Robert W. Wood

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Robert Williams Wood
Robert Williams Wood
Robert Williams Wood
Born May 2, 1868
Concord, Massachusetts
Died August 11, 1955
Amityville, New York
Nationality American
Fields physics
Known for optics

Robert Williams Wood (May 2, 1868 – August 11, 1955) was an American physicist. He was a careful experimenter known for his many contributions to optics including infrared and ultraviolet photography, and the liquid mirror telescope. He discredited the purported phenomenon of N rays.[1] He was also a writer of science fiction and nonsense verse.

Contents

[edit] Life

Born in Concord, Massachusetts, Wood attended The Roxbury Latin School[citation needed] and earned his bachelor's degree at Harvard University. He studied at Johns Hopkins University, University of Chicago, in Berlin and at MIT, although he never earned a doctorate. He taught at the University of Wisconsin and then moved to Johns Hopkins.[2] He was professor of experimental physics at Johns Hopkins from 1901 until his death.[3]

His fields of interest included Raman spectroscopy, field emission, optics, and the manufacture of diffraction gratings. The optical effect belonging to diffraction grating known as Wood's anomaly is named after him.[3]

He discovered that the darkest area of the Moon in ultraviolet light is the Aristarchus Plateau.[citation needed] In 1909, Wood constructed the first practical liquid mirror astronomical telescope, formed by spinning mercury so that it forms a paraboloidal shape, and investigated its benefits and limitations.[4]

Wood has been described as the "father of both infrared and ultraviolet photography". Though the discovery of electromagnetic radiation beyond the visible spectrum and the development of photographic emulsions capable of recording them pre-date Wood, he was the first intentionally to produce photographs with both infrared and ultraviolet radiation.[5] He developed a filter, Wood's glass, that was opaque to visible light but was transparent to ultraviolet. He used it for ultraviolet photography but also suggested its use for secret communication.[6] He was also the first person to photograph ultraviolet fluorescence.[5][6] He also developed a lamp, Wood's lamp, that radiated only ultraviolet.[citation needed] The slightly surreal glowing appearance of deciduous trees in infrared photographs is called the Wood effect.[7]

Wood also authored non-technical works. In 1915, Wood co-authored a science fiction novel, The Man Who Rocked the Earth, with Arthur Train.[8]. He also wrote and illustrated a book of nonsense verse, How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers.

Wood died in Amityville, New York.[3]

[edit] Honors

  • Rumford Medal of the Royal Society, for his work in physical optics, 1938.[9]
  • Henry Draper Medal of the National Academy of Sciences, for his contributions to astrophysics, 1940.[10]
  • The Wood crater on the far side of the Moon was named after him.[11]
  • Honorary degrees from Berlin University, Clark University, University of Birmingham, and Edinburgh University.[5]
  • Member of the Royal Society, London (foreign), London Optical Society (honorary), Konigliche Akademie der Wissenschatten zu Gottingen (corresponding), Accademia dei Lincei, Rome (foreign), Russian Academy of Science, Leningrad, American National Academy of Science, Academy of Arts and Sciences, Philosophical Society, Physical Society, Royal Institutions, London (honorary), London Physical Society (honorary fellow), Royal Swedish Academy, Stockholm (foreign), Indian Association for Science, Calcutta (foreign).[5]
  • Medal awarded by the Royal Society of Arts for his diffraction process in color photography, 1899.[5]
  • Franklin Institute John Scott medal, awarded by the City of Philadelphia for further progress in diffraction color photos, 1907.[5]
  • J. Traill Taylor medal, awarded for photography by invisible rays, 1910.[5]
  • Gold medal, Societa’ Italiana della Scienze, for general outstanding scientific achievement, 1918.[5]
  • Frederick Ives medal, awarded by the Optical Society of America for distinguished work in physical optics, 1938.[5]
  • Served as vice-president (1934) and president (1935) of the American Physical Society.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Klotz (1980)
  2. ^ http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=2201&page=441 Robert W. Woods, National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoirs
  3. ^ a b c [Anon.] (2001)
  4. ^ Gibson, B. K. (1991). "Liquid mirror telescopes: history" (PDF). Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada 85(4): 158-171. 
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Seabrook (1941)
  6. ^ a b Williams & Williams (2002)
  7. ^ Wood effect. PhotoNotes.org: Dictionary of Film and Digital Photography. Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
  8. ^ Train & Wood (1915)
  9. ^ Rumford archive winners 1988 - 1900. The Royal Society. Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
  10. ^ Awards: Henry Draper Medal. National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved on 2007-08-12.
  11. ^ Cocks, E. E. & Cocks, J. C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN 0-936389-27-3. 

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Works by Wood

[edit] About Wood

[edit] External links