Author: Stella Cottam

Stella Cottam has B.S. degrees in physics and medical technology from Fordham University and the University of Nevada, respectively, an M.S. in library science from the University of Kentucky, a Master of Astronomy from the University of Western Sydney in Australia, and a Ph.D. through the Centre for Astronomy at James Cook University in Australia. Her thesis topic was “The Popularization of Astronomy in the United States of America Subsequent to the Transits of Venus of 1874 and 1882 and the Total Solar Eclipses of 1868, 1869 and 1878” and her supervisors were Wayne Orchiston and Richard Stephenson. She has worked as a microbiologist at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky (USA). Wayne Orchiston is an Associate Professor in the Center for Astronomy at James Cook University (Australia), where he supervises a large pool of off-campus Ph.D. students and carries out research on the history of Australian, English, French, Indian, New Zealand and U. S. astronomy. Healso edits the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage.