Norman Lockyer

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Joseph Norman Lockyer

from Proceedings of the Royal Society (1909)
Born (1836-05-17)17 May 1836
Rugby, Warwickshire, England
Died 16 August 1920(1920-08-16) (aged 84)
Salcombe Regis, Devon, England
Nationality British
Fields Astronomy
Known for Discovery of helium

Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer, FRS (17 May 1836 – 16 August 1920), known simply as Norman Lockyer, was an English scientist and astronomer. Along with the French scientist Pierre Janssen he is credited with discovering the gas helium. Lockyer also is remembered for being the founder and first editor of the influential journal Nature.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Lockyer was born in Rugby, Warwickshire. After a conventional schooling supplemented by travel in Switzerland and France, he worked for some years as a civil servant in the British War office. He settled in Wimbledon, South London after marrying Winifred James. A keen amateur astronomer with a particular interest in the Sun, Lockyer eventually became Director of the Solar Physics Observatory in Kensington London.

In the 1860s Lockyer became fascinated by electromagnetic spectroscopy as an analytical tool for determining the composition of heavenly bodies. He conducted his research from his new home in West Hampstead, with a 6¼ inch telescope which he already used Wimbledon.[1] In 1868 a prominent yellow line was observed in a spectrum taken near the edge of the Sun. With a wavelength of about 588 nm, slightly less than the so-called "D" lines of sodium. the line could not be explained as due to any material known at the time, and so it was suggested by Lockyer that the yellow line was caused by an unknown solar element. He named this element helium after the Greek word 'Helios' meaning 'sun'. An observation of the new yellow line also was made by Janssen at the same eclipse, and so he and Lockyer usually are awarded joint credit for helium's discovery. Terrestrial helium was found about 10 years later by William Ramsay. In his work on the identification of helium, Lockyer collaborated with the noted chemist Edward Frankland.[2]

To facilitate the transmission of ideas between scientific disciplines, Lockyer established the general science journal Nature in 1869. He remained its editor until shortly before his death.

Lockyer led eight expeditions to observe solar eclipses for example in 1870 to Sicily, 1871 to India and 1898 to India.[1]

After his retirement in 1911, Lockyer established an observatory near his home in Salcombe Regis near Sidmouth, Devon. Originally known as the Hill Observatory, the site was renamed the Norman Lockyer Observatory after his death. For a time the observatory was a part of the University of Exeter, but is now owned by the East Devon District Council, and run by the Norman Lockyer Observatory Society. The Norman Lockyer Chair in Astrophysics at the University of Exeter is currently held by Professor Tim Naylor, who is the member of the Astrophysics group there which studies star formation and extrasolar planets.

English Heritage plaque at Salcombe Regis, Devon

Lockyer died at his home in Salcombe Regis in 1920, and was buried there in the churchyard of St Peter and St Mary.[3][4]

[edit] Publications

[edit] Honours and awards

1891 illustration of Lockyer
  • Fellow of the Royal Society (1869)
  • Janssen Medal, Paris Academy of Science (1875)
  • Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (1897)[5]
  • President, British Association (1903 – 1904)

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Cortie, A. L. (1921). "Sir Norman Lockyer, 1836 – 1920". Astrophysical Journal 53: 233–248. Bibcode 1921ApJ....53..233C. doi:10.1086/142602.
  2. ^ Hearnshaw, J. B. (1986). The Analysis of Starlight. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 84–85. ISBN 0-521-25548-1.
  3. ^ Jacobson, Walter. "Around the Churches of East Devon". http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/DevonIndexes/EastDevonChurches.html. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  4. ^ Edwards, D. L. (1937). "Report of the Proceedings of the Sidmouth, Norman Lockyer Observatory". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 97: 309–310. Bibcode 1937MNRAS..97..309.. http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/seri/MNRAS/0097//0000309.000.html. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  5. ^ Meadows, A. J. (1972). Science and Controversy. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. p. 237. ISBN 0-230-22020-7.

[edit] Further reading

  • Meadows, A. J. (1972). Science and Controversy. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 0-230-22020-7.- A biography of Lockyer
  • Wilkins, G. A. (1994). "Sir Norman Lockyer's Contributions to Science". Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 35: 51–57. Bibcode 1994QJRAS..35...51W.

[edit] External links

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