Sears Cook Walker (March 28, 1805 – January 30, 1853) was an American
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, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...
.
Born at
Wilmington, Massachusetts
Wilmington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Its population was 23,349 at the 2020 United States census.
History
Wilmington was first settled in 1665 and was officially incorporated in 1730, from parts of Woburn, Readi ...
son of Benjamin Walker and Susanna Cook, he graduated from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
in 1825, he was a teacher till 1835, was an
actuary in 1835-1845 for the Pennsylvania Company for Insurance on Lives and Granting Annuities, and then became one of several assistants at the
United States Naval Observatory
United States Naval Observatory (USNO) is a scientific and military facility that produces geopositioning, navigation and timekeeping data for the United States Navy and the United States Department of Defense. Established in 1830 as the Depo ...
following orders from Superintendent
Matthew Fontaine Maury
Matthew Fontaine Maury (January 14, 1806February 1, 1873) was an American oceanographer and naval officer, serving the United States and then joining the Confederacy during the American Civil War.
He was nicknamed "Pathfinder of the Seas" and i ...
. Sears C. Walker was fired by Maury for publishing United States Naval Observatory findings on the planet Neptune in a foreign nation's scientific news through the help of
Joseph Henry of the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
. But it was too late and Walker got personal credit for work that he was only partially involved in. In 1847 he took charge of the longitude department of the
United States Coast Survey
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
, where he was among the first to make use of the
electric telegraph
Electrical telegraphs were point-to-point text messaging systems, primarily used from the 1840s until the late 20th century. It was the first electrical telecommunications system and the most widely used of a number of early messaging systems ...
for the purpose of determining the difference of
longitude
Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lette ...
between two stations, and he introduced the method of registering transit observations electrically by means of a
chronograph
A chronograph is a specific type of watch that is used as a stopwatch combined with a display watch. A basic chronograph has an independent sweep second hand and a minute sub-dial; it can be started, stopped, and returned to zero by successive ...
. He also investigated the orbit of the newly discovered
planet
A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...
Neptune. He died near
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
in 1853.
Walker learned to read at least seven languages. Using his knowledge of German he read the work of German astronomers. The annotations in his copy of
Astronomische Nachrichten show that he was interested in data reduction and computation of orbits. He was elected a member of 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 ...
in 1837.
His brother
Timothy Walker (1802-1856) was a leader of the Ohio bar.
See also
*
Ezra Otis Kendall
References
*
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Sears Cook
1805 births
1853 deaths
Harvard University alumni
American astronomers
People from Wilmington, Massachusetts