Abraham Sharp

Abraham Sharp

Abraham Sharp (1653 – 18 July 1742) was an English mathematician and astronomer.

Life

Sharp was born in Bradford. He was the son of a well-to-do merchant, and was educated at Bradford Grammar School.

Abraham Sharp's wooden telescope

He became a schoolmaster in Liverpool and later a bookkeeper in London. His wide knowledge of mathematics and astronomy attracted Flamsteed's attention. Sharp was invited, in 1688, to enter the Royal Observatory. There he improved instruments and worked as a calculator. He published Geometry Improved and logarithm tables.

He returned to Bradford in 1694. The Atlas Coelestis was the largest star map of its time. It had 26 maps of the major constellations visible from Greenwich, and two planispheres designed by Sharp.

The crater Sharp on the Moon is named after him.

References

  1. ↑ "Abraham Sharp". Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
  2. ↑ Linda Hall Library (ed.). "Flamsteed, John. Atlas coelestis. London, 1729". Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
  3. ↑ Davide Neri. "John Flamsteed, Atlas coelestis". Retrieved 2011-05-08.
  4. ↑ The crater is a large and ancient crater with several more recent small craters inside it.