F. Richard Stephenson (born Francis Richard Stephenson, 26 April 1941) is an

Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

Professor at the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

, in the

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

department and the East Asian Studies department. His research concentrates on historical aspects of astronomy, in particular analyzing ancient astronomical records to reconstruct the history of

Earth's rotation Earth's rotation or Earth's spin is the rotation of planet Earth around its own Rotation around a fixed axis, axis, as well as changes in the orientation (geometry), orientation of the rotation axis in space. Earth rotates eastward, in progra ...

. He has an

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

named after him:

10979 Fristephenson 10979 Fristephenson (Minor planet provisional designation, provisional designation ) is a carbonaceous Sulamitis asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered during the Palomar–Leiden Troj ...

Bibliography

* & F. Richard Stephenson, ''The Historical supernovae'', Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1977, 233 pages, * F. Richard Stephenson & David H. Clark, ''Applications of Early Astronomical Records'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1979, 124 pages, * Hermann Hunger,

Christopher B. F. Walker Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει� ...

, Richard Stephenson & Kevin K. C. Yau, ''Halley's Comet in History'',

British Museum Press The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human culture f ...

, 1985, 64 pages, * F. Richard Stephenson, ''Supplement to the Tuckerman Tables'',

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

, 1986, 564 pages, * F. Richard Stephenson &

M. A. Houlden M, or m, is the thirteenth letter of the English alphabet. M may also refer to: Companies and products * M (fragrance), a 2008 fragrance by Mariah Carey * M-series rangefinder, a series of Leica camera models * M (virtual assistant), a form ...

, ''Atlas of historical eclipse maps. East Asia 1500 BC-AD 1900'',

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 1986, * F. Richard Stephenson, "The identification of early returns of comet Halley from ancient astronomical records", p. 203 – 214 in ''Comet Halley. Investigations, results, interpretations, Vol. 2'',

Prentice Hall Prentice Hall was a major American publishing#Textbook_publishing, educational publisher. It published print and digital content for the 6–12 and higher-education market. It was an independent company throughout the bulk of the twentieth cen ...

, 1990 * F. Richard Stephenson, ''Astronomical Observations from the Ancient Orient'',

, 1990, 350 pages, * F. Richard Stephenson, ''Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation'',

, 1997, 573 pages, * F. Richard Stephenson & David A. Green, ''Historical supernovae and their remnants'', Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2002, 252 p.,

External links

Profile
from the Durham University Department of Physics.
Research abstract
from the Durham University East Asian Studies Department.
2014 Doggett Prize Winner - F. Richard Stephenson

Publications by F. R. Stephenson
in the

Astrophysics Data System The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is a digital library portal for researchers on astronomy and physics, operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. ADS maintains three bibliographic collections containing over 15 ...

20th-century British astronomers Academics of Durham University Living people 1941 births {{UK-astronomer-stub