Robert S. Richardson
American astronomer and writer (1902–1981)
Robert Shirley Richardson (April 22, 1902 – November 12, 1981) was an American astronomer, born in Kokomo, Indiana. He also published science fiction using the pseudonym Philip Latham.
Career
Philip Latham can support the suppositions that are the basis of his science fiction novels with accepted scientific theories. For he's an author who's in the business of "watching the stars." An astronomer at Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories since 1931, he started writing for magazines in the early forties. His work won such wide respect that he now has a college textbook on astronomy to his credit. Movie producers as well as publishers find Mr. Latham's experience too good to pass up. He has given technical assistance to a number of studios on pictures such as Destination Moon, and he has written an article describing the work on the science fiction thriller When Worlds Collide.
— From the back flap of the dust jacket on Five Against Venus.
In his professional role he wrote about 10 books on astronomy.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Robert S. Richardson” is american astronomer and writer (1902–1981). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Robert, Richardson and American, not as a finished interpretation.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7349498. VIAF identifies the subject as 22658830. The Library of Congress control number is n84806278. 4 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1902, 1981 and 1931.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Robert S. Richardson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.