Charles Hitchcock Adams

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Charles Hitchcock Adams (born May 25, 1868 in Belmont , California , † August 8, 1951 in San Francisco ) was an American chemist , timber merchant and amateur astronomer .

Life

Adams was the fifth child of William and Cassandra Adams, b. Hill. From 1886 he studied chemistry at the University of California in particular. Even before he was a student, he was researching how to use the vast amount of sawdust that was generated in his father's wood industry. In his first year of study he finally found a way to make alcohol from sawdust, for which he was able to secure a US patent. In the sophomore year, however, he had to leave the university because the wood mills and forests of his father were destroyed by fire and two of his ships with timber had sunk. Adams helped his family in Atherton, California , rebuild the family estate.

In order to secure his livelihood he worked as an insurance broker and also worked for the Merchants' Exchange Association , whose managing director he was from 1917 to 1940. After Adams came into possession of a 76 mm telescope , he enjoyed observing the night sky and soon after he joined the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP). From 1925 to 1950 he worked there as treasurer.

Adams was married to Olive Bray. From this marriage the son Ansel Adams emerged, who became a well-known landscape and nature photographer .

Together with Walter Sydney Adams and John Couch Adams , Charles H. Adams is the namesake of the 1970 named moon crater Adams .

Charles H. Adams Fund

After Adams' funeral on August 10, 1951, the family wished, instead of sending flowers, to contribute to the Astronomical Society of the Pacific , of which Adams had served as treasurer for 25 years. The fund, established in 1994, is now used to fund the Society's astronomical teaching material.

literature

  • RG Aitken: In Memoriam, Charles Hitchcock Adams, 1868-1951 . In: Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific , Vol. 63, No. 375, pp. 283-286, bibcode : 1951PASP ... 63..283A .

credentials

  1. ↑ Astronomical Society of the Pacific: Endowed Funds (Engl.)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Adams, Charles Hitchcock
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American chemist, timber merchant, and amateur astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH May 25, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Belmont , California
DATE OF DEATH August 8, 1951
Place of death San Francisco