Milton Lasell Humason

by catcher Monday, July 23, 2012 9:23 PM

'The Mule Skinner' 

Born: : 19th August 1891, Dodge Center, Minnesota, USA
Died:18th June 1972, Mendocino, California, USA

Milton Lasell Humason worked closely with Edwin Powell Hubble on the determination of the distances of galaxies; despite having started his career as a ‘mule skinner’ and later as a janitor at the Mount Wilson Observatory.

In order to tell the real story of Edwin Powell Hubble, it is also necessary to include that of Milton Lasell Humason (1891-1972). Like Hubble, Milton Lasell Humason was born into a working class family from a small Midwestern American town. Unlike Marshfield - Dodge Center, Minnesota - the birthplace of Milton Lasell Humason has no School, Drive or Space Telescope to remember him by.

Yet in truth Humason also deserves his share of recognition, in respect of the monumental discoveries now so often attributed solely to Edwin Powell Hubble.

To read more on his life and work read the eBook chapter on Milton Lasell Humason or buy the Book 'Catchers of the Light' 

The 'Horsehead' Nebula (B33), Milton Lasell Humason, 200-inch reflector, 1951

 

 

Buy the eBook or Printed Book at the 'Catchers of the Light' shop.

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Pioneers of Astrophotography

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Stefan Hughes began his career as a professional astronomer, gaining a 1st Class Honours degree in Astronomy from the University of Leicester in 1974 and his PhD four years later on the 'Resonance Orbits of Artificial Satellites due to Lunisolar Perturbations', which was published as a series of papers in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. After graduating he became a Research fellow in Astronomy, followed by a spell as a lecturer in Applied Mathematics at Queen Mary College, London. Then came a ten year long career as an IT Consultant. In 'mid life' he spent several years retraining as a Genealogist, Record Agent and Architectural Historian, which he practiced for a number of years before moving to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, where for the past ten years he has been imaging the heavens, as well as researching and writing the 'Catchers of the Light' - A History of Astrophotography.

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