Name T. Davis | Role Author | |
Education University of Alaska Fairbanks Books The aurora watcher's handbook, The College Hill chronicles, Energy-Alaska, Alaska Science Nuggets | ||
Thomas Neil Davis (February 1, 1932 – December 10, 2016) was a professor of geophysics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the author of several books. Born in Greeley, Colorado, Davis received his B.S in geophysics from University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1955, an M.S. in geophysics from California Institute of Technology 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, pioneering the use of all-sky and low-level light cameras for the study of the aurora borealis and conducting rocket studies of the aurora. With Masahisa Sugiura (while both were at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) he introduced the AE (auroral electrojet) index now commonly used as a measure of solar-terrestrial interaction. A student of Beno Gutenberg and Charles Richter at Caltech, he also has done work in observational seismology.