ASTRONOMER

John Michell

1724 - 1793

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John Michell (; 25 December 1724 – 21 April 1793) was an English natural philosopher and clergyman who provided pioneering insights into a wide range of scientific fields including astronomy, geology, optics, and gravitation. Considered "one of the greatest unsung scientists of all time", he is the first person known to have proposed the existence of stellar bodies comparable to black holes, and the first to have suggested that earthquakes travelled in (seismic) waves. Recognizing that double stars were a product of mutual gravitation, he was the first to apply statistics to the study of the cosmos. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of John Michell has received more than 412,012 page views. His biography is available in 30 different languages on Wikipedia. John Michell is the 287th most popular astronomer (down from 229th in 2019), the 2,358th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 1,988th in 2019) and the 38th most popular British Astronomer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 410k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 52.19

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 30

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.93

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.12

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among ASTRONOMERS

Among astronomers, John Michell ranks 287 out of 644. Before him are Halton Arp, Allan Sandage, Horace Parnell Tuttle, Charles T. Kowal, Carl Charlier, and Henri-Alexandre Deslandres. After him are Aleksander Wolszczan, Albert George Wilson, Caterina Scarpellini, Rudolph Minkowski, Zdeňka Vávrová, and Iosif Shklovsky.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1724, John Michell ranks 24. Before him are Gottfried Heinrich Bach, Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, Heinrich XXIV, Count Reuss of Ebersdorf, John Smeaton, Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, and Claude Balbastre. After him are Dai Zhen, William, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe, Ji Yun, Johann Julius Walbaum, Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, and Anton Friedrich Büsching. Among people deceased in 1793, John Michell ranks 39. Before him are Joannicius III of Constantinople, Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine, William Hudson, Charles de Bonchamps, Jean Joseph Marie Amiot, and Karl Philipp Moritz. After him are Leopold Hofmann, Noël Martin Joseph de Necker, Katsukawa Shunshō, Carl Gustaf Pilo, Anton Friedrich Büsching, and Roger Sherman.

Others Born in 1724

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Others Deceased in 1793

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, John Michell ranks 2,358 out of 8,785. Before him are Snowy White (1948), Sir William Congreve, 2nd Baronet (1772), Katherine Woodville, Duchess of Buckingham (1458), Alex Higgins (1949), John Owen (1616), and Phil Read (1939). After him are Derek Warwick (1954), Trevor Francis (1954), Abraham Darby I (1678), Kevin Ayers (1944), Tony Cragg (1949), and John Brunner (1934).

Others born in United Kingdom

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Among ASTRONOMERS In United Kingdom

Among astronomers born in United Kingdom, John Michell ranks 38. Before him are John Bevis (1695), Cyril Jackson (1903), George Mary Searle (1839), Nevil Maskelyne (1732), Sherburne Wesley Burnham (1838), and John Machin (1680). After him are Alfred Fowler (1868), Robert T. A. Innes (1861), Richard Christopher Carrington (1826), Herbert Hall Turner (1861), Beatrice Tinsley (1941), and Ralph Copeland (1837).

British born Astronomers

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