Edwin Hubble

Edwin Powell Hubble (November 20, 1889 – September 28, 1953) was an American astronomer, noted for his discovery of galaxies beyond the Milky Way and the cosmic red shift. Edwin Hubble was one of the first to argue that the red shift of distant galaxies is due to the Doppler effect induced by the expansion of the universe. He was one of the leading astronomers of modern times and laid down the foundation upon which physical cosmology now rests.

Biography

Hubble was born to an insurance executive in Marshfield, Missouri and moved to Wheaton, Illinois in 1898. In his younger days, he was noted more for his athletic abilities rather than his intellectual genius: he won seven first places{{fn|1}} and a third placing in a single high school meet in 1906. That year he also set a state record for high jump in Illinois.

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Marshfield, Missouri - Wheaton, Illinois - 1898 - 1906

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His studies at the University of Chicago concentrated on mathematics and astronomy which led to a B.S. degree in 1910. He spent the next three years as one of Oxford's first Rhodes Scholars, where he studied in the field of law and received the M.A. degree, after which he returned to the United States as a high school teacher and a basketball coach in New Albany, Indiana.

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University of Chicago - 1910 - Rhodes Scholars - M.A. - United States - New Albany, Indiana

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He served in World War I and quickly became Major. He returned to astronomy at the Yerkes Observatory of the University of Chicago, where he earned a Ph.D. in 1917. In 1919 Hubble was offered a staff position by George Ellery Hale, the founder and director of Carnegie Institution's Mount Wilson Observatory, near Pasadena, California, where he remained until his death. He also served in the US army during World War II. Shortly before his death, Palomar's 200-inch Hale Telescope was completed; Hubble was the first to use it.

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Major - Yerkes Observatory - Ph.D. - 1917 - 1919 - George Ellery Hale - Mount Wilson Observatory - Pasadena, California - Hale Telescope

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He died of a heart attack on September 28, 1953, in San Marino, California. His wife, Grace, did not have a funeral for him and never revealed what was done with his body - it was apparently Hubble's wish to have no funeral service and be buried in an unmarked grave, or that he wanted to be cremated. As of 2005, the whereabouts of his remains are unknown.

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September 28 - 1953 - San Marino, California - Cremated - 2005

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