biography
pronunciation:
[maskelin]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1732–1811)
|
| biography:
| Astronomer, born in London, UK. He studied at Cambridge, was ordained, and became rector of Shrawardine, Shropshire (1775–82), then of North Runcton, Norfolk. His interest in astronomy led to his election to the Royal Society (1758), and after a voyage to Jamaica he produced the British Mariner's Guide (1763). He was appointed Astronomer Royal, and published the first volume of the Nautical Almanac (1766). He improved methods and instruments of observation, invented the prismatic micrometer, and in 1774 measured the Earth's density. |
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