Profession: Astronomer
Biography: Anders Celsius was a Swedish astronomer, best known for the Centigrade temperature scale which now bears his name. He also founded the Uppsala Astronomical Observatory in 1741.
Celsius' came from a family of intellects, with his father being an astronomy professor. His uncle, Olof Celsius, was a botanist and he was the grandson of Magnus Celsius, a mathematician, and Anders Spole, an astronomer.
He was also the first to connect the aurora borealis phenomenon with shifts in the magnetic field of the Earth, noticing also that variations in the movement of a compass needles corresponded with auroral activity.
Born: November 27, 1701
Birthplace: Uppsala, Sweden
Star Sign: Sagittarius
Died: April 25, 1744 (aged 42)
Cause of Death: Tuberculosis
Historical Events
- 1736-04-20 French mathematician Pierre Louis Maupertuis begins Lapland expedition to measure latitude and shape of the earth, joined by fellow scientists Anders Celsius, Charles Etienne Louis Camus, Alexis Clairaut, and Pierre-Charles Le Monnier
- 1736-12-03 Astronomer Anders Celsius takes measurements that confirm Newton's theory that the earth was an ellipsoid rather than the previously accepted sphere
- 1741-12-25 Astronomer Anders Celsius introduces Centigrade temperature scale
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
Charles Messier
Edmond Halley
Galileo Galilei
Percival Lowell
William Herschel