Great Astronomers: John Flamsteed

By Robert Stawell Ball

Great Astronomers: John Flamsteed - Robert Stawell Ball
  • Release Date: 2018-03-18
  • Genre: Astronomy

Description

John Flamsteed (1646-1719) was an English astronomer, a contemporary of Isaac Newton, and the first Astronomer Royal in charge of the newly built observatory at Greenwich, England (1676). Although he made no great discoveries nor new astronomical theories, Flamsteed distinguished himself by his meticulous measurements of the positions of stars, as Tycho Brahe did with observations of the planets. He also made improvements to astronomical techniques and some observations of the moon and sun.