Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Frisby, Edgar

FRISBY, Edgar, astronomer, b. in Great Easton, Leicestershire, England, 22 May, 1837. He was graduated at the University of Toronto in 1863, and until 1867 was engaged in teaching in Canada. Subsequently he was acting professor of mathematics in the Northwestern university, and later assistant astronomer at the U. S. naval observatory in Washington. In 1878 he became full professor of mathematics in the U. S. navy, with the relative rank of lieutenant. He was sent to California by the U. S. government to observe the total solar eclipse on 11 Jan., 1880. Prof. Frisby is a member of scientific societies, to whose proceedings he contributes occasional papers. His principal work is the computation of the orbit of the great comet of 1882, with observations extending over a period of six or seven months.