THE GRAND AMATEURS

NCHALADA Discussion Topic; Morning of Saturday, October 12, 2002, Chaired by John Westfall

(Note:  The lists of people that follow are just selections from a database of [so far] 330 individuals.)

A Goal for All of Us:

"... the amount and stability of his fortune by that time permitted the indulgence of tastes hitherto held in abeyance."

Obituary of George Bishop.  Monthly Notices, Royal Astronomical
Society, 22 (February, 1862): 104-06.


DEFINING THE "GRAND AMATEUR"
	The three criteria --
		Cutting-edge contribution to contemporary science
		Instrumentation necessary for above
		Self-supported

	Amateur status not always clear;
		Astronomical authors -- Clerke, Flammarion, Levy, Moore, Serviss, Olcott, R. Proctor
		ATMs, especially when commercial for part of their careers -- Brashear, Calver, 
			Common, Fitz, Rittenhouse, With
		Amateurs who became professionals -- Barnard, Bessel, Bond, Brooks, Hale, Lockyer, 
			Maclear, Madler, Neison, Pons, Swift, Tempel
		Occasional professional appointments -- Burnham, Chandler, Dawes, Doberck, 
			Flammarion
		Professionals who became amateurs -- Tombaugh, W.H. Pickering, Steavenson, Wolf
		Patrons -- Beer, Bishop, Dom Pedro II, Hahn, Lee, Lindsay, T. Lowe, McKim, Opelt, 
			Remeis, Strebel, Tomline, Warner, Winkler
		Dilettante rich -- Johnny Carson, Francis G. Du Pont, David Garroway, George Lucas


WHERE DID THEY GET THEIR MONEY?
	(percentages of 330 reported sources of income; some individuals had more than one source;
	sources of income given for 246 individuals)

	Unearned income -- 17.9 % (59)
		Royalty -- 2.4 % (8); Christian VIII, Frederick II and Frederick VI of Denmark; Dom 
			Pedro II of Brazil ; George III of Great Britain; Jai Singh II, Maharaja Swati 
			Thirunal, Ulugh Beg
		Aristocracy,  gentry (landed estates) -- 3.0 % (10); Goodricke, Hahn, Lindsay, Parsons, 
			C. Peek, Shuckburgh, Wrottesley
		Other Landowner -- 0.6 % (2); Tebbutt, Webb
		Inherited wealth -- 4.8 % (16); Halley, Smyth, Whitbread, Wilson
		Married wealth -- 4.2 % (14); Dawes, H. Draper, McClean, Newall, Parsons, Row, 
			Rutherfurd, South, Whitbread (twice)
		Government endowment or pension -- 2.7 % (9); Brahe, C. & W. Herschel, Somerville

	Work (or semblance thereof) -- 82.1 % (271)
		Family business -- 5.2 % (17); Baxendall, Common, Crossley, De La Rue, Goodacre,
			Hale, Huggins, Lowell, Schwabe, Whitbread
		Professional or middle class -- 70.9 % (234)
			Scientist -- 10.6 % (35)
				Astronomer -- 4.5 % (15) W.H. Pickering, Pons, Tombaugh, Wendell, 
					Wolf
				Earth science -- 2.1 % (7); Davidson, Konkoly, Norton, J. Phillips
				Atmospheric science -- 1.2 % (4); Birt, Prince
				Other science -- 2.7 % (9); Evershed, Haas, Reade
			Traditional professions -- 14.8 % (49)
				Medicine -- 6.1 % (20); Gruithuisen, Maclear, Parker, South, Steavenson, 
					Strebel, Waterfield
				Military -- 3.6 % (12); Biela, Brisbane, Manners, Olbers, Smyth, 
					Tennant, Tupman
				Clergy -- 5.2 % (17); Bradley, Espin, R. Evans, Metcalf, T.E.R. Phillips, 
					Webb
			Law -- 4.5 % (15); Erck, Kunowsky, Monck, Olcott, Prentice, Remeis, 
				Rutherfurd, Schroeter, White, Williams, Wrottesley
			Civil servant -- 3.0 % (10); Ball, Levin, Lockyer, Lohrmann,Row, Thompson, 
				Tomkins, Wilkins
			Engineer -- 4.5 % (15); Bradfield, Elger, Hindle, Maw, McClean, Nasmyth, 
				Peltier, Reber, Sellers, Watson
			Finance -- 3.9 % (13); Baily, Beer, Chandler, MacDonnell, Opelt, White
			Educator -- 3.3 % (11); Alcock, Mitchell, Pearson, B. Peek, Seagrave
			Businessman -- 5.2 % (17); Bessel, Bond, Koenig, Swift, Winkler
			Industrialist, manufacturer -- 3.9 % (13); Du Pont, McKim, McMath, Newall, 
				Reynolds, I. Roberts
			Engraver, lithographer -- 0.6 % (2); Tmpel
			Instrument maker, optician -- 1.5 % (5); Brashear, Calver, Dall, Fitz, Mellish, 
				Rittenhouse
			Architect -- 0.6 % (2); Porter, Prusa
			Photographer -- 1.8 % (6); Barnard, Brooks, Tallman, Whipple
			Artist -- 2.4 % (8); Brett, Ferguson, Goldschmidt, Novak, Rudaux, Russell, 
				Trouvelot, Webber
			Mmusician -- 1.2 % (4); Grigg, C. & W. Herschel
			Writer -- 5.5 % (18); Clerke, Firsoff, Moore, Norton, Olcott, R. Proctor
			Publisher, printer, editor -- 1.2 % (4); Engelmann, Ingalls, Serviss
			Lecturer -- 2.1 % (7) -- Brayley, R. Proctor, Serviss
		Trade, etc. -- 6.1 % (20)
			Farmer -- 0.9 % (3); Arnold, Palitzsch
			Winery or brewery -- 1.8 % (6); Bishop, Carrington, Krieger, Kuffner, Lassell, 
				Whitbread
			Mechanic, machinist -- 0.9 % (3); Brashear, Schumann
			Other -- 8 (2.4 %; e.g., actor); Hay, Robertson

	Some Incomes and Estates (converted approximately to 2001 dollars)
		Backhouse, 1883, "Astronomical Secretary":  130-150 ($11,000-12,800)
		Barnard, 1886, photographic assistant:  $600 ($12,400)
		Denning, 1904, civil list pension:  150 ($14,300)
		Espin, c. 1890, curate: 267 ($24,700); in 1934 left estate of 12,399 ($766,000)
		Ferguson, 1762, royal pension: 50 (ca. $3200)
		C. Herschel, 1787, royal salary:  50 (ca. $3200)
		J. Herschel, 1822, income from inheritance: ca. 750 (ca. $56,000)
		W. Herschel, 1771, musician: 400 (ca. $25,500)
		W. Herschel, 1781, royal pension: 200 (ca. $12,800)
		W. Herschel estate, 1822:  ca. 25,000 (ca. $1,870,000); not including land.
		Lassell estate, 1880: 80,000 ($6,560,000)
		Mellish, 1916, director of private observatory: $750 ($11,800)
		Pearson, 1795, curate: 21 ($1340); teacher, 1800: 50 ($3200); 1817, living of South
			Kilworth: 250 ($15,400); 1833, income of second wife: 500 ($44,200)
		Pond, 1835, retirement pension as Astronomer Royal: 600 ($57,000)
		Somerville, 1834, civil list pension: 200 ($18,900); raised to 300 in 1837 ($29,300)
		South, 1831, pension: 300 ($27,500).
		Warner Comet Discovery Prize, c. 1880: $200 ($3400)


NATIONALITIES AND GENDER
	Nationality (percentage of database of 330; some multinational)
		Britain -- 42 % (139)
		United States -- 27 % (89)
		Germany -- 12 % (38)
		Austria -- 3.3 % (11)
		Netherlands -- 3.0 % (10)
		Denmark -- 2.7 % (9)
		France -- 2.4 % (8)
		Australia, Czechosolvakia -- 1.8 % (6)
		Japan -- 1.5 % (5)
		New Zealand, South Africa -- 1.2 % (4) each
		India -- 0.9 % (3)
		Cook Islands, Brazil, Poland, Spain, Ukbekistan, Yugoslavia -- 0.3 % (1) each

	Question:  Despite bias in sources, anglo-saxon dominance -- why?

	Gender: 16 female (4.8 %); M. Abbey, Beardsley, Blagg, E. Brown, Clerke, M. Eimmart, C. 
		Herschel, M. Huggins, M. Kirch, Lepaute, A. Maunder, Mitchell, M. Proctor, 
		Somerville, F. Wilson, Witte


INSTRUMENTS
	Types
		Refractors -- achromatic from 1760s
		Speculum-metal reflectors -- 1730s
		Silver-on-glass reflectors -- 1856
		Modern (aluminized) reflectors -- 1932
		Transit instruments -- 1670s, common after 1720s

	Sources
		Self-built:  Common, Parsons
		Major firms:  Brashear, Clark, Cooke, Merz, Troughton

	Costs (with approximate conversions to 2001 dollars)
		Troughton transit circle, 1820: 525 ($35,800)
		Transit circle, 1839: 210 ($21,100)
		Donation for McKim Observatory, 1883 (housing Fauth transit & 9.5-in Clark
			refractor): $8000 ($143,000)
		4.5-in Cooke refractor, 1872: 100 ($8100)
		5-in Cooke refractor, 1876: $380 ($6200)
		5.9-in Tulley refractor, 1830: 220 ($20,000)
		6-in Clark refractor, 1870: $700 ($9400)
		6.8-in refractor, 1820: 250 ($3800)
		7.5-in Clark refractor, 1854: $950 ($19,800)
		8-in Grubb refractor, 1886: 400 ($35,200)
		8-in Clark refractor, 1858: 200 ($20,250)
		9-in Fitz refractor, 1850: $2200 ($49,100)
		9.4-in Clark refractor, 1874: $2200 ($34,000); sold in 1880 for $2250 ($38,000)
		16-in Clark refractor, 1880: $5800 est. ($100,000)
		18-in Fitz "dialitic" refractor, 1861: $10,000 ($190,000)
		36-in Crossley reflector, 1891: 2500 ($240,000)
		48-in reflector, ca. 1800, cost of construction: 4000 ($255,000);
			200 ($12,800) annual maintenance.
		48-in Melbourne reflector, 1874: 5000 ($432,000)
		72-in Parsons reflector, 1845: 12,000 ($1,330,000)

FIELDS OF RESEARCH
	Comets, comet discovery -- Alcock, Barnard, Bradfield, Brooks, Edberg, Honda, Ikeya, 
		Maccholz, Morris, Olbers, Peltier, Pons, Seki, Swift, Tebbutt, Tempel, Wolf
	Asteroids, asteroid discovery -- Goldschmidt, Metcalf, Seki, Wolf
	Meteors -- Denning, Mcintosh, Prentice, F. Wilson
	Moon -- Birt, Maedler, Elger, Fauth, Gooacre, Krieger, Lohrmann, Maedler, Neison, Wilkins
	Planets (esp. Jupiter) -- Gruithuisen, Lassell, Lowell, B. Peek, T.E.R. Phillips, Schroeter, 
		Tombaugh
	Sun (incl. eclipses) -- Baily, Carrington, McMath, Schwabe
	Variable stars (incl. novae & supernoe discovery) -- R. Evans, Goodricke, Peltier, Williams
	Double stars -- Burnham, Crossley, Dawes, Espin, Smyth, South
	Nebulae -- C., J. & W. Herschel; Parsons, Smyth
	Stellar astrometry -- Bradley, Brahe, Chandler, Groombridge, Hall, Pond, Ulugh Beg, 
		Wrottesley
	Astrophotography pioneers -- Common, De La Rue, Draper, J. Herschel, Parker, I. Roberts, 
		Rutherfurd
	Spectroscopy pioneers -- Evershed, Gothard, Hale, Higgs, M. & W. Huggins, Lockyer, 
		McClean, Rutherfurd, Schumann
	Photometry pioneers -- Ells, Parkhurst, Reynolds, W.E. Wilson
	Radio astronomy pioneer -- Reber
	Not all observe:
		Authors & popularizers --  Clerke, Firsoff, Norton, Olcott, R. & M. Proctor, Serviss, 
			Somerville
		Computers & catalogers -- Blagg, Lepaute, Levin, A.W. Roberts, Seagrave
		Telescopes & instruments -- Brashear, Calver, Common, Dall, Fitz, Hindle, Parsons, 
			Porter
		Organizers -- Haas, South


UNGUIDED ASTRONOMERS
	Became controversial and overly independent; e.g., Brenner, Fauth, Lowell, W.H. Pickering


SAMPLE CANDIDATES:  CHRONOLOGY
	Pre-Telescopic (before 1610)
		Ulug Beg, Tycho Brahe

	Preclassic Era (1610 - 1820)
		Almost all "astronomers", at least for much of their lives, e.g.: James Bradley, John 
		Goodricke, Stephen Groombridge, Edmond Halley, William Herschel, John Flamsteed, 
		H. Olbers, J.G. Palitzsch, David Rittenhouse, Johann Schroeter, George Shuckburgh

	Classic Era (1820 - 1920)
		Francis Baily, E.E. Barnard, F.W. Bessel, George Bishop, W.C. Bond, Leo Brenner, 
		W.R. Brooks, S.W. urnham, Richard Carrington, S.C. Chandler, Agnes Clerke, A.A. 
		Common, W.R. Dawes, Warren De La Rue, W.F. Denning, Henry Draper, T.G. Elger, 
		Camille Flammarion, John Herschel, William Huggins, Johann N. Krieger, William 
		Lassell, Lord Lindsay, Joseph Lockyer, Wilhelm G. Lohrmann, Percival Lowell, J.H. 
		Maedler, Frank McClean, Joel Metcalf, Maria Mitchell, James Nasmyth, Edmund 
		Neison, William Parsons, Richard Proctor, Isaac Roberts, Lewis Rutherfurd, S.H. 
		Schwabe, G.P. Serviss, W.H. Smyth Mary Somerville, James South, John Tebbutt, 
		E.W.L. Tempel, Etienne Trouvelot, T.W. Webb, William E. Wilson, Max Wolf, John 
		Wrottesley

	Postclassic Era (1920 - c. 1990)
		Leslie Ball, Horace Dall, Philipp Fauth, Walter Goodacre, George Ellery Hale, Minoru 
		Honda, Walter Scott Houston, Robert McMath, Bertrand Peek, Leslie C. Peltier, T.E.R. 
		Phillips, W.H. Pickering, W.H. Steavenson, Russell W. Porter, Clyde Tombaugh, H.P. 
		Wilkins, Arthur S. Williams

	Contemporary Grand Amateur Candidates
		George Alcock, Richard Baum, William Bradfield, Robert Evans, Walter H. Haas, 
		Kaoru Ikeya, David Levy, Patrick Moore, Jack Newton, Don Parker, Grote Reber, 
		Tsutomu Seki, William Sheehan


REFERENCES

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Periodicals

Astronomical Register (1863 - 1883)
l'Astronomie (1887 -)
English Mechanic (1859 -)
Journal, British Astronomical Association (1890 -)
Monthly Notices, Royal Astronomical Society (1822 -)
Observatory (1877 -)
Popular Astronomy (1893 - 1951)
Sidereal Messenger (1882 - 1891)

Websites