Donald Howard Menzel
Encyclopedia
Donald Howard Menzel was one of the first theoretical astronomer
s and astrophysicists
in the US. He discovered the physical properties of the solar chromosphere
, the chemistry of stars, the atmosphere of Mars, and the nature of gaseous neblulae.
in 1901 and raised in Leadville
, he learned to read very early, and soon could send and receive messages in Morse code
, taught by his father. He loved science and mathematics, collected ore and rock specimens, and as a teenager he built a large (and probably hazardous) chemistry laboratory in the cellar. He made a radio transmitter - no kits in those days - and qualified as a radio ham
. He was an Eagle Scout
, specializing in Cryptanalysis
, as well as an outdoorsman, hiking and fly fishing throughout much of his life.
At 16, he enrolled in the University of Denver
to study chemistry
. His interest in astronomy was aroused through a boyhood friend (Edgar Kettering), through observing the solar eclipse of June 8, 1918
, and through observing the eruption of Nova Aquilae 1918 (V603 Aquilae
).
He graduated from the University of Denver in 1920 with an A.B. degree in chemistry and an A.M. degree in chemistry and mathematics in 1921. He also found summer positions in 1922, 1923, and 1924 as research assistant to Harlow Shapley
at the Harvard College Observatory
. At Princeton University
he acquired a second A.M. degree in astronomy in 1923, and in 1924 a Ph.D. in astrophysics for which his advisor was Henry Norris Russell
, who inspired his interest in theoretical astronomy. He married Florence Elizabeth Kreager on June 17, 1926 and had two daughters (Suzanne Kay and Elizabeth Ina). He received honorary A.M. and Sc.D. degrees from Harvard University in 1942 and the University of Denver in 1954 respectively. In 1965, Menzel was given the John Evans Award of the University of Denver.
After teaching two years at the University of Iowa
and Ohio State University
, in 1926 he was appointed assistant Professor at Lick Observatory
in San Jose CA. where he worked for several years. In 1932 he moved to Harvard
, where he remained till his death.
Menzel is renowned for traveling with expeditions to view solar eclipse
s to obtain scientific data. On 19 June 1936, he led the Harvard-MIT expedition to the steppes of Russia (at Ak Bulak in southwestern Siberia) to observe a total eclipse. For the 9 July 1945 eclipse, he directed the Joint U.S.-Canadian expedition to Saskatchewan, although they were clouded out. Menzel observed many total solar eclipses, often leading the expeditions, including Catalina California (10 September 1923, cloudy), Camptonville California (28 April 1930), Freyburg Maine (31 August 1932), Minneapolis-St. Paul Minnesota (30 June 1954), the Atlantic coast of Massachusetts (2 October 1959), northern Italy (15 February 1951), Orono Maine (20 July 1963, cloudy), Athens/Sunion Road, Greece (20 May 1966), Arequipa Peru (12 November 1966), Miahuatlan, south of Oaxaca, Mexico (7 March 1970), Prince Edward Island Canada (10 July 1972), and western Mauritania (30 June 1973), in addition to the other three mentioned above.
In the late 1930s he built an observatory for solar research at Climax
CO, using a telescope that mimicked a total eclipse of the sun
, allowing him and his colleagues to study the sun's corona
and to film the spouting flames, called prominences
, emitted by the sun. His studies of spectra
also added a great deal to the knowledge of the sun and stars.
During World War ll Menzel was asked to join the Navy
as Lieut. Commander
, to head a division of intelligence, where he used his many-sided talents: deciphering enemy codes, improving radio-wave propagation by tracking the sun's emissions (like auroras
) and their effects on long distance radio communications.
From 1946-1948 he was the Vice President of the American Astronomical Society
, becoming their President from 1954-1956. From 1964 to his death, Menzel was a U.S. State Department consultant for Latin America
n affairs. In 1955, Menzel worked with the US Navy with the rank of Commander
studying the effect of the aurora on radio propagation for the Department of Defense (Menzel & Boyd, p. 60).
Returning to Harvard after the war, he was appointed acting director of the Harvard Observatory in 1952, and was the full director from 1954 to 1966, when the observatory became an international center of radio astronomy
. He retired from Harvard in 1971.
One of Menzel's early acts as the Director was to cause lasting bitterness and feelings of betrayal and shock among a large section of astronomers when he evicted on short notice the American Association of Variable Star Observers
(AAVSO) from their headquarters and appropriated almost all of their endowment. The roughly $100,000 taken from the AAVSO's Pickering Endowment was used to fund Menzel's own solar research. Menzel's stated excuse for ejecting the AAVSO from their longtime (42 years) headquarters was that Building A was to be torn down, so the notice dated December 8, 1953 gave the AAVSO until January 1, 1954 to vacate their 384 square feet (35.7 m²) of office space. (Building A still stands.) When the AAVSO was on the verge of getting a new headquarters at Boston University (BU), on January 6, 1954, the offer was withdrawn after the BU official was called by Menzel.
Menzel initially performed solar research, but later concentrated on studying gaseous nebula
e. His work with Lawrence Aller and James Gilbert Baker
defined many of the fundamental principles of the study of planetary nebula
e.
He wrote the first edition (1964) of A Field Guide to the Stars and Planets, part of the Peterson
Field Guides.
In one of his last papers, Menzel concluded, based on his analysis of the Schwarzschild equations, that black hole
s do not exist, and he declared them to be a myth.
In May 2001, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics hosted the "Donald H. Menzel: Scientist, Educator, Builder," a symposium in honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Donald H. Menzel.
, Menzel was a prominent skeptic concerning the reality of UFOs. He authored or co-authored three popular books debunking
UFOs: Flying Saucers - Myth - Truth - History (1953), The World of Flying Saucers (1963, co-authored with Lyle G Boyd), and The UFO Enigma (1977, co-authored with Ernest H. Taves). All of Menzel's UFO books argued that UFOs are nothing more than misidentification of prosaic phenomena such as stars, clouds and airplanes; or the result of people seeing unusual atmospheric phenomena they were unfamiliar with. He often suggested that atmospheric haze
s or temperature inversions could distort stars or planets, and make them appear to be larger than in reality, unusual in their shape, and in motion. In 1968, Menzel testified before the U.S. House Committee on Science and Astronautics - Symposium on UFOs, stating that he considered all UFO sightings to have natural explanations.
He was perhaps the first prominent scientist to offer his opinion on the matter, and his stature doubtless influenced the mainstream and academic response to the subject. Perhaps Menzel's earliest public involvement in UFO matters was his appearance on a radio
documentary directed and narrated by Edward R. Murrow
in mid-1950. (Swords, 98)
Menzel had his own UFO experience when he observed a 'flying saucer' while returning on 3 March 1955 from the North Pole
on the daily Air Force Weather
"Ptarmigan" flight. His account is in both Menzel & Boyd and Menzel & Taves. He later identified it as a mirage of Sirius
, but Steuart Campbell
claims that it was a mirage of Saturn
.
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Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
s and astrophysicists
Astrophysics
Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of celestial objects, as well as their interactions and behavior...
in the US. He discovered the physical properties of the solar chromosphere
Chromosphere
The chromosphere is a thin layer of the Sun's atmosphere just above the photosphere, roughly 2,000 kilometers deep....
, the chemistry of stars, the atmosphere of Mars, and the nature of gaseous neblulae.
Biography
Born in Florence, ColoradoFlorence, Colorado
The City of Florence is a Statutory City located in Fremont County, Colorado, United States. The population was 3,653 at the 2000 census.ADX Florence, the only federal Supermax prison in the United States, is located south of Florence in an unincorporated area in Fremont County...
in 1901 and raised in Leadville
Leadville, Colorado
Leadville is a Statutory City that is the county seat of, and the only municipality in, Lake County, Colorado, United States. Situated at an elevation of , Leadville is the highest incorporated city and the second highest incorporated municipality in the United States...
, he learned to read very early, and soon could send and receive messages in Morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
, taught by his father. He loved science and mathematics, collected ore and rock specimens, and as a teenager he built a large (and probably hazardous) chemistry laboratory in the cellar. He made a radio transmitter - no kits in those days - and qualified as a radio ham
Amateur radio
Amateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...
. He was an Eagle Scout
Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)
Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...
, specializing in Cryptanalysis
Cryptanalysis
Cryptanalysis is the study of methods for obtaining the meaning of encrypted information, without access to the secret information that is normally required to do so. Typically, this involves knowing how the system works and finding a secret key...
, as well as an outdoorsman, hiking and fly fishing throughout much of his life.
At 16, he enrolled in the University of Denver
University of Denver
The University of Denver is currently ranked 82nd among all public and private "National Universities" by U.S. News & World Report in the 2012 rankings....
to study chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
. His interest in astronomy was aroused through a boyhood friend (Edgar Kettering), through observing the solar eclipse of June 8, 1918
Solar eclipse of June 8, 1918
A total solar eclipse occurred on June 8, 1918. The eclipse was observed by a U.S. Naval Observatory team at Baker City in Oregon. The painting below shows totality when the moon prevented the sun's rays from hitting that part of Oregon...
, and through observing the eruption of Nova Aquilae 1918 (V603 Aquilae
V603 Aquilae
V603 Aquilae was a bright nova occurring in Aquila in 1918.It reached a magnitude of −1.4, and was the brightest nova of modern times.-References:* -External links:* * *...
).
He graduated from the University of Denver in 1920 with an A.B. degree in chemistry and an A.M. degree in chemistry and mathematics in 1921. He also found summer positions in 1922, 1923, and 1924 as research assistant to Harlow Shapley
Harlow Shapley
Harlow Shapley was an American astronomer.-Career:He was born on a farm in Nashville, Missouri, and dropped out of school with only the equivalent of a fifth-grade education...
at the Harvard College Observatory
Harvard College Observatory
The Harvard College Observatory is an institution managing a complex of buildings and multiple instruments used for astronomical research by the Harvard University Department of Astronomy. It is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and was founded in 1839...
. At Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
he acquired a second A.M. degree in astronomy in 1923, and in 1924 a Ph.D. in astrophysics for which his advisor was Henry Norris Russell
Henry Norris Russell
Henry Norris Russell was an American astronomer who, along with Ejnar Hertzsprung, developed the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram . In 1923, working with Frederick Saunders, he developed Russell–Saunders coupling which is also known as LS coupling.-Biography:Russell was born in 1877 in Oyster Bay, New...
, who inspired his interest in theoretical astronomy. He married Florence Elizabeth Kreager on June 17, 1926 and had two daughters (Suzanne Kay and Elizabeth Ina). He received honorary A.M. and Sc.D. degrees from Harvard University in 1942 and the University of Denver in 1954 respectively. In 1965, Menzel was given the John Evans Award of the University of Denver.
After teaching two years at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
and Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
, in 1926 he was appointed assistant Professor at Lick Observatory
Lick Observatory
The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory, owned and operated by the University of California. It is situated on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, USA...
in San Jose CA. where he worked for several years. In 1932 he moved to Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, where he remained till his death.
Menzel is renowned for traveling with expeditions to view solar eclipse
Solar eclipse
As seen from the Earth, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun as viewed from a location on Earth. This can happen only during a new moon, when the Sun and the Moon are in conjunction as seen from Earth. At least...
s to obtain scientific data. On 19 June 1936, he led the Harvard-MIT expedition to the steppes of Russia (at Ak Bulak in southwestern Siberia) to observe a total eclipse. For the 9 July 1945 eclipse, he directed the Joint U.S.-Canadian expedition to Saskatchewan, although they were clouded out. Menzel observed many total solar eclipses, often leading the expeditions, including Catalina California (10 September 1923, cloudy), Camptonville California (28 April 1930), Freyburg Maine (31 August 1932), Minneapolis-St. Paul Minnesota (30 June 1954), the Atlantic coast of Massachusetts (2 October 1959), northern Italy (15 February 1951), Orono Maine (20 July 1963, cloudy), Athens/Sunion Road, Greece (20 May 1966), Arequipa Peru (12 November 1966), Miahuatlan, south of Oaxaca, Mexico (7 March 1970), Prince Edward Island Canada (10 July 1972), and western Mauritania (30 June 1973), in addition to the other three mentioned above.
In the late 1930s he built an observatory for solar research at Climax
Climax, Colorado
Climax was an unincorporated mining village and a former U.S. Post Office located in Lake County, Colorado. Climax was known for its large molybdenum ore deposit. The former Climax Post Office had the ZIP Code 80429. Climax is located along the Continental Divide at an elevation of about 11,360 feet...
CO, using a telescope that mimicked a total eclipse of the sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
, allowing him and his colleagues to study the sun's corona
Corona
A corona is a type of plasma "atmosphere" of the Sun or other celestial body, extending millions of kilometers into space, most easily seen during a total solar eclipse, but also observable in a coronagraph...
and to film the spouting flames, called prominences
Solar prominence
A prominence is a large, bright feature extending outward from the Sun's surface, often in a loop shape. Prominences are anchored to the Sun's surface in the photosphere, and extend outwards into the Sun's corona...
, emitted by the sun. His studies of spectra
Spectrum
A spectrum is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum. The word saw its first scientific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light when separated using a prism; it has since been applied by...
also added a great deal to the knowledge of the sun and stars.
During World War ll Menzel was asked to join the Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
as Lieut. Commander
Lieutenant commander (United States)
Lieutenant commander is a mid-ranking officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade of O-4 and NATO rank code OF-3...
, to head a division of intelligence, where he used his many-sided talents: deciphering enemy codes, improving radio-wave propagation by tracking the sun's emissions (like auroras
Aurora (astronomy)
An aurora is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere...
) and their effects on long distance radio communications.
From 1946-1948 he was the Vice President of the American Astronomical Society
American Astronomical Society
The American Astronomical Society is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC...
, becoming their President from 1954-1956. From 1964 to his death, Menzel was a U.S. State Department consultant for Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n affairs. In 1955, Menzel worked with the US Navy with the rank of Commander
Commander (United States)
In the United States, commander is a military rank that is also sometimes used as a military title, depending on the branch of service. It is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the military, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Naval rank:In the United States...
studying the effect of the aurora on radio propagation for the Department of Defense (Menzel & Boyd, p. 60).
Returning to Harvard after the war, he was appointed acting director of the Harvard Observatory in 1952, and was the full director from 1954 to 1966, when the observatory became an international center of radio astronomy
Radio astronomy
Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies celestial objects at radio frequencies. The initial detection of radio waves from an astronomical object was made in the 1930s, when Karl Jansky observed radiation coming from the Milky Way. Subsequent observations have identified a number of...
. He retired from Harvard in 1971.
One of Menzel's early acts as the Director was to cause lasting bitterness and feelings of betrayal and shock among a large section of astronomers when he evicted on short notice the American Association of Variable Star Observers
American Association of Variable Star Observers
Since its founding in 1911, the American Association of Variable Star Observers has coordinated, collected, evaluated, analyzed, published, and archived variable star observations made largely by amateur astronomers and makes the records available to professional astronomers, researchers, and...
(AAVSO) from their headquarters and appropriated almost all of their endowment. The roughly $100,000 taken from the AAVSO's Pickering Endowment was used to fund Menzel's own solar research. Menzel's stated excuse for ejecting the AAVSO from their longtime (42 years) headquarters was that Building A was to be torn down, so the notice dated December 8, 1953 gave the AAVSO until January 1, 1954 to vacate their 384 square feet (35.7 m²) of office space. (Building A still stands.) When the AAVSO was on the verge of getting a new headquarters at Boston University (BU), on January 6, 1954, the offer was withdrawn after the BU official was called by Menzel.
Menzel initially performed solar research, but later concentrated on studying gaseous nebula
Nebula
A nebula is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen gas, helium gas and other ionized gases...
e. His work with Lawrence Aller and James Gilbert Baker
James Gilbert Baker
James Gilbert Baker was an American astronomer and designer of optics systems.-Biography:He was born in Louisville, Kentucky to Jesse B. Baker and Hattie M. Stallard, the fourth child of that couple. He attended Louisville duPont Manual High School then majored in mathematics at the University of...
defined many of the fundamental principles of the study of planetary nebula
Planetary nebula
A planetary nebula is an emission nebula consisting of an expanding glowing shell of ionized gas ejected during the asymptotic giant branch phase of certain types of stars late in their life...
e.
He wrote the first edition (1964) of A Field Guide to the Stars and Planets, part of the Peterson
Roger Tory Peterson
Roger Tory Peterson , was an American naturalist, ornithologist, artist, and educator, and held to be one of the founding inspirations for the 20th century environmental movement.-Background:...
Field Guides.
In one of his last papers, Menzel concluded, based on his analysis of the Schwarzschild equations, that black hole
Black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...
s do not exist, and he declared them to be a myth.
In May 2001, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics hosted the "Donald H. Menzel: Scientist, Educator, Builder," a symposium in honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Donald H. Menzel.
Menzel and UFOs
In addition to his academic and popular contributions to the field of astronomyAstronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, Menzel was a prominent skeptic concerning the reality of UFOs. He authored or co-authored three popular books debunking
Debunker
A debunker is an individual who attempts to discredit and contradict claims as being false, exaggerated or pretentious. The term is closely associated with skeptical investigation of, or in some cases irrational resistance to, controversial topics such as U.F.O.s, claimed paranormal phenomena,...
UFOs: Flying Saucers - Myth - Truth - History (1953), The World of Flying Saucers (1963, co-authored with Lyle G Boyd), and The UFO Enigma (1977, co-authored with Ernest H. Taves). All of Menzel's UFO books argued that UFOs are nothing more than misidentification of prosaic phenomena such as stars, clouds and airplanes; or the result of people seeing unusual atmospheric phenomena they were unfamiliar with. He often suggested that atmospheric haze
Haze
Haze is traditionally an atmospheric phenomenon where dust, smoke and other dry particles obscure the clarity of the sky. The World Meteorological Organization manual of codes includes a classification of horizontal obscuration into categories of fog, ice fog, steam fog, mist, haze, smoke, volcanic...
s or temperature inversions could distort stars or planets, and make them appear to be larger than in reality, unusual in their shape, and in motion. In 1968, Menzel testified before the U.S. House Committee on Science and Astronautics - Symposium on UFOs, stating that he considered all UFO sightings to have natural explanations.
He was perhaps the first prominent scientist to offer his opinion on the matter, and his stature doubtless influenced the mainstream and academic response to the subject. Perhaps Menzel's earliest public involvement in UFO matters was his appearance on a radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
documentary directed and narrated by Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow
Edward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
in mid-1950. (Swords, 98)
Menzel had his own UFO experience when he observed a 'flying saucer' while returning on 3 March 1955 from the North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
on the daily Air Force Weather
Air Force Weather Agency
The Air Force Weather Agency is a Field Operating Agency and the lead military meteorology center of the United States Air Force...
"Ptarmigan" flight. His account is in both Menzel & Boyd and Menzel & Taves. He later identified it as a mirage of Sirius
Sirius
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. The name "Sirius" is derived from the Ancient Greek: Seirios . The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris...
, but Steuart Campbell
Steuart Campbell
Steuart Campbell is an Edinburgh-based sceptic and investigative science writer born in Birmingham. Campbell trained as an architect and worked as one until the mid-1970s. He then gained a degree in mathematics and science from the Open University .He has written books on science and...
claims that it was a mirage of Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
.
Publications
Menzel published over 270 scientific and other papers.}}
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External links
- National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir of Donald H. Menzel (1991)
- Papers of Donald Howard Menzel : an inventory (2005)
- UFOs: Fact or Fiction? by Donald H. Menzel (1968)
- A Field Guide to the Stars and Planets Including the Moon, Satellites, Comets and Other Features of the Universe by Donald H. Menzel (1975); 2nd edition (1984) by Menzel and Pasachoff, 3rd edition (1992) by Pasachoff and Menzel, 4th edition (2000) by Pasachoff
- Our Sun by Donald H. Menzel (1959)
- FUNDAMENTAL FORMULAS OF PHYSICS VOLUME I by Donald H. Menzel (1960)
- Mathematical Physics by Donald H. Menzel (1953)
- The Friendly Stars by Martha Evans Martin, Donald H. Menzel (1964)
- Flying Saucers Myth-Truth-History by Donald H. Menzel (1953)
- Astronomy by Donald H. Menzel (1970)
- Menzel, Donald, "Blast of Giant Atom Created Our Universe" from Popular SciencePopular SciencePopular Science is an American monthly magazine founded in 1872 carrying articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. Popular Science has won over 58 awards, including the ASME awards for its journalistic excellence in both 2003 and 2004...
, December, 1932, explaining the Big Bang theory of Abbé G. Lemaître, Belgian mathematician.