- George Comstock
George Cary Comstock (February 12, 1855–May 11, 1934) was an American
astronomer and educator.He was born in
Madison, Wisconsin , the eldest child of Charles Henry Comstock and Mercy Bronson. In 1877 he was awarded a Ph.D. from theUniversity of Michigan , after studying mathematics and astronomy. For a couple of years he worked for the U.S. Lake Survey and then aMississippi River improvement project, before joiningWashburn Observatory as the assistant director in 1879. As career insurance, during his free moments he studied law and was admitted to the Wisconsin bar in 1883 after graduating from Wisconsin law school. However, he would never practice the legal profession.He was appointed professor at
Ohio State University in 1887, where he taught mathematics and astronomy, and he took over directorship of the Washburn Observatory. In 1894 he was married to Esther Cecile Everett in 1894, and the couple had a daughter, George Carey. He helped organize theAmerican Astronomical Society in 1897, serving first as secretary and later as vice president. he was elected to theNational Academy of Sciences in 1899. In 1904 he was appointed first chair of theUniversity of Wisconsin graduate school, later becoming Dean. He held this position until 1920, then retired in 1922 as Professor Emeritus of Astronomy. During his retirement, in 1897 he became president of the American Astronomical Society.During his career he wrote several textbooks and published articles in scientific journals. Comstock crater on the
far side of the Moon is named after him. His brother Louis became Chairman of the Board at New York Title Insurance Company.References
*cite web
url=http://www.math.ohio-state.edu/history/biographies/comstock/
title=George Cary Comstock, Department of Mathematics
publisher=The Ohio State University
accessdate=2008-08-09
*cite news
author=Staff | date=1934-05-11
title=Dr. G. C. Comstock, Educator, is dead
publisher=Hubble News Desk
url=http://www.math.ohio-state.edu/history/biographies/comstock/comstockobit.html
accessdate=2008-08-09
*cite web
last=Stebbins | first=Joel
title=Biographical Memoir of George Cary Comstock
publisher=National Academy of Sciences | year=1983
url=http://books.nap.edu/html/biomems/gcomstock.pdf
accessdate=2008-08-09
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
