Donald Olson (astronomer)
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Donald W. Olson is an astrophysicist and forensic astronomer at the
Texas State University Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...
. Nicknamed the "Celestial Sleuth," he is known for studying art and history using astronomical data. He is currently regents
professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
at Texas State's Department of Physics.


Education

Olson received a
B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
in physics from
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
. Upon graduating, he was awarded the Thomas H. Osgood Undergraduate Physics Award. He later studied at University of California-Berkeley, where he received his
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
. Olson went on to study at
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
and
University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
, before taking up a teaching position at
Texas State University Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...
in 1981.


Career

Olson began his career studying the
theory of relativity The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in ...
and creating computer simulations of astronomical phenomena such as the distribution of galaxies or radiation near black holes. He became well known for his work in the field of
forensic astronomy Forensic astronomy is the use of astronomy, the scientific study of celestial objects, to determine the appearance of the sky at specific times in the past. This has been used, if relatively rarely, in forensic science (that is, for solving problem ...
, often in collaboration with fellow astrophysicist Russell Doescher. Their work has also studied how astronomy has impacted events such as battles and historical decisions. In 2004, he and Doescher suggested that the traditionally accepted date for the
Battle of Marathon The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. The battle was the culmination of ...
was incorrect, taking place on August 12, rather than the traditionally accepted date of September 12. In 2008, he and Doescher published a paper claiming to have found the precise date and location of Julius Caesar's landing in Britain. Olson's team also attempted to recreate the timeline of
Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic fiction, Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of scie ...
's inspiration to write ''
Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ex ...
'', which the author claimed occurred during a moonlit night but which historians had traditionally dismissed. Based on the team's findings, Shelley likely did experience a moonlit night on June 16, 1816, the date on which she conceived of ''Frankenstein''. Olson received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2011. In 2012, Olson led a team of researchers who studied whether the
sinking of the Titanic The sank in the early morning hours of 15 April 1912 in the North Atlantic Ocean, four days into her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. The largest ocean liner in service at the time, ''Titanic'' had an estimated 2,224 peo ...
may have been caused by a lunar event. At the time of the sinking on January 4, 1912, the moon was simultaneously at
perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any ellip ...
and in line with the Sun, producing a rare
spring tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ca ...
that may have pushed ice bergs into the path of the ship. This was the closest approach to Earth made by the moon in 1,440 years. Olson was awarded the 2014 Klopsteg Memorial Lecture Award by the
American Association of Physics Teachers The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) was founded in 1930 for the purpose of "dissemination of knowledge of physics, particularly by way of teaching." There are more than 10,000 members in over 30 countries. AAPT publications includ ...
. He has authored papers on historically significant astronomical events such as the
1913 Great Meteor Procession The 1913 Great Meteor Procession occurred on February 9, 1913. It was a meteoric phenomenon reported from locations across Canada, the northeastern United States, and Bermuda, and from many ships at sea, including eight off Brazil, giving a tota ...
. He has also studied the astronomical conditions which inspired unusual paintings and photographs by artists such as
Johannes Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , , #Pronunciation of name, see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque Period Painting, painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle class, middle-class life. ...
,
Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...
,
Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...
, and
Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association of photographers advoca ...
, as well as exactly when they would have been created. Other research has studied descriptions of astronomical phenomena in literary works like ''
The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''Masterpiece, ...
'' or ''
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage ''Childe Harold's Pilgrimage'' is a long narrative poem in four parts written by Lord Byron. The poem was published between 1812 and 1818. Dedicated to " Ianthe", it describes the travels and reflections of a world-weary young man, who is dis ...
''. He wrote the book ''Celestial Sleuth'', which was published by
Springer Springer or springers may refer to: Publishers * Springer Science+Business Media, aka Springer International Publishing, a worldwide publishing group founded in 1842 in Germany formerly known as Springer-Verlag. ** Springer Nature, a multinationa ...
in 2014. The book explores the historical significance of astronomical phenomena in world history, as well as analyzing historical descriptions of astronomical events. He has criticized some
archaeoastronomical Archaeoastronomy (also spelled archeoastronomy) is the interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary study of how people in the past "have understood the phenomena in the sky, how they used these phenomena and what role the sky played in their cult ...
theories, such as the idea that the Norse myth of
Ragnarök In Norse mythology, (; non, Ragnarǫk) is a series of events, including a great battle, foretelling the death of numerous great figures (including the gods Odin, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdallr, and Loki), natural disasters, and the submers ...
was inspired by the
Hyades star cluster The Hyades (; Greek Ὑάδες, also known as Caldwell 41, Collinder 50, or Melotte 25) is the nearest open cluster and one of the best-studied star clusters. Located about away from the Sun, it consists of a roughly spherical group of hundreds ...
. In 2022, he published ''Investigating Art, History, and Literature with Astronomy'' as part of the Springer Praxis series.


Bibliography

* 2022. ''Investigating Art, History, and Literature with Astronomy''. Springer. * 2014. ''Celestial Sleuth''. Springer.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olson, Donald Living people Texas State University faculty American astrophysicists American astronomers American historians of science Year of birth missing (living people)