Regius Professor of Astronomy (Glasgow)
The Regius Professor of Astronomy is one of King George III. Endowed Regius Professorship at the University of Glasgow . He was founded in 1760 as Professor for Practical Astronomy and renamed in 1893 by decision of the Universities Commission.
In addition to this professorship, there is another Regius professorship for astronomy at the University of Edinburgh , which was accompanied by the title Astronomer Royal for Scotland from 1834 to 1990 .
history
The first holder of the professorship was the Scottish astronomer and founding member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , Alexander Wilson . His theory of a rotating universe was later confirmed for galaxies but not for the entire universe. He discovered that sunspots appeared on the edge of the solar disk as a depression in the sun. The effect is called the Wilson effect after him . Since it was not expected at this time that the Regius Professor taught himself, Wilson employed his second son Patrick as a lecturer and planned successor from 1782. The decision was supported by the university, but not by the crown. In 1784 the crown finally gave in and Patrick became Regius Professor.
Patrick succeeded William Meikleham in 1799. However, he resigned as early as 1803 to accept the professorship for natural philosophy in Glasgow. His successor, John Couper , previously worked as Baldernock 's deacon . He held the professorship until his death on January 7, 1836. The new Regius Professor was John Nichol . Nichol popularized astronomy and directed the institute's efforts to establish an observatory on Horslethill, but at the same time caused great problems with his poor accounting efforts. The observatory was taken over by the university in 1845. Nichol was known not only among students but also among the general public for his inspirational style, and he also taught natural philosophy for two years during a prolonged illness of Meikleham, his indirect predecessor in the chair. One of his students at this time was William Thomson , who later became Baron Kelvin.
After Nichol's death in 1859, Robert Grant followed , who in 1883, with government funding, published his Catalog of 6,415 Stars for the Epoch in 1870 . After his death in 1892 , Ludwig Becker from Bonn became the first non-British astronomer. Becker had moved to Scotland in 1885 to take over the management of the Dunecht Observatory in Aberdeenshire . Becker was so popular with his students that it was believed he was giving the best-attended astronomy lectures in Britain during this period. Becker retired from the professorship in 1935.
In 1937 William Smart was appointed Becker's successor. He had previously worked as the John Couch Adams astronomer at the University of Cambridge . He wrote over twenty books and was President of the Royal Astronomical Society from 1949 to 1951 . His 1959 retirement paved the way for Peter Sweet , the former deputy director of the University of London Observatory . Under his leadership, the astronomy student council expanded considerably and moved to a new address on Garscube Street.
When Sweet retired in 1982, the faculties for astronomy and natural philosophy were merged. John Campbell Brown took over the professorship for astrophysics but the Regius professorship was not filled. In 1995 Brown was named Astronomer Royal for Scotland and in 1996 he was named Regius Professor of Astronomy.
In 2010, the university celebrated the 250th anniversary of its founding with a week of public lectures and an exhibition about the first incumbent Alexander Wilson at the Hunterian Museum .
List of Regius Professor of Astronomy
| Surname | name suffix | from | to | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander Wilson | LL.D. | 1760 | 1784 | |
| Patrick Wilson | LL.D. | 1784 | 1799 | |
| William Meikleham | LL.D. | 1799 | 1803 | |
| James Couper | 1803 | Jan. 7, 1836 | Couper took over the professorship, but teaching did not interest him very much. In the beginning he gave a few lectures, which later were canceled “for lack of interest”. Instead, Couper made sure that the Hunterian Museum , as its keeper, was expanded and took care of the library, which he also headed. He shared his duties as keeper of the museum first with his eldest son, James, and later with his second son, William Couper , to whom he later made the chair of Regius Professor of Natural History .
After all, he kept the existing instruments in working order and also taught some classes. |
|
| John Pringle Nichol | LL.D. | 1836 | 1859 | Nichol's son, John, became the first Regius Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Glasgow in 1861 . |
| Robert Grant | 1859 | 1892 | ||
| Ludwig Becker | 1893 | 1935 | ||
| William Marshall Smart | 1937 | Sep 30 1959 | ||
| Peter Alan Sweet | MA, Ph.D. | 1959 | 1982 | |
| John Campbell Brown | 1996 | today |
literature
- Who, What and Where: The History and Constitution of the University of Glasgow . Compiled by Michael Moss, Moira Rankin, Lesley Richmond.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Astronomy (Regius Chair). The University of Glasgow Story; accessed on January 22, 2015.
- ↑ a b c d e f g Alexander Wilson. The University of Glasgow Story; accessed on January 22, 2015.
- ↑ a b c d Author D (University of Glasgow Clarke, Scotland): Reflections on the Astronomy of Glasgow . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2013, ISBN 978-0-7486-7891-4 , pp. 124 ff .
- ↑ a b c d John Pringle Nichol. The University of Glasgow Story; accessed on January 22, 2015.
- ↑ a b Robert Grant. The University of Glasgow Story; accessed on January 22, 2015.
- ↑ a b c Ludwig Becker. The University of Glasgow Story; accessed on January 22, 2015.
- ^ A b William Marshall Smart. The University of Glasgow Story; accessed on January 22, 2015.
- ↑ a b Peter Sweet. The University of Glasgow Story; accessed on January 22, 2015.
- ↑ Public lectures to mark 250th anniversary of the Regius Chair of Astronomy . University of Glasgow website, March 30, 2010; accessed on January 22, 2015.
- ↑ Patrick Wilson. The University of Glasgow Story; accessed on January 22, 2015.
- ↑ William Meikleham. The University of Glasgow Story; accessed on January 22, 2015.
- ↑ James Couper. The University of Glasgow Story; accessed on January 22, 2015.
- ^ The University of Glasgow Story; John Nichol on the University of Glasgow website; Retrieved December 3, 2016.
- ↑ a b Communication on the appointment of Peter Alan Sweet as Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow. In: London Gazette , May 29, 1959.
- ↑ John Brown. The University of Glasgow Story; accessed on January 22, 2015.