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Astronomers • Inventors born active died
1732, Apr 8 1750s-1780s 1796, Jun 26
a renowned American astronomer, inventor, clockmaker, mathematician, surveyor, scientific instrument craftsman and public official. Rittenhouse was a member of the American Philosophical Society and the first director of the United States Mint. In 1770 Rittenhouse completed an advanced orrery.
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Astronomers
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Sort Name Nationality Born Active Died Selected 33
David Rittenhouse 1732, Apr 8 1750
1796, Jun 26 1796, Jun 26
Ignacije Szentmartony 1718, Oct 28 1753 1756 1793, Apr 15 a Croatian Jesuit priest, missionary, mathematician, astronomer and explorer. After graduating fr... Theodor Verhaegen 1701, Jun 3 1720 1759 1759, Jul 25 Very little is known about his life. He was born and died in Mechelen, though apparently worked i... Nicolas Louis de Lacaille 1713, Dec 28 1730 1761 1762, Mar 21 a French astronomer and priest. His desire to determine the distances of the planets trigonometri... James Bradley 1693, Mar 1714 1762 1762, Jul 13 an English astronomer and served as Astronomer Royal from 1742, succeeding Edmond Halley. He is b... Nathaniel Bliss 1700, Nov 28 1742 1762 1764, Sep 2 an English astronomer of the 18th century, serving as Britain's fourth Astronomer Royal between 1... Joseph-Nicolas Delisle 1688, Apr 4 1712 1763 1768, Sep 11 a French astronomer and cartographer. From 1719 to 1722 he was employed at the Royal observatory,... Mikhail Lomonosov 1711, Nov 8 1742 1764 1765, Apr 4 a Russian polymath, scientist and writer, who made important contributions to literature, educati... Charles Green 1735 1760 1771 1771, Jan 29 a British astronomer and member of the expedition to observe the transit of Venus aboard James Co... James Ferguson [3] 1710, Apr 25 1720 1773 1776, Nov 17 a Scottish astronomer, instrument and globe maker. It is, as the inventor and improver of astron... Stephen Hopkins 1707, Mar 7 1730 1779 1785, Jul 13 a governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a Chief Justice of the Rhode... Thomas Wright [2] 1711, Sep 22 1730 1779 1786, Feb 25 an English astronomer, mathematician, instrument maker, architect and garden designer. He was the... Cesar-Francois Cassini de Thury 1714, Jun 17 1735 1784 1784, Sep 4 a French astronomer and cartographer. His chief works are: La méridienne de l’Observatoire ... Charles Messier 1730, Jun 26 1744 1785 1817, Apr 12 a French astronomer most notable for publishing an astronomical catalogue consisting of nebulae a... Rudjer Boscovich 1711, May 18 1740 1786 1787, Feb 13 a Ragusan physicist, astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, diplomat, poet, theologian, Jesuit p... John Goodricke 1764, Sep 17 1778 1786 1786, Apr 20 an English amateur astronomer. He is best known for his observations of the variable star Algol (... Jean Sylvain Bailly 1736, Sep 15 1759 1787 1793, Nov 12 a French astronomer, mathematician, freemason, and political leader of the early part of the Fren... Maximilian Hell 1720, May 15 1756 1789 1792, Apr 14 a Hungarian astronomer and an ordained Jesuit priest from the Kingdom of Hungary. Hell became th... Benjamin Banneker 1731, Nov 9 1753 1797 1806, Oct 9 a free African American almanac author, surveyor, naturalist and farmer. His knowledge of astrono... Asada Goryu 1734, Mar 10 1767 1799 1799, Jun 25 a Japanese astronomer who helped to introduce modern astronomical instruments and methods into Ja... Jean-Dominique Cassini 1748 Jun 30 1768 1810 1845, Oct 18 a French astronomer, he succeeded his father as director of the observatory. He published in 177... Eise Eisinga 1744, Feb 21 1761 1811 1828, Aug 27 a Frisian amateur astronomer who built the Eise Eisinga Planetarium in his house in Franeker, Fri... Iwahashi Zenbei 1756 1790 1811 1811 a Japanese scientist and optician. Zenbei researched some imported optical instruments, then in 1... Andrew Ellicott [2] 1754, Jan 24 1772 1817 1820, Aug 28 a U.S. surveyor who helped map many of the territories west of the Appalachians, surveyed the bou... William Herschel 1738, Nov 15 1774 1820 1822, Aug 25 a German-born British astronomer, composer, and brother of Caroline Herschel. His interest in ast... Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre 1749, Sep 19 1788 1822 1822, Aug 19 a French mathematician and astronomer. He was also director of the Paris Observatory, and author ... Johann Elert Bode 1747, Jan 19 1766 1825 1826, Nov 23 a German astronomer known for his reformulation and popularization of the Titius–Bode law. Bode... Pierre-Simon Laplace 1749, Mar 23 1771 1827 1827, Mar 5 an influential French scholar whose work was important to the development of mathematics, statist... Heinrich Wilhelm Matthaus Olbers 1758, Oct 11 1779 1827 1840, Mar 2 a German physician and astronomer. Olbers discovered and named the asteroid Pallas. Five years l... Franz Xaver von Zach 1754, Jun 4 1780 1827 1832, Sep 2 a Hungarian astronomer born in Pest, Hungary. Zach published Tables of the Sun (Gotha, 179... Karl Ludwig Harding 1765, Sep 29 1796 1834 1834, Aug 31 a German astronomer notable for having discovered the asteroid 3 Juno. In addition to Juno, he di... Alexis Bouvard 1767, Jun 27 1793 1843 1843, Jun 7 a French astronomer. He is particularly noted for his careful observations of the irregularities ... Caroline Herschel 1750 Mar 16 1772 1846 1848, Jan 9 a German British astronomer and the sister of astronomer Sir William Herschel with whom she worke... Giuseppe Asclepi 1706 1760 186 1776 an Italian astronomer and physician. He was a Jesuit and director of the observatory at the Colle...
