Nakaya Ukichiro

Physicist. Born on July 4, 1900 in Katayamazu, Ishikawa Prefecture. After graduating from the Fourth High School, he studied under Torahiko Terada at the Department of Physics at Tokyo Imperial University, graduating in 1925 (Taisho 14). In 1928 (Showa 3), he went to England to study, and engaged in research on long-wavelength X-rays at King's College, London. In 1930, he returned to Japan and became an assistant professor at Hokkaido University, and received a doctorate in science from Kyoto University for his achievements while studying abroad. He became a professor in 1932, and began researching snow crystals around this time, and in 1936 he succeeded in making artificial snow. In 1941, he was awarded the Japan Academy Prize for his research on snow crystals, and the Nakatani diagram, which shows the relationship between crystal shape and growth conditions, is famous for his words, "Snow is a letter sent from heaven." During World War II, he studied icing, permafrost, and frost removal, and after the war, he studied agricultural physics, and in his later years, he traveled to America and Greenland to study single ice crystals. He was also an accomplished essayist and wrote many books, including "Winter Flowers." He died of bone marrow cancer on April 11, 1962.

[Teisaku Kobayashi and Kiichi Maeno]

"Selected Essays of Nakaya Ukichiro, 3 volumes (1966, Asahi Shimbun)" ▽ "Collection of Nakaya Ukichiro, 8 volumes (2000-2001, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "Snow, by Nakaya Ukichiro (Iwanami Bunko)" ▽ "Collected Essays of Nakaya Ukichiro, edited by Higuchi Keiji (Iwanami Bunko)" ▽ "Thunder, by Nakaya Ukichiro (Iwanami Shinsho)" ▽ "Nakaya Ukichiro, the Snow and Ice Scientist, by Azuma Akira (1997, Hokkaido University Press)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

物理学者。明治33年7月4日、石川県片山津に生まれる。旧制第四高等学校から東京帝国大学物理学科に進み、寺田寅彦(とらひこ)に師事し1925年（大正14）卒業。1928年（昭和3）イギリスに留学し、ロンドンのキングズ・カレッジで長波長X線の研究に従事、1930年帰国して北海道大学助教授、留学中の業績により理学博士の学位（京大）を受ける。1932年教授となり、このころから雪の結晶の研究を始め、1936年には人工雪の製作に成功した。1941年には雪の結晶の研究に対し日本学士院賞が与えられたが、結晶形と成長条件との関係を示した中谷ダイヤグラムは、「雪は天から送られた手紙である」のことばとともに有名である。第二次世界大戦中は着氷、永久凍土、霧消しの研究、戦後は農業物理の一時期を経て、晩年は氷の単結晶の研究のためアメリカ、グリーンランドにまで出かけた。随筆家としても優れ『冬の華』をはじめ多数の著書がある。昭和37年4月11日、骨髄癌(がん)のため死去した。

［小林禎作・前野紀一］

『『中谷宇吉郎随筆選集』全3冊（1966・朝日新聞社）』▽『『中谷宇吉郎集』全8巻（2000～2001・岩波書店）』▽『中谷宇吉郎著『雪』（岩波文庫）』▽『樋口敬二編『中谷宇吉郎随筆集』（岩波文庫）』▽『中谷宇吉郎著『雷』（岩波新書）』▽『東晃著『雪と氷の科学者・中谷宇吉郎』（1997・北海道大学図書刊行会）』

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