Blogs / Cosmic Variance

In 2007, my spring semester finished up with what was a truly remarkable weekend. Almost two years earlier, it had been brought to my attention that Syracuse had a particularly distinguished alumnus – Martin A. Pomerantz – in an area tightly connected to my own. Let me tell you a little about him.

Martin was the father of Antarctic astronomy. He graduated from Syracuse with an A.B. in physics in 1937 – the same year as the Hindenburg disaster, and went on to U. Penn and Temple and finally to the University of Delaware’s Bartol Research Institute, where he spent most of his research career – serving as it’s president for many years. Martin became a leader in the fields of submillimeter astronomy, cosmic and gamma rays, and measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB). In particular, he pioneered solar observations using helioseismology, becoming the first scientist to set up a telescope and observe the sun for 120 continuous hours from a single point on Earth. This kind of research is now the bread and butter of observational cosmology, and indeed, if one reads modern accounts of cosmology from the South Pole, Martin features prominently, and can be seen in photographs of the first team trying to measure the CMB from there. Our entire field has depended crucially on observations made in this pristine environment.

Because of these achievements, and his connection to Syracuse and one of our current research areas, my colleague Peter Saulson and I nominated Martin for an honorary doctorate. This nomination was ultimately successful, and we were informed that Martin was to be honored during our 2007 graduation.

So in mid-May, Martin, his son Marty, daughter Jane-Anne, son-in-law Steve and grandson Jonah arrived in Syracuse for our graduation weekend. On Friday May 11, we held The Martin A. Pomerantz Symposium, at which Peter and I gave talks, followed by a keynote presentation by our alumna – Gabriela González – and a summary talk by Martin himself. It was immense fun. Gabby’s talk in the afternoon was great – she is a Professor at Louisiana State University and an expert on the detection of gravitational waves, who had recently been awarded the American Physical Society’s 2007 Edward A. Bouchet Award. In addition to her research achievements, this award was also “for communicating the excitement of this field to the scientific community and the public”, and these abilities came through clearly in her talk.

Martin and his family clearly enjoyed the afternoon, but halfway through Martin started to feel ill, and we suggested canceling the rest of the program. But Martin declined, had some water, took a brief break, and insisted we continue, even though he looked a little weak and tired. The closing event was planned to be a slide show (yes, actual 35mm slides) presented by Martin, and discussing the early days of Antarctic astronomy, through his 27th and final visit to the pole at age 79 (during which the NSF recognized him by naming an observatory at the U.S. Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station after him). We were certain that Martin wouldn’t feel well enough to deliver this talk, but when the time came, he stepped up, faced the room, straightened his back and gave a remarkably energetic, animated and compelling presentation. He was just a different man when discussing his life’s passion.

The next evening we had a lovely dinner, with all the other graduates, and the following morning I presented Martin to the Chancellor to receive his honorary degree. It was obviously a proud moment for him, and it most certainly was for all of us, particularly for me, presenting someone who pioneered the kind of observations that are such an important part of my field. We sat on the stage, in front of the assembled crown of graduates and their families, in wonderful weather, and listened to Frank McCourt’s witty and thoughtful Commencement speech. And after lunch we all said our goodbyes and the Pomerantz clan headed off to the airport.

The Pomerantz family has been very good to Syracuse, endowing the Martin A. Pomerantz Professorship in Physics (the inaugural holder of which is Peter Saulson) and the Molly B. Pomerantz Graduate Fellowship, and the physics department is extremely grateful to them, as well as proud to have Martin as an alumnus. Martin couldn’t make it to the formal announcement of these gifts, but Marty was there, and we telecast it out to Marty and the rest of the family.

Soon after Martin’s visit to Syracuse he was diagnosed with cancer, which may explain why he felt bad during our symposium. The prognosis was quite bad, but he fought on remarkably well. Over the last 18 months or so we kept in quite close contact, and last November I was giving a talk at Berkeley, and was able to get together for dinner with Martin and his family, and finally to meet his wife, Molly. Even though he was in treatment, and over 90 years old, he looked great, and was full of energy. We talked about cosmology, and he wanted to know about the status of the field, and was telling me about some research he’d kept up with by reading articles online. It was a wonderful evening.

In the last month or so, through Marty, Martin’s devoted son, I’ve kept up with Martin’s condition, and knew that he’d been getting steadily weaker. I sent him the occasional article, and Marty told me he liked to read them.

On October 26th Martin Pomerantz passed away. He was a terrific physicist, a true pioneer, a gentle and generous person and a caring father. I am proud to have gotten to know him, deeply sad that he is gone, and grateful to his family for the time they and he spent with me. He will be missed.