Ole Rømer

John Michell and the Effect of Gravity on Light

John Michell and the Effect of Gravity on Light

Probably on December 25, 1724, English natural philosopher and geologist John Michell was born. He is best known as both a theorist and an experimenter, who was the first to propose the effects of gravity on light, later resulting in the physics of general relativity and black holes. John Michell – Background John Michell was born in Eakring, Nottinghamshire, UK, the son of Gilbert Michell, a priest, and Obedience Gerrard. However, his exact…
Read more
Anders Celsius and the Celsius Scale of Temperature

Anders Celsius and the Celsius Scale of Temperature

On November 27, 1701, Swedish astronomer, physicist and mathematician Anders Celsius was born. He is famous for the temperature scale he developed and which is named after him. Besides the U.S. that measures temperature according to the scale developed by Fahrenheit, Celsius’ original scale was adopted as the international standard and is still used in almost all scientific work. Anders Celsius – Early Years Anders Celsius was born in Upsala, Sweden, the son of an…
Read more
Hippolyte Fizeau and the Speed of Light

Hippolyte Fizeau and the Speed of Light

On September 23, 1819, French physicist Armand Hippolyte Louis Fizeau was born. He is well known for his calculation of the speed of light and his suggestion to use length of a light wave be used as a length standard.[4] Hippolyte Fizeau – Early Years Hippolyte Fizeau was born in Paris as the eldest son of Béatrice and Louis Fizeau, who was professor of Pathology at the Paris Medical School. He attended the prestigious…
Read more
Jean Picard and his Love for Accuracy

Jean Picard and his Love for Accuracy

On July 21, 1620, French astronomer, cartographer and hydraulic engineer Jean-Félix Picard was born. He is regarded as the founder of modern astronomy in France. He introduced new methods, improved the old instruments, and added new devices, such as Huygens‘ pendulum clock to record times and time intervals. Background Jean Picard Jean-Félix Picard was born as a son of a bookseller and was allowed to study at the Jesuit Collège Royal Henry-Le-Grand, which…
Read more
Ole Rømer and the Speed of Light

Ole Rømer and the Speed of Light

On October 5, 1644 (or according to the old julian calendar September 25), Danish astronomer Ole Christensen Rømer was born. He became known by the first proof published in 1676 that the speed of light is finite and not infinite, respectively by the guidance, how the speed of light can be calculated by observation of the Jupiter moons. Ole Rømer – Early Years Ole Rømer was born in Århus, Denmark, to merchant and skipper…
Read more
Giovanni Domenico Cassini and the Moons of Saturn

Giovanni Domenico Cassini and the Moons of Saturn

On December 23, 1672, Italian astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini discovered Rhea, the 2nd largest of the 62 Saturn moons that are known by today. Background and Education Giovanni Cassini Cassini was born in Perinaldo (Liguria) on June 8, 1625. He married the rich Geneviève de Laistre, became a French citizen in 1673 and began to write his first name Jean-Dominique. Cassini studied at the Jesuit College in Genoa and Bologna. Through the…
Read more
Albert Abraham Michelson and the Famous Experiment that lead to Einstein’s Special Relativity Theory

Albert Abraham Michelson and the Famous Experiment that lead to Einstein’s Special Relativity Theory

On December 19, 1859, US-american physicist Albert Abraham Michelson was born. Together with his colleague Edward Williams Morley he conducted an experiment that proved the by the time famous ether theory to be wrong and is considered to be one of the pilars of the theory of relativity. “While it is never safe to affirm that the future of Physical Science has no marvels in store even more astonishing than those of the…
Read more
Neptune, Oceanos, or ‘Le Verrier’ – How to name a new planet?

Neptune, Oceanos, or ‘Le Verrier’ – How to name a new planet?

On June 9, 1812, German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle was born. Also in Germany hardly anybody might know Galle today. Well, maybe except most astronomers, who will certainly know him, because he has discovered the planet Neptune. No, he didn’t do it all by himself. Actually, we’ve had already several articles on astronomers involved in the discovery of Neptune [5,6,7] Johann Gottfried Galle – Early Life Galle was born in the Pabsthaus not…
Read more
Relation Browser
Timeline
0 Recommended Articles:
0 Recommended Articles: