George William Hill

George William Hill (born March 3, 1838 in New York , † April 16, 1914 in West Nyack near New York) was an American astronomer and mathematician whose methods of orbital calculation are still used today. With his work on orbital disturbances and the three-body problem, he was the most important theoretical astronomer of his time.

Hill graduated from Rutgers University in 1859 . From 1861 he worked at the Nautical Almanac office in Massachusetts . Here he dealt intensively with the lunar orbit theory and developed mathematical methods for the approximate solution of the three-body problem - in particular Hill's differential equation . In order to be able to calculate the planetary orbits around the sun more precisely for the astronomical yearbooks , he also contributed to the solution of the multi-body problem . In 1865 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , in 1874 to the National Academy of Sciences .

Hill was President of the American Mathematical Society from 1894 to 1896 . Between 1887 and 1910 he won several scientific prizes in England and France (1887 gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society ) and was elected to several royal academies around 1910 - including those of Edinburgh , Belgium , Italy and Sweden . From 1903 he was a corresponding member of the Académie des sciences in Paris.

The Hill sphere , Hill's equations , the asteroid (1642) Hill and the lunar crater Hill are named after him.

Web links

^ List of members since 1666: Letter H. Académie des sciences, accessed on February 12, 2020 (French).

personal data
SURNAME	Hill, George William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American astronomer and mathematician
DATE OF BIRTH	March 3, 1838
PLACE OF BIRTH	new York
DATE OF DEATH	April 16, 1914
Place of death	West Nyack near New York