• Source: Margaret Geller

      • Margaret J. Geller (born December 8, 1947) is an American astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. Her work has included pioneering maps of the nearby universe, studies of the relationship between galaxies and their environment, and the development and application of methods for measuring the distribution of matter in the universe.


      Career


      Geller made pioneering maps of large-scale structure in the universe. Geller received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics at the University of California, Berkeley (1970) and a Ph.D. in Physics from Princeton (1974). Geller completed her doctoral dissertation, titled "Bright galaxies in rich clusters: a statistical model for magnitude distributions", under the supervision of James Peebles. Although Geller was thinking about studying solid state physics in graduate school, Charles Kittel suggested she go to Princeton to study astrophysics.
      After research fellowships at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian and the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge, England, she became an assistant professor of Astronomy at Harvard University (1980-1983). She then joined the permanent scientific staff of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, a partner in the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.
      Geller is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. In 1990, she was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Two years later, she was elected to the Physics section of the US National Academy of Sciences. From 2000 to 2003, she served on the Council of the National Academy of Sciences. She has received seven honorary degrees (D. S. H. C. or L. H. C.).


      Research


      Geller is known for observational and theoretical work in cosmology and extragalactic astronomy. Her long range goals are to discover what the universe looks like and to understand how the patterns we observe today evolved. In the 1980's, she made pioneering maps of the nearby universe, which included the Great Wall and was the inspiration for Jasper Johns 2020 piece called Slice. Her SHELS project maps the distribution of dark matter in the universe. With the 6.5-m MMT, she leads a deeper survey of the middle-aged universe called
      HectoMAP. Geller has developed innovative techniques for investigating the structure and mass of clusters of galaxies and the relationship between clusters and their surroundings.
      Geller is also a co-discoverer of hypervelocity stars which may be an important tracer of the matter distribution in the Galaxy.


      Films and Public Lectures


      Geller has made several films for public education. Her 8-minute video Where the Galaxies Are (1989) was the first graphic voyage through the observed universe and was awarded a CINE Gold Eagle. A later 40-minute film, So Many Galaxies...So Little Time, contains more sophisticated prize-winning (IEEE/Siggraph) graphics and was on display at the National Air and Space Museum.
      Geller has lectured extensively to public audiences around the world. She has lectured twice in
      the main amphitheater at the Chautauqua Institution.
      She is included in NPR's list of The Best Commencement Speeches, Ever.
      Her story about her entry into astrophysics and meeting the renowned astrophysicist John Archibald Wheeler, entitled "Mapping the Universe" was published by The Story Collider podcast on May 21, 2014.


      Books


      Geller's work is discussed in Physics in the Twentieth Century. Popular articles by Geller appear with those by Robert Woodrow Wilson, David Todd Wilkinson, J. Anthony Tyson and Vera Rubin in Beyond Earth: Mapping the Universe and with others by Alan Lightman, Robert Kirshner, Vera Rubin, Alan Guth, and James E. Gunn in Bubbles, Voids and Bumps in Time: The New Cosmology.


      Awards and honors


      1989 Newcomb Cleveland Prize of the American Association for the Advancement of Science along with John P. Huchra for "Mapping the Universe"
      1990 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship
      1990 American Academy of Arts and Science
      1992 National Academy of Sciences
      1993 Helen Sawyer Hogg Lecture of the Canadian Astronomical Society
      1996 Klopsteg Memorial Award of the American Association of Physics Teachers
      1997 New York Public Library Library Lion
      2003 La Medaille de l'ADION of Nice Observatory
      2008 Magellanic Premium by the American Philosophical Society for her research into the groupings of galaxies.
      2009 Honorary Degree (D.S.H.C.) from Colby College
      2010 Henry Norris Russell Lectureship of the American Astronomical Society
      2010 James Craig Watson Medal of the National Academy of Sciences
      2013 Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize of the American Physical Society
      2014 Karl Schwarzschild Medal of the German Astronomical Society
      2014 Honorary Degree (D.S.H.C.) from Dartmouth College
      2017 Honorary Degree (L.H.C.) from University of Turin


      References




      Further reading


      Shearer, Benjamin; Shearer, Barbara Smith (1997). Notable women in the physical sciences : a biographical dictionary. Westport, Conn. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0313293030. OCLC 433367323.


      External links


      Margaret Geller's homepage at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
      Lecture: Einstein Meets Lagrange on YouTube at the Accademia delle Scienzia di Torino, April 2017
      Honorary degree ceremony on YouTube at the University of Turin, April 2017
      "The 50 Most Influential Scientists in the World Today". The Best Schools. 2014-01-21.
      Interview with Margaret Geller on YouTube at the 2013 meeting of the American Physical Society
      Margaret Geller's 2010 Lecture on YouTube at Chautauqua
      How to Find a Galaxy (Nova PBS) on YouTube
      Caught in the Cosmic Web
      Research Features Interview
      Margaret Geller on Charlie Rose

    Kata Kunci Pencarian: