Thomas Neil Davis (February 1, 1932 – December 10, 2016) was a professor of

geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and Physical property, properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct i ...

from the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-, National Sea Grant College Program, sea-, and National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, space-grant research university in ...

and the author of several books. Born in

Greeley, Colorado Greeley is the home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,795 at the 2020 United States census, an increase of 17.12% since the ...

, Davis received his B.S in geophysics from

in 1955, an M.S. in geophysics from

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

in 1957, and a Ph.D. in geophysics from University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1961. Davis spent most of his working career at the

Geophysical Institute The Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks conducts research into space physics and aeronomy; atmospheric sciences; snow, ice, and permafrost; seismology; volcanology; and tectonics and sedimentation. It was founded in 1946 by a ...

, pioneering the use of all-sky and low-level light

camera A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...

s for the study of the

aurora borealis An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

and conducting rocket studies of the aurora. With Masahisa Sugiura (while both were at

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C., in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959, as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC ...

) he introduced the AE (auroral electrojet) index now commonly used as a measure of solar-terrestrial interaction. A student of

Beno Gutenberg Beno Gutenberg (; June 4, 1889 – January 25, 1960) was a German-American seismologist who made several important contributions to the science. He was a colleague and mentor of Charles Francis Richter at the California Institute of Technolo ...

and

Charles Richter Charles Francis Richter (; April 26, 1900September 30, 1985) was an American seismologist and physicist. He is the namesake and one of the creators of the Richter scale, which, until the development of the moment magnitude scale in 1979, was w ...

at Caltech, he also has done work in observational

seismology Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes (or generally, quakes) and the generation and propagation of elastic ...

Books and publications

Fiction

* 2004. The Great Alaska Zingwater Caper. McRoy & Blackburn, Publishers. * 1997. Battling Against Success. McRoy & Blackburn, Publishers. * 1994. Caught in the Sluice. McRoy & Blackburn, Publishers.

Nonfiction

* 2011. The Painting on the Window Blind: the story of an unknown artist and a daring Civil War spy. IUniverse. * 2008. Mired in the Health Care Morass: An Alaskan Takes on America's Dysfunctional Medical System for his Uninsured Daughter. Alaska-Yukon Press and Ester Republic Press. * 2006. Rockets Over Alaska: The Genesis of

Poker Flat The Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR) is a launch facility and rocket range for sounding rockets in the U.S. state of Alaska, located on a site at Chatanika, about 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Fairbanks and 1.5 degrees south of the Arct ...

. Alaska-Yukon Press. * 2001. Permafrost. A guide to frozen ground in transition.

University of Alaska Press The University Press of Colorado is a nonprofit publisher that was established in 1965. It is currently a member of the Association of University Presses and has been since 1982. Initially associated with Colorado public universities, the Univ ...

. * 1993. The College Hill Chronicles. How the University of Alaska Came of Age. University of Alaska Foundation. * 1992. The Aurora Watcher's Handbook. University of Alaska Press. * 1984. ENERGY/ALASKA. University of Alaska Press. * 1982. Alaska Science Nuggets. University of Alaska Press.

Columns

* 2007–2011. "Dose of Reality": monthly column appearing in '' The Ester Republic''. * 1976–1982. "Alaska Science Nuggets": weekly science column appearing in the ''

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner The '' Fairbanks Daily News-Miner'' is a morning daily newspaper serving the city of Fairbanks, Alaska, the Fairbanks North Star Borough, the Denali Borough, Alaska, Denali Borough, and the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, Yukon-Koyukuk Census ...

''.

References

Sources

*
health issues blog

University of Alaska Stories Behind the Names

Neil Davis helped propel UAF with unlikely homemade rocket range
1932 births 2016 deaths American geophysicists California Institute of Technology alumni Writers from Fairbanks, Alaska People from Greeley, Colorado People from North Pole, Alaska University of Alaska Fairbanks alumni University of Alaska Fairbanks faculty Writers from Colorado {{US-scientist-stub