Becker, Ludwig Wilhelm Emil Ernst 1860-1947

Ludwig Wilhelm Emil Ernst Becker (b 1860) was Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University from 1893 until he retired in 1935.

Born in Wesel, Germany, Becker studied at the University of Bonn, and following his PhD and a two-year appointment in the Berlin Observatory, he came to Scotland in 1885 to take charge of the observatory at Dunecht, Aberdeenshire. He was a popular lecturer and it was said that his classes were larger than those of any other professor of astronomy in Britain. His main areas of research were in celestial mechanics, nebulae and the physical features of the moon.