Tadeusz Julian Banachiewicz (13 February 1882,

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

– 17 November 1954,

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

) was a Polish

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 ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and

geodesist Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equivale ...

Scientific career

He was educated at

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

and his thesis was on "reduction constants of the Repsold heliometer". In 1905, after the closure of the University by the Russians, he moved to

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

and in 1906 to the

Pulkovo Observatory The Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory (russian: Пулковская астрономическая обсерватория, Pulkovskaya astronomicheskaya observatoriya), officially named the Central Astronomical Observatory of the Russian Academ ...

. He also worked at the Engelhardt Observatory at

Kazan University Kazan (Volga region) Federal University (russian: Казанский (Приволжский) федеральный университет, tt-Cyrl, Казан (Идел буе) федераль университеты) is a public research uni ...

from 1910 to 1915.The Observatory in the years of T. Banachiewicz's management (1919-1954)
Krakow Astronomical Observatory, Retrieved 10 February 2010 In 1919, after Poland regained its independence, Banachiewicz moved to

, becoming a professor at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

and the director of Kraków Observatory (). He authored approximately 180 research papers and modified the method of determining parabolic orbits. In 1925, he invented a theory of " cracovians" – a special kind of matrix algebra – which brought him international recognition. This theory solved several astronomical, geodetic, mechanical and mathematical problems. In 1922 he became a member of

Polish Academy of Learning The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences or Polish Academy of Learning ( pl, Polska Akademia Umiejętności), headquartered in Kraków and founded in 1872, is one of two institutions in contemporary Poland having the nature of an academy of scien ...

and from 1932 to 1938 was the vice-president of 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 ...

. He was also the first President of the

Polish Astronomical Society The Polish Astronomical Society (Polish: ''Polskie Towarzystwo Astronomiczne, PTA'') is science society in Poland, founded in 1923, with headquarters in Warsaw. Members of PTA are professional astronomers. Purpose of the association is promoting ...

, the vice-president of the Geodetic Committee of The Baltic States and, from 1952 to his death, a member of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of ...

. He was also the founder of the journal

Acta Astronomica ''Acta Astronomica'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering astronomy and astrophysics. It was established in 1925 by the Polish astronomer Tadeusz Banachiewicz. Initially, the journal published articles in Latin, later Eng ...

. He was the recipient of Doctor Honoris Causa titles from the

(1929), the

University of Poznań A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

(1936) and the

Sofia University Sofia University, "St. Kliment Ohridski" at the University of Sofia, ( bg, Софийски университет „Св. Климент Охридски“, ''Sofijski universitet „Sv. Kliment Ohridski“'') is the oldest higher education i ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

(1948). Banachiewicz invented a

chronocinematograph Chronocinematograph is an astronomical instrument consisting of a Photographic film, film camera, Observatory chronometer, chronometer and chronograph. The device records images using a more precise timetable for observing an eclipse. It was invent ...

, an

astronomical instrument Astronomical instruments include: *Alidade * Armillary sphere *Astrarium * Astrolabe *Astronomical clock *the Antikythera mechanism, an astronomical clock *Blink comparator *Bolometer *the Canterbury Astrolabe Quadrant * Celatone * Celestial spher ...

for precise observations of

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...

s.
He is the author of more than 500 scientific papers, scientific and popular press communications, telegraph scientific reports, polemics, reviews, reports and editorial works, which concern astronomy, mathematics, mechanics, geodesy, geophysics and other fields of science. The

LU decomposition In numerical analysis and linear algebra, lower–upper (LU) decomposition or factorization factors a matrix as the product of a lower triangular matrix and an upper triangular matrix (see matrix decomposition). The product sometimes includes a pe ...

was introduced by Banachiewicz in 1938.

Honors

The lunar crater Banachiewicz and the main-belt asteroid 1286 Banachiewicza are named after him. The asteroid 1287 Lorcia was named after his wife following his suggestion to the discoverer.

References

External links

* Adam Strzałkowski
Tadeusz Banachiewicz – Mistrz i Nauczyciel
Zwoje 4/41, 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Banachiewicz, Tadeusz 1882 births 1954 deaths Academic staff of Jagiellonian University Members of the Polish Academy of Learning Members of the Polish Academy of Sciences 20th-century Polish astronomers Polish geodesists 20th-century Polish mathematicians Scientists from Warsaw