# William Samson > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/William_Samson > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/William_Samson.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Samson > Source revision: 1323395617 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Scottish astronomer and computer scientist}} {{BLP sources|date=April 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}} {{Use British English|date=January 2017}} {{similar names|William Sampson (disambiguation)}} thumb|right|William Byars Samson in 2007 '''William Byars Samson''' (born 1943, in [Forfar](/source/Forfar)) is a [Scottish](/source/Scottish_people) [astronomer](/source/astronomer), [academic](/source/Academic_staff), [computer scientist](/source/computer_scientist) and a researcher in the fields of [Astronomy](/source/Astronomy), [Databases](/source/Databases), [Artificial Intelligence](/source/Artificial_Intelligence), and [Artificial Life](/source/Artificial_Life). Will Samson graduated with a degree in [mathematics](/source/mathematics) from [University of St. Andrews](/source/University_of_St._Andrews) in 1966. He earned his PhD in [Astronomy](/source/Astronomy) in 1971 from the [University of Edinburgh](/source/University_of_Edinburgh). In 1976, Samson went on to study at [Heriot-Watt University](/source/Heriot-Watt_University) where he obtained his [MSc](/source/MSc) in [Computer Science](/source/Computer_Science)."Sampson, William, Milestones: Talks at Mills Observatory, March 2007 ==Early years== William Samson's earliest fascination with the skies came when he was seven years old and his mother took him outside to point out great [winter](/source/winter) [constellation](/source/constellation)s like the [Plough](/source/Big_Dipper) and [Orion](/source/Orion_(constellation)). Another inspiration was his music teacher at [Forfar Academy](/source/Forfar_Academy), Willie Bernard, who took the class on a trip to the [Mills Observatory](/source/Mills_Observatory). "He did that when he got fed up trying to teach us to sing."Alexander, Michael, Out of This World, Weekend Courier, The Courier and Advertiser, 17 February 2007 Bill then aged 12 went back home with great fascination of the celestial constellations and built his first [telescope](/source/telescope) using old spectacle lenses scrounged from an [optician](/source/optician) in Forfar, that he put into a cardboard tube. According to Samson, "It wasn't wonderful, but good enough to see [craters](/source/Impact_crater) on the [moon](/source/moon)."Alexander, Michael, Out of This World, Weekend Courier, The Courier and Advertiser, 17 February 2007 He then went on to build his second and third telescopes from kits. The fourth one he built from scratch by grinding a disc of plate glass to make a mirror. ==Career== In 1971 he was appointed as the scientific officer at [Home Office](/source/Home_Office) until 1973. In 1973, he became a lecturer of computer science at [Dundee](/source/Dundee) [Institute of Technology](/source/Institute_of_Technology) for seven years. In 1980 he was appointed as the lecturer of computer science at the [University of Stirling](/source/University_of_Stirling). Later he was appointed as the senior lecturer (1980–1982) and [reader](/source/Reader_(academic_rank)) (1985–1997) in computing at the [University of Abertay](/source/University_of_Abertay). In 1997, he was the acting head of School of [Informatics](/source/Informatics_(academic_field)) at the Abertay University. From 1997 to 2002, he was a visiting fellow at the University of Abertay. He became the [curator](/source/curator) and the official [astronomer](/source/astronomer) at [Mills Observatory](/source/Mills_Observatory) in 2002 until his retirement on 13 March 2007. Samson is currently the honorary reader in University of Abertay and honorary lecturer in [engineering](/source/engineering) and [physics](/source/physics) at the [University of Dundee](/source/University_of_Dundee) from 2002. He is also noted as a research student supervisor and research degree [external examiner](/source/external_examiner). His publication includes 25 refereed journal articles and over 30 conference papers. ==Sources== * [Astronomical Society of Edinburgh](/source/Astronomical_Society_of_Edinburgh), Journal 45, Scottish Astronomy Weekend 2002 * Mills Observatory, Dundee City Council, Dundee City Archive * Biography of Dr. William Samson, Mills Observatory, Dundee ==References== {{reflist}} {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Samson, William}} Category:1943 births Category:Scottish astronomers Category:20th-century British astronomers Category:21st-century British astronomers Category:Alumni of the University of St Andrews Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Category:Alumni of Heriot-Watt University Category:Academics of Abertay University Category:Academics of the University of St Andrews Category:People from Forfar Category:Living people Category:People educated at Forfar Academy Category:Scottish computer scientists Category:Academics of the University of Stirling --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [William Samson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Samson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Samson?action=history)). 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