Dennis Rawlins
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Dennis Rawlins (1940? -) American astronomer, historian, and publisher, known for his intellect and acerbic wit.
[edit] Polar Controversies
While studying historical magnetic declination data in polar regions, Rawlins was surprised to find that there was no such data from the 1909 expedition of Robert E. Peary, eventually leading him to become skeptical of Peary's claim to have reached the North Pole. In 1973, Rawlins wrote "Peary at the North Pole: Fact or Fiction?" (Washington: Luce) which was the first scientific examination of the issue that concluded that neither Peary nor his rival Frederick A. Cook had reached the Pole.
In 1997, after examining the newly-discovered diary of Richard E. Byrd -- which contained erased but still legible sextant altitudes at critical points -- Rawlins also concluded that Byrd's effort had also fallen short.
[edit] Publisher
In the 1980's, Rawlins had a major dispute with Michael Hoskin, editor of the Journal for the History of Astronomy, over the quality of JHA's refereeing standards. When it became clear that Hoskin would no longer publish Rawlins' work, he founded his own journal, DIO, the International Journal of Scientific History in 1991. Since that time, Rawlins has used the pages of DIO both as an outlet for his scientific work and as a forum to lampoon his rivals.
[edit] External links
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