Samuel Molyneux

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Samuel Molyneux
Samuel Molyneux
Samuel Molyneux
Born 16 July 1689
Chester, England
Died 13 April 1728
Kew
Nationality United Kingdom
Fields astronomy
Known for aberration of light

Samuel Molyneux (16 July 1689 – 13 April 1728), son of William Molyneux, was a 18th century member of the British parliament from Kew and amateur astronomer whose work with James Bradley attempting to measure stellar parallax led to the discovery of the aberration of light. The aberration was the first definite evidence that the earth moved and that Copernicus and Kepler were correct. [1][2][3] In addition to his astronomical works, Molyneux wrote about the natural history and other features of Ireland.[3]

Contents

[edit] Life

Molyneux was born in Chester, England in 1689 and died in Kew in 1728. He was the second son of William Molyneux, who known for his work related to optics. Molyneux studied at Trinity College, Dublin, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1708 and a Master of Arts (MA) in 1710. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1712. and served as a member of the Parliament in 1715, 1726, 1727 and Ireland 1727, and as Lord of the Admiralty from 1727-1728.

[edit] Astronomical Work

Molyneux is most known for his work with Bradley in attempting to measure the parallax of Gamma Draconis leading to the discovery of the aberration of light. Molyneux was interested in detecting parallax that others such Robert Hooke had attempted but failed to detect. Unlike Hooke, Molyneux had large amounts of patience and had resources to expend. Like Hooke, Molyneux decided to take advantage of Gamma Draconis always being over London. Molyneux commissioned a larger set of telescopes and employed James Bradley as an expert who had more astronomical and mathematical knowledge. Working together, Bradley and Molyneux performed over 80 observations to a precision of greater than 1 arcsecond from December of 1725 until late in 1727. Measurements of this precision had never before been performed with telescopes. Bradley and Molyneux were surprised to find that rather than detect a parallax they detected an unexplained wobble of the star. Moreover, similar wobbles were found by Bradley using another high-precision telescope for some 200 other stars. Molyneux died shortly before Bradley realized that the observed changes they were seeing was in fact due to the aberration of light.[2]

[edit] Parliament

Molyneux was Member of Parliament (MP) for Bossiney from 1715 to 1722, and for St Mawes from 1726 to 1727.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Science and Its Times via William Molyneux Summary. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
  2. ^ a b Hirschfeld, Alan (2001). Parallax:The Race to Measure the Cosmos. New York, New York: Henry Holt. ISBN 0-8050-7133-4. 
  3. ^ a b Samuel Molyneux. Prince Grace Irish Library(Monaco). Retrieved on 2007-07-24.

[edit] References