James Craig Watson | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Portrait of Watson | |
| Born | (1838-01-28)January 28, 1838 |
| Died | November 23, 1880(1880-11-23) (aged 42) |
| Education | University of Michigan |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
| Occupation(s) | professor,physicist,astronomer |
| Known for | Discovery ofcomets andasteroids |
| Awards | Lalande Prize |
James Craig Watson (January 28, 1838 – November 23, 1880) was aCanadian-Americanastronomer, discoverer ofcomets andminor planets, director of the University of Michigan'sDetroit Observatory in Ann Arbor, and awarded with theLalande Prize in 1869.[1][2]
Watson was born in the village ofFingal,Ontario. His family relocated toAnn Arbor, Michigan in 1850. At age 15 he wasmatriculated at theUniversity of Michigan, where he studied the classical languages. He graduated with a BA in 1857 and received a master's degree on examination after two years' study inastronomy under professorFranz Brünnow.[3] He became Professor of Physics and instructor in Mathematics, and in 1863, succeeded him as professor of Astronomy and director of theDetroit Observatory. He wrote the textbookTheoretical Astronomy, published in 1868 byJ. B. Lippincott & Co. The textbook was a standard reference work for over thirty years.[1]
He discovered 22asteroids, beginning with79 Eurynome in 1863. One of his asteroid discoveries,139 Juewa was made inBeijing when Watson was there to observe the 1874transit of Venus. The name Juewa was chosen by Chinese officials (瑞華, or in modernpinyin,ruìhuá). Another was121 Hermione in 1872, from Ann Arbor, Michigan, and this asteroid was found to have a smallasteroid moon in 2002.[4]
He was a member of the most important expeditions for astronomical observation sent out by the United States Government during his time.[3] The first was an expedition to observe the eclipse of the Sun atMount Pleasant, Iowa, in 1869; the second of a similar expedition to Sicily, in 1870; the third toBeijing, China, to observe thetransit of Venus in 1874; the fourth toWyoming, to observe the total eclipse of the sun in 1878. He was a strong believer in the existence of the planetVulcan, a hypothetical planet closer to theSun thanMercury, which is now known not to exist (however the existence of smallVulcanoid planetoids remains a possibility). He believed he had seen such two such planets during his observation of the 1878 solar eclipse.
In 1879, after attempts by the university to retain him, Watson resigned his professorship atAnn Arbor to accept a position theUniversity of Wisconsin, where he hoped to find superior apparatus and instruments for the difficult observations which he had planned. Seeking to silence critics who doubted his claims to have discovered Vulcan, he also personally paid to construct an underground observatory, in a misguided attempt to observe planets in the daytime.[5] This was based on the idea that stars could be seen during the day from the bottom of a well, which is an ancient myth but verifiably incorrect. (It is not merely direct glare from the Sun that hides the stars, but scattered light from the atmosphere above the well.)[6]
Watson died ofperitonitis at the age of 42 and was buried at Forest Hill, Ann Arbor.[3] He had amassed a considerable fortune through non-astronomical business activities and, by bequest, established theJames Craig Watson Medal, awarded every two years by theNational Academy of Sciences for contributions toastronomy. His successor, Edward Holden, completed Watson's underground observatory, but declared it useless after he found not even the brightest stars could be observed.[5]
| 79 Eurynome | September 14, 1863 |
| 93 Minerva | August 24, 1867 |
| 94 Aurora | September 6, 1867 |
| 100 Hekate | July 11, 1868 |
| 101 Helena | August 15, 1868 |
| 103 Hera | September 7, 1868 |
| 104 Klymene | September 13, 1868 |
| 105 Artemis | September 16, 1868 |
| 106 Dione | October 10, 1868 |
| 115 Thyra | August 6, 1871 |
| 119 Althaea | April 3, 1872 |
| 121 Hermione | May 12, 1872 |
| 128 Nemesis | November 25, 1872 |
| 132 Aethra | June 13, 1873 |
| 133 Cyrene | August 16, 1873 |
| 139 Juewa | October 10, 1874 |
| 150 Nuwa | October 18, 1875 |
| 161 Athor | April 19, 1876 |
| 168 Sibylla | September 28, 1876 |
| 174 Phaedra | September 2, 1877 |
| 175 Andromache | October 1, 1877 |
| 179 Klytaemnestra | November 11, 1877 |
Watson often prioritized financial gain. This obsession, in the view of the University of Michigan's first president,Henry Philip Tappan, led Watson to do nothing while serving as director of the Detroit Observatory during Brünnow's brief absence from 1859 to 1860. Brünnow had gone to theDudley Observatory as Associate Director inAlbany, New York, but he was called back to direct the Detroit Observatory by theRegents. The return of Brünnow so infuriated Watson that Watson contacted local life insurance agencies in Ann Arbor and became a life insurance actuary, where he made some extra money. Watson also during his career helped reduce Washington Zones for the United StatesOffice of Coast Survey solely for the money. In another action motivated by money, Watson built a house in Ann Arbor on South University Avenue for $5000 but still could not pay for it after gathering all his resources and borrowing $2000. He requested a mortgage soon after with the house as collateral, then he sold the house to someone inSaline in September 1862 and then convinced the Regents to build a Director’s Residence attached to Detroit Observatory. It is unclear how he had such massive debt despite his rather large salary at the time.[8]
Watson was a very divisive person on the University of Michigan’s campus. He did not allow visitors or students in the Detroit Observatory, angering many students. He also only really cared about students interested in astronomy, but he was an interesting lecturer and easy grader, so a large number of students took his courses. His carelessness is reflected in the fact that he once gave passing grades to an entire class, including to a student who died two weeks into the term.[8]
Watson also appeared to be rather vain. He would sign his notebooks as if practicing his autograph, including once signing his notebook, “James Craig Watson, Astronomer Royal,” a title only given to the most renowned astronomers of Britain.[8] Watson also once wrote this about himself:
The Hon. James C. Watson, one of the greatest astronomers that this country has ever produced to whom immeasured devotion to science owes some of its greatest blessings. Astronomy under his patronage has reached a summit rarely attained.The telescope which the Hon. James C. Watson, LL.D., F.R.S., F.A.S., &c &c &c proposes to make is of the Gregorian construction and will bear a magnifying power of 1200 Times! Great indeed!!! 1200! 1200![8]
In addition to this, Watson frequently committed plagiarism, including from Brünnow, and he received a variety of honorary degrees by asking for them rather than being honored with them (e.g. Doctor fromUniversity of Leipzig, Doctor of Law from Columbia College, etc.). Oddly, Watson was still well-liked for being cheerful and humorous. Watson also was a religious fundamentalist, believing that mathematicians could not be atheists.[8]
Watson won theLalande Prize given by theFrench Academy of Sciences for 1869.[9] He was a member of theNational Academy of Sciences and theAmerican Philosophical Society. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy from theUniversity of Leipzig in 1870, and fromYale College in 1871, and the degree of Doctor of Laws fromColumbia in 1877.[3]
The main-belt asteroid729 Watsonia is named in his honour, as is the lunar craterWatson.[2]
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