Israel Lyons
A short but starry career. The life of an eighteenth-century Jewish botanist and astronomer
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20315225 |
|---|---|
| Authors | L B Glyn (25 Stormont Road, London N6 4NS, UK, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2002 |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 275-305 |
| Publication date | 2002-09-22 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Notes and Records the Royal Society Journal of the History of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0035-9149 • E-ISSN: 1743-0178 |
| Publisher | The Royal Society (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1098/rsnr.2002.0184 |
| OpenAlex | W2009423222 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 4 |
Israel Lyons grew up among the academic luminaries of mid–eighteenth–century Cambridge, but his humble Jewish origins prevented him from becoming a member of the university. Nevertheless, his precocious mathematical genius and his botanical enthusiasm led to a publication on fluxions at the age of 19, and a survey of Cambridge flora a few years later. His botanical skills made him Oxford's choice to lecture on the principles of botany to the young Joseph Banks and 60 of his fellow students, and his mathematical abilities made him the Astronomer Royal's choice for one of the first two computers for the Nautical Almanac. Eventually chosen, through Banks's patronage, as the astronomer for the 1773 voyage toward the North Pole, led by the Hon. Constantine Phipps, F.R.S., his career ended with a tragically early death at the age of 36, but his contemporary fame had been considerable and his achievements were remarkable in the light of his background
Ancient history · Archaeology · Art history · Astronomer · Enthusiasm · Genius · Judaism · Political science · Sociology · Theology · Botany, Ecology, and Taxonomy Studies · Classics · History · Law · Mediterranean and Iberian flora and fauna · Philosophy · Plant Ecology and Taxonomy Studies
| Highly cited | No |
|---|