Fletcher Watson

Background

Fletcher Watson was born on April 27, 1912, in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.

Education

In 1933, Fletcher graduated from Pomona College, where he studied Astronomy. Later, in 1938, he attained a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Astronomy from Harvard University.

Career

After graduation from Harvard University, Fletcher joined the Harvard College Observatory, where he researched meteors, meteorites and carried out solar observation. At the time of World War II, he served in the Navy, where he worked on the Long Range Navigation system (LORAN). In 1946, Watson finished his military service with the rank of lieutenant commander. The same year, in 1946, he was appointed a professor of science education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, a position he held until 1977. There, he worked to improve standards for teaching science and for preparing science teachers. Also, in 1966, Fletcher was named Harvard's first Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Education, a post he also held till 1977.

In 1964, Watson established Harvard Project Physics, a national curriculum development project to create a secondary school Physics education program in the United States during the Cold War era. According to this project, Fletcher tested Physics course materials in schools to find out if they had the desired result of increasing interest and enrollment in science courses.

After retirement from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1977, Watson went to work as a professor of education at New York University, where he helped to develop and direct the Project City Sciences, which trained teachers for inner-city schools. Watson also developed the science curriculum, adopted in Nigeria.

Also, during his career, Fletcher authored several writings. His works include "Between the Planets" (1941), "Science in General Education" (with I. B. Cohen, 1952) and "Teaching High School Science" (with P. Brandwein and P. Blackwood, 1958). He also contributed to the World Book Encyclopedia and academic journals.

In addition, he served as a member of the planetarium advisory committee of the Boston Museum of Science and was the committee's first chairman.

Achievements

• Fletcher Watson was a renowned astronomer, educator and author. He gained prominence as a founder of Harvard Project Physics, as well as Project City Sciences at New York University.
  
  Best known among astronomers for writing about his trade for general readers, Watson also helped to develop the Loran long-range global navigation system, while he was in the United States Navy during World War II. Though now aided by satellites, the Loran system is still used today.
  
  Fletcher won a number of awards for teaching and for leadership in science education, including Robert J. Carlson Award, which he received in 1985.
  
  In 1977, he was named an Outstanding Science Teacher by Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Between the planets

    (The Harvard books on astronomy.)

    1941
  • General Education in Science 1952

Connections

Alexander F. Watson, former ambassador and diplomat, is Watson's son.

child:

Alexander F. Watson

colleague:

I. Bernard Cohen