Regius Chair of Astronomy University of Glasgow | |
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Precursor | Regius Professor of Practical Astronomy |
Formation | 1760 |
First holder | Alexander Wilson |
Website | www.gla.ac.uk/physics |
The Regius Chair of Astronomy is a Regius Professorship in the University of Glasgow.
Founded in 1760 with the title Practical Astronomy (and with the office of Observer in the University) the title was changed in 1893.
The first holder of the chair was famed Scottish astronomer Alexander Wilson, who put forward the theory that the entire universe rotated around its centre (which was later found to be true for galaxies but not the universe), and discovered that sunspots viewed near the edge of the Sun's visible disk appear depressed below the solar surface, a phenomenon still referred to as the Wilson effect. The Professor was not at this time required to teach. Wilson employed his second son, Patrick, as his assistant and intended successor in 1782, with the approval of the university but not of the Crown. The Crown relented in 1784 and Patrick was appointed to the chair.
William Meikleham was then appointed to the chair in 1799, but resigned it in 1803 to become Professor of Natural Philosophy. He was succeeded by John Couper, previously Minister of Baldernock, who was succeeded in 1836 by John Nichol. Nichol led the Astronomical Institute of Glasgow in its initiative to erect an observatory on Horslethill in 1841, which later fell into difficulties due to Nichol's poor accounting. The observatory was taken over by the university in 1845. Nichol was noted for delivering inspiring lectures both to students and the general public, and also lectured for two years on Natural Philosophy when the Professor, William Meikleham, (his predecessor in the Astronomy Chair) was unwell, and when his students included the young Lord Kelvin.
Nichol died in 1859 and was succeeded by Robert Grant, who in 1883 published a Catalogue of 6,415 Stars for the Epoch 1870. Grant died in 1892 and was succeeded by Ludwig Becker, a German scientist originally from Bonn, who had moved to Scotland in 1885 as director of the observatory at Dunecht in Aberdeenshire. Becker was popular with students and was thought at the time to have the best-attended astronomy classes in Britain. [1] He retired in 1935.
In 1937, William Smart was appointed to the chair, having previously been 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. [2] He retired in 1959 and was succeeded by Peter Sweet, formerly Assistant Director of the University of London Observatory. Sweet oversaw expansion of the Astronomy Department and construction of a new observatory on the university's Garscube site.
Upon Sweet's retirement in 1982, the Department of Astronomy was merged into the Department of Natural Philosophy, and John Campbell Brown was appointed to a new Chair of Astrophysics while the Regius Chair remained vacant. Brown was appointed Astronomer Royal for Scotland in 1995, and in 1996 was appointed to the revived Regius Chair of Astronomy. In 2010, the university marked the chair's 250th anniversary with a week of public lectures, an exhibition on inaugural holder Alexander Wilson in the Hunterian Museum., [3] and by hosting the 2010 National Astronomy Meeting. [4]
Sir Donald Neil MacCormick was a Scottish legal philosopher and politician. He was Regius Professor of Public Law and the Law of Nature and Nations at the University of Edinburgh from 1972 until 2008. He was a Member of the European Parliament 1999–2004, member of the Convention on the Future of Europe, and officer of the Scottish National Party.
A Regius Professor is a university professor who has, or originally had, royal patronage or appointment. They are a unique feature of academia in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The first Regius Professorship was in the field of medicine, and founded by the Scottish King James IV at the University of Aberdeen in 1497. Regius chairs have since been instituted in various universities, in disciplines judged to be fundamental and for which there is a continuing and significant need. Each was established by an English, Scottish, or British monarch, and following proper advertisement and interview through the offices of the university and the national government, the current monarch still appoints the professor. This royal imprimatur, and the relative rarity of these professorships, means a Regius chair is prestigious and highly sought-after.
John Pringle Nichol FRSE FRAS was a Scottish educator, phrenologist, astronomer and economist who did much to popularise astronomy in a manner that appealed to nineteenth century tastes.
John Campbell Brown was a Scottish astronomer who worked primarily in solar physics. He held the posts of Astronomer Royal for Scotland, the Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow, and honorary professorships at both the University of Edinburgh and the University of Aberdeen.
The Royal Observatory, Edinburgh (ROE) is an astronomical institution located on Blackford Hill in Edinburgh. The site is owned by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). The ROE comprises the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) of STFC, the Institute for Astronomy of the School of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Edinburgh, and the ROE Visitor Centre.
Alexander Wilson was a Scottish surgeon, type-founder, astronomer, mathematician and meteorologist. He was the first scientist to use kites in meteorological investigations.
The Regius Chair of Medicine and Therapeutics is considered the oldest chair at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1989 from the merge of the Regius Chairs of the Practice of Medicine and of Materia Medica. The chair has so far had two occupants, Professor John Reid, who was previously Regius Professor of Materia Medica and - since 2010 - Professor Anna Felicja Dominiczak, the first woman to have ever held the post.
The Chair of Natural Philosophy is a professorship at the University of Glasgow, in Scotland, which was established in 1727
The Regius Chair of English Language and Literature at the University of Glasgow was founded in 1861 by Queen Victoria, and is the only Regius Professorship in the Faculty of Arts.
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The Chair of Jurisprudence is a Professorship at the University of Glasgow, founded in 1952.
William Marshall Smart was a 20th-century Scottish astronomer.
The Regius Chair of Engineering is a royal professorship in engineering, established since 1868 in the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. The chair is attached to the University's College of Science and Engineering, based in the King's Buildings in Edinburgh. Appointment to the Regius Chair is by Royal Warrant from the British monarch, on the recommendation of Scotland's First Minister.
Patrick Wilson FRSE LLD was a Scottish astronomer, type-founder, mathematician and meteorologist. He was the Regius Professor of Practical Astronomy at the University of Glasgow from 1784 to 1799.
William Meikleham LLD (1771–1846) was Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow from 1799 to 1803. He resigned the Chair of Astronomy to become Professor of Natural Philosophy (Physics) in 1803, a position he held until his death in 1846.
Ludwig Wilhelm Emil Ernst Becker FRSE was Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow from 1893 until 1935 when he retired.
The Regius Chair of Astronomy is one of eight Regius Professorships at the University of Edinburgh, and was founded in 1785. Regius Professorships are those that have in the past been established by the British Crown, and are still formally appointed by the current monarch, although they are advertised and recruited by the relevant university following the normal processes for appointing a professorship.