Obituary of Nelson James Terrell
DOI: 10.1063/PT.4.1900
James Terrell did his undergraduate and doctoral work in physics at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He moved to Los Alamos, New Mexico in 1951 to work for Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories. In 1957 he wrote several papers regarding a quirk of the Lorentz Contraction - later becoming known as “The Terrell Effect,” and published as the “Invisibility of the Lorentz Contraction.” In 1966 he developed a theory that quasars may have been ejected from galaxies in which explosions are believed to have occurred, spurring international debate. In 1970 he published papers and an x-ray movie of the night sky using data from the Vela satellite depicting a turbulent dance dying stars, active quasars and the enormous temperatures produced by matter being sucked into massive black holes at mind boggling speeds. His was a wonderful and inspiring career.
