Harlow Shapley in his earlier years.

Harlow Shapley (November 2, 1885 – October 20, 1972) was an American astronomer. Image File history File links Shapley_small. ... Image File history File links Shapley_small. ... November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 59 days remaining. ... 1885 (MDCCCLXXXV) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 72 days remaining. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... An astronomer or astrophysicist is a scientist whose area of research is astronomy or astrophysics. ...

He studied under Henry Norris Russell at Princeton University and used the period-luminosity relation for Cepheid variable stars (discovered by Henrietta Swan Leavitt) to determine distances to globular clusters. He was the first to realize that the Milky Way Galaxy was much larger than previously believed. Henry Norris Russell (October 25, 1877 – February 18, 1957) was a US astronomer who, along with Ejnar Hertzsprung, developed the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (1910). ... Princeton University is a coeducational private university located on an extensive campus in and around suburban Princeton, New Jersey. ... A Cepheid variable is a member of a particular class of variable stars, notable for a fairly tight correlation between their period of variability and absolute stellar luminosity. ... Henrietta Swan Leavitt (July 4, 1868 – December 12, 1921) was an American astronomer, as well as being deaf [1] and a Christian [2]. She was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts. ... The Globular Cluster M80 in the constellation Scorpius is located about 28,000 light years distant and contains hundreds of thousands of stars. ... The Milky Way (a translation of the Latin Via Lactea, in turn derived from the Greek Galaxia Kuklos; or simply the Galaxy) is a barred spiral galaxy in the Local Group, and has special significance to humanity as the location of the solar system, which is located near the Orion...

He participated in the "Great Debate" with Heber D. Curtis on the nature of nebulas and galaxies and the size of the universe. The debate took place on April 26, 1920. Shapley argued against the theory that the Sun was at the center of the galaxy, and promoted the idea that globular clusters and spiral nebulae are within the Milky Way. He was incorrect about the latter point, but correct about the former. The Great Debate was between astronomers Harlow Shapley and Heber Curtis and concerned the nature of spiral nebulae and the size of the universe. ... Heber Doust Curtis (June 27, 1872 – January 9, 1942) was an American astronomer. ... 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 3 - Babe Ruth is traded by the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees for $125,000, the largest sum ever paid for a player at that time. ... The Sun is the star at the center of Earths solar system. ... The Globular Cluster M80 in the constellation Scorpius is located about 28,000 light years distant and contains hundreds of thousands of stars. ... The Triangulum Emission Nebula NGC 604 lies in a spiral arm of Galaxy M33, 2. ...

At the time of the debate, Shapley was working at the Mount Wilson Observatory. After the debate, however, he was hired to replace the recently deceased Edward Charles Pickering as director of the Harvard College Observatory. The Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO) is an astronomical observatory in Los Angeles County, California. ... Edward Charles Pickering (July 19, 1846 – February 3, 1919) was an American astronomer and physicist, brother of William Henry Pickering. ... Harvard College Observatory, about 1900. ...

He served as director of the HCO from 1921 to 1952. During this time, he hired Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who became the first person to earn a doctorate at Harvard University in the field of astronomy. 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (May 10, 1900 – December 7, 1979) was a British-American astronomer. ... Harvard University campus (old map) Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... Radio telescopes are among many different tools used by astronomers Astronomy (Greek: αστρονομία = άστρον + νόμος, astronomia = astron + nomos, literally, law of the stars) is the science of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the Earths atmosphere, such as stars, planets, comets, auroras, galaxies, and the cosmic background radiation. ...

In the 1940's, Shapley helped found government funded scientific associations, including the National Science Foundation. He is also responsible for putting the "S" in UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). The logo of the National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. ... UNESCO logo UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. ...

Politically, Shapely was a liberal, and found himself one of the victims of McCarthyism. American liberalism is a political current of modern liberalism in the United States that is descended from classical liberalism in terms of devotion to individual liberty, but rejects absolute free-market economics in favor of an economic system in which the government intervenes where it considers freedom to be threatened... Sen. ...

In 1950, Shapley was instrumental in organising a campaign in academia against the controversial US bestseller book Worlds in Collision by Russian expatriate psychiatrist Immanuel Velikovsky. Worlds in Collision book cover. ... Immanuel Velikovsky (June 10, 1895 (NS) – November 17, 1979) is best known as the author of a number of controversial books on pre-history, particularly Worlds in Collision 1950), Ages in Chaos 1952, and Earth in Upheaval 1956. ...

Incidentally, Shapley held a life long interest in myrmecology, the study of ants. Myrmecology is the branch of entomology dealing with ants. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

Honors

Awards

• Henry Draper Medal in 1926
• Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1934
• Bruce Medal in 1939
• Henry Norris Russell Lectureship in 1950

Named after him The Henry Draper Medal was established by the widow of Henry Draper, and is awarded by the US National Academy of Sciences for contributions to astrophysics. ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Gold Medal awarded to Asaph Hall The Gold Medal is the highest award of the Royal Astronomical Society. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Catherine Wolfe Bruce gold medal is awarded every year by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for outstanding lifetime contributions to astronomy. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Henry Norris Russell Lectureship is awarded each year by the American Astronomical Society in recognition of a lifetime of excellence in astronomical research. ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

• Shapley crater on the Moon
• Asteroid 1123 Shapleya
• Harlow Shapley Visiting Lectureships In Astronomy, American Astronomical Society

harlow shapley rox my sox and floats my boat-wizzy Shapley is a lunar crater that lies along the southern edge of Mare Crisium. ... Bulk composition of the moons mantle and crust estimated, weight percent Oxygen 42. ... An asteroid is a small, solid object in our Solar System, orbiting the Sun. ... The American Astronomical Society (AAS) is a US society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The main aim of the AAS is provide a political voice for its members and organise their lobbying. ...

External links

• The Great Debate
• Collection of Pieces on The Great Debate

yea u know im kool