John Flamsteed 42880 223340884 2008-07-03T17:28:05Z Nono64 2313206 Third Cambridge Catalogue of Radio Sources : "3C" link correction {{Infobox Scientist |name = John Flamsteed |image = John_Flamsteed.jpg |image_width = 240px |caption = |birth_date = {{birth date|1646|08|19}} |birth_place = [[Denby]], [[Derbyshire]], [[England]] |death_date = {{death date and age|1719|12|31|1646|08|19}} |death_place = [[Burstow]], [[Surrey]], [[England]] |nationality = [[United Kingdom]] |field = [[Astronomy]] |work_institutions = |alma_mater = [[University of Cambridge]] |doctoral_advisor = |doctoral_students = [[Joseph Crosthwait]]</br>[[Abraham Sharp]] |known_for = first [[Astronomer Royal]] |influences = |influenced = |prizes = |footnotes = |signature = }} [[Image:John Flamsteed Royal Greenwich Observatory Museum.jpg|thumb|Bust of John Flamsteed in the Museum of the Royal Greenwich Observatory]] '''John Flamsteed''' ([[19 August]],[[1646]] - [[31 December]],[[1719]]) was an [[England|English]] [[astronomer]]. Flamsteed was born in [[Denby]], [[Derbyshire]], [[England]], and was educated at [[Derby School]], in St Peter's Churchyard, [[Derby]], near where his father carried on a [[malt|malting business]].<ref name=birks>Birks, John L., ''John Flamsteed, the first Astronomer Royal'' (London, Avon Books, 1999) pp. 3-4.</ref> At that time, most masters of the school were [[Puritan]]s.<ref name=birks/> Flamsteed had a solid knowledge of [[Latin language|Latin]], essential for reading the literature of the day, and a love of [[history]], leaving the school in May, 1662.<ref name=birks/> His progress to [[University of Cambridge]], recommended by the Master of Derby School, was delayed by some years of chronic ill health. During those years, Flamsteed gave his father some help in his business, and from his father learnt [[arithmetic]] and the use of [[fraction]]s, but he used those years also to develop a keen interest in [[mathematics]] and [[astronomy]]. In July 1662, he was fascinated by the thirteenth century work of [[Johannes de Sacrobosco]], ''[[De sphaera mundi]]'', and on 12 September 1662 observed his first partial [[solar eclipse]]. Early in 1663, he read [[Thomas Fale]]'s ''The Art of Dialling'', which set off an interest in [[sundial]]s. In the summer of 1663, he read Wingate's ''Canon'', Oughtred's ''Canon'', and Stirrup's ''Art of Dialling''. At about the same time, he acquired [[Thomas Street]]'s ''Astronomia Carolina, or A New Theory of the Celestial Motions'' (''Caroline Tables''). He associated himself with local gentlemen interested in astronomy, including [[William Litchford]], whose library included the work of the [[astrologer]] [[John Gadbury]] which included astronomical tables by [[Jeremiah Horrocks]], who had died in 1641 at the age of twenty-three. Flamsteed was greatly impressed (as [[Isaac Newton]] had been) by the work of Horrocks.<ref>Birks, ''op. cit.'', pp. 8-11</ref> In August 1665, at the age of nineteen and as a gift for his friend Litchford, Flamsteed wrote his first paper on astronomy, entitled ''Mathematical Essays'', concerning the design, use and construction of an astronomer's [[Quadrant (instrument)|quadrant]], including tables for the [[latitude]] of Derby.<ref>Birks, ''op. cit.'', p. 11</ref> In September 1670, Flamsteed visited Cambridge and entered his name as an undergraduate at [[Jesus College, Cambridge|Jesus College]]. While it seems he never took up full residence, he was there for two months in 1674, and had the opportunity to hear Isaac Newton's ''Lucasian Lectures''.<ref>Birks, ''op. cit.'', p. 26</ref> He was ordained a deacon and was preparing to take up a living in Derbyshire, when he was invited to London. On [[4 March]] [[1675]] he was appointed by royal warrant "The King's Astronomical Observator" &mdash; the first British [[Astronomer Royal]], with an allowance of £100 a year. In June 1675, another royal warrant provided for the founding of the [[Royal Greenwich Observatory]], and Flamsteed laid the foundation stone in August. In February 1676, he was admitted a Fellow of the [[Royal Society]], and in July, he moved into the Observatory where he lived until 1684, when he was finally appointed priest to the parish of [[Burstow]], [[Surrey]]. He held that office, as well as that of Astronomer Royal, until his death. He is buried at Burstow. Flamsteed accurately calculated the [[solar eclipse]]s of 1666 and 1668. He was responsible for several of the earliest recorded sightings of the [[planet]] [[Uranus]], which he mistook for a [[star]] and catalogued as 34 [[Taurus (constellation)|Tauri]]. The first of these was in December, 1690, which remains the earliest known sighting of Uranus by an astronomer. On [[August 16]] [[1680]] Flamsteed catalogued a star, 3 Cassiopeiae, that later astronomers were unable to corroborate. Three hundred years later, the American astronomical historian [[William Ashworth]] suggested that what Flamsteed may have seen was the most recent supernova in the galaxy's history, an event which would leave as its remnant the strongest radio source outside of the solar system, known in the [[Third Cambridge Catalogue of Radio Sources|third Cambridge (3C) catalogue]] as 3C 461 and commonly called [[Cassiopeia A]] by astronomers. Because the position of "3 Cassiopeiae" does not precisely match that of Cassiopeia A, and because the expansion wave associated with the explosion has been worked backward to the year [[1667]] and not [[1680]], some historians feel that all Flamsteed may have done was incorrectly note the position of a star already known. Flamsteed is also remembered for his conflicts with [[Isaac Newton]], the President of the [[Royal Society]] at the time. Flamsteed was refusing to publish work that had been commissioned by the king, and in 1712 Newton and [[Edmond Halley]] published a preliminary version of Flamsteed's ''Historia Coelestis Britannica'' without crediting the author. Some years later, Flamsteed managed to buy many copies of the book, and publicly burnt them in front of the Royal Observatory. However, the numerical star designations in this book are still used and are known as [[Flamsteed designation]]s. In [[1725]] Flamsteed's own version of ''Historia Coelestis Britannica'' was published. This contained Flamsteed's observations, and included a catalogue of 2,935 stars to much greater accuracy than any prior work. This was considered the first significant contribution of the Greenwich Observatory. ==Honours== * Elected a Fellow of the [[Royal Society]] in 1676. * [[Flamsteed (crater)|Flamsteed crater]] on the [[Moon]] is named after him. * Numerous Schools and colleges in [[Derbyshire]] have been named after him in his honour. The Science block at [[John Port School]] is named Flamsteed in recognition of his work for Science. [[John Flamsteed Community School]] in [[Denby]] carries his name. Flamsteed House at the Ecclesbourne School in [[Duffield]] is also named after him. ==References== {{reflist}} *''The correspondence of John Flamsteed, the first Astronomer Royal'' compiled and edited by Eric G. Forbes, ... Lesley Murdin and Frances Willmoth. Bristol: Institute of Physics Publishing, 1995-2002 ISBN 0750301473 (v. 1); ISBN 0-7503-0391-3 (v. 2) ; ISBN 0-7503-0763-3 (v.3) *''The Gresham lectures of John Flamsteed'', edited and introduced by Eric G. Forbes. London: Mansell, 1975 ISBN 0-7201-0518-8 *''Newton's Tyranny: The Suppressed Scientific Discoveries of Stephen Gray and John Flamsteed'', David H. Clark & Stephen H.P. Clark. W. H. Freeman, 2001 ISBN 0-7167-4701-4 ==External links== * [http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/Bios/flamsteed.html John Flamsteed Biography (SEDS)] * [http://www.univie.ac.at/hwastro Electronic facsimile-editions of the rare book collection at the Vienna Insitute of Astronomy] * [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/John_Flamsteed Flamsteed's 1911 Britannica Biography] * [http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Flamsteed.html Flamsteed's MacTutor Biography] {{Astronomers Royal}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Flamsteed, John}} [[Category:1646 births]] [[Category:1719 deaths]] [[Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge]] [[Category:Astronomers Royal]] [[Category:English Anglicans]] [[Category:English astronomers]] [[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]] [[Category:Old Derbeians]] [[Category:People from Derbyshire]] [[bg:Джон Фламстед]] [[ca:John Flamsteed]] [[de:John Flamsteed]] [[el:Τζον Φλάμστηντ]] [[es:John Flamsteed]] [[fr:John Flamsteed]] [[it:John Flamsteed]] [[lb:John Flamsteed]] [[nl:John Flamsteed]] [[ja:ジョン・フラムスティード]] [[no:John Flamsteed]] [[pl:John Flamsteed]] [[pt:John Flamsteed]] [[ru:Флемстид, Джон]] [[sk:John Flamsteed]] [[sl:John Flamsteed]] [[fi:John Flamsteed]] [[sv:John Flamsteed]] [[vi:John Flamsteed]] [[tr:John Flamsteed]]