BornHarford County, Maryland, USA, 27 September 1814
DiedRiverside, California, USA, 11 June 1895
Daniel Kirkwood’s most important contribution to astronomy was his discovery, published in 1866, of gaps in the distribution of orbits of the asteroids. His interest in the origin and evolution of the solar system was clearly evident in his books and papers on asteroids, comets, and meteors that were important contributions on these topics. Born in Bladensburg, Maryland, to John Kirkwood, a farmer, and his wife Agnes (néeHope) Kirkwood, Daniel was the 12th of 13 children. His early education was limited to a nearby country school. Kirkwood began his career as a teacher at the age of 19 when he took a teaching position at a country school in Hopewell, Pennsylvania. He enrolled at the York County Academy, York, Pennsylvania, in 1834, majoring in mathematics. Following his graduation in 1838, Kirkwood was appointed first assistant and instructor in mathematics at the York County Academy. In...
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Selected References
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— (1977). “Daniel Kirkwood’s Analogy.” In Creation by Natural Law: Laplace’s Nebular Hypothesis in American Thought, pp. 41–54. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
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Edmondson, F.K. (2014). Kirkwood, Daniel. In: Hockey, T., et al. Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9917-7_777
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