Franklin & Marshall College

Conducted in October 2003 by Lynn Krantz

"One of the best things that ever happened to me was that my Dad got drafted into the Navy in World War II." Mike Seeds

A strange statement? Not when you put it all together. Michael August Seeds was born in Danville, IL (home of such other greats as Dick and Jerry Van Dyke and Gene Hackman). He knew by the 6th grade that astronomy was his career of choice. Encouraged by his science teacher, Mr. Davidson, and inspired by a group of both adults and kids in the Danville Astronomical Society, he never changed his direction.

The Navy made Mike's Dad into a radio operator during the war and he came back a ham radio enthusiast. Father and son worked on the radio together. It was during this time that Mike learned to solder. There was much soldering involved with the ham radio rig up and his Dad taught him to become quite good at soldering. It served him well during the next phase of his life.

Unable to afford just any college or university, Mike went to the University of Illinois, only 30 minutes from home. He lived in a boarding house run by Mrs. Beck, who preferred to rent to engineers. His contact with his house mates helped him focus and stay organized during college. But, it was his expertise at soldering that landed Mike a job in the University of Illinois High Energy Physics Electronics Shop working with electric circuits and individual transistors, the very latest in technology. He was so good that he kept the job for his entire four year college career, ending up in charge of the Electronics Shop when he graduated.

No funds were available for grad school, but, soldering came to his rescue again. Indiana University was interested in him for an assistantship due to his electronics experience. He also received a NSF fellowship and ultimately received his PhD from IU in 1970.

Mike heard about a new astronomy position at Franklin and Marshall and in January of 1970, came to campus to meet with Joe Holzinger, professor of mathematics. The campus had just experienced an extraordinary snow storm and the weather was bitter cold. Joe took Mike out to Baker campus to the observatory where they sat and shivered in the unheated building for over 3 hours while Holzinger picked his brain. He asked Mike his opinion about telescopes, teaching ideas, and a variety of astronomical issues. Later, when Mike got the call from Don Western offering him the job, he was told..."oh, by the way, we got that telescope you recommended." Mike was astonished! It was a $50,000 telescope. But, it was a good choice as it is still in use at the Grundy Observatory today.

Asked what his greatest challenge at F&M was, Seeds replied, "walking into the classroom that first day." He had never taught a class in his life, mainly because they wouldn't let him do any teaching at Indiana because he was so valuable in the shop. So, with text and notes in hand he walked into class for the first time with no experience. Needless to say, he has come a long way from that first classroom experience and is highly respected for his knowledge of his subject and his excellent teaching style.

Holzinger and Seeds worked on a lab book, Lab Experiments in Astronomy, that was published by MacMillan. It took years to write and was a lot of work, and Joe and Mike laughingly referred to anybody who would take on the challenge of writing an actual textbook as an "idiot!" Mike went on to eat those words! Contacted by Wadsworth publishing he was asked to write an astronomy textbook. Mike declined at first, saying it was too much work. Wadsworth pointed out to him that he was scheduled for a one year sabbatical and he could write the book during that time. Mike accepted and four years later, in 1981, Horizons was published. The rest, as they say, is history!

Horizons is in its 11th edition. His second text, Foundations of Astronomy is in its 9th edition, Astronomy: The Solar System and Beyond in its 3rd edition. Stars and Galaxies and The Solar System both have second editions. That is a total of 27 editions over the past 20 years. He even appeared on the Today show with Jane Pauley and Bryant Gumbel to discuss astronomy and his books. Not bad for an "idiot"! Oh, and Horizons has been the number one, best selling college astronomy textbook for the past five years. Not bad at all. Mike gives credit for the success of his books to the fact that a picture of his wife, Janet and his daughter, Kate, appear in every edition of every book.

I could talk to Mike Seeds for hours and hours. He is a truly interesting person. One reason for that is he has thousands of stories and being a voracious reader is very knowledgeable on all sorts of subjects. He and Janet have just moved into a new house out west (West Hempfield Twp) and are looking forward to filling the new bookshelves they have installed. They both adore reading and traveling. Mike is a geology buff and enjoys attending geology conferences and talking and swapping microscopic minerals with others. In fact, he says, geology is the family hobby, enjoyed by both parents and daughter, who has recently started a job as a professional geologist. Other plans for the future? Travel. Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Vermont, the Shenandoah Valley and beyond. Hiking, visiting botanical gardens...the list could go on and on.

And to think, he owes it all to soldering!