Born Newark, Nottinghamshire, England, 26 April 1851
Died East Grinstead, (West Sussex), England, 19 June 1935
William Franks, a self‐taught astronomer, dedicated his life to the estimation of star colors, and served as the professional assistant to several of the grand amateurs of the Victorian era. Franks's early life was spent in his father's business in Leicester. He soon showed an aptitude for science and mechanics, especially chemistry and electricity. However, a glance through a friend's telescope converted him to astronomy. Before long, Franks acquired an instrument of his own and housed it in a small homemade observatory.
After learning the rudiments of celestial observation, Franks settled down to a regular and systematic program of work. The visual estimate of star colors was an interest that persisted throughout his life, and he became very adept. His results, obtained with a small telescope, were found to be in good accord with those derived more recently by measurements...
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Selected References
Chapman, Allan (1998). The Victorian Amateur Astronomer: Independent Astronomical Research in Britain, 1820–1920. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.
Frank, W. S. (circa 1892). “Report of the Section for the Observation of the Colours of Stars.” Memoirs of the British Astronomical Association 1, pt. 3.
Kelly, Howard L. (1948). The British Astronomical Association: The First Fifty Years. London: B.A.A., pp. 120–121.
Steavenson, W. H. (1936). “William Sadler Franks.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 96: 291–292.
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Baum, R. (2007). Franks, William Sadler. In: Hockey, T., et al. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_478
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