Summary
George B. Field (born October 25, 1929, in Providence, Rhode Island) is an American astrophysicist.
George B. Field | |
|---|---|
 George B. Field in 1987 | |
| Born | October 25, 1929 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | MIT (B.S., Physics) Princeton University (Ph.D.) [1] |
| Occupation | Astrophysicist |
| Known for | Astrophysics |
Early life, family and education edit
Field was born in Providence, Rhode Island.[1] His father Winthrop Brooks Field and mother Pauline Woodworth Field were Harvard and Radcliffe graduates, respectively.[1] He became interested in astronomy at an early age, but at the urging of his father he studied chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Disliking engineering, he later switched to astrophysics. After MIT, he attended the graduate school at Princeton University. When working at Princeton he had his first child, Christopher Field in 1957. Four years following he went on to have a daughter, Natasha Field, both with former wife Sylvia Field. He remarried in 1981, to his present wife Susan.
Career edit
Field worked on plasma oscillations and later became interested in cosmology.[1] In 1973, he became the founding director of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, an organizational structure that unified the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (a government agency) and the Harvard College Observatory (a private institution) under a single management. Field served as Director until 1982, when he was succeeded by Irwin I. Shapiro.
In the early 1980s, Field chaired an influential National Academy of Sciences decadal study that recommended priorities for US astronomical research.[2][page needed]
He has also worked on magnetohydrodynamics and magnetic fields in astronomy.[3]
Doctoral students edit
Among his doctoral students were Eric G. Blackman, Sean M. Carroll, Carl E. Heiles, and Christopher McKee.
Awards edit
- 1978 Karl Schwarzschild Medal[4]
- 1989 Elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences[5]
- 2014 Henry Norris Russell Lectureship
References edit
- ^ a b c d "Interview with Dr. George Field". Interviewed by Richard Hirsh. Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Niels Bohr Library and Archives. July 14, 1980.
- ^ Cornell, James; Gorenstein, Paul, eds. (April 1985). Astronomy from Space: Sputnik to Space Telescope. The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-53061-9.
- ^ "George Field". astronomy.fas.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
- ^ "Recipients of the Karl Schwarzschild Medal". astronomische-gesellschaft.org. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019.
- ^ "George B. Field, NAS entry".
External links edit
- George B. Field at Harvard.edu
- Oral history interview transcript with George B. Field on 14 July 1980, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives - Session I
- Oral history interview transcript with George B. Field on 15 July 1980, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives - Session II
- Oral history interview transcript with George B. Field on 5 December 2007, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives