Announces 2 June meeting of 'Commissioners for more effectually discovering the Longitude at Sea.' Inquired about 'excise,' but sees no reason to wait for Navy Board to act.
Board of Longitude will meet on 3 Jan. to examine instruments and proposals, and to consider Fearon Fallows's report from Cape of Good Hope.
Board of Longitude reluctant to pay for new building at James South's unless South and JH agree to place their observations at Board's disposal.
Next meeting of Board of Longitude.
Fears JH misunderstood TY's remark about the injustice of James South's accusation regarding Nautical Almanac. TY was not trying to provoke South's hostility. Sends 'Schumacher's No. 10' for JH's perusal.
Asks JH to check accuracy of Nautical Almanac entry for Jupiter's satellites III and IV on 20 Aug. 1819. Thanks for JH's note, but tell James South 'he is bound to give his reasons....'
Has no errands for JH in Holland or Flanders. Asks for details on JH's and Charles Babbage's method of determining heights by barometrical observations. Hopes to use this to confirm TY's method by 'my formula deduced from refraction.'
Board of Longitude will meet at TY's home on Saturday.
Repeat computation for Jupiter's satellite IV [see TY's 1824-4]. Explains W. H. Wollaston's 'blue bow.' See figure 422 of TY's [Lectures on Natural Philosophy].
As R.S.L. vice president, JH should reconsider his report favoring Eilhard Mitscherlich over W. H. Wollaston. This may be last opportunity to pay Wollaston a 'just compliment.' Agrees with JH that much in R.S.L. 'nicknamed science [is] sleight of hand,' and that 'great injustice is done to men of science.' But TY expects a short life and tries not to be concerned about approval of others.
TY would rather have JH's labor made useful another year. W. H. Wollaston does not want [Royal] medal, but medal wants Wollaston. One council member felt that TY's remarks offended JH. Assures JH it was not intended.
Math is flimsy in John Dalton's theory of vapor dispersion, but physical grounds are firm. Sends copy of TY's volume on sound. Modules of elasticity and tension are analogies to explain TY's doctrine. Presently studying modules of elasticity that do not apply to chimney pipes investigated by Daniel Bernoulli and J. H. Lambert.
Ask Charles Babbage to send tables of logarithms to TY, who will compare them to [Brook] Taylor's. Bets that five errors will be found. Did JH order mountain barometer from [J. F.] Newman? Will inquire about [W. E.] Parry's instruments. Admiralty, not us, should order sextants.
Questions JH's conclusion that Board of Longitude has power to interfere in Admiralty operations. Disagrees that Nautical Almanac errors are serious. Compares them to tables of Charles Hutton, F. X. von Zach, and H. C. Schumacher. When will TY receive Charles Babbage's table?
[Board of Longitude] must answer to Parliament, not to public opinion. Do not contest the system. Order pocket sextants; they and barometer will be sent to Captain [Richard] Copeland. Knows how JH feels about expenses sent to Edward Sabine, but please write receipt and send it to TY within week. Will write directly to Charles Babbage for tables.
Suggests change in JH's table of refractions. Possible error in John Pond's reductions [illustration].
'Our volume is nearly ready.' Problem dating vernal equinoxes before Christ's birth.
T. M. Brisbane is in town. Can JH meet him? JH's computations of definite integrals are simpler, more direct than P. S. Laplace's and more conclusive than Leonhard Euler's. Comments on W. H. F. Talbot's letters demonstrating Josef Fraunhofer's theorem.
Board of Longitude will accomplish nothing by meeting before T. M. Brisbane comes to town, but TY suggests informal discussion, either at TY's or Henry Kater's.
Henry Kater not well [enough to travel] and requests committee meet at Kater's house. TY urges JH to verify W. H. Wollaston's measurement of refraction before republishing JH's essay. Diagrams Christiaan Huygens's principle of refraction. TY is making forms of aplanatic lenses.