Stephen Alexander
Stephen Alexander (born September 1, 1806 in Schenectady , New York , † June 25, 1883 in Princeton , New Jersey ) was an American mathematician and astronomer .
Alexander graduated from Union College in 1824. He then taught at the Academy of Chittenango . From 1832 he was at Princeton University , where he was professor of natural philosophy and from 1834 in addition for mathematics and from 1840 professor of astronomy. In 1878 he retired.
In 1860 he led an expedition to observe the solar eclipse in Labrador . With the support of his friend General Nathaniel Norris Halsted, he was able to expand the observatory in Princeton so that it was also suitable for observing nebulae (Halsted Observatory). Construction of the observatory began in 1866 and was completed in 1872. The assembly of the large telescope was only finished after his retirement.
His main work dealt with the distance relationships of planets and moons in the solar system, which reminded his contemporaries of corresponding work by Johannes Kepler (a critic called him the American Kepler). He was well versed in the Traité de mécanique céleste of Pierre-Simon Laplace and the mathematical and astronomical works of Isaac Newton , Leonhard Euler and Joseph-Louis Lagrange .
He was a founding member of the National Academy of Sciences and, in 1859, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science . He was also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society .
He was brother-in-law of Joseph Henry , secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, with whom he worked closely.
Alexander was well educated and read Greek, Latin, Hebrew and spoke some modern languages. He wrote about the basics of mathematics and was well versed in theology and philosophy. At Princeton he had a good reputation as an academic teacher.
Fonts
- Harmonics of the Solar System, Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. 1875
Web links
- Biographical Memoirs National Academy, pdf
- Publications by S. Alexander in the Astrophysics Data System
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Alexander, Stephen |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American mathematician and astronomer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 1, 1806 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Schenectady , New York |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 25, 1883 |
| Place of death | Princeton , New Jersey |