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John Tebbutt: Australian Astronomer Extraordinaire

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John Tebbutt

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Abstract

John Tebbutt was Australia’s most distinguished nineteenth century astronomer, although he refused the Sydney Observatory directorship and remained an independent astronomer all of his life. In this introductory chapter, we summarise Tebbutt’s astronomical instruments, research programmes and publications, and his involvement in astronomical groups and societies. We also mention his meteorological and tidal studies, and how he sought to reconcile his competing scientific and religious views. Finally, we discuss Tebbutt’s quest for local, national and international recognition, which ultimately led to the naming of a lunar crater after him. This chapter is designed to provide an overview of ‘Tebbutt, the man’ and ‘Tebbutt, the astronomer’. As such, it provides a contextual framework for the wide-ranging case studies that are presented in Part III.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The following abbreviation is used: TL = Bound manuscript tetters to John Tebbutt, in the Mitchell Library, Sydney.

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Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Professor Nick Lomb (University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba), the staff at the Mitchell Library (Sydney) and the Royal Astronomical Society Archives (London), and John Halley Tebbutt, for their assistance, and the Mitchell Library for kindly supplying Figs. 1.7 and 1.19.

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    Wayne Orchiston

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Orchiston, W. (2017). John Tebbutt: Australian Astronomer Extraordinaire. In: John Tebbutt. Historical & Cultural Astronomy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44521-2_1

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