About the library
Astronomer Royal for Scotland:
The title of Astronomer Royal for Scotland was created in 1834 and formally linked with the post of Regius Professor of Astronomy in the University of Edinburgh.
Previous Astronomers Royal for Scotland
Thomas Henderson
Born - Dundee, Scotland 28 December 1798. Died - Edinburgh,
Scotland 23 November 1844. Appointed by Royal Warrant of 18 August
1834 and held office September 1834-23 November 1844. Age on appointment:
35
Charles Piazzi Smyth
Born - Naples, Italy 3 January. 1819 Died - Clova,
nr. Ripon, England 21 February 1900. Appointed by Royal Warrant of
4 April 1845 and held office January 1846 - August 1888. Age on appointment:
26
Ralph Copeland
Born - Moorside, Lancs., England 3 September 1837. Died - Edinburgh, Scotland 27 October 1905. Appointed by Royal Warrant of
28 January 1889 and held office 11 April 1889-27 October 1905. Age
on appointment: 51
Sir Frank Watson Dyson
Born - Measham, nr Ashby de la Zouche, Lincs.,
England 8 January 1868. Died at sea, 25 May 1939. Appointed by Royal
Warrant of 11 December 1905 and held office 13 December 1905-30 September
1910. Age on appointment: 37
Ralph Allen Sampson
Born - Skull, Co. Cork, Ireland 25 June 1866. Died -
Bath, England 7 November 1939. Appointed by Royal Warrant of 15 December
1910 and held office 21 December 1910-30 September 1937. Age on appointment:
44
(William) Michael (Herbert) Greaves
Born - Barbados, West Indies, 10
September 1897. Died - Edinburgh, Scotland, 24 December 1955. Appointed
by Royal Warrant of 8 February 1938 and held office 1 April 1938-24
December 1955. Age on appointment: 40
Hermann Alexander Brück
Born - Berlin, Germany 15 August 1905.
Died - Edinburgh, Scotland, 4 March 2000. Appointed by Royal Warrant
of 5 February 1957 and held office 1 September 1957-30 September
1975. Age on appointment: 51
Vincent Cartledge ReddishVincent Cartledge Reddish
Born - Leigh, Lancs., England 28 April 1926.
Died - Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland, 2nd of January 2015. Appointed by Royal Warrant of 1 November 1974 and held office 1 October
1975-30 September 1980. Age on appointment: 48
Malcolm Sim Longair
Born - Dundee, Scotland 18 May 1941. Appointed
by Royal Warrant of 20 February 1980 and held office 1 October 1980-31
December 1990. Age on appointment: 38
1991 to 1995
The title was in abeyance from 1991 to 1995, during which time the decision was made to separate the posts of Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh and Director of the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, and the traditional link which had existed between the title of Astronomer Royal for Scotland and the Regius Professorship was also formally severed. The first Astronomer Royal for Scotland under this new system was the Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Glasgow John Campbell Brown.
John Campbell
Brown
Born - Dumbarton, Scotland 4 February 1947 Appointed
by Royal Warrant of 7 February 1995 and held office 7 February
1995-16 November 2019. Age on appointment: 48