William Moon
William Moon | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 18, 1818 |
| Died | October 9, 1894 (aged 75) |
| Resting place | Extra-Mural Cemetery, Brighton, East Sussex, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | Teacher, Philanthropist |
| Known for | inventing Moon Type |
| Spouse | Mary Ann Caudle |
| Children | Robert, Adelaide |
| Awards | FRGS (1852), FRSA (1857), Hon. LLD (Philadelphia, 1871) |
William Moon, Hon. LLD, FRSA, FRGS (December 18, 1818 – October 9, 1894) was an Englishman who created Moon Type, the first widely-used practical reading alphabet for the blind.
Moon was originally from Horsmonden, Kent. By 1839 he had become totally blind and had moved in with his widowed mother and sister in Brighton, East Sussex. He taught embossed reading codes developed by several people (Alston, Frere, Gall, and Lucas) to local boys who were blind, but found that the boys considered these systems difficult to learn. He first formulated ideas for using embossed letters in 1843 and they were published in 1845.
Moon achieved several distinctions during his lifetime: he was elected to fellowships of the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society of Arts in 1852 and 1857 respectively; he was also awarded an honorary LLD degree by the University of Philadelphia in 1871.[1]
Footnotes
- ^ Day & McNeil 1995, p.499.
Bibliography
- Day, Lance & McNeil, Ian (editors). 1995. Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology. Routledge.
See also
External links
- Biography of William Moon
- A Brief Account of Dr William Moon
- Another site on Dr Moon and his system
- Dr William Moon (RNIB)
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