The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Holden, Edward Singleton

HOLDEN, Edward Singleton, American astronomer: b. Saint Louis, Mo., 5 Nov. 1846; d. 16 March 1914. He was graduated at Washington University in 1866, and at the United States Military Academy in 1870; was professor of mathematics at the Naval Academy in 1873-81; and director of the Washburn Observatory (Madison, Wis.) in 1881-85. In 1885-87 he was president of the University of California and in 1888-98 director of the Lick Observatory, on Mount Hamilton, San José, Cal. It was in connection with the Lick Observatory that his most important work was done, and his services to astronomy found recognition in America and from European states. Most of the buildings and instruments at the Lick Observatory were designed by him. He became librarian of the United States Military Academy in 1901. Among his publications are ‘Bastion System of Fortification’ (1872); ‘Index Catalogue of Nebulæ’ (1877); ‘Life of Sir William Herschel’ (1881); ‘Astronomy’ (with S. Newcomb, 1892); ‘Mountain Observatories’ (1896); ‘Essays in Astronomy’ (1900); ‘Elementary Astronomy’ (1900); ‘The Sciences’ (1903); ‘Galileo’ (1905).