WCP1926

Letter (WCP1926.1816)

[1]

Down

Beckenham

Kent

Oct 23/ [18]69

My dear Mr. Wallace,

I am afraid that I can give you very little information about Professor Challis’1 book.2 I believe it consists of a long series of papers which have been read during the course of a good many years before [2] the Cambridge Phil[osophical]. Soc[iety].3 I fancy from hearsay that parts of the mathematics are very good, but that as a physicist he is not much considered. I remember that a friend4 of mine (a senior wrangler)5 said that the book was extremely laborious reading, so that it was too much trouble to get [3] what was good out of the rest to make it worth reading; but I do not think that he had done more than glance at it. As to myself, I have not seen the book. It is very probable that this view of its merits may not do the book justice, as I never heard any conversation on the subject except the [4] one I mention. If I hear anything more I will let you know.

I am very sorry not to have anything more than this to tell you.—

Believe me to be | Yours very sincerely | George H. Darwin [signature]

1
Challis, James (1803-1882). British astronomer and physicist. Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy 1836-83; Director of the Cambridge Observatory 1836-61.
2
Challis, J. 1869. Notes on the Principles of Pure and Applied Calculation; and Applications of Mathematical Principles to Theories of the Physical Forces. Cambridge: Deighton, Bell, & Co. London: Bell and Daldy.
3
The Cambridge Philosophical Society is a scientific society found in 1819 by John Stevens Henslow and Adam Sedgwick. The society published several scientific journals including Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, Biological Reviews and Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society (discontinued in 1928). (Gibson. S. 2019. The Spirit of Inquiry: How One Extraordinary Society Shaped Modern Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press).
4
Moulton, John Fletcher (Baron Moulton) (1844-1921). British mathematician, judge and politician.
5
The Senior Wrangler refers to the top mathematics undergraduate at Cambridge University, Britain. George Darwin likely refers to John Fletcher Moulton a fellow pupil and Senior Wranger of 1868. See Darwin, F. 1916. Memoir of Sir George Darwin. In Stratton, F. J. M & J. Jackson (Eds.) The Scientific Papers by Sir George Howard Darwin. Vol. 5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ix-xxxiii. [pp.xxii-xiii].

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP1926.1816)]

For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon

Revision history

Transcribed by Catchpole, Caroline [2012-10-25] Transcription checked by Beros, Matt [2019-12-20]

Please cite as “WCP1926,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP1926