Anders Celsius Determining the Shape of the Earth"). Celsius' participation in the Lapland expedition won him much respect in Sweden with the government and his peers, and played a key role in generating interest from the Swedish authorities in donating the resources required to construct a new modern observatory in Uppsala. He was successful in the request, and Celsius founded the Uppsala Astronomical Observatory in 1741. The observatory was equipped with instruments purchased during his long voyage abroad, comprising the most modern instrumental technology of the period. In astronomy, Celsius began a series of observations using colored glass plates to record the
Stephen Alexander (astronomer) Stephen Alexander (astronomer) Stephen Alexander (September 1, 1806 – June 25, 1883) was a noted astronomer and educator. He was born in Schenectady, New York. He was the brother-in-law of Joseph Henry, the first secretary of the Smithsonian, and worked closely with him. He graduated from Union College in 1824. He became a tutor in mathematics at Princeton University in 1832; he would later become professor of astronomy and mathematics and advocate for the construction of Princeton's first observatory. Alexander relied on the assistance of a free African American man named Alfred Scudder, who worked for him at Princeton during