death_date death_place birth_place awards fields birth_date image article_title name alma_mater
11 october 1954 cambridge , massachusetts boston , massachusetts elliott cresson medal -lrb- 1931 -rrb- spectroscopy 23 november 1874 lyman , theodore 1934 london.jpg theodore lyman
 theodore lyman harvard university
theodore lyman

theodore lyman -lrb- ; november 23 , 1874 -- october 11 , 1954 -rrb- was a u.s. physicist and spectroscopist , born in boston .
he graduated from harvard in 1897 , from which he also received his ph.d. in 1900 .
he became an assistant professor in physics at harvard , where he remained , becoming full professor in 1917 , and where he was also director of the jefferson physical laboratory -lrb- 1908 -- 17 -rrb- .
dr. lyman made important studies in phenomena connected with diffraction gratings , on the wavelengths of vacuum ultraviolet light discovered by victor schumann and also on the properties of light of extremely short wavelength , on all of which he contributed valuable papers to the literature of physics in the proceedings of scientific societies .
during world war i he served in france with the american expeditionary force , holding the rank of major of engineers .
he was the eponym of the lyman series of spectral lines .
the crater lyman on the far side of the moon is named after him .
he was awarded the franklin institute 's elliott cresson medal in 1931 .
he became a hereditary member of the military order of the loyal legion of the united states in succession to his father , lieutenant colonel theodore lyman iii .
