Henri-Alexandre Deslandres

Henri -Alexandre Deslandres ( born July 24, 1853 in Paris, † January 15, 1948 ) was a French astronomer and director of the observatory of Meudon and Paris.

Life and work

Deslandres came after training at the École polytechnique in 1874 to join the army and became more and more excited for physics. In 1881 he left the army to carry out polytechnique spectroscopic studies at Alfred Cornu at the École. In 1888 he received his doctorate at the Sorbonne University. His results on the numerical terms in the spectral lines ( Balmer parallel) led to the development of quantum mechanics in the early 20th century.

1889 Deslandres was brought to the Meudon Observatory, in order to improve the outmoded methods that focused on geometric and mechanical aspects, but no physical examinations hired. Here developed Deslandres ( parallel to George Ellery Hale ) 1894 Spektroheliografen. In 1907 he became director of the Observatory of Meudon and established a program to increase scientific capacity on. Under his leadership, the Paris Observatory, the Paris Observatory in 1926 merged with the Meudon Observatory.

Beginning of the First World War - he was already in his 60s - he reported back to the army and went back to his post in 1918 in Meudon.

Deslandres remained until his death research. His colleague Raymond Michard said that Deslandres inside, in his character and his lifestyle more than a soldier acted because as a scientist.

Honors

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