Biography

Nevil Maskelyne (1732-1811), astronomer and mathematician, was born in London on 6 October 1732, and educated at Westminster School. He entered Catherine Hall, Cambridge, in 1749, but migrated subsequently to Trinity College (B.A., 1754; M.A., 1757; D.D., 1777), where he became a Fellow in 1757. He was ordained curate of Barnet, Hertfordshire, in 1755, and received the living of Shrawardine, Shropshire, 1775, and the rectory of North Runcton, Norfolk, 1782. He was appointed Astronomer Royal in 1765 and oversaw the publication of the first 'Nautical Almanac' in 1766. In 1774 he planned and superintended the Schiehallion Experiment, which attempted to determine the earth's density by examining the gravitational attraction of a mountain in Perthshire. During his lifetime, he made over 90,000 observations, which were published in instalments between 1776 and 1811. He died at Greenwich Observatory on 9 February 1811.

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