James Edward Keeler

Biography

James Edward Keeler trained as an astronomer at a time when photographic and spectral advances were transforming the science, and he became an articulate voice for careful observation and scientific rigor. As director of the Allegheny Observatory, he studied the motion of binary stars and the rings of Saturn, helping to bring a clearer picture of the cosmos to a wider public.

Though he died young, his published work and the students he guided ensured that the observatory remained a center of inquiry, and scholars still recall his eager pursuit of knowledge beside the celestial vault.