B.A.A.S. and Royal Society of Edinburgh have been approached to apply to the government for finance to send an observer and reflector to the Cape Observatory. Does JH think this advisable, with his knowledge of conditions at the Cape?
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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.
B.A.A.S. and Royal Society of Edinburgh have been approached to apply to the government for finance to send an observer and reflector to the Cape Observatory. Does JH think this advisable, with his knowledge of conditions at the Cape?
Thanks for JH's article on meteorology from the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Has been investigating climatology lately. His own health has not been good. Sends some of his own reprints that may be of interest.
Article on glaciers is from the Encyclopaedia Britannica and was restricted because of space. Mistakes by John Tyndall and others have arisen because his own Letters on Glaciers has been overlooked. William Whewell is to be married.
Has he read John Tyndall's paper on the plasticity of ice and the theory of glaciers? Indebted to Michael Faraday for some excellent observations and the term 'Regulation.'
Has requested his publishers to send JH his recent volume on glaciers. Thanks for JH's Physical Geography.
Is a candidate for the position of Principal at St. Andrews United College in succession to David Brewster, who has moved to Edinburgh. Would be pleased to receive a testimonial from JH. Has already received one from Brewster.
Received JF's paper on 'thermographic process.' Believes that thermic rays were responsible for experimental results of JF, J. W. Draper, and Ludwig Moser. JH's theory of and experiments with thermic rays, which are different from 'calorific' and visible rays, in solar spectrum.
R.S.L. will deviate from its intellectual purpose whenever it meddles in practical observations. Proper role for R.S.L. is to suggest goals and methods and to reward discoveries. Recommends discontinuing meteorological observations at Somerset House; other stations now provide better data. If R.S.L. insists on establishing a meteorological register, JH suggests one like that of J. F. Daniell.
Letter of introduction for the Drs. Hermann and Robert Schlagentweit, whose scientific interests parallel JF's.
Offers JF advice about the telescope mirror [?] and looks forward to seeing JF on his way to France.
Is drawing up a new actinometer and comments on JF's ideas about it. Encloses a letter to JF's brother.
Describes travels through a volcanic district in France, highlighting beautiful scenery, various rock and lava formations, analyzing their causes, and comparing JH's observations with JF's.
Thanks JF for his dissertation on the Progress of Mathematical and Physical Science. Discusses health of JF and JH. Suggests that some actinometric measurements are not as seriously flawed as at first thought [see JH's 1847-3-1].
Compares actinometric measurements of radiation. Explains interest in total eclipse relative to actinometry. Discusses the possibility of making actinometric measurements by photographic means.
Asks if JF's article on glaciers is for Encyclopaedia Britannica. Requests that JF change a computational error in his copy of JH's article on meteorology.
Proposes meeting times in town. Suggests that JF observe the upcoming total eclipse astronomically. Agrees with JF's seemingly 'cold &c' circular on scientific partnerships, while regretting that it needed to be written.
Wishes JF success and rest in his new position [at St. Andrews].
Asks JF to deliver papers about professorships and a council position at a new university at Sydney to interested, qualified parties.
Explains efforts at using a makeshift apparatus for 'fixing the spectrum.' Discusses current confusion and ultimate hope surrounding JF's meteorological recommendations. In a postscript, notes observations of meteors in Persei.
Instructions for preparing liquid for the actinometer. Describes 'very strange' experiments on the spectrum as well as an 'unusual' cloud formation.