Sherburne Burnham was a naturally-gifted American observational astronomer who specialized in double star work. He started as an amateur astronomer, then joined the staff of Yerkes Observatory (1897–1914), although he never gave up his other job as a court reporter in Chicago. He discovered 1,290 double stars and, in 1906, published his General Catalogue of Double Stars, which listed all 13,665 known double stars in the northern hemisphere.