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Kenneth Edgeworth Career Kenneth Edgeworth was a very intelligent and educated man. He had a keen interest in astronomy from a young age; this mainly stems from his uncle. Edgeworth’s uncle, William E. Wilson established an observatory in the house Edgeworth was born, Daramona House in Westmeath. Wilson set up the observatory with 12-inch and 24-inch reflectors. In 1894, when Kenneth Edgeworth was only 14 he was awarded a scholarship to Marlborough. Three years later Edgeworth went to the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. Here in 1898, he won the Pollock Medal for being the best cadet. (1) Edgeworth attended the Royal School of Military Engineering at Chatham. His military career was successful; he served in Egypt and South Africa. When he was 21, he was promoted to lieutenant on the 3rd of July 1901. He was posted at Chatham and then served in Somaliland and Dublin. (2) In 1902, Edgeworth’s uncle, William E. Wilson proposed his nephew for election to the Royal Astronomical Society. Edgeworth was elected the following year. At the meeting, one of his papers was read. (3) Kenneth Edgeworth served in World War One. Due to his engineering knowledge, Edgeworth was in charge of maintaining communications in France. He was granted the Military Cross and Distinguished Service Order. In 1926 he progressed to lieutenant colonel and retired at age 46. In 1931, Edgeworth returned home to Ireland and spent the remainder of his life here. Here he wrote several papers and books on both astrology and economics. The papers Edgeworth wrote about astrology were on star formation, the origin, and development of the Solar System, redshifts, and red dwarfs. (4) Kenneth Edgeworth’s most famous discovery was probably the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt. It is a circumstellar disc in the outer solar system, extending from the orbit of Neptune to approximately 50 AU from the sun. In 1943, Edgeworth proposed the idea that there are many icy objects beyond Neptune. Eight years later, in 1951 Gerard Kuiper developed the idea more. The work of both scientists gives the belt its name. The Edgeworth - Kuiper belt includes Pluto. The two scientists became topical in recent years when there was a debate on whether Pluto was a planet or not. (5,6) Edgeworth had suggested that the recently discovered planet was not a planet at all. The paper Edgeworth wrote in 1943, “The Evolution of Our Planetary System,” was the only one he wrote for the British Astronomical Association. In 1948, Edgeworth was elected to the Royal Irish Academy. In 1949 he wrote, "The Origin and Evolution of the Solar System," the continuation of his paper he wrote in 1943. (7)