James W. Brault

James W. Brault (February 10, 1932 – November 1, 2008) was a 20th-century scientist and a pioneer of Fourier transform spectroscopy.^[1][2] He was a world-leading expert in physical instrument design, numerical methods as applied to spectroscopy, and in atomic and molecular spectroscopy.^[3]

He graduated from Princeton University in 1962 as a student of Robert H. Dicke on the gravitational redshift of the sun and worked later at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, where he installed a high-resolution Fourier transform spectrometer used for astronomy, solar physics, and laboratory spectroscopy. In his early years, Brault was involved in the development of the lock-in amplifier, and of differential interference microscopy and phase modulation microscopy with Robert D. Allen.

References

1. Davis, Sumner P.; Abrams, Mark C.; Brault, James W. (2001-05-30). Fourier Transform Spectrometry. Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-08-050691-3.
2. Brault, James W. (1996-06-01). "New approach to high-precision Fourier transform spectrometer design". Applied Optics. 35 (16): 2891–2896. Bibcode:1996ApOpt..35.2891B. doi:10.1364/AO.35.002891. ISSN 2155-3165. PMID 21085438.
3. "James W. Brault". Academic Search. Microsoft. Retrieved June 6, 2014.

• Sumner P. Davis, Mark C. Abrams, and James W. Brault, Fourier Transform Spectrometry, Academic Press, 2001.
• Ginette Roland, James W. Brault, and Larry Testerman, Photometric Atlas of the Solar Spectrum from 1,850 to 10,000 cm⁻¹, 164 pp., Kitt Peak National Observatory, 1981.
• James W. Brault, "Frequency Responsive Networks", U.S. Patent US3296464, 1967.
• James W. Brault, "Gravitational redshift of solar lines", Bull. Am. Astron. Soc. 8, 28, 1963.
• Photograph during solar eclipse in 1965: http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/html/im0323.html