Search: Herschel, John in correspondent 
Hamilton, William Rowan in correspondent 
No in transcription-available 
1840-1849 in date 
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From:
Sir John Herschel
To:
William Rowan Hamilton
Date:
[12 January 1840]
Source of text:
TCD 1493:184
Summary:

Notice on the 'final laying up' of the Old Telescope, with a 'Requiem of the Forty-Foot Reflector,' sung by JH's family on New Year's Eve.

Contributor:
John Herschel Project
From:
William Rowan Hamilton
To:
Sir John Herschel
Date:
[18 January 1840]
Source of text:
unknown
Summary:

Confides that the past year has been 'a sombre one ... but not unhappy.'

Contributor:
John Herschel Project
From:
Sir John Herschel
To:
William Rowan Hamilton
Date:
[5 March 1841]
Source of text:
TCD 1493:192
Summary:

Requests autographed copy of WH's sister's poems, wanting to send them to an acquaintance who translated some of JH's work. Expresses a theory about cause and effect. Mentions minutes of Royal Irish Academy, a reform of the constellations, and WH's three axes of the universe.

Contributor:
John Herschel Project
From:
William Rowan Hamilton
To:
Sir John Herschel
Date:
[19 March 1841]
Source of text:
unknown
Summary:

Considering motion as a 'successive excitement of powers.'

Contributor:
John Herschel Project
From:
Sir John Herschel
To:
William Rowan Hamilton
Date:
[24 March 1841]
Source of text:
TCD 1493:194
Summary:

On mode of conveyance of WH's sister's verses and the autographs for JH's acquaintance.

Contributor:
John Herschel Project
From:
William Rowan Hamilton
To:
Sir John Herschel
Date:
[30 December 1842]
Source of text:
unknown
Summary:

Thanks JH for JH's translation of Friederich Schiller's poem 'The Walk.'

Contributor:
John Herschel Project
From:
Sir John Herschel
To:
William Rowan Hamilton
Date:
[1 December 1843]
Source of text:
TCD 1493:227
Summary:

Has been delayed in congratulating WH on pension by a delightful visit from Maria Edgeworth. Praises highly verses sent by WH's sister to Lady Herschel.

Contributor:
John Herschel Project
From:
Sir John Herschel
To:
William Rowan Hamilton
Date:
2] December? [1843
Source of text:
TCD 1493:1391
Summary:

Highly recommends a [William H.] Harvey (formerly Government Treasurer at the Cape) for the professorship of botany at Dublin.

Contributor:
John Herschel Project
From:
William Rowan Hamilton
To:
Sir John Herschel
Date:
[12 December 1843]
Source of text:
unknown
Summary:

Jokes about WH's recent 'astronomical insignificance.'

Contributor:
John Herschel Project
From:
William Rowan Hamilton
To:
Sir John Herschel
Date:
[27 May 1846]
Source of text:
TxU:H/M-0934; Reel 1083
Summary:

Sends copies of three letters by G. B. Airy on proposed railway through Greenwich Park. Asks JH's opinion on possible effects on observatory.

Contributor:
John Herschel Project
From:
Sir John Herschel
To:
William Rowan Hamilton
Date:
1846-9-[22 or later]
Source of text:
TCD 1493:1390
Summary:

Returns two papers, which had been missent, thus preventing JH from communicating them at a meeting.

Contributor:
John Herschel Project
From:
Sir John Herschel
To:
William Rowan Hamilton
Date:
19] November [1846?
Source of text:
TCD 1493:374
Summary:

WH's theorems on ellipsoids are new to JH, but JH is unfamiliar with the field, so they may not actually be new. Wishes to master mathematics. Still working on Cape observations. Believes Neptune was almost an English discovery, and would have been well-named Minerva.

Contributor:
John Herschel Project
From:
William Rowan Hamilton
To:
Sir John Herschel
Date:
[23 November 1846]
Source of text:
unknown
Summary:

Elated that WH's account of the generation of an ellipsoid is an original result.

Contributor:
John Herschel Project
From:
William Rowan Hamilton
To:
Sir John Herschel
Date:
[1 April 1847]
Source of text:
unknown
Summary:

Sends some results concerning undisturbed parabolic motion. Laments the Irish famine.

Contributor:
John Herschel Project
From:
Sir John Herschel
To:
William Rowan Hamilton
Date:
[20 April 1847]
Source of text:
TCD 1493:387
Summary:

On WH's 'Hodograph' and theorems of parabolic motion and the relation between velocities, initial velocities, and time. Praises WH's son. Cape Results nearly finished. Revising book on astronomy. Plans to 'attack' quaternions. Mentions parabolic functions and Benjamin Peirce's claim that the discovery of Neptune was accidental.

Contributor:
John Herschel Project
From:
William Rowan Hamilton
To:
Sir John Herschel
Date:
[26 April 1847]
Source of text:
unknown
Summary:

Sends some new theorems concerning undisturbed parabolic motion; believes that much remains to be discovered in this field.

Contributor:
John Herschel Project
From:
Sir John Herschel
To:
William Rowan Hamilton
Date:
[24 August 1847]
Source of text:
TCD 1493:406
Summary:

Seeks London bookselling agent through whom to direct copies of JH's Cape Results for Dublin scientific groups. Discusses pretty names for new planets. Thanks for WH's memoir on quaternions.

Contributor:
John Herschel Project
From:
William Rowan Hamilton
To:
Sir John Herschel
Date:
[1 September 1847]
Source of text:
unknown
Summary:

Wants WH's quaternion mathematics to be challenged; also worries that quaternions will become merely 'a private and personal skill' instead of a method that can be taught.

Contributor:
John Herschel Project
From:
William Rowan Hamilton
To:
Sir John Herschel
Date:
[2 October 1847]
Source of text:
unknown
Summary:

The equatorial on the Dublin Observatory dome needs improvement. In the last fifty-two months, WH has seen three new planets: Neptune, Iris, and Flora.

Contributor:
John Herschel Project
From:
Sir John Herschel
To:
William Rowan Hamilton
Date:
[6 October 1847]
Source of text:
TCD 1493:411
Summary:

Thanks WH for 'plan' of [asteroid] Iris. Family is happy to have WH's son (JH's son William's friend) with them for holidays. Recounts their playful and adventurous activities.

Contributor:
John Herschel Project