Lassell, W. (William), 1799-1880

found: On polishing the specula of reflecting telescopes, 1874:p. 1 (W. Lassell, F.R.S., V.P.R.A.S., LL.D.)

found: Oxford DNBv. 32, p. 601-602 (William Lassell, 1799-1880, astronomer; by 1825 was "listed in a Liverpool directory as a brewer", his financial success in brewing funded his astronomical interests. By 1837 he completed an "excellent reflecting telescope" with a 9-inch diameter mirror, in 1845 he constructed a 24-inch reflector and in 1861 one with a 48-inch diameter. "His main contributions were to apply equatorial mountings to large reflectors and to develop steam-driven machines for grinding and polishing big telescope mirrors". In 1846 he discovered Neptune's largest moon, Triton; in 1848 he discovered one of Saturn's moons (Hyperion), and in 1851 discovered Ariel and Umbriel, two moons of Uranus. In 1849 he was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society; in 1858 he was one of the RAS's royal medalists. He was president of the Royal Astronomical Society from 1870 to 1872)