William Tyler Olcott (January 11, 1873–July 6, 1936) was an American
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters.
The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...
and
amateur astronomer
Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers m ...
.
Olcott was born in
Norwich, Connecticut
Norwich ( ) is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic River, Yantic, Shetucket River, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River f ...
, to William Marvin Olcott and E. Octavia Tyler,
[ and was educated at ]Trinity College Trinity College may refer to:
Australia
* Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales
* Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
at Hartford
Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
, then attended law school in New York. Although admitted to the bar in New York and Connecticut, he never practiced law. In 1902, he was married to Clara Hyde. During 1905 while vacationing in Rhode Island, a friend of Clara introduced him to the stars and constellations. He was instantly enthralled, and two years later had published his first book, ''A Field Book of the Stars''.[ In 1909, after attending a lecture by ]Edward Charles Pickering
Edward Charles Pickering (July 19, 1846 – February 3, 1919) was an American astronomer and physicist and the older brother of William Henry Pickering. Along with Carl Vogel, Pickering discovered the first spectroscopic binary stars. He wrote ' ...
, he developed an interest in observing variable star
A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes systematically with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are ...
s. In 1911, he co-founded the American Association of Variable Star Observers
The American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) is an international nonprofit organization. Founded in 1911, the organization focuses on coordinating, analyzing, publishing, and archiving variable star observations made largely by ama ...
(AAVSO).
Awards and honors
* AAVSO Merit Award (1936)
* The William Tyler Olcott Award of the AAVSO, initiated in 2000, is named for him.
* The crater Olcott on the Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
is named after him.
Bibliography
Books
* W. T. Olcott, ''A Field Book of the Stars,'' 1907, New York, G. P. Putnam’s Sons
* W. T. Olcott, ''In Starland With A Three-Inch Telescope,'' 1909, New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons
* W. T. Olcott, ''Star Lore of All Ages,'' 1911, New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons
* W. T. Olcott, ''Sun Lore of All Ages,'' 1914, New York, G. P. Putnam’s Sons
* W. T. Olcott, ''The Book of the Stars For Young People,'' 1923, New York, G. P. Putnam’s Sons
* W. T. Olcott & Edmund W. Putnam, ''Field Book of the Skies,'' 1929, New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons
Articles
* W. T. Olcott, "Variable Star Work for the Amateur Astronomer," 1911, ''Popular Astronomy''
References
External links
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*
*
*
*
Sun Lore of All Ages, at sacred-texts.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olcott, William Tyler
1873 births
1936 deaths
American astronomers
Amateur astronomers