Alexander Wilson was a Scottish astronomer, meteorologist, and type-maker. He was born in St. Andrews, Scotland, and educated at the University of St. Andrews from where he graduated at the age of 18. He was first apprenticed to a physician in St Andrews where he became skilled in constructing mercury thermometers in glass. In 1737 he left for London, to make his fortune and found work with a French surgeon and pharmacist, which included caring for his patients.

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  • Alexander Wilson was a Scottish astronomer, meteorologist, and type-maker. He was born in St. Andrews, Scotland, and educated at the University of St. Andrews from where he graduated at the age of 18. He was first apprenticed to a physician in St Andrews where he became skilled in constructing mercury thermometers in glass. In 1737 he left for London, to make his fortune and found work with a French surgeon and pharmacist, which included caring for his patients. During this time he was introduced to Lord Isla the future 3rd Duke of Argyle, who like Wilson was interested in astronomy. After visiting a type foundry with a friend in London, he had an idea for making better typefaces. He and his friend John Baine returned to St Andrews, where they started a type-founding business in 1742. The company moved to Camlachie, near Glasgow in 1744. In 1748 he was appointed type-founder to Glasgow University. In the following year the partnership with Baine was dissolved. Later his sons became partners. He supplied types to the Foulis press making possible their beautiful and artistic publications. Among modern typefaces, Fontana and Scotch Roman are based on types cut by Alexander Wilson. His work can be seen, for example, at Examples of Foulis Press Books. In 1749 Wilson made the first recorded use of kites in meteorology with his lodger, a 23-year-old Glasgow University student Thomas Melvill, who went on to discover sodium light. They measured air temperature at various levels above the ground simultaneously with a train of kites. With the help of the Duke of Argyle, he was appointed to the new chair of astronomy at the University of Glasgow in 1760. Wilson primarily made contributions to astronomy and meteorology, and posited that "what hinders the fixed stars from falling upon one another", the question that Newton had posed in his Opticks (1704), was that the entire universe rotated around its centre. This has been found to be true of the stars of the Galaxy, the then known universe, which rotates around a central black hole. It is not true for the galaxies of the Universe which is expanding. He discovered that sunspots viewed near the edge of the Sun's visible disk appear depressed below the solar surface, a phenomenon still referred to as the Wilson effect. The crater Wilson on the Moon is named for him, Ralph Elmer Wilson and CTR Wilson. He, and his second son Patrick (Peter) Wilson, were two of the founding members of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE). Peter wrote a biographical article of his father in the Transactions of the RSE.
  • Alexander Wilson war ein schottischer Astronom und Mathematiker. Wilson war zunächst Pharmazeut. Ab 1760 war er Professor für Astronomie an der Universität Glasgow. Er unternahm 1749 die ersten bekannten Versuche, die Temperatur höhere Luftschichten zu bestimmen, indem er Thermometer an Drachen befestigte und diese aufsteigen ließ. Später, in den letzten Jahren des 19. und der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts, war der Wetterdrachen neben dem Wetterballon das wichtigste Hilfsmittel, um meteorologische Messgeräte in die freie Atmosphäre zu transportieren. Wilson entdeckte 1769, dass Sonnenflecken in die Sonnenoberfläche eingesenkt erscheinen, wenn sie sich in der Nähe des Sonnenrandes befinden. Er schloss daraus, dass Sonnenflecken Teile der Sonne sind und nicht Kleinplaneten oder ähnliche Objekte, die sich vor der Sonne befinden. Wilson gehörte zu den Gründungsmitgliedern der Royal Society of Edinburgh.
  • アレキサンダー・ウィルソン（Alexander Wilson 、1714年 - 1786年10月18日）はスコットランドの天文学者。太陽黒点が太陽の縁に近づくにつれて黒点の半暗部が比率が変わるウィルソン効果を発見した。 セント・アンドリュースに生まれ、セントアンドリューズ大学で学んだ。1760年にグラスゴー大学の天文学の教授になった。天文学や気象学の分野に貢献した。1769年に大きい太陽黒点の形状の変化を記録し、太陽黒点が太陽の縁に近づくとき黒点周縁部の半暗部の巾が変化することを発見した。この現象はウィルソン効果と呼ばれる。ウィルソンは、黒点が太陽表面に対して凹んだ形状していると考えた。 ウィルソンはまた気象観測に初めて凧を用いたとされる。エディンバラ王立協会の設立メンバーである。
  • Alexander Wilson, född 1714, död 1786, skotsk astronom. Han var ursprungligen farmaceut, men blev 1760 professor i praktisk astronomi i Glasgow. Han har givit namn åt den så kallade Wilsoneffekten.
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  • Alexander Wilson (disambiguation)
  • other people named Alexander Wilson
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  • Alexander Wilson was a Scottish astronomer, meteorologist, and type-maker. He was born in St. Andrews, Scotland, and educated at the University of St. Andrews from where he graduated at the age of 18. He was first apprenticed to a physician in St Andrews where he became skilled in constructing mercury thermometers in glass. In 1737 he left for London, to make his fortune and found work with a French surgeon and pharmacist, which included caring for his patients.
  • Alexander Wilson war ein schottischer Astronom und Mathematiker. Wilson war zunächst Pharmazeut. Ab 1760 war er Professor für Astronomie an der Universität Glasgow. Er unternahm 1749 die ersten bekannten Versuche, die Temperatur höhere Luftschichten zu bestimmen, indem er Thermometer an Drachen befestigte und diese aufsteigen ließ. Später, in den letzten Jahren des 19. und der ersten Hälfte des 20.
  • Alexander Wilson, född 1714, död 1786, skotsk astronom. Han var ursprungligen farmaceut, men blev 1760 professor i praktisk astronomi i Glasgow. Han har givit namn åt den så kallade Wilsoneffekten.
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  • Alexander Wilson (astronomer)
  • Alexander Wilson (Astronom)
  • アレキサンダー・ウィルソン (天文学者)
  • Alexander Wilson
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