James Bradley Scientist

James Bradley FRS (March 1693 – 13 July 1762) was an English astronomer and served as Astronomer Royal from 1742, succeeding Edmund Halley. He is best known for two fundamental discoveries in astronomy, the aberration of light (1725–1728), and the nutation of the Earth's axis (1728–1748). These discoveries were called "the most brilliant and useful of the century" by Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre, historian of astronomy, mathematical astronomer and director of the Paris Observatory, in his history of astronomy in the 18th century (1821), because "It is to these two discoveries by Bradley that we owe the exactness of modern astronomy. .... This double service assures to their discoverer the most distinguished place (after Hipparchus and Kepler) above the greatest astronomers of all ages and all countries."

Personal facts

James Bradley
Birth dateJanuary 01, 1693
Birth place
England , Sherborne Gloucestershire , Gloucestershire , Cheltenham
Nationality
United Kingdom
Date of deathJuly 13, 1762
Place of death
England , Gloucestershire , Chalford
Education
Balliol College Oxford
Known for
Aberration of light
Astronomer Royal

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