Joseph Algernon Pearce (February 7, 1893 – September 8, 1988) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

astrophysicist, who was notable for studies on the structure of

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and O-type stars. Born in

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, Pearce enlisted in the

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in 1915 and served with the rank of Major in France until his was injured and returned to Canada as a training officer. He received a bachelor's and master's degree from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

. He then studied at the

Lick Observatory The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of California. It is on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, United States. The observatory is managed by th ...

in California and received a PhD from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in 1930. He joined the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in

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and was appointed Assistant Director in 1935. From 1940 to 1951, he was Director. A Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

, he served as its president from 1949 to 1950. He was president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and vice-president of the

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. In 1955, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

. He is the author of ''Elements of the Orbit of Reid's Comet'' (University of Toronto, 1922), ''The Minimum Masses of Three Spectroscopic Binary Stars'' (J.O. Patenaude, 1932), and ''The Spectroscopic Orbits of the Four Helium Stars H.D. 29376, H.D. 39698, H.D. 44701 and H.D. 208095. The Radial Velocity of Boss 5628'' (J.O. Patenaude, 1932).

References

External links

Joseph Algernon Pearce
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available fo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Joseph 1893 births 1988 deaths 20th-century Canadian astronomers Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Scientists from Ontario University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Toronto alumni Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada