Clarke ellipsoid
| Alexander Ross Clarke | |
|---|---|
Alexander Ross Clarke in 1861
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| Born |
16 December 1828 Reading, England |
| Died | 11 February 1914 (aged 85) Reigate, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | The Principal Triangulation of Great Britain, Reference ellipsoids, Textbook on geodesy. |
| Awards | Royal Medal of the Royal Society, Companion of the Order of the Bath |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Geodesy |
| Institutions | Ordnance Survey |
Col Alexander Ross Clarke FRS FRSE (1828–1914) was a British geodesist, primarily remembered for his calculation of the Principal Triangulation of Britain (1858), the calculation of the Figure of the Earth (1858, 1860, 1866, 1880) and one of the most important text books of Geodesy (1880). He was an officer of the Royal Engineers employed on the Ordnance Survey.
The basic sources of material on Clarke are the two articles by Charles Close, one of the Directors of the Ordnance Survey. The first was an article for the Royal Engineers Journal (Close 1925) and the second, a revised and expanded version, appeared in the Empire Survey Review(Close 1943). Although Close was almost thirty years younger than Clarke, and joined the Ordnance Survey only after Clarke's retirement, they knew each other well and they collaborated on the article Map for the eleventh edition of Encyclopædia Britannica. Much of Close's material is incorporated in the web page REubique (de Santis 2002) along with details of his military career and further information communicated by one of Clarke's living descendants. Other sources of information are to be found in the Times of London and obituaries in several learned societies. Two recent histories of the Ordnance Survey include information on Clarke: Owen and Pilbeam, and Seymour.
Clarke was born in Reading, Berkshire, England on 16 December 1828. His Scottish father, David Ross Clarke, had travelled to Jamaica as a young merchant and there he married Elizabeth (Eliza) Ann Hall, the daughter of Colonel Charles William Hall and Isabella Ann Ford, on 8 March 1827 in Kingston. They came to England for the birth of Alexander but they must have returned to Jamaica very soon afterwards for Alexander would later regale his own children with stories of his childhood experiences in the colony.(Close1925)
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