Garrett Putman Serviss

Born in Sharon Springs, New York, in 1851, Garrett Putnam Serviss studied science at Cornell University and went on to become a journalist, lecturer, and popular writer on astronomy. He is remembered for making complex ideas feel approachable to general readers at a time when public interest in science was rapidly growing.

Serviss wrote widely on the night sky and space, with books such as Astronomy with an Opera-Glass, Pleasures of the Telescope, and Astronomy in a Nutshell. He also played an early role in science fiction, and is especially noted for Edison's Conquest of Mars, a sequel-inspired adventure that helped link popular science writing with speculative storytelling.

Across both nonfiction and fiction, his work had a clear purpose: to spark curiosity. He died in 1929, but his writing still captures the excitement of discovery and the era when astronomy was opening up to everyday readers.