By order of lords of Admiralty, notice is sent of royal appointment of JH and others to Board of Visitors to Greenwich Observatory. [Letter forwarded 29 Nov. from R.S.L. to JH by Davies Gilbert with compliments.]
Showing 41–60 of 183 items
The Sir John Herschel Collection
The preparation of the print Calendar of the Correspondence of Sir John Herschel (Michael J. Crowe ed., David R. Dyck and James J. Kevin assoc. eds, Cambridge, England: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1998, viii + 828 pp) which was funded by the National Science Foundation, took ten years. It was accomplished by a team of seventeen professors, visiting scholars, graduate students, advanced undergraduates, and staff working at the University of Notre Dame.
The first online version of Calendar was created in 2009 by Dr Marvin Bolt and Steven Lucy, working at the Webster Institute of the Adler Planetarium, and it is that data that has now been reformatted for incorporation into Ɛpsilon.
Further information about Herschel, his correspondence, and the editorial method is available online here: http://historydb.adlerplanetarium.org/herschel/?p=intro
No texts of Herschel’s letters are currently available through Ɛpsilon.
By order of lords of Admiralty, notice is sent of royal appointment of JH and others to Board of Visitors to Greenwich Observatory. [Letter forwarded 29 Nov. from R.S.L. to JH by Davies Gilbert with compliments.]
Royal warrant appointing Board of Visitors to Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
Thanks WS for excerpt from Niccolo Cacciatore's letter; comments on the awarding of medals for merit, and points out some necessary conditions which must be considered if the observations of the satellites of Jupiter are to be used in determining the constant of aberration.
Advises WS on best ways to make a 'darkening glass' for solar observations. Also suggests method for delineating sunspots. Hopes WS will attend Nautical Almanac meeting and support his points. Completes two telescope mirrors and observes Uranian satellites. Asks WS to look for a double star between Beta1 and Beta2 Capricorni.
Discusses WS's observations of double stars and method of averaging positional determinations. Believes he has verified the two Uranian satellites observed by William Herschel.
Thanks TH for some crystals, including borax, as well as a paper by J. J. Lister. JH has been cutting the borax crystals preparatory to grinding and polishing them; JH has used these crystals to observe a phenomenon previously seen with a mass of niter.
Discusses [James] Bradley's observations of double stars. Asks JH for assistance.
Thanks JH for letter [see SR's 1830-9-6]. Discusses publication of [James] Bradley's observations. Congratulates JH on confirming satellites of Uranus seen by William Herschel.
Discusses [James] Bradley's observations and possibility of double stars [see SR's 1830-9-6]. Seems no double stars are readily apparent. Discusses another experiment.
Discusses eighteenth-century observations from Greenwich. Describes curious observations of stars in Gamma Virginis and Polaris.
Sent some Edinburgh ale to the Herschels. Will not patent telescope. Discusses Giovanni Santini's article on telescopes in the Quarterly Journal.
Pleased that JH enjoyed the ale. Asks whether comets could be portions of the luminous atmosphere surrounding the sun.
Admires her manuscript [Mechanism of the Heavens]. Wishes [P. S.] Laplace would have lived to see it. Notes a problem with the principle of virtual velocity.
Thanks JH for attention to Mrs. Somerville's work [Mechanism of the Heavens]. Please send any part of the work that he has finished.
Mrs. Somerville cannot decide what to call her book [Mechanism of the Heavens]. Please advise so publishing can commence.
Glad WS is coming to England but cautions that London empties in June. Congratulates WS on measurement of a 'great Northern arc.' Complains about the division of the Royal Society into 'parties'. Adds [James] South's results showing a sixth star, nearer than WS's fifth, in trapezium of Orion.
Tells AQ of 'negligent inattention' regarding Belgium's instruments. Has extracted promise from [William?] Simms that the equatorial should be finished by Christmas and mural circle within the following year. Mentions seeing Colonel Blake and [G. P.] Dandelin. Regrets [P. F.] Verhulst's illness. Discusses lichen.
Hopes to meet JH and [James] South in summer. Announces emperor's decision to support measurement of the 3.5° latitude meridian throughout the entire Russian empire. WS is responsible for directing work in the north. Emphasizes the importance of maintaining correct linear standards uniform with both France and England. Requests a copy of the English standard so as to compare it with the Russian measurements of degrees.
Requests advice in determining optimal time for visit to England. Thanks for invitation to Slough. Mentions completion of his sixth volume of observations, the introduction of which could prove interesting to JH. Fascinated by JH's observation of a sixth star in the trapezoid of Orion.
Will arrive in England in mid-August. Mentions convention of German scientists on 18 September and invites JH.