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William R. Corliss Information

William Roger Corliss (August 28, 1926 – July 8, 2011)[1] was an American physicist and writer who was known[2] for his interest in collecting data regarding anomalous phenomena. Arthur C. Clarke described him as "Fort's latter-day - and much more scientific - successor."[3]

Contents

Biography

Starting in 1974, Corliss published a number of works in the "Sourcebook Project". Each volume was devoted to a scientific field (archeology, astronomy, geology, et cetera) and featured articles culled almost exclusively from scientific journals. Corliss was inspired by Charles Fort, who decades earlier also collected reports of unusual phenomena. Unlike Fort, Corliss offered little in the way of his own opinions or editorial comments, preferring to let the articles speak for themselves. Corliss quoted all relevant parts of articles (often reprinting entire articles or stories, including illustrations). Many of the articles in Corliss's works were earlier mentioned in Charles Fort's works.

In his book Unexplained!, Jerome Clark describes Corliss as "essentially conservative in outlook". He explains, "Corliss [is] more interested in unusual weather, ball lighting, geophysical oddities, extraordinary mirages, and the like — in short, anomalies that, while important in their own right, are far less likely to outrage mainstream scientists than those that delighted Fort, such as UFOs, monstrous creatures, or other sorts of extraordinary events and entities."[4] Arthur C. Clarke said:

“ Unlike Fort, Corliss selected his material almost exclusively from scientific journals like Nature and Science, not newspapers, so it has already been subjected to a filtering process which would have removed most hoaxes and reports from obvious cranks. Nevertheless, there is much that is quite baffling in some of these reports from highly reputable sources.[3] ”

Corliss wrote many other books and articles, notably including 13 educational books about astronomy, outer space and space travel for NASA and a similar number for the Atomic Energy Commission and the National Science Foundation.[5]

Bibliography

Books published include:[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "William R(oger) Corliss". Contemporary Authors Online. Gale. July 3, 2002. Retrieved on August 6, 2008.
  2. ^ William J. Broad. "The science corps wants a few more good heretics". The New York Times. October 16, 1983. A18.
  3. ^ a b Clarke, Arthur C. (1990) Astounding Days: A Science Fictional Autobiography. Gollancz. Page 110
  4. ^ Jerome Clark. "Sourcebook Project" Unexplained!. Detroit: Visible Ink Press, 466-7.
  5. ^ Adrian Hope. "Finding a Home for Stray Fact". New Scientist. July 14, 1977. 83.

External links

Persondata
Name Corliss, William R.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth 1926-08-28
Place of birth Stanford, Connecticut
Date of death 2011-07-08
Place of death

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