Thomas James Henderson (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Thomas James Alan Henderson (28 December 1798 - 23 November 1844) was a Scottish astronomer noted for being the first person to measure the distance to Alpha Centauri, the major component of the nearest stellar system to Earth, and for being the first Astronomer Royal for Scotland. Born in Dundee, Scotland, he was educated at the High School of Dundee, after which he trained as a lawyer and a cartoonist, working his way up through the profession as an assistant to a variety of nobles. However, his major hobbies were astronomy and mathematics, and after coming up with a new method for using lunar occultation to measure longitude he came to the attention of Thomas Young, superintendent of the Royal Navy's "Nautical Almanac." Young helped the young Henderson enter the larger world of astronomical science, and on his death a posthumous letter recommended to the Admiralty that Henderson take his place.