J. Lawrence Smith Medal for Research on Meteors : Dr. F. L. Whipple

Abstract

THE National Academy of Sciences of the United States has awarded the J. Lawrence Smith Medal to Dr. Fred Lawence Whipple, chairman of the Department of Astronomy, Harvard Observatory. Dr. L. H. Adams, director of the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, in making the presentation address, said that the J. Lawrence Smith Fund was established in 1884 for the purpose of encouraging research on meteors by making appropriate grants from time to time and, upon occasion, by awarding a Gold Medal to any person in the United States who, in the opinion of the Academy, makes an original investigation of outstanding merit on meteoric bodies. In the past the Medal has been awarded three times, namely, in 1888 to H. A. Newton for his investigations of the origin of meteors; in 1922 to G. P. Merrill for his contributions on the character of meteorites; and in 1945 to Stuart H. Perry in recognition of his work? on the metallography of meteoric iron.