Henry Gordon Gale (September 12, 1874 – November 16, 1942) was an American astrophysicist and author.

Biography

He was born in

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage, Kane County, Illinois, Kane, Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall, and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Locat ...

to Adalaide Rhoda (née Parker) and Eli Holbrook Gale, a physician. His mother died a few weeks after his birth; thereafter he was raised by his maternal grandparents. Gale gained his bachelor's degree at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1896, where he also gained his PhD in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

in 1899, joining the faculty the same year. He was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. During his studies he met Agnes Spofford Cook, who later became a children's author. They married in 1901, and their daughter Beatrice was born in 1904. In correspondence, they used the names "Bitty Wa" or "Wa Wa" for Agnes Gale, "Buck Wa" for Henry Gale and "Bims" for Beatrice. He was Dean of the Colleges (1908-22). His work in

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...

was divided between the University of Chicago and the Mount Wilson Observatory in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

. In 1909, he was badly burned in an electrical accident at the Observatory and he required skin grafts during two months' hospitalization. He was one of the editors of the Astrophysical Journal (1912-40). He became a full professor at the University from 1916. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served in the United States and France, obtaining the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. He was cited by general

John J. Pershing General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948), nicknamed "Black Jack", was a senior United States Army officer. He served most famously as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Wes ...

for "especially meritorious and conspicuous service" and he was awarded the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

by the French authorities. After his return from Europe, he continued his role and became Dean of the Ogden School of Graduate Sciences (1922-30), Chairman of the Department of Physics (1925-40}, and Dean of the Division of Physical Sciences (1931-40). He was President of the Physics Club of Chigago (1931-40). Gale authored dozens of papers and books. His physics textbooks from 1906-1936 included (with former Chicago professor

Robert Millikan Robert Andrews Millikan (March 22, 1868 – December 19, 1953) was an American experimental physicist honored with the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1923 for the measurement of the elementary electric charge and for his work on the photoelectric e ...

) ''A First Course in Physics'' , ''A First Course in Laboratory Physics for Secondary Schools'', ''Practical Physics'' and ''New Elementary Physics''. In 1938, Gale's racism became a prominent issue after Otto Struve organised an astronomy course at the university to be taught by Yerkes Observatory staff, including future

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

-winner, the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (; ) (19 October 1910 – 21 August 1995) was an Indian-American theoretical physicist who spent his professional life in the United States. He shared the 1983 Nobel Prize for Physics with William A. Fowler for "... ...

. Struve had encouraged Chandrasekhar to join the university, supported by president Robert Hutchins. Gale objected to Chandrasekhar because he wasn't white and made it clear he would not be welcome as long as he was the dean of faculty (Gale's writing partner, Millikan, supported

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

as a trustee of the Human Betterment Foundation). His successor,

Arthur Compton Arthur Holly Compton (September 10, 1892 – March 15, 1962) was an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1927 for his 1923 discovery of the Compton effect, which demonstrated the particle nature of electromagnetic radia ...

, openly accepted Chandrasekhar upon Gale's retirement.

References

Robert Andrews Millikan biography

University of Chicago Photographs

External links

Guide to the Henry Gordon Gale Papers 1889-1948
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gale, Henry 1874 births 1942 deaths American astronomers American astrophysicists American physicists American science writers Chicago Maroons football coaches Chicago Maroons football players People from Aurora, Illinois Presidents of the American Physical Society