Max Waldmeier

Max Waldmeier
Born(1912-04-18)18 April 1912
Died26 September 2000(2000-09-26) (aged 88)
OccupationAstronomer

Max Waldmeier (18 April 1912 – 26 September 2000) was a Swiss astronomer, known for his research on sunspots. As director of the Zurich Observatory until 1980, Waldmeier insisted on counting sunspots by eye over automated methods, using a Fraunhofer refracting telescope installed by Zurich Observatory director Rudolf Wolf in 1849.

Legacy

Waldmeier was known for his "stubborn traditionalism" about how sunspots should be studied. He has been variously described as "one of the leading personalities in solar physics of the 20th century" and "the most arrogant astronomer in Switzerland in the mid-20th century."

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jonathon Keats (2015) "The 315-Year-Old Science Experiment" Nautilus, 26 March 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  2. ↑ Stenflo, Jan Olof (2000-11-02). "Obituary: Max Waldmeier 1912-2000". SolarNews: The Electronic Newsletter of the Solar Physics Division, American Astronomical Society. 2000 (21). Archived from the original on 2017-02-02.