Background
Camille G. Bigourdan was born on April 6, 1851, at Sistels, Tarn-et-Garonne, to peasant parents Pierre Bigourdan and Jeanne Carrière. He was followed by sister Marguerite in 1853 and brother Sylvester in 1857.
1903
Institut de France, 23 Quai de Conti, 75270 Paris, France
Camille G. Bigourdan became a member of the Bureau des Longitudes in 1903 and worked to enrich their Annuaire with notices of interesting researches in current astronomy, such as determinations of parallax and classification of stellar spectra. In 1904 Camille G. Bigourdan became a member of the French Academy of Sciences, and its vice-president in 1923. In 1924, Camille Bigourdan was made President of the Academy of Sciences and the Institut de France.
1904 - 1923
Institut de France, 23 Quai de Conti, 75270 Paris, France
Camille G. Bigourdan became a member of the Bureau des Longitudes in 1903 and worked to enrich their Annuaire with notices of interesting researches in current astronomy, such as determinations of parallax and classification of stellar spectra. In 1904 Camille G. Bigourdan became a member of the French Academy of Sciences, and its vice-president in 1923. In 1924, Camille Bigourdan was made President of the Academy of Sciences and the Institut de France.
1924
Institut de France, 23 Quai de Conti, 75270 Paris, France
Camille G. Bigourdan became a member of the Bureau des Longitudes in 1903 and worked to enrich their Annuaire with notices of interesting researches in current astronomy, such as determinations of parallax and classification of stellar spectra. In 1904 Camille G. Bigourdan became a member of the French Academy of Sciences, and its vice-president in 1923. In 1924, Camille Bigourdan was made President of the Academy of Sciences and the Institut de France.
1924
Institut de France, 23 Quai de Conti, 75270 Paris, France
Camille G. Bigourdan became a member of the Bureau des Longitudes in 1903 and worked to enrich their Annuaire with notices of interesting researches in current astronomy, such as determinations of parallax and classification of stellar spectra. In 1904 Camille G. Bigourdan became a member of the French Academy of Sciences, and its vice-president in 1923. In 1924, Camille Bigourdan was made President of the Academy of Sciences and the Institut de France.
Institut de France, 23 Quai de Conti, 75270 Paris, France
Camille G. Bigourdan was awarded his first Lalande Prize from the Academy of Sciences in 1883 for the work he had done in Martinique, as one of a group of nine, each winning 540 francs. His second was awarded solely to him, and was given in 1891.
Institut de France, 23 Quai de Conti, 75270 Paris, France
Camille G. Bigourdan was awarded his first Lalande Prize from the Academy of Sciences in 1883 for the work he had done in Martinique, as one of a group of nine, each winning 540 francs. His second was awarded solely to him, and was given in 1891.
France
In 1895, Camille G. Bigourdan bestowed the prestigious French award of Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honour.
France
In 1919, Camille Bigourdan was awarded the rank of the Officer of the Legion of Honor.
Royal Astronomical Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London W1J 0BQ, United Kingdom
The Royal Astronomical Society granted him the Gold Medal in 1919.
Société astronomique de France, 3 Rue Beethoven, 75016 Paris, France
In 1919, Camille G. Bigourdan received the Prix Jules-Janssen, the highest award of the French Astronomical Society.
Institut de France, 23 Quai de Conti, 75270 Paris, France
Camille G. Bigourdan became a member of the Bureau des Longitudes in 1903 and worked to enrich their Annuaire with notices of interesting researches in current astronomy, such as determinations of parallax and classification of stellar spectra. In 1904 Camille G. Bigourdan became a member of the French Academy of Sciences, and its vice-president in 1923. In 1924, Camille Bigourdan was made President of the Academy of Sciences and the Institut de France.
Royal Astronomical Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London W1J 0BQ, United Kingdom
In 1903, Camille Bigourdan was elected an Associate of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Académie d'agriculture de France, 18 rue de Bellechasse, 75007 Paris, France
In 1924, Camille Bigourdan became a member of the Académie d'Agriculture.
Astronomer mathematician scientist
Camille G. Bigourdan was born on April 6, 1851, at Sistels, Tarn-et-Garonne, to peasant parents Pierre Bigourdan and Jeanne Carrière. He was followed by sister Marguerite in 1853 and brother Sylvester in 1857.
Bigourdan's early education came from a boarding school in Valence d'Agen, before obtaining his Bachelor of Science degree in 1870 from the University of Toulouse. Bigourdan also received two further degrees: in physics in 1874, and in mathematics in 1876. During this time, he taught at a boarding school to finance his studies.
Bigourdan caught the attention of one of his teachers, Félix Tisserand, and was appointed by him in 1877 to the post of assistant astronomer at the Toulouse Observatory. Here he was put in charge of the meridian instrument.
In 1879 Bigourdan followed Tisserand to the Paris Observatory when the latter became director there. In Paris, Bigourdan had the opportunity to take charge of the great equatorial telescope. It was here that he spent many years verifying the positions of 6380 nebulae. It was his aim to determine by visual observations the accurate positions of all the known nebulae of the northern hemisphere. He wanted to set a basis for future studies of the "proper motion" of nebulae. This turned out to be in vain since distant nebulae won't show any proper motion.
Despite this, his list of achievements while in Paris is not short. He discovered his only asteroid, 390 Alma in 1894; he identified around 500 new objects; his observations were published in 5 volumes of the Annales of the Paris Observatory occupying no fewer than 3000 pages. He also included a history of the discoveries and previous observations of the nebulae he worked on.
Bigourdan was also a participant in expeditions. In 1882, he took part in the observations on the island of Martinique of the transit of Venus. He also went to Joal, Senegal, in 1892 to observe the total eclipse of the Sun. On this same expedition, he made a determination of the value of gravity at Joal. He did this again in 1896 but atop Mont Blanc. Moreover, he traveled to Hellín, Spain in 1900 and Tunis, Tunisia in 1905 also to view solar eclipses.
In 1902, working with F.W. Dyson, among others, he participated in an attempt to re-determine with greater precision the longitudinal difference between London and Paris. Bigourdan also held a keen interest in the transmission of time signals by wireless.
In 1911, France switched from a time zone centered at Paris to one centered at Greenwich, London. Bigourdan helped establish the new time zone. After conferences in Paris in 1912 and 1913, the International Time Service was founded, with a bureau in Paris of which Bigourdan was given directorship. After the First World War, Bigourdan remained director keeping in close touch with Benjamin Baillaud and General Ferrié, other figureheads in the time-keeping spheres of interest.
Bigourdan also was responsible for various publications, for example, that of A.G. Pingré's Annales célestes du dix-septiéme siècle (Celestial records of the 17th century). The manuscript had been completed in 1791, and a start had been made on its publication, continuing slowly until Pingré's death, whereupon it stopped. The manuscript was lost, before being found by Bigourdan at the Paris Observatory under an incorrect title. Under the auspices of the French Academy of Sciences, these Annales were printed in 1901. After he retired in 1928 from the Bureau de l'Heure, he gave, in the Annuaire, a history of the Bureau de Longitudes, the fourth part of which was published in 1932, only a short while before his death.
In February 1885, Camille G. Bigourdan married Sophie Mouchez, the eldest daughter of Admiral Amédée Mouchez, then the director of the Paris Observatory. Together, they had 9 children.