Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre Biography

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Antonio Gasparoni

Mr. Percival

Astronomy

3 January, 2013

Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre

            Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre is a truly amazing astronomer from the 1700’s. He was a French astronomer who was born on September 19^th, 1749 in Amiens, France. He eventually died on August 19^th, 1822. One of the most notable things that he did in his astronomical career was plot the location of Uranus. In 1788, Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre received an observatory that was built especially for him. While he was using the observatory, he documented countless information on various planets and the sun. He eventually published his work into a few books, of which were called “Tables du Soleil, de Jupiter, de Saturne, d’Uranus et des satellites de Jupiter”. The titles of the books mean “The Tables of the Sun, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Jupiter’s Satellites. Throughout the years of 1792-1799, he successfully measured the arc of the meridian that stretched from Dunkirk, which is in northern France, all the way to Barcelona. Delambre, after his extensive research into the planets and the sun, eventually became a college professor of astronomy.

            During the last remaining years of Delambre’s life, he devoted his days to researching the history of science. His research eventually led to his publication of yet another book entitled, “Histoire de l'astronomie ancienne”, which was only the first book in the two volume series. “Histoire de l'astronomie ancienne” was published in 1817 and the second book titled “Histoire de l'astronomie modern” which was published in 1819. These two books contained the history of the sciences according to Delambre, of which some were incredibly biased and prejudiced. A vast majority of the two books actually consist of various calculations that Delambre had made throughout his career in observation astronomy. Unfortunately in Paris, France of 1822, Jean

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Baptiste Joseph Delambre died due to unknown consequences. Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre will be forever known as one of the world’s most well-known astronomers and as the man who originally plotted the location of Uranus.

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Works Cited

"Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre." Delambre Biography. School of Mathematics and Statistics University of St. Andrews, Scotland, Apr. 2003. Web. 03 Dec. 2012

"Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre." Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre. Soylent Communications, 2012. Web. 03 Dec. 2012.

"Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre (French Astronomer)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012. Web. 03 Dec. 2012.