Edwin Brant Frost

Edwin Brant Frost II (July 14, 1866 – May 14, 1935) was an American astronomer and director from 1905 to 1932 of the Yerkes Observatory. He was elected a Member in 1908 of the United States National Academy of Sciences, a Member in 1909 of the American Philosophical Society, and a Fellow in 1913 of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Quotes

• Experiments with Röntgen’s newly detected X-rays have been carried on during the past few days in the Dartmouth physical laboratory by Prof. C. F. Emerson and the writer, and some of the preliminary results already obtained may be worth recording.
  Of four Crookes tubes first tried, but one emitted rays which (with the exposure given) made a visible impression upon a photographic plate protected from the ordinary luminous rays. ...
  ... The power of transmitting the X-rays has been tested for a number of substances. Silver and gold seem to be the most opaque of the metals tried, although aluminum transmits poorly. Glass is more opaque than brass, and less so than hard rubber. Cork transmits better than any other substance examined.
  • (February 14, 1896) "Experiments on the X-rays". Science 3 (59): 235–236.

• Six spectrograms of this star were obtained during the winter by Mr. W. S. Adams with the Bruce spectrograph. His measures of the third plate suggested that the radial velocity of the star varied, and the subsequent plates have confirmed this.
  The spectrum is, in general, of the Orion type, Vogels’ ꟾb, and in particular of Miss Maury’s ꟾꟾꟾa, of which group the typical star is ß Canis Majoris.
  The principal lines in the region of spectrum in good focus on our plates are due to oxygen, silicon, helium, and magnesium.
  • (1902) . "The spectroscopic binary ß Cephei". Astrophysical Journal 15: 340–341.

Quotes about Edwin Brant Frost

• In 1915 the retina in one eye became detached and within a few months he completely lost the sight in this eye, never to regain it. A few years later a cataract began to form in his other eye and grew worse and worse until he became totally blind. In spite of this heavy handicap, he managed for several years to continue his work as director of the observatory, but finally felt compelled to retire in 1933.
  In the first year of his retirement he dictated to his wife, and dedicated to her, his autobiography, under the title "An Astronomer's Life.”¹ The volume is important as a contribution to the history of present-day science. His story is told with fascinating charm, and I for one found it impossible to put down before I had finished it. It is much more than a setting down of facts or a collection of well-told stories. As a record of courage and good sportsmanship in the face of one of life's severest disasters it can not fail to move every reader. In all his years of complete darkness he never lost his sense of humor.
  ¹Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York.
  • Frank Schlesinger, (21 June 1935) "Obituary. Edwin Brant Frost 1866–1935". Science 81 (2112): 605-607. DOI:10.1126/science.81.2112.605. (quote from p. 607)

• ... he was an ardent observer of the flash spectrum during solar eclipses. At the eclipse of May 28, 1900, he obtained a series of excellent exposures of the flash spectrum and his measurements of the wave-lengths and identifications of the lines were among the best at that time, and formed the basis for later work by other observers.
  The great majority of Frost's scientific contributions deal with the spectra of the stars and, in particular, with the determination of their motions in the line of sight.
  The original equipment of the Yerkes 40-inch refractor included a stellar spectrograph designed by Professor Keeler of the Allegheny Observatory and constructed by Mr. Brashear of Pittsburgh. This instrument was described by Professor Hale and Mr. Ellerman, and was used by them to great advantage for a study of the spectra of very red stars. However, the mechanical parts were not sufficiently stable and free of flexure to permit its use for the determination of radial velocities. Accordingly, Frost decided to build a new modern spectograph intended primarily for radial-velocity work. In 1899 Miss Catherine W. Bruce made a gift to the Yerkes Observatory of $2300 for the new instrument, and in January, 1902, Frost was able to publish in the Astrophysical Journal a complete description of the Bruce spectrograph, together with some preliminary measurements of stellar motions.
  The Bruce spectrograph remained Frost's principal instrument, and with it he accumulated an enormous amount of material on the spectra of the hottest stars, spectroscopic binaries, novae and variable stars.
  • Otto Struve, (1938) . "Biographical Memoir of Edwin Brant Frost 1866-1935". Biographical Memoirs of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences XIX: 25–51. (quote from pp. 30–31; presented to the NAS at the autumn 1937 meeting)

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Edwin Brant Frost on Wikipedia