Abstract
THE death is announced, at the age of eighty years, of DR. JOHN A. BRASHEAR, the founder of the well-known American firm oif makers of astronomical and physical instruments. In his youth, while working as a machinist, Dr. Brashear devoted himself to the study of astronomy, and made his first telescope while pursuing this hobby after his working hours. With this instrument he made many observations, as a result of which he contributed articles to the daily Press on comets, etc. These attracted the attention of Mr. William Shaw, whose offer to build and equip for him a good shop for the production of astronomical instruments was accepted. This ultimately developed into the works of the John A. Brashear Co. at Pittsburgh, which turns out instruments that are used in observatories all over the world. Dr. Brashear received the honorary doctorate from Pittsburgh and other universities, and from 1901 to 1904 was acting chancellor of the Western University of Pennsylvania, now the University of Pittsburgh. He was a member of many American and foreign scientific societies, and was a recognised authority on solar phenomena, lunar craters, and other subjects.
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[Obituaries]. Nature 105, 273 (1920). https://doi.org/10.1038/105273a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/105273a0