William Henry Pickering, astronomer, b. in Boston, Mass., 15 Feb., 1858, was graduated at the Massachusetts institute of technology in 1879, and in 1880-'7 was instructor of physics in that institution. In March, 1887, he was called to the charge of the Boyden department of the Harvard observatory, which place he still fills. He founded in 1882, in connection with the Institute of technology, the first regular laboratory where dry-plate photography was systematically taught to numerous pupils. Mr. Pickering observed the solar eclipse of 1878 from Colorado, and in 1886 conducted an expedition to the West Indies to observe the total eclipse of that year. In 1887 he led an expedition to Colorado to make astronomical observations for the purpose of selecting the most suitable site for an astronomical observatory. In addition to various articles on photography in technical periodicals, and the transactions of the American academy, he has published "Walking Guide to the Mount Washington Range" (Boston, 1882).
—Wilson and Fiske, eds., Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. 5, p. 4.
—Wilson and Fiske, eds., Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. 5, p. 4.
William Henry Pickering, astronomer, b. in Boston, Mass., 15 Feb., 1858, was graduated at the Massachusetts institute of technology in 1879, and in 1880-'7 was instructor of physics in that institution. In March, 1887, he was called to the charge of the Boyden department of the Harvard observatory, which place he still fills. He founded in 1882, in connection with the Institute of technology, the first regular laboratory where dry-plate photography was systematically taught to numerous pupils. Mr. Pickering observed the solar eclipse of 1878 from Colorado, and in 1886 conducted an expedition to the West Indies to observe the total eclipse of that year. In 1887 he led an expedition to Colorado to make astronomical observations for the purpose of selecting the most suitable site for an astronomical observatory. In addition to various articles on photography in technical periodicals, and the transactions of the American academy, he has published "Walking Guide to the Mount Washington Range" (Boston, 1882).
—Wilson and Fiske, eds., Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. 5, p. 4.
—Wilson and Fiske, eds., Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. 5, p. 4.
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