Leopold Courvoisier
Encyclopedia
Leopold Courvoisier was a Swiss astronomer
. He was born in Riehen
, Switzerland, near Basel
.. He was the chief observer at the observatory
in Babelsberg (near Berlin) from 1905 to 1938.
and reflecting angles from stars.
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
. He was born in Riehen
Riehen
Riehen is a municipality in the canton of Basel-Stadt in Switzerland. Together with the city of Basel and Bettingen, Riehen is one of three municipalities in the canton....
, Switzerland, near Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
.. He was the chief observer at the observatory
Observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...
in Babelsberg (near Berlin) from 1905 to 1938.
Work
He attempted to detect the absolute motion of the solar system through space, concentrating mainly on measurements of incidentAngle of incidence
Angle of incidence is a measure of deviation of something from "straight on", for example:* in the approach of a ray to a surface, or* the angle at which the wing or horizontal tail of an airplane is installed on the fuselage, measured relative to the axis of the fuselage.-Optics:In geometric...
and reflecting angles from stars.