James Bradley

The Reverend James Bradley FRS
Portrait of Bradley by Thomas Hudson, c. 1744
Born	September 1692 Sherborne, Gloucestershire, England
Died	13 July 1762(1762-07-13) (aged 69) Chalford, Gloucestershire, England
Alma mater	Balliol College, Oxford
Known for	Aberration of light Astronomer Royal
Awards	Copley Medal (1748)
Scientific career
Fields	Astronomy
Institutions	University of Oxford Ashmolean Museum
Ecclesiastical career
Religion	Christianity (Anglican)
Church	Church of England
Ordained	24 May 1719 (deacon) c. July 1719 (priest)

James Bradley FRS (1692–1762) was an English astronomer and priest who served as the third Astronomer Royal from 1742. He is best known for two fundamental discoveries in astronomy, the aberration of light (1725–1728), and the nutation of the Earth's axis (1728–1748).

These two discoveries were called "the most brilliant and useful of the century" by Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre, historian of astronomy, mathematical astronomer and director of the Paris Observatory. In his History of astronomy in the 18th century (1821), Delambre stated:^[1]

"It is to these two discoveries by Bradley that we owe the exactness of modern astronomy. ... This double service assures to their discoverer the most distinguished place (after Hipparchus and Kepler) above the greatest astronomers of all ages and all countries."