Denison Olmsted
Denison Olmsted (born June 18, 1791 in East Hartford , Connecticut , † May 13, 1859 in New Haven , Connecticut) was an American astronomer and natural scientist.
Life
Olmsted was the son of a farmer from a long-established New England family. His father died when he was one year old and the mother, who later remarried, moved to Farmington, Connecticut . At times, Olmsted lived in the family of Governor John Treadwell . He studied from 1809 in Yale with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1813. He then taught and was tutor in Yale from 1815 and studied theology at the same time with the aim of becoming a pastor. In 1816 he received a Master of Arts degree from Yale and in 1817 he became Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina . For the newly created chair, he first had to learn chemistry at Yale with Benjamin Silliman . In 1819 he took up his chair. At Chapel Hill, he began to study geology. In 1824/25 he undertook a geological survey of North Carolina on behalf of the state. This was the first geological survey that a US state commissioned. The report was published in 1825 (the associated geological map was not printed). When he left North Carolina in 1825, his friend Elisha Mitchell (math professor at the university) continued the survey.
In 1825 he became professor of mathematics and natural philosophy (physics) at Yale. Since he did not feel qualified enough to teach mathematics, he achieved in 1835 that the professorship was cut off (it was transferred to Anthony D. Stanley ).
He wrote several physics and astronomy textbooks for universities and schools. He ensured the popularization of the natural sciences through popular scientific essays and, like Silliman, gave evening lectures in adult education, for example for mechanics.
He dealt with meteorology (causes of hail, thunderstorms). He published about the spectacular Leonid meteor shower of 1833 and proved its origin outside the atmosphere. He already formulated the hypothesis that they were related to comets whose orbits crossed those of the earth, which his student Hubert Anson Newton proved more precisely after his death. With the astronomy professor at Yale Elias Loomis , they were the first in the USA to observe the return of Halley's Comet early in 1835. Olmsted also published observations on the Northern Lights.
Olmsted married in 1818. His wife, with whom he had five sons and two daughters, died in 1829. He remarried two years later. From the second marriage he had a daughter.
He was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and received an honorary doctorate from New York University in 1845 .
Fonts
- Introduction to Natural Philosophy, 1831, 1832 (Introduction to Physics)
- School Philosophy 1833 (abridged version of his Introduction to Physics)
- Introduction to Astronomy 1839
- Compendium of Astronomy 1841
- Letters on Astronomy, Addressed to a Lady, 1841
- Rudiments of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy 1844
Web links
- Biography, Documenting the American South (English)
- Th.R. Treadwell: Denison Olmsted an Early American astronomer. Popular Astronomy, Vol. 54 (1946), pp. 237-241 (biography, English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Olmsted, Denison |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American astronomer and natural scientist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 18, 1791 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | East Hartford , Connecticut |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 13, 1859 |
| Place of death | New Haven , Connecticut |