Emmanuel Liais (15 February 1826–5 March 1900) was a French

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

who spent many years in

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 ...

. He was born in

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

, the son of a wealthy family in the

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

industry. He was an amateur

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

and made some

meteorological Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...

observations and wrote some papers. The astronomer

François Arago Dominique François Jean Arago ( ca, Domènec Francesc Joan Aragó), known simply as François Arago (; Catalan: ''Francesc Aragó'', ; 26 February 17862 October 1853), was a French mathematician, physicist, astronomer, freemason, supporter of t ...

took note of one of his papers written in 1852, which determined that the weather in his hometown was milder than that of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. He then went to Paris in 1854 and worked at the

Paris Observatory The Paris Observatory (french: Observatoire de Paris ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centers in the world. Its histor ...

. There he assisted

Urbain Le Verrier Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier FRS (FOR) HFRSE (; 11 March 1811 – 23 September 1877) was a French astronomer and mathematician who specialized in celestial mechanics and is best known for predicting the existence and position of Neptune using ...

in creating a telegraphic meteorological network. He went to

to observe the

solar eclipse of September 7, 1858 A total solar eclipse occurred on September 7, 1858. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon' ...

and ended up staying there for a long time. He became a close acquaintance of the Brazilian Emperor

Dom Pedro II Don (honorific), Dom PedroII (2 December 1825 – 5 December 1891), nicknamed "the Magnanimity, Magnanimous" ( pt, O Magnânimo), was the List of monarchs of Brazil, second and last monarch of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. ...

, and became the director of the Imperial Observatory at

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

from January to July 1871 and again from 1874 to 1881. Although the observatory had been founded in 1827, in reality it was occupied mostly with teaching students of military schools. Liais reorganized it to concentrate on research. He discovered the

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

C/1860 D1 (Liais). This was his only comet discovery and the first comet discovered in Brazil. He made astronomical observations of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

and in 1865 speculated that the dark

albedo feature An albedo feature is a large area on the surface of a planet (or other Solar System body) which shows a contrast in brightness or darkness (albedo) with adjacent areas. Historically, albedo features were the first (and usually only) features to b ...

s were vegetation and not water (in fact, as we know today, they are neither). At the behest of the emperor, he made extensive exploration expeditions within Brazil and studied the plants of remote regions, sending some of them to France. He wrote a book entitled ''Climats, géologie, faune et géographie botanique du Brésil'' (Paris: Garnier Frères, 1872). In 1878 a public dispute developed between him and Manoel Pereira Reis and his position at the observatory gradually became untenable. At the beginning of 1881 he resigned and returned to his hometown of Cherbourg. He was mayor of Cherbourg from 1884–1886 and again from 1892 until his death in 1900. He imported exotic plants from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

to Cherbourg. He married a Dutch woman, Margaritha Trovwen, and they had no children. He bequeathed his property, located in a magnificent botanical park, to the city of Cherbourg. It is now known as the Emmanuel Liais Gardens. A

crater Crater may refer to: Landforms *Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet *Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surfac ...

on Mars is named after him. In addition to the park named after him, there is also "Emmanuel Liais" street in Cherbourg.

References

External links

City of Cherbourg: brief biographical info

Polemic between Liais and some Brazilian astronomers
(in Portuguese)
Meteorology and biographical information

Observatório Nacional - 175 years of service
(in Portuguese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Liais, Emmanuel 1826 births 1900 deaths People from Cherbourg-Octeville 19th-century French astronomers French explorers 19th-century French botanists Botanists with author abbreviations Botanists active in South America