Leon Mestel

Leon Mestel
Born(1927-08-05)5 August 1927
Melbourne, Australia
Died15 September 2017(2017-09-15) (aged 90)
Cambridge, United Kingdom
Alma materTrinity College, Cambridge (B.A. 1948, PhD 1952)
AwardsEddington Medal (1993)
Scientific career
InstitutionsSt John's College, Cambridge
Thesis Some problems of stellar structure[1]  (1952)
Doctoral advisorFred Hoyle
Doctoral studentsDonald Lynden-Bell, Richard Bruce Paris

Leon Mestel (5 August 1927 – 15 September 2017)[2] was a British-Australian astronomer and astrophysicist and Emeritus Professor at the University of Sussex. His research interests were in the areas of star formation and structure, especially stellar magnetism and astrophysical magnetohydrodynamics. He was awarded both the Eddington Medal (1993) and the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (for Astronomy, 2002). Following his retirement, he wrote several obituaries and biographical articles on physicists and astrophysicists.[3][4][5][6]

  1. ^ Leon Mestel at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  2. ^ Rowan-Robinson, Michael (20 September 2017). "Leon Mestel obituary". The Guardian.
  3. ^ Mestel, L. (1999). "Martin Schwarzschild. 31 May 1912 -- 10 April 1997: Elected For.Mem.R.S. 1996". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 45: 469. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1999.0031. S2CID 73338309.
  4. ^ Mestel, L.; Pagel, B. E. J. (2007). "William Hunter McCrea. 13 December 1904 -- 25 April 1999: Elected FRS 1952". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 53: 223. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2007.0005.
  5. ^ Mestel, L. (1991). "Thomas George Cowling. 17 June 1906 – 16 June 1990". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 37: 104–126. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1991.0006.
  6. ^ Mestel, L.; Pagel, B. E. J. (1998). "Roger John Tayler, O. B. E.. 25 October 1929 – 23 January 1997". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 44: 405–416. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1998.0026.