Richard A. (Richard Anthony) Proctor

Richard A. (Richard Anthony) Proctor
Richard Anthony Proctor (1837–1888) was a British astronomer and writer known for his work popularizing astronomy. He wrote numerous books on the subject, including "Other Worlds Than Ours" (1870), which explored the possibility of life on other planets, and "The Moon: Her Motions, Aspect, Scenery, and Physical Condition" (1873). Proctor also created some of the first detailed star maps and worked on celestial charts, including an innovative star atlas. His accessible style and imaginative approach made complex astronomical concepts understandable to the general public.

Author's Books:


ASTROLOGY. Signs and planets, in aspects sextile, quartile, trine, conjoined, or opposite; houses of heaven, with their cusps, hours, and minutes; Almuten, Almochoden, Anahibazon, Catahibazon; a thousand terms of equal sound and significance.—Guy Mannering. ... Come and see! trust thine own eyes.A fearful sign stands in the house of life,An enemy: a fiend lurks close behindThe radiance of thy... more...

It is very easy to gain a knowledge of the stars, if the learner sets to work in the proper manner. But he commonly meets with a difficulty at the outset of his task. He provides himself with a set of the ordinary star-maps, and then finds himself at a loss how to make use of them. Such maps tell him nothing of the position of the constellations on the sky. If he happen to recognize a constellation,... more...

CHAPTER I. A HALF-HOUR ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE TELESCOPE. There are few instruments which yield more pleasure and instruction than the Telescope. Even a small telescope—only an inch and a half or two inches, perhaps, in aperture—will serve to supply profitable amusement to those who know how to apply its powers. I have often seen with pleasure the surprise with which the performance even of an... more...