In 1849, Rutherfurd abandoned his study of law to dedicate his leisure to
science, particularly
astronomy. He performed pioneering work in
spectral analysis, and experimented with celestial
photography. He invented instruments for his studies, including the
micrometer for measuring photographs, a machine for producing improved ruled
diffraction gratings, and the first telescope designed specifically for
astrophotography.[4]
Using his instrumentation, Rutherfurd produced a quality collection of photographs of the Sun, Moon, and planets, as well as star clusters and stars down to the fifth magnitude. In 1862, he began making spectroscopic studies using his new diffraction grating. He noticed distinct categories of
spectral classes of stars, which
Angelo Secchi expanded upon in 1867 to list a set of four stellar classes.[6]
Rutherfurd served as a trustee of the
Columbia University from 1858 until 1884, and donated his photographs to that institution.[4]
In 1873, then President
Ulysses S. Grant appointed Rutherfurd one of the scientific commission to attend the
Vienna Exposition, however, he declined the honor due to previous business engagements in the United States. In 1884, he was named by President
Chester A. Arthur as one of the delegates to the
International Meridian Conference which met in Washington in October, 1885.[2]
Rutherfurd Stuyvesant (1843–1909),[11][12] who was married to Mary Rutherfurd Pierrepont (1842–1879).[13][14][15] a granddaughter of
Peter Augustus Jay.[3] After her death, he married Countess Mathilde Elizabeth Loewenguth de Wassanaer (1877–1948)[16] the widow of a Dutch Count.[17]
He was made a
Doctor of Law at the centennial celebration of Columbia in 1887.[2]
References
Notes
^
abc"Lewis Morris Rutherfurd"(PDF). New York Times. June 1, 1892. Retrieved January 9, 2014. Lewis Morris Kutherfurd died on Decoration Day at his home, Tranquility, N.J., in the seventy-sixth [sic] year of his age.
^
abcdefgRees, John K. (August 25, 1892).
"Lewis Morris Rutherfurd". todayinsci.com. Columbia College Observatory. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
^Greene, Richard Henry; Stiles, Henry Reed; Dwight, Melatiah Everett; Morrison, George Austin; Mott, Hopper Striker; Totten, John Reynolds; Pitman, Harold Minot; Ditmas, Charles Andrew; Forest, Louis Effingham De; Maynard, Arthur S.; Mann, Conklin (1880).
The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. p. 160. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
^Stuyvesant Rutherfurd later changed his name to Rutherfurd Stuyvesant in conformity with the will of his mother's great-uncle, Peter Gerard Stuyvesant in order to inherit the Stuyvesant fortune.