1. Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer was an English scientist and astronomer.
12 Facts About Norman Lockyer
1. 2.
Norman Lockyer's early introduction to science was through his father, who was a pioneer of the electric telegraph.
3.
Norman Lockyer settled in Wimbledon, South London after marrying Winifred James, who helped translate at least four French scientific works into English.
4.
Norman Lockyer was a keen amateur astronomer with a particular interest in the Sun.
5.
Norman Lockyer named this element helium after the Greek word 'Helios' meaning 'sun'.
6.
An observation of the new yellow line had been made earlier by Janssen at the 18 August 1868 solar eclipse, and because their papers reached the French academy on the same day, he and Norman Lockyer usually are awarded joint credit for helium's discovery.
7.
Norman Lockyer was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1874.
8.
Norman Lockyer remained its editor until shortly before his death.
9.
Norman Lockyer led eight expeditions to observe solar eclipses for example in 1870 to Sicily, 1871 to India and 1898 to India.
10.
Norman Lockyer confirmed the alignment of the Parthenon on the rising point of the Pleiades and did extensive work on the solar and stellar alignments of Egyptian temples and their dating, presented in his book The Dawn Of Astronomy.
11.
In 1903, Norman Lockyer started a second marriage, to suffragist Thomazine Mary Brodhurst.
12.
Norman Lockyer died at his home in Salcombe Regis in 1920, and was buried there in the churchyard of St Peter and St Mary.