Rudolph Minkowski: Observational Astrophysicist

Rudolph Minkowski was born in Germany near the end of the last century and died in California during the final quarter of this century. He was trained as a laboratory physicist, but worked most of his life as an observational astronomer. Using the largest optical telescopes in the world, he made important contributions to nearly every branch of nebular and extragalactic astronomy, but his most important contribution was to the identification and interpretation of cosmic radio sources. His monument is the National Geographic Society‐Palomar Observatory Sky Survey. He guided, encouraged and counseled a generation of radio and optical astronomers.

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