A. E. Douglass

A. E. Douglass
Born(1867-07-05)July 5, 1867
Windsor, Vermont
DiedMarch 20, 1962(1962-03-20) (aged 94)
Tucson, Arizona
NationalityAmerican
Alma materTrinity College, Hartford, Connecticut[1]
Known forFounding the discipline of dendrochronology
Discovering a correlation between tree rings and the sunspot cycle
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomy
Dendrochronology
InstitutionsUniversity of Arizona
Lowell Observatory
courtesy of University of Arizona Library Special Collections
[2] Prof. A.E. Douglass and the newly installed Steward Observatory 36-inch Telescope

A. E. (Andrew Ellicott) Douglass (July 5, 1867 in Windsor, Vermont – March 20, 1962 in Tucson, Arizona) was an American astronomer. He discovered a correlation between tree rings and the sunspot cycle, and founded the discipline of dendrochronology, which is a method of dating wood by analyzing the growth ring pattern. He started his discoveries in this field in 1894 when he was working at the Lowell Observatory. During this time he was an assistant to Percival Lowell, but fell out with him when his experiments made him doubt the existence of artificial "canals" on Mars and visible spokes on Venus.[3]

Douglass was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1941.[4] Craters on the Moon and Mars are named in his honor.

  1. ^ "A. E. Douglass". Lowell Observatory. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
  2. ^ "University of Arizona Library Special Collections". University of Arizona.
  3. ^ "2003JHA....34...53S Page 53". adsabs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  4. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-04-26.