Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Brooks, William Robert

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers

  • 26 Accesses

BornMaidstone, Kent, England, 11 June 1844

DiedGeneva, New York, USA, 3 May 1921

An American astronomer known for his work as a discoverer of comets, William Brooks was the son of a Baptist minister, Reverend William Brooks, and Caroline (née Wickings) Brooks. When still a small boy William accompanied his family on a voyage to Australia, during which his interest in astronomy was piqued by watching the ship’s captain make latitude and longitude determinations. At the age of 13 he immigrated with his family to Marion, New York, USA The bright and graceful comet C/1858 L1 (Donati) of 1858, which he viewed through a homemade spyglass, fascinated Brooks shortly thereafter but did not lead to his active involvement in astronomy at that time.

After his marriage to Mary E. Smith of Edwardsburg, Michigan, in 1870, Brooks settled at Phelps, in the Finger Lakes district of upstate New York, where he worked as a photographer. In his spare time, Brooks built the Red House Observatory (actually no...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 1,099.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 549.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Selected References

  • Anon. (1907). “Brooks, William Robert.” In National Cyclopaedia Of American Biography. Vol. 5, pp. 197–198. New York: James T. White and Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anon. (1922). “William R. Brooks.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 82: 246–247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bortle, John E. (1991). “The King of Comet Finders.” Sky & Telescope 81, no. 5: 476–477.

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Swift, Lewis (1887). History and work of the Warner Observatory, Rochester, New York. Rochester, New York: Democrat and Chronicle Book and Job Print.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

    William Sheehan

Authors
  1. William Sheehan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to William Sheehan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Science, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA, USA

    Thomas Hockey

  2. University of California, Irvine School of Physical Sciences, Irvine, CA, USA

    Virginia Trimble

  3. Rice University, Houston, TX, USA

    Thomas R. Williams

  4. Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA, USA

    Katherine Bracher

  5. York Univesity, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Richard A. Jarrell

  6. University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

    Jordan D. Marché II

  7. University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

    JoAnn Palmeri

  8. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Daniel W. E. Green

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this entry

Cite this entry

Sheehan, W. (2014). Brooks, William Robert. In: Hockey, T., et al. Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9917-7_206

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation