Thomas Lynn (1774–1847) was an English naval officer and writer on

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

Life

He was born 2 January 1774 at

Woodbridge, Suffolk Woodbridge is a port and market town in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It is up the River Deben from the sea. It lies north-east of Ipswich and forms part of the wider Ipswich built-up area. The town is close to some major a ...

, where his father was a medical practitioner. At the age of 11 he entered the naval service of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

. On leaving it with the rank of commander many years later, he was appointed examiner in nautical astronomy to the company's officers. He kept a naval academy at 148 Leadenhall Street, London, and died at Dover on 2 May 1847, aged 73.

Works

Lynn wrote: * ''An Improved System of Telegraphic Communication'', London, 1814; 2nd edit. 1818. * ''Solar Tables'', 1821. * ''Star Tables'' for 1822, etc. * ''Astronomical and other Tables'', 1824. * ''A New Method of finding the Longitude'', two editions, 1826. * ''Horary Tables for finding the Time by Inspection'', 1827; 2nd edit. 1828. * ''Practical Methods for finding the Latitude'', 1833. * ''New Star Tables'', 1843. A chapter by him on the navigation of the China seas formed part of the volumes on China published in the ''

Edinburgh Cabinet Library The ''Edinburgh Cabinet Library'' was a series of 38 books, mostly geographical, published from 1830 to 1844, and edited by Dionysius Lardner. The original price was 5 shillings for a volume; a later reissue of 30 of the volumes was at half that ...

'', 1836; 3rd edit. 1843.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynn, Thomas 1774 births 1847 deaths British East India Company Marine personnel