James Jeans

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James Hopwood 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

Commons : James Hopwood Jeans  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Volume 1 in the Google Book Search
personal data
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