Greetings family, friends and neighbors. I've been fortunate to cross paths with many interesting people during the past eight decades. Today's ramble is about William Hartmann who continues to make an impact on the way we look at our world....and beyond. Bill
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WILLIAM K. HARTMANN - Planetary Scientist, Artist, Author
Bill Hartmann was an assistant professor of astronomy and a
research scientist when I crossed paths with him in 1972 as one of
the members of the production team on his first college textbook,
Moons and Planets. With multiple degrees in science, physics, and
astronomy from the University of Arizona, his theory had been
recognized by the scientific mainstream that the Earth had once
been hit by a planet sized body creating our moon as well as
establishing the Earths 23.5 degree tilt. Hartmann’s credentials in
the 1970’s included working on the Mariner 9 Mars mapping
project and being an accomplished artist creating stunning award
winning paintings of planetary landscapes often including visiting
earthling explorers. Experienced in assessing photographs, he had
been a member of the University of Colorado Unidentified Flying
Object Project sponsored by the U.S. Air Force to evaluate
photographic evidence of UFO’s collected since the 1950’s, and
was called on by the House Select Committee to evaluate the film
and photos of the Kennedy assassination.
In the five decades since the publication of his second Wadsworth
Publishing Company textbook, Astronomy: The Cosmic Journey,
William K. Hartmann has written and illustrated many popular
scientific titles, short fiction and novels, consulted on Mars
missions for NASA, and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
He’s received numerous awards and honors for his extensive body
of work including the Carl Sagan Medal for Excellence in Public
Communication in Planetary Science.
Asteroid 3341 was named “Hartmann” in honor of his research on
the evolution of the solar system.
Vintage 1910 postcard “Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton, near San Jose,
California, elevation 4443 feet”
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