Lalande, Jérôme

Lalande, Jérôme

▪ French astronomer
in full  Joseph-Jérôme Lefrançais de Lalande,  Lefrançais also spelled  Le Français, Lefrançois, or Le François  
born July 11, 1732, Bourg-en-Bresse, France
died April 4, 1807, Paris

      French astronomer whose tables of the planetary positions were considered the best available until the end of the 18th century.

      A law student in Paris, Lalande became interested in astronomy while he was lodging at the Hôtel de Cluny, where the noted astronomer Joseph-Nicolas Delisle had his observatory. In 1751 Lalande went to Berlin to make lunar observations in concert with the work of Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille at the Cape of Good Hope. The success of this task and the subsequent calculation of the Moon's distance secured for Lalande, before he reached the age of 21, admission to the Academy of Berlin and the post of adjunct astronomer to the Academy of Paris.

      Lalande then devoted himself to the improvement of planetary theory, publishing in 1759 a corrected edition of the tables of Halley's Comet. He helped organize international collaboration in observing the transits of Venus in 1761 and 1769; the data obtained made possible the accurate calculation of the distance between the Sun and the Earth. In 1762 Lalande was appointed to the chair of astronomy in the Collège de France, Paris, a position that he held for 46 years. A popularizer of astronomy, he in 1802 instituted the Lalande Prize for the chief astronomical contribution of each year.

      Among his voluminous works are Traité d'astronomie (1764; “Treatise on Astronomy”), Histoire céleste française (1801; “French Celestial History”), and Bibliographie astronomique (1803; “Astronomical Bibliography”).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Jérôme Lalande — Born July 11, 1732( …   Wikipedia

  • Jerome Lalande — Joseph Jérôme Le Français de Lalande Joseph Jérôme Lefrançais de Lalande[1] (* 11. Juli 1732 in Bourg en Bresse, Département Ain/Frankreich; † 4. April 1807 in Paris) war ein französischer …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Jérôme de Lalande — Joseph Jérôme Le Français de Lalande Joseph Jérôme Lefrançais de Lalande[1] (* 11. Juli 1732 in Bourg en Bresse, Département Ain/Frankreich; † 4. April 1807 in Paris) war ein französischer …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Jérôme Joseph le François de Lalande — Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande Pour les articles homonymes, voir Lalande. Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Jérôme Lalande — Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande Pour les articles homonymes, voir Lalande. Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Lalande — is a surname and may refer to:* Jean de Lalande (died 1646), Jesuit missionary * Michel Richard Delalande (1657 1726), French composer * Jérôme Lalande (1732–1807), French astronomer and writer * André Lalande (1867–1963), French philosopher *… …   Wikipedia

  • Lalande — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Géoffroy de la Lande (1207 1208), Erzbischof von Tours Jacques Lalande (*1921), französischer gegenständlicher Maler Jérôme Lalande (1732 1807), französischer Astronom und Mathematiker Kevin Lalande (*… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Lalande 21185 — Constelación Osa Mayor Ascensión recta α 11h 03min 20,20s Declinación δ +35º 58’ 11,5’’ Distancia …   Wikipedia Español

  • Lalande —   [la lãd],    1) André, französischer Philosoph, * Dijon 19. 7. 1867, ✝ Asnières sur Seine 15. 11. 1963; war 1904 37 Professor an der Sorbonne, wurde 1922 Mitglied der »Académie des sciences morales et politiques«; Mitbegründer der »Société… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Lalande — (spr. Lalangd), 1) Joseph Jerome Lefrançais de L., geb. 1732 in Bourg en Bresse im französischen Departement Ain, genoß seine Vorbildung bei den Jesuiten in Lyon, studirte in Paris Jurisprudenz u. unter Lemonier bes. Astronomie, wurde 1751 von… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”