Robert Wheeler Willson

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Robert Wheeler Willson (born July 20, 1853 in West Roxbury , Massachusetts , † November 1, 1922 in Cambridge , Massachusetts) was an American astronomer at Harvard University .

Willson did a great job developing astronomy at Harvard, improving nautical instruments, and the fundamentals of flight navigation . He calculated the day of creation in the Mayan calendar (13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Cumku) to be August 29, 3512 BC. Chr.

Robert Wheeler Willson earned a bachelor's degree in physics and chemistry from Harvard University in 1873 . He first worked with Benjamin Apthorp Gould at the Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba and at the Harvard College Observatory and from 1875 under Joseph Winlock as a tutor for physics at Harvard. In 1878 he was one of the scientists who observed a total solar eclipse in Fort Worth . In 1881 he moved to the observatory of Yale College , from where he was sent out to observe the Venus transit of 1882 . 1884 Willson went to Germany and acquired in 1886 at the University of Würzburg a Dr. phil.

In 1891 Willson became an instructor at Harvard, and in 1899 an assistant professor there . In 1903 he was given a full professorship, and in 1919 he retired .

In 1896 Willson was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . He was also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science .

Willson had been married to Annie Downing West since 1881.

At Harvard University there has been a Robert Wheeler Willson Professorship in applied astronomy since 1947. The current holder of the professorship (as of 2017) is Alyssa A. Goodman .

literature

  • Chamberlain: Universities and Their Sons: History, Influence and Characteristics of American Universities, with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Alumni and Recipients of Honorary Degrees. Boston: Herndon, 1898-1900.
  • HT Stetson: Robert Wheeler Willson (1853-1922). In: Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Volume 60, 1922, pp. 658-663 ( JSTOR 25130094 )
  • HT Stetson: Robert Wheeler Willson. In: Popular Astronomy. Volume 31, 1923, pp. 308-313 ( online )
  • MHD: The Recent Scientific Work of Robert Wheeler Willson. In: Science. 56, 1922, pp. 651-652, doi: 10.1126 / science.56.1458.651

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter W. (PDF; 852 kB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Retrieved September 23, 2017 (English).
  2. ↑ Alyssa A Goodman. In: astronomy.fas.harvard.edu. Retrieved September 23, 2017 (English).
personal data
SURNAME Willson, Robert Wheeler
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH July 20, 1853
PLACE OF BIRTH West Roxbury , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH November 1, 1922
Place of death Cambridge , Massachusetts