About Me

What man is more fortunate than he whose life work is his recreation?  So wrote eminent physicist Albert Abraham Michelson in a guest register during his 1905 visit to Lowell Observatory in Arizona. This parallels a sentiment that I've held for years: Create a path in life that allows you to turn your passion into a career. Most of us have to earn a living, so why not do something you love?

My background is in paleontology but for the past 2 1/2 decades I've worked at Lowell Observatory.  During most of that time I was in the education & outreach department but I now serve as the observatory's historian, documenting and sharing the stories of our important scientists--past and present--and their remarkable research.  

I also write for several publications on an assortment of topics, especially various aspects of science, history, and baseball. In both my writings and presentations, I enjoy making connections between these disciplines.

I take a lot of pleasure in writing and giving programs, but also love the immersive research and exploration that goes into learning about the subject matter.  My life work is truly my recreaton, and I am happy to share it here.

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I am the historian at Lowell Observatory, where I've worked for more than two decades. I've been an active member of the Flagstaff history and science communities, having served as Sheriff of the Flagstaff Corral of Westerners International for 13 years and on the board of the Flagstaff Festival of Science for a similar length of time.  When not digging through Lowell’s archives, I write articles for a variety of publications and contribute a bi-weekly astronomy column, “View from Mars Hill”, for the Arizona Daily Sun newspaper.  I've written several books, with the next one--about Pluto--due out in March, 2018.

I am inspired not only by the wonders of the universe itself, but by different people, many that I've never met, others that I've known.  One of these was my high school Earth Science teacher, Mr. Leget.  William A. Ward once wrote, The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates.  The great teacher inspires. Mr. Leget was a great teacher who inspired me and a whole bunch of others.  When the time came for me to start thinking about college, the only one to which I applied was Marietta College because that's where Mr. Leget had gone.

For a detailed listing of publications and other activities, see my cv below.