George Davidson (geographer)
George Davidson (born May 9, 1825 , died December 2, 1911 ) was an American astronomer , geographer , surveyor, and engineer .
biography
Davidson was born in Nottingham, England on May 9, 1825 . In 1832 he emigrated with his parents to Pennsylvania , USA. By 1845 he went to Central High School in Philadelphia , where he graduated as the best in his class. As a schoolboy he showed an interest in science and assisted the physicist Alexander D. Bache in his work on magnetism.
After graduating, he began working on the National Geodetic Survey's Coast Survey , where he was responsible for surveying the coasts. He worked in various positions on the east coast until 1850, but then moved to California. There he calculated the coordinates of several important coastal landmarks on the west coast (such as the Puget Sound ). In 1853 he named several mountains in the Olympic Mountains of Washington State , including Mount Ellinor , which he named after Ellinor Fauntleroy . Ellinor and he later married.
From 1861 to 1867 Davidson was back on the Atlantic, where he oversaw the construction of coastal and river weirs. In 1866 he was briefly in Panama , where he explored the possibilities of a canal in the area of the isthmus between North and South America . Construction of the Panama Canal began almost 40 years later. In 1867 he was named to head an investigation before buying Alaska by the Congress should explore the geography and the natural wealth of the area.
In the 1860s and 70s he traveled to China, Egypt, India and Europe for research purposes. Since 1866 he was a member of the American Philosophical Society . He was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences in 1874 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1887 . From 1901 he was a corresponding member of the Académie des Sciences in Paris.
In 1895, after 50 years of service, Davidson left the Coast Survey and retired. However, he retained an honorary professorship at the University of California, Berkeley until his death in 1911 .
One of his most important legacies is the Davidson Observatory in San Francisco , which was the first astronomical observatory on the Pacific coast of the USA.
The Davidson Current, a seasonal warm ocean current on the coast of California, as well as the deep-sea mountain Davidson Seamount are named after Davidson .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Guide to the George Davidson papers, 1845-1911: Biography . Bancroft Library , University of California, Berkeley . Retrieved December 29, 2007.
- ^ Member History: George Davidson. American Philosophical Society, accessed July 6, 2018 .
- ^ List of members since 1666: Letter D. Académie des sciences, accessed on November 4, 2019 (French).
- ↑ Robert L. Smith: Poleward Flows Along Eastern Ocean Boundaries. 1989, accessed on September 11, 2019 .
- ^ Davidson Seamount. In: montereybay.noaa.gov. Retrieved September 11, 2019 .
Web links
- NOAA History: Profiles in Time C&GS Biographies: George Davidson
- Guide to the George Davidson Papers at The Bancroft Library
- Coast Pilot of California, Oregon and Washington from Google Books
- NOAA History: Tools of the Trade: Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships: Davidson for the launch for 1933-1935
- NOAA History: Tools of the Trade: Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships: Davidson for the survey ship of 1967-1989
- Photographs of the Yolo Base Line, California, 1881 , The Bancroft Library
- National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Davidson, George |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American astronomer, geographer, surveyor, and engineer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 9, 1825 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Nottingham |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 2, 1911 |