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Forest Ray MoultonAmerican astronomer, member of the US National Academy of Sciences
Date of Birth: 29.04.1872
Country:  USA |
Content:
Forest Ray Moulton
Early Life and EducationForest Ray Moulton was born in LeRoy, Michigan, in 1872. He graduated from Albion College in 1894 and pursued further education at the University of Chicago.
Academic Career
Moulton began teaching at the University of Chicago in 1898 and became a professor in 1912. He held this position until 1926. During those years, he made significant contributions to theoretical astronomy and cosmogony.
Non-Academic Positions
From 1927 to 1936, Moulton served as the director of the Public Service Company of Northern Illinois. He then became the scientific secretary of the American Association for the Advancement of Science from 1936 to 1940.
Contributions to Cosmogony
Moulton's most important contributions were in the field of cosmogony. In 1900, he proposed the planetesimal hypothesis for the origin of the Solar System, which he developed further with T. C. Chamberlin. This hypothesis postulates that the Solar System formed from debris ejected from the Sun by a close encounter with another star.
Other Works
In addition to his work in cosmogony, Moulton also made significant contributions to celestial mechanics and ballistics. He wrote several textbooks on astronomy and celestial mechanics, including "Periodic Orbits" and "New Methods in Exterior Ballistics." He was also a co-author of the Adams-Moulton method for solving differential equations.
Legacy
Moulton was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. After his death in 1952, a crater on the Moon and the asteroid 993 Moultona were named in his honor.
