Robert Blair (astronomer)
Prof Robert Blair FRSE was a Scottish astronomer.Life
He was born in Garvald, East Lothian, the son of Rev Archibald Blair, the local minister.
In 1773 he was apprenticed to Dr Francis Balfour, a naval surgeon, and served in the Royal Navy in the West Indies. On return to Scotland he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and qualified as a doctor in 1785.
Robert Blair was the first Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh. He invented the aplanatic lens and also coined this term. This was a significant step in reducing the aberration in optical systems. He also experimented with hollow lenses, holding different solutions.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1786.
He died in Westloch, Berwickshire on 22 December 1828.
