Bernard René Guinot

Bernard René Guinot (1925–2017) was a French astronomer. He is known for his contributions to the establishment of temps atomique international (TAI) and the geodetic reference system used in satellite navigation.

Biography From 1945 to 1952, Guinot served as an officer in the Messageries Maritimes. The applications were especially concerned with precise determinations of polar motions and variations in the Earth's rotation. In 1958 with a dissertation on applications of the Danjon astrolabe, Guinot obtained his doctorate from the University of Paris. He continued his employment as an astronomer at the Paris Observatory until 1990. From 1984 to 1992 he was a physicien principal (senior physicist), and then a consultant, at the Bureau international des poids et mesures (BIPM). He served as president for several organizations: the Conseil scientifique du service international du mouvement du pôle from 1962 to 1970, the Fédération des services d’astronomie et de géophysique from 1970 to 1972, and the Bureau des longitudes from 1984 to 1986. From 1975 to 1979 he was the director of the Laboratoire primaire du temp et des frequencies (LPTF). He made important contributions to research on the measurement of time, to international cooperation in establishing standards for the measurement of time, and to organization networks for measurements in variation of Earth's rotation. He was one of the leading organizers of world-wide time metrology, networks for time comparison (particularly by satellite), and time dissemination for various users. He and his colleagues worked on a number of space experiments, such as determining the position of the Earth's pole using Doppler tracking of artificial satellites. He collaborated in research on determining the radial velocities of Mercury, studying movements in the atmosphere of Venus by spectroscopic methods, and measuring the time of a round trip from the Earth to the Moon and back of a reflected light pulse.

In July 1958 Bernard Guinot married Claudine Caillet. They had three sons. and the Tompion Gold Medal from the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers. In 1999 he received the Rabi Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He was appointed Chevalier de l’Ordre national du mérite and Officier des Palmes académiques. (French edition 1998; Russian edition 2002)