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Finding Aid for the Ira Sprague Bowen Papers 1916-1961
10007-MS
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Title: Ira Sprague Bowen Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1916-1961
Collection number: 10007-MS
Creator: Bowen, Ira Sprague 1898-1973
Extent:
2.5 linear feet
Repository:
California Institute of Technology. Caltech Archives
Pasadena, California 91125
Abstract: Ira Sprague Bowen: 1898-1973. Astrophysicist; Director, Mt. Wilson Observatory, 1946-1964; Professor of Physics, Caltech 1926-45.
Much of his physics research was concerned with studies of spectral lines and spectroscopy; in the 1930s his interests turned
more to astronomy and astrophysics and he devised many new instruments and techniques for observational astronomy. Papers
include correspondence (ca. 1933-47), notebooks (many from his years at University of Chicago, 1916-21), articles, speeches,
and photographs.
Physical location: Archives, California Institute of Technology.
Language of Material:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
The collection is open for research. Researchers must apply in writing for access.
Copyright may not have been assigned to the California Institute of Technology Archives. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Caltech Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf
of the California Institute of Technology Archives as the owner of the physical items and, unless explicitly stated otherwise,
is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
[Identification of item], Ira Sprague Bowen Papers, 10007-MS, Caltech Archives, California Institute of Technology.
One of the most distinguished astrophysicists of the twentieth century, Ira Sprague Bowen made fundamental contributions to
the analysis of atomic spectra, the physics of gaseous nebulae and practical optics. Born in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1898,
he graduated from Oberlin College in 1919 before entering the University of Chicago. There, he studied with Albert Michelson
who infused in Bowen a love of optics. He also met Robert A. Millikan, who invited him to the California Institute of Technology
in 1921.
By 1926 Bowen had received his doctorate from the institute and was appointed an assistant professor at Caltech. Soon after
he made his first outstanding discovery: the identification of the so-called nebulium lines in the spectra of gaseous nebulae.
The following decade, Bowen built an innovative device, called an image slicer, which placed the spectra of successive strips
across an extended object, side by side upon a photographic plate. This invention enormously increased the efficiency of observations
of gaseous nebulae and he received international attention when he provided an explanation for lines appearing in the spectra
of planetary nebulae. During World War II he participated in the Caltech ordnance rocket project, developing the use of high-speed
cameras in rocket design. Following the Second World War, he continued to research nebulae in collaboration with Rudolf Minkowski
and published many significant papers on the subject.
Upon the retirement of Walter Adams, Bowen assumed the directorship of the Mount Wilson Observatory and, in 1948, the combined
Mt. Wilson and Palomar venture. Despite his administrative duties, he continued to make significant contributions to optics,
even following his retirement in 1964.
Bowen received many honors. He was a Gold Medallist and Halley lecturer of the Royal Astronomical Society. Among the other
medals he received were the Ives (Optical Society of America), Draper (National Academy of Sciences), Potts (Franklin Institute),
Rumford (American Academy of Arts and Sciences) and Bruce (Astronomical Society of the Pacific). He was a member of the National
Academy of Sciences, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Indian Academy of Sciences.
Papers, 1916-1961. More than half of this collection is comprised of class notes (primarily physics) made by Bowen between
1916 and 1920 at the University of Chicago. Also included is a small amount of correspondence (primarily 1920-1945); manuscript
articles and speeches; and biographical material.
The collection is organized into the following series:
- Series 1. Correspondence
- Series 2. Manuscripts
- Series 3. Biographical
Records of the Palomar Observatory
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
California Institute of Technology
Mount Wilson Observatory
Palomar Observatory
Michelson, Albert Abraham, 1852-1931
Millikan, Robert Andrews, 1868-1953
Minkowski, Rudolf, 1895-1976
Astronomy
Astrophysics
Spectrometry