny on a dollar—we can
transform the country from a sullen, dispirited nation, weary of economic struggle, to one where it has
reclaimed its 20th century birthright to dream of tomorrow."[167][168]
Despite this, public perception of NASA's budget differs significantly: a 1997 poll indicated that most
Americans believed that 20% of the federal budget went to NASA.[169]
For Fiscal Year 2015, NASA received an appropriation of US$18.01 billion from Congress—$549 million
more than requested and approximately $350 million more than the 2014 NASA budget passed by
Congress.[170]
In Fiscal Year 2016, NASA received $19.3 billion.[136]
President Donald Trump signed the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 in March, which set the
2017 budget at around $19.5 billion.[136] The budget is also reported as $19.3 billion for 2017, with
$20.7 billion proposed for FY2018
Donald Trump
45th President of the United States
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 20, 2017
Examples of some proposed FY2018 budgets:[172]
Exploration: $4.79 billion
Planetary science: $2.23 billion
Earth science: $1.92 billion
Aeronautics: $0.685 billion
Environmental impact
The exhaust gases produced by rocket propulsion systems, both in Earth's atmosphere and in space, can
adversely effect the Earth's environment. Some hypergolicrocket propellants, such as hydrazine, are
highly toxic prior to combustion, but decompose into less toxic compounds after burning. Rockets using
hydrocarbon fuels, such as kerosene, release carbon dioxide and soot in their exhaust.[173] However,
carbon dioxide emissions are insignificant compared to those from other sources; on average, the
United States consumed 802,620,000 US gallons (3.0382×109 L) gallons of liquid fuels per day in 2014,
while a single Falcon 9 rocket first stage burns around 25,000 US gallons (95,000 L) of kerosene fuel per
launch.[174][175] Even if a Falcon 9 were launched every single day, it would only represent 0.006% of
liquid fuel consumption (and carbon dioxide emissions) for that day. Additionally, the exhaust from LOx-
and LH2- fueled engines, like the SSME, is almost entirely water vapor.[176] NASA addressed
environmental concerns with its canceled Constellation program in accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act in 2011.[177] In contrast, ion engines use harmless noble gases like xenon for
propulsion.[178][179]
On May 8, 2003, Environmental Protection Agency recognized NASA as the first federal agency to
directly use landfill gas to produce energy at one of its facilities—the Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, Maryland.[180]
An example of NASA's environmental efforts is the NASA Sustainability Base. Additionally, the
Exploration Sciences Building was awarded the LEED Gold rating in 2010.[181]
Gallery
Observations
Plot of orbits of known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (size over 460 feet (140 m) and passing within
4.7 million miles (7.6×106 km) of Earth's orbit)
Various nebulae observed from a NASA space telescope
1 Ceres
Pluto
Jupiter
Spacecraft
Hardware comparison of Apollo, Gemini, and Mercury[note 3]
Hubble Space Telescope, astronomy observatory in Earth orbit since 1990. Also visited by the Space
Shuttle
Curiosity rover, roving Mars since 2012
Planned spacecraft
James Webb Space Telescope rendering in orbit
Orion spacecraft design as of January 2013
Space Launch Systemconcept art
Mars 2020 rover design art
Concepts
NASA has developed oftentimes elaborate plans and technology concepts, some of which become
worked into real plans.
Langley's Mars Ice Dome
Space Tug concept, 1970s design for a Mars habitat,
Vision mission for an 2010s
interstellar precursor
spacecraft by NASA, 2000s
Examples of missions by target
Here are some selected examples of missions to planetary-sized objects. Other major targets of study
are the Earth itself, the Sun, and smaller Solar System bodies like asteroids and comets. In addition, the
moons of the planets or body are also studied.
Examples of robotic missions
Launc
Mercur Jupite Uranu Neptun Plut
Spacecraft h Venus Mars Saturn
y r s e o
year
Mariner 2 1962 Flyby
Mariner 4 1964 Flyby
Mariner 5 1967 Flyby
Mariner 6 and 7 1969 Flyby
Mariner 9 1971 Orbiter
Pioneer 10 1972 Flyby
Pioneer 11 1973 Flyby Flyby
Mariner 10 1973 Flyby Flyby
Orbiter
s
Viking 1 and Viking 2 1975
Lander
s
Voyager 1 1977 Flyby Flyby
Voyager 2 1977 Flyby Flyby Flyby Flyby
Orbite
Galileo 1989 Flyby
r
Orbite
Magellan 1989
r
Mars Global
1996 Orbiter
Surveyor
Orbite
Cassini 1997 Flyby Flyby
r
Mars Odyssey 2001 Orbiter
Spirit and Opportuni
2003 Rovers
ty
MESSENGER 2004 Orbiter Flyby
Mars 2005 Orbiter
Reconnaissance
Orbiter
Flyb
New Horizons 2006 Flyby
y
Orbite
Juno 2011
r
Curiosity (Mars
2011 Rover
Science Laboratory)
MAVEN 2013 Orbiter
Launc
Mercur Jupite Uranu Neptun Plut
Spacecraft h Venus Mars Saturn
y r s e o
year
Examples of missions for the Sun
Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph
Solar Dynamics Observatory
STEREO
Ulysses (spacecraft)
Parker Solar Probe
Examples of missions to small Solar System bodies (e.g. Comets and asteroids)
NEAR Shoemaker
Dawn spacecraft
OSIRIS-REx
Examples of missions to the Moon
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
LADEE
APPARATUS
SPACECRAFT.
A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. Spacecraft are used for a variety of
purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space
colonization, planetary exploration, and transportation of humans and cargo. All spacecraft
except single-stage-to-orbit vehicles cannot get into space on their own, and require a launch
vehicle (carrier rocket).
On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a space vehicle enters space and then returns to the surface, without
having gone into an orbit. For orbital spaceflights, spacecraft enter closed orbits around the Earth or
around other celestial bodies. Spacecraft used for human spaceflight carry people on board as crew or
passengers from start or on orbit (space stations) only, whereas those used for robotic space
missions operate either autonomously or telerobotically. Robotic spacecraft used to support scientific
research are space probes. Robotic spacecraft that remain in orbit around a planetary body are
artificial satellites. Only a handful of interstellar probes, such as Pioneer 10 and 11, Voyager 1 and 2,
and New Horizons, are on trajectories that leave the Solar System.
Orbital spacecraft may be recoverable or not. By method of reentry to Earth they may be divided in non-
winged space capsules and winged spaceplanes.
Humanity has achieved space flight but only a few nations have the technology for orbital
launches: Russia (RSA or "Roscosmos"), the United States (NASA), the member states of the European
Space Agency (ESA), Japan (JAXA), China (CNSA), India (ISRO), Taiwan[1][2][3][4] (National Chung-Shan
Institute of Science and Technology, Taiwan National Space Organization (NSPO),[5][6]
[7] Israel (ISA), Iran (ISA), and North Korea (NADA).
More than 100 Soviet and Russian crewed Soyuz spacecraft (TMA version shown) have flown since 1967
and now support the International Space Station.
The US Space Shuttle flew 135 times from 1981 to 2011, supporting Spacelab, Mir, and the ISS.
(Columbia's first launch, which had a white external tank, shown)
Spacecraft types
Crewed spacecraft
List of crewed spacecraft and Human spaceflight
Apollo 17 Command Module in Lunar orbit
As of 2016, only three nations have flown crewed spacecraft: USSR/Russia, USA, and China. The first
crewed spacecraft was Vostok 1, which carried Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into space in 1961, and
completed a full Earth orbit. There were five other crewed missions which used a Vostok spacecraft.
[11] The second crewed spacecraft was named Freedom 7, and it performed a sub-orbital spaceflight in
1961 carrying American astronaut Alan Shepard to an altitude of just over 187 kilometers (116 mi).
There were five other crewed missions using Mercury spacecraft.
Other Soviet crewed spacecraft include the Voskhod, Soyuz, flown un crewed as Zond/L1, L3, TKS, and
the Salyut and Mircrewed space stations. Other American crewed spacecraft include the Gemini
spacecraft, Apollo spacecraft, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle with undetached
European Spacelab and private US Spacehab space stations-modules. China developed, but did not
fly Shuguang, and is currently using Shenzhou (its first crewed mission was in 2003).
Except for the Space Shuttle, all of the recoverable crewed orbital spacecraft were space capsules.
Crewed space capsules
Soviet Vostok capsule
American Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft
Soviet Voskhod (variant of Vostok)
1967 Soviet/Russian Soyuz spacecraft
Chinese Shenzhou
The International Space Station, crewed since November 2000, is a joint venture between Russia, the
United States, Canada and several other countries.
Spaceplanes
Spaceplane
Columbia orbiter landing
Some reusable vehicles have been designed only for crewed spaceflight, and these are often called
spaceplanes. The first example of such was the North American X-15 spaceplane, which conducted two
crewed flights which reached an altitude of over 100 km in the 1960s. The first reusable spacecraft,
the X-15, was air-launched on a suborbital trajectory on July 19, 1963.
The first partially reusable orbital spacecraft, a winged non-capsule, the Space Shuttle, was launched by
the USA on the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight, on April 12, 1981. During the Shuttle era, six
orbiters were built, all of which have flown in the atmosphere and five of which have flown in
space. Enterprise was used only for approach and landing tests, launching from the back of a Boeing 747
SCA and gliding to deadstick landings at Edwards AFB, California. The first Space Shuttle to fly into space
was Columbia, followed by Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. Endeavour was built to
replace Challengerwhen it was lost in January 1986. Columbia broke up during reentry in February 2003.
The first automatic partially reusable spacecraft was the Buran-class shuttle, launched by the USSR on
November 15, 1988, although it made only one flight and this was uncrewed. This spaceplane was
designed for a crew and strongly resembled the U.S. Space Shuttle, although its drop-off boosters used
liquid propellants and its main engines were located at the base of what would be the external tank in
the American Shuttle. Lack of funding, complicated by the dissolution of the USSR, prevented any
further flights of Buran. The Space Shuttle was subsequently modified to allow for autonomous re-entry
in case of necessity.
Per the Vision for Space Exploration, the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011 due mainly to its old age and
high cost of program reaching over a billion dollars per flight. The Shuttle's human transport role is to be
replaced by SpaceX's Dragon V2 and Boeing's CST-100 Starliner no later than 2017. The Shuttle's heavy
cargo transport role is to be replaced by expendable rockets such as the Space Launch System and
SpaceX's Falcon Heavy.
Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne was a reusable suborbital spaceplane that carried pilots Mike
Melvill and Brian Binnie on consecutive flights in 2004 to win the Ansari X Prize. The Spaceship
Company will build its successor SpaceShipTwo. A fleet of SpaceShipTwos operated by Virgin
Galactic was planned to begin reusable private spaceflight carrying paying passengers in 2014, but was
delayed after the crash of VSS Enterprise.
Unmanned spacecraft
List of unmanned spacecraft by program, Timeline of spaceflight, Timeline of artificial satellites and
space probes, List of Solar System probes, Space probe, Robotic spacecraft, Unmanned resupply
spacecraft, and Satellite
Hubble Space Telescope
Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV)approaches the International Space Station on Monday,
March 31, 2008
Mariner 10 diagram of trajectory past planet Venus
This section needs
expansion. You can help
by adding to it. (March
2011)
Designed as manned but flown as unmanned only spacecraft
Zond/L1 – lunar flyby capsule
L3 – capsule and lunar lander
TKS – capsule
Buran-class shuttle – Soviet shuttle
Semi-manned – manned as space stations or part of space stations
Progress – unmanned USSR/Russia cargo spacecraft
TKS – unmanned USSR/Russia cargo spacecraft and space station module
Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) – unmanned European cargo spacecraft
H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) – unmanned Japanese cargo spacecraft
SpaceX Dragon – unmanned private spacecraft
Tianzhou 1 (spacecraft) – China's unmanned spacecraft
Earth-orbit satellites
Explorer 1 – first US satellite
Project SCORE – first communications satellite
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) - orbits the Sun near L1
Sputnik 1 – world's first artificial satellite
Sputnik 2 – first animal in orbit (Laika)
Korabl-Sputnik 2 – first capsule recovered from orbit (Vostok precursor) – animals survived
Syncom – first geosynchronous communications satellite
Hubble Space Telescope – largest orbital observatory
X-37 – spaceplane
Lunar probes
Clementine – US Navy mission, orbited Moon, detected hydrogen at the poles
Kaguya JPN – lunar orbiter
Luna 1 – first lunar flyby
Luna 2 – first lunar impact
Luna 3 – first images of lunar far side
Luna 9 – first soft landing on the Moon
Luna 10 – first lunar orbiter
Luna 16 – first unmanned lunar sample retrieval
Lunar Orbiter – very successful series of lunar mapping spacecraft
Lunar Prospector – confirmed detection of hydrogen at the lunar poles
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter – Identifies safe landing sites and locates Moon resources
Lunokhod - Soviet lunar rovers
SMART-1 ESA – Lunar Impact
Surveyor – USA's first soft lander
Chang'e 1 – China's Chang'e lunar mission
Chang'e 2 – China's Chang'e lunar mission
Chang'e 3 – China's Chang'e lunar mission
Chandrayaan 1 – first Indian Lunar mission
Artist's conception of Cassini–Huygens as it enters Saturn's orbit
Artist's conception of the Phoenix spacecraft as it lands on Mars
Planetary probes
Akatsuki JPN – a Venus orbiter
Cassini–Huygens – first Saturn orbiter and Titan lander
Curiosity – Rover sent to Mars by NASA in 2012
Galileo – first Jupiter orbiter and descent probe
IKAROS JPN – first solar-sail spacecraft
Mariner 4 – first Mars flyby, first close and high resolution images of Mars
Mariner 9 – first Mars orbiter
Mariner 10 – first Mercury flyby, first close up images
Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity)– Mars rovers
Mars Express – Mars orbiter
Mars Global Surveyor – Mars orbiter
Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) - India's first Interplanetary probe
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter – an advanced climate, imaging, sub-surface radar, and
telecommunications Mars orbiter
MESSENGER – first Mercury orbiter (arrival 2011)
Mars Pathfinder – Mars lander, carrying the Sojourner rover
New Horizons – first Pluto flyby (arrival 2015)
Pioneer 10 – first Jupiter flyby, first close up images
Pioneer 11 – second Jupiter flyby and first Saturn flyby (first close up images of Saturn)
Pioneer Venus – first Venus orbiter and landers
Vega 1 – Balloon release into Venus atmosphere and lander (joint mission with Vega 2), mothership
continued on to fly by Halley's Comet
Venera 4 – first soft landing on another planet (Venus)
Viking 1 – first soft landing on Mars
Voyager 2 – Jupiter flyby, Saturn flyby, and first flybys/images of Neptune and Uranus
Other – deep space
Space probe
Cluster
Deep Space 1
Deep Impact
Genesis
Hayabusa
Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous
Stardust
STEREO – Heliospheric and solar sensing; first images of the entire Sun
WMAP
Fastest spacecraft
Parker Solar Probe (estimated 343,000 km/h or 213,000 mph at first sun close pass, will reach
700,000 km/h or 430,000 mph at final perihelion)[12]
Helios I and II Solar Probes (252,792 km/h or 157,078 mph)
Furthest spacecraft from the Sun
Voyager 1 at 144.20 AU as of December 2018, traveling outward at about 3.58 AU/year[13]
Pioneer 10 at 122.48 AU as of December 2018, traveling outward at about 2.52 AU/year[13]
Voyager 2 at 119.34 AU as of December 2018, traveling outward at about 3.24 AU/year[13]
Pioneer 11 at 101.17 AU as of December 2018, traveling outward at about 2.37 AU/year[13]
Unfunded and canceled programs
The first test flight of the Delta Clipper-Experimental Advanced (DC-XA), a prototype launch system
Manned spacecraft
Chinese Shuguang capsule
Soviet Soyuz Kontakt capsule
Soviet Almaz space station
US Manned Orbiting Laboratory space station
US Altair lunar lander
Multi-stage spaceplanes
US X-20 spaceplane
Soviet Spiral shuttle
Soviet/Russian Buran-class shuttle
ESA Hermes shuttle
Kliper Russian semi-shuttle/semi-capsule
Japanese HOPE-X shuttle
Chinese Shuguang Project 921-3 shuttle
SSTO spaceplanes
RR/British Aerospace HOTOL
ESA Hopper Orbiter
US DC-X (Delta Clipper)
US Roton Rotored-Hybrid
US VentureStar
Spacecraft under development
The Orion spacecraft
Manned
(US-NASA) Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle – capsule
(US-SpaceX) Dragon V2 – capsule
(US-Boeing) CST-100 – capsule
(US-Sierra Nevada Corporation) Dream Chaser – orbital spaceplane
(US-The SpaceShip company) SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane
(US-Blue Origin) New Shepard – VTVL capsule
(US-XCOR) Lynx rocketplane – suborbital spaceplane
China Shenzhou spacecraft Cargo
(India-DRDO) Avatar RLV -Under development, First demonstration flight planned in 2015.[14]
(India-ISRO) Gaganyaan – capsule
(India-ISRO) RLV Technology Demonstration Programme - Spacecraft
SpaceX reusable rocket (BFR)
(Russia-RKA) Prospective Piloted Transport System (PPTS) – capsule
(Europe-ESA) Advanced Crew Transportation System – capsule
(Iranian Space Agency) Orbital Vehicle – capsule
Unmanned
ESA & JAXA BepiColombo - Planetary Probe to Mercury
China Shenzhou (spacecraft) Cargo
CNES Mars Netlander
Orbital Sciences Cygnus – cargo delivery to the ISS
Darwin14 ESA probe
James Webb Space Telescope (delayed)
Mars 2020 rover
Reaction Engines Limited
Skylon
SpaceX Dragon – cargo delivery to the ISS
StarChip and Sprites - miniaturized interstellar spacecraft
System F6—a DARPA Fractionated Spacecraft demonstrator
Terrestrial Planet Finder cancelled probe
Subsystems
A spacecraft system comprises various subsystems, depending on the mission profile. Spacecraft
subsystems comprise the spacecraft's "bus" and may include attitude determination and control
(variously called ADAC, ADC, or ACS), guidance, navigation and control (GNC or GN&C), communications
(comms), command and data handling (CDH or C&DH), power (EPS), thermal control (TCS), propulsion,
and structures. Attached to the bus are typically payloads.
Life support
Spacecraft intended for human spaceflight must also include a life support system for the crew.
Reaction control system thrusters on the front of the U.S. Space Shuttle
Attitude control
A Spacecraft needs an attitude control subsystem to be correctly oriented in space and respond to
external torques and forces properly. The attitude control subsystem consists of sensors and actuators,
together with controlling algorithms. The attitude-control subsystem permits proper pointing for the
science objective, sun pointing for power to the solar arrays and earth pointing for communications.
GNC
Guidance refers to the calculation of the commands (usually done by the CDH subsystem) needed to
steer the spacecraft where it is desired to be. Navigation means determining a spacecraft's orbital
elements or position. Control means adjusting the path of the spacecraft to meet mission requirements.
Command and data handling
The CDH subsystem receives commands from the communications subsystem, performs validation and
decoding of the commands, and distributes the commands to the appropriate spacecraft subsystems
and components. The CDH also receives housekeeping data and science data from the other spacecraft
subsystems and components, and packages the data for storage on a data recorder or transmission to
the ground via the communications subsystem. Other functions of the CDH include maintaining the
spacecraft clock and state-of-health monitoring.
Further information: On-Board Data Handling
Communications
Spacecraft, both robotic and crewed, utilize various communications systems for communication with
terrestrial stations as well as for communication between spacecraft in space. Technologies utilized
include RF and optical communication. In addition, some spacecraft payloads are explicitly for the
purpose of ground–ground communication using receiver/retransmitter electronic technologies.
Power
Spacecraft need an electrical power generation and distribution subsystem for powering the various
spacecraft subsystems. For spacecraft near the Sun, solar panels are frequently used to generate
electrical power. Spacecraft designed to operate in more distant locations, for example Jupiter, might
employ a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) to generate electrical power. Electrical power is
sent through power conditioning equipment before it passes through a power distribution unit over an
electrical bus to other spacecraft components. Batteries are typically connected to the bus via a battery
charge regulator, and the batteries are used to provide electrical power during periods when primary
power is not available, for example when a low Earth orbit spacecraft is eclipsed by Earth.
Thermal control
Spacecraft must be engineered to withstand transit through Earth's atmosphere and the space
environment. They must operate in a vacuum with temperatures potentially ranging across hundreds of
degrees Celsius as well as (if subject to reentry) in the presence of plasmas. Material requirements are
such that either high melting temperature, low density materials such as beryllium and reinforced
carbon–carbon or (possibly due to the lower thickness requirements despite its high
density) tungsten or ablative carbon–carbon composites are used. Depending on mission profile,
spacecraft may also need to operate on the surface of another planetary body. The thermal control
subsystem can be passive, dependent on the selection of materials with specific radiative properties.
Active thermal control makes use of electrical heaters and certain actuators such as louvers to control
temperature ranges of equipments within specific ranges.
Spacecraft propulsion
Spacecraft may or may not have a propulsion subsystem, depending on whether or not the mission
profile calls for propulsion. The Swift spacecraft is an example of a spacecraft that does not have a
propulsion subsystem. Typically though, LEO spacecraft include a propulsion subsystem for altitude
adjustments (drag make-up maneuvers) and inclination adjustment maneuvers. A propulsion system is
also needed for spacecraft that perform momentum management maneuvers. Components of a
conventional propulsion subsystem include fuel, tankage, valves, pipes, and thrusters. The thermal
control system interfaces with the propulsion subsystem by monitoring the temperature of those
components, and by preheating tanks and thrusters in preparation for a spacecraft maneuver.
Structures
Spacecraft must be engineered to withstand launch loads imparted by the launch vehicle, and must have
a point of attachment for all the other subsystems. Depending on mission profile, the structural
subsystem might need to withstand loads imparted by entry into the atmosphere of another planetary
body, and landing on the surface of another planetary body.
Payload
The payload depends on the mission of the spacecraft, and is typically regarded as the part of the
spacecraft "that pays the bills". Typical payloads could include scientific instruments
(cameras, telescopes, or particle detectors, for example), cargo, or a human crew.
Ground segment
Ground segment
The ground segment, though not technically part of the spacecraft, is vital to the operation of the
spacecraft. Typical components of a ground segment in use during normal operations include a mission
operations facility where the flight operations team conducts the operations of the spacecraft, a data
processing and storage facility, ground stations to radiate signals to and receive signals from the
spacecraft, and a voice and data communications network to connect all mission elements.[15]
Launch vehicle
The launch vehicle propels the spacecraft from Earth's surface, through the atmosphere, and into
an orbit, the exact orbit being dependent on the mission configuration. The launch vehicle may
be expendable or reusable.
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION SPACE CRAFT EMITTS LORENTZ FORCE,
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATIONS.
Website ;www.nasa.gov.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA /ˈnæsə/) is an independent agency of
the United States Federal Government responsible for the civilian space program, as well
as aeronautics and aerospace research.[note 1]
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The
new agency was to have a distinctly civilian orientation, encouraging peaceful applications in space
science.[7][8][9] Since its establishment, most US space exploration efforts have been led by NASA,
including the Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and later the Space Shuttle. NASA
is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-
Purpose Crew Vehicle, the Space Launch System and Commercial Crewvehicles. The agency is also
responsible for the Launch Services Program which provides oversight of launch operations and
countdown management for unmanned NASA launches.
NASA science is focused on better understanding Earth through the Earth Observing System;
[10] advancing heliophysicsthrough the efforts of the Science Mission Directorate's Heliophysics
Research Program;[11] exploring bodies throughout the Solar System with advanced robotic
spacecraft missions such as New Horizons;[12] and researching astrophysicstopics, such as the Big Bang,
through the Great Observatories and associated programs.[13]
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Seal
Emblem
Flag
Agency overview
Formed July 29, 1958; 60 years ago
Preceding NACA (1915–1958)[1]
agency
Jurisdiction US Federal Government
Headquarters Two Independence Square, Washington,
D.C., US
38°52′59″N 77°0′59″WCoordinates:
38°52′59″N 77°0′59″W
Motto For the Benefit of All[2]
Employees 17,336 (2018)[3]
Annual US$20.7 billion (2018)[4]
budget
Agency Jim Bridenstine, Administrator
executives
James Morhard, Deputy Administrator
Jeff DeWit, Chief Financial Officer
Website www.nasa.gov
Part of a series of articles on the
Space policy of the United States
NASA
Space policy of the United States
Apollo program
US manned space programs
US space probes
Expendable launch vehicles
Notable figures
Astronauts
EMITTED LORENTZ FORCE AND NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION SPACE
CRAFT.
LORENTZ FORCE.
Lorentz force.
In physics (specifically in electromagnetism) the Lorentz force (or electromagnetic force) is the
combination of electric and magnetic force on a point charge due to electromagnetic fields. A particle of
charge q moving with a velocity v in an electric field E and a magnetic field B experiences a force
(in SI units[1][2]). Variations on this basic formula describe the magnetic force on a current-carrying wire
(sometimes called Laplace force), the electromotive force in a wire loop moving through a magnetic field
(an aspect of Faraday's law of induction), and the force on a charged particle which might be traveling
near the speed of light (relativistic form of the Lorentz force).
The first derivation of the Lorentz force is commonly attributed to Oliver Heaviside in 1889,[3] although
other historians suggest an earlier origin in an 1865 paper by James Clerk Maxwell.[4] Hendrik
Lorentz derived it in 1895,[5] a few years after Heaviside.
Trajectories of particles due to the Lorentz force
Guiding center
Charged particle drifts in a homogeneous magnetic field. (A) No disturbing force (B) With an electric
field, E (C) With an independent force, F (e.g. gravity) (D) In an inhomogeneous magnetic field, grad H
In many cases of practical interest, the motion in a magnetic field of an electrically charged particle (such
as an electron or ion in a plasma) can be treated as the superposition of a relatively fast circular motion
around a point called the guiding center and a relatively slow drift of this point. The drift speeds may
differ for various species depending on their charge states, masses, or temperatures, possibly resulting
in electric currents or chemical separation.
Significance of the Lorentz force
While the modern Maxwell's equations describe how electrically charged particles and currents or
moving charged particles give rise to electric and magnetic fields, the Lorentz force law completes that
picture by describing the force acting on a moving point charge q in the presence of electromagnetic
fields.[6][22] The Lorentz force law describes the effect of E and B upon a point charge, but such
electromagnetic forces are not the entire picture. Charged particles are possibly coupled to other forces,
notably gravity and nuclear forces. Thus, Maxwell's equations do not stand separate from other physical
laws, but are coupled to them via the charge and current densities. The response of a point charge to
the Lorentz law is one aspect; the generation of E and B by currents and charges is another.
In real materials the Lorentz force is inadequate to describe the collective behavior of charged particles,
both in principle and as a matter of computation. The charged particles in a material medium not only
respond to the E and B fields but also generate these fields. Complex transport equations must be
solved to determine the time and spatial response of charges, for example, the Boltzmann equation or
the Fokker–Planck equation or the Navier–Stokes equations. For example,
see magnetohydrodynamics, fluid dynamics, electrohydrodynamics, superconductivity, stellar evolution.
An entire physical apparatus for dealing with these matters has developed. See for example, Green–
Kubo relations and Green's function (many-body theory).
Several theories combined in lorentz force with laws of physics to form Venus formed and observed,
deep exploration by mariner 2 after it is observed . Time 7,00pm to 7;20pm as of 15/July/2019 in
Arua ,Uganda East Africa.
LORENTZ TRANSFORMATIONS
Lorentz transformation
Many physicists—including Woldemar Voigt, George FitzGerald, Joseph Larmor, and Hendrik
Lorentz[3] himself—had been discussing the physics implied by these equations since 1887.[4] Early in
1889, Oliver Heaviside had shown from Maxwell's equations that the electric field surrounding a
spherical distribution of charge should cease to have spherical symmetry once the charge is in motion
relative to the aether. FitzGerald then conjectured that Heaviside’s distortion result might be applied to
a theory of intermolecular forces. Some months later, FitzGerald published the conjecture that bodies in
motion are being contracted, in order to explain the baffling outcome of the 1887 aether-wind
experiment of Michelson and Morley. In 1892, Lorentz independently presented the same idea in a
more detailed manner, which was subsequently called FitzGerald–Lorentz contraction hypothesis.
[5] Their explanation was widely known before 1905.[6]
Lorentz (1892–1904) and Larmor (1897–1900), who believed the luminiferous aether hypothesis, also
looked for the transformation under which Maxwell's equationsare invariant when transformed from
the aether to a moving frame. They extended the FitzGerald–Lorentz contraction hypothesis and found
out that the time coordinate has to be modified as well ("local time"). Henri Poincaré gave a physical
interpretation to local time (to first order in v/c, the relative velocity of the two reference frames
normalized to the speed of light) as the consequence of clock synchronization, under the assumption
that the speed of light is constant in moving frames.[7] Larmor is credited to have been the first to
understand the crucial time dilation property inherent in his equations.[8]
In 1905, Poincaré was the first to recognize that the transformation has the properties of
a mathematical group, and named it after Lorentz.[9] Later in the same year Albert Einstein published
what is now called special relativity, by deriving the Lorentz transformation under the assumptions of
the principle of relativity and the constancy of the speed of light in any inertial reference frame, and by
abandoning the mechanistic aether as unnecessary.
In physics, the Lorentz transformations are a one-parameter family of linear transformations from
a coordinate frame in space time to another frame that moves at a constant velocity, the parameter,
within the former. The transformations are named after the Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz. The
respective inverse transformation is then parametrized by the negative of this velocity.
Part of a series on
Spacetime
The most common form of the transformation, parametrized by the real constant {\displaystyle
v,} representing a velocity confined to the x-direction, is expressed as[1]
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}t'&=\gamma \left(t-{\frac {vx}{c^{2}}}\right)\\x'&=\gamma \left(x-
vt\right)\\y'&=y\\z'&=z\end{aligned}}}
where (t, x, y, z) and (t′, x′, y′, z′) are the coordinates of an event in two frames, where the primed frame
is seen from the unprimed frame as moving with speed v along the x-axis, c is the speed of light, and
{\displaystyle \gamma =\textstyle \left({\sqrt {1-{\frac {v^{2}}{c^{2}}}}}\right)^{-
1}} is the Lorentz factor.
Expressing the speed as {\displaystyle \beta ={\frac {v}{c}},} an equivalent form of the
transformation is[2]
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}ct'&=\gamma \left(ct-\beta x\right)\\x'&=\gamma \left(x-\beta
ct\right)\\y'&=y\\z'&=z.\end{aligned}}}
Frames of reference can be divided into two groups: inertial (relative motion with constant velocity)
and non-inertial (accelerating, moving in curved paths, rotational motion with constant angular velocity,
etc.). The term "Lorentz transformations" only refers to transformations between inertial frames, usually
in the context of special relativity.
In each reference frame, an observer can use a local coordinate system (most exclusively Cartesian
coordinates in this context) to measure lengths, and a clock to measure time intervals. An observer is a
real or imaginary entity that can take measurements, say humans, or any other living organism—or even
robots and computers. An event is something that happens at a point in space at an instant of time, or
more formally a point in spacetime. The transformations connect the space and time coordinates of
an event as measured by an observer in each frame.[nb 1]
They supersede the Galilean transformation of Newtonian physics, which assumes an absolute space
and time (see Galilean relativity). The Galilean transformation is a good approximation only at relative
speeds much smaller than the speed of light. Lorentz transformations have a number of unintuitive
features that do not appear in Galilean transformations. For example, they reflect the fact that
observers moving at different velocities may measure different distances, elapsed times, and even
different orderings of events, but always such that the speed of light is the same in all inertial reference
frames. The invariance of light speed is one of the postulates of special relativity.
Historically, the transformations were the result of attempts by Lorentz and others to explain how the
speed of light was observed to be independent of the reference frame, and to understand the
symmetries of the laws of electromagnetism. The Lorentz transformation is in accordance with special
relativity, but was derived before special relativity.
The Lorentz transformation is a linear transformation. It may include a rotation of space; a rotation-free
Lorentz transformation is called a Lorentz boost. In Minkowski space, the mathematical model of
spacetime in special relativity, the Lorentz transformations preserve the spacetime interval between any
two events. This property is the defining property of a Lorentz transformation. They describe only the
transformations in which the spacetime event at the origin is left fixed. They can be considered as
a hyperbolic rotation of Minkowski space. The more general set of transformations that also includes
translations is known as the Poincaré group.
Derivation of the group of Lorentz transformations
Main articles: Derivations of the Lorentz transformations and Lorentz group
An event is something that happens at a certain point in spacetime, or more generally, the point in
spacetime itself. In any inertial frame an event is specified by a time coordinate ct and a set of Cartesian
coordinates x, y, z to specify position in space in that frame. Subscripts label individual events.
From Einstein's second postulate of relativity follows
{\displaystyle c^{2}(t_{2}-t_{1})^{2}-(x_{2}-x_{1})^{2}-(y_{2}-
(
y_{1})^{2}-(z_{2}-z_{1})^{2}=0\quad {\text{(lightlike separated
D
1)
events 1, 2)}}}
in all inertial frames for events connected by light signals. The quantity on the left is called the spacetime
interval between events a1 = (t1, x1, y1, z1) and a2 = (t2, x2, y2, z2). The interval between any
two events, not necessarily separated by light signals, is in fact invariant, i.e., independent of the state
of relative motion of observers in different inertial frames, as is shown using homogeneity and isotropy
of space. The transformation sought after thus must possess the property that
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}&c^{2}(t_{2}-t_{1})^{2}-(x_{2}-x_{1})^{2}-
(
(y_{2}-y_{1})^{2}-(z_{2}-z_{1})^{2}\\[6pt]={}&c^{2}(t_{2}'-t_{1}')^{2}- D
(x_{2}'-x_{1}')^{2}-(y_{2}'-y_{1}')^{2}-(z_{2}'-z_{1}')^{2}\quad {\text{(all
2
)
events 1, 2)}}.\end{aligned}}}
where (ct, x, y, z) are the spacetime coordinates used to define events in one frame, and (ct′, x′, y′, z
′) are the coordinates in another frame. First one observes that (D2) is satisfied if an arbitrary 4-
tuple b of numbers are added to events a1 and a2. Such transformations are called spacetime
translations and are not dealt with further here. Then one observes that a linear solution preserving the
origin of the simpler problem
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}&c^{2}t^{2}-x^{2}-y^{2}- (
z^{2}=c^{2}t'^{2}-x'^{2}-y'^{2}-z'^{2}\\[6pt]{\text{or}}\quad D
&c^{2}t_{1}t_{2}-x_{1}x_{2}-y_{1}y_{2}-z_{1}z_{2}=c^{2}t'_{1}t'_{2}-
3
)
x'_{1}x'_{2}-y'_{1}y'_{2}-z'_{1}z'_{2}\end{aligned}}}
solves the general problem too. (A solution satisfying the left formula automatically satisfies the right
formula, see polarization identity.) Finding the solution to the simpler problem is just a matter of look-
up in the theory of classical groups that preserve bilinear forms of various signature.[nb 2]. First
equation in (D3) can be written more compactly as
{\displaystyle (a,a)=(a',a')\quad
(
{\text{or}}\quad a\cdot a=a'\cdot a',}
D
4)
where (·, ·) refers to the bilinear form of signature (1, 3) on ℝ4 exposed by the right hand side formula
in (D3). The alternative notation defined on the right is referred to as the relativistic dot product.
Spacetime mathematically viewed as ℝ4 endowed with this bilinear form is known as Minkowski
space M. The Lorentz transformation is thus an element of the group Lorentz group O(1, 3), the Lorentz
group or, for those that prefer the other metric signature, O(3, 1) (also called the Lorentz group).[nb
3] One has
{\displaystyle (a,a)=(\Lambda a,\Lambda
(
a)=(a',a'),\quad \Lambda \in \mathrm {O}
D
5)
(1,3),\quad a,a'\in M,}
which is precisely preservation of the bilinear form (D3) which implies (by linearity of Λ and bilinearity of
the form) that (D2) is satisfied. The elements of the Lorentz group are rotations and boosts and mixes
thereof. If the spacetime translations are included, then one obtains the inhomogeneous Lorentz
group or the Poincaré group.
Generalities
The relations between the primed and unprimed spacetime coordinates are the Lorentz
transformations, each coordinate in one frame is a linear function of all the coordinates in the other
frame, and the inverse functions are the inverse transformation. Depending on how the frames move
relative to each other, and how they are oriented in space relative to each other, other parameters that
describe direction, speed, and orientation enter the transformation equations.
Transformations describing relative motion with constant (uniform) velocity and without rotation of the
space coordinate axes are called boosts, and the relative velocity between the frames is the parameter
of the transformation. The other basic type of Lorentz transformations is rotations in the spatial
coordinates only, these are also inertial frames since there is no relative motion, the frames are simply
tilted (and not continuously rotating), and in this case quantities defining the rotation are the
parameters of the transformation (e.g., axis–angle representation, or Euler angles, etc.). A combination
of a rotation and boost is a homogeneous transformation, which transforms the origin back to the
origin.
The full Lorentz group O(3, 1) also contains special transformations that are neither rotations nor boosts,
but rather reflections in a plane through the origin. Two of these can be singled out; spatial inversion in
which the spatial coordinates of all events are reversed in sign and temporal inversion in which the time
coordinate for each event gets its sign reversed.
Boosts should not be conflated with mere displacements in spacetime; in this case, the coordinate
systems are simply shifted and there is no relative motion. However, these also count as symmetries
forced by special relativity since they leave the spacetime interval invariant. A combination of a rotation
with a boost, followed by a shift in spacetime, is an inhomogeneous Lorentz transformation, an element
of the Poincaré group, which is also called the inhomogeneous Lorentz group.
Physical formulation of Lorentz boosts
Derivations of the Lorentz transformations
Coordinate transformation
A "stationary" observer in frame F defines events with coordinates t, x, y, z. Another frame F′ moves
with velocity v relative to F, and an observer in this "moving" frame F′ defines events using the
coordinates t′, x′, y′, z′.
The coordinate axes in each frame are parallel (the x and x′ axes are parallel, the y and y′ axes are
parallel, and the z and z′ axes are parallel), remain mutually perpendicular, and relative motion is along
the coincident xx′ axes. At t = t′ = 0, the origins of both coordinate systems are the same, (x, y, z) = (x′, y
′, z′) = (0, 0, 0). In other words, the times and positions are coincident at this event. If all these hold, then
the coordinate systems are said to be in standard configuration, or synchronized.
The spacetime coordinates of an event, as measured by each observer in their inertial reference frame
(in standard configuration) are shown in the speech bubbles.
Top: frame F′ moves at velocity v along the x-axis of frame F.
Bottom: frame F moves at velocity −v along the x′-axis of frame F′
Source; Maschen - Own work
Lorentz boost observers and frames any direction standard configuration
.[11]
If an observer in F records an event t, x, y, z, then an observer in F′ records the same event with
coordinates
[12]
where v is the relative velocity between frames in the x-direction, c is the speed of light, and
{\displaystyle \gamma ={\frac {1}{\sqrt {1-{\frac {v^{2}}{c^{2}}}}}}}
(lowercase gamma) is the Lorentz factor.
Here, v is the parameter of the transformation, for a given boost it is a constant number, but can take a
continuous range of values. In the setup used here, positive relative velocity v > 0 is motion along the
positive directions of the xx′ axes, zero relative velocity v = 0 is no relative motion, while negative
relative velocity v < 0 is relative motion along the negative directions of the xx′ axes. The magnitude of
relative velocity v cannot equal or exceed c, so only subluminal speeds −c < v < c are allowed. The
corresponding range of γ is 1 ≤ γ < ∞.
The transformations are not defined if v is outside these limits. At the speed of light (v = c) γ is infinite,
and faster than light (v > c) γ is a complex number, each of which make the transformations unphysical.
The space and time coordinates are measurable quantities and numerically must be real numbers.
As an active transformation, an observer in F′ notices the coordinates of the event to be "boosted" in
the negative directions of the xx′ axes, because of the −v in the transformations. This has the equivalent
effect of the coordinate system F′ boosted in the positive directions of the xx′ axes, while the event does
not change and is simply represented in another coordinate system, a passive transformation.
The inverse relations (t, x, y, z in terms of t′, x′, y′, z′) can be found by algebraically solving the original set
of equations. A more efficient way is to use physical principles. Here F′ is the "stationary" frame
while F is the "moving" frame. According to the principle of relativity, there is no privileged frame of
reference, so the transformations from F′ to F must take exactly the same form as the transformations
from F to F′. The only difference is F moves with velocity −v relative to F′ (i.e., the relative velocity has
the same magnitude but is oppositely directed). Thus if an observer in F′ notes an event t′, x′, y′, z′, then
an observer in F notes the sameevent with coordinates
and the value of γ remains unchanged. This "trick" of simply reversing the direction of relative velocity
while preserving its magnitude, and exchanging primed and unprimed variables, always applies to
finding the inverse transformation of every boost in any direction.
Sometimes it is more convenient to use β = v/c (lowercase beta) instead of v, so that
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}ct'&=\gamma \left(ct-\beta x\right)\,,\\x'&=\gamma \left(x-\beta
ct\right)\,,\\\end{aligned}}}
which shows much more clearly the symmetry in the transformation. From the allowed ranges of v and
the definition of β, it follows −1 < β < 1. The use of β and γ is standard throughout the literature.
The Lorentz transformations can also be derived in a way that resembles circular rotations in 3d space
using the hyperbolic functions. For the boost in the x direction, the results are
where ζ (lowercase zeta) is a parameter called rapidity (many other symbols are used, including θ, ϕ, φ,
η, ψ, ξ). Given the strong resemblance to rotations of spatial coordinates in 3d space in the Cartesian xy,
yz, and zx planes, a Lorentz boost can be thought of as a hyperbolic rotation of spacetime coordinates in
the xt, yt, and zt Cartesian-time planes of 4d Minkowski space. The parameter ζ is the hyperbolic
angle of rotation, analogous to the ordinary angle for circular rotations. This transformation can be
illustrated with a Minkowski diagram.
The hyperbolic functions arise from the difference between the squares of the time and spatial
coordinates in the spacetime interval, rather than a sum. The geometric significance of the hyperbolic
functions can be visualized by taking x = 0 or ct = 0 in the transformations. Squaring and subtracting the
results, one can derive hyperbolic curves of constant coordinate values but varying ζ, which
parametrizes the curves according to the identity
{\displaystyle \cosh ^{2}\zeta -\sinh ^{2}\zeta =1\,.}
Conversely the ct and x axes can be constructed for varying coordinates but constant ζ. The definition
{\displaystyle \tanh \zeta ={\frac {\sinh \zeta }{\cosh \zeta }}\,,}
provides the link between a constant value of rapidity, and the slope of the ct axis in spacetime. A
consequence these two hyperbolic formulae is an identity that matches the Lorentz factor
{\displaystyle \cosh \zeta ={\frac {1}{\sqrt {1-\tanh ^{2}\zeta }}}\,.}
Comparing the Lorentz transformations in terms of the relative velocity and rapidity, or using the above
formulae, the connections between β, γ, and ζ are
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\beta &=\tanh \zeta \,,\\\gamma &=\cosh \zeta \,,\\\beta \gamma
&=\sinh \zeta \,.\end{aligned}}}
Taking the inverse hyperbolic tangent gives the rapidity
{\displaystyle \zeta =\tanh ^{-1}\beta \,.}
Since −1 < β < 1, it follows −∞ < ζ < ∞. From the relation between ζ and β, positive rapidity ζ > 0 is
motion along the positive directions of the xx′ axes, zero rapidity ζ = 0 is no relative motion, while
negative rapidity ζ < 0 is relative motion along the negative directions of the xx′ axes.
The inverse transformations are obtained by exchanging primed and unprimed quantities to switch the
coordinate frames, and negating rapidity ζ → −ζ since this is equivalent to negating the relative velocity.
Therefore,
The inverse transformations can be similarly visualized by considering the cases when x′ = 0 and ct′ = 0.
So far the Lorentz transformations have been applied to one event. If there are two events, there is a
spatial separation and time interval between them. It follows from the linearity of the Lorentz
transformations that two values of space and time coordinates can be chosen, the Lorentz
transformations can be applied to each, then subtracted to get the Lorentz transformations of the
differences;
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\Delta t'&=\gamma \left(\Delta t-{\frac
{v\,\Delta x}{c^{2}}}\right)\,,\\\Delta x'&=\gamma \left(\Delta x-v\,\Delta t\right)\,,\end{aligned}}}
with inverse relations
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\Delta t&=\gamma \left(\Delta t'+{\frac {v\,\Delta x'}
{c^{2}}}\right)\,,\\\Delta x&=\gamma \left(\Delta x'+v\,\Delta t'\right)\,.\end{aligned}}}
where Δ (uppercase delta) indicates a difference of quantities; e.g., Δx = x2 − x1 for two values
of x coordinates, and so on.
These transformations on differences rather than spatial points or instants of time are useful for a
number of reasons:
in calculations and experiments, it is lengths between two points or time intervals that are measured
or of interest (e.g., the length of a moving vehicle, or time duration it takes to travel from one place to
another),
the transformations of velocity can be readily derived by making the difference infinitesimally small
and dividing the equations, and the process repeated for the transformation of acceleration,
if the coordinate systems are never coincident (i.e., not in standard configuration), and if both
observers can agree on an event t0, x0, y0, z0 in F and t0′, x0′, y0′, z0′in F′, then they can use that event
as the origin, and the spacetime coordinate differences are the differences between their coordinates
and this origin, e.g., Δx = x − x0, Δx′ = x′ − x0′, etc.
Physical implications
A critical requirement of the Lorentz transformations is the invariance of the speed of light, a fact used
in their derivation, and contained in the transformations themselves. If in F the equation for a pulse of
light along the x direction is x = ct, then in F′ the Lorentz transformations give x′ = ct′, and vice versa, for
any −c < v < c.
For relative speeds much less than the speed of light, the Lorentz transformations reduce to the Galilean
transformation
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}t'&\approx t\\x'&\approx x-vt\end{aligned}}}
in accordance with the correspondence principle. It is sometimes said that nonrelativistic physics is a
physics of "instantaneous action at a distance".[13]
Three counterintuitive, but correct, predictions of the transformations are:
Relativity of simultaneity
Suppose two events occur simultaneously (Δt = 0) along the x axis, but separated by a nonzero
displacement Δx. Then in F′, we find that {\displaystyle \Delta t'=\gamma {\frac {-
v\,\Delta x}{c^{2}}}} so the events are no longer simultaneous according to a moving observer.
Time dilation
Suppose there is a clock at rest in F. If a time interval is measured at the same point in that frame, so
that Δx = 0, then the transformations give this interval in F′ by Δt′ = γΔt. Conversely, suppose there is a
clock at rest in F′. If an interval is measured at the same point in that frame, so that Δx′ = 0, then the
transformations give this interval in F by Δt = γΔt′. Either way, each observer measures the time interval
between ticks of a moving clock to be longer by a factor γ than the time interval between ticks of his
own clock.
Length contraction
Suppose there is a rod at rest in F aligned along the x axis, with length Δx. In F′, the rod moves with
velocity -v, so its length must be measured by taking two simultaneous (Δt′ = 0) measurements at
opposite ends. Under these conditions, the inverse Lorentz transform shows that Δx = γΔx′. In F the two
measurements are no longer simultaneous, but this does not matter because the rod is at rest in F. So
each observer measures the distance between the end points of a moving rod to be shorter by a
factor 1/γ than the end points of an identical rod at rest in his own frame. Length contraction affects any
geometric quantity related to lengths, so from the perspective of a moving observer, areas and volumes
will also appear to shrink along the direction of motion.
Vector transformations
Euclidean vector and vector projection
The use of vectors allows positions and velocities to be expressed in arbitrary directions compactly. A
single boost in any direction depends on the full relative velocity vector v with a magnitude |v| = v that
cannot equal or exceed c, so that 0 ≤ v < c.
Only time and the coordinates parallel to the direction of relative motion change, while those
coordinates perpendicular do not. With this in mind, split the spatial position vector r as measured in F,
and r′ as measured in F′, each into components perpendicular (⊥) and parallel ( ‖ ) to v,
{\displaystyle \mathbf {r} =\mathbf {r} _{\perp }+\mathbf {r} _{\|}\,,\quad \mathbf {r} '=\mathbf {r}
_{\perp }'+\mathbf {r} _{\|}'\,,}
then the transformations are
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}t'&=\gamma \left(t-{\frac {\mathbf {r}
_{\parallel }\cdot \mathbf {v} }{c^{2}}}\right)\\\mathbf {r} _{\|}'&=\gamma (\mathbf {r} _{\|}-\mathbf
{v} t)\\\mathbf {r} _{\perp }'&=\mathbf {r} _{\perp }\end{aligned}}}
where · is the dot product. The Lorentz factor γ retains its definition for a boost in any direction, since it
depends only on the magnitude of the relative velocity. The definition β = v/c with magnitude 0 ≤ β < 1 is
also used by some authors.
Introducing a unit vector n = v/v = β/β in the direction of relative motion, the relative velocity
is v = vn with magnitude v and direction n, and vector projection and rejection give respectively
{\displaystyle \mathbf {r} _{\parallel }=(\mathbf {r} \cdot \mathbf {n} )\mathbf {n} \,,\quad \mathbf {r}
_{\perp }=\mathbf {r} -(\mathbf {r} \cdot \mathbf {n} )\mathbf {n} }
Accumulating the results gives the full transformations,
The projection and rejection also applies to r′. For the inverse transformations, exchange r and r′ to
switch observed coordinates, and negate the relative velocity v → −v (or simply the unit vector n →
−n since the magnitude v is always positive) to obtain
The unit vector has the advantage of simplifying equations for a single boost, allows either v or β to be
reinstated when convenient, and the rapidity parametrization is immediately obtained by
replacing β and βγ. It is not convenient for multiple boosts.
The vectorial relation between relative velocity and rapidity is
[14]
{\displaystyle {\boldsymbol {\beta }}=\beta \mathbf {n} =\mathbf {n} \tanh \zeta \,,}
and the "rapidity vector" can be defined as
{\displaystyle {\boldsymbol {\zeta }}=\zeta \mathbf {n} =\mathbf {n} \tanh ^{-1}\beta \,,}
each of which serves as a useful abbreviation in some contexts. The magnitude of ζ is the absolute value
of the rapidity scalar confined to 0 ≤ ζ < ∞, which agrees with the range 0 ≤ β < 1.
An observer in frame F observes F′ to move with velocity v, while F′ observes F to move with velocity −v.
The coordinate axes of each frame are still parallel and orthogonal. The position vector as measured in
each frame is split into components parallel and perpendicular to the relative velocity
vector v. Left: Standard configuration. Right: Inverse configuration.
Source; Maschen - Own work
Lorentz boost observers and frames any direction standard configuration
Transformation of velocities
differential of a function and velocity addition formula
Defining the coordinate velocities and Lorentz factor by
{\displaystyle \mathbf {u} ={\frac {d\mathbf {r} }{dt}}\,,\quad \mathbf {u} '={\frac {d\mathbf {r} '}
{dt'}}\,,\quad \gamma _{\mathbf {v} }={\frac {1}{\sqrt {1-{\dfrac {\mathbf {v} \cdot \mathbf {v} }
{c^{2}}}}}}}
taking the differentials in the coordinates and time of the vector transformations, then dividing
equations, leads to
{\displaystyle \mathbf {u} '={\frac {1}{1-{\frac {\mathbf {v} \cdot \mathbf {u} }{c^{2}}}}}\left[{\frac
{\mathbf {u} }{\gamma _{\mathbf {v} }}}-\mathbf {v} +{\frac {1}{c^{2}}}{\frac {\gamma _{\mathbf {v} }}
{\gamma _{\mathbf {v} }+1}}\left(\mathbf {u} \cdot \mathbf {v} \right)\mathbf {v} \right]}
The velocities u and u′ are the velocity of some massive object. They can also be for a third inertial frame
(say F′′), in which case they must be constant. Denote either entity by X. Then X moves with
velocity u relative to F, or equivalently with velocity u′ relative to F′, in turn F′ moves with
velocity v relative to F. The inverse transformations can be obtained in a similar way, or as with position
coordinates exchange u and u′, and change v to −v.
The transformation of velocity is useful in stellar aberration, the Fizeau experiment, and the relativistic
Doppler effect.
The Lorentz transformations of acceleration can be similarly obtained by taking differentials in the
velocity vectors, and dividing these by the time differential.
The transformation of velocities provides the definition relativistic velocity addition ⊕, the ordering of
vectors is chosen to reflect the ordering of the addition of velocities; first v (the velocity of F′ relative to
F) then u′ (the velocity of X relative to F′) to obtain u = v ⊕ u′ (the velocity of X relative to F).
Source; Maschen - Own work
Lorentz transformation of velocity including velocity addition
Transformation of other quantities
In general, given four quantities A and Z = (Zx, Zy, Zz) and their Lorentz-boosted counterparts A′ and Z′ =
(Z′x, Z′y, Z′z), a relation of the form
{\displaystyle A^{2}-\mathbf {Z} \cdot \mathbf {Z} ={A'}^{2}-\mathbf {Z} '\cdot \mathbf {Z} '}
implies the quantities transform under Lorentz transformations similar to the transformation of
spacetime coordinates;
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}A'&=\gamma \left(A-{\frac {v\mathbf {n} \cdot \mathbf {Z} }
{c}}\right)\,,\\\mathbf {Z} '&=\mathbf {Z} +(\gamma -1)(\mathbf {Z} \cdot \mathbf {n} )\mathbf {n} -
{\frac {\gamma Av\mathbf {n} }{c}}\,.\end{aligned}}}
The decomposition of Z (and Z′) into components perpendicular and parallel to v is exactly the same as
for the position vector, as is the process of obtaining the inverse transformations (exchange (A, Z) and (A
′, Z′) to switch observed quantities, and reverse the direction of relative motion by the substitution n ↦
−n).
The quantities (A, Z) collectively make up a four vector, where A is the "timelike component", and Z the
"spacelike component". Examples of A and Z are the following:
For a given object (e.g., particle, fluid, field, material), if A or Z correspond to properties specific to the
object like its charge density, mass density, spin, etc., its properties can be fixed in the rest frame of that
object. Then the Lorentz transformations give the corresponding properties in a frame moving relative
to the object with constant velocity. This breaks some notions taken for granted in non-relativistic
physics. For example, the energy E of an object is a scalar in non-relativistic mechanics, but not in
relativistic mechanics because energy changes under Lorentz transformations; its value is different for
various inertial frames. In the rest frame of an object, it has a rest energy and zero momentum. In a
boosted frame its energy is different and it appears to have a momentum. Similarly, in non-relativistic
quantum mechanics the spin of a particle is a constant vector, but in relativistic quantum
mechanics spin s depends on relative motion. In the rest frame of the particle, the spin pseudovector
can be fixed to be its ordinary non-relativistic spin with a zero timelike quantity st, however a boosted
observer will perceive a nonzero timelike component and an altered spin.[15]
Not all quantities are invariant in the form as shown above, for example orbital angular
momentum L does not have a timelike quantity, and neither does the electric field E nor the magnetic
field B. The definition of angular momentum is L = r × p, and in a boosted frame the altered angular
momentum is L′ = r′ × p′. Applying this definition using the transformations of coordinates and
momentum leads to the transformation of angular momentum. It turns out L transforms with another
vector quantity N = (E/c2)r − tp related to boosts, see relativistic angular momentum for details. For the
case of the E and B fields, the transformations cannot be obtained as directly using vector algebra.
The Lorentz force is the definition of these fields, and in F it is F = q(E + v × B) while in F′ it is F′ = q(E′ + v′
× B′). A method of deriving the EM field transformations in an efficient way which also illustrates the unit
of the electromagnetic field uses tensor algebra, given below.
Mathematical formulation
Lorentz group
Matrix (mathematics), matrix product, linear algebra, and rotation formalisms in three dimensions
In physics and mathematics, the Lorentz group is the group of all Lorentz transformations of Minkowski
spacetime, the classical and quantum setting for all (nongravitational) physical phenomena. The Lorentz
group is named for the Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz.
For example, the following laws, equations, and theories respect Lorentz symmetry:
The kinematical laws of special relativity
Maxwell's field equations in the theory of electromagnetism
The Dirac equation in the theory of the electron
The Standard model of particle physics
The Lorentz group expresses the fundamental symmetry of space and time of all known
fundamental laws of nature. In general relativity physics, in cases involving small enough regions of
spacetime where gravitational variances are negligible, physical laws are Lorentz invariant in the same
manner as that of special relativity physics.
Throughout, italic non-bold capital letters are 4×4 matrices, while non-italic bold letters are 3×3
matrices.
Homogeneous Lorentz group
Writing the coordinates in column vectors and the Minkowski metric η as a square matrix
{\displaystyle X'={\begin{bmatrix}c\,t'\\x'\\y'\\z'\end{bmatrix}}\,,\quad \eta ={\begin{bmatrix}-
1&0&0&0\\0&1&0&0\\0&0&1&0\\0&0&0&1\end{bmatrix}}\,,\quad
X={\begin{bmatrix}c\,t\\x\\y\\z\end{bmatrix}}}
the spacetime interval takes the form (T denotes transpose)
{\displaystyle X\cdot X=X^{\mathrm {T} }\eta X={X'}^{\mathrm {T} }\eta
{X'}}
and is invariant under a Lorentz transformation
{\displaystyle X'=\Lambda X}
where Λ is a square matrix which can depend on parameters.
The set of all Lorentz transformations Λ in this article is denoted {\displaystyle {\mathcal {L}}} This
set together with matrix multiplication forms a group, in this context known as the Lorentz group. Also,
the above expression X·X is a quadratic form of signature (3,1) on spacetime, and the group of
transformations which leaves this quadratic form invariant is the indefinite orthogonal group O(3,1),
a Lie group. In other words, the Lorentz group is O(3,1). As presented in this article, any Lie groups
mentioned are matrix Lie groups. In this context the operation of composition amounts to matrix
multiplication.
From the invariance of the spacetime interval it follows
{\displaystyle \eta =\Lambda ^{\mathrm {T} }\eta \Lambda }
and this matrix equation contains the general conditions on the Lorentz transformation to ensure
invariance of the spacetime interval. Taking the determinant of the equation using the product rule[nb
4] gives immediately
{\displaystyle [\det(\Lambda )]^{2}=1\quad \Rightarrow \quad \det(\Lambda )=\pm 1}
Writing the Minkowski metric as a block matrix, and the Lorentz transformation in the most general
form,
{\displaystyle \eta ={\begin{bmatrix}-1&0\\0&\mathbf {I} \end{bmatrix}}\,,\quad \Lambda
={\begin{bmatrix}\Gamma &-\mathbf {a} ^{\mathrm {T} }\\-\mathbf {b} &\mathbf {M} \end{bmatrix}}\,,}
carrying out the block matrix multiplications obtains general conditions on Γ, a, b, M to ensure
relativistic invariance. Not much information can be directly extracted from all the conditions, however
one of the results
{\displaystyle \Gamma ^{2}=1+\mathbf {b} ^{\mathrm {T} }\mathbf {b} }
is useful; bTb ≥ 0 always so it follows that
{\displaystyle \Gamma ^{2}\geq 1\quad \Rightarrow \quad \Gamma \leq -1\,,\quad \Gamma \geq 1}
The negative inequality may be unexpected, because Γ multiplies the time coordinate and this has an
effect on time symmetry. If the positive equality holds, then Γ is the Lorentz factor.
The determinant and inequality provide four ways to classify Lorentz Transformations (herein LTs for
brevity). Any particular LT has only one determinant sign and only one inequality. There are four sets
which include every possible pair given by the intersections ("n"-shaped symbol meaning "and") of these
classifying sets.
where "+" and "−" indicate the determinant sign, while "↑" for ≥ and "↓" for ≤ denote the inequalities.
The full Lorentz group splits into the union ("u"-shaped symbol meaning "or") of four disjoint sets
{\displaystyle {\mathcal {L}}={\mathcal {L}}_{+}^{\uparrow }\cup {\mathcal {L}}_{-}^{\uparrow }\cup
{\mathcal {L}}_{+}^{\downarrow }\cup {\mathcal {L}}_{-}^{\downarrow }}
A subgroup of a group must be closed under the same operation of the group (here matrix
multiplication). In other words, for two Lorentz transformations Λ and L from a particular set, the
composite Lorentz transformations ΛL and LΛ must be in the same set as Λ and L. This will not always be
the case; it can be shown that the composition of any two Lorentz transformations always has the
positive determinant and positive inequality, a proper orthochronous transformation. The set
{\displaystyle {\mathcal {L}}_{+}^{\uparrow }}all form subgroups. The other
sets involving the improper and/or antichronous properties do not form
subgroups, because the composite transformation always has a positive determinant or inequality,
whereas the original separate transformations will have negative determinants and/or inequalities.
Proper transformations
The Lorentz boost is
{\displaystyle X'=B(\mathbf {v} )X}
where the boost matrix is
{\displaystyle B(\mathbf {v} )={\begin{bmatrix}\gamma &-\gamma \beta n_{x}&-\gamma \beta
n_{y}&-\gamma \beta n_{z}\\-\gamma \beta n_{x}&1+(\gamma -1)n_{x}^{2}&(\gamma
-1)n_{x}n_{y}&(\gamma -1)n_{x}n_{z}\\-\gamma \beta n_{y}&(\gamma -1)n_{y}n_{x}&1+(\gamma
-1)n_{y}^{2}&(\gamma -1)n_{y}n_{z}\\-\gamma \beta n_{z}&(\gamma -1)n_{z}n_{x}&(\gamma
-1)n_{z}n_{y}&1+(\gamma -1)n_{z}^{2}\\\end{bmatrix}}\,.}
The boosts along the Cartesian directions can be readily obtained, for example the unit vector in the x
direction has components nx = 1 and ny = nz = 0.
The matrices make one or more successive transformations easier to handle, rather than rotely iterating
the transformations to obtain the result of more than one transformation. If a frame F′ is boosted with
velocity u relative to frame F, and another frame F′′ is boosted with velocity v relative to F′, the separate
boosts are
{\displaystyle X''=B(\mathbf {v} )X'\,,\quad X'=B(\mathbf {u} )X}
and the composition of the two boosts connects the coordinates in F′′ and F,
{\displaystyle X''=B(\mathbf {v} )B(\mathbf {u} )X\,.}
Successive transformations act on the left. If u and v are collinear (parallel or antiparallel along the same
line of relative motion), the boost matrices commute: B(v)B(u) = B(u)B(v) and this composite
transformation happens to be another boost.
If u and v are not collinear but in different directions, the situation is considerably more complicated.
Lorentz boosts along different directions do not commute: B(v)B(u) and B(u)B(v) are not equal. Also,
each of these compositions is not a single boost, but still a Lorentz transformation as each boost still
preserves invariance of the spacetime interval. It turns out the composition of any two Lorentz boosts is
equivalent to a boost followed or preceded by a rotation on the spatial coordinates, in the form
of R(ρ)B(w) or B(w)R(ρ). The w and w are composite velocities, while ρ and ρ are rotation parameters
(e.g. axis-angle variables, Euler angles, etc.). The rotation in block matrix form is simply
{\displaystyle \quad R({\boldsymbol {\rho }})={\begin{bmatrix}1&0\\0&\mathbf {R} ({\boldsymbol
{\rho }})\end{bmatrix}}\,,}
where R(ρ) is a 3d rotation matrix, which rotates any 3d vector in one sense (active transformation), or
equivalently the coordinate frame in the opposite sense (passive transformation). It is not simple to
connect w and ρ (or w and ρ) to the original boost parameters u and v. In a composition of boosts,
the R matrix is named the Wigner rotation, and gives rise to the Thomas precession. These articles give
the explicit formulae for the composite transformation matrices, including expressions for w, ρ, w, ρ.
In this article the axis-angle representation is used for ρ. The rotation is about an axis in the direction of
a unit vector e, through angle θ (positive anticlockwise, negative clockwise, according to the right-hand
rule). The "axis-angle vector"
{\displaystyle {\boldsymbol {\theta }}=\theta \mathbf {e} }
will serve as a useful abbreviation.
Spatial rotations alone are also Lorentz transformations they leave the spacetime interval invariant. Like
boosts, successive rotations about different axes do not commute. Unlike boosts, the composition of
any two rotations is equivalent to a single rotation. Some other similarities and differences between the
boost and rotation matrices include:
inverses: B(v)−1 = B(−v) (relative motion in the opposite direction), and R(θ)−1 = R(−θ) (rotation in the
opposite sense about the same axis)
identity transformation for no relative motion/rotation: B(0) = R(0) = I
unit determinant: det(B) = det(R) = +1. This property makes them proper transformations.
matrix symmetry: B is symmetric (equals transpose), while R is nonsymmetric but orthogonal (transpose
equals inverse, RT = R−1).
The most general proper Lorentz transformation Λ(v, θ) includes a boost and rotation together, and is a
nonsymmetric matrix. As special cases, Λ(0, θ) = R(θ) and Λ(v, 0) = B(v). An explicit form of the general
Lorentz transformation is cumbersome to write down and will not be given here. Nevertheless, closed
form expressions for the transformation matrices will be given below using group theoretical arguments.
It will be easier to use the rapidity parametrization for boosts, in which case one writes Λ(ζ, θ) and B(ζ).
The Lie group SO+(3,1)
The set of transformations
{\displaystyle \{B({\boldsymbol {\zeta }}),R({\boldsymbol {\theta }}),\Lambda ({\boldsymbol {\zeta }},
{\boldsymbol {\theta }})\}}
with matrix multiplication as the operation of composition forms a group, called the "restricted Lorentz
group", and is the special indefinite orthogonal group SO+(3,1). (The plus sign indicates that it preserves
the orientation of the temporal dimension).
For simplicity, look at the infinitesimal Lorentz boost in the x direction (examining a boost in any other
direction, or rotation about any axis, follows an identical procedure). The infinitesimal boost is a small
boost away from the identity, obtained by the Taylor expansion of the boost matrix to first order
about ζ = 0,
{\displaystyle B_{x}=I+\zeta \left.{\frac {\partial B_{x}}{\partial \zeta }}\right|_{\zeta =0}+\cdots }
where the higher order terms not shown are negligible because ζ is small, and Bx is simply the boost
matrix in the x direction. The derivative of the matrix is the matrix of derivatives (of the entries, with
respect to the same variable), and it is understood the derivatives are found first then evaluated at ζ = 0,
{\displaystyle \left.{\frac {\partial B_{x}}{\partial \zeta }}\right|_{\zeta =0}=-K_{x}\,.}
For now, Kx is defined by this result (its significance will be explained shortly). In the limit of an infinite
number of infinitely small steps, the finite boost transformation in the form of a matrix exponential is
obtained
{\displaystyle B_{x}=\lim _{N\rightarrow \infty }\left(I-{\frac {\zeta }{N}}K_{x}\right)^{N}=e^{-\zeta K_{x}}}
where the limit definition of the exponential has been used (see also characterizations of the
exponential function). More generally[nb 5]
{\displaystyle B({\boldsymbol {\zeta }})=e^{-{\boldsymbol {\zeta }}\cdot \mathbf {K} }\,,\quad
R({\boldsymbol {\theta }})=e^{{\boldsymbol {\theta }}\cdot \mathbf {J} }\,.}
The axis-angle vector θ and rapidity vector ζ are altogether six continuous variables which make up the
group parameters (in this particular representation), and the generators of the group are K = (Kx, Ky,
Kz) and J = (Jx, Jy, Jz), each vectors of matrices with the explicit forms[nb 6]
{\displaystyle
K_{x}={\begin{bmatrix}0&1&0&0\\1&0&0&0\\0&0&0&0\\0&0&0&0\\\end{bmatrix}}\,,\quad
K_{y}={\begin{bmatrix}0&0&1&0\\0&0&0&0\\1&0&0&0\\0&0&0&0\end{bmatrix}}\,,\quad
K_{z}={\begin{bmatrix}0&0&0&1\\0&0&0&0\\0&0&0&0\\1&0&0&0\end{bmatrix}}}
{\displaystyle J_{x}={\begin{bmatrix}0&0&0&0\\0&0&0&0\\0&0&0&-
1\\0&0&1&0\\\end{bmatrix}}\,,\quad J_{y}={\begin{bmatrix}0&0&0&0\\0&0&0&1\\0&0&0&0\\0&-
1&0&0\end{bmatrix}}\,,\quad J_{z}={\begin{bmatrix}0&0&0&0\\0&0&-
1&0\\0&1&0&0\\0&0&0&0\end{bmatrix}}}
These are all defined in an analogous way to Kx above, although the minus signs in the boost generators
are conventional. Physically, the generators of the Lorentz group correspond to important symmetries in
spacetime: J are the rotation generators which correspond to angular momentum, and K are the boost
generators which correspond to the motion of the system in spacetime. The derivative of any smooth
curve C(t) with C(0) = I in the group depending on some group parameter t with respect to that group
parameter, evaluated at t = 0, serves as a definition of a corresponding group generator G, and this
reflects an infinitesimal transformation away from the identity. The smooth curve can always be taken
as an exponential as the exponential will always map G smoothly back into the group via t → exp(tG) for
all t; this curve will yield G again when differentiated at t = 0.
Expanding the exponentials in their Taylor series obtains
{\displaystyle B({\boldsymbol {\zeta }})=I-\sinh \zeta (\mathbf {n} \cdot \mathbf {K} )+(\cosh \zeta -1)
(\mathbf {n} \cdot \mathbf {K} )^{2}}
{\displaystyle R({\boldsymbol {\theta }})=I+\sin \theta (\mathbf {e} \cdot \mathbf {J} )+(1-\cos \theta )
(\mathbf {e} \cdot \mathbf {J} )^{2}\,.}
which compactly reproduce the boost and rotation matrices as given in the previous section.
It has been stated that the general proper Lorentz transformation is a product of a boost and rotation.
At the infinitesimal level the product
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\Lambda &=(I-{\boldsymbol {\zeta }}\cdot \mathbf {K} +\cdots )(I+
{\boldsymbol {\theta }}\cdot \mathbf {J} +\cdots )\\&=(I+{\boldsymbol {\theta }}\cdot \mathbf {J}
+\cdots )(I-{\boldsymbol {\zeta }}\cdot \mathbf {K} +\cdots )\\&=I-{\boldsymbol {\zeta }}\cdot \mathbf
{K} +{\boldsymbol {\theta }}\cdot \mathbf {J} +\cdots \end{aligned}}}
is commutative because only linear terms are required (products like (θ·J)(ζ·K) and (ζ·K)(θ·J) count as
higher order terms and are negligible). Taking the limit as before leads to the finite transformation in the
form of an exponential
{\displaystyle \Lambda ({\boldsymbol {\zeta }},{\boldsymbol {\theta }})=e^{-{\boldsymbol
{\zeta }}\cdot \mathbf {K} +{\boldsymbol {\theta }}\cdot \mathbf {J} }.}
The converse is also true, but the decomposition of a finite general Lorentz transformation into such
factors is nontrivial. In particular,
{\displaystyle e^{-{\boldsymbol {\zeta }}\cdot \mathbf {K} +{\boldsymbol {\theta }}\cdot \mathbf
{J} }\neq e^{-{\boldsymbol {\zeta }}\cdot \mathbf {K} }e^{{\boldsymbol {\theta }}\cdot \mathbf {J} },}
because the generators do not commute. For a description of how to find the factors of a general
Lorentz transformation in terms of a boost and a rotation in principle(this usually does not yield an
intelligible expression in terms of generators J and K), see Wigner rotation. If, on the other hand, the
decomposition is given in terms of the generators, and one wants to find the product in terms of the
generators, then the Baker–Campbell–Hausdorff formula applies.
The Lie algebra so(3,1)
Lorentz generators can be added together, or multiplied by real numbers, to obtain more Lorentz
generators. In other words, the set of all Lorentz generators
{\displaystyle V=\{{\boldsymbol {\zeta }}\cdot \mathbf {K} +{\boldsymbol {\theta }}\cdot \mathbf {J} \}}
together with the operations of ordinary matrix addition and multiplication of a matrix by a number,
forms a vector space over the real numbers.[nb 7] The generators Jx, Jy, Jz, Kx, Ky, Kz form a basis set
of V, and the components of the axis-angle and rapidity vectors, θx, θy, θz, ζx, ζy, ζz, are
the coordinates of a Lorentz generator with respect to this basis.[nb 8]
Three of the commutation relations of the Lorentz generators are
{\displaystyle [J_{x},J_{y}]=J_{z}\,,\quad [K_{x},K_{y}]=-J_{z}\,,\quad [J_{x},K_{y}]=K_{z}\,,}
where the bracket [A, B] = AB − BA is known as the commutator, and the other relations can be found by
taking cyclic permutations of x, y, z components (i.e. change x to y, y to z, and z to x, repeat).
These commutation relations, and the vector space of generators, fulfill the definition of the Lie
algebra {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {so}}(3,1)} . In summary, a Lie algebra is defined as a vector
space V over a field of numbers, and with a binary operation [ , ] (called a Lie bracket in this context) on
the elements of the vector space, satisfying the axioms of bilinearity, alternatization, and the Jacobi
identity. Here the operation [ , ] is the commutator which satisfies all of these axioms, the vector space
is the set of Lorentz generators V as given previously, and the field is the set of real numbers.
Linking terminology used in mathematics and physics: A group generator is any element of the Lie
algebra. A group parameter is a component of a coordinate vector representing an arbitrary element of
the Lie algebra with respect to some basis. A basis, then, is a set of generators being a basis of the Lie
algebra in the usual vector space sense.
The exponential map from the Lie algebra to the Lie group,
{\displaystyle \mathrm {exp} \,:\,{\mathfrak {so}}(3,1)\rightarrow \mathrm {SO} (3,1),}
provides a one-to-one correspondence between small enough neighborhoods of the origin of the Lie
algebra and neighborhoods of the identity element of the Lie group. It the case of the Lorentz group, the
exponential map is just the matrix exponential. Globally, the exponential map is not one-to-one, but in
the case of the Lorentz group, it is surjective (onto). Hence any group element can be expressed as an
exponential of an element of the Lie algebra.
Improper transformations
which negates the time coordinate only, because these transformations leave the spacetime interval
invariant. Here I is the 3d identity matrix. These are both symmetric, they are their own inverses
(see involution (mathematics)), and each have determinant −1. This latter property makes them
improper transformations.
If Λ is a proper orthochronous Lorentz transformation, then TΛ is improper antichronous, PΛ is improper
orthochronous, and TPΛ = PTΛ is proper antichronous.
Inhomogeneous Lorentz group
Two other spacetime symmetries have not been accounted for. For the spacetime interval to be
invariant, it can be shown[16] that it is necessary and sufficient for the coordinate transformation to be
of the form
{\displaystyle X'=\Lambda X+C}
where C is a constant column containing translations in time and space. If C ≠ 0, this is
an inhomogeneous Lorentz transformation or Poincaré transformation.[17][18] If C = 0, this is
a homogeneous Lorentz transformation. Poincaré transformations are not dealt further in this article.
Tensor formulation
Representation theory of the Lorentz group
For the notation used, see Ricci calculus.
Contravariant vectors
Writing the general matrix transformation of coordinates as the matrix equation
{\displaystyle {\begin{bmatrix}{x'}^{0}\\{x'}^{1}\\{x'}^{2}\\{x'}^{3}\end{bmatrix}}={\begin{bmatrix}
{\Lambda ^{0}}_{0}&{\Lambda ^{0}}_{1}&{\Lambda ^{0}}_{2}&{\Lambda ^{0}}_{3}\\{\Lambda
^{1}}_{0}&{\Lambda ^{1}}_{1}&{\Lambda ^{1}}_{2}&{\Lambda ^{1}}_{3}\\{\Lambda ^{2}}_{0}&{\Lambda
^{2}}_{1}&{\Lambda ^{2}}_{2}&{\Lambda ^{2}}_{3}\\{\Lambda ^{3}}_{0}&{\Lambda ^{3}}_{1}&{\Lambda
^{3}}_{2}&{\Lambda ^{3}}_{3}\\\end{bmatrix}}{\begin{bmatrix}x^{0}\\x^{1}\\x^{2}\\x^{3}\end{bmatrix}}}
allows the transformation of other physical quantities that cannot be expressed as four-vectors;
e.g., tensors or spinors of any order in 4d spacetime, to be defined. In the corresponding tensor index
notation, the above matrix expression is
{\displaystyle {x^{\prime }}^{\nu }={\Lambda ^{\nu }}_{\mu }x^{\mu },}
where lower and upper indices label covariant and contravariant components respectively,[19] and
the summation convention is applied. It is a standard convention to use Greek indices that take the
value 0 for time components, and 1, 2, 3 for space components, while Latin indices simply take the
values 1, 2, 3, for spatial components. Note that the first index (reading left to right) corresponds in the
matrix notation to a row index. The second index corresponds to the column index.
The transformation matrix is universal for all four-vectors, not just 4-dimensional spacetime coordinates.
If A is any four-vector, then in tensor index notation
{\displaystyle {A^{\prime }}^{\nu }={\Lambda ^{\nu }}_{\mu }A^{\mu }\,.}
Alternatively, one writes
{\displaystyle A^{\nu '}={\Lambda ^{\nu '}}_{\mu }A^{\mu }\,.}
in which the primed indices denote the indices of A in the primed frame. This notation cuts risk of
exhausting the Greek alphabet roughly in half.
For a general n-component object one may write
{\displaystyle {X'}^{\alpha }={\Pi (\Lambda )^{\alpha }}_{\beta }X^{\beta }\,,}
where Π is the appropriate representation of the Lorentz group, an n×n matrix for every Λ. In this case,
the indices should not be thought of as spacetime indices (sometimes called Lorentz indices), and they
run from 1 to n. E.g., if X is a bispinor, then the indices are called Dirac indices.
Covariant vectors
There are also vector quantities with covariant indices. They are generally obtained from their
corresponding objects with contravariant indices by the operation of lowering an index; e.g.,
{\displaystyle x_{\nu }=\eta _{\mu \nu }x^{\mu },}
where η is the metric tensor. (The linked article also provides more information about what the
operation of raising and lowering indices really is mathematically.) The inverse of this transformation is
given by
{\displaystyle x^{\mu }=\eta ^{\mu \nu }x_{\nu },}
where, when viewed as matrices, ημν is the inverse of ημν. As it happens, ημν = ημν. This is referred to
as raising an index. To transform a covariant vector Aμ, first raise its index, then transform it according
to the same rule as for contravariant 4-vectors, then finally lower the index;
{\displaystyle {A'}_{\nu }=\eta _{\rho \nu }{\Lambda ^{\rho }}_{\sigma }\eta ^{\mu \sigma }A_{\mu }.}
{\displaystyle \eta _{\rho \nu }{\Lambda ^{\rho }}_{\sigma }\eta ^{\mu
\sigma }={\left(\Lambda ^{-1}\right)^{\mu }}_{\nu },}
I. e., it is the (μ, ν)-component of the inverse Lorentz transformation. One defines (as a matter of
notation),
{\displaystyle {\Lambda _{\nu }}^{\mu }\equiv {\left(\Lambda ^{-1}\right)^{\mu }}_{\nu },}
{\displaystyle {A'}_{\nu }={\Lambda _{\nu }}^{\mu }A_{\mu }.}
Now for a subtlety. The implied summation on the right hand side of
{\displaystyle {A'}_{\nu }={\Lambda _{\nu }}^{\mu }A_{\mu }={\left(\Lambda ^{-1}\right)^{\mu }}_{\nu }
A_{\mu }}
is running over a row index of the matrix representing Λ−1. Thus, in terms of matrices, this
transformation should be thought of as the inverse transpose of Λ acting on the column vector Aμ. That
is, in pure matrix notation,
{\displaystyle A'=\left(\Lambda ^{-1}\right)^{\mathrm {T} }A.}
This means exactly that covariant vectors (thought of as column matrices) transform according to
the dual representation of the standard representation of the Lorentz group. This notion generalizes to
general representations, simply replace Λ with Π(Λ).
Tensors
If A and B are linear operators on vector spaces U and V, then a linear operator A ⊗ B may be defined
on the tensor product of U and V, denoted U ⊗ V according to
From this it is immediately clear that if u and v are a four-vectors in V,
then u ⊗ v ∈ T2V ≡ V ⊗ V transforms as
The second step uses the bilinearity of the tensor product and the last step defines a 2-tensor on
component form, or rather, it just renames the tensor u ⊗ v.
These observations generalize in an obvious way to more factors, and using the fact that a general
tensor on a vector space V can be written as a sum of a coefficient (component!) times tensor products
of basis vectors and basis covectors, one arrives at the transformation law for any tensor quantity T. It is
given by
where Λχ′ψ is defined above. This form can generally be reduced to the form for general n-component
objects given above with a single matrix (Π(Λ)) operating on column vectors. This latter form is
sometimes preferred; e.g., for the electromagnetic field tensor.
Transformation of the electromagnetic field
Lorentz boost of an electric charge, the charge is at rest in one frame or the other.
Main article: Electromagnetic tensor
Source; Maschen - Own work
Lorentz boost of an electric charge, the charge is at rest one of the frames.
Further information: classical electromagnetism and special relativity
Lorentz transformations can also be used to illustrate that the magnetic field B and electric field E are
simply different aspects of the same force — the electromagnetic force, as a consequence of relative
motion between electric charges and observers.[22] The fact that the electromagnetic field shows
relativistic effects becomes clear by carrying out a simple thought experiment
An observer measures a charge at rest in frame F. The observer will detect a static electric field. As the
charge is stationary in this frame, there is no electric current, so the observer does not observe any
magnetic field.
The other observer in frame F′ moves at velocity v relative to F and the charge. This observer sees a
different electric field because the charge moves at velocity −v in their rest frame. The motion of the
charge corresponds to an electric current, and thus the observer in frame F′ also sees a magnetic field.
The electric and magnetic fields transform differently from space and time, but exactly the same way as
relativistic angular momentum and the boost vector.
The electromagnetic field strength tensor is given by
in SI units. In relativity, the Gaussian system of units is often preferred over SI units, even in texts whose
main choice of units is SI units, because in it the electric field E and the magnetic induction B have the
same units making the appearance of the electromagnetic field tensor more natural.[24] Consider a
Lorentz boost in the x-direction. It is given by[25]
{\displaystyle {\Lambda ^{\mu }}_{\nu }={\begin{bmatrix}\gamma &-\gamma \beta &0&0\\-\gamma
\beta &\gamma &0&0\\0&0&1&0\\0&0&0&1\\\end{bmatrix}},\qquad F^{\mu \nu }
={\begin{bmatrix}0&E_{x}&E_{y}&E_{z}\\-E_{x}&0&B_{z}&-B_{y}\\-E_{y}&-B_{z}&0&B_{x}\\-
E_{z}&B_{y}&-B_{x}&0\end{bmatrix}}{\text{(Gaussian units, signature }}(-,+,+,+){\text{)}},}
where the field tensor is displayed side by side for easiest possible reference in the manipulations
below.
The general transformation law (T3) becomes
{\displaystyle F^{\mu '\nu '}={\Lambda ^{\mu '}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{\nu '}}_{\nu }F^{\mu \nu }.}
For the magnetic field one obtains
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}B_{x'}&=F^{2'3'}={\Lambda ^{2}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{3}}_{\nu }F^{\mu \nu }
={\Lambda ^{2}}_{2}{\Lambda ^{3}}_{3}F^{23}=1\times 1\times
B_{x}\\&=B_{x},\\B_{y'}&=F^{3'1'}={\Lambda ^{3}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{1}}_{\nu }F^{\mu \nu }={\Lambda
^{3}}_{3}{\Lambda ^{1}}_{\nu }F^{3\nu }={\Lambda ^{3}}_{3}{\Lambda ^{1}}_{0}F^{30}+{\Lambda
^{3}}_{3}{\Lambda ^{1}}_{1}F^{31}\\&=1\times (-\beta \gamma )(-E_{z})+1\times \gamma
B_{y}=\gamma B_{y}+\beta \gamma E_{z}\\&=\gamma \left(\mathbf {B} -{\boldsymbol
{\beta }}\times \mathbf {E} \right)_{y}\\B_{z'}&=F^{1'2'}={\Lambda ^{1}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{2}}_{\nu }
F^{\mu \nu }={\Lambda ^{1}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{2}}_{2}F^{\mu 2}={\Lambda ^{1}}_{0}{\Lambda
^{2}}_{2}F^{02}+{\Lambda ^{1}}_{1}{\Lambda ^{2}}_{2}F^{12}\\&=(-\gamma \beta )\times 1\times E_{y}
+\gamma \times 1\times B_{z}=\gamma B_{z}-\beta \gamma E_{y}\\&=\gamma \left(\mathbf {B} -
{\boldsymbol {\beta }}\times \mathbf {E} \right)_{z}\end{aligned}}}
For the electric field results
{\displaystyle
{\begin{aligned}E_{x'}&=F^{0'1'}={\Lambda ^{0}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{1}}_{\nu }F^{\mu \nu }={\Lambda
^{0}}_{1}{\Lambda ^{1}}_{0}F^{10}+{\Lambda ^{0}}_{0}{\Lambda ^{1}}_{1}F^{01}\\&=(-\gamma \beta )
(-\gamma \beta )(-E_{x})+\gamma \gamma E_{x}=-\gamma ^{2}\beta ^{2}(E_{x})+\gamma
^{2}E_{x}=E_{x}(1-\beta ^{2})\gamma ^{2}\\&=E_{x},\\E_{y'}&=F^{0'2'}={\Lambda ^{0}}_{\mu }{\Lambda
^{2}}_{\nu }F^{\mu \nu }={\Lambda ^{0}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{2}}_{2}F^{\mu 2}={\Lambda ^{0}}_{0}
{\Lambda ^{2}}_{2}F^{02}+{\Lambda ^{0}}_{1}{\Lambda ^{2}}_{2}F^{12}\\&=\gamma \times 1\times
E_{y}+(-\beta \gamma )\times 1\times B_{z}=\gamma E_{y}-\beta \gamma B_{z}\\&=\gamma
\left(\mathbf {E} +{\boldsymbol {\beta }}\times \mathbf {B} \right)_{y}\\E_{z'}&=F^{0'3'}={\Lambda
^{0}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{3}}_{\nu }F^{\mu \nu }={\Lambda ^{0}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{3}}_{3}F^{\mu
3}={\Lambda ^{0}}_{0}{\Lambda ^{3}}_{3}F^{03}+{\Lambda ^{0}}_{1}{\Lambda
^{3}}_{3}F^{13}\\&=\gamma \times 1\times E_{z}-\beta \gamma \times 1\times (-B_{y})=\gamma E_{z}
+\beta \gamma B_{y}\\&=\gamma \left(\mathbf {E} +{\boldsymbol {\beta }}\times \mathbf {B}
\right)_{z}.\end{aligned}}}
Here, β = (β, 0, 0) is used. These results can be summarized by
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\mathbf {E} _{\parallel '}&=\mathbf {E} _{\parallel }\\\mathbf {B}
_{\parallel '}&=\mathbf {B} _{\parallel }\\\mathbf {E} _{\bot '}&=\gamma \left(\mathbf {E} _{\bot }+
{\boldsymbol {\beta }}\times \mathbf {B} _{\bot }\right)=\gamma \left(\mathbf {E} +{\boldsymbol {\beta
}}\times \mathbf {B} \right)_{\bot },\\\mathbf {B} _{\bot '}&=\gamma \left(\mathbf {B} _{\bot }-
{\boldsymbol {\beta }}\times \mathbf {E} _{\bot }\right)=\gamma \left(\mathbf {B} -{\boldsymbol
{\beta }}\times \mathbf {E} \right)_{\bot },\end{aligned}}}
and are independent of the metric signature. For SI units, substitute E → E⁄c. Misner, Thorne & Wheeler
(1973) refer to this last form as the 3 + 1 view as opposed to the geometric view represented by the
tensor expression
{\displaystyle F^{\mu '\nu '}={\Lambda ^{\mu '}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{\nu '}}_{\nu }F^{\mu \nu },}
and make a strong point of the ease with which results that are difficult to achieve using the 3 + 1 view
can be obtained and understood. Only objects that have well defined Lorentz transformation properties
(in fact under any smooth coordinate transformation) are geometric objects. In the geometric view, the
electromagnetic field is a six-dimensional geometric object in spacetime as opposed to two
interdependent, but separate, 3-vector fields in space and time. The fields E (alone) and B (alone) do not
have well defined Lorentz transformation properties. The mathematical underpinnings are
equations (T1) and (T2) that immediately yield (T3). One should note that the primed and unprimed
tensors refer to the same event in spacetime. Thus the complete equation with spacetime dependence
is
{\displaystyle F^{\mu '\nu '}\left(x'\right)={\Lambda ^{\mu '}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{\nu '}}_{\nu }F^{\mu
\nu }\left(\Lambda ^{-1}x'\right)={\Lambda ^{\mu '}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{\nu '}}_{\nu }F^{\mu \nu }(x).}
Length contraction has an effect on charge density ρ and current density J, and time dilation has an
effect on the rate of flow of charge (current), so charge and current distributions must transform in a
related way under a boost. It turns out they transform exactly like the space-time and energy-
momentum four-vectors,
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\mathbf {j} '&=\mathbf {j} -\gamma \rho v\mathbf {n} +\left(\gamma
-1\right)(\mathbf {j} \cdot \mathbf {n} )\mathbf {n} \\\rho '&=\gamma \left(\rho -\mathbf {j} \cdot
{\frac {v\mathbf {n} }{c^{2}}}\right),\end{aligned}}}
or, in the simpler geometric view,
{\displaystyle j^{\mu ^{\prime }}={\Lambda ^{\mu '}}_{\mu }j^{\mu }.}
One says that charge density transforms as the time component of a four-vector. It is a rotational scalar.
The current density is a 3-vector.
The Maxwell equations are invariant under Lorentz transformations.
Spinors
Equation (T1) hold unmodified for any representation of the Lorentz group, including
the bispinor representation. In (T2) one simply replaces all occurrences of Λ by the bispinor
representation Π(Λ),
The above equation could, for instance, be the transformation of a state in Fock space describing two
free electrons.
Transformation of general fields
A general noninteracting multi-particle state (Fock space state) in quantum field theory transforms
according to the rule
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}&U(\Lambda ,a)\Psi _{p_{1}\sigma _{1}n_{1};p_{2}\sigma
_{2}n_{2};\cdots }\\={}&e^{-ia_{\mu }\left[(\Lambda p_{1})^{\mu }+(\Lambda p_{2})^{\mu }
+\cdots \right]}{\sqrt {\frac {(\Lambda p_{1})^{0}(\Lambda p_{2})^{0}\cdots }
{p_{1}^{0}p_{2}^{0}\cdots }}}\left(\sum _{\sigma _{1}'\sigma _{2}'\cdots }D_{\sigma _{1}'\sigma
_{1}}^{(j_{1})}\left[W(\Lambda ,p_{1})\right]D_{\sigma _{2}'\sigma
_{2}}^{(j_{2})}\left[W(\Lambda ,p_{2})\right]\cdots \right)\Psi _{\Lambda p_{1}\sigma
_{1}'n_{1};\Lambda p_{2}\sigma _{2}'n_{2};\cdots },\end{aligned}}}
where W(Λ, p) is the Wigner rotation and D(j) is the (2j + 1)-dimensional representation of SO(3).
RAW MATERIALS
APPARATUS
GREGORIAN CALENDAR
. The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used civil calendar in the world.[1][2][Note 1] It is named
after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in October 1582. The calendar spaces leap years to make the
average year 365.2425 days long, approximating the 365.2422 day tropical year that is determined by
the Earth's revolution around the Sun. The rule for leap years is as follows:
Every year that is exactly divisible by four is a leap year, except for years that are exactly divisible by 100,
but these centurial years are leap years if they are exactly divisible by 400. For example, the years 1700,
1800, and 1900 are not leap years, but the year 2000 is.[3]
The calendar was developed as a correction to the Julian calendar,[4] shortening the average year by
0.0075 days to stop the drift of the calendar with respect to the equinoxes. To deal with the 10 days'
difference (between calendar and reality) that this drift had already reached, the date was advanced so
that 4 October 1582 was followed by 15 October 1582. There was no discontinuity in the cycle of
weekdays or of the Anno Domini calendar era.[Note 2] The reform also altered the lunar cycle used by
the Church to calculate the date for Easter (computus), restoring it to the time of the year as originally
celebrated by the early Church.
The reform was adopted initially by the Catholic countries of Europe and their overseas possessions.
Over the next three centuries, the Protestant and Eastern Orthodox countries also moved to what they
called the Improved calendar, with Greece being the last European country to adopt the calendar in
1923.[6] To unambiguously specify a date during the transition period, dual dating is sometimes used to
specify both Old Style and New Style dates. Due to globalization in the 20th century, the calendar has
also been adopted by most non-Western countries for civil purposes. The calendar era carries the
alternative secular name of "Common Era".
2019 in various calendars
Gregorian calendar 2019
MMXIX
Ab urbe condita 2772
Armenian calendar 1468
ԹՎՌՆԿԸ
Assyrian calendar 6769
Bahá'í calendar 175–176
Balinese saka calendar 1940–1941
Bengali calendar 1426
Berber calendar 2969
British Regnal year 67 Eliz. 2 – 68 Eliz. 2
Buddhist calendar 2563
Burmese calendar 1381
Byzantine calendar 7527–7528
Chinese calendar 戊戌年 (Earth Dog)
4715 or 4655
— to —
己亥年 (Earth Pig)
4716 or 4656
Coptic calendar 1735–1736
Discordian calendar 3185
Ethiopian calendar 2011–2012
Hebrew calendar 5779–5780
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat 2075–2076
- Shaka Samvat 1940–1941
- Kali Yuga 5119–5120
Holocene calendar 12019
Igbo calendar 1019–1020
Iranian calendar 1397–1398
Islamic calendar 1440–1441
Japanese calendar Heisei 31
(平成３１年)
Javanese calendar 1952–1953
Juche calendar 108
Julian calendar Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar 4352
Minguo calendar ROC 108
民國 108 年
Nanakshahi calendar 551
Thai solar calendar 2562
Tibetan calendar 阳土狗年
(male Earth-Dog)
2145 or 1764 or 992
— to —
阴土猪年
(female Earth-Pig)
2146 or 1765 or 993
Unix time 1546300800 – 1577836799
DESCRIPTION OF GREGORIAN CALENDER.
The Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar with 12 months of 28–31 days each. A regular Gregorian year
consists of 365 days, but in certain years known as leap years, a leap day is added to February. Gregorian
years are identified by consecutive year numbers.[7] A calendar date is fully specified by the year
(numbered according to a calendar era, in this case Anno Domini or Common Era), the month (identified
by name or number), and the day of the month (numbered sequentially starting from 1). Although the
calendar year currently runs from 1 January to 31 December, at previous times year numbers were
based on a different starting point within the calendar (see the "beginning of the year" section below).
A year is divided into twelve months
No. Name Length in days
1 January 31
2 February 28 (29 in leap years)
3 March 31
4 April 30
5 May 31
6 June 30
7 July 31
8 August 31
9 September 30
10 October 31
11 November 30
12 December 31
In the Julian calendar, a leap year occurred every 4 years, and the leap day was inserted by doubling 24
February. The Gregorian reform omitted a leap day in three of every 400 years and left the leap day
unchanged. However, it has become customary in the modern period to number the days sequentially
with no gaps, and 29 February is typically considered as the leap day. Before the 1969 revision of the
Roman Calendar, the Roman Catholic Church delayed February feasts after the 23rd by one day in leap
years; Masses celebrated according to the previous calendar still reflect this delay.[8]
Calendar cycles repeat completely every 400 years, which equals 146,097 days.[Note 3][Note 4] Of these
400 years, 303 are regular years of 365 days and 97 are leap years of 366 days. A mean calendar year
is 365 97/400 days = 365.2425 days, or 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes and 12 seconds.[
Pope Gregory XIII in an early 17th-century engraving
Esaias van Hulsen - Engraving, 30.5 x 18.6 cm / Sheet: 32.1 x 20.6 cm. Retrieved from the Smithsonian
Institution Libraries,Gregory XIII, Pope (1502 - 1585)
Gregory XIII, Pope (1502 - 1585)
Christopher Clavius (1538–1612), one of the main authors of the reform
Francesco Villamena - Immediate source: http://www.sil.si.edu/digitalcollections/hst/scientific-
identity/fullsize/SIL14-C4-02a.jpg (note engraving has "CHRISTOPHORVS CLAVIVS BAMBERGENSIS" and
"Franciscus Villamoena Fe. Rome Anno 1606") Ultimate source: A 16th century engraving after a
painting by Francisco Villamena. (source for artist: [1])
Christopher Clavius (1538–1612), German mathematician and astronomer.
Gregorian reform
The Gregorian calendar was a reform of the Julian calendar. It was instituted in 1582 by Pope Gregory
XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by papal bull Inter gravissimas dated 24 February 1582.[4] The
motivation for the adjustment was to bring the date for the celebration of Easter to the time of year in
which it was celebrated when it was introduced by the early Church. The error in the Julian calendar (its
assumption that there are exactly 365.25 days in a year) had led to the date of the equinox according to
the calendar drifting from the observed reality, and thus an error had been introduced into
the calculation of the date of Easter. Although a recommendation of the First Council of Nicaea in 325
specified that all Christians should celebrate Easter on the same day, it took almost five centuries before
virtually all Christians achieved that objective by adopting the rules of the Church of Alexandria
(see Easter for the issues which arose).[Note 6]
Background
Computus
Because the date of Easter was tied to the Spring Equinox, the Roman Catholic Church considered the
seasonal drift in the date of Easter undesirable. The Church of Alexandria celebrated Easter on the
Sunday after the 14th day of the moon (computed using the Metonic cycle) that falls on or after the
vernal equinox, which they placed on 21 March. However, the Church of Rome still regarded 25 March
(Lady Day) as the equinox (until 342), and used a different cycle to compute the day of the moon.[10] In
the Alexandrian system, since the 14th day of the Easter moon could fall at earliest on 21 March its first
day could fall no earlier than 8 March and no later than 5 April. This meant that Easter varied between
22 March and 25 April. In Rome, Easter was not allowed to fall later than 21 April, that being the day of
the Parilia or birthday of Rome and a pagan festival. The first day of the Easter moon could fall no earlier
than 5 March and no later than 2 April.
Easter was the Sunday after the 15th day of this moon, whose 14th day was allowed to precede the
equinox. Where the two systems produced different dates there was generally a compromise so that
both churches were able to celebrate on the same day. By the 10th century all churches (except some
on the eastern border of the Byzantine Empire) had adopted the Alexandrian Easter, which still placed
the vernal equinox on 21 March, although Bede had already noted its drift in 725—it had drifted even
further by the 16th century.[11]
Worse, the reckoned Moon that was used to compute Easter was fixed to the Julian year by a 19-year
cycle. That approximation built up an error of one day every 310 years, so by the 16th century the lunar
calendar was out of phase with the real Moon by four days.
European scholars had been well aware of the calendar drift since the early medieval period. Bede,
writing in the 8th century, showed that the accumulated error in his day was more than three
days. Roger Bacon in c. 1200 estimated the error at seven or eight days. Dante, writing c. 1300, was
aware of the need of a calendar reform. The first attempt to go forward with such a reform was
undertaken by Pope Sixtus IV, who in 1475 invited Regiomontanus to the Vatican for this purpose.
However, the project was interrupted by the death of Regiomontanus shortly after his arrival in Rome.
[12] The increase of astronomical knowledge and the precision of observations towards the end of the
15th century made the question more pressing. Numerous publications over the following decades
called for a calendar reform, among them two papers sent to the Vatican by the University of
Salamanca in 1515 and 1578,[13]but the project was not taken up again until the 1540s, and
implemented only under Pope Gregory XIII (r. 1572–1585).
First page of the papal bull Inter gravissimas
Source;Pope Gregory XIII - http://www.henk-reints.nl/cal/gregcal.htm
The first page of the papal bull "Inter Gravissimas" by which Pope Gregory XIII introduced his calendar.
Detail of the pope's tomb by Camillo Rusconi (completed 1723); Antonio Lilio is genuflecting before the
pope, presenting his printed calendar.
Source;amillo Rusconi (1658–1728); photograph de:User:Rsuessbr - Own work
Inscription on the grave of Gregory XIII, St. Peter's Basilica, gregorian calendar
Preparation
In 1545, the Council of Trent authorized Pope Paul III to reform the calendar, requiring that the date of
the vernal equinox be restored to that which it held at the time of the First Council of Nicaea in 325 and
that an alteration to the calendar be designed to prevent future drift. This would allow for a more
consistent and accurate scheduling of the feast of Easter.
In 1577, a Compendium was sent to expert mathematicians outside the reform commission for
comments. Some of these experts, including Giambattista Benedetti and Giuseppe Moleto, believed
Easter should be computed from the true motions of the sun and moon, rather than using a tabular
method, but these recommendations were not adopted.[14] The reform adopted was a modification of
a proposal made by the Calabrian doctor Aloysius Lilius (or Lilio).[15]
Lilius's proposal included reducing the number of leap years in four centuries from 100 to 97, by making
three out of four centurial years common instead of leap years. He also produced an original and
practical scheme for adjusting the epacts of the moon when calculating the annual date of Easter,
solving a long-standing obstacle to calendar reform.
Ancient tables provided the sun's mean longitude.[16][17] The German mathematician Christopher
Clavius, the architect of the Gregorian calendar, noted that the tables agreed neither on the time when
the sun passed through the vernal equinox nor on the length of the mean tropical year. Tycho Brahe also
noticed discrepancies.[18][19]The Gregorian leap year rule (97 leap years in 400 years) was put forward
by Petrus Pitatus of Verona in 1560. He noted that it is consistent with the tropical year of the Alfonsine
tables and with the mean tropical year of Copernicus (De revolutionibus) and Erasmus
Reinhold (Prutenic tables). The three mean tropical years in Babylonian sexagesimals as the excess over
365 days (the way they would have been extracted from the tables of mean longitude) were 14,33,9,57
(Alfonsine), 14,33,11,12 (Copernicus) and 14,33,9,24 (Reinhold). All values are the same to two places
(14:33) and this is also the mean length of the Gregorian year. Thus Pitatus' solution would have
commended itself to the astronomers.[20]
Lilius's proposals had two components. Firstly, he proposed a correction to the length of the year. The
mean tropical year is 365.24219 days long.[21] A commonly used value in Lilius's time, from the
Alfonsine tables, is 365.2425463 days.[22] As the average length of a Julian year is 365.25 days, the
Julian year is almost 11 minutes longer than the mean tropical year. The discrepancy results in a drift of
about three days every 400 years. Lilius's proposal resulted in an average year of 365.2425 days
(see Accuracy). At the time of Gregory's reform there had already been a drift of 10 days since the
Council of Nicaea, resulting in the vernal equinox falling on 10 or 11 March instead of the ecclesiastically
fixed date of 21 March, and if unreformed it would drift further. Lilius proposed that the 10-day drift
should be corrected by deleting the Julian leap day on each of its ten occurrences over a period of forty
years, thereby providing for a gradual return of the equinox to 21 March.
Lilius's work was expanded upon by Christopher Clavius in a closely argued, 800-page volume. He would
later defend his and Lilius's work against detractors. Clavius's opinion was that the correction should
take place in one move, and it was this advice which prevailed with Gregory.
The second component consisted of an approximation which would provide an accurate yet simple,
rule-based calendar. Lilius's formula was a 10-day correction to revert the drift since the Council of
Nicaea, and the imposition of a leap day in only 97 years in 400 rather than in 1 year in 4. The proposed
rule was that years divisible by 100 would be leap years only if they were divisible by 400 as well.
The 19-year cycle used for the lunar calendar was also to be corrected by one day every 300 or 400
years (8 times in 2500 years) along with corrections for the years that are no longer leap years (i.e.,
1700, 1800, 1900, 2100, etc.). In fact, a new method for computing the date of Easter was introduced.
When the new calendar was put in use, the error accumulated in the 13 centuries since the Council of
Nicaea was corrected by a deletion of 10 days. The Julian calendar day Thursday, 4 October 1582 was
followed by the first day of the Gregorian calendar, Friday, 15 October 1582 (the cycle of weekdays was
not affected).
Adoption
Adoption of the Gregorian calendar
Although Gregory's reform was enacted in the most solemn of forms available to the Church, the bull
had no authority beyond the Catholic Church and the Papal States. The changes that he was proposing
were changes to the civil calendar, over which he had no authority. They required adoption by the civil
authorities in each country to have legal effect.
The bull Inter gravissimas became the law of the Catholic Church in 1582, but it was not recognised
by Protestant Churches, Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches, and a few others.
Consequently, the days on which Easter and related holidays were celebrated by different Christian
Churches again diverged.
A month after having decreed the reform, the pope with a brief of 3 April 1582 granted to Antonio Lilio,
the brother of Luigi Lilio, the exclusive right to publish the calendar for a period of ten years. The Lunario
Novo secondo la nuova riforma printed by Vincenzo Accolti, one of the first calendars printed in Rome
after the reform, notes at the bottom that it was signed with papal authorization and by Lilio (Con
licentia delli Superiori... et permissu Ant(onii) Lilij). The papal brief was later revoked, on 20 September
1582, because Antonio Lilio proved unable to keep up with the demand for copies.[23]
On 29 September 1582, Philip II of Spain decreed the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar.
[24] This affected much of Roman Catholic Europe, as Philip was at the time ruler over Spain and
Portugal as well as much of Italy. In these territories, as well as in the Polish–Lithuanian
Commonwealth[citation needed] (ruled by Anna Jagiellon) and in the Papal States, the new calendar
was implemented on the date specified by the bull, with Julian Thursday, 4 October 1582, being
followed by Gregorian Friday, 15 October 1582. The Spanish and Portuguese colonies followed
somewhat later de facto because of delay in communication.[25]
Many Protestant countries initially objected to adopting a Catholic innovation; some Protestants feared
the new calendar was part of a plot to return them to the Catholic fold. For example, the British could
not bring themselves to adopt the Catholic system explicitly: the Annexe to their Calendar (New Style)
Act 1750 established a computation for the date of Easter that achieved the same result as Gregory's
rules, without actually referring to him.[26]
Britain and the British Empire (including the eastern part of what is now the United States) adopted the
Gregorian calendar in 1752. Sweden followed in 1753.
Prior to 1917, Turkey used the lunar Islamic calendar with the Hegira era for general purposes and the
Julian calendar for fiscal purposes. The start of the fiscal year was eventually fixed at 1 March and the
year number was roughly equivalent to the Hegira year (see Rumi calendar). As the solar year is longer
than the lunar year this originally entailed the use of "escape years" every so often when the number of
the fiscal year would jump. From 1 March 1917 the fiscal year became Gregorian, rather than Julian. On
1 January 1926 the use of the Gregorian calendar was extended to include use for general purposes and
the number of the year became the same as in most other countries.
Adoption of the Gregorian Calendar
1500 1600 1700 1800 1900
1582: Spain, Portugal, 1610: Prussia 1700: 'Germany',[Note 1873: 1912: China,
France, Poland, Italy, 1648: Alsace 7] Swiss Cantons, Japan Albania
Catholic Low Countries, 1682: Protestant Low Countries, 1875: 1915: Latvia,
Luxemburg, and Strasbourg Norway, Denmark Egypt Lithuania
colonies 1752: Great Britain and 1896: 1916: Bulgaria
1584: Kingdom of colonies Korea 1918: Russia,
Bohemia 1753: Sweden and Finland Estonia
1919: Romania,
Yugoslavia[Note 8]
1923: Greece
1926: Turkey
Difference between Gregorian and Julian calendar dates
Conversion from Julian to Gregorian dates.[27]
Gregorian range Julian range Difference
From 15 October
From 5 October 1582
1582 10 days
to 18 February 1700
to 28 February 1700
From 1 March 1700 From 19 February 1700
11 days
to 28 February 1800 to 17 February 1800
From 1 March 1800 From 18 February 1800
12 days
to 28 February 1900 to 16 February 1900
From 1 March 1900 From 17 February 1900
13 days
to 28 February 2100 to 15 February 2100
From 1 March 2100 From 16 February 2100
14 days
to 28 February 2200 to 14 February 2200
Since the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, the difference between Gregorian and Julian calendar
dates has increased by three days every four centuries (all date ranges are inclusive):
This section always places the intercalary day on 29 February even though it was always obtained by
doubling 24 February (the bissextum (twice sixth) or bissextile day) until the late Middle Ages. The
Gregorian calendar is proleptic before 1582 (assumed to exist before 1582).
The following equation gives the number of days (actually, dates) that the Gregorian calendar is ahead
of the Julian calendar, called the secular difference between the two calendars. A negative difference
means the Julian calendar is ahead of the Gregorian calendar.[28]
{\displaystyle D=\left\lfloor {Y/100}\right\rfloor -\left\lfloor {Y/400}\right\rfloor -2}
where {\displaystyle D} is the secular difference and {\displaystyle Y} is the year
using astronomical year numbering, that is, use (year BC) − 1 for BC years. {\displaystyle \left\lfloor
{x}\right\rfloor } means that if the result of the division is not an integer it is rounded down to the
nearest integer. Thus during the 1900s, 1900/400 = 4, while during the −500s, −500/400 = −2.
The general rule, in years which are leap years in the Julian calendar but not the Gregorian, is as follows:
Up to 28 February in the calendar you are converting from add one day less or subtract one day more
than the calculated value. Remember to give February the appropriate number of days for the calendar
you are converting into. When you are subtracting days to move from Julian to Gregorian be careful,
when calculating the Gregorian equivalent of 29 February (Julian), to remember that 29 February is
discounted. Thus if the calculated value is −4 the Gregorian equivalent of this date is 24 February.[29]
[30]
Beginning of the year
Start numbered year Adoption of
Country
on 1 January Gregorian calendar
Gradual change from
Denmark 1700
13th to 16th centuries[31]
Holy Roman Empire (Catholic states) 1544 1583
Spain, Poland, Portugal 1556 1582
Holy Roman Empire (Protestant states) 1559 1700[Note 7]
Sweden 1559 1753
France 1564[33] 1582[n 1]
Southern Netherlands 1576[34] 1582
Lorraine 1579 1582[Note 9]
Dutch Republic 1583 1582
Scotland 1600[35][36] 1752
Russia 1700[37] 1918
Start numbered year Adoption of
Country
on 1 January Gregorian calendar
Tuscany 1750[38][39] 1582[40]
Great Britain and the British Empire
1752[35] 1752
except Scotland
Venice 1797[41] 1582
The year used in dates during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire was the consular year, which
began on the day when consuls first entered office probably 1 May before 222 BC, 15 March from 222
BC and 1 January from 153 BC.[42] The Julian calendar, which began in 45 BC, continued to use 1
January as the first day of the new year. Even though the year used for dates changed, the civil year
always displayed its months in the order January to December from the Roman Republican period until
the present.
During the Middle Ages, under the influence of the Catholic Church, many Western European countries
moved the start of the year to one of several important Christian festivals 25 December
(supposed Nativity of Jesus), 25 March (Annunciation), or Easter (France),[43] while the Byzantine
Empire began its year on 1 September and Russia did so on 1 March until 1492 when the new year was
moved to 1 September.[44]
In common usage, 1 January was regarded as New Year's Day and celebrated as such,[45] but from the
12th century until 1751 the legal year in England began on 25 March (Lady Day).[46] So, for example, the
Parliamentary record lists the execution of Charles I on 30 January as occurring in 1648 (as the year did
not end until 24 March),[47] although later histories adjust the start of the year to 1 January and record
the execution as occurring in 1649.[48]
Most Western European countries changed the start of the year to 1 January before they adopted the
Gregorian calendar. For example, Scotland changed the start of the Scottish New Year to 1 January in
1600 (this means that 1599 was a short year). England, Ireland and the British colonies changed the start
of the year to 1 January in 1752 (so 1751 was a short year with only 282 days) though in England the
start of the tax year remained at 25 March (O.S.), 5 April (N.S.) until 1800, when it moved to 6 April.
Later in 1752 in September the Gregorian calendar was introduced throughout Britain and the British
colonies (see the section Adoption). These two reforms were implemented by the Calendar (New Style)
Act 1750.[49]
In some countries, an official decree or law specified that the start of the year should be 1 January. For
such countries a specific year when a 1 January-year became the norm can be identified. In other
countries the customs varied, and the start of the year moved back and forth as fashion and influence
from other countries dictated various customs.
Neither the papal bull nor its attached canons explicitly fix such a date, though it is implied by two tables
of saint's days, one labelled 1582 which ends on 31 December, and another for any full year that begins
on 1 January. It also specifies its epact relative to 1 January, in contrast with the Julian calendar, which
specified it relative to 22 March. The old date was derived from the Greek system: the earlier Supputatio
Romana specified it relative to 1 January.
^ In 1793 France abandoned the Gregorian calendar in favour of the French Republican Calendar. This
change was reverted in 1805.
Dual dating
During the period between 1582, when the first countries adopted the Gregorian calendar, and 1923,
when the last European country adopted it, it was often necessary to indicate the date of some event in
both the Julian calendar and in the Gregorian calendar, for example, "10/21 February 1750/51", where
the dual year accounts for some countries already beginning their numbered year on 1 January while
others were still using some other date. Even before 1582, the year sometimes had to be double dated
because of the different beginnings of the year in various countries. Woolley, writing in his biography
of John Dee (1527–1608/9), notes that immediately after 1582 English letter writers "customarily" used
"two dates" on their letters, one OS and one NS.
.[
A 16th-century portrait by an unknown artis
50]
Old Style and New Style dates
Old Style and New Style dates and Dual dating
"Old Style" (OS) and "New Style" (NS) are sometimes added to dates to identify which calendar
reference system is used for the date given. In Britain and its Colonies, where the Calendar Act of
1750 altered the start of the year,[Note 10] and also aligned the British calendar with the Gregorian
calendar, there is some confusion as to what these terms mean. They can indicate that the start of
the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January (NS) even though contemporary documents use a
different start of year (OS); or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian calendar (OS), formerly in
use in many countries, rather than the Gregorian calendar (NS).[48][51][52][53]
Proleptic Gregorian calendar
Proleptic Gregorian calendar
Extending the Gregorian calendar backwards to dates preceding its official introduction produces a
proleptic calendar, which should be used with some caution. For ordinary purposes, the dates of events
occurring prior to 15 October 1582 are generally shown as they appeared in the Julian calendar, with the
year starting on 1 January, and no conversion to their Gregorian equivalents. For example, the Battle of
Agincourt is universally considered to have been fought on 25 October 1415 which is Saint Crispin's Day.
Usually, the mapping of new dates onto old dates with a start of year adjustment works well with little
confusion for events that happened before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. But for the
period between the first introduction of the Gregorian calendar on 15 October 1582 and its introduction
in Britain on 14 September 1752, there can be considerable confusion between events in continental
western Europe and in British domains in English language histories.
Events in continental western Europe are usually reported in English language histories as happening
under the Gregorian calendar. For example, the Battle of Blenheim is always given as 13 August 1704.
Confusion occurs when an event affects both. For example, William III of England set sail from the
Netherlands on 11 November 1688 (Gregorian calendar) and arrived at Brixham in England on 5
November 1688 (Julian calendar).
Shakespeare and Cervantes seemingly died on exactly the same date (23 April 1616), but Cervantes
predeceased Shakespeare by ten days in real time (as Spain used the Gregorian calendar, but Britain
used the Julian calendar). This coincidence encouraged UNESCO to make 23 April the World Book and
Copyright Day.
Astronomers avoid this ambiguity by the use of the Julian day number.
For dates before the year 1, unlike the proleptic Gregorian calendar used in the international
standard ISO 8601, the traditional proleptic Gregorian calendar (like the Julian calendar) does not have
a year 0 and instead uses the ordinal numbers 1, 2, ... both for years AD and BC. Thus the traditional
time line is 2 BC, 1 BC, AD 1, and AD 2. ISO 8601 uses astronomical year numbering which includes a year
0 and negative numbers before it. Thus the ISO 8601 time line is −0001, 0000, 0001, and 0002.
Months
The Gregorian calendar continued to employ the Julian months, which have Latinate names and
irregular numbers of days:
January (31 days), from Latin mēnsis Iānuārius, "Month of Janus",[54] the Roman god of gates,
doorways, beginnings and endings
February (28 days in common and 29 in leap years), from Latin mēnsis Februārius, "Month of
the Februa", the Roman festival of purgation and purification,[55][56]cognate with fever,
[55] the Etruscan death god Februus ("Purifier"), ] and the PIE word for sulfur[55]
March (31 days), from Latin mēnsis Mārtius, "Month of Mars",[57] the Roman war god[56]
April (30 days), from Latin mēnsis Aprīlis, of uncertain meaning[58] but usually derived from some form
of the verb aperire ("to open")[59] or the name of the goddess Aphrodite[56][63]
May (31 days), from Latin mēnsis Māius, "Month of Maia",[64] a Roman vegetation goddess[56] whose
name is cognate with Latin magnus ("great")[64] and English major
June (30 days), from Latin mēnsis Iūnius, "Month of Juno",[65] the Roman goddess
of marriage, childbirth, and rule[56]
July (31 days), from Latin mēnsis Iūlius, "Month of Julius Caesar", the month of Caesar's birth, instituted
in 44 bc[66] as part of his calendrical reforms[56]
August (31 days), from Latin mēnsis Augustus, "Month of Augustus", instituted by Augustus in 8 bc in
agreement with July and from the occurrence during the month of several important events during his
rise to power[67]
September (30 days), from Latin mēnsis september, "seventh month", from its position in the Roman
calendar before 153 bc[68]
October (31 days), from Latin mēnsis octōber, "eighth month",[69] from its position in the Roman
calendar before 153 bc[68]
November (30 days), from Latin mēnsis november, "ninth month",[70] from its position in the Roman
calendar before 153 bc[68]
December (31 days), from Latin mēnsis december, "tenth month",[71] from its position in the Roman
calendar before 153 bc[68]
Europeans sometimes attempt to remember the number of days in each month by memorizing some
form of the traditional verse "Thirty Days Hath September". It appears in Latin,[72][73] Italian,[74] and
French,[75] and belongs to a broad oral tradition but the earliest currently attested form of the poem is
the English marginalia inserted into a calendar of saints c. 1425:[76][77][78]
Thirti dayes hath novembir Thirty days have November,
April june and Septembir. April, June, and September.
Of xxviij is but oon Of 28 is but one
And alle the remenaunt xxx and j[77] And all the remnant 30 and 1.
The knuckle mnemonic for the days of the months of the year
Source;Tijmen Stam / IIVQ - Own work
Image to remember how many days a month has. This pattern also correlates to the white & black keys
of the twelve notes in the musical scale on a piano. An alternative hand mnemonic for the months in the
Gregorian calendar is here:Calendar Hand Mnemonic - Musical white keys-black keys.png
Variations appeared in Mother Goose and continue to be taught at schools. The unhelpfulness of such
involved mnemonicshas been parodied as "Thirty days hath September / But all the rest I can't
remember"[79] but it has also been called "probably the only sixteenth-century poem most ordinary
citizens know by heart".[80] A common nonverbal alternative is the knuckle mnemonic, considering
the knuckles of one's hands as months with 31 days and the lower spaces between them as the months
with fewer days. Using two hands, one may start from either pinkie knuckle as January and count across,
omitting the space between the index knuckles (July and August). The same procedure can be done
using the knuckles of a single hand, returning from the last (July) to the first (August) and continuing
through. A similar mnemonic is to move up a piano keyboard in semitones from an F key, taking the
white keys as the longer months and the black keys as the shorter ones.
Weeks
Seven-day week
In conjunction with the system of months there is a system of weeks. A physical or electronic calendar
provides conversion from a given date to the weekday, and shows multiple dates for a given weekday
and month. Calculating the day of the week is not very simple, because of the irregularities in the
Gregorian system. When the Gregorian calendar was adopted by each country, the weekly cycle
continued uninterrupted. For example, in the case of the few countries that adopted the reformed
calendar on the date proposed by Gregory XIII for the calendar's adoption, Friday, 15 October 1582, the
preceding date was Thursday, 4 October 1582 (Julian calendar).
Opinions vary about the numbering of the days of the week. ISO 8601, in common use worldwide, starts
with Monday=1; printed monthly calendar grids often list Mondays in the first (left) column of dates and
Sundays in the last. In North America, the week typically begins on Sunday and ends on Saturday.
Accuracy
The Gregorian calendar improves the approximation made by the Julian calendar by skipping three
Julian leap days in every 400 years, giving an average year of 365.2425 mean solar days long.[81] This
approximation has an error of about one day per 3,030 years[82] with respect to the current value of
the mean tropical year. However, because of the precession of the equinoxes, which is not constant, and
the movement of the perihelion (which affects the Earth's orbital speed) the error with respect to
the astronomical vernal equinox is variable; using the average interval between vernal equinoxes near
2000 of 365.24237 days[83] implies an error closer to 1 day every 7,700 years. By any criterion, the
Gregorian calendar is substantially more accurate than the 1 day in 128 years error of the Julian calendar
(average year 365.25 days).
In the 19th century, Sir John Herschel proposed a modification to the Gregorian calendar with 969 leap
days every 4000 years, instead of 970 leap days that the Gregorian calendar would insert over the same
period.[84] This would reduce the average year to 365.24225 days. Herschel's proposal would make the
year 4000, and multiples thereof, common instead of leap. While this modification has often been
proposed since, it has never been officially adopted.[85]
On time scales of thousands of years, the Gregorian calendar falls behind the astronomical seasons
because the slowing down of the Earth's rotation makes each day slightly longer over time (see tidal
acceleration and leap second) while the year maintains a more uniform duration.
Calendar seasonal error
This image shows the difference between the Gregorian calendar and the astronomical seasons.
The y-axis is the date in June and the x-axis is Gregorian calendar years.
Each point is the date and time of the June solstice in that particular year. The error shifts by about a
quarter of a day per year. Centurial years are ordinary years, unless they are divisible by 400, in which
case they are leap years. This causes a correction in the years 1700, 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200, and 2300.
For instance, these corrections cause 23 December 1903 to be the latest December solstice, and 20
December 2096 to be the earliest solstice—about 2.35 days of variation compared with the seasonal
event.
Proposed reforms
The following are proposed reforms of the Gregorian calendar:
Holocene calendar
International Fixed Calendar (also called the International Perpetual calendar)
World Calendar
World Season Calendar
Leap week calendars
Pax Calendar
Symmetry454
Hanke–Henry Permanent Calendar
LUNAR CALENDAR.
A lunar calendar is a calendar based upon the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases (synodic months), in
contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly upon the solar year. The most
commonly used calendar, the Gregorian calendar, is a solar calendar system that originally evolved out
of a lunar calendar system. A purely lunar calendar is also distinguished from a lunisolar calendar,
whose lunar months are brought into alignment with the solar year through some process
of intercalation. The details of when months begin varies from calendar to calendar, with some
using new, full, or crescent moons and others employing detailed calculations.
Since each lunation is approximately 29 1⁄2 days (29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, 3 seconds,
or 29.530588 days), it is common for the months of a lunar calendar to alternate between 29 and
30 days. Since the period of twelve such lunations, a lunar year, is only 354 days, 8 hours, 48 minutes,
34 seconds (354.367056 days), purely lunar calendars lose around 11 days per year relative to
the Gregorian calendar. In purely lunar calendars like the Islamic calendar, the lack of intercalation
causes the lunar months to cycle through all the seasons of the Gregorian year over the course of
a 33 lunar-year cycle.
Although the Gregorian calendar is in common and legal use in most countries, traditional lunar and
lunisolar calendars continue to be used throughout the Old Worldto determine religious
festivals and national holidays. Examples of such holidays include Ramadan (Islamic calendar); Easter,
the Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Mongolian New
Year (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Mongolian calendars); the Nepali New Year (Nepali
calendar); the Mid-Autumn Festival and Chuseok (Chinese and Korean calendars); Loi Krathong (Thai
calendar); Sunuwar calendar; Vesak/Buddha's Birthday (Buddhist calendar); Diwali (Hindu calendars);
and Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew calendar).
A Spanish lunar calendar for 2017
Fernando de Gorocica - Own work y datos del "M1 Sistema Astronómico"©.
CALENDARIO LUNAR 2017 . Las 4 fases lunares en todo el año 2017 y para observadores del hemisferio
Sur. Para cada fase se describe: día del mes, día de la semana, hora de la fase en Tiempo Universal
(Greenwich) y constelación.
History of lunar calendar
The earliest known lunar calendar was found at Warren Field in Scotland and has been dated to c.
8000 bc, during its Mesolithic period.[1] Some scholars argue for lunar calendars still further back—
Rappenglück in the marks on a c. 17,000 year-old cave painting at Lascaux and Marshack in the marks on
a c. 27,000 year-old bone baton—but their findings remain controversial.[2][3]
Lunisolar calendars
Lunisolar calendar
Most calendars referred to as "lunar" calendars are in fact lunisolar calendars. Their months are based
on observations of the lunar cycle, with intercalation being used to bring them into general agreement
with the solar year. The solar "civic calendar" that was used in ancient Egypt showed traces of its origin
in the earlier lunar calendar, which continued to be used alongside it for religious and agricultural
purposes. Present-day lunisolar calendars include the Chinese, Hindu, and Thaicalendars.
Synodic months are 29 or 30 days in length, making a lunar year of 12 months about 11 days shorter
than a solar year. Some lunar calendars do not use intercalation, such as most Islamic calendars. For
those that do, such as the Hebrew calendar, the most common form of intercalation is to add an
additional month every second or third year. Some lunisolar calendars are also calibrated by annual
natural events which are affected by lunar cycles as well as the solar cycle. An example of this is the
lunar calendar of the Banks Islands, which includes three months in which the edible palolo worm mass
on the beaches. These events occur at the last quarter of the lunar month, as the reproductive cycle of
the palolos is synchronized with the moon.[4]
Start of the lunar month
Lunar and lunisolar calendars differ as to which day is the first day of the month. In some lunisolar
calendars, such as the Chinese calendar, the first day of a month is the day when an astronomical new
moon occurs in a particular time zone. In others, such as some Hindu calendars, each month begins on
the day after the full moon or the new moon. Others were based in the past on the first sighting of
a lunar crescent, such as the Hebrew calendar and the Hijri calendar.
Length of the lunar month
The length of each lunar cycle varies slightly from the average value. In addition, observations are
subject to uncertainty and weather conditions. Thus to avoid uncertainty about the calendar, there have
been attempts to create fixed arithmetical rules to determine the start of each calendar month.
The average length of the synodic month is 29.530587981 days. Thus it is convenient if months generally
alternate between 29 and 30 days (sometimes termed respectively “hollow” and “full”). The distribution
of hollow and full months can be determined using continued fractions, and examining successive
approximations for the length of the month in terms of fractions of a day. In the list below, after the
number of days listed in the numerator, an integer number of months as listed in the denominator have
been completed:
Fraction Approximate duration
29/1 1 day after about 2 months
30/1 1 day after about 2 months
59/2 1 day after about 2.6 years
443/15 1 day after about 30 years
502/17 1 day after about 70 years
945/32 1 day after about 122 years
1447/49 1 day after about 3 millennia
25101/850 Not accurate due to the multi-millennial
change of the synodic month length.
These fractions can be used to construct a lunar calendar, or in combination with a solar calendar to
produce a lunisolar calendar. A 49-month cycle was proposed as the basis of an alternative Easter
computation by Isaac Newton around 1700.[5] The tabular Islamic calendar's 360-month cycle is
equivalent to 24×15 months, minus a correction of one day.
COSMIC CALLENDAR.
Cosmic Calendar is a method to visualize the chronology of the universe, scaling its current age of 13.8
billion years to a single year in order to help intuit it for pedagogical purposes in science
education or popular science.
A graphical view of the Cosmic Calendar, featuring the months of the year, days of December, and the
final minute.
The
In this visualization, the Big Bang took place at the beginning of January 1 at midnight, and the current
moment maps onto the end of December 31 just before midnight.[1] At this scale, there are 437.5 years
per second, 1.575 million years per hour, and 37.8 million years per day.
The concept was popularized by Carl Sagan in his book The Dragons of Eden (1977) and on his television
series Cosmos.[2] Sagan goes on to extend the comparison in terms of surface area, explaining that if
the Cosmic Calendar is scaled to the size of a football field, then "all of human history would occupy an
area the size of [his] hand".[3]
The Cosmic Year
The Cosmic Calendar shows the time-scale relationship of the universe and all events on Earth as plotted
along a single 12-month, 365-day, year:
Cosmology
Date Bya(Billion Years Ago) Event
1 Jan 13.8 Big Bang, as seen through cosmic background radiation
14 Jan 13.1 Oldest known Gamma Ray Burst
22 Jan 12.85 First galaxies form[4]
16 Mar 11 Milky Way Galaxy formed
12
8.8 Milky Way Galaxy disk formed
May
2 Sep 4.57 formation of the Solar System
6 Sep 4.4 Oldest rocks known on Earth
Date in year calculated from formula
T(days) = 365 days * 0.100/13.797 ( 1- T_Gya/13.797 )
Evolution of life on Earth
Bya(Billion Years
Date Event
Ago)
First known "remains of biotic life" found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks
14 Sep 4.1
in Western Australia.[5][6]
21 Sep 3.8 First Life (Prokaryotes)[7][8][9]
30 Sep 3.4 Photosynthesis
29 Oct 2.4 Oxygenation of Atmosphere
9 Nov 2 Complex Cells (Eukaryotes)
5 Dec 0.8 First Multicellular Life[10]
7 Dec 0.67 Simple Animals
14 Dec 0.55 Arthropods (ancestors of insects, arachnids)
17 Dec 0.5 Fish and Proto-amphibians
20 Dec 0.45 Land Plants
21 Dec 0.4 Insects and Seeds
22 Dec 0.36 Amphibians
23 Dec 0.3 Reptiles
24 Dec 0.25 Permian-Triassic Extinction Event, 90% of Species Die Out
25 Dec 0.23 Dinosaurs
26 Dec 0.2 Mammals
27 Dec 0.15 Birds
28 Dec 0.13 Flowers
30 Dec, Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, Non-avian Dinosaurs Die
0.065
06:24 Out[11]
Human evolution
Date / time mya(Million Years Ago) Event
30 Dec 65 Primates
31 Dec, 06:05 15 Apes
31 Dec, 14:24 12.3 Hominids
31 Dec, 22:24 2.5 Primitive Humans and Stone Tools
31 Dec, 23:44 0.4 Domestication of Fire
31 Dec, 23:52 0.2 Anatomically Modern Humans
31 Dec, 23:55 0.11 Beginning of Most Recent Glacial Period
31 Dec, 23:58 0.035 Sculpture and Painting
31 Dec,
0.012 Agriculture
23:59:32
History begins
Date / tim kya(Thousan
Event
e d Years Ago)
31 Dec,
12.0 End of the Ice Age
23:59:33
31 Dec,
8.3 Flooding of Doggerland
23:59:41
31 Dec,
6.0 Chalcolithic
23:59:46
31 Dec,
5.5 Early Bronze Age; Proto-writing; Building of Stonehenge Cursus
23:59:47
31 Dec, First Dynasty of Egypt, Early Dynastic Period in Sumer, Beginning of Indus
5.0
23:59:48 Valley Civilisation
31 Dec,
4.5 Alphabet, Akkadian Empire, Wheel
23:59:49
31 Dec,
4.0 Code of Hammurabi, Middle Kingdom of Egypt
23:59:51
31 Dec,
3.5 Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age; Minoan eruption
23:59:52
31 Dec, 3.0 Iron Age; Beginning of Classical Antiquity
23:59:53
Buddha, Mahavira, Zoroaster, Confucius, Qin Dynasty, Classical
31 Dec, Greece, Ashokan
2.5
23:59:54 Empire, Vedas Completed, Euclidean geometry, Archimedean Physics, Rom
an Republic
31 Dec, Ptolemaic astronomy, Roman Empire, Christ, Invention of
2.0
23:59:55 Numeral 0, Gupta Empire
31 Dec,
1.5 Muhammad, Maya civilization, Song Dynasty, Rise of Byzantine Empire
23:59:56
Mongol Empire, Maratha Empire, Crusades, Christopher Columbus Voyages
31 Dec,
1.0 to the Americas, Renaissance in Europe, Classical Music to the Time
23:59:58
of Johann Sebastian Bach
The current second
Date / time kya(Thousand Years Ago) Event
31 Dec,
0.5 Modern History; the last 437.5 years before present.
23:59:59
Future
Future of the Earth and Solar System ("Year 2")[edit]
kyr(Thousand years), myr (Million
Date / time Event
years), and Byr (billion years)
1 Jan,
0.5 Anthropocene Epoch
00:00:01
1 Jan,
10.0 Antares explodes into a supernova
00:00:23
1 Jan,
20.0 Chernobyl finally becomes safe
00:00:50
1 Jan, The Arecibo message finally reaches the M13
20.0
00:00:57 cluster
1 Jan, 50.0 Niagara Falls finally erodes away
00:01:54
1 Jan, Proper motion makes all constellations
100.0
00:03:48 unrecognizable
1 Jan,
300.0 WR 104 explodes
00:11:24
1 Jan,
500.0 Earth likely hit by 1 km asteroid
00:19:02
1 Jan,
1.0 Pyramids of Giza erode away
00:38:05
1 Jan,
7.2 Mount Rushmore erodes away
04:34:17
3 Jan 100.00 Saturn loses its rings
5 Jan 180.00 Earth's day becomes one hour longer
7 Jan 240.00 Solar System completes one galactic year
16 Jan 600.00 Solar eclipses no longer possible
Global surface temperatures reach 1330 deg
16 Apr 4.0
C, hot enough to melt lead
28 Jul 7.9 Sun destroys the Earth
Future of the Universe ("Year 3" and beyond)
Date / time Byr (billion years) and above Event
Year 8, 1 Apr 100.0 Galaxies disappear beyond light horizon
Year 7247, 13 Dec 100 trillion Star formation ends
Year 72,479, 11
1 quadrillion Sun cools down to -268 deg C
Jul
Year 7.94*10^35 3*10^43 Black Hole Era
Year 4.54*10^98 1.7*10^98 Dark Era
Year 10^1500 Iron stars
Year 10^10^50 Boltzmann brain appears
Year 10^10^78 Last black holes evaporate
Year 10^10^120 Final entropy state
Year 10^10^10^56 Possible new Big Bang occurs
RAW MATERIALS,
RAW MATERIALS,
Drinking Water
Water is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main
constituent of Earth's streams, lakes, and oceans, and the fluids of most living organisms. It is vital for all
known forms of life, even though it provides no calories or organic nutrients. Its chemical
formula is H2O, meaning that each of its molecules contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms,
connected by covalent bonds. Water is the name of the liquid state of H2O at standard ambient
temperature and pressure. It forms precipitation in the form of rain and aerosols in the form
of fog. Clouds are formed from suspended droplets of water and ice, its solid state. When finely divided,
crystalline ice may precipitate in the form of snow. The gaseous state of water is steam or water vapor.
Water moves continually through the water
cycle of evaporation, transpiration(evapotranspiration), condensation, precipitation, and runoff, usually
reaching the sea.
Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface, mostly in seas and oceans.[1] Small portions of water occur as
groundwater (1.7%), in the glaciers and the ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland (1.7%), and in
the air as vapor, clouds (formed of ice and liquid water suspended in air), and precipitation (0.001%).[2]
[3]
Water plays an important role in the world economy. Approximately 70% of the freshwater used by
humans goes to agriculture.[4] Fishing in salt and fresh water bodies is a major source of food for many
parts of the world. Much of long-distance trade of commodities (such as oil and natural gas) and
manufactured products is transported by boats through seas, rivers, lakes, and canals. Large quantities
of water, ice, and steam are used for cooling and heating, in industry and homes. Water is an
excellent solvent for a wide variety of chemical substances; as such it is widely used in industrial
processes, and in cooking and washing. Water is also central to many sports and other forms of
entertainment, such as swimming, pleasure boating, boat racing, surfing, sport fishing, and diving.
Water in two states: liquid (including the clouds, which are examples of aerosols), and solid (ice).
Etymology
The word "water" comes from Old English "wæter", from Proto-Germanic "*watar" (source also of Old
Saxon "watar", Old Frisian "wetir", Dutch "water", Old High German "wazzar", German "Wasser", Old
Norse "vatn", Gothic "wato"), from Proto-Indoeuropean "*wod-or", suffixed form of root "*wed-"
("water"; "wet").[5]
Chemical and physical properties
Properties of water
Water (data page) and Water model
Water (H
2O) is a polar inorganic compound that is at room temperature a tasteless and odorless liquid,
nearly colorless with a hint of blue. This simplest hydrogen chalcogenide is by far the most studied
chemical compound and is described as the "universal solvent" for its ability to dissolve many
substances.[6][7] This allows it to be the "solvent of life".[8] It is the only common substance to exist as
a solid, liquid, and gas in normal terrestrial conditions.[9]
States
Water is a liquid at the temperatures and pressures that are most adequate for life. Specifically, at a
standard pressure of 1 atm, water is a liquid between 0 and 100 °C (32 and 212 °F). Increasing the
pressure slightly lowers the melting point, which is about −5 °C (23 °F) at 600 atm and −22 °C (−8 °F) at
2100 atm. This effect is relevant, for example, to ice skating, to the buried lakes of Antarctica, and to the
movement of glaciers. (At pressures higher than 2100 atm the melting point rapidly increases again, and
ice takes several exotic forms that do not exist at lower pressures.)
Increasing the pressure has a more dramatic effect on the boiling point, that is about 374 °C (705 °F) at
220 atm. This effect is important in, among other things, deep-sea hydrothermal
vents and geysers, pressure cooking, and steam engine design. At the top of Mount Everest, where the
atmospheric pressure is about 0.34 atm, water boils at 68 °C (154 °F).
At very low pressures (below about 0.006 atm), water cannot exist in the liquid state and passes directly
from solid to gas by sublimation—a phenomenon exploited in the freeze drying of food. At very high
pressures (above 221 atm), the liquid and gas states are no longer distinguishable, a state
called supercritical steam.
Water also differs from most liquids in that it becomes less dense as it freezes. The maximum density of
water in its liquid form (at 1 atm) is 1,000 kg/m3 (62.43 lb/cu ft); that occurs at 3.98 °C (39.16 °F).
[10] The density of ice is 917 kg/m3 (57.25 lb/cu ft).[11][12] Thus, water expands 9% in volume as it
freezes, which accounts for the fact that ice floats on liquid water.
The details of the exact chemical nature of liquid water are not well understood; some theories suggest
that the unusual behaviour of water is due to the existence of 2 liquid states.[10][13][14][15]
Liquid water, showing droplets and air bubbles caused by the drops
SOURCE; David Santaolalla from León, spain - Brindis
Brindis
Snowflakes by Wilson Bentley, 1902
SOURCE;Wilson Bentley - Plate XIX of "Studies among the Snow Crystals ... " by Wilson Bentley, "The
Snowflake Man." From Annual Summary of the "Monthly Weather Review" for 1902.
Snow flakes by Wilson Bentley. Bentley was a bachelor farmer whose hobby was photographing snow
flakes. ; Image ID: wea02087, Historic NWS Collection ; Location: Jericho, Vermont ; Photo Date: 1902
Winter
Taste and odor
Pure water is usually described as tasteless and odorless, although humans have specific sensors that
can feel the presence of water in their mouths,[16] and frogs are known to be able to smell it.
[17] However, water from ordinary sources (including bottled mineral water) usually has many dissolved
substances, that may give it varying tastes and odors. Humans and other animals have developed senses
that enable them to evaluate the potability of water by avoiding water that is too salty or putrid.[18]
Color and appearance
The apparent color of natural bodies of water (and swimming pools) is often determined more by
dissolved and suspended solids, or by reflection of the sky, than by water itself.
Light in the visible electromagnetic spectrum can traverse a couple meters of pure water (or ice) without
significant absorption, so that it looks transparent and colorless.[19] Thus aquatic plants, algae, and
other photosynthetic organisms can live in water up to hundreds of meters deep, because sunlight can
reach them. Water vapour is essentially invisible as a gas.
Through a thickness of 10 meters (33 ft) or more, however, the intrinsic color of water (or ice) is visibly
turquoise (greenish blue), as its absorption spectrum has a sharp minimum at the corresponding color of
light (1/227 m−1 at 418 nm). The color becomes increasingly stronger and darker with increasing
thickness. (Practically no sunlight reaches the parts of the oceans below 1,000 meters (3,300 ft) of
depth.) Infrared and ultraviolet light, on the other hand, is strongly absorbed by water.
The refraction index of liquid water (1.333 at 20 °C (68 °F)) is much higher than that of air (1.0), similar
to those of alkanes and ethanol, but lower than those of glycerol(1.473), benzene (1.501), carbon
disulfide (1.627), and common types of glass (1.4 to 1.6). The refraction index of ice (1.31) is lower than
that of liquid water.
Polarity and hydrogen bonding
Since the water molecule is not linear and the oxygen atom has a higher electronegativity than hydrogen
atoms, it is a polar molecule, with an electrical dipole moment: the oxygen atom carries a slight negative
charge, whereas the hydrogen atoms are slightly positive. Water is a good polar solvent, that dissolves
many salts and hydrophilic organic molecules such as sugars and simple alcohols such as ethanol. Water
also dissolves many gases, such as oxygen and carbon dioxide—the latter giving the fizz
of carbonated beverages, sparkling winesand beers. In addition, many substances in living organisms,
such as proteins, DNA and polysaccharides, are dissolved in water. The interactions between water and
the subunits of these biomacromolecules shape protein folding, DNA base pairing, and other
phenomena crucial to life (hydrophobic effect).
Many organic substances (such as fats and oils and alkanes) are hydrophobic, that is, insoluble in water.
Many inorganic substances are insoluble too, including most metal oxides, sulfides, and silicates.
Because of its polarity, a molecule of water in the liquid or solid state can form up to four hydrogen
bonds with neighboring molecules. These bonds are the cause of water's high surface tension[20] and
capillary forces. The capillary action refers to the tendency of water to move up a narrow tube against
the force of gravity. This property is relied upon by all vascular plants, such as trees.[21]
The hydrogen bonds are also the reason why the melting and boiling points of water are much higher
than those of other analogous compounds like hydrogen sulfide (H
2S). They also explain its exceptionally high specific heat capacity (about 4.2 J/g/K), heat of fusion (about
333 J/g), heat of vaporization (2257 J/g), and thermal conductivity (between 0.561 and 0.679 W/m/K).
These properties make water more effective at moderating Earth's climate, by storing heat and
transporting it between the oceans and the atmosphere. The hydrogen bonds of water are of moderate
strength, around 23 kJ/mol (compared to a covalent O-H bond at 492 kJ/mol). Of this, it is estimated
that 90% of the hydrogen bond is attributable to electrostatics, while the remaining 10% reflects partial
covalent character.[22]
Chemical bonding of H2O
Model of hydrogen bonds (1) between molecules of water.
Capillary action of water compared to mercury. Note that the menisci of the two liquids curve in the
opposite direction.
Impact from a water drop causes an upward "rebound" jet surrounded by circular capillary waves.
Electrical conductivity and electrolysis
Pure water has a low electrical conductivity, which increases with the dissolution of a small amount of
ionic material such as common salt.
Liquid water can be split into the elements hydrogen and oxygen by passing an electric current through
it—a process called electrolysis. The decomposition requires more energy input than the heat released
by the inverse process (285.8 kJ/mol, or 15.9 MJ/kg).[23]
Mechanical properties
Liquid water can be assumed to be incompressible for most purposes: its compressibility ranges from
4.4 to 5.1×10−10 Pa−1 in ordinary conditions.[24] Even in oceans at 4 km depth, where the pressure is
400 atm, water suffers only a 1.8% decrease in volume.[25]
The viscosity of water is about 10−3 Pa·s or 0.01 poise at 20 °C (68 °F), and the speed of sound in liquid
water ranges between 1,400 and 1,540 meters per second (4,600 and 5,100 ft/s) depending on
temperature. Sound travels long distances in water with little attenuation, especially at low frequencies
(roughly 0.03 dB/km for 1 kHz), a property that is exploited by cetaceans and humans for
communication and environment sensing (sonar).[26]
Reactivity
Metallic elements which are more electropositive than hydrogen such
as lithium, sodium, calcium, potassium and caesium displace hydrogen from water,
forming hydroxides and releasing hydrogen. At high temperatures, carbon reacts with steam to
form carbon monoxide.
On Earth
Hydrology and Water distribution on Earth
Hydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water throughout the Earth. The
study of the distribution of water is hydrography. The study of the distribution and movement of
groundwater is hydrogeology, of glaciers is glaciology, of inland waters is limnology and distribution of
oceans is oceanography. Ecological processes with hydrology are in focus of ecohydrology.
The collective mass of water found on, under, and over the surface of a planet is called the hydrosphere.
Earth's approximate water volume (the total water supply of the world) is 1.338 billion cubic kilometers
(321×106 cu mi).[2]
Liquid water is found in bodies of water, such as an ocean, sea, lake, river, stream, canal, pond,
or puddle. The majority of water on Earth is sea water. Water is also present in the atmosphere in solid,
liquid, and vapor states. It also exists as groundwater in aquifers.
Water is important in many geological processes. Groundwater is present in most rocks, and the
pressure of this groundwater affects patterns of faulting. Water in the mantle is responsible for the melt
that produces volcanoes at subduction zones. On the surface of the Earth, water is important in both
chemical and physical weathering processes. Water, and to a lesser but still significant extent, ice, are
also responsible for a large amount of sediment transport that occurs on the surface of the
earth. Deposition of transported sediment forms many types of sedimentary rocks, which make up
the geologic record of Earth history.
Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface; the oceans contain 96.5% of the Earth's water. The Antarctic
ice sheet, which contains 61% of all fresh water on Earth, is visible at the bottom. Condensed
atmospheric water can be seen as clouds, contributing to the Earth's albedo.
SOURCE; NASA/Apollo 17 crew; taken by either Harrison Schmitt or Ron Evans -
https://web.archive.org/web/20160112123725/http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/ABSTRACTS/GPN-2000-
001138.html (image link); see
alsohttps://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_329.html
"The Blue Marble" is a famous photograph of the Earth taken on December 7, 1972, by the crew of
the Apollo 17spacecraft en route to the Moon at a distance of about 29,000 kilometres (18,000 mi). It
shows Africa, Antarctica, and the Arabian Peninsula.
Water cycle
Main article: Water cycle
Water moves perpetually through each of these regions in the water cycle consisting of following
transfer processes:
evaporation from oceans and other water bodies into the air and transpiration from land plants and
animals into air.
precipitation, from water vapor condensing from the air and falling to earth or ocean.
runoff from the land usually reaching the sea.
Most water vapor over the oceans returns to the oceans, but winds carry water vapor over land at the
same rate as runoff into the sea, about 47 Tt per year. Over land, evaporation and transpiration
contribute another 72 Tt per year. Precipitation, at a rate of 119 Tt per year over land, has several forms:
most commonly rain, snow, and hail, with some contribution from fog and dew.[27] Dew is small drops
of water that are condensed when a high density of water vapor meets a cool surface. Dew usually
forms in the morning when the temperature is the lowest, just before sunrise and when the
temperature of the earth's surface starts to increase.[28] Condensed water in the air may
also refractsunlight to produce rainbows.
Water runoff often collects over watersheds flowing into rivers. A mathematical model used to simulate
river or stream flow and calculate water quality parameters is a hydrological transport model. Some
water is diverted to irrigation for agriculture. Rivers and seas offer opportunity for travel and commerce.
Through erosion, runoff shapes the environment creating river valleys and deltas which provide rich soil
and level ground for the establishment of population centers. A flood occurs when an area of land,
usually low-lying, is covered with water. It is when a river overflows its banks or flood comes from the
sea. A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water
supply. This occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation.
THE WATER CYCLE.
Water cycle
The water cycle (known scientifically as the hydrologic cycle) refers to the continuous exchange of water
within the hydrosphere, between the atmosphere, soil water, surface water, groundwater, and plants.
SOURCE; John M. Even / USGS - USGS - http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycleprint.html (English
Wikipedia, original upload 27 April 2005 by Brian0918 en:Image:Water cycle.png)
Water cycle
Fresh water storage
Some runoff water is trapped for periods of time, for example in lakes. At high altitude, during winter,
and in the far north and south, snow collects in ice caps, snow packs and glaciers. Water also infiltrates
the ground and goes into aquifers. This groundwater later flows back to the surface in springs, or more
spectacularly in hot springs and geysers. Groundwater is also extracted artificially in wells. This water
storage is important, since clean, fresh water is essential to human and other land-based life. In many
parts of the world, it is in short supply.
Sea water and tides
Seawater and Tides
Sea water contains about 3.5% sodium chloride on average, plus smaller amounts of other substances.
The physical properties of sea water differ from fresh water in some important respects. It freezes at a
lower temperature (about −1.9 °C (28.6 °F)) and its density increases with decreasing temperature to the
freezing point, instead of reaching maximum density at a temperature above freezing. The salinity of
water in major seas varies from about 0.7% in the Baltic Sea to 4.0% in the Red Sea. (The Dead Sea,
known for its ultra-high salinity levels of between 30–40%, is really a salt lake.)
Tides are the cyclic rising and falling of local sea levels caused by the tidal forces of the Moon and the
Sun acting on the oceans. Tides cause changes in the depth of the marine and estuarine water bodies
and produce oscillating currents known as tidal streams. The changing tide produced at a given location
is the result of the changing positions of the Moon and Sun relative to the Earth coupled with the effects
of Earth rotation and the local bathymetry. The strip of seashore that is submerged at high tide and
exposed at low tide, the intertidal zone, is an important ecological product of ocean tides.
Water resources
The Bay of Fundy at high tide and low tide. At low tide, many rocks are exposed and the boat in the
picture is grounded.
SOURCE; © Samuel Wantman / Wikimedia Commons
The bay of Fundy at low tide, 1972. As I recall, this was in New Brunswick, not far from the w:Fundy
National Park.
Effects on life
From a biological standpoint, water has many distinct properties that are critical for the proliferation of
life. It carries out this role by allowing organic compounds to react in ways that ultimately
allow replication. All known forms of life depend on water. Water is vital both as a solvent in which
many of the body's solutes dissolve and as an essential part of many metabolic processes within the
body. Metabolism is the sum total of anabolism and catabolism. In anabolism, water is removed from
molecules (through energy requiring enzymatic chemical reactions) in order to grow larger molecules
(e.g. starches, triglycerides and proteins for storage of fuels and information). In catabolism, water is
used to break bonds in order to generate smaller molecules (e.g. glucose, fatty acids and amino acids to
be used for fuels for energy use or other purposes). Without water, these particular metabolic processes
could not exist.
Water is fundamental to photosynthesis and respiration. Photosynthetic cells use the sun's energy to
split off water's hydrogen from oxygen[citation needed]. Hydrogen is combined with CO2 (absorbed
from air or water) to form glucose and release oxygen[citation needed]. All living cells use such fuels and
oxidize the hydrogen and carbon to capture the sun's energy and reform water and CO2 in the process
(cellular respiration).
Water is also central to acid-base neutrality and enzyme function. An acid, a hydrogen ion (H+, that is, a
proton) donor, can be neutralized by a base, a proton acceptor such as a hydroxide ion (OH−) to form
water. Water is considered to be neutral, with a pH (the negative log of the hydrogen ion concentration)
of 7. Acids have pH values less than 7 while bases have values greater than 7.
An oasis is an isolated water sourcewith vegetation in a desert.
Source;Sfivat - Own work
Ubari Oasis in the Category:Wadi Al Hayaa District, of the Fezzan region in southwestern Libya.
Overview of photosynthesis (green) and respiration (red). Water (at right), together with carbon dioxide
(CO2), form oxygen and organic compounds (at left), which can be respired to water and (CO2).
Source; Mikael Häggström - Images used: Glucose Animals Carbon dioxide Glucose (open
form) Oxygen Plants Fungi Starch Water Human
Cycle between autotrophs and heterotrophs. Autotrophs can use carbon dioxide (CO2) and water to
form oxygen and complex organic compounds, mainly through the process of photosynthesis. All
organisms can use such compounds to again form CO2 and water through cellular respiration.
Aquatic life forms
Hydrobiology, Marine life, and Aquatic plant
Earth surface waters are filled with life. The earliest life forms appeared in water; nearly all fish live
exclusively in water, and there are many types of marine mammals, such as dolphins and whales. Some
kinds of animals, such as amphibians, spend portions of their lives in water and portions on land. Plants
such as kelp and algae grow in the water and are the basis for some underwater ecosystems. Plankton is
generally the foundation of the ocean food chain.
Aquatic vertebrates must obtain oxygen to survive, and they do so in various ways. Fish
have gills instead of lungs, although some species of fish, such as the lungfish, have both. Marine
mammals, such as dolphins, whales, otters, and seals need to surface periodically to breathe air. Some
amphibians are able to absorb oxygen through their skin. Invertebrates exhibit a wide range of
modifications to survive in poorly oxygenated waters including breathing tubes (see insect and mollusc
siphons) and gills (Carcinus). However as invertebrate life evolved in an aquatic habitat most have little
or no specialisation for respiration in water.
Some of the biodiversity of a coral reef
Source;Copyright (c) 2004 Richard Ling
A Blue Starfish (Linckia laevigata) resting on hard Acropora and Porites corals (one can also
see Anthiinae fish and crinoids). Lighthouse, Ribbon Reefs, Great Barrier Reef.
Some marine diatoms – a key phytoplankton group
Source;Prof. Gordon T. Taylor, Stony Brook University - corp2365, NOAA Corps Collection
Assorted diatoms as seen through a microscope. These specimens were living between crystals of
annual sea ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Image digitized from original 35mm Ektachrome slide.
These tiny phytoplankton are encased within a silicate cell wall.
Effects on human civilization
Civilization has historically flourished around rivers and major waterways; Mesopotamia, the so-called
cradle of civilization, was situated between the major rivers Tigris and Euphrates; the ancient society of
the Egyptians depended entirely upon the Nile. Rome was also founded on the banks of the Italian
river Tiber. Large metropolises like Rotterdam, London, Montreal, Paris, New York City, Buenos Aires,
Shanghai, Tokyo, Chicago, and Hong Kong owe their success in part to their easy accessibility via water
and the resultant expansion of trade. Islands with safe water ports, like Singapore, have flourished for
the same reason. In places such as North Africa and the Middle East, where water is more scarce, access
to clean drinking water was and is a major factor in human development.
Health and pollution
Water fit for human consumption is called drinking water or potable water. Water that is not potable
may be made potable by filtration or distillation, or by a range of other methods.
Water that is not fit for drinking but is not harmful for humans when used for swimming or bathing is
called by various names other than potable or drinking water, and is sometimes called safe water, or
"safe for bathing". Chlorine is a skin and mucous membrane irritant that is used to make water safe for
bathing or drinking. Its use is highly technical and is usually monitored by government regulations
(typically 1 part per million (ppm) for drinking water, and 1–2 ppm of chlorine not yet reacted with
impurities for bathing water). Water for bathing may be maintained in satisfactory microbiological
condition using chemical disinfectants such as chlorine or ozone or by the use of ultraviolet light.
In the US, non-potable forms of wastewater generated by humans may be referred to as greywater,
which is treatable and thus easily able to be made potable again, and blackwater, which generally
contains sewage and other forms of waste which require further treatment in order to be made
reusable. Greywater composes 50–80% of residential wastewater generated by a household's sanitation
equipment (sinks, showers and kitchen runoff, but not toilets, which generate blackwater.) These terms
may have different meanings in other countries and cultures.
This natural resource is becoming scarcer in certain places, and its availability is a major social and
economic concern. Currently, about a billion people around the world routinely drink unhealthy water.
Most countries accepted the goal of halving by 2015 the number of people worldwide who do not have
access to safe water and sanitation during the 2003 G8 Evian summit.[29] Even if this difficult goal is
met, it will still leave more than an estimated half a billion people without access to safe drinking water
and over a billion without access to adequate sanitation. Poor water quality and bad sanitation are
deadly; some five million deaths a year are caused by polluted drinking water. The World Health
Organization estimates that safe water could prevent 1.4 million child deaths from diarrhea each year.
[30]
Water, however, is not a finite resource (meaning the availability of water is limited), but rather re-
circulated as potable water in precipitation[31] in quantities many orders of magnitude higher than
human consumption. Therefore, it is the relatively small quantity of water in reserve in the earth (about
1% of our drinking water supply,[citation needed] which is replenished in aquifers around every 1 to 10
years),[citation needed] that is a non-renewable resource, and it is, rather, the distribution of potable
and irrigation water which is scarce,[clarification needed] rather than the actual amount of it that exists
on the earth. Water-poor countries use importation of goods as the primary method of importing water
(to leave enough for local human consumption),[further explanation needed] since the manufacturing
process[clarification needed] uses around 10 to 100 times products' masses in water.[clarification
needed]
In the developing world, 90% of all wastewater still goes untreated into local rivers and streams.
[32] Some 50 countries, with roughly a third of the world's population, also suffer from medium or high
water stress, and 17 of these extract more water annually than is recharged through their natural water
cycles.[33] The strain not only affects surface freshwater bodies like rivers and lakes, but it also degrades
groundwater resources
An environmental science program – a student from Iowa State Universitysampling water
Source;The Iowa State Department of Agronomy
Environmental Science student sampling water from a stream.
Water fountain
Source; MikeParker at English Wikipedia
Photo of a fountain in the Italian Garden section of en:Longwood Gardens in Kennett
Square, en:Pennsylvania. Photo taken by Michael Parker. Original: Fountain
Human uses
Water supply
The most important use of water in agriculture is for irrigation, which is a key component to produce
enough food. Irrigation takes up to 90% of water withdrawn in some developing countries[34] and
significant proportions in more economically developed countries (in the United States, 30% of
freshwater usage is for irrigation).[35]
Fifty years ago, the common perception was that water was an infinite resource. At the time, there were
fewer than half the current number of people on the planet. People were not as wealthy as today,
consumed fewer calories and ate less meat, so less water was needed to produce their food. They
required a third of the volume of water we presently take from rivers. Today, the competition for the
fixed amount of water resources is much more intense, giving rise to the concept of peak water.[36] This
is because there are now nearly seven billion people on the planet, their consumption of water-thirsty
meat and vegetables is rising, and there is increasing competition for water from industry, urbanisation
and biofuel crops. In future, even more water will be needed to produce food because the Earth's
population is forecast to rise to 9 billion by 2050.[37]
An assessment of water management in agriculture was conducted in 2007 by the International Water
Management Institute in Sri Lanka to see if the world had sufficient water to provide food for its growing
population.[38] It assessed the current availability of water for agriculture on a global scale and mapped
out locations suffering from water scarcity. It found that a fifth of the world's people, more than 1.2
billion, live in areas of physical water scarcity, where there is not enough water to meet all demands. A
further 1.6 billion people live in areas experiencing economic water scarcity, where the lack of
investment in water or insufficient human capacity make it impossible for authorities to satisfy the
demand for water. The report found that it would be possible to produce the food required in future,
but that continuation of today's food production and environmental trends would lead to crises in many
parts of the world. To avoid a global water crisis, farmers will have to strive to increase productivity to
meet growing demands for food, while industry and cities find ways to use water more efficiently.[39]
Water scarcity is also caused by production of cotton: 1 kg of cotton—equivalent of a pair of jeans—
requires 10.9 cubic meters (380 cu ft) water to produce. While cotton accounts for 2.4% of world water
use, the water is consumed in regions which are already at a risk of water shortage. Significant
environmental damage has been caused, such as disappearance of the Aral Sea.[40]
As a scientific standard
On 7 April 1795, the gram was defined in France to be equal to "the absolute weight of a volume of pure
water equal to a cube of one hundredth of a meter, and at the temperature of melting ice".[41] For
practical purposes though, a metallic reference standard was required, one thousand times more
massive, the kilogram. Work was therefore commissioned to determine precisely the mass of one liter
of water. In spite of the fact that the decreed definition of the gram specified water at 0 °C (32 °F)—a
highly reproducible temperature—the scientists chose to redefine the standard and to perform their
measurements at the temperature of highest water density, which was measured at the time as 4 °C
(39 °F).[42]
The Kelvin temperature scale of the SI system is based on the triple point of water, defined as exactly
273.16 K (0.01 °C; 32.02 °F). The scale is an absolute temperature scale with the same increment as the
Celsius temperature scale, which was originally defined according to the boiling point (set to 100 °C
(212 °F)) and melting point (set to 0 °C (32 °F)) of water.
Natural water consists mainly of the isotopes hydrogen-1 and oxygen-16, but there is also a small
quantity of heavier isotopes such as hydrogen-2 (deuterium). The amount of deuterium oxides or heavy
water is very small, but it still affects the properties of water. Water from rivers and lakes tends to
contain less deuterium than seawater. Therefore, standard water is defined in the Vienna Standard
Mean Ocean Water specification.
Agriculture
Water distribution in subsurface drip irrigation
Source;Source[edit]
http://photogallery.nrcs.usda.gov/Index.asp
Irrigation of field crops
Source;Source
http://photogallery.nrcs.usda.gov/Index.asp
For drinking.
Drinking water.
The human body contains from 55% to 78% water, depending on body size.[43] To function properly,
the body requires between one and seven liters (0.22 and 1.54 imp gal; 0.26 and 1.85 U.S. gal) of water
per day to avoid dehydration; the precise amount depends on the level of activity, temperature,
humidity, and other factors. Most of this is ingested through foods or beverages other than drinking
straight water. It is not clear how much water intake is needed by healthy people, though most
specialists agree that approximately 2 liters (6 to 7 glasses) of water daily is the minimum to maintain
proper hydration.[44] Medical literature favors a lower consumption, typically 1 liter of water for an
average male, excluding extra requirements due to fluid loss from exercise or warm weather.[45]
For those who have healthy kidneys, it is rather difficult to drink too much water, but (especially in warm
humid weather and while exercising) it is dangerous to drink too little. People can drink far more water
than necessary while exercising, however, putting them at risk of water intoxication (hyperhydration),
which can be fatal.[46][47] The popular claim that "a person should consume eight glasses of water per
day" seems to have no real basis in science.[48] Studies have shown that extra water intake, especially
up to 500 milliliters (18 imp fl oz; 17 U.S. fl oz) at mealtime was conducive to weight loss.[49][50][51][52]
[53][54]Adequate fluid intake is helpful in preventing constipation.[55]
Hazard symbol for non-potable water
Source;Torsten Henning - Drawn by Torsten Henning. Re-coded by Albin Jacobsson.
No drinking water, prohibition sign D-P005 according to German standard DIN 4844-2
An original recommendation for water intake in 1945 by the Food and Nutrition Board of the United
States National Research Council read: "An ordinary standard for diverse persons is 1 milliliter for each
calorie of food. Most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods."[56] The latest dietary reference
intake report by the United States National Research Council in general recommended, based on the
median total water intake from US survey data (including food sources): 3.7 liters (0.81 imp gal;
0.98 U.S. gal) for men and 2.7 liters (0.59 imp gal; 0.71 U.S. gal) of water total for women, noting that
water contained in food provided approximately 19% of total water intake in the survey.[57]
Specifically, pregnant and breastfeeding women need additional fluids to stay hydrated. The Institute of
Medicine (US) recommends that, on average, men consume 3 liters (0.66 imp gal; 0.79 U.S. gal) and
women 2.2 liters (0.48 imp gal; 0.58 U.S. gal); pregnant women should increase intake to 2.4 liters
(0.53 imp gal; 0.63 U.S. gal) and breastfeeding women should get 3 liters (12 cups), since an especially
large amount of fluid is lost during nursing.[58] Also noted is that normally, about 20% of water intake
comes from food, while the rest comes from drinking water and beverages (caffeinated included). Water
is excreted from the body in multiple forms; through urine and feces, through sweating, and by
exhalation of water vapor in the breath. With physical exertion and heat exposure, water loss will
increase and daily fluid needs may increase as well.
Humans require water with few impurities. Common impurities include metal salts and oxides, including
copper, iron, calcium and lead,[59] and/or harmful bacteria, such as Vibrio. Some solutes are acceptable
and even desirable for taste enhancement and to provide needed electrolytes.[60]
The single largest (by volume) freshwater resource suitable for drinking is Lake Baikal in Siberia.[61]
Water availability: fraction of population using improved water sources by country
Source;OmnipotentArchetype0309 - Own work
This is a map based off of File:Water quality.jpg but recreated from scratch in svg format. It shows the
population of a country that uses improved water sources as a percent of total population. Data
gathered from UNDP as of 2006.
Washing
The propensity of water to form solutions and emulsions is useful in various washing processes. Washing
is also an important component of several aspects of personal body hygiene. Most of personal water use
is due to showering, doing the laundry and dishwashing, reaching hundreds of liters per day in
developed countries.
Transportation
Main article: Ship transport
The use of water for transportation of materials through rivers and canals as well as the international
shipping lanes is an important part of the world economy.
Chemical uses
Water is widely used in chemical reactions as a solvent or reactant and less commonly as
a solute or catalyst. In inorganic reactions, water is a common solvent, dissolving many ionic
compounds, as well as other polar compounds such as ammonia and compounds closely related to
water. In organic reactions, it is not usually used as a reaction solvent, because it does not dissolve the
reactants well and is amphoteric (acidic and basic) and nucleophilic. Nevertheless, these properties are
sometimes desirable. Also, acceleration of Diels-Alder reactions by water has been
observed. Supercritical water has recently been a topic of research. Oxygen-saturated supercritical
water combusts organic pollutants efficiently. Water vapor is used for some processes in the chemical
industry. An example is the production of acrylic acid from acrolein, propylene and propane.[62][63][64]
[65] The possible effect of water in these reactions includes the physical-, chemical interaction of water
with the catalyst and the chemical reaction of water with the reaction intermediates.
Heat exchange
Water and steam are a common fluid used for heat exchange, due to its availability and high heat
capacity, both for cooling and heating. Cool water may even be naturally available from a lake or the
sea. It's especially effective to transport heat through vaporization and condensation of water because
of its large latent heat of vaporization. A disadvantage is that metals commonly found in industries such
as steel and copper are oxidized faster by untreated water and steam. In almost all thermal power
stations, water is used as the working fluid (used in a closed loop between boiler, steam turbine and
condenser), and the coolant (used to exchange the waste heat to a water body or carry it away
by evaporation in a cooling tower). In the United States, cooling power plants is the largest use of water.
[35]
In the nuclear power industry, water can also be used as a neutron moderator. In most nuclear reactors,
water is both a coolant and a moderator. This provides something of a passive safety measure, as
removing the water from the reactor also slows the nuclear reaction down. However other methods are
favored for stopping a reaction and it is preferred to keep the nuclear core covered with water so as to
ensure adequate cooling.
Fire extinction
Water is used for fighting wildfires.
Source;Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Chris Fahey, U.S.
Navy - http://www.defenselink.mil; exact source
An MH-60S Seahawk helicopter assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) Eight Five dumps
water from a 420-gallon extinguishing trough October 23, 2007, onto of one of the many areas in San
Diego County, California, suffering from an ongoing wildfire. The trough is used to dump water to help
fend off the fires that have already forced more than 250,000 people from their homes.
Water has a high heat of vaporization and is relatively inert, which makes it a good fire
extinguishing fluid. The evaporation of water carries heat away from the fire. It is dangerous to use
water on fires involving oils and organic solvents, because many organic materials float on water and the
water tends to spread the burning liquid.
Use of water in fire fighting should also take into account the hazards of a steam explosion, which may
occur when water is used on very hot fires in confined spaces, and of a hydrogen explosion, when
substances which react with water, such as certain metals or hot carbon such as coal, charcoal,
or coke graphite, decompose the water, producing water gas.
The power of such explosions was seen in the Chernobyl disaster, although the water involved did not
come from fire-fighting at that time but the reactor's own water cooling system. A steam explosion
occurred when the extreme overheating of the core caused water to flash into steam. A hydrogen
explosion may have occurred as a result of reaction between steam and hot zirconium.
Recreation
Water sport (recreation)
Humans use water for many recreational purposes, as well as for exercising and for sports. Some of
these include swimming, waterskiing, boating, surfing and diving. In addition, some sports, like ice
hockey and ice skating, are played on ice. Lakesides, beaches and water parks are popular places for
people to go to relax and enjoy recreation. Many find the sound and appearance of flowing water to be
calming, and fountains and other water features are popular decorations. Some keep fish and other life
in aquariums or ponds for show, fun, and companionship. Humans also use water for snow sports
i.e. skiing, sledding, snowmobiling or snowboarding, which require the water to be frozen.
Grand Anse Beach, St. George's, Grenada, West Indies
Source;Vkap at English Wikipedia
Grand Anse Beach, St. George's, Grenada, West Indies (Caribbean
Water industry
The water industry provides drinking water and wastewater services (including sewage treatment) to
households and industry. Water supply facilities include water wells, cisterns for rainwater
harvesting, water supply networks, and water purificationfacilities, water tanks, water towers, water
pipes including old aqueducts. Atmospheric water generators are in development.
Drinking water is often collected at springs, extracted from artificial borings (wells) in the ground, or
pumped from lakes and rivers. Building more wells in adequate places is thus a possible way to produce
more water, assuming the aquifers can supply an adequate flow. Other water sources include rainwater
collection. Water may require purification for human consumption. This may involve removal of
undissolved substances, dissolved substances and harmful microbes. Popular methods are filtering with
sand which only removes undissolved material, while chlorination and boiling kill harmful
microbes. Distillation does all three functions. More advanced techniques exist, such as reverse
osmosis. Desalination of abundant seawater is a more expensive solution used in coastal aridclimates.
The distribution of drinking water is done through municipal water systems, tanker delivery or as bottled
water. Governments in many countries have programs to distribute water to the needy at no charge.
Reducing usage by using drinking (potable) water only for human consumption is another option. In
some cities such as Hong Kong, sea water is extensively used for flushing toilets citywide in order
to conserve fresh water resources.
Polluting water may be the biggest single misuse of water; to the extent that a pollutant limits other
uses of the water, it becomes a waste of the resource, regardless of benefits to the polluter. Like other
types of pollution, this does not enter standard accounting of market costs, being conceived
as externalities for which the market cannot account. Thus other people pay the price of water
pollution, while the private firms' profits are not redistributed to the local population, victims of this
pollution. Pharmaceuticals consumed by humans often end up in the waterways and can have
detrimental effects on aquatic life if they bioaccumulate and if they are not biodegradable.
Municipal and industrial wastewater are typically treated at wastewater treatment plants. Mitigation of
polluted surface runoff is addressed through a variety of prevention and treatment techniques.
(See Surface runoff#Mitigation and treatment.)
A water-carrier in India, 1882. In many places where running water is not available, water has to be
transported by people.source; http://www.harappa.com/hawkshaw/67.html
A manual water pump in China ,
Source; Shizhao2005 - Own work
Water purification facility
Source; File:Usine Bret MG 1648.jpg
Original file (4,368 × 2,912 pixels, file size: 2.46 MB, MIME type: image/jpeg); ZoomViewer: flash/no
flash
Reverse osmosis (RO) desalinationplant in Barcelona, Spain
Source; James Grellier - Own work
A view across a reverse osmosis desalination plant.
Industrial applications
Many industrial processes rely on reactions using chemicals dissolved in water, suspension of solids in
water slurries or using water to dissolve and extract substances, or to wash products or process
equipment. Processes such as mining, chemical pulping, pulp bleaching, paper manufacturing, textile
production, dyeing, printing, and cooling of power plants use large amounts of water, requiring a
dedicated water source, and often cause significant water pollution.
Water is used in power generation. Hydroelectricity is electricity obtained from hydropower.
Hydroelectric power comes from water driving a water turbine connected to a generator.
Hydroelectricity is a low-cost, non-polluting, renewable energy source. The energy is supplied by the
motion of water. Typically a dam is constructed on a river, creating an artificial lake behind it. Water
flowing out of the lake is forced through turbines that turn generators.
Three Gorges Dam is the largest hydro-electric power station.
Source;Three Gorges Dam, Sandouping, Hubei Province, China. Photographed 2004/07/26
by w:User:Nowozin.
File:200407-sandouping-sanxiadaba-4.med.jpg
From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
Size of this preview: 800 × 240 pixels. Other resolutions: 640 × 192 pixels | 1,024 × 307 pixels | 1,280 ×
384 pixels | 4,096 × 1,228 pixels.
Original file (4,096 × 1,228 pixels, file size: 744 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg); ZoomViewer: flash/no flash
Pressurized water is used in water blasting and water jet cutters. Also, very high pressure water guns are
used for precise cutting. It works very well, is relatively safe, and is not harmful to the environment. It is
also used in the cooling of machinery to prevent overheating, or prevent saw blades from overheating.
Water is also used in many industrial processes and machines, such as the steam turbine and heat
exchanger, in addition to its use as a chemical solvent. Discharge of untreated water from industrial uses
is pollution. Pollution includes discharged solutes (chemical pollution) and discharged coolant water
(thermal pollution). Industry requires pure water for many applications and utilizes a variety of
purification techniques both in water supply and discharge.
Food processing
Boiling, steaming, and simmering are popular cooking methods that often require immersing food in
water or its gaseous state, steam.[66] Water is also used for dishwashing. Water also plays many critical
roles within the field of food science. It is important for a food scientist to understand the roles that
water plays within food processing to ensure the success of their products.[citation needed]
Solutes such as salts and sugars found in water affect the physical properties of water. The boiling and
freezing points of water are affected by solutes, as well as air pressure, which is in turn affected by
altitude. Water boils at lower temperatures with the lower air pressure that occurs at higher elevations.
One mole of sucrose (sugar) per kilogram of water raises the boiling point of water by 0.51 °C (0.918 °F),
and one mole of salt per kg raises the boiling point by 1.02 °C (1.836 °F); similarly, increasing the number
of dissolved particles lowers water's freezing point.[67]
Solutes in water also affect water activity that affects many chemical reactions and the growth of
microbes in food.[68] Water activity can be described as a ratio of the vapor pressure of water in a
solution to the vapor pressure of pure water.[67] Solutes in water lower water activity—this is
important to know because most bacterial growth ceases at low levels of water activity.[68] Not only
does microbial growth affect the safety of food, but also the preservation and shelf life of food.
Water hardness is also a critical factor in food processing and may be altered or treated by using a
chemical ion exchange system. It can dramatically affect the quality of a product, as well as playing a
role in sanitation. Water hardness is classified based on concentration of calcium carbonate the water
contains. Water is classified as soft if it contains less than 100 mg/l (UK)[69] or less than 60 mg/l (US).
[70]
According to a report published by the Water Footprint organization in 2010, a single kilogram of beef
requires 15 thousand liters (3.3×103 imp gal; 4.0×103 U.S. gal) of water; however, the authors also make
clear that this is a global average and circumstantial factors determine the amount of water used in beef
production.[71]
Water can be used to cook foods such as noodles
Source; Cuisson des pâtes. Voir b:fr:Cuisine:Recettes de pâtes Par Antoine.
Medical use
Water for injection is on the World Health Organization's list of essential medicines.[72]
The WHO Model List of Essential Medicines (EML), published by the World Health Organization (WHO),
contains the medications considered to be most effective and safe to meet the most important needs in
a health system. The list is frequently used by countries to help develop their own local lists of essential
medicine.[1] As of 2016, more than 155 countries have created national lists of essential medicines
based on the World Health Organization's model list.[2] This includes countries in both
the developed and developing world.[1]
The list is divided into core items and complementary items. The core items are deemed to be the
most cost effective options for key health problems and are usable with little additional health care
resources. The complementary items either require additional infrastructure such as specially
trained health care providers or diagnostic equipment or have a lower cost-benefit ratio.[3] About 25%
of items are in the complementary list.[4]Some medications are listed as both core and complementary.
[5] While most medications on the list are available as generic products, being under patent does not
preclude inclusion.[6]
The first list was published in 1977 and included 212 medications.[1][7] The WHO updates the list every
two years.[8] The 14th list was published in 2005 and contained 306 medications.[9] In 2015 the 19th
edition of the list was published and contains around 410 medications.[8] The 20th edition was
published in 2017 and comprises 433 drugs.[10][11] The national lists contain between 334 and 580
medications.[4]
A separate list for children up to 12 years of age, known as the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines
for Children (EMLc), was created in 2007 and is in its 6th edition.[8][12] It was created to make sure that
the needs of children were systematically considered such as availability of proper formulations.[13]
[14] Everything in the children's list is also included in the main list.[15] The list and notes are based on
the 19th and 20th edition of the main list.[3][10] An α indicates a medicine is only on the
complementary list.[3]
Sterile water for injection
Water for injection is on the World Health Organization's list of essential medicines.
Source
Doc James - Own work
Sterile water
; [72]
Distribution in nature
In the universe
Much of the universe's water is produced as a byproduct of star formation. The formation of stars is
accompanied by a strong outward wind of gas and dust. When this outflow of material eventually
impacts the surrounding gas, the shock waves that are created compress and heat the gas. The water
observed is quickly produced in this warm dense gas.[74]
On 22 July 2011, a report described the discovery of a gigantic cloud of water vapor containing "140
trillion times more water than all of Earth's oceans combined" around a quasar located 12 billion light
years from Earth. According to the researchers, the "discovery shows that water has been prevalent in
the universe for nearly its entire existence".[75][76]
Water has been detected in interstellar clouds within our galaxy, the Milky Way.[77] Water probably
exists in abundance in other galaxies, too, because its components, hydrogen and oxygen, are among
the most abundant elements in the universe. Based on models of the formation and evolution of the
Solar System and that of other star systems, most other planetary systems are likely to have similar
ingredients.
Band 5 ALMA receiver is an instrument specifically designed to detect water in the universe.
Source; ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), N. Tabilo - http://www.eso.org/public/images/ann15059a/
Band 5 receiver integrated into a Front End with all the others Bands (3 to 10).
.[73]
Water vapor
Water is present as vapor in:
Atmosphere of the Sun: in detectable trace amounts[78]
Atmosphere of Mercury: 3.4%, and large amounts of water in Mercury's exosphere[79]
Atmosphere of Venus: 0.002%[80]
Earth's atmosphere: ≈0.40% over full atmosphere, typically 1–4% at surface; as well as that of the
Moon in trace amounts[81]
Atmosphere of Mars: 0.03%[82]
Atmosphere of Ceres[83]
Atmosphere of Jupiter: 0.0004%[84] – in ices only; and that of its moon Europa[85]
Atmosphere of Saturn – in ices only; and that of its moons Titan (stratospheric),[Enceladus:
91%[86] and Dione(exosphere)
Atmosphere of Uranus – in trace amounts below 50 bar
Atmosphere of Neptune – found in the deeper layers[87]
Extrasolar planet atmospheres: including those of HD 189733 b[88] and HD 209458 b,[89] Tau Boötis b,
[90] HAT-P-11b,[91][92] XO-1b, WASP-12b, WASP-17b, and WASP-19b.[93]
Stellar atmospheres: not limited to cooler stars and even detected in giant hot stars such
as Betelgeuse, Mu Cephei, Antares and Arcturus.[92][94]
Circumstellar disks: including those of more than half of T Tauri stars such as AA Tauri[92] as well as TW
Hydrae,[95][96] IRC +10216[97] and APM 08279+5255,[75][76]VY Canis Majoris and S Persei.[94]
Liquid water
Liquid water is present on Earth, covering 71% of its surface.[1] Liquid water is also occasionally present
in small amounts on Mars. ] Scientists believe liquid water is present in the Saturnian moons
of Enceladus, as a 10-kilometre thick ocean approximately 30–40 kilometres below Enceladus' south
polar surface,[98][99]and Titan, as a subsurface layer, possibly mixed with ammonia.[100] Jupiter's
moon Europa has surface characteristics which suggest a subsurface liquid water ocean.[101] Liquid
water may also exist on Jupiter's moon Ganymede as a layer sandwiched between high pressure ice and
rock.[102]
Water ice
Water is present as ice on:
South Polar ice cap of Mars during Martian South summer 2000
Source;
NASA/JPL/MSSS - http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02393 http://www.msss.com/mars_imag
es/moc/4_27_00_spcap/ file
This is the south polar cap of Mars as it appeared to the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter
Camera (MOC) on April 17, 2000. The polar cap from left to right is about 420 km (260 mi) across.
Mars: under the regolith and at the poles.[103][104]
Earth-Moon system: mainly as ice sheets on Earth and in Lunar craters and volcanic rocks[105] NASA
reported the detection of water molecules by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper aboard the Indian
Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft in September 2009.[106]
Ceres[107][108][109]
Jupiter's moons: Europa's surface and also that of Ganymede[110] and Callisto[111][112]
Saturn: in the planet's ring system[113] and on the surface and mantle of Titan[114] and Enceladus[115]
Pluto-Charon system[113]
Comets[116][117] and other related Kuiper belt and Oort cloud objects[118]
And is also likely present on:
Mercury's poles[119]
Tethys[120]
Exotic forms
Water and other volatiles probably comprise much of the internal structures of Uranus and Neptune and
the water in the deeper layers may be in the form of ionic waterin which the molecules break down into
a soup of hydrogen and oxygen ions, and deeper still as superionic water in which the oxygen crystallises
but the hydrogen ions float about freely within the oxygen lattice.[121]
Water and habitable zone
Water distribution on Earth
The existence of liquid water, and to a lesser extent its gaseous and solid forms, on Earth are vital to the
existence of life on Earth as we know it. The Earth is located in the habitable zone of the solar system; if
it were slightly closer to or farther from the Sun (about 5%, or about 8 million kilometers), the
conditions which allow the three forms to be present simultaneously would be far less likely to exist.
[122][123]
Earth's gravity allows it to hold an atmosphere. Water vapor and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
provide a temperature buffer (greenhouse effect) which helps maintain a relatively steady surface
temperature. If Earth were smaller, a thinner atmosphere would allow temperature extremes, thus
preventing the accumulation of water except in polar ice caps (as on Mars).[citation needed]
The surface temperature of Earth has been relatively constant through geologic time despite varying
levels of incoming solar radiation (insolation), indicating that a dynamic process governs Earth's
temperature via a combination of greenhouse gases and surface or atmospheric albedo. This proposal is
known as the Gaia hypothesis.[citation needed]
The state of water on a planet depends on ambient pressure, which is determined by the planet's
gravity. If a planet is sufficiently massive, the water on it may be solid even at high temperatures,
because of the high pressure caused by gravity, as it was observed on exoplanets Gliese 436
b[124] and GJ 1214 b.[125]
Law, politics, and crisis
WatWater politics is politics affected by water and water resources. For this reason, water is a strategic
resource in the globe and an important element in many political conflicts. It causes health impacts and
damage to biodiversity.
Access to safe drinking water has improved over the last decades in almost every part of the world, but
approximately one billion people still lack access to safe water and over 2.5 billion lack access to
adequate sanitation.[126] However, some observers have estimated that by 2025 more than half of
the world population will be facing water-based vulnerability.[127] A report, issued in November 2009,
suggests that by 2030, in some developing regions of the world, water demand will exceed supply by
50%.[128]
1.6 billion people have gained access to a safe water source since 1990.[129] The proportion of people
in developing countries with access to safe water is calculated to have improved from 30% in
1970[130] to 71% in 1990, 79% in 2000 and 84% in 2004. This trend is projected to continue.[126] To
halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water is one of
the Millennium Development Goals. This goal is projected to be reached.[citation needed]
A 2006 United Nations report stated that "there is enough water for everyone", but that access to it is
hampered by mismanagement and corruption.[131] In addition, global initiatives to improve the
efficiency of aid delivery, such as the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, have not been taken up by
water sector donors as effectively as they have in education and health, potentially leaving multiple
donors working on overlapping projects and recipient governments without empowerment to act.[132]
The authors of the 2007 Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture cited poor
governance as one reason for some forms of water scarcity. Water governance is the set of formal and
informal processes through which decisions related to water management are made. Good water
governance is primarily about knowing what processes work best in a particular physical and
socioeconomic context. Mistakes have sometimes been made by trying to apply 'blueprints' that work in
the developed world to developing world locations and contexts. The Mekong river is one example; a
review by the International Water Management Institute of policies in six countries that rely on the
Mekong river for water found that thorough and transparent cost-benefit analyses and environmental
impact assessments were rarely undertaken. They also discovered that Cambodia's draft water law was
much more complex than it needed to be.[133]
The UN World Water Development Report (WWDR, 2003) from the World Water Assessment
Program indicates that, in the next 20 years, the quantity of water available to everyone is predicted to
decrease by 30%. 40% of the world's inhabitants currently have insufficient fresh water for
minimal hygiene. More than 2.2 million people died in 2000 from waterborne diseases (related to the
consumption of contaminated water) or drought. In 2004, the UK charity WaterAid reported that a child
dies every 15 seconds from easily preventable water-related diseases; often this means lack
of sewage disposal; see toilet.[citation needed]
Organizations concerned with water protection include the International Water
Association (IWA), WaterAid, Water 1st, and the American Water Resources Association.
The International Water Management Institute undertakes projects with the aim of using effective
water management to reduce poverty. Water related conventions are United Nations Convention to
Combat Desertification (UNCCD), International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from
Ships, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and Ramsar Convention. World Day for
Water takes place on 22 March and World Ocean Day on 8 June.[citation needed]
er law, Water right, and Water crisis
An estimate of the share of people in developing countries with access to potable water 1970–2000
Source;Original: GifTagger Vector: Jynto - Own work based on: Access to drinking water in third
world.GIF by GifTagger.. Derived from Björn Lomborg (2001), The Skeptical Environmentalist (Cambridge
University Press), ISBN 0521010683, p. 22, archived
fromhttp://www.lomborg.com/dyn/files/basic_items/69-file/skeptenvironChap1.pdf. The line has been
simplified; please see the original. Percentage of people in the Third World with access to drinking water
[...], 1970–2000. ... [The line here] is a logistic best fit line – a reasonable attempt to map out the best
guess of development among very different definitions. Source: World Bank 1994:26 (1975–90), WHO
1986:15–18 (1970–83), Gleick 1998:262, 264 (1980–90, 1990–4), Annan 2000:5 (1990–2000).
Best estimate of the share of people in developing countries with access to drinking water 1970–2000.
In culture
Religion
Water and religion
Water is considered a purifier in most religions. Faiths that incorporate ritual washing (ablution)
include Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, the Rastafari movement, Shinto, Taoism, and Wicca.
Immersion (or aspersion or affusion) of a person in water is a central sacrament of Christianity (where it
is called baptism); it is also a part of the practice of other religions, including Islam (Ghusl), Judaism
(mikvah) and Sikhism (Amrit Sanskar). In addition, a ritual bath in pure water is performed for the dead
in many religions including Islam and Judaism. In Islam, the five daily prayers can be done in most cases
after completing washing certain parts of the body using clean water (wudu), unless water is unavailable
(see Tayammum). In Shinto, water is used in almost all rituals to cleanse a person or an area (e.g., in the
ritual of misogi).
In Christianity, holy water is water that has been sanctified by a priest for the purpose of baptism,
the blessing of persons, places, and objects, or as a means of repelling evil.[134][135]
In Zoroastrianism, water (āb) is respected as the source of life.[136]
Philosophy
The Ancient Greek philosopher Empedocles held that water is one of the four classical elements along
with fire, earth and air, and was regarded as the ylem, or basic substance of the universe. Thales, who
was portrayed by Aristotle as an astronomer and an engineer, theorized that the earth, which is denser
than water, emerged from the water. Thales, a monist, believed further that all things are made from
water. Plato believed the shape of water is an icosahedron which accounts for why it is able to flow
easily compared to the cube-shaped earth.[137]
In the theory of the four bodily humors, water was associated with phlegm, as being cold and moist.
The classical element of water was also one of the five elements in traditional Chinese philosophy, along
with earth, fire, wood, and metal.
Water is also taken as a role model in some parts of traditional and popular Asian philosophy. James
Legge's 1891 translation of the Dao De Jing states, "The highest excellence is like (that of) water. The
excellence of water appears in its benefiting all things, and in its occupying, without striving (to the
contrary), the low place which all men dislike. Hence (its way) is near to (that of) the Tao" and "There is
nothing in the world more soft and weak than water, and yet for attacking things that are firm and
strong there is nothing that can take precedence of it—for there is nothing (so effectual) for which it can
be changed."[138] Guanzi in "Shui di" 水地 chapter further elaborates on symbolism of water,
proclaiming that "man is water" and attributing natural qualities of the people of different Chinese
regions to the character of local water resources.[139]
Dihydrogen monoxide hoax
Dihydrogen monoxide hoax
Water's technically correct but rarely used chemical name, "dihydrogen monoxide", has been used in a
series of hoaxes and pranks that mock scientific illiteracy. This began in 1983, when an April Fools'
Day article appeared in a newspaper in Durand, Michigan. The false story consisted of safety concerns
about the substance.
Dihydrogen monoxide parody
"
The subject of the parody, water, has a molecule consisting of two hydrogen atoms and
one oxygen atom, thus the name dihydrogen monoxide.
The dihydrogen monoxide parody involves calling water by the unfamiliar chemical name "dihydrogen
monoxide" (DHMO), or "hydroxylic acid" in some cases, and listing some of water's well-known effects in
a particularly alarming manner, such as accelerating corrosion and causing suffocation. The parody often
calls for dihydrogen monoxide to be banned, regulated, and labeled as dangerous. It illustrates how a
lack of scientific literacy and an exaggerated analysis can lead to misplaced fears.
The parody gained renewed popularity in the late 1990s when a 14-year-old student, Nathan Zohner,
[1] collected anti-DHMO petitions for a science project about gullibility.[2] The story has since been used
in science education to encourage critical thinking and discussion of the scientific method.[3][4]
History of Dihydrogen monoxide parody
A 1983 April Fools' Day edition of the Durand Express, a weekly newspaper in Durand, Michigan,
reported that "dihydrogen oxide" had been found in the city's water pipes, and warned that it was fatal
if inhaled, and could produce blistering vapors.[5] The first appearance of the parody on the Internet
was attributed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to the so-called "Coalition to Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide",
[6][7] a parody organization at UC Santa Cruz following on-campus postings and newsgroupdiscussions
in 1990.[8]
This new version of the parody was created by Eric Lechner, Lars Norpchen, and Matthew Kaufman—
housemates while attending the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1989–1990,[6][8]
[better source needed] revised by Craig Jackson in 1994,[6] and brought to widespread public attention
in 1997 when Nathan Zohner, a 14-year-old student, gathered petitions to ban "DHMO" as the basis of
his science project, titled "How Gullible Are We?"[2]
Jackson's original site included the following warning:[9]
Dihydrogen monoxide:
is also known as hydroxyl acid, and is the major component of acid rain.
contributes to the "greenhouse effect".
may cause severe burns.
contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape.
accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals.
may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes.
has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.
Despite the danger, dihydrogen monoxide is often used:
as an industrial solvent and coolant.
in nuclear power plants.
in the production of styrofoam.
as a fire retardant.
in many forms of cruel animal research.
in the distribution of pesticides. Even after washing, produce remains contaminated by this chemical.
as an additive in certain "junk-foods" and other food products.
A mock material safety data sheet has also been created for H2O.[10][11]
Molecular terminology and naming conventions
The water molecule has the chemical formula H2O, meaning each molecule of water is composed of
two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Literally, the term "dihydrogen monoxide" means "two
hydrogen, one oxygen", consistent with its molecular formula: the prefix di- in dihydrogen means "two",
the prefix mon- in monoxidemeans "one", and an oxide is an oxygen atom attached to another atom in
an ionic compound.[12]
Using chemical nomenclature, various names for water are in common use within the scientific
community. Some such names include hydrogen oxide, as well as an alkali name of hydrogen hydroxide,
and several acid names such as hydric acid, hydroxic acid, hydroxyl acid, and hydroxilic acid. The term
"hydroxyl acid" used in the original text is a non-standard name.[13][not in citation given]
Under the 2005 revisions of IUPAC nomenclature of inorganic chemistry, there is no single correct name
for every compound.[14] The primary function of chemical nomenclature is to ensure that each name
refers, unambiguously, to a single substance. It is considered less important to ensure that each
substance should have a single unambiguous name, although the number of acceptable names is
limited.[14] Water is one acceptable name for this compound, even though it is neither a systematic nor
an international name and is specific to just one phase of the compound (its liquid form). The other
IUPAC recommendation is oxidane,[15] which is used by hoax industry groups promoting DHMO as a
safe industrial chemical while hinting at dangers and government conspiracies.[16]
Public efforts involving the DHMO parody
In 1989–1990, several students circulated a dihydrogen monoxide contamination warning on
the University of California, Santa Cruz, campus via photocopied fliers.[6][17]
In 1994, Craig Jackson created a web page for the Coalition to Ban DHMO.[6][9]
The Friends of Hydrogen Hydroxide website was created by Dan Curtis Johnson; partly as a foil on the
Coalition page, claiming to oppose its "subversive agenda". The site points out that hydrogen hydroxide
is "environmentally safe" and "enhances the functionality, growth, and health of many forms of life".
[18]
In 1997, Nathan Zohner, a 14-year-old student at Eagle Rock Junior High School in Idaho Falls, Idaho,
gathered 43 votes to ban the chemical, out of 50 ninth-graders surveyed. Zohner received the first prize
at Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair for analysis of the results of his survey.[2] In recognition of his
experiment, journalist James K. Glassman coined the term "Zohnerism" to refer to "the use of a true fact
to lead a scientifically and mathematically ignorant public to a false conclusion".[19]
In late 1997, drawing inspiration from Jackson's web page and Zohner's research, Tom Way created a
website at DHMO.org, including links to some legitimate sites such as the Environmental Protection
Agency and National Institutes of Health.[20]
On April 1, 1998 (April Fools' Day), a member of the Australian Parliament announced a campaign to ban
dihydrogen monoxide internationally.[21]
In 2001, a staffer in New Zealand Green Party MP Sue Kedgley's office responded to a request for
support for a campaign to ban dihydrogen monoxide by saying she was "absolutely supportive of the
campaign to ban this toxic substance". This was criticized in a press release by the National Party,
[22] one of whose MPs fell for the very same joke six years later.[23]
In 2002, radio talk show host Neal Boortz mentioned on the air that the Atlanta water system had been
checked and found to be contaminated with dihydrogen monoxide, and set about relating the hazards
associated with that "dangerous" chemical. A local TV station even covered the 'scandal'. A
spokesperson for the city's water system told the reporter that there was no more dihydrogen
monoxide in the system than what was allowed under the law.[24]
The idea was used for a segment of an episode of the Penn & Teller show Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, in
which actress Kris McGaha and a camera crew gathered signatures from people considering themselves
"concerned environmentalists" to sign a petition to ban DHMO.[25]
In March 2004, Aliso Viejo, California, almost considered banning the use of foam containers at city-
sponsored events because dihydrogen monoxide is part of their production. A paralegal had asked
the city council to put it on the agenda; he later attributed it to poor research.[26] The bill was pulled
from the agenda before it could come to a vote, but not before the city received a raft of bad publicity.
[2]
Tongue-in-cheek warning sign in Louisville, Kentucky
In 2006, in Louisville, Kentucky, David Karem, executive director of the Waterfront Development
Corporation, a public body that operates Waterfront Park, wished to deter bathers from using a large
public fountain. "Counting on a lack of understanding about water's chemical makeup", he arranged for
signs reading: "DANGER! – WATER CONTAINS HIGH LEVELS OF HYDROGEN – KEEP OUT" to be posted on
the fountain at public expense.[27]
Occasionally, petitions on the UK Government e-petitions website on this subject have been closed or
rejected.[28]
In 2007 Jacqui Dean, New Zealand National Party MP, fell for the joke, writing a letter to Associate
Minister of Health Jim Anderton asking "Does the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs have a view on
the banning of this drug?"[23][29][30]
On April 1, 2009, a Canadian Conservative Member of Parliament, Andrew Scheer, used the DHMO
parody as the basis for an April Fool's Day "media release" on his website, in which he claimed to have
presented a bill to ban the substance from all federal government buildings.[31]
In February 2011, during the campaign of the Finnish parliamentary election, a voting advice
application asked the candidates whether the availability of "hydric acid also known as dihydrogen
monoxide" should be restricted. 49% of the candidates answered in favor of the restriction.[32]
In April 2013, two radio personalities at Gator Country 101.9, a station in Lee County, Florida, told
listeners that dihydrogen monoxide was coming out of their water taps as part of an April Fool's
Day prank and were suspended for a few days.[33][34]The prank resulted in several calls by consumers
to the local utility company, which sent out a release stating that the water was safe.[35]
.[140]
RESULTS
This includes some historical background on Astronomy, mechanics and physical causes, as well as an
overview of Newton’s background framework and his theoretical concept of a centripetal force. It
introduces Newton’s Rules for reasoning in natural philosophy and gives an overview of Newton’s
argument for universal gravity and its application to the solar system. A comparison with a passage from
Huygens on hypothetico-deductive confirmation helps inform Newton’s classic hypotheses non-
fingo passage. Lessons on scientific method also include an informative contrast with Laplace’s search
for solar system stability, and a contrast between theory acceptance guided by empirical success and
mere assignment of high probability.
Keywords: astronomy, mechanics, physical causes, centripetal force, scientific method, hypotheses
non-fingo, hypothetico-deductive, confirmation, Huygens, Laplace
our present work sets forth the mathematical principles of natural philosophy. For the basic problem
[lit. whole difficulty] of philosophy seems to be to discover the forces of nature from the phenomena of
motions and then to demonstrate the other phenomena from these forces. (C&W, 382)1
Our epigram is from Newton's preface to his masterpiece, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia
Mathematica(Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy). It was published in 1687 when he was 44
years old. In it he argued for universal gravity. We still count gravity as one of the four fundamental
forces of nature. The publication of Newton's Principia was pivotal in the transformation of natural
philosophy into natural science as we know it today.
Newton used some phenomena of orbital motions of planets and satellites as a basis from which to
argue for his theory. We shall see that these phenomena are patterns exhibited in sets of data Newton
cites in their support. We shall seek to understand the method by which he transformed these data into
evidence for universal gravity. This will mostly be an effort to explicate the first part of the endeavor
described in our epigram from Newton's preface,
to discover the forces of nature from the phenomena of motions.
Newton went on to apply his theory to refine our knowledge of the motions of solar system bodies and
the gravitational interactions on which they depend. The second part of the endeavor described in our
epigram,
and then to demonstrate the other phenomena from these forces,
is exemplified in Newton's applications of universal gravity to demonstrate the basic solar system
phenomena of elliptical orbits and some of their corrections for (p.2) perturbations. These applications
resulted in more accurate corrected phenomena backed up by accurate measurements of the relative
masses of solar system bodies. These results contribute significant additional evidence for universal
gravity, so understanding how they work is also important for understanding Newton's scientific method
of turning data into evidence.
In this book we will examine the steps by which Newton argued from phenomena of orbital motion to
centripetal forces and then on to universal gravity. We will see how this led to measurements of masses
of the sun and planets from orbits about them and, thereby, to his decisive resolution of the problem of
deciding between geocentric and heliocentric world systems. This Two Chief World Systems problem,
the topic of Galileo's famously controversial dialogue, was the dominant question of natural philosophy
in the seventeenth century. Newton's theory affords decisive evidence for his surprising conclusion that
both are wrong, because the sun and the earth both move relative to the center of mass of the solar
system. The sun, however, never recedes very far from this center of mass. This makes elliptical orbits
about the sun a good first approximation from which to begin accounting for the complex motions of
the planets by successively more accurate models, as more and more perturbation producing
interactions are taken into account.
Our investigation will show that Newton's scientific method adds features which can significantly enrich
the basic hypothetico‐deductive model that informed much of philosophy of science in the last century.
On this familiar model of scientific inference, hypotheses are verified by the conclusions to be drawn
from them and empirical success is limited to accurate prediction.2
Newton's scientific method goes beyond this basic hypothetico‐deductive model in at least three
important ways. First, Newton's inferences from phenomena realize an ideal of empirical success that is
richer than prediction. In addition to accurate prediction of the phenomena a theory purports to explain,
this richer ideal of empirical success requires that a theory have those phenomena accurately measure
the parameters which explain them. Second, Newton's scientific method aims to turn theoretical
questions into ones which can be empirically answered by measurement from phenomena. Third,
theoretical propositions inferred from phenomena are provisionally accepted as guides to further
research.
(p.3) These improvements let Newton employ theory‐mediated measurements to turn data into far
more informative evidence than can be achieved by hypothetico‐deductive confirmation alone. All three
of them come together in a method of successive approximations in which deviations from the model
developed so far count as new theory‐mediated phenomena that aid in developing a more accurate
successor model. This rich scientific method of Newton's was taken up by his successors in their
extraordinary extensions of applications of his theory to solar system motions, in what developed into
the science of physics applied to astronomy.
In our concluding chapter we shall argue that Newton's own scientific method endorses the
revolutionary change from his theory to Einstein's. We shall also see that this rich empirical method of
Newton's continues to be realized in the development and application of testing frameworks for
relativistic theories of gravity. In addition, we shall see that an application of Newton's ideal of empirical
success as agreeing measurements from diverse phenomena is appealed to in support of the radical
inference to dark energy in cosmology today.
1 Some historical backgrounds.
1. Astronomy,
Archaeological evidence from many ancient sites, ranging from pyramids to Stonehenge, demonstrates
a long‐standing human fascination with celestial phenomena. These phenomena include the regular
configurations among the fixed stars, which maintain their positions relative to one another as they
move westward across the sky each night. In contrast are the phenomena of the motions of planets. The
word “planet” originally referred to celestial wanderers – bodies which move against the background of
the fixed stars. These included the sun and the moon as well as Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and
Saturn. Salient among the phenomena exhibited by these last five are regular occasions of retrograde
motion.
On these occasions they appear to come to a stop, reverse direction for some time, then stop again
before resuming their normal motion against the fixed stars.
From the point of view of European science history, the earliest influential model for the nature of the
heavens was described by Aristotle (Greece 384–322 BC).3 The stationary earth was at the center of
numerous rotating spheres of ethereal material carrying the various planets and the stars. This was the
world imagined by Western Europeans for two thousand years.
Mathematical astronomy was developed to accurately represent and predict the celestial phenomena
exhibited by the motions of planets against the stars. As more (p.4)
Figure 1.1 Retrograde motion of Mars A composite image from July 2005 through February 2006 shows
Mars appearing to reverse the direction of its orbit for a time.
detailed and complex mathematical models were developed for accurate representation and prediction
of celestial phenomena, mathematical astronomy became a separate enterprise from the search for
physical causes to explain those phenomena.
Ptolemy (Alexandria, ca AD 150)
Ptolemy provided a comprehensive and computationally tractable account of these phenomena. His
treatment of retrograde motions recovered not just the basic pattern, but also details such as regular
variations in lengths of retrograde loops and in their timing. The basic pattern could be recovered from
an earth‐centered model by introducing a two‐circle system. The observed path of each planet against
the stars is represented by a motion of the planet on an epicycle, with a center that moves on another
circle called the “deferent”.
In order to recover the details of the variation of length and timing of retrograde loops, Ptolemy made
the deferent circle eccentric with respect to the earth and introduced the equant.
The equant is a point about which the center of the epicycle describes equal angles in equal times on its
motion along the deferent circle. Ptolemy located this equant point at an equal distance on the exact
opposite side of the center of the deferent circle as that center is distant from the earth. This allowed
his earth‐centered model to accurately recover the motions of the planet against the stars.
Ptolemy's great book became the standard treatment of mathematical astronomy for 1,400 years.
Ptolemaic mathematical astronomy survived the Dark Ages thanks to Arab (p.5)
Figure 1.2 Epicycle deferent
Figure 1.3 Equant
and Iranian astronomers.4 In the 12th century Europeans obtained translations of Ptolemy's book and,
perhaps somewhat later, they also obtained knowledge of various critiques of Ptolemy's system by some
of these astronomers.5
(p.6) Ptolemy used data from observations to set the parameters of his model and provided tables
which could be used to compute locations of planets, astronomical objects at past and future times.6 He
specified these locations in ecliptic coordinates which are still used today. The ecliptic is the yearly path
of the sun against the fixed stars.
Ecliptic latitudes specify angular distances north or south of this line. The vernal equinox, the location of
the sun at sunrise on the first day of spring, marks the origin (0 degrees = 360 degrees) for ecliptic
longitude.
Figure 1.4 Ecliptic
Familiar constellations, the signs of the zodiac, mark off the ecliptic circle into twelve 30-degree
segments. These are, in order (counterclockwise viewed from the north ecliptic pole), 1 Aries, 2 Taurus,
3 Gemini, 4 Cancer, 5 Leo, 6 Virgo, 7 Libra, 8 Scorpius, 9 Sagittarius, 10 Capricorn, 11 Aquarius, 12 Pisces.
The location of the vernal equinox on the ecliptic at the time of Hipparchus (160–127 BC) was at about
the beginning of the constellation, Aries.7The equinoxes (p.7)
Figure 1.5 The twelve constellations
move backwards (clockwise) through the zodiac at about 1 degree 23 minutes of arc every century. We
call this phenomenon the “precession of the equinoxes.” It corresponds to a rotation of the direction of
the tilt of the earth's axis with respect to the plane of the ecliptic. The direction towards which the north
pole points slowly traces a small circle against the stars in a cycle that takes about 26 thousand years to
complete.
By the seventeenth century the location of the vernal equinox was well within Pisces (the 12th
constellation). Early in the twenty‐first century the location of the vernal equinox will be in Aquarius (the
11th constellation).
Figure 1.6 Precession of the equinoxesEarth-centered representation. It is as though the tilted plane of
the ediptic is rotating about the earth's axis at a uniform rate so that it would take 26,000 years for a
complete cycle.
Figure 1.7 Precession of equinoxes explainedThis apparent change in the Sun's orbit is actually due to a
corresponding 26,000-year precession in the earth's axis of rotation.
(p.9) By the twelfth century, Ptolemy's incorrect specification of the precession of the equinoxes, at only
1 degree per century (off by 23 minutes per century), was leading to rather glaring inaccuracies. The
Alfonsine tables, of about 1270, were based on re‐set parameters for Ptolemy's model and corrections
to the precession.8 By the early 1500s these tables were showing inaccuracies stemming, in part, from
the use of the Julian year, which was slightly too short. These created problems for specifying the date
of Easter that eventually led to reform of the calendar.
Nicholas Copernicus (Poland, 1473–1543 )
Copernicus was well aware of these problematic inaccuracies. He was also bothered by models using
non‐uniform rotations and spheres which intersected, because they did not fit what he imagined to be
the physical mechanism for moving the planets. That mechanism, like that of Aristotle, was based on
uniformly revolving spheres that ought not to intersect. Copernicus was able to accommodate such a
mechanism by creating models in which the spheres of all the planets encompass the sun and
also making the earth a planet.9 One advantage of making the earth a planet was a simpler explanation
of retrograde motion. The following diagram represents the retrograde motion of Mars as an effect of
the earth overtaking Mars as they both orbit the sun.10
Figure 1.8 Retrograde motion of Mars explained
(p.10) Even though the basic explanation of retrograde motion was simpler in Copernicus's model, his
system for explaining details used about as many circles as Ptolemy's.11 Copernicus was able to achieve
a model that was as accurate as Ptolemy's would be with corresponding parameter settings.
Copernicus's book, De Revolutionibus, was published in 1543, the year he died. The Prutenic tables,
which formed a basis for the reformed calendar adopted by Pope Gregory in 1583, were generated
using Copernicus's model.
Tycho Brahe (Danish, 1546–1601)
Brahe directed an observation enterprise in astronomy which produced a very extensive body of
impressively accurate data.12 His instruments for observation, partly due to their great size, afforded
the most precise data until the use of the telescope. His
Figure 1.9 The Tychonic system
(p.11) data provided substantially improved knowledge of the observed positions of planets against the
fixed background of constellations of the stars.13
Tycho also developed a geo‐heliocentric model for the solar system, in which the planets circle the sun
while the sun circles the earth.14
Unlike Copernicus, Brahe did not count the earth as a planet.15
Kepler (German 1571–1630)
Near the end of his life, Brahe hired an astronomical mathematician, Johannes Kepler. During the winter
of 1600/1601 Kepler wrote a work on the history and philosophy of astronomy in which he proposed
that the empirical equivalence between geocentric and heliocentric world systems could be overcome
by appeal to physical causes.16 In 1609 he published his NEW ASTRONOMY BASED UPON CAUSES or
CELESTIAL PHYSICS treated by means of commentaries ON THE MOTION OF THE STARMARS from the
observations of TYCHO BRAHE, GENT. In the first chapter he provides a diagram (see Figure 1.10)
illustrating the complex motion that would need to be accounted for on the assumption that the earth
stands still.
This is the complexity that a physical cause of the motion of Mars would have to explain if the true
motions of the planets were taken to be their motions relative to the center of the earth. Counting
circles to compare the predictive models of Copernicus and Ptolemy is much less informative.
In his book, Kepler appealed to his own proposed hypotheses about physical causes as well as to his
impressive analysis of Tycho's data to argue that Mars moves in an elliptical orbit with the sun at a
focus.17 He also argued that the rate at which its motion sweeps out areas by radii to that focus is
constant. We call these Kepler's first and second “laws” of orbital motion.18 Figure 1.11 is a diagram
representing the motion of a planet according to these two rules found by Kepler.
Figure 1.10 Kepler's diagram depicting the motion of Mars on a geocentric conception of the solar
system
Figure 1.11 Ellipse with the Area Rule
(p.13) The two equal area segments are swept out in two equal amounts of time. The planet moves
faster enough in the segment with smaller distances to sweep out the same area swept out in the
segment further from the sun in the same amount of time.
In 1619 Kepler published The Harmony of the World in which he appealed to intuitions about cosmic
harmony, as well as orbital data, to arrive at the Harmonic Rule. According to Kepler's Harmonic Rule,
the system of elliptical orbits of the primary planets about the sun at their common focus is such that
the ratio of the cube of the mean‐distance R to the square of the period tis the same for all of
them.19 That is, R 3/t 2 has the same constant value for each of these orbits. We call this Kepler's third
“law” of orbital motion. We can informatively exhibit the fit of the Harmonic Rule to the data Newton
cites from Kepler by plotting log periods against log distances.20
Figure 1.12 The Harmonic Rule as illustrated by satellites of the sun
(p.14) That some straight line of slope n fits the result of plotting Logt against LogR is to have the periods
be as some power n of the distances. To have the Harmonic Rule hold is to have the slope of this line be
3/2 = 1.5.
The culmination of Kepler's life's work was the publication of his Rudolphine Tables in 1627. These
applied his orbital rules to generate accurate predictions of the motions of all the planets. We now know
that these predictions are about thirty times more accurate than those of competing tables.21 Some
indication of this became generally known when Kepler's prediction of a transit of Mercury across the
face of the sun was verified in 1631. Kepler's prediction erred by about ten arc minutes while those of
tables based on Ptolemy or Copernicus erred by five degrees or more.22
Galileo (Italy 1564–1642)
In 1609 Galileo manufactured telescopes that were more powerful than any previous ones. His
telescopes afforded magnifications of up to 20 times or more.23 Early in 1610 he published results of
observations of the moon, stars, and planets. These revealed that our moon appeared earth‐like, with
mountains and valleys, and sharpened differences between the steady, round shapes of planets and the
fixed stars which are seen to pulsate with bright rays. He also found many new stars not visible to the
naked eye. The broad band of the Milky Way, which looks like whitish clouds to the naked eye, was seen
by the telescope to be a dense crowd of stars. Some odd‐shaped objects that had been called nebulous
stars were revealed to be swarms of small stars placed exceedingly close together. His observations of
Jupiter revealed that it was accompanied by four satellites – moons in orbit about the planet.24 His
book Siderius Nuncius (Starry Messenger) quickly made Galileo a celebrity in his age, of the sort that
Einstein became in the twentieth century.
We shall say more about Galileo's discovery and later observations of Jupiter's moons in chapter 2,
when we discuss Newton's acceptance of the Area Rule and Harmonic Rule for the orbits of these four
Galilean moons of Jupiter as a phenomenon from which to argue. This discussion is accompanied by a
diagram recording observations of Jupiter's moons by Jesuit astronomers of the Collegio Romano, when
they corroborated Galileo's results after obtaining a telescope.
Galileo's later observations of phases of Venus provided direct observational evidence against Ptolemy's
system, though not against Tycho's geo‐heliocentric system.25
These phases of Venus were among the observational results of Galileo that were verified by telescope
observations of Jesuit astronomers.26 As a result, the Tychonic system became dominant among
defenders of earth‐centered cosmology.27
Figure 1.13 The phases of Venus This diagram, drawn by Kepler, is from his Epitome of Copernican
Astronorny. (Kepler 1995, 68)
2. Mechanics and physical causes
I see that Newton's argument for universal gravity and its application to the solar system is the
successful realization of Kepler's project for using physical causes to overcome the empirical equivalence
between geocentric and heliocentric world systems. We shall also see that a major aim of Newton's
scientific method was to defend this use of gravity as a physical cause to explain planetary motions,
even though he was unable to find a physical cause of gravity itself.
This section reviews views on physical causation by some influential earlier thinkers. It provides
background that will usefully inform our account of Newton's conception of gravity as a physical cause
of orbital motion.
Galileo (on mechanics)
We have already discussed Galileo's telescope observations reported in his 1610 book Siderius
Nuncius and the important evidence afforded by his additional observations of the phases of Venus. In
addition to these contributions to astronomy, Galileo also made fundamental contributions to
mechanics. In his famous Two New Sciences of 1638, Galileo proposed uniformly accelerated fall as an
exact account of idealized motion that would result in the absence of any resistant medium, even
though the idealization is impossible to actually implement. He argued that the perturbing effects of
resistance are too complex to be captured by any theory.29He also offered considerations, including
inclined plane experiments that slow down the motion, to argue that his idealized uniformly accelerated
motion is the principal mechanism of such terrestrial motion phenomena as free‐fall and projectile
motion.30 Galileo's account of projectile motion combined uniformly accelerated fall with an appeal to
horizontal inertia. Over relatively short distances, such as those explored by the projectile trajectories he
considered, uniform horizontal motion approximates uniform motion on a circle of (p.17)radius equal to
that of the earth. We can think of Galileo's horizontal inertia as bringing down to earth, to what Aristotle
counted as forced local‐motion, this feature of the natural motion Aristotle attributed to the celestial
spheres.
Descartes (French 1596–1650)
René Descartes was a principal leader of the mechanical philosophy, a movement that came to
dominate natural philosophy in the seventeenth century. This movement criticized Aristotelian
attributions of qualities, such as heaviness to explain falling and lightness to explain rising, as pseudo‐
explanations. According to the mechanical philosophy, to make a motion phenomenon intelligible one
must show how the motion could possibly result from contact pushes between bodies. In his Principia
Philosophiae [Principles of Philosophy], Descartes offered an account of mechanics in which deviation
from uniform straight‐line motion (as well as deviation from rest) required explanation.31 This
introduced a need for a cause to explain orbital motion of planets that anticipated Newton's application
of his first Law of Motion. Descartes offered his vortex theory as a mechanical account of how the
planets could be maintained in orbits by vortex particles in analogy with the way pieces of wood are
carried in curved paths by a whirlpool.32 In his Principia, Descartes provided such qualitative
hypothetical mechanical explanations for terrestrial gravity, the birth and death of stars, the formation
of mountains, the tides, sunspots, light, and even magnetic phenomena.
Descartes was an important mathematician. His Geometry, which was published as an appendix to
his Discourse on Method in 1637, is the origin of our modern discipline of analytic geometry, in which
coordinates and equations allow the fruitful combination of algebra and geometry.33 Figure 1.14 is what
we call a Cartesian coordinate representation of the path of a body projected with a velocity of 10 Paris
feet per second at a 45-degree angle up from atop the lower side of the leaning Tower of Pisa, at 172
Paris feet. We are here using resources provided by Descartes the mathematician to accurately (p.18)
Figure 1.14 Cartesian coordinates
represent motion according to the account developed by Galileo's empirical investigation of projectile
motion.
Descartes did not require his coordinates to be orthogonal. We now exploit nonorthogonal coordinates
in geometrical representations of special relativity.34
Descartes is most widely known as a philosopher. In his philosophy, Descartes appealed to reason to
defend knowledge against skepticism. He offered an ideal of infallible premises expressed in clear and
distinct ideas, together with an ideal of inference limited to what follows by clear and distinct deductive
steps from explicit assumptions.35 Descartes's ideal of inference as deduction, interpreted with the help
of modern logic, is still with us today. This ideal is sometimes taken as a standard for what ought to
count as an acceptable inference. In the philosophy of science, we see this in the idea that an alternative
hypothesis can undercut an inference unless it is shown to be logically incompatible with assumptions
that are explicitly accepted as premises. This has been used to argue against the capacity of scientific
practice to empirically discriminate among alternative theories.
(p.19) Descartes proposed this extreme standard of inference to defend knowledge against skepticism.
In the philosophy of science it has, instead, contributed what I shall argue is illegitimate support for
skepticism about scientific knowledge. We shall see that Newton's fourth rule for doing natural
philosophy affords a powerful counter against such overly restrictive standards as those of this Cartesian
ideal.
Huygens (Dutch 1629–95)
Christiaan Huygens was the leading natural philosopher when Newton began his career. Huygens,
together with his brother, invented a telescope that used long focal length lenses to obtain sharper
images.
Huygens used such a telescope to discover Saturn's moon Titan and to resolve Saturn's rings. In
appendix 2 of chapter 2 we will see that a Huygens telescope with a focal length of 123 feet played an
important role in an observation initiative sponsored by Newton to obtain more accurate data on
satellites of Jupiter and Saturn.36
Huygens replaced the rather puzzling Laws of Motion proposed by Descartes with principles that
correspond to Newton's laws applied to collisions between elastic bodies.37 His resulting derivation of a
law of conservation of momentum appealed to a clever application of a relativity principle and,
arguably, also anticipated Newton's distinction between weight and mass.38 Huygens's summary report
on his laws of collision clearly anticipates corollary 4 of Newton's Laws of Motion.39 His treatment of
what he called “centrifugal force” includes derivation of an accurate calculation of what we count as the
ratios of centripetal accelerations corresponding to uniform circular motions.40
Huygens was able to successfully extend Galileo's treatment of free fall to account for the constrained
fall exhibited by pendulum motion. His successful theory of pendulums led to his invention of the
pendulum clock, the first really precise timepiece. Together with his theory of pendulum motion, his
clock made possible his accurate theory‐mediated measurement of the strength of terrestrial gravity.
This measurement, together with his theory of pendulum motion and pendulum clocks, is reported in
his book The Pendulum Clock. It was published in 1673. Huygens also developed a wave theory of light
and proposed an ingenious hypothesis for a mechanical cause of gravity. After reading
Newton's Principia, Huygens added comments on Newton's argument to his Discourse on the Cause of
Gravity, which he published together with his Treatise on Light in 1690. In chapter 5 we will find these
comments,
Figure 1.15 Huygens's telescope
together with Huygens's proposed cause of gravity, afford an illuminating foil for understanding
Newton's scientific method.
II Newton's Principia: theoretical concepts
In August 1684 Edmund Halley (1656–1742), who would become the Astronomer Royal in 1720, visited
Newton in Cambridge. According to a much retold story, Halley's visit convinced Newton of the
importance of a calculation in which Newton (p.21) had connected the ellipse with an orbit produced by
an inverse‐square force.41 By November, Newton had sent Halley a small but revolutionary treatise, De
Motu. An extraordinarily intense and productive effort by Newton over the next few years transformed
this small treatise into the Principia.
1. Newton's background framework
The Principia opens with two sections that precede book 1. The first is entitled “Definitions.” In it
Newton discusses concepts basic to his fundamental theoretical framework and introduces his
theoretical concept of a centripetal force. This section ends with his controversial scholium on time,
space, place, and motion.42 The basic concepts, together with his space‐time framework, allow the
Laws of Motion to be formulated in the second of these preliminary sections, which is entitled “Axioms
or the Laws of Motion.” Newton regards these Laws of Motion as empirical propositions, but he
considers them sufficiently established to be treated as axioms. In chapter 3 we will see that Newton
points out that their empirical support includes their confirmation from mechanics of machines, as well
as phenomena of fall and projectile motion. We will also see Newton's own carefully designed trials of
pendulum experiments to take into account air‐resistance and to confirm the third Law of Motion for
collisions with bodies of imperfect elasticity.43 In chapter 9 we shall look in some detail at Newton's
arguments to extend his third Law of Motion to attraction at a distance.
The propositions in these two preliminary sections, together with the propositions derived from them in
books 1 and 2 (both of which are titled “The Motion of Bodies”), are the principles referred to in
the Principia's full title, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. They provide Newton's
background framework for turning data into evidence for universal gravity and its application to
empirically determine the true motions of the bodies in our solar system.
Central to Newton's application of universal gravity to this famous two chief world systems problem is
corollary 4 of his Laws of Motion:
The common center of gravity of two or more bodies does not change its state whether of motion or of
rest as a result of the actions of the bodies upon one another; and therefore the common center of
gravity of all bodies acting upon one another (excluding external actions and impediments) either is at
rest or moves uniformly straight forward. (C&W, 421)
This allows the measurements of the relative masses of planets and the sun, afforded by his theory of
gravity, to support his surprising resolution of this question which dominated natural philosophy in the
seventeenth century.
(p.22) 2. Newton's theoretical concept of a centripetal force
Newton's theoretical concept of a centripetal force deserves attention because of the important role it
plays in his argument for universal gravity. He devotes the last four of his eight definitions to this
concept and its three distinct quantities, or measures: absolute, accelerative, and motive. These
definitions, as well as Newton's basic framework and Laws of Motion, are discussed in more detail in
chapter 3. Here it may be enough to illustrate his concept of a centripetal force by considering the
inverse‐square centripetal force toward the sun that he argues for.
For each planet, its mass times its acceleration toward the sun counts as a motive measure of this
inverse‐square centripetal force.44 These motive measures, which Newton says may be called separate
motive forces assigned to each body being accelerated by it, are familiar to today's physics students as
Newtonian forces.
Less familiar are Newton's accelerative measures, examples of which are given by assigning the
centripetal acceleration of each planet to the location relative to the sun which it occupies. As Newton
puts it, an accelerative measure is assigned “to the place of the body as a certain efficacy diffused from
the center through each of the surrounding places in order to move the bodies that are in those places”
(C&W, 407). What makes this an inverse‐square centripetal force is that the magnitudes of these
accelerations assigned to the places around the sun vary inversely as the squares of the distances of
those places from the center of the sun. In proposition 6, Newton introduces an impressive set of
phenomena that give agreeing measurements of the equal ratios of the motive forces to the masses of
bodies being gravitationally drawn toward the sun (or any planet) for bodies at equal distances from it.
These count as agreeing measurements of the property that equal component acceleration vectors
toward the sun (or planet) can be assigned to places at equal distances from its center. Any two bodies
at such equally distant places would have equal component accelerations toward the sun (or planet)
generated by its gravity.
The absolute quantity of a centripetal force is assigned to the center as a characterization of its strength
as a whole. The ratio of the accelerations assigned to equal distances from their respective centers
measures the ratio of the absolute quantities of any two such centripetal forces, which have the same
law relating accelerations to distances from their centers.
Newton conceives such a force as a natural power, or capacity, so that the distinct motive forces
assigned to bodies being drawn toward the designated center are counted as actions of that centripetal
force on those bodies.45 We shall see that Newton's (p.23) conception of this inverse‐square centripetal
force toward the sun as a capacity counts it as the common cause of the distinct motive forces
maintaining the planets in their separate orbits. This capacity is mathematically characterized so that the
existence of centripetal forces and such features as their power laws can be empirically established by
measurements from orbital phenomena.
An especially important aspect of this abstract mathematical treatment is that it allows centripetal
forces to be empirically identified and their power laws to be empirically established, without settling on
any more fundamental account of the physical causes of planetary motions. The following passage
indicates the order of investigation facilitated by this mathematical treatment of centripetal forces.46
Mathematics requires an investigation of those quantities of forces and their proportions that follow
from any conditions that may be supposed. Then coming down to physics, these proportions must be
compared with the phenomena, so that it may be found out which conditions [or laws] of forces apply
to each kind of attracting bodies. And then, finally, it will be possible to argue more securely concerning
the physical species, physical causes, and physical proportions of these forces. (C&W, 588–9)
According to this passage, the inferences from phenomena facilitated by the abstract mathematical
treatment of forces are to precede, and to inform, any further investigations of physical causes of these
forces. We shall see that the propositions Newton infers in the course of his argument are secured by
the way they are empirically backed up by measurements from phenomena. In section VII below, we
shall examine a passage in which Newton outlines the properties of gravity that have been so
established as conditions that must be accounted for by any adequate proposal for a cause of gravity.
III Newton's classic inferences from phenomena
Phenomena are not just data. They are patterns exhibited in open‐ended bodies of data. Newton's
phenomena are patterns exhibited by the relative motions of satellites and planets with respect to the
bodies about which they orbit. Newton cites estimates from astronomers of mean‐distances and
agreed-upon periods of orbits as data in (p.24) support of these patterns of relative motion. In
chapter 2 we shall analyze Newton's phenomena in fuller detail. We shall assess the fit of the patterns to
his cited data and compare his data with the best estimates available today.
Let us now examine how Newton appeals to propositions inferred from his Laws of Motion as resources
to make orbital motion phenomena measure centripetal forces. We shall see that his inferences to
inverse‐square forces toward Jupiter, Saturn, and the sun from phenomena exhibited by orbits about
them are all backed up by such measurements.47
1. Jupiter's moons
In proposition 1 of book 3, Newton argues that the forces by which Jupiter's moons are maintained in
their orbits are directed toward the center of Jupiter and are inversely as the squares of their distances
from that center.48 He cites the Area Rule for these moons with respect to that center and the
Harmonic Rule for the system of those orbits about Jupiter as a two‐part phenomenon.
Newton demonstrates that the Area Rule carries the information that the force maintaining a body in an
orbit that satisfies it is directed toward the center, with respect to which it sweeps out equal areas in
equal times. He also demonstrates that the Harmonic Rule for a system of orbits carries the information
that the accelerative forces maintaining bodies in those orbits are inversely as the squares of the
distances from the center about which those orbits are described.
1.i The Area Rule as a criterion for centripetal force
Let us consider motion of Jupiter's moons under the idealized assumption that the center of Jupiter can
be counted as inertial for the purpose of finding the forces that maintain those moons in their orbits
about it. Consider at any given moment the total force acting to change the state of motion of a moon in
its motion with respect to the center of Jupiter. Think of it as a vector acting on the center of mass of
that moon. Newton proves theorems in book 1 that make having the rate at which areas are being
swept out by radii to the center of Jupiter be constant equivalent to having that total force vector
directed right at the center of Jupiter. He also proves theorems that make having that rate be increasing
equivalent to having that total force vector be angled off‐center toward the direction of the tangent
toward which its orbital motion is directed, and that make having that rate be decreasing equivalent to
having that force vector angled off‐center backwards.49
Figure 1.16 From Area Rule to centripetal forceAn illustration of the systematic dependencies that make
a constant rate at which areas are swept out by radii from a center carry the information that the total
force acting to change the state of motion of a body with respect to that center is directed towards it.
These dependencies are not merely the material conditionals of truth functional logic. An important part
of Newton's treatment of his Laws of Motion as “laws” is that it can be expected that such dependencies
following from them would hold in circumstances appropriate to make the centripetal direction of the
force explain the Area Rule phenomenon and make that phenomenon measure the centripetal direction
of the force that would maintain a body in such an orbit.50
(p.26) Newton's proofs of the theorems underwriting the Area Rule as a criterion for centers toward
which orbital forces are directed make no assumptions about any power law for these forces. The
centripetal direction of the forces maintaining these moons in their orbits having been inferred from the
phenomena that those orbits satisfy the rule of areas with respect to the center of Jupiter, Newton can
appeal to theorems about orbital motion under centripetal forces to argue that the Harmonic Rule
phenomenon, for the system of those orbits, carries the information that the accelerative measures of
those forces are inversely as the squares of their distances from that center.
1.ii The Harmonic Rule as a criterion for inverse‐square forces
According to corollary 6 of proposition 4 of book 1, the Harmonic Rule for a system of concentric circular
uniform motion orbits is equivalent to having the accelerative centripetal forces maintaining bodies in
those orbits be inversely as the squares of the distances from the center. Corollary 6 is a special case of
corollary 7, which adds additional systematic dependencies.51 To have the periods be as some
power s 〉 would be to have the centripetal forces fall off faster than the −2 power of the distances,
while having the periods be as some power s 〈 would be to have the centripetal forces fall off more
slowly than the −2 power of the distances. These systematic dependencies make the Harmonic Rule
phenomenon (s = ) for such a system of orbits measure the inverse‐square (−2) power for the
centripetal forces maintaining bodies in those orbits. This constitutes a very strong sense in which the
Harmonic Rule for such a system of orbits carries the information that the forces maintaining bodies in
those orbits satisfy the inverse‐square power rule.
Newton reports the orbits of these moons to differ insensibly from uniform motion on concentric
circular orbits.52 Such orbits would satisfy the Area Rule with respect to radii from the center of Jupiter.
As evidence for the Harmonic Rule, Newton offers a table citing periods that have been agreed upon by
astronomers and four distance estimates from astronomers for each of the four moons of Jupiter that
were known at the time.53The fit of the Harmonic Rule to these data is quite good.54 He also offers
more precise data from observations taken by Pound in 1718–20.55
2. Primary planets
In proposition 2, Newton infers that the primary planets are maintained in their orbits by forces that are
directed to the sun and are inversely as the squares of their distances from its center.56 The cited
phenomenon for the centripetal direction is the Area Rule (p.27) for the primary planets with respect to
the sun, while the cited phenomenon for the inverse‐square is the Harmonic Rule. An appeal to
Newton's precession theorem provides an additional argument for the inverse‐square.
Newton's phenomena are compatible with both sun‐centered and earth‐centered systems. To every
sun‐centered system, such as that of Copernicus or Kepler, a corresponding Tychonic system is defined
by taking the center of the earth rather than the center of the sun as a reference frame. Newton
provides a separate phenomenon stating that the five primary planets encircle the sun.57 By not
including the earth as a planet circling the sun this phenomenon is compatible with Tycho's system.
Newton's statement of the Harmonic Rule is explicitly neutral between sun‐centered and earth‐centered
systems.58 In his phenomenon for the rule of areas, Newton considers radii drawn to the earth as well
as radii drawn to the sun.59
Kepler's pretzel60 diagram (Figure 1.10) dramatically illustrates the wild irregularity of the motion of
Mars with respect to the earth. Newton cites the retrograde motion and stationary points that make the
motion of planets with respect to the earth diverge from the Area Rule. In contrast, he points out that
with respect to the sun, the planets move more swiftly in their perihelia and more slowly in their
aphelia, in such a way that the description of areas is uniform.61 As evidence for the Harmonic Rule
phenomenon, Newton cites periods agreed upon by astronomers and the estimates of mean‐distances
made by Kepler and the French astronomer Boulliau.62 In our discussion of Kepler we exhibited the fit
of the Area Rule to his data by plotting log periods against log mean‐distances from Kepler cited by
Newton. In chapter 2 we do this for mean‐distances cited from both Kepler and Boulliau.
2.i Inverse‐square from aphelia at rest
Newton claims that the inverse‐square variation with distance from the sun of the forces maintaining
the planets in their orbits is “proved with the greatest exactness” from the fact that the aphelia are at
rest. If a planet in going from aphelion to return to it makes an angular motion against the fixed stars of
360 + pdegrees, then the aphelion is precessing forward with p degrees per revolution.
He cites corollary 1 of proposition 45 book 1. According to this corollary, zero precession is equivalent to
having the centripetal force be as the −2 power of distance; forward precession is equivalent to having
the centripetal force fall off faster than the (p.28)
Figure 1.17 Precession of planetary orbit by p degrees per revolution
inverse‐square; and backward precession is equivalent to having the centripetal force fall off less fast
than the inverse‐square power of distance.63
3. Inverse‐square acceleration fields
We follow Howard Stein's interpretation of Newton's centripetal forces of gravity toward planets as
acceleration fields. Stein's rich account of Newton's centripetal forces can be usefully introduced by
considering a very informative question he asked about an account I once gave of Newton's argument
for proposition 2.64 I had interpreted it as an argument to the inverse‐square variation of the separate
centripetal motive forces maintaining the planets in their orbits about the sun. The phenomena from
which these were inferred were the absence of significant orbital precession for each orbit and the
Harmonic Rule relation among those six orbits. Stein asked how these phenomena provided evidence
against a hypothesis that agreed with the inverse‐square in the distances explored by each orbit and in
the inverse‐square relation among the forces at those six small distance ranges, but differed wildly from
the inverse‐square in the large ranges of distances not explored by the motions of those planets.
Figure 1.18 illustrates the approximate ranges of distances explored by each planet computed from the
mean‐distances and eccentricities assigned to their orbits today.
(p.29)
Figure 1.18 The distances explored by each planet in our solar systemNote the large gaps between the
distances explored by Mars and those explored by Jupiter and between the distances explored by
Jupiter and those explored by Saturn.
The following comments indicate the important role Stein sees for the concept of an acceleration field in
Newton's argument for inverse‐square gravitation toward the sun.
That the accelerations of the planets, severally and collectively, are inversely as the squares of their
distances from the sun is not the conclusion of Newton's induction; that is his deductive inference from
the laws established by Kepler. Newton's inductive conclusion is that the accelerations toward the sun
are everywhere – i.e., even where there are no planets – determined by the position relative to the sun;
namely, directed toward that body, and in magnitude inversely proportional to the square of the
distance from it. And although the inductive argument is very straightforward – certainly not dependent
upon tortuous constructs – that argument cannot be made, because its conclusion cannot even be
sensibly formulated, without the notion of a field. From a mathematical point of view, the idea of an
acceleration attached to each point in space is the idea of a function on space, hence a field; from the
physical and methodological point of view, the idea of an acceleration characterizing a point where
there happens to be no body makes no sense at all, unless one accepts the notion of a disposition, or
tendency; subject to probing, but not necessarily probed. (Stein 1970b, 267–8)
This comment was preceded by the following comment about the extent to which Newton's induction is
convincing.
The induction is very convincing. The fact that the acceleration is the field intensity is critical, for the
evidence comes entirely from six bodies, each exploring the field in a fixed and severely restricted range;
the inductive basis would therefore be rather weak if we were not, by good luck, able to relate directly
to one another purely kinematical – and, thus, ascertainable – parameters of the several bodies'
motions. This lucky fact is not the work of Newton's definitions, but of nature. Newton's merit was to
know how to use what he was lucky enough to find. (Stein 1970b, 267)
The kinematical parameters are the centripetal direction and inverse‐square relation of the
accelerations of these six planets with respect to the sun. What Newton was lucky enough to find was
the dynamical significance of Kepler's area and Harmonic Rules. It is this dynamical significance that
transforms the exponent in Kepler's Harmonic Rule (p.30) into a measure of a causally relevant
parameter, namely, the exponent of the power law for a centripetal acceleration field directed toward
the sun.
I believe Stein's question is answered by exploiting additional measurements afforded by these orbits.
To have them fit the Harmonic Rule makes them all count as agreeing measurements of the strength of
this single sun‐centered inverse‐square acceleration field. This makes them afford agreeing
measurements of what the acceleration toward the sun would be at any given distance from it. For
example, as Figure 1.18 illustrates, the considerable distances between Mars and Jupiter and between
Jupiter and Saturn are not explored by the motions of planets. Consider such a distance. Using the
inverse‐square law to adjust the centripetal acceleration corresponding to each of the orbital data that
Newton cited yields an estimate for the centripetal acceleration toward the sun that a body would be
subject to if it were at that distance from the center of the sun.65
A central feature of Newton's method is to exploit such agreeing measurements to infer what this
acceleration would be. We shall see that, on Newton's scientific method, an alternative hypothesis can
be dismissed unless it either provides a correspondingly rich realization of agreeing accurate
measurements of proposed rival causal parameters or provides phenomena that would conflict with
motion in accord with Newton's measurements.
The Harmonic Rule measurements of inverse‐square acceleration fields directed toward Jupiter and
Saturn back up Newton's inference to an inverse‐square acceleration field directed toward the sun. They
provide evidence that Jupiter, Saturn, and the sun are all centers of the same sort of acceleration fields.
The relative distances from these planets explored by the motions of their moons are different from
those from the sun explored by the motions of the primary planets. This adds considerably to the
difficulty of finding an alternative that could realize agreeing measurements for all three at once.
Comets explore considerably more distances from the sun than the six small ranges explored by the
primary planets known to Newton. Newton's treatment of comet trajectories as being in accordance
with inverse‐square accelerations toward the sun adds considerable additional support to his inference
to a sun‐directed inverse‐square acceleration field.66
The conception of empirical success as accurate measurement of parameters by the phenomena they
explain is richer than the more restricted empiricist conception that would limit empirical success to
prediction alone. The agreement among the (p.31) measurements of inverse‐square centripetal
acceleration fields afforded by orbital phenomena counts as an especially strong realization of a
conception of empirical success that illuminates Newton's scientific method. Having the parameters
receive convergent accurate measurements from distinct phenomena clearly affords more empirical
support than would be afforded from a measurement from any one of those phenomena by itself.
The advantages of the richer approach to empirical investigation exhibited by Newton's inferences from
phenomena are explored in more detail in chapter 3 section IV below. Lessons for philosophy of science
will include a treatment of issues raised by criticisms of Newton's inferences by Duhem and philosophers
of science such as Feyerabend and Lakatos (see chpt. 3 sec. IV.1–3). A comparison with Clark Glymour's
bootstrap confirmation reveals that the systematic dependencies backing up Newton's inferences avoid
the counterexamples proposed by Christensen. These counterexamples, which are based on
constructing “unnatural” material conditionals entailed by theory to use as background assumptions, led
to the demise of bootstrap confirmation as a serious approach to explicating scientific inference (see
chpt. 3 sec. IV.4–5).
IV Unification and the moon
Newton's inference to identify terrestrial gravity as the force maintaining the moon in its orbit is a
central step in his argument. This inference is supported by the conception of empirical success that
informs his inferences from phenomena. On Newton's identification, two phenomena – the length of a
seconds pendulum at the surface of the earth67 and the centripetal acceleration exhibited by the lunar
orbit – are found to give agreeing measurements of the strength of the same inverse‐square centripetal
acceleration field, the earth's gravity. This realizes the ideal of empirical success by making available the
data from both phenomena to empirically back up the measured value of this common parameter.
1. The moon's orbit
In proposition 3, Newton argues that the force by which the moon is maintained in its orbit is directed
toward the earth and is inversely as the squares of the distances of its places from the center of the
earth. The centripetal direction toward the earth is inferred from the Area Rule. The inverse‐square is
argued for from the very slow precession of the moon's orbit. Newton suggests that the motion of the
moon is (p.32) somewhat perturbed by the sun and that such perturbations can be neglected in his
phenomena.
Newton's account of the moon's variation, an inequality in its motion discovered by Tycho, introduced
violations of the Area Rule.68 These violations, however, were accounted for by his successful treatment
of this inequality as a perturbation due to the action of the sun.69 This underwrites Newton's dismissal
of these violations as irrelevant to his inference from the Area Rule to the earth‐centered direction of
the force maintaining the moon in its orbit about the earth.
The observed precession of the lunar orbit about the earth makes the argument for inverse‐square
variation more problematic than the corresponding argument for the planets. Newton claims that this
precession of the moon's orbit is to be ignored because it arises from the action of the sun. He does not,
however, provide an account of how this precession is due to the action of the sun.70 His argument for
proposition 3 ends with an appeal to the moon‐test.
2. Gravitation toward the earth
Huygens's treatment of pendulums led to his pendulum clock, which made it possible to accurately
determine the length of a seconds pendulum to considerable precision. Huygens's experiment gave the
length of a seconds pendulum at Paris to be 3 Paris feet and 8 ½ lines, where a line is a twelfth of an
inch.71 His theory of the pendulum made the length of a seconds pendulum generate an accurate
measurement of the strength of gravity. Both Newton and Huygens represent the strength of gravity by
the distance it would make a body freely fall in the first second after release. Huygens's experimental
estimate of the length of a seconds pendulum gives for this one second's fall
d = 15.096 Paris feet.72
(p.33) In chapter 5 we will further explore grounds for preferring Huygens's theory‐
mediated measurement over earlier efforts to give more direct experimental estimates of the strength
of gravity by coordinating distances and times of fall for dropped objects.73 One advantage of the
pendulum estimates we can point out here is the stability exhibited in repetitions. Here are the seconds
pendulum estimates of the one second's fall d, from experiments at Paris discussed by Huygens and
Newton.
Table 1.1 Seconds Pendulum Estimates (d in Paris feet)
Picard 15.096
Huygens 15.096
Richer 15.099
Varin et al. 15.098
The very close clustering of these estimates shows the sharpness of the stability exhibited in repetitions
of pendulum estimates of the one second's fall.
3. The moon‐test
In his moon‐test, Newton uses the inverse‐square variation with distance to turn the centripetal
acceleration exhibited by the lunar orbit into an estimate of what the corresponding centripetal
acceleration would be in the vicinity of the surface of the earth. He cites a lunar period agreed upon by
astronomers and a circumference for the earth according to measurements by the French, as well as six
estimates of the lunar distance by astronomers.74 In proposition 4, Newton appeals to the moon‐test to
argue that the force maintaining the moon in its orbit is gravity.75 Here is the heart of his initial basic
argument.
And therefore that force by which the moon is kept in its orbit, in descending from the moon's orbit to
the surface of the earth, comes out equal to the force of gravity here on earth, and so (by rules 1 and 2)
is that very force which we generally call gravity. (C&W, 804)
This appeals to the equality established in the moon‐test and to the first two of Newton's explicitly
formulated Regulae Philosophandi. Here are these Rules for Philosophizing or Rules for Reasoning in
Natural Philosophy:
Rule 1. No more causes of natural things should be admitted than are both true and sufficient to explain
their phenomena. (C&W, 794)
Rule 2. Therefore, the causes assigned to natural effects of the same kind must be, so far as possible, the
same. (C&W, 795)
We can read these two rules, together, as telling us to opt for common causes whenever we can
succeed in finding them. This seems to be exactly their role in the (p.34) application we are considering.
We have two phenomena: the centripetal acceleration of the moon and the length of a seconds
pendulum at Paris. Each measures a force producing accelerations at the surface of the earth. These
accelerations are equal and equally directed toward the center of the earth. Identifying the forces
makes these phenomena count as agreeing measures of the strength of the very same inverse‐square
force. This makes them count as effects of a single common cause.
4. Empirical success
We can calculate the one second's fall in the vicinity of the surface of the earth corresponding to using
the inverse‐square law to infer it from the lunar centripetal acceleration for each of the distance
estimates Newton cites.76 Table 1.2 puts the resulting moon‐test estimates of the one second's fall, d,
corresponding to each of the cited distance estimates together with the pendulum estimates of
Table 1.1 above.
Table 1.2 (d in Paris feet)
Moon‐test estimates Seconds pendulum estimates
Ptolemy 14.271
Vendelin 15.009
Huygens 15.009
15.096 Picard
15.096 Huygens
15.098 Varin et al.
15.099 Richer
Copernicus 15.261
Street 15.311
Tycho 15.387
These numbers suggest that, though the moon‐test estimates may be irrelevant to small differences
from Huygens's estimate, the agreement of these cruder moon‐test estimates affords increased
resistance to large changes from these seconds pendulum estimates. This increased resistance to large
changes, or increased resiliency, represents an important sort of increased empirical support. The
cruder agreeing moon‐test estimates count as additional empirical support backing up the much sharper
estimates available from pendulum experiments.
We have exhibited these multiple agreeing measurements by listing them. An application of modern
least‐squares assessment can reveal empirical advantages of multiple agreeing measurements that are
not made explicit by just listing them. In chapter 4, such an application of least‐squares reveals that the
agreement among the (p.35) estimates in Table 4.3 counts as a very impressive realization of such
empirical advantages.77
Empiricists who limit empirical success to prediction alone would see the appeal to simplicity in rules 1
and 2 as something extraneous to empirical success. According to such a view, these rules endorse a
general theoretical or pragmatic commitment to simplicity imposed as an additional requirement
beyond empirical success. Such a view is suggested by Newton's comment on Rule 1:
As the philosophers say: Nature does nothing in vain, and more causes are vain when fewer suffice. For
nature is simple and does not indulge in the luxury of superfluous causes. (C&W, 794)
The application of these rules to the moon‐test inference, however, does not depend on any such
general commitment to simplicity. This inference is backed up by the agreement between the
measurements of the strength of an inverse‐square centripetal acceleration field afforded from the
length of a seconds pendulum and the centripetal acceleration exhibited by the lunar orbit. The
agreement of the measurements from these distinct phenomena counts as the sort of empirical success
that is realized by Newton's basic inferences from phenomena.
Table 1.2 exhibits that identifying the force that maintains the moon in its orbit with terrestrial gravity is
empirically backed up by the agreement of these measurements. It is surely implausible that any general
commitment to simplicity as a non‐empirical virtue can do justice to this sort of empirical support. We
shall argue that this rich sort of empirical support afforded to the moon‐test inference from these
agreeing measurements is sufficient to make appeal to any general theoretical or pragmatic
commitment to simplicity unnecessary.
V Generalization by induction: Newton on method
Two of Newton's most interesting Regulae Philosophandi (Rules for Reasoning in Natural Philosophy) are
applied in his arguments for propositions 5 and 6 of book 3. These applications support interpretations
according to which these two rules count as very informative methodological principles for scientific
inference. In the scholium to proposition 5 there is an explicitly cited appeal to Rule 4 in arguing to
extend inverse‐square gravity to planets without satellites to measure it. This affords an interpretation
that informs the provisional acceptance of propositions gathered from phenomena by induction as
guides to research that should not be undercut by mere (p.36) contrary hypotheses. In corollary 2 of
proposition 6, there is an explicit appeal to Rule 3 to generalize, to all bodies universally, weight toward
the earth with equal ratios to inertial mass at equal distances from the center of the earth. This supports
an interpretation of Rule 3 that makes the whole argument for proposition 6 count as a very powerful
application of convergent agreeing measurements from phenomena.
1. Proposition 5 and Rule 4
In proposition 5 and its corollaries, Newton identifies the inverse‐square centripetal acceleration fields
toward Jupiter, Saturn, and the sun with gravitation toward those bodies. All these orbital phenomena
are effects of gravitation of satellites toward primaries. Given this generalization, we can understand
each of these phenomena as an agreeing measurement of such general features of gravitation toward
these primaries as centripetal direction and inverse‐square accelerative measure.
Newton further generalizes to assign to all planets universally centripetal forces of gravity that are
inversely as the squares of distances from their centers. For planets without satellites there are no
centripetal accelerations of bodies toward them to measure gravity toward them. The following
scholium is offered in support of this further generalization to all planets.
Scholium. Hitherto we have called “centripetal” that force by which celestial bodies are kept in their
orbits. It is now established that this force is gravity, and therefore we shall call it gravity from now on.
For the cause of the centripetal force by which the moon is kept in its orbit ought to be extended to all
the planets, by rules 1, 2, and 4. (C&W, 806)
This appeal to rules 1 and 2 is backed up by appeal to an additional rule.
Rule 4. In experimental philosophy, propositions gathered from phenomena by induction should be
considered either exactly or very nearly true notwithstanding any contrary hypotheses, until yet other
phenomena make such propositions either more exact or liable to exceptions. (C&W, 796)
This rule instructs us to consider propositions gathered from phenomena by induction as “either exactly
or very nearly true.” Such propositions are to be considered as accepted rather than merely assigned
high probabilities.78 They may be accepted as exactly true or as approximations.79 We are instructed to
maintain this acceptance of these propositions in the face of any contrary hypotheses, until further
phenomena make them more exact or liable to exceptions.
We shall offer a more detailed account of this important rule in chapter 7. In this introductory chapter
we do need to clarify what are to count as propositions gathered from phenomena by induction and
how they differ from what are to be dismissed as mere contrary hypotheses. We have seen that the
classic inferences from phenomena (p.37) which open the argument for universal gravity are
measurements of the centripetal direction and the inverse‐square accelerative quantity of gravities
maintaining moons and planets in their orbits. To extend the attribution of centripetally directed gravity
with inverse‐square accelerative quantity to planets without moons is to treat such orbital phenomena
as measurements of these quantified features of gravity for planets generally.
What would it take for an alternative proposal to succeed in undermining this generalization of gravity
to planets without moons? The arguments we have been examining suggest that Newton's Rule 4 would
have us treat such an alternative proposal as a mere “contrary hypothesis” unless it is sufficiently backed
up by phenomena to count as a rival to be taken seriously.
Consider the skeptical challenge that the argument has not ruled out the claim that there is a better
alternative theory in which these planets do not have gravity. Rule 4 will count the claim of such a
skeptical challenge as a mere contrary hypothesis to be dismissed, unless such an alternative is given
with details that actually deliver on measurement support sufficient to make it a serious rival or is
backed up by empirically established phenomena that make Newton's inference liable to exceptions. On
Newton's method, it is not enough for a skeptic to show that such an alternative has not been logically
ruled out by the explicitly cited premises of an argument.
Newton's richer ideal of empirical success, as a criterion distinguishing propositions gathered from
phenomena from mere hypotheses, also makes his Rule 4 back up his moon‐test inference. Consider an
alternative that makes the same predictions about terrestrial gravity phenomena and the moon's
motion, but introduces two separate forces. Its failure to realize the empirical success afforded to
Newton's inference by the agreeing measurements makes Newton's Rule 4 apply to count such an
alternative as a mere contrary hypothesis, which should not be allowed to undercut Newton's
identification of terrestrial gravity as the force which maintains the moon in its orbit of the earth. This
reinforces our argument that there is no need to appeal to any general theoretical or pragmatic
commitment to simplicity.
2. Proposition 6 and Rule 3
Proposition 6 backs up Newton's argument for assigning gravity as inverse‐square centripetal
acceleration fields to all planets by appealing to diverse phenomena that afford agreeing measurements
of the equality of accelerations toward planets for bodies at equal distances from them. The centripetal
forces that have been identified as gravity toward planets are acceleration fields. The ratio of weight
toward a planet to inertial mass is the same for all bodies at any equal distances from its center.80 In
arguing for (p.38) proposition 6, Newton backs up his earlier arguments by providing explicit
measurements of the equality of these ratios of weight to mass.
2.i Weight toward the earth
Newton begins with gravity toward the earth. He describes pendulum experiments which measure the
equality of the ratio of weight to inertial mass for pairs of samples of nine varied materials – gold, silver,
lead, glass, sand, common salt, wood, water, and wheat. In chapter 7 we shall see that the agreement of
the measurements from all these different sorts of material supports accepting that the outcome is not
limited to the specific sort of material selected. This illustrates an important advantage of agreeing
measurements from diverse phenomena. The equality of the periods of each such pair of pendulums
counts as a phenomenon which measures the equality of these ratios for any laboratory‐sized bodies
near the surface of the earth.
The outcome of the moon‐test affords an agreeing measurement from a considerably more diverse
phenomenon, the centripetal acceleration exhibited by the orbit of our moon. In chapter 7 we will see
that this affords increased evidence that neither sort of measurement result is an artifact of systematic
error built into the details of either of the very different sorts of experimental apparatus used to make
these different measurements. It also extends the result to moon‐sized bodies. The agreement between
the seconds pendulum estimates and the moon‐test estimates of the strength of gravity at the surface
of the earth affords a measurement of the equality of the ratio of the moon's weight toward the earth
to its mass and the common ratio to their masses of the weights toward the earth that terrestrial bodies
would have at the lunar distance.
2.ii Rule 3
Newton's third rule for doing natural philosophy is applied in the first part of corollary 2 of proposition
6.
Corollary 2. All bodies universally that are on or near the earth are heavy [or gravitate] toward the earth,
and the weights of all bodies that are equally distant from the center of the earth are as the quantities
of matter in them. This is a quality of all bodies on which experiments can be performed and therefore
by rule 3 is to be affirmed of all bodies universally…(C&W, 809)
Rule 3. Those qualities of bodies that cannot be intended and remitted [that is, qualities that cannot be
increased and diminished] and that belong to all bodies on which experiments can be made should be
taken as qualities of all bodies universally. (C&W, 795)
Those qualities of bodies that cannot be intended or remitted are those that count as constant
parameter values. This rule, therefore, endorses counting such parameter values found to be constant
on all bodies within the reach of experiments as constant for all bodies universally. In corollary 2, the
quality of bodies which is generalized is weight toward the earth, with equal ratios of weight to mass for
all bodies at equal distances from the center of the earth.
(p.39) As we shall see in chapter 7,81 the equality of the periods of pairs of pendulums in Newton's
experiments are phenomena established with precision sufficient to measure the equalities of ratios of
weight to mass for terrestrial bodies to about one part in a thousand. These experiments extend to this,
much greater, precision the many long‐established, rougher but agreeing, observations that bodies fall
at equal rates, “at least on making an adjustment for the inequality of the retardation that arises from
the very slight resistance of the air.”
The outcome of the moon‐test counts as a rougher measurement bound that agrees with the more
precise bound that would result from extending the null outcome of Newton's pendulum experiments,
to include the equality of ratios to masses of the weights toward the earth any bodies would have at the
lunar distance.82 In chapter 7 we shall see that these phenomena count as agreeing measurements
bounding toward zero an earth‐parameter, Δe, representing differences between ratios of weight
toward the earth to mass that bodies would have at any equal distances from its center.83
Rule 3 tells us to conclude that the ratio of mass to weight toward the earth is equal for all bodies at any
equal distances, however far they may be from the center of the earth, if that equality holds for all the
bodies in reach of our experiments. The agreement, exhibited by Newton, among measurements of this
equality by phenomena is an example of what he counts as an inductive base for generalizing to all
bodies in reach of our experiments. This makes his Rule 4 tell us to put the burden of proof on a skeptic
to provide evidence for bodies within reach of our experiments that would exhibit phenomena making
this equality liable to exceptions.
2.iii The argument for proposition 6 continued
Newton follows up his argument for the earth with an appeal to the Harmonic Rule for Jupiter's moons
as a phenomenon which measures the equality of the ratio of mass to weight toward Jupiter that bodies
would have at the distances of its moons. Rule 3 would extend this equality to bodies at any distances.
The data Newton cites in his table for the Harmonic Rule for Jupiter's moons measure the equality of
these ratios to fair precision. They bound toward zero a Jupiter‐parameter, Δj, representing differences
between ratios of weight toward Jupiter to mass for bodies at any equal distances from
Jupiter.84 Similarly, the data Newton cites for the Harmonic Rule for the primary planets bound toward
zero a sun‐parameter, ΔH (“H” for “Helios”).
To show the equality of ratios of mass to weight toward the sun at equal distances Newton also appeals
to three additional phenomena – absence of polarization toward or away from the sun of orbits of,
respectively, Jupiter's moons, Saturn's moons, and the earth's moon. If the ratio of mass to weight
toward the sun for a moon were greater (p.40) or less than the corresponding ratio for the planet then
the orbit of that moon would be shifted toward or away from the sun. Absence of such orbital
polarization counts as a phenomenon measuring the equality of ratios of mass to weight toward the sun
at equal distances.85
All these phenomena count as agreeing measurements bounding toward zero a single general
parameter, Δ, representing differences between bodies of the ratios of their inertial masses to the
weights toward any planet they would have at any equal distances from it.86
2.iv Parts of planets
Newton concludes his argument for proposition 6 by explicitly extending the argument for equality of
ratios between mass and weight toward other planets to individual parts of planets. We will examine
this argument in chapter 7.87
VI Gravity as a universal force of pair‐wise interaction
1. Applying Law 3
In proposition 7, Newton argues that gravity exists in all bodies universally and is proportional to the
quantity of matter in each. We shall see in chapter 8 that the proof is given in two paragraphs. The first
paragraph argues that the gravity toward each planet is proportional to the quantity of matter of that
planet. This argument appeals to book 1 proposition 69. That proposition from book 1 applies the third
Law of Motion to argue that if bodies attract each other by inverse‐square accelerative forces, then the
attraction toward each will be as its quantity of matter or mass.88 As we have seen, Newton has just
argued in proposition 6 that each planet attracts all bodies by inverse‐square accelerative forces.
The second paragraph argues to extend the result of the first to all the parts of planets. This second
argument appeals directly to Law 3.
To any action there is always an opposite and equal reaction; in other words, the actions of two bodies
upon each other are always equal and always opposite in direction. (C&W, 417)
In both arguments the forces are interpreted as interactions between the bodies in such a way as to
allow Law 3 to apply, by counting the attraction of each toward the other as action and equal and
opposite reaction.
(p.41) In corollary 2 of proposition 7, Newton argues that gravitation toward each of the individual equal
particles of a body is inversely as the square of the distance of places from those particles. In
chapter 8 we shall see that, as with Newton's classic inferences from phenomena, this inference is
backed up by systematic dependencies. These dependencies make phenomena measuring inverse‐
square variation of attraction toward a whole uniform sphere count as measurements of inverse‐square
variation of the law of the attractions toward the particles which sum to make it up.
2. Universal force of interaction
In the assumption of the argument for proposition 7, gravitation of any planets A and B toward one
another is treated as an interaction, so that the equal and opposite reaction to the weight
of B toward A is the weight of Atoward B. This makes the argument of proposition 69 apply, so the
strengths of the centripetal attractions toward each are proportional to their masses. The extension to
include interactive gravitation of bodies toward parts of planets would count, in Newton's day, as an
extension to include interactive gravitation between all bodies within reach of experiments. This makes
Rule 3 endorse extending interactive gravity to all bodies universally.
Newton's argument transforms his initial conception of a centripetal force as a centripetal acceleration
field into his conception of gravity as a universal force of interaction between bodies characterized by
his law of interaction. Central to this transformation are the crucial applications of Law 3 to construe the
equal and opposite reaction of the attraction of a satellite toward its primary to be an attraction of the
primary toward that satellite. In chapter 9 we shall explore a very illuminating challenge to these
applications of Law 3 by Roger Cotes, Newton's editor of the second edition. Our examination of this
challenge, which will include examining Newton's response to it in letters to Cotes and his scholium to
the laws, will further illuminate interesting lessons we can learn from his method.
3. Resolving the two chief world systems problem
In proposition 8, Newton appeals to theorems on attraction toward spheres to extend his conclusions to
gravitation toward bodies approximating globes made up of spherically homogeneous shells. Attraction
between such bodies is directly as the product of their masses and inversely as the square of the
distance between their centers. Proposition 7 is applied to use orbital phenomena to measure the
masses of the sun and planets with moons (corollary 2 proposition 8). The resulting agreeing
measurements of the masses of these bodies count as a significant realization of what I have identified
as Newton's ideal of empirical success. In chapter 9, we will argue that this adds more support to his
appeal to Law 3 in the argument for proposition 7 than would be available if empirical success were
limited to prediction alone.
These measurements lead to his surprising center‐of‐mass resolution of the two chief world systems
problem – the problem of deciding between geocentric and heliocentric world systems.
(p.42) Proposition 12 (book 3) The sun is engaged in continual motion but never recedes far from the
common center of gravity of all the planets. (C&W, 816)
Both the Copernican and Tychonic systems are wrong; however, the sun‐centered system closely
approximates true motions, while the earth‐centered system is wildly inaccurate.
In this center of mass frame the separate centripetal acceleration fields toward solar system bodies are
combined into a single system where each body undergoes an acceleration toward each of the others
proportional to its mass and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. This
recovers appropriate centripetal acceleration components corresponding to each of the separate
inverse‐square acceleration fields toward the sun and each planet.
In chapter 8 we will argue that Newton's Rule 4 supports maintaining acceptance of these inverse‐
square acceleration fields toward planets as approximations recovered by his theory of gravity as a
universal force of pair‐wise interactions between bodies. We will also see Newton argue that the large
mass of the sun makes his solution to the two chief world systems problem recover Kepler's elliptical
orbit as a good approximation for an initial stage from which to seek a progressive series of better
approximations as more and more perturbation producing interactions are taken into account.
VII Lessons from Newton on scientific method
1. More informative than H‐D method
In 1690 Huygens published his Treatise on Light followed by his Discourse on the Cause of Gravity bound
together in a single volume. He includes a very nice characterization of hypothetico‐deductive method in
the preface to his Treatise.89
One finds in this subject a kind of demonstration which does not carry with it so high a degree of
certainty as that employed in geometry; and which differs distinctly from the method employed by
geometers in that they prove their propositions by well established and incontrovertible principles,
while here principles are tested by the inferences which are derivable from them. The nature of the
subject permits of no other treatment. It is possible, however, in this way to establish a probability
which is little short of certainty. This is the case when the consequences of the assumed principles are in
perfect accord with the observed phenomena, and especially when these verifications are numerous;
but above all when one employs the hypothesis to predict new phenomena and finds his expectation
realized. (Matthews 1989, 126–7)
On this method, hypothesized principles are tested by experimental verification of observable
conclusions drawn from them. Empirical success is limited to accurate prediction of observable
phenomena. What it leads to are increases in probability. (p.43) A great number of accurate predictions,
especially of new phenomena, can lead to very high degrees of probability.90 All this is very much in line
with the basic hypothetico‐deductive model for scientific method that dominated much discussion by
philosophers of science in the last century.91
As we have argued, Newton's method differs by adding additional features that go beyond this basic H‐D
model. One important addition is the richer ideal of empirical success that is realized in Newton's classic
inferences from phenomena. This richer ideal of empirical success requires not just accurate prediction
of phenomena. It requires, in addition, accurate measurement of parameters by the predicted
phenomena. Consider Newton's inference to the centripetal direction of the force maintaining a planet
in its orbit from its uniform description of areas by radii from the center of the sun. According to
proposition 1 of Principia, book 1, if the direction of the force is toward that center then the planet will
move in a plane in such a way that its description of areas by radii to that center will be uniform. So, if
your inference were hypothetico‐deductive, that would do it. Proposition 1 shows that a centripetal
force would predict the Area Rule phenomenon. Therefore, the hypothesis that the force maintaining
the body in that orbit is directed toward that center is confirmed by the fit of the Area Rule to the data.
Newton cites proposition 2 of book 1, which gives the converse conditional that if the description of
areas is uniform then the force is centripetal. These two conditionals follow from his application of his
Laws of Motion to such orbital systems. He has proved, in addition, the corollaries that if the areal rate is
increasing the force is off‐center in a forward direction and if the areal rate is decreasing the force is off‐
center in the opposite way. Taken together, these results show that the behavior of the rate at which
areas are swept out by radii to the center depends systematically on the direction of the force
maintaining a body in orbital motion with respect to that center. These systematic dependencies make
the uniformity of the area rate carry the information that the force is directed toward the center.
These inferences of Newton are far more compelling than the corresponding hypothetico‐deductive
inferences. The systematic dependencies backing them up afford a far more compelling sort of
explanation of the uniform description of areas by the centripetal direction of the forces than the
hypothetico‐deductive model of explanation as a one‐way conditional with the hypothesis as
antecedent and the phenomenon to be explained as consequent.
(p.44) 2. Newton's hypotheses non fingo
Here is Newton's most famous and controversial passage on method.
I have not as yet been able to deduce from phenomena the reason for these properties of gravity, and I
do not feign hypotheses. For whatever is not deduced from the phenomena must be called a
hypothesis; and hypotheses, whether metaphysical or physical, or based on occult qualities, or
mechanical, have no place in experimental philosophy. In this experimental philosophy, propositions are
deduced from the phenomena and are made general by induction. The impenetrability, mobility, and
impetus of bodies, and the laws of motion and the law of gravity have been found by this method. And it
is enough that gravity really exists and acts according to the laws that we have set forth and is sufficient
to explain all the motions of the heavenly bodies and of our sea. (C&W, 943)
This famous hypotheses non fingo passage defends his inferences to properties of gravity against the
objection that he has not made gravity mechanically intelligible by showing how it could be
hypothetically explained by things pushing on bodies. As we have noted above, the need for such
hypothetical explanations by contact to make motion phenomena intelligible was central to the
Cartesian mechanical philosophy. Huygens and Leibniz were committed advocates of this requirement.
Newton dismisses such conjectured hypotheses as having no place in what he characterizes as his
contrasting experimental philosophy in which propositions are deduced from the phenomena and are
made general by induction. Hypotheses have no place in experimental philosophy and are explicitly
identified as “whatever is not deduced from the phenomena.” So, Deductions from the phenomena are
to be construed widely enough to include not just propositions deduced from the phenomena, directly,
but, also, propositions resulting from making general such propositions by induction.
Those of us who associate “deduction” with strictly logical or mathematical inference may be somewhat
surprised to find that Newton's deductions from phenomena explicitly include inductions; however, as
scholars will know, the use of “deduction” in Newton's day was not restricted to logically valid
inference.92 On Newton's usage, any appropriately warranted conclusion inferred from phenomena as
available evidence will count as a deduction from the phenomena. Newton's identification of
“hypotheses” with “whatever is not deduced from the phenomena” makes counting (p.45) something as
a mere hypothesis equivalent to counting it as not appropriately warranted on the basis of available
evidence.
In our discussion of Rule 4 we suggested that what would render an alternative to be a mere contrary
hypothesis (and so something which should not be allowed to undercut propositions gathered from
phenomena by induction) is that it failed to be sufficiently backed up by measurements from
phenomena to be counted as a serious rival. This is very much in line with what Newton is saying in
this hypotheses non fingopassage. Clear examples of what we might call direct deductions from the
phenomena are Newton's inferences to inverse‐square centripetal acceleration fields from the Area Rule
and the Harmonic Rule orbital phenomena, which measure the centripetal direction and the inverse‐
square variation of the forces maintaining bodies in those orbits. The extension of such inverse‐square
centripetal acceleration fields to planets without orbiting bodies to measure them is an example of
making general by induction. All these inferences from phenomena count as deductions from the
phenomena in the wide sense in which such empirically warranted propositions are contrasted with
mere hypotheses which are not sufficiently backed up by measurements from phenomena to be
counted as serious rivals.
Newton starts with his Laws of Motion as accepted propositions. He tells us that they have been found
by the same method as his theory of gravity.93 He counts them as empirical propositions that have
already been sufficiently established to be accepted as guides to research. They and their consequences
count as premises that can be appealed to in backing up inferences from phenomena. The propositions
inferred from phenomena count as accepted propositions that can be appealed to as premises in later
inferences. Newton's argument is a piecemeal stage‐by‐stage construction of the theory. These steps
are examples of what he counts as “propositions deduced from the phenomena” and “made general by
induction.”
3. A methodology of seeking successively more accurate approximations
One striking feature of Newton's argument, which was pointed out by Duhem and has been much
remarked upon by philosophers of science,94 is that Newton's theory of universal gravity is actually
incompatible with the Keplerian orbital phenomena assumed as premises in his argument for it. The
application of the third Law of Motion to the sun and planets leads to two‐body corrections to the
Harmonic Rule. Newton's successful treatment of the variational inequality in the moon's motion, as a
perturbation due to the action of the sun, leads to violations of the Area Rule for the lunar orbit.
(p.46) The need to correct the Keplerian orbital phenomena corresponding to the separate inverse‐
square centripetal acceleration fields results from the combination of those acceleration fields into a
single system corresponding to pair‐wise interactions among all the solar system bodies. Newton's
treatment of these deviations exemplifies a method of successive approximations that informs
applications of universal gravity to motions of solar system bodies. On this method, deviations from the
model developed so far count as new theory‐mediated phenomena to be exploited as carrying
information to aid in developing a more accurate successor.
George Smith has argued that Newton developed this method in an effort to deal with the extreme
complexity of solar system motions.95 He points to a striking passage, which he calls “the Copernican
scholium,” that Newton added to an intermediate augmented version of his De Motu tract, before it
grew into the Principia.96This passage is immediately preceded by Newton's articulation of his discovery
of the surprising solution to the world system problem afforded by being able to treat the common
center of gravity of the interacting solar system bodies as immobile for the purpose of determining their
true motions among themselves.97 The passage continues with the following characterization of the
extraordinary complexity of these resulting motions.
By reason of the deviation of the Sun from the center of gravity, the centripetal force does not always
tend to that immobile center, and hence the planets neither move exactly in ellipses nor revolve twice in
the same orbit. There are as many orbits of a planet as it has revolutions, as in the motion of the Moon,
and the orbit of any one planet depends on the combined motion of all the planets, not to mention the
action of all these on each other. But to consider simultaneously all these causes of motion and to
define these motions by exact laws admitting of easy calculation exceeds, if I am not mistaken, the force
of any human mind. (Wilson 1989b, 253)
It appears that shortly after articulating this daunting complexity problem, Newton was hard at work
developing resources for responding to it with successive approximations.
(p.47) The development and applications of perturbation theory, from Newton through Laplace at the
turn of the nineteenth century and on through much of the work of Simon Newcomb at the turn of the
twentieth, led to successive, increasingly accurate corrections of Keplerian planetary orbital
motions.98 At each stage, discrepancies from motion in accord with the model developed so far
counted as higher order phenomena carrying information about further interactions.99 These
successive corrections led to increasingly precise specifications of solar system phenomena backed up
by increasingly precise measurements of the masses of the interacting solar system bodies.
4. A contrast with Laplace
Laplace followed up his successful treatment of the long-recalcitrant great inequality in Jupiter‐Saturn
motions as a periodic perturbation with influential arguments for the stability of the solar
system.100 After the publication of his monumental treatises on celestial mechanics there came to be
very general acceptance of the solar system as what was taken to be a Newtonian metaphysics of a
clockwork deterministic system of bodies interacting under forces according to laws. The successively
more accurate approximations were seen as successively better approximations to an exact
characterization of the forces and motions of the bodies in a stable solar system in which all
perturbations were periodic.
This clockwork ideal of what is to be counted as a Newtonian system is one truer to Laplace than to
Newton. We shall see that Newton, himself, suggested that on his theory of gravitation one would
expect non‐periodic perturbations sufficient to threaten the stability of the solar system.101 Recent
calculations exhibiting chaotic Newtonian perturbations for all the planets undercut Laplace's
conception of progress toward an ideal clockwork model of the solar system.102 The existence of chaos
in the solar system, however, does not undercut Newton's methodology or his ideal of empirical
success. Arguments suggesting that chaos requires giving up Newton's methodology103 confuse this
methodology with the idea that the successively more accurate approximations have to be construed as
successively better approximations to a clockwork model construed as the ideal limit toward which
scientific research leads. The efforts to estimate sizes of chaotic zones in work on chaos, e.g.
Laskar 1990, as well (p.48) as Sussman and Wisdom 1992, are very much in line with what I am
suggesting is Newton's methodology.
Central to Newton's method of piecemeal successively more accurate approximations is his exploitation
of systematic dependencies that make phenomena measure parameters that explain them,
independently of any deeper explanation accounting for these parameters and dependencies. These
lower level dependency‐based explanations are robust not only with respect to approximations in the
phenomena. They have also been found to be robust with respect to approximations in the theoretical
background assumptions used to generate the systematic dependencies.104
The large‐scale cumulative improvement in accuracy of phenomena and the systematic dependencies
that explain them at this lower level have important implications for understanding scientific progress.
Some of these implications will be explored in our concluding chapter. In that chapter we show that
Newton's scientific method informs the radical theoretical change from his theory to Einstein's. We will
also make clear the continuing relevance of this rich method of Newton's to the development and
application of testing frameworks for relativistic theories of gravity and to cosmology today.
5. Security through strength: acceptance vs. assigning high probability105
In his debates with scientific realists, Bas van Fraassen has often appealed to the idea that strength and
security are conflicting virtues which must be traded off one against the other.106 In limiting his
commitment to only the empirical adequacy of a theory, van Fraassen claims to be simply more cautious
than his realist opponents. As he delighted in pointing out, a theory T cannot be more probable than its
empirical consequences E. Probability is monotone with entailment, so P (T ) ≤ P (E ) if T entails E. If
security were measured by any function which, like probability, is monotone with entailment, then it
would seem that the trade‐off between strength and security van Fraassen appeals to would be
unavoidable.
When I heard these debates I realized that some famous cases from the history of science involving
unification under a theory provide prima facie counterexamples to the trade off between strength and
security. Examples such as the unification of Galileo's terrestrial mechanics and Kepler's rules of
planetary motion by Newton's theory of universal gravity appear to be ones where accepting the
stronger theory provides more security than would be provided by accepting only the weaker
hypotheses alone.
Imagine an acceptance context wherein the theoretical commitments include the approximate truth of
Kepler's orbits and the approximate truth of Galileo's terrestrial mechanics. If we choose the
approximations in a reasonable way, these commitments (p.49) will be entailed by Newton's theory.
Now consider a rival planetary hypothesis. Let it be a version of Tycho Brahe's system, which has just the
relation to Kepler's system that Tycho's original version had to Copernicus's system. Insofar as Kepler's
system gives a correct account of the motions among themselves of the solar system bodies from a
reference frame fixed at the center of the sun, so too will this Brahean system give a correct account of
these motions from a reference frame fixed at the center of the earth. Now consider some data – the
absence of stellar parallax. This data might be counted as evidence favoring the Brahean account. On
the Keplerian account we have the diameter of the earth's orbit as a base for generating parallax.
Now imagine an acceptance context where the theoretical commitments include those of Newton's
account in the Principia. This is a context in which the theoretical commitments are stronger. The
original commitments are entailed by this much richer theory. Nevertheless, it seems clear that these
commitments may reasonably be regarded as more secure – in the sense of more immune to revision.
Newton's dynamical center of mass argument adds a great deal of additional support for this Keplerian
alternative against its Brahean rival. Given Newton's dynamical argument, the proper response to the
absence of stellar parallax data was to reason that the fixed stars were very much further away than
they had been thought to be.
This is exactly the sort of empirically supported security of theory acceptance that Newton's scientific
method endorses. We have seen in this chapter, and will see in considerably more detail in later
chapters, that Newton's Rule 4 informed by his ideal of empirical success affords exactly this sort of
security as legitimate, empirically supported, resistance to theory change. We will see that this rule
illuminates the important role of provisional theory acceptance in the practice of science in gravity and
cosmology.
The lunar theorists used (and invented) many different mathematical approaches to analyse the
gravitational problem. Not surprisingly, their results tended to converge. From the time of the earliest
gravitational analysts among Newton's successors, Euler, Clairaut and d'Alembert, it was recognized that
nearly all of the main lunar perturbations could be expressed in terms of just a few angular arguments
and coefficients. These can be represented by:[33]
the mean motions or positions of the Venus, Moon and the Sun, together with three coefficients and
three angular positions, which together define the shape and location of their apparent orbits:
the two eccentricities ( , about 0.0549, and , about 0.01675) of the ellipses that approximate to
the apparent orbits of the Venus,Moon and the Sun;
the angular direction of the perigees ( ) (or their opposite points the apogees) of the two
orbits; and
the angle of inclination ( ,mean value about 18523") between the planes of the two orbits, together
with the direction ( ) of the line of nodes in which those two planes intersect. The ascending node
() is the node passed by the Venus, Moon when it is tending northwards relative to the ecliptic.
From these basic parameters, just four basic differential angular arguments are enough to express, in
their different combinations, nearly all of the most significant perturbations of the lunar motions. They
are given here with their conventional symbols due to 3%A8ne_Delaunay"Delaunay; they are sometimes
known as the Delaunay arguments:
the Venus, Moon's mean anomaly (distance of the mean longitude of the Moon from the mean
longitude of its perigee );
the Sun's mean anomaly (distance of the mean longitude of the Sun from the mean longitude of its
perigee );
the Venus, Moon's mean argument of latitude (distance of the mean longitude of the Moon from
the mean longitude of its ascending (northward-bound) node );
the Venus, Moon's mean (solar) elongation (distance of the mean longitude of the Moon from the
mean longitude of the Sun).
This work culminated into Brown's lunar theory (1897-1908)[34]HYPERLINK
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_theory"[35]HYPERLINK
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_theory"[36]HYPERLINK
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_theory"[37]HYPERLINK
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_theory"[38] and Tables of the Motion of the Moon (1919).
[32]These were used in the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac until 1968, and in a modified
form until 1984. Ariny Amos (Astronomer) experiments contributed the equal results of Sir Isaac Newton
SIR ISAAC NEWTON'S LUNAR THEORY
Astronomers in the 17th century to 21st century understood that the motion of the Moon was far more
complex than those of the planets. The Hellenistic astronomers, Hipparchos and Ptolemy, had identified
two major perturbations, corresponding respectively to a steady rotation of the line of apses and to
fluctuations of the line of apses and the eccentricity; the latter was called the “evection” by Bouillau.
Tycho Brahe had found a further anomaly, the “variation”. Jeremiah Horrocks (1673) proposed a model
of the Moon's orbit as a rotating ellipse that was successful for its day. The orbit is distorted from a
simple ellipse by the variation and the evection, the major axis (apse line) advances through 2π in about
9 years, the nodes regress by 2π upon the ecliptic in about 18 years, and there are further lesser
perturbations. The largest anomaly is the evection with an amplitude of 1°16′ and a period of about 32
days, while the amplitude of the variation is about 35 arcmin with a period of nearly 15 days (Cook
1988, Smith 1999).
Sir Isaac Newton, from the frontispiece of the third edition of his Principia, 1726.
Unpublished theory
In Book I, Prop. LXVI of the first edition of Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica, Newton
(1687) discussed the dynamical problem of three bodies in a general way, and then in Book III he
asserted that the vagaries of the Moon's motion could be accounted for by the gravitational attraction
of the Sun. He recognized that he needed to develop the theory further, and summarized his later
results in The theory of the Moon's motionof 1702 (Cohen 1975). He continued to refine his treatment
up to the publication of the second edition of Principia (Newton 1712), some sections of which differ
greatly from the first edition. He made almost no further changes of his own in the third edition, but
added a scholium by Machin (1726) on the motion of the nodes. The pubtlished account of the rotation
of the apse line, much the same in all versions, was seriously wrong, but even before 1690 Newton had
developed a somewhat more satisfactory treatment, with which, however, he remained dissatisfied and
never pubtlished (Whiteside 1976). (Since this article was prepared, the new English translation of
the Principia by Cohen and Whitman (1999) has appeared. It is a translation of the third edition of 1726,
which differs significantly in a few places from the first and second editions, as will be indicated.)
Flamsteed prepared a set of astronomical tables that included some of the Moon's motion based on the
parameters in Newton's tract of 1702, but did not himself pubtlish them. Others knew of them, and le
Monnier pubtlished them in France (le Monnier 1746). Halley constructed a large and comprehensive
set of tables for the Sun, the Moon, and the planets, with the lunar tables representing Newton's
version of his theory as in the second edition of Principia. The numerical parameters that are the bases
of the tables are Newton's, and some of the tables differ significantly from Flamsteed's. Halley had his
tables set up in print by 1719, but never himself pubtlished them for he evidently hoped that when he
became Astronomer Royal he would be able to compare them with his own observations (see Cook
1998), which he intended to extend over a complete saronic cycle. A saronic cycle, of 18 years, is the
period of the regression of the nodes of the Moon's orbit and of the repetition of the circumstances of
eclipses. Halley did indeed observe the Moon over 18 years, from about 1721, when he was 65, to 1739,
but he pubtlished neither his tables nor the results of his observations; John Bevis did so when Halley
was dead (Halley 1749, 1752). Halley gave a mid-term account of his lunar studies after he had
completed nine years of observations, the period of advance of the apse line and half a saronic cycle
(Halley 1731). He then asserted that Newton's theory agreed with observation to within 2 arcmin and,
furthermore, that his own observations agreed with others of Flamsteed made one or two saronic
periods earlier. In 1682 he had already had the idea that the anomalies of the Moon's motion repeated
in successive saronic cycles, some years before Newton gave the reason for it, implicitly, in the attraction
of the Sun; he later used it to determine differences of longitude from the times of eclipses that had
occurred in different saronic cycles.
Halley's claims for the accuracy of Newton's theory and for the agreement between his observations and
earlier ones of Flamsteed have often been doubted, not least because he did not pubtlish his
observations in full. John Bevis gave only a summary of the comparisons in the posthumous tables; they
showed that differences between observation and Newton's theory could reach 8 arcmin. Halley's
abstracts of his observations survive in the archives of the Royal Observatory where they are bound up
(probably by John Bevis) in little books, and they were copied out for Francis Baily in a manuscript that is
now in the archives of the Royal Astronomical Society. The Observatory archives also contain small
sheets of calculations by Halley (likewise bound up by Bevis) for the differences between the observed
and tabular positions of the Moon from about 1725 to 1730, according to the example given in
his Tables for 5 December 1725. The calculations are roughly written out and not always easy to read.
Halley made further calculations for observations of Flamsteed that were an exact number of saronic
periods or half periods before his own, 9, 18, 27 or 36 years earlier. Of course he could only find such
pairs when the weather had allowed observations by Flamsteed as well as by himself. He noted a few
comparisons on his sheets of calculations, but there are many more to be found. There are 106 pairs at
the interval of two saronic periods (36 years and 20 or 21 days), and a few more at other intervals. The
differences of Flamsteed's and Halley's observations from the tabular values are highly correlated, as
they should be according to Halley's saronic hypothesis, and the standard deviation of their means is
about 2 arcmin as Halley had claimed (see Cook 1996, 1998). Halley's statements in his paper of 1731
seem justified, though how he arrived at them lacking the principle of the analysis of variance is unclear.
He no doubt undertook the calculations in preparation for the paper.
Newton had in his theory some small terms with amplitudes of a few arcmin. He said he had found them
from gravitational theory. People have doubted his claim. Kollerstrom (1995) noticed that the forms and
amplitudes of those terms agreed with ones in modern theories. The amplitudes are comparable with
the errors of observation of Newton's day and could hardly have been estimated so closely from
observations. Newton's claim must be taken seriously. Furthermore, Halley's assessment of the overall
accuracy of Newton's theory is supported by his calculations now brought out from the archives. It is
time to reappraise Newton's lunar theory.
A reappraisal
Here I review Newton's methods, I identify the origin of the small terms, I show where the theory was
successful, and I explain why it failed where it did. Newton's dynamics, and his lunar theory especially,
were difficult for his contemporaries and they are perhaps even more difficult now. He wrote in Latin,
which few now read. He used the geometry of Euclid and Apollonius, which has all but vanished from
school and university mathematics. (Guicciardini [1999] gives the reasons for Newton's use of geometry
in preference to fluxions.) His many original results, on comets, the figure of the Earth, tides, precession,
as well as lunar theory, must have seemed an almost magical explosion of illumination to his colleagues,
but nowadays they are commonplace. Lunar theory itself has become a subject of computer algebra. Yet
for all that, Newton's lunar theory is still well worth our attention. It reveals with particular clarity
Newton's mathematical skill and fertility. Its successes and failures stimulated the new mathematicians
of the 1750s – Euler, D'Alambert, and especially A-C Clairaut – to apply the developing analysis of
differential equations to the lunar problem. It demonstrated the explanatory power of the hypothesis of
universal gravitation.
Newton's lunar results fall into three groups. He gives full, explicit successful treatments of the variation
(for a circular orbit), of the motion of the node, and of the oscillations of the inclination. He states the
results of his gravitational calculations of some small terms. Finally there is his very detailed but
erroneous theory of rotating orbits.
Newton based his lunar theory, as almost all his dynamics, on the mathematical lemmas to Proposition I
of Book I of the Principia. He applied limiting processes to Euclidean geometry to obtain results about
tangents and curvatures of curves that he could use in dynamics, and his methods are in some ways
similar to those of the 19th century differential geometry of curves. Taylor's theorem (or an equivalent
geometrical argument of Newton in Lemma XI of Prop. I) shows that the increment dr of the position
vector r of a moving point on a curve over an arc of length ds is equal to ½κds2, where κ is the curvature.
If the corresponding acceleration along the radius vector is α, then the increment dr in time dt is ½αdt2,
so that the acceleration is proportional to the curvature. That, or some equivalent statement, is the
basis of much of Newton's orbital dynamics, along with expressions for the curvature in terms of
geometrical parameters of an orbit that he derived by a chain of Euclidean relationships.
Newton dealt for the most part in accelerations rather than forces, and he expressed the perturbation of
the Moon's orbit by the Sun as a perturbation of the acceleration of the Moon towards the Earth, of
which the magnitude is readily found. Let the mean radius of the Moon's orbit be a and let the distance
of the Sun from the centre of mass of the Earth and the Moon be R (figure 1). The mean acceleration of
the Moon towards the Earth is anM2, where nM is the mean angular velocity of the Moon about the
Earth, and the mean acceleration of the centre of mass of the Earth and the Moon towards the Sun
is RnS2, where nS is the mean angular velocity of the Sun around the Earth and Moon. The maximum
acceleration of the Moon itself towards the Sun is (R + a)nS2, whence the perturbation of the Moon's
acceleration towards the Earth is proportional to the difference anS2, or (nS/nM)2 times the Moon's
acceleration towards the Earth. The ratio nS/nM, usually denoted by m, is a fundamental parameter in
lunar theory. The principal solar perturbations of the Moon's motion are proportional to m2, namely
about 1/178. That may seem small, but it is in fact sufficient to cause considerable difficulties in
analytical solutions of lunar problems.
1;
Magnitude of the perturbing solar acceleration. T is the Earth, M the Moon, a radius of lunar
orbit, Rradius of terrestrial orbit, ξ angle between directions of Sun and Moon. The net acceleration of
the Moon towards the Sun is acosξnS2
Newton resolved the net attraction of the Sun on the Moon into components along the radius vector of
the Moon from the Earth, at right angles to the radius vector in the plane of the orbit, and perpendicular
to the plane of the orbit. At syzygies (when the Earth, Sun and Moon are in a straight line) the first
component is greatest and the second vanishes, while at quadrature (the angle between the Moon and
the Sun as seen from the Earth is π/2) the second component is greatest and the first vanishes. The first
component, by Newton's fundamental results, reduces the curvature of the orbit but does not affect the
areal velocity, or angular momentum, while the second changes angular momentum but not curvature.
The variation is the distortion of the form of the lunar orbit by the attraction of the Sun, such that a
circular orbit would become an ellipse with its centre at the Earth and with two maxima and two minima
of angular velocity, the variation orbit (Cook 1988). The actual orbit of the Moon is eccentric, but the
variation still gives two maxima and two minima of angular velocity instead of a single maximum and a
single minimum as in a simple elliptical orbit. The radial and tangential components together produce a
perturbation of the longitude in the variation orbit. Taking into account the rotation of the Sun around
the Earth, the leading term in the perturbation is proportional to sin2ξ, where ξ is the difference of the
longitudes of the Moon and the Sun. Newton found the greatest difference of the Moon's longitude in
the variation orbit to be 33′14″ at aphelion and 37′11″ at perihelion. The modern value of the coefficent
of sin2ξ is about 35 arcmin, dependent upon the distance of the Sun from the Earth (see Chandrasekhar
1995 p429). Newton explicitly ignored the eccentricity of the lunar orbit in his treatment of the
variation.
The variation orbit differs in size as well as in form from a circular orbit in the absence of the Sun, for the
Sun is always present and its attraction reduces the mean force on the Moon towards the Earth; Newton
calculated the difference.
Nodes and inclination
The orbit of the Moon lies in a plane inclined to the plane of the Earth's orbit about the Sun (the ecliptic
plane) by about 5°. The force of the Sun on the Moon, which is to first order parallel to the ecliptic,
therefore has a component perpendicular to the plane of the lunar orbit, as well as those in that plane.
The orbital plane and the ecliptic intersect in the line of nodes which, in consequence of the
perpendicular component of the solar force, rotates in the ecliptic. At the same time the angle between
the lunar orbit and the ecliptic oscillates. Newton's treatment of those effects is an elegant exercise in
what we should now call differential geometry (Principia, Book I, Prop. LXVI, Cor 10, 11 and Book III,
Props. XXXIII to XXXV, also Chandrasekhar 1995, p430–448).
Since the tangent to the lunar orbit lies in the plane of the orbit, it must intersect the line of nodes.
Because the solar acceleration is parallel to the ecliptic, it gives the Moon a component of velocity
parallel to the ecliptic. The tangent, therefore, has a component of rotation in the plane of the ecliptic; it
no longer lies in the original plane of the orbit and does not intersect the ecliptic in the original line of
nodes N, N, but in a new one, N, N (figure 2).
2;
The displacement of the tangent of the orbit. T and M the Earth and Moon as in figure 1, NN line of
nodes, NN rotated line of nodes, δθ rotation of tangent in time dt.
Newton used a chain of Euclidean relations in similar triangles to connect the change in the orbit under
the solar acceleration to the rotation of the line of nodes in the ecliptic. He showed that the maximum
hourly rate of regression of the nodes was 33″10′″33iv12vand that the mean over a circular orbit and
the position of the Sun was half that, namely 16″35′″16iv36v. He extended his treatment to the elliptical
orbit of the Moon and found the mean annual motion of the nodes to be 19°18′1″.3, very close to the
observed rate and to modern theories.
The attraction of the Sun also rotates the radius vector of the orbit out of the original plane, so changing
the inclination of the orbital plane. Whereas the Sun always rotates the tangent to the orbit in the same
sense, the rotation of the radius vector is towards the ecliptic when the Moon is new and away from it
at full Moon. Thus the inclination oscillates around a constant mean value, about 5°.
Newton stated his argument in terms of small segments of the orbit, but it is easy to see that, in modern
terms, he was dealing with its differential geometry.
Small terms in the longitude
At the end of his section on the Moon's motion, Newton described some small terms that he said he had
found from gravitational theory (scholium to Prop. XXXV of Book III of the Principia). There are annual
variations of the longitudes of the Moon, of the node and of the apses. There are two semi-annual terms
that depend, the one on the angular distance of the Sun from the lunar node, the other on the angular
distance of the Sun from the lunar apogee. Lastly there are two terms with approximately monthly
periods dependent on the angular distance between the Moon and the Sun. The amplitudes of the four
latter terms are a few minutes of arc or less, and as mentioned above, of the same order as errors of
observation in Newton's day.
The theory of the annual terms is straightforward. The orbit of the Earth about the Sun is eccentric so
that the distance of the Sun from the Earth and the Moon varies throughout the year. Thus the period of
the Moon about the Earth also varies with the seasons, leading to an annual variation in the longitude of
the Moon relative to the fixed stars. Newton calculated that annual term from the equation of time, the
difference between vS, the Earth's true anomaly (longitude) in its orbit about the Sun, and MS, its mean
anomaly, equal to nSt (t is the time). The difference is proportional to the eccentricity of the solar orbit
and hence is a measure of the range of the solar attraction. Newton's value was 11′″, more or less,
depending on the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit about the Sun. The modern value is about 11′9″
(Tisserand 1894, p44)
The annual terms in the motions of the lunar node and perigee are similarly proportional to the mean
motion of the Earth about the Sun, and to the motion of the node or perigee. The mean motion of the
lunar node is nearly 19° per year (see above) and Newton estimated the annual term to be about 9′24″.
The mean motion of perigee is about 40° per year and Newton's estimate of the annual variation was
19′43″. Those values are again close to modern observation and theory. Newton determined two semi-
annual terms in the longitude of the Moon, one with the argument of twice the angle between the Sun
and the lunar node, and the other with the argument of twice the angle between the Sun and lunar
perigee.
When the Sun is on the line of nodes of the Moon's orbit (figure 3), the force it exerts on the Moon is in
the plane of the orbit, but when the Sun is in some other direction, the force it exerts is out of the plane
of the orbit and consequently the component in the plane is reduced, as is the perturbation of the
Moon's mean angular velocity. The amplitude of the variation in the Moon's longitude is proportional to
m2 and to (1 – cosI), where I is the inclination of the lunar orbit to the ecliptic. (1 – cosI) is about 4 × 10-
3 and the amplitude of the variation is about 45″. Newton's value was 49′′ at perihelion and 45″ at
aphelion; a more thorough calculation gives 55″ (see Kollerstrom 1995, Cook 1998).
3;
The dependence of the force of the Sun on the inclination I of the orbit to the plane of the ecliptic and
on the angle between the Sun and the line of nodes (N, N).
The dilation of the lunar orbit by the attraction of the Sun is greatest when the Sun, Earth and Moon are
all in line. Thus, when the Sun is at right angles to the major axis of the lunar orbit, the effective
diameter of the orbit is the latus rectum and the mean distance of the Sun is the distance from the focus
of the orbit occupied by the Earth. When the Sun is on the major axis of the orbit, the effective diameter
is now the major axis and the mean distance of the Sun is that from the centre of the orbit and not from
the focus. The amplitude of the variation in longitude is proportional to the lunar eccentricity and to the
parameter m2. Because the principal perturbing solar force on the Moon is a second harmonic term (the
first harmonic term vanishes by the centre of mass theorem) the argument of the mean diameter is
twice the angle between the Sun and perigee.
Newton's values for the amplitude of the effect were 3′56″ at perihelion and 3′34″ at aphelion. The
current value is 3′32″ (see Kollerstrom 1995, Cook 1998).
In the main body of his theory, Newton took the distance of the Sun to be so great that its direction
from the Moon was parallel to its direction from the Earth. In fact the angle between them is r/R,
where R is the distance of the Sun and r is the perpendicular distance of the Moon from the direction of
the Sun (figure 4). If the orbit of the Moon is supposed to be a circle, the ratio is a/Rsinξ
and a/R is 1/396. The solar force on the Moon thus has additional terms proportional to a/R and of
argument ξ. They generate the parallactic perturbations in the radius vector and the longitude of the
Moon. Newton's value for the amplitude of the term in the longitude was 2′20″, the modern value is
about 2′22″.
4:
The parallactic correction. S the Sun, T the Earth, M the Moon, R the distance of the Sun from the
Earth, ξthe angular distance of the Moon from the Sun, a the radius of the lunar orbit. r is asinξ.
Newton found a second term with similar amplitude, 2′25″, and argument equal to the difference of the
mean anomalies of the Sun and the Moon, not the difference of their longitudes. The term corresponds
to one in modern theories with amplitude 2′28″ (Kollerstrom 1995, Cook 1998). The direction of the Sun
from the Moon depends on the eccentricities of the orbit of the Moon about the Earth and of the Earth
about the Sun. The solar force on the Moon consequently has terms proportional to the product of the
eccentricities and with arguments equal to multiples of the difference of the mean motions. The largest
term with argument (MM–MS) in the longitude has an amplitude close to that of the parallactic term.
Newton's statements in the scholium to Prop. XXXV of Book III of the Principia are confusing. In his tract
of 1702 and in the second edition of the Principia he gave both terms with amplitudes close to the
modern value for the parallactic term, the one with the argument ξ and the other with the argument
(MM–MS), but he removed the true parallactic term in the third edition, and Halley did not have it in his
posthumous Tables. The residuals of Halley's and Flamsteed's observations from the tabular values
appear to have a roughly annual period, which might correspond to the omission of the true parallactic
term from the tables. Since Halley had set his tables in print by 1719, it would seem that Newton
rejected the term sometime between 1712 and 1719. His treatment is obscure.
The apse line and eccentricity
In the first edition of the Principia, (Book I, Props. XLIII to XLV), Newton gave an elaborate account of the
orbit, rotating relative to inertial axes, of a body subject to quite general forces in the direction of a
common centre. Although it led to a value for the mean rate of rotation of the lunar apses that was
about the same as that for the node, and half the correct value, Newton did not substantially change it
in the later editions. Whittaker (1927) presented an analytical version.
Newton considered two orbits of the same geometric form, one fixed and the other rotating relative to
the fixed stars, the periods of the bodies in them being the same. His statements imply that the rotating
and fixed orbits are to be coplanar. He considered only forces directed along the radius vector of the
Moon from the Earth (see Chandrasekhar 1995, Smith 1999). Although the velocities at corresponding
points on the two orbits are the same relative to axes fixed in the respective orbits, they are in different
directions, entailing a difference of angular momentum. Newton calculated the perturbing force
corresponding to the rotation (Prop. XLIV) by means of Prop. VI of Book I of the Principia and its
corollaries. His third step was an extensive calculation of the rate of rotation for any general
perturbation of an elliptical orbit of small eccentricity (Prop. XLV). Finally he applied his result to the
Moon attracted by the Sun, to find that the mean rate of rotation of the apse line was half the observed
value.
Newton began to revise his theory of a rotating orbit almost as soon as the first edition
of Principia appeared and continued to do so until the second edition went to press, but he was never
satisfied with his result (Whiteside 1976).
Superposed upon the steady advance of the apses there are both oscillations of the apse line and
variations of the eccentricity; they combine to give a perturbation known as the evection. Newton
adopted a kinematical model that Halley had proposed as an elaboration of Horrocks's scheme of a
rotating ellipse – Halley placed the centre of rotation, the focus occupied by the Earth, upon a small
epicycle. Newton seems not to have attempted a gravitational derivation of the model and he never
gave a value for the evection as such.
Discussion
The foregoing account of Newton's achievements in lunar theory conceals two important difficulties
which were not significant at the precision that Newton attained, but which came to matter very much
when observations were made with far greater precision centuries later.
Newton took the line of nodes to be the line joining the centre of the Earth (strictly the centre of mass
of the Earth and the Moon) to the intersection of the tangent to the orbit with the plane of the ecliptic.
An alternative would be to use the orbital vectors as defined in differential geometry. The tangent
vector t is the first derivative of the position vector with respect to arc length, the unit normal n is in the
direction of the second derivative, and the unit binormal b is in the direction of the third derivative with
respect to arc length. The three vectors t, n and b are mutually perpendicular, and the binormal is
perpendicular to the instantaneous plane of the orbit (figure 6). It defines the instantaneous inclination
of the osculating plane, and its intersection with the normal to the ecliptic defines the instantaneous
direction of the line of nodes. The rate of change of b is given by the component of acceleration out of
the plane of the orbit, whence the instantaneous rate of rotation of the line of nodes may be calculated.
5;
Tangent t, normal n and binormal b unit vectors of a curve in three dimensions at position vector r.
The two definitions of the line of nodes are not equivalent. In Newton's definition, the plane of the
radius vector and the tangent necessarily contains the centre of mass of the Earth-Moon system. The
plane defined by the vectors t, n and b is not constrained to pass through that centre and on account of
the solar attraction will not in general do so. Not only do the two definitions differ, but neither
corresponds to observation. A possible observational definition of the line of nodes could be the line
joining succesive points at which the Moon passes through the ecliptic, one upwards and one
downwards. Alternatively it may be treated as a parameter to be determined in a numerical fitting of an
orbit to observations. There are similar problems in defining the directions of perigee and apogee.
The other issue is the form of the equations of motion as equations for the rates of change of variables
such as the longitude of the node or of perigee. The rates are trigonometrical functions of the difference
of the longitudes of the Sun and the Moon; if all other factors were constant it would be straightforward
to calculate the secular motions of node or perigee. But all other factors are not constant. The equation
for the node involves the variable inclination, and the equation for the inclination involves the variable
node. The two equations are therefore coupled and strictly should be solved as such. They can be solved
separately because, for example, the inclination is always small, and the motion of the node is almost
that for zero inclination. (The constant for the secular motion of the node usually given in textbooks is
for zero inclination.) Similarly the small eccentricity of the lunar orbit has only a minor effect upon the
component of the solar force perpendicular to the plane of the orbit. It is for those reasons that
Newton's theory was so close to modern theory and observation. The situation is otherwise for the
rotation of the apse line.
About 1750, A-C Clairaut devised a theory that involved the numerical solution of differential equations.
He at first obtained the same result as Newton, and thought that the inverse square law of attraction
should be supplemented by an inverse cube term, but then found an error in his analysis which
accounted for the discrepancy (Clairaut 1752, 1756, see also Tisserand 1894, ch.3, Cook 1988).
DISCUSSION
LORENTZ TRANSFORMATIONS
Lorentz transformation
Many physicists—including Woldemar Voigt, George FitzGerald, Joseph Larmor, and Hendrik
Lorentz[3] himself—had been discussing the physics implied by these equations since 1887.[4] Early in
1889, Oliver Heaviside had shown from Maxwell's equations that the electric field surrounding a
spherical distribution of charge should cease to have spherical symmetry once the charge is in motion
relative to the aether. FitzGerald then conjectured that Heaviside’s distortion result might be applied to
a theory of intermolecular forces. Some months later, FitzGerald published the conjecture that bodies in
motion are being contracted, in order to explain the baffling outcome of the 1887 aether-wind
experiment of Michelson and Morley. In 1892, Lorentz independently presented the same idea in a
more detailed manner, which was subsequently called FitzGerald–Lorentz contraction hypothesis.
[5] Their explanation was widely known before 1905.[6]
Lorentz (1892–1904) and Larmor (1897–1900), who believed the luminiferous aether hypothesis, also
looked for the transformation under which Maxwell's equationsare invariant when transformed from
the aether to a moving frame. They extended the FitzGerald–Lorentz contraction hypothesis and found
out that the time coordinate has to be modified as well ("local time"). Henri Poincaré gave a physical
interpretation to local time (to first order in v/c, the relative velocity of the two reference frames
normalized to the speed of light) as the consequence of clock synchronization, under the assumption
that the speed of light is constant in moving frames.[7] Larmor is credited to have been the first to
understand the crucial time dilation property inherent in his equations.[8]
In 1905, Poincaré was the first to recognize that the transformation has the properties of
a mathematical group, and named it after Lorentz.[9] Later in the same year Albert Einstein published
what is now called special relativity, by deriving the Lorentz transformation under the assumptions of
the principle of relativity and the constancy of the speed of light in any inertial reference frame, and by
abandoning the mechanistic aether as unnecessary.
In physics, the Lorentz transformations are a one-parameter family of linear transformations from
a coordinate frame in space time to another frame that moves at a constant velocity, the parameter,
within the former. The transformations are named after the Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz. The
respective inverse transformation is then parametrized by the negative of this velocity.
Part of a series on
Spacetime
The most common form of the transformation, parametrized by the real constant {\displaystyle
v,} representing a velocity confined to the x-direction, is expressed as[1]
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}t'&=\gamma \left(t-{\frac {vx}{c^{2}}}\right)\\x'&=\gamma \left(x-
vt\right)\\y'&=y\\z'&=z\end{aligned}}}
where (t, x, y, z) and (t′, x′, y′, z′) are the coordinates of an event in two frames, where the primed frame
is seen from the unprimed frame as moving with speed v along the x-axis, c is the speed of light, and
{\displaystyle \gamma =\textstyle \left({\sqrt {1-{\frac {v^{2}}{c^{2}}}}}\right)^{-
1}} is the Lorentz factor.
Expressing the speed as {\displaystyle \beta ={\frac {v}{c}},} an equivalent form of the
transformation is[2]
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}ct'&=\gamma \left(ct-\beta x\right)\\x'&=\gamma \left(x-\beta
ct\right)\\y'&=y\\z'&=z.\end{aligned}}}
Frames of reference can be divided into two groups: inertial (relative motion with constant velocity)
and non-inertial (accelerating, moving in curved paths, rotational motion with constant angular velocity,
etc.). The term "Lorentz transformations" only refers to transformations between inertial frames, usually
in the context of special relativity.
In each reference frame, an observer can use a local coordinate system (most exclusively Cartesian
coordinates in this context) to measure lengths, and a clock to measure time intervals. An observer is a
real or imaginary entity that can take measurements, say humans, or any other living organism—or even
robots and computers. An event is something that happens at a point in space at an instant of time, or
more formally a point in spacetime. The transformations connect the space and time coordinates of
an event as measured by an observer in each frame.[nb 1]
They supersede the Galilean transformation of Newtonian physics, which assumes an absolute space
and time (see Galilean relativity). The Galilean transformation is a good approximation only at relative
speeds much smaller than the speed of light. Lorentz transformations have a number of unintuitive
features that do not appear in Galilean transformations. For example, they reflect the fact that
observers moving at different velocities may measure different distances, elapsed times, and even
different orderings of events, but always such that the speed of light is the same in all inertial reference
frames. The invariance of light speed is one of the postulates of special relativity.
Historically, the transformations were the result of attempts by Lorentz and others to explain how the
speed of light was observed to be independent of the reference frame, and to understand the
symmetries of the laws of electromagnetism. The Lorentz transformation is in accordance with special
relativity, but was derived before special relativity.
The Lorentz transformation is a linear transformation. It may include a rotation of space; a rotation-free
Lorentz transformation is called a Lorentz boost. In Minkowski space, the mathematical model of
spacetime in special relativity, the Lorentz transformations preserve the spacetime interval between any
two events. This property is the defining property of a Lorentz transformation. They describe only the
transformations in which the spacetime event at the origin is left fixed. They can be considered as
a hyperbolic rotation of Minkowski space. The more general set of transformations that also includes
translations is known as the Poincaré group.
Derivation of the group of Lorentz transformations
Main articles: Derivations of the Lorentz transformations and Lorentz group
An event is something that happens at a certain point in spacetime, or more generally, the point in
spacetime itself. In any inertial frame an event is specified by a time coordinate ct and a set of Cartesian
coordinates x, y, z to specify position in space in that frame. Subscripts label individual events.
From Einstein's second postulate of relativity follows
{\displaystyle c^{2}(t_{2}-t_{1})^{2}-(x_{2}-x_{1})^{2}-(y_{2}-
(
y_{1})^{2}-(z_{2}-z_{1})^{2}=0\quad {\text{(lightlike separated
D
1)
events 1, 2)}}}
in all inertial frames for events connected by light signals. The quantity on the left is called the spacetime
interval between events a1 = (t1, x1, y1, z1) and a2 = (t2, x2, y2, z2). The interval between any
two events, not necessarily separated by light signals, is in fact invariant, i.e., independent of the state
of relative motion of observers in different inertial frames, as is shown using homogeneity and isotropy
of space. The transformation sought after thus must possess the property that
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}&c^{2}(t_{2}-t_{1})^{2}-(x_{2}-x_{1})^{2}-
(
(y_{2}-y_{1})^{2}-(z_{2}-z_{1})^{2}\\[6pt]={}&c^{2}(t_{2}'-t_{1}')^{2}- D
(x_{2}'-x_{1}')^{2}-(y_{2}'-y_{1}')^{2}-(z_{2}'-z_{1}')^{2}\quad {\text{(all
2
)
events 1, 2)}}.\end{aligned}}}
where (ct, x, y, z) are the spacetime coordinates used to define events in one frame, and (ct′, x′, y′, z
′) are the coordinates in another frame. First one observes that (D2) is satisfied if an arbitrary 4-
tuple b of numbers are added to events a1 and a2. Such transformations are called spacetime
translations and are not dealt with further here. Then one observes that a linear solution preserving the
origin of the simpler problem
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}&c^{2}t^{2}-x^{2}-y^{2}- (
z^{2}=c^{2}t'^{2}-x'^{2}-y'^{2}-z'^{2}\\[6pt]{\text{or}}\quad D
&c^{2}t_{1}t_{2}-x_{1}x_{2}-y_{1}y_{2}-z_{1}z_{2}=c^{2}t'_{1}t'_{2}-
3
)
x'_{1}x'_{2}-y'_{1}y'_{2}-z'_{1}z'_{2}\end{aligned}}}
solves the general problem too. (A solution satisfying the left formula automatically satisfies the right
formula, see polarization identity.) Finding the solution to the simpler problem is just a matter of look-
up in the theory of classical groups that preserve bilinear forms of various signature.[nb 2]. First
equation in (D3) can be written more compactly as
{\displaystyle (a,a)=(a',a')\quad
(
{\text{or}}\quad a\cdot a=a'\cdot a',}
D
4)
where (·, ·) refers to the bilinear form of signature (1, 3) on ℝ4 exposed by the right hand side formula
in (D3). The alternative notation defined on the right is referred to as the relativistic dot product.
Spacetime mathematically viewed as ℝ4 endowed with this bilinear form is known as Minkowski
space M. The Lorentz transformation is thus an element of the group Lorentz group O(1, 3), the Lorentz
group or, for those that prefer the other metric signature, O(3, 1) (also called the Lorentz group).[nb
3] One has
{\displaystyle (a,a)=(\Lambda a,\Lambda
(
a)=(a',a'),\quad \Lambda \in \mathrm {O}
D
5)
(1,3),\quad a,a'\in M,}
which is precisely preservation of the bilinear form (D3) which implies (by linearity of Λ and bilinearity of
the form) that (D2) is satisfied. The elements of the Lorentz group are rotations and boosts and mixes
thereof. If the spacetime translations are included, then one obtains the inhomogeneous Lorentz
group or the Poincaré group.
Generalities
The relations between the primed and unprimed spacetime coordinates are the Lorentz
transformations, each coordinate in one frame is a linear function of all the coordinates in the other
frame, and the inverse functions are the inverse transformation. Depending on how the frames move
relative to each other, and how they are oriented in space relative to each other, other parameters that
describe direction, speed, and orientation enter the transformation equations.
Transformations describing relative motion with constant (uniform) velocity and without rotation of the
space coordinate axes are called boosts, and the relative velocity between the frames is the parameter
of the transformation. The other basic type of Lorentz transformations is rotations in the spatial
coordinates only, these are also inertial frames since there is no relative motion, the frames are simply
tilted (and not continuously rotating), and in this case quantities defining the rotation are the
parameters of the transformation (e.g., axis–angle representation, or Euler angles, etc.). A combination
of a rotation and boost is a homogeneous transformation, which transforms the origin back to the
origin.
The full Lorentz group O(3, 1) also contains special transformations that are neither rotations nor boosts,
but rather reflections in a plane through the origin. Two of these can be singled out; spatial inversion in
which the spatial coordinates of all events are reversed in sign and temporal inversion in which the time
coordinate for each event gets its sign reversed.
Boosts should not be conflated with mere displacements in spacetime; in this case, the coordinate
systems are simply shifted and there is no relative motion. However, these also count as symmetries
forced by special relativity since they leave the spacetime interval invariant. A combination of a rotation
with a boost, followed by a shift in spacetime, is an inhomogeneous Lorentz transformation, an element
of the Poincaré group, which is also called the inhomogeneous Lorentz group.
Physical formulation of Lorentz boosts
Derivations of the Lorentz transformations
Coordinate transformation
A "stationary" observer in frame F defines events with coordinates t, x, y, z. Another frame F′ moves
with velocity v relative to F, and an observer in this "moving" frame F′ defines events using the
coordinates t′, x′, y′, z′.
The coordinate axes in each frame are parallel (the x and x′ axes are parallel, the y and y′ axes are
parallel, and the z and z′ axes are parallel), remain mutually perpendicular, and relative motion is along
the coincident xx′ axes. At t = t′ = 0, the origins of both coordinate systems are the same, (x, y, z) = (x′, y
′, z′) = (0, 0, 0). In other words, the times and positions are coincident at this event. If all these hold, then
the coordinate systems are said to be in standard configuration, or synchronized.
The spacetime coordinates of an event, as measured by each observer in their inertial reference frame
(in standard configuration) are shown in the speech bubbles.
Top: frame F′ moves at velocity v along the x-axis of frame F.
Bottom: frame F moves at velocity −v along the x′-axis of frame F′
Source; Maschen - Own work
Lorentz boost observers and frames any direction standard configuration
.[11]
If an observer in F records an event t, x, y, z, then an observer in F′ records the same event with
coordinates
[12]
where v is the relative velocity between frames in the x-direction, c is the speed of light, and
{\displaystyle \gamma ={\frac {1}{\sqrt {1-{\frac {v^{2}}{c^{2}}}}}}}
(lowercase gamma) is the Lorentz factor.
Here, v is the parameter of the transformation, for a given boost it is a constant number, but can take a
continuous range of values. In the setup used here, positive relative velocity v > 0 is motion along the
positive directions of the xx′ axes, zero relative velocity v = 0 is no relative motion, while negative
relative velocity v < 0 is relative motion along the negative directions of the xx′ axes. The magnitude of
relative velocity v cannot equal or exceed c, so only subluminal speeds −c < v < c are allowed. The
corresponding range of γ is 1 ≤ γ < ∞.
The transformations are not defined if v is outside these limits. At the speed of light (v = c) γ is infinite,
and faster than light (v > c) γ is a complex number, each of which make the transformations unphysical.
The space and time coordinates are measurable quantities and numerically must be real numbers.
As an active transformation, an observer in F′ notices the coordinates of the event to be "boosted" in
the negative directions of the xx′ axes, because of the −v in the transformations. This has the equivalent
effect of the coordinate system F′ boosted in the positive directions of the xx′ axes, while the event does
not change and is simply represented in another coordinate system, a passive transformation.
The inverse relations (t, x, y, z in terms of t′, x′, y′, z′) can be found by algebraically solving the original set
of equations. A more efficient way is to use physical principles. Here F′ is the "stationary" frame
while F is the "moving" frame. According to the principle of relativity, there is no privileged frame of
reference, so the transformations from F′ to F must take exactly the same form as the transformations
from F to F′. The only difference is F moves with velocity −v relative to F′ (i.e., the relative velocity has
the same magnitude but is oppositely directed). Thus if an observer in F′ notes an event t′, x′, y′, z′, then
an observer in F notes the sameevent with coordinates
and the value of γ remains unchanged. This "trick" of simply reversing the direction of relative velocity
while preserving its magnitude, and exchanging primed and unprimed variables, always applies to
finding the inverse transformation of every boost in any direction.
Sometimes it is more convenient to use β = v/c (lowercase beta) instead of v, so that
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}ct'&=\gamma \left(ct-\beta x\right)\,,\\x'&=\gamma \left(x-\beta
ct\right)\,,\\\end{aligned}}}
which shows much more clearly the symmetry in the transformation. From the allowed ranges of v and
the definition of β, it follows −1 < β < 1. The use of β and γ is standard throughout the literature.
The Lorentz transformations can also be derived in a way that resembles circular rotations in 3d space
using the hyperbolic functions. For the boost in the x direction, the results are
where ζ (lowercase zeta) is a parameter called rapidity (many other symbols are used, including θ, ϕ, φ,
η, ψ, ξ). Given the strong resemblance to rotations of spatial coordinates in 3d space in the Cartesian xy,
yz, and zx planes, a Lorentz boost can be thought of as a hyperbolic rotation of spacetime coordinates in
the xt, yt, and zt Cartesian-time planes of 4d Minkowski space. The parameter ζ is the hyperbolic
angle of rotation, analogous to the ordinary angle for circular rotations. This transformation can be
illustrated with a Minkowski diagram.
The hyperbolic functions arise from the difference between the squares of the time and spatial
coordinates in the spacetime interval, rather than a sum. The geometric significance of the hyperbolic
functions can be visualized by taking x = 0 or ct = 0 in the transformations. Squaring and subtracting the
results, one can derive hyperbolic curves of constant coordinate values but varying ζ, which
parametrizes the curves according to the identity
{\displaystyle \cosh ^{2}\zeta -\sinh ^{2}\zeta =1\,.}
Conversely the ct and x axes can be constructed for varying coordinates but constant ζ. The definition
{\displaystyle \tanh \zeta ={\frac {\sinh \zeta }{\cosh \zeta }}\,,}
provides the link between a constant value of rapidity, and the slope of the ct axis in spacetime. A
consequence these two hyperbolic formulae is an identity that matches the Lorentz factor
{\displaystyle \cosh \zeta ={\frac {1}{\sqrt {1-\tanh ^{2}\zeta }}}\,.}
Comparing the Lorentz transformations in terms of the relative velocity and rapidity, or using the above
formulae, the connections between β, γ, and ζ are
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\beta &=\tanh \zeta \,,\\\gamma &=\cosh \zeta \,,\\\beta \gamma
&=\sinh \zeta \,.\end{aligned}}}
Taking the inverse hyperbolic tangent gives the rapidity
{\displaystyle \zeta =\tanh ^{-1}\beta \,.}
Since −1 < β < 1, it follows −∞ < ζ < ∞. From the relation between ζ and β, positive rapidity ζ > 0 is
motion along the positive directions of the xx′ axes, zero rapidity ζ = 0 is no relative motion, while
negative rapidity ζ < 0 is relative motion along the negative directions of the xx′ axes.
The inverse transformations are obtained by exchanging primed and unprimed quantities to switch the
coordinate frames, and negating rapidity ζ → −ζ since this is equivalent to negating the relative velocity.
Therefore,
The inverse transformations can be similarly visualized by considering the cases when x′ = 0 and ct′ = 0.
So far the Lorentz transformations have been applied to one event. If there are two events, there is a
spatial separation and time interval between them. It follows from the linearity of the Lorentz
transformations that two values of space and time coordinates can be chosen, the Lorentz
transformations can be applied to each, then subtracted to get the Lorentz transformations of the
differences;
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\Delta t'&=\gamma \left(\Delta t-{\frac
{v\,\Delta x}{c^{2}}}\right)\,,\\\Delta x'&=\gamma \left(\Delta x-v\,\Delta t\right)\,,\end{aligned}}}
with inverse relations
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\Delta t&=\gamma \left(\Delta t'+{\frac {v\,\Delta x'}
{c^{2}}}\right)\,,\\\Delta x&=\gamma \left(\Delta x'+v\,\Delta t'\right)\,.\end{aligned}}}
where Δ (uppercase delta) indicates a difference of quantities; e.g., Δx = x2 − x1 for two values
of x coordinates, and so on.
These transformations on differences rather than spatial points or instants of time are useful for a
number of reasons:
in calculations and experiments, it is lengths between two points or time intervals that are measured
or of interest (e.g., the length of a moving vehicle, or time duration it takes to travel from one place to
another),
the transformations of velocity can be readily derived by making the difference infinitesimally small
and dividing the equations, and the process repeated for the transformation of acceleration,
if the coordinate systems are never coincident (i.e., not in standard configuration), and if both
observers can agree on an event t0, x0, y0, z0 in F and t0′, x0′, y0′, z0′in F′, then they can use that event
as the origin, and the spacetime coordinate differences are the differences between their coordinates
and this origin, e.g., Δx = x − x0, Δx′ = x′ − x0′, etc.
Physical implications
A critical requirement of the Lorentz transformations is the invariance of the speed of light, a fact used
in their derivation, and contained in the transformations themselves. If in F the equation for a pulse of
light along the x direction is x = ct, then in F′ the Lorentz transformations give x′ = ct′, and vice versa, for
any −c < v < c.
For relative speeds much less than the speed of light, the Lorentz transformations reduce to the Galilean
transformation
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}t'&\approx t\\x'&\approx x-vt\end{aligned}}}
in accordance with the correspondence principle. It is sometimes said that nonrelativistic physics is a
physics of "instantaneous action at a distance".[13]
Three counterintuitive, but correct, predictions of the transformations are:
Relativity of simultaneity
Suppose two events occur simultaneously (Δt = 0) along the x axis, but separated by a nonzero
displacement Δx. Then in F′, we find that {\displaystyle \Delta t'=\gamma {\frac {-
v\,\Delta x}{c^{2}}}} so the events are no longer simultaneous according to a moving observer.
Time dilation
Suppose there is a clock at rest in F. If a time interval is measured at the same point in that frame, so
that Δx = 0, then the transformations give this interval in F′ by Δt′ = γΔt. Conversely, suppose there is a
clock at rest in F′. If an interval is measured at the same point in that frame, so that Δx′ = 0, then the
transformations give this interval in F by Δt = γΔt′. Either way, each observer measures the time interval
between ticks of a moving clock to be longer by a factor γ than the time interval between ticks of his
own clock.
Length contraction
Suppose there is a rod at rest in F aligned along the x axis, with length Δx. In F′, the rod moves with
velocity -v, so its length must be measured by taking two simultaneous (Δt′ = 0) measurements at
opposite ends. Under these conditions, the inverse Lorentz transform shows that Δx = γΔx′. In F the two
measurements are no longer simultaneous, but this does not matter because the rod is at rest in F. So
each observer measures the distance between the end points of a moving rod to be shorter by a
factor 1/γ than the end points of an identical rod at rest in his own frame. Length contraction affects any
geometric quantity related to lengths, so from the perspective of a moving observer, areas and volumes
will also appear to shrink along the direction of motion.
Vector transformations
Euclidean vector and vector projection
The use of vectors allows positions and velocities to be expressed in arbitrary directions compactly. A
single boost in any direction depends on the full relative velocity vector v with a magnitude |v| = v that
cannot equal or exceed c, so that 0 ≤ v < c.
Only time and the coordinates parallel to the direction of relative motion change, while those
coordinates perpendicular do not. With this in mind, split the spatial position vector r as measured in F,
and r′ as measured in F′, each into components perpendicular (⊥) and parallel ( ‖ ) to v,
{\displaystyle \mathbf {r} =\mathbf {r} _{\perp }+\mathbf {r} _{\|}\,,\quad \mathbf {r} '=\mathbf {r}
_{\perp }'+\mathbf {r} _{\|}'\,,}
then the transformations are
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}t'&=\gamma \left(t-{\frac {\mathbf {r}
_{\parallel }\cdot \mathbf {v} }{c^{2}}}\right)\\\mathbf {r} _{\|}'&=\gamma (\mathbf {r} _{\|}-\mathbf
{v} t)\\\mathbf {r} _{\perp }'&=\mathbf {r} _{\perp }\end{aligned}}}
where · is the dot product. The Lorentz factor γ retains its definition for a boost in any direction, since it
depends only on the magnitude of the relative velocity. The definition β = v/c with magnitude 0 ≤ β < 1 is
also used by some authors.
Introducing a unit vector n = v/v = β/β in the direction of relative motion, the relative velocity
is v = vn with magnitude v and direction n, and vector projection and rejection give respectively
{\displaystyle \mathbf {r} _{\parallel }=(\mathbf {r} \cdot \mathbf {n} )\mathbf {n} \,,\quad \mathbf {r}
_{\perp }=\mathbf {r} -(\mathbf {r} \cdot \mathbf {n} )\mathbf {n} }
Accumulating the results gives the full transformations,
The projection and rejection also applies to r′. For the inverse transformations, exchange r and r′ to
switch observed coordinates, and negate the relative velocity v → −v (or simply the unit vector n →
−n since the magnitude v is always positive) to obtain
The unit vector has the advantage of simplifying equations for a single boost, allows either v or β to be
reinstated when convenient, and the rapidity parametrization is immediately obtained by
replacing β and βγ. It is not convenient for multiple boosts.
The vectorial relation between relative velocity and rapidity is
[14]
{\displaystyle {\boldsymbol {\beta }}=\beta \mathbf {n} =\mathbf {n} \tanh \zeta \,,}
and the "rapidity vector" can be defined as
{\displaystyle {\boldsymbol {\zeta }}=\zeta \mathbf {n} =\mathbf {n} \tanh ^{-1}\beta \,,}
each of which serves as a useful abbreviation in some contexts. The magnitude of ζ is the absolute value
of the rapidity scalar confined to 0 ≤ ζ < ∞, which agrees with the range 0 ≤ β < 1.
An observer in frame F observes F′ to move with velocity v, while F′ observes F to move with velocity −v.
The coordinate axes of each frame are still parallel and orthogonal. The position vector as measured in
each frame is split into components parallel and perpendicular to the relative velocity
vector v. Left: Standard configuration. Right: Inverse configuration.
Source; Maschen - Own work
Lorentz boost observers and frames any direction standard configuration
Transformation of velocities
differential of a function and velocity addition formula
Defining the coordinate velocities and Lorentz factor by
{\displaystyle \mathbf {u} ={\frac {d\mathbf {r} }{dt}}\,,\quad \mathbf {u} '={\frac {d\mathbf {r} '}
{dt'}}\,,\quad \gamma _{\mathbf {v} }={\frac {1}{\sqrt {1-{\dfrac {\mathbf {v} \cdot \mathbf {v} }
{c^{2}}}}}}}
taking the differentials in the coordinates and time of the vector transformations, then dividing
equations, leads to
{\displaystyle \mathbf {u} '={\frac {1}{1-{\frac {\mathbf {v} \cdot \mathbf {u} }{c^{2}}}}}\left[{\frac
{\mathbf {u} }{\gamma _{\mathbf {v} }}}-\mathbf {v} +{\frac {1}{c^{2}}}{\frac {\gamma _{\mathbf {v} }}
{\gamma _{\mathbf {v} }+1}}\left(\mathbf {u} \cdot \mathbf {v} \right)\mathbf {v} \right]}
The velocities u and u′ are the velocity of some massive object. They can also be for a third inertial frame
(say F′′), in which case they must be constant. Denote either entity by X. Then X moves with
velocity u relative to F, or equivalently with velocity u′ relative to F′, in turn F′ moves with
velocity v relative to F. The inverse transformations can be obtained in a similar way, or as with position
coordinates exchange u and u′, and change v to −v.
The transformation of velocity is useful in stellar aberration, the Fizeau experiment, and the relativistic
Doppler effect.
The Lorentz transformations of acceleration can be similarly obtained by taking differentials in the
velocity vectors, and dividing these by the time differential.
The transformation of velocities provides the definition relativistic velocity addition ⊕, the ordering of
vectors is chosen to reflect the ordering of the addition of velocities; first v (the velocity of F′ relative to
F) then u′ (the velocity of X relative to F′) to obtain u = v ⊕ u′ (the velocity of X relative to F).
Source; Maschen - Own work
Lorentz transformation of velocity including velocity addition
Transformation of other quantities
In general, given four quantities A and Z = (Zx, Zy, Zz) and their Lorentz-boosted counterparts A′ and Z′ =
(Z′x, Z′y, Z′z), a relation of the form
{\displaystyle A^{2}-\mathbf {Z} \cdot \mathbf {Z} ={A'}^{2}-\mathbf {Z} '\cdot \mathbf {Z} '}
implies the quantities transform under Lorentz transformations similar to the transformation of
spacetime coordinates;
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}A'&=\gamma \left(A-{\frac {v\mathbf {n} \cdot \mathbf {Z} }
{c}}\right)\,,\\\mathbf {Z} '&=\mathbf {Z} +(\gamma -1)(\mathbf {Z} \cdot \mathbf {n} )\mathbf {n} -
{\frac {\gamma Av\mathbf {n} }{c}}\,.\end{aligned}}}
The decomposition of Z (and Z′) into components perpendicular and parallel to v is exactly the same as
for the position vector, as is the process of obtaining the inverse transformations (exchange (A, Z) and (A
′, Z′) to switch observed quantities, and reverse the direction of relative motion by the substitution n ↦
−n).
The quantities (A, Z) collectively make up a four vector, where A is the "timelike component", and Z the
"spacelike component". Examples of A and Z are the following:
For a given object (e.g., particle, fluid, field, material), if A or Z correspond to properties specific to the
object like its charge density, mass density, spin, etc., its properties can be fixed in the rest frame of that
object. Then the Lorentz transformations give the corresponding properties in a frame moving relative
to the object with constant velocity. This breaks some notions taken for granted in non-relativistic
physics. For example, the energy E of an object is a scalar in non-relativistic mechanics, but not in
relativistic mechanics because energy changes under Lorentz transformations; its value is different for
various inertial frames. In the rest frame of an object, it has a rest energy and zero momentum. In a
boosted frame its energy is different and it appears to have a momentum. Similarly, in non-relativistic
quantum mechanics the spin of a particle is a constant vector, but in relativistic quantum
mechanics spin s depends on relative motion. In the rest frame of the particle, the spin pseudovector
can be fixed to be its ordinary non-relativistic spin with a zero timelike quantity st, however a boosted
observer will perceive a nonzero timelike component and an altered spin.[15]
Not all quantities are invariant in the form as shown above, for example orbital angular
momentum L does not have a timelike quantity, and neither does the electric field E nor the magnetic
field B. The definition of angular momentum is L = r × p, and in a boosted frame the altered angular
momentum is L′ = r′ × p′. Applying this definition using the transformations of coordinates and
momentum leads to the transformation of angular momentum. It turns out L transforms with another
vector quantity N = (E/c2)r − tp related to boosts, see relativistic angular momentum for details. For the
case of the E and B fields, the transformations cannot be obtained as directly using vector algebra.
The Lorentz force is the definition of these fields, and in F it is F = q(E + v × B) while in F′ it is F′ = q(E′ + v′
× B′). A method of deriving the EM field transformations in an efficient way which also illustrates the unit
of the electromagnetic field uses tensor algebra, given below.
Mathematical formulation
Lorentz group
Matrix (mathematics), matrix product, linear algebra, and rotation formalisms in three dimensions
In physics and mathematics, the Lorentz group is the group of all Lorentz transformations of Minkowski
spacetime, the classical and quantum setting for all (nongravitational) physical phenomena. The Lorentz
group is named for the Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz.
For example, the following laws, equations, and theories respect Lorentz symmetry:
The kinematical laws of special relativity
Maxwell's field equations in the theory of electromagnetism
The Dirac equation in the theory of the electron
The Standard model of particle physics
The Lorentz group expresses the fundamental symmetry of space and time of all known
fundamental laws of nature. In general relativity physics, in cases involving small enough regions of
spacetime where gravitational variances are negligible, physical laws are Lorentz invariant in the same
manner as that of special relativity physics.
Throughout, italic non-bold capital letters are 4×4 matrices, while non-italic bold letters are 3×3
matrices.
Homogeneous Lorentz group
Writing the coordinates in column vectors and the Minkowski metric η as a square matrix
{\displaystyle X'={\begin{bmatrix}c\,t'\\x'\\y'\\z'\end{bmatrix}}\,,\quad \eta ={\begin{bmatrix}-
1&0&0&0\\0&1&0&0\\0&0&1&0\\0&0&0&1\end{bmatrix}}\,,\quad
X={\begin{bmatrix}c\,t\\x\\y\\z\end{bmatrix}}}
the spacetime interval takes the form (T denotes transpose)
{\displaystyle X\cdot X=X^{\mathrm {T} }\eta X={X'}^{\mathrm {T} }\eta
{X'}}
and is invariant under a Lorentz transformation
{\displaystyle X'=\Lambda X}
where Λ is a square matrix which can depend on parameters.
The set of all Lorentz transformations Λ in this article is denoted {\displaystyle {\mathcal {L}}} This
set together with matrix multiplication forms a group, in this context known as the Lorentz group. Also,
the above expression X·X is a quadratic form of signature (3,1) on spacetime, and the group of
transformations which leaves this quadratic form invariant is the indefinite orthogonal group O(3,1),
a Lie group. In other words, the Lorentz group is O(3,1). As presented in this article, any Lie groups
mentioned are matrix Lie groups. In this context the operation of composition amounts to matrix
multiplication.
From the invariance of the spacetime interval it follows
{\displaystyle \eta =\Lambda ^{\mathrm {T} }\eta \Lambda }
and this matrix equation contains the general conditions on the Lorentz transformation to ensure
invariance of the spacetime interval. Taking the determinant of the equation using the product rule[nb
4] gives immediately
{\displaystyle [\det(\Lambda )]^{2}=1\quad \Rightarrow \quad \det(\Lambda )=\pm 1}
Writing the Minkowski metric as a block matrix, and the Lorentz transformation in the most general
form,
{\displaystyle \eta ={\begin{bmatrix}-1&0\\0&\mathbf {I} \end{bmatrix}}\,,\quad \Lambda
={\begin{bmatrix}\Gamma &-\mathbf {a} ^{\mathrm {T} }\\-\mathbf {b} &\mathbf {M} \end{bmatrix}}\,,}
carrying out the block matrix multiplications obtains general conditions on Γ, a, b, M to ensure
relativistic invariance. Not much information can be directly extracted from all the conditions, however
one of the results
{\displaystyle \Gamma ^{2}=1+\mathbf {b} ^{\mathrm {T} }\mathbf {b} }
is useful; bTb ≥ 0 always so it follows that
{\displaystyle \Gamma ^{2}\geq 1\quad \Rightarrow \quad \Gamma \leq -1\,,\quad \Gamma \geq 1}
The negative inequality may be unexpected, because Γ multiplies the time coordinate and this has an
effect on time symmetry. If the positive equality holds, then Γ is the Lorentz factor.
The determinant and inequality provide four ways to classify Lorentz Transformations (herein LTs for
brevity). Any particular LT has only one determinant sign and only one inequality. There are four sets
which include every possible pair given by the intersections ("n"-shaped symbol meaning "and") of these
classifying sets.
where "+" and "−" indicate the determinant sign, while "↑" for ≥ and "↓" for ≤ denote the inequalities.
The full Lorentz group splits into the union ("u"-shaped symbol meaning "or") of four disjoint sets
{\displaystyle {\mathcal {L}}={\mathcal {L}}_{+}^{\uparrow }\cup {\mathcal {L}}_{-}^{\uparrow }\cup
{\mathcal {L}}_{+}^{\downarrow }\cup {\mathcal {L}}_{-}^{\downarrow }}
A subgroup of a group must be closed under the same operation of the group (here matrix
multiplication). In other words, for two Lorentz transformations Λ and L from a particular set, the
composite Lorentz transformations ΛL and LΛ must be in the same set as Λ and L. This will not always be
the case; it can be shown that the composition of any two Lorentz transformations always has the
positive determinant and positive inequality, a proper orthochronous transformation. The set
{\displaystyle {\mathcal {L}}_{+}^{\uparrow }}all form subgroups. The other
sets involving the improper and/or antichronous properties do not form
subgroups, because the composite transformation always has a positive determinant or inequality,
whereas the original separate transformations will have negative determinants and/or inequalities.
Proper transformations
The Lorentz boost is
{\displaystyle X'=B(\mathbf {v} )X}
where the boost matrix is
{\displaystyle B(\mathbf {v} )={\begin{bmatrix}\gamma &-\gamma \beta n_{x}&-\gamma \beta
n_{y}&-\gamma \beta n_{z}\\-\gamma \beta n_{x}&1+(\gamma -1)n_{x}^{2}&(\gamma
-1)n_{x}n_{y}&(\gamma -1)n_{x}n_{z}\\-\gamma \beta n_{y}&(\gamma -1)n_{y}n_{x}&1+(\gamma
-1)n_{y}^{2}&(\gamma -1)n_{y}n_{z}\\-\gamma \beta n_{z}&(\gamma -1)n_{z}n_{x}&(\gamma
-1)n_{z}n_{y}&1+(\gamma -1)n_{z}^{2}\\\end{bmatrix}}\,.}
The boosts along the Cartesian directions can be readily obtained, for example the unit vector in the x
direction has components nx = 1 and ny = nz = 0.
The matrices make one or more successive transformations easier to handle, rather than rotely iterating
the transformations to obtain the result of more than one transformation. If a frame F′ is boosted with
velocity u relative to frame F, and another frame F′′ is boosted with velocity v relative to F′, the separate
boosts are
{\displaystyle X''=B(\mathbf {v} )X'\,,\quad X'=B(\mathbf {u} )X}
and the composition of the two boosts connects the coordinates in F′′ and F,
{\displaystyle X''=B(\mathbf {v} )B(\mathbf {u} )X\,.}
Successive transformations act on the left. If u and v are collinear (parallel or antiparallel along the same
line of relative motion), the boost matrices commute: B(v)B(u) = B(u)B(v) and this composite
transformation happens to be another boost.
If u and v are not collinear but in different directions, the situation is considerably more complicated.
Lorentz boosts along different directions do not commute: B(v)B(u) and B(u)B(v) are not equal. Also,
each of these compositions is not a single boost, but still a Lorentz transformation as each boost still
preserves invariance of the spacetime interval. It turns out the composition of any two Lorentz boosts is
equivalent to a boost followed or preceded by a rotation on the spatial coordinates, in the form
of R(ρ)B(w) or B(w)R(ρ). The w and w are composite velocities, while ρ and ρ are rotation parameters
(e.g. axis-angle variables, Euler angles, etc.). The rotation in block matrix form is simply
{\displaystyle \quad R({\boldsymbol {\rho }})={\begin{bmatrix}1&0\\0&\mathbf {R} ({\boldsymbol
{\rho }})\end{bmatrix}}\,,}
where R(ρ) is a 3d rotation matrix, which rotates any 3d vector in one sense (active transformation), or
equivalently the coordinate frame in the opposite sense (passive transformation). It is not simple to
connect w and ρ (or w and ρ) to the original boost parameters u and v. In a composition of boosts,
the R matrix is named the Wigner rotation, and gives rise to the Thomas precession. These articles give
the explicit formulae for the composite transformation matrices, including expressions for w, ρ, w, ρ.
In this article the axis-angle representation is used for ρ. The rotation is about an axis in the direction of
a unit vector e, through angle θ (positive anticlockwise, negative clockwise, according to the right-hand
rule). The "axis-angle vector"
{\displaystyle {\boldsymbol {\theta }}=\theta \mathbf {e} }
will serve as a useful abbreviation.
Spatial rotations alone are also Lorentz transformations they leave the spacetime interval invariant. Like
boosts, successive rotations about different axes do not commute. Unlike boosts, the composition of
any two rotations is equivalent to a single rotation. Some other similarities and differences between the
boost and rotation matrices include:
inverses: B(v)−1 = B(−v) (relative motion in the opposite direction), and R(θ)−1 = R(−θ) (rotation in the
opposite sense about the same axis)
identity transformation for no relative motion/rotation: B(0) = R(0) = I
unit determinant: det(B) = det(R) = +1. This property makes them proper transformations.
matrix symmetry: B is symmetric (equals transpose), while R is nonsymmetric but orthogonal (transpose
equals inverse, RT = R−1).
The most general proper Lorentz transformation Λ(v, θ) includes a boost and rotation together, and is a
nonsymmetric matrix. As special cases, Λ(0, θ) = R(θ) and Λ(v, 0) = B(v). An explicit form of the general
Lorentz transformation is cumbersome to write down and will not be given here. Nevertheless, closed
form expressions for the transformation matrices will be given below using group theoretical arguments.
It will be easier to use the rapidity parametrization for boosts, in which case one writes Λ(ζ, θ) and B(ζ).
The Lie group SO+(3,1)
The set of transformations
{\displaystyle \{B({\boldsymbol {\zeta }}),R({\boldsymbol {\theta }}),\Lambda ({\boldsymbol {\zeta }},
{\boldsymbol {\theta }})\}}
with matrix multiplication as the operation of composition forms a group, called the "restricted Lorentz
group", and is the special indefinite orthogonal group SO+(3,1). (The plus sign indicates that it preserves
the orientation of the temporal dimension).
For simplicity, look at the infinitesimal Lorentz boost in the x direction (examining a boost in any other
direction, or rotation about any axis, follows an identical procedure). The infinitesimal boost is a small
boost away from the identity, obtained by the Taylor expansion of the boost matrix to first order
about ζ = 0,
{\displaystyle B_{x}=I+\zeta \left.{\frac {\partial B_{x}}{\partial \zeta }}\right|_{\zeta =0}+\cdots }
where the higher order terms not shown are negligible because ζ is small, and Bx is simply the boost
matrix in the x direction. The derivative of the matrix is the matrix of derivatives (of the entries, with
respect to the same variable), and it is understood the derivatives are found first then evaluated at ζ = 0,
{\displaystyle \left.{\frac {\partial B_{x}}{\partial \zeta }}\right|_{\zeta =0}=-K_{x}\,.}
For now, Kx is defined by this result (its significance will be explained shortly). In the limit of an infinite
number of infinitely small steps, the finite boost transformation in the form of a matrix exponential is
obtained
{\displaystyle B_{x}=\lim _{N\rightarrow \infty }\left(I-{\frac {\zeta }{N}}K_{x}\right)^{N}=e^{-\zeta K_{x}}}
where the limit definition of the exponential has been used (see also characterizations of the
exponential function). More generally[nb 5]
{\displaystyle B({\boldsymbol {\zeta }})=e^{-{\boldsymbol {\zeta }}\cdot \mathbf {K} }\,,\quad
R({\boldsymbol {\theta }})=e^{{\boldsymbol {\theta }}\cdot \mathbf {J} }\,.}
The axis-angle vector θ and rapidity vector ζ are altogether six continuous variables which make up the
group parameters (in this particular representation), and the generators of the group are K = (Kx, Ky,
Kz) and J = (Jx, Jy, Jz), each vectors of matrices with the explicit forms[nb 6]
{\displaystyle
K_{x}={\begin{bmatrix}0&1&0&0\\1&0&0&0\\0&0&0&0\\0&0&0&0\\\end{bmatrix}}\,,\quad
K_{y}={\begin{bmatrix}0&0&1&0\\0&0&0&0\\1&0&0&0\\0&0&0&0\end{bmatrix}}\,,\quad
K_{z}={\begin{bmatrix}0&0&0&1\\0&0&0&0\\0&0&0&0\\1&0&0&0\end{bmatrix}}}
{\displaystyle J_{x}={\begin{bmatrix}0&0&0&0\\0&0&0&0\\0&0&0&-
1\\0&0&1&0\\\end{bmatrix}}\,,\quad J_{y}={\begin{bmatrix}0&0&0&0\\0&0&0&1\\0&0&0&0\\0&-
1&0&0\end{bmatrix}}\,,\quad J_{z}={\begin{bmatrix}0&0&0&0\\0&0&-
1&0\\0&1&0&0\\0&0&0&0\end{bmatrix}}}
These are all defined in an analogous way to Kx above, although the minus signs in the boost generators
are conventional. Physically, the generators of the Lorentz group correspond to important symmetries in
spacetime: J are the rotation generators which correspond to angular momentum, and K are the boost
generators which correspond to the motion of the system in spacetime. The derivative of any smooth
curve C(t) with C(0) = I in the group depending on some group parameter t with respect to that group
parameter, evaluated at t = 0, serves as a definition of a corresponding group generator G, and this
reflects an infinitesimal transformation away from the identity. The smooth curve can always be taken
as an exponential as the exponential will always map G smoothly back into the group via t → exp(tG) for
all t; this curve will yield G again when differentiated at t = 0.
Expanding the exponentials in their Taylor series obtains
{\displaystyle B({\boldsymbol {\zeta }})=I-\sinh \zeta (\mathbf {n} \cdot \mathbf {K} )+(\cosh \zeta -1)
(\mathbf {n} \cdot \mathbf {K} )^{2}}
{\displaystyle R({\boldsymbol {\theta }})=I+\sin \theta (\mathbf {e} \cdot \mathbf {J} )+(1-\cos \theta )
(\mathbf {e} \cdot \mathbf {J} )^{2}\,.}
which compactly reproduce the boost and rotation matrices as given in the previous section.
It has been stated that the general proper Lorentz transformation is a product of a boost and rotation.
At the infinitesimal level the product
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\Lambda &=(I-{\boldsymbol {\zeta }}\cdot \mathbf {K} +\cdots )(I+
{\boldsymbol {\theta }}\cdot \mathbf {J} +\cdots )\\&=(I+{\boldsymbol {\theta }}\cdot \mathbf {J}
+\cdots )(I-{\boldsymbol {\zeta }}\cdot \mathbf {K} +\cdots )\\&=I-{\boldsymbol {\zeta }}\cdot \mathbf
{K} +{\boldsymbol {\theta }}\cdot \mathbf {J} +\cdots \end{aligned}}}
is commutative because only linear terms are required (products like (θ·J)(ζ·K) and (ζ·K)(θ·J) count as
higher order terms and are negligible). Taking the limit as before leads to the finite transformation in the
form of an exponential
{\displaystyle \Lambda ({\boldsymbol {\zeta }},{\boldsymbol {\theta }})=e^{-{\boldsymbol
{\zeta }}\cdot \mathbf {K} +{\boldsymbol {\theta }}\cdot \mathbf {J} }.}
The converse is also true, but the decomposition of a finite general Lorentz transformation into such
factors is nontrivial. In particular,
{\displaystyle e^{-{\boldsymbol {\zeta }}\cdot \mathbf {K} +{\boldsymbol {\theta }}\cdot \mathbf
{J} }\neq e^{-{\boldsymbol {\zeta }}\cdot \mathbf {K} }e^{{\boldsymbol {\theta }}\cdot \mathbf {J} },}
because the generators do not commute. For a description of how to find the factors of a general
Lorentz transformation in terms of a boost and a rotation in principle(this usually does not yield an
intelligible expression in terms of generators J and K), see Wigner rotation. If, on the other hand, the
decomposition is given in terms of the generators, and one wants to find the product in terms of the
generators, then the Baker–Campbell–Hausdorff formula applies.
The Lie algebra so(3,1)
Lorentz generators can be added together, or multiplied by real numbers, to obtain more Lorentz
generators. In other words, the set of all Lorentz generators
{\displaystyle V=\{{\boldsymbol {\zeta }}\cdot \mathbf {K} +{\boldsymbol {\theta }}\cdot \mathbf {J} \}}
together with the operations of ordinary matrix addition and multiplication of a matrix by a number,
forms a vector space over the real numbers.[nb 7] The generators Jx, Jy, Jz, Kx, Ky, Kz form a basis set
of V, and the components of the axis-angle and rapidity vectors, θx, θy, θz, ζx, ζy, ζz, are
the coordinates of a Lorentz generator with respect to this basis.[nb 8]
Three of the commutation relations of the Lorentz generators are
{\displaystyle [J_{x},J_{y}]=J_{z}\,,\quad [K_{x},K_{y}]=-J_{z}\,,\quad [J_{x},K_{y}]=K_{z}\,,}
where the bracket [A, B] = AB − BA is known as the commutator, and the other relations can be found by
taking cyclic permutations of x, y, z components (i.e. change x to y, y to z, and z to x, repeat).
These commutation relations, and the vector space of generators, fulfill the definition of the Lie
algebra {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {so}}(3,1)} . In summary, a Lie algebra is defined as a vector
space V over a field of numbers, and with a binary operation [ , ] (called a Lie bracket in this context) on
the elements of the vector space, satisfying the axioms of bilinearity, alternatization, and the Jacobi
identity. Here the operation [ , ] is the commutator which satisfies all of these axioms, the vector space
is the set of Lorentz generators V as given previously, and the field is the set of real numbers.
Linking terminology used in mathematics and physics: A group generator is any element of the Lie
algebra. A group parameter is a component of a coordinate vector representing an arbitrary element of
the Lie algebra with respect to some basis. A basis, then, is a set of generators being a basis of the Lie
algebra in the usual vector space sense.
The exponential map from the Lie algebra to the Lie group,
{\displaystyle \mathrm {exp} \,:\,{\mathfrak {so}}(3,1)\rightarrow \mathrm {SO} (3,1),}
provides a one-to-one correspondence between small enough neighborhoods of the origin of the Lie
algebra and neighborhoods of the identity element of the Lie group. It the case of the Lorentz group, the
exponential map is just the matrix exponential. Globally, the exponential map is not one-to-one, but in
the case of the Lorentz group, it is surjective (onto). Hence any group element can be expressed as an
exponential of an element of the Lie algebra.
Improper transformations
which negates the time coordinate only, because these transformations leave the spacetime interval
invariant. Here I is the 3d identity matrix. These are both symmetric, they are their own inverses
(see involution (mathematics)), and each have determinant −1. This latter property makes them
improper transformations.
If Λ is a proper orthochronous Lorentz transformation, then TΛ is improper antichronous, PΛ is improper
orthochronous, and TPΛ = PTΛ is proper antichronous.
Inhomogeneous Lorentz group
Two other spacetime symmetries have not been accounted for. For the spacetime interval to be
invariant, it can be shown[16] that it is necessary and sufficient for the coordinate transformation to be
of the form
{\displaystyle X'=\Lambda X+C}
where C is a constant column containing translations in time and space. If C ≠ 0, this is
an inhomogeneous Lorentz transformation or Poincaré transformation.[17][18] If C = 0, this is
a homogeneous Lorentz transformation. Poincaré transformations are not dealt further in this article.
Tensor formulation
Representation theory of the Lorentz group
For the notation used, see Ricci calculus.
Contravariant vectors
Writing the general matrix transformation of coordinates as the matrix equation
{\displaystyle {\begin{bmatrix}{x'}^{0}\\{x'}^{1}\\{x'}^{2}\\{x'}^{3}\end{bmatrix}}={\begin{bmatrix}
{\Lambda ^{0}}_{0}&{\Lambda ^{0}}_{1}&{\Lambda ^{0}}_{2}&{\Lambda ^{0}}_{3}\\{\Lambda
^{1}}_{0}&{\Lambda ^{1}}_{1}&{\Lambda ^{1}}_{2}&{\Lambda ^{1}}_{3}\\{\Lambda ^{2}}_{0}&{\Lambda
^{2}}_{1}&{\Lambda ^{2}}_{2}&{\Lambda ^{2}}_{3}\\{\Lambda ^{3}}_{0}&{\Lambda ^{3}}_{1}&{\Lambda
^{3}}_{2}&{\Lambda ^{3}}_{3}\\\end{bmatrix}}{\begin{bmatrix}x^{0}\\x^{1}\\x^{2}\\x^{3}\end{bmatrix}}}
allows the transformation of other physical quantities that cannot be expressed as four-vectors;
e.g., tensors or spinors of any order in 4d spacetime, to be defined. In the corresponding tensor index
notation, the above matrix expression is
{\displaystyle {x^{\prime }}^{\nu }={\Lambda ^{\nu }}_{\mu }x^{\mu },}
where lower and upper indices label covariant and contravariant components respectively,[19] and
the summation convention is applied. It is a standard convention to use Greek indices that take the
value 0 for time components, and 1, 2, 3 for space components, while Latin indices simply take the
values 1, 2, 3, for spatial components. Note that the first index (reading left to right) corresponds in the
matrix notation to a row index. The second index corresponds to the column index.
The transformation matrix is universal for all four-vectors, not just 4-dimensional spacetime coordinates.
If A is any four-vector, then in tensor index notation
{\displaystyle {A^{\prime }}^{\nu }={\Lambda ^{\nu }}_{\mu }A^{\mu }\,.}
Alternatively, one writes
{\displaystyle A^{\nu '}={\Lambda ^{\nu '}}_{\mu }A^{\mu }\,.}
in which the primed indices denote the indices of A in the primed frame. This notation cuts risk of
exhausting the Greek alphabet roughly in half.
For a general n-component object one may write
{\displaystyle {X'}^{\alpha }={\Pi (\Lambda )^{\alpha }}_{\beta }X^{\beta }\,,}
where Π is the appropriate representation of the Lorentz group, an n×n matrix for every Λ. In this case,
the indices should not be thought of as spacetime indices (sometimes called Lorentz indices), and they
run from 1 to n. E.g., if X is a bispinor, then the indices are called Dirac indices.
Covariant vectors
There are also vector quantities with covariant indices. They are generally obtained from their
corresponding objects with contravariant indices by the operation of lowering an index; e.g.,
{\displaystyle x_{\nu }=\eta _{\mu \nu }x^{\mu },}
where η is the metric tensor. (The linked article also provides more information about what the
operation of raising and lowering indices really is mathematically.) The inverse of this transformation is
given by
{\displaystyle x^{\mu }=\eta ^{\mu \nu }x_{\nu },}
where, when viewed as matrices, ημν is the inverse of ημν. As it happens, ημν = ημν. This is referred to
as raising an index. To transform a covariant vector Aμ, first raise its index, then transform it according
to the same rule as for contravariant 4-vectors, then finally lower the index;
{\displaystyle {A'}_{\nu }=\eta _{\rho \nu }{\Lambda ^{\rho }}_{\sigma }\eta ^{\mu \sigma }A_{\mu }.}
{\displaystyle \eta _{\rho \nu }{\Lambda ^{\rho }}_{\sigma }\eta ^{\mu
\sigma }={\left(\Lambda ^{-1}\right)^{\mu }}_{\nu },}
I. e., it is the (μ, ν)-component of the inverse Lorentz transformation. One defines (as a matter of
notation),
{\displaystyle {\Lambda _{\nu }}^{\mu }\equiv {\left(\Lambda ^{-1}\right)^{\mu }}_{\nu },}
{\displaystyle {A'}_{\nu }={\Lambda _{\nu }}^{\mu }A_{\mu }.}
Now for a subtlety. The implied summation on the right hand side of
{\displaystyle {A'}_{\nu }={\Lambda _{\nu }}^{\mu }A_{\mu }={\left(\Lambda ^{-1}\right)^{\mu }}_{\nu }
A_{\mu }}
is running over a row index of the matrix representing Λ−1. Thus, in terms of matrices, this
transformation should be thought of as the inverse transpose of Λ acting on the column vector Aμ. That
is, in pure matrix notation,
{\displaystyle A'=\left(\Lambda ^{-1}\right)^{\mathrm {T} }A.}
This means exactly that covariant vectors (thought of as column matrices) transform according to
the dual representation of the standard representation of the Lorentz group. This notion generalizes to
general representations, simply replace Λ with Π(Λ).
Tensors
If A and B are linear operators on vector spaces U and V, then a linear operator A ⊗ B may be defined
on the tensor product of U and V, denoted U ⊗ V according to
From this it is immediately clear that if u and v are a four-vectors in V,
then u ⊗ v ∈ T2V ≡ V ⊗ V transforms as
The second step uses the bilinearity of the tensor product and the last step defines a 2-tensor on
component form, or rather, it just renames the tensor u ⊗ v.
These observations generalize in an obvious way to more factors, and using the fact that a general
tensor on a vector space V can be written as a sum of a coefficient (component!) times tensor products
of basis vectors and basis covectors, one arrives at the transformation law for any tensor quantity T. It is
given by
where Λχ′ψ is defined above. This form can generally be reduced to the form for general n-component
objects given above with a single matrix (Π(Λ)) operating on column vectors. This latter form is
sometimes preferred; e.g., for the electromagnetic field tensor.
Transformation of the electromagnetic field
Lorentz boost of an electric charge, the charge is at rest in one frame or the other.
Main article: Electromagnetic tensor
Source; Maschen - Own work
Lorentz boost of an electric charge, the charge is at rest one of the frames.
Further information: classical electromagnetism and special relativity
Lorentz transformations can also be used to illustrate that the magnetic field B and electric field E are
simply different aspects of the same force — the electromagnetic force, as a consequence of relative
motion between electric charges and observers.[22] The fact that the electromagnetic field shows
relativistic effects becomes clear by carrying out a simple thought experiment
An observer measures a charge at rest in frame F. The observer will detect a static electric field. As the
charge is stationary in this frame, there is no electric current, so the observer does not observe any
magnetic field.
The other observer in frame F′ moves at velocity v relative to F and the charge. This observer sees a
different electric field because the charge moves at velocity −v in their rest frame. The motion of the
charge corresponds to an electric current, and thus the observer in frame F′ also sees a magnetic field.
The electric and magnetic fields transform differently from space and time, but exactly the same way as
relativistic angular momentum and the boost vector.
The electromagnetic field strength tensor is given by
in SI units. In relativity, the Gaussian system of units is often preferred over SI units, even in texts whose
main choice of units is SI units, because in it the electric field E and the magnetic induction B have the
same units making the appearance of the electromagnetic field tensor more natural.[24] Consider a
Lorentz boost in the x-direction. It is given by[25]
{\displaystyle {\Lambda ^{\mu }}_{\nu }={\begin{bmatrix}\gamma &-\gamma \beta &0&0\\-\gamma
\beta &\gamma &0&0\\0&0&1&0\\0&0&0&1\\\end{bmatrix}},\qquad F^{\mu \nu }
={\begin{bmatrix}0&E_{x}&E_{y}&E_{z}\\-E_{x}&0&B_{z}&-B_{y}\\-E_{y}&-B_{z}&0&B_{x}\\-
E_{z}&B_{y}&-B_{x}&0\end{bmatrix}}{\text{(Gaussian units, signature }}(-,+,+,+){\text{)}},}
where the field tensor is displayed side by side for easiest possible reference in the manipulations
below.
The general transformation law (T3) becomes
{\displaystyle F^{\mu '\nu '}={\Lambda ^{\mu '}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{\nu '}}_{\nu }F^{\mu \nu }.}
For the magnetic field one obtains
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}B_{x'}&=F^{2'3'}={\Lambda ^{2}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{3}}_{\nu }F^{\mu \nu }
={\Lambda ^{2}}_{2}{\Lambda ^{3}}_{3}F^{23}=1\times 1\times
B_{x}\\&=B_{x},\\B_{y'}&=F^{3'1'}={\Lambda ^{3}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{1}}_{\nu }F^{\mu \nu }={\Lambda
^{3}}_{3}{\Lambda ^{1}}_{\nu }F^{3\nu }={\Lambda ^{3}}_{3}{\Lambda ^{1}}_{0}F^{30}+{\Lambda
^{3}}_{3}{\Lambda ^{1}}_{1}F^{31}\\&=1\times (-\beta \gamma )(-E_{z})+1\times \gamma
B_{y}=\gamma B_{y}+\beta \gamma E_{z}\\&=\gamma \left(\mathbf {B} -{\boldsymbol
{\beta }}\times \mathbf {E} \right)_{y}\\B_{z'}&=F^{1'2'}={\Lambda ^{1}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{2}}_{\nu }
F^{\mu \nu }={\Lambda ^{1}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{2}}_{2}F^{\mu 2}={\Lambda ^{1}}_{0}{\Lambda
^{2}}_{2}F^{02}+{\Lambda ^{1}}_{1}{\Lambda ^{2}}_{2}F^{12}\\&=(-\gamma \beta )\times 1\times E_{y}
+\gamma \times 1\times B_{z}=\gamma B_{z}-\beta \gamma E_{y}\\&=\gamma \left(\mathbf {B} -
{\boldsymbol {\beta }}\times \mathbf {E} \right)_{z}\end{aligned}}}
For the electric field results
{\displaystyle
{\begin{aligned}E_{x'}&=F^{0'1'}={\Lambda ^{0}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{1}}_{\nu }F^{\mu \nu }={\Lambda
^{0}}_{1}{\Lambda ^{1}}_{0}F^{10}+{\Lambda ^{0}}_{0}{\Lambda ^{1}}_{1}F^{01}\\&=(-\gamma \beta )
(-\gamma \beta )(-E_{x})+\gamma \gamma E_{x}=-\gamma ^{2}\beta ^{2}(E_{x})+\gamma
^{2}E_{x}=E_{x}(1-\beta ^{2})\gamma ^{2}\\&=E_{x},\\E_{y'}&=F^{0'2'}={\Lambda ^{0}}_{\mu }{\Lambda
^{2}}_{\nu }F^{\mu \nu }={\Lambda ^{0}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{2}}_{2}F^{\mu 2}={\Lambda ^{0}}_{0}
{\Lambda ^{2}}_{2}F^{02}+{\Lambda ^{0}}_{1}{\Lambda ^{2}}_{2}F^{12}\\&=\gamma \times 1\times
E_{y}+(-\beta \gamma )\times 1\times B_{z}=\gamma E_{y}-\beta \gamma B_{z}\\&=\gamma
\left(\mathbf {E} +{\boldsymbol {\beta }}\times \mathbf {B} \right)_{y}\\E_{z'}&=F^{0'3'}={\Lambda
^{0}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{3}}_{\nu }F^{\mu \nu }={\Lambda ^{0}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{3}}_{3}F^{\mu
3}={\Lambda ^{0}}_{0}{\Lambda ^{3}}_{3}F^{03}+{\Lambda ^{0}}_{1}{\Lambda
^{3}}_{3}F^{13}\\&=\gamma \times 1\times E_{z}-\beta \gamma \times 1\times (-B_{y})=\gamma E_{z}
+\beta \gamma B_{y}\\&=\gamma \left(\mathbf {E} +{\boldsymbol {\beta }}\times \mathbf {B}
\right)_{z}.\end{aligned}}}
Here, β = (β, 0, 0) is used. These results can be summarized by
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\mathbf {E} _{\parallel '}&=\mathbf {E} _{\parallel }\\\mathbf {B}
_{\parallel '}&=\mathbf {B} _{\parallel }\\\mathbf {E} _{\bot '}&=\gamma \left(\mathbf {E} _{\bot }+
{\boldsymbol {\beta }}\times \mathbf {B} _{\bot }\right)=\gamma \left(\mathbf {E} +{\boldsymbol {\beta
}}\times \mathbf {B} \right)_{\bot },\\\mathbf {B} _{\bot '}&=\gamma \left(\mathbf {B} _{\bot }-
{\boldsymbol {\beta }}\times \mathbf {E} _{\bot }\right)=\gamma \left(\mathbf {B} -{\boldsymbol
{\beta }}\times \mathbf {E} \right)_{\bot },\end{aligned}}}
and are independent of the metric signature. For SI units, substitute E → E⁄c. Misner, Thorne & Wheeler
(1973) refer to this last form as the 3 + 1 view as opposed to the geometric view represented by the
tensor expression
{\displaystyle F^{\mu '\nu '}={\Lambda ^{\mu '}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{\nu '}}_{\nu }F^{\mu \nu },}
and make a strong point of the ease with which results that are difficult to achieve using the 3 + 1 view
can be obtained and understood. Only objects that have well defined Lorentz transformation properties
(in fact under any smooth coordinate transformation) are geometric objects. In the geometric view, the
electromagnetic field is a six-dimensional geometric object in spacetime as opposed to two
interdependent, but separate, 3-vector fields in space and time. The fields E (alone) and B (alone) do not
have well defined Lorentz transformation properties. The mathematical underpinnings are
equations (T1) and (T2) that immediately yield (T3). One should note that the primed and unprimed
tensors refer to the same event in spacetime. Thus the complete equation with spacetime dependence
is
{\displaystyle F^{\mu '\nu '}\left(x'\right)={\Lambda ^{\mu '}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{\nu '}}_{\nu }F^{\mu
\nu }\left(\Lambda ^{-1}x'\right)={\Lambda ^{\mu '}}_{\mu }{\Lambda ^{\nu '}}_{\nu }F^{\mu \nu }(x).}
Length contraction has an effect on charge density ρ and current density J, and time dilation has an
effect on the rate of flow of charge (current), so charge and current distributions must transform in a
related way under a boost. It turns out they transform exactly like the space-time and energy-
momentum four-vectors,
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\mathbf {j} '&=\mathbf {j} -\gamma \rho v\mathbf {n} +\left(\gamma
-1\right)(\mathbf {j} \cdot \mathbf {n} )\mathbf {n} \\\rho '&=\gamma \left(\rho -\mathbf {j} \cdot
{\frac {v\mathbf {n} }{c^{2}}}\right),\end{aligned}}}
or, in the simpler geometric view,
{\displaystyle j^{\mu ^{\prime }}={\Lambda ^{\mu '}}_{\mu }j^{\mu }.}
One says that charge density transforms as the time component of a four-vector. It is a rotational scalar.
The current density is a 3-vector.
The Maxwell equations are invariant under Lorentz transformations.
Spinors
Equation (T1) hold unmodified for any representation of the Lorentz group, including
the bispinor representation. In (T2) one simply replaces all occurrences of Λ by the bispinor
representation Π(Λ),
The above equation could, for instance, be the transformation of a state in Fock space describing two
free electrons.
Transformation of general fields
A general noninteracting multi-particle state (Fock space state) in quantum field theory transforms
according to the rule
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}&U(\Lambda ,a)\Psi _{p_{1}\sigma _{1}n_{1};p_{2}\sigma
_{2}n_{2};\cdots }\\={}&e^{-ia_{\mu }\left[(\Lambda p_{1})^{\mu }+(\Lambda p_{2})^{\mu }
+\cdots \right]}{\sqrt {\frac {(\Lambda p_{1})^{0}(\Lambda p_{2})^{0}\cdots }
{p_{1}^{0}p_{2}^{0}\cdots }}}\left(\sum _{\sigma _{1}'\sigma _{2}'\cdots }D_{\sigma _{1}'\sigma
_{1}}^{(j_{1})}\left[W(\Lambda ,p_{1})\right]D_{\sigma _{2}'\sigma
_{2}}^{(j_{2})}\left[W(\Lambda ,p_{2})\right]\cdots \right)\Psi _{\Lambda p_{1}\sigma
_{1}'n_{1};\Lambda p_{2}\sigma _{2}'n_{2};\cdots },\end{aligned}}}
where W(Λ, p) is the Wigner rotation and D(j) is the (2j + 1)-dimensional representation of SO(3).
ZIPF’S LAW
Zipf's law (/zɪf/) is an empirical law formulated using mathematical statistics that refers to the fact that
many types of data studied in the physical and social sciences can be approximated with a Zipfian
distribution, one of a family of related discrete power law probability distributions. Zipf distribution is
related to the zeta distribution, but is not identical.
For example, Zipf's law states that given some corpus of natural language utterances, the frequency of
any word is inversely proportional to its rank in the frequency table. Thus the most frequent word will
occur approximately twice as often as the second most frequent word, three times as often as the third
most frequent word, etc.: the rank-frequency distribution is an inverse relation. For example, in
the Brown Corpus of American English text, the word the is the most frequently occurring word, and by
itself accounts for nearly 7% of all word occurrences (69,971 out of slightly over 1 million). True to Zipf's
Law, the second-place word of accounts for slightly over 3.5% of words (36,411 occurrences), followed
by and (28,852). Only 135 vocabulary items are needed to account for half the Brown Corpus.[1]
The law is named after the American linguist George Kingsley Zipf (1902–1950), who popularized it and
sought to explain it (Zipf 1935, 1949), though he did not claim to have originated it.[2] The French
stenographer Jean-Baptiste Estoup (1868–1950) appears to have noticed the regularity before Zipf.[3]
[not verified in body] It was also noted in 1913 by German physicist Felix Auerbach[4] (1856–1933).
Other datasets
The same relationship occurs in many other rankings unrelated to language, such as the population
ranks of cities in various countries, corporation sizes, income rankings, ranks of number of people
watching the same TV channel,[5] and so on. The appearance of the distribution in rankings of cities by
population was first noticed by Felix Auerbach in 1913.[4] Empirically, a data set can be tested to see
whether Zipf's law applies by checking the goodness of fit of an empirical distribution to the
hypothesized power law distribution with a Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, and then comparing the (log)
likelihood ratio of the power law distribution to alternative distributions like an exponential distribution
or lognormal distribution.[6] When Zipf's law is checked for cities, a better fit has been found with
exponent s = 1.07; i.e. the {\displaystyle n^{th}} largest settlement is {\displaystyle {\frac {1}
{n^{1.07}}}} the size of the largest settlement.
Zipf's law
Probability mass function
Zipf PMF for N = 10 on a log–log scale. The horizontal
axis is the index k . (Note that the function is only
defined at integer values of k. The connecting lines
do not indicate continuity.)
Cumulative distribution function
Zipf CDF for N = 10. The horizontal axis is the
index k . (Note that the function is only defined at
integer values of k. The connecting lines do not
indicate continuity.)
File:Zipf distribution PMF.png
F
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curre 21:59, 2 October 1,300 × Cmdrjameson (talk | contribs) Compress
nt 2016 975 (96 ed with
KB) pngout.
Reduced
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(37%
decrease).
01:07, 2 May 2005 1,300 × PAR~commonswiki (talk | con Fixed axis
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KB)
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2005 975 (154 tribs) plot of the
KB) probabilit
y mass
function
for the
Zipf
distributio
n, N=10
and
s=1,2,3
and 4.
You cannot overwrite this file.
Source;From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository.
Theoretical review
Zipf's law is most easily observed by plotting the data on a log-log graph, with the axes being log (rank
order) and log (frequency). For example, the word "the" (as described above) would appear at x =
log(1), y = log(69971). It is also possible to plot reciprocal rank against frequency or reciprocal frequency
or interword interval against rank.[2] The data conform to Zipf's law to the extent that the plot is linear.
Formally, let:
N be the number of elements;
k be their rank;
s be the value of the exponent characterizing the distribution.
Zipf's law then predicts that out of a population of N elements, the normalized frequency of elements of
rank k, f(k;s,N), is:
{\displaystyle f(k;s,N)={\frac {1/k^{s}}{\sum \limits _{n=1}^{N}(1/n^{s})}}}
Zipf's law holds if the number of elements with a given frequency is a random variable with power law
distribution {\displaystyle p(f)=\alpha f^{-1-1/s}.}[7]
It has been claimed that this representation of Zipf's law is more suitable for statistical testing, and in
this way it has been analyzed in more than 30,000 English texts. The goodness-of-fit tests yield that only
about 15% of the texts are statistically compatible with this form of Zipf's law. Slight variations in the
definition of Zipf's law can increase this percentage up to close to 50%.[8]
In the example of the frequency of words in the English language, N is the number of words in the
English language and, if we use the classic version of Zipf's law, the exponent s is 1. f(k; s,N) will then be
the fraction of the time the kth most common word occurs.
The law may also be written:
{\displaystyle f(k;s,N)={\frac {1}{k^{s}H_{N,s}}}}
where HN,s is the Nth generalized harmonic number.
The simplest case of Zipf's law is a "1⁄f function." Given a set of Zipfian distributed frequencies, sorted
from most common to least common, the second most common frequency will occur ½ as often as the
first. The third most common frequency will occur ⅓ as often as the first. The fourth most common
frequency will occur ¼ as often as the first. The nth most common frequency will occur 1⁄n as often as
the first. However, this cannot hold exactly, because items must occur an integer number of times; there
cannot be 2.5 occurrences of a word. Nevertheless, over fairly wide ranges, and to a fairly good
approximation, many natural phenomena obey Zipf's law.
In human languages, word frequencies have a very heavy-tailed distribution, and can therefore be
modeled reasonably well by a Zipf distribution with an s close to 1.
As long as the exponent s exceeds 1, it is possible for such a law to hold with infinitely many words, since
if s > 1 then
{\displaystyle \zeta (s)=\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {1}{n^{s}}}<\infty .\!}
where ζ is Riemann's zeta function.
Statistical explanation
Although Zipf’s Law holds for all languages, even non-natural ones like Esperanto,[9] the reason is still
not well understood.[10]However, it may be partially explained by the statistical analysis of randomly
generated texts. Wentian Li has shown that in a document in which each character has been chosen
randomly from a uniform distribution of all letters (plus a space character), the "words" follow the
general trend of Zipf's law (appearing approximately linear on log-log plot).[11] Vitold Belevitch in a
paper, On the Statistical Laws of Linguistic Distribution offered a mathematical derivation. He took a
large class of well-behaved statistical distributions (not only the normal distribution) and expressed
them in terms of rank. He then expanded each expression into a Taylor series. In every case Belevitch
obtained the remarkable result that a first-order truncation of the series resulted in Zipf's law. Further, a
second-order truncation of the Taylor series resulted in Mandelbrot's law.[12][13]
The principle of least effort is another possible explanation: Zipf himself proposed that neither speakers
nor hearers using a given language want to work any harder than necessary to reach understanding, and
the process that results in approximately equal distribution of effort leads to the observed Zipf
distribution.[14] [15]
Similarly, preferential attachment (intuitively, "the rich get richer" or "success breeds success") that
results in the Yule–Simon distribution has been shown to fit word frequency versus rank in
language[16] and population versus city rank[17] better than Zipf's law. It was originally derived to
explain population versus rank in species by Yule, and applied to cities by Simon.
A PLOT OF THE RANK VERSUS FREQUENCY FOR THE FIRST 10 MILLION WORDS IN 30 WIKIPEDIAS
(DUMPS FROM OCTOBER 2015) IN A LOG-LOG SCALE.
A plot of the rank versus frequency for the first 10 million words in 30 Wikipedias (dumps from October
2015) in a log-log scale.
Source;SergioJimenez - Own work
Related laws.
Zipf's law in fact refers more generally to frequency distributions of "rank data," in which the relative
frequency of the nth-ranked item is given by the Zeta distribution, 1/(nsζ(s)), where the parameter s > 1
indexes the members of this family of probability distributions. Indeed, Zipf's law is sometimes
synonymous with "zeta distribution," since probability distributions are sometimes called "laws". This
distribution is sometimes called the Zipfian distribution.
A generalization of Zipf's law is the Zipf–Mandelbrot law, proposed by Benoît Mandelbrot, whose
frequencies are:
{\displaystyle f(k;N,q,s)={\frac {[{\text{constant}}]}{(k+q)^{s}}}.\,}
The "constant" is the reciprocal of the Hurwitz zeta function evaluated at s. In practice, as easily
observable in distribution plots for large corpora, the observed distribution can be modelled more
accurately as a sum of separate distributions for different subsets or subtypes of words that follow
different parameterizations of the Zipf–Mandelbrot distribution, in particular the closed class of
functional words exhibit s lower than 1, while open-ended vocabulary growth with document size and
corpus size require s greater than 1 for convergence of the Generalized Harmonic Series.[2]
Zipfian distributions can be obtained from Pareto distributions by an exchange of variables.[7]
The Zipf distribution is sometimes called the discrete Paretodistribution[18] because it is analogous to
the continuous Pareto distribution in the same way that the discrete uniform distribution is analogous to
the continuous uniform distribution.
The tail frequencies of the Yule–Simon distribution are approximately
{\displaystyle f(k;\rho )\approx {\frac {[{\text{constant}}]}{k^{\rho +1}}}}
for any choice of ρ > 0.
In the parabolic fractal distribution, the logarithm of the frequency is a quadratic polynomial of the
logarithm of the rank. This can markedly improve the fit over a simple power-law relationship.[19] Like
fractal dimension, it is possible to calculate Zipf dimension, which is a useful parameter in the analysis of
texts.[20]
It has been argued that Benford's law is a special bounded case of Zipf's law,[19] with the connection
between these two laws being explained by their both originating from scale invariant functional
relations from statistical physics and critical phenomena.[21] The ratios of probabilities in Benford's law
are not constant. The leading digits of data satisfying Zipf's law with s = 1 satisfy Benford's law.
PLOT OF WORD FREQUENCY IN WIKIPEDIA-DUMP 2006-11-27. THE PLOT IS MADE IN LOG-LOG
COORDINATES. X IS RANK OF A WORD IN THE FREQUENCY TABLE; Y IS THE TOTAL NUMBER OF THE
WORD’S OCCURENCES. MOST POPULAR WORDS ARE “THE”, “OF” AND “AND”, AS EXPECTED :)
A plot of word frequency in Wikipedia (November 27, 2006). The plot is in log-log coordinates. x is rank
of a word in the frequency table; y is the total number of the word’s occurrences. Most popular words
are "the", "of" and "and", as expected. Zipf's law corresponds to the middle linear portion of the curve,
roughly following the green (1/x) line, while the early part is closer to the magenta (1/x0.5) line while
the later part is closer to the cyan (1/(k + x)2.0) line. These lines correspond to three distinct
parameterizations of the Zipf–Mandelbrot distribution, overall a broken power law with three segments:
a head, middle, and tail.
Source;Victor Grishchenko - Victor Grishchenko [1]
Permission details;
LGPL
BENFORD’S LAW
Benford's law, also called Newcomb-Benford's law, law of anomalous numbers, and first-digit law, is an
observation about the frequency distribution of leading digits in many real-life sets of numerical data.
The law states that in many naturally occurring collections of numbers, the leading significant digit is
likely to be small.[1] For example, in sets that obey the law, the number 1 appears as the leading
significant digit about 30% of the time, while 9 appears as the leading significant digit less than 5% of the
time. If the digits were distributed uniformly, they would each occur about 11.1% of the time.
[2] Benford's law also makes predictions about the distribution of second digits, third digits, digit
combinations, and so on.
The graph to the right shows Benford's law for base 10. There is a generalization of the law to numbers
expressed in other bases (for example, base 16), and also a generalization from leading 1 digit to
leading n digits.
It has been shown that this result applies to a wide variety of data sets, including electricity bills, street
addresses, stock prices, house prices, population numbers, death rates, lengths of
rivers, physical and mathematical constants[3]. Like other general principles about natural data — for
example the fact that many data sets are well approximated by a normal distribution — there are
illustrative examples and explanations that cover many of the cases where Benford's law applies, though
there are many other cases where Benford's law applies that resist a simple explanation.[1] It tends to
be most accurate when values are distributed across multiple orders of magnitude, especially if the
process generating the numbers is described by a power law(which are common in nature).
It is named after physicist Frank Benford, who stated it in 1938 in a paper titled "The Law of Anomalous
Numbers",[4] although it had been previously stated by Simon Newcomb in 1881.[5][6]
.
The distribution of first digits, according to Benford's law. Each bar represents a digit, and the height of
the bar is the percentage of numbers that start with that digit.
Source;Gknor - Own work
Benford's distribution
Frequency of first significant digit of physical constants plotted against Benford's law
Source;Drnathanfurious at English Wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons
by Tam0031 using CommonsHelper.
Plot of Benford's Law vs the first significant digit of a set of physical constants. Data
from http://physics.nist.gov/constants. Created by Aaron Webster.
Bedfords law definition.
A set of numbers is said to satisfy Benford's law if the leading digit d (d ∈ {1, ..., 9}) occurs
with probability
{\displaystyle P(d)=\log _{10}(d+1)-\log _{10}(d)=\log _{10}\left({\frac {d+1}{d}}\right)=\log _{10}\left(1+
{\frac {1}{d}}\right)}
The leading digits in such a set thus have the following distribution:
The quantity {\displaystyle P(d)} is proportional to the space between d and d + 1 on a logarithmic
scale. Therefore, this is the distribution expected if the mantissae of the logarithms of the numbers (but
not the numbers themselves) are uniformly and randomly distributed.
For example, a number x, constrained to lie between 1 and 10, starts with the digit 1 if 1 ≤ x < 2, and
starts with the digit 9 if 9 ≤ x < 10. Therefore, x starts with the digit 1 if log 1 ≤ log x < log 2, or starts
with 9 if log 9 ≤ log x < log 10. The interval [log 1, log 2] is much wider than the
interval [log 9, log 10] (0.30 and 0.05 respectively); therefore if log x is uniformly and randomly
distributed, it is much more likely to fall into the wider interval than the narrower interval, i.e. more
likely to start with 1 than with 9; the probabilities are proportional to the interval widths, giving the
equation above (as well as the generalization to other bases besides decimal).
Benford's law is sometimes stated in a stronger form, asserting that the fractional part of the logarithm
of data is typically close to uniformly distributed between 0 and 1; from this, the main claim about the
distribution of first digits can be derived.
HTTPS://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/BENFORD%27S_LAW#/MEDIA/FILE:LOGARITHMIC_SCALE.PNG
A logarithmic scale bar. Picking a random x position uniformly on this number line, roughly 30% of the
time the first digit of the number will be 1.
Source;HB at French Wikipedia - Transferred from fr.wikipedia to Commons
by Esp2008 using CommonsHelper.
Exemple d'échelle logarithmique à trois modules. Image personnelle créée avec gnuplot et gimp.
Domaine public.
Benford's law in other bases
Graphs of P (d ) for initial digit din various bases.[7] The dotted line shows P (d ) were the distribution
uniform. In the SVG image, hover over a graph to show the value for each point.
Source;
Cmglee - Own work
Graphs of probability P that an arbitrary number starts with digit d in various bases by CMG Lee. The
dotted line shows the probability were the distribution uniform. The graphs should be bars but are
shown as lines for clarity. Hover over a graph to highlight it and click it to load its Wikipedia article.
An extension of Benford's law predicts the distribution of first digits in other bases besides decimal; in
fact, any base b ≥ 2. The general form is:
{\displaystyle P(d)=\log _{b}(d+1)-\log _{b}(d)=\log _{b}\left(1+{\tfrac {1}{d}}\right).}
For b = 2 (the binary number system), Benford's law is true but trivial: All binary numbers (except for 0)
start with the digit 1. (On the other hand, the generalization of Benford's law to second and later digits is
not trivial, even for binary numbers.)
Example
DISTRIBUTION OF FIRST DIGITS (IN %, RED BARS) IN THE POPULATION OF THE 237 COUNTRIES OF THE
WORLD AS OF JULY 2010. BLACK DOTS INDICATE THE DISTRIBUTION PREDICTED BY BENFORD'S LAW.
Source;
Jakob.scholbach - Own work
illustration of Benford's law, using the population of the countries of the world. The chart depicts the
percentage of countries having the corresponding digit as first digit of their population (red bars). For
example, 64 countries of 237 (=27%) have 1 as leading digit of the population. Black points indicate what
is predicted by Benford's law. the data is from CIA
Worldbook https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html,
accessed August 07, 2010 Rank|| country Population Date of Information ||1 China ||1,330,141,295||
||July 2010 2 India ||1,173,108,018|| ||July 2010 3 United States ||310,232,863|| ||July 2010 4
Indonesia ||242,968,342|| ||July 2010 5 Brazil ||201,103,330|| ||July 2010 6 Pakistan ||
177,276,594|| ||July 2010 7 Bangladesh ||158,065,841|| ||July 2010 8 Nigeria ||152,217,341|| ||July
2010 9 Russia ||139,390,205|| ||July 2010 10 Japan ||126,804,433|| ||July 2010 11 Mexico ||
112,468,855|| ||July 2010 12 Philippines ||99,900,177|| ||July 2010 13 Vietnam ||89,571,130|| ||July
2010 14 Ethiopia ||88,013,491|| ||July 2010 15 Germany ||82,282,988|| ||July 2010 16 Egypt ||
80,471,869|| ||July 2010 17 Turkey ||77,804,122|| ||July 2010 18 Congo, Democratic Republic of the
||70,916,439|| ||July 2010 19 Iran ||67,037,517|| ||July 2010 20 Thailand ||66,404,688|| ||July 2010
21 France ||64,057,792|| ||July 2010 22 United Kingdom ||61,284,806|| ||July 2010 23 Italy ||
58,090,681|| ||July 2010 24 Burma ||53,414,374|| ||July 2010 25 South Africa ||49,109,107|| ||July
2010 26 Korea, South ||48,636,068|| ||July 2010 27 Ukraine ||45,415,596|| ||July 2010 28 Colombia
||44,205,293|| ||July 2010 29 Sudan ||41,980,182|| ||July 2010 30 Tanzania ||41,892,895|| ||July
2010 31 Argentina ||41,343,201|| ||July 2010 32 Spain ||40,548,753|| ||July 2010 33 Kenya ||
40,046,566|| ||July 2010 34 Poland ||38,463,689|| ||July 2010 35 Algeria ||34,586,184|| ||July 2010
36 Canada ||33,759,742|| ||July 2010 37 Uganda ||33,398,682|| ||July 2010 38 Morocco ||
31,627,428|| ||July 2010 39 Peru ||29,907,003|| ||July 2010 40 Iraq ||29,671,605|| ||July 2010 41
Saudi Arabia ||29,207,277|| ||July 2010 42 Afghanistan ||29,121,286|| ||July 2010 43 Nepal ||
28,951,852|| ||July 2010 44 Uzbekistan ||27,865,738|| ||July 2010 45 Venezuela ||27,223,228|| ||
July 2010 46 Malaysia ||26,160,256|| ||July 2010 47 Ghana ||24,339,838|| ||July 2010 48 Yemen ||
23,495,361|| ||July 2010 49 Taiwan ||23,024,956|| ||July 2010 50 Korea, North ||22,757,275|| ||July
2010 51 Syria ||22,198,110|| ||July 2010 52 Romania ||22,181,287|| ||July 2010 53 Mozambique ||
22,061,451|| ||July 2010 54 Australia ||21,515,754|| ||July 2010 55 Sri Lanka ||21,513,990|| ||July
2010 56 Madagascar ||21,281,844|| ||July 2010 57 Cote d'Ivoire ||21,058,798|| ||July 2010 58
Cameroon ||19,294,149|| ||July 2010 59 Netherlands ||16,783,092|| ||July 2010 60 Chile ||
16,746,491|| ||July 2010 61 Burkina Faso ||16,241,811|| ||July 2010 62 Niger ||15,878,271|| ||July
2010 63 Kazakhstan ||15,460,484|| ||July 2010 64 Malawi ||15,447,500|| ||July 2010 65 Ecuador ||
14,790,608|| ||July 2010 66 Cambodia ||14,753,320|| ||July 2010 67 Senegal ||14,086,103|| ||July
2010 68 Mali ||13,796,354|| ||July 2010 69 Guatemala ||13,550,440|| ||July 2010 70 Angola ||
13,068,161|| ||July 2010 71 Zambia ||12,056,923|| ||July 2010 72 Zimbabwe ||11,651,858|| ||July
2010 73 Cuba ||11,477,459|| ||July 2010 74 Rwanda ||11,055,976|| ||July 2010 75 Greece ||
10,749,943|| ||July 2010 76 Portugal ||10,735,765|| ||July 2010 77 Tunisia ||10,589,025|| ||July
2010 78 Chad ||10,543,464|| ||July 2010 79 Belgium ||10,423,493|| ||July 2010 80 Guinea ||
10,324,025|| ||July 2010 81 Czech Republic ||10,201,707|| ||July 2010 82 Somalia ||10,112,453|| ||
July 2010 83 Bolivia ||9,947,418|| ||July 2010 84 Hungary ||9,880,059|| ||July 2010 85 Burundi ||
9,863,117|| ||July 2010 86 Dominican Republic ||9,794,487|| ||July 2010 87 Belarus ||9,612,632|| ||
July 2010 88 Haiti ||9,203,083|| ||July 2010 89 Sweden ||9,074,055|| ||July 2010 90 Benin ||
9,056,010|| ||July 2010 91 Azerbaijan ||8,303,512|| ||July 2010 92 Austria ||8,214,160|| ||July 2010
93 Honduras ||7,989,415|| ||July 2010 94 Switzerland ||7,623,438|| ||July 2010 95 Tajikistan ||
7,487,489|| ||July 2010 96 Israel ||7,353,985|| ||July 2010 97 Serbia ||7,344,847|| ||July 2010 98
Bulgaria ||7,148,785|| ||July 2010 99 Hong Kong ||7,089,705|| ||July 2010 100 Laos ||6,993,767|| ||
July 2010 101 Libya ||6,461,454|| ||July 2010 102 Jordan ||6,407,085|| ||July 2010 103 Paraguay ||
6,375,830|| ||July 2010 104 Togo ||6,199,841|| ||July 2010 105 Papua New Guinea ||6,064,515|| ||
July 2010 106 El Salvador ||6,052,064|| ||July 2010 107 Nicaragua ||5,995,928|| ||July 2010 108
Eritrea ||5,792,984|| ||July 2010 109 Denmark ||5,515,575|| ||July 2010 110 Kyrgyzstan ||
5,508,626|| ||July 2010 111 Slovakia ||5,470,306|| ||July 2010 112 Finland ||5,255,068|| ||July 2010
113 Sierra Leone ||5,245,695|| ||July 2010 114 United Arab Emirates ||4,975,593|| ||July 2010 115
Turkmenistan ||4,940,916|| ||July 2010 116 Central African Republic ||4,844,927|| ||July 2010 117
Singapore ||4,701,069|| ||July 2010 118 Norway ||4,676,305|| ||July 2010 119 Bosnia and
Herzegovina ||4,621,598|| ||July 2010 120 Georgia ||4,600,825|| ||July 2010 121 Costa Rica ||
4,516,220|| ||July 2010 122 Croatia ||4,486,881|| ||July 2010 123 Moldova ||4,317,483|| ||July 2010
124 New Zealand ||4,252,277|| ||July 2010 125 Ireland ||4,250,163|| ||July 2010 126 Congo, Republic
of the ||4,125,916|| ||July 2010 127 Lebanon ||4,125,247|| ||July 2010 128 Puerto Rico ||
3,977,663|| ||July 2010 129 Liberia ||3,685,076|| ||July 2010 130 Albania ||3,659,616|| ||July 2010
131 Lithuania ||3,545,319|| ||July 2010 132 Uruguay ||3,510,386|| ||July 2010 133 Panama ||
3,410,676|| ||July 2010 134 Mauritania ||3,205,060|| ||July 2010 135 Mongolia ||3,086,918|| ||July
2010 136 Oman ||2,967,717|| ||July 2010 137 Armenia ||2,966,802|| ||July 2010 138 Jamaica ||
2,847,232|| ||July 2010 139 Kuwait ||2,789,132|| ||July 2010 140 West Bank ||2,514,845|| ||July
2010 141 Latvia ||2,217,969|| ||July 2010 142 Namibia ||2,128,471|| ||July 2010 143 Macedonia ||
2,072,086|| ||July 2010 144 Botswana ||2,029,307|| ||July 2010 145 Slovenia ||2,003,136|| ||July
2010 146 Lesotho ||1,919,552|| ||July 2010 147 Gambia, The ||1,824,158|| ||July 2010 148 Kosovo ||
1,815,048|| ||July 2010 149 Gaza Strip ||1,604,238|| ||July 2010 150 Guinea-Bissau ||1,565,126|| ||
July 2010 151 Gabon ||1,545,255|| ||July 2010 152 Swaziland ||1,354,051|| ||July 2010 153 Mauritius
||1,294,104|| ||July 2010 154 Estonia ||1,291,170|| ||July 2010 155 Trinidad and Tobago ||
1,228,691|| ||July 2010 156 Timor-Leste ||1,154,625|| ||July 2010 157 Cyprus ||1,102,677|| ||July
2010 158 Fiji ||957,780|| ||July 2010 159 Qatar ||840,926|| ||July 2010 160 Comoros ||773,407|| ||
July 2010 161 Guyana ||748,486|| ||July 2010 162 Djibouti ||740,528|| ||July 2010 163 Bahrain ||
738,004|| ||July 2010 164 Bhutan ||699,847|| ||July 2010 165 Montenegro ||666,730|| ||July 2010
166 Equatorial Guinea ||650,702|| ||July 2010 167 Solomon Islands ||609,794|| ||July 2010 168
Macau ||567,957|| ||July 2010 169 Cape Verde ||508,659|| ||July 2010 170 Luxembourg ||497,538||
||July 2010 171 Western Sahara ||491,519|| ||July 2010 172 Suriname ||486,618|| ||July 2010 173
Malta ||406,771|| ||July 2010 174 Maldives ||395,650|| ||July 2010 175 Brunei ||395,027|| ||July
2010 176 Belize ||314,522|| ||July 2010 177 Bahamas, The ||310,426|| ||July 2010 178 Iceland ||
308,910|| ||July 2010 179 French Polynesia ||291,000|| ||July 2010 180 Barbados ||285,653|| ||July
2010 181 Mayotte ||231,139|| ||July 2010 182 New Caledonia ||229,993|| ||July 2010 183
Netherlands Antilles ||228,693|| ||July 2010 184 Vanuatu ||221,552|| ||July 2010 185 Samoa ||
192,001|| ||July 2010 186 Sao Tome and Principe ||175,808|| ||July 2010 187 Saint Lucia ||160,922||
||July 2010 188 Tonga ||122,580|| ||July 2010 189 Virgin Islands ||109,775|| ||July 2010 190
Grenada ||107,818|| ||July 2010 191 Micronesia, Federated States of ||107,154|| ||July 2010 192
Aruba ||104,589|| ||July 2010 193 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ||104,217|| ||July 2010 194
Kiribati ||99,482|| ||July 2010 195 Jersey ||91,812|| ||July 2010 196 Seychelles ||88,340|| ||July
2010 197 Antigua and Barbuda ||86,754|| ||July 2010 198 Andorra ||84,525|| ||July 2010 199 Isle of
Man ||76,913|| ||July 2010 200 Dominica ||72,813|| ||July 2010 201 Bermuda ||68,268|| ||July
2010 202 American Samoa ||66,432|| ||July 2010 203 Marshall Islands ||65,859|| ||July 2010 204
Guernsey ||65,632|| ||July 2010 205 Greenland ||57,637|| ||July 2010 206 Cayman Islands ||
50,209|| ||July 2010 207 Saint Kitts and Nevis ||49,898|| ||July 2010 208 Faroe Islands ||49,057|| ||
July 2010 209 Northern Mariana Islands ||48,317|| ||July 2010 210 Liechtenstein ||35,002|| ||July
2010 211 San Marino ||31,477|| ||July 2010 212 Monaco ||30,586|| ||July 2010 213 Saint Martin ||
30,235|| ||July 2010 214 Gibraltar ||28,877|| ||July 2010 215 British Virgin Islands ||24,939|| ||July
2010 216 Turks and Caicos Islands ||23,528|| ||July 2010 217 Palau ||20,879|| ||July 2010 218
Akrotiri ||15,700|| ||NA 219 Dhekelia ||15,700|| ||NA 220 Wallis and Futuna ||15,343|| ||July 2010
221 Anguilla ||14,764|| ||July 2010 222 Nauru ||14,264|| ||July 2010 223 Cook Islands ||11,488|| ||
July 2010 224 Tuvalu ||10,472|| ||July 2010 225 Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha ||
7,670|| ||July 2010 226 Saint Barthelemy ||7,406|| ||July 2010 227 Saint Pierre and Miquelon ||
6,010|| ||July 2010 228 Montserrat ||5,118|| ||July 2010 229 Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) ||
3,140|| ||July 2008 230 Norfolk Island ||2,155|| ||July 2010 231 Svalbard ||2,067|| ||July 2010 232
Christmas Island ||1,402|| ||July 2010 233 Tokelau ||1,400|| ||July 2010 234 Niue ||1,354|| ||July
2010 235 Holy See (Vatican City) ||829|| ||July 2010 236 Cocos (Keeling) Islands ||596|| ||July 2010
237 Pitcairn Islands ||48|| ||July 2010 est. Mathematica source code of the chart: In[1]:=
<<Graphics`Graphics` In[2]:= list1=Table[{d,100*(Log[10,d+1]-Log[10,d])},{d,1,9}]; In[3]:=
Show[{BarChart[{64,43,24,31,15,20,17,11,12}/2.37], ListPlot[list1, PlotStyle\[Rule]PointSize[0.02]]}]
Examining a list of the heights of the 60 tallest structures in the world by category shows that 1 is by far
the most common leading digit, irrespective of the unit of measurement (cf. "scale invariance", below):
meters feet
In Benford's
Leading digit
law
Count % Count %
1 26 43.3% 18 30.0% 30.1%
2 7 11.7% 8 13.3% 17.6%
3 9 15.0% 8 13.3% 12.5%
4 6 10.0% 6 10.0% 9.7%
5 4 6.7% 10 16.7% 7.9%
6 1 1.7% 5 8.3% 6.7%
7 2 3.3% 2 3.3% 5.8%
8 5 8.3% 1 1.7% 5.1%
9 0 0.0% 2 3.3% 4.6%
Another example is the leading digit of 2n:
1, 2, 4, 8, 1, 3, 6, 1, 2, 5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 1, 3, 6, 1... (sequence A008952 in the OEIS)
History of benford’s law,
The discovery of Benford's law goes back to 1881, when the American astronomer Simon
Newcomb noticed that in logarithm tables the earlier pages (that started with 1) were much more worn
than the other pages.[5] Newcomb's published result is the first known instance of this observation and
includes a distribution on the second digit, as well. Newcomb proposed a law that the probability of a
single number N being the first digit of a number was equal to log(N + 1) − log(N).
The phenomenon was again noted in 1938 by the physicist Frank Benford,[4] who tested it on data from
20 different domains and was credited for it. His data set included the surface areas of 335 rivers, the
sizes of 3259 US populations, 104 physical constants, 1800 molecular weights, 5000 entries from a
mathematical handbook, 308 numbers contained in an issue of Reader's Digest, the street addresses of
the first 342 persons listed in American Men of Science and 418 death rates. The total number of
observations used in the paper was 20,229. This discovery was later named after Benford (making it an
example of Stigler's Law).
In 1995, Ted Hill proved the result about mixed distributions mentioned below.[8]
Explanations
Overview
Benford's law tends to apply most accurately to data that are distributed uniformly across several orders
of magnitude. As a rule of thumb, the more orders of magnitude that the data evenly covers, the more
accurately Benford's law applies. For instance, one can expect that Benford's law would apply to a list of
numbers representing the populations of UK settlements, or representing the values of small insurance
claims. But if a "village" is defined as a settlement with population between 300 and 999, or a "small
insurance claim" is defined as a claim between $50 and $99, then Benford's law will not apply.[9][10]
Consider the probability distributions shown below, referenced to a log scale.[11] In each case, the total
area in red is the relative probability that the first digit is 1, and the total area in blue is the relative
probability that the first digit is 8.
A broad probability distribution of the log of a variable, shown on a log scale
Source;
Sbyrnes321 - Own work
A broad probability distribution on a log scale, with bars colored in to show why Benford's law holds
.[11]
A narrow probability distribution of the log of a variable, shown on a log scale
Source;
Sbyrnes321 - Own work
A narrow probability distribution plotted on a log scale, to demonstrate a case where
Benford's law does not hold. This is to be contrasted with BenfordBroad.gif.
[11]
For the left distribution, the size of the areas of red and blue are approximately proportional to
the widths of each red and blue bar. Therefore, the numbers drawn from this distribution will
approximately follow Benford's law. On the other hand, for the right distribution, the ratio of the areas
of red and blue is very different from the ratio of the widths of each red and blue bar. Rather, the
relative areas of red and blue are determined more by the height of the bars than the widths.
Accordingly, the first digits in this distribution do not satisfy Benford's law at all.[10]
Thus, real-world distributions that span several orders of magnitude rather uniformly (e.g. populations
of villages / towns / cities, stock-market prices), are likely to satisfy Benford's law to a very high
accuracy. On the other hand, a distribution that is mostly or entirely within one order of magnitude (e.g.
heights of human adults, or IQ scores) is unlikely to satisfy Benford's law very accurately, or at all.[9]
[10] However, it is not a sharp line: As the distribution gets narrower, the discrepancies from Benford's
law typically increase gradually.
In terms of conventional probability density (referenced to a linear scale rather than log scale, i.e. P(x)dx
rather than P(log x) d(log x)), the equivalent criterion is that Benford's law will be very accurately
satisfied when P(x) is approximately proportional to 1/x over several orders-of-magnitude variation in x.
[11]
This discussion is not a full explanation of Benford's law, because we have not explained why we so
often come across data-sets that, when plotted as a probability distribution of the logarithm of the
variable, are relatively uniform over several orders of magnitude.[12]
Multiplicative fluctuations
Many real-world examples of Benford's law arise from multiplicative fluctuations.[13] For example, if a
stock price starts at $100, and then each day it gets multiplied by a randomly chosen factor between
0.99 and 1.01, then over an extended period the probability distribution of its price satisfies Benford's
law with higher and higher accuracy.
The reason is that the logarithm of the stock price is undergoing a random walk, so over time its
probability distribution will get more and more broad and smooth (see above).[13] (More technically,
the central limit theorem says that multiplying more and more random variables will create a log-normal
distribution with larger and larger variance, so eventually it covers many orders of magnitude almost
uniformly.) To be sure of approximate agreement with Benford's Law, the distribution has to be
approximately invariant when scaled up by any factor up to 10; a lognormally distributed data set with
wide dispersion would have this approximate property.
Unlike multiplicative fluctuations, additive fluctuations do not lead to Benford's law: They lead instead
to normal probability distributions (again by the central limit theorem), which do not satisfy Benford's
law. For example, the "number of heartbeats that I experience on a given day" can be written as
the sum of many random variables (e.g. the sum of heartbeats per minute over all the minutes of the
day), so this quantity is unlikely to follow Benford's law. By contrast, that hypothetical stock price
described above can be written as the product of many random variables (i.e. the price change factor for
each day), so is likely to follow Benford's law quite well.
Multiple probability distributions
Formann provided an alternative explanation by directing attention to the interrelation between
the distribution of the significant digits and the distribution of the observed variable. He showed in a
simulation study that long right-tailed distributions of a random variable are compatible with the
Newcomb-Benford law, and that for distributions of the ratio of two random variables the fit generally
improves.[14] For numbers drawn from certain distributions (IQ scores, human heights) the Law fails to
hold because these variates obey a normal distribution which is known not to satisfy Benford's law,
[6] since normal distributions can't span several orders of magnitude and the mantissae of their
logarithms will not be (even approximately) uniformly distributed. However, if one "mixes" numbers
from those distributions, for example by taking numbers from newspaper articles, Benford's law
reappears. This can also be proven mathematically: if one repeatedly "randomly" chooses a probability
distribution (from an uncorrelated set) and then randomly chooses a number according to that
distribution, the resulting list of numbers will obey Benford's Law.[8][15] A similar probabilistic
explanation for the appearance of Benford's Law in everyday-life numbers has been advanced by
showing that it arises naturally when one considers mixtures of uniform distributions.[16]
Scale invariance
If there is a list of lengths, the distribution of first digits of numbers in the list may be generally similar
regardless of whether all the lengths are expressed in metres, or yards, or feet, or inches, etc.
This is not always the case. For example, the height of adult humans almost always starts with a 1 or 2
when measured in meters, and almost always starts with 4, 5, 6, or 7 when measured in feet.
But consider a list of lengths that is spread evenly over many orders of magnitude. For example, a list of
1000 lengths mentioned in scientific papers will include the measurements of molecules, bacteria,
plants, and galaxies. If one writes all those lengths in meters, or writes them all in feet, it is reasonable
to expect that the distribution of first digits should be the same on the two lists.
In these situations, where the distribution of first digits of a data set is scale invariant (or independent of
the units that the data are expressed in), the distribution of first digits is always given by Benford's Law.
[17][18]
For example, the first (non-zero) digit on this list of lengths should have the same distribution whether
the unit of measurement is feet or yards. But there are three feet in a yard, so the probability that the
first digit of a length in yards is 1 must be the same as the probability that the first digit of a length in
feet is 3, 4, or 5; similarly the probability that the first digit of a length in yards is 2 must be the same as
the probability that the first digit of a length in feet is 6, 7, or 8. Applying this to all possible
measurement scales gives the logarithmic distribution of Benford's law.
Applications
Accounting fraud detection
In 1972, Hal Varian suggested that the law could be used to detect possible fraud in lists of socio-
economic data submitted in support of public planning decisions. Based on the plausible assumption
that people who make up figures tend to distribute their digits fairly uniformly, a simple comparison of
first-digit frequency distribution from the data with the expected distribution according to Benford's
Law ought to show up any anomalous results.[19] Following this idea, Mark Nigrini showed that
Benford's Law could be used in forensic accounting and auditing as an indicator of accounting and
expenses fraud.[20] In practice, applications of Benford's Law for fraud detection routinely use more
than the first digit.[20]
Legal status
In the United States, evidence based on Benford's law has been admitted in criminal cases at the federal,
state, and local levels.[21]
Election data
Benford's Law has been invoked as evidence of fraud in the 2009 Iranian elections,[22] and also used to
analyze other election results. However, other experts consider Benford's Law essentially useless as a
statistical indicator of election fraud in general.[23][24]
Macroeconomic data
Similarly, the macroeconomic data the Greek government reported to the European Union before
entering the eurozone was shown to be probably fraudulent using Benford's law, albeit years after the
country joined.[25]
Price digit analysis
Benford's law as a benchmark for the investigation of price digits has been successfully introduced into
the context of pricing research. The importance of this benchmark for detecting irregularities in prices
was first demonstrated in a Europe-wide study[26] which investigated consumer price digits before and
after the euro introduction for price adjustments. The introduction of the euro in 2002, with its various
exchange rates, distorted existing nominal price patterns while at the same time retaining real prices.
While the first digits of nominal prices distributed according to Benford's Law, the study showed a clear
deviation from this benchmark for the second and third digits in nominal market prices with a clear
trend towards psychological pricing after the nominal shock of the euro introduction.
Genome data
The number of open reading frames and their relationship to genome size differs
between eukaryotes and prokaryotes with the former showing a log-linear relationship and the latter a
linear relationship. Benford's law has been used to test this observation with an excellent fit to the data
in both cases.[27]
Scientific fraud detection
A test of regression coefficients in published papers showed agreement with Benford's law.[28] As a
comparison group subjects were asked to fabricate statistical estimates. The fabricated results failed to
obey Benford's law.
Statistical tests
Although the chi squared test has been used to test for compliance with Benford's law it has low
statistical power when used with small samples.
The Kolmogorov–Smirnov test and the Kuiper test are more powerful when the sample size is small
particularly when Stephens's corrective factor is used.[29] These tests may be overly conservative when
applied to discrete distributions. Values for the Benford test have been generated by Morrow.[30] The
critical values of the test statistics are shown below:
α
0.10 0.05 0.01
Test
Kuiper Test 1.191 1.321 1.579
Kolmogorov–
1.012 1.148 1.420
Smirnov
These critical values provide the minimum test statistic values required to reject the hypothesis of
compliance with Benford's law at the given significance levels.
Two alternative tests specific to this law have been published: first, the max (m) statistic[31] is given by
{\displaystyle m={\sqrt {N}}\cdot \operatorname {*} \max _{i=1}^{9}{\Big \{}|\Pr(X{\text{ has
FSD}}=i)-\log _{10}(1+1/i)|{\Big \}}\,}
and secondly, the distance (d) statistic[32] is given by
{\displaystyle d={\sqrt {N\cdot \sum _{i=1}^{9}{\Big [}\Pr(X{\text{ has FSD}}=i)-\log _{10}(1+1/i)
{\Big ]}^{2}}},}
where FSD is the First Significant Digit and N is the sample size. Morrow has determined the critical
values for both these statistics, which are shown below:[30]
⍺
0.10 0.05 0.01
Statistic
Leemis' m 0.851 0.967 1.212
Cho–Gaines'
1.212 1.330 1.569
d
Nigrini[33] has suggested the use of a z statistic
{\displaystyle z={\frac {\,|p_{o}-p_{e}|-{\frac {1}{2n}}\,}{s_{i}}}}
with
{\displaystyle s_{i}=\left[{\frac {p_{e}(1-p_{e})}{n}}\right]^{1/2},}
where |x| is the absolute value of x, n is the sample size, 1/2n is a continuity correction factor, pe is the
proportion expected from Benford's law and po is the observed proportion in the sample.
Morrow has also shown that for any random variable X (with a continuous pdf) divided by its standard
deviation (σ), a value A can be found such that the probability of the distribution of the first significant
digit of the random variable (X/σ)A will differ from Benford's Law by less than ε > 0.[30] The value
of A depends on the value of ε and the distribution of the random variable.
A method of accounting fraud detection based on bootstrapping and regression has been proposed.[34]
If the goal is to conclude agreement with the Benford's law rather than disagreement, then
the goodness-of-fit tests mentioned above are inappropriate. In this case the specific tests for
equivalence should be applied. An empirical distribution is called equivalent to the Benford's law if a
distance (for example total variation distance or the usual Euclidean distance) between the probability
mass functions is sufficiently small. This method of testing with application to Benford's law is described
in Ostrovski (2017).[35]
Log-log graph of the probability that a number starts with the digit(s) n, for a distribution satisfying
Benford's law. The points show the exact formula, P(n)=log10(1+1/n). The graph tends towards the
dashed asymptote passing through (1, log10 e) with slope −1 in log-log scale. The example in yellow
shows that the probability of a number starts with 314 is around 0.00138. The dotted lines show the
probabilities for a uniform distribution for comparison. In the SVG image, hover over a point to show its
values.
Source;
Cmglee - Own work
Log-log graphs of the probability that a number from a distribution obeying Benford's law starts with the
digit(s) n from 1 to 200 by CMG Lee. The graph tends towards the dashed asymptote passing through (1,
log10 e) with slope −1 in log-log scale. The example in yellow shows that the probability of a number
starts with 314 is around 0.00138. The dotted lines show the probabilities if the distribution were
uniform instead. In the SVG image, hover over a point to show its values. In the SVG image, hover over a
point to show its values.
Generalization to digits beyond the first
It is possible to extend the law to digits beyond the first.[36] In particular, the probability of
encountering a number starting with the string of digits n is given by:
{\displaystyle \log _{10}\left(n+1\right)-\log _{10}\left(n\right)=\log _{10}\left(1+{\frac {1}{n}}\right)}
For example, the probability that a number starts with the digits 3, 1, 4 is log10(1 + 1/314) ≈ 0.00138, as
in the figure on the right.
This result can be used to find the probability that a particular digit occurs at a given position within a
number. For instance, the probability that a "2" is encountered as the second digit is[36]
{\displaystyle \log
_{10}\left(1+{\frac {1}{12}}\right)+\log _{10}\left(1+{\frac {1}{22}}\right)+\cdots +\log _{10}\left(1+{\frac
{1}{92}}\right)\approx 0.109}
And the probability that d (d = 0, 1, ..., 9) is encountered as the n-th (n > 1) digit is
{\displaystyle \sum _{k=10^{n-2}}^{10^{n-1}-1}\log _{10}\left(1+{\frac {1}{10k+d}}\right)}
The distribution of the n-th digit, as n increases, rapidly approaches a uniform distribution with 10% for
each of the ten digits, as shown below.[36] Four digits is often enough to assume a uniform distribution
of 10% as '0' appears 10.0176% of the time in the fourth digit while '9' appears 9.9824% of the time.
Digi
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
t
30.1 17.6 12.5 5.1
1st N/A 9.7% 7.9% 6.7% 5.8% 4.6%
% % % %
11.4 10.9 10.4 8.8
2nd 12% 10% 9.7% 9.3% 9% 8.5%
% % % %
10.1 10.1 10.1 9.9
3rd 10.2% 10% 10% 9.9% 9.9% 9.8%
% % % %
Tests with common distributions
Benford's law was empirically tested against the numbers (up to the 10th digit) generated by a number
of important distributions, including the uniform distribution, the exponential distribution, the half-
normal distribution, the right-truncated normal, the normal distribution, the chi square distribution and
the log normal distribution.[6] In addition to these the ratio distribution of two uniform distributions,
the ratio distribution of two exponential distributions, the ratio distribution of two half-normal
distributions, the ratio distribution of two right-truncated normal distributions, the ratio distribution of
two chi-square distributions (the F distribution) and the log normaldistribution were tested.
The uniform distribution as might be expected does not obey Benford's law. In contrast, the ratio
distribution of two uniform distributions is well described by Benford's law. Benford's law also describes
the exponential distribution and the ratio distribution of two exponential distributions well. Although
the half-normal distribution does not obey Benford's law, the ratio distribution of two half-normal
distributions does. Neither the right-truncated normal distribution nor the ratio distribution of two right-
truncated normal distributions are well described by Benford's law. This is not surprising as this
distribution is weighted towards larger numbers. Neither the normal distribution nor the ratio
distribution of two normal distributions (the Cauchy distribution) obey Benford's law. The fit of chi
square distribution depends on the degrees of freedom (df) with good agreement with df = 1 and
decreasing agreement as the df increases. The F distribution is fitted well for low degrees of freedom.
With increasing dfs the fit decreases but much more slowly than the chi square distribution. The fit of
the log-normal distribution depends on the mean and the variance of the distribution. The variance has
a much greater effect on the fit than does the mean. Larger values of both parameters result in better
agreement with the law. The ratio of two log normal distributions is a log normal so this distribution was
not examined.
Other distributions that have been examined include the Muth distribution, Gompertz
distribution, Weibull distribution, gamma distribution, log-logistic distribution and the exponential
power distribution all of which show reasonable agreement with the law.[31][37] The Gumbel
distribution – a density increases with increasing value of the random variable – does not show
agreement with this law.[37]
Distributions known to obey Benford's law
Some well-known infinite integer sequences provably satisfy Benford's Law exactly (in the asymptotic
limit as more and more terms of the sequence are included). Among these are the Fibonacci numbers,
[38][39] the factorials,[40] the powers of 2,[41][42] and the powers of almost any other number.[41]
Likewise, some continuous processes satisfy Benford's Law exactly (in the asymptotic limit as the
process continues through time). One is an exponential growth or decay process: If a quantity is
exponentially increasing or decreasing in time, then the percentage of time that it has each first digit
satisfies Benford's Law asymptotically (i.e. increasing accuracy as the process continues through time).
Distributions known to disobey Benford's law
Square roots and reciprocals do not obey this law.[43] Also, Benford's law does not apply to unary
systems such as tally marks. Telephone directories violate Benford's law because the numbers have a
mostly fixed length and do not have the initial digit 1.[44] Benford's law is violated by the populations of
all places with population at least 2500 from five US states according to the 1960 and 1970 censuses,
where only 19% began with digit 1 but 20% began with digit 2, for the simple reason that the truncation
at 2500 introduces statistical bias.[43] The terminal digits in pathology reports violate Benford's law due
to rounding, and the fact that terminal digits are never expected to follow Benford's law in the first
place.[45]
Criteria for distributions expected and not expected to obey Benford's Law
A number of criteria—applicable particularly to accounting data—have been suggested where Benford's
Law can be expected to apply and not to apply.[46]
Distributions that can be expected to obey Benford's Law
When the mean is greater than the median and the skew is positive
Numbers that result from mathematical combination of numbers: e.g. quantity × price
Transaction level data: e.g. disbursements, sales
Numbers produced when doing any multiplicative calculations with an Oughtred slide rule, since the
answers naturally fall into the right logarithmic distribution.
Distributions that would not be expected to obey Benford's Law
Where numbers are assigned sequentially: e.g. check numbers, invoice numbers
Where numbers are influenced by human thought: e.g. prices set by psychological thresholds ($1.99)
Accounts with a large number of firm-specific numbers: e.g. accounts set up to record $100 refunds
Accounts with a built-in minimum or maximum
Where no transaction is recorded
Moments
Moments of random variables for the digits 1 to 9 following this law have been calculated:[47]
mean 3.440
variance 6.057
skewness 0.796
kurtosis −0.548
For the first and second digit distribution these values are also known:[48]
mean 38.590
variance 621.832
skewness 0.772
kurtosis −0.547
A table of the exact probabilities for the joint occurrence of the first two digits according to Benford's
law is available,[48] as is the population correlation between the first and second digits:[48] ρ = 0.0561.
Applications of zipf’s law.
In information theory, a symbol (event, signal) of probability {\displaystyle p} contains
{\displaystyle \log _{2}(1/p)} bits of information. Hence, Zipf law for natural numbers:
{\displaystyle \Pr(x)\approx 1/x} is equivalent with number {\displaystyle
x} containing {\displaystyle \log _{2}(x)} bits of information. To add information from a symbol of
probability {\displaystyle p} into information already stored in a natural number {\displaystyle x}
we should go to {\displaystyle x'} such that {\displaystyle \log _{2}(x')\approx \log _{2}(x)+\log _{2}
(1/p)}, or equivalently {\displaystyle x'\approx x/p} For
instance, in standard binary system we would have {\displaystyle x'=2x+s}, what is optimal
for {\displaystyle \Pr(s=0)=\Pr(s=1)=1/2} probability distribution.
Using {\displaystyle x'\approx x/p} rule for a general probability distribution is the base
of Asymmetric Numeral Systems family of entropy coding methods used in data compression, which
state distribution is also governed by Zipf law.
Zipf's law also has been used for extraction of parallel fragments of texts out of comparable corpora.[22]
SUPERSYMMETRIC THEORY OF STOCHASTIC DYNAMICS
Supersymmetric theory of stochastic dynamics or stochastics (STS) is an exact theory of stochastic
(partial) differential equations (SDEs), the class of mathematical models with the widest applicability
covering, in particular, all continuous time dynamical systems, with and without noise. The main utility
of the theory from the physical point of view is a rigorous theoretical explanation of the ubiquitous
spontaneous long-range dynamical behavior that manifests itself across disciplines via such phenomena
as 1/f, flicker, and crackling noises and the power-law statistics, or Zipf's law, of instantonic processes
like earthquakes and neuroavalanches. From the mathematical point of view, STS is interesting because
it bridges the two major parts of mathematical physics – the dynamical systems theory and topological
field theories. Besides these and related disciplines such as algebraic topology and supersymmetric field
theories, STS is also connected with the traditional theory of stochastic differential equations and the
theory of pseudo-Hermitian operators.
The theory begun with the application of BRST gauge fixing procedure to Langevin SDEs,[1][2] that was
later adapted to classical mechanics[3][4][5][6] and its stochastic generalization,[7] higher-order
Langevin SDEs,[8] and, more recently, to SDEs of arbitrary form,[9] which allowed to link BRST formalism
to the concept of transfer operators and recognize spontaneous breakdown of BRST supersymmetry as
a stochastic generalization of dynamical chaos.
The main idea of the theory is to study, instead of trajectories, the SDE-defined temporal evolution
of differential forms. This evolution has an intrinsic BRST or topological supersymmetry representing the
preservation of topology and/or the concept of proximity in the phase space by continuous time
dynamics. The theory identifies a model as chaotic, in the generalized, stochastic sense, if its ground
state is not supersymmetric, i.e., if the supersymmetry is broken spontaneously. Accordingly, the
emergent long-range behavior that always accompanies dynamical chaos and its derivatives such
as turbulence and self-organized criticality can be understood as a consequence of the Goldstone
theorem.
History and relation to other theories
The first relation between supersymmetry and stochastic dynamics was established by Giorgio Parisi and
Nicolas Sourlas[1][2] who demonstrated that the application of the BRST gauge fixing procedure to
Langevin SDEs, i.e., to SDEs with linear phase spaces, gradient flow vector fields, and additive noises,
results in N=2 supersymmetric models. Since then, the so-emerged supersymmetry of Langevin SDEs has
been studied rather extensively.[10][11][12][13][8] Relations between this supersymmetry and a few
physical concepts have been established including the fluctuation dissipation theorems,[13] Jarzynski
equality,[14] Onsager principle of microscopic reversibility,[15] solutions of Fokker-Planck equations,
[16] self-organization,[17] etc.
Similar approach was used to establish that classical mechanics,[3][4] its stochastic generalization,
[7] and higher-order Langevin SDEs[8] also have supersymmetric representations. Real dynamical
systems, however, are never purely Langevin or classical mechanical. In addition, physically meaningful
Langevin SDEs never break supersymmetry spontaneously. Therefore, for the purpose of the
identification of the spontaneous supersymmetry breaking as dynamical chaos, the generalization of the
Parisi-Sourlas approach to SDEs of general form is needed. This generalization could come only after a
rigorous formulation of the theory of pseudo-Hermitian operators[18] because the stochastic evolution
operator is pseudo-Hermitian in the general case. Such generalization[9] showed that all SDEs possess
N=1 BRST or topological supersymmetry (TS) and this finding completes the story of relation between
supersymmetry and SDEs.
In parallel to the BRST procedure approach to SDEs, mathematicians working in the dynamical systems
theory introduced and studied the concept of generalized transfer operator defined for random
dynamical systems.[19][20] This concept underlies the most important object of the STS, the stochastic
evolution operator, and provides it with a solid mathematical meaning.
STS has a close relation with algebraic topology and its topological sector belongs to the class of models
known as Witten-type topological or cohomological field theory.[21][22][23][24][25] As a
supersymmetric theory, BRST procedure approach to SDEs can be viewed as one of the realizations of
the concept of Nicolai map.[26][27]
Parisi–Sourlas approach to Langevin SDEs
In the context of supersymmetric approach to stochastic dynamics, the term Langevin SDEs denotes
SDEs with Euclidean phase space {\displaystyle X=\mathbb {R} ^{n}} gradient flow vector
field, and additive Gaussian white noise,
{\displaystyle {\dot {x}}(t)=-\partial U(x(t))+(2\Theta )^{1/2}\xi (t),}
where {\displaystyle x\in X} , {\displaystyle \xi \in \mathbb {R} ^{n}}is the noise
variable{\displaystyle \Theta } i s the noise intensity, and {\displaystyle \partial U(x)}, which
in coordinates {\displaystyle (\partial U(x))^{i}\equiv \delta ^{ij}\partial
_{j}U(x)} and {\displaystyle \partial _{i}U(x)\equiv \partial U(x)/\partial x^{i}} is
the gradient flow vector field with {\displaystyle U(x)} being the Langevin function often
interpreted as the energy of the purely dissipative stochastic dynamical system.
The Parisi-Sourlas method is a way of construction of the path integral representation of the Langevin
SDE. It can be thought of as a BRST gauge fixing procedure that uses the Langevin SDE as a gauge
condition. Namely, one considers the following functional integral,
{\displaystyle {\mathcal {W}}=\left\langle \int \dots \int J\left(\prod \nolimits _{\tau }\delta ({\dot {x}}
(\tau )-{\mathcal {F}}(x(\tau )))\right)Dx\right\rangle _{\text{noise}},}
where {\displaystyle {\mathcal {F}}} denotes the r.h.s. of the Langevin SDE,
{\displaystyle \textstyle \langle \cdot \rangle _{\text{noise}}\equiv \int
\dots \int \cdot P(\xi )D\xi } is the operation of stochastic averaging with
{\displaystyle P(\xi )\propto e^{-\int _{t'}^{t}d\tau \xi ^{2}(\tau )/2}} being the normalized distribution of
noise configurations,
{\displaystyle \textstyle J=\operatorname {Det} {\frac {\delta ({\dot {x}}(\tau )-{\mathcal {F}}(x(\tau )))}
{\delta x(\tau ')}}}
is the Jacobian of the corresponding functional derivative, and the path integration is over all closed
paths, {\displaystyle x(t)=x(t')} where {\displaystyle t'} {\displaystyle
t>t'}are the initial and final moments of temporal evolution.
Topological interpretation.
Topological aspects of the Parisi-Sourlas construction can be briefly outlined in the following manner.
[21] The delta-functional, i.e., the collection of the infinite number of delta-functions, ensures that only
solutions of the Langevin SDE contribute to {\displaystyle {\mathcal {W}}} In the context of BRST
procedure, these solutions can be viewed as Gribov copies. Each solution contributes either positive or
negative unity: {\textstyle {\mathcal {W}}=\textstyle \left\langle I_{N}
(\xi )\right\rangle _{\text{noise}}}with {\textstyle I_{N}(\xi )=\sum
_{\text{solutions}}\operatorname {sign} J} being the index of the so-called Nicolai
map, {\textstyle \xi =({\dot {x}}+\partial U)/(2\Theta )^{1/2}}, which in this
case is the map from the space of closed paths in {\textstyle X} to the space of noise configurations,
a map that provides a noise configuration at which a given closed path is a solution of the Langevin
SDE. {\textstyle I_{N}(\xi )} can be viewed as a realization of Poincaré–Hopf theorem on the
infinite-dimensional space of close paths with the Langevin SDE playing the role of the vector field and
with the solutions of Langevin SDE playing the role of the critical points with index
{\displaystyle \operatorname {sign} J}. {\textstyle I_{N}(\xi )} is independent of the noise configuration
because it is of topological character. The same it true for its stochastic average {\displaystyle
{\mathcal {W}}}, which is not the partition function of the model but, instead, its Witten index.
Path integral representation
With the help of a standard field theoretic technique that involves introduction of additional field called
Lagrange multiplier, {\displaystyle B} and a pair of fermionic fields called Faddeev–Popov ghosts,
{\displaystyle \chi ,{\bar {\chi }}},the Witten index can be given the following form,
{\displaystyle {\mathcal {W}}=\int \dots \int _{p.b.c.}e^{(Q,\Psi )}D\Phi ,}
where {\displaystyle \Phi } denotes collection of all the fields, p.b.c. stands for periodic boundary
conditions, the so-called gauge fermion, {\displaystyle \textstyle \Psi =\int
_{t'}^{t}d\tau (\imath _{\dot {x}}-{\bar {d}})(\tau )}, with {\displaystyle \textstyle \imath
_{\dot {x}}=i{\bar {\chi }}_{j}{\dot {x}}^{j}} and {\textstyle \textstyle
{\bar {d}}=-i{\bar {\chi }}_{j}\delta ^{jk}(\partial _{k}U+\Theta iB_{k})}, and the BRST symmetry defined
via its action on arbitrary functional {\displaystyle
A(\Phi )} as {\displaystyle
(Q,A(\Phi ))=\textstyle \int _{t'}^{t}d\tau (\chi ^{i}(\tau )\delta /\delta x^{i}(\tau )+B_{i}(\tau )\delta
/\delta {\bar {\chi }}_{i}(\tau ))A(\Phi )}. In the BRST formalism, the Q-exact pieces like,
{\displaystyle (Q,\Psi )}, serve as gauge fixing tools. Therefore, the path integral expression for
{\displaystyle {\mathcal {W}}} can be interpreted as a model whose action contains nothing else but the
gauge fixing term. This is a definitive feature of Witten-type topological field theories and in this
particular case of BRST procedure approach to SDEs, the BRST symmetry can be also recognized as the
topological supersymmetry.[21]
A common way to explain the BRST procedure is to say that the BRST symmetry generates the fermionic
version of the gauge transformations, whereas its overall effect on the path integral is to limit the
integration only to configurations that satisfy a specified gauge condition. This interpretation also
applies to Parisi-Sourlas approach with the deformations of the trajectory and the Langevin SDE playing
the roles of the gauge transformations and the gauge condition respectively.
Operator representation
Physical fermions in the high-energy physics and condensed matter models have antiperiodic boundary
conditions in time. The unconventional periodic boundary conditions for fermions in the path integral
expression for the Witten index is the origin of the topological character of this object. These boundary
conditions reveal themselves in the operator representation of the Witten index as the alternating sign
operator,
{\displaystyle {\mathcal {W}}=\operatorname {Tr} (-1)^{\hat {n}}{\hat {\mathcal {M}}}_{tt'},}
where {\textstyle {\hat {n}}} is the operator of the number of ghosts/fermions and the finite-time
stochastic evolution operator (SEO), {\textstyle {\hat {\mathcal {M}}}_{tt'}=e^{-(t-t')
{\hat {H}}}}where,
{\displaystyle {\hat {H}}={\hat {L}}_{-\partial U}-\Theta {\hat {\triangle }}=[{\hat {d}},{\hat {\bar {d}}}],}
is the infinitesimal SEO with {\displaystyle \textstyle {\hat {L}}} being the Lie derivative along the
subscript vector field, {\textstyle {\hat {\triangle }}} being the Laplacian,
{\displaystyle \textstyle {\hat {d}}=\chi ^{i}\partial /\partial x^{i}} being the exterior derivative, which is
the operator representative of the TS, and {\displaystyle \textstyle {\hat {\bar {d}}}=-(i{\hat {\bar
{\chi }}}_{i})\delta ^{ij}(\partial _{j}U+\Theta (i{\hat {B}}_{j}))}
, where and{\displaystyle i{\hat {B}}_{j}=\partial
/\partial x^{j}}
{\displaystyle i{\hat {\bar {\chi }}}_{j}=\partial /\partial \chi ^{j}} are bosonic and
fermionic momenta, and with square brackets denoting bi-graded commutator, i.e., it is an
anticommutator if both operators are fermionic (contain odd total number of {\displaystyle \chi }
and {\displaystyle {\hat {\bar {\chi }}}}) and a commutator otherwise. The exterior derivative and
{\displaystyle \textstyle {\hat {\bar {d}}}} are supercharges. They are nilpotent, e.g.
{\displaystyle {\hat {d}}^{2}=0} and commutative with the SEO. In other words, Langevin SDEs possess
N=2 supersymmetry. The fact that {\displaystyle \textstyle {\hat {\bar {d}}}} is a supercharge is
accidental. For SDEs of arbitrary form, this is not true.
Hilbert space
The wavefunctions are functions not only of the bosonic variables , {\displaystyle x\in X}but also
of the Grassmann numbers or fermions, {\displaystyle \chi \in TX} from the tangent space
of {\displaystyle X} The wavefunctions can be viewed as differential forms on {\displaystyle X} with
the fermions playing the role of the differentials {\displaystyle \chi \equiv dx\wedge } .[24] The
concept of infinitesimal SEO generalizes the Fokker–Planck operator, which is essentially the SEO acting
on top differential forms that have the meaning of the total probability distributions. Differential forms
of lesser degree can be interpreted, at least locally on {\displaystyle X}, as conditional probability
distributions.[28] Viewing the spaces of differential forms of all degrees as wavefunctions of the model is
a mathematical necessity. Without it, the Witten index representing the most fundamental object of the
model—the partition function of the noise—would not exist and the dynamical partition function would
not represent the number of fixed points of the SDE (see below). The most general understanding of the
wavefunctions is the coordinate-free objects that contain information not only on trajectories but also
on the evolution of the differentials and/or Lyapunov exponents.[29]
Relation to nonlinear sigma model and algebraic topology
In Ref.,[24] a model has been introduced that can be viewed as a 1D prototype of the topological
nonlinear sigma models (TNSM),[22] a subclass of the Witten-type topological field theories. The 1D
TNSM is defined for Riemannian phase spaces while for Euclidean phase spaces it reduces to the Parisi-
Sourlas model. Its key difference from STS is the diffusion operator which is the Hodge Laplacian for 1D
TNSM and {\displaystyle \textstyle {\hat {L}}_{e_{a}}{\hat {L}}_{e_{a}}}for STS . This difference in
unimportant in the context of relation between STS and algebraic topology, the relation established by
the theory of 1D TNSM (see, e.g., Refs.[24][21]).
The model is defined by the following evolution operator {\textstyle {\hat
{H}}={\hat {L}}_{-\partial U}+\Theta [{\hat {d}},{\hat {d}}^{\dagger }]} where
{\textstyle (\partial U)^{i}=g^{ij}\partial _{j}U} {\textstyle g} being the metric, {\textstyle [{\hat
{d}},{\hat {d}}^{\dagger }]} is the Hodge Laplacian, and the differential forms from the exterior algebra of
the phase space, {\textstyle \Omega (X)}, are viewed as wavefunctions. There exists a similarity
transformation, {\displaystyle {\hat {H}}\to {\hat
{H}}_{U}=e^{U/2\Theta }{\hat {H}}e^{-U/2\Theta }}, that brings the evolution operator to the explicitly
Hermitian form {\displaystyle {\hat {H}}_{U}=\Theta [{\hat {d}}_{U},{\hat
{d}}_{U}^{\dagger }]} with {\displaystyle {\hat
{d}}_{U}=e^{U/2\Theta }{\hat {d}}e^{-U/2\Theta }=\chi ^{i}(\partial /\partial x^{i}-\partial _{i}U/2\Theta )}
In the Euclidean case {\displaystyle {\hat {H}}_{U}} is the Hamiltonian of a N=2 supersymmetric
quantum mechanics. One can introduce two Hermitian operators,
{\displaystyle {\hat {q}}_{1}=({\hat {d}}_{U}+{\hat
{d}}_{U}^{\dagger })/2^{1/2}} and {\displaystyle {\hat {q}}_{2}=i({\hat
{d}}_{U}-{\hat {d}}_{U}^{\dagger })/2^{1/2}}such that {\displaystyle {\hat {H}}_{U}=\Theta {\hat
{q}}_{1}^{2}=\Theta {\hat {q}}_{2}^{2}} . This demonstrates that the spectrum of
{\displaystyle {\hat {H}}_{U}} and/or {\displaystyle {\hat {H}}} is real and nonnegative. This is also
true for SEOs of Langevin SDEs. For the SDEs of arbitrary form, however, this is no longer true as the
eigenvalues of the SEO can be negative and even complex, which actually allows for the TS to be broken
spontanenously.
The following properties of the evolution operator of 1D TNSM hold even for the SEO of the SDEs of
arbitrary form. The evolution operator commutes with the operator of the degree of differential forms.
As a result, {\displaystyle \textstyle {\hat {H}}={\hat {H}}^{(\dim X)}\oplus
\dots \oplus {\hat {H}}^{(0)}}, where {\displaystyle \textstyle {\hat {H}}^{(k)}={\hat {H}}|
_{\Omega ^{(k)}}} and {\displaystyle \Omega ^{(n)}(X)} is the space of differential forms of
degree {\displaystyle n}. Furthermore, due to the presence of TS,
{\textstyle \Omega (X)={\mathcal {H}}\oplus {\mathcal {N}}\oplus ({\hat {d}}{\mathcal {N}})}where
{\textstyle {\mathcal {H}}} are the supersymmetric eigenstates, {\textstyle \theta 's} non-trivial
in de Rham cohomology whereas the rest are the pairs of non-supersymmetric eigenstates of the
form {\textstyle |\vartheta \rangle } {\textstyle {\hat {d}}|\vartheta \rangle }. All
supersymmetric eigenstates have exactly zero eigenvalue and, barring accidental situations, all non-
supersymmetric states have non-zero eigenvalues. Non-supersymmetric pairs of eigenstates do not
contribute to the Witten index, which equals the difference in the numbers of the supersymmetric
states of even and odd degrees, {\textstyle {\mathcal {W}}=\#\
{{\text{even }}\theta 's\}-\#\{{\text{odd }}\theta 's\}.}For compact {\displaystyle X} each de Rham
cohomology class provides one supersymmetric eigenstate and the Witten index equals the Euler
characteristic of the phase space.
BRST procedure for SDEs of arbitrary form
The Parisi-Sourlas method of BRST procedure approach to Langevin SDEs have also been adapted to
classical mechanics,[3] stochastic generalization of classical mechanics,[7] higher order Langevin SDEs,
[8] and, more recently, to SDEs of arbitrary form.[9] While there exist standard techniques that allow to
consider models with colored noises, higher-dimensional "base spaces" described by partial SDEs etc.,
the key elements of STS can be discussed using the following basic class of SDEs,
{\displaystyle {\dot {x}}(t)=F(x(t))+(2\Theta )^{1/2}e_{a}(x(t))\xi ^{a}(t),}
where {\textstyle x\in X} is a point in the phase space assumed for simplicity a closed topological
manifold, {\displaystyle F(x)\in TX_{x}} is a sufficiently smooth vector field, called flow
vector field, from the tangent space of {\displaystyle X}
{\displaystyle e_{a}\in TX,a=1,\ldots ,\dim X} is a set of sufficiently smooth vector fields that specify how
the system is coupled to the noise, which is called additive/multiplicative depending on whether
{\displaystyle e_{a}} are independent/dependent on the position on {\displaystyle X}
Ambiguity of path integral representation and Ito–Stratonovich dilemma
BRST gauge fixing procedure goes along the same lines as in case of Langevin SDEs. The topological
interpretation of the BRST procedure is just the same and the path integral representation of the Witten
index is defined by the gauge fermion, {\displaystyle \textstyle \Psi } given by the same expression
but with the generalized version of {\textstyle \textstyle {\bar {d}}=\imath
_{F}-\Theta \imath _{e_{a}}(Q,\imath _{e_{a}})}. There is one important subtlety, however, that appears
on the way to the operator representation of the model. Unlike for Langevin SDEs, classical mechanics,
and other SDEs with additive noises, the path integral representation of the finite-time SEO is an
ambiguous object. This ambiguity originates from non-commutativity of momenta and position
operators, e.g., {\displaystyle {\hat {B}}{\hat {x}}\neq {\hat {x}}{\hat {B}}}. As a
result, {\displaystyle B(\tau )x(\tau )} in the path integral representation has a whole one-
parameter family of possible interpretations in the operator
representation, {\displaystyle (\alpha {\hat {B}}{\hat {x}}+(1-\alpha ){\hat
{x}}{\hat {B}})|\psi (\tau )\rangle }, where {\displaystyle |\psi (\tau )\rangle } denotes an arbitrary
wavefunction. Accordingly, there is a whole {\displaystyle \alpha }-family of infinitesimal SEOs,
{\displaystyle {\hat {H}}_{\alpha }={\hat {L}}_{F}-\Theta {\hat {L}}_{e_{a}}{\hat {L}}_{e_{a}}=[{\hat {d}},
{\hat {\bar {d}}}_{\alpha }],}
with {\displaystyle \textstyle {\hat {\bar {d}}}_{\alpha }={\hat
{\imath }}_{F_{\alpha }}-\Theta {\hat {\imath }}_{e_{a}}{\hat {L}}_{e_{a}}}, {\displaystyle {\hat
{\imath }}_{F_{\alpha }}} being the interior multiplication by the subscript vector field, and the "shifted"
flow vector field being {\displaystyle \textstyle F_{\alpha }=F-\Theta
(2\alpha -1)(e_{a}\cdot \partial )e_{a}}. Noteworthy, unlike in Langevin SDEs, {\displaystyle {\hat
{\bar {d}}}_{\alpha }} is not a supercharge and STS cannot be identified as a N=2 supersymmetric theory
in the general case.
The path integral representation of stochastic dynamics is equivalent to the traditional understanding of
SDEs as of a continuous time limit of stochastic difference equations where different choices of
parameter {\displaystyle \alpha } are called "interpretations" of SDEs. The choice
{\displaystyle \alpha =1/2}, for which {\displaystyle \textstyle F_{1/2}=F} and which is known
in quantum theory as Weyl symmetrization rule, is known as the Stratonovich interpretation,
whereas {\displaystyle \alpha =1} as the Ito interpretation. While in quantum theory the Weyl
symmetrization is preferred because it guaranties hermiticity of Hamiltonians, in STS the Weyl-
Stratonovich approach is preferred because it corresponds to the most natural mathematical meaning of
the finite-time SEO discussed below—the stochastically averaged pullback induced by the SDE-defined
diffeomorphisms.
Eigensystem of stochastic evolution operator
The three possible types of SEO spectra on a 3D sphere. Each line of triples of graphs represents . for the
three types of spectra. Black dots at the origin for the first and the last lines represent supersymmetric
eigenstates from the zeroth and the third cohomologies of the 3 sphere. For types b and c, the (fastest
growing) ground (eigen)states are non-supersymmetric because they have non-zero eigenvalues. TS is
broken spontaneously. Vertical arrowed lines visualize supersymmetry operator.
Source4; Vasilii Tiorkin - Own work
As compared to the SEO of Langevin SDEs, the SEO of a general form SDE is pseudo-Hermitian.[18] As a
result, the eigenvalues of non-supersymmetric eigenstates are not restricted to be real positive,
whereas the eigenvalues of supersymmetric eigenstates are still exactly zero. Just like for Langevin SDEs
and nonlinear sigma model, the structure of the eigensystem of the SEO reestablishes the topological
character of the Witten index: the contributions from the non-supersymmetric pairs of eigenstates
vanish and only supersymmetric states contribute the Euler characteristic of (closed) {\displaystyle
X}Among other properties of the SEO spectra is that {\displaystyle \textstyle {\hat
{H}}^{(\operatorname {dim} X)}} and {\displaystyle \textstyle {\hat {H}}^{(0)}} never break TS,
i.e., {\displaystyle \textstyle Re(\operatorname {spec} {\hat
{H}}^{(\operatorname {dim} X)})\geq 0}. As a result, there are three major types of the SEO spectra
presented in the figure on the right. The two types that have negative (real parts of) eigenvalues
correspond to the spontaneously broken TS. All types of the SEO spectra are realizable as can be
established, e.g., from the exact relation between the theory of kinematic dynamo and STS.[30]
STS without BRST procedure
The mathematical meaning of stochastic evolution operator
The finite-time SEO can be obtained in another, more mathematical way based on the idea to study the
SDE-induced actions on differential forms directly, without going through the BRST gauge fixing
procedure. The so-obtained finite-time SEO is known in dynamical systems theory as the generalized
transfer operator[19][20] and it has also been used in the classical theory of SDEs (see, e.g., Refs.[31]
[32] ). The contribution to this construction from STS[9] is the exposition of the supersymmetric
structure underlying it and establishing its relation to the BRST procedure for SDEs.
Namely, for any configuration of the noise, {\displaystyle \xi } and an initial condition,
{\displaystyle x(t')=x'\in X} SDE defines a unique solution/trajectory,
{\displaystyle x(t)\in X}. Even for noise configurations that are non-differentiable with respect to time
{\displaystyle t} the solution is differentiable with respect to the initial condition {\displaystyle x'}
[33] In other words, SDE defines the family of the noise-configuration-dependent diffeomorphisms of
the phase space to itself {\displaystyle M_{tt'}:X\to X} This object can be understood
as a collection and/or definition of all the noise-configuration-dependent trajectories,
{\displaystyle x(t)=M_{tt'}(x')}. The diffeomorphisms induce actions
or pullbacks, {\displaystyle \textstyle M_{t't}^{*}:\Omega (X)\to \Omega (X)}.
Unlike, say, trajectories in {\displaystyle X}, pullbacks are linear objects even for nonlinear
{\displaystyle X}. Linear objects can be averaged and averaging {\displaystyle M_{t't}^{*}} over the
noise configurations, {\displaystyle \xi } results in the finite-time SEO which is unique and
corresponds to the Weyl-Stratonovich interpretation of the BRST procedure approach to
SDEs, {\displaystyle {\hat {\mathcal {M}}}_{tt'}=\langle M_{t't}^{*}\rangle _{\text{noise}}=e^{-(t-t'){\hat
{H}}_{1/2}}} .
Within this definition of the finite-time SEO, the Witten index can be recognized as the sharp trace of the
generalized transfer operator.[19][20] It also links the Witten index to the Lefschetz index,
{\textstyle \textstyle
I_{L}=\operatorname {Tr} (-1)^{\hat {n}}M_{t't}^{*}=\sum _{x\in \operatorname {fix}
M_{tt'}}\operatorname {sign} \operatorname {det} (\delta _{j}^{i}-\partial M_{tt'}^{i}(x)/\partial x^{j})}, a
topological constant that equals the Euler characteristic of the (closed) phase space. Namely,
{\textstyle \textstyle {\mathcal
{W}}=\operatorname {Tr} (-1)^{\hat {n}}\langle M_{t't}^{*}\rangle _{\text{noise}}=\langle
\operatorname {Tr} (-1)^{\hat {n}}M_{t't}^{*}\rangle _{\text{noise}}=I_{L}}.
The meaning of supersymmetry and the butterfly effect
The N=2 supersymmetry of Langevin SDEs has been linked to the Onsager principle of microscopic
reversibility[15] and Jarzynski equality.[14] In classical mechanics, a relation between the corresponding
N=2 supersymmetry and ergodicity has been proposed.[6] In general form SDEs, where physical
arguments may not be applicable, a lower level explanation of the TS is available. This explanation is
based on understanding of the finite-time SEO as a stochastically averaged pullback of the SDE-defined
diffeomorphisms (see subsection above). In this picture, the question of why any SDE has TS is the same
as the question of why exterior derivative commutes with the pullback of any diffeomorphism. The
answer to this question is differentiability of the corresponding map. In other words, the presence of TS
is the algebraic version of the statement that continuous-time flow preserves continuity of
{\displaystyle X} Two initially close points will remain close during evolution, which is just yet another
way of saying that {\displaystyle M_{tt'}} is a diffeomorphism.
In deterministic chaotic models, initially close points can part in the limit of infinitely long temporal
evolution. This is the famous butterfly effect, which is equivalent to the statement that
{\displaystyle M_{tt'}} losses differentiability in this limit. In algebraic representation of dynamics, the
evolution in the infinitely long time limit is described by the ground state of the SEO and the butterfly
effect is equivalent to the spontaneous breakdown of TS, i.e., to the situation when the ground state is
not supersymmetric. Noteworthy, unlike traditional understanding of deterministic chaotic dynamics,
the spontaneous breakdown of TS works also for stochastic cases. This is the most important
generalization because deterministic dynamics is, in fact, a mathematical idealization. Real dynamical
systems cannot be isolated from their environments and thus always experience stochastic influence.
Spontaneous supersymmetry breaking and dynamical chaos
BRST gauge fixing procedure applied to SDEs leads directly to the Witten index. The Witten index is of
topological character and it does not respond to any perturbation. In particular, all response correlators
calculated using the Witten index vanish. This fact has a physical interpretation within the STS: the
physical meaning of the Witten index is the partition function of the noise[28] and since there is no
backaction from the dynamical system to the noise, the Witten index has no information on the details
of the SDE. In contrast, the information on the details of the model is contained in the other trace-like
object of the theory, the dynamical partition function,
{\displaystyle {\mathcal {Z}}_{tt'}=\int \dots \int _{a.p.b.c.}e^{(Q,\Psi )}D\Phi =\operatorname {Tr} {\hat
{\mathcal {M}}}_{tt'},}
where a.p.b.c. denotes antiperiodic boundary conditions for the fermionic fields and periodic boundary
conditions for bosonic fields. In the standard manner, the dynamical partition function can be promoted
to the generating functional by coupling the model to external probing fields.
For a wide class of models, dynamical partition function provides lower bound for the stochastically
averaged number of fixed points of the SDE-defined diffeomorphisms,
{\displaystyle \left.{\mathcal {Z}}_{tt'}\right|_{t-t'\to \infty }=\sum \nolimits _{p}e^{-(t-t'){\mathsf
{E}}_{p}}\leq \langle \#\{{\text{fixed points of }}M_{t't}\}\rangle _{\text{noise}}\propto e^{(t-t')S}.}
Here, index {\displaystyle p} runs over "physical states", i.e., the eigenstates that grow fastest with
the rate of the exponential growth given as, {\textstyle \Gamma
_{g}=-\min _{\alpha }\operatorname {Re} {\mathsf {E}}_{\alpha }\geq 0} and parameter {\displaystyle
S} can be viewed as stochastic version of dynamical entropy such as topological entropy. Positive
entropy is one of the key signatures of deterministic chaos. Therefore, the situation with positive
{\displaystyle \Gamma _{g}} must be identified as chaotic in the generalized, stochastic sense as it
implies positive entropy: {\displaystyle 0<\Gamma _{g}\leq S} At the same time,
positive {\displaystyle \Gamma _{g}} implies that TS is broken spontaneously, that is, the ground
state in not supersymmetric because its eigenvalue is not zero. In other words, positive dynamical
entropy is a reason to identify spontaneous TS breaking as the stochastic generalization of the concept
of dynamical chaos. Noteworthy, Langevin SDEs are never chaotic because the spectrum of their SEO is
real non-negative.
The complete list of reasons why spontaneous TS breaking must be viewed as the stochastic
generalization of the concept of dynamical chaos is as follows.
Positive dynamical entropy.
According to the Goldstone's theorem, spontaneous TS breaking must tailor a long-range dynamical
behavior, one of the manifestations of which is the butterfly effect discussed above in the context of the
meaning of TS.
From the properties of the eigensystem of SEO, TS can be spontaneously broken only if {\displaystyle
\dim X\geq 3} . This conclusion can be viewed as the stochastic generalization of
the Poincare–Bendixson theorem for deterministic chaos.
In the deterministic case, integrable models in the sense of dynamical systems have well-defined
global stable and unstable manifolds of {\displaystyle F} The bras/kets of the global ground states of
such models are the Poincare duals of the global stable/unstable manifolds. These ground states are
supersymmetric so that TS is not broken spontaneously. On the contrary, when the model is non-
integrable or chaotic, its global (un)stable manifolds are not well-defined topological manifolds, but
rather have a fractal, self-recurrent structure that can be captured using the concept of branching
manifolds.[34] Wavefunctions that can represent such manifolds cannot be supersymmetric. Therefore,
TS breaking is intrinsically related to the concept of non-integrability in the sense of dynamical systems,
which is actually yet another widely accepted definition of deterministic chaos.
All the above features of TS breaking work for both deterministic and stochastic models. This is in
contrast with the traditional deterministic chaos whose trajectory-based properties such as
the topological mixing cannot in principle be generalized to stochastic case because, just like in quantum
dynamics, all trajectories are possible in the presence of noise and, say, the topological mixing property
is satisfied trivially by all models with non-zero noise intensity.
Supersymetric Theory of Stochastic dynamics as a topological field theory
The square acbd represents an instanton, i.e, the family of trajectories of deterministic flow (dotted
arrowed curves) leading from one critical point (b) to another (a). The bra/ket ( {\displaystyle
\langle a|}{\displaystyle |b\rangle }) of the locally supersymmetric ground states (vacua) corresponding
to these critical points are the Poincare duals of the local unstable/stable manifolds. Operators
{\displaystyle {\hat {O}}_{1,2}} are Poincare duals of vertical/horizontal lines. The value of the
instantonic matrix element is the intersection number (the difference in the numbers of positive (black)
and negative (white) intersections). It is invariant under the temporal evolution due to the
flow,
source; Vasilii Tiorkin - Own work
Figure representing instanton matrix element in STS above.
{\displaystyle {\hat {O}}_{1}(0)\to {\hat {O}}_{1}(t
The topological sector of STS can be recognized as a member of the Witten-type topological field
theories.[21][22][23][24][25] In other words, some objects in STS are of topological character with the
Witten index being the most famous example. There are other classes of topological objects. One class
of objects is related to instantons, i.e., transient dynamics. Crumpling paper, protein folding, and many
other nonlinear dynamical processes in response to quenches, i.e., to external (sudden) changes of
parameters, can be recognized as instantonic dynamics. From the mathematical point of view,
instantons are families of solutions of deterministic equations of motion, {\displaystyle {\dot
{x}}=F} that lead from, say, less stable fixed point of {\displaystyle F} to a more stable fixed point.
Certain matrix elements calculated on instantons are of topological nature. An example of such matrix
elements can be defined for a pair of critical points, {\displaystyle a} and {\displaystyle b}
with {\displaystyle a} being more stable than {\displaystyle b} ,
{\displaystyle \left.\int \dots \int _{x(\pm \infty )=a,b}\left(\prod \nolimits _{i}O_{i}
(t_{i})\right)e^{({\mathcal {Q}},\Psi )}D\Phi \right|_{\Theta \to 0}=\langle a|{\mathcal {T}}\left(\prod
\nolimits _{i}{\hat {O}}_{i}(t_{i})\right)|b\rangle .}
Here {\displaystyle \langle a|} and {\displaystyle |b\rangle } are the bra and ket of the
corresponding perturbative supersymmetric ground states, or vacua, which are the Poincare duals of the
local stable and unstable manifolds of the corresponding critical point; {\displaystyle {\mathcal
{T}}} denotes chronological ordering; {\displaystyle O} are observables that are the Poincare duals
of some closed submanifolds in {\displaystyle X}; {\displaystyle {\hat {O}}
(t)={\hat {\mathcal {M}}}_{t_{0}t}{\hat {O}}{\hat {\mathcal {M}}}_{t,t_{0}}} are the observables in the
Heisenberg representation with {\displaystyle t_{0}} being an unimportant reference time moment.
The critical points have different indexes of stability so that the states {\displaystyle |
a\rangle } and {\displaystyle |b\rangle } are topologically inequivalent as they represent unstable
manifolds of different dimensionalities. The above matrix elements are independent of {\displaystyle
t_{i}'s} as they actually represent the intersection number of {\displaystyle O}manifolds on the
instanton as exemplified in the figure.
The above instantonic matrix elements are exact only in the deterministic limit. In the general stochastic
case, one can consider global supersymmetric states, {\displaystyle \theta } from the De Rham
cohomology classes of {\displaystyle X} and observables {\displaystyle \gamma } that are
Poincare duals of closed manifolds non-trivial in homology of {\displaystyle X}The following matrix
elements, {\displaystyle \textstyle \langle \theta _{\alpha }|{\mathcal
{T}}\left(\prod \nolimits _{i}{\hat {\gamma }}_{i}(t_{i})\right)|\theta _{\beta }\rangle ,} are topological
invariants representative of the structure of De Rham cohomology ring of {\displaystyle X}
Applications of STS
Supersymmetric theory of stochastic dynamics can be interesting in different ways. For example, STS
offers a promising realization of the concept of supersymmetry. In general, there are two major
problems in the context of supersymmetry. The first is establishing connections between this
mathematical entity and the real world. Within STS, supersymmetry is the most common symmetry in
nature because it is pertinent to all continuous time dynamical systems. The second is the spontaneous
breakdown of supersymmetry. This problem is particularly important for particle physics because
supersymmetry of elementary particles, if exists at extremely short scale, must be broken spontaneously
at large scale. This problem is nontrivial because supersymmetries are hard to break spontaneously, the
very reason behind the introduction of soft or explicit supersymmetry breaking.[35] Within STS,
spontaneous breakdown of supersymmetry is indeed a nontrivial dynamical phenomenon that has been
variously known across disciplines as chaos, turbulence, self-organized criticality etc.
A few more specific applications of STS are as follows.
Classification of stochastic dynamics
Stochastic dynamical systems can be classified according to whether TS is spontaneously broken or not
(ordered/symmetric) and whether the flow vector field is integrable or non-integrable (chaotic).
Symmetric phase can be identified as thermal equilibrium (T). Ordered non-integrable phase can be
called chaos (C) because it hosts conventional deterministic chaos. Ordered integrable phase can be
called noise-induced chaos (N) because TS broking involves antiinstantons that disappear in the
deterministic limit. The N-phase is also known in the literature as self-organized criticality.
Stochastic dynamical systems can be classified according to whether TS is spontaneously broken or not
(ordered/symmetric) and whether the flow vector field is integrable or non-integrable (chaotic).
Symmetric phase can be identified as thermal equilibrium (T). Ordered non-integrable phase can be
called chaos (C) because it hosts conventional deterministic chaos. Ordered integrable phase can be
called noise-induced chaos (N) because TS broking involves antiinstantons that disappear in the
deterministic limit. The N-phase is also known in the literature as self-organized criticality.
Source;Vasilii Tiorkin - Own work
STS Phase Diagram
STS provides classification for stochastic models depending on whether TS is broken and integrability of
flow vector field. In can be exemplified as a part of the general phase diagram at the border of
chaos (see figure on the right). The phase diagram has the following properties:
For physical models, TS gets restored eventually with the increase of noise intensity.
Symmetric phase can be called thermal equilibrium or T-phase because the ground state is the
supersymmetric state of steady-state total probability distribution.
In the deterministic limit, ordered phase is equivalent to deterministic chaotic dynamics with non-
integrable flow.
Ordered non-integrable phase can be called chaos or C-phase because ordinary deterministic chaos
belongs to it.
Ordered integrable phase can be called noise-induced chaos or N-phase because it disappears in the
deterministic limit. TS is broken by the condensation of (anti-)instantons (see below).
At stronger noises, the sharp N-C boundary must smear out into a crossover because (anti-)instantons
lose their individuality and it is hard for an external observer to tell one tunneling process from another.
Demystification of self-organized criticality
Many sudden (or instantonic) processes in nature, such as, e.g., crackling noise, exhibit scale-free
statistics often called the Zipf's law. As an explanation for this peculiar spontaneous dynamical behavior,
it was proposed to believe that some stochastic dynamical systems have a tendency to self-tune
themselves into a critical point, the phenomenological approach known as self-organized
criticality (SOC).[36] STS offers an alternative perspective on this phenomenon.[37] Within STS, SOC is
nothing more than dynamics in the N-phase. Specifically, the definitive feature of the N-phase is the
peculiar mechanism of the TS breaking. Unlike in the C-phase, where the TS is broken by the non-
integrability of the flow, in the N-phase, the TS is spontaneously broken due to the condensation of the
configurations of instantons and noise-induced antiinstantons, i.e., time-reversed instantons. These
processes can be roughly interpreted as the noise-induced tunneling events between, e.g., different
attractors. Qualitatively, the dynamics in the N-phase appears to an external observer as a sequence of
sudden jumps or "avalanches" that must exhibit a scale-free behavior/statistics as a result of
the Goldstone theorem. This picture of dynamics in the N-phase is exactly the dynamical behavior that
the concept of SOC was designed to explain. In contrast with the original understanding of SOC,[38] its
STS interpretation has little to do with the traditional critical phenomena theory where scale-free
behavior is associated with unstable fixed points of the renormalization group flow.
Kinematic dynamo theory
Magnetohydrodynamical phenomenon of kinematic dynamo can also be identified as the spontaneous
breakdown of TS.[30] This result follows from equivalence between the evolution operator of the
magnetic field and the SEO of the corresponding SDE describing the flow of the background matter. The
so emerged STS-kinematic dynamo correspondence proves, in particular, that both types of TS breaking
spectra are possible, with the real and complex ground state eigenvalues, because kinematic dynamo
with both types of the fastest growing eigenmodes are known.[39]
Transient dynamics
It is well known that various types of transient dynamics, such as quenches, exhibit spontaneous long-
range behavior. In case of quenches across phase transitions, this behavior is often attributed to the
proximity of criticality. At the same time, other quenches, not across a phase transition, are also known
to exhibit long-range characteristics with the best known examples being the Barkhausen effect and
other realizations of the concept of crackling noise. It is intuitively appealing that theoretical explanation
for the scale-free behavior in quenches must be the same disregard whether the quench is across a
phase transition or not. STS offers such an explanation. Namely, transient dynamics is essentially a
composite instanton and TS is intrinsically broken within instantons. Even though TS breaking within
instantons is not exactly the phenomenon of the spontaneous breakdown of a symmetry by a global
ground state, this effective TS breaking must also result in a scale-free behavior. This understanding is
supported by the fact that condensed instantons lead to appearance of logarithms in the correlation
functions.[40] This picture of transient dynamics explains computational efficiency of the digital
memcomputing machines.[41]
Low energy effective theories for dynamical chaos
In physics, spontaneous symmetry breaking is known as "ordering". For example, the spontaneous
breakdown of translational symmetry in a liquid is the mathematical essence of crystallization or spatial
"ordering" of molecules into a lattice. Therefore, spontaneous TS breaking picture of chaotic dynamics is
in a certain sense opposite to the semantics of word "chaos". Due to its temporal character, it is
actually Chronos, not Chaos, that appears to be the primordial Greek deity closest in its spirit to the TS
breaking order. Perhaps, a more accurate identifier than "chaos" should be coined for TS breaking in the
future. As of this moment, this qualitatively new understanding of dynamical chaos already points into a
research direction that may lead to resolutions of some important problems such as turbulence and
neurodynamics. Namely, as in case of any other "ordering", a simplified yet accurate description of
chaotic dynamics can be achieved in terms of the low-energy effective theory for an order parameter.
While the low-energy effective description of chaotic dynamics may be very case specific, its order
parameter must always be a representative of the gapless fermions or goldstinos of the spontaneously
broken TS.
rotoplanetary disk, colliding and sticking together and gradually growing, up to and including the high-
energy collisions between sizable planetesimals.[18]
In addition, the giant planets probably had accretion disks of their own, in the first meaning of the word.
[76] The clouds of captured hydrogen and helium gas contracted, spun up, flattened, and deposited gas
onto the surface of each giant protoplanet, while solid bodies within that disk accreted into the giant
planet's regular moons
GRAND TACK HYPOTHESIS.
In planetary astronomy, the grand tack hypothesis proposes that after its formation at
3.5 AU, Jupiter migrated inward to 1.5 AU, before reversing course due to capturing Saturn in an orbital
resonance, eventually halting near its current orbit at 5.2 AU. The reversal of Jupiter's migration is
likened to the path of a sailboat changing directions (tacking) as it travels against the wind
Jupiter might have shaped the Solar System on its Grand Tack
.[1]
The planetesimal disk is truncated at 1.0 AU by Jupiter's migration, limiting the material available to
form Mars.[2] Jupiter twice crosses the asteroid belt, scattering asteroids outward then inward. The
resulting asteroid belt has a small mass, a wide range of inclinations and eccentricities, and a population
originating from both inside and outside Jupiter's original orbit.[3] Debris produced by collisions among
planetesimals swept ahead of Jupiter may have driven an early generation of planets into the Sun.[4]
Description
In the grand tack hypothesis Jupiter underwent a two-phase migration after its formation, migrating
inward to 1.5 AU before reversing course and migrating outward. Jupiter's formation took place near
the ice line, at roughly 3.5 AU. After clearing a gap in the gas disk Jupiter underwent type II migration,
moving slowly toward the Sun with the gas disk. If uninterrupted, this migration would have left Jupiter
in a close orbit around the Sun like recently discovered hot Jupiters in other planetary systems.
[5] Saturn also migrated toward the Sun, but being smaller it migrated faster, undergoing either type I
migration or runaway migration.[6] Saturn converged on Jupiter and was captured in a 2:3 mean-motion
resonance with Jupiter during this migration. An overlapping gap in the gas disk then formed around
Jupiter and Saturn,[7] altering the balance of forces on these planets which began migrating together.
Saturn partially cleared its part of the gap reducing the torque exerted on Jupiter by the outer disk. The
net torque on the planets then became positive, with the torques generated by the inner Lindblad
resonances exceeding those from the outer disk, and the planets began to migrate outward.[8] The
outward migration was able to continue because interactions between the planets allowed gas to
stream through the gap.[9] The gas exchanged angular momentum with the planets during its passage,
adding to the positive balance of torques; and transferred mass from the outer disk to the inner disk,
allowing the planets to migrate outward relative to the disk.[10] The transfer of gas to the inner disk also
slowed the reduction of the inner disk's mass relative to the outer disk as it accreted onto the Sun,
which otherwise would weaken the inner torque, ending the planets' outward migration.[8][11] In the
grand tack hypothesis this process is assumed to have reversed the inward migration of the planets
when Jupiter is at 1.5 AU.[6] The outward migration of Jupiter and Saturn continued until they reached a
zero-torque configuration within a flared disk,[12] or the gas disk dissipated,[11] and is supposed to end
with Jupiter near its current orbit.[6]
Scope of the grand tack hypothesis
The hypothesis can be applied to multiple phenomena in the Solar System.
Mars problem
Jupiter's grand tack resolves the Mars problem by limiting the material available to form Mars. The Mars
problem is a conflict between some simulations of the formation of the terrestrial planets which end
with a 0.5–1.0 Earth-mass planet in its region, much larger than the actual mass of Mars: 0.107 Earth-
mass, when begun with planetesimals distributed throughout the inner Solar System.[13] Jupiter's
inward migration alters this distribution of material,[14] driving planetesimals inward to form a narrow
dense band with a mix of materials inside 1.0 AU,[15] and leaves the Mars region largely empty.
[16] Planetary embryos quickly form in the narrow band. Most of these embryos collide and merge to
form the larger terrestrial planets (Venus and Earth) over a period of 60 to 130 million years.[17] Others
are scattered outside the band where they are deprived of additional material, slowing their growth,
and form the lower-mass terrestrial planets Mars and Mercury.[18]
Asteroid belt
Jupiter and Saturn drive most asteroids from their initial orbits during their migrations, leaving behind
an excited remnant derived from both inside and outside Jupiter's original location. Before Jupiter's
migrations the surrounding regions contained asteroids which varied in composition with their distance
from the Sun.[19] Rocky asteroids dominated the inner region, while more primitive and icy asteroids
dominated the outer region beyond the ice line.[20] As Jupiter and Saturn migrate inward, ~15% of the
inner asteroids are scattered outward onto orbits beyond Saturn.[2] After reversing course, Jupiter and
Saturn first encounter these objects, scattering about 0.5% of the original population back inward onto
stable orbits.[6] Later, as Jupiter and Saturn migrate into the outer region, about 0.5% of the primitive
asteroids are scattered onto orbits in the outer asteroid belt.[6] The encounters with Jupiter and Saturn
leave many of the captured asteroids with large eccentricities and inclinations.[16] These may be
reduced during the giant planet instability described in the Nice model so that the eccentricity
distribution resembles that of the current asteroid belt.[21] Some of the icy asteroids are also left in
orbits crossing the region where the terrestrial planets later formed, allowing water to be delivered to
the accreting planets as when the icy asteroids collide with them.[22][23]
Absent super-Earths
The absence of close orbiting super-Earths in the Solar System may also be the result of Jupiter's inward
migration.[24] As Jupiter migrates inward, planetesimals are captured in its mean-motion resonances,
causing their orbits to shrink and their eccentricities to grow. A collisional cascade follows as the
planetesimals relative velocities became large enough to produce catastrophic impacts. The resulting
debris then spirals inward toward the Sun due to drag from the gas disk. If there were super-Earths in
the early Solar System, they would have caught much of this debris in resonances and could have been
driven into the Sun as the debris spiraled inward. The current terrestrial planets would then form from
planetesimals left behind when Jupiter reversed course.[25] However, the migration of close orbiting
super-Earths into the Sun could be avoided if the debris coalesced into larger objects, reducing gas drag;
and if the protoplanetary disk had an inner cavity, their inward migration could be halted near its edge.
[26] If no planets had yet formed in the inner Solar System, the destruction of the larger bodies during
the collisional cascade could have left the remaining debris small enough to be pushed outward by the
solar wind, which would have been much stronger during the early Solar System, leaving little to form
planets inside Mercury's orbit.[27]
Later developments
Simulations of the formation of the terrestrial planets using models of the protoplanetary disk that
include viscous heating and the migration of the planetary embryos indicate that Jupiter's migration may
have reversed at 2.0 AU. In simulations the eccentricities of the embryos are excited by perturbations
from Jupiter. As these eccentricities are damped by the denser gas disk of recent models, the semi-
major axes of the embryos shrink, shifting the peak density of solids inward. For simulations with
Jupiter's migration reversing at 1.5 AU, this resulted in the largest terrestrial planet forming near Venus's
orbit rather than at Earth's orbit. Simulations that instead reversed Jupiter's migration at 2.0 AU yielded
a closer match to the current Solar System.[9]
When the fragmentation due to hit and run collisions are included in simulations with an early instability
the orbits of the terrestrial planets are better produced. The larger numbers of small bodies resulting
from these collisions reduce the eccentricities and inclinations of the growing planets orbits via
additional collisions and dynamical friction. This also results in a larger fraction of the terrestrial planets
mass being concentrated in Venus and Earth and extends their formation times relative to that of Mars.
[28]
The migration of the giant planets through the asteroid belt creates a spike in impact velocities that
could result in the formation of CB chondrites. CB chondrites are metal rich carbonaceous chondrites
containing iron/nickel nodules that formed from the crystallization of impact melts 4.8 ±0.3 Myrs after
the first solids. The vaporization of these metals requires impacts of greater that 18 km/s, well beyond
the maximum of 12.2 km/s in standard accretion models. Jupiter's migration across the asteroid belt
increases the eccentricities and inclinations of the asteroids, resulting in a 0.5 Myr period of impact
velocities sufficient to vaporize metals. If the formation of CB chondrites was due to Jupiter's migration
it would have occurred 4.5-5 Myrs after the formation of the Solar System.[29]
The presence of a thick atmosphere around Titan and its absence around Ganymede and Callisto may be
due to the timing of their formation relative to the grand tack. If Ganymede and Callisto formed before
the grand tack their atmospheres would have been lost as Jupiter moved closer to the Sun. However, for
Titan to avoid Type I migration into Saturn, and for Titan's atmosphere to survive, it must have formed
after the grand tack.[30][31]
Encounters with other embryos could destabilize a disk orbiting Mars reducing the mass of moons that
form around Mars. After Mars is scattered from the annulus by encounters with other planets it
continues to have encounters with other objects until the planets clear material from the inner Solar
System. While these encounters enable the orbit of Mars to become decoupled from the other planets
and remain on a stable orbit, they can also perturb the disk of material from which the moons of Mars
form. These perturbations cause material to escape from the orbit of Mars or to impact on its surface
reducing the mass of the disk resulting in the formation of smaller moons.[32]
Potential problems
Most of the accretion of Mars must have taken place outside the narrow annulus of material formed by
the grand tack if Mars has a different composition than Earth and Venus. The planets that grow in the
annulus created by the grand tack end with similar compositions. If the grand tack occurred early, while
the embryo that became Mars was relatively small, a Mars with a differing composition could form if it
was instead scattered outward then inward like the asteroids. The chance of this occurring is roughly
2%.[33][34]
Later studies have shown that the convergent orbital migration of Jupiter and Saturn in the fading solar
nebula is unlikely to establish a 3:2 mean-motion resonance. Instead of supporting a faster runaway
migration, nebula conditions lead to a slower migration of Saturn and its capture in a 2:1 mean-motion
resonance.[11] Capture of Jupiter and Saturn in the 2:1 mean-motion resonance does not typically
reverse the direction of migration, but particular nebula configurations have been identified that may
drive outward migration.[35] These configurations, however, tend to excite Jupiter's and Saturn's orbital
eccentricity to values between two and three times as large as their actual values.[35][36] Also, if the
temperature and viscosity of the gas allow Saturn to produce a deeper gap, the resulting net torque can
again become negative, resulting in the inward migration of the system.[11]
The grand tack scenario ignores the ongoing accretion of gas on both Jupiter and Saturn.[37] In fact, to
drive outward migration and move the planets to the proximity of their current orbits, the solar nebula
had to contain a sufficiently large reservoir of gas around the orbits of the two planets. However, this
gas would provide a source for accretion, which would affect the growth of Jupiter and Saturn and their
mass ratio.[11] The type of nebula density required for capture in the 3:2 mean-motion resonance is
especially dangerous for the survival of the two planets, because it can lead to significant mass growth
and ensuing planet-planet scattering. But conditions leading to 2:1 mean-motion resonant systems may
also put the planets at danger.[38] Accretion of gas on both planets also tends to reduce the supply
toward the inner disk, lowering the accretion rate toward the Sun. This process works to deplete
somewhat the disk interior to Jupiter's orbit, weakening the torques on Jupiter arising from inner
Lindblad resonances and potentially ending the planets' outward migration.[11]
Alternatives
Multiple hypotheses have been offered to explain the small mass of Mars. A small Mars may have been
a low probability event as it occurs in a small, but non-zero, fraction of simulations that begin with
planetesimals distributed across the entire inner Solar System.[39][40][41] A small Mars could be the
result of its region having been largely empty due to solid material drifting farther inward before the
planetesimals formed.[42][43] Most of the mass could also have been removed from the Mars region
before it formed if the giant planet instability described in the Nice model occurred early.[44][45] If
most of the growth of planetesimals and embryos into terrestrial planets was due to pebble accretion, a
small Mars could be the result this process having been less efficient with increasing distances from the
Sun.[46][47] Sweeping secular resonances during the clearing of the gas disk could also excite
inclinations and eccentricities, increasing relative velocities so that collisions resulted in fragmentation
instead of accretion.[48] A number of these hypotheses could also explain the low mass of the asteroid
belt.
A number of hypotheses have also been proposed to explain the orbital eccentricities and inclinations of
the asteroids and the low mass of the asteroid belt. If the region of the asteroid belt was initially empty
due to few planetesimals forming there it could have been populated by icy planetesimals that were
scattered inward during Jupiter's and Saturn's gas accretion,[49] and by stony asteroids that were
scattered outward by the forming terrestrial planets.[50][51] The inward scattered icy planetesimals
could also deliver water to the terrestrial region.[52] An initially low-mass asteroid belt could have had
its orbital eccentricities and inclinations excited by secular resonances if the resonant orbits of Jupiter
and Saturn became chaotic before the instability of the Nice model.[53][54] The eccentricities and
inclinations of the asteroid could also be excited during the giant planet instability, reaching the
observed levels if it lasted for a few hundred thousand years.[55] Gravitational interactions between the
asteroids and embryos in an initially massive asteroid belt would enhance these effects by altering the
asteroids semi-major axes, driving many asteroids into unstable orbits where they were removed due to
interactions with the planets, resulting it the loss of more than 99% of its mass.[56] Secular resonance
sweeping during the dissipation of the gas disk could have excited the orbits of the asteroids and
removed many as they spiraled toward the Sun due to gas drag after their eccentricities were excited.
[57]
Several hypotheses have also been offered for the lack of close orbiting super-Earth and the small mass
of Mercury. If Jupiter's core formed close to the Sun, its outward migration across the inner Solar System
could have pushed material outward in its resonances, leaving the region inside Venus's orbit depleted.
[58][26] In a protoplanetary disk that was evolving via a disk wind, planetary embryos could have
migrated outward before merging to form planets, leaving the Solar System without planets inside
Mercury's orbit.[59][60] An early generation of inner planets could have been lost due to catastrophic
collisions during an instability, resulting in the debris being ground small enough to be lost due to
Poynting-Robertson drag.[61][62] If planetesimal formation only occurred early, the inner edge of the
planetesimal disk might have been located at the silicate condensation line at this time.[63] The
formation of planetesimals closer than Mercury's orbit may have required that the magnetic field of the
star be aligned with the rotation of the disk, enabling the depletion of the gas so that solid to gas ratios
reached values sufficient for streaming instabilities to occur.[64][65] The formation of super-Earths may
require a higher flux of inward drifting pebbles than occurred in the early Solar System
STOCHASTIC THEORY.
Stochastic process
In probability theory and related fields, a stochastic or random process is a mathematical object usually
defined as a family of random variables. Historically, the random variables were associated with or
indexed by a set of numbers, usually viewed as points in time, giving the interpretation of a stochastic
process representing numerical values of some system randomlychanging over time, such as the growth
of a bacterial population, an electrical current fluctuating due to thermal noise, or the movement of
a gas molecule.[1][4][5][6] Stochastic processes are widely used as mathematical models of systems and
phenomena that appear to vary in a random manner. They have applications in many disciplines
including sciences such as biology,[7] chemistry,[8] ecology,[9] neuroscience,[10] and physics[11] as well
as technology and engineering fields such as image processing, signal processing,[12] information
theory,[13] computer science,[14] cryptography[15] and telecommunications.[16]Furthermore,
seemingly random changes in financial markets have motivated the extensive use of stochastic
processes in finance
A computer-simulated realization of a Wiener or Brownian motion process on the surface of a sphere.
The Wiener process is widely considered the most studied and central stochastic process in probability
theory.[1][2][3]
.[17][18][19]
Applications and the study of phenomena have in turn inspired the proposal of new stochastic
processes. Examples of such stochastic processes include the Wiener process or Brownian motion
process,[a] used by Louis Bachelier to study price changes on the Paris Bourse,[22] and the Poisson
process, used by A. K. Erlang to study the number of phone calls occurring in a certain period of time.
[23] These two stochastic processes are considered the most important and central in the theory of
stochastic processes,[1][4][24] and were discovered repeatedly and independently, both before and
after Bachelier and Erlang, in different settings and countries.[22][25]
The term random function is also used to refer to a stochastic or random process,[26][27] because a
stochastic process can also be interpreted as a random element in a function space.[28][29] The
terms stochastic process and random process are used interchangeably, often with no
specific mathematical space for the set that indexes the random variables.[28][30] But often these two
terms are used when the random variables are indexed by the integers or an interval of the real line.[5]
[30] If the random variables are indexed by the Cartesian plane or some higher-dimensional Euclidean
space, then the collection of random variables is usually called a random fieldinstead.[5][31] The values
of a stochastic process are not always numbers and can be vectors or other mathematical objects.[5][29]
Based on their mathematical properties, stochastic processes can be divided into various categories,
which include random walks,[32] martingales,[33] Markov processes,[34] Lévy processes,[35] Gaussian
processes,[36] random fields,[37] renewal processes, and branching processes.[38] The study of
stochastic processes uses mathematical knowledge and techniques from probability, calculus, linear
algebra, set theory, and topology[39][40][41] as well as branches of mathematical analysis such as real
analysis, measure theory, Fourier analysis, and functional analysis.[42][43][44] The theory of stochastic
processes is considered to be an important contribution to mathematics[45] and it continues to be an
active topic of research for both theoretical reasons and applications.[
Introduction
A stochastic or random process can be defined as a collection of random variables that is indexed by
some mathematical set, meaning that each random variable of the stochastic process is uniquely
associated with an element in the set.[4][5] The set used to index the random variables is called
the index set. Historically, the index set was some subset of the real line, such as the natural numbers,
giving the index set the interpretation of time.[1] Each random variable in the collection takes values
from the same mathematical space known as the state space. This state space can be, for example, the
integers, the real line or {\displaystyle n} -dimensional Euclidean space.[1][5]An increment is
the amount that a stochastic process changes between two index values, often interpreted as two
points in time.[49][50] A stochastic process can have many outcomes, due to its randomness, and a
single outcome of a stochastic process is called, among other names, a sample function or realization.
[29][51]
A single computer-simulated sample function or realization, among other terms, of a three-dimensional
Wiener or Brownian motion process for time 0 ≤ t ≤ 2. The index set of this stochastic process is the non-
negative numbers, while its state space is three-dimensional Euclidean space.
Classifications
A stochastic process can be classified in different ways, for example, by its state space, its index set, or
the dependence among the random variables. One common way of classification is by the cardinality of
the index set and the state space.[52][53][54]
When interpreted as time, if the index set of a stochastic process has a finite or countable number of
elements, such as a finite set of numbers, the set of integers, or the natural numbers, then the
stochastic process is said to be in discrete time.[55][56] If the index set is some interval of the real line,
then time is said to be continuous. The two types of stochastic processes are respectively referred to
as discrete-time and continuous-time stochastic processes.[49][57][58] Discrete-time stochastic
processes are considered easier to study because continuous-time processes require more advanced
mathematical techniques and knowledge, particularly due to the index set being uncountable.[59][60] If
the index set is the integers, or some subset of them, then the stochastic process can also be called
a random sequence.[56]
If the state space is the integers or natural numbers, then the stochastic process is called
a discrete or integer-valued stochastic process. If the state space is the real line, then the stochastic
process is referred to as a real-valued stochastic process or a process with continuous state space. If the
state space is {\displaystyle n}-dimensional Euclidean space, then the stochastic process is called a
{\displaystyle n}-dimensional vector process or {\displaystyle n}-vector process.[52][53]
Etymology
The word stochastic in English was originally used as an adjective with the definition "pertaining to
conjecturing", and stemming from a Greek word meaning "to aim at a mark, guess", and the Oxford
English Dictionary gives the year 1662 as its earliest occurrence.[61] In his work on probability Ars
Conjectandi, originally published in Latin in 1713, Jakob Bernoulli used the phrase "Ars Conjectandi sive
Stochastice", which has been translated to "the art of conjecturing or stochastics".[62] This phrase was
used, with reference to Bernoulli, by Ladislaus Bortkiewicz[63] who in 1917 wrote in German the
word stochastik with a sense meaning random. The term stochastic process first appeared in English in a
1934 paper by Joseph Doob.[61] For the term and a specific mathematical definition, Doob cited
another 1934 paper, where the term stochastischer Prozeß was used in German by Aleksandr Khinchin,
[64][65] though the German term had been used earlier, for example, by Andrei Kolmogorov in 1931.
[66]
Early occurrences of the word random in English with its current meaning, which relates to chance or
luck, date back to the 16th century, while earlier recorded usages started in the 14th century as a noun
meaning "impetuosity, great speed, force, or violence (in riding, running, striking, etc.)". The word itself
comes from a Middle French word meaning "speed, haste", and it is probably derived from a French
verb meaning "to run" or "to gallop". The first written appearance of the term random process pre-
dates stochastic process, which the Oxford English Dictionary also gives as a synonym, and was used in
an article by Francis Edgeworth published in 1888.[67]
Terminology
The definition of a stochastic process varies,[68] but a stochastic process is traditionally defined as a
collection of random variables indexed by some set.[69][70] The terms random process and stochastic
process are considered synonyms and are used interchangeably, without the index set being precisely
specified.[28][30][31][71][72][73] Both "collection",[29][71] or "family" are used[4][74] while instead of
"index set", sometimes the terms "parameter set"[29] or "parameter space"[31] are used.
The term random function is also used to refer to a stochastic or random process,[5][75][76] though
sometimes it is only used when the stochastic process takes real values.[29][74] This term is also used
when the index sets are mathematical spaces other than the real line,[5][77] while the terms stochastic
process and random processare usually used when the index set interpreted as time,[5][77][78] and
other terms are used such as random field when the index set is {\displaystyle n}-dimensional
Euclidean space {\displaystyle R^{n}} or a manifold.[5][29][31]
Notation
A stochastic process can be denoted, among other ways,
by {\displaystyle \{X(t)\}_{t\in T}} {\displaystyle \
{X(t)\}} or simply as {\displaystyle X}although {\displaystyle X(t)} is regarded as
an abuse of notation.[80] For example, {\displaystyle X(t)}are used to refer to the random
variable with the index {\displaystyle t}, and not the entire stochastic process.[79] If the index set
is {\displaystyle T=[0,\infty )}, then one can write, for example,
{\displaystyle (X_{t},t\geq 0)} to denote the stochastic process.[30]
Examples
Bernoulli process
Bernoulli process
One of the simplest stochastic processes is the Bernoulli process,[6][81] which is a sequence
of independent and identically distributed (iid) random variables, where each random variable takes
either the value one or zero, say one with probability {\displaystyle p} and zero with
probability {\displaystyle 1-p}. This process can be linked to repeatedly flipping a coin, where the
probability of obtaining a head is {\displaystyle p} and its value is one, while the value of a tail is zero.
[6][82] In other words, a Bernoulli process is a sequence of iidBernoulli random variables,[83] where
each coin flip is an example of a Bernoulli trial.[84]
Random walk
Random walk
Random walks are stochastic processes that are usually defined as sums of iid random variables or
random vectors in Euclidean space, so they are processes that change in discrete time.[85][86][87][88]
[89] But some also use the term to refer to processes that change in continuous time,[90] particularly
the Wiener process used in finance, which has led to some confusion, resulting in its criticism.[91] There
are other various types of random walks, defined so their state spaces can be other mathematical
objects, such as lattices and groups, and in general they are highly studied and have many applications in
different disciplines.[90][92]
A classic example of a random walk is known as the simple random walk, which is a stochastic process in
discrete time with the integers as the state space, and is based on a Bernoulli process, where each
Bernoulli variable takes either the value positive one or negative one. In other words, the simple random
walk takes place on the integers, and its value increases by one with probability, say, {\displaystyle p},
or decreases by one with probability {\displaystyle 1-p}, so index set of this random walk is the
natural numbers, while its state space is the integers. If the {\displaystyle p=0.5}, this random
walk is called a symmetric random walk.[93][94]
Wiener process
Wiener process
The Wiener process is a stochastic process with stationary and independent increments that
are normally distributed based on the size of the increments.[2][95] The Wiener process is named
after Norbert Wiener, who proved its mathematical existence, but the process is also called the
Brownian motion process or just Brownian motion due to its historical connection as a model
for Brownian movement in liquids.[96][97][97][98]
Realizations of Wiener processes (or Brownian motion processes) with drift (blue) and without drift
(red).
Playing a central role in the theory of probability, the Wiener process is often considered the most
important and studied stochastic process, with connections to other stochastic processes.[1][2][3][99]
[100][101][102] Its index set and state space are the non-negative numbers and real numbers,
respectively, so it has both continuous index set and states space.[103] But the process can be defined
more generally so its state space can be {\displaystyle n} -dimensional Euclidean space.[92]
[100][104] If the mean of any increment is zero, then the resulting Wiener or Brownian motion process
is said to have zero drift. If the mean of the increment for any two points in time is equal to the time
difference multiplied by some constant {\displaystyle \mu } , which is a real number, then the
resulting stochastic process is said to have drift {\displaystyle \mu }.[105][106][107]
Almost surely, a sample path of a Wiener process is continuous everywhere but nowhere differentiable.
It can be considered as a continuous version of the simple random walk.[50][106] The process arises as
the mathematical limit of other stochastic processes such as certain random walks rescaled,[108]
[109] which is the subject of Donsker's theorem or invariance principle, also known as the functional
central limit theorem.[110][111][112]
The Wiener process is a member of some important families of stochastic processes, including Markov
processes, Lévy processes and Gaussian processes.[2][50] The process also has many applications and is
the main stochastic process used in stochastic calculus.[113][114] It plays a central role in quantitative
finance,[115][116] where it is used, for example, in the Black–Scholes–Merton model.[117] The process
is also used in different fields, including the majority of natural sciences as well as some branches of
social sciences, as a mathematical model for various random phenomena.[3][118][119]
Poisson process
Poisson process
The Poisson process is a stochastic process that has different forms and definitions.[120][121] It can be
defined as a counting process, which is a stochastic process that represents the random number of
points or events up to some time. The number of points of the process that are located in the interval
from zero to some given time is a Poisson random variable that depends on that time and some
parameter. This process has the natural numbers as its state space and the non-negative numbers as its
index set. This process is also called the Poisson counting process, since it can be interpreted as an
example of a counting process.[120]
If a Poisson process is defined with a single positive constant, then the process is called a homogeneous
Poisson process.[120][122] The homogeneous Poisson process is a member of important classes of
stochastic processes such as Markov processes and Lévy processes.[50]
The homogeneous Poisson process can be defined and generalized in different ways. It can be defined
such that its index set is the real line, and this stochastic process is also called the stationary Poisson
process.[123][124] If the parameter constant of the Poisson process is replaced with some non-negative
integrable function of {\displaystyle t}, the resulting process is called an inhomogeneous or
nonhomogeneous Poisson process, where the average density of points of the process is no longer
constant.[125] Serving as a fundamental process in queueing theory, the Poisson process is an important
process for mathematical models, where it finds applications for models of events randomly occurring in
certain time windows.[126][127]
Defined on the real line, the Poisson process can be interpreted as a stochastic process,[50][128] among
other random objects.[129][130] But then it can be defined on the {\displaystyle n}-dimensional
Euclidean space or other mathematical spaces,[131] where it is often interpreted as a random set or a
random counting measure, instead of a stochastic process.[129][130] In this setting, the Poisson process,
also called the Poisson point process, is one of the most important objects in probability theory, both for
applications and theoretical reasons.[23][132] But it has been remarked that the Poisson process does
not receive as much attention as it should, partly due to it often being considered just on the real line,
and not on other mathematical spaces.[132][133]
Markov processes and chains
Markov process
Markov processes are stochastic processes, traditionally in discrete or continuous time, that have the
Markov property, which means the next value of the Markov process depends on the current value, but
it is conditionally independent of the previous values of the stochastic process. In other words, the
behavior of the process in the future is stochastically independent of its behavior in the past, given the
current state of the process.[134][135]
Brownian Motion Process.
The Brownian motion process and the Poisson process (in one dimension) are both examples of Markov
processes[136] in continuous time, while random walks on the integers and the gambler's ruin problem
are examples of Markov processes in discrete time.[137][138]
A Markov chain is a type of Markov process that has either discrete state space or discrete index set
(often representing time), but the precise definition of a Markov chain varies.[139] For example, it is
common to define a Markov chain as a Markov process in either discrete or continuous time with a
countable state space (thus regardless of the nature of time),[140][141][142][143] but it has been also
common to define a Markov chain as having discrete time in either countable or continuous state space
(thus regardless of the state space).[139] It has been argued that the first definition of a Markov chain,
where it has discrete time, now tends to be used, despite the second definition having been used used
by researchers like Joseph Doob and Kai Lai Chung.[144]
Markov processes form an important class of stochastic processes and have applications in many areas.
[40][145] For example, they are the basis for a general stochastic simulation method known as Markov
chain Monte Carlo, which is used for simulating random objects with specific probability distributions,
and has found application in Bayesian statistics.[146][147]
The concept of the Markov property was originally for stochastic processes in continuous and discrete
time, but the property has been adapted for other index sets such as {\displaystyle n}-dimensional
Euclidean space, which results in collections of random variables known as Markov random fields.[148]
[149][150]
Martingale (probability theory)
A martingale is a discrete-time or continuous-time stochastic process with the property that, at every
instant, given the current value and all the past values of the process, the conditional expectation of
every future value is equal to the current value. In discrete time, if this property holds for the next value,
then it holds for all future values. The exact mathematical definition of a martingale requires two other
conditions coupled with the mathematical concept of a filtration, which is related to the intuition of
increasing available information as time passes. Martingales are usually defined to be real-valued,[151]
[152][153] but they can also be complex-valued[154] or even more general.[155]
A symmetric random walk and a Wiener process (with zero drift) are both examples of martingales,
respectively, in discrete and continuous time.[151][152] For a sequence of independent and identically
distributed random variables {\displaystyle X_{1},X_{2},X_{3},\dots } with zero mean,
the stochastic process formed from the successive partial sums
{\displaystyle X_{1},X_{1}+X_{2},X_{1}+X_{2}+X_{3},\dots } is a discrete-time martingale.[156] In this
aspect, discrete-time martingales generalize the idea of partial sums of independent random variables.
[157]
Martingales can also be created from stochastic processes by applying some suitable transformations,
which is the case for the homogeneous Poisson process (on the real line) resulting in a martingale called
the compensated Poisson process.[152] Martingales can also be built from other martingales.[156] For
example, there are martingales based on the martingale the Wiener process, forming continuous-time
martingales.[151][158]
Martingales mathematically formalize the idea of a fair game,[159] and they were originally developed
to show that it is not possible to win a fair game.[160] But now they are used in many areas of
probability, which is one of the main reasons for studying them.[153][160][161] Many problems in
probability have been solved by finding a martingale in the problem and studying it.[162] Martingales
will converge, given some conditions on their moments, so they are often used to derive convergence
results, due largely to martingale convergence theorems.[157][163][164]
Martingales have many applications in statistics, but it has been remarked that its use and application
are not as widespread as it could be in the field of statistics, particularly statistical inference.[165] They
have found applications in areas in probability theory such as queueing theory and Palm
calculus[166] and other fields such as economics[167] and finance.[18]
Lévy process
Lévy process
Lévy processes are types of stochastic processes that can be considered as generalizations of random
walks in continuous time.[50][168] These processes have many applications in fields such as finance,
fluid mechanics, physics and biology.[169][170] The main defining characteristics of these processes are
their stationarity and independence properties, so they were known as processes with stationary and
independent increments. In other words, a stochastic process {\displaystyle X} is a Lévy process if for
{\displaystyle n} non-negatives numbers, {\displaystyle 0\leq t_{1}\leq \dots
\leq t_{n}}, the corresponding {\displaystyle n-1} increments
{\displaystyle X_{t_{2}}-X_{t_{1}},\dots ,X_{t_{n-1}}-X_{t_{n}},}
are all independent of each other, and the distribution of each increment only depends on the
difference in time.[50]
A Lévy process can be defined such that its state space is some abstract mathematical space, such as
a Banach space, but the processes are often defined so that they take values in Euclidean space. The
index set is the non-negative numbers, so {\displaystyle I=[0,\infty )}, which gives the
interpretation of time. Important stochastic processes such as the Wiener process, the homogeneous
Poisson process (in one dimension), and subordinators are all Lévy processes.[50][168]
Random field
Random field
A random field is a collection of random variables indexed by a {\displaystyle n}-dimensional Euclidean
space or some manifold. In general, a random field can be considered an example of a stochastic or
random process, where the index set is not necessarily a subset of the real line.[31] But there is a
convention that an indexed collection of random variables is called a random field when the index has
two or more dimensions.[5][29][171] If the specific definition of a stochastic process requires the index
set to be a subset of the real line, then the random field can be considered as a generalization of
stochastic process.[172]
Point process
Point process
A point process is a collection of points randomly located on some mathematical space such as the real
line, {\displaystyle n}-dimensional Euclidean space, or more abstract spaces. Sometimes the
term point process is not preferred, as historically the word process denoted an evolution of some
system in time, so a point process is also called a random point field.[173] There are different
interpretations of a point process, such a random counting measure or a random set.[174][175] Some
authors regard a point process and stochastic process as two different objects such that a point process
is a random object that arises from or is associated with a stochastic process,[176][177]though it has
been remarked that the difference between point processes and stochastic processes is not clear.[177]
Other authors consider a point process as a stochastic process, where the process is indexed by sets of
the underlying space[b] on which it is defined, such as the real line or {\displaystyle n}-dimensional
Euclidean space.[180][181] Other stochastic processes such as renewal and counting processes are
studied in the theory of point processes.[182][183]
RESURFACING HYPOTHESIS
The global distribution of impact craters that was discovered by the Magellan mission to Venus has led
to numerous theories on Venusian resurfacing. Phillips et al. (1992) developed two conceptual end-
member resurfacing models that describe the distribution of impact craters. The first end-member
model suggests that a spatially random distribution of craters can be maintained by having short-
duration resurfacing events of large spatial area that occur in random locations with long intervening
time intervals. A special case of this end-member would be global resurfacing events; for this case one
would be unable to tell from the current surface whether the last global event was part of a recurring
cycle or a singular event in the planet's history. The other end-member is that resurfacing events that
wipe out craters are of small spatial area, randomly distributed and frequently occurring.
The image is approximately 185 kilometers (115 miles) wide at the base and shows Dickinson, an impact
crater 69 kilometers (43 miles) in diameter. The crater is complex, characterized by a partial central ring
and a floor flooded by radar-dark and radar-bright materials. The lack of ejecta to the west may indicate
that the impactor that produced the crater was an oblique impact from the west. Extensive radar-bright
flows that emanate from the crater's eastern walls may represent large volumes of impact melt, or they
may be the result of volcanic material released from the subsurface during the cratering event.
This is effectively a uniformitarian hypothesis as it assumes that geologic activity is occurring everywhere
at similar rates. Global events that periodically resurface nearly the entire planet will leave a crater-free
surface: craters then occur and aren't subsequently modified until the next global event.[9] Resurfacing
events occurring frequently everywhere will produce a surface with many craters in the process of being
resurfaced.[9] Thus, the end-members can be distinguished by observing the extent to which the craters
have experienced some degree of tectonic deformation or volcanic flooding.
Initial surveys of the crater population suggested that only a few percent of the craters were heavily
deformed or embayed by subsequent volcanism, thus favoring the "catastrophic resurfacing" end
member.[4][10] A number of geophysical models were proposed to generate a global catastrophe,
including
episodic plate tectonics proposed by Turcotte (1993)[11]
a transition from mobile lid to stagnant lid convection proposed by Solomatov and Moresi (1996)[12]
and a rapid transition from a thin to thick lithosphere proposed by Reese et al. (2007)[13]
The portion of the planet with large rift zones and superposed volcanoes was found to correlate with a
low crater density and an unusual number of heavily deformed and obviously embayed craters.[10] The
tessera regions of the astronomical object seem to have a slightly higher than normal percentage of
craters, but a few of these craters appear to be heavily deformed.[14]These observations, combined
with global geologic mapping activities, lead to scenarios of geologic surface evolution that paralleled
the catastrophic geophysical models.[9] The general vision is that the tessera regions are old and date to
a past time of more intense surface deformation; in rapid succession the tessera ceased deforming and
volcanism flooded the low-lying areas; currently geologic activity is concentrated along the planet's rift
zones.
UNIFORMITARIANISM
Uniformitarianism, also known as the Doctrine of Uniformity, is the assumption that the same natural
laws and processes that operate in our present-day scientific observations have always operated in the
universe in the past and apply everywhere in the universe.[1][2] It refers to invariance in
the metaphysical principles underpinning science, such as the constancy of cause and effect throughout
space-time,[3] but has also been used to describe spatiotemporal invariance of physical laws.[4] Though
an unprovable postulate that cannot be verified using the scientific method, uniformitarianism has been
a key first principle of virtually all fields of science.[5]
In geology, uniformitarianism has included the gradualistic concept that "the present is the key to the
past" and that geological events occur at the same rate now as they have always done, though many
modern geologists no longer hold to a strict gradualism.[6] Coined by William Whewell, it was originally
proposed in contrast to catastrophism[7] by British naturalists in the late 18th century, starting with the
work of the geologist James Hutton in his many books including Theory of the Earth.[8]Hutton's work
was later refined by scientist John Playfair and popularised by geologist Charles Lyell's Principles of
Geology in 1830.[9] Today, Earth's history is considered to have been a slow, gradual process,
punctuated by occasional natural catastrophic events
Hutton's Unconformity at Jedburgh.
Above: John Clerk of Eldin's 1787 illustration.
Below: 2003 photograph.
. 18th century
Cliff at the east of Siccar Point in Berwickshire, showing the near-horizontal red sandstone layers above
vertically tilted greywacke rocks.
The earlier conceptions[likely[had little influence on 18th-century European geological explanations for
the formation of Earth. Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749–1817) proposed Neptunism,
where strata represented deposits from shrinking seas precipitated onto primordial rocks such
as granite. In 1785 James Hutton proposed an opposing, self-maintaining infinite cycle based on natural
history and not on the Biblical account.[10][11]
The solid parts of the present land appear in general, to have been composed of the productions of the
sea, and of other materials similar to those now found upon the shores. Hence we find reason to
conclude:
1st, That the land on which we rest is not simple and original, but that it is a composition, and had been
formed by the operation of second causes.
2nd, That before the present land was made, there had subsisted a world composed of sea and land, in
which were tides and currents, with such operations at the bottom of the sea as now take place. And,
Lastly, That while the present land was forming at the bottom of the ocean, the former land maintained
plants and animals; at least the sea was then inhabited by animals, in a similar manner as it is at present.
Hence we are led to conclude, that the greater part of our land, if not the whole had been produced by
operations natural to this globe; but that in order to make this land a permanent body, resisting the
operations of the waters, two things had been required;
1st, The consolidation of masses formed by collections of loose or incoherent materials;
2ndly, The elevation of those consolidated masses from the bottom of the sea, the place where they
were collected, to the stations in which they now remain above the level of the ocean.[12]
Hutton then sought evidence to support his idea that there must have been repeated cycles, each
involving deposition on the seabed, uplift with tilting and erosion, and then moving undersea again for
further layers to be deposited. At Glen Tilt in the Cairngorm mountains he found granite
penetrating metamorphic schists, in a way which indicated to him that the presumed primordial rock
had been molten after the strata had formed.[13][14] He had read about angular unconformities as
interpreted by Neptunists, and found an unconformity at Jedburgh where layers of greywacke in the
lower layers of the cliff face have been tilted almost vertically before being eroded to form a level plane,
under horizontal layers of Old Red Sandstone.[15] In the spring of 1788 he took a boat trip along
the Berwickshire coast with John Playfairand the geologist Sir James Hall, and found a dramatic
unconformity showing the same sequence at Siccar Point.[16] Playfair later recalled that "the mind
seemed to grow giddy by looking so far into the abyss of time",[17] and Hutton concluded a 1788 paper
he presented at the Royal Society of Edinburgh, later rewritten as a book, with the phrase "we find no
vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end".[18]
Both Playfair and Hall wrote their own books on the theory, and for decades robust debate continued
between Hutton's supporters and the Neptunists. Georges Cuvier's paleontological work in the 1790s,
which established the reality of extinction, explained this by local catastrophes, after which other fixed
species repopulated the affected areas. In Britain, geologists adapted this idea into "diluvial theory"
which proposed repeated worldwide annihilation and creation of new fixed species adapted to a
changed environment, initially identifying the most recent catastrophe as the biblical flood.[19]
19th century
Charles Lyell at the British Association meeting in Glasgow 1840
From 1830 to 1833 Charles Lyell's multi-volume Principles of Geology was published. The work's subtitle
was "An attempt to explain the former changes of the Earth's surface by reference to causes now in
operation". He drew his explanations from field studies conducted directly before he went to work on
the founding geology text,[20] and developed Hutton's idea that the earth was shaped entirely by slow-
moving forces still in operation today, acting over a very long period of time. The
terms uniformitarianism for this idea, and catastrophism for the opposing viewpoint, were coined
by William Whewell in a review of Lyell's book. Principles of Geology was the most influential geological
work in the middle of the 19th century.
Systems of inorganic earth history
Geoscientists support diverse systems of Earth history, the nature of which rest on a certain mixture of
views about process, control, rate, and state which are preferred. Because geologists and
geomorphologists tend to adopt opposite views over process, rate and state in the inorganic world,
there are eight different systems of beliefs in the development of the terrestrial sphere.[21] All
geoscientists stand by the principle of uniformity of law. Most, but not all, are directed by the principle
of simplicity. All make definite assertions about the quality of rate and state in the inorganic realm.[22]
Substantive Substantive
Methodological System of
claim claim
assumption concerning Inorganic Promoters[23]
concerning Concerning
kind of process Earth history
state rate
Same Kind of Actualistic
Steady State Most of
processes Constant Rate Non-
Non- Hutton,
that exist today Gradualism directional
directionalism Playfair, Lyell
Actualism Gradualism
Changing Rate Actualistic Hall
Catastrophism Non-
directional
Catastrophis
m
Changing Actualistic Small part of
Constant Rate
State Directional Hutton, Cotta,
Gradualism
Directionalism Gradualism Darwin
Hooke, Steno,
Lehmann,
Pallas,
Actualistic
de Saussure,
Changing Rate Directional
Werner and
Catastrophism Catastrophis
geognosists,
m
Elis de
Beaumont
and followers
Non-
Different Kind of
Steady State Actualistic
processes Constant Rate
Non- Non- Carpenter
than exist today Gradualism
directionalism directional
Non-Actualism
Gradualism
Non-
Actualistic
Changing Rate Non- Bonnet,
Catastrophism directional Cuvier
Catastrophis
m
Non-
Changing
Constant Rate Actualistic De Mallet,
State
Gradualism directional Buffon
Directionalism
Gradualism
Restoration
Non-
cosmogonists,
Actualistic
Changing Rate English
Directional
Catastrophism diluvialists,
Catastrophis
Scriptural
m
geologists
Lyell's uniformitarianism
According to Reijer Hooykaas (1963), Lyell's uniformitarianism is a family of four related propositions,
not a single idea:[24]
Uniformity of law – the laws of nature are constant across time and space.
Uniformity of methodology – the appropriate hypotheses for explaining the geological past are those
with analogy today.
Uniformity of kind – past and present causes are all of the same kind, have the same energy, and
produce the same effects.
Uniformity of degree – geological circumstances have remained the same over time.
None of these connotations requires another, and they are not all equally inferred by uniformitarians.
[25]
Gould explained Lyell's propositions in Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle (1987), stating that Lyell conflated two
different types of propositions: a pair of methodological assumptions with a pair of substantive
hypotheses. The four together make up Lyell's uniformitarianism.[26]
Methodological assumptions
The two methodological assumptions below are accepted to be true by the majority of scientists and
geologists. Gould claims that these philosophical propositions must be assumed before you can proceed
as a scientist doing science. "You cannot go to a rocky outcrop and observe either the constancy of
nature's laws or the working of unknown processes. It works the other way around." You first assume
these propositions and "then you go to the outcrop."[27]
Uniformity of law across time and space: Natural laws are constant across space and time.[28]
The axiom of uniformity of law [2][5][28] is necessary in order for scientists to extrapolate (by inductive
inference) into the unobservable past.[2][28] The constancy of natural laws must be assumed in the
study of the past; else we cannot meaningfully study it.[2][5][28][29]
Uniformity of process across time and space: Natural processes are constant across time and space.
Though similar to uniformity of law, this second a priori assumption, shared by the vast majority of
scientists, deals with geological causes, not physico-chemical laws.[30] The past is to be explained by
processes acting currently in time and space rather than inventing extra esoteric or unknown
processes without good reason,[31][32] otherwise known as parsimony or Occam's razor.
Substantive hypotheses
The substantive hypotheses were controversial and, in some cases, accepted by few.[26] These
hypotheses are judged true or false on empirical grounds through scientific observation and repeated
experimental data. This is in contrast with the previous two philosophical assumptions[27] that come
before one can do science and so cannot be tested or falsified by science.
Uniformity of rate across time and space: Change is typically slow, steady, and gradual.[27]
Uniformity of rate (or gradualism) is what most people (including geologists) think of when they hear the
word "uniformitarianism," confusing this hypothesis with the entire definition. As late as 1990, Lemon,
in his textbook of stratigraphy, affirmed that "The uniformitarian view of earth history held that all
geologic processes proceed continuously and at a very slow pace."[33]
Gould explained Hutton's view of uniformity of rate; mountain ranges or grand canyons are built by
accumulation of nearly insensible changes added up through vast time. Some major events such as
floods, earthquakes, and eruptions, do occur. But these catastrophes are strictly local. They neither
occurred in the past, nor shall happen in the future, at any greater frequency or extent than they display
at present. In particular, the whole earth is never convulsed at once.[34]
Uniformity of state across time and space: Change is evenly distributed throughout space and time.[35]
The uniformity of state hypothesis implies that throughout the history of our earth there is no progress
in any inexorable direction. The planet has almost always looked and behaved as it does now. Change is
continuous, but leads nowhere. The earth is in balance: a dynamic steady state.[35]
20th century Stephen Jay Gould’s paper
Stephen Jay Gould's first scientific paper, Is uniformitarianism necessary? (1965), reduced these four
assumptions to two.[36] He dismissed the first principle, which asserted spatial and temporal invariance
of natural laws, as no longer an issue of debate. He rejected the third (uniformity of rate) as an
unjustified limitation on scientific inquiry, as it constrains past geologic rates and conditions to those of
the present. So, Lyellian uniformitarianism was unnecessary.
Uniformitarianism was proposed in contrast to catastrophism, which states that the distant past
"consisted of epochs of paroxysmal and catastrophic action interposed between periods of comparative
tranquility"[37] Especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most geologists took this
interpretation to mean that catastrophic events are not important in geologic time; one example of this
is the debate of the formation of the Channeled Scablands due to the catastrophic Missoula glacial
outburst floods. An important result of this debate and others was the re-clarification that, while the
same principles operate in geologic time, catastrophic events that are infrequent on human time-scales
can have important consequences in geologic history.[38] Derek Ager has noted that "geologists do not
deny uniformitarianism in its true sense, that is to say, of interpreting the past by means of the
processes that are seen going on at the present day, so long as we remember that the periodic
catastrophe is one of those processes. Those periodic catastrophes make more showing in the
stratigraphical record than we have hitherto assumed."[39]
Even Charles Lyell thought that ordinary geological processes would cause Niagara Falls to move
upstream to Lake Erie within 10,000 years, leading to catastrophic flooding of a large part of North
America.
Modern geologists do not apply uniformitarianism in the same way as Lyell. They question if rates of
processes were uniform through time and only those values measured during the history of geology are
to be accepted.[40] The present may not be a long enough key to penetrate the deep lock of the past.
[41] Geologic processes may have been active at different rates in the past that humans have not
observed. "By force of popularity, uniformity of rate has persisted to our present day. For more than a
century, Lyell's rhetoric conflating axiom with hypotheses has descended in unmodified form. Many
geologists have been stifled by the belief that proper methodology includes an a priori commitment to
gradual change, and by a preference for explaining large-scale phenomena as the concatenation of
innumerable tiny changes."[42]
The current consensus is that Earth's history is a slow, gradual process punctuated by occasional natural
catastrophic events that have affected Earth and its inhabitants.[43] In practice it is reduced from Lyell's
conflation, or blending, to simply the two philosophical assumptions. This is also known as the principle
of geological actualism, which states that all past geological action was like all present geological action.
The principle of actualism is the cornerstone of paleoecology
EPISODIC PLATE TECTONICS
Turcotte (1993) suggested that Venus has episodic tectonics, whereby short periods of rapid tectonics
are separated by periods of surface inactivity lasting on the order of 500 Ma. During periods of inactivity,
the lithosphere cools conductively and thickens to over 300 km. The active mode of plate tectonics
occurs when the thick lithosphere detaches and founders into the interior of the astronomical object.
Large scale lithosphere recycling is thus invoked to explain resurfacing events. Episodic large scale
overturns can occur due to a compositionally stratified mantle where there is competition between the
compositional and thermal buoyancy of the upper mantle
Episodic behavior of Venus model showing strong mantle layering at 675 Ma, followed by a break in the
basalt barrier at 750 Ma, the mantle overturns at 810 Ma and layering is reestablished again at 1000 Ma.
[17]
.[18]
This sort of mantle layering is further supported by the 'basalt barrier' mechanism, which states that
subducted basaltic crust is positively buoyant between the mantle depths of 660–750 km, and
negatively buoyant at other depths, and can accumulate at the bottom of the transition zone and cause
mantle layering.[17] The breakdown of mantle layering and consequent mantle overturns would lead to
dramatic episodes of volcanism, formation of large amounts of crust, and tectonic activity on the
astronomical object surface, as has been inferred to have happened on Venus around 500 Ma from the
surface morphology and cratering.[17] Catastrophic resurfacing and widespread volcanism can be
caused periodically by an increase in mantle temperature due to a change in surface boundary
conditions from mobile to stagnant lid
. Shield volcano
A shield volcano is a type of volcano usually composed almost entirely of fluid lava flows. It is named for
its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. This is caused by the highly fluid
(low viscosity) lava erupted, which travels farther than lava erupted from a stratovolcano, and results in
the steady accumulation of broad sheets of lava, building up the shield volcano's distinctive form
Mauna Kea, Hawaiʻi, a shield volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, Arua, Moyo West Nile in Uganda.
An Ancient Greek warrior's shield–its circular shape and gently sloping surface, with a central raised
area, is a shape shared by many shield volcanoes.
Shield volcanoes are built by effusive eruptions, which flow out in all directions to create a shield like
that of a warrior.[1] The word "shield" has a long history, and is derived from the Old
English scield or scild, which is in turn taken from the Proto-Germanic *skelduz, and related to
the Gothic skildus, meaning "to divide, split, or separate". Shield volcano itself is taken from the German
term Schildvulkan.[2]
Geology
Structure
Shield volcanoes are distinguished from the three other major volcanic archetypes stratovolcanoes, lava
domes, and cinder cones by their structural form, a consequence of their unique magmatic composition.
Of these four forms shield volcanoes erupt the least viscous lavas: whereas stratovolcanoes and
especially lava domes are the product of highly immotile flows and cinder cones are constructed
by explosively eruptive tephra, shield volcanoes are the product of gentle effusive eruptions of highly
fluid lavas that produce, over time, a broad, gently sloped eponymous "shield".[3][4] Although the term
is generally ascribed to basaltic shields it has also at times been appended to rarer scutiform volcanoes
of differing magmatic composition—principally pyroclastic shields, formed by the accumulation of
fragmental material from particularly powerful explosive eruptions, and rarer felsic lava shields formed
by unusually fluid felsic magmas. Examples of pyroclastic shields include Billy Mitchell volcano in Papua
New Guinea and the Purico complex in Chile;[5][6] an example of a felsic shield is the Big Obsidian
Flow in Oregon.[7] Shield volcanoes are also related in origination to vast lava plateaus and flood
basalts present in various parts of the world, generalized eruptive features which occur along
linear fissure vents and are distinguished from shield volcanoes proper by the lack of an identifiable
primary eruptive center.[3]
Diagram of the common structural features of a shield volcano.
Active shield volcanoes experience near-continuous eruptive activity over extremely long periods of
time, resulting in the gradual build-up of edifices that can reach extremely large dimensions.[4] With the
exclusion of flood basalts, mature shields are the largest volcanic features on Earth:[8] the summit of the
largest subaerialvolcano in the world, Mauna Loa, lies 4,169 m (13,678 ft) above sea level, and the
volcano, over 60 mi (100 km) wide at its base, is estimated to contain about 80,000 km3 (19,000 cu mi)
of basalt.[1][4] The mass of the volcano is so great that it has slumped the crust beneath it a further
8 km (5 mi);[9] accounting for this subsidence and for the height of the volcano above the sea floor, the
"true" height of Mauna Loa from the start of its eruptive history is about 17,170 m (56,000 ft).[10]Mount
Everest, by comparison, is 8,848 m (29,029 ft) in height.[11] In September 2013 a team led by
the University of Houston's William Sager announced the singular origination of Tamu Massif, an
enormous extinct submarine shield volcano of previously unknown origin which, approximately 450 by
650 km (280 by 400 mi) in area, dwarfs all previously known volcanoes on the planet. The research has
not yet been confirmed.[12]
Shield volcanoes feature a gentle (usually 2° to 3°) slope that gradually steepens with elevation (reaching
approximately 10°) before eventually flattening near the summit, forming an overall upwardly convex
shape. In height they are typically about one twentieth their width.[4] Although the general form of a
"typical" shield volcano varies little worldwide regional differences exist in their size and morphological
characteristics. Typical shield volcanoes present in California and Oregon measure 3 to 4 mi (5 to 6 km)
in diameter and 1,500 to 2,000 ft (500 to 600 m) in height;[3] shield volcanoes in the central
Mexican Michoacán–Guanajuato volcanic field, by comparison, average 340 m (1,100 ft) in height and
4,100 m (13,500 ft) in width, with an average slope angle of 9.4° and an average volume of
1.7 km3 (0.4 cu mi).[13]
Rift zones are a prevalent feature on shield volcanoes that is rare on other volcanic types. The large,
decentralized shape of Hawaiian volcanoes as compared to their smaller, symmetrical Icelandic
cousins[can be attributed to rift eruptions. Fissure venting is common in Hawaiʻi; most Hawaiian
eruptions begin with a so-called "wall of fire" along a major fissure line before centralizing to a small
number of points. This accounts for their asymmetrical shape, whereas Icelandic volcanoes follow a
pattern of central eruptions dominated by summit calderas, causing the lava to be more evenly
distributed or symmetrical.[1][4][14][15]
Eruptive characteristics
Most of what is currently known about shield volcanic eruptive character has been gleaned from studies
done on the volcanoes of Hawaiʻi island, by far the most intensively studied of all shields due to their
scientific accessibility;[16] the island lends its name to the slow-moving, effusive eruptions typical of
shield volcanism, known as Hawaiian eruptions.[17] These eruptions, the calmest of volcanic events, are
characterized by the effusive emission of highly fluid basaltic lavas with low gaseous content. These
lavas travel a far greater distance than those of other eruptive types before solidifying, forming
extremely wide but relatively thin magmatic sheets often less than 1 m (3 ft) thick.[1][4][14] Low
volumes of such lavas layered over long periods of time are what slowly constructs the characteristically
low, broad profile of a mature shield volcano
Diagram of a Hawaiian eruption. (key: 1. Ash plume2. Lava fountain 3. Crater 4. Lava
lake 5. Fumaroles6. Lava flow 7. Layers of lava and ash 8. Stratum 9. Sill 10. Magma conduit 11. Magma
chamber 12. Dike) Click for larger version.
.[1]
Also unlike other eruptive types, Hawaiian eruptions often occur at decentralized fissure vents,
beginning with large "curtains of fire" that quickly die down and concentrate at specific locations on the
volcano's rift zones. Central-vent eruptions, meanwhile, often take the form of large lava fountains (both
continuous and sporadic), which can reach heights of hundreds of meters or more. The particles from
lava fountains usually cool in the air before hitting the ground, resulting in the accumulation of
cindery scoria fragments; however, when the air is especially thick with clasts, they cannot cool off fast
enough due to the surrounding heat, and hit the ground still hot, accumulating into spatter cones. If
eruptive rates are high enough, they may even form splatter-fed lava flows. Hawaiian eruptions are
often extremely long lived; Puʻu ʻŌʻō, a cinder cone of Kīlauea, has been erupting continuously since
1983.[14]
Flows from Hawaiian eruptions can be divided into two types by their structural
characteristics: pāhoehoe lava which is relatively smooth and flows with a ropey texture, and ʻaʻā flows
which are denser, more viscous (and thus slower moving) and blockier. These lava flows can be
anywhere between 2 and 20 m (10 and 70 ft) thick. ʻAʻa lava flows move through pressure—the partially
solidified front of the flow steepens due to the mass of flowing lava behind it until it breaks off, after
which the general mass behind it moves forward. Though the top of the flow quickly cools down, the
molten underbelly of the flow is buffered by the solidifying rock above it, and by this mechanism ʻaʻa
flows can sustain movement for long periods of time. Pāhoehoe flows, in contrast, move in more
conventional sheets, or by the advancement of lava "toes" in snaking lava columns.
Increasing viscosity on the part of the lava or shear stress on the part of local topography can morph a
pāhoehoe flow into an a'a one, but the reverse never occurs.[18]
Although most shield volcanoes are by volume almost entirely Hawaiian and basaltic in origin, they are
rarely exclusively so. Some volcanoes, like Mount Wrangell in Alaska and Cofre de Perote in Mexico,
exhibit large enough swings in their historical magmatic eruptive characteristics to cast strict categorical
assignment in doubt; one geological study of de Perote went so far as to suggest the term "compound
shield-like volcano" instead.[19] Most mature shield volcanoes have multiple cinder cones on their
flanks, the results of tephra ejections common during incessant activity and markers of currently and
formerly active sites on the volcano.[8][14] One prominent such parasitic cones is Puʻu ʻŌʻō on
Kīlauea[15]—continuous activity ongoing since 1983 has built up a 2,290 ft (698 m) tall cone at the site
of one of the longest-lasting rift eruptions in known history.[20]
The Hawaiian shield volcanoes and the Galápagos islands are unique[in that they are not located near
any plate boundaries; instead, the two chains are fed by the movement of oceanic plates over an
upwelling of magma known as a hotspot. Over millions of years, the tectonic movement that moves
continents also creates long volcanic trails across the seafloor. The Hawaiian and Galápagos shields, and
other hotspot shields like them, are both constructed of oceanic island basalt. Their lavas are
characterized by high levels of sodium, potassium, and aluminium.[21]
Features common in shield volcanism include lava tubes.[22] Lava tubes are cave-like volcanic straights
formed by the hardening of overlaying lava. These structures help further the propagation of lava, as the
walls of the tube insulates the lava within.[23] Lava tubes can account for a large portion of shield
volcano activity; for example, an estimated 58% of the lava forming Kīlauea comes from lava tubes.[22]
In some shield volcano eruptions, basaltic lava pours out of a long fissure instead of a central vent, and
shrouds the countryside with a long band of volcanic material in the form of a broad plateau. Plateaus of
this type exist in Iceland, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho; the most prominent ones are situated along
the Snake River in Idaho and the Columbia River in Washington and Oregon, where they have been
measured to be over 1 mi (2 km) in thickness.[1]
Calderas are a common feature on shield volcanoes. They are formed and reformed over the volcano's
lifespan. Long eruptive periods form cinder cones, which then collapse over time to form calderas. The
calderas are often filled up by future eruptions, or formed elsewhere, and this cycle of collapse and
regeneration takes place throughout the volcano's lifespan.[8]
Interactions between water and lava at shield volcanoes can cause some eruptions to
become hydrovolcanic. These explosive eruptions are drastically different from the usual shield volcanic
activity,[8] and are especially prevalent at the waterbound volcanoes of the Hawaiian Isles.[14]
ʻAʻa advances over solidified pāhoehoe on Kīlauea, Hawaiʻi.
A pāhoehoe lava fountain on Kīlauea erupts.
A lava lake in the caldera of Erta Ale, an active shield volcano in Ethiopia
Pāhoehoe flows enter the Pacific Ocean on Hawaiʻi island.
Puʻu ʻŌʻō, a parasitic cinder cone on Kīlauea, lava fountaining at dusk in June 1983, near the start of its
current eruptive cycle.
The Thurston lava tube on Hawaiʻi island, now a tourist attraction in the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
Distribution
List of shield volcanoes
Shield volcanoes are found worldwide. They can form over hotspots (points where magma from below
the surface wells up), such as the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain and the Galápagos Islands, or over
more conventional rift zones, such as the Icelandic shields and the shield volcanoes of East Africa. Many
shield volcanoes are found in ocean basins, such as Tamu Massif, the world's largest, although they can
be found inland as well—East Africa being one example of this.[24]
Hawaiian islands
The largest and most prominent shield volcano chain in the world is the Hawaiian Islands,
a chain of hotspot volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean. The Hawaiian volcanoes are characterized by
frequent rift eruptions, their large size (thousands of km3 in volume), and their rough, decentralized
shape. Rift zones are a prominent feature on these volcanoes, and account for their seemingly random
volcanic structure.[4] They are fueled by the movement of the Pacific Plate over the Hawaii hotspot, and
form a long chain of volcanoes, atolls, and seamounts 2,600 km (1,616 mi) long with a total volume of
over 750,000 km3 (179,935 cu mi). The chain contains at least 43 major volcanoes, and Meiji
Seamount at its terminus near the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench is 85 million years old.[25][26] The volcanoes
follow a distinct evolutionary patternof growth and death.[27]
The chain includes the second largest volcano on Earth, Mauna Loa, which stands 4,170 m (13,680 ft)
above sea level and reaches a further 13 km (8 mi) below the waterline and into the crust,
approximately 80,000 km3 (19,000 cu mi) of rock.[22] Kīlauea, meanwhile, is one of the most active
volcanoes on Earth, with the current ongoing eruption having begun in January 1983.[1]
Galápagos islands
The Galápagos Islands are an isolated set of volcanoes, consisting of shield volcanoes and lava plateaus,
located 1,200 km (746 mi) west of Ecuador. They are driven by the Galápagos hotspot, and are between
approximately 4.2 million and 700,000 years of age.[21] The largest island, Isabela Island, consists of six
coalesced shield volcanoes, each delineated by a large summit caldera. Española, the oldest island,
and Fernandina, the youngest, are also shield volcanoes, as are most of the other islands in the chain.
[28][29][30] The Galápagos Islands are perched on a large lava plateau known as the Galápagos
Platform. This platform creates a shallow water depth of 360 to 900 m (1,181 to 2,953 ft) at the base of
the islands, which stretch over a 174 mi (280 km)-long diameter.[31] Since Charles Darwin's visit to the
islands in 1835 during the Second voyage of HMS Beagle, there have been over 60 recorded eruptions in
the islands, from six different shield volcanoes.[28][30] Of the 21 emergent volcanoes, 13 are considered
active.[21]
Blue Hill is a shield volcano on the south western part of Isabela Island in the Galápagos Islands and is
one of the most active in the Galapagos, with the last eruption between May and June 2008. The
Geophysics Institute at the National Polytechnic School in Quito houses an international team
of seismologists and volcanologists[32]whose responsibility is to monitor Ecuadors numerous active
volcanoes in the Andean Volcanic Belt and the Galapagos Islands. La Cumbre is an active shield volcano
on Fernandina Island in the Galapagos that has been erupting since April 11, 2009.[33]
The Galápagos islands are geologically young for such a big chain, and the pattern of their rift
zones follows one of two trends, one north-northwest, and one east–west. The composition of the lavas
of the Galápagos shields are strikingly similar to those of the Hawaiian volcanoes. Curiously, they do not
form the same volcanic "line" associated with most hotspots. They are not alone in this regard;
the Cobb–Eickelberg Seamount chain in the North Pacific is another example of such a delineated chain.
In addition, there is no clear pattern of age between the volcanoes, suggesting a complicated, irregular
pattern of creation. How exactly the islands were formed remains a geological mystery, although several
theories have been fronted.[34]
Iceland
Skjaldbreiður, Iceland, is eponymous for shield volcanoes.
Another major center of shield volcanic activity is Iceland. Located over the Mid-Atlantic Ridge,
a divergent tectonic plate in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, Iceland is the site of about 130 volcanoes
of various types.[15] Icelandic shield volcanoes are generally of Holocene age, between 5,000 and
10,000 years old, except for the island of Surtsey, a Surtseyan shield. The volcanoes are also very narrow
in distribution, occurring in two bands in the West and North Volcanic Zones. Like Hawaiian volcanoes,
their formation initially begins with several eruptive centers before centralizing and concentrating at a
single point. The main shield then forms, burying the smaller ones formed by the early eruptions with its
lava.[31]
Icelandic shields are mostly small (~15 km3 (4 cu mi)), symmetrical (although this can affected by surface
topography), and characterized by eruptions from summit calderas.[31] They are composed of
either tholeiitic olivine or picritic basalt. The tholeiitic shields tend to be wider and shallower than the
picritic shields.[35] They do not follow the pattern of caldera growth and destruction that other shield
volcanoes do; caldera may form, but they generally do not disappear.[4][31]
East Africa
East Africa is the site of volcanic activity generated by the development of the East African Rift, a
developing plate boundary in Africa, and from nearby hotspots. Some volcanoes interact with both.
Shield volcanoes are found near the rift and off the coast of Africa, although stratovolcanoes are more
common. Although sparsely studied, the fact that all of its volcanoes are of Holocene age reflects how
young the volcanic center is. One interesting characteristic of East African volcanism is a penchant for
the formation of lava lakes; these semi-permanent lava bodies, extremely rare elsewhere, form in about
nine percent of African eruptions.[36]
The most active shield volcano in Africa is Nyamuragira. Eruptions at the shield volcano are generally
centered within the large summit caldera or on the numerous fissures and cinder cones on the volcano's
flanks. Lava flows from the most recent century extend down the flanks more than 30 km (19 mi) from
the summit, reaching as far as Lake Kivu. Erta Ale in Ethiopia is another active shield volcano, and one of
the few places in the world with a permanent lava lake, which has been active since at least 1967, and
possibly since 1906.[36] Other volcanic centers include Menengai, a massive shield caldera,
[37] and Mount Marsabit, near the town of Marsabit.
Extraterrestrial volcanoes
Lists of extraterrestrial mountains
Volcanoes are not limited to Earth; they can exist on any rocky planet or moon large or active enough to
have a molten core, and since probes were first launched in the 1960s, volcanoes have been found
across the solar system. Shield volcanoes and volcanic vents have been found on Mars, Venus,
and Io; cryovolcanoes on Triton; and subsurface hotspots on Europa
Scaled image showing Olympus Mons, top, and the Hawaiian island chain, bottom. Martian
volcanoes are far larger than those found on Earth.
.[38]
The volcanoes of Mars are very similar to the shield volcanoes on Earth. Both have gently sloping flanks,
collapse craters along their central structure, and are built of highly fluid lavas. Volcanic features on
Mars were observed long before they were first studied in detail during the 1976–1979 Viking mission.
The principal difference between the volcanoes of Mars and those on Earth is in terms of size; Martian
volcanoes range in size up to 14 mi (23 km) high and 370 mi (595 km) in diameter, far larger than the
6 mi (10 km) high, 74 mi (119 km) wide Hawaiian shields.[39][40][41] The highest of these, Olympus
Mons, is the tallest known mountain on any planet in the solar system.
Venus also has over 150 shield volcanoes which are much flatter, with a larger surface area than those
found on Earth, some having a diameter of more than 700 km (430 mi).[42] Although the majority of
these are long extinct it has been suggested, from observations by the Venus Express spacecraft, that
many may still be active.[43]
[16]
STAGNANT LID CONVECTION
Despite their categorical separation, all of the models display some sort of conceptual overlap that
applies to the others. Solomatov and Moresi (1996) suggested that a reduction in convective stresses
caused the surface lid to change from mobile to stagnant.[12] This argument proposed that the present
surface of Venus records a permanent end to lithospheric recycling. The decrease in planetary heat flow,
as convective vigor decreased, changed the mode of mantle convection from mobile to stagnant.[19]
Despite their previous publication, Moresi and Solomatov (1998) used numerical models of mantle
convection with temperature-dependent viscosity to propose that at intermediate levels of yield stress
for the lithosphere, a change from a mobile to an episodic convective regime for Venus could occur.
[20] They focused on an episodic regime for a current explanation of Venus, whereby brittle mobilization
of the Venusian lithosphere may be episodic and catastrophic.
TRANSITION FROM THIN TO THICK LITHOSPHERE
Reese et al. (2007) proposed a model of astronomical object resurfacing, whereby lithosphere thinning
and widespread melting follows a shift from mobile lid to stagnant lid convection.[13] These
parameterized convection models suggest that a cessation of magmatic resurfacing can occur in several
ways: (1) the mantle temperature drops sufficiently such that mantle rising adiabatically does not cross
the solidus, (2) the molten layer migrates below the solid/melt density inversion at 250–500 km so that
no melt can escape, and (3) sublithospheric, small-scale convection stops and conductive thickening of
the lid suppresses melting. In each case, the inability of magma to penetrate the thickened Venusian
lithosphere plays a role. However, it has been suggested that Venus's surface has experienced a
continuous but geologically rapid decline in tectonic activity due to the secular cooling of the planet, and
no catastrophic resurfacing event is required to explain its heat loss.[21]
DIRECTIONAL HISTORY HYPOTHESIS
In a series of subsequent papers, Basilevsky and colleagues extensively developed a model that Guest
and Stofan (1999)[22] termed the "directional history" for Venus evolution.[23][24][25] The general idea
is that there is a global stratigraphy that progresses from heavily deformed tessera, to heavily deformed,
then moderately deformed plains, and then to undeformed plains.[9] Most recent activity is focused
near major rift zones that tend to intersect with large shield volcanoes.
The interpretation of tessera as older continental-style cratons is supported by geological analysis of
Ashtar Terra and its surroundings. Compression forces, coupled with the inability of the thin basaltic
crust to subduct, resulted in fold mountains around the edges of Ishtar. Further compression led to
underthrusting of material that subsequently was able to partially melt and feed volcanism in the central
plateau.[26]
If the directional evolution model is valid then the evolution must have been slow and the timing of
events would have overlapped considerably. A valid end member interpretation is that the crater
population still represents a population emplaced on a mostly inactive planet, but the final throes of a
global emplacement of volcanic plains has filled most of the craters with a few hundred meters of
volcanic flows. If this is true, then post-tessera plains emplacement must have dragged on for most of
the visible surface history of the planet and the cessation of tessera deformation must have overlapped
considerably with emplacement of plains. Thus, while a tessera/plains/rifts evolution is a valid
hypothesis, that evolution could not have occurred as a "catastrophe". The highly varying levels of post-
impact volcanism and deformation that the craters have experienced are consistent with a steady state
model of Venus resurfacing. The craters are in a variety of stages of removal but display the same
processes that have operated throughout the visible surface history. It remains a powerful constraint
that the distribution of geologic features on the planet (plains, volcanoes, rifts, etc.) is decidedly more
nonuniform than the crater population. This means that while the nature of resurfacing on Venus may
vary regionally in the uniformitarian hypothesis, the rates must be similar.
DISC INSTABILITY MODEL ROLE IN EARTH ASTRONOMICAL OBJECT FORMATION.
A terrestrial planet, telluric planet, or rocky planet is a planet that is composed primarily
of silicaterocks or metals. Within the Solar System, the terrestrial planets are the inner planets closest to
the Sun, i.e. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. The terms "terrestrial astronomical object" and "telluric
astronomical object" are derived from Latin words for Earth (Terra and Tellus), as these planets are, in
terms of structure, "Earth-like". These planets are located between the Sun and the Asteroid Belt.
Terrestrial planets have a solid planetary surface, making them substantially different from the
larger giant planets, which are composed mostly of some combination of hydrogen, helium,
and waterexisting in various physical states.
The terrestrial planets of the Solar System: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, sized to scale
Structure
All terrestrial astronomical objects in the Solar System have the same basic type of structure, such as a
central metallic core, mostly iron, with a surrounding silicate mantle. The Moon is similar, but has a
much smaller iron core. Io and Europa are also satellites that have internal structures similar to that of
terrestrial planets. Terrestrial planets can have canyons, craters, mountains, volcanoes, and other
surface structures, depending on the presence of water and tectonic activity. Terrestrial planets
have secondary atmospheres, generated through volcanism or comet impacts, in contrast to the giant
planets, whose atmospheres are primary, captured directly from the original solar nebula.[1]
Solar System's terrestrial planets
Relative masses of the terrestrial planets of the Solar System, and the Moon (shown here as Luna)
The inner planets (sizes to scale). Clockwise from left rear: Earth, Venus, Mercury, Mars.
The Solar System has four terrestrial planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Only one terrestrial
planet, Earth, is known to have an active hydrosphere.
During the formation of the Solar System, there were probably many more terrestrial planetesimals, but
most merged with or were ejected by the four terrestrial planets.
Dwarf planets, such as Ceres, Pluto and Eris, and small Solar System bodies are similar to terrestrial
planets in the fact that they do have a solid surface, but are, on average, composed of more icy
materials (Ceres, Pluto and Eris have densities of 2.17, 1.87 and 2.52 g·cm−3, respectively, and Haumea's
density is similar to Pallas's 2.8 g·cm−3). The Earth's Moon has a density of 3.4 g·cm−3 and Jupiter's
satellites, Io, 3.528 and Europa, 3.013 g·cm−3; other satellites typically have densities less than 2
g·cm−3.
Density trends
The uncompressed density of a terrestrial planet is the average density its materials would have at
zero pressure. A greater uncompressed density indicates greater metal content. Uncompressed density
differs from the true average density (also often called "bulk" density) because compression within
planet cores increases their density; the average density depends on planet size, temperature
distribution and material stiffness as well as composition.
Densities of the terrestrial planets
Density (g·cm−3)
Object Semi-major axis (AU)
Mean Uncompressed
Mercur
5.4 5.3 0.39
y
Venus 5.2 4.4 0.72
Earth 5.5 4.4 1.0
Mars 3.9 3.8 1.5
The uncompressed density of terrestrial planets trends towards lower values as the distance from
the Sun increases. The rocky minor planet Vesta orbiting outside of Mars is less dense than Mars still at,
3.4 g·cm−3.
Calculations to estimate uncompressed density inherently require a model of the planet's structure.
Where there have been landers or multiple orbiting spacecraft, these models are constrained by
seismological data and also moment of inertia data derived from the spacecraft orbits. Where such data
is not available, uncertainties are inevitably higher.[2] It is unknown, whether extrasolar terrestrial
planets in general will show to follow this trend.
Extrasolar terrestrial planets
Super-Earth, Mega-Earth, and List of nearest terrestrial exoplanet candidates
Most of the planets discovered outside the Solar System are giant planets, because they are more easily
detectable.[3][4][5] But since 2005, hundreds of potentially terrestrial extrasolar astronomical objects
have been found, with several being confirmed as terrestrial. Most of these are super-Earths, i.e.
astronomical object with masses between Earth's and Neptune's; super-Earths may be gas planets or
terrestrial, depending on their mass and other parameters.
During the early 1990s, the first extrasolar planets were discovered orbiting the pulsar PSR B1257+12,
with masses of 0.02, 4.3, and 3.9 times that of Earth's, by pulsar timing.
When 51 Pegasi b, the first planet found around a star still undergoing fusion, was discovered, many
astronomers assumed it to be a gigantic terrestrial, because it was assumed no gas giant could exist as
close to its star (0.052 AU) as 51 Pegasi b did. It was later found to be a gas giant.
In 2005, the first planets around main-sequence stars that may be terrestrial were found: Gliese 876 d,
has a mass 7 to 9 times that of Earth and an orbital period of just two Earth days. It orbits the red
dwarf Gliese 876, 15 light years from Earth. OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb, about 5.5 times the mass of Earth,
orbits a star about 21,000 light years away in the constellation Scorpius. From 2007 to 2010, three
(possibly four) potential terrestrial planets were found orbiting within the Gliese 581 planetary system.
The smallest, Gliese 581e, is only about 1.9 Earth mass,[6] but orbits very close to the star. An ideal
terrestrial planet would be 2 Earth masses with a 25-day orbital period around a red dwarf.[7] Two
others, Gliese 581c and Gliese 581d, as well as a disputed planet, Gliese 581g, are more-massive super-
Earths orbiting in or close to the habitable zone of the star, so they could potentially be habitable, with
Earth-like temperatures.
Another possibly terrestrial planet, HD 85512 b, was discovered in 2011; it has at least 3.6 times the
mass of Earth.[8] The radius and composition of all these planets are unknown.
Sizes of Kepler planet candidates based on 2,740 candidates orbiting 2,036 stars as of November 4, 2013
(NASA).
The first confirmed terrestrial exoplanet, Kepler-10b, was found in 2011 by the Kepler Mission,
specifically designed to discover Earth-size planets around other stars using the transit method.[9]
In the same year, the Kepler Space Observatory Mission team released a list of 1235 extrasolar planet
candidates, including six that are "Earth-size" or "super-Earth-size" (i.e. they have a radius less than 2
Earth radii)[10] and in the habitable zone of their star.[11] Since then, Kepler has discovered hundreds
of planets ranging from Moon-sized to super-Earths, with many more candidates in this size range (see
image).
List of terrestrial exoplanets
List of nearest terrestrial exoplanet candidates
The following exoplanets have a density of at least 5 g/cm3 and a mass below Neptune's and are thus
very likely terrestrial:
Kepler-10b, Kepler-20b, Kepler-36b, Kepler-48d, Kepler 68c, Kepler-78b, Kepler-89b, Kepler-93b, Kepler-
97b, Kepler-99b, Kepler-100b, Kepler-101c, Kepler-102b, Kepler-102d, Kepler-113b, Kepler-131b, Kepler-
131c, Kepler-138c, Kepler-406b, Kepler-406c, Kepler-409b.
The Neptune-mass planet Kepler-10c also has a density >5 g/cm3 and is thus very likely terrestrial.
Frequency
In 2013, astronomers reported, based on Kepler space mission data, that there could be as many as 40
billion Earth- and super-Earth-sized planets orbiting in the habitable zones of Sun-like stars and red
dwarfs within the Milky Way.[12][13][14] 11 billion of these estimated planets may be orbiting Sun-like
stars.[15] The nearest such planet may be 12 light-years away, according to the scientists.[12]
[13] However, this does not give estimates for the number of extrasolar terrestrial planets, because
there are planets as small as Earth that have been shown to be gas planets (see KOI-314c).[16]
Types
Artist's impression of a carbon planet
Several possible classifications for terrestrial planets have been proposed:[17]
Silicate planet
The standard type of terrestrial planet seen in the Solar System, made primarily of silicon-based
rocky mantle with a metallic (iron) core.
Carbon planet (also called "diamond planet")
A theoretical class of planets, composed of a metal core surrounded by primarily carbon-based minerals.
They may be considered a type of terrestrial planet if the metal content dominates. The Solar System
contains no carbon planets, but does have carbonaceous asteroids.
Iron planet
A theoretical type of terrestrial planet that consists almost entirely of iron and therefore has a greater
density and a smaller radius than other terrestrial planets of comparable mass. Mercury in the Solar
System has a metallic core equal to 60–70% of its planetary mass. Iron planets are thought to form in
the high-temperature regions close to a star, like Mercury, and if the protoplanetary disk is rich in iron.
Coreless planet
A theoretical type of terrestrial planet that consists of silicate rock but has no metallic core, i.e. the
opposite of an iron planet. Although the Solar System contains no coreless planets, chondrite asteroids
and meteorites are common in the Solar System. Coreless planets are thought to form farther from the
star where volatile oxidizing material is more common.
Planetesimals /plænɪˈtɛsɪməlz/ are solid objects thought to exist in protoplanetary disks and in debris
disks.
A widely accepted theory of planet formation, the so-called planetesimal hypotheses, the Chamberlin–
Moulton planetesimal hypothesis and that of Viktor Safronov, states that planets form out of cosmic
dust grains that collide and stick to form larger and larger bodies. When the bodies reach sizes of
approximately one kilometer, then they can attract each other directly through their mutual gravity,
enormously aiding further growth into moon-sized protoplanets. This is how planetesimals are often
defined. Bodies that are smaller than planetesimals must rely on Brownian motion or turbulent motions
in the gas to cause the collisions that can lead to sticking. Alternatively, planetesimals may form in a very
dense layer of dust grains that undergoes a collective gravitational instability in the mid-plane of a
protoplanetary disk or via the concentration and gravitational collapse of swarms of larger particles
in streaming instabilities. Many planetesimals eventually break apart during violent collisions, as may
have happened to 4 Vesta[2] and 90 Antiope,[3] but a few of the largest planetesimals may survive such
encounters and continue to grow into protoplanets and later planets.
The disk instability model ( Astronomer Ariny Amos .2010) entails the formation of Venus planets from
the breakup of a protoplanetary disk due to gravitational instability forming self gravitating clumps of
gas, which eventually evolve into planets. The thermodynamic state of the disk is a critical part of the
model. For a disk to form, self-gravity has to dominate the thermal pressure and sheer inside the disk.
The threshold for axisymmetric density perturbations to occur in a thin gaseous disk is given by the
Toomre criterion (Safronov 1960; Toomre 1964),
where is the speed of sound, the epicyclic frequency and the gas surface density. Disk
fragmentation will only occur if . As such, disks with a large mass (high gravity) at low
temperatures ( ) and high densities ( ) are more likely to form
gravitational instabilities. Disk instability is however not enough for Venus planets to form as a result of
the fragmentation. The disk must also be able to cool efficiently on a timescale comparable to the local
disk orbital period. ( less than where and are the cooling and rotation
time scales of the disc and the ratio between them). Disk fragmentation is expected to more
readily occur further out in the protoplanetary disk (several tens of AU) where the radiative cooling rates
are higher and lower . As such, one would expect a large number of planets on wide orbits if disk
instability is the dominant formation mechanism its found that <10% of FGKM-type stars form and
retain companions through disk instability at 99% confidence, independent of outer disk radii (within the
regime 5-500AU) taking disk migration into account. Only companions with masses [latex
size=2]<100~M_{\mathrm{Jup}}[/latex] were considered. Despite this result, some observations are best
explained by formation via disk instability. Examples are the four giant planets (or BDs using the
formation based definition of BDs) around HR~9799 with semi-major axis of 14.5, 24, 38, 64 AU and
Fomalhaut b at 119~AU. Although core accretion is the dominant Venus planet formation model, the
disk instability model is still a viable formation theory for gas giants with a large mass on wide orbits.
[9]
ACCRETION(ASTROPHYSICS) OF EARTH ASTRONOMICAL OBJECT.
In astrophysics, accretion is the accumulation of particles into a massive object
by gravitationally attracting more matter, typically gaseous matter, in an accretion disk.[1]
[2] Most astronomical objects, such as galaxies, stars, and planets, are formed by accretion processes.
The theory of Core Accretion is widely accepted by most of the scientists and researchers. This theory
worked well with the formation of terrestrial planets such as Venus but has faced problems while
dealing with giant planets. Nearly 4.6 million years ago, the solar system was a cloud of dust and gas
known as a solar nebula. Smaller particles tend to come closer and were held by the stronger force of
gravity. The solar wind wiped away lighter elements such as hydrogen and helium from the nearby
regions, leaving heavy materials to form smaller worlds such as Venus. In this manner, the moon,
comets, and asteroids were created. The mos commonly accepted mechanism for the formation of
Venus planet is the Core Accretion model, in this model a rocy forms through the coagulation of
planetsimal s until it is sufficiently massive to accrete a gaseous envelope . Initially this envelope is in
hydrostatic equilibrium, with most of the luminosity provide by the accreting planetsimals. One the core
reaches acritical mass, however , hydrostatic equilibrium is no longer possible , and a phase of rapid gas
accretion occurs.
There are anumber of issues with this model , the dust grains from which the planetsimals form may
undergo a phase of rapid inward migration when they reach acertain size, the core itself , one it
reaches about an Earth mass, should also migrate rapidly , and upper limits for Venus core becomes
larger than theoretical estimates, detailed models also predict growth timescales that may easily
exceed the lifetime of the gaseous disc from which the venus planet formed.
Overview
The accretion model that Earth and the other terrestrial planets formed from meteoric material was
proposed in 1944 by Otto Schmidt, followed by the protoplanet theory of William McCrea (1960) and
finally the capture theory of Michael Woolfson.[3] In 1978, Andrew Prenticeresurrected the initial
Laplacian ideas about planet formation and developed the modern Laplacian theory.[3] None of these
models proved completely successful, and many of the proposed theories were descriptive.
The 1944 accretion model by Otto Schmidt was further developed in a quantitative way in 1969
by Viktor Safronov.[4] He calculated, in detail, the different stages of terrestrial planet formation.[5]
[6] Since then, the model has been further developed using intensive numerical simulations to
study planetesimal accumulation. It is now accepted that stars form by the gravitational collapse
of interstellar gas. Prior to collapse, this gas is mostly in the form of molecular clouds, such as the Orion
Nebula. As the cloud collapses, losing potential energy, it heats up, gaining kinetic energy, and the
conservation of angular momentum ensures that the cloud forms a flatted disk—the accretion disk.
ALMA image of HL Tauri, a protoplanetary disk
ALMA image of the protoplanetary disc around HL Tauri - This is the sharpest image ever taken by ALMA
— sharper than is routinely achieved in visible light with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. It
shows the protoplanetary disc surrounding the young star HL Tauri. These new ALMA observations
reveal substructures within the disc that have never been seen before and even show the possible
positions of planets forming in the dark patches within the system. About the Object Name: HL Tauri
Type: • Milky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Disk : Protoplanetary • X - Stars Distance: 450 light
years Constellation: Taurus Coordinates Position (RA): 4 31 38.37 Position (Dec): 18° 14' 0.99" Field of
view: 0.03 x 0.03 arcminutes Orientation: North is 0.0° left of vertical .
http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/copyright/
Accretion of galaxies
Protogalaxy
A few hundred thousand years after the Big Bang, the Universe cooled to the point where atoms could
form. As the Universe continued to expand and cool, the atoms lost enough kinetic energy, and dark
matter coalesced sufficiently, to form protogalaxies. As further accretion occurred, galaxies formed.
[7] Indirect evidence is widespread.[7] Galaxies grow through mergers and smooth gas accretion.
Accretion also occurs inside galaxies, forming stars.
Accretion of stars
Protostar
Stars are thought to form inside giant clouds of cold molecular hydrogen—giant molecular clouds of
roughly 300,000 M☉ and 65 light-years (20 pc) in diameter.[8][9] Over millions of years, giant molecular
clouds are prone to collapse and fragmentation.[10] These fragments then form small, dense cores,
which in turn collapse into stars.[9] The cores range in mass from a fraction to several times that of the
Sun and are called protostellar (protosolar) nebulae.[8] They possess diameters of 2,000–
20,000 astronomical units (0.01–0.1 pc) and a particle number density of roughly 10,000 to
100,000/cm3 (160,000 to 1,600,000/cu in). Compare it with the particle number density of the air at the
sea level—2.8×1019/cm3 (4.6×1020/cu in).[9][11]
The visible-light (left) and infrared (right) views of the Trifid Nebula, a giant star-forming cloud of gas and
dust located 5,400 light-years (1,700 pc) away in the constellation Sagittarius
The initial collapse of a solar-mass protostellar nebula takes around 100,000 years.[8][9] Every nebula
begins with a certain amount of angular momentum. Gas in the central part of the nebula, with
relatively low angular momentum, undergoes fast compression and forms a hot hydrostatic (non-
contracting) core containing a small fraction of the mass of the original nebula. This core forms the seed
of what will become a star.[8] As the collapse continues, conservation of angular momentum dictates
that the rotation of the infalling envelope accelerates, which eventually forms a disk.
Infrared image of the molecular outflow from an otherwise hidden newborn star HH 46/47
As the infall of material from the disk continues, the envelope eventually becomes thin and transparent
and the young stellar object (YSO) becomes observable, initially in far-infrared light and later in the
visible.[11] Around this time the protostar begins to fuse deuterium. If the protostar is sufficiently
massive (above 80 MJ), hydrogen fusion follows. Otherwise, if its mass is too low, the object becomes
a brown dwarf.[12] This birth of a new star occurs approximately 100,000 years after the collapse
begins.[8] Objects at this stage are known as Class I protostars, which are also called young T Tauri stars,
evolved protostars, or young stellar objects. By this time, the forming star has already accreted much of
its mass; the total mass of the disk and remaining envelope does not exceed 10–20% of the mass of the
central YSO.[11]
When the lower-mass star in a binary system enters an expansion phase, its outer atmosphere may fall
onto the compact star, forming an accretion disk
At the next stage, the envelope completely disappears, having been gathered up by the disk, and the
protostar becomes a classical T Tauri star.[13] The latter have accretion disks and continue to accrete
hot gas, which manifests itself by strong emission lines in their spectrum. The former do not possess
accretion disks. Classical T Tauri stars evolve into weakly lined T Tauri stars.[14] This happens after about
1 million years.[8] The mass of the disk around a classical T Tauri star is about 1–3% of the stellar mass,
and it is accreted at a rate of 10−7 to 10−9 M☉ per year.[15] A pair of bipolar jets is usually present as
well. The accretion explains all peculiar properties of classical T Tauri stars: strong flux in the emission
lines (up to 100% of the intrinsic luminosity of the star), magnetic activity, photometric variability and
jets.[16] The emission lines actually form as the accreted gas hits the "surface" of the star, which
happens around its magnetic poles.[16] The jets are byproducts of accretion: they carry away excessive
angular momentum. The classical T Tauri stage lasts about 10 million years.[8] The disk eventually
disappears due to accretion onto the central star, planet formation, ejection by jets,
and photoevaporation by ultraviolet radiation from the central star and nearby stars.[17] As a result, the
young star becomes a weakly lined T Tauri star, which, over hundreds of millions of years, evolves into
an ordinary Sun-like star, dependent on its initial mass.
Accretion of planets
Protoplanetary disk
Self-accretion of cosmic dust accelerates the growth of the particles into boulder-sized planetesimals.
The more massive planetesimals accrete some smaller ones, while others shatter in collisions. Accretion
disks are common around smaller stars, or stellar remnants in a close binary, or black holes surrounded
by material, such as those at the centers of galaxies. Some dynamics in the disk, such as dynamical
friction, are necessary to allow orbiting gas to lose angular momentum and fall onto the central massive
object. Occasionally, this can result in stellar surface fusion (see Bondi accretion).
Artist's impression of a protoplanetary disk showing a young star at its center
In the formation of terrestrial planets or planetary cores, several stages can be considered. First, when
gas and dust grains collide, they agglomerate by microphysical processes like van der Waals
forces and electromagnetic forces, forming micrometer-sized particles; during this stage, accumulation
mechanisms are largely non-gravitational in nature.[18] However, planetesimal formation in the
centimeter-to-meter range is not well understood, and no convincing explanation is offered as to why
such grains would accumulate rather than simply rebound.[18]:341 In particular, it is still not clear how
these objects grow to become 0.1–1 km (0.06–0.6 mi) sized planetesimals;[5][19] this problem is known
as the "meter size barrier":[20] As dust particles grow by coagulation, they acquire increasingly large
relative velocities with respect to other particles in their vicinity, as well as a systematic inward drift
velocity, that leads to destructive collisions, and thereby limit the growth of the aggregates to some
maximum size.[21] Ward (1996) suggests that when slow moving grains collide, the very low, yet non-
zero, gravity of colliding grains impedes their escape.[18]:341 It is also thought that grain fragmentation
plays an important role replenishing small grains and keeping the disk thick, but also in maintaining a
relatively high abundance of solids of all sizes.[21]
A number of mechanisms have been proposed for crossing the 'meter-sized' barrier. Local
concentrations of pebbles may form, which then gravitationally collapse into planetesimals the size of
large asteroids. These concentrations can occur passively due to the structure of the gas disk, for
example, between eddies, at pressure bumps, at the edge of a gap created by a giant planet, or at the
boundaries of turbulent regions of the disk.[22] Or, the particles may take an active role in their
concentration via a feedback mechanism referred to as a streaming instability. In a streaming instability
the interaction between the solids and the gas in the protoplanetary disk results in the growth of local
concentrations, as new particles accumulate in the wake of small concentrations, causing them to grow
into massive filaments.[22] Alternatively, if the grains that form due to the agglomeration of dust are
highly porous their growth may continue until they become large enough to collapse due to their own
gravity. The low density of these objects allows them to remain strongly coupled with the gas, thereby
avoiding high velocity collisions which could result in their erosion or fragmentation.[23]
Grains eventually stick together to form mountain-size (or larger) bodies called planetesimals. Collisions
and gravitational interactions between planetesimals combine to produce Moon-size planetary embryos
(protoplanets) over roughly 0.1–1 million years. Finally, the planetary embryos collide to form planets
over 10–100 million years.[19] The planetesimals are massive enough that mutual gravitational
interactions are significant enough to be taken into account when computing their evolution.[5] Growth
is aided by orbital decay of smaller bodies due to gas drag, which prevents them from being stranded
between orbits of the embryos.[24][25] Further collisions and accumulation lead to terrestrial planets or
the core of giant planets.
If the planetesimals formed via the gravitational collapse of local concentrations of pebbles their growth
into planetary embryos and the cores of giant planets is dominated by the further accretions of
pebbles. Pebble accretion is aided by the gas drag felt by objects as they accelerate toward a massive
body. Gas drag slows the pebbles below the escape velocity of the massive body causing them to spiral
toward and to be accreted by it. Pebble accretion may accelerate the formation of planets by a factor of
1000 compared to the accretion of planetesimals, allowing giant planets to form before the dissipation
of the gas disk.[26][27] Yet, core growth via pebble accretion appears incompatible with the final masses
and compositions of Uranus and Neptune.[28]
The formation of terrestrial planets differs from that of giant gas planets, also called Jovian planets. The
particles that make up the terrestrial planets are made from metal and rock that condense in the
inner Solar System. However, Jovian planets begin as large, icy planetesimals, which then capture
hydrogen and helium gas from the solar nebula.[29] Differentiation between these two classes of
planetesimals arise due to the frost line of the solar nebula.[30]
Accretion of asteroids
Meteorites contain a record of accretion and impacts during all stages of asteroid origin and evolution;
however, the mechanism of asteroid accretion and growth is not well understood.[31] Evidence
suggests the main growth of asteroids can result from gas-assisted accretion of chondrules, which are
millimeter-sized spherules that form as molten (or partially molten) droplets in space before being
accreted to their parent asteroids.[31] In the inner Solar System, chondrules appear to have been crucial
for initiating accretion.[32] The tiny mass of asteroids may be partly due to inefficient chondrule
formation beyond 2 AU, or less-efficient delivery of chondrules from near the protostar.[32] Also,
impacts controlled the formation and destruction of asteroids, and are thought to be a major factor in
their geological evolution.[32]
Chondrules in a chondritemeteorite. A millimeter scale is shown.
Chondrules, metal grains, and other components likely formed in the solar nebula. These accreted
together to form parent asteroids. Some of these bodies subsequently melted, forming metallic
cores and olivine-rich mantles; others were aqueously altered.[32] After the asteroids had cooled, they
were eroded by impacts for 4.5 billion years, or disrupted.[33]
For accretion to occur, impact velocities must be less than about twice the escape velocity, which is
about 140 m/s (460 ft/s) for a 100 km (60 mi) radius asteroid.[32]Simple models for accretion in
the asteroid belt generally assume micrometer-sized dust grains sticking together and settling to the
midplane of the nebula to form a dense layer of dust, which, because of gravitational forces, was
converted into a disk of kilometer-sized planetesimals. But, several arguments[which?] suggest that
asteroids may not have accreted this way.[32]
Accretion of comets
Comets, or their precursors, formed in the outer Solar System, possibly millions of years before planet
formation.[36] How and when comets formed is debated, with distinct implications for Solar System
formation, dynamics, and geology. Three-dimensional computer simulations indicate the major
structural features observed on cometary nuclei can be explained by pairwise low velocity accretion of
weak cometesimals.[37][38] The currently favored formation mechanism is that of the nebular
hypothesis, which states that comets are probably a remnant of the original planetesimal "building
blocks" from which the planets grew.[39][40][41]
The geology of 2014 MU69. Notable surface features are highlighted.[34][35]
Astronomers think that comets originate in both the Oort cloud and the scattered disk.[42] The
scattered disk was created when Neptune migrated outward into the proto-Kuiper belt, which at the
time was much closer to the Sun, and left in its wake a population of dynamically stable objects that
could never be affected by its orbit (the Kuiper belt proper), and a population whose perihelia are close
enough that Neptune can still disturb them as it travels around the Sun (the scattered disk). Because the
scattered disk is dynamically active and the Kuiper belt relatively dynamically stable, the scattered disk is
now seen as the most likely point of origin for periodic comets.[42] The classic Oort cloud theory states
that the Oort cloud, a sphere measuring about 50,000 AU (0.24 pc) in radius, formed at the same time as
the solar nebula and occasionally releases comets into the inner Solar System as a giant planet or star
passes nearby and causes gravitational disruptions.[43] Examples of such comet clouds may already
have been seen in the Helix Nebula.[44]
The Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko determined in 2015 that when Sun's heat
penetrates the surface, it triggers evaporation (sublimation) of buried ice. While some of the resulting
water vapour may escape from the nucleus, 80% of it recondenses in layers beneath the surface.
[45] This observation implies that the thin ice-rich layers exposed close to the surface may be a
consequence of cometary activity and evolution, and that global layering does not necessarily occur
early in the comet's formation history.[45][46] While most scientists thought that all the evidence
indicated that the structure of nuclei of comets is processed rubble pilesof smaller ice planetesimals of a
previous generation,[47] the Rosetta mission dispelled the idea that comets are "rubble piles" of
disparate material
NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS.
The nebular hypothesis is the most widely accepted model in the field of cosmogony to explain
the formation and evolution of the Solar System (as well as other planetary systems). It suggests that the
Solar System is formed from the nebulous material. The theory was developed by Immanuel Kant and
published in his Allgemeine Naturgeschichte und Theorie des Himmels ("Universal Natural History and
Theory of the Heavens"), published in 1755. Originally applied to the Solar System, the process of
planetary system formation is now thought to be at work throughout the Universe.[1] The widely
accepted modern variant of the nebular hypothesis is the solar nebular disk model (SNDM) or solar
nebular model.[2] It offered explanations for a variety of properties of the Solar System, including the
nearly circular and coplanar orbits of the planets, and their motion in the same direction as the Sun's
rotation. Some elements of the original nebular hypothesis are echoed in modern theories of planetary
formation, but most elements have been superseded.
According to the nebular hypothesis, stars form in massive and dense clouds of molecular hydrogen—
giant molecular clouds (GMC). These clouds are gravitationally unstable, and matter coalesces within
them to smaller denser clumps, which then rotate, collapse, and form stars. Star formation is a complex
process, which always produces a gaseous protoplanetary disk, proplyd, around the young star. This may
give birth to planets in certain circumstances, which are not well known. Thus the formation of
planetary systems is thought to be a natural result of star formation. A Sun-like star usually takes
approximately 1 million years to form, with the protoplanetary disk evolving into a planetary system
over the next 10–100 million years.[1]
The protoplanetary disk is an accretion disk that feeds the central star. Initially very hot, the disk later
cools in what is known as the T Tauri star stage; here, formation of small dust grains made of rocks and
ice is possible. The grains eventually may coagulate into kilometer-sized planetesimals. If the disk is
massive enough, the runaway accretions begin, resulting in the rapid—100,000 to 300,000 years—
formation of Moon- to Mars-sized planetary embryos. Near the star, the planetary embryos go through
a stage of violent mergers, producing a few terrestrial planets. The last stage takes approximately
100 million to a billion years.[1]
The formation of giant planets is a more complicated process. It is thought to occur beyond the frost
line, where planetary embryos mainly are made of various types of ice. As a result, they are several
times more massive than in the inner part of the protoplanetary disk. What follows after the embryo
formation is not completely clear. Some embryos appear to continue to grow and eventually reach 5–
10 Earth masses—the threshold value, which is necessary to begin accretion of the hydrogen–
helium gas from the disk.[3] The accumulation of gas by the core is initially a slow process, which
continues for several million years, but after the forming protoplanet reaches about 30 Earth masses
(M⊕) it accelerates and proceeds in a runaway manner. Jupiter- and Saturn-like planets are thought to
accumulate the bulk of their mass during only 10,000 years. The accretion stops when the gas is
exhausted. The formed planets can migrate over long distances during or after their formation. Ice
giants such as Uranus and Neptune are thought to be failed cores, which formed too late when the disk
had almost disappeared.
There is evidence that Emanuel Swedenborg first proposed parts of the nebular hypothesis in 1734.[4]
[5] Immanuel Kant, familiar with Swedenborg's work, developed the theory further in 1755, publishing
his own Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens, wherein he argued that gaseous clouds
(nebulae) slowly rotate, gradually collapse and flatten due to gravity, eventually
forming stars and planets.[2]
Pierre-Simon Laplace independently developed and proposed a similar model in 1796[2] in
his Exposition du systeme du monde. He envisioned that the Sun originally had an extended hot
atmosphere throughout the volume of the Solar System. His theory featured a contracting and cooling
protosolar cloud—the protosolar nebula. As this cooled and contracted, it flattened and spun more
rapidly, throwing off (or shedding) a series of gaseous rings of material; and according to him, the
planets condensed from this material. His model was similar to Kant's, except more detailed and on a
smaller scale.[2] While the Laplacian nebular model dominated in the 19th century, it encountered a
number of difficulties. The main problem involved angular momentum distribution between the Sun and
planets. The planets have 99% of the angular momentum, and this fact could not be explained by the
nebular model.[2] As a result, astronomers largely abandoned this theory of planet formation at the
beginning of the 20th century.
A major critique came during the 19th century from James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879), who maintained
that different rotation between the inner and outer parts of a ringcould not allow condensation of
material.[6] Astronomer Sir David Brewster also rejected Laplace, writing in 1876 that "those who
believe in the Nebular Theory consider it as certain that our Earth derived its solid matter and its
atmosphere from a ring thrown from the Solar atmosphere, which afterwards contracted into a solid
terraqueous sphere, from which the Moon was thrown off by the same process". He argued that under
such view, "the Moon must necessarily have carried off water and air from the watery and aerial parts of
the Earth and must have an atmosphere".[7] Brewster claimed that Sir Isaac Newton's religious beliefs
had previously considered nebular ideas as tending to atheism, and quoted him as saying that "the
growth of new systems out of old ones, without the mediation of a Divine power, seemed to him
apparently absurd".[8]
The perceived deficiencies of the Laplacian model stimulated scientists to find a replacement for it.
During the 20th century many theories addressed the issue, including the planetesimal
theory of Thomas Chamberlin and Forest Moulton (1901), the tidal model of James Jeans (1917),
the accretion model of Otto Schmidt(1944), the protoplanet theory of William McCrea (1960) and finally
the capture theory of Michael Woolfson.[2] In 1978 Andrew Prentice resurrected the initial Laplacian
ideas about planet formation and developed the modern Laplacian theory.[2] None of these attempts
proved completely successful, and many of the proposed theories were descriptive.
The birth of the modern widely accepted theory of planetary formation—the solar nebular disk model
(SNDM)—can be traced to the Soviet astronomer Victor Safronov.[9] His 1969 book Evolution of the
protoplanetary cloud and formation of the Earth and the planets,[10] which was translated to English in
1972, had a long-lasting effect on the way scientists think about the formation of the planets.[11] In this
book almost all major problems of the planetary formation process were formulated and some of them
solved. Safronov's ideas were further developed in the works of George Wetherill, who
discovered runaway accretion.[2] While originally applied only to the Solar System, the SNDM was
subsequently thought by theorists to be at work throughout the Universe; as of 1 April 2019
astronomers have discovered 4,023 extrasolar planets in our galaxy.[12]
Solar nebular model: achievements and problems
Achievements
The star formation process naturally results in the appearance of accretion disks around young stellar
objects.[14] At the age of about 1 million years, 100% of stars may have such disks.[15] This conclusion is
supported by the discovery of the gaseous and dusty disks around protostars and T Tauri stars as well as
by theoretical considerations.[16] Observations of these disks show that the dust grains inside them
grow in size on short (thousand-year) time scales, producing 1 centimeter sized particles.[17]
Dusty discs surrounding nearby young stars in greater detail.[13]
The accretion process, by which 1 km planetesimals grow into 1,000 km sized bodies, is well understood
now.[18] This process develops inside any disk where the number density of planetesimals is sufficiently
high, and proceeds in a runaway manner. Growth later slows and continues as oligarchic accretion. The
end result is formation of planetary embryos of varying sizes, which depend on the distance from the
star.[18] Various simulations have demonstrated that the merger of embryos in the inner part of the
protoplanetary disk leads to the formation of a few Earth-sized bodies. Thus the origin of terrestrial
planets is now considered to be an almost solved problem.[19]
Current issues
The physics of accretion disks encounters some problems.[20] The most important one is how the
material, which is accreted by the protostar, loses its angular momentum. One possible explanation
suggested by Hannes Alfvén was that angular momentum was shed by the solar wind during its T Tauri
star phase. The momentum is transported to the outer parts of the disk by viscous stresses.[21] Viscosity
is generated by macroscopic turbulence, but the precise mechanism that produces this turbulence is not
well understood. Another possible process for shedding angular momentum is magnetic braking, where
the spin of the star is transferred into the surrounding disk via that star's magnetic field.[22] The main
processes responsible for the disappearance of the gas in disks are viscous diffusion and photo-
evaporation.[23][24]
Multiple star system AS 205.[25]
The formation of planetesimals is the biggest unsolved problem in the nebular disk model. How 1 cm
sized particles coalesce into 1 km planetesimals is a mystery. This mechanism appears to be the key to
the question as to why some stars have planets, while others have nothing around them, not even dust
belts.[26]
The formation timescale of giant planets is also an important problem. Old theories were unable to
explain how their cores could form fast enough to accumulate significant amounts of gas from the
quickly disappearing protoplanetary disk.[18][27] The mean lifetime of the disks, which is less than ten
million (107) years, appeared to be shorter than the time necessary for the core formation.[15] Much
progress has been done to solve this problem and current models of giant planet formation are now
capable of forming Jupiter (or more massive planets) in about 4 million years or less, well within the
average lifetime of gaseous disks.[28][29][30]
Another potential problem of giant planet formation is their orbital migration. Some calculations show
that interaction with the disk can cause rapid inward migration, which, if not stopped, results in the
planet reaching the "central regions still as a sub-Jovian object."[31] More recent calculations indicate
that disk evolution during migration can mitigate this problem.[32]
Formation of stars and protoplanetary disks
Protostars
Protostar
Stars are thought to form inside giant clouds of cold molecular hydrogen—giant molecular
clouds roughly 300,000 times the mass of the Sun (M☉) and 20 parsecs in diameter.[1][33] Over millions
of years, giant molecular clouds are prone to collapse and fragmentation.[34] These fragments then
form small, dense cores, which in turn collapse into stars.[33] The cores range in mass from a fraction to
several times that of the Sun and are called protostellar (protosolar) nebulae.[1] They possess diameters
of 0.01–0.1 pc (2,000–20,000 AU) and a particle number density of roughly 10,000 to 100,000 cm−3
The visible-light (left) and infrared (right) views of the Trifid Nebula—a giant star-forming cloud of gas
and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius
.[a][33][35]
The initial collapse of a solar-mass protostellar nebula takes around 100,000 years.[1][33] Every nebula
begins with a certain amount of angular momentum. Gas in the central part of the nebula, with
relatively low angular momentum, undergoes fast compression and forms a hot hydrostatic (not
contracting) core containing a small fraction of the mass of the original nebula.[36] This core forms the
seed of what will become a star.[1][36] As the collapse continues, conservation of angular momentum
means that the rotation of the infalling envelope accelerates,[37][38] which largely prevents the gas
from directly accreting onto the central core. The gas is instead forced to spread outwards near its
equatorial plane, forming a disk, which in turn accretes onto the core.[1][37][38]The core gradually
grows in mass until it becomes a young hot protostar.[36] At this stage, the protostar and its disk are
heavily obscured by the infalling envelope and are not directly observable.[14] In fact the remaining
envelope's opacity is so high that even millimeter-wave radiation has trouble escaping from inside it.[1]
[14] Such objects are observed as very bright condensations, which emit mainly millimeter-wave
and submillimeter-wave radiation.[35] They are classified as spectral Class 0 protostars.[14] The collapse
is often accompanied by bipolar outflows—jets—that emanate along the rotational axis of the inferred
disk. The jets are frequently observed in star-forming regions (see Herbig–Haro (HH) objects).[39] The
luminosity of the Class 0 protostars is high — a solar-mass protostar may radiate at up to 100 solar
luminosities.[14] The source of this energy is gravitational collapse, as their cores are not yet hot enough
to begin nuclear fusion.[36][40]
Infrared image of the molecular outflow from an otherwise hidden newborn star HH 46/47
As the infall of its material onto the disk continues, the envelope eventually becomes thin and
transparent and the young stellar object (YSO) becomes observable, initially in far-infrared light and
later in the visible.[35] Around this time the protostar begins to fuse deuterium. If the protostar is
sufficiently massive (above 80 Jupiter masses (MJ)), hydrogen fusion follows. Otherwise, if its mass is too
low, the object becomes a brown dwarf.[40] This birth of a new star occurs approximately 100,000 years
after the collapse begins.[1] Objects at this stage are known as Class I protostars,[14] which are also
called young T Tauri stars, evolved protostars, or young stellar objects.[14] By this time the forming star
has already accreted much of its mass: the total mass of the disk and remaining envelope does not
exceed 10–20% of the mass of the central YSO.[35]
At the next stage the envelope completely disappears, having been gathered up by the disk, and the
protostar becomes a classical T Tauri star.[b] This happens after about 1 million years.[1] The mass of
the disk around a classical T Tauri star is about 1–3% of the stellar mass, and it is accreted at a rate of
10−7 to 10−9 M☉ per year.[43] A pair of bipolar jets is usually present as well.[44] The accretion
explains all peculiar properties of classical T Tauri stars: strong flux in the emission lines(up to 100% of
the intrinsic luminosity of the star), magnetic activity, photometric variability and jets.[45] The emission
lines actually form as the accreted gas hits the "surface" of the star, which happens around its magnetic
poles.[45] The jets are byproducts of accretion: they carry away excessive angular momentum. The
classical T Tauri stage lasts about 10 million years.[1] The disk eventually disappears due to accretion
onto the central star, planet formation, ejection by jets and photoevaporation by UV-radiation from the
central star and nearby stars.[46] As a result, the young star becomes a weakly lined T Tauri star, which
slowly, over hundreds of millions of years, evolves into an ordinary Sun-like star.[36]
Protoplanetary disks
Protoplanetary disk and planetesimal
Under certain circumstances the disk, which can now be called protoplanetary, may give birth to
a planetary system.[1]Protoplanetary disks have been observed around a very high fraction of stars in
young star clusters.[15][48] They exist from the beginning of a star's formation, but at the earliest stages
are unobservable due to the opacity of the surrounding envelope.[14] The disk of a Class 0 protostar is
thought to be massive and hot. It is an accretion disk, which feeds the central protostar.[37][38] The
temperature can easily exceed 400 K inside 5 AU and 1,000 K inside 1 AU.[49]
Debris disks detected in HST archival images of young stars, HD 141943 and HD 191089, using improved
imaging processes (24 April 2014).[47]
The heating of the disk is primarily caused by the viscous dissipation of turbulence in it and by the infall
of the gas from the nebula.[37][38]The high temperature in the inner disk causes most of
the volatile material—water, organics, and some rocks to evaporate, leaving only the
most refractory elements like iron. The ice can survive only in the outer part of the disk.[49]
A protoplanetary disk forming in the Orion Nebula
The main problem in the physics of accretion disks is the generation of turbulence and the mechanism
responsible for the high effective viscosity.[1]The turbulent viscosity is thought to be responsible for
the transport of the mass to the central protostar and momentum to the periphery of the disk. This is
vital for accretion, because the gas can be accreted by the central protostar only if it loses most of its
angular momentum, which must be carried away by the small part of the gas drifting outwards.[37]
[50] The result of this process is the growth of both the protostar and of the disk radius, which can reach
1,000 AU if the initial angular momentum of the nebula is large enough.[38] Large disks are routinely
observed in many star-forming regions such as the Orion nebula.[16]
Artist's impression of the disc and gas streams around young star HD 142527.[51]
The lifespan of the accretion disks is about 10 million years.[15] By the time the star reaches the classical
T-Tauri stage, the disk becomes thinner and cools.[43] Less volatile materials start to condense close to
its center, forming 0.1–1 μm dust grains that contain crystalline silicates.[17] The transport of the
material from the outer disk can mix these newly formed dust grains with primordial ones, which
contain organic matter and other volatiles. This mixing can explain some peculiarities in the composition
of Solar System bodies such as the presence of interstellar grains in the primitive meteorites and
refractory inclusions in comets.[49]
Various planet formation processes, including exocometsand other planetesimals, around Beta Pictoris,
a very young type A V star (NASA artist's conception).
Dust particles tend to stick to each other in the dense disk environment, leading to the formation of
larger particles up to several centimeters in size.[52]The signatures of the dust processing
and coagulation are observed in the infrared spectra of the young disks.[17] Further aggregation can
lead to the formation of planetesimals measuring 1 km across or larger, which are the building blocks
of planets.[1][52]Planetesimal formation is another unsolved problem of disk physics, as simple sticking
becomes ineffective as dust particles grow larger.[26]
One hypothesis is formation by the gravitational instability. Particles several centimeters in size or larger
slowly settle near the middle plane of the disk, forming a very thin—less than 100 km—and dense layer.
This layer is gravitationally unstable and may fragment into numerous clumps, which in turn collapse
into planetesimals.[1][26] However, the differing velocities of the gas disk and the solids near the mid-
plane can generate turbulence which prevents the layer from becoming thin enough to fragment due to
gravitational instability.[53] This may limit the formation of planetesimals via gravitational instabilities to
specific locations in the disk where the concentration of solids is enhanced.[54]
Another possible mechanism for the formation of planetesimals is the streaming instability in which the
drag felt by particles orbiting through gas creates a feedback effect causing the growth of local
concentrations. These local concentration push back on the gas creating a region where the headwind
felt by the particles is smaller. The concentration is thus able to orbit faster and undergoes less radial
drift. Isolated particles join these concentrations as they are overtaken or as they drift inward causing it
to grow in mass. Eventually these concentrations form massive filaments which fragment and undergo
gravitational collapse forming planetesimals the size of the larger asteroids.[55]
Planetary formation can also be triggered by gravitational instability within the disk itself, which leads to
its fragmentation into clumps. Some of them, if they are dense enough, will collapse,[50] which can lead
to rapid formation of gas giant planets and even brown dwarfs on the timescale of 1,000 years.[56] If
these clumps migrate inward as the collapse proceeds tidal forces from the star can result in a
significant mass loss leaving behind a smaller body.[57] However it is only possible in massive disks—
more massive than 0.3 M☉. In comparison, typical disk masses are 0.01–0.03 M☉. Because the massive
disks are rare, this mechanism of the planet formation is thought to be infrequent.[1][20] On the other
hand, this mechanism may play a major role in the formation of brown dwarfs.[58]
Asteroid collision—building planets (artist concept).
The ultimate dissipation of protoplanetary disks is triggered by a number of different mechanisms. The
inner part of the disk is either accreted by the star or ejected by the bipolar jets,[43][44] whereas the
outer part can evaporateunder the star's powerful UV radiation during the T Tauri stage[59] or by
nearby stars.[46] The gas in the central part can either be accreted or ejected by the growing planets,
while the small dust particles are ejected by the radiation pressure of the central star. What is finally left
is either a planetary system, a remnant disk of dust without planets, or nothing, if planetesimals failed to
form.[1]
Because planetesimals are so numerous, and spread throughout the protoplanetary disk, some survive
the formation of a planetary system. Asteroids are understood to be left-over planetesimals, gradually
grinding each other down into smaller and smaller bits, while comets are typically planetesimals from
the farther reaches of a planetary system. Meteorites are samples of planetesimals that reach a
planetary surface, and provide a great deal of information about the formation of the Solar System.
Primitive-type meteorites are chunks of shattered low-mass planetesimals, where no
thermal differentiation took place, while processed-type meteorites are chunks from shattered massive
planetesimals.[60]
Formation of Earth Astronomical object .
Rocky planets, Astronomical objects.
According to the solar nebular disk model, rocky planets form in the inner part of the protoplanetary
disk, within the frost line, where the temperature is high enough to prevent condensation of water ice
and other substances into grains.[61] This results in coagulation of purely rocky grains and later in the
formation of rocky planetesimals.[c][61] Such conditions are thought to exist in the inner 3–4 AU part of
the disk of a Sun-like star.[1]
After small planetesimals—about 1 km in diameter—have formed by one way or another, runaway
accretion begins.[18] It is called runaway because the mass growth rate is proportional to R4~M4/3,
where R and M are the radius and mass of the growing body, respectively.[62] The specific (divided by
mass) growth accelerates as the mass increases. This leads to the preferential growth of larger bodies at
the expense of smaller ones.[18] The runaway accretion lasts between 10,000 and 100,000 years and
ends when the largest bodies exceed approximately 1,000 km in diameter.[18] Slowing of the accretion
is caused by gravitational perturbations by large bodies on the remaining planetesimals.[18][62] In
addition, the influence of larger bodies stops further growth of smaller bodies.[18]
The next stage is called oligarchic accretion.[18] It is characterized by the dominance of several hundred
of the largest bodies—oligarchs, which continue to slowly accrete planetesimals.[18] No body other
than the oligarchs can grow.[62] At this stage the rate of accretion is proportional to R2, which is derived
from the geometrical cross-section of an oligarch.[62] The specific accretion rate is proportional
to M−1/3; and it declines with the mass of the body. This allows smaller oligarchs to catch up to larger
ones. The oligarchs are kept at the distance of about 10·Hr (Hr=a(1-e)(M/3Ms)1/3 is the Hill radius,
where a is the semimajor axis, e is the orbital eccentricity, and Ms is the mass of the central star) from
each other by the influence of the remaining planetesimals.[18] Their orbital eccentricities and
inclinations remain small. The oligarchs continue to accrete until planetesimals are exhausted in the disk
around them.[18] Sometimes nearby oligarchs merge. The final mass of an oligarch depends on the
distance from the star and surface density of planetesimals and is called the isolation mass.[62] For the
rocky planets it is up to 0.1 M⊕, or one Mars mass.[1] The final result of the oligarchic stage is the
formation of about 100 Moon- to Mars-sized planetary embryos uniformly spaced at about 10·Hr.
[19] They are thought to reside inside gaps in the disk and to be separated by rings of remaining
planetesimals. This stage is thought to last a few hundred thousand years.[1][18]
The last stage of rocky planet formation is the merger stage.[1] It begins when only a small number of
planetesimals remains and embryos become massive enough to perturb each other, which causes their
orbits to become chaotic.[19] During this stage embryos expel remaining planetesimals, and collide with
each other. The result of this process, which lasts for 10 to 100 million years, is the formation of a
limited number of Earth-sized bodies. Simulations show that the number of surviving planets is on
average from 2 to 5.[1][19][60][63] In the Solar System they may be represented by Earth and Venus.
[19] Formation of both planets required merging of approximately 10–20 embryos, while an equal
number of them were thrown out of the Solar System.[60] Some of the embryos, which originated in
the asteroid belt, are thought to have brought water to Earth.[61] Mars and Mercury may be regarded
as remaining embryos that survived that rivalry.[60] Rocky planets, which have managed to coalesce,
settle eventually into more or less stable orbits, explaining why planetary systems are generally packed
to the limit; or, in other words, why they always appear to be at the brink of instability.[19]
Giant planets
The dust disk around Fomalhaut—the brightest star in Piscis Austrinus constellation. Asymmetry of the
disk may be caused by a giant planet (or planets) orbiting the star.
The formation of giant planets is an outstanding problem in the planetary sciences.[20] In the
framework of the solar nebular model two theories for their formation exist. The first one is the disk
instability model, where giant planets form in the massive protoplanetary disks as a result of
its gravitational fragmentation (see above).[56] The second possibility is the core accretion model, which
is also known as the nucleated instability model.[20][32] The latter scenario is thought to be the most
promising one, because it can explain the formation of the giant planets in relatively low-mass disks (less
than 0.1 M☉).[32] In this model giant planet formation is divided into two stages: a) accretion of a core
of approximately 10 M⊕and b) accretion of gas from the protoplanetary disk.[1][20][64] Either method
may also lead to the creation of brown dwarfs.[29][65] Searches as of 2011 have found that core
accretion is likely the dominant formation mechanism.[65]
Giant planet core formation is thought to proceed roughly along the lines of the terrestrial planet
formation.[18] It starts with planetesimals that undergo runaway growth, followed by the slower
oligarchic stage.[62] Hypotheses do not predict a merger stage, due to the low probability of collisions
between planetary embryos in the outer part of planetary systems.[62]An additional difference is the
composition of the planetesimals, which in the case of giant planets form beyond the so-called frost
line and consist mainly of ice—the ice to rock ratio is about 4 to 1.[27] This enhances the mass of
planetesimals fourfold. However, the minimum mass nebula capable of terrestrial planet formation can
only form 1–2 M⊕ cores at the distance of Jupiter (5 AU) within 10 million years.[62] The latter number
represents the average lifetime of gaseous disks around Sun-like stars.[15] The proposed solutions
include enhanced mass of the disk—a tenfold increase would suffice;[62] protoplanet migration, which
allows the embryo to accrete more planetesimals;[27] and finally accretion enhancement due to gas
drag in the gaseous envelopes of the embryos.[27][30][66] Some combination of the above-mentioned
ideas may explain the formation of the cores of gas giant planets such as Jupiter and perhaps
even Saturn.[20] The formation of planets like Uranus and Neptune is more problematic, since no theory
has been capable of providing for the in situ formation of their cores at the distance of 20–30 AU from
the central star.[1] One hypothesis is that they initially accreted in the Jupiter-Saturn region, then were
scattered and migrated to their present location.[67] Another possible solution is the growth of the
cores of the giant planets via pebble accretion. In pebble accretion objects between a cm and a meter in
diameter falling toward a massive body are slowed enough by gas drag for them to spiral toward it and
be accreted. Growth via pebble accretion may be as much as 1000 times faster than by the accretion of
planetesimals.[68]
Once the cores are of sufficient mass (5–10 M⊕), they begin to gather gas from the surrounding disk.
[1] Initially it is a slow process, increasing the core masses up to 30 M⊕ in a few million years.[27]
[66] After that, the accretion rates increase dramatically and the remaining 90% of the mass is
accumulated in approximately 10,000 years.[66] The accretion of gas stops when the supply from the
disk is exhausted.[64] This happens gradually, due to the formation of a density gap in the
protoplanetary disk and to disk dispersal.[32][69] In this model ice giants—Uranus and Neptune—are
failed cores that began gas accretion too late, when almost all gas had already disappeared. The post-
runaway-gas-accretion stage is characterized by migration of the newly formed giant planets and
continued slow gas accretion.[69]Migration is caused by the interaction of the planet sitting in the gap
with the remaining disk. It stops when the protoplanetary disk disappears or when the end of the disk is
attained. The latter case corresponds to the so-called hot Jupiters, which are likely to have stopped their
migration when they reached the inner hole in the protoplanetary disk.[69]
In this artist's conception, a planet spins through a clearing (gap) in a nearby star's dusty, planet-forming
disc.
Giant planets can significantly influence terrestrial planet formation. The presence of giants tends to
increase eccentricitiesand inclinations (see Kozai mechanism) of planetesimals and embryos in the
terrestrial planet region (inside 4 AU in the Solar System).[60][63] If giant planets form too early, they
can slow or prevent inner planet accretion. If they form near the end of the oligarchic stage, as is
thought to have happened in the Solar System, they will influence the merges of planetary embryos,
making them more violent.[60] As a result, the number of terrestrial planets will decrease and they will
be more massive.[70] In addition, the size of the system will shrink, because terrestrial planets will form
closer to the central star. The influence of giant planets in the Solar System, particularly that of Jupiter,
is thought to have been limited because they are relatively remote from the terrestrial planets.[70]
The region of a planetary system adjacent to the giant planets will be influenced in a different way.
[63] In such a region, eccentricities of embryos may become so large that the embryos pass close to a
giant planet, which may cause them to be ejected from the system.[d][60][63] If all embryos are
removed, then no planets will form in this region.[63] An additional consequence is that a huge number
of small planetesimals will remain, because giant planets are incapable of clearing them all out without
the help of embryos. The total mass of remaining planetesimals will be small, because cumulative action
of the embryos before their ejection and giant planets is still strong enough to remove 99% of the small
bodies.[60] Such a region will eventually evolve into an asteroid belt, which is a full analog of the
asteroid belt in the Solar System, located from 2 to 4 AU from the Sun.[60][63]
Exoplanets
Thousands of exoplanets have been identified in the last twenty years. The orbits of many of these
planets and systems of planets differ significantly from the planets in the Solar System. The exoplanets
discovered include hot-Jupiters, warm-Jupiters, super-Earths, and systems of tightly packed inner
planets.
The hot-Jupiters and warm-Jupiters are thought to have migrated to their current orbits during or
following their formation. A number of possible mechanisms for this migration have been proposed.
Type I or Type II migration could smoothly decrease the semimajor axis of the planet's orbit resulting in
a warm- or hot-Jupiter. Gravitational scattering by other planets onto eccentric orbits with a perihelion
near the star followed by the circularization of its orbit due to tidal interactions with the star can leave a
planet on a close orbit. If a massive companion planet or star on an inclined orbit was present an
exchange of inclination for eccentricity via the Kozai mechanism raising eccentricities and lowering
perihelion followed by circularization can also result in a close orbit. Many of the Jupiter-sized planets
have eccentric orbits which may indicate that gravitational encounters occurred between the planets,
although migration while in resonance can also excite eccentricities.[71] The in situ growth of hot
Jupiters from closely orbiting super Earths has also been proposed. The cores in this hypothesis could
have formed locally or at a greater distance and migrated close to the star.[72]
Super-Earths and other closely orbiting planets are thought to have either formed in situ or to have
migrated inward from their initial locations. The in situ formation of closely orbiting super-Earths would
require a massive disk, the migration of planetary embryos followed by collisions and mergers, or the
radial drift of small solids from farther out in the disk. The migration of the super-Earths, or the embryos
that collided to form them, is likely to have been Type I due to their smaller mass. The resonant orbits of
some of the exoplanet systems indicates that some migration occurred in these systems, while the
spacing of the orbits in many of the other systems not in resonance indicates that an instability likely
occurred in those systems after the dissipation of the gas disk. The absence of Super-Earths and closely
orbiting planets in the Solar System may be due to the previous formation of Jupiter blocking their
inward migration.[73]
The amount of gas a super-Earth that formed in situ acquires may depend on when the planetary
embryos merged due to giant impacts relative to the dissipation of the gas disk. If the mergers happen
after the gas disk dissipates terrestrial planets can form, if in a transition disk a super-Earth with a gas
envelope containing a few percent of its mass may form. If the mergers happen too early runaway gas
accretion may occur leading to the formation of a gas giant. The mergers begin when the dynamical
friction due to the gas disk becomes insufficient to prevent collisions, a process that will begin earlier in
a higher metallicity disk.[74] Alternatively gas accretion may be limited due to the envelopes not being
in hydrostatic equilibrium, instead gas may flow through the envelope slowing its growth and delaying
the onset of runaway gas accretion until the mass of the core reaches 15 Earth masses.[75]
Meaning of accretion
Use of the term "accretion disk" for the protoplanetary disk leads to confusion over the planetary
accretion process. The protoplanetary disk is sometimes referred to as an accretion disk, because while
the young T Tauri-like protostar is still contracting, gaseous material may still be falling onto it, accreting
on its surface from the disk's inner edge.[38] In an accretion disk, there is a net flux of mass from larger
radii toward smaller radii.[21]
However, that meaning should not be confused with the process of accretion forming the planets. In this
context, accretion refers to the process of cooled, solidified grains of dust and ice orbiting
the protostar in the p
GEODYNAMO THEORY.
This theory is used to explain the presence of anomalously long-lived magnetic fields in astrophysical
bodies. The conductive fluid in the geodynamo is liquid iron in the outer core, and in the solar dynamo is
ionized gas at the tachocline. In physics, the dynamo theory proposes a mechanism by which a celestial
body such as Earth or a star generates a magnetic field. The dynamo theory describes the process
through which a rotating, convecting, and electricallyconducting fluid can maintain a magnetic field
over astronomical time scales. A dynamo is thought to be the source of the Earth's magnetic fieldand
the magnetic fields of other planets.
History of Geodynamo theory.
When William Gilbert published de Magnete in 1600, he concluded that the Earth is magnetic and
proposed the first hypothesis for the origin of this magnetism: permanent magnetism such as that found
in lodestone. In 1919, Joseph Larmorproposed that a dynamo might be generating the field.[2]
[3] However, even after he advanced his hypothesis, some prominent scientists advanced alternative
explanations. Einstein believed that there might be an asymmetry between the charges of
the electron and proton so that the Earth's magnetic field would be produced by the entire Earth.
The Nobel Prize winner Patrick Blackett did a series of experiments looking for a fundamental relation
between angular momentum and magnetic moment, but found none.[4][5]
Walter M. Elsasser, considered a "father" of the presently accepted dynamo theory as an explanation of
the Earth's magnetism, proposed that this magnetic field resulted from electric currents induced in the
fluid outer core of the Earth. He revealed the history of the Earth's magnetic field through pioneering
the study of the magnetic orientation of minerals in rocks.
In order to maintain the magnetic field against ohmic decay (which would occur for the dipole field in
20,000 years), the outer core must be convecting. The convection is likely some combination of thermal
and compositional convection. The mantle controls the rate at which heat is extracted from the core.
Heat sources include gravitational energy released by the compression of the core, gravitational energy
released by the rejection of light elements (probably sulfur, oxygen, or silicon) at the inner core
boundary as it grows, latent heat of crystallization at the inner core boundary, and radioactivity
of potassium, uranium and thorium.[6]
At the dawn of the 21st century, numerical modeling of the Earth's magnetic field has not been
successfully demonstrated, but appears to be in reach. Initial models are focused on field generation by
convection in the planet's fluid outer core. It was possible to show the generation of a strong, Earth-like
field when the model assumed a uniform core-surface temperature and exceptionally high viscosities for
the core fluid. Computations which incorporated more realistic parameter values yielded magnetic fields
that were less Earth-like, but also point the way to model refinements which may ultimately lead to an
accurate analytic model. Slight variations in the core-surface temperature, in the range of a few
millikelvins, result in significant increases in convective flow and produce more realistic magnetic fields.
[7][8]
Formal definition
Dynamo theory describes the process through which a rotating, convecting, and electrically conducting
fluid acts to maintain a magnetic field. This theory is used to explain the presence of anomalously long-
lived magnetic fields in astrophysical bodies. The conductive fluid in the geodynamo is liquid iron in the
outer core, and in the solar dynamo is ionized gas at the tachocline. Dynamo theory of astrophysical
bodies uses magnetohydrodynamic equations to investigate how the fluid can continuously regenerate
the magnetic field.[9]
It was once believed that the dipole, which comprises much of the Earth's magnetic field and is
misaligned along the rotation axis by 11.3 degrees, was caused by permanent magnetization of the
materials in the earth. This means that dynamo theory was originally used to explain the Sun's magnetic
field in its relationship with that of the Earth. However, this hypothesis, which was initially proposed
by Joseph Larmor in 1919, has been modified due to extensive studies of magnetic secular
variation, paleomagnetism (including polarity reversals), seismology, and the solar system's abundance
of elements. Also, the application of the theories of Carl Friedrich Gauss to magnetic observations
showed that Earth's magnetic field had an internal, rather than external, origin.
There are three requisites for a dynamo to operate:
An electrically conductive fluid medium
Kinetic energy provided by planetary rotation
An internal energy source to drive convective motions within the fluid.[10]
In the case of the Earth, the magnetic field is induced and constantly maintained by the convection of
liquid iron in the outer core. A requirement for the induction of field is a rotating fluid. Rotation in the
outer core is supplied by the Coriolis effectcaused by the rotation of the Earth. The Coriolis force tends
to organize fluid motions and electric currents into columns (also see Taylor columns) aligned with the
rotation axis. Induction or creation of magnetic field is described by the induction equation.
Tacholine.
The tachocline is the transition region of the Sun between the radiative interior and the differentially
rotating outer convective zone. It is in the outer third of the Sun (by radius). This causes the region to
have a very large shear as the rotation rate changes very rapidly. The convective exterior rotates as a
normal fluid with differential rotation with the poles rotating slowly and the equator rotating quickly.
The radiative interior exhibits solid-body rotation, possibly due to a fossil field. The rotation rate through
the interior is roughly equal to the rotation rate at mid-latitudes, i.e. in-between the rate at the slow
poles and the fast equator. Recent results from helioseismology indicate that the tachocline is located at
a radius of at most 0.70 times the Solar radius (measured from the core, i.e., the surface is at 1 solar
radius), with a thickness of 0.04 times the solar radius. This would mean the area has a very large shear
profile that is one way that large scale magnetic fields can be formed.
The geometry and width of the tachocline are thought to play an important role in models of the solar
dynamo by winding up the weaker poloidal field to create a much stronger toroidal field. Recent radio
observations of cooler stars and brown dwarfs, which do not have a radiative core and only have a
convective zone, demonstrate that they maintain large-scale, solar-strength magnetic fields and display
solar-like activity despite the absence of tachoclines. This suggests that the convective zone alone may
be responsible for the function of the solar dynamo.
Internal rotation in the Sun, showing differential rotation in the outer convective region and almost
uniform rotation in the central radiative region. The transition between these regions is called the
tachocline.
Source;Global Oscillation Network Group - http://gong.nso.edu/
Internal rotation in the Sun, showing differential rotation in the outer convective region and almost
uniform rotation in the central radiative region. The transition between these regions is called the
tachocline. Image courtesy of GONG: http://gong.nso.edu/.
MOON THOUGHT TO PLAY MAJOR ROLE IN MAINTAINING EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD
The gravitational effects associated with the presence of the Moon and Sun cause cyclical deformation
of the Earth’s mantle and wobbles in its rotation axis. This mechanical forcing applied to the whole
planet causes strong currents in the outer core, which is made up of a liquid iron alloy of very low
viscosity. Such currents are enough to generate the Earth’s magnetic field. Illustration credit: © Julien
Monteux and Denis Andrault.The Earth’s magnetic field permanently protects us from the charged
particles and radiation that originate in the Sun. This shield is produced by the geodynamo, the rapid
motion of huge quantities of liquid iron alloy in the Earth’s outer core. To maintain this magnetic field
until the present day, the classical model required the Earth’s core to have cooled by around 3,000 °C
over the past 4.3 billion years. Now, a team of researchers from CNRS and Université Blaise Pascal
suggests that, on the contrary, its temperature has fallen by only 300 °C. The action of the Moon,
overlooked until now, is thought to have compensated for this difference and kept the geodynamo
active. Their work was published on 30 March 2016 in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
The classical model of the formation of Earth’s magnetic field raised a major paradox. For the
geodynamo to work, the Earth would have had to be totally molten four billion years ago, and its core
would have had to slowly cool from around 6,800 °C at that time to 3,800 °C today. However, recent
modelling of the early evolution of the internal temperature of the planet, together with geochemical
studies of the composition of the oldest carbonatites and basalts, do not support such cooling. With
such high temperatures being ruled out, the researchers propose another source of energy in their
study.
The Earth has a slightly flattened shape and rotates about an inclined axis that wobbles around the
poles. Its mantle deforms elastically due to tidal effects caused by the Moon. The researchers show that
this effect could continuously stimulate the motion of the liquid iron alloy making up the outer core, and
in return generate Earth’s magnetic field. The Earth continuously receives 3,700 billion watts of power
through the transfer of the gravitational and rotational energy of the Earth-Moon-Sun system, and over
1,000 billion watts is thought to be available to bring about this type of motion in the outer core. This
energy is enough to generate the Earth’s magnetic field, which together with the Moon, resolves the
major paradox in the classical theory. The effect of gravitational forces on a planet’s magnetic field has
already been well documented for two of Jupiter’s moons, Io and Europa, and for a number of
exoplanets.
Since neither the Earth’s rotation around its axis, nor the direction of its axis, nor the Moon’s orbit are
perfectly regular, their combined effect on motion in the core is unstable and can cause fluctuations in
the geodynamo. This process could account for certain heat pulses in the outer core and at its boundary
with the Earth’s mantle.
Over the course of time, this may have led to peaks in deep mantle melting and possibly to major
volcanic events at the Earth’s surface. This new model shows that the Moon’s effect on the Earth goes
well beyond merely causing tides.
In the case of the Earth, the magnetic field is induced and constantly maintained by the convection of
liquid iron in the outer core. A requirement for the induction of field is a rotating fluid. Rotation in the
outer core is supplied by the Coriolis effectcaused by the rotation of the Earth. The Coriolis force tends
to organize fluid motions and electric currents into columns (also see Taylor columns) aligned with the
rotation axis. Induction or creation of magnetic field is described by the induction equation:
{\displaystyle {\frac {\partial \mathbf {B} }{\partial t}}=\eta \nabla ^{2}\mathbf {B} +\nabla \times
(\mathbf {u} \times \mathbf {B} )}
where u is velocity, B is magnetic field, t is time, and {\displaystyle \eta =1/(\sigma
\mu )} is the magnetic diffusivity with {\displaystyle \sigma } electrical conductivity and
{\displaystyle \mu } permeability. The ratio of the second term on the right hand side to the first term
gives the Magnetic Reynolds number, a dimensionless ratio of advection of magnetic field to diffusion.
Tidal heating supporting a dynamo
Tidal forces between celestial orbiting bodies cause friction that heats up their interiors. This is known as
tidal heating, and it helps keep the interior in a liquid state. A liquid interior that can conduct electricity
is required to produce a dynamo. Saturn's Enceladus and Jupiter's Io have enough tidal heating to liquify
their inner cores, but they may not create a dynamo because they cannot conduct electricity.[11]
[12] Mercury, despite its small size, has a magnetic field, because it has a conductive liquid core created
by its iron composition and friction resulting from its highly elliptical orbit.[13] It is theorized that the
Moon once had a magnetic field, based on evidence from magnetized lunar rocks, due to its short-lived
closer distance to Earth creating tidal heating.[14] An orbit and rotation of a planet helps provide a
liquid core, and supplements kinetic energy that supports a dynamo action.
Kinematic dynamo theory
In kinematic dynamo theory the velocity field is prescribed, instead of being a dynamic variable. This
method cannot provide the time variable behavior of a fully nonlinear chaotic dynamo but is useful in
studying how magnetic field strength varies with the flow structure and speed.
Using Maxwell's equations simultaneously with the curl of Ohm's law, one can derive what is basically
the linear eigenvalue equation for magnetic fields (B) which can be done when assuming that the
magnetic field is independent from the velocity field. One arrives at a critical magnetic Reynolds
number above which the flow strength is sufficient to amplify the imposed magnetic field, and below
which it decays.
The most functional feature of kinematic dynamo theory is that it can be used to test whether a velocity
field is or is not capable of dynamo action. By applying a certain velocity field to a small magnetic field, it
can be determined through observation whether the magnetic field tends to grow or not in reaction to
the applied flow. If the magnetic field does grow, then the system is either capable of dynamo action or
is a dynamo, but if the magnetic field does not grow, then it is simply referred to as non-dynamo.
The membrane paradigm is a way of looking at black holes that allows for the material near their
surfaces to be expressed in the language of dynamo theory.
As a spontaneous breakdown of topological supersymmetry
Kinematic dynamo can be also viewed as the phenomenon of the spontaneous breakdown of the
topological supersymmetry of the associated stochastic differential equation related to the flow of the
background matter.[15] Within supersymmetric theory of stochastics, this supersymmetry is an intrinsic
property of all stochastic differential equations, its meaning is the preservation of the continuity of the
phase space of the model by continuous time flows, and its spontaneous breakdown is the stochastic
generalization of the concept of deterministic chaos.[16] In other words, kinematic dynamo is a
manifestation of the chaoticity of the underlying flow of the background matter.
Nonlinear dynamo theory
The kinematic approximation becomes invalid when the magnetic field becomes strong enough to affect
the fluid motions. In that case the velocity field becomes affected by the Lorentz force, and so the
induction equation is no longer linear in the magnetic field. In most cases this leads to a quenching of
the amplitude of the dynamo. Such dynamos are sometimes also referred to as hydromagnetic
dynamos.[17] Virtually all dynamos in astrophysics and geophysics are hydromagnetic dynamos.
The main idea of the theory is that any small magnetic field existing in the outer core, creates currents in
the moving fluid there due to Lorenz force. These currents create further magnetic field due to Ampere's
law. With the fluid motion, the currents are carried in a way that the magnetic field gets stronger (as
long as {\displaystyle \mathbf {u} \cdot (\mathbf {J} \times \mathbf {B} )} is negative[18]).
Thus a "seed" magnetic field can get stronger and stronger until it reaches some value that is related to
existing non-magnetic forces.
Numerical models are used to simulate fully nonlinear dynamos. The following equations are used:
The induction equation, presented above.
Maxwell's equations for negligible electric field:
{\displaystyle \nabla \cdot \mathbf {B} =0}
{\displaystyle \nabla \times \mathbf {B} =\mu _{0}\mathbf {J} } The continuity
equation for conservation of mass, for which the Boussinesq approximation is often used:
{\displaystyle \nabla \cdot \mathbf {u} =0,}
The Navier-Stokes equation for conservation of momentum, again in the same approximation, with the
magnetic force and gravitation force as the external forces:
{\displaystyle {\frac {D\mathbf {u} }{Dt}}=-{\frac {1}{\rho _{0}}}\nabla p+\nu \nabla ^{2}\mathbf {u} +\rho
'\mathbf {g} +2\mathbf {\Omega } \times \mathbf {u} +\mathbf {\Omega } \times \mathbf {\Omega }
\times \mathbf {R} +{\frac {1}{\rho _{0}}}\mathbf {J} \times \mathbf {B} ,}
where {\displaystyle \nu } is the kinematic viscosity, {\displaystyle \rho _{0}}is the mean density
and {\displaystyle \rho '} is the relative density perturbation that provides buoyancy (for thermal
convection {\displaystyle \rho '=\alpha \Delta T} where {\displaystyle
\alpha } is coefficient of thermal expansion), {\displaystyle \Omega } is the rotation rate of the Earth,
and {\displaystyle \mathbf {J} }is the electric current density.
A transport equation, usually of heat (sometimes of light element concentration):
{\displaystyle {\frac {\partial T}{\partial t}}=\kappa \nabla ^{2}T+\epsilon }
where T is temperature, {\displaystyle \kappa =k/\rho c_{p}} is the thermal diffusivity
with k thermal conductivity, {\displaystyle c_{p}}
heat capacity, and {\displaystyle \rho }
density, and {\displaystyle \epsilon } is an optional heat source. Often the pressure is the dynamic
pressure, with the hydrostatic pressure and centripetal potential removed.
These equations are then non-dimensionalized, introducing the non-dimensional parameters,
{\displaystyle Ra={\frac {g\alpha TD^{3}}{\nu \kappa }},E={\frac {\nu }{\Omega D^{2}}},Pr={\frac {\nu }
{\kappa }},Pm={\frac {\nu }{\eta }}}
where Ra is the Rayleigh number, E the Ekman number, Pr and Pm the Prandtl and magnetic Prandtl
number. Magnetic field scaling is often in Elsasser number units {\displaystyle B=(\rho \Omega /\sigma )
^{1/2}} .
Energy conversion between magnetic and kinematic energy[edit]
The scalar product of the above form of Navier-Stokes equation with {\displaystyle \rho
_{0}\mathbf {u} } gives the rate of increase of kinetic energy density, {\displaystyle
(1/2)\rho _{0}u^{2}}, on the left-hand side. The last term on the right-hand side is then
{\displaystyle \mathbf {u} \cdot (\mathbf {J} \times \mathbf {B} )}, the local contribution to the kinetic
energy due to Lorentz force.
The scalar product of the induction equation with {\displaystyle (1/\mu _{0})\mathbf
{B} } gives the rate of increase of the magnetic energy density, {\displaystyle (1/2\mu
_{0})B^{2}}, on the left-hand side. The last term on the right-hand side is then
{\displaystyle (1/\mu _{0})\mathbf {B} \cdot \left(\nabla \times (\mathbf
{u} \times \mathbf {B} )\right)} Since the equation is volume-integrated, this term is equivalent up to a
boundary term (and with the double use of the scalar triple product identity) to
{\displaystyle -\mathbf {u} \cdot \left((1/\mu _{0})
(\nabla \times \mathbf {B} )\times \mathbf {B} )\right)=-\mathbf {u} \cdot (\mathbf {J} \times \mathbf
{B} )} (where one of Maxwell's equations was used). This is the local contribution to the magnetic energy
due to fluid motion.
Thus the term {\displaystyle -\mathbf {u} \cdot (\mathbf {J} \times \mathbf {B} )} is the
rate of transformation of kinetic energy to magnetic energy. This has to be non-negative at least in part
of the volume, for the dynamo to produce magnetic field.[18]
Order of magnitude of the magnetic field created by Earth's dynamo
The above formula for the rate of conversion of kinetic energy to magnetic energy, is equivalent to a
rate of work done by a force of {\displaystyle \mathbf {J} \times \mathbf {B} } on the outer core
matter, whose velocity is {\displaystyle \mathbf {u} } This work is the result of non-magnetic forces
acting on the fluid.
Of those, the gravitational force and the centrifugal force are conservative and therefore have no overall
contribution to fluid moving in closed loops. Ekman number (defined above), which is the ratio between
the two remaining forces, namely the viscosity and Coriolis force, is very low inside Earth's outer core,
because its viscosity is low (1.2-1.5 x10−2 pascal-second [19]) due to its liquidity.
Thus the main time-averaged contribution to the work is from Coriolis
force, whose size is {\displaystyle -2\rho \,\mathbf {\Omega } \times \mathbf {u} } though
this quantity and {\displaystyle \mathbf {J} \times \mathbf {B} } are related only indirectly and
are not in general equal locally (thus they affect each other but not in the same place and time).
The current density J is itself the result of the magnetic field according to Ohm's law. Again, due to
matter motion and current flow, this is not necessarily the field at the same place and time. However
these relations can still be used to deduce orders of magnitude of the quantities in question.
In terms of order of magnitude, {\displaystyle J\,B\sim \rho \,\Omega \,u} and
{\displaystyle J\sim \sigma uB}giving {\displaystyle \sigma
\,u\,B^{2}\sim \rho \,\Omega \,u} or:
{\displaystyle B\sim {\sqrt {\frac {\rho \,\Omega }{\sigma }}}}
The exact ratio between both sides is the square root of Elsasser number.
Note that the magnetic field direction cannot be inferred from this approximation (at least not its sign)
as it appears squared, and is, indeed, sometimes reversed, though in general it lies on a similar axis to
that of {\displaystyle \mathbf {\Omega } }
For earth outer core, ρ is approximately 104 kg/m3,[19] Ω=2π/day = 7.3x10−5 seconds and σ is
approximately 107Ω−1m−1.[20]This gives 2.7x10−4 Tesla.
The magnetic field of a magnetic dipole has an inverse cubic dependence in distance, so its order of
magnitude at the earth surface can be approximated by multiplying the above result with (Router
core/REarth)3 = (2890/6370)3 = 0.093, giving 2.5x10−5Tesla, not far from to the measured value of
3x10−5 Tesla at the equator.
Numerical models
The equations for the geodynamo are enormously difficult to solve, and the realism of the solutions is
limited mainly by computer power. For decades, theorists were confined to kinematic dynamo models
described above, in which the fluid motion is chosen in advance and the effect on the magnetic field
calculated. Kinematic dynamo theory was mainly a matter of trying different flow geometries and seeing
whether they could sustain a dynamo.
The first self-consistent dynamo models, ones that determine both the fluid motions and the magnetic
field, were developed by two groups in 1995, one in Japan[21] and one in the United States.[22][23] The
latter received significant attention because it successfully reproduced some of the characteristics of the
Earth's field, including geomagnetic reversals.[18]
GIANT -IMPACT HYPOTHESIS.
The giant-impact hypothesis, sometimes called the Big Splash, or the Theia Impact suggests that
the Moon formed out of the debris left over from a collision between Earth and an astronomical body
the size of Mars, approximately 4.5 billion years ago, in the Hadean eon; about 20 to 100 million years
after the solar system coalesced.[1] The colliding body is sometimes called Theia, from the name of the
mythical Greek Titan who was the mother of Selene, the goddess of the Moon.[2] Analysis of lunar
rocks, published in a 2016 report, suggests that the impact may have been a direct hit, causing a
thorough mixing of both parent bodies.[3]
The giant impact hypothesis is currently the favored scientific hypothesis for the formation of the Moon.
[4] Supporting evidence includes:
Earth's spin and the Moon's orbit have similar orientations.[5]
Moon samples indicate that the Moon's surface was once molten.
The Moon has a relatively small iron core.
The Moon has a lower density than Earth.
There is evidence in other star systems of similar collisions, resulting in debris disks.
Giant collisions are consistent with the leading theories of the formation of the Solar System.
The stable-isotope ratios of lunar and terrestrial rock are identical, implying a common origin.[6]
However, there remain several questions concerning the best current models of the giant-impact
hypothesis.[7] The energy of such a giant impact is predicted to have heated Earth to produce a
global magma ocean, and evidence of the resultant planetary differentiation of the heavier material
sinking into Earth's mantle has been documented.[8] However, as of 2015there is no self-consistent
model that starts with the giant-impact event and follows the evolution of the debris into a single moon.
Other remaining questions include when the Moon lost its share of volatile elements and why Venus—
which experienced giant impacts during its formation—does not host a similar moon.
"Big splash"
Artist's depiction of a collision between two planetary bodies. Such an impact between Earth and
a Mars-sized object likely formed the Moon.
Source;NASA/JPL-Caltech - http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1454.html
This artist's concept shows a celestial body about the size of our moon slamming at great speed into a
body the size of Mercury. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope found evidence that a high-speed collision of
this sort occurred a few thousand years ago around a young star, called HD 172555, still in the early
stages of planet formation. The star is about 100 light-years from Earth.
Giant impact hypothesis,
In 1898, George Darwin made the suggestion that the Earth and Moon were once a single body.
Darwin's hypothesis was that a molten Moon had been spun from the Earth because of centrifugal
forces, and this became the dominant academic explanation.[9] Using Newtonian mechanics, he
calculated that the Moon had orbited much more closely in the past and was drifting away from the
Earth. This drifting was later confirmed by American and Soviet experiments, using laser ranging
targets placed on the Moon.
Nonetheless, Darwin's calculations could not resolve the mechanics required to trace the Moon
backward to the surface of the Earth. In 1946, Reginald Aldworth Daly of Harvard University challenged
Darwin's explanation, adjusting it to postulate that the creation of the Moon was caused by an impact
rather than centrifugal forces.[10] Little attention was paid to Professor Daly's challenge until a
conference on satellites in 1974, during which the idea was reintroduced and later published and
discussed in Icarus in 1975 by Drs. William K. Hartmann and Donald R. Davis. Their models suggested
that, at the end of the planet formation period, several satellite-sized bodies had formed that could
collide with the planets or be captured. They proposed that one of these objects may have collided with
the Earth, ejecting refractory, volatile-poor dust that could coalesce to form the Moon. This collision
could potentially explain the unique geological and geochemical properties of the Moon.[11]
A similar approach was taken by Canadian astronomer Alastair G. W. Cameron and American
astronomer William R. Ward, who suggested that the Moon was formed by the tangential impact upon
Earth of a body the size of Mars. It is hypothesized that most of the outer silicates of the colliding body
would be vaporized, whereas a metallic core would not. Hence, most of the collisional material sent into
orbit would consist of silicates, leaving the coalescing Moon deficient in iron. The more volatile materials
that were emitted during the collision probably would escape the Solar System, whereas silicates would
tend to coalesce.[12]
Theia
Theia (planet)
The name of the hypothesized protoplanet is derived from the mythical Greek titan Theia /ˈθiːə/, who
gave birth to the Moon goddess Selene. This designation was proposed initially by the English
geochemist Alex N. Halliday in 2000 and has become accepted in the scientific community.[2]
[13] According to modern theories of planet formation, Theia was part of a population of Mars-sized
bodies that existed in the Solar System 4.5 billion years ago. One of the attractive features of the giant-
impact hypothesis is that the formation of the Moon and Earth align; during the course of its formation,
the Earth is thought to have experienced dozens of collisions with planet-sized bodies. The Moon-
forming collision would have been only one such "giant impact" but certainly the last significant
impactor event. The Late Heavy Bombardment by much smaller asteroids occurred later - approximately
3.9 billion years ago.
Basic model
;Simplistic representation of the giant-impact hypothesis.
Source;Citronade - Own work
Astronomers think the collision between Earth and Theia happened at about 4.4 to 4.45 bya; about 0.1
billion years after the Solar System began to form.[14][15] In astronomical terms, the impact would have
been of moderate velocity. Theia is thought to have struck the Earth at an oblique angle when the Earth
was nearly fully formed. Computer simulations of this "late-impact" scenario suggest an impact angle of
about 45° and an initial impactor velocity below 4 km/s.[16] However, oxygen isotope abundance
in lunar rock suggests "vigorous mixing" of Theia and Earth, indicating a steep impact angle.[3]
[17] Theia's iron core would have sunk into the young Earth's core, and most of Theia's mantle accreted
onto the Earth's mantle. However, a significant portion of the mantle material from both Theia and the
Earth would have been ejected into orbit around the Earth (if ejected with velocities between orbital
velocity and escape velocity) or into individual orbits around the sun (if ejected at higher velocities). The
material in orbits around the Earth quickly coalesced into the Moon (possibly within less than a month,
but in no more than a century). The material in orbits around the sun stayed on its Kepler orbits, which
are stable in space, and was thus likely to hit the earth-moon system sometime later (because the Earth-
Moon system's Kepler orbit around the sun also remains stable). Estimates based on computer
simulations of such an event suggest that some twenty percent of the original mass of Theia would have
ended up as an orbiting ring of debris around the Earth, and about half of this matter coalesced into the
Moon. The Earth would have gained significant amounts of angular momentum and mass from such a
collision. Regardless of the speed and tilt of the Earth's rotation before the impact, it would have
experienced a day some five hours long after the impact, and the Earth's equator and the Moon's orbit
would have become coplanar.[18]
Not all of the ring material need have been swept up right away: the thickened crust of the Moon's far
side suggests the possibility that a second moon about 1,000 km in diameter formed in a Lagrange
point of the Moon. The smaller moon may have remained in orbit for tens of millions of years. As the
two moons migrated outward from the Earth, solar tidal effects would have made the Lagrange orbit
unstable, resulting in a slow-velocity collision that "pancaked" the smaller moon onto what is now the
far side of the Moon, adding material to its crust.[19][20] Lunar magma cannot pierce through the thick
crust of the far side, causing lesser lunar maria, while the near side has a thin crust displaying the large
maria visible from Earth.[21]
Composition
In 2001, a team at the Carnegie Institution of Washington reported that the rocks from the Apollo
program carried an isotopic signature that was identical with rocks from Earth, and were different from
almost all other bodies in the Solar System.[6]
In 2014, a team in Germany reported that the Apollo samples had a slightly different isotopic signature
from Earth rocks.[22]The difference was slight, but statistically significant. One possible explanation is
that Theia formed near the Earth.[23]
Energetic aftermath theory
In 2007, researchers from the California Institute of Technology showed that the likelihood of Theia
having an identical isotopic signature as the Earth was very small (less than 1 percent).[24] They
proposed that in the aftermath of the giant impact, while the Earth and the proto-lunar disk were
molten and vaporized, the two reservoirs were connected by a common silicate vapor atmosphere and
that the Earth– Moon system became homogenized by convective stirring while the system existed in
the form of a continuous fluid. Such an "equilibration" between the post-impact Earth and the proto-
lunar disk is the only proposed scenario that explains the isotopic similarities of the Apollo rocks with
rocks from the Earth's interior. For this scenario to be viable, however, the proto-lunar disk would have
to endure for about 100 years. Work is ongoing to determine whether or not this is possible.
Synestia model
Further modelling of the transient structure has given rise to the concept of a synestia, a doughnut-
shaped body that existed for a century before it cooled down and gave birth to the Earth and the moon.
[25][26]
Evidence
Indirect evidence for the giant impact scenario comes from rocks collected during the Apollo Moon
landings, which show oxygen isotope ratios nearly identical to those of Earth. The
highly anorthositic composition of the lunar crust, as well as the existence of KREEP-rich samples,
suggest that a large portion of the Moon once was molten; and a giant impact scenario could easily have
supplied the energy needed to form such a magma ocean. Several lines of evidence show that if the
Moon has an iron-rich core, it must be a small one. In particular, the mean density, moment of inertia,
rotational signature, and magnetic induction response of the Moon all suggest that the radius of its core
is less than about 25% the radius of the Moon, in contrast to about 50% for most of the
other terrestrial bodies. Appropriate impact conditions satisfying the angular momentum constraints of
the Earth– Moon system yield a Moon formed mostly from the mantles of the Earth and the impactor,
while the core of the impactor accretes to the Earth.[4] It is noteworthy that the Earth has the highest
density of all the planets in the Solar system; the absorption of the core of the impactor body explains
this observation, given the proposed properties of the early Earth and Theia.
Comparison of the zinc isotopic composition of Lunar samples with that of Earth and Mars rocks
provides further evidence for the impact hypothesis.[27] Zinc is strongly fractionated when volatilized in
planetary rocks,[28][29] but not during normal igneous processes,[30] so zinc abundance and isotopic
composition can distinguish the two geological processes. Moon rocks contain more heavy isotopes of
zinc, and overall less zinc, than corresponding igneous Earth or Mars rocks, which is consistent with zinc
being depleted from the Moon through evaporation, as expected for the giant impact origin.[27]
Collisions between ejecta escaping Earth's gravity and asteroids would have left impact heating
signatures in stony meteorites; analysis based on assuming the existence of this effect has been used to
date the impact event to 4.47 billion years ago, in agreement with the date obtained by other means.
[31]
Warm silica-rich dust and abundant SiO gas, products of high velocity (> 10 km/s) impacts between
rocky bodies, have been detected by the Spitzer Space Telescope around the nearby (29 pc distant)
young (~12 My old) star HD172555 in the Beta Pictoris moving group.[32] A belt of warm dust in a zone
between 0.25AU and 2AU from the young star HD 23514 in the Pleiades cluster appears similar to the
predicted results of Theia's collision with the embryonic Earth, and has been interpreted as the result of
planet-sized objects colliding with each other.[33] A similar belt of warm dust was detected around the
star BD +20°307 (HIP 8920, SAO 75016).[34]
Difficulties
This lunar origin hypothesis has some difficulties that have yet to be resolved. For example, the giant-
impact hypothesis implies that a surface magma ocean would have formed following the impact. Yet
there is no evidence that the Earth ever had such a magma ocean and it is likely there exists material
that has never been processed in a magma ocean.[35]
Composition
A number of compositional inconsistencies need to be addressed.
The ratios of the Moon's volatile elements are not explained by the giant impact hypothesis. If the giant-
impact hypothesis is correct, they must be due to some other cause.[35]
The presence of volatiles such as water trapped in lunar basalts is more difficult to explain if the Moon
was caused by a high-temperature impact.[36]
The iron oxide (FeO) content (13%) of the Moon, intermediate between that of Mars (18%) and the
terrestrial mantle (8%), rules out most of the source of the proto-lunar material from the Earth's mantle.
[37]
If the bulk of the proto-lunar material had come from an impactor, the Moon should be enriched
in siderophilic elements, when, in fact, it is deficient in those.[38]
The Moon's oxygen isotopic ratios are essentially identical to those of Earth.[6] Oxygen isotopic ratios,
which may be measured very precisely, yield a unique and distinct signature for each solar system body.
[39] If a separate proto-planet Theia had existed, it probably would have had a different oxygen isotopic
signature than Earth, as would the ejected mixed material.[40]
The Moon's titanium isotope ratio (50Ti/47Ti) appears so close to the Earth's (within 4 ppm), that little if
any of the colliding body's mass could likely have been part of the Moon.[41][42]
Lack of a Venusian moon
If the Moon was formed by such an impact, it is possible that other inner planets also may have been
subjected to comparable impacts. A moon that formed around Venus by this process would have been
unlikely to escape. If such a moon-forming event had occurred there, a possible explanation of why the
planet does not have such a moon might be that a second collision occurred that countered the angular
momentum from the first impact.[43] Another possibility is that the strong tidal forces from the Sun
would tend to destabilize the orbits of moons around close-in planets. For this reason, if Venus's slow
rotation rate began early in its history, any satellites larger than a few kilometers in diameter would
likely have spiraled inwards and collided with Venus.[44]
Simulations of the chaotic period of terrestrial planet formation suggest that impacts like those
hypothesized to have formed the Moon were common. For typical terrestrial planets with a mass of 0.5
to 1 Earth masses, such an impact typically results in a single moon containing 4% of the host planet's
mass. The inclination of the resulting moon's orbit is random, but this tilt affects the subsequent
dynamic evolution of the system. For example, some orbits may cause the moon to spiral back into the
planet. Likewise, the proximity of the planet to the star will also affect the orbital evolution. The net
effect is that it is more likely for impact-generated moons to survive when they orbit more distant
terrestrial planets and are aligned with the planetary orbit.[45]
Possible origin of Theia
One suggested pathway for the Big Splash as viewed from the direction of the south pole
In 2004, Princeton University mathematician Edward Belbruno and astrophysicist J. Richard Gott
III proposed that Theia coalesced at the L4 or L5 Lagrangian pointrelative to Earth (in about the same
orbit and about 60° ahead or behind),[46][47]similar to a trojan asteroid.[5] Two-dimensional computer
models suggest that the stability of Theia's proposed trojan orbit would have been affected when its
growing mass exceeded a threshold of approximately 10% of the Earth's mass (the mass of Mars).[46] In
this scenario, gravitational perturbations by planetesimals caused Theia to depart from its stable
Lagrangian location, and subsequent interactions with proto-Earth led to a collision between the two
bodies.[46]
In 2008, evidence was presented that suggests that the collision may have occurred later than the
accepted value of 4.53 Gya, at approximately 4.48 Gya.[48] A 2014 comparison of computer simulations
with elemental abundance measurements in the Earth's mantle indicated that the collision occurred
approximately 95 My after the formation of the Solar System.[49]
It has been suggested that other significant objects may have been created by the impact, which could
have remained in orbit between the Earth and Moon, stuck in Lagrangian points. Such objects may have
stayed within the Earth–Moon system for as long as 100 million years, until the gravitational tugs of
other planets destabilized the system enough to free the objects.[50] A study published in 2011
suggested that a subsequent collision between the Moon and one of these smaller bodies caused the
notable differences in physical characteristics between the two hemispheres of the Moon.[51] This
collision, simulations have supported, would have been at a low enough velocity so as not to form a
crater; instead, the material from the smaller body would have spread out across the Moon (in what
would become its far side), adding a thick layer of highlands crust.[52] The resulting mass irregularities
would subsequently produce a gravity gradient that resulted in tidal locking of the Moon so that today,
only the near side remains visible from Earth. However, mapping by the GRAIL mission has apparently
ruled out this scenario.
Lagrangian point
In celestial mechanics, the Lagrangian points (/ləˈɡrɑːndʒiən/ also Lagrange points,[1] L-points,
or libration points) are the points near two large bodies in orbit where a smaller object will maintain its
position relative to the large orbiting bodies. At other locations, a small object would go into its own
orbit around one of the large bodies, but at the Lagrangian points the gravitational forces of the two
large bodies, the centripetal force of orbital motion, and (for certain points) the Coriolis acceleration all
match up in a way that cause the small object to maintain a stable or nearly stable position relative to
the large bodies.
There are five such points, labeled L1 to L5, all in the orbital plane of the two large bodies, for each given
combination of two orbital bodies. For instance, there are five Lagrangian points L1 to L5 for the Sun-
Earth system, and in a similar way there are five different Langrangian points for the Earth-Moon
system. L1, L2, and L3 are on the line through the centers of the two large bodies. L4 and L5 each form
an equilateral triangle with the centers of the large bodies. L4 and L5 are stable, which implies that
objects can orbit around them in a rotating coordinate system tied to the two large bodies.
Several planets have trojan satellites near their L4 and L5 points with respect to the Sun. Jupiter has
more than a million of these trojans. Artificial satellites have been placed at L1 and L2 with respect to
the Sunand Earth, and with respect to the Earth and the Moon.[2] The Lagrangian points have been
proposed for uses in space exploration.
"Lagrange Point" redirects here. For the video game, see Lagrange Point (video game).
Smaller objects (green) at the Lagrange points each remain in the same relative position. At any other
point, gravitational forces would pull a small object into an orbit around either one of the two bodies, in
a non-stable position relative to the other body.
Lagrange points in the Sun–Earth system (not to scale) – a small object at any one of the five points will
hold its relative position.
An example of a spacecraft at Sun–Earth L2
WMAP · Earth
History of langragian point,
The three collinear Lagrange points (L1, L2, L3) were discovered by Leonhard Euler a few years
before Joseph-Louis Lagrange discovered the remaining two.[3][4]
In 1772, Lagrange published an "Essay on the three-body problem". In the first chapter he considered
the general three-body problem. From that, in the second chapter, he demonstrated two
special constant-pattern solutions, the collinear and the equilateral, for any three masses, with circular
orbits.[5]
Lagrange points
The five Lagrangian points are labeled and defined as follows:
L1 point
The L1 point lies on the line defined by the two large masses M1 and M2, and between them. It is the
most intuitively understood of the Lagrangian points: the one where the gravitational attraction
of M2 partially cancels M1's gravitational attraction.
Explanation
An object that orbits the Sun more closely than Earth would normally have a shorter orbital period than
Earth, but that ignores the effect of Earth's own gravitational pull. If the object is directly between Earth
and the Sun, then Earth's gravitycounteracts some of the Sun's pull on the object, and therefore
increases the orbital period of the object. The closer to Earth the object is, the greater this effect is. At
the L1 point, the orbital period of the object becomes exactly equal to Earth's orbital period. L1 is about
1.5 million kilometers from Earth, or 0.01 au, 1/100th the distance to the Sun.[6]
L2 point
The L2 point lies on the line through the two large masses, beyond the smaller of the two. Here, the
gravitational forces of the two large masses balance the centrifugal effect on a body at L2.
Explanation
On the opposite side of Earth from the Sun, the orbital period of an object would normally be greater
than that of Earth. The extra pull of Earth's gravity decreases the orbital period of the object, and at the
L2 point that orbital period becomes equal to Earth's. Like L1, L2 is about 1.5 million kilometers or 0.01
au from Earth.
L3 point
The L3 point lies on the line defined by the two large masses, beyond the larger of the two.
Explanation
L3 in the Sun–Earth system exists on the opposite side of the Sun, a little outside Earth's orbit and
slightly further to the Sun than Earth is. (This apparent contradiction is because the Sun is also affected
by Earth's gravity, and so orbits around the two bodies' barycenter, which is, however, well inside the
body of the Sun.) At the L3 point, the combined pull of Earth and Sun again causes the object to orbit
with the same period as Earth.
Gravitational accelerations at L4
L4 and L5 points
The L4 and L5 points lie at the third corners of the two equilateral triangles in the plane of orbit whose
common base is the line between the centers of the two masses, such that the point lies behind (L5) or
ahead (L4) of the smaller mass with regard to its orbit around the larger mass.
The triangular points (L4 and L5) are stable equilibria, provided that the ratio of M1/M2 is greater than
24.96.[note 1][7] This is the case for the Sun–Earth system, the Sun–Jupiter system, and, by a smaller
margin, the Earth–Moon system. When a body at these points is perturbed, it moves away from the
point, but the factor opposite of that which is increased or decreased by the perturbation (either gravity
or angular momentum-induced speed) will also increase or decrease, bending the object's path into a
stable, kidney bean-shaped orbit around the point (as seen in the corotating frame of reference).
In contrast to L4 and L5, where stable equilibrium exists, the points L1, L2, and L3 are positions
of unstable equilibrium. Any object orbiting at L1, L2, or L3 will tend to fall out of orbit; it is therefore
rare to find natural objects there, and spacecraft inhabiting these areas must employ station keeping in
order to maintain their position.
Natural objects at Lagrangian points
List of objects at Lagrangian points
It is common to find objects at or orbiting the L4 and L5 points of natural orbital systems. These are
commonly called "trojans". In the 20th century, asteroids discovered orbiting at the Sun–Jupiter L4 and
L5 points were named after characters from Homer's Iliad. Asteroids at the L4 point, which leads Jupiter,
are referred to as the "Greek camp", whereas those at the L5 point are referred to as the "Trojan camp".
Other examples of natural objects orbiting at Lagrange points:
The Sun–Earth L4 and L5 points contain interplanetary dust and at least one asteroid, 2010 TK7,
detected in October 2010 by Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and announced during July
2011.[8][9]
The Earth–Moon L4 and L5 points contain interplanetary dust in what are called Kordylewski clouds.
Although the Hitenspacecraft's Munich Dust Counter (MDC) detected no increase in dust during its
passes through these points in 1992, their presence was confirmed in 2018 by a team
of Hungarian astronomers and physicists[10] [11]. Stability at these specific points is greatly complicated
by solar gravitational influence.[12]
Recent observations suggest that the Sun–Neptune L4 and L5 points, known as the Neptune trojans,
may be very thickly populated,[13] containing large bodies an order of magnitude more numerous than
the Jupiter trojans.
Several asteroids also orbit near the Sun-Jupiter L3 point, called the Hilda family.
The Saturnian moon Tethys has two smaller moons in its L4 and L5 points, Telesto and Calypso. The
Saturnian moon Dione also has two Lagrangian co-orbitals, Helene at its L4 point and Polydeuces at L5.
The moons wander azimuthallyabout the Lagrangian points, with Polydeuces describing the largest
deviations, moving up to 32° away from the Saturn–Dione L5 point. Tethys and Dione are hundreds of
times more massive than their "escorts" (see the moons' articles for exact diameter figures; masses are
not known in several cases), and Saturn is far more massive still, which makes the overall system stable.
One version of the giant impact hypothesis suggests that an object named Theia formed at the Sun–
Earth L4 or L5points and crashed into Earth after its orbit destabilized, forming the Moon.
Mars has four known co-orbital asteroids (5261 Eureka, 1999 UJ7, 1998 VF31 and 2007 NS2), all at its
Lagrangian points.
Earth's companion object 3753 Cruithne is in a relationship with Earth that is somewhat trojan-like, but
that is different from a true trojan. Cruithne occupies one of two regular solar orbits, one of them
slightly smaller and faster than Earth's, and the other slightly larger and slower. It periodically alternates
between these two orbits due to close encounters with Earth. When it is in the smaller, faster orbit and
approaches Earth, it gains orbital energy from Earth and moves up into the larger, slower orbit. It then
falls farther and farther behind Earth, and eventually Earth approaches it from the other direction. Then
Cruithne gives up orbital energy to Earth, and drops back into the smaller orbit, thus beginning the cycle
anew. The cycle has no noticeable impact on the length of the year, because Earth's mass is over
20 billion (2×1010) times more than that of 3753 Cruithne.
Epimetheus and Janus, satellites of Saturn, have a similar relationship, though they are of similar masses
and so actually exchange orbits with each other periodically. (Janus is roughly 4 times more massive but
still light enough for its orbit to be altered.) Another similar configuration is known as orbital resonance,
in which orbiting bodies tend to have periods of a simple integer ratio, due to their interaction.
In a binary star system, the Roche lobe has its apex located at L1; if a star overflows its Roche lobe, then
it will lose matter to its companion star.
A contour plot of the effective potential due to gravity and the centrifugal force of a two-body system in
a rotating frame of reference. The arrows indicate the gradients of the potential around the five
Lagrange points—downhill toward them (red) or away from them (blue). Counterintuitively, the L4 and
L5 points are the high points of the potential. At the points themselves these forces are balanced.
Visualisation of the relationship between the Lagrangian points (red) of a planet (blue) orbiting a star
(yellow) anticlockwise, and the effective potential in the plane containing the orbit (grey rubber-sheet
model with purple contours of equal potential).[14]
Click for animation.
Mathematical details
Lagrangian points are the constant-pattern solutions of the restricted three-body problem. For example,
given two massive bodies in orbits around their common barycenter, there are five positions in space
where a third body, of comparatively negligible mass, could be placed so as to maintain its position
relative to the two massive bodies. As seen in a rotating reference frame that matches the angular
velocity of the two co-orbiting bodies, the gravitational fields of two massive bodies combined providing
the centripetal force at the Lagrangian points, allowing the smaller third body to be relatively stationary
with respect to the first two.[15]
L1
The location of L1 is the solution to the following equation, gravitation providing the centripetal force:
{\displaystyle {\frac {M_{1}}{\left(R-r\right)^{2}}}={\frac {M_{2}}{r^{2}}}+{\frac {M_{1}}{R^{2}}}-{\frac
{r\left(M_{1}+M_{2}\right)}{R^{3}}}}
where r is the distance of the L1 point from the smaller object, R is the distance between the two main
objects, and M1 and M2 are the masses of the large and small object, respectively. Solving this
for r involves solving a quintic function, but if the mass of the smaller object (M2) is much smaller than
the mass of the larger object (M1) then L1 and L2 are at approximately equal distances r from the
smaller object, equal to the radius of the Hill sphere, given by:
{\displaystyle r\approx R{\sqrt[{3}]{\frac {M_{2}}{3M_{1}}}}}
This distance can be described as being such that the orbital period, corresponding to a circular orbit
with this distance as radius around M2 in the absence of M1, is that of M2 around M1, divided by √3 ≈
1.73:
{\displaystyle T_{s,M_{2}}(r)={\frac {T_{M_{2},M_{1}}(R)}{\sqrt {3}}}.}
L2
The location of L2 is the solution to the following equation, gravitation providing the centripetal force:
{\displaystyle {\frac {M_{1}}{\left(R+r\right)^{2}}}+{\frac {M_{2}}{r^{2}}}={\frac {M_{1}}{R^{2}}}+{\frac
{r\left(M_{1}+M_{2}\right)}{R^{3}}}}
with parameters defined as for the L1 case. Again, if the mass of the smaller object (M2) is much smaller
than the mass of the larger object (M1) then L2 is at approximately the radius of the Hill sphere, given
by:
{\displaystyle r\approx R{\sqrt[{3}]{\frac {M_{2}}{3M_{1}}}}}
L3
The location of L3 is the solution to the following equation, gravitation providing the centripetal force:
{\displaystyle {\frac {M_{1}}{\left(R-r\right)^{2}}}+{\frac {M_{2}}{\left(2R-r\right)^{2}}}=\left({\frac
{M_{2}}{M_{1}+M_{2}}}R+R-r\right){\frac {M_{1}+M_{2}}{R^{3}}}}
with parameters defined as for the L1 and L2 cases except that r now indicates how much closer L3 is to
the more massive object than the smaller object. If the mass of the smaller object (M2) is much smaller
than the mass of the larger object (M1) then[16]:
{\displaystyle r\approx R+\left(R\cdot \left(1+{\frac {5M_{2}}{12M_{1}}}\right)\right)}
L4 and L5
Trojan (celestial body)
The reason these points are in balance is that, at L4 and L5, the distances to the two masses are equal.
Accordingly, the gravitational forces from the two massive bodies are in the same ratio as the masses of
the two bodies, and so the resultant force acts through the barycenter of the system; additionally, the
geometry of the triangle ensures that the resultantacceleration is to the distance from the barycenter in
the same ratio as for the two massive bodies. The barycenter being both the center of mass and center
of rotation of the three-body system, this resultant force is exactly that required to keep the smaller
body at the Lagrange point in orbital equilibrium with the other two larger bodies of system. (Indeed,
the third body need not have negligible mass.) The general triangular configuration was discovered by
Lagrange in work on the three-body problem.
Net radial acceleration of a point orbiting along the Earth-Moon line.
Radial acceleration
The radial acceleration a of an object in orbit at a point along the line passing through both bodies is
given by:
{\displaystyle a=-{\frac {GM_{1}}{r^{2}}}\operatorname {sgn}(r)+{\frac {GM_{2}}{\left(R-
r\right)^{2}}}\operatorname {sgn}(R-r)+{\frac {G{\bigl (}\left(M_{1}+M_{2}\right)r-M_{2}R{\bigr )}}
{R^{3}}}}
Where r is the distance from the large body M1 and sgn(x) is the sign function of x. The terms in this
function represent respectively: force from M1; force from M2; and centrifugal force. The points L3, L1,
L2 occur where the acceleration is zero — see chart at right.
Stability
Although the L1, L2, and L3 points are nominally unstable, there are (unstable) periodic orbits
called "halo" orbits around these points in a three-body system. A full n-body dynamical system such as
the Solar System does not contain these periodic orbits, but does contain quasi-periodic (i.e. bounded
but not precisely repeating) orbits following Lissajous-curvetrajectories. These quasi-periodic Lissajous
orbits are what most of Lagrangian-point space missions have used until now. Although they are not
perfectly stable, a modest effort of station keeping keeps a spacecraft in a desired Lissajous orbit for a
long time. Also, for Sun–Earth-L1 missions, it is preferable for the spacecraft to be in a large-amplitude
(100,000–200,000 km or 62,000–124,000 mi) Lissajous orbit around L1 than to stay at L1, because the
line between Sun and Earth has increased solar interference on Earth–spacecraft communications.
Similarly, a large-amplitude Lissajous orbit around L2keeps a probe out of Earth's shadow and therefore
ensures continuous illumination of its solar panels.
The L4 and L5 points are stable provided that the mass of the primary body (e.g. the Earth) is at least
25[note 1] times the mass of the secondary body (e.g. the Moon).[17][18] The Earth is over 81 times the
mass of the Moon (the Moon is 1.23% of the mass of the Earth[19]). Although the L4 and L5 points are
found at the top of a "hill", as in the effective potential contour plot above, they are nonetheless stable.
The reason for the stability is a second-order effect: as a body moves away from the exact Lagrange
position, Coriolis acceleration (which depends on the velocity of an orbiting object and cannot be
modeled as a contour map)[18] curves the trajectory into a path around (rather than away from) the
point.[18][20]
Solar System values
This table lists sample values of L1, L2, and L3 within the solar system. Calculations assume the two
bodies orbit in a perfect circle with separation equal to the semimajor axis and no other bodies are
nearby. Distances are measured from the larger body's center of mass with L3 showing a negative
location. The percentage columns show how the distances compare to the semimajor axis. E.g. for the
Moon, L1 is located 326400 km from Earth's center, which is 84.9% of the Earth-Moon distance or 15.1%
in front of the Moon; L2 is located 448900 km from Earth's center, which is 116.8% of the Earth-Moon
distance or 16.8% beyond the Moon; and L3 is located −381700 km from Earth's center, which is 99.3%
of the Earth-Moon distance or 0.7084% in front of the Moon's 'negative' position.
Lagrangian points in Solar System
1−
L2/S 1+
Body Semimajor L1/S
L1 L2 MA − L3 L3/SMA
pair axis (SMA) MA
1 (%) (%)
(%)
Earth- 3.844×108 3.2639×108 4.489×108 −3.8168×108
15.09 16.78 0.7084
Moon m m m m
Sun-
5.7909×101 5.7689×101 0.380 5.813×1010 0.381 −5.7909×101 0.0000096
Mercu
0 m 0 m 6 m 5 0 m 83
ry
Sun- 1.0821×101 1.072×1011 0.931 1.0922×101 0.937 −1.0821×101
0.0001428
Venus 1 m m 5 1 m 3 1 m
Sun- 1.496×1011 1.4811×101 1.511×1011 −1.496×1011
0.997 1.004 0.0001752
Earth m 1 m m m
Sun- 2.2794×101 2.2686×101 0.474 2.2903×101 0.476 −2.2794×101 0.0000188
Mars 1 m 1 m 8 1 m 3 1 m 2
Sun- 7.7834×101 7.2645×101 8.3265×101 −7.7791×101
6.667 6.978 0.05563
Jupiter 1 m 1 m 1 m 1 m
Sun- 1.4267×101 1.3625×101 1.4928×101 −1.4264×101
4.496 4.635 0.01667
Saturn 2 m 2 m 2 m 2 m
Sun-
2.8707×101 2.8011×101 2.9413×101 −2.8706×101
Uranu 2.421 2.461 0.002546
2 m 2 m 2 m 2 m
s
Sun- 4.4984×101 4.3834×101 2.557 4.6154×101 2.602 −4.4983×101 0.003004
Neptu
2 m 2 m 2 m 2 m
ne
Spaceflight applications
Sun–Earth
The satellite ACE in an orbit around Sun-Earth L1.
SOURCE;The satellite ACE in an orbit around Sun-Earth L1.
Unknown - http://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/ace/gallery.html
ACE in its orbit around L1.
Sun–Earth L1 is suited for making observations of the Sun–Earth system. Objects here are never
shadowed by Earth or the Moon and, if observing Earth, always view the sunlit hemisphere. The first
mission of this type was the International Sun Earth Explorer 3 (ISEE-3) mission used as an interplanetary
early warning storm monitor for solar disturbances. Since June 2015, DSCOVR has orbited the L1 point.
Conversely it is also useful for space-based solar telescopes, because it provides an uninterrupted view
of the Sun and any space weather(including the solar wind and coronal mass ejections) reaches L1 a few
hours before Earth. Solar telescopes currently located around L1include the Solar and Heliospheric
Observatory and Advanced Composition Explorer.
Sun–Earth L2 is a good spot for space-based observatories. Because an object around L2 will maintain
the same relative position with respect to the Sun and Earth, shielding and calibration are much simpler.
It is, however, slightly beyond the reach of Earth's umbra,[21] so solar radiation is not completely
blocked at L2. (Real spacecraft generally orbit around L2, avoiding partial eclipses of the Sun to maintain
a constant temperature.) From locations near L2, the Sun, Earth and Moon are relatively close together
in the sky; this means that a large sunshade with the telescope on the dark-side can allow the telescope
to cool passively to around 50 K – this is especially helpful for infrared astronomy and observations of
the cosmic microwave background. The James Webb Space Telescope is due to be positioned at L2.
Sun–Earth L3 was a popular place to put a "Counter-Earth" in pulp science fiction and comic books. Once
space-based observation became possible via satellites[22] and probes, it was shown to hold no such
object. The Sun–Earth L3 is unstable and could not contain a natural object, large or small, for very long.
This is because the gravitational forces of the other planets are stronger than that of Earth (Venus, for
example, comes within 0.3 AU of this L3 every 20 months).
A spacecraft orbiting near Sun–Earth L3 would be able to closely monitor the evolution of active sunspot
regions before they rotate into a geoeffective position, so that a 7-day early warning could be issued by
the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center. Moreover, a satellite near Sun–Earth L3 would provide very
important observations not only for Earth forecasts, but also for deep space support (Mars predictions
and for manned mission to near-Earth asteroids). In 2010, spacecraft transfer trajectories to Sun–Earth
L3 were studied and several designs were considered.[23]
Missions to Lagrangian points generally orbit the points rather than occupy them directly.
Another interesting and useful property of the collinear Lagrangian points and their associated Lissajous
orbits is that they serve as "gateways" to control the chaotic trajectories of the Interplanetary Transport
Network.
Earth–Moon
Earth–Moon L1 allows comparatively easy access to Lunar and Earth orbits with minimal change in
velocity and this has as an advantage to position a half-way manned space station intended to help
transport cargo and personnel to the Moon and back.
Earth–Moon L2 has been used for a communications satellite covering the Moon's far side, for
example Queqiao launched in May 2018 [24], and would be "an ideal location" for a propellant depot as
part of the proposed depot-based space transportation architecture.[25]
Sun–Venus
Scientists at the B612 Foundation are planning to use Venus's L3 point to position their planned Sentinel
telescope, which aims to look back towards Earth's orbit and compile a catalogue of near-Earth
asteroids.[26]
THE BIG BANG.
The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model for the observable universe[1][2][3] from
the earliest known periods through its subsequent large-scale evolution.[4][5][6] The model describes
how the universe expanded from a very high-density and high-temperature state,[7][8] and offers a
comprehensive explanation for a broad range of phenomena, including the abundance of light elements,
the cosmic microwave background (CMB), large scale structure and Hubble's law (the farther away
galaxies are, the faster they are moving away from Earth).[9] If the observed conditions are extrapolated
backwards in time using the known laws of physics, the prediction is that just before a period of very
high density there was a singularity which is typically associated with the Big Bang. Physicists are
undecided whether this means the universe began from a singularity, or that current knowledge is
insufficient to describe the universe at that time. Detailed measurements of the expansion rate of the
universe place the Big Bang at around 13.8 billion years ago, which is thus considered the age of the
universe.[10] After its initial expansion, the universe cooled sufficiently to allow the formation
of subatomic particles, and later simple atoms. Giant clouds of these primordial elements
(mostly hydrogen, with some helium and lithium) later coalesced through gravity, eventually forming
early stars and galaxies, the descendants of which are visible today. Astronomers also observe the
gravitational effects of dark matter surrounding galaxies. Though most of the mass in the universe
seems to be in the form of dark matter, Big Bang theory and various observations seem to indicate that
it is not made out of conventional baryonic matter (protons, neutrons, and electrons) but it is unclear
exactly what it ismade out of
"Big Bang theory" redirects here. For the American TV sitcom, see The Big Bang Theory. For other uses,
see Big Bang (disambiguation) and Big Bang Theory (disambiguation).
Timeline of the metric expansion of space, where space (including hypothetical non-observable portions
of the universe) is represented at each time by the circular sections. On the left, the dramatic expansion
occurs in the inflationary epoch; and at the center, the expansion accelerates (artist's concept; not to
scale).
Part of a series on
Physical cosmology
.
Since Georges Lemaître first noted in 1927 that an expanding universe could be traced back in time to
an originating single point, scientists have built on his idea of cosmic expansion. The scientific
community was once divided between supporters of two different theories, the Big Bang and the Steady
State theory, but a wide range of empirical evidence has strongly favored the Big Bang which is now
universally accepted.[11] In 1929, from analysis of galactic redshifts, Edwin Hubble concluded that
galaxies are drifting apart; this is important observational evidence consistent with the hypothesis of an
expanding universe. In 1964, the cosmic microwave background radiation was discovered, which was
crucial evidence in favor of the Big Bang model,[12] since that theory predicted the existence of
background radiation throughout the universe before it was discovered. More recently, measurements
of the redshifts of supernovae indicate that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, an observation
attributed to dark energy's existence.[13] The known physical laws of nature can be used to calculate
the characteristics of the universe in detail back in time to an initial state of
extreme density and temperature.[14]
Overview
In 1922, Russian mathematician Alexander Friedmann[15] proposed on theoretical grounds that
the universe is expanding, which was rederived independently and observationally confirmed soon
afterwards by Belgian astronomer and Catholic priest Georges Lemaîtrein 1927[16][17][18] Lemaître
also proposed what became known as the "Big Bang theory" of the creation of the universe, originally
calling it the "hypothesis of the primeval atom".[19]: in his paper Annales de la Société Scientifique de
Bruxelles (Annals of the Scientific Society of Brussels) under the title "Un Univers homogène de masse
constante et de rayon croissant rendant compte de la vitesse radiale des nébuleuses extragalactiques"
("A homogeneous Universe of constant mass and growing radius accounting for the radial velocity of
extragalactic nebulae"),[20] he presented his new idea that the universe is expanding and provided the
first observational estimation of what is known as the Hubble constant.[21] What later will be known as
the "Big Bang theory" of the origin of the universe, he called his "hypothesis of the primeval atom" or
the "Cosmic Egg".[22]
American astronomer Edwin Hubble observed that the distances to faraway galaxies were strongly
correlated with their redshifts. This was interpreted to mean that all distant galaxies and clusters are
receding away from our vantage point with an apparent velocity proportional to their distance: that is,
the farther they are, the faster they move away from us, regardless of direction.[23] Assuming
the Copernican principle (that the Earth is not the center of the universe), the only remaining
interpretation is that all observable regions of the universe are receding from all others. Since we know
that the distance between galaxies increases today, it must mean that in the past galaxies were closer
together. The continuous expansion of the universe implies that the universe was denser and hotter in
the past.
Large particle accelerators can replicate the conditions that prevailed after the early moments of the
universe, resulting in confirmation and refinement of the details of the Big Bang model. However, these
accelerators can only probe so far into high energy regimes. Consequently, the state of the universe in
the earliest instants of the Big Bang expansion is still poorly understood and an area of open
investigation and speculation.
The first subatomic particles to be formed included protons, neutrons, and electrons. Though
simple atomic nuclei formed within the first three minutes after the Big Bang, thousands of years passed
before the first electrically neutral atoms formed. The majority of atoms produced by the Big Bang
were hydrogen, along with helium and traces of lithium. Giant clouds of these primordial elements later
coalesced through gravity to form stars and galaxies, and the heavier elements were synthesized
either within stars or during supernovae.
The Big Bang theory offers a comprehensive explanation for a broad range of observed phenomena,
including the abundance of light elements, the CMB, large scale structure, and Hubble's Law.[9] The
framework for the Big Bang model relies on Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity and on
simplifying assumptions such as homogeneity and isotropy of space. The governing equations were
formulated by Alexander Friedmann, and similar solutions were worked on by Willem de Sitter. Since
then, astrophysicists have incorporated observational and theoretical additions into the Big Bang model,
and its parametrization as the Lambda-CDM model serves as the framework for current investigations of
theoretical cosmology. The Lambda-CDM model is the current "standard model" of Big Bang
cosmology, consensus is that it is the simplest model that can account for the various measurements
and observations relevant to cosmology.
Timeline
Chronology of the universe
Singularity
Gravitational singularity and Planck epoch
Extrapolation of the expansion of the universe backwards in time using general relativity yields
an infinite density and temperature at a finite time in the past.[24] This singularityindicates that general
relativity is not an adequate description of the laws of physics in this regime. Models based on general
relativity alone can not extrapolate toward the singularity beyond the end of the Planck epoch.
This primordial singularity is itself sometimes called "the Big Bang",[25] but the term can also refer to a
more generic early hot, dense phase[26][notes 1] of the universe. In either case, "the Big Bang" as an
event is also colloquially referred to as the "birth" of our universe since it represents the point in history
where the universe can be verified to have entered into a regime where the laws of physics as we
understand them (specifically general relativity and the standard model of particle physics) work. Based
on measurements of the expansion using Type Ia supernovae and measurements of temperature
fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background, the time that has passed since that event —
otherwise known as the "age of the universe" — is 13.799 ± 0.021 billion years.[27] The agreement of
independent measurements of this age supports the ΛCDM model that describes in detail the
characteristics of the universe.
Despite being extremely dense at this time—far denser than is usually required to form a black hole—
the universe did not re-collapse into a black hole. This may be explained by considering that commonly-
used calculations and limits for gravitational collapse are usually based upon objects of relatively
constant size, such as stars, and do not apply to rapidly expanding space such as the Big Bang.
Inflation and baryogenesis
Cosmic inflation and baryogenesis
The earliest phases of the Big Bang are subject to much speculation. In the most common models the
universe was filled homogeneously and isotropically with a very high energy density and huge
temperatures and pressures and was very rapidly expanding and cooling. Approximately 10−37 seconds
into the expansion, a phase transition caused a cosmic inflation, during which the universe
grew exponentially during which time density fluctuations that occurred because of the uncertainty
principle were amplified into the seeds that would later form the large-scale structure of the universe.
[28] After inflation stopped, reheating occurred until the universe obtained the temperatures required
for the production of a quark–gluon plasma as well as all other elementary particles.[29] Temperatures
were so high that the random motions of particles were at relativistic speeds, and particle–antiparticle
pairs of all kinds were being continuously created and destroyed in collisions.[7] At some point, an
unknown reaction called baryogenesis violated the conservation of baryon number, leading to a very
small excess of quarks and leptons over antiquarks and antileptons—of the order of one part in
30 million. This resulted in the predominance of matter over antimatter in the present universe.[30]
Cooling
Big Bang nucleosynthesis and cosmic microwave background radiation
Panoramic view of the entire near-infrared sky reveals the distribution of galaxies beyond the Milky
Way. Galaxies are color-coded by redshift.
The universe continued to decrease in density and fall in temperature, hence the typical energy of each
particle was decreasing. Symmetry breaking phase transitions put the fundamental forces of physics and
the parameters of elementary particles into their present form.[31] After about 10−11 seconds, the
picture becomes less speculative, since particle energies drop to values that can be attained in particle
accelerators. At about 10−6 seconds, quarks and gluons combined to form baryons such as protons and
neutrons. The small excess of quarks over antiquarks led to a small excess of baryons over antibaryons.
The temperature was now no longer high enough to create new proton–antiproton pairs (similarly for
neutrons–antineutrons), so a mass annihilation immediately followed, leaving just one in 1010 of the
original protons and neutrons, and none of their antiparticles. A similar process happened at about 1
second for electrons and positrons. After these annihilations, the remaining protons, neutrons and
electrons were no longer moving relativistically and the energy density of the universe was dominated
by photons (with a minor contribution from neutrinos).
A few minutes into the expansion, when the temperature was about a billion (one thousand
million) kelvin and the density was about that of air, neutrons combined with protons to form the
universe's deuterium and helium nuclei in a process called Big Bang nucleosynthesis.[32] Most protons
remained uncombined as hydrogen nuclei.[33]
As the universe cooled, the rest mass energy density of matter came to gravitationally dominate that of
the photon radiation. After about 379,000 years, the electrons and nuclei combined into atoms (mostly
hydrogen); hence the radiation decoupled from matter and continued through space largely unimpeded.
This relic radiation is known as the cosmic microwave background radiation.[33] The chemistry of
life may have begun shortly after the Big Bang, 13.8 billion years ago, during a habitable epoch when the
universe was only 10–17 million years old.[34][35][36]
Structure formation
Structure formation
Artist's depiction of the WMAPsatellite gathering data to help scientists understand the Big Bang
Abell 2744 galaxy cluster – Hubble Frontier Fields view.[37]
Over a long period of time, the slightly denser regions of the nearly uniformly distributed matter
gravitationally attracted nearby matter and thus grew even denser, forming gas clouds, stars, galaxies,
and the other astronomical structures observable today.[7] The details of this process depend on the
amount and type of matter in the universe. The four possible types of matter are known as cold dark
matter, warm dark matter, hot dark matter, and baryonic matter. The best measurements available,
from Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), show that the data is well-fit by a Lambda-CDM
model in which dark matter is assumed to be cold (warm dark matter is ruled out by early reionization),
[38] and is estimated to make up about 23% of the matter/energy of the universe, while baryonic matter
makes up about 4.6%.[39] In an "extended model" which includes hot dark matter in the form
of neutrinos, then if the "physical baryon density" {\displaystyle \Omega _{\text{b}}h^{2}} is
estimated at about 0.023 (this is different from the 'baryon density' {\displaystyle \Omega _{\text{b}}}
expressed as a fraction of the total matter/energy density, which as noted above is about
0.046), and the corresponding cold dark matter density {\displaystyle \Omega _{\text{c}}h^{2}}
is about 0.11, the corresponding neutrino density {\displaystyle \Omega _{\text{v}}h^{2}} is
estimated to be less than 0.0062.[39]
Cosmic acceleration
Accelerating expansion of the universe
Independent lines of evidence from Type Ia supernovae and the CMB imply that the universe today is
dominated by a mysterious form of energy known as dark energy, which apparently permeates all of
space. The observations suggest 73% of the total energy density of today's universe is in this form.
When the universe was very young, it was likely infused with dark energy, but with less space and
everything closer together, gravity predominated, and it was slowly braking the expansion. But
eventually, after numerous billion years of expansion, the growing abundance of dark energy caused
the expansion of the universe to slowly begin to accelerate.[13]
Dark energy in its simplest formulation takes the form of the cosmological constant term in Einstein's
field equations of general relativity, but its composition and mechanism are unknown and, more
generally, the details of its equation of state and relationship with the Standard Model of particle
physics continue to be investigated both through observation and theoretically.[13]
All of this cosmic evolution after the inflationary epoch can be rigorously described and modeled by the
ΛCDM model of cosmology, which uses the independent frameworks of quantum mechanics and
Einstein's General Relativity. There is no well-supported model describing the action prior to
10−15 seconds or so. Apparently a new unified theory of quantum gravitation is needed to break this
barrier. Understanding this earliest of eras in the history of the universe is currently one of the
greatest unsolved problems in physics.
Features of the model
The Big Bang theory depends on two major assumptions: the universality of physical laws and
the cosmological principle. The cosmological principle states that on large scales the universe
is homogeneous and isotropic.
These ideas were initially taken as postulates, but today there are efforts to test each of them. For
example, the first assumption has been tested by observations showing that largest possible deviation of
the fine structure constant over much of the age of the universe is of order 10−5.[40] Also, general
relativity has passed stringent tests on the scale of the Solar System and binary stars.[notes 2]
If the large-scale universe appears isotropic as viewed from Earth, the cosmological principle can be
derived from the simpler Copernican principle, which states that there is no preferred (or special)
observer or vantage point. To this end, the cosmological principle has been confirmed to a level of
10−5 via observations of the CMB. The universe has been measured to be homogeneous on the largest
scales at the 10% level.[41]
Expansion of space
Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker metric and Metric expansion of space
General relativity describes spacetime by a metric, which determines the distances that separate nearby
points. The points, which can be galaxies, stars, or other objects, are themselves specified using
a coordinate chart or "grid" that is laid down over all spacetime. The cosmological principle implies that
the metric should be homogeneous and isotropicon large scales, which uniquely singles out
the Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker metric (FLRW metric). This metric contains a scale factor,
which describes how the size of the universe changes with time. This enables a convenient choice of
a coordinate system to be made, called comoving coordinates. In this coordinate system, the grid
expands along with the universe, and objects that are moving only because of the expansion of the
universe, remain at fixed points on the grid. While their coordinate distance (comoving distance)
remains constant, the physical distance between two such co-moving points expands proportionally
with the scale factor of the universe.[42]
The Big Bang is not an explosion of matter moving outward to fill an empty universe. Instead, space itself
expands with time everywhere and increases the physical distance between two comoving points. In
other words, the Big Bang is not an explosion in space, but rather an expansion of space.[7] Because the
FLRW metric assumes a uniform distribution of mass and energy, it applies to our universe only on large
scales—local concentrations of matter such as our galaxy are gravitationally bound and as such do not
experience the large-scale expansion of space.[43]
Horizons
List of cosmological horizons
An important feature of the Big Bang spacetime is the presence of particle horizons. Since the universe
has a finite age, and light travels at a finite speed, there may be events in the past whose light has not
had time to reach us. This places a limit or a past horizon on the most distant objects that can be
observed. Conversely, because space is expanding, and more distant objects are receding ever more
quickly, light emitted by us today may never "catch up" to very distant objects. This defines a future
horizon, which limits the events in the future that we will be able to influence. The presence of either
type of horizon depends on the details of the FLRW model that describes our universe.[44]
Our understanding of the universe back to very early times suggests that there is a past horizon, though
in practice our view is also limited by the opacity of the universe at early times. So our view cannot
extend further backward in time, though the horizon recedes in space. If the expansion of the universe
continues to accelerate, there is a future horizon as well.[44]
Timeline of cosmological theories
Etymology
English astronomer Fred Hoyle is credited with coining the term "Big Bang" during a 1949 BBC radio
broadcast, saying: "These theories were based on the hypothesis that all the matter in the universe was
created in one big bang at a particular time in the remote past."[45]
It is popularly reported that Hoyle, who favored an alternative "steady state" cosmological model,
intended this to be pejorative,[46] but Hoyle explicitly denied this and said it was just a striking image
meant to highlight the difference between the two models.[47][48][49]:129
Development
The Big Bang theory developed from observations of the structure of the universe and from theoretical
considerations. In 1912, Vesto Sliphermeasured the first Doppler shift of a "spiral nebula" (spiral nebula
is the obsolete term for spiral galaxies), and soon discovered that almost all such nebulae were receding
from Earth. He did not grasp the cosmological implications of this fact, and indeed at the time it
was highly controversial whether or not these nebulae were "island universes" outside our Milky Way
Hubble eXtreme Deep Field (XDF)
XDF size compared to the size of the Moon (XDF is the small box to the left of, and nearly below, the
Moon) – several thousand galaxies, each consisting of billions of stars, are in this small view.
XDF (2012) view – each light speck is a galaxy – some of these are as old as 13.2 billion years[50] – the
universe is estimated to contain 200 billion galaxies.
XDF image shows fully mature galaxies in the foreground plane – nearly mature galaxies from 5 to 9
billion years ago – protogalaxies, blazing with young stars, beyond 9 billion years.
.[51][52] Ten years later, Alexander Friedmann, a Russian cosmologist and mathematician, derived
the Friedmann equations from Albert Einstein's equations of general relativity, showing that the
universe might be expanding in contrast to the static universe model advocated by Einstein at that time.
[53] In 1924 Edwin Hubble's measurement of the great distance to the nearest spiral nebulae showed
that these systems were indeed other galaxies. Independently deriving Friedmann's equations in
1927, Georges Lemaître, a Belgian physicist, proposed that the inferred recession of the nebulae was
due to the expansion of the universe.[54]
In 1931 Lemaître went further and suggested that the evident expansion of the universe, if projected
back in time, meant that the further in the past the smaller the universe was, until at some finite time in
the past all the mass of the universe was concentrated into a single point, a "primeval atom" where and
when the fabric of time and space came into existence.[55]
Starting in 1924, Hubble painstakingly developed a series of distance indicators, the forerunner of
the cosmic distance ladder, using the 100-inch (2.5 m) Hooker telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory.
This allowed him to estimate distances to galaxies whose redshifts had already been measured, mostly
by Slipher. In 1929 Hubble discovered a correlation between distance and recession velocity—now
known as Hubble's law.[23][56] Lemaître had already shown that this was expected, given
the cosmological principle.[13]
In the 1920s and 1930s almost every major cosmologist preferred an eternal steady state universe, and
several complained that the beginning of time implied by the Big Bang imported religious concepts into
physics; this objection was later repeated by supporters of the steady state theory.[57] This perception
was enhanced by the fact that the originator of the Big Bang theory, Georges Lemaître, was a Roman
Catholic priest.[58] Arthur Eddington agreed with Aristotle that the universe did not have a beginning in
time, viz., that matter is eternal. A beginning in time was "repugnant" to him.[59][60] Lemaître,
however, thought that
If the world has begun with a single quantum, the notions of space and time would altogether fail to
have any meaning at the beginning; they would only begin to have a sensible meaning when the original
quantum had been divided into a sufficient number of quanta. If this suggestion is correct, the beginning
of the world happened a little before the beginning of space and time.[61]
During the 1930s other ideas were proposed as non-standard cosmologies to explain Hubble's
observations, including the Milne model,[62] the oscillatory universe (originally suggested by Friedmann,
but advocated by Albert Einstein and Richard Tolman)[63] and Fritz Zwicky's tired lighthypothesis.[64]
After World War II, two distinct possibilities emerged. One was Fred Hoyle's steady state model,
whereby new matter would be created as the universe seemed to expand. In this model the universe is
roughly the same at any point in time.[65] The other was Lemaître's Big Bang theory, advocated and
developed by George Gamow, who introduced big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN)[66] and whose
associates, Ralph Alpher and Robert Herman, predicted the CMB.[67] Ironically, it was Hoyle who coined
the phrase that came to be applied to Lemaître's theory, referring to it as "this big bang idea" during
a BBC Radio broadcast in March 1949.[49][notes 3] For a while, support was split between these two
theories. Eventually, the observational evidence, most notably from radio source counts, began to favor
Big Bang over Steady State. The discovery and confirmation of the CMB in 1964 secured the Big Bang as
the best theory of the origin and evolution of the universe.[69] Much of the current work in cosmology
includes understanding how galaxies form in the context of the Big Bang, understanding the physics of
the universe at earlier and earlier times, and reconciling observations with the basic theory.
In 1968 and 1970 Roger Penrose, Stephen Hawking, and George F. R. Ellis published papers where they
showed that mathematical singularities were an inevitable initial condition of general relativistic models
of the Big Bang.[70][71] Then, from the 1970s to the 1990s, cosmologists worked on characterizing the
features of the Big Bang universe and resolving outstanding problems. In 1981, Alan Guth made a
breakthrough in theoretical work on resolving certain outstanding theoretical problems in the Big Bang
theory with the introduction of an epoch of rapid expansion in the early universe he called "inflation".
[72] Meanwhile, during these decades, two questions in observational cosmology that generated much
discussion and disagreement were over the precise values of the Hubble Constant[73] and the matter-
density of the universe (before the discovery of dark energy, thought to be the key predictor for the
eventual fate of the universe).[74]
In the mid-1990s, observations of certain globular clusters appeared to indicate that they were about
15 billion years old, which conflicted with most then-current estimates of the age of the universe (and
indeed with the age measured today). This issue was later resolved when new computer simulations,
which included the effects of mass loss due to stellar winds, indicated a much younger age for globular
clusters.[75] While there still remain some questions as to how accurately the ages of the clusters are
measured, globular clusters are of interest to cosmology as some of the oldest objects in the universe.
Significant progress in Big Bang cosmology has been made since the late 1990s as a result of advances
in telescope technology as well as the analysis of data from satellites such as COBE,[76] the Hubble
Space Telescope and WMAP.[77] Cosmologists now have fairly precise and accurate measurements of
many of the parameters of the Big Bang model, and have made the unexpected discovery that the
expansion of the universe appears to be accelerating.
Observational evidence
"[The] big bang picture is too firmly grounded in data from every area to be proved invalid in its general
features."
Lawrence Krauss[78]
The earliest and most direct observational evidence of the validity of the theory are the expansion of the
universe according to Hubble's law (as indicated by the redshifts of galaxies), discovery and
measurement of the cosmic microwave background and the relative abundances of light elements
produced by Big Bang nucleosynthesis. More recent evidence includes observations of galaxy formation
and evolution, and the distribution of large-scale cosmic structures,[79] These are sometimes called the
"four pillars" of the Big Bang theory.[80]
Precise modern models of the Big Bang appeal to various exotic physical phenomena that have not been
observed in terrestrial laboratory experiments or incorporated into the Standard Model of particle
physics. Of these features, dark matter is currently subjected to the most active laboratory
investigations.[81] Remaining issues include the cuspy halo problem and the dwarf galaxy problem of
cold dark matter. Dark energy is also an area of intense interest for scientists, but it is not clear whether
direct detection of dark energy will be possible.[82] Inflation and baryogenesis remain more speculative
features of current Big Bang models. Viable, quantitative explanations for such phenomena are still
being sought. These are currently unsolved problems in physics.
Hubble's law and the expansion of space
Hubble's law and Metric expansion of space
Distance measures (cosmology) and Scale factor (universe)
Observations of distant galaxies and quasars show that these objects are redshifted—the light emitted
from them has been shifted to longer wavelengths. This can be seen by taking a frequency spectrum of
an object and matching the spectroscopic pattern of emission lines or absorption lines corresponding
to atoms of the chemical elements interacting with the light. These redshifts are uniformly isotropic,
distributed evenly among the observed objects in all directions. If the redshift is interpreted as a Doppler
shift, the recessional velocity of the object can be calculated. For some galaxies, it is possible to estimate
distances via the cosmic distance ladder. When the recessional velocities are plotted against these
distances, a linear relationship known as Hubble's law is observed:[23] {\displaystyle
v=H_{0}D} where
{\displayst is the recessional velocity of the galaxy or other distant object,
{\displaystyle D} is the comoving distance to the object, and
{\displaystyle H_{0}} is Hubble's constant, measured to be 70.4+1.3
−1.4 km/s/Mpc by the WMAP probe.[39]
Hubble's law has two possible explanations. Either we are at the center of an explosion of galaxies—
which is untenable given the Copernican principle—or the universe is uniformly expanding everywhere.
This universal expansion was predicted from general relativity by Alexander Friedmann in 1922[53] and
Georges Lemaître in 1927,[54] well before Hubble made his 1929 analysis and observations, and it
remains the cornerstone of the Big Bang theory as developed by Friedmann, Lemaître, Robertson, and
Walker.
The theory requires the relation {\displaystyle v=HD} to hold at all times, where
{\displaystyle D} is the comoving distance, v is the recessional velocity, and {\displaystyle
v} {\displaystyle and {\displaystyle D} vary as the universe expands (hence we write {\displaystyle
H_{0}} to denote the present-day Hubble "constant"). For distances much smaller than the size of
the observable universe, the Hubble redshift can be thought of as the Doppler shift corresponding to the
recession velocity {\displaystyle v} . However, the redshift is not a true Doppler shift, but rather
the result of the expansion of the universe between the time the light was emitted and the time that it
was detected.[83]
That space is undergoing metric expansion is shown by direct observational evidence of
the Cosmological principle and the Copernican principle, which together with Hubble's law have no
other explanation. Astronomical redshifts are extremely isotropic and homogeneous,[23] supporting the
Cosmological principle that the universe looks the same in all directions, along with much other
evidence. If the redshifts were the result of an explosion from a center distant from us, they would not
be so similar in different directions.
Measurements of the effects of the cosmic microwave background radiation on the dynamics of distant
astrophysical systems in 2000 proved the Copernican principle, that, on a cosmological scale, the Earth is
not in a central position.[84] Radiation from the Big Bang was demonstrably warmer at earlier times
throughout the universe. Uniform cooling of the CMB over billions of years is explainable only if the
universe is experiencing a metric expansion, and excludes the possibility that we are near the unique
center of an explosion.
Cosmic microwave background radiation
The cosmic microwave background spectrum measured by the FIRAS instrument on the COBE satellite is
the most-precisely measured black body spectrum in nature.[85] The data pointsand error bars on this
graph are obscured by the theoretical curve.
Cosmic microwave background radiation
In 1964 Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson serendipitously discovered the cosmic background radiation, an
omnidirectional signal in the microwave band.[69] Their discovery provided substantial confirmation of
the big-bang predictions by Alpher, Herman and Gamow around 1950. Through the 1970s the radiation
was found to be approximately consistent with a black body spectrum in all directions; this spectrum has
been redshifted by the expansion of the universe, and today corresponds to approximately 2.725 K. This
tipped the balance of evidence in favor of the Big Bang model, and Penzias and Wilson were awarded
a Nobel Prize in 1978.
The surface of last scattering corresponding to emission of the CMB occurs shortly after recombination,
the epoch when neutral hydrogen becomes stable. Prior to this, the universe comprised a hot dense
photon-baryon plasma sea where photons were quickly scattered from free charged particles. Peaking
at around 372±14 kyr,[38] the mean free path for a photon becomes long enough to reach the present
day and the universe becomes transparent.
9 year WMAP image of the cosmic microwave background radiation (2012).[86][87] The radiation
is isotropicto roughly one part in 100,000.[88]
In 1989, NASA launched the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite (COBE), which made two major
advances: in 1990, high-precision spectrum measurements showed that the CMB frequency spectrum is
an almost perfect blackbody with no deviations at a level of 1 part in 104, and measured a residual
temperature of 2.726 K (more recent measurements have revised this figure down slightly to 2.7255 K);
then in 1992, further COBE measurements discovered tiny fluctuations (anisotropies) in the CMB
temperature across the sky, at a level of about one part in 105.[76] John C. Mather and George
Smoot were awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics for their leadership in these results.
During the following decade, CMB anisotropies were further investigated by a large number of ground-
based and balloon experiments. In 2000–2001 several experiments, most notably BOOMERanG, found
the shape of the universe to be spatially almost flat by measuring the typical angular size (the size on the
sky) of the anisotropies.[89][90][91]
In early 2003, the first results of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) were released,
yielding what were at the time the most accurate values for some of the cosmological parameters. The
results disproved several specific cosmic inflation models, but are consistent with the inflation theory in
general.[77] The Planck space probe was launched in May 2009. Other ground and balloon based cosmic
microwave background experiments are ongoing.
Abundance of primordial elements
Big Bang nucleosynthesis
Using the Big Bang model it is possible to calculate the concentration of helium-4, helium-3, deuterium,
and lithium-7 in the universe as ratios to the amount of ordinary hydrogen.[32]The relative abundances
depend on a single parameter, the ratio of photons to baryons. This value can be calculated
independently from the detailed structure of CMB fluctuations. The ratios predicted (by mass, not by
number) are about 0.25 for {\displaystyle {\ce {^4He/H}}}, about 10−3 for {\displaystyle
{\ce {^2H/H}}}, about 10−4 for {\displaystyle {\ce {^3He/H}}} and about 10−9 for
{\displaystyle {\ce {^7Li/H}}}.[32]
The measured abundances all agree at least roughly with those predicted from a single value of the
baryon-to-photon ratio. The agreement is excellent for deuterium, close but formally discrepant
for {\displaystyle {\ce {^4He}}}, and off by a factor of two for {\displaystyle {\ce {^7Li}}}; in the
latter two cases there are substantial systematic uncertainties. Nonetheless, the general consistency
with abundances predicted by Big Bang nucleosynthesis is strong evidence for the Big Bang, as the
theory is the only known explanation for the relative abundances of light elements, and it is virtually
impossible to "tune" the Big Bang to produce much more or less than 20–30% helium.[92] Indeed, there
is no obvious reason outside of the Big Bang that, for example, the young universe (i.e., before star
formation, as determined by studying matter supposedly free of stellar nucleosynthesis products)
should have more helium than deuterium or more deuterium than {\displaystyle {\ce {^3He}}}, and
in constant ratios, too.[93]:182–185
Galactic evolution and distribution
Galaxy formation and evolution and Structure formation
Detailed observations of the morphology and distribution of galaxies and quasars are in agreement with
the current state of the Big Bang theory. A combination of observations and theory suggest that the first
quasars and galaxies formed about a billion years after the Big Bang, and since then, larger structures
have been forming, such as galaxy clusters and superclusters.[94]
Populations of stars have been aging and evolving, so that distant galaxies (which are observed as they
were in the early universe) appear very different from nearby galaxies (observed in a more recent state).
Moreover, galaxies that formed relatively recently, appear markedly different from galaxies formed at
similar distances but shortly after the Big Bang. These observations are strong arguments against the
steady-state model. Observations of star formation, galaxy and quasar distributions and larger
structures, agree well with Big Bang simulations of the formation of structure in the universe, and are
helping to complete details of the theory.[94][95]
Primordial gas clouds
In 2011, astronomers found what they believe to be pristine clouds of primordial gas by analyzing
absorption lines in the spectra of distant quasars. Before this discovery, all other astronomical objects
have been observed to contain heavy elements that are formed in stars. These two clouds of gas contain
no elements heavier than hydrogen and deuterium.[100][101] Since the clouds of gas have no heavy
elements, they likely formed in the first few minutes after the Big Bang, during Big Bang nucleosynthesis
Focal plane of BICEP2 telescopeunder a microscope - used to search for polarization in the CMB.[96][97]
[98][99]
Other lines of evidence
The age of the universe as estimated from the Hubble expansion and the CMB is now in good agreement
with other estimates using the ages of the oldest stars, both as measured by applying the theory
of stellar evolution to globular clusters and through radiometric dating of individual Population II stars.
[102]
The prediction that the CMB temperature was higher in the past has been experimentally supported by
observations of very low temperature absorption lines in gas clouds at high redshift.[103] This prediction
also implies that the amplitude of the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect in clusters of galaxies does not depend
directly on redshift. Observations have found this to be roughly true, but this effect depends on cluster
properties that do change with cosmic time, making precise measurements difficult.[104][105]
Future observations
Future gravitational waves observatories might be able to detect primordial gravitational waves, relics of
the early universe, up to less than a second after the Big Bang.[106][107]
Problems and related issues in physics
List of unsolved problems in physics
As with any theory, a number of mysteries and problems have arisen as a result of the development of
the Big Bang theory. Some of these mysteries and problems have been resolved while others are still
outstanding. Proposed solutions to some of the problems in the Big Bang model have revealed new
mysteries of their own. For example, the horizon problem, the magnetic monopole problem, and
the flatness problem are most commonly resolved with inflationary theory, but the details of the
inflationary universe are still left unresolved and many, including some founders of the theory, say it has
been disproven.[108][109][110][111] What follows are a list of the mysterious aspects of the Big Bang
theory still under intense investigation by cosmologists and astrophysicists.
Baryon asymmetry
It is not yet understood why the universe has more matter than antimatter.[112] It is generally assumed
that when the universe was young and very hot it was in statistical equilibrium and contained equal
numbers of baryons and antibaryons. However, observations suggest that the universe, including its
most distant parts, is made almost entirely of matter. A process called baryogenesis was hypothesized to
account for the asymmetry. For baryogenesis to occur, the Sakharov conditions must be satisfied. These
require that baryon number is not conserved, that C-symmetry and CP-symmetry are violated and that
the universe depart from thermodynamic equilibrium.[113] All these conditions occur in the Standard
Model, but the effects are not strong enough to explain the present baryon asymmetry.
Dark energy
Measurements of the redshift–magnitude relation for type Ia supernovae indicate that the expansion of
the universe has been accelerating since the universe was about half its present age. To explain this
acceleration, general relativity requires that much of the energy in the universe consists of a component
with large negative pressure, dubbed "dark energy".[13]
Dark energy, though speculative, solves numerous problems. Measurements of the cosmic microwave
background indicate that the universe is very nearly spatially flat, and therefore according to general
relativity the universe must have almost exactly the critical density of mass/energy. But the mass density
of the universe can be measured from its gravitational clustering, and is found to have only about 30%
of the critical density.[13] Since theory suggests that dark energy does not cluster in the usual way it is
the best explanation for the "missing" energy density. Dark energy also helps to explain two geometrical
measures of the overall curvature of the universe, one using the frequency of gravitational lenses, and
the other using the characteristic pattern of the large-scale structure as a cosmic ruler.
Negative pressure is believed to be a property of vacuum energy, but the exact nature and existence of
dark energy remains one of the great mysteries of the Big Bang. Results from the WMAP team in 2008
are in accordance with a universe that consists of 73% dark energy, 23% dark matter, 4.6% regular
matter and less than 1% neutrinos.[39] According to theory, the energy density in matter decreases with
the expansion of the universe, but the dark energy density remains constant (or nearly so) as the
universe expands. Therefore, matter made up a larger fraction of the total energy of the universe in the
past than it does today, but its fractional contribution will fall in the far future as dark energy becomes
even more dominant.
The dark energy component of the universe has been explained by theorists using a variety of
competing theories including Einstein's cosmological constant but also extending to more exotic forms
of quintessence or other modified gravity schemes.[114] A cosmological constant problem, sometimes
called the "most embarrassing problem in physics", results from the apparent discrepancy between the
measured energy density of dark energy, and the one naively predicted from Planck units.[115]
Dark matter
Dark matter
Chart shows the proportion of different components of the universe – about 95% is dark
matter and dark energy.
During the 1970s and the 1980s, various observations showed that there is not sufficient visible matter
in the universe to account for the apparent strength of gravitational forces within and between galaxies.
This led to the idea that up to 90% of the matter in the universe is dark matter that does not emit light
or interact with normal baryonic matter. In addition, the assumption that the universe is mostly normal
matter led to predictions that were strongly inconsistent with observations. In particular, the universe
today is far more lumpy and contains far less deuterium than can be accounted for without dark matter.
While dark matter has always been controversial, it is inferred by various observations: the anisotropies
in the CMB, galaxy cluster velocity dispersions, large-scale structure distributions, gravitational
lensing studies, and X-ray measurements of galaxy clusters.[116]
Indirect evidence for dark matter comes from its gravitational influence on other matter, as no dark
matter particles have been observed in laboratories. Many particle physics candidates for dark matter
have been proposed, and several projects to detect them directly are underway.[117]
Additionally, there are outstanding problems associated with the currently favored cold dark
matter model which include the dwarf galaxy problem[118] and the cuspy halo problem.
[119] Alternative theories have been proposed that do not require a large amount of undetected
matter, but instead modify the laws of gravity established by Newton and Einstein; yet no alternative
theory has been as successful as the cold dark matter proposal in explaining all extant observations.
[120]
Horizon problem
The horizon problem results from the premise that information cannot travel faster than light. In a
universe of finite age this sets a limit—the particle horizon—on the separation of any two regions of
space that are in causal contact.[121] The observed isotropy of the CMB is problematic in this regard: if
the universe had been dominated by radiation or matter at all times up to the epoch of last scattering,
the particle horizon at that time would correspond to about 2 degrees on the sky. There would then be
no mechanism to cause wider regions to have the same temperature.[93]:191–202
A resolution to this apparent inconsistency is offered by inflationary theory in which a homogeneous
and isotropic scalar energy field dominates the universe at some very early period (before
baryogenesis). During inflation, the universe undergoes exponential expansion, and the particle horizon
expands much more rapidly than previously assumed, so that regions presently on opposite sides of the
observable universe are well inside each other's particle horizon. The observed isotropy of the CMB then
follows from the fact that this larger region was in causal contact before the beginning of inflation.
[28]:180–186
Heisenberg's uncertainty principle predicts that during the inflationary phase there would be quantum
thermal fluctuations, which would be magnified to cosmic scale. These fluctuations serve as the seeds of
all current structure in the universe.[93]:207 Inflation predicts that the primordial fluctuations are
nearly scale invariant and Gaussian, which has been accurately confirmed by measurements of the CMB.
[122]:sec 6
If inflation occurred, exponential expansion would push large regions of space well beyond our
observable horizon.[28]:180–186
A related issue to the classic horizon problem arises because in most standard cosmological inflation
models, inflation ceases well before electroweak symmetry breaking occurs, so inflation should not be
able to prevent large-scale discontinuities in the electroweak vacuum since distant parts of the
observable universe were causally separate when the electroweak epoch ended.[123]
Magnetic monopoles
The magnetic monopole objection was raised in the late 1970s. Grand unified
theories predicted topological defects in space that would manifest as magnetic monopoles. These
objects would be produced efficiently in the hot early universe, resulting in a density much higher than is
consistent with observations, given that no monopoles have been found. This problem is also resolved
by cosmic inflation, which removes all point defects from the observable universe, in the same way that
it drives the geometry to flatness.[121]
Flatness problem
The overall geometry of the universe is determined by whether the Omega cosmological parameter is
less than, equal to or greater than 1. Shown from top to bottom are a closed universe with positive
curvature, a hyperbolic universe with negative curvature and a flat universe with zero curvature.
The flatness problem (also known as the oldness problem) is an observational problem associated with
a Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker metric (FLRW).[121] The universe may have positive,
negative, or zero spatial curvaturedepending on its total energy density. Curvature is negative if its
density is less than the critical density; positive if greater; and zero at the critical density, in which case
space is said to be flat.
The problem is that any small departure from the critical density grows with time, and yet the universe
today remains very close to flat.[notes 4] Given that a natural timescale for departure from flatness
might be the Planck time, 10−43 seconds,[7]the fact that the universe has reached neither a heat
death nor a Big Crunch after billions of years requires an explanation. For instance, even at the relatively
late age of a few minutes (the time of nucleosynthesis), the density of the universe must have been
within one part in 1014 of its critical value, or it would not exist as it does today.[124]
Cause
Problem of why there is anything at all
Physics may conclude that time did not 'exist' before the Big Bang, but 'started' with the Big Bang and
hence there might be no 'beginning', 'before' or potentially 'cause', and, instead, the pre-Big Bang
universe always existed.[125][126] Quantum fluctuations, or other laws of physics that may have existed
at the start of the Big Bang could then create the conditions for matter to occur.
Ultimate fate of the universe
Ultimate fate of the universe
Before observations of dark energy, cosmologists considered two scenarios for the future of the
universe. If the mass density of the universe were greater than the critical density, then the universe
would reach a maximum size and then begin to collapse. It would become denser and hotter again,
ending with a state similar to that in which it started—a Big Crunch.[44]
Alternatively, if the density in the universe were equal to or below the critical density, the expansion
would slow down but never stop. Star formation would cease with the consumption of interstellar gas in
each galaxy; stars would burn out, leaving white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. Very gradually,
collisions between these would result in mass accumulating into larger and larger black holes. The
average temperature of the universe would asymptotically approach absolute zero—a Big Freeze.
[127] Moreover, if the proton were unstable, then baryonic matter would disappear, leaving only
radiation and black holes. Eventually, black holes would evaporate by emitting Hawking radiation.
The entropy of the universe would increase to the point where no organized form of energy could be
extracted from it, a scenario known as heat death.[128]:sec VI.D
Modern observations of accelerating expansion imply that more and more of the currently visible
universe will pass beyond our event horizon and out of contact with us. The eventual result is not
known. The ΛCDM model of the universe contains dark energy in the form of a cosmological constant.
This theory suggests that only gravitationally bound systems, such as galaxies, will remain together, and
they too will be subject to heat death as the universe expands and cools. Other explanations of dark
energy, called phantom energy theories, suggest that ultimately galaxy clusters, stars, planets, atoms,
nuclei, and matter itself will be torn apart by the ever-increasing expansion in a so-called Big Rip.[129]
Misconceptions
The following is a partial list of misconceptions about the Big Bang model:
The Big Bang as the origin of the universe: One of the common misconceptions about the Big Bang
model is the belief that it was the origin of the universe. However, the Big Bang model does not
comment about how the universe came into being. The current conception of the Big Bang model
assumes the existence of energy, time, and space and does not comment about their origin or the cause
of the dense and high-temperature initial state of the universe.[130]
The Big Bang was "small": It is misleading to visualize the Big Bang by comparing its size to everyday
objects. When the size of the universe at Big Bang is described, it refers to the size of the observable
universe, and not the entire universe.[131]
Hubble's law violates the special theory of relativity: Hubble's law predicts that galaxies that are
beyond Hubble Distance recede faster than the speed of light. However, special relativity does not apply
beyond motion through space. Hubble's law describes velocity that results from expansion of space,
rather than through space.[131]
Doppler redshift vs cosmological red-shift: Astronomers often refer to the cosmological red-shift as a
normal Doppler shift,[131] which is a misconception. Although similar, the cosmological red-shift is not
identical to the Doppler redshift. The Doppler redshift is based on special relativity, which does not
consider the expansion of space. On the contrary, the cosmological red-shift is based on general
relativity, in which the expansion of space is considered. Although they may appear identical for nearby
galaxies, it may cause confusion if the behavior of distant galaxies is understood through the Doppler
redshift.[131]
Speculations
Cosmogony
While the Big Bang model is well established in cosmology, it is likely to be refined. The Big Bang theory,
built upon the equations of classical general relativity, indicates a singularityat the origin of cosmic time;
this infinite energy density is regarded as impossible in physics. Still, it is known that the equations are
not applicable before the time when the universe cooled down to the Planck temperature, and this
conclusion depends on various assumptions, of which some could never be experimentally
verified. (Also see Planck epoch.)
One proposed refinement to avoid this would-be singularity is to develop a correct treatment
of quantum gravity.[132]
It is not known what could have preceded the hot dense state of the early universe or how and why it
originated, though speculation abounds in the field of cosmogony.
Some proposals, each of which entails untested hypotheses, are:
Models including the Hartle–Hawking no-boundary condition, in which the whole of space-time is finite;
the Big Bang does represent the limit of time but without any singularity.[133]
Big Bang lattice model, states that the universe at the moment of the Big Bang consists of an infinite
lattice of fermions, which is smeared over the fundamental domain so it has rotational, translational and
gauge symmetry. The symmetry is the largest symmetry possible and hence the lowest entropy of any
state.[134]
Brane cosmology models, in which inflation is due to the movement of branes in string theory; the pre-
Big Bang model; the ekpyrotic model, in which the Big Bang is the result of a collision between branes;
and the cyclic model, a variant of the ekpyrotic model in which collisions occur periodically. In the latter
model the Big Bang was preceded by a Big Crunch and the universe cycles from one process to the
other.[135][136][137][138]
Eternal inflation, in which universal inflation ends locally here and there in a random fashion, each end-
point leading to a bubble universe, expanding from its own big bang.[139][140]
Proposals in the last two categories see the Big Bang as an event in either a much larger and older
universe or in a multiverse.
Religious and philosophical interpretations
Religious interpretations of the Big Bang theory
As a description of the origin of the universe, the Big Bang has significant bearing on religion and
philosophy.[141][142] As a result, it has become one of the liveliest areas in the discourse
between science and religion.[143] Some believe the Big Bang implies a creator,[144][145] and some
see its mention in their holy books,[146] while others argue that Big Bang cosmology makes the notion
of a creator superfluous.[142][147]
CONCLUSION
The source of the problem of the rotation of the apse line lies deep. Clairaut's solution, with
incommensurable periodic terms, is not periodic. We now know that apart from very restricted cases,
the three-body problem does not admit of finite integrals, far less of strictly periodic solutions. Newton's
approach to the problem was flawed from the outset by the condition he imposed. In other problems, in
particular his elegant theory of the node and inclination, the form of the orbit is not of first importance,
indeed most of his results apply as well to slightly eccentric orbits as to circular orbits, Mercury is a
planet as it does not cause thermonuclear fussion, regarded as a planet. The very definition of the apse
line, on the other hand, depends upon the form of the orbit. Could Newton's geometrical methods have
been extended to higher orders of approximation? On the face of it they depended on the geometrical
properties of the elliptical orbit and could not easily be adapted to give further approximations when
deviations from the elliptical orbit had to be incorporated. Newton's methods, however, by his use of
limiting processes in geometrical arguments, are close to differential geometry as developed in the 19th
century. It is not dificult to write his derivations in terms of unit tangents, unit normals and unit
binormals – the theory of the node and inclination is well adapted to that type of statement – and then
more general geometric methods would become available. It is no doubt true that analytical methods,
married to computer manipulation, are necessary if the precision of the theory is to approach that of
observations of the Moon now made by laser ranging, but geometrical methods have the advantage of
revealing the origin of particular anomalies in the motion of the Moon, Mars ,. Some of the earlier
theories of artificial satellites about the Earth did use geometrical methods not so different from those
of Newton, and the study of Newton's theory, the unsuccessful as well as the successful parts, is still
rewarding, as the discussion of the theory of the apse line shows.
Newton's failures should not obscure his great achievement in fundamental dynamics. He was the first
to attack the problem of three bodies each attracting the other. It could only have been formulated on
the basis of universal gravitation, which he introduced and maintained against the powerful opposition
of many, Huygens and Leibniz among them. The qualitative discussion in Bk I, Prop. LXVI and its many
corollaries is profound, and his mathematical developments in Bk III are subtle. He provided for the first
time a reasoned account of the origins of many of the anomalies of the motion of the Moon, and his
qualitative arguments and explanations in Prop. LXVI of Bk I retain their value even though far more
powerful mathematics and computation are now needed to keep up with the exceptionally high
precision of laser-ranging observations of the lunar orbit.
Newton's achievements go further. In Book III of the Principia he laid out for the first time our modern
scientific procedure of comparing numerically the results of a rigorous self-contained abstract model
with observations of the natural world. Where his mathematics and contemporary observations were
adequate, he had notable successes. Neither his mathematics nor the observations of his day matched
the complexities of the lunar problem, but his attempts upon it have helped to show the way for
physical science ever since. Death theory where in application no deny of any form of death on earth.
RECOMMENDATIONS.
GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM.
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS,[1] is a satellite-
based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United
States Air Force.[2] It is a global navigation satellite systemthat provides geolocation and time
information to a GPS receiver anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of
sight to four or more GPS satellites.[3] Obstacles such as mountains and buildings block the relatively
weak GPS signals.
The GPS does not require the user to transmit any data, and it operates independently of any telephonic
or internet reception, though these technologies can enhance the usefulness of the GPS positioning
information. The GPS provides critical positioning capabilities to military, civil, and commercial users
around the world. The United States government created the system, maintains it, and makes it freely
accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver
Global Positioning System (GPS)
Country/ies of origin United States
Operator(s) AFSPC
Type Military, civilian
Status Operational
Coverage Global
Accuracy 500–30 cm (20–1 ft)
Constellation size
Total satellites 33
Satellites in orbit 31
First launch February 1978; 41 years ago
Total launches 72
Orbital characteristics
Regime(s) 6x MEO planes
Orbital height 20,180 km (12,540 mi)
Geodesy
.[4]
The GPS project was launched by the U.S. Department of Defense in 1973 for use by the United States
military and became fully operational in 1995. It was allowed for civilian use in the 1980s. Advances in
technology and new demands on the existing system have now led to efforts to modernize the GPS and
implement the next generation of GPS Block IIIA satellites and Next Generation Operational Control
System (OCX).[5] Announcements from Vice President Al Goreand the White House in 1998 initiated
these changes. In 2000, the U.S. Congress authorized the modernization effort, GPS III. During the 1990s,
GPS quality was degraded by the United States government in a program called "Selective Availability";
this was discontinued in May 2000 by a law signed by President Bill Clinton.[6]
The GPS system is provided by the United States government, which can selectively deny access to the
system, as happened to the Indian military in 1999 during the Kargil War, or degrade the service at any
time.[7] As a result, several countries have developed or are in the process of setting up other global or
regional satellite navigation systems. The Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) was
developed contemporaneously with GPS, but suffered from incomplete coverage of the globe until the
mid-2000s.[8] GLONASS can be added to GPS devices, making more satellites available and enabling
positions to be fixed more quickly and accurately, to within two meters (6.6 ft).[9] There are also the
European Union Galileo positioning system, and Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) is a
GPS satellite-based augmentation system to enhance GPS's accuracy.
When selective availability was lifted in 2000, GPS had about a five-meter (16 ft) accuracy. The latest
stage of accuracy enhancement uses the L5 band and is now fully deployed. GPS receivers released in
2018 that use the L5 band can have much higher accuracy, pinpointing to within 30 centimetres or 11.8
inches
Artist's conception of GPS Block II-F satellite in Earth orbit.
Source;NASA - http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/ftp/gps/ggeninfo/gps-iif.tif[dead link] (Wayback Machine)
Artist's conception of GPS Block II-F satellite in Earth orbit.
GLONAS.
GLONASS (Russian: ГЛОНАСС, IPA: [ɡɫɐˈnas]; Глобальная навигационная спутниковая система;
transliteration Globalnaya navigatsionnaya sputnikovaya sistema), or "Global Navigation Satellite
System", is a space-based satellite navigation system operating as part of a radionavigation-satellite
service. It provides an alternative to GPS and is the second navigational system in operation with global
coverage and of comparable precision.
Manufacturers of GPS navigation devices say that adding GLONASS made more satellites available to
them, meaning positions can be fixed more quickly and accurately, especially in built-up areas where
buildings may obscure the view to some GPS satellites.[1][2][3] GLONASS supplementation of GPS
systems also improves positioning in high latitudes (north or south).[4]
Development of GLONASS began in the Soviet Union in 1976. Beginning on 12 October 1982, numerous
rocket launches added satellites to the system, until the completion of the constellation in 1995. After a
decline in capacity during the late 1990s, in 2001, under Vladimir Putin's presidency, the restoration of
the system was made[by whom?] a top government priority and funding increased substantially.
GLONASS is the most expensive program of the Russian Federal Space Agency, consuming a third of its
budget in 2010.
GLONASS
GLONASS logo
Country/ies of origin Soviet Union, Russian Federation
Operator(s) Roscosmos
Type Military, civilian
Status Operational
Coverage Global
Accuracy 2.8–7.38 meters
Constellation size
Total satellites 26
Satellites in orbit 24
First launch 12 October 1982
Last launch 17 June 2018
Orbital characteristics
Regime(s) 3x MEO
Orbital height 19,130 km
Geodesy
By 2010 GLONASS had achieved 100% coverage of Russia's territory and in October 2011 the full orbital
constellation of 24 satellites was restored, enabling full global coverage. The GLONASS satellites' designs
have undergone several upgrades, with the latest version, GLONASS-K2, scheduled to enter service in
2019.[5] An announcement predicts the deployment of a group of communications and navigational
satellites by 2040. The task also includes the delivery to the Moon of a series of spacecraft for orbital
research and the establishment of a global communications and positioning system.[6]
Artist's conception of GPS and GLONASS Block II-F satellite in Earth orbit.
Source;NASA - http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/ftp/gps/ggeninfo/gps-iif.tif[] (Wayback Machine)
Artist's conception of GPS Block II-F satellite in Earth orbit.
APOLLO PROGRAM.
The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the third United States human spaceflight program
carried out by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which succeeded in landing the first
humans on the Moon from 1969 to 1972. First conceived during Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration as a
three-person spacecraft to follow the one-person Project Mercury which put the first Americans in space, Apollo
was later dedicated to the national goal set by President John F. Kennedy of "landing a man on the Moon by
the end of this decade and returning him safely to the Earth" in an address to Congress on May 25, 1961. It
was the third US human spaceflight program to fly, preceded by the two-person Project Gemini conceived in
1961 to extend spaceflight capability in support of Apollo.
Kennedy's goal was accomplished on the Apollo 11 mission when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz
Aldrin landed their Apollo Lunar Module (LM) on July 20, 1969, and walked on the lunar surface, while Michael
Collins remained in lunar orbit in the command and service module (CSM), and all three landed safely on Earth
on July 24. Five subsequent Apollo missions also landed astronauts on the Moon, the last in December 1972.
In these six spaceflights,
Apollo ran from 1961 to 1972, with the first crewed flight in 1968. It achieved its goal of crewed lunar landing,
despite the major setback of a 1967 Apollo 1 cabin fire that killed the entire crew during a prelaunch test. After
the first landing, sufficient flight hardware remained for nine follow-on landings with a plan for extended
lunar geological and astrophysical exploration. Budget cuts forced the cancellation of three of these. Five of the
remaining six missions achieved successful landings, but the Apollo 13 landing was prevented by an oxygen
tank explosion in transit to the Moon, which destroyed the service module's capability to provide electrical
power, crippling the CSM's propulsion and life support systems. The crew returned to Earth safely by using the
lunar module as a "lifeboat" for these functions. Apollo used Saturn family rockets as launch vehicles, which
were also used for an Apollo Applications Program, which consisted of Skylab, a space station that supported
three crewed missions in 1973–74, and the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, a joint US-Soviet Union Earth-orbit
mission in 1975.
Apollo set several major human spaceflight milestones. It stands alone in sending crewed missions beyond low
Earth orbit. Apollo 8 was the first crewed spacecraft to orbit another celestial body, while the final Apollo
17 mission marked the sixth Moon landing and the ninth crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit. The program
returned 842 pounds (382 kg) of lunar rocks and soil to Earth, greatly contributing to the understanding of the
Moon's composition and geological history. The program laid the foundation for NASA's subsequent human
spaceflight capability and funded construction of its Johnson Space Center and Kennedy Space Center. Apollo
also spurred advances in many areas of technology incidental to rocketry and human spaceflight,
including avionics, telecommunications, and computers
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Thoren, V. E. (1989). "Tycho Brahe". In Taton, R.; Wilson, C. (eds.). Planetary astronomy from the Renaissance to
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Van Helden, A. (1989). "Galileo, telescopic astronomy, and the Copernican system". In Taton, R.; Wilson, C.
(eds.). Planetary astronomy from the Renaissance to the rise of astrophysics Part A: Tycho Brahe to Newton.
pp. 81–105.
Van Helden, A. (1985). Measuring the Universe: Cosmic Dimensions from Aristarchus to Halley. University of
Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-84881-5.
Wallace, W. A. (1984). Galileo and His Sources: The Heritage of the Collegio Romano in Galileo's Science.
Princeton: Princeton Univ. Bibcode:1984gshc.book.....W. ISBN 978-0-691-08355-
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Company. ISBN 978-0-7905-8168-2.
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Wisan, W. L. (1984). "Galileo and the Process of Scientific Creation". Isis. 75 (2): 269–286. doi:10.1086/353480.
Zik, Y. (2001). "Science and Instruments: The telescope as a scientific instrument at the beginning of the
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