Theodore Lyman IV
1874 - 1954
Theodore Lyman IV (1874 - 1954) was a physicist and spectroscopist. He was born in Boston on November 23, 1874, the son of Theodore Lyman III (1833-1897), the naturalist and marine biologist. He lived most of his live on the family estate in Brookline, Massachusetts. He was brought up in great wealth and a strong sense of noblesse oblige.
Lyman entered Harvard in 1893 and came under the influence of Professor Wallace C. Sabine. He graduated with his A.B. in 1897. Sabine encouraged Lyman to pursue a Ph.D. in physics, which he completed in 1900. His thesis was on "False Spectra from the Rowland Concave Grating."
In 1901-1902, he studied under J. J. Thomson in Cambridge, England, and then studied in Gottingen during the summer of 1902. He returned to teach at Harvard. As an assistant professor, he was made Director of the Jefferson Physical Laboratory in 1910. He held this position for 37 years (until 1947). He was granted tenure in 1917 and in 1921 became Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. He retired in 1925, which was 15 years early by the day's standards, but continued to direct grad students and teach.
Lyman's scientific work is best known for his study of extreme ultraviolet light spectra. His early equipment placed the entire spectroscope in vacuo to eliminate absorption by the air. It replaced all glass parts with fluorite. More details of this and later work are found in Percy Bridgman's biographical memoir of Lyman.
During World War I, Lyman served as Adjutant of the Harvard Training Corps, and gave up his college work. In the fall of 1917, he went to France as a captain in the Signal Corps to study flash and sound ranging.
In 1926, he helped to raise money for a new physics lab to complement the Jefferson Physical Lab. The funds were received before the stock market crash of 1929. The new Research Laboratory of Physics opened in 1931, and Lyman directed it as well as Jefferson. On his retirement from the directorship in 1947, the lab was renamed after him as the Lyman Laboratory of Physics.
Lyman never married. He died in Boston in 1954.
Lyman entered Harvard in 1893 and came under the influence of Professor Wallace C. Sabine. He graduated with his A.B. in 1897. Sabine encouraged Lyman to pursue a Ph.D. in physics, which he completed in 1900. His thesis was on "False Spectra from the Rowland Concave Grating."
In 1901-1902, he studied under J. J. Thomson in Cambridge, England, and then studied in Gottingen during the summer of 1902. He returned to teach at Harvard. As an assistant professor, he was made Director of the Jefferson Physical Laboratory in 1910. He held this position for 37 years (until 1947). He was granted tenure in 1917 and in 1921 became Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. He retired in 1925, which was 15 years early by the day's standards, but continued to direct grad students and teach.
Lyman's scientific work is best known for his study of extreme ultraviolet light spectra. His early equipment placed the entire spectroscope in vacuo to eliminate absorption by the air. It replaced all glass parts with fluorite. More details of this and later work are found in Percy Bridgman's biographical memoir of Lyman.
During World War I, Lyman served as Adjutant of the Harvard Training Corps, and gave up his college work. In the fall of 1917, he went to France as a captain in the Signal Corps to study flash and sound ranging.
In 1926, he helped to raise money for a new physics lab to complement the Jefferson Physical Lab. The funds were received before the stock market crash of 1929. The new Research Laboratory of Physics opened in 1931, and Lyman directed it as well as Jefferson. On his retirement from the directorship in 1947, the lab was renamed after him as the Lyman Laboratory of Physics.
Lyman never married. He died in Boston in 1954.
"Lyman, Theodore." Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 25 Feb. 2015 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.
Percy W. Bridgman. Theodore Lyman, 1874-1954: A Biographical Memoir. (Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, 1957).
http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/lyman-theodore-t-1.pdf (02/25/2015)