Garrett P. Serviss

For the athlete, see Garrett Serviss (athlete).
Garrett P. Serviss
Garrett Serviss in November 1925
Born(1851-03-24)March 24, 1851
New York State
DiedMay 25, 1929(1929-05-25) (aged 78)
Alma materCornell University
Columbia Law School
Occupations
  • Journalist
  • astronomer
  • author

Garrett Putnam Serviss (March 24, 1851 – May 25, 1929) was an American astronomer, popularizer of astronomy, and early science fiction writer. Serviss was born in Sharon Springs, New York[1] and majored in science at Cornell University. He took a law degree at Columbia University but never worked as an attorney. Instead, in 1876 he joined the staff of The New York Sun newspaper, working as a journalist until 1892 under editor Charles Dana.

Serviss showed a talent for explaining scientific details in a way that made them clear to the ordinary reader, leading Andrew Carnegie to invite him to deliver The Urania Lectures in 1894 on astronomy, cosmology, geology, and related matters. With Carnegie's financial backing, these lectures were illustrated with magic lantern slides and other effects to show eclipses, presumed lunar landscapes, and much else. Serviss toured the United States for over two years delivering these lectures[citation needed], then settled down to become a popular speaker in the New York area.[citation needed] He also wrote a syndicated newspaper column devoted to astronomy and other sciences[citation needed] and wrote frequently for the leading magazines of the day.[citation needed]

Serviss' favorite topic was astronomy, and of the fifteen books he wrote, eight are devoted to it. He unquestionably was more widely read by the public on that topic than anyone prior to his time.[citation needed] He worked with Max and Dave Fleischer on The Einstein Theory of Relativity (1923), a short silent film released in connection with one of Serviss' books. He also wrote six works of fiction in his lifetime, all of which would today be classified as science fiction. Five of these were novels, and one was a short story.[2]

In his private life, Serviss was an enthusiastic mountain climber. He described his reaching the summit of the Matterhorn at the age of 43 as part of an effort "to get as far away from terrestrial gravity as possible."[3] His son was the Olympic high jumper Garrett Serviss.

A quotation from Serviss' Astronomy with the Naked Eye (1908) appears at the end the short story "Beyond the Wall of Sleep" (1919) written by H. P. Lovecraft.[4][5]

  1. ^ Robinson, Leif J. (2007). Serviss, Garrett Putnam In: Hockey T. et al. (eds). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York, New York: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_1258. ISBN 9780387304007. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  2. ^ A. Langley Searles, "Introduction to the 1947 edition of Edison's Conquest of Mars", available online at Project Gutenberg.
  3. ^ As quoted by A. Langley Searles, "Preface" to the 1974 edition of A Columbus of Space.
  4. ^ Joshi, S.T.; Schultz, David E. (2004). An H.P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia. Hippocampus Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0974878911.
  5. ^ "H.P. Lovecraft's "Beyond the Wall of Sleep"". Hplovecraft.com. 2011-12-08. Retrieved 2022-07-20.