Joan Feynman
Joan Feynman | |
|---|---|
January 2015 | |
| Born | March 31, 1927 |
| Died | July 21, 2020 (aged 93) Ventura, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Oberlin College (BS) Syracuse University (MS, PhD) |
| Known for | Work on auroras, solar wind |
| Spouse(s) |
Richard Hirshberg
(m. 1948; div. 1974)Alexander Ruzmaikin (m. 1987) |
| Children | 3 |
| Awards | NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astrophysics |
| Institutions | National Center for Atmospheric Research, National Science Foundation, Boston College, Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
| Thesis | “Absorption of Infrared Radiation in Crystals of Diamond-Type Lattice Structure” (1958) |
| Doctoral advisor | Melvin Lax |
Joan Feynman (March 31, 1927 – July 21, 2020) was an American astrophysicist and space physicist. She made contributions to the study of solar wind particles and fields, sun-Earth relations, and magnetospheric physics. She was known for creating a model that predicts the number of high-energy particles likely to hit a spacecraft over its lifetime, and for uncovering a method for predicting sunspot cycles. She was particularly known for illuminating the origin of auroras.