Jesse Ramsden

Jesse Ramsden
Mezzotint by J. Jones, 1790, after Robert Home. This, the only portrait of Ramsden shows him with the dividing engine in front of him and a great circle made for the Palermo Astronomical Observatory behind him. Ramsden never wore fur coats but the artist added it because the painting commemorated an order from the Empress of Russia that Ramsden had worked on.
Born	(1735-10-06)6 October 1735 Salterhebble, Yorkshire, UK
Died	5 November 1800(1800-11-05) (aged 65) Brighton, Sussex
Nationality	British
Known for	Dividing engine Ramsden eyepiece Surveying instruments Optical telescopes
Awards	Copley Medal (1795)
Scientific career
Fields	astronomical optics

Jesse Ramsden FRS FRSE (6 October 1735 – 5 November 1800) was a British mathematician, astronomical and scientific instrument maker. His reputation was built on the engraving and design of dividing engines which allowed high accuracy measurements of angles and lengths in instruments. He produced instruments for astronomy that were especially well known for maritime use where they were needed for the measurement of latitudes and for his surveying instruments which were widely used for cartography and land survey both across the British Empire and outside. An achromatic eyepiece that he invented for telescopes and microscopes continues to be known as the Ramsden eyepiece.