Thomas Jefferson Jackson See
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Thomas Jefferson Jackson See, (1866 to July 4, 1962). An American Astronomer, who received his Ph.D. from the University of Berlin in 1892. See specialized in the study of binary stars, particularly in determining their orbits. See initially found work at the University of Chicago, where he worked as an instructor under George Ellery Hale. See left Chicago in 1896 after failing to receive a promotion. He next worked at Lowell Observatory until he was fired in 1898 for his arrogant attitude towards the staff. See's arrogance and overconfidence caused problems throughout his career, in both professional relationships and erroneous scientific results arising from carelessness. After his dismissal from Lowell, See joined the staff of the United States Naval Observatory in 1898.
It was at the Naval Observatory that some of See's previous work, and his arrogance, led to his downfall. In 1894, while studying the well known binary star 70 Ophiuchi at the University of Chicago, See believed he had found small anomalies in the motion of one of the stars suggesting a third object was present and its gravitational influence was affecting the motion of the star. See results were published in the Astronomical Journal. In 1899, Forest R. Moulton analyzed this proposed triple system and demonstrated convincingly that it would be unstable, and therefore very unlikely to actually exist (Moulton also pointed out that an orbit not requiring an unseen companion had been put forth by Eric Doolittle). See took great offense and wrote an abusive letter to the Astronomical Journal. An edited version was published and he was banned from future publication in the Astronomical Journal. See found himself increasingly at odds with other astronomers, and eventually suffered a breakdown in 1902. He spent one semester teaching at the United States Naval Academy, but was then transferred to a naval shipyard at Mare Island, California in charge of the time station, until his retirement in 1930
See spent these years at Mare Island pursuing fame as the discoverer of the laws of cosmic evolution, issuing a series of publications on the origin of the solar system, the size of the Milky Way and the cause of sunspots and earthquakes. He also wrote a series of articles about the Aether which were essentially diatribes against Einstein's work.
In 1910 he published a 700+ page work entitled "Researches on the Evolution of the Stellar Systems, Vol. II, The Capture Theory of Cosmical Evolution." In this work he describes his task to "brush aside the erroneous doctrines heretofore current, as one would the accumulated dust and cobwebs of ages..". In 1913 See published "Brief Biography and Popular Account of the Unparalleled Discoveries of T. J. J. See", under the name of William Larkin Webb, essentially destroying any remaining credibility he had in the astronomical community.
See's numerous papers are in the collection of the Library of Congress.
References
- Sherrill, T. J., 1999, Journal of the History of Astronomy, 30, 25: "A Career of Controversy: The Anomoly of T. J. J. See"
- "The Sage of Mare Island" from The Astronomical Scrapbook, Joseph Ashbrook, 1984, Cambridge University Press, pp. 111-115.
- See, T. J. J. 1920, Astronomische Nachrichten, 211, 49: "New Theory of the Aether"
- See, T. J. J. 1910, "Researches on the evolution of the stellar systems: v. 2. The capture theory of cosmical evolution, founded on dynamical principles and illustrated by phenomena observed in the spiral nebulae, the planetary system, the double and multiple stars and clusters and the star-clouds of the Milky Way." T.P. Nichols (Lynn, Mass.)
- Webb, William Larkin, 1913 "Brief Biography and Popular Account of the Unparalleled Discoveries of T. J. J. See" T.P. Nichols & Son (Lynn, Mass.)
- See, T. J. J., 1899, The Astronomical Journal, 20, 56: "Remarks on Mr. Moulton's paper in A.J. 461"
- Moulton, F. R., 1899, The Astronomical Journal, 20, 33: "The limits of temporary stability of satellite motion, with an application to the question of the existence of an unseen body in the binary system 70 Ophiuchi"
- Doolittle, E. R., 1897, The Astronomical Journal, 17, 121: "The orbit of 70 Ophiuchi"
- See, T. J. J. 1896, The Astronomical Journal, 16, 17: "Researches on the orbit of 70 Ophiuchi, and on a periodic perturbation in the motion of the system arising from the action of an unseen body"
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