astronomy

Pierre Puiseux

Pierre Puiseux is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pierre Puiseux rather than just read about it. In short: Pierre Henri Puiseux (French: [pɥizø]; 20 July 1855 – 28 September 1928) was a French astronomer. Born in Paris, son of Victor Puiseux, he was educated at the École Normale Supérieure before starting work as an astronomer at the Paris Observatory in 1885.

Key takeaways

Pierre Puiseux belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pierre Puiseux to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pierre Puiseux from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Pierre Henri Puiseux (French: [pɥizø]; 20 July 1855 – 28 September 1928) was a French astronomer. Born in Paris, son of Victor Puiseux, he was educated at the École Normale Supérieure before starting work as an astronomer at the Paris Observatory in 1885. He worked on the aberration of light, asteroids, lunar dynamics and, in collaboration with Maurice Loewy, the ill-fated Carte du Ciel project. Puiseux created a photographic atlas of the Moon based on 6000 photographs taken by him and Loewy. In 1892 he was awarded the Valz Prize, and in 1896 was he awarded the Lalande Prize, both from the French Academy of Sciences, which he would later become a member of in 1912. In 1900, Puiseux received the Prix Jules Janssen, the highest award of the Société astronomique de France (the French astronomical society). He became the Society's president from 1911 to 1913. The crater Puiseux on the Moon is named after him. He was a believing and practicing Catholic who died with the sacraments of the Church.

References

External links Works by Pierre Puiseux at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Pierre Puiseux at the Internet Archive P. Puiseux @ Astrophysics Data System Atlas photographique de la Lune, on the digital library of Paris Observatory

Obituaries JRASC 22 (1928) 394 (one sentence) MNRAS 89 (1929) 327 PASP 40 (1928) 413 (one paragraph)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pierre Puiseux

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pierre Puiseux claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pierre Puiseux before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pierre Puiseux ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pierre Puiseux

In research: Pierre Puiseux appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pierre Puiseux in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pierre Puiseux is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1855 births, 1928 deaths, 19th-century French astronomers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pierre Puiseux outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Pierre Puiseux” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Pierre Puiseux in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pierre Puiseux means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pierre Puiseux out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pierre Puiseux in simple terms?

Why does Pierre Puiseux matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pierre Puiseux?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pierre Puiseux.