Edwin

Powell Hubble Biography

Edwin Powell Hubble was an American astronomer who made
great inroads in observational cosmology. Read on and learn
more about Edwin Powell Hubbles profile, childhood, life and
timeline.
Quick Facts
Famous as

Astronomer & Mathematician

Nationality

American

Born on

20 November 1889 AD

Zodiac Sign

Scorpio

Born in

Marshfield, Missouri, USA

Died on

28 September 1953 AD

Edwin Powell Hubble was an American

astronomer and mathematician who is known as
Achievements
the father of observational cosmology.
Works &

"I knew that even if I were second or third rate, it was

astronomy that mattered" these words reflect the stubborn

and ambitious nature of Edwin Powell Hubble, who is known as
the father of observational cosmology. The American
astronomer is credited with plenty of astronomical discoveries
which completely changed the way in which world perceived the
universe. Forced to take up the profession of a lawyer by his
father, he could not resist the call of his favourite subject,
astronomy for long and returned to chase his passion and later
came up with the ground-breaking Hubbles Law. An
astronomer, who worked with two largest telescopes, Hubble
was also instrumental in designing the largest telescope in the
world, the 200-inch hale telescope. Three decades after his
death, the space telescope was named after this great
astronomer. Explore the biography below and learn more about
the life and career of Edwin Powell Hubble.
Childhood & Early Life
Edwin Powell Hubble was born on 29 November 1889 in
Marshfield in Missouri in United States to an insurance
executive. He was awarded a scholarship during his high school
education and he paid his expenses by teaching and working
during the summers. A fine student and even better athlete,
Edwin Hubble excelled in sports and broke the state high jump
record of Illinois. Even when he attended the college, he did
extremely well in boxing and basketball at the same time
received an undergraduate degree in astronomy and
mathematics in 1910.

When Hubble received a scholarship to study at Oxford
University, he opted for Law, on his father s insistence. He
studied Roman and English Law and in 1913, he returned to
United States and started practising law in Louisville Kentucky
where his parents were residing. However, he soon realised that
the profession of a lawyer is not his cup of tea and his real
passion was astronomy. At the same time, he was also hired by
New Albany School to teach Spanish, mathematics and physics
and to coach basketball where he was quite popular among the

students. When the school term ended in 1914, he decided to

study astronomy from Yerkes Observatory. In 1917, he received
a doctorate degree in astronomy from the University of Chicago.

Care e r
T hough, Hubble was invited to join the Mount Wilson
Observatory in California, he delayed the acceptance as he had
to serve as a soldier in World War I. After leaving the army, he
joined the observatory where he worked with two of the largest
telescopes in the world, the 60-inch and 100-inch Hooker
reflectors. Here, he took the photographs of Cepheid variables
(special type of stars) through 100-inch reflecting Hooker
telescope (the largest telescope then, financed by (John
D.Hooker). T his proved the existence of plenty of galaxies
including our milky way. Moreover, he also classified the
galaxies which he observed, by sorting them by content,
distance, brightness and shape. His observations also enabled
him to come forward with Hubbles Law in 1929 which enabled
the astronomers to verify the age of the universe and proved
that the universe was expanding. Hubbles law calculates the
rate at which universe expands. It states that the universe is
expanding at a constant rate.

Actually, in 1917, Albert Einstein had already come up with the
theory of relativity in which he formulated a model of space,
based on which he said that space is curved by gravity and can
expand or contract. However, he revised the theory later saying
that universe is immobile and static. After Hubble came up with
his discoveries, Einstein was quoted as saying that the second
guessing was a big blunder and visited Hubble in 1931 to thank
him. On February 26, l924, Hubble got married to Grace Burke.
T he couple did not have any children.

In 1942, Hubble left the observatory again to be a part of World
War II. Initially, he wanted to be part of the armed forces but
later realised that he can contribute more by offering his

services as a scientist. In 1948, he was made Honorary Fellow

of Queens college for his exceptional contributions to
astronomy. Following the war, he continued with his work at
Mount Wilson where he faced great trouble convincing the
employees regarding the necessity of a greater telescope which
will enable them to explore beyond the galaxy. Hubble was also
instrumental in designing the Hale telescope which was set up
in Mount Palomar Observatory. Hale was four times more
powerful than the Hooker telescope and was regarded as the
largest telescope on earth. Edwin Powell continued his work at
both the Mount Wilson and Mount Palomar observatories until
his death on September 28, 1953 due to cerebral thrombosis in
San Marino, California.

Achie v e m e nts
T hough, contributed immensely to the field of astronomy, Edwin
Powell was not awarded the Nobel Prize. T he reason was that,
astronomy wasnt considered a part of science during his
lifetime. T hough he tried to make astronomy a field of its own,
so that, he and his fellow astronomers receive recognition, but
all his efforts went in vain as it never happened in his lifetime.
Astronomy became a separate field only after his death, but as
Nobel Prize is not given posthumously, he became ineligible for
the award. However, he received other honors posthumously as
in 1990 NASA launched a Hubble Space Telescope named after
Edwin Hubble to orbit around the earth. T his telescope provided
a huge wealth of information about the cosmos. On 6 March,
2008, United States Postal service released a 41 cent stamp to
honor Hubble. T here are plenty of university facilities,
planetarium and asteroid named after him.

Major Works
T he Observational Approach to Cosmology
T he Realm of the Nebulae
Aw ards

Bruce Medal, 1938

Franklin Medal, 1939
Gold Medal and Bruce medal of the Royal Astronomical
Society,1940
Legion of Merit for outstanding contribution to ballistics
research, 1946
Honorary Fellow of Queens college for his exceptional
contributions to astronomy, 1948