Robert Shirley Richardson (April 22, 1902 – November 12, 1981) was an American

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

, born in

Kokomo, Indiana Kokomo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Indiana, United States. Its population was 60,093 according to the U.S. Census Bureau 2024 estimate. It is the principal city of the Kokomo, Indiana metropolitan area, Kokomo metropol ...

. He also published

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

using the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Philip Latham.

Career

Philip Latham can support the suppositions that are the basis of his science fiction novels with accepted scientific theories. For he's an author who's in the business of "watching the stars." An astronomer at Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories since 1931, he started writing for magazines in the early forties. His work won such wide respect that he now has a college textbook on astronomy to his credit. Movie producers as well as publishers find Mr. Latham's experience too good to pass up. He has given technical assistance to a number of studios on pictures such as '' Destination Moon'', and he has written an article describing the work on the science fiction thriller '' When Worlds Collide''. :— From the back flap of the dust jacket on '' Five Against Venus''.

In his professional role he wrote about 10 books on astronomy. As Latham he wrote scripts for the early television series '' Captain Video'' as well as about 20 science-fiction stories.Latham, Philip
/ref> In one of these, ''N Day'', an astronomer named Philip Latham is freed from his reclusive life by the knowledge that the sun is about to go

nova A nova ( novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. All observed novae involve white ...

Bibliography

* " N-Day", 1943 (as Philip Latham) * '' The Xi Effect'', 1950 (as Philip Latham) * '' Five Against Venus'', 1952 (as Philip Latham) * '' Missing Men of Saturn'', 1953 (as Philip Latham) * '' Second Satellite'', 1956 * '' The Rose Bowl-Pluto Hypothesis'' published in

Orbit (anthology series) ''Orbit'' was a series of anthologies of new science fiction edited by Damon Knight, often featuring work by such writers as Gene Wolfe, Joanna Russ, R. A. Lafferty, and Kate Wilhelm. The anthologies tended toward the avant-garde edge of science ...

* ''The Fascinating World of Astronomy''

References

External links

* * * 1902 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American novelists American astronomers American male novelists American science fiction writers American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers {{US-astronomer-stub