Edward S. Holden

Edward Singleton Holden (November 5, 1846 – March 16, 1914) was an American astronomer; professor of mathematics; president, from 1885 to 1889, of the University of California; director, from 1888 to 1897, of Lick Observatory; librarian, from 1901 to 1914, of the United States Military Academy at West Point; and author of popular books on science. He was elected in 1885 to both the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 1897 to the American Philosophical Society

Quotes

• François de Plantade, an astronomer and geodesist of Montpellier (b. 1670, d. 1741), a colleague of Cassini, first proposed an astronomical observatory on the Pic-du-Midi, (9439 feet), and made several ascents with that end in view. He died, in fact, on the mountain while engaged in observations. The noted Chevalier D'Angos, it is said, made a series of astronomical observations at this station. In 1860 (July 18) a solar eclipse was photographed from the summit. It is worthy of note that the altitude of the station is the same as that of Quito, Ecuador.
  • Mountain Observatories in America and Europe. Volume 1035 of Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. Smithsonian Institution. 1896. p. 2.  (77 pages)

• ... to Darwin and Huxley, as to their remote and uncultured ancestors, the World — the Earth, the Sea, the Sky — is full of wonders and of mysteries, but the wonders are of a higher order. The problems of the thunder and of the rainbow as they presented themselves to the men of a thousand generations ago, have been fully solved: the questions; what is the veritable nature of electricity, exactly how does it differ from light, are still unanswered. And what are simple problems like theses to the questions: what is love; why do we feel a sympathy with this person, an antipathy for that; and others of the sort? Science has made almost infinite advances since pre-historic man first felt the feel current of intellectual curiosity amide his awe of the storm; it has still to grow almost infinitely before anything like a complete explanation even of external Nature is achieved.
  • "The Marvels of Nature by Edward S. Holden". Wonders of Earth, Sea and Sky. Volume 11 of Young Folks' Library in 20 Volumes. University Research Extension Company. 1917. pp. xiii–xvii.  (389 pages; quote from pp. xiv–xv; edited by E. S Holden; 1st edition 1901)

Quotes about Edward Singleton Holden

• The National Academy of Sciences organized an expedition to observe the total solar eclipse of May 6, 1883, in the Caroline Islands. Appropriations in support of the expedition were made by Congress and from the Watson Fund of the National Academy. Professor Holden was appointed chief of the ob-serving party and scientific director of the expedition. Associated with him were four young astronomers whose names later became well known: Professor C. S. Hastings, Mr. E. D. Preston, Mr. S. J. Brown, and Mr. Winslow Upton. The experiences passed through by many eclipse observers in the tropics fell to the lot of the expedition to the Caroline Islands; the sky was clear during the greater part, but not all of totality, and during the partial phases there were clouds and rain. The air in most tropical localities is so near the saturation point that the fall of temperature when the moon is covering the sun is sufficient to cause clouds and precipitation; and that the sky is clear one moment does not mean that the following minute will not bring clouds and the following five minutes rain. Professor Holden's expedition was successful in carrying out all of the main features of the program. … The times of contact were estimated and the influence of the eclipse upon the meteorological elements was observed. The memoir on the eclipse of 1883 is a model in form and is frequently referred to by past and future observers of eclipses.
  • W. W. Campbell, "Biographical Memoir of Edward Singleton Holden". Biographical Memoirs of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Vol. 8. 1919. pp. 347–372.  (quote from p. 351; pdf at biographicalmemoirs.org)

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Edward S. Holden on Wikipedia