James Arthur “Jim” Earl was already an accomplished physicist when he visited an Andy Warhol exhibit in California and decided he would also be an artist.

He’d long frequented museums and admired artwork, but when he looked at the Warhol paintings, something in him clicked. He felt like he could do that, too. So he took up art as a hobby, which turned into an obsession, and he put the same intensity and attention to detail into the craft that he put into everything else in his life.

He had a lifelong love of learning — a trait he inherited from his parents, both math teachers, and passed down to his four boys. He taught by example, embracing new experiences, like art, and sharing his knowledge freely.

“When he puts his mind to something, he goes full force and puts his every ounce of effort into it,” said his youngest son, Matthew Earl.

That’s why the legacy Jim Earl leaves is long and varied: As an experimental physicist, he used cloud chambers to study cosmic rays, high-energy streams of particles that come from space and disperse throughout Earth’s atmosphere. His experiments led to the important discovery of primary cosmic ray electrons.

As a college professor, he taught generations of students about physics and astronomy. As an artist, he practiced silkscreen printing, pen-and-ink drawings and watercolor paintings. He also earned a degree in computer science in the 1980s, fascinated by the emerging technology. Later in life, after moving to Annapolis, he became a prominent philanthropist who supported Maryland’s art community, land conservation efforts and medical advancements.

Earl died March 23 of respiratory failure. He was 92.

Born Aug. 14, 1932, Earl was the son of James and Margaret Earl, who taught at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Growing up in Nebraska, math and science came easily, his son said. With interests in Morse code and radio, he headed off to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at age 17 to study engineering.

He quickly pivoted to physics, because “he was always tinkering with stuff,” Matthew Earl said. Experimental physics required hands-on learning, and the elder Earl enjoyed the opportunity to do the work himself.

While at MIT, Earl met the love of his life, Sylvia Tailby, who attended nearby Wheelock College. They shared similar values and political beliefs, their son said, and married in 1955. They quickly had two sons, John and Jimmy.

Earl graduated from MIT in 1958 after earning both a bachelor’s degree and a PHD in physics.

The young family then lived briefly in New Jersey before moving to Minneapolis, where Earl started lecturing at the University of Minnesota. He traveled often to Canada to complete experiments, and he was especially known for his work with balloons, which he’d send way up into the stratosphere with detectors to record various measurements, his son said.

Jim Earl often told his family the story of the time he almost got caught in a rope attached to the balloon — “then it would be bye-bye, Jim,” his son recalled his father joking.

After his discovery of primary cosmic ray electrons, the family moved to Prince George’s County in 1965 so Earl could teach physics and astronomy at the University of Maryland. His third son, David, was born a couple years after, and Matthew came in 1972.

Around that time, Earl decided that experimental physics might be a bit too physically demanding, so he pivoted to theoretical physics. That’s how he landed in California on a sabbatical, where he found his love of the arts.

While teaching at UMD, Earl was allowed to take one free class per semester. He first earned a degree in art, and some years later, he decided to pursue a degree in computer science, thinking it would help with his current work. Matthew Earl remembers being 8 or 9 years old and seeing early iterations of Apple computers in his house.

The family would often go to the National Mall and museums in Washington, D.C., on weekends. Every summer, they also traveled up to Deer Lake in Wisconsin, where Earl enjoyed watching his kids have fun but also put them to work cleaning and fixing up the yard.

“He expected a lot out of us, but then, also, there’d be mixed in some swimming, fishing, boating,” Matthew Earl said.

He was an engaged father, always encouraging his sons to get good grades and be good people. He developed an especially close relationship with Matthew, and the youngest Earl fondly recalls the time his father referred to him as “one of his cronies.”

“He really cared about us and was really proud of our accomplishments and loved to brag to his friends about his kids,” said his third son, David Earl.

David Earl said his father was a productive man who was always working on something. He involved his kids in a way that “really helped shape us into who we are today.”

“When we were growing up, he didn’t take any nonsense,” David Earl said. “He liked to say he never asked us a question he didn’t already know the answer to.”

For all his seriousness, he could be equally funny, Matthew Earl said. One time, he and his parents couldn’t agree on a movie to see, so his mother opted for “The English Patient,” while the men chose “Beavis and Butthead Do America.”

Earl and his wife moved to Annapolis in 1995, five years before he retired. That’s when the couple dove headfirst into philanthropic efforts through the Helena Foundation, the charity established by and named for Earl’s mother. The couple prioritized land conservation efforts, and even before Earl retired, the foundation donated heavily to maintain Deer Park, their son said.

They were also major supporters of the Chesapeake Conservancy. After Earl’s death, Interim Chief Executive Officer EJ Amyot called him a “true visionary whose generosity and dedication to conservation have left an enduring impact on the Chesapeake Bay.”

Elsewhere, the couple donated to organizations supporting education, health care and the arts, until the Helena Foundation was dissolved last year. It was becoming a bit much for Earl to maintain, but his sons carry on his philanthropic efforts through their own charities.

In retirement, Earl was known to bring his sketchbook with him everywhere and draw just about everything. He spent many days turning his pen-and-ink drawings into prints.

He loved spending time with his grandkids, whom he also put to work picking up sticks and raking leaves. He enjoyed 70 years of marriage with Sylvia, who survives him.

A celebration of life is scheduled for 5 p.m. on April 24 at The Golf Club at South River in Edgewater.

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