Henry Draper (March 7, 1837 – November 20, 1882) was an American
doctor
Doctor or The Doctor may refer to:
Personal titles
* Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree
* A medical practitioner, including:
** Physician
** Surgeon
** Dentist
** Veterinary physician
** Optometrist
*Other roles
** ...
and
amateur astronomer
Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers ...
. He is best known today as a pioneer of astrophotography.
Life and work
Henry Draper's father,
John William Draper
John William Draper (May 5, 1811 – January 4, 1882) was an English-born American scientist, philosopher, physician, chemist, historian and photographer. He is credited with producing the first clear photograph of a female face (1839–40) and ...
, was an accomplished doctor, chemist, botanist, and professor at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
; he was also the first to photograph the moon through a telescope (1840). Draper's mother was Antonia Coetana de Paiva Pereira Gardner, daughter of the personal physician to the Emperor of
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. His niece,
Antonia Maury
Antonia Caetana de Paiva Pereira Maury (March 21, 1866 – January 8, 1952) was an American astronomer who was the first to detect and calculate the orbit of a spectroscopic binary. She published an important early catalog of stellar spectra us ...
was also an astronomer.
He graduated from
New York University School of Medicine
NYU Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, with the other being the Long Island School of ...
, at the age of 20, in 1857.
He worked first as a physician at
Bellevue Hospital
Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States b ...
, and later as both a professor and dean of medicine at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
(NYU). On May 31, 1862, he joined S Company,
12th New York Infantry Regiment as a surgeon along with his brother John Christopher, who joined as an assistant surgeon.
[Hughes, Stefan]
''Catchers of the Light, Volume 1 - Catching Space''
ArtDeCiel Publishing, 2012, pages 546-546. They served until October 8, 1862.
[ In 1867 he married Mary Anna Palmer, a wealthy socialite who collaborated with him in his astronomy work.
Draper was one of the pioneers of the use of ]astrophotography
Astrophotography, also known as astronomical imaging, is the photography or imaging of astronomical objects, celestial events, or areas of the night sky. The first photograph of an astronomical object (the Moon) was taken in 1840, but it was no ...
. In 1872, he took a stellar spectrum that showed absorption line
A spectral line is a dark or bright line in an otherwise uniform and continuous spectrum, resulting from emission or absorption of light in a narrow frequency range, compared with the nearby frequencies. Spectral lines are often used to iden ...
s, others, such as Joseph Fraunhofer
Joseph Ritter von Fraunhofer (; ; 6 March 1787 – 7 June 1826) was a German physicist and optical lens manufacturer. He made optical glass, an achromatic telescope, and objective lenses. He also invented the spectroscope and developed diffra ...
, Lewis Morris Rutherfurd
Lewis Morris Rutherfurd (November 25, 1816 – May 30, 1892) was an American lawyer and astronomer, and a pioneering astrophotographer.
Early life and work
Rutherfurd was born in Morrisania, New York to Robert Walter Rutherfurd (1788–1852) a ...
and Angelo Secchi
Angelo Secchi (; 28 June 1818 – 26 February 1878) was an Italian Catholic priest, astronomer from the Italian region of Emilia. He was director of the observatory at the Pontifical Gregorian University (then called the Roman College) for 28 y ...
, preceded him in that ambition.
He resigned his chair in the medical department in 1873, to allow for more time for original research.
He directed an expedition to photograph the 1874 transit of Venus
frameless, upright=0.5
A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and a superior planet, becoming visible against (and hence obscuring a small portion of) the solar disk. During a trans ...
, and was the first to photograph the Orion Nebula, on September 30, 1880. Using his 11 inch Clark Brothers photographic refractor he took a 50-minute exposure. He photographed the spectrum of Jupiter in 1880.
Draper's observatory, where he took his much-admired photographs of the moon, was located in Hastings-on-Hudson
Hastings-on-Hudson is a village in Westchester County located in the southwestern part of the town of Greenburgh in the state of New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of midtown Manh ...
, New York, and today the building functions as the Hastings-on-Hudson Historical Society.
Draper received numerous awards, including honorary LL.D.
Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...
law degrees from NYU and the University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
in 1882, a Congressional medal for directing the U.S. expedition to photograph the 1874 transit of Venus, and election to both the National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
and the Astronomische Gesellschaft
__NOTOC__
The ''Astronomische Gesellschaft'' is an astronomical society established in 1863 in Heidelberg, the second oldest astronomical society after the Royal Astronomical Society.
In 1882, the ''Astronomische Gesellschaft'' founded the Centra ...
. In addition, he held memberships in the American Photographic Society, the American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...
.
After his untimely early death from double pleurisy
Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...
, his widow Mary Anna Draper
Mary Anna Draper, also known as Mary Anna Palmer Draper, (September 19, 1839 – December 8, 1914) was an American, known for her work with her husband, Henry Draper, with astronomical photography and research. She helped found the Mount Wilso ...
funded the Henry Draper Medal
The Henry Draper Medal is awarded every 4 years by the United States National Academy of Sciences "for investigations in astrophysics, astronomical physics". Named after Henry Draper, the medal is awarded with a gift of USD $15,000. The medal was ...
for outstanding contributions to astrophysics
Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...
and a telescope, which was used to prepare the Henry Draper Catalog of stellar spectra. This historical Henry Draper telescope is now at the Toruń Centre for Astronomy
The Institute of Astronomy of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, known prior to 1 October 2019 in scientific publications as the Toruń Centre for Astronomy, is an optical and radio observatory located at () in Piwnice, about 15 k ...
(Nicolaus Copernicus University Nicolaus is a masculine given name. It is a Latin, Greek and German form of Nicholas. Nicolaus may refer to:
In science:
* Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer who provided the first modern formulation of a heliocentric theory of the solar syst ...
) at Piwnice, Poland. The small crater Draper
Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher.
History
Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...
on the Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
is named in his honor.
Selected works
*''The Changes of Blood-Cells in the Spleen'', thesis, 1858.
*''A Text-Book on Chemistry'', 1866 revision of his father's 1846 text.
*''Are there other inhabited worlds?'', 1866.
*''Delusions of Medicine, Charms, talismans, amulets, astrology, and mesmerism'', 1873.
*''The Discovery of Oxygen in the Sun by Photography'', 1877.
See also
* Andrew Ainslie Common
Andrew Ainslie Common Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (1841–1903) was an English amateur astronomer best known for his pioneering work in astrophotography.
Biography
Common was born in Newcastle Upon Tyne on 7 August 1841. His father, Thomas ...
* Henry Draper Medal
The Henry Draper Medal is awarded every 4 years by the United States National Academy of Sciences "for investigations in astrophysics, astronomical physics". Named after Henry Draper, the medal is awarded with a gift of USD $15,000. The medal was ...
* Henry Draper Catalogue
References
Further reading
*
External links
National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Draper, Henry
1837 births
1882 deaths
19th-century American photographers
American astronomers
Astrophotographers
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
New York University Grossman School of Medicine alumni
New York University faculty
American people of Brazilian descent
Photographers from New York (state)
Physicians from New York City
Scientists from New York (state)
Bellevue Hospital physicians
Union Army surgeons