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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.
Cites various celestial appearances as a basis for concluding that the Milky Way takes the form, not of a disk or ring, but of a series of convolutions. Urges that the nebulae form part of the Milky Way rather than being separate universes, as many had suggested. Asks JH to critique these ideas.
Elaborates on his hypothesis that all forms of nebulae are part of the Milky Way and on his 'twisted-stream theory' of the Milky Way's structure. Favors view that dark matter is relatively common in space and that it extinguishes light from distant objects. Proposes method of measuring stellar diameters.
Accepts JH's objection to his method of measuring stellar diameters. Quotes an argument he had published suggesting the existence of a hierarchy of systems in an infinite universe. Discusses his studies of the relation of proper motions to the sun's motion. Asks JH's permission to publish JH's idea that some nebulae may be 'miniature' of the Milky Way.
Asks JH's views on a system of constructing and annotating a set of celestial maps RP was preparing. Requests JH's public endorsement of those maps.
Thanks JH for suggestions concerning a star atlas RP was preparing. Informs JH of his progress in making that atlas.
Discusses his progress preparing star maps. Stresses that such maps can suggest theories of the arrangement of stars and nebulae. Mentions various papers and maps RP was then publishing