Aberdeen's
Local Astronomical History
John
S. Reid
Astronomy has touched the lives of many
people who wouldn't have called themselves 'astronomers' on their CV, if they
ever had to write a CV. Astronomy is a
subject with a long history of amateurs making valuable contributions. In fact until the 20th century
there were very few professional astronomers. In centuries past one became a professional astronomer by patronage,
academic appointment or self-finance and there were few opportunities for any
of these. Many 'professionals' used more
than one of these routes and did other things too - think of Tycho Brahe
(patronage and self-finance), Galileo Galilei (academic and professional
mathematician), Johannes Kepler (patronage and astrologer), William Herschel
(musician, instrument maker and patronage) Johannes Hevelius (brewer,
administrator, self-finance), and so on. In a way it's hard to separate the
professionals and the amateurs so I haven't done so in what follows.
Scottish astronomers are not that thick on
the ground - perhaps the weather has something to do with it - but Aberdeen and
its surroundings can claim a good few who have contributed to astronomy in one
way or another. Their association with
this area are by birth and upbringing, residence or education and commonly all of
these. I have written about quite a few
of them so this page is mainly the time-honoured time-line, very brief comments
and links to where I have fuller details. I've also included some relevant places.
Duncan
Liddell 1561 - 1613. Native of Aberdeen who made his name as a teacher of astronomy in
Helmstädt; donor to Marischal College of an impressive library of early
astronomical texts that have assisted NE astronomical scholarship for 400
years. The
Scientific Tourist.
James
Gregory 1638 - 1675. Native of Drumoak (about 20 km outside Aberdeen); graduate of Marischal
College, Aberdeen; inventor of the reflecting telescope. The University possesses two 18th
century Gregorian telescopes. See Stars
from the NE and The
Scientific Tourist.
James
Ferguson 1710 - 1776. Native of Rothiemay in NE Scotland; another educator famous in his day
for popularising astronomy and an admired horologist, designer of outstanding astronomical
clocks. The University possesses one
of these made by Copland and John King. See Stars
from the NE and The
Scientific Tourist.
Patrick
Copland 1748 - 1822. Marischal College Professor, founder of the Castlehill
Observatory, notable outreach teacher including
astronomy. I have written a lot about Patrick
Copland! His residence
was at Fountainhall
House. See also The
Scientific Tourist.
Andrew
Mackay 1760 - 1809. First
and only keeper of the Castlehill Observatory. His expertise was in navigation, including celestial navigation. Stars
from the NE.
John
Ramage 1788 - 1835. Pioneer astronomical telescope maker and lecturer on astronomy. The
Scientific Tourist.
Robert
Davidson 1804-1894. Local manufacturer with many interests whose large telescope was a
skyline feature in the 1820s and 30s. See The
Scientific Tourist.
John
Lamont 1805-1879. Born in Aberdeenshire he spent much of his life as director of the
Bogenhausen Observatory in Bavaria and was Professor of Astronomy at the
University of Munich for 27 years. The
Scientific Tourist.
James Clerk
Maxwell 1831 - 1879. Maxwell
wouldn't have written 'astronomer' on his CV but his major work on elucidating
the rings of Saturn was done mainly while he was Professor at Marischal
College. See The
Scientific Tourist and also an account of his Aberdeen
plaque.
David
Gill
1843-1914. One of Scotland's greatest
astronomers. Born and educated mainly in
Aberdeen; Director of the Dunecht Observatory of Lord Lindsay; Her Majesty's
Astronomer at the Cape of Good Hope; master of precision astrometry; developer
of the photographic stellar catalogue; exceptional surveyor. See Stars
from the NE, The
Scientific Tourist and an account of his astronomical career.
James Ludovic Lindsay 1847- 1913. Born in France and educated at Eton and Cambridge as Lord Lindsay he
doesn't sound like a local astronomer but he set up the world class Dunecht Observatory, carried out first-class astronomy and inherited
the huge Dunecht Estate when he became 26th Earl of Crawford.
John
Carroll 1899-1974. Professor of Natural Philosopher and solar spectroscopist with a special
interest in the solar corona. See The
Scientific Tourist.
The
Castlehill Observatory 1781 - 1796. Founded by Professor Patrick Copland on the
strength of a public subscription. Arguably the first public (or semi-public) observatory in Scotland with
'modern' instruments. See The
Scientific Tourist.
The
Cromwell Tower Observatory 1826 - present. Founded by King's College, Aberdeen; used as
both an astronomical
and meteorological observatory. The University possess some of the historical
instruments from this observatory.
Please
e-mail me with any suggestions for additions.
JSR