Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre
Born: 19 Sept 1749 in Amiens, France
Died: 19 Aug 1822 in Paris, France
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Delambre was an astronomer who produced tables of the location of planets and their satellites.
In 1771 Delambre tutored the son of M d'Assy, Receiver General of Finances, and in 1788 d'Assy built an observatory for Delambre.
Delambre worked at his observatory and in 1792 he published Tables du Soleil, de Jupiter, de Saturne, d'Uranus et des satellites de Jupiter .
In 1795 he was admitted to the Institute de France and in 1803 became secretary to the mathematical section.
In his Rapport historique.. which he read to the Institute in February 1808 he says
In almost all branches of Mathematics one is blocked by insurmountable difficulties (but) the spectacle of analysis and mechanics in our time (convinces me that) the generations to come will not see anything impossible in what remains to be done.
Delambre served at the Bureau des Longitudes from 1795 and measured the arc of the meridian extending from Dunkirk to Barcelona. His account appears in Base du système métrique .
In 1807 Delambre was appointed to the chair of astronomy at the Collège de France in Paris. he was treasurer to the Imperial University from 1808.
Delambre also wrote histories of ancient, medieval and 'modern' astronomy. He is honoured by having a large lunar crater named after him.
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