William R. Corliss, American physicist and writer died he was , 84

William Roger Corliss was an American physicist and writer who was known  for his interest in collecting data regarding anomalous phenomena died he was , 84.
Arthur C. Clarke described him as "Fort's latter-day - and much more scientific - successor."

(August 28, 1926 – July 8, 2011)

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:
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

• Propulsion Systems for Spaceflight (1960)
• Radioisotopic Power Generation (with D.G. Harvey; 1964)
• Space Probes and Planetary Exploration (1965)
• Scientific Satellites (1967)
• Mysteries of the Universe (1967)
• Teleoperator Controls (with E.G. Johnsen; 1968)
• Mysteries Beneath the Sea (1970)
• Human Factors Applications in Teleoperator Design and Operation (with Johnsen; 1971)
• History of NASA Sounding Rockets (1971)
• Man and Atom (with Glenn T. Seaborg; 1971)
• History of the Goddard Networks (1972)
• The Interplanetary Pioneers (1972)
• Strange Phenomena: A Sourcebook of Unusual Natural Phenomena (1974)
• Strange Artifacts: A Sourcebook on Ancient Man (1974)
• The Unexplained (1976)
• Strange Life (1976)
• Strange Minds (1976)
• Strange Universe (1977)
• Handbook of Unusual Natural Phenomena (1977)
• Strange Planet (1978)
• Ancient Man: A Handbook of Puzzling Artifacts (1978)
• Mysterious Universe: A Handbook of Astronomical Anomalies (1979)
• Unknown Earth: A Handbook of Geological Enigmas (1980)
• Wind Tunnels of NASA (1981)
• Incredible Life: A Handbook of Biological Mysteries (1981)
• The Unfathomed Mind: A Handbook of Unusual Mental Phenomena (1982)
• Lightning, Auroras, Nocturnal Lights, and Related Luminous Phenomena (1982)
• Tornados, Dark Days, Anomalous Precipitation, and Related Weather Phenomena (1983)
• Earthquakes, Tides, Unidentified Sounds, and Related Phenomena (1983)
• Rare Halos, Mirages, Anomalous Rainbows, and Related Electromagnetic Phenomena (1984)
• The Moon and the Planets (1985)
• The Sun and Solar System Debris (1986)
• Stars, Galaxies, Cosmos (1987)
• Carolina Bays, Mima Mounds, Submarine Canyons (1988)
• Anomalies in Geology: Physical, Chemical, Biological (1989)
• Neglected Geological Anomalies (1990)
• Inner Earth: A Search for Anomalies (1991)
• Biological Anomalies: Humans I (1992)
• Biological Anomalies: Humans II (1993)
• Biological Anomalies: Humans III (1994)
• Science Frontiers: Some Anomalies and Curiosities of Nature (1994)
• Biological Anomalies: Mammals I (1995)
• Biological Anomalies: Mammals II (1996)
• Biological Anomalies: Birds (1998)
• Ancient Infrastructure: Remarkable Roads, Mines, Walls, Mounds, Stone Circles: A Catalog of Archeological Anomalies (1999)
• Ancient Structures: Remarkable Pyramids, Forts, Towers, Stone Chambers, Cities, Complexes: A Catalog of Archeological Anomalies (2001)
• Remarkable Luminous Phenomena in Nature: A Catalog of Geophysical Anomalies (2001)
• Scientific Anomalies and other Provocative Phenomena (2003)
• Archeological Anomalies: Small Artifacts (2003)
• Archeological Anomalies: Graphic Artifacts I (2005)

 

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