Born New York, New York, USA, 11 May 1871
Died Lyme, Connecticut, USA, 10 July 1943
Frank Schlesinger is best known for his contributions to the photographic determination of stellar distances, motions, and positions. He was the youngest of the seven children of Joseph William and Mary (née Wagner) Schlesinger, German immigrants to the United States. In 1890, he received a B.S. degree from the College of the City of New York. For 5 years, Schlesinger worked as a surveyor before receiving a fellowship that enabled him to become a full-time graduate student at Columbia University.
Schlesinger received his Ph.D. degree from Columbia University in 1898. From 1899 to 1903, he was in charge of the station of the International Latitude Service in Ukiah, California. In 1903, Schlesinger became a research associate at the Yerkes Observatory, holding that position until he assumed the directorship of the Allegheny Observatory of the University of Pittsburgh in 1905. Following the entry of the...
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Selected References
Brouwer, Dirk (1947). “Frank Schlesinger.” Biographical Memoirs, National Academy of Sciences 24: 105–144. (Schlesinger’s life and work are described by Dirk Brouwer, his successor as director of the Yale University Observatory.)
Hoffleit, Dorrit (1992). Astronomy at Yale, 1701–1968. Memoirs of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. 23. New Haven: Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Schlesinger, Frank. “Photographic, Determinations of Stellar Parallax, Made with the Yerkes, Refractor.” Parts 1–7. Astrophysical, Journal 32 (1910): 372–387; 33(1911): 8–27, 161–184, 234–259, 353–374, 418–430; 34 (1911): 26–36. (His groundbreaking papers on the methods for measuring trigonometric parallaxes.)
— (1924). General Catalogue of Stellar Parallaxes. 3rd ed., coauthored with Louise F. Jenkins, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Observatory.
— (1930). Catalogue of Bright Stars. New Haven, Connecticut: Tuttle Morehouse and Taylor. (2nd ed., coauthored with Louise F. Jenkins, 1940.)
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Smith, H.A. (2014). Schlesinger, Frank. In: Hockey, T., et al. Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9917-7_1236
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