Both Wood and Pfund left Wisconsin for Johns Hopkins University in 1903. From 1903 to 1905 Pfund was a Carnegie research assistant and continued to work under Wood. In 1906 Pfund earned his Ph.D. in physics and was a Johnston scholar from 1907 to 1909. He remained at Hopkins for the remainder of his career, eventually becoming a full professor and later chair of the physics department. From 1943 to 1944 Pfund served as the president of the Optical Society of America.
Within the hydrogen spectral series Pfund discovered the fifth series, where an electron jumps up from or drops down to the fifth fundamental level. This Series is known as the "Pfund series". He also invented the Pfund telescope, which is a method for achieving a fixed telescope focal point regardless of where the telescope line of sight is positioned, and the Pfund sky compass,[1] which arose from Pfund's studies of the polarization of scattered light from the sky in 1944, and which greatly helped transpolar flights by allowing the determination of the Sun's direction in twilight.[2] Pfund is also noted for his work into the area of infrared gas analysis.
Pelletier, Paul A. (ed.), Prominent Scientists: An index to collective biographies, 2nd ed., Neal-Schuman Publishing, Inc.: New York, 1985 (citations only)
Cattell, J.M.; Cattell, J. American Men of Science, 6th ed., The Science Press: New York, 1938
Journal of the Optical Society of America, 39:4 (April, 1949) 325. Obit.
External linksedit
Articles Published by early OSA Presidents 2015-03-20 at the Wayback Machine Journal of the Optical Society of America
December 20, 2023
august, herman, pfund, december, 1879, january, 1949, american, physicist, spectroscopist, inventor, born, 1879, december, 1879madison, wisconsindiedjanuary, 1949, 1949, aged, nationalityamericanalma, materjohns, hopkins, universityuniversity, wisconsin, madis. August Herman Pfund December 28 1879 January 4 1949 was an American physicist spectroscopist and inventor August Herman PfundBorn 1879 12 28 December 28 1879Madison WisconsinDiedJanuary 4 1949 1949 01 04 aged 69 NationalityAmericanAlma materJohns Hopkins UniversityUniversity of Wisconsin MadisonKnown forPfund linePfund telescopePfund sky compassAwardsEdward Longstreth Medal 1922 Frederic Ives Medal 1939 Scientific careerFieldsPhysicsSpectroscopyCalorimetryInstitutionsJohns Hopkins UniversityDoctoral advisorRobert W Wood Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksEarly life editPfund was born in Madison Wisconsin and attended Wisconsin public schools until his entry into the University of Wisconsin Madison where he earned a B S degree in physics and studied under Robert W Wood Career editBoth Wood and Pfund left Wisconsin for Johns Hopkins University in 1903 From 1903 to 1905 Pfund was a Carnegie research assistant and continued to work under Wood In 1906 Pfund earned his Ph D in physics and was a Johnston scholar from 1907 to 1909 He remained at Hopkins for the remainder of his career eventually becoming a full professor and later chair of the physics department From 1943 to 1944 Pfund served as the president of the Optical Society of America Within the hydrogen spectral series Pfund discovered the fifth series where an electron jumps up from or drops down to the fifth fundamental level This Series is known as the Pfund series He also invented the Pfund telescope which is a method for achieving a fixed telescope focal point regardless of where the telescope line of sight is positioned and the Pfund sky compass 1 which arose from Pfund s studies of the polarization of scattered light from the sky in 1944 and which greatly helped transpolar flights by allowing the determination of the Sun s direction in twilight 2 Pfund is also noted for his work into the area of infrared gas analysis See also editCurrent and past presidents of the Optical Society of America Medieval sunstoneReferences edit Moody Lieutenant Commander Alton B The Pfund Sky Compass Navigation Journal of The Institute of Navigation Vol 2 No 7 1950 John Howard Presidents of the Late 1940s Optics and Photonics News June 2010 Further reading editDr John Andraos Named Concepts in Chemistry L Z York University 2001 Pelletier Paul A ed Prominent Scientists An index to collective biographies 2nd ed Neal Schuman Publishing Inc New York 1985 citations only Cattell J M Cattell J American Men of Science 6th ed The Science Press New York 1938 Journal of the Optical Society of America 39 4 April 1949 325 Obit External links editArticles Published by early OSA Presidents Archived 2015 03 20 at the Wayback Machine Journal of the Optical Society of America Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title August Herman Pfund amp oldid 1147187283, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
