Charles Olivier and the Rise of Meteor Science

Taibi is a retired clinical and forensic psychologist who has been an amateur astronomer for 58 years. In the last 32 years he has specialized in recording and reporting (almost 10,000) meteor observations to national (American Meteor Society) and international (International Meteor Organization) meteor databases. He has published two astronomers’ biographies (one is Charles P. Olivier in Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, vol.2 and ‘Edwin Forrest Sawyer’ in the IMO’s Journal in 2004) and since 2012, has published eight biographies of amateur astronomers on his blog, Skywatchers. Taibi has intensively studied US astronomy and astronomers both professional and amateur since 2001.

• Chapter 1:Fortunes of War and Peace.- Chapter 2: Virginia's Astronomer.- Chapter 3: Young Charles.- Chapter 4: The1800 Leonids.- Chapter 5: Portrait of the Young Man as an Astronomer.- Chapter 6: Sojourn at Lick Observatory.- Chapter 7: Doctor of Philosophy.- Chapter 8: Starting Out.- Chapter 9: Friends at McCormick Observaotry.- Chapter 10: Society for Practical Astronomy.-  Chapter 11: American Astronomical Society.- Chapter 12: American Association of Variable Star Observers.-Chapter 13: The Weather Bureau.- Chapter 14: Hydrographic Office of the US Navy.- Chapter 15: New Members Join the American Meteor Society, 1915 to 1918.- Chapter 16: Membership Roster 1915-1918.-Chapter 17: Outcomes of Olivier's Membership Efforts, 1911 to 1918.- Chapter 18: Trans-Atlantic Controversy.- Chapter 19: W. F. Denning, A. S. Herschel, and Stationary Radiants.- Chapter 20: The First Assignment: Discredit Stationary Radiants.- Chapter 21: Top Achievers 1914-1925.- Chapter 22:Challenges for Olivier and the American Meteor Society.- Chapter 23: The Rise of Astrophysics.- Chapter 24: Membership roster 1919-1929.- Chapter 25: Advances Made by the American Meteor Society 1919-1929.- Chapter 26: The Best of Times During the Worst of Times.- Chapter 27: The Man at Mid-Life.- Chapter 28: The Astronomer at Mid-Life.- Chapter 29: Organizing Observatory Staff for the Leonids.- Chapter 29: Organizing Observatory stff for the Leonids.- Chapter 30: Membership Roster 1930-1936.- Chapter 31: How the Meteor Quest Was Won.- Chapter 32: What the AMS Accomplished.- Chapter 33: Citizen Scientists Caught Meteor Fever.- Chapter 34: Contemporary Meteor Organizations in the United States.- Chapter 35: Outside the USA: A Survey of Meteor Astronomers and Organizations.- Chapter 36: Summing Up: Olivier at Mid-Life.- Chapter 37: Who Were These Men and Women? Appendices.- Index

“C.P. Olivier is a famous name in the annals of meteor astronomy, and it is a pleasure to learn more about him … . Each chapter is complete with extensive footnotes (some of which even extend for more than half a page), and at the end a list of references. So we have much to thank Richard Taibi for in producing this timely book, which belongs on the bookshelves of all avid visual meteor observers with an interest in history.” (Wayne Orchiston, Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, December, 2017)