Book Review: Mr. Olcott’s Skies: An Old Book and a Youthful Obsession
November 2025 :
Mr. Olcott’s Skies: An Old Book and a Youthful Obsession
by Thomas Watson, Phoenix: Desert Stars Publishing, 2012, ISBN 978-1475138689, softbound, $9.99 US
Reviewed by Francine Jackson
Recently, Rich Lynch gave a great talk on William Tyler Olcott, active amateur astronomer and a founder of the AAVSO. What Mr. Olcott might not have known was the number of people whom he introduced the concept of sky watching. One of them is Thomas Watson.
When he was a child, an ear infection indirectly introduced Warson to the night sky, as his father bundled him up to show him the sky before traveling to work. That resulted in his receiving a “Satellite Chaser,” a small refractor that opened the sky like never before. Needing more information, he found William Tyler Olcott’s Field Book of the Skies in the library; however, there was a problem – it couldn’t be checked out. Young Watson had to, in the library, copy the pages he needed for the constellations he would be observing. He then had to return whenever the stars moved and continue his work. With this information, Watson was able to become familiar with the sky from his backyard. To him, being outside, alone in the dark, alone in his yard, with just his telescope, filled most of his evenings
Unfortunately, after graduating from high school, Watson left his chilly nights and his telescope behind. College found him with other interests, and he left his telescope in the box, to sit and wait for him to return. Family moves, various jobs, and marriage took precedence, until the 2003 opposition of Mars, and a trip to the Flandrau Planetarium for a program and telescope observation. His interest returned.
Coming home, Watson dug out his telescope from the closet and set it up in his yard. He called this his “cosmic comeback tour,” and he and his wife began to spend nights outside, alone with the sky. And, now, as an adult with a job, he was able to purchase his own copy of Alcott’s Field Book. He also bought a larger telescope, and began to participate in regional star parties. Amateur astronomy was now a social event, what he had never known in his high school days. He also became enamored with double stars, as written in Olcott’s book.
Mr. Olcott’s Skies is a story of a young man who, by being shown the beauty of the sky, spent years observing it. Then, as he aged, it became a part of his past, until a fascinating celestial occurrence reopened his eyes to the celestial sphere. Mr. Watson, in his short biography, introduces the concept of a book introducing him to a fascinating hobby which, although it disappeared for many years, returned and is once again a part of his life. It also shows the power of a book, such as Olcott’s, which in itself is still worth reading. Hopefully, Rick Lynch, in his talk on Mr. Olcott, will make you all interested in reading his guide, and seeing how it can influence a young child to spend quality time in the dark.
