Residence Scotland Role Astronomer Nationality British Fields Astronomy | Institutions Glasgow University Name Ludwig Becker | |
Citizenship British (Naturalized 1893) Died November 11, 1947, Merano, Italy Alma mater Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Bonn | ||
Institution University of Glasgow | ||
Ludwig Wilhelm Emil Ernst Becker FRSE (1860–1947) was Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow from 1893 until 1935 when he retired.
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Life
Born in Wesel, Germany, Becker was educated at the University of Bonn. After 2 years as an assistant in the Berlin Observatory, the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres appointed him in 1885 to take charge of his large private observatory at Dunecht, near Aberdeen. When that institution was wound up in the autumn of 1888 the instruments were passed on to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury for a new Royal Observatory. A site on Blackford Hill in Edinburgh was selected in 1889 and Becker was included on the staff. He was appointed to the Glasgow Chair of Astronomy 4 years later.
Ludwig was a popular lecturer at Glasgow and it was claimed that his classes were better attended than those of any other astronomy course in UK.
His research areas were extensive and he was a master of celestial mechanics. They included;
Ludwig retired from the Chair of Astronomy in 1935. He left the University Observatory well equipped for contemporary needs, and in his earlier years he added significantly to its instrument collection.
He died in Lugando in Italy.
Anti-German sentiment
Although Becker had become a naturalized British citizen in 1892 before his appointment to Glasgow, this fact failed to save him from embarrassment and unmerited suspicion during the Great War; local public opinion forced his absence from the University. He retired to seclusion in Aviemore, the Highlands, where he lived until the end of hostilities. This period had a negative effect upon his output in the post-war years. W.M. Smart records that "Becker was one of the gentlest of men, modest and retiring in disposition and, whatever the outside world thought, respected and esteemed by his students both for his learning and his kindly qualities."