John Brashear
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Dr. John Alfred Brashear (November 24, 1840 – April 8, 1920) was an American astronomer and instrument builder.
He was born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, a town 35 miles (56 km) south of Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River. His father, Basil Brown Brashear, was a saddler, and his mother, Julia Smith Brashear, was a school teacher. He was the oldest of seven children. As a boy, John Brashear was heavily influenced by his maternal Grandfather, Nathanial Smith, a clock repairer. At nine, his grandfather took him to view through the telescope of 'Squire' Joseph P. Wampler, who set up his traveling telescope in Brownsville. That influentcial view of the moon and Saturn stayed with Brashear for the rest of his life. After receiving a common school education until age 15, he apprenticed himself to a machinist and had mastered his trade at age 20.
Beginning in 1861 he worked as a millwright in a rolling mill in Pittsburgh, where he pursued his love for astronomy at night, with the help of his wife Phoebe. He had little means and could not purchase a telescope, so he built his own workshop from a three meter square coal shed behind his house, to construct his own refractor.
Starting in 1880 he dedicated his time to the manufacture of astronomical as well as scientific instruments, and performed various experiments. He developed an improved silvering method that would become the standard for coating first surface mirrors until vacuum metalizing replaced it in 1932. Brashear patented few instruments and never patented his techniques. He founded "John A. Brashear Co." with his son-in-law and partner, James Brown McDowell, and his instruments gained worldwide respect. The modern optical firm currently known as "L-3 Brashear" now bears his name. Optical elements and instruments of precision produced by John Brashear found their way into almost every important observatory in the world. Some are still in use today.
In 1892 he made his second of three trips to Europe, this time providing a lecture tour. In 1898 he became director of the Allegheny Observatory in Pittsburgh, continuing in this post until 1900. From 1901 to 1904, he was acting chancellor of the Western University of Pennsylvania, now known as the University of Pittsburgh, after serving as a member of the board of trustees since 1896.
In 1919, he suffered ptomaine poisoning, which induced a debilitating illness lasting six months. He finally died at age 79, and his ashes are intured in a crypt below the Keeler Telescope at Allegheny Observatory, along with his wife. A plaque on the crypt reads: "We have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night." He was survived by a daughter and several siblings.
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[edit] Honors
- The Brashear Association was founded in 1916 in the memory of John Brashear.
Named for him:
- Brashear crater on the Moon
- Brashear crater on Mars
- Asteroid 5502 Brashear
- Brashear High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1976)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- John A. Brashear, A man who loved the stars: the autobiography of John A. Brashear, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1988, ISBN 0-8229-1151-5.
- Obituary notice, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 8, 1920.
[edit] External links
- John A. Brashear History Cover Page
- Copy of 1920 obituary
- Brashear Association Archives
- Asteroid named for John Brashear
- "Uncle John" Brashear
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