Lawrence H. Aller

His work concentrated on the chemical composition of stars and nebulae. He was one of the first astronomers to argue that some differences in stellar and nebular spectra were caused by differences in their chemical composition. Aller wrote a number of books, including Atoms, Stars, and Nebulae, the third edition of which was published in 1991 (ISBN 0-521-32512-9). He published 346 research papers between 1935 and 2004.

He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1961 and to the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1962. He won the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship in 1992.

His doctoral students include James B. Kaler and William Liller.

As of 2011, one of his three sons, Hugh Aller, was a professor and his daughter-in law, Margot Aller, a research scientist in the University of Michigan astronomy department. His granddaughter, Monique Aller, was previously a graduate student also in the University of Michigan astronomy department and teaches in the Physics and Astronomy Department at Georgia Southern University.