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Leon Mestel
Astronomer

Leon Mestel

Famoose for

Research on stellar magnetism, star formation and astrophysical dynamics.

Mestel disk · Astronomical medals

Born
5 August 1927
Birthplace
Melbourne
Died
15 September 2017

More people

Marie CurieDiscovering polonium and radium.Albert EinsteinDeveloping the theory of relativity.Charles DarwinExplaining evolution through natural selection.

Leon Mestel

British-Australian astrophysicist whose theoretical work examined how magnetic fields affect stars. He taught at Cambridge, Manchester and Sussex.

Early life

Migration and education

Born in Melbourne, moved to England at three and grew up in east London. Studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, completing a doctorate in 1952.

Career

  1. 1955

    Cambridge lecturer

    Began an eleven-year period teaching mathematics.

  2. 1967

    Manchester

    Took up a professorship in applied mathematics.

  3. 1973

    Sussex

    Moved to the university where he completed his academic career.

Contributions

Mestel disk

Published a model associated with galactic and stellar dynamics.

Astronomical medals

Received the Eddington Medal and the Royal Astronomical Society’s Gold Medal.

Beyond work

Family

Married Sylvia Cole in 1951 and had four children. His son Jonathan became both a mathematics professor and a chess grandmaster.

Sources & photo creditBiography and career ↗Biographical references ↗

Original photograph. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.

Photo: unknown. Source credit retained; reuse licence not established · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.