{{short description|American astronomer (1846–1912)}} {{Infobox scientist |name = Lewis Boss |image = PSM V81 D625 Lewis Boss.png |image_size = |caption = |birth_date = {{birth date|1846|10|26|df=yes}} |birth_place = Providence, Rhode Island |death_date = {{death date and age|1912|10|05|1846|10|26|df=yes}} |death_place = Albany, New York |residence = |citizenship = |ethnicity = |field = Astronomy |work_institutions = Dudley Observatory |doctoral_advisor = |doctoral_students = |known_for = compilation<br/>Hyades star cluster |author_abbrev_bot = |author_abbrev_zoo = |influences = |influenced = |prizes = Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society<br>Lalande Prize <small>(1911)</small> |parents = Samuel P. Boss<br>Lucinda (Joslin) Boss |spouse = Helen M. Hutchinson Boss |children = Benjamin Boss |relations = |alma_mater = Dartmouth College |footnotes = |signature = Signature of Lewis Boss.png }}
'''Lewis Boss''' (26 October 1846 – 5 October 1912) was an American astronomer. He served as the director of the Dudley Observatory in Schenectady, New York.
==Early life== Boss was born in Providence, Rhode Island to Samuel P. and Lucinda (née Joslin) Boss,<ref>{{cite book |title=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers |last=Hockey |first=Thomas |year=2009 |publisher=Springer Publishing |isbn=978-0-387-31022-0 |accessdate=August 22, 2012 |url=http://www.springerreference.com/docs/html/chapterdbid/58189.html}}</ref> and attended secondary school at the Lapham Institute in North Scituate<ref>{{cite book|last=American Educational Company|title=The American Educational Review, Volume 34|date=1913|publisher=American Educational Company|page=114|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kO0-AQAAMAAJ&q=Lewis+Boss+smithville+seminary&pg=PA114}}</ref> and the New Hampton Institution in New Hampshire.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_XG0iAAAAMAAJ Andrew Van Vranken Raymond, ''Union University: Its History, Influence, Characteristics and...'' Lewis Publishing Co. (1907), 2.]</ref> In 1870, he graduated from Dartmouth College,<ref>{{cite book|last=Hockey|first=Thomas|title=Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers|date=2007|publisher=Springer|page=153|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t-BF1CHkc50C&q=Lewis+Boss+Dartmouth+College&pg=PA153|isbn=9780387304007}}</ref> then went to work as a clerk for the U.S. Government.
==Career== He served as an assistant astronomer for a government expedition to survey the U.S-Canada–United States border. In 1876 he became the directory of the Dudley Observatory in Schenectady, New York.<ref>{{cite book|last=American Educational Company|title=The American Educational Review, Volume 34|date=1913|publisher=American Educational Company|page=114|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kO0-AQAAMAAJ&q=Lewis+Boss+smithville+seminary&pg=PA114}}</ref>
Boss is noted for his work in cataloguing the locations and proper motions of stars. He also led an expedition to Chile in 1882 to observe the transit of Venus, and catalogued information concerning cometary orbits.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gregersen|first=Erik|title=The Universe: A Historical Survey of Beliefs, Theories, and Laws|date=2009|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|page=141|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4jbAzk3HR6gC&q=astronomer+benjamin+boss+albany+ny&pg=PA141|isbn=9781615300266}}</ref> He was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1889.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lewis Boss |url=https://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20001766.html |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref> His most significant discovery was the calculation of the convergent point of the Hyades star cluster. He was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1905.
He became editor of the ''Astronomical Journal'' in 1909, and the following year published ''Preliminary General Catalogue of 6188 Stars for the Epoch 1900'', a compilation of the proper motions of stars. He was elected to both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society in 1911.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-09 |title=Lewis Boss |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/lewis-boss |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Lewis+Boss&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> Following his death, responsibility for the ''Astronomical Journal'' passed to his son, Benjamin Boss.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gregersen|first=Erik|title=The Universe: A Historical Survey of Beliefs, Theories, and Laws|date=2009|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|page=141|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4jbAzk3HR6gC&q=astronomer+benjamin+boss+albany+ny&pg=PA141|isbn=9781615300266}}</ref> Benjamin continued to edit the journal until 1941 and also expanded his father's star catalogue, publishing the ''Boss General Catalogue'' in 1936.<ref>{{cite book|last=Angelo|first=Joseph A.|title=Encyclopedia of Space and Astronomy|date=2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|page=96|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VUWno1sOwnUC&q=astronomer+benjamin+boss+died+1970&pg=PA96|isbn=9781438110189}}</ref>
==Death and legacy== Boss died on October 5. 1912 in Albany, New York.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dartmouth College|title=General catalogue of Dartmouth college and the associated institutions: including the officers of government and instruction, graduates and all others who have received honorary degrees|date=1890|publisher=Dartmouth College|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_3ElOAAAAMAAJ/page/n85 72]|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_3ElOAAAAMAAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Boss|first=Benjamin|title=Biographical Memoir of Lewis Boss, 1846-1912|date=1920|publisher=National Academy of Sciences|page=239|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9cWAAAAYAAJ&q=buried&pg=PA239}}</ref> The Moon crater Boss is named in his honor.<ref>{{cite book|last=Greeley|first=Ronald and Batson, Raymond|title=The Compact NASA Atlas of the Solar System|date=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/compactnasaatlas0000gree/page/363 363]|url=https://archive.org/details/compactnasaatlas0000gree|url-access=registration|isbn=9780521806336}}</ref>
==Family life== Boss married Helen M. Hutchinson on December 30, 1871. Their son Benjamin Boss was also a noted astronomer.<ref>{{cite book|last=Boss|first=Benjamin|title=Biographical Memoir of Lewis Boss, 1846-1912|date=1920|publisher=National Academy of Sciences|page=239|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9cWAAAAYAAJ&q=buried&pg=PA239}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Biography}} * Boss General Catalogue
== References == {{reflist}}
== Sources == * ''Much of this article was based on the [https://web.archive.org/web/20040817012926/http://www.dudleyobservatory.org/History/history_lewis_boss.htm Dudley Observatory history] of Lewis Boss.''
== External links == <!-- for current and future use if material is uploaded --> * ''Preliminary General Catalogue of 6188 Stars for the Epoch 1900'' {{bibcode|1910Sci....32..155C}} * [http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/boss-lewis.pdf National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140326025356/http://www.dudleyobservatory.org/History/history_boss_lewis.htm Dudley Observatory]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boss, Lewis}} Category:1846 births Category:1912 deaths Category:Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Category:American astronomers Category:Scientists from Schenectady, New York Category:Recipients of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society Category:People from Providence, Rhode Island Category:Dartmouth College alumni Category:Scientists from Albany, New York Category:Recipients of the Lalande Prize Category:The Astronomical Journal editors Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society
{{US-astronomer-stub}}