Nathaniel Bliss

Nathaniel Bliss
Nathaniel Bliss

Reverend Nathaniel Bliss
Born 28 November 1700(1700-11-28)
Bisley, Gloucestershire, England
Died 2 September 1764(1764-09-02) (aged 63)
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Nationality United Kingdom
Fields Astronomy, mathematics
Institutions Oxford University

The Reverend Nathaniel Bliss (28 November 1700 – 2 September 1764) was an English astronomer of the 18th century, serving as Britain's fourth Astronomer Royal between 1762 and 1764.

Bliss was born in the Cotswolds village of Bisley in Gloucestershire and studied at Pembroke College, Oxford. He graduated B.A. in 1720 and M.A. in 1723.

Rector of St Ebb's church in Oxford, he succeeded Edmond Halley as professor of geometry at Oxford University in 1742 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society the same year. He succeeded James Bradley to become the fourth Astronomer Royal in 1762, but held the post for too short a period to make a significant impact.[1]

He died in Oxford, but was buried close to Halley in St Margaret's churchyard in Lee in south-east London.

References

  1. ^ Maunder, Edward Walter (1900). The Royal observatory, Greenwich: A glance at its history and work. The Religious tract society. p. 85. http://books.google.com/books?id=bRE6AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA83#v=onepage&q=&f=false. Retrieved 2010-02-28. 

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