Levi ben Gerson (1288-1344), French-born Jewish philosopher,
mathematician and astronomer; invented Jacob's Staff, an instrument
to measure the angular distance between celestial objects.
Racah
13.8S
179.8W
63
Giulio ~ (1909-1965), Italian-Israeli physicist.
Racine
8.3S
99.0E
30
Jean-Baptiste ~ (1639-1699), French classical playwright.
Raimond
14.6N
159.3W
70
J. J. ~, Jr. (1903-1961), Dutch astronomer.
Raman
27.0N
55.1W
10
Chandrasekhra Venkata ~ (1888-1970), Indian physicist;
in 1930, he became the first Asian to receive a Nobel Prize in
science
(physics).
Ramsay
40.2S
144.5E
81
Sir William ~ (1852-1916), Scottish chemist; awarded Nobel
Prize in chemistry (1904).
Ramsden
32.9S
31.8W
24
Jesse ~ (1735-1800), British inventor; perfected early
sextants and barometers; devised the first satisfactory
screw-cutting lathes at dawn of the Industrial Revolution.
Rankine
3.9S
71.5E
8
William John Macquorn ~ (1820-1872), Scottish inventor,
civil engineer, poet and molecular physicist.
Raspletin
22.5S
151.8E
48
Aleksandr Andreyevich ~ (1908-1967), Soviet radio and
electronics engineer.
Ravi
12.5S
1.9W
2.5
Indian male name.
Rayet
44.7N
114.5E
27
George A. P. (1839-1906), French astronomer.
Rayleigh
29.3N
89.6E
114
John William Strutt, Lord Rayleigh (1842-1919), British
physicist; his theory of scattering (1871) was the first correct
explanation of why the sky is blue; discovered the inert gas argon,
for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1904.
Razumov
39.1N
114.3W
70
Vladimir V. ~ (1890-1967), Soviet rocket builder.
Recht
9.8N
124.0E
20
Albert W. ~ (1892-1962), American astronomer and mathematician;
director of Denver University's Chamberlin Observatory (1928-1958).
Regiomontanus
28.3S
1.0W
108
Johann Müller of Königsberg, or ~ (1436-1476), German
astronomer and mathematician; first recorded observations of a comet
later identified as Halley's.
Régnault
54.1N
88.0W
46
Henri Victor ~ (1810-1878), French chemist and physicist;
two laws governing the specific heat of gasses are named after him.
Reichenbach
30.3S
48.0E
71
Georg von ~ (1772-1826), German optician.
Reimarus
47.7S
60.3E
48
Nicolai Baer of Reymers, or ~ (c. 1550-c.1600), German mathematician.
Reiner
7.0N
54.9W
29
Vincentio Reinieri (?-1634?), Italian astronomer and mathematician.
Reinhold
3.3N
22.8W
42
Erasmus ~ (1511-1553), German astronomer and mathematician.
Repsold
51.3N
78.6W
109
Johann Georg ~ (1770-1830), German inventor and
innovator of astronomical and geodesic instruments.
Resnik
38.8S
150.1W
20
Judith Arlene ~ (1949-1986), American biomedical and
systems engineer, astronaut; member of the Challenger
crew.
Respighi
2.8N
71.9E
18
Lorenzo ~ (1824-1890), Italian astronomer; discovered
methods to determine the diameter of the sun and the zenith
distances of stars; cataloged the absolute declinations of 2534
boreal stars.
Reumur
2.4S
0.7E
52
Rene Antoine Ferchault de ~ (1683-1757), French physicist.
Rhaeticus or Rheticus
0.0N
4.9E
45
Georg Joachim von Lauchen of Rhaetia, or ~ (1514-1574), Hungarian mystic, astronomer and mathematician.
Rheita
37.1S
47.2E
70
Anton Maria Schyrlaeus of Rhaetia, or ~ (1597-1660),
Bohemian-Czechoslovakian academic, astronomer and optician; first
devised an eyepiece for the telescope which reverted the image.
Riccioli
3.3S
74.6W
139
Giovanni Battista ~ (1598-1671), Italian astronomer,
educator and Jesuit priest; his famous work Almagestum novum
introduced the system of naming craters and mountains on the Moon
after famous astronomers.
Riccius
36.9S
26.5E
71
Matteo Ricci, or ~, or Li Matou (1552-1610), Italian mathematician,
explorer, artist and geographer; a Jesuit priest, Riccius traveled
to China, where he became known as Li Matou and was renowned for his mathematical skills,
extraordinary memory and knowledge of astronomy.
Ricco
75.6N
176.3E
65
Annibale ~ (1844-1911), Italian astronomer.
Richards
7.7N
140.1E
16
Theodore William ~ (1868-1928), American chemist;
awarded Nobel Prize in chemistry (1914). He accurately redetermined the
atomic weights of over thirty elements; also performed research that
helped establish the atomic weight of isotopes in the modern concept
of the atom.
Richardson
31.1N
100.5E
141
Sir Owen Willans ~ (1879-1959), British quantum physicist;
awarded the 1928 Nobel Prize in physics "for his work on the
thermionic phenomenon and especially for the discovery of the law
named after him."
Riedel
48.9S
139.6W
0
Klaus ~ (1907-1944), German rocketry scientist; a
pioneer of liquid oxygen-fuelled rockets; also
Walther ~ (1902-1968), German rocketry scientist; research director
and chief designer at Germany's rocket center in Peenemunde, he
worked on the U.S. space program following World War II.
Riemann
38.9N
86.8E
163
Georg Friedrich Bernhard ~ (1826-1866), German mathematician;
protegé of Gauss (q.v.).
Ritchey
11.1S
8.5E
24
George Willis ~ (1864-1945), American astronomer and optician;
co-inventor of the Ritchey-Chrétien reflecting telescope. Builder
of the telescopes at Yerkes, Mt. Wilson and U.S. Naval
observatories. Director of the astrophotographic laboratory at Paris
Observatory (1924–30).
Rittenhouse
74.5S
106.5E
26
David ~ (1732-1796), American inventor,
astronomer and mathematician; his contributions include the use of
measured grating intervals and "spider threads" on the
focus of the telescope. Helped survey the Mason-Dixon Line. First
director of the U.S. Mint. A member of the convention that framed
Pennsylvania's constitution. Succeeded Benjamin Franklin as
president of the American Philosophical Society.
Ritter
2.0N
19.2E
29
Karl ~ (1779-1859), German geographer; a founder of
the science of modern human geography; also August ~ (fl. 1890), German astrophysicist.
Ritz
15.1S
92.2E
51
Walter ~ (1878-1909), Swiss physicist; devised the
combination principle, which stated that the frequencies of spectral
lines could be expressed as differences between a relatively small
number of "terms."
Robert
19.0N
27.4E
1
English male name.
Roberts
71.1N
174.5W
89
Alexander W. ~ (1857-1938), Scottish-South African astronomer;
noted variable star observer; also Isaac (1829-1904), British
amateur astronomer; a pioneer of astrophotography, the first volume
of his Photographs of Stars, Star Clusters and Nebulae was
published in 1893.
Robertson
21.8N
105.2W
88
Howard Percy ~ (1903-1961), American physicist and mathematician;
proved Poynting's theory that radiation from the Sun causes smaller
particles in orbit about the Sun to spiral close and eventually
plunge in, known as the Poynting-Robertson
effect.
Robinson
59.0N
45.9W
24
John Thomas Romney ~ (1792-1882), Irish astronomer,
natural philosopher, physicist and meteorologist; resident
astronomer of the Armagh Observatory (Dublin) from 1823 until his
death, he is best known as inventor of the cup-anemometer for
registering wind velocity.
Rocca
12.7S
72.8W
89
Giovanni
Antonio ~ (1607-1656), Italian mathematician and educator.
Rocco
28.9N
45.0W
4
Italian male name.
Roche
42.3S
136.5E
160
Edouard A. ~ (1820-1883), French astronomer and
physicist; first to explain the principle governing the distance a
body held together by self-gravity can come to a planet without
being pulled apart by the planet's tidal (gravity) force, now
commonly known as the Roche Limit.
Romeo
7.5N
122.6E
8
Italian male name.
Römer
25.4N
36.4E
39
Ole ~ (1644-1710), Danish astronomer; made the first
deduction of the speed of light in 1676 based upon his observations
of the eclipses of Io, Jupiter's first moon.
Röntgen
33.0N
91.4W
126
Wilhelm Conrad ~ (1845-1923), German physicist;
chiefly associated with the discovery of the so-called Röntgen rays
or, as he called them, X-rays. Awarded the 1901 Nobel Prize in
physics in recognition of his achievement.
Rosa
20.3N
32.3W
1
Spanish female name.
Rosenberger
55.4S
43.1E
95
Otto August ~ (1800-1890), German astronomer and mathematician.
Ross
11.7N
21.7E
24
Admiral Sir James Clark ~, R.N. (1800-1862), British explorer;
discovered the North Magnetic Pole in 1831, made three voyages to
Antarctica in an attempt to reach the South Magnetic Pole; also
Frank E. ~ (1874-1966), American astronomer and optician; introduced
the wide-angle lens as an important photographic tool in astronomy,
best known for work at Yerkes Observatory (Chicago).
Rosse
17.9S
35.0E
11
Lord William Parsons, the third Earl of Rosse
(1800-1867), Irish
astronomer; constructed the largest telescopes of his time, a
36-inch reflector in 1839 and a 72-inch in 1845.
Rosseland
41.0S
131.0E
75
Svein ~ (1894-1985), Norwegian astrophysicist;
developer of the so-called "Oslo Analyzer," the foremost
large computational resource available to theoretical physicists of
its time.
Rost
56.4S
33.7W
48
Johan Leonhard ~ (1688-1727), German astronomer and
author.
Rothmann
30.8S
27.7E
42
Christopher ~ (?-1600), German astronomer; a
Copernican, his works later influenced Sir Isaac Newton.
Rowland
57.4N
162.5W
171
Henry Augustus ~ (1848-1901), American physicist and
inventor; determined the absolute value of the Ohm, the ratio of
electrical units, the mechanical equivalent of heat, and the
variation of the specific heat of water with temperature. Rowland's
greatest contribution to science was the construction of diffraction
gratings, which he sold at cost to a generation of physicists.
Rozhdestvenskiy or Rozhdestvenskii
85.2N
155.4W
177
Dmitrii Sergeevich ~ (1876-1940), Soviet physicist and
academic.
Rumford
28.8S
169.8W
61
Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford (1753-1814),
American-born British inventor, physicist and spy; regarded as the
father of thermodynamics. A turncoat during the American Revolution,
he made numerous practical innovations, including central heating
(the "Rumford Stove"), the smokeless chimney, the drip
coffee pot, the kitchen oven, thermal underwear and the pressure
cooker. Rumford was also responsible for bringing James Watt's steam
engine into widespread use, reorganized the Bavarian army, and
endowed the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Runge
2.5S
86.7E
38
Carl David Tolmé ~ (1856-1927), German mathematician.
Russell
26.5N
75.4W
103
Henry Norris ~ (1877-1957), American astronomer;
longtime director of the Princeton Observatory; also John ~
(1745-1806), British portrait artist, selenographer and
mathematician; considered the finest painter in crayons England ever
produced, his work hangs in the Royal Academy and the Louvre.
Ruth
28.7N
45.1W
3
Hebrew female name.
Rutherford
10.7N
137.0E
13
Sir Ernest ~ (1871-1937), New Zealand-born British physicist;
awarded the 1908 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his research into the
disintegration of elements and the chemistry of radioactive
substances.
Rutherfurd
60.9S
12.1W
48
Lewis Morris ~ (1816-1892), American lawyer, astronomer
and physicist; experimented in celestial photography, especially in
spectral analysis, in which he was a pioneer. Rutherfurd invented
several instruments for his work, including a micrometer for
measuring positions on photographs, an apparatus for ruling
diffraction gratings, and a telescope specially fitted for
astronomical photography.
Rydberg
46.5S
96.3W
49
Johan Robert (Janne) ~ (1854-1919), Swedish physicist
and mathematician.
Rynin
47.0N
103.5W
75
Nikolai Alexeyevich ~ (1877-1942), Soviet rocketry scientist;
a pioneer in aeronautics, aviation and cosmonautics.
