Dr. Irvine Clifton Gardner (1889–1972) was an American

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

. In 1921, he joined the

National Bureau of Standards The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sci ...

, and in 1950, he became chief of the Division of Optics and Meteorology. He was the president of the

Optical Society of America Optica (formerly known as The Optical Society (OSA) and before that as the Optical Society of America) is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals and organizes conference ...

in 1958. He was noted for his work on optics and the field of

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wa ...

. In his career, he published a number of papers on the subject of optics.

Awards and honors

In 1954, he was awarded th
Frederic Ives Medal
by the Optical Society of America. In 1955, he was awarded a fellowship of the Society of Imaging Science and Technology. The

Gardner Inlet Gardner Inlet () is a large, ice-filled inlet at the southwest side of Bowman Peninsula, on the east coast of Palmer Land, Antarctica. It was discovered by the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition, 1947–48, under Finn Ronne, who named it for Ir ...

and the crater Gardner on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

are named after him.

Bibliography

* "An optical system for reading the angular deflection of a mirror", Journal of the Optical Society of America, vol. 12, 1926. * "The Optical Requirements of Airplane Mapping", Bureau of Standards Journal of Research, Vol. 8, 1932. * "Observing an Eclipse in Asiatic Russia", ''National Geographic'', February, 1937. * "Validity of the Cosine-Fourth-Power law of Illumination", ''Journal of Research of the National Bureau of Standards'', Vol. 39, September 1947. * "Research and Development in Applied Optics and Optical Glass at the National Bureau of Standards; a Review and Bibliography", Washington Government Printing Office, 1949.

External links

Irvine Clifton Gardner student notes, 1911-1912, Niels Bohr Library & Archives
1889 births 1972 deaths 20th-century American physicists {{US-physicist-stub