Background
He was born in Scotland but emigrated to Canada at the age of five. He grew up in Victoria, British Columbia and studied physics and mathematics at the University of British Columbia.
He was born in Scotland but emigrated to Canada at the age of five. He grew up in Victoria, British Columbia and studied physics and mathematics at the University of British Columbia.
University of Michigan.
He began working summer jobs at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory and became fascinated with astronomy. He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan in 1932. He taught there until 1935, when he joined the staff of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory.
In 1951 he became its director
He extensively studied spectroscopic binaries. The crater Petrie on the Moon is named after him.
JRASC 60 (1966) 157
Observer 86 (1966) 132 (one sentence)
PASP 78 (1966) 311.