Arthur Louis Day

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Arthur Louis Day, 1922

Arthur Louis Day (born October 30, 1869 in Brookfield , Massachusetts , † March 2, 1960 ) was an American geophysicist . Between 1907 and 1936 he was director of the geophysical laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington .

During his scientific career, and especially at the Carnegie Institute, Louis Day published important research papers on physics , chemistry , geology , seismology and volcanology . In addition, he did research on glass and ceramics . Day was married twice and had four children.

Scientific career

His academic career began at the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University , where he in 1894 his Ph.D. dropped. There he taught physics until 1897 and then went to the laboratory of the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt in Berlin-Charlottenburg and began to occupy himself with high-temperature thermometry , a field that would occupy him for the next decade and a half. In 1900 he was offered a temporary position in the physical laboratory of the United States Geological Survey . He moved back to the USA and did research on the mineral balances of feldspar at high temperatures. At the same time, he expanded the gas thermometer to a high-temperature measuring method up to temperatures around 1150 ° C.

As early as 1902, Day was supported in his research by the newly established Carnegie Institute with increasingly large amounts of money, and in 1905 he was offered the post of director of the newly established geophysical laboratory. There he continued his studies and by 1911 had made it possible to measure temperatures up to around 1,600 ° C, which allowed an extrapolation to the melting point of platinum at 1,772 ° C.

After completing this research, he turned to the study of volcanoes , which he viewed as natural high-temperature laboratories. These investigations led him to Kilauea in Hawaii , and aroused his interest in hot springs . He published various papers with ET Allen on Yellowstone National Park and the geyser region around Lassen Peak and Geysirville in California. Towards the end of the First World War , he improved the production of special optical glasses , which were urgently needed during the war, and contributed significantly to the acceleration of their production. He left the institute in 1918 after the war to work for two years in the management of the Corning glass works in New York. From 1920 to 1936 he held the position of director of the geophysical laboratory again. During this time he was among other things chairman of the seismological committee of the institute, which dealt with the investigation and recording of the earthquakes in the USA. In addition to geological investigations, gravimetric measurements were carried out. Earthquake measuring instruments were developed and a network of observation stations was created equipped with these instruments.

By the beginning of his retirement in autumn 1936, Day occupied himself in many other fields of science. Even after his retirement he went on further research trips, including studying hot springs and volcanism in New Zealand . In total, Day published more than 120 scientific articles, monographs, books and other scientific papers between 1899 and 1939.

Honors

Day received numerous honors. In 1940 he received the William Bowie Medal of the American Geophysical Union , in 1941 the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of London and in 1947 the Penrose Medal of the Geological Society of America . In 1948 he was honored with the Arthur L. Day Gold Medal of the Geological Society of America, a prize for contributions to the application of physical and chemical methods in solving geological problems made possible by a Days Foundation. The National Academy of Sciences also awards him the Arthur L. Day Prize in his honor . Day was a four-time honorary doctor .

He was a member of various scientific societies , including since 1911 the National Academy of Sciences , of which he was president from 1933 to 1941, and since 1912 the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society . He was also a member of the American Physical Society and the Washington Academy of Sciences and of many other societies in America, Italy, England, Holland, Sweden, Norway and the USSR. In 1938 he was President of the Geological Society of America .

literature

  • Philip H. Abelson: Arthur Louis Day . In: Biographical Memoirs, Vol. 47 . National Academy of Sciences. SS 27-47. 1975. Retrieved October 31, 2008.
  • Robert B. Sosman: Memorial to Arthur Louis Day. In: Geological Society of America Bulletin . Volume 75, No. 11, pp. 147-155, 1964

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