death_date death_place birth_place nationality field work_institutions birth_date residence article_title name alma_mater
18 november 1956 ontario , canada ontario , canada canadian astronomy , physics and mathematics university of toronto 31 may 1865 toronto , canada clarence chant
 clarence chant university of toronto
clarence chant

clarence augustus chant -lrb- may 31 , 1865 -- november 18 , 1956 -rrb- was a canadian astronomer and physicist .
he was born in hagermans corners , ontario to christopher chant and elizabeth croft .
in 1882 he attended markham high school , where he demonstrated a mathematical ability .
after graduation he attended st. catherines collegiate institute and york county model school in toronto .
he left to work as an instructor in 1884 , and taught at maxwell , osprey township for the following three years .
by 1887 he began studying mathematics and physics at the university college of the university of toronto .
upon graduation in 1890 he became a civil servant in ottawa , working as a temporary clerk in the office of the auditor general .
due to the limited prospects his stay at this job was brief , however , and in 1891 he was offered a fellowship at university of toronto , where he gained an appointment as a lecturer of physics the following year .
while working at the university he became interested in astronomy , and in 1892 he joined what would become the royal astronomical society of canada .
he served as president of the organization from 1904 until 1907 , and also performed editing duties for the society 's journal until 1956 .
he also contributed articles to the journal and the annual `` observer 's handbook '' .
in 1894 he married jean laidlaw , and the couple would have two daughters and a son .
he earned his master 's degree in 1900 , and was granted a leave of absence to study for a doctorate at harvard university .
he returned to toronto with his ph.d. in 1901 as a professor .
in 1905 he introduced optical astronomy courses at the university of toronto , and was the sole astronomer at the university until 1924 .
he lobbied the city of toronto for an observatory , but the project was shelved with the advent of world war i .
during his career he joined five expeditions to observe solar eclipses , including the 1922 expedition that tested einstein 's theory that light could be deflected by a massive body .
he performed early investigations into x-ray photography .
in 1928 he published the book `` our wonderful universe '' .
finally in 1935 , after many years of labor and the financial backing of the family of mining executive david alexander dunlap , his dreams of a world-class observatory for canada were achieved with the opening of the david dunlap observatory .
he retired from the university when the observatory opened , and moved into the observatory house , richmond hill .
he died at 91 years of age during the november 1956 lunar eclipse while still residing at the observatory house .
