James Jeans
Sir James Hopwood Jeans (born September 11, 1877 in Ormskirk , Lancashire , † September 16, 1946 in Dorking , Surrey ) was an English physicist , astronomer and mathematician .
Life
James Jeans went to school in London at the Merchant Taylors' School and the Grammar School Wilson's School . He then studied at Trinity College in Cambridge .
He taught at Cambridge, but taught from 1904 at Princeton University in New Jersey as a professor of applied mathematics . In 1910 he returned to Cambridge.
Jeans made important contributions in many areas of physics, including quantum mechanics . His research on rotating bodies led him to the conclusion that the theory worked out by Pierre-Simon Laplace , according to which the solar system was formed from a single gas cloud, is wrong. Instead, he suggested, as an alternative, that the planets were formed when matter was torn off the sun in a near collision with a passing star. However, this theory could not hold up.
Along with Arthur Eddington , he is a co-founder of British cosmology .
In the field of astrophysics, Jeans explored the dynamics of star systems, the internal structure of stars and cosmogonic problems.
Awards
In 1922, Jeans received the Royal Astronomical Society's gold medal . In addition, the asteroid (2763) Jeans , a crater on the moon and a crater on Mars were named after him.
In 1928 he was knighted as a Knight Bachelor .
Fonts
- The Dynamical Theory of Gases . 1904 - German: Dynamic theory of gases (1926).
- Theoretical Mechanics . 1906.
- Mathematical Theory of Electricity and Magnetism . 1908.
- The Universe Around Us . 1929 - German: Stars, Worlds and Atoms (1931).
- The Mysterious Universe . 1930 - German: Space and its riddles (1931).
- The Stars in Their Courses . 1931 - German: The Wonder World of the Stars (1934).
- Through space and time . 1934 - German: Through Space and Time (1936).
- The New Background of Science . 1933 - German: The new foundations of the knowledge of nature (1934).
- Science and Music . 1937 - German: Music and its physical foundations (1938).
- Physics and Philosophy . 1942 - German: Physics and Philosophy (1944).
- The Growth of Physical Science . 1947 - German: The Development of the Exact Sciences (1948).
See also
Web links
- Literature by and about James Jeans in the catalog of the German National Library
- Publications by JH Jeans in the Astrophysics Data System
- Obituaries for J. Jeans in the Astrophysics Data System
- John J. O'Connor, Edmund F. Robertson : James Jeans. In: MacTutor History of Mathematics archive .
Individual evidence
- ^ Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Volume 1 in the Google Book Search
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Jeans, James |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Jeans, James Hopwood |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English physicist, astronomer and mathematician |
DATE OF BIRTH | September 11, 1877 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Ormskirk |
DATE OF DEATH | September 16, 1946 |
Place of death | Dorking |