Brown, Harrison (Scott) (1917–1986)

Geochemist at the California Institute of Technology who, in the 1960s, supported the claim, made by van der Kamp and others, that extrasolar planets were common. By extending the luminosity function to low masses, he concluded¹ that:

Planetary systems are far more abundant than we have so far suspected. Virtually every main sequence star should have a planetary system associated with it.

Brown is also among those scientists who have used science fiction to express their more daring speculations. In 1968, he published (with Chloe Zerwick) The Cassiopeia Affair,² which, like Hoyle's A for Andromeda (1962) and Gunn's The Listeners (1972), explored the consequences of radio contact with intelligent extraterrestrials.

References

Brown, H. "Planetary Systems Associated with Main-Sequence Stars," Science, 145, 1177 (1964).
Brown, Harrison, and Zerwick, Cloe. The Cassiopeia Affair. New York: Doubleday (1968).

Related category

• ASTRONOMERS AND ASTROPHYSICISTS

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