Jim Scala: Professional Amateur Astronomer

Lou Epstein, author of the best selling Relativity Visualized, introduces me as "the only professional amateur astronomer he knows".  Do my astronomical activities  confirm Lou's introduction?

I've always been an amateur astronomer and have read Sky and Telescope since 1949.  I am past President of The Mt. Diablo Astronomical Society and a director emeritus of The Astronomical Society of The Pacific.

I read S&T, Astronomy, Double Star Observer,  Amateur Astronomy and the Astrograph. I belong to several imaging groups on the internet and  like to attend imaging and photometry conferences.

Jim Scala: Retired Nutritionist & Author

My observatory picture proves that I am 72.  I am a nutritional biochemist by education,  an author by avocation and an amateur astronomer by choice.  During my career I was privileged to be involved with projects that  and extended human frontiers,  They included the Apollo program, three Mt. Everest expeditions, serving on the Sports Medicine Council of the US Olympic Ski Team for two Olympic games and aviation's final frontier, the Voyager Flight among others.

I received my B.A. from Columbia University as  Korean Veteran, a Ph.D. from Cornell University as a US Public Health Service fellow, and did Post-Doctoral Studies at Harvard and the University of Indiana.  In 2000, I proudly received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) from Hofstra University. 

I authored or co-authored over 50 research papers on aspects of nutrition and biochemistry and taught those subjects at several universities, including UC Berkeley and  Georgetown Medical School.

Nancy Scala

Nancy enjoys sketching and painting with watercolors.  Her art reveals her love of nature; especially through her paintings of flowers and birds.  Nancy studied mathematics in college and worked briefly as an actuary.  We met while I was home on Christmas leave from the Air force in 1955 and were married in 1957 after my first year in college.  We have four children, Jim, Greg, Nancy and Kim and five grandchildren, Julianna and Kyra ScalaScala,  John Scala, Blaine and  Austin Wampler.

Nancy and I are retired sailors; we owned and sailed a  Ketch (53' LOA) out of San Francisco Bay, but sold it having decided not to go cruising.  We  still enjoy cruising vacations and bare-boat charters in the Caribbean.  Nancy is an excellent sailor and a gourmet cook whether it's at home in her bright kitchen or the galley of  a sailboat.