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Donald E. Osterbrock
(13 Jul 1924 - 11 Jan 2007)
American astronomer who was a leading authority on the history of astronomy, and director of the University of California's Lick Observatory. He explained the seemingly anomalous fact that the sun's corona is hotter than its surface, investigated the nature of ionized gas around hot stars, and was a pioneer in the use of spectroscopic methods for the study of gaseous nebulae.
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Science Quotes by Donald E. Osterbrock (1 quote)
All of us are interested in our roots. Generally this interest is latent in youth, and grows with age. Until I reached fifty I thought that history of science was a refuge for old scientists whose creative juices had dried up. Now of course I know that I was wrong! As we grow older, we become more interested in the past, in family history, local history, etc. Astronomy is, or was when I started in it, almost a family.
— Donald E. Osterbrock
In Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy (2002), Vol. 3, 206.
See also:
- 13 Jul - short biography, births, deaths and events on date of Osterbrock's birth.
In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.
(1987) -- 
