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James Lick
(25 Aug 1796 - 1 Oct 1876)
American businessman and philanthropist who placed $700,000 in trust to build the Lick Observatory at the summit of Mount Hamilton, near San Jose, California. His final resting place was under the future home of the Great Lick Refracting Telescope. When built, it was the world’s largest and most powerful telescope.
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Science Quotes by James Lick (2 quotes)
A powerful telescope superior to and more powerful than any telescope ever yet made … and also, a suitable Observatory connected therewith … and shall be made useful in promoting science.
— James Lick
From Third Deed of Trust (1874). Excepted in 'Formal Recognition of the Transfer of the Lick Observatory to the Board of Regents of the University', Annual Report of the Secretary to the Board of Regents of the University of California For the Year Ending June 30, 1888, 125.
No, sir! I intend to rot like a gentleman.
— James Lick
Rejecting the suggestion of cremation, and wishing to be entombed below the Great Lick Telescope he had funded. As stated in Donald E. Osterbrock, James E. Keeler: Pioneer American Astrophysicist: And the Early Development of American Astrophysics (1985), 53.
See also:
- 25 Aug - short biography, births, deaths and events on date of Lick's birth.
- James Lick’s Monument: The Saga of Captain Richard Floyd and the Building of the Lick Observatory, by Helen Wright. - book suggestion.
In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.
(1987) -- 
