Harkness, William

Born Ecclefechan, (Dumfries and Galloway), Scotland, 17 December 1837

At the United States Naval Observatory [USNO], William Harkness reduced the USNO photographic observations of the 19th‐century transits of Venus, producing the only valid solar parallax based on that technique. He carried out research in positional astronomy, photography, spectroscopy, and instrumentation design.

Harkness was the son of Reverend Dr. James Harkness, physician and Presbyterian minister, and Jane (née Weild) Harkness. The family immigrated to the United States from Scotland in May 1839, settling in New York City, then in Fishkill, New York. Harkness attended the Chelsea Collegiate Institute in New York City and private schools in Fishkill Landing and Newburgh. He entered Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1854, but transferred to Rochester University in