Elias Colbert (April 23, 1829 - June 28, 1921) was a British American astronomer, journalist, educator, mathematician, linguist, professor at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, director of the

Dearborn Observatory The Dearborn Observatory is an astronomical observatory located on the Evanston campus of Northwestern University. The observatory was originally constructed in 1888, through an agreement between the university and the Chicago Astronomical Soc ...

, and president of the Chicago Astronomical Society. His book, ''Star Studies: What We Know of the Universe Outside the Earth'' (1871) was an early, 19th century example of interest in the subject of

life on Mars The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no conclusive evidence of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that ...

.Taylor 1921, pp. 90-93; Library of Congress, "Envisioning Martian Civilizations".

Selected works

*''Scoriæ: Eulogy on Shakespeare'' (1864) *''Astronomy Without a Telescope'' (1869) *''Chicago and the Great Conflagration'' (1871) *''Star Studies: What We Know of the Universe Outside the Earth'' (1871) *''The Lunar Apsides'' (1885) *''Washington, Shakespeare and St. George'' (1893) *''The Earth Measured'' (1898)

References

Bibliography

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. (n.d.)
"Envisioning Martian Civilizations"
Life on Other Worlds. Finding Our Place in the Cosmos: From Galileo to Sagan and Beyond. Retrieved August 23, 2023. *Taylor, Charles H. (February 1922)
"A Memorial to Elias Colbert"
''Popular Astronomy''. Goodsell Observatory of Carleton College. 30 (2). {{DEFAULTSORT:Colbert, Elias 1829 births 1921 deaths American astronomers University of Chicago people Scientists from Chicago