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Marcel Minnaert
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==Biography== Minnaert obtained a PhD in biology at [[Ghent University]] in 1914. Later he obtained also a PhD in physics from [[Utrecht University]], under the supervision of [[Leonard Ornstein]]. He was a supporter of the [[Flemish movement]] during World War I and endorsed the replacement of French by Dutch during the [[Western Front (World War I)|German occupation of Belgium]]. He worked as "lector fysica" at the new Flemish University of Ghent, which was made possible by the support of the German occupation forces, and was viewed as connivance with the enemy by the reestablished Belgian authorities. Because of this, he was sentenced after the war in absence to 15 years of forced labor. However, Minnaert had anticipated this outcome by fleeing Belgium in time. In 1918, he found a position at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, initially to do [[Photometry (optics)|photometric]] research. In [[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]], he became interested in astronomy, and he became a pioneer of solar research. He specialized in [[spectroscopy]] and the study of [[stellar atmosphere]]s and invented the spectroscopic [[curve of growth]]. Minnaert was also interested in [[liquid bubble|bubbles]] and musical nature of the sounds made by running water. In 1933 he published a solution for the [[Acoustics|acoustic]] [[resonance frequency]] of a single bubble in water, the so-called [[Minnaert resonance]]. In 1937, he was appointed director of the stellar observatory ''[[Sonnenborgh Observatory|Sonnenborgh]]'' in Utrecht and full professor in astronomy at the university. In 1940, he published his famous [[Utrecht Atlas]] of the solar spectrum. In 1941, he invented the [[Minnaert function]], which is used in optical measurements of celestial bodies. During the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II, he was imprisoned in [[Kamp Sint-Michielsgestel]] by the Germans because of his left-wing, anti-[[fascist]] sympathies. During his incarceration, he taught physics and astronomy to his fellow prisoners. After the War, he was one of the founders of the [[Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica|Mathematisch Centrum]] in Amsterdam. Minnaert was elected to the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1959.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Marcel Gilles Jozef Minnaert |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/marcel-gilles-jozef-minnaert |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref> In 1946 he became member of the [[Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences]].<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/biografie/pmknaw/?pagetype=authorDetail&aId=PE00001901 |title=Marcel Gilles Jozef Minnaert (1893 - 1970) |publisher=[[Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences]] |date= |accessdate=30 July 2015}}</ref> He became a member of the United States [[National Academy of Sciences]] in 1964 and the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1969.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Marcel G. Minnaert |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20001888.html |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Marcel+Minnaert&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>
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