Janssen Medal (French Academy of Sciences)

The Janssen Medal is an astrophysics award presented by the French Academy of Sciences to those who have made advances in this area of science.[1]

The award was founded in 1886, though the first medal was not awarded until a year later. The commission formed to decide on the first recipient of the medal selected the German physicist Gustav Kirchhoff for his work on the science of spectroscopy. However, Kirchhoff died aged 63 on 17 October 1887, a few months before the award would have been announced. Rather than chose a new recipient for the award, the commission announced at the Academy's session of 26 December 1887 that the inaugural medal would be placed on his grave, in "supreme honour of the memory of this great scholar of Heidelberg".[2]

The award had been intended to be biennial, but was awarded in 1888 and again in 1889. A statement in the 1889 volume of Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences clarified that the award would be presented annually for the first seven years, and then biennially from 1894 onwards.[3]

This award is distinct from the Prix Jules Janssen (created in 1897), an annual award presented by the French Astronomical Society. Both awards are named for the French astronomer Pierre Janssen (1824–1907) (better known as Jules Janssen). Janssen founded the Academy award, and was a member of the inaugural commission.

Laureates

The list above is complete up to 2011.

References

  1. 1 2 (French) Les Prix Thematiques en Sciences de l'Univers, French Academy of Sciences website, accessed 23/01/2011
  2. (French) Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences (1887), pp.1322-1323. The French phrase partially translated here is: "L'Académie voudra donner à la mémoire du grand savant d'Heidelberg ce suprême hommage, qui sera une première consécration de sa gloire et une consolation pour sa famille."
  3. (French) Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences (1889), pp.1095-1096
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Prizes of the French Academy, Ralph E. Wilson, General Notes, Popular Astronomy, Vol. 21, 1913, pp.383-385. This gives all the Janssen Medal awards between 1887 and 1912 that were known to US astronomer Ralph E. Wilson (1886-1960) the author of the note.
  5. Huggins, Sir William (1824–1910), Barbara J. Becker, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 23 Jan 2011
  6. Charles Augustus Young, John M. Poor, Popular Astronomy, vol. 16 (1908), pp.218-230. The Janssen Medal award is mentioned on page 229.
  7. Pietro Tacchini, Hector MacPherson, Jr., Popular Astronomy, vol. 13 (1905), pp.306-308. The Janssen Medal award is mentioned on page 308.
  8. Award of the JANSSEN Prize to Dr. LANGLEY, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 6 (1894), No. 34, p.66
  9. The 1905 statement in Comptes rendus relating to this award stated that the gold medal award would be made in 1906, but that an award of a silver medal would be made in 1905 to Gaston Millochau. See the 1905 volumes of Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences.
  10. Jarry‐Desloges, René, Patrick Fuentes, The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, 2007, Part 10, 589-590, doi:10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_714
  11. General Notes, Popular Astronomy, Vol. 25, 1917, p.214-216. The Janssen Medal is mentioned on page 215, along with a note about two silver medals awarded to Fabry's colleagues at the Marseilles Observatory, Henri Buisson and Henry Bourget.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 The citations for all these recipients are located in the corresponding issue of Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences for the year of the award.
  13. General Notes, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 33, No. 192, pp.120-122 (1921). The reference to the Janssen Medal is on page 122.
  14. Notes, Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, December 1922 issue, pp.476-478
  15. General Notes, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 36, No. 214, pp.360-363 (1924). The reference to the Janssen Medal is on page 362.
  16. William Hammond Wright, 1871-1959, Paul W. Merril, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 71 (1959), No. 421, p.305
  17. Walter S. Adams, 1876-1956, F. J. M. Stratton, The Observatory, Vol. 76, p. 139-140 (1956)
  18. RUSSELL, Henry Norris, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007, accessed 23 Jan 2011
  19. General Notes, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 68, No. 400, pp.84-85 (1956)
  20. http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/brucemedalists/ambartsumian/
  21. (French) Pol Swings - Curriculum Vitae, Fondation Francqui-Stichting website, accessed 24/01/2011
  22. (French) Jean-François Denisse, French Academy of Sciences website, accessed 23/01/2011
  23. Strömgren, Bengt Georg Daniel, Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography (2008), retrieved 26/01/2011 from Encyclopedia.com
  24. (French) Gérard Wlérick, French Academy of Sciences website, accessed 28/01/2011
  25. Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des sciences: Sciences mathématiques, Volume 277, page 128 (1973)
  26. The Comptes rendus citation refers to the award as a "médaille en vermeil" - i.e. the award was not a full gold medal.
  27. Paul Ledoux (1914-1988), A. Noels, The Messenger, vol. 54, p.10 (1988)
  28. J. Delhaye received the Prix Jules-César Janssen, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Vie Acad., Tome 289, p. 95 (1979)
  29. Observatory Reports: Université de Montréal, Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 16, p.246 (1984)
  30. , Copied pages listing Janssen Medal winners (in French)
  31. (French) Lodewijk Woltjer, French Academy of Sciences website, accessed 23/01/2011
  32. , Copied pages listing Janssen Medal winners (in French)
  33. , Copied pages listing Janssen Medal winners (in French)
  34. Serge Koutchmy received la médaille Janssen, C. R. Acad. Sci., Sér. Gén., Vie Sci., Tome 11, No. 5, p. 412 (1994)
  35. (French) Laureats des Prix de l'Academie des Sciences en 2007, French Academy of Sciences website, accessed 23/01/2011
  36. (French) Francois Mignard, French Academy of Sciences website, accessed 03/05/2012

External links

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