Venturing into the Terra Incognita: John ‘Jack’ Eddy and the Rise of a Solar Dilettante

During the early 1970s, after being fired by the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO, American astrophysicist John “Jack” Eddy returned to the East Coast to launch what at the time constituted a unique and peculiar research agenda.  His goal: resuscitate a little-explored irregularity in solar behavior that coincided with the Little Ice Age, what he would come to call the Maunder Minimum.  While peculiar, his efforts paid off, and he would become one of the most recognized names in astrophysical research.  

 

While Eddy often used his sunspot research to showcase the value of exploring what he later termed the terra incognita of science, this talk uncovers a far richer story about his parallel efforts to exploit history itself to shape his identity as a solar physicist.  From comparing his willingness to chart new interdisciplinary paths to the efforts of famous American pioneers Lewis and Clark to relating his own reflections on the nature of dilettante-science to the unique and forgotten astronomical work of Thomas Edison to his use of Edward Maunder’s sunspot research to highlight the value of creativity and courage in scientific labors, this talk shows how Eddy ably exploited the annals of history to justify his own skepticism of the oft-repeated assumptions built into professional science.  

 

For further information, please contact: Tom Lassman at 202-633-2419; lassmant@si.edu.

 

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