Philip Fox
Encyclopedia
Philip Fox was an American
astronomer
and an officer in the U.S. Army
. He was the first director of the Adler Planetarium
in Chicago
, the first planetarium
in the western hemisphere.
. He attended Kansas State University
, where he earned a B.S.
in mathematics
in 19. The next year he enlisted in the U.S. Army
and fought in the Philippines
with the 20th Kansas during the Spanish American War. When he was mustered out in 1899, Fox had achieved a rank of second lieutenant but he was disabled and was expected to die within a year. He recuperated completely, however, thanks to nursing by his grandmother.
Fox earned a master's degree at Kansas State and taught math at St. John’s Military School in Salina, Kansas
. Invited to Dartmouth College
in 1901 by his cousin Ernest Fox Nichols
, Fox soon departed for that school, where he earned a second B.S.
, this time in physics
. While at Dartmouth, Edwin Brant Frost
persuaded Fox to pursue a career in astronomy, and in 1903 Fox became a Carnegie Research Assistant at Yerkes Observatory
of the University of Chicago
. His primary interest at the observatory was in solar.
While in Chicago
, Fox met his future wife, Ethel Snow, and they were married in 1905. The couple would have four
children. In 1905, Fox travelled to the University of Berlin for graduate studies in astronomy. He returned to Chicago the next year, where he worked as an assistant astronomer at Yerkes Observatory and earned a Ph.D.
in astronomy from the University of Chicago
.
In 1909 Fox joined the Northwestern University
department of astronomy, eventually receiving promotion to head of the Department. While at Northwestern, Fox also served as the Director of the University's Dearborn Observatory
. During this fruitful time Fox also authored several books, and served as Secretary of the American Astronomical Society
.
After the start of World War I
, Fox returned to active duty in the Army, becoming a major
of infantry
in France
. He was later promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and became assistant chief of staff, 7th Infantry Division. Following the war he remained in the reserve, where he rose to the rank of Colonel
and held command of the 43rd Infantry, 86th Infantry Division.
In May 1929, Fox was appointed as the first director of the Adler Planetarium
, which would open a year later. He ran the planetarium for eight years, also serving during this time as the first (interim) director of the Griffith Observatory
in Los Angeles
when it opened in 1935. In May 1937, Fox left this job to become the director of the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry
, a position he retained until 1942.
With the entry of the United States into World War II
in 1941, Fox again returned to the Army, but did not perform overseas duty. Instead he was the commandant of the Army Signal Corps at Harvard University
for part of 1942, then became commandant of the Army Electronics Center at Harvard. He retired from the army in 1943, and continued to lecture at Harvard until his death from a cerebral hemorrhage.
The crater Fox
on the far side of the Moon
is named in his honor.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
astronomer
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...
and an officer in the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. He was the first director of the Adler Planetarium
Adler Planetarium
The Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was the first planetarium built in the Western Hemisphere and is the oldest in existence today. Adler was founded and built in 1930 by the philanthropist Max Adler, with the assistance of the first director of the planetarium, Philip Fox...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, the first planetarium
Planetarium
A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...
in the western hemisphere.
Biography
Fox was born and raised in Manhattan, KansasManhattan, Kansas
Manhattan is a city located in the northeastern part of the state of Kansas in the United States, at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County and the city extends into Pottawatomie County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 52,281...
. He attended Kansas State University
Kansas State University
Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...
, where he earned a B.S.
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
in 19. The next year he enlisted in the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and fought in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
with the 20th Kansas during the Spanish American War. When he was mustered out in 1899, Fox had achieved a rank of second lieutenant but he was disabled and was expected to die within a year. He recuperated completely, however, thanks to nursing by his grandmother.
Fox earned a master's degree at Kansas State and taught math at St. John’s Military School in Salina, Kansas
Salina, Kansas
Salina is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 47,707. Located in one of the world's largest wheat-producing areas, Salina is a regional trade center for north-central Kansas...
. Invited to Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
in 1901 by his cousin Ernest Fox Nichols
Ernest Fox Nichols
Ernest Fox Nichols was a U.S. educator and physicist. He was born in Leavenworth County, Kansas, and received his undergraduate degree from Kansas State University in 1888. After working for a year in the Chemistry Department at Kansas State, he matriculated to graduate school at Cornell...
, Fox soon departed for that school, where he earned a second B.S.
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
, this time in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
. While at Dartmouth, Edwin Brant Frost
Edwin Brant Frost
-Biography:He was born in Brattleboro, Vermont. His father, Carlton Pennington Frost, was dean of Dartmouth Medical School.Frost graduated from Dartmouth in 1886. He continued his education as a post-graduate student in chemistry and in 1887 became an instructor in physics while only 21 years old...
persuaded Fox to pursue a career in astronomy, and in 1903 Fox became a Carnegie Research Assistant at Yerkes Observatory
Yerkes Observatory
Yerkes Observatory is an astronomical observatory operated by the University of Chicago in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. The observatory, which calls itself "the birthplace of modern astrophysics," was founded in 1897 by George Ellery Hale and financed by Charles T. Yerkes...
of the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. His primary interest at the observatory was in solar.
While in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Fox met his future wife, Ethel Snow, and they were married in 1905. The couple would have four
children. In 1905, Fox travelled to the University of Berlin for graduate studies in astronomy. He returned to Chicago the next year, where he worked as an assistant astronomer at Yerkes Observatory and earned a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in astronomy from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
.
In 1909 Fox joined the Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
department of astronomy, eventually receiving promotion to head of the Department. While at Northwestern, Fox also served as the Director of the University's Dearborn Observatory
Dearborn Observatory
The Dearborn Observatory is an astronomical observatory located on the Evanston campus of Northwestern University. The observatory was originally constructed in 1888...
. During this fruitful time Fox also authored several books, and served as Secretary 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...
.
After the start of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Fox returned to active duty in the Army, becoming a major
Major (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...
of infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. He was later promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and became assistant chief of staff, 7th Infantry Division. Following the war he remained in the reserve, where he rose to the rank of Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
and held command of the 43rd Infantry, 86th Infantry Division.
In May 1929, Fox was appointed as the first director of the Adler Planetarium
Adler Planetarium
The Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was the first planetarium built in the Western Hemisphere and is the oldest in existence today. Adler was founded and built in 1930 by the philanthropist Max Adler, with the assistance of the first director of the planetarium, Philip Fox...
, which would open a year later. He ran the planetarium for eight years, also serving during this time as the first (interim) director of the Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory is in Los Angeles, California, United States. Sitting on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in L.A.'s Griffith Park, it commands a view of the Los Angeles Basin, including downtown Los Angeles to the southeast, Hollywood to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
when it opened in 1935. In May 1937, Fox left this job to become the director of the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry
Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)
The Museum of Science and Industry is located in Chicago, Illinois, USA in Jackson Park, in the Hyde Park neighborhood adjacent to Lake Michigan. It is housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition...
, a position he retained until 1942.
With the entry of the United States into World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in 1941, Fox again returned to the Army, but did not perform overseas duty. Instead he was the commandant of the Army Signal Corps at Harvard University
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...
for part of 1942, then became commandant of the Army Electronics Center at Harvard. He retired from the army in 1943, and continued to lecture at Harvard until his death from a cerebral hemorrhage.
The crater Fox
Fox (crater)
Fox is a small lunar crater on the far side of the Moon. It lies near the northern rim of the crater Wyld, and to the southeast of Babcock. This crater is bowl-shaped, with a roughly circular rim, simple sloping walls and a relatively level, featureless interior...
on the far side of the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
is named in his honor.