One of founders of amateur astronomy and telescope making, who built up interest in backyard sky observations through his club, the Springfield Telescope Makers. He also did the preliminary designs for the famous Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles California.
He was an arctic explorer in his youth, in several expeditions to Greenland and the North Pole.
He started a class to teach others how to make their own telescopes at home, creating with his students an amateur astronomer club they called Stellafane.
He was born in Springfield, Vermont.
His and other amateur astronomers' observations helped professional astronomers like David Rittenhouse.
