Leading Scottish astronomer whose interest in psychic research earned him the nickname of 'Glasgow's ghostbuster'
Archie Roy, who has died aged 88 of pneumonia, was one of Scotland's most distinguished astronomers, and a world expert on celestial mechanics and the movements of heavenly bodies. He was also a gifted writer, publishing 30 books that included six novels, and more than 70 scientific papers. An abiding interest in psychic research led to his achieving fame in his later years as "Glasgow's ghostbuster".
His understanding of orbital motion was such that Nasa asked him to help them calculate trajectories for their space probes as the US space agency mounted its programme of lunar missions that culminated in the 1969 Moon landing of Apollo 11, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on board. Roy's friend and colleague at Glasgow University, John Brown, now the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, recalls the sound of Roy clicking away at his mechanical calculating machine, a state of the art device for computing in the 1960s, as he worked out orbits for Nasa in his cramped office. "We got to the moon with only primitive computing support thanks to people like Archie," says Brown.
Roy was the son of a draughtsman at a Clyde shipyard. Educated at Hillhead high school and Glasgow University, gaining a BSc (1950) and a PhD (1954), he became a teacher at Shawlands Academy before joining the university's astronomy department in 1958. He was made a senior lecturer in 1973 and a professor in 1977.
One of Roy's earliest responsibilities was to teach spherical trigonometry to the astronomy department's intake of first-year students. This was no mean task. Roy excelled, however. Ambidextrous, he would stand facing a blackboard, flourish a piece of chalk in each hand and announce: "Let us take two intersecting circles." Two perfect overlapping circles were then drawn and the lecture began. Those of us lucky enough to witness these skills would return in later years to applaud his bravura performances.
Roy was an old-fashioned polymath who took an interest in a wide variety of subjects. His research covered neural networks, archaeology, psychic phenomena and many other subjects. He also played the organ, painted and was an adequate amateur magician. His laconic ability as a raconteur and love of poetry also made him a sought-after speaker at Burns suppers.
"He was incredibly dynamic," says Professor Martin Hendry, head of physics and astronomy at Glasgow University. "He was full of bonhomie and inspired a great many scientists, myself included."
However, it was Roy's interest in psychic research that absorbed the last 10 years of his life. The topic may have raised eyebrows in academic circles, but it brought him renown in the Scottish media as Roy set about testing the claims of local clairvoyants. "He was extremely rigorous in his approach," says fellow astronomer Professor Bonnie Steves, of Glasgow Caledonian University and a former PhD student of Roy's. "The subject of psychic phenomena posed puzzles – how could a particular medium know so much about a stranger, for example – that Archie felt a scientist should try to solve. And his accounts of his dealings with haunted houses and mediums were hugely popular with his scientific colleagues."
For his part, Roy would never definitively state that he believed that there was life after death. On the other hand, he did claim that "if I die and I find out I have not survived, I will be very surprised".
Roy's other great talent – as a gifted proofreader – also made him popular with colleagues, as Brown recalls. "He missed nothing. So anytime I asked him to check draft manuscripts I knew he would be very prompt and accurate. 'That is fine,' he would tell me. 'I wouldn't change a single word – and the single word I wouldn't change is that one,' he would add, pointing arbitrarily to the middle of one of the pages of my manuscript."
Roy is survived by his wife, Frances, and their sons, Archie, Ian and David.
• Archibald Edmiston Roy, astronomer and writer, born 24 June 1924; died 27 December 2012