Astronomers, Astrophysicists, Astronauts, “D...-E...-F...-”
for the social studies and science classrooms, theme decor.

Jean-Baptiste Delambre
Charles Duke*
Frank Watson Dyson

Sir Arthur Eddington
Albert Einstein
Donn F. Eisele

Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre
b. 9-19-1749; Amiens, France
d. 8-19-1822; Paris

Jean Baptiste Joseph, chevalier Delambre was a French mathematician and astronomer responsible for the northern expedition of measuring the meridian line from Dunkirk to Rodez in meters.

Delambre was also head of the Paris Observatory and a professor of astronomy at the University of Paris.

Charles Duke
b. 10-3-1935; Charlotte, NC

Charles Duke (USAF) was a lunar module pilot for Apollo 16 in April 1972. At age 36 he was the youngest person to walk on the Moon.

Duke also was the voice of NASA during the first Moon landing with Apollo 11.

Frank Watson Dyson
b. 1-8-1868; Leicestershire, England
d. 5-25-1939; buried at sea enroute from Australia to England

Frank Watson Dyson, British astronomer noted for his study of solar eclipses, organized the expeditions to Principe and Brazil to observe the 1919 eclipse, confirming Einstein's theory of the effect of gravity on light.

He also established the “pips” heard in many BBC broadcasts that marked the exact time at the Greenwich Observatory.

Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington
b. 12-28-1882; Kendal, England
d. 11-22-1944; Cambridge

Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington, an astrophysicist, mathematician and director of the Cambridge Observatory, introducted Einstein's Theory of Relativity to the English speaking world with his Space, Time and Gravitation: An Outline of the General Relativity Theory when WWI interfered lines of scientific communication.

He also conducted an expedition to observe the Solar eclipse of May 29, 1919 that provided one of the earliest confirmations of relativity.

The natural limit to the luminosity of stars, or the radiation generated by accretion onto a compact object, called the Eddington limit, is named in his honor.

Eddington was also a devote Quaker.

• Practical Mystic: Religion, Science, and A. S. Eddington

Donn F. Eisele
b. 6-23-1930; Columbus, OH
d. 12-2-1987; Japan (heart attack)

Donn Eisele (USAF) was the command module pilot of Apollo 7 in 1968 with Wally Schirra and Walter Cunningham. After retiring from NASA he became director of the Peace Corps in Thailand, then in private business.

Ronald Evans
b. 11-10-1933; St. Frances, KS
d. 4-7-1990; Scottsdale, AZ (heart attack)

Ronald Evans (USN) was the command module pilot on Apollo 17 lunar mission with Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt. He also retrieved photographic equipment during an extravehicular inspection during the return to Earth.

Camille Flammarion
b. 2-26-1842; Montigny-le-Roi, Haute-Marne, France
d. 6-3-1925; Juvisy-sur-Orge

Camille Flammarion was a French scientist, astronomer, and author. His work, the Flammarion Book of Astronomy- was one Carl Jung enjoyed looking at as a child. (D. Bair)

• Book Cover for 'Les Terres du Ciel' Written by Camille Flammarion, 1877, Giclee Print

John Flamsteed
b. 8-19-1646; Denby, Derbyshire, England
d. 12-31-1719; Burstow, Surrey

John Flamsteed was an English clergyman and the first British Astronomer Royal, laying the foundation stone for the Greenwich Observatory in 1675.

He and Sir Isaac Newton were adversaries - read about it in Newton's Tyranny: The Suppressed Scientific Discoveries of Stephen Gray and John Flamsteed.