Summary
William M. Kaula (May 19, 1926 – April 1, 2000) was an Australian-born American geophysicist and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.[1][2][3][4][5] Kaula was most notable for his contributions to geodesy, including using early satellites to produce maps of Earth's gravity.[1] The National Academies Press called Kaula "the father of space-based geodesy".[2] The Los Angeles Times called him "one of the leading planetary physicists of the last four decades".[4]
William Mason Kaula | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 19, 1926 |
| Died | April 1, 2000 (aged 73) |
| Nationality | Australian, American |
| Alma mater | United States Military Academy, Ohio State University |
| Known for | Satellite geodesy |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Geodesy, Geophysics, Planetary science |
| Institutions | University of California at Los Angeles, Goddard Space Flight Center, National Geodetic Survey, United States Army Corps of Engineers |
Education and early career edit
He graduated from West Point (the top military school in the United States) in 1948 with a B.S. in Military Engineering, then served in the Army Corps of Engineers, leading a topographic survey of New Britain, an island in the Pacific. Kaula received a 1953 M.S. degree from Ohio State University in geodesy. In 1958 he was named chief of the Division of Geodesy of the Army Map Service. From 1960 – 1963 Kaula was a research scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.[6]
UCLA professor edit
Kaula was Professor of Geophysics at the Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics, UCLA (1963 – 1992). He was a participant in several NASA missions, including as Laser Altimeter principal investigator on Apollo 15,[7] 16, and 17.[4] Kaula was a member of the National Research Council Space Science Board on two occasions. From 1984 – 1987 he led the National Geodetic Survey in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.[8]
Honors and legacy edit
He was a fellow (1964) and recipient of the Whitten Medal of the American Geophysical Union, the Brouwer Award of the American Astronomical Society,[2] Guggenheim fellowship (1978),[9] and NASA Medal for exceptional scientific achievement (1983). He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences for his scientific contributions notwithstanding his not having a doctorate, a rare such instance.[2] Asteroid 5485 Kaula is named after him.[10] The American Geophysical Union instituted the William Kaula Award (2003) in his honor.[11]
Selected publications edit
- Statistical and Harmonic Analysis of Gravity (1959) Journal of Geophysical Research Volume 64, Issue 12
- Analysis of Gravitational and Geometric Aspects of Geodetic Utilization of Satellites (1961) NASA Technical Note D-572
- A Geoid and World Geodetic System based on a combination of gravimetric, astro-geodetic, and satellite data (1961) NASA Technical Note D-702
- Celestial Geodesy (1962) NASA Technical Note D-1155
- A review of geodetic parameters (1963) NASA Technical Note D-1847
- Tesseral harmonics of the gravitational field and geodetic datum shifts derived from camera observations of satellites (1963) Journal of Geophysical Research
- Improved geodetic results from camera observations of satellites (1963) Journal of Geophysical Research
- Determination of the Earth's gravitational field (1963) Reviews of Geophysics Volume 1, Issue 4
- Theory of Satellite Geodesy; applications of satellites to geodesy (1966) Blaisdell Publishing OCLC 638003814
- An Introduction to Planetary Physics; the terrestrial planets (1968) Wiley ISBN 9780471460701
- The Terrestrial Environment: Solid Earth and Ocean Physics (1970) NASA Conference Report 1579
- Geodesy: trends and prospects (1978) National Academies Press
- Applications of Geodesy to Geodynamics: 1. Geodesy for Geodynamics, Progress and Problems (1979) Eos, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union Volume 60, Issue 23
- Earth science: The changing shape of the Earth (1983) Nature Volume 303, Issue 5920:756
- Venus: a contrast in evolution to Earth (1990) Science 247:1191-96
- Constraints on Venus evolution from radiogenic argon (1999) Icarus 139:32-39
References edit
- ^ a b William Kaula, 73, Who Drew Maps of Earth Using Satellites, James Glanz, NY Times, April 13, 2000
- ^ a b c d National Academies of Science:Biographical Memoirs:William M. Kaula, By Donald L. Turcotte
- ^ University of California, IN MEMORIAM, William M. Kaula, Professor Emeritus of Geophysics, Los Angeles, 1926—2000
- ^ a b c Los Angeles Times:William M. Kaula; Planetary Physicist at UCLA;April 08, 2000
- ^ West Point Eulogy:William Mason Kaula; West Point, 1948; Be Thou At Peace
- ^ biography at AIP Physics History Network
- ^ Laser Altimeter at NSSDC
- ^ biography at AIP Physics History Network
- ^ Kaula at gf.org
- ^ obituary at Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
- ^ honors recognition at AGU
External links edit
- Turcotte, Donald L. (2002) "William M. Kaula", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences
- Seven Ages of a Planet at slideplayer.com