Professor Charles Michie Smith CIE

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

FRAS FRAS may refer to: * Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, post-nominal letters * Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland Fellows of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland are individuals who have bee ...

(13 July 1854–27 September 1922) was a Scottish astronomer. He founded the

Kodaikanal Solar Observatory The Kodaikanal Solar Observatory is a solar observatory owned and operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. It is on the southern tip of the Palani Hills from Kodaikanal town. The Evershed effect was first detected at this observato ...

in the mountains of south India and served as its first Director.

Life

Smith was born in

Keig Keig ( ) is a village within the local government area of Aberdeenshire Council in the North East of Scotland and is located within the Marr area of Aberdeenshire from Alford. It lies on the B992 road between Insch and the village of Whitehous ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

on 13 July 1854 the son of Jane Robertson and Rev William Pirrie Smith of the newly created Free Church of Scotland. He was educated locally then went to first the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

then the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

to study mathematics and physics, graduating BSc in 1876. His tutors included

Peter Guthrie Tait Peter Guthrie Tait FRSE (28 April 1831 – 4 July 1901) was a Scottish mathematical physicist and early pioneer in thermodynamics. He is best known for the mathematical physics textbook '' Treatise on Natural Philosophy'', which he co-wrote wi ...

and

George Chrystal George Chrystal FRSE FRS (8 March 1851 – 3 November 1911) was a Scottish mathematician. He is primarily know for his books on algebra and his studies of seiches (wave patterns in large inland bodies of water) which earned him a Gold Meda ...

. He almost immediately obtained a post as Professor of Physics at

Madras Christian College Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous institu ...

and began in this role in the summer of 1877 aged 23. In 1882 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were

Alexander Crum Brown Alexander Crum Brown FRSE FRS (26 March 1838 – 28 October 1922) was a Scottish organic chemist. Alexander Crum Brown Road in Edinburgh's King's Buildings complex is named after him. Early life and education Crum Brown was born at 4 Bellev ...

and

William Thomson, Lord Kelvin William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (26 June 182417 December 1907) was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast. Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, he did important ...

. In 1884 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NGO ...

. In 1891 he left Madras Christian College to become Government Astronomer for Madras, replacing the recently deceased Professor N. R. Pogson. In 1899 he published the New Madras General Catalogue (of Stars) listing 5303 stars visible from the observatory. He left this role in 1899 to become the first Director of the

. Smith retired from his Directorship in 1911, but continued to live at

Kodaikanal Kodaikanal () is a hill station which is located in Dindigul district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Its name in the Tamil language means "The Gift of the Forest". Kodaikanal is referred to as the "Princess of Hill stations" and has a long ...

. He died at his home there on 27 September 1922 and is buried locally with his spinster sister Lucy Smith, who joined him in later life. Smith was succeeded by his assistant

John Evershed John Evershed CIE FRS FRAS (26 February 1864 – 17 November 1956) was an English astronomer. He was the first to observe radial motions in sunspots, a phenomenon now known as the Evershed effect. Biography Evershed was born in Gomshall ...

as observatory director.

Publications

*''The Green Sun'' (1883) *''The Remarkable Sunsets'' (1884) *''The Green Flash at Sunset'' (1890) *''

Annular Eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...

of the Sun'' (1894) *''The Kodaikanal Solar Physics Observatory in India'' (1895) *''Observations of the

Leonids The Leonids ( ) are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Tempel–Tuttle, which are also known for their spectacular meteor storms that occur about every 33 years. The Leonids get their name from the location of their radiant i ...

'' (1899) *''A Solar Outburst and a

Magnetic Storm A geomagnetic storm, also known as a magnetic storm, is a temporary disturbance of the Earth's magnetosphere caused by a solar wind shock wave and/or cloud of magnetic field that interacts with the Earth's magnetic field. The disturbance that d ...

'' (1909) *''Observations of

Halley's Comet Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the o ...

'' (1910, with

)

Family

He was unmarried and had no children. His older brother was

William Robertson Smith William Robertson Smith (8 November 184631 March 1894) was a Scottish orientalist, Old Testament scholar, professor of divinity, and minister of the Free Church of Scotland. He was an editor of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' and contributo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Charles Michie 1854 births 1922 deaths People from Aberdeenshire Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish astronomers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh