Lyne Starling Trimble Public Event Series

The Quiet Genius of George Carruthers

David DeVorkin, Senior Curator Emeritus, National Air and Space Museum

Wednesday, December 10, 2025
5:15pm, Reception
6:00pm, Lecture and Q&A

American Center for Physics
555 12th Street NW, Suite 250
Washington, DC 20004

Abstract

George Robert Carruthers was a remarkable man. His scientific and technical accomplishments included developing and building a compact and powerful ultraviolet electronographic telescope, which became the first (and still the only) astronomical instrument sent to the Moon. It was placed on the lunar surface on the Apollo 16 mission in 1972, and it performed extremely well, leading to enhanced knowledge of the Earth’s outermost atmosphere and of the vast spaces between the stars and galaxies invisible to the eye. He was also remarkable for his passion for helping underrepresented inner-city students realize that they too could have rewarding careers in science. Fully fitting the term “quiet genius,” he was awarded many prizes and commendations, not least being chosen by President Obama in 2013 to receive the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

Speaker biography

David DeVorkin is a senior curator emeritus at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. His research and collections have centered on the origins and development of modern astrophysics and the space sciences during the 20th century. He has curated the exhibitions Stars: From Stonehenge to the Space Telescope, V-2: The World’s First Ballistic Missile System, and Explore the Universe. He created the museum’s Phoebe Waterman Haas Public Observatory and related outreach programming in astronomy education. He is the author of more than 125 scholarly and popular articles, as well as the author, editor, or compiler of 18 books, including his latest monograph, From the Laboratory to the Moon: The Quiet Genius of George R. Carruthers, which is available open access from MIT Press. Before joining the Smithsonian in 1981, DeVorkin was a project historian at AIP. He holds a PhD in the history of astronomy from the University of Leicester and an MPhil in astronomy from Yale University.

Top image: George Carruthers, center, principal investigator for the Lunar Surface Ultraviolet Camera, discusses the instrument with Apollo 16 commander John Young, right. On the left are lunar module pilot Charles Duke and Rocco Petrone, Apollo program director. Credit: NASA.

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