Born North Lima, Ohio, USA, 20 November 1873
Died Washington, USA, 15 September 1962
American physicist William Coblentz made major contributions to radiometry, the quantitative measurement of the amount of radiation emitted by sources, or hitting surfaces, and established the foundations of infrared spectroscopy. He received degrees from the Case School of Applied Science in Ohio (BS: 1900; Sc.D.: 1930) and Cornell University (Ph.D. in physics: 1903). From 1905 to 1945, Coblentz was chief of the Radiometry Section of the United States National Bureau of Standards and was instrumental in devising standardized methods of measuring the brightness and energy content of radiation, in the visible, infrared, and ultraviolet bands. He was particularly interested in the infrared spectrum of iodine. From 1903, Coblentz investigated the spectra of hundreds of substances, organic and inorganic; his work with rock salt was thorough and accurate, so much so that many of his spectra are still...
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Selected References
Coblentz, William W. (1905–1908). Investigations of the Infra‐red Spectra. 3 Vols. Washington, DC: Carnegie Institution of Washington.
——— (1912). A Physical Study of the Firefly. Washington, DC: Carnegie Institution of Washington.
——— (1925). “Climatic Conditions on Mars.” Popular Astronomy 33: 310–316, 363–382.
——— (1925). “Temperature Estimates of the Planet Mars.” Scientific Papers of the Bureau of Standards 20, no. 512: 371–397.
——— (1951). From the Life of a Researcher. New York: Philosophical Library. (This is the best biographical source.)
——— (1954). Man's Place in a Superphysical World. New York: Sabian Publishing Society.
Coblentz, William W. and C. O. Lampland (1923). “Measurements of Planetary Radiation.” Lowell Observatory Bulletin 3, no. 85: 91.
Coblentz, William W., C. O. Lampland, and D. H. Menzel (1927). “Temperatures of Mars, 1926, as Derived from Water‐Cell Transmissions.” Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 39: 97–100.
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Baum, R. (2007). Coblentz, William Weber. In: Hockey, T., et al. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_291
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