Baily, Francis, 1774-1844

In 1795 he went to America and had some adventures. Returning in 1798 he became a London stockbroker and published successful works on annuities and assurances. He then turned his attention to astronomy and in 1825 retired from business. He greatly advanced astronomy by his revision of star catalogs, his simplified tables for reduction of aberration, mutation, etc. He reformed the Nautical Almanac. In 1843 he received the Astronomical Society's gold medal for his determination of the weight of the earth. F.R.S. 1821. He was treasurer of the Royal Society, 1835-1838.

From the description of Papers ca. 1820-1844. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 84185965

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