Balfour Stewart (1828–87)

Physicist and meteorologist. Assistant, Kew Observatory, 1856. Assistant lecturer, Edinburgh University, 1856–9. Director, Kew Observatory, 1859–71. Secretary to the government meteorological committee, 1867–9. Professor of natural philosophy, Owens College, Manchester, 1870–87. Worked on radiant heat and the phenomena of sunspots and terrestrial magnetism. With Peter Guthrie Tait, published Unseen universe, seeking to deduce the existence of immortal souls from scientific evidence. Co-founder, Society for Psychical Research. FRS 1862.