Cyril G. Wates

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia.
Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions.(December 2007)

Cyril G. Wates (1884 – 1946) was born in England and immigrated to Edmonton, Canada in 1909 where he worked for a local telephone company as an engineer. In 1916, he joined the Alpine Club of Canada and would go on to climb more than fifty peaks. He was among the first expedition to ascend of Mt. Geikie in the Canadian Rockies, responsible for the Alpine Club’s book “Songs for Canadian Climbers” and named Mt. Minotaur located in British Columbia, south of Geikie Creek. He served as president of the Club from 1938 to1941 and oversaw the construction of a cabin in the Toquin Valley in Jasper National Park in Alberta, that is now known as the Wates-Gibson Hut

Wates was an accomplished amateur astronomer who served as president of Edmonton Center of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. He also wrote for academic journals and magazines such as Scientific American and was awarded the Chant Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada for “furthering the interests of astronomy in Canada” through his work in 1943. The year before, Wates had produced a 12.5 inch that he donated to the University of Alberta for their future observatory. The University now offers the Cyril G. Wates Memorial Prize and Scholarship for mathematics.

With a passion for science, it is little surprise that Wates’ interests lent themselves to his writing. His first story, The Visitation, was published in 1927 in Amazing Stories as winner of the $500 Cover Prize Contest. Although his last published piece appeared in 1930, it is evident that his interest in the budding genre of science fiction remained as his letters appeared in the magazine until 1935.

[edit] Short Stories and Novellas

(1927) The Visitation Amazing Stories June
(1929) The Face of Isis Amazing Stories March
(1929) Gold Dust and Star Dust Amazing Stories Sept
(1930) A Modern Prometheus Amazing Stories Quarterly Fall
(1930) Letter (Amazing Stories, February)
(1934) Letter (Amazing Stories, January)
(1935) Letter (Amazing Stories, August)