Charles Lane Poor

Charles Lane Poor
Born	January 18, 1866(1866-01-18) Hackensack, New Jersey
Died	September 27, 1951(1951-09-27) (aged 85)
Citizenship	American
Fields	Astronomy
Institutions	Columbia University
Alma mater	Johns Hopkins University
Doctoral advisor	Simon Newcomb

Charles Lane Poor (January 18, 1866 – September 27, 1951) was an opponent of Einstein's theory of relativity.

Biography

He was born on January 18, 1866 in Hackensack, New Jersey to Edward Erie Poor. He graduated from the City College of New York and received a Ph.D. in 1892 from Johns Hopkins University. Poor became an American astronomer and professor of celestial mechanics at Columbia University from 1903 to 1944, when he was named Professor Emeritus. He published a monograph disputing the evidence for Einstein's theory of relativity in the pre-war years before the theory became firmly established.^[1][2] Poor published a series of papers (see bibliography) that reflect his lack of understanding for the theory of relativity.

For 25 years, Poor was chairman of the admissions committee of the New York Yacht Club. In addition, he was a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and an associate fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He served several terms as mayor of Dering Harbor on Long Island, New York, and invented a "line of position computers" for yachting navigation. At Columbia University, Poor was a teacher of the astronomer Samuel A. Mitchell, who went on to become director of the Leander McCormick Observatory at the University of Virginia.^[3] He died on September 27, 1951.^[4][5]

Legacy

One of Poor's sons, Edmund Ward Poor, was one of ten co-founders of Grumman Aircraft on Long Island. Another was Alfred Easton Poor, noted architect.

References

1. ^ Charles Lane Poor, Gravitation Versus Relativity, G.P. Putnam, New York (1922).
2. ^ Charles Lane Poor, Journal of the Optical Society of America, V20, p. 173 (1930).
3. ^ Leander McCormick Observatory.
4. ^ Obituary, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, V112, p. 279 (1952).
5. ^ Obituary, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, V64, p. 48 (1952).

Bibliography

• Is Einstein Wrong? A Debate (Jun. 1924)
• Rebuttal to Prof. Henderson's Article (Aug. 1924)
• The Relativity Deflection of Light (Jul. 1927)
• Relativity and the Law of Gravitation (Jan. 1930)
• The Deflection of Light as Observed at Total Solar Eclipses (Apr. 1930)
• What Einstein Really Did (Nov. 1930)

Persondata
Name	Poor, Charles Lane
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 18, 1866
Place of birth	Hackensack, New Jersey
Date of death	September 27, 1951
Place of death