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William Leitch (scientist)
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<p>William Leitch (20 May 1814 – 9 May 1864) was a Scottish astronomer, naturalist and mathematician, and a <a href="/facts/Minister_of_the_Church_of_Scotland/XYlv47DR">minister of the Church of Scotland</a>. Leitch studied mathematics and science at the <a href="/facts/University_of_Glasgow/D0XAYMtq">University of Glasgow</a>, and moved to Canada in 1860 to take the post of <a href="/facts/Principal_(academia)/w62Kn5HW">principal</a> at <a href="/facts/Queen%2527s_University_at_Kingston/Jkd3dze2">Queen's University</a>. </p><p>Space historian <a href="/facts/Robert_Godwin/Ev57Szek">Robert Godwin</a> published in October 2015 his discovery that Leitch gave the first modern scientific explanation of the potential for <a href="/facts/Space_exploration/2eKXYVdq">space exploration</a> using <a href="/facts/Rockets/b6j4keIl">rockets</a> (1861). Leitch was said to be "a distinguished astronomer, naturalist and mathematician", and his proposal for rocket spaceflight came four decades prior to more well-known proposals by <a href="/facts/Konstantin_Tsiolkovsky/s2n3Nb6A">Konstantin Tsiolkovsky</a> (1903), <a href="/facts/Robert_Esnault-Pelterie/JtmMR583">Robert Esnault-Pelterie</a> (1913), <a href="/facts/Robert_H._Goddard/tYmyRRta">Robert H. Goddard</a> (1914), and <a href="/facts/Hermann_Oberth/RAhkGvKn">Hermann Oberth</a> (1923). Leitch's rocket spaceflight description was first provided in his 1861 essay "A Journey Through Space", which was later published in his book <i>God's Glory in the Heavens</i> (1862). This description correctly attributed rocket thrust to the "internal reaction" (<a href="/facts/Newton%2527s_laws_of_motion/XKzGTXK1">Newton's laws of motion</a>) and correctly identified that rocket thrust is most effective in the <a href="/facts/Vacuum/BTk3goyV">vacuum</a> of space. In the third edition of his biography of Leitch, Godwin explained Leitch's connections to the Boston community, and specifically how both Leitch and <a href="/facts/Robert_Hutchings_Goddard/tYmyRRta">Robert Hutchings Goddard</a> both knew and corresponded with patent attorney <a href="/facts/Orson_Desaix_Munn/cP4HU2qG">Orson Desaix Munn</a>. </p>