George Mary Searle (June 27, 1839 – July 7, 1918) was an American astronomer and Catholic priest.

Biography

He discovered the

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

55 Pandora Pandora (minor planet designation: 55 Pandora) is a fairly large and very bright asteroid in the asteroid belt. Pandora was discovered by American astronomer and Catholic priest George Mary Searle on September 10, 1858, from the Dudley Observato ...

in 1858. He also discovered six

galaxies A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...

. In later life he became a member of the

Paulist Paulists, or Paulines, is the name used for Roman Catholic orders and congregations under the patronage of Paul of Thebes the First Hermit. From the time that the abode and virtues of Paul of Thebes were revealed to Antony the Abbot, various commu ...

order and taught at The Catholic University of America. In 1905, Searle published his idea for a possible reform of the Gregorian Calendar. The plan was to have every new year beginning on Sunday, in order to achieve a perennial calendar. In common years the new calendar would have 52 weeks exactly, or 364 days, with February shortened to 27 days. In leap years, there would be 53 weeks, or 371 days. The extra week would be added as a holiday week, between April and May. Leap years would occur every fifth year, except for years divisible by 50, and except for one other 5th year in 400. The result would be a calendar with 20,871 weeks in 400 years, equal to the Gregorian Calendar. In 1916, he wrote a book denouncing the

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally know ...

of Mary Baker Eddy.

Publications

''Plain Facts for Fair Minds: An Appeal to Candor and Common Sense''
(1900)
''Talks for the Times: Indifferentism, Revelation, the Catholic Church and Science, the Friend of True Progress, the Purpose of Life''
(1912)
''Why the Catholic Church Cannot Accept Socialism''
(1913)
''The Truth About Christian Science''
(1916)

References

* ''The Catholic Encyclopedia and Its Makers'' (1917), p. 157
archive.org
* George M. Searle, C.S.P., "A Possible Calendar," ''The Catholic World, A Monthly Magazine of General Literature and Science'' (Nov. 1 1905), p. 239.

External links

George Mary Searle on Findagrave.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Searle, George Mary 1839 births 1918 deaths American astronomers American Roman Catholic priests Catholic University of America faculty Critics of Christian Science * Discoverers of asteroids Catholic clergy scientists Recipients of the Lalande Prize

Biography

Publications

See also

References

External links