James Ferguson
James Ferguson - A Famous Scottish Astronomer
James Ferguson (1710-1776) was born near Keith a small village in Banffshire, , Scotland. His parents were, in his own words, " though poor, were religious and honest; lived in good repute with all who knew them; and died with good characters." His father was a smallholder and educated the children himself.
Ferguson learnt to read from witnessing his father teaching his older brother how to read the Scottish catechism. Ferguson's father taught him to read and write and, at the age of seven, his father sent him to grammar school for three months. In 1720 he went to work at a nearby farm to tend to the sheep at night. It was during these evenings that he was able to study further. During the days Ferguson made models of machinery but it was during his evenings study that his interest in the stars first developed.
Following his job tending sheep James Ferguson worked as a servant with a miller then with a doctor. Unfortunately his health was poor and he was forced to return home where he continued his modelmaking hobby to pass the time. While he was ill he produced made a clock which, along with some of his other inventions, caught the eye of a neighbor who invited him to work for him.
While living for the gentleman Ferguson started to draw patterns for needlework and his interest in the arts was met with some success. In 1734, in Edinburgh, he was able to support himsef as a portrait painter while studying science. In 1739 he moved to Inverness, married, continued his studies in astronomy and built mechanical contraptions to illustrate the way in which the solar system works such as a tide-dial, an eclipsarion and astronomical clocks.
In 1743 he took an orrery, which he had finely crafted from ivory, with him to London and sold to Sir Dudley Rider. He moved to London and produced many more with each one unique as he continually made improvements to each one produced. However he continued to earn a living from drawing portraits while studying and writing papers on astronomy. He began to lecture on the subject of astronomy and, in 1763, he became a fellow of the Royal Society of London. He remained in London until his death in 1776.
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