Croll, James, 1821-1890

James Croll was born on January 2, 1821, in St. Martin’s, Perthshire, Scotland.

He was a Scottish scientist who developed an astronomical theory of climate change. He linked climate change, our planet’s ice ages, and astronomy, proposing that climate change is caused by periodic changes in the amount of energy our planet receives from the sun. With a little schooling and entirely self-taught in physics, celestial mechanics, and philosophy, he formulated his visionary ideas and began publishing serious scientific papers while working as a janitor of Anderson College in Glasgow. The college had an excellent library where Croll had access to academic books for the first time in his life. In 1864, he wrote “On the Physical Cause of the Change of Climate During Glacial Epochs”, looking at the effects of the eccentricity of the earth’s orbit on ice ages. The book made his name well-known in scientific circles. In 1867, Croll accepted a job in Edinburgh as secretary and accountant to the Scottish Geological Survey. In 1875, he wrote his major book “Climate and Time”. In 1876, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society and an Honorary Member of the New York Academy of Sciences. The University of St. Andrews awarded him an honorary degree. Despite retiring in 1880, Croll continued writing, publishing “Discussions on Climate and Cosmology” in 1886, “Stellar Evolution and its Relations to Geologic Time” in 1889, and “The Philosophical Basis of Evolution” in 1890.

In 1848, he married Isabella MacDonald (1828–1913). He died on December 15, 1890, in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland.