Humans have gazed at the night sky for thousands of years, and found it pretty interesting. They learned that you could navigate using the celestial map and, over time, also learned that certain events could be predicted. These learned people were quite prized by their brethren, and their endeavors helped advance our understanding of the world.
a German pastor who made two major discoveries in the early days of telescopic astronomy, jointly with his eldest son, Johannes Fabricius. Fabricius discovered the first known periodic variable star (as opposed to cataclysmic variables, such as novas and supernovas), Mira, in August 1596.
a Frisian/German astronomer and a discoverer of sunspots (in 1610), independently of Galileo Galilei. Copies of a map he made of Frisia in 1589 are still extant.
an English astronomer to King George IV. Between 1821 and 1829 he worked to site, plan and develop the observatory, which was the first astronomical observatory in the southern hemisphere, and catalogued over 300 stars from his observatory in South Africa.
a French astronomer, who studied comets, discovering several. His work covered the entire field of astronomical investigation. It comprised the determination of comet periods, the measurement of parallaxes, and the study of stellar and planetary movements. He also studied the physics of the sun.
a Scottish astronomer, instrument and globe maker. It is, as the inventor and improver of astronomical and other scientific apparatus, that he claims a place among the most remarkable men of science of his country. In 1734 he went to Edinburgh, where he began to make portraits in miniature, by which means, while engaged in his scientific studies, he support...
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a Scottish astronomer, instrument and globe maker. It is, as the inventor and improver of astronomical and other scientific apparatus, that he claims a place among the most remarkable men of science of his country. In 1734 he went to Edinburgh, where he began to make portraits in miniature, by which means, while engaged in his scientific studies, he supported himself and his family for many years.
an American astronomer and engineer (he helped build the Erie canal) born in Scotland who made the first discovery of an asteroid from North America (31 Euphrosyne). Starting in 1847, he worked at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, DC. The asteroid 1745 Ferguson, discovered from the same observatory, was later named in his honour.
an English astronomer and the first Astronomer Royal. His main achievements were the preparation of a 3,000-star catalogue, Catalogus Britannicus, and a star atlas called Atlas Coelestis, both published posthumously. He also made the first recorded observations of Uranus, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a star, and he laid the foundatio...
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an English astronomer and the first Astronomer Royal. His main achievements were the preparation of a 3,000-star catalogue, Catalogus Britannicus, and a star atlas called Atlas Coelestis, both published posthumously. He also made the first recorded observations of Uranus, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a star, and he laid the foundation stone for the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
a French astronomer. He discovered the "Great Comet of 1811" (C/1811 F1), and independently co-discovered the "Great Comet of 1807" (C/1807 R1). In attempting to measure the rotation period of Mars, he noted inconsistencies in timing of yellow-colored features and concluded he was seeing atmospheric features rather than surface features. Therefore, some cred...
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a French astronomer. He discovered the "Great Comet of 1811" (C/1811 F1), and independently co-discovered the "Great Comet of 1807" (C/1807 R1). In attempting to measure the rotation period of Mars, he noted inconsistencies in timing of yellow-colored features and concluded he was seeing atmospheric features rather than surface features. Therefore, some credit him with the discovery of dust clouds on Mars, however this is in dispute since his telescope was probably too small to accomplish this. In addition to astronomy, he was active in medicine and archaeology, studying the maladies suffered by workers in the wool industry and organizing archaeological excavation at Alba-la-Romaine. A crater on Mars is named after him.
a German optician, known for discovering the dark absorption lines known as Fraunhofer lines in the Sun's spectrum, and for making excellent optical glass and achromatic telescope objectives.
a French mathematician, astronomer, and meteorologist. He was born and died in Périgueux, France. He is best known for being an (independent) co-discoverer of the Frenet–Serret formulas. He also was director of an astronomical observatory at Lyon. He wrote six out of the nine formulas, which at that time were not expressed in vector notation, nor using li...
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a French mathematician, astronomer, and meteorologist. He was born and died in Périgueux, France. He is best known for being an (independent) co-discoverer of the Frenet–Serret formulas. He also was director of an astronomical observatory at Lyon. He wrote six out of the nine formulas, which at that time were not expressed in vector notation, nor using linear algebra. In 1856 his calculus primer was first published, which ran through seven editions.
a German-Hungarian astronomer, maskil, mathematician, and rabbi. Friesenhausen was one of the first proponents of Torah im Derech Eretz, a philosophy of Orthodox Judaism that formalizes a relationship between traditionally observant Judaism and the modern world. He proposed a dual curriculum of Jewish and secular studies for all rabbinic candidates, a radica...
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a German-Hungarian astronomer, maskil, mathematician, and rabbi. Friesenhausen was one of the first proponents of Torah im Derech Eretz, a philosophy of Orthodox Judaism that formalizes a relationship between traditionally observant Judaism and the modern world. He proposed a dual curriculum of Jewish and secular studies for all rabbinic candidates, a radically innovative idea at that time. Friesenhausen wrote Mosedot Tebel and Kelil Heshbon. In the former, Friesenhausen writes in support of the Copernican heliocentrism, one of the first Jews to do so. In 1796, Friesenhausen published his first book, Kelil Heshbon a Hebrew language manual on algebra and trigonometry
