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Arthur Cowper Ranyard (21 June 1845 – 14 December 1894) was an English astrophysicist. ==Life== Born at Swanscombe, Kent, he was son of Benjamin Ranyard by his wife Ellen Henrietta Ranyard (''née'' White). Ranyard attended University College School, London, from 1857 to 1860, afterwards proceeding to University College. Here the influence of Professor Augustus De Morgan led him to concentrate his attention on mathematics and astronomy, and he formed an intimate friendship with the professor's son George. In 1864 the two friends formed the plan for a society for the special study of mathematics, and issued a circular inviting attendance at the first meeting of "the University College Mathematical Society" on 7 Nov. 1864. The first meeting mentioned in the minutes of the society, however, was held on 16 January 1865, when De Morgan was elected president, and Messrs. Cozens-Hardy and Henry Mason Bompas secretaries. After the president's inaugural address Ranyard read the first paper, 'On Determinants'. The new association received the support of eminent mathematicians, and ultimately developed into the present London Mathematical Society. Proceeding to Cambridge, Ranyard entered Pembroke College in October 1865, and graduated M.A. in 1868. Adopting the law as his profession, he was called to the bar (Lincoln's Inn) in 1871; but his tastes lay in the direction of science, and his means enabled him to devote much of his time to astronomy. He became a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1863, was a member of the council (1872–88 and 1892–4), and was secretary (1874–80). He was assistant secretary of the expedition for observing the total solar eclipse of 1870, and made a successful series of polariscopic observations at in Sicily.〔DNB cit.: (''Memoirs Royal Astr. Soc''. vol. xli.).〕 In 1878 he went to Colorado to view the solar eclipse of that year, which he observed and photographed at a station near Denver〔DNB: (''Royal Astr. Soc.'' xlvi. 213)〕 In 1882 he observed and photographed the total solar eclipse at Sohag in Upper Egypt. He took an interest in public affairs, and in 1892 was elected a member of the London County Council, where he did important work, especially in connection with the new (London) Building Act, which passed into law in the summer of 1894. In 1872 he made with James Lindsay experiments on photographic irradiation,〔DNB: (''Monthly Notices Royal Astr. Soc.'' xxxii. 313)〕 and in 1886 he investigated the relation between brightness of object, time of exposure, and intensity of photographic action.〔DNB: (''Monthly Notices Royal Astr. Soc.'' xlvi. 305)〕 Ranyard, who was unmarried, lived a somewhat retired life of laborious industry. He was a man of generous spirit, extremely conscientious, and completely devoted to duty. He died of cancer, at his house in Hunter Street, Brunswick Square, on 14 December 1894. A portrait is given in ‘Knowledge’ for February 1895. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Arthur Cowper Ranyard」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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