Reginald Lawson Waterfield

{{Short description|British hematologist and astronomer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}

{{Use British English|date=July 2016}}

Reginald Lawson Waterfield (12 April 1900 – 10 June 1986 in Woolston) was a British hematologist known for his work in amateur astronomy, specialising in astrometry and the photography of comets. He was elected to the British Astronomical Association on 25 November 1914 and to the Royal Astronomical Society on 10 November 1916.{{Cite journal|title=1916MNRAS..77....1. Page 1|journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|year=1916 |volume=77 |page=1 |doi=10.1093/mnras/77.1.1 |bibcode=1916MNRAS..77....1. |doi-access=free }}{{Cite journal|title=1914JBAA...25..111. Page 111|url=http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1914JBAA...25..111.|access-date=2021-06-08|journal=Journal of the British Astronomical Association|year=1914 |volume=25 |page=111 |bibcode=1914JBAA...25..111. }} Both elections being at the proposal of W H Steavenson.{{Cite journal|title=1914JBAA...25...58. Page 58|url=http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1914JBAA...25...58.|access-date=2021-06-08|journal=Journal of the British Astronomical Association|year=1914 |volume=25 |page=58 |bibcode=1914JBAA...25...58. }}{{Cite journal|title=1916MNRAS..76..551. Page 551|journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|year=1916 |volume=76 |page=551 |doi=10.1093/mnras/76.7.551 |bibcode=1916MNRAS..76..551. |doi-access=free }} Waterfield served as Director of the British Astronomical Association Mars Section from 1931 to 1942 and its president from 1954 to 1956. For his work in astronomy he won the 1942 Jackson-Gwilt Medal.{{Cite journal|title=1942MNRAS.102...41. Page 41|journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|year=1942 |volume=102 |page=41 |doi=10.1093/mnras/102.2.41 |bibcode=1942MNRAS.102...41. |doi-access=free }} After World War II he had to use a wheelchair due to polio.[http://www.britastro.org/mars/directors.htm British Astronomical Association page] The minor planet 1645 Waterfield is named jointly for him and his cousin William Francis Herschel Waterfield (1886-1933), who was also a member of the British Astronomical Association and Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.{{Cite journal|title=1908JBAA...19...65. Page 65|url=http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1908JBAA...19...65.|access-date=2021-06-08|journal=Journal of the British Astronomical Association|year=1908 |volume=19 |page=65 |bibcode=1908JBAA...19...65. }}[https://books.google.com/books?id=aeAg1X7afOoC&pg=PA126 Dictionary of Minor Planet Names by Lutz D. Schmadel, pg 127]

He was the son of Reginald Waterfield, a prominent teacher and clergyman.