Abstract
THE death of M. Ernest Quetelet, “chef du service Astronomique” of the Observatory of Brussels, took place at Ixelles on the 6th instant, after a long and painful illness. His connection with the observatory dates from 1855, when he entered it as an assistant to his father, the late Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, who was then the director, and who died so recently as February, 1874. Ernest was born in Brussels August 7, 1825. At that time his father was busily occupied in pressing on the king and the municipality of Brussels the importance of establishing an observatory for meteorological purposes. After much discussion and many delays it was determined in 1826 to establish an astronomical observatory; Quetelet was directed to obtain instruments, to visit Paris and London, and on January 9, 1828, he received his official appointment, his title being “astronomer.” The three principal astronomical instruments were set up in 1835, but the first four volumes of the Annales of the observatory coming down to 1845 contain only meteorological notes. The first volume (date 1834) opens with an “aperçu historique des observations de météorologie faites en Belgique jusqu'àce jour,”ccommencing with 1763, and shows how thoroughly the director entered into the importance of the work. The observatory in 1845 was the centre of meteorological observing stations, of which there were more than eighty.
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Ernest Quetelet . Nature 18, 551 (1878). https://doi.org/10.1038/018551a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/018551a0