Enoch Fitch Burr

Enoch Fitch Burr (October 21, 1818 – May 8, 1907) was an American theologian, astronomer, and author who lectured extensively on the relationship between science and religion. His books included sermons, essays, verse, and fiction.

Education and career

Born in Westport, Connecticut, to Zalmon and Mary (Hanford) Burr, he spent a year in the Yale Theological Seminary and two years in scientific study in New Haven. Owing to the failure of his health he was at home for the following three years, after which he devoted himself to study of the higher mathematics and physical astronomy under Professor Lyman in New Haven for three or four years.

He was licensed to preach in 1842, and October 3, 1850, was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church of Hamburg, in the town of Lyme He married Lyme native Harriet A. Lord on August 12, 1851. With his wife and brother, Rev. Zalmon B. Burr, who was also his classmate, he went abroad in 1855, and spent nearly a year in travel. Burr continued in his pastorship throughout his life, until infirmity forced him to attempt to resign his pastorate in April, 1907; the church voted not to accept his resignation, but to continue the relationship of pastor as long as he lived. A Treatise on the Application of the Calculus to the Theory of Neptune (1848) Ecce Coelum (1867) Pater Mundi (1869) Ad Fidem (1871) About Spiritualism and Facts in Aid of Faith (1872) Thy Voyage and Other Poems (1874) Tempted to Unbelief (1882) Ecce Terra (1884) Celestial Empires (1885) Universal Beliefs (1887) Long Ago (1888) Supreme Things in Their Practical Relations (1889) Aleph, the Chaldean; or, The Messiah as Seen from Alexandria, a novel (1891) The Stars of God, essays (1896)