Charles Lane Poor

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Charles Lane Poor (born January 18, 1866 in Hackensack , New Jersey , † September 27, 1951 in New York City ) was an American astronomer and astrophysicist who mainly dealt with celestial mechanics , but especially for his opposition to Albert Einstein and whose theory of relativity became known (see criticism of the theory of relativity ).

Poor was the son of businessman and industrialist Edward Erie Poor . Charles Lane Poor earned a bachelor's degree from the City College of New York in 1886 and a master's degree there in 1890 . He did his doctorate with Simon Newcomb at Johns Hopkins University with a thesis on the comet Comet 1899 V ( 16P / Brooks ) and its sensational deflection by Jupiter . Poor subsequently took over the professorship from Newcomb, but left the university in 1899 to temporarily manage his father's companies in the cotton industry . In 1903 Poor was given another professorship, this time at Columbia University , which he held until his retirement in 1947.

In 1893 Poor was elected to the Royal Astronomical Society , in 1896 a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

In his spare time, Poor enjoyed sailing. He developed various instruments for navigation , one of which accompanied the American delegation to the founding conference of the International Astronomical Union (1919 in Brussels) at the RMS Aquitania . He published several books on navigation and surveying sailing ships . Poor served as the head of the New York Yacht Club's admissions committee for 25 years .

Charles Lane Poor was married to Anna Easton. The couple had two sons.

Sources and References

literature

  • SA Mitchell: Charles Lane Poor . In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . tape 112 , no. 3 , June 1, 1952, p. 279-280 , doi : 10.1093 / mnras / 112.3.279 .

Web links

Wikisource: Charles Lane Poor  - Sources and full texts (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Milena Wazeck: Who were Einstein's opponents? - bpb. In: bpb.de. June 13, 2005, accessed October 1, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter P. (PDF; 649 kB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Accessed October 1, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Poor, Charles Lane
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American astronomer and astrophysicist
DATE OF BIRTH January 18, 1866
PLACE OF BIRTH Hackensack (New Jersey)
DATE OF DEATH September 27, 1951
Place of death New York City