Johann Karl Burckhardt

Johann Karl Burckhardt (April 30, 1773 – June 22, 1825) was a German-born astronomer and mathematician who later became a naturalized French citizen.

Biography

Burckhardt was born in Leipzig where he studied mathematics and astronomy. Later he became an assistant at the Gotha Observatory and studied under Franz Xaver von Zach. On von Zach's recommendation he joined the Paris observatory, then directed by Jérôme Lalande. Burckhardt focused his studies on the orbits of comets. He joined the "Bureau des Longitudes" in 1795. In 1799, he became a naturalized French citizen. He was elected to the "L'Institut National des Sciences et des Arts" in 1804. After Lalande died in 1807, Burckhardt succeeded him as director of the Paris Observatory. Between 1812 and 1825, he published "Tables de la Lune", a lunar ephemeris that was calculated using a different technique from that established by Pierre-Simon Laplace. These were in turn superseded by the more accurate tables of John Couch Adams in 1852. Burckhardt crater on the Moon was named after him.

Bibliography

* Burckhardt, 1794, "Methodus combinatorio-analytica, evolvendis fractionum continuarum valoribus maxime idonea", Leipzig.
* Burckhardt, 1812, "Tables de la Lune. Tables Astronomiques publiées par le Bureau des Longitudes de France", Courcier, Paris.