Boss was born in
Albany, New York to astronomer
Lewis Boss and Helen M. (Hutchinson) Boss. After attending
The Albany Academy, he graduated from
Harvard University in 1901 and worked at
Dudley Observatory until 1905. Following a year at the
U. S. Naval Observatory in
Washington, D.C., he became director of the U.S. Naval Observatory at
Samoa and helped organized the expedition to
Flint Island to observe the 1908
solar eclipse. He served as director from 1906 to 1908. He joined the Department of Meridian Astrometry of the
Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1908, working as a secretary until 1912 when he became acting director. In 1915, he became director of the department. He also served as director of Dudley Observatory from 1912 to 1956. His primary work was in
positional astronomy, particularly in the positions and motions of the stars. His father served as editor of the
Astronomical Journal from 1909 until his death 1912, whereupon Benjamin undertook the duty until 1941. In 1936 his
General Catalogue of 33,342 Stars was published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington, DC. This publication replaced the
Preliminary General Catalogue of 6,188 stars of Lewis Boss, and it became known as the
Boss General Catalogue. (Star designations that began with GC are from this catalogue.) Boss died on October 17, 1970, in Albany, New York. ==References==