Seth C. Chandler
Seth C. Chandler was born in Boston in 1846. After attending high school, Chandler became a personal astronomical assistant to Benjamin A. Gould, Jr. from 1863 to 1869. From 1870 to 1885 he was employed as a life insurance actuary. Also during this time, between 1880 and 1885, he continued his astronomical studies at Harvard College Observatory. Between 1886 and 1904, Chandler conducted private astronomical investigations in Cambridge, MA. During this time, he made one of his most important discoveries. He determined by observations that there was a variation in latitude. The period of the precession of the earth around the axis was found to be 428 days instead of 305 days. Chandler also advanced the knowledge of variable stars and comets. He classified approximately 500 variables in his catalogues. In 1891, he received his LL.D. from DePauw University.
From 1896 to 1912, Dr. Chandler was editor of the Astronomical Journal. Although in the early days of his editorship, he revived the periodical to high standards, towards the end of his tenure his ill health led to the deterioration of the journal. When Lewis Boss took over the editorship in 1912, he was delivered mail by Chandler's estate that had not been opened in 4-5 years. Publication had practically ceased.
Dr. Chandler had remained for all his life a close friend of Lewis Boss and had maintained an ongoing professional relationship with the Dudley Observatory as well. He died on New Year's Eve, 1913.
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Encyclopedia Britannica articleNational Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
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