Richard Proctor Mars Map, 1860s

Mars Map. Richard Anthony Proctor (March 23, 1837 - September 12, 1888) was an English astronomer. He is best remembered for having produced one of the earliest maps of Mars in 1867 from 27 drawings by the English observer William Rutter Dawes. Proctor earned a scholarship at St John's College, Cambridge. He graduated in 1860 as 23rd wrangler. He read for the bar, but turned to astronomy and authorship instead, and in 1865 published an article on the Colors of Double Stars. His first book Saturn and its System was published in the same year. The work contained an elaborate account of the phenomena presented by the planet, but although favorably received by astronomers, it had no great sale. He cultivated a more popular style and wrote for a number of periodicals. He became quite popular, and his numerous works had a wide influence in familiarizing the public with the main facts of astronomy. He became a regular contributor to The Intellectual Observer, Chambers Journal and the Popular Science Review. His largest and most ambitious work, Old and New Astronomy, left unfinished at his death, was completed by Arthur Cowper Ranyard and published in 1892. He settled in America some time after his second marriage in 1881, and died of yellow fever in 1888 at the age of 51. This image has been color enhanced

Picture No

12698262

Media ID

48540134

Size

2959px x 2400px (1.9MB)

Credit

Science Source/Mary Evans