Forest Ray Moulton

Forest Ray Moulton ( born April 29, 1872 in Le Roy / Michigan, † December 7, 1952 in Wilmette / Illinois) was an American astronomer, mathematician and science organizer.

Biography

Forest Ray Moulton was born on 29 April 1872 as the first son of the farmer and war veterans Belah G Moulton and Mary C Smith in a cabin in the woods in the near Le Roy in Michigan, which is why (English: Forest) his mother also called Forest. He was accompanied by his parents and grandparents taught until after attending a small school where all ages were taught together, to the Albion College in Albion (Michigan) joined, where he also worked as a part-time teacher from 1892 until his graduation in 1894. In 1895 he moved to the University of Chicago, where he in 1898 - one year before his formal graduation 1899 - was appointed associate professor (Associate Professor ) and Director of the astronomical faculty appointment as professor was in 1912 after he called during the First World War. major ballistics had conducted research at Aberdeen Proving Ground in the U.S. Army, he returned to the University of Chicago. In 1926 he left the university and became director of the Electricity Company Utilities Power and Light Company in Chicago and Advisor to the President of the company. He left the company in 1937 and became permanent secretary of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a position he held until his retirement in 1948.

Moulton married in 1896 Estella L Gillette, with whom he had five children. He was divorced in 1936 and married in 1939 Alicia Pratt, from 1951, he was divorced.

Work

Moulton mainly dealt with the celestial mechanics and the mathematical problems associated ( in orbit determination, he claimed, inter improvements to the formula of numerical integration of differential equations by John Couch Adams ), but was very well known outside of science: In addition to his popular science publications, he was also one of the first professors who used the new medium of radio to the communication of science - he hosted in his time in Chicago regularly science programs on the radio.

Moulton developed together with the geologist Thomas Chamberlin Chrowder the theory of the origin of the planets and moons of the solar system from planetesimals, which he developed from Chamberlin's original ideas in a closed theory.

Moulton -known student was Edwin Hubble.

In addition, he gave a simple example of an affine plane in which the set of Desargues does not apply ( easier than the example of David Hilbert in his Foundations of Geometry - this took it over but in later editions ). Then after him the Moulton plane were named.

The Adams - Moulton method, a multi-step process, is named after him and John Couch Adams.