One of the most renowned scientists of the 1800’s and early 1900’s was Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer. He is known worldwide for his accomplishments and discoveries among researchers in the scientific field, particularly for the discovery of helium. Lockyer was fascinated with astronomy and wished to advance his growth of natural knowledge and spectroscopic researches. Being an imaginative analyst as well as an intelligent one placed him in high regard among explorers of modern science. From building his own observatory to being knighted, Lockyer was a valuable asset to astronomical study.
From an early age, Lockyer was interested in astronomy. He would take notes of his observations in several journals that would later come together to form the most well-known script in the fields of archaeoastronomy and astrophysics, entitled “Nature”. In this book, he explained his examinations, stated numerous theories, and discussed his interactions with other scientists whom he had collaborated with, as well as those who had inspired him throughout his education. He was schooled at private institutes around the Warwickshire region of England, France, and Switzerland. Soon after graduation, he worked as a clerk in the War Office in 1857. His free time was devoted to acquiring further knowledge of Mars, on which he eventually reported his observations to the Royal Astronomical Society in 1863 and was inaugurated as a Fellow. Soon after his Fellowship was when Lockyer truly started to unfold as an astronomical scientist; by building his first telescope.
Lockyer’s adult life consisted of arduous experiments and fascinating discoveries, that would benefit the world in the years to come . It was in 1865 when he borrowed a few objective lenses from T...
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...itten, but yet have changed the way people think forever.
From becoming one of the founders of astrophysics and the father of astroarchaeology, Lockyer has revolutionized the study of stars by initiating the use of spectroscopy. Before including it in astronomy, spectroscopy was primarily used in physics labs, and to combine it with astronomy was one of the first bridges between the study of stars and physics. For Lockyer’s many significant performances, he was knighted in 1897 for the helium discovery and honored by the French Academy of Sciences. He retired in 1913, built the Hill Observatory/Norman Lockyer Observatory, and died peacefully in his home in Salcombe Regis in 1920. His books, journals, and manuscripts are still widely studied throughout modern scientists. Without Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer, we may have had little knowledge of space as we do today.
In the mid-nineteenth century, new developments in astronomy were expanding the field at an fast and exciting rate. The Mitchells were aware that the King of Denmark awarded a gold metal to anyone who discovered a "telescopic" comet. No one in America had won that award yet.
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"The Discovery of X-Rays." The Discovery of X-Rays. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2014. .
The sensitive instruments aboard the SOHO spacecraft have already helped scientists here on Earth discover and explain some of the mysteries of the Sun as well as to confirm some of their theories they previously held. For example, in May of 1998 with the help of the Michelson Doppler Interferometer scientists were able to see with greater clarity the giant convective cells inside and on the surface of the Sun.
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... Royal Society. He discovered numerous things about matters such as light and gravity, and in 1703 was elected as president of the Royal Society.
One of the most notable contributors to the field of astronomy, never actually worked a telescope. The unjust discrimination against women barred one of the most brilliant astronomers of the 20th century from ever actually viewing the stars she was studying. This did not pose a problem however, as Henrietta Swan Leavitt challenged these notions of female inferiority and ineptitude by entering the predominately male field of astrology and excelling. Henrietta Leavitt's prodigious discovery of the period-luminosity relationship amongst Cepheid variable stars would forever change the way we perceive the universe and known galaxies as well as lay the foundation for astronomers such as Harlow Shapley, Hertzsprung, and Edwin Hubble to expand our knowledge of the universe.
Shklovskii, Iosif S. Stars: Their Birth, Life, and Death. Moscow: Central Press for Literature in Physics and Mathematics, 1975.
"The Nobel Prize in Physics 1921". nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2013. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
Of all the scientists to emerge from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries there is one whose name is known by almost all living people. While most of these do not understand this mans work, everyone knows that his impact on the world is astonishing.
Sidney, Philip. "Astrophel and Stella." Online. Renascence Editions. U of Oregon P. 6 Apr. 1999. Available HTTP: darkwing.uoregon.edu.