Harwit, Martin, 1931-

Astrophysicist. Martin Harwit served as professor of astronomy at Cornell University and as co-director of the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology Program. In 1987 he was appointed director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. He received a Ph.D. in physics in 1960 from M.I.T. and taught at Cornell since 1962. Harwit's research interests have included observational astronomy, theoretical astrophysics, infrared astronomy, galaxy formation, and the history of astronomy and astrophysics. In the 1960s, he established research groups at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., and at Cornell that built the first rocket-borne telescopes cooled to liquid helium temperatures. In the mid 1970s, he began studying the history of astronomy and space science as it relates to public policy issues.

From the guide to the Martin Harwit papers, 1957-1987, (Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library)

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