DELAMBRE

delambre, jean baptiste joseph (1749-1822), french astronomer, was born at amiens on the 19th of september 1749. his college course, begun at amiens under the abbe jacques delille, was finished in paris, where he took a scholarship at the college of plessis. despite extreme penury, he then continued to study indefatigably ancient and modern languages, history and literature, finally turning his attention to mathematics and astronomy. in 1771 he became tutor to the son of m. d'assy, receiver-general of finances; and while acting in this capacity, attended the lectures of j. j. lalande, who, struck with his remarkable acquirements, induced m. d'assy in 1788 to install an observatory for his benefit at his own residence. here delambre observed and computed almost uninterruptedly, and in 1790 obtained for his tables of uranus the prize offered by the academy of sciences, of which body he was elected a member two years later. he was admitted to the institute on its organization in 1795, and became, in 1803, perpetual secretary to its mathematical section. he, moreover, belonged from 1795 to the bureau of longitudes. from 1792 to 1799 he was occupied with the measurement of the arc of the meridian extending from dunkirk to barcelona, and published a detailed account of the operations in _base du systeme metrique_ (3 vols., 1806, 1807, 1810), for which he was awarded in 1810 the decennial prize of the institute. the first consul nominated him inspector-general of studies; he succeeded lalande in 1807 as professor of astronomy at the college de france, and filled the office of treasurer to the imperial university from 1808 until its suppression in 1815. delambre died at paris on the 19th of august 1822. his last years were devoted to researches into the history of science, resulting in the successive publication of: _histoire de l'astronomie ancienne_ (2 vols., 1817); _histoire de l'astronomie au moyen age_ (1819); _histoire de l'astronomie moderne_ (2 vols., 1821); and _histoire de l'astronomie au xviii^e siecle_, issued in 1827 under the care of c. l. mathieu. these books show marvellous erudition; but some of the judgments expressed in them are warped by prejudice; they are diffuse in style and overloaded with computations. he wrote besides: _tables ecliptiques des satellites de jupiter_, inserted in the third edition of j. j. lalande's _astronomie_ (1792), and republished in an improved form by the bureau of longitudes in 1817; _methodes analytiques pour la determination d'un arc du meridien_ (1799); _tables du soleil (publiees par le bureau des longitudes)_ (1806); _rapport historique sur les progres des sciences mathematiques depuis l'an 1789_ (1810); _abrege d'astronomie_ (1813); _astronomie theorique et pratique_ (1814); &c. see j. b. j. fourier's "eloge" in _memoires de l'acad. des sciences_, t. iv.; ch. dupin, _revue encyclopedique_, t. xvi. (1822); _biog. universelle_, t. lxii. (c. l. mathieu); max. marie, _hist. des sciences_, x. 31; r. grant, _hist. of physical astr._ pp. 96, 142, 165; r. wolf, _geschichte der astronomie_, p. 779, &c. (a. m. c.) delamere (or de la mer), george booth, 1st baron (1622-1684), son of william booth, a member of an ancient family settled at dunham massey in cheshire, and of vere, daughter and co-heir of sir thomas egerton, was born in august 1622. he took an active part in the civil war with his grandfather, sir george booth, on the parliamentary side. he was returned for cheshire to the long parliament in 1645 and to cromwell's parliaments of 1654 and 1656. in 1655 he was appointed military commissioner for cheshire and treasurer at war. he was one of the excluded members who tried and failed to regain their seats after the fall of richard cromwell in 1659. he had for some time been regarded by the royalists as a well-wisher to their cause, and was described to the king in may 1659 as "very considerable in his country, a presbyterian in opinion, yet so moral a man.... i think your majesty may safely [rely] on him and his promises which are considerable and hearty."[1] he now became one of the chief leaders of the new "royalists" who at this time united with the cavaliers to effect the restoration. a rising was arranged for the 5th of august in several districts, and booth took charge of operations in cheshire, lancashire and north wales. he got possession of chester on the 19th, issued a proclamation declaring that arms had been taken up "in vindication of the freedom of parliament, of the known laws, liberty and property," and marched towards york. the plot, however, was known to thurloe. it had entirely failed in other parts of the country, and lambert advancing with his forces defeated booth's men at nantwich bridge. booth himself escaped disguised as a woman, but was discovered at newport pagnell on the 23rd in the act of shaving, and was imprisoned in the tower. he was, however, soon liberated, took his seat in the parliament of 1659-1660, and was one of the twelve members deputed to carry the message of the commons to charles ii. at the hague. in july 1660 he received a grant of l10,000, having refused the larger sum of l20,000 at first offered to him, and on the 20th of april 1661, on the occasion of the coronation, he was created baron delamere, with a licence to create six new knights. the same year he was appointed _custos rotulorum_ of cheshire. in later years he showed himself strongly antagonistic to the reactionary policy of the government. he died on the 8th of august 1684, and was buried at bowdon. he married (1) lady catherine clinton, daughter and co-heir of theophilus, 4th earl of lincoln, by whom he had one daughter; and (2) lady elizabeth grey, daughter of henry, 1st earl of stamford, by whom, besides five daughters, he had seven sons, the second of whom, henry, succeeded him in the title and estates and was created earl of warrington. the earldom became extinct on the death of the latter's son, the 2nd earl, without male issue, in 1758, and the barony of delamere terminated in the person of the 4th baron in 1770; the title was revived in 1821 in the cholmondeley family. footnote: [1] clarendon, _state papers_, iii. 472.