Burnham, Sherburne Wesley

Related Category: Astronomy: Biographies

1838–1921, American astronomer, b. Thetford, Vt. After serving as observer at Dearborn Observatory, Chicago (1877–81, 1882–84), and as astronomer at Lick Observatory (1888–92), he was from 1893 astronomer at Yerkes Observatory and professor of astronomy at the Univ. of Chicago. Although his interest in astronomy had begun with amateur observations, he became outstanding in the field, especially through his discoveries of double stars. He wrote General Catalogue of Double Stars (1906) and Measures of Proper Motion Stars (1913).