Nathaniel Bliss (28 November 1700 – 2 September 1764) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
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 ...
of the 18th century, serving as Britain's fourth
Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the junior is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834.
The post ...
between 1762 and 1764.
Life
Nathaniel Bliss was born in the
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale.
The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...
village of
Bisley in
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
. His father, also named Nathaniel Bliss, was a
clothier. Bliss studied at
Pembroke College, Oxford
Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...
. He graduated
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
in 1720 and
M.A.
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
in 1723, and married shortly afterwards.
In 1736, Bliss became rector of
St Ebbe's Church in
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. Supported by, among others; the
2nd Earl of Macclesfield (George Parker),
Savilian Professor of Astronomy
The position of Savilian Professor of Astronomy was established at the University of Oxford in 1619. It was founded (at the same time as the Savilian Professor of Geometry, Savilian Professorship of Geometry) by Henry Savile (Bible translator), S ...
James Bradley
James Bradley (1692–1762) was an English astronomer and priest who served as the third Astronomer Royal from 1742. He is best known for two fundamental discoveries in astronomy, the aberration of light (1725–1728), and the nutation of the ...
and by
William Jones, Bliss succeeded
Edmond Halley
Edmond (or Edmund) Halley (; – ) was an English astronomer, mathematician and physicist. He was the second Astronomer Royal in Britain, succeeding John Flamsteed in 1720.
From an observatory he constructed on Saint Helena in 1676–77, H ...
as
Savilian Professor of Geometry
The position of Savilian Professor of Geometry was established at the University of Oxford in 1619. It was founded (at the same time as the Savilian Professorship of Astronomy) by Sir Henry Savile, a mathematician and classical scholar who was ...
at
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
in February 1742 – being elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
in May the same year. As Savilian Professor he lectured courses in arithmetic, algebra, plane and spherical geometry, the use of logarithms and surveying instruments.
In 1762 he succeeded
James Bradley
James Bradley (1692–1762) was an English astronomer and priest who served as the third Astronomer Royal from 1742. He is best known for two fundamental discoveries in astronomy, the aberration of light (1725–1728), and the nutation of the ...
to become the fourth Astronomer Royal, but held the post for only two years before his unexpected death.
He died in Oxford, but was buried close to Edmond Halley in
St Margaret's churchyard in
Lee in south-east
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. As men of independent means, the first four Astronomers Royal including Bliss, were paid only a minimal salary. This situation changed when
Nevil Maskelyne
Nevil Maskelyne (; 6 October 1732 – 9 February 1811) was the fifth British Astronomer Royal. He held the office from 1765 to 1811. He was the first person to scientifically measure the mass of the planet Earth. He created the ''British Nau ...
succeeded Bliss as Astronomer Royal upon his death – Maskelyne commanded a salary of £350 per annum, permitting him to make the post his main occupation. In 2000 the
International Astronomical Union
The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...
named a
crater on the Moon after Bliss, in commemoration of his position as Astronomer Royal.
Observations
George Parker, the Earl of Macclesfield, had established an observatory at
Shirburn Castle
Shirburn Castle is a Grade I listed, moated castle located at the village of Shirburn, near Watlington, Oxfordshire. Originally constructed in the fourteenth century, it was renovated and remodelled in the Georgian era by Thomas Parker, the fi ...
. Working for and with the Earl of Macclesfield, Bliss made
meridian
Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to
Science
* Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon
* ...
observations of a comet approaching the sun in 1744 at Shirburn Castle and at
Greenwich
Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross.
Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
. Bliss worked alongside James Bradley at the
Royal Observatory in Greenwich and in June 1761, owing to the poor health of Bradley, he undertook the observations for the
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 ...
.
His assistant at the Royal Observatory was
Charles Green, and upon his death, Green continued Bliss' work until the appointment of the next Astronomer Royal. In April 1764 Bliss made observations of an
annular (solar) eclipse visible from Greenwich. Many of the observations made by Bliss were considered potentially useful for solving the
longitude problem
The history of longitude describes the centuries-long effort by astronomers, cartographers and navigators to discover a means of determining the longitude of any given place on Earth.
The measurement of longitude is important to both cartography ...
, important for cartography and ocean navigation, and were therefore bought by the
Board of Longitude
The Commissioners for the Discovery of the Longitude at Sea, or more popularly Board of Longitude, was a British government body formed in 1714 to administer a scheme of prizes intended to encourage innovators to solve the problem of finding lon ...
from his widow Elizabeth Bliss (née Hillman). His Greenwich observations were not published until 1805 when they were included as a supplement in an edition by
Thomas Hornsby
Thomas Hornsby (1733 in Durham – 11 April 1810 in Oxford) was a British astronomer and mathematician.
Life
Hornsby became a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford in 1760.
He occupied the Savilian Chair of Astronomy at Oxford University fr ...
on the observations of Bradley.
References
;Attribution
Further reading
*
External links
Online catalogue of Bliss' working papers (part of the Royal Greenwich Observatory Archives held at Cambridge University Library)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bliss, Nathaniel
1700 births
1764 deaths
18th-century British astronomers
18th-century English mathematicians
Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford
Astronomers Royal
Fellows of the Royal Society
People from Bisley, Gloucestershire
Savilian Professors of Geometry
18th-century English Anglican priests