Issue 19 Autumn 2009 BULLETIN - WordPress.com...Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes by Revd T.W....

Books and theSkyTHIS dramatic painting shows

an Astronomer byCandlelight by the Dutchartist Gerrit Dou (1613-75)who was a pupil ofRembrandt. It dates fromthe late 1650s. Dou wasfamous for his mastery ofchiaroscuro and theeffects of artificial light.These techniques aredeployed here to greateffect. Late at night anastronomer studies a bookwhile using dividers tomeasure an angular sepa-ration on a celestial globe.

The happy connectionbetween books andastronomy was exploredin the meeting Books AndThe Sky which was heldat the Institute ofAstronomy, Cambridgeduring April this year. Itwas organised to celebratethe outstanding achieve-ments in astronomical his-tory and scholarship ofSHA member Dr DavidDewhirst. A reportappears inside. Some ofthe other items continuethe bibliographic theme,and we also carry all theusual material.

Astronomer by Candlelight is held by the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. The image reproduced hereis courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Issue 19Autumn 2009

BULLETIN

SHA Bulletin Issue 19 Autumn 2009

Contents SHA Bulletin, Issue 19, Autumn 2009Meeting Reports8 Books and the Sky Madeline Cox19 David Dewhirst: an Appreciation Allan Chapman20 The Invention of the Dutch Telescope Clive Davenhall29 Victorian Astronomy Day at the Black Country Museum John Armitage

Articles31 Travels of the Revd T.W. Webb Paul Haley37 From Trincomalee to Mars Nalaka Gunawardene 42 The Later History of William Lassell’s Large Telescopes Michael Lowne

Letters44 Magnification in Nasmyth’s Projected 60-inch Reflector Roger Griffin45 An Unidentified Astronomer? Mark Hurn46 Aurora Polaris Project Film Paul Haley47 Bunk and Bilge Roger Griffin

Book Reviews48 Dunn, Richard, The Telescope: A Short History Gilbert Satterthwaite49 Holmes, Richard, The Age of Wonder Mark Hurn49 Murdin, Paul, Full Meridian of Glory Jim Smith52 Books noticed Madeline Cox53 Also noticed Clive Davenhall

Regulars3 Editorial Clive Davenhall4 News Clive Davenhall55 The Survey of Astronomical History Roger Jones57 Observatory Scrapbook Clive Davenhall58 Library News Madeline Cox and Stuart Williams58 RAS Library News Peter Hingley59 SHA News Clive Davenhall59 Forthcoming Meetings and Events Clive Davenhall

EditorialClive Davenhall

Welcome to the second issue ofthe SHA Bulletin. In this issue weare pleased to carry a report ofthe meeting Books and the Skywhich was held at the Institute ofAstronomy, Cambridge duringthe spring. This meeting com-memorated the outstandingachievements of Dr DavidDewhirst in astronomical historyand scholarship. The SHA isprivileged to count Dr Dewhirstamongst its members.

Recently I have also been fortu-nate to attend two events wherecolleagues who, alas, are nolonger with us were commemo-rated. At the recent SHA AutumnConference held at the BMI inBirmingham on Saturday 31October Council made a presen-tation to Lorraine Goward,widow of our FoundingTreasurer, Kenneth Goward, tomark both the high esteem inwhich Ken was held and his enor-mous contribution to the Society,and her own support during themost difficult of times. TheSociety is greatly indebted tothem both. At the same meeting awall clock in commemoration ofKen was unveiled in theSociety’s Sir Robert Ball Library.This clock was a generous per-sonal gift from Stuart Williams.A full report of these events andan obituary for Ken shouldappear in the spring issue of theBulletin.

A few days later, and purely bychance, I was in London on otherbusiness at the right time toattend the RAS Friends eventheld on the evening of Tuesday 3

November. There were two itemson the agenda. The first was atalk by Mona Evans on CarolineHerschel, which was most inter-esting. The second was theposthumous launch of MaryBrück’s last book, Women inEarly British and IrishAstronomy: Stars and Satellites,which has been guided to publi-cation by the capable hands ofher son Andrew. The launch wasa most enjoyable event held inthe RAS Library. Most of Mary’schildren and stepchildren werepresent. Jacqueline and SimonMitton, editors of the series inwhich the book is published,spoke warmly of their memoriesof Mary, and numerous itemsfrom the RAS archives illustrat-ing material covered in the bookwere on display. It was a mostenjoyable evening.

In the afternoon prior to theFriends event I had been workingin the Library, examining materi-al in the Molesworth Archive,which is held by the RAS, inorder to select some illustrationsto accompany NalakaGunawardene’s article on PercyMolesworth (see p37). I am mostgrateful to Peter Hingley, theRAS Librarian, for his assistanceand for making material avail-able, both on this occasion and onnumerous others. In general theSHA benefits enormously fromthe good offices of both MrHingley and the RAS. In particu-lar, they allow us to reproduceillustrations free of charge, ask-ing only an acknowledgement,which in the Bulletin we always

try to include. However, appar-ently there have been somerecent cases of RAS illustrationsbeing reproduced withoutacknowledgement (though not inthe Bulletin, I hope), which is, atbest, most discourteous.

Finally, it is once again time torenew subscriptions. A form wascirculated previously and areminder is included with thisBulletin. We hope that you willre-subscribe. Planning for nextyear’s issues of the Bulletin isalready in progress. Early in theNew Year we hope to publish aspecial issue marking the fourhundredth anniversary of the firsttelescopic observations of theMoon and the fortieth anniver-sary of the first manned lunarlanding. Amongst the items inthis special issue will be an arti-cle on the lunar observations ofThomas Harriot kindly con-tributed by SHA HonoraryPresident Dr Allan Chapman.The first regular issue after thespecial will be published in thelate spring and will carry all thenormal material, including aroundup of the remaining meet-ing reports for 2009.



Webb-SHAREupdateThis Heritage Lotteryproject is now in its finalyear. Since the last report(Bulletin, no. 18, June2009, pp3-4) two ‘starparties’ (in Kingstoneand Hardwicke), fourfamily events (Ross-on-Wye,Hereford, Coalbrookedale andLongtown) and three exhibitions(Hereford, Cambridge andHardwicke) have been complet-ed. The Hardwicke events includ-ed an observing evening onThursday 20 August to mark thehundred and fiftieth anniversaryof the first publication ofCelestial Objects for CommonTelescopes by Revd T.W. Webbin 1859. The Hardwicke Churchfete included a special astronom-ical flower festival to mark theoccasion and events concludedwith an astronomy day at CliffordPrimary School.

Webb-Share talks by Janet andMark Robinson and Paul Haleyhave been presented inCambridge, Hereford, andHatfield (JENAM). The projectwas also described in a talk inOlsztyn (Poland) in May as part

of the ‘AuroraPolaris’ project,which is funded bythe European Union(Grundtvig). Detailsof this project willfeature in a futureBulletin article.

Two museum loanboxes for use with

Key Stage 2-3 children have beencompleted. Artefacts on thethemes of ‘Observation’ and‘Communication’ have beenassembled together with teachingsupport materials. The latter box

includes a description ofHereford’s Time Gun which wasfired daily at 1pm during 1872.This service was initiated byRevd Henry Cooper Key with alittle help from his brother, whowas then Rear-Admiral AstleyCooper Key.

Bob Marriott organised the loanof BAA instrument no. 83 to theproject in June. This telescope ispossibly Webb’s 91/3-inch

telescope and is in much need ofrestoration. Another major stepforward occurred in August whenPeter Hingley located the micro-film of Webb’s ObservingNotebooks. These have now beenprinted and a digital copy is beingprepared. Initial research has ledto new insights into the observa-tories visited by Webb (see pp31)with a further article on hisequipment and observing tech-niques to follow in the nextBulletin.

NewsCompiled by Clive Davenhall

Paul Haley with the Webb-SHARE display stand at the meetingBooks and the Sky held at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge in

April this year (see p8).


Webb-Share events organisedinclude talks on Webb’s observa-tory visits by Paul Haley atHereford (Thursday 3 December,Hereford Astronomical Society),Cambridge (Saturday 5December, Webb Society) andalso a talk will be given at aforthcoming SHA meeting. Thefinal exhibition will take place inHereford during April-May 2010.To help with project evaluation aDVD will be distributed tomembers during 2010. A shortquestionnaire will also be includ-ed (SAE provided), which youwill be invited to return with yourviews.

More details of Webb-Share canbe found on the Web site:www.spacewatch.co.uk or bycontacting SHA member PaulHaley (The Share Initiative), tele-phone: 01981 251029, e-mail:[email protected]. (Contributedby Paul Haley.)

Astro-CymruupdateThis Welsh Heritage Lotteryproject was announced inBulletin no. 18 (June 2009, pp 4-5). Astro-Cymru celebrates fourhundred years of Welsh astrono-my.

Six school workshops havebeen completed, at: PenllergaerPrimary and Port Mead Primary(Swansea), Raglan Primary(Monmouthshire), YsgolFfynnon Gynydd (Powys), YsgolMaesydre and Ysgol Buttington/Trewern (Welshpool). In eachcase the children role-playedbeing ‘heritage science journal-ists’ to research their localastronomer. In the Swanseaschools this involved JohnDillwyn Llewellyn (1810-82)

and his daughter Thereza(1834-1926) whoused theirObservatory atP e n l l e r g a r eValley Woodsto take one ofthe earliest pho-tographs of theMoon. The astro-photography themecontinued with theWelshpool schools andfocussed on the lives of IsaacRoberts (1829-1904) and his wifeDorothea Klumpke Roberts(1861-1942).

The architectural plans of theObservatory at Penllergare havebeen scanned in preparation forcreating a virtual online observa-

tory. This work will con-tribute to the two

hundredth anniver-sary celebrationsof John DillwynL l e w e l l y n ’ sbirth in January,which are being

organised byThe Penllergare

Trust.Exhibitions at Hay-

on-Wye and Cardiff AstroFest included invitations to helpwith research and translationwork. Opportunities still exist forresearching the following people:

Edward George Bowen (1911-91), radio astronomer inAustralia, from Cockett,Swansea,

John Dillwyn Llewellyn (1810-82).


Thomas Cowling (1906-90),solar/stellar convection, workedin Swansea and Bangor,

G. Parry Jenkins (1860-40),BAA founder member / Canadafrom 1902, from Llancynfelin,

Dyfrig Jones (1940-89), plane-tary radio emission research,from Pembrokeshire,

Kenneth Glyn Jones (1915-95),founder of The Webb Society,from New Tredegar,

Barbara Middlehurst (1915-95),planetary researcher in USA,from Penarth, Cardiff,

Hugh Percival Wilkins (1896-1960), 300-inch lunar map, fromCarmarthen/Llanelli.

We are also seeking help withthe translation of the followingtexts from Welsh to English:

Seryddiaeth a Seryddwyr(1923) by Canon J. Silas Evans(1864-1953),

Y Darluniadur Anianyddol(1850) by Edward Mills (1807-1865) of Llanidloes.

Sundials across Wales are beau-tifully illustrated and describedby Val Cowham and DavidYoung in Sundials of the BritishIsles, edited by Mike Cowham(Cambridge, 2005). Society forthe History of Astronomy mem-bers interested in researchingdialling in Wales are also verywelcome to contribute to Astro-Cymru.

Astro-Cymru events organisedinclude a talk by Paul Haley inSwansea (Thursday 12November, SwanseaAstronomical Society) and anexhibition in Welshpool(January/February, PowyslandMuseum).

More details of Astro-Cymrucan be found on the Web site:www.spacewatch.co.uk or bycontacting SHA member Paul

Haley (The Share Initiative), tele-phone: 01981 251029, e-mail:[email protected]. (Contributedby Paul Haley.)

Did Galileodiscover Neptune?It is well-known that there areseveral pre-discovery observa-tions of both Uranus and Neptunein which the unrecognised plan-ets are misidentified as stars.Galileo (1564-1642) is known tohave observed Neptune on 28December 1612 and 28 January1613 when he recorded it as afield star while studying themoons of Jupiter.

Following a detailed examina-tion of Galileo’s notebooks Prof.David Jamieson, Head of theSchool of Physics at theUniversity of Melbourne, hasrecently suggested that Galileomay have realised that the ‘star’moved and hence considered it aplanet. He has presented theseideas in the journal AustralianPhysics and included them in thefirst of a series of public lecturesgiven in July.

In the entry in his notebook for28 January 1613 Galileo wrotethat the ‘star’ now known to beNeptune appeared to have movedrelative to another nearby star.Further, in the earlier entry for 6January there is a dot roughly inthe right position for Neptune.Prof. Jamieson suggests thatGalileo had gone back to hisnotes to mark where he had pre-viously seen Neptune. He hopesthat it will be possible to usetechniques to analyse traces ofchemical elements to establishwhether the dot was added subse-quent to the drawing.

If the dot was added later it

would support the idea thatGalileo realised the star wasmoving and hence he could beconsidered to have discoveredthe planet. This suggestion raisesthe intriguing possibility that ananagram announcing the discov-ery may be buried somewhere inone of Galileo’s letters. He usedsuch anagrams to establish prior-ity for some of his other discover-ies, such as the crescents ofVenus.

Further reading

See, for example:http://www.physorg.com/news166355079.html

Mass dial found atInchcolm AbbeyA mass dial has been found atInchcolm Abbey on InchcolmIsland in the Firth of Forth. Amass dial is a specialised type ofsundial found on some churchesand monastic buildings. Ratherthan conventional hours the grad-uations mark the time of the var-ious religious observancesthroughout the day. Though rela-tively well-known in Englandrelatively few are known inScotland.

The dial was found by HughMorrison, Collections Registrarfor Historic Scotland and MaryMárkus, an expert in Medievalstones. They were making a pre-liminary inventory of a collectionof about fifty carved pieces ofstone stored at the Abbey, prior toexamining and cataloguing them.The dial is split into two piecesand the corroded stub of an irongnomon is still visible in one.

Inchcolm Abbey was anAugustinian community. It wasestablished as a priory by King


David I (1124-53) and became anabbey in 1235. It is now in thecare of Historic Scotland and isthe best-preserved group ofmonastic buildings in Scotland. Itdominates the Island of Inchcolmwhich also contains coastaldefences from both World Warsand is home to colonies of sealsand other wildlife.

Further reading

Historic Scotland has an articleabout the dial at: http://www.his-t o r i c - s c o t l a n d . g o v. u k / i n d e x /news/news_article.htm?arti-cleid=24855For general information about theAbbey see http://www.historic-s c o t l a n d . g o v. u k / p r o p e r t y -overview?PropID=PL_155&PropName=Inchcolm%20Abbey orhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inchcolm_Abbey

The British Sundial Society has apage about mass dials: seehttp://www.sundialsoc.org.uk/and follow the link to ‘MassDials’.

Blue-eyed BoyIn the previous issue we reportedevidence from the analysis ofmitochondrial DNA that theremains found by JerzyGassowski and colleaguesbeneath Frombork Cathedral,Poland in 2005 were, as sus-pected, those of NicholasCopernicus (1473-1543; seeBulletin no. 18, June 2009, p5).The full results of this forensicanalysis have now been pub-lished in the Proceedings of theNational Academy of Sciences.In addition to confirming theidentity of the remains they sug-gest that, contrary to previoussupposition, Copernicus proba-bly had blue eyes and fair skinand hair. The investigation foundthe gene HERC2, which is usual-ly associated with these charac-teristics.

Further reading

The full report of the forensicanalysis is available in: W.Bogdanowica, M. Allen, W.

The mass dial recently discovered at Inchcolm Abbey.

Branickic, M. Lembring, M.Gajewska, and T. Kupiec, Proc.Natl. Acad. Sci, 106, no. 27, 6July 2009. An associated pressrelease is available at:h t t p : / / w w w. e u r e k a l e r t . o r g /p u b _ r e l e a s e s / 2 0 0 9 - 0 7 / u u -aoc070709.php

Wired magazine has an articledescribing the new results at:http://www.wired.com/wired-science/2009/07/copernicus/

Above: The skull of Copernicuswas found, with other remains,beneath Frombork Cathedral in

2005. It recalls the fragmentapparently found posthumouslyamongst Copernicus’ papers:

Vita brevis, sensus ebes, negli-gentiæ torpor et inutiles occupa-tiones nos pancula scire permit-tent. Et aliquotients scita excutitab animo per temporum franda-trix scientiæ et inimica memori-

am præceps oblivio.

The brevity of life, the failing ofthe senses, the numbness of

indifference and unprofitableoccupations allow us to know

very little. And again and againswift oblivion, the thief of knowl-edge and the enemy of memory,makes a void of the mind, in the

course of time, even what welearn we lose.


Books and the SkyMadeline Cox

THE meeting Books And TheSky: A Meeting To Honour

David W Dewhirst; Astronomer,Scholar, Librarian was held on18 April 2009 at the Institute ofAstronomy, Cambridge. It hadbeen organised in recognition ofDr Dewhirst’s outstanding contri-bution to astronomical historyand scholarship. The SHA isprivileged to count Dr Dewhirstamongst its members.

After a warm welcome byProfessor Robert C. Kennicutt,Director of the Institute ofAstronomy, the first talk of theday was given by Professor SirFrancis Graham Smith, the one-

time Astronomer Royal and pio-neer of radio astronomy. His talkwas entitled DWD’sAchievements in Optical andRadio Astronomy.

Sir Francis worked with MartinRyle and others at Cambridgeafter World War II, studyingradio emissions from the Sun.The team developed an interfer-ometer which was able to meas-ure the diameter of radio sources.Sir Francis’ slides included a pic-ture of a soldering iron used with-out electricity — a blow lampwas employed to warm it up! Asuccessful array (the Michelsoninterferometer) was able to iden-

tify two other bright radiosources in the sky – in Cygnusand Cassiopeia. Details of theseand other sources in Virgo andTaurus were sent to the youngDavid Dewhirst (DWD) inPasadena for him to identifyvisually. David was able to sendSir Francis a lot of informationabout the radio sources; he hadalready obtained a photograph ofCygnus A from Mount Wilsonand was able to show an error inthe astrometry of 6 minutes inRight Ascension. After a longexposure, he found a faint (16.5magnitude), odd-looking galaxyin the position of Cygnus A.

The speakers and organisers of the meeting outside the Hoyle building. Left to right: Jim Bennett, JanetRobinson, Mark Robinson, Liba Taub, Paul Haley, Roger Hutchins, Michael Hoskin, David Dewhirst,

Gilbert Satterthwaite, Adam Perkins, Mark Hurn and Peter Hingley. Sir Francis Graham Smith is absent.Photograph by Stuart Williams.


Cassiopeia A was found to have wisps which werethe remnants of a supernova which exploded near-ly 300 years ago.

David had read metallurgy at university andnever expected to become a professionalastronomer, though astronomy was one of his maininterests. He was appointed junior observer atCambridge by Professor Redman in 1950 andbecame the chief contact between radio and opticalastronomers. He was one of the last to use theCooke transit circle at the university observatory,and taught courses on astronomy to people likeFrancis Graham Smith who came from a non-astronomical background.

Many more unsuspected radio sources were dis-covered, and the 3C Cambridge catalogue waspublished in 1959. David took the 3C catalogue toPasadena, where he was able to compare its entrieswith the Palomar sky plates. He also visitedAustralia, South Africa and Paris, where he deliv-ered a paper outlining the radio discoveries. Theresults had been a bit disappointing, with some ofthe sources overlapping and confused. He realised

Long-standing friends reminisce; Dr David Dewhirst (left) talks to Prof. Sir Francis Graham Smith. Photograph by Stuart Williams.

One of the dishes in the Cambridge interferometerused to measure the diameter of radio sources.


he and Ryle had published tooearly, and a revised cataloguewas produced in 1962, based onobservations taken with a newerand larger interferometer.Through David’s work, SirFrancis said, the radio team couldat last call themselvesastronomers.

The second talk was given byPeter Hingley, RAS Librarian,who spoke on DWD and the RAS.DWD, as Mr Hingley referred toDr Dewhirst, was made a Fellowof the Royal AstronomicalSociety (FRAS) on 4 April 1947,and attended his first LibraryCommittee meeting of theSociety on 8 December 1954.The Chairman of the Committeewas Professor Gerald Whitrow.On 31 July 1974 Dr Dewhirsthimself became Chairman, andhas guided the RAS Library eversince. Under his aegis, the rarebook collection was sorted andcatalogued, grants were madeavailable for repair and rebind-ing; and the rare book area wasbrought under environmentalcontrol. David also helped startthe archives collection, findingsome treasures in the process,and it now has its own strongroom. His spirit has enableddevelopments such as the onlinecatalogue, better indexing, andthe conservation of archives.Recently the archives have beenused to promote the RAS throughthe Science Photo. Library.Another very useful collection hebegan was the ‘Portraits andMiscellaneous Biographies’.David brought an ethos of schol-arship and common sense to theLibrary.

DWD was acquainted withmany amateur as well as profes-

sional astronomers. Through hisoffices, the papers of ThomasWilliam Webb had been acquiredby the RAS. The papers of W.H.Steavenson were also obtained,but still have not been properlyexplored.

In 1995 DWD chaired his lastlibrary committee, after 41 yearsin attendance. He has now been aFellow of the RoyalAstronomical Society for morethan 50 years. Mr Hingleythanked him for his wisdom andhis help in the past, and hoped hewas enjoying the present.

After coffee, Mark Hurn,Librarian at the Institute ofAstronomy in Cambridge (IoA),gave a talk entitled DWD as IoALibrarian and Bibliographer. MrHurn had produced a bibliogra-phy of David’s publications,copies of which were distributedto members of the audience. Itwas eleven pages long and hesuspected that there were furtheritems to be identified and added.

The majority of David’s papershad been written for the Journalof the British AstronomicalAssociation — forty in total —and a further thirty for TheObservatory. He had also writtenletters to The Times newspaper,and had twenty five book reviewspublished.

He was Librarian at the IoA formany years, retiring from thepost in September 1993. He pro-duced his own classificationscheme for astronomy, with over100 subjects included. He had theforesight to leave blank numbersfor future, unknown subjects,which had proved very useful, forexample, in the field of astrobiol-ogy.

Dr Dewhirst had contributed to

the development of otherlibraries, including that of theRAS, and the university librariessyndication scheme. But as far asMr Hurn was concerned, DWD’sbest contribution to the IoALibrary was that he had madehimself available for advice andhelp at any time.

DWD asked to reply to MrHurn. He said that if you livedlong enough you actually becamepart of history yourself!

The first book he really treas-ured was Hubble’s Realm of theNebulae, which he read in the1940s. Hubble’s parameter wasthen thought to be 540km/sec/megaparsec. As a juniorastronomer at Cambridge heattended the meeting of theInternational AstronomicalUnion (IAU) in Rome in 1952,where he heard Walter Baade saythe Hubble constant was not 540but about 250. He and Baadewere colleagues at Palomar in1957. While he was there AlanSandage revised Hubble’s valueyet again, saying it was nearer100 km/sec/megaparsec! Thevalue now usually taught atCambridge is 60-70.

Dr Dewhirst was at Pasadena inOctober 1957 when Sputnik 1was launched. He saw it from theroof of the Astrophysics Buildingat Caltech. It was an incrediblesight. He remembered its massbeing given as 80 kilos, whichwas met with disbelief in theUnited States. The launch of theSoviet satellite caused chagrinwithin the American astronomi-cal community.

Astronomy exploded as a sub-ject in the 1960s, which is why hedeveloped the new classificationscheme; errors of judgement anda lack of foresight into astronom-


ical change had been made in theorganisation of library material.He was a friend of Arthur C.Clarke; both of them were wrongin predicting the date of the firstMoon landing.

He thanked everyone for attend-ing; the day had given him enor-mous pleasure. He thanked PeterHingley and Mark Hurn fororganising the event, and theUniversity for providing lunch.

Dr Michael Hoskin, ofChurchill CollegeCambridge, and SHAHonorary Vice President,was the next speaker. Histalk was entitled Milk forBabes: Making NewtonAccessible to CambridgeUndergraduates anddescribed howNewtonian physics cameto be introduced to theCambridge undergraduatecurriculum.

Sir Isaac Newton’sPrincipia was publishedin 1687. There was a bat-tle at the time over theteaching of physics atCambridge, where theUniversity statutes wereconservative and back-ward looking. Aristotlewas still the prescribedauthor. The colleges wereindependent from the uni-versity (as they still are)and had a social mixwhich included under-graduates from wealthyfamilies. They did notneed to graduate for theirfuture careers, and could affordto ignore the university statutes.In this context, some studentswere now reading and followingDescartes instead of Aristotle.

Descartes’ PrincipiaPhilosophiae, published in 1644,was written in Latin and was achallenging text for teenagers.The leading Cartesian textbookwas Jacques Rohault’s Traité dePhysique, published in 1671. Ithad been translated into Latinand was used by Cambridge stu-dents.

By the end of the seventeenthcentury, the Traité was substan-

tially out of date. Newton, Boyle,Hooke and various Continentalauthors, had carried out impor-tant work since its publicationbut were not represented in the

Cambridge curriculum. JohnEllis, Tutor at Gonville and CaiusCollege, was a resoluteCartesian, and wanted the Traitéupdating, but who should he askto do it? The answer came in theguise of a young and very talent-ed student called Samuel Clarke,only sixteen years old. Clarkewas a champion of Newton andhad been his spokesman in corre-spondence with Leibniz.

Although Ellis was afriend of Newton, helargely based his teachingat this time on the morereadily accessibleCartesian system. Heasked Clarke to translatethe Traité for the use ofstudents. This posed amoral dilemma forClarke: was it right forhim to continue to pro-mote Cartesianism whenhe knew what Newton’swork had achieved? Hesought the opinion ofWilliam Whiston(Newton’s successor asLucasian Professor ofMathematics), who wassurprised that so young aman knew so much.Whiston advised him tostick to Rohault’s Traitéfor undergraduates untilNewton was better under-stood.

So Clarke translated theTraité (1697), but withendnotes hinting thatNewton had challengedDescartes’ ideas. By thesecond edition in 1702

Clarke was more confident. Hisnotes were now extensive, sayingquite openly that Descartes waswrong and Newton was right; forexample, on the matter of time

Samuel Clarke (1675-1729). (CourtesyWikimedia Commons from an original in the

National Portrait Gallery, London.)


and space. He even quotedNewton as the source of his noteson the title page. So here is a uni-versity text being extensivelyused by undergraduates, wherethe translator clearly states in thenotes that much of the text isincorrect and out of date.

By the third edition in 1710Clarke was clearly on the attackagainst Rohault. His translationnow contained three dissertationsin one footnote and three otherselsewhere! These were later pub-lished as a separate book. Thefourth edition followed in 1718,with the notes unaltered and thetext still in Latin. In 1723 thework had a new lease of lifewhen it was translated intoEnglish by Clarke's brother John.In this form it continued to beused as a textbook in the univer-sity till supplanted by the treatis-es of Newton, which it had beendesigned to introduce.

The fifth talk of the day wasgiven by Dr Jim Bennett,Director of the Museum of theHistory of Science at OxfordUniversity. It was entitledYielding at Last to Temptation:Exploring the RAS Archives Aftercirca Thirty Years.

David Dewhirst had begun thecataloguing of archival materialat the RAS. He said Dr Bennettwas the first to look at some ofthe treasures he had identified. DrBennett thought David must havebeen very tempted to investigatesome of these treasures himselfbut had more pressing duties; hehad the satisfaction of making theresources available for others toexplore. Dr Bennett also had nothad the time to investigate themback then, thirty years ago, butnow he had given in to the temp-

tation. Today he only had time totalk about one small but attrac-tive collection he had looked at.This was a box of letters writtento Nathaniel Pigott (1725-1804)between 1761 and 1789. Thiswas the smallest group of manu-scripts given its own classifica-tion. Nathaniel Pigott is the fatherof the perhaps better-knownEdward Pigott, one of the pio-neers of the study of variablestars.

Nathaniel Pigott was born in1725 to a staunch Catholic fami-ly. He led an itinerant life, alter-nating between Great Britain andplaces on the Continent. Hisaddresses included Whitton inYorkshire (the family seat),Brussels, Caen, Louvain, andGlamorgan. His correspondentsincluded John Bird, PeterDollond, Nevil Maskelyne andThomas Hornsby.

The Pigott letters are interestingas an example of the exchange ofastronomical intelligence at thetime, particularly of observa-tions. Pigott’s observations weresought by others mainly becauseof his non-standard locations andinternational contacts in Brusselsand Paris. He also sought others’observations for his own projects.Hornsby, at the RadcliffeObservatory, warned Pigott not toexpect too many observationsfrom him as he did not have anassistant and he did not observeafter midnight.

The collection features lettersfrom instrument makers and sup-pliers. There is a bill for a JohnBird quadrant, signed by Birdhimself. Bird compliments Pigotton how well he has been lookingafter the Royal Society’s instru-ments – it was Bird’s job to dothe checking. There is an unusual

letter from Jeremiah Sisson, whosupplied Pigott’s transit instru-ment. Although a good instru-ment maker, Sisson twicebecame bankrupt and spent timein prison for failing to pay hisworkmen. He asked Pigott formoney to pay his journeyman;Pigott himself still had not paidfor his instrument.

One colourful figure to appearin the collection is the RevdWilliam Dodd (‘the macaroniparson’), who was the last personto be hanged at Tyburn for for-gery. A frequent correspondent isJ.H. Magellan, Pigott’sPortuguese agent, who played aleading role in supplying himwith instruments. Another corre-spondent is Jesse Ramsden, whoadvises Pigott that Messier willsend him his observations, but hemust send his own first to estab-lish trust and confidence.

There is a very open exchangeof letters with Nevil Maskelyne;Maskelyne asks Pigott for hisdrawings of a meteorite seen in1783, and in December 1793describes his visit to William andCaroline Herschel. He givesdetails of Caroline’s workingmethods and of her 5-foot cometsweeper.

Maskelyne’s assistant on SaintHelena, Robert Waddington, sup-plies Pigott with observationsfrom the island and providesdetails about other astronomers,including James Bradley.Waddington, a jobbing mathe-matician and astronomer, wasinvolved in the Commission forthe Discovery of the Longitude atSea and met Harrison andLalande in London. There is ashort letter from Méchain regard-ing the death of John Goodricke –‘a real loss’ he calls it. There is


gossip about James Short’seffects after his death.

There are few letters by Pigotthimself; Dr Bennett showed oneconcerning the transit of Venus in1769, which Pigott observedfrom Caen in France. He saw the‘black drop’, which he describedas ‘la queue’ or ‘tail’.

So, he, Dr Bennett, had at lastyielded to temptation; his res-olute gaze had indeed uncoveredtreasures of the RAS Archives.After applause, Dr Bennett wasasked if there had been much cor-respondence regarding Pigott’sdiscovery of variable stars; Hereplied very little, though he hadnot read every word.

After a lunch generously provid-ed by the University, and a tourof the Institute’s telescopes byMark Hurn, the next speaker wasMr Adam Perkins, Librarian atthe University of Cambridge. Histalk was called A Case ofArchival Theft; the Retrieval ofthe Greenwich ObservatoryNeptune Papers.

An exhibition about the searchfor Neptune had been held inCambridge during 1996, in whichDWD had been involved. GeorgeAiry’s Neptune papers were notincluded in the exhibition; theywere missing and had been forsome thirty years.

Mr Perkins was Archivist at theRoyal Greenwich Observatory(RGO) in 1990 when that estab-lishment moved to Cambridge.When he started work atHerstmonceux in 1983 he hadsoon discovered that the AiryNeptune papers were missing. Heshowed a slide of the location ofthe search room and archives.The search room was keptlocked. Olin Eggen, Assistant at

the Observatory in the late 1950sand early 1960s, said he hadspent many hours looking at dis-ordered papers in the attic. Thefull collection of Airy paperswere re-catalogued in the 1980s;there was inadequate space tohouse them properly. They werea phenomenal collection, thoughthey showed much wear and tear.The shelving was thought to havecome with them from Greenwich[this was later confirmed byGilbert Satterthwaite, who recog-nised it from the slide].

In 1958 the Public Record Actcame into force, and it was nownecessary to keep records of all

documents. Collections atHerstmonceux were kept inchronological order, starting withFlamsteed’s papers. The archivistPhil Laurie wrote in the recordsthat the Airy Neptune file hadbeen missing ‘for a long time,circa 1965’. Laurie suspected ithad been removed by Eggen,who had left and gone to work atMount Stromlo Observatory nearCanberra. He later worked at LaSerena Observatory in SierraTololo, Chile. After his time atHerstmonceux he had later writ-ten articles on Airy and JamesChallis for the Dictionary ofScientific Biography which indi-

Olin Eggen (1919-98).


cated that he had access to origi-nal records but in reply to lettersand emails, he denied having anyknowledge of the current where-abouts of the papers. It was wide-ly known in the astronomicalcommunity that the file wasmissing and Mr Perkins himselfhad announced it at an FAS meet-ing at Herstmonceux in 1987.

In 1990 the RGO moved toCambridge. Its Public Relationsofficer Peter Andrews wrote toEggen in late 1995; Eggen againdenied having the papers andwrote back that he was offendedby the suggestion. When theRGO moved to Cambridge thearchives went to the CambridgeUniversity Library. The RGOwas closed in October 1998 andits library dispersed. The weekbefore it closed, a telephone callwas taken in the Library from alady at La Serena in Chile byRobin Catchpole and passed onto Mr Perkins. The caller saidthat some papers of Airy’s (whichit later transpired were theNeptune papers), along withmany other rare books and manu-scripts, had been found inEggen’s office. Eggen hadrecently died in Canberra of aheart attack. All the items (grossweight 126.5 kilos!) werereturned to Cambridge in teachests. The spine and endpapersof the Neptune papers had beenremoved, presumably by Eggen.Mr Perkins showed a picture ofthe papers, which had since beenrepaired and re-bound. Theywere now safe and sound andstored to the highest archivalstandards.

After applause, a member of theaudience asked what Eggen’smotive had been in taking thepapers. Mr Perkins was not sure;

he had not met the man, who hadbeen good to young astronomers.It may have been that he meant toreturn them after he had finishedusing them, but having oncedenied he had them, it becameincreasingly difficult to admit to.As far as he knew, Eggen hadreceived no monetary gain fromthem. At the time, archive securi-ty was lax, Eggen had the key,and it was difficult for more jun-ior members of staff such asLaurie to speak openly. Afterthanking Mr Perkins, theChairman finished by remarkinghow amazing it was that the AiryNeptune papers had survived andbeen returned relativelyunscathed.

The next talk was by SHA mem-ber Dr Roger Hutchins ofMagdalen College, OxfordUniversity, and entitled ‘Absurdproposals!’ — A DewhirstChallenge to Foundation of theBritish University Observatories.DWD had been a crucial earlyinfluence on Dr Hutchins’ thesis,so it was a pleasure to speak atthe conference in his honour.

Two groups of observatories arewell-known. British nationalobservatories, for example theRoyal Observatory at Greenwich,serviced public utility by improv-ing navigation and time reckon-ing. They left speculative work‘beyond the meridian’ to the‘grand amateurs,’ wealthy menwho patronised the instrumentmakers, pushed the technology,and reaped the discoveries. Thehistories of the third group, thesix university observatorieswhich undertook researchbetween 1772 and 1939, hadbeen underestimated and neglect-ed. However, comparison across

150 years reveals shared charac-teristics which define their expe-rience. Their directors were pro-fessors of mathematics; theirsites were urban and becamecompromised.

Further, in 1985 DWD pub-lished a seminal article whichdrew attention to the universities’failure in meridian work, andidentified that a characteristiclack of endowment meant toofew assistants, hence a tensionfor the professor between teach-ing duties and research. David’sexperience as an astronomer dur-ing post-war changes triggeredhis ‘eureka’ insight ‘Absurd pro-posals!’ while looking througharchive papers at Cambridge,seeing the enormous cost for anobservatory in 1820, and lack ofsalaries for assistants; hedescribed the Cambridge propos-al to build as an absurd mismatchbetween aspiration and resources.

DWD had already in 1976coined the phrase ‘Greenwich-Cambridge axis’, by which hemeant an exchange of staffbetween the two. But whileyoung Greenwich computersjoined Cambridge as assistants,on marrying they sought to returnto higher salaries at Greenwich ora position in a Grand Amateurobservatory. The system workedto Greenwich’s advantage, andthe discontinuities and eventualcrisis at Cambridge were onlyremedied by the SheepshanksEndowment in 1859, and thesame fund in 1898 enabled theobservatory to adapt to astro-physics.

The first British universityobservatory to systematicallyconduct research was theRadcliffe at Oxford, founded in1772 for the Professor of


Astronomy, but privately owned.In 1839 the University carelesslylost the use of this Observatory.The replacement University ofOxford Observatory was com-pleted in 1875. DunsinkObservatory outside Dublinopened in 1785, Cambridge in1824, and Durham in 1842. Asmall observatory had beenestablished in Glasgow in 1760,and its replacement functionedcontinuously from 1845. MillHill Observatory at LondonUniversity opened in 1929.

Hutchins explained that eachsalaried post at an observatorywas always important to thesmall profession. But the effec-tiveness of any observatory inany period depended upon timelypublication of its observations.Photography and the potential ofastrophysics then tested whetheran observatory could fund newinstruments and engage graduateassistants with skills in mathe-matics, chemistry or physics. Inthe consequent rigourous siftingbetween the 1880s and 1939,there was a seismic shift in theprofession. Figures tell the story.In 1860 a total of 28 observato-ries in the three groups employed46 astronomers, and 21 publishedresults, of which the five univer-sities employed 8 men, and onlyCambridge published that year.In 1914 a total of 18 observato-ries employed 57, and 12 pub-lished, but now the universitiesemployed 19, and five were pub-lishing. Remarkably, between1842 and 1939 the six universityobservatories above absorbed theinstruments by gift from 18 pri-vate observatories (andManchester, Leeds and Sheffielduniversities absorbed those offour more). By 1939 the Grand

Amateurs had been totallyeclipsed by the professionalisa-tion and specialisation of astro-physics.

Although by 1939 the universi-ty group had acute difficulties(Durham, Dunsink and Glasgowhad temporarily closed), Oxfordand Cambridge had re-equipped,Mill Hill was thriving, and afterthe war the whole group revived,built on its traditions, and provid-ed the leaders for the nation’sastronomy.

In conclusion, the closure of theRGO in 1998 had been a greatshock. But the reason given wasto fund PhD graduates to use thenew large reflectors overseas.The result is astonishing. By2001 there were 35 British uni-versities offering PhDs in astron-omy or astrophysics; many postswere overseas. There were 450astronomers in academic depart-ments, which had risen to 543 by2007. The number of postdocshad risen from 210 to 323. Therehad been, therefore, an absolutetransformation of universityastronomy and a great shift infunding and priorities has takenplace.

Hutchins found DWD’s work asa historian so perceptive andprovocative that it directlyinspired his comparativeapproach, as it surely had thework of others. After examiningDr Hutchins’ thesis, Dr Dewhirsthad encouraged its publication.Dr Hutchins concluded ‘He hasmy warmest thanks’.

The next talk, by Mark and JanetRobinson and Paul Haley, askedWebb: Quo Vadis? It outlinedwork in progress being done bythe Webb-Share Project inHerefordshire (see p4 and p31).

One aspect of this HeritageLottery funded project is devotedto the exploration of the legacy ofThomas William Webb (1806-85), Henry Cooper-Key (1819-79) and George Henry With(1827-1904).

These three were at the centreof the development and use of sil-vered mirrors. They are not wide-ly known in their own county;indeed the latter two have notbeen deeply researched at all,though R.A. Marriott did pointout the importance of With’s mir-ror making activities in articles inAstronomy Now (1992) and theBAA Journal (1996).

To that end a full transcriptionof Webb’s letters to ArthurCowper Ranyard (housed in thelibrary of the RAS) is beingmade. This is bringing to lightmuch astronomical informationand, building on the Robinson’sbiography of Webb, TheStargazer of Hardwicke, moreabout the ways in which Webbconducted his astronomical life.When all the letters are tran-scribed and suitably annotated,they will be made available in ausable form for those who areinterested in both nineteenth cen-tury clerical and social history,and in the history of oneastronomer’s preoccupations.

Webb’s contacts withastronomers overseas will alsobecome clearer through the infor-mation in the Ranyard letters andother sources. So far names like:the Italian Ercole Dembowski;the American W.S. Gilman(regarding the alleged planetVulcan); Alfred Mayer, theBelgian François Terby, (an earlyadvocate of Martian canals); andJohann Schmidt, a Germanastronomer famous for his maps


of the Moon, have turned up inthe letters.

The astronomical and scientificactivities of Cooper-Key have, uptill now, been largely unexploredand are proving to be of unusualand varied interest. Thanks to thehelp of Mark Hurn, Key’s astro-nomical notebook has been digi-

tised. This volume shows Keystarted as a teenage observer andwent on to make and use his ownglass mirrors of up to 18¼-inch.As late as 1872 Key installed atime cannon on the edge ofHereford which was used forsome eight months and no doubtallowed church clocks etc. to be

corrected!The career of With illustrates

the opportunities that were open-ing up for young men, in this casesupported by encouragementfrom members of the clergy atvarious points in With’s life.George With was born in modestcircumstances, his father at onetime being a manufacturer offloor coverings. It has been possi-ble to trace his education throughto teacher training for one year.His first post was in Hampshirewhere he came to the notice ofRevd Richard Dawes. WhenDawes became dean of HerefordCathedral he found himself need-ing to appoint a new headmasterat the boys’ Bluecoat School inHereford. Thanks to the efficien-cy of the postal system Daweswas able to organise proxy votessufficient to overcome supportfor a ‘local’ candidate and electWith. He held the position fortwenty five years until 1876.With, encouraged by Webb andinitially in co-operation withKey, launched into a paralleloccupation of mirror making.The rest is history which has yetto be fully, if not finally,explored.

The penultimate talk of the daywas by Professor AudouinDollfus of Meudon Observatoryin France. It was presented inabsentia by Mark Hurn and enti-tled Convection or Turbulence?

Professor Audouin Dollfus(born 1924) comes from an aero-nautical family. He inherited hisenthusiasm for flight from hisfather, Charles Dollfus, a balloonenthusiast and airship pilot. Oneof Audouin’s early projects wasto determine whether turbulenceor convection is responsible for

Preparations for a balloon flight to measure the granulation of thesolar photosphere underway at Meudon. Audouin Dollfus, David

Dewhirst and Donald Blackwell are present (image EX/15/D.3.11,courtesy of the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge).


the way flux escapes from theSun. To do that, he realised youneeded high resolution imageswhich would enable you to seethe fine structure of the solargranulation. Such pictures werenot available at the time and thebest way to obtain them was byobserving from a high altitude,above the Earth’s disturbedatmosphere.

In 1956 Dollfus undertook theproject with David Dewhirst andDonald Blackwell of CambridgeObservatory. A very lighttelescope was designed, to beadapted to the basket of a balloonand operated from on-board.

The balloon was inflated on 22November 1956 at Meudon. Only600 cubic metre of hydrogen wasintroduced in the fabric of capac-ity of 1200 cubic metre, to let thegas expand and the balloon reachan altitude of 6000 metres. Davidmanaged operations on theground, while Donald andAudouin took to the skies. Davidsaid the whole expedition wasgreat fun. The telescope washung from the basket; a slide wasshown of Donald operating it at6000 metres. There was no localturbulence and they were able totake the pictures they required.Before a successful landing, thetelescope was dropped by para-chute. The pictures taken were ofa sufficient quality and resolutionto answer the question: theprocess at work in the solar pho-tosphere is convection, not turbu-lence.

The last speaker of the day wasDr Liba Taub, Director of theWhipple Museum of the Historyof Science in Cambridge. Hertalk was entitled ‘Of the Faceappearing in the Roundle of the

Moon’: on Seventeenth CenturyTranslations of Plutarch’sDialogue On the Face of theMoon.

Two ancient Greek textsappealed to the non-specialistand were well known to JohannesKepler. A True Story by Lucian ofSamosota ( AD 120) was a satiri-cal, pseudoscientific story of avoyage to the Moon. It was readfor relaxation and fun, activitieswhich were as important to theancient Greeks as athletics andliterature. Similarly, Plutarch’sdialogue On the Face of theMoon was intended as mentalrefreshment and entertainment. Itrecounts myths regarding theMoon, but it also offers an insightinto the current knowledge ofastronomy (Plutarch died inabout AD 120).

Kepler also wrote a fantasyabout a trip to the Moon calledSomnium (‘Dream’), publishedposthumously in 1634. Asimovand others have referred to it asan early work of science-fiction.Kepler was interested in theastronomical discussionsPlutarch provided and made ref-erence to On the Face of theMoon in his own work. One ofthe interlocutors in Plutarch’sdialogue said that he had trav-elled from a land far across thesea, west of Britannia. Keplerbelieved the continent referred towas America. Kepler’s transla-tion of this work is well-known;Dr Dewhirst reviewed an editionin the 1960s. Dr Taub wrote abook referring to it in 2008.

Plutarch’s On the Face of theMoon is contained in hisMoralia, an eclectic collection ofseventy eight essays and tran-scribed speeches. It is one of thefew dialogues concerned with a

scientific subject to survive fromantiquity. In it, the speakers dis-cuss the nature of the face of theMoon as well as the role of theMoon in the cosmos. Plutarchmixes ideas of natural philosophyand mathematics with mytholog-ical accounts. The conversationincludes consideration of theconstitution and size of the Moonand whether it is inhabited. Itsassociation with various gods andgoddesses is also discussed. Onesuggestion is that it is the placewhere men’s souls reside beforeand after entering their bodies.(The beginning of the work ismissing.)

While looking for an eye-catch-ing image, Dr Taub found a 1603translation of the Moralia inCambridge University Library byPhilemon Holland (1522-1637),which was previously unknownto her, and which had apparentlynot been consulted by HaroldCherniss in preparing his ownedition, translation and notes ofthe work (for the Loeb ClassicalLibrary, originally published in1957). Holland’s summary of theDialogue highlights the chal-lenge of the work, the gaps, andthe delight in speculation aboutthe face in the Moon. Diversearguments are offered to explainits appearance and motion; alsodiscussed are eclipses and shad-ows of the Earth. The text givesproof of the quick wit of theauthor, who draws us to theCreator above. Five copies ofHolland’s translation are to befound in Cambridge UniversityLibrary and it is also availableonline.

After applause, there was acomment from the audience thatSamuel Foster (d. 1652) tookover Holland’s post as teacher at


a Coventry school. There was afurther comment from PeterHingley that there is a lack ofserious scholarship today in thesciences; Dr Taub suggested thatfew people are reading older sci-entific texts any more; she hadbeen newly inspired to do so byDr Dewhirst.

The Chairman concluded the ses-sion by asserting the value oflibraries, librarians andarchivists. He said we hadenjoyed a memorable day, andthanked all concerned: the organ-isers, the speakers, the Instituteof Astronomy, and the audience.David Dewhirst had been aninspiration and it had been a greatpleasure to hold the day in hishonour.

An audio recording of this eventis kept at the SHA Library inBirmingham.

Further reading:

F.G. Smith, Early Work on RadioStars at Cambridge, in W.T.Sullivan (ed.), The Early years ofRadio Astronomy: ReflectionsFifty years after Jansky’sDiscovery, CambridgeUniversity Press, 1984, pp237-266.

D.W. Dewhirst, Foreword,Memoirs of the RoyalAstronomical Society, 1978, 85,Catalogue of the Archives andManuscripts of the RoyalAstronomical Society, by J.A.Bennett.

M. Hurn, David W. Dewhirst: ABibliography, CambridgeInstitute of Astronomy Library.

M. Hoskin, ‘Mining All Within’:Clarke’s Notes to Rohault’s Traitéde Physique, The Thomist, 1961,24, pp353-61.

D.W. Dewhirst, MeridianAstronomy in the Private andUniversity Observatories of theUnited Kingdom — Rise andFall, Vistas in Astronomy, 1985,28, pp147-58.

L.C. Taub, Aetna and the Moon:Explaining Nature in AncientGreece and Rome, Oregon StateUniversity Press, 2008.

R. Hutchins, British UniversityObservatories 1772–1939,Ashgate, Farnham, Surrey, 2008.

J. and M. Robinson, TheStargazer of Hardwicke: the Lifeand Work of Thomas WilliamWebb, Gracewing,, Chester,2006.

D.E. Blackwell, D.W. Dewhirstand A. Dollfus, Photography ofSolar Granulation from aManned Balloon, TheObservatory, 1956, 77, pp20-23.

Meeting participants gathered outside the old Observatory buildings. Photograph by Stuart Williams.


David Dewhirst: an AppreciationAllan Chapman

IT was to my horror and dismay that I realisedfrom the SHA Newsletter that I had missed the 18

April meeting in Cambridge that was to recognisethe immense contribution to history of astronomyscholarship of Dr David Dewhirst. I had knownlong in advance, however, that I was notgoing to be able to attend the meetingpersonally, for on that day I had along-standing engagement to beat Portsmouth Royal NavyDockyard Museum. But Ihad promised to send a fewwords that could be readout at the meeting, andwhich would say some-thing of the very highesteem in which I holdDavid, and of mysense of indebtednessto him for all the guid-ance and encourage-ment which he hasgiven me over manyyears.

I first met David atthe conference to markthe three hundredthanniversary of the found-ing of the RoyalObservatory, Greenwich, inthe summer of 1975. I wasimmediately impressed by hisvast store of both technical andhistorical erudition, not to mentionhis wit, wry sense of humour, fund ofstories, and willingness to go to extraordinarylengths to help people. For quite simply, his knowl-edge of British, and especially Cambridge, astrono-my is encyclopaedic.

Once, after lunching as David’s guest at theInstitute of Astronomy, I was surprised to be shownpart of what I recall was an early electron micro-scope with which David had done research in thelate 1940s. I also recall him telling me that, in hisearly Cambridge days, he was shown some of the

historical scientific instruments that would laterform part of the world-renowned Whipple Museum,then stored in an old aircraft hangar in the fens.

Yet the areas of David’s great scholarly expertisethat I have ‘tapped into’ the most is that pertaining

to Sir George Biddell Airy, his work atCambridge, Greenwich, and what

David termed the ‘Cambridge-Greenwich axis’, for I have

been working on a biographyof Airy for many years. For

David’s knowledge of theprinted and manuscriptresources of both theInstitute of Astronomyand CambridgeUniversity Libraries isprobably unrivalledwhen it comes toastronomical matters.Over the years, hehas guided me to somany fascinatingsources regardingAiry and his circle,and has always been a

mine of Cambridgeastronomical ‘lore’, and

I can only express mywarmest appreciation for

the rich scholarly expertisethat he has so liberally granted

me, and to numerous other peo-ple. For quite simply, David is the

history of astronomy’s scholarly PublicLibrarian.

I last saw David on 27 February 2009, when it wasmy honour to give the Penston Memorial Lecture tothe Cambridge Astronomical Society. It was notonly a great delight to see and talk to David onceagain, but to also to have the singular pleasure ofbeing introduced to the audience by him.

Thank you, David, very much indeed.Wadham College, Oxford,

April 2009.


IN late September 2008 I visit-ed Middelburg, Holland to

attend the symposium TheInvention of the Dutch Telescope.Middelburg is the capital ofZeeland, the most south-westerlyof the Dutch provinces. Gettingthere involved a short flight fromEdinburgh and then a two and aquarter hour train journey fromSchiphol Airport.

Though Middelburg is now asmall, provincial town, it was animportant metropolitan centrecirca 1600. It retains the fortifica-tions from that time: the angledbastions and canals common inmany European towns during theRenaissance and Early Modern

periods. The centre retains aMedieval street-plan, thoughmost of the buildings are modern,albeit mostly built in a traditionalstyle; the town was largelydestroyed during World War II.

The reason for holding the sym-posium in Middelburg was thatthe first corroborated example ofworking telescopes were madethere in 1608. It is not definitive-ly known who first invented thetelescope. There are at least fif-teen claimants, setting asideimplausible suggestions that itwas known in antiquity. The pos-sibilities include RobertGrosseteste (circa 1175-1253) inOxford, Leonard Digges and

William Bourne in ElizabethanEngland and Juan Roget (diedbetween 1617-24) in Spain. Anyor all of these individuals mayhave developed working instru-ments (for some definition of‘working’; the magnification andimage quality are a matter of con-jecture). However, if they did,they were isolated instanceswhich were not widely knownand which founded no traditionof manufacture and use. It wasthe Dutch telescope, invented inMiddelburg in 1608, whichbecame widely known, was doc-umented and reproduced andwhich entered the mainstream ofWestern culture and life.

The Invention of the Dutch TelescopeClive Davenhall

The Old Town Hall inMiddelburg, built 1452-1562,in which most of the meetingwas held, and (inset) a close-

up of the sundial.


No less than three claimants tothe invention of the telescopeappeared in 1608, two of themfrom Middelburg. The first wasHans Lipperhey, an obscureGerman spectacle maker whohad settled in the town. InSeptember 1608 Lipperhey trav-elled to The Hague, the seat ofthe Dutch Government, the‘States General’, to apply for apatent for ‘a certain instrumentfor seeing far.’ This application isthe oldest unambiguous extantrecord of an actual, usabletelescope. In the event the patentwas not granted because there

Above and upper right: two old views of theNieuwe Kerk (New Church) adjacent to whichwere the houses of Sacharias Jansen (1) and

Hans Lipperhey (2).

Right: the Nieuwe Kerk showing bomb damagesustained during World War II.

Below right: The reconstruction of HansLipperhey’s house in the Middelburg

Volkssterrenwacht. The tableau shows the indus-trious Lipperhey at work at his bench while hisneighbour Sacharias Jansen, who was known tobe fond of a tipple, walks past clutching a bottle.


were rival claimants: SachariasJansen, a neighbour ofLipperhey’s (they lived literallyonly a few yards apart) and JacobMetius from Alkmaar in northernHolland.

However, during his stay in TheHague Lipperhey demonstratedhis telescope to Prince Maurits ofOrange, the Stadholder of theDutch States (though principallya soldier, Prince Maurits was alsointerested in mathematics andastronomy) and various Courtofficials and diplomats. Thediplomats were in The Hague fora peace conference to discuss acessation of hostilities in the

young Dutch Republic’s war ofindependence from the SpanishCrown. As might be expected,the attendees at the peace confer-ence immediately grasped themilitary uses of the telescope.

The rest is history. The news ofthe new ‘spyglass’ spread rapidlythrough Europe. Within sixmonths, in addition to the DutchRepublic, telescopes were ownedby the French King and his PrimeMinister, the Governor of theSpanish Netherlands and thePope.

In July 1609 Thomas Harriot inEngland made the first knownastronomical observations with a

telescope, though he did not pub-lish them and they did notbecome widely known until longafterwards. Later in 1609 GalileoGalilei made astronomical obser-vations using an improvedtelescope of his own design. Theresult was the Sidereus Nuncius(1610), one of the most importantastronomical books ever written.

The symposium lasted threedays, from Thursday 25 toSaturday 27 September. Thevenue was the RooseveltAcademy, a college of UtrechtUniversity. Its home is the his-toric Old Town Hall in theMarket Square, Middelburg. It isimpossible here to do more thangive the briefest outline of themeeting.

Thursday 25 SeptemberThe first day of the conferencewas held in the Great Hall of theOld Town Hall. The inauguralsession in the morning waschaired by Albert van Helden andset the context. The first speakerwas Huib Zuidervaart (HuygensInstitute and one of the organis-ers) who spoke on The History ofthe Inventor: 400 Years ofDebate. The first unequivocaldescription of a telescope datesfrom 25 September 1608 and isdue to the Middelburg spectaclemaker Hans Lipperhey, thoughwithin three weeks two otherclaimants had emerged;Sacharias Jansen, also fromMiddelburg and Jacob Metiusfrom Alkmaar.

Scholars have long debated whowas the first to develop thedevice, some favouringLipperhey and others Jansen,with Metius having few champi-ons. The origins of the device arelikely to remain obscure. Much

Attendees at the meeting enjoy refreshmentsin The Great Hall of the Old Town Hall.


archival material in Middelburgthat could have helped to eluci-date the story was destroyed dur-ing World War II. There is somesuspicion that telescopic magnifi-cation using two lenses may havebeen fairly common ‘craftknowledge’ amongst spectaclemakers since the 1530s, but itwas considered a child’s toy of nopractical use because the lensesavailable produced highly dis-torted images.The session continued with Klaasvan Berkel (University ofGroningen) speaking on Sciencein a Divided Country: theInfluence of War on ScientificCulture in the Low CountriesAround 1600. By 1608 Hollandhad been engaged in a civil warto secede from the SpanishCrown since the 1560s. This con-tinuing conflict influenced thedevelopment of science inHolland, which flourished in theuniversities of the new Republicbut fared less well in theprovinces still under Spanishrule. For example, the Republic’suniversities taught CivilEngineering from their founding.

Following a welcome coffeebreak the session continued witha contribution by Rienk Vermij(University of Oklahoma) on TheTelescope and the EuropeanIntellectual Landscape Around

1608. Many discoveries that arenow considered pivotal to thedevelopment of science occurredaround 1600, but at the time, andwithin the prevailing standards ofknowledge, they were often con-sidered marginal. The Dutch didno scientific work with the newtelescope; it was regarded as amilitary tool or a curiosity ratherthan a scientific instrument.

The final speaker of the morningwas Floris Cohen (University of

Utrecht) whose topic was TheSignificance of Instruments in theProcess of the ScientificRevolution, circa 1600-1700. Heconsidered how two new scientif-ic instruments, the earlytelescope and the pendulumclock, as well as several existingones, helped to define and con-strain the limits of experimentalscience through the seventeenthcentury. Interestingly the micro-scope followed a similar path tothe telescope: it was invented

Two boys accidentally discoverthe principle of the telescope

while playing with lenses in thisimaginative nineteenth century

engraving. An observant specta-cle maker, either Lipperhey,Jansen or Metius looks on

(image Mary Evans PictureLibrary).

acd

Textbox

Image removed because of licence or copyright restrictions.


around 1610 but did not becomean experimental device until thesecond half of the seventeenthcentury.

Following a break for lunch themeeting resumed for an after-noon session on The Pre-Telescopic Era chaired by HuibZuidervaart. The first speakerwas Mark Smith (University ofMissouri) who spoke on Alhacenand Kepler and the Origins ofModern Lens Theory. The Arabicscholar Alhacen (965-circa1039/40) had an enormous influ-ence on the evolution of optics inthe West between 1250-1600,particularly via his treatise Deaspectibus. He is often consid-ered the founder of the theoreti-cal and mathematical foundationsof optics. However, by a closecomparison with Kepler’s workon optics, Smith argued that

Alhacen’s contribution, thoughsignificant, may have been over-estimated.

The next presentation, WilliamBourne’s Invention: PracticalOptics and the Prehistory of theTelescope, by Sven Dupré(University of Ghent), consideredthe possibility that the Englishmathematician William Bournehad developed a type of telescopeinvolving a lens and a mirroraround 1580. He concluded thatthe existence of such a devicemust remain unproven. The lackof a theoretical understanding ofits operation and the limitationsof lens and mirror manufacturewould have made it impossible toproduce such devices reliably.

Following a short tea break themeeting continued with a talk byKatrien Vanagt (University of

Twente) on A SuspiciousSpectacle: Attitudes TowardsEyeglasses Among Early ModernMedical Practitioners.Spectacles were in widespreaduse but were rarely prescribed byphysicians as remedies for defec-tive vision. This reluctance wasdue to a lack of understanding ofhow spectacles worked and indifficulties in accommodatingthem within prevailing theoriesof how the eye operated.Physicians clung to the notionthat the eye functioned by emit-ting rays long after it had beenabandoned by natural philoso-phers.

The final talk of the day wasMirrors, Spectacles and LookingGlasses in Antwerp and theDuchy of Brabant in theSixteenth and SeventeenthCentury by Daniëlle Caluwé. Shereported on recent archaeologicalexcavations and studies of extantinventories which had estab-lished the nature and extent of thesixteenth and seventeenth centu-ry Dutch spectacle manufacture,revealing a widespread and well-developed trade network.

Friday 26 SeptemberOn the second day of the confer-ence the morning session was notheld in the Old Town Hall, but inthe Zeeuswse Biliotheek, or TownLibrary, located a short walkfrom the market Square andacross one of the several canals(and closer to my hotel, as it hap-pens). It is a modern buildingwith an impressively appointedlecture theatre.

The morning session was TheEmergence of the Telescope (I)and was chaired by Sven Dupré.

The Spectacle Vendor by Jan Collaert after Stradano (1582). Thislively street scene illustrates the widespread availability of specta-

cles in the late sixteenth century, though the number of people wear-ing spectacles is doubtless exaggerated for artistic effect (repro-

duced from the exhibition catalogue A Spectacle of Spectacles, byWolf Winkler (ed), trans. Dorothy Jaeschke, 1988, Carl-Zeiss-

Stiftung Jena: Leipzig. A copy is available in the Society's Library).


The first talk should have beengiven by Vincent Illardi onRecently Discovered Findings onthe History and Development ofEyeglasses before the Telescope.Unfortunately the author was tooill to attend, so Sven Dupré gavea short summary of his work. DrIllardi’s main field of interest wasRenaissance diplomatic history.He had come across records ofsales of spectacles by chance andhad become fascinated by them.He had then spent twenty yearstracing down records of transac-tions involving spectacles and inthe process has revolutionisedunderstanding of the early spec-tacle trade. His findings are sum-marised in his recent bookRenaissance Vision fromSpectacles to Telescopes.

The next three talks together con-stituted the keynote lecture andthey were given by Rolf Willach,an Independent Scholar fromSwitzerland, under the generaltitle The Long Way to theInvention of the Telescope. Theindividual titles of the first twoparts indicate the material cov-ered: Part I: From the AntiqueRock-Crystal-Lenses to theInvention of Spectacles and PartII: From the early Spectacles tothe Invention of the Telescope.Part III was somewhat differentand comprised a practicaldemonstration. In part II MrWillach convincingly demon-strated that most Early Modernlenses were not of adequate qual-ity for use in telescopes, with theperipheral regions away from thecentre being particularly prone todistortions. He then showed theycould be used in telescopes if adiaphragm was used to mask theouter regions prone to distortion.

The demonstration in Part IIIconvincingly showed this effect.

Giuseppe Molesini (IstitutoNazionale di Ottica Applicata,Florence) continued in a similarvein with a talk on TestingTelescope Optics in SeventeenthCentury Italy. He gave a progressreport on a project to test theoptics of the extant SeventeenthCentury lenses in Italy. Most ofthe ones tested were of very highquality and usually had differentfocal lengths to spectacle lenses,consistent with their differentuse.

The final talk of the morning ses-sion was given by Yaakov Zikand Giora Hon (University ofHaifa, Israel) on Magnification.A proper understanding of mag-nification by lenses dates fromKepler in his Dioptrice (1611)and thus was not available toGalileo when he built his firsttelescope. The conventional theo-ry is that Galileo and the crafts-men who preceded him stumbledon their designs by accident. Zikand Hon contended that this argu-ment is not credible and thatGalileo, at least, could havedesigned his telescopes usinganalogies with systems of mir-rors, which were well-under-stood.

Lunch was also provided in theLibrary, but the afternoon sessionresumed in the Old Town Hall.The morning’s theme was contin-ued with The Emergence of theTelescope (II), chaired by Robvan Gent. The Great Hall’sacoustics were not wonderful atthe best of times and they werenot improved by the rock bandwhich was giving a performance

in the Market Square. The firstspeaker was Mario Biagioli(Harvard) who deviated from hispublished title to speak on thepublic dissemination of the newtelescopic results in particular,Kepler’s use of witnessing in1610 in his defence of Galileo’sresults. Galileo had written theSidereus Nuncius as a popularbook aimed at a wide readershiprather than as a scholarly text.Biagioli argued that this approachobliged Kepler to defend it interms familiar to the public ratherthan to scholars, which in turn,meant using judicial or legalarguments.

The next speakers were MarvinBolt (Adler Planetarium,Chicago) and Michael Korey(Mathematisch-PhysikalischerSalon, Dresden State ArtCollections) who were Searchingfor Telescopes in UnexpectedPlaces. They reported on a con-tinuing collaboration to locatetelescopes dating from the firsthalf of the seventeenth century.Prior to their work ten such tele-scopes were known. They hadlocated a further seven, but fol-lowing discussion from the audi-ence one of these was removed,leaving six. The known tele-scopes are only a small fractionof the number produced. It islikely that more will be found.

Following the tea break EileenReeves (Princeton) spoke on LateNews and Complete Inventions:Galileo and the Telescope. Shediscussed the apparent discrepan-cy between the rapid dissemina-tion of news of the Dutchtelescope throughout Europe andGalileo’s relatively late acquain-tance with it. She suggested that


the news may have reachedGalileo via his friend Fr PaoloSarpi (1552-1623). She furthersuggested that both Sarpi andGalileo may have mistakenlyassumed that the device con-tained mirrors. Tales of far-seeingdevices involving mirrors hadcirculated for centuries. Thedevice usually belonged to apotentate and was located in ahigh tower, from which he spiedon his subjects and enemies alike.The mythical Medieval kingPrester John was often assumedto have such a contraption andthe devices often became con-fused with ‘burning mirrors’ (seeNewsletter 12, November 2006,p10 and p20).

The final speaker of the after-noon was Albert van Helden(Utrecht University and RiceUniversity) whose topic wasGalileo's Telescope: Realism andAstronomy. Galileo turned thehumble spyglass into an instru-ment for astronomical research.The talk examined Galileo’sastronomical discoveries. It iswell-known that after the initialflurry of discoveries, largelyreported in the Sidereus Nuncius,there were few major astronomi-cal advances until the mid-seven-teenth century, largely due to thetechnical limitations of theinstrument. Galileo’s way ofworking seems to have been topursue a number of ‘researchprojects’, tackling one beforemoving on to the next: the moun-tains of the Moon, the satellitesof Jupiter, sunspots etc, ratherthan making more omnivorous,less-directed observations. Theimpact of his work was, ofcourse, that he not merely madeand reported the observations,

but that he interpreted them tosupport the new Copernicanworld-view rather than thePtolemaic system.

Saturday 27 SeptemberThe final day of the meeting,Saturday 27 September, wasoriginally scheduled to take placein the Old Town Hall. However,at short notice it was relocated tothe Zeeuswse Biliotheek, as itwas anticipated that the noisefrom the Market Square wouldcontinue. This decision was prob-ably sensible as various eventsseemed to be happening in theSquare, including an antique carrally. The first session of themorning was The Reception andEarly Development (I), chairedby Henk Meijer. The first speakerwas Henrique Leitão(Universidade de Lisboa) whospoke on G.P. Lembo’s LectureNotes on the Telescope, inLisbon, 1615-17. Lembo was aJesuit priest attached to theRoman College who was skilledin mathematics, astronomy andinstrument making. He waslargely responsible for theJesuit’s confirmation of Galileo’sresults and, indeed, made manyobservations independently ofGalileo. Later he taught at theJesuit’s College in Lisbon whichwas responsible for trainingpriests sent to the New World andthe Far East. He taught a variantof the Tychonic theory andtelescope manufacture. Theinclusion of this material in mis-sionary training contributed tothe rapid spread of knowledgeabout the telescope.

The session continued withAntoni Malet (UniversitatPompeu Fabra, Barcelona)

speaking on Telescopes andOptics, 1609-69. The talk consid-ered the extent to which Kepler’sDioptrice (1611) laid the founda-tions for geometrical optics andthe modern understanding of tel-escopes. Kepler’s book intro-duced much of the underlyingmathematics and many of theconcepts necessary to understandoptical systems, but he did notuse the concept of the geometri-cal image, which is crucial tomodern treatments. This conceptwas introduced in the 1660s byNewton and others.

After a coffee break the nextspeaker was Fokko JanDijksterhuis (University ofTrente) whose topic wasKnowledge of TelescopesThroughout the Dutch Republic.The canonical story is that newsof the telescope spread quicklythrough Europe followingLipperhey’s demonstration atThe Hague in 1608. The talk pro-vided counterexamples of peopleexperiencing considerable diffi-culties obtaining telescopes in theNetherlands in the years follow-ing 1608. A case in point is IsaacBeeckman who became an enthu-siast for the telescope and inorder to obtain lenses of adequatequality ended up getting himselfapprenticed as a lens maker andmaking them himself. He kept adiary which is a unique source ofinformation about early lensmaking.

The final talk of the morning ses-sion was by Albert Clement(Roosevelt Academy) who gavean interesting and unusual talk onMusic as a Liberal Art and theInvention of the Telescope.Nowadays we regard music as an


art firmly in the humanities ratherthan a science. But in the MiddleAges it was classified as a ‘liber-al art’ along with mathematicsand astronomy and formed one ofthe subjects of Quadrivium of theMedieval University curriculum.This classification derived ulti-mately from Pythagorean ideasof harmony underlying bothastronomy and music; in a phrasethe ‘music of the spheres.’Ironically enough, just as Galileoand others were shatteringAristotelian ideas of the UniverseClaudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)was revolutionising musicalcomposition with the secondapratica or stile moderno, and oneof the most ardent advocates ofthe new style was VincenzioGalilei, Galileo’s father.

Lunch involved a quick trip to theOld Town Hall and back (and inmy case adroitly avoiding beingrun over by a parade of antiquecars). The afternoon session con-tinued the morning’s theme withThe Reception and EarlyDevelopment (II), chaired byAlbert Clement. The first speakerwas Jan Parmentier who spokeon An Eye for Sailing: The Use ofthe Spyglass in Navigation. In thelate sixteenth and seventeenthcenturies Holland was a majormaritime power with trade to theNew World and Far East. Theseopen-sea journeys required celes-tial navigation. The talk reporteda study of records of instrumentsmade and sold, navigation books,nautical instruments and ship’sjournals to determine when thetelescope became a routine partof a ship’s navigational instru-ments. By the mid-seventeenthcentury they seem to have been incommon use in both the Dutch

East and West India Companies.

The next talk was given by HenkZoomers (Asian HistoricalConsultancy, Amsterdam) on TheNetherlands, Siam and theTelescope: the First AsianEncounter with the DutchInvention. In the early seven-teenth century Holland wasdeveloping extensive trade withthe Far East and The Dutch EastIndia Company was founded in1602. During 1608-10 anEmbassy from the King of Siamvisited the Dutch Republic andLipperhey’s new telescope wasdemonstrated to them. The talkdescribed this event, the firstAsian encounter with the newtechnology, and the subsequentspread of the device in Asia. It iswell-known that the Jesuits usedthe device in China, but it wasalso introduced into Japan, Laosand Burma.

Dr Zoomers’ talk was the lastpresentation. However, Albertvan Helden made a few conclud-

ing remarks to sum up the confer-ence. He recalled that he hadbeen working in this field fornearly forty years, during whichtime our understanding of theemergence of the telescope hadimproved beyond all recognition.The depth of knowledge nowavailable was exemplified by thepresentations over the past fewdays. In particular we now had abetter understanding of how thetelescope emerged from the exist-ing craft of spectacle manufac-ture and how the instrumentspread. On behalf of all the atten-dees, he also thanked all theorganisers for the enormousamount of effort and work thathad gone into making the meet-ing a success.

However, the meeting was notquite over. The participants werenow invited to visit theVolkssterrenwacht (or PublicObservatory) run by local volun-teers. This observatory was ashort walk away across the centreof Middelburg and occupies a

A postcard showing some of the instruments from SHA MemberPeter Louwman’s extensive collection of historic telescopes on dis-

play at the Zeeus Museum.


fine old building. Refreshmentsand solar observing were on offer(the weather had been fine andbright throughout the meetingand early Saturday evening wasparticularly warm and sunny forlate September). It is the wrongtime of the cycle for sunspots butan impressive prominence wasvisible. The Volkssterrenwachtalso houses a splendid museumto the early telescope. Numerousearly telescopes and opticalinstruments are on display, thereis a reproduction of the frontageof the Lipperhey’s house andworkshop and working reproduc-tions of early lens grinding andpolishing machines. This visitmade a memorable and enjoyableend to a most informative andstimulating conference.

In addition to the meeting properthere were several events heldduring the evenings, including a

f a s c i n a t i n gexhibition ofearly telescopesheld in the TownMuseum, theZeeuws Museum,using items fromthe extensivepersonal collec-tion of SHAmember PeterLouwman.

The meetingwas mostinformative andenjoyable, and Ilearnt a greatdeal. The eluci-dation of theprobable originof the telescopein Middelburgearly in the sev-

enteenth century was fascinating.Some of the other highlights, atleast for me, were the putativeElizabethan telescopes, the extentof the sixteenth and seventeenthcentury spectacle trade, the roleof the Jesuits in disseminatingknowledge of the telescope andKepler’s role in geometricaloptics. It only remains to add myown thanks to everyone involvedin organising the meeting.

Further reading

Proceedings of the symposiumare in preparation and will bepublished in due course. In themeantime the conference Website is still available at URL:http://www.roac.nl/roac/newslist.phtml?p=news&i=133

SHA member Peter Louwman’sprivate collection contains a copyof an extremely rare early seven-

teenth century newsletter entitledEmbassies of the King of Siamsent to his Excellency PrinceMaurits, arrived in The Hague on10 September 1608. The mainpart of this newsletter describesthe arrival of the first Siamesediplomatic mission to Europe.However, it ends with a briefdescription of Lipperhey’sdemonstration of his telescope inThe Hague, one of the few con-temporary accounts to survive. Asumptuously printed and lavishlyillustrated copy has recently beenpublished. Transcription of theoriginal French and translationinto English and Dutch are byHenk Zoomers and editing is byHuib Zuidervaart. To obtain acopy contact Peter Louwman inthe first instance.

Dioptrice, the database of refract-ing telescopes made prior to 1775is being compiled by EugeneRudd, Duane Jaecks, MarvinBolt and Michael Korey. There isa Web site at:http://historydb.adlerplanetari-um.org/dioptrice/. The authorsare always pleased to hear of anyinformation about additional tele-scopes to add to the list.

An article presenting the evi-dence for Juan Roget (diedbetween 1617-24) as a possibleSpanish inventor of the telescopeappeared in History Today (2008,58 (10), p26).

The MiddelburgVolkssterrenwacht has publishedWandelroute langs historischeastronomische plekjes inMiddelburg, an astronomicalwalking tour of the town (2008,in Dutch). A copy is available inthe Society’s Library.

Hans Lipperhey (1570?-1619).


Victorian Astronomy Day at the BlackCountry MuseumJohn Armitage

ON Saturday 14 March 2009 aVictorian Astronomy and

Technology Day was held at theBlack Country Living Museumin Dudley, West Midlands. It wasorganised by the Pendrell HallObservatories, which include theWrottesley Observatory in theBlack Country Museum (seeNewsletter no. 16, July 2008,pp33-34). The event was organ-ised as a contribution to the IYAand involved displays, demon-strations and an excellent rangeof talks. It was judged a greatsuccess.

The first speaker of the day wasthe Right Revd Michael Bourke,the recently retired Bishop of

Wolverhampton, who gave a dili-gently researched and excellentlypresented contribution onVictorian Clerical Astronomers.The second speaker was JohnArmitage, talking on Lord JohnWrottesley, Second BaronWrottesley, his life, times andlegacy. Lord Wrottesley was aman of not only local but nation-al significance in nineteenth cen-tury science and astronomy. The

final speaker in the morning ses-sion was Bob Marriott, theInstrument Curator of the BAA,who spoke on The Silver onGlass Revolution, looking at thelife and times of Revd T.W.Webb, with comments also onWith and Calver.

During the lunch break partici-pants had further opportunity toexamine the many exhibits ondisplay, which included a recent-

The speakers at the event. From left to right: Right. Revd M.G.Bourke (former Bishop of Wolverhampton); Dr Allan Chapman(Wadham College Oxford, SHA Hon. President); John Armitage

(founder, Pendrell Hall Observatories); Sir Arnold Wolfendale, FRS(fourteenth Astronomer Royal); Bob Marriott (BAA).

All photographs by Stuart Williams.

Two Victorian-style brassrefracting telescopes.


ly restored Cooke refractor, andalso to visit the WrottesleyObservatory, which is situated inthe middle of the Black CountryMuseum’s open air site.

After the lunch break, the pro-gramme of talks continued, start-ing with Sir Arnold Wolfendale,FRS, the fourteenth AstronomerRoyal. He spoke appropriatelyabout Victorian AstronomersRoyal, of whom there were two:G.B. Airy and William Christie,bringing the times of these mento life.

The final speaker of the day wasthe SHA’s Honorary President,Allan Chapman, who gave a starperformance on the life of JamesGlaisher: Victorian astronomer,meteorologist and daring aero-naut. This talk also had a localconnection as Glaisher’s record-breaking balloon ascent in 1862took place from nearby

Wolverhampton, which also lieswithin the confines of the BlackCountry.

An excellent day was had byall, and many people said similarevents should be organised infuture. In response to this requestI am pleased to report that a fur-ther event entitled Victorian andEdwardian Astronomy will takeplace at the Black CountryMuseum on Saturday 20 March2010 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.It will include displays, demon-

strations, tours of the WrottesleyObservatory and an excellentline-up of speakers. It is expectedto coincide with a ‘Steam Day’ atthe Museum, when our steamdevices will be in operation,including the 1712 NewcomenBeam Engine, colliery windingengines, and we hope also a vin-tage steam car!

So a full programme of astro-nomical events on that day andother attractions also. Watch outfor further details in due course.

Above: Some of the instruments and equipment on display, includinga Victorian transit telescope, a simple Newtonian reflecting

telescope and old camera lenses.

Below: Another view of the small Victorian transit telescope.

A Victorian ObservatoryRegulator Clock, dated circa

1880. This timepiece wasrecently removed from the

Burlington House apartments ofthe RAS/BAA and is now on

loan to the Pendrell HallObservatories Group.


THIS progress report includesnew research findings about

Revd Thomas William Webb(1806-1885) which are emergingfrom the Webb-Share project (seep4). The article focuses on thefascinating way Webb interactedwith many of the private observa-tories of Victorian times and howhe embraced the new technologyof silvered-glass mirrors. Webbmade at least twenty observatoryvisits during sixty years ofobserving in the mid-nine-teenth century.

In March 1826 Thomastravelled by coach toOxford for his matricula-tion. He visited theBodleian Library and theRadcliffe Observatory.Close inspection of tele-scopes by Dollond andHerschel combined withthe lectures by StephenPeter Rigaud (1774-1839),the Savilian Professor ofAstronomy and Director ofthe Radcliffe Observatory,were highlights of Webb’searly life whilst he was complet-ing his BA at Magdelen College.Rigaud’s interest in the history ofscience may have ignited a simi-lar passion in his keen student.

More inspiration came duringhis visit to the Royal Observatoryin Greenwich in May 1828 whereThomas was shown Halley’sequatorial stand and zenith sectorby the Astronomer Royal JohnPond (1767-1836). Webb beganexperimenting with metallicspecula and fluid-lenses. In 1832Thomas’ father Revd John Webb

(1776-1869) contacted GeorgeDollond (1774-1852) about dia-lyte telescopes. Although the esti-mate proved too costly Webbretained his interest in this formof instrument and was able to useBuckingham’s dialyte more thanthirty years later.

The influence on Webb ofGeorge Dollond’s telescopesextended to Hereford. Between1823 and 1841 Henry Lawson(1774-1855) lived there andmade astronomical, meteorologi-cal and atmospheric electricityobservations. Lawson upgraded

to a 5-foot Dollond in 1826 andan 11-foot, 7-inch Dollond in1831. Webb recalled an earlyview of the planet Uranus:

‘Once I had the pleasure of see-ing it as a beautiful miniature fullmoon, with an 11 feet achromaticof 7 inches aperture, the “chef-d’oeuvre” of the late GeorgeDollond, at that time the propertyof H. Lawson, Esq., of Bath, andsubsequently bequeathed by himto the Greenwich Naval School.’

In July 1834 Webb’s fatherpurchased a 5-foot, 3.7-inchrefractor by Tulley & Sons –this was Thomas’ ‘commontelescope’ which he useduntil the end of 1857.Mounted on an altazimuthstand outside in the openair this instrument pro-duced the majority ofobservations for CelestialObjects during the period1847-57. The project wasinspired by his father’s fur-

ther gift of the BedfordCatalogue by William Henry

Smyth (1788-1865) whichdescribed observations madewith an 8½-foot, 5.9-inch Tulleyrefractor. Webb had the opportu-nity of using this instrument forhimself in 1860.

In 1848 Webb again visited theRoyal Observatory in Greenwich.His occasional trips to ‘town’also facilitated visits to privateobservatories. In 1849 he madehis first visit to South VillaObservatory in Regents Park.This observatory was owned byGeorge Bishop (1785-1861) whohad appointed John Russell Hind

Travels of the Revd T.W. WebbPaul Haley

Revd Thomas William Webb(1806-85).


(1823-95) as his astronomicalobserver in 1844 to use his 7-inchDollond – whose optics weresimilar to those used by Lawson.At this stage Hind had discoveredthe minor planets Iris and Flora,Nova Ophuichi, two comets andthe long-period variable RLeporis, also known as ‘Hind’sCrimson Star’.

1849 was a significant year forWebb. He resigned his duties inGloucester Cathedral in June andhis mother died in July. Thomasand his wife Henrietta moved toGanarew in Monmouthshirewhere he had been appointedcurate. Within a year he had beenelected a Fellow of the RAS andhad begun writing for MonthlyNotices.

Three years later on October 28,1852 Webb visited WandsworthCommon. The 76-foot, 24-inchgiant achromatic erected by RevdJohn Craig (1805-1877) was thelargest refracting telescope in theworld at the time (seeNewsletters no. 3, November2003, pp1-2 and no. 4, May 2004,p1). Webb arrived at the observ-ing site in moonlight and thesight of the huge tower with the3-ton telescope slung in a cradlemust have been impressive.Unfortunately the image quality

proved poor, despite the centralpart of the lens being masked:

‘The moon was only 2° or 3°from the planet; so that the greatlight of this instrument was lesseffective than might have beenexpected; a foot also of the centreof the object-glass was covered:on the whole the effect was verydisappointing: & the view muchless satisfactory than with myown achromatic.’

On May 18, 1854 Webbreturned to Regents Park. Hindwas now Superintendent of theNautical Almanac but continuedto oversee activities at Bishop’sobservatory. Webb observed withAlbert Marth (1828-97) who hadjust discovered the minor planetAmphitrite with the 7-inchDollond. They observed acoloured double star in Bootesand M13, the globular cluster inHercules.

Warren De La Rue (1815-89)was based at Canonbury whenWebb visited on 7 December1855. They observed Saturntogether using De La Rue’s 10-foot, 13-inch metal speculumreflector. Despite having no clockdrive this instrument had alreadyproduced fine photographs of theMoon using the new collodionprocess. Using a power of 300

Webb described the ‘glorioussight’:

‘I plainly saw the dark greenish-blue & grey polar & brown equa-torial belts – the ring all clear ofthe S pole, the shadow on eachside of the ball – across the ringB, widening out till it reached,but did not cross, the great divi-sion .... many satellites.’

On 19 May 1858 Webb wasagain trying out optics byThomas Slater (1817-89) whosework for the Craig telescope hadproved unsuccessful. Slater’s‘great achromatic’ was a 20-foot,14-inch objective which he set upin the New Road, London. Webbnoticed the object glass was outof adjustment but recordeddetails on the lunar terminatorand an occultation of Regulus:

‘I was surprised to find thisevent was impending, and fortu-nate enough to witness it in per-fection. Though Mr Slater sawthe dark limb well, I could notmake it out sufficiently to ascer-tain if there was any projection;but the star continued in fullbrightness, and then was snuffedout almost instantaneously. Itsdisappearance could not haveoccupied 0.25.’

Webb began observing fromHardwicke at the beginning of

The entry in Webb’s Observing Notebook for 1 May 1860 (volume 5, p288) describing observationsmade at the Hartwell Observatory (courtesy of the RAS).


1857. He sold his Tulley refractorin December of that year andused Henrietta’s Bardou 2.2-inchrefractor until his ‘first trial’ of anAlvan Clark 7-foot, 5½-inchobjective on 30 September 1858on Donati’s Comet. Webb perse-vered with the problems ofobserving in the open air, a tem-porary tube, lens adjustments, apoor stand and second-hand eye-pieces for several years. Duringthis period Celestial Objects forCommon Telescopes was pub-lished by Longman on 20 August1859.

Celestial Objects was dedicatedto Vice-Admiral W. H. Smythwhose Bedford Catalogue had soinspired Webb in 1847. Within ayear of its appearance Webb wasobserving with Smyth’s formerTulley refractor. It had beentransferred to HartwellObservatory in 1839 which wasat the Aylesbury home of Dr JohnLee (1783-1866) and Webb visit-ed there on 1 May 1860. NormanRobert Pogson (1829-91) hadbeen appointed director of theobservatory a year earlier.Pogson was a mathematicianwho had calculated orbital ele-ments for Hind. By the time ofWebb’s visit Pogson had discov-

ered three minor planets, Isis,Ariadne and Hestia, and wasseeking to further develop hiscareer.

Observing conditions wereslightly better the following nightwhen Webb visited WilliamRutter Dawes (1799-1868) atHopefield Observatory,Haddenham for a ‘delightfulevening’. Only the ‘eagle-eyedDawes’ was able to glimpseEnceladus near Saturn on thisoccasion. Dawes had been usingAlvan Clark objectives since1854 and had worked with theAmerican instrument maker theprevious year when the 9-foot,8¼-inch objective was installed.Webb may have realised that pur-chasing a suitable mount for hisown 5½-inch objective would bea costly affair and an observatorywould be a further expense.Dawes was nearing the end of hisobserving career which hadbegun with a 1.6-inch objectivein 1826. Six months after Webb’svisit Dawes’ second wife diedand his health further deteriorat-ed.

In 1859 Herefordshire becamethe birthplace of silvered-glassmirrors in this country. RevdHenry Cooper Key was the first

to import the new ideas of LeonFoucault (1819-68) making a 7½-inch and two 12-inch specula by1864. Webb visited StrettonRectory on 17 May 1862 to seeKey’s 10-foot, 12-inch reflector.Inspired by Key’s work GeorgeHenry With (1827-1904) quicklytook up the challenge of the newtechnology and loaned Webb a4½-foot, 5½-inch silvered-glassmirror in 1863.

A year later Webb again com-bined two observing visits onsuccessive nights. On 17 May1864 he met with JamesBuckingham (dates unknown)who had an engineering works atWalworth Common.Buckingham worked with theoptician William Wray (1829-86)whose experiments with reducingchromatic aberration in objectglasses had proved very success-ful. Webb used Buckingham’s30-foot, 21-inch Wray objectiveon the globular cluster inHercules:

‘13M wonderfully resolved,notwithstanding strong moon-light…’

The following night Webb wasin Leyton at the observatory ofJoseph Gurney Barclay (1816-98; see The Antiquarian

Entries in Webb’s Observing Notebook for April and May 1865 (volume 1, p104) made during visits toHenry Slack’s observatory in Camden and James Buckingham at Walworth Common (courtesy of the RAS).


Astronomer, 3, 2006, pp11-18and Newsletter no. 17, October2008, p23). The observer presentwas probably Hermann Romberg(1836-98) who worked there dur-ing 1862-64 and William RadcliffBirt (1804-81) was also present.They used the 12-foot, 10½-inchCooke refractor which had anexcellent objective to observe theMoon and Saturn:

‘I had the great pleasure ofviewing the planet in MrBarclay’s great achromatic of10.5 inches aperture, at Leyton.The evening was favourable, &though there was some haze &much moonlight, a power of 330was quite sharp, & I never sawSaturn so well, excepting with DeLa Rue’s superb 13-inch specu-lum. Ring C was very obvious, &thought considerably brightesttowards the planet, but so feebleas compared with B…’

In August 1864 Webb was ableto experiment with a 6-foot, 8-inch With silvered-glass speculaalongside his 7-foot, 5½-inchAlvan Clark objective. Therefractor won this trial but due toan inadequate mount Webb didnot use it after 1866.

On 20 April 1865 Webb visitedHenry James Slack (1818-96) inCamden and used his 3-inchSteinheil objective in a 7-footsquare balcony observatoryattached to a south-east facingdrawing room. Slack appreciatedthe need for controlling air cur-rents and ensured the mainlyglass construction could quicklycool down to the outside air tem-perature. It is likely that Webbdiscussed the new silvered-glassopportunities – especially asWith was now supplying mirrorsfor John Browning (1835-1925).Slack soon purchased a 6-foot,6¼-inch With-Browning instru-ment which was displayed at DeLa Rue’s soiree in January 1865.

One month later on 18 May1865 Webb again visitedBuckingham’s observing site. Inaddition to using the large achro-matic he also used a 14-foot, 8¾-inch dialyte objective design byWray.

On 7 September 1865 Webbwas in Birmingham visitingFrederick Bird (dates unknown)who had a 12-inch Newtonian ona Tulley mahogany stand set upin a 9-foot circular brick observa-

tory. Bird’s telescope drive used aclepsydra or water-clock whichcould keep objects centred in histelescope field for over twohours. They observed doublestars and lunar clefts andundoubtedly discussed silvered-glass specula since Bird had vis-ited Key and With in 1862 andwas now producing these com-mercially.

Webb’s experience of using sil-vered-glass mirrors was furtherdeveloped on 12 October 1865when he visited With in Herefordto try a 7-foot, 10 1/8-inch specula– observing close double stars,the Andromeda Nebula and aglobular cluster in Pegasus.Further encouragement to adoptthis new technology occurred on3 November 1865 when Webbjoined With to visit Key’s large‘Romney’ observatory, designedby Revd Edward Lyon Berthon(1813-1899), at Stretton Rectory.They used Key’s 10-foot, 12-inchtelescope which resolved γ2 Anddespite poor seeing conditions.Shortly after this the speculumwas acquired by David Gill(1843-1914) of Aberdeen at thestart of his distinguished career.

Entries from Webb’s Observing Notebook for October and November 1865 (volume 1, p113) recordingobservations made with George Henry With and Revd Henry Cooper Key (courtesy of the RAS).


Key upgraded to an 18-inch aper-ture in 1867 – the second largestsilvered-glass mirror in the worldat that time.

Having watched his son’s delib-erations over telescope designsfor nearly four decades Webb’sfather, who had retired toHardwicke in 1860, now support-ed Thomas’ purchase of a 7-foot,91/3-inch With silvered-glass mir-ror. The first trial was in April1866 and by the following yearWebb also had a Berthon eques-trian mount inside a RomseyObservatory. With the publica-tion of the second edition ofCelestial Objects in 1868, thethird in 1873 and the fourth in1881 Webb could at last takepride in the knowledge that hisnights observing in the open airwere over.

Webb made his third visit toBuckingham’s observing site on7 October 1867 to use both histelescopes on close doubles, thefaint companion stars of Vegaand the Ring Nebula in Lyra.

On 13 April 1869 Webb visitedthe Tulse Hill observatory ofWilliam Huggins (1824-1910;see Bulletin no. 18, June 2009,pp7-10) and used his 10-foot, 8-inch Alvan Clark refractor whichhe had purchased from Dawes in1858. Huggins was pioneeringthe new science of spectroscopyand had already observedDoppler shifts in the spectrallines of stars and hydrocarbonbands in cometary spectra. Theylooked for the fine lines in thespectrum of Regulus and alsoclose double stars including γ2And and ζ Cancri using powersup to 980. Webb was impressedwith the quality of stellar images:

‘The discs perfectly circular,uniform, & hard to their edges.’

Huggins wished to upgrade histelescope and four months later ithad been sold. In recognition ofhis work the Royal Societyloaned him with two interchange-able Grubb telescopes consistingof a 15-inch refractor and 18-inchspeculum metal Cassegrainreflector. These were ready foruse by 1871 with spectroscopesadded later. Webb visited TulseHill again on 25 October 1872 touse the 15-foot, 15-inch objectiveto view planetary nebulae withHuggins’ spectroscope andNeptune:

‘The planet was a brilliantobject … of a bluish light &showing a considerable disc; &the satellite was steadily visibleat some distance sp.’

Webb’s Observing Notebooksreveal the value that he placed inhaving his own observatory. Heaveraged 30 nights observationper year in the decade before1867, with the highest number(67 nights) in 1862. In the firstdecade after the observatory wasbuilt Webb averaged 48 nightsper year, with the highest number(83) in 1871. His stamina contin-ued well into his seventies and atthe age of 77 Webb was stillrecording observations on over30 nights of the year.

For the first time he could alsoact as host for visitors to hisobservatory. These includedHerbert Sadler (1856-98) on 24March 1875 – which consideringthe Sadler-Smyth scandal in 1879was an irony. On 31 December1877 Key visited Webb and theyobserved the variable star SOrionis which Webb had discov-ered in 1869. Arthur Ranyard(1845-94) was also present onthis date – they having main-tained a letter correspondence

since 1858 when the 13-year oldRanyard first wrote to Webbabout buying a telescope.

Another important guest wasRevd Thomas H.E.C. Espin(1858-1934) who experiencedone of Hardwicke’s earth tremorsduring a visit on 19 November1879 and observed Saturn withWebb on 14 October 1880. Espinsubsequently became one ofWebb’s executors and used his£100 legacy towards the pur-chase of a 17½-inch Calver sil-vered-glass reflector, upgraded toa 24-inch aperture in 1914. Espinrevised two more editions ofCelestial Objects, with the sixthappearing in 1917.

Revd T.W. Webb has inspiredgenerations of astronomers and itis hoped that this article will con-tribute further to our understand-ing of Victorian astronomy. Afurther Bulletin article will exam-ine how Webb’s telescopes,accessories and observing prac-tices developed during his life-time. A paper covering the life ofRevd Henry Cooper Key (1819-1879) is currently being preparedfor The Antiquarian Astronomer.

Finally, I wish to acknowledgethe assistance of and informationsupplied by Janet and MarkRobinson, Peter Hingley, MarkHurn, Bob Arglye, Bob Marriott,Rhys Griffith, Webb-Share vol-unteer researchers, members ofthe Society for the History ofAstronomy and the Haley family.Illustrations in this article arefrom the archives of the RoyalAstronomical Society and arereproduced courtesy of thatSociety. Special thanks are due tothe Heritage Lottery Fund whichhas supported ‘The ShareInitiative’ with a 3-year ‘YourHeritage’ award.


Further Reading

Janet and Mark Robinsondescribe Webb’s life and work inThe Stargazer of Hardwicke(2006, Gracewing: Chester).

Webb’s Observing Notebooksand transcribed copies of the 331

Webb-Ranyard letters will bemade available digitally throughthe RAS, SHA and IoA Librariesand Herefordshire ArchiveService during 2010.

Further information is availablefrom The Intellectual Observer,

English Mechanic, AstronomicalRegister and Monthly Notices.The Web sites http://www.space-watch.co.uk andh t t p : / / w w w. h e a v e n s a b o v e -film.co.uk/ contain further infor-mation about the Webb-Shareproject.

Exterior and interior views of Sir William Huggins’ observatory at Tulse Hill, London, which Webbvisited in April 1869 and October 1872.


From Trincomalee to MarsNalaka Gunawardene

CHRISTMAS Day 2008marked the hundredth

anniversary of the death of aremarkable man who pioneeredastronomical observations incolonial Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).Most people in the land of hisbirth might not have heard ofhim, but a large crater on Marsimmortalises his name.

By profession, PercyBraybrooke Molesworth (1867-1908) was a Major in the corps ofRoyal Engineers, but he was bet-ter known as one of the world’sleading amateur astronomers atthe beginning of the twentiethcentury. From his personal obser-vatory in Trincomalee, onCeylon’s east coast, Molesworthboth observed the night sky andphotographed celestial bodies,sharing his results with leadingastronomical groups in the West.Armed only with a basictelescope, a sharp eye and gooddrawing skills, he made signifi-cant contributions to advanc-ing our knowledge of theheavens at the time. Andalthough he blazed new trailsin a short lifetime, the eventssince his death show howcallously our nation treats itsscientific legacy.

Percy Molesworth was bornin British-ruled Ceylon on 2April 1867. He was the youngestson of Sir Guildford LindseyMolesworth (1828-1925), thefirst General Manager of CeylonRailways, best remembered forhaving driven the country’s firsttrain engine on its maiden jour-ney from Colombo to Ambepussa

in December 1864. Molesworth Junior was educat-

ed at Winchester College inEngland and obtained his com-mission in 1886. After passingthrough the Royal MilitaryAcademy at Woolwich andChatham, he was first stationed atFort Camden in Cork Harbour,Ireland. In 1891, he was sent toHong Kong for three years, dur-ing which period he engaged inastronomical observations anddispatched drawings of Mars tothe British AstronomicalAssociation (BAA), of which hewas a founding member.

After Hong Kong, Molesworthsought a placement in Ceylon. Hewas posted to the island of hisbirth in 1896, and assigned to be‘engaged in perfecting the

defences of Trincomalee.’ Thismainly concerned the deep waterharbour there, whose strategicimportance was well understoodby the colonial administration.Although his work and hobbystill took him to various places inAsia and Africa, Trincomaleesoon became the home fromwhere he would scan the equato-rial skies for over a decade.

Contemporaries have describedMolesworth as having ‘keen eye-sight, great artistic skill, andabove all, enormous energy.’ SirArthur C. Clarke, another astro-nomic ally-inclined Englishmanwho was to settle down in Ceylondecades later, has written: ‘As aninvasion from India did not seema serious threat, Molesworth hadplenty of spare time – and used itvery effectively to make somesuperb maps of Mars, using a12.5-inch (32 cm) Calver reflec-tor.’

Molesworth set up his personalobservatory on the front lawn ofhis bungalow, from where hecould view the sea in onedirection and Fort Frederickin the other. His property wasseveral hundred feet abovesea level, which gave him asuperb sea horizon for his

observations. Moreover, beinglocated just 8.5 degrees north of

the Equator, he had a clear advan-tage over astronomers on higherlatitudes in Europe and NorthAmerica: he could see far moreof the southern skies.

Molesworth exploited all theseadvantages for astronomicalobservations, and soon made a

Percy Braybrooke Molesworth(1867-1908), from a portraitpublished by Antoniadi in theBAA Mars Memoir for 1903.


name as one of the finest of hiskind in the East. At that time, adedicated amateur, workingalone and in his spare time, couldstill advance knowledge in cer-tain areas of astronomy.Recognition came when he waselected a Fellow of the presti-gious Royal AstronomicalSociety (RAS) in 1898. In thesame year he joined a solareclipse expedition to India.

Molesworth often observed theMoon, and took some rare photosof the Great Comet of 1901,which was best seen from south-ern latitudes. But it was the plan-ets, especially Mars and Jupiter,that most engaged his interest.Richard McKim, writing in theBAA Journal in 1997, suggeststhat for the decade 1896-1905,Molesworth was ‘arguably thefinest amateur planetary observeralive.’

In February 1901, he becamethe first observer in the world tonotice the beginning of the greatSouth Tropical Zone Disturbanceon Jupiter that was to last until1939. This discovery was impor-tant in understanding Jovianatmospheric currents. Its con-junctions with the ‘Great RedSpot’ gave clues to the magnitudeand directions of wind speeds onthe largest planet in the SolarSystem well before unmannedspacecraft flew past in the 1970sand 1980s.

Molesworth did not merelyobserve and draw; he alsoanalysed what he saw. This taskoften required a large number ofroutine calculations which, inthose pre-calculator days, had tobe done entirely manually. Onesuch set of calculations took himseven months of spare time, atthe end of which he noted: ‘Had I

Sir Arthur Clarke outside (above) and inside (below) the dome ofthe Molesworth observatory in the grounds of Colombo University.Inside the dome Sir Arthur is holding a photograph of the martiancrater Molesworth. Note the dilapidated state of both dome and

telescope (both photographs are courtesy Rohan de Silva).


known the amount of labour theywould entail, I should, I think,have hesitated before embarkingon such a task.’

Driving himself hard was char-acteristic of the man, but it soontook its toll. In 1904, a sharpattack of pleurisy and feverforced him to return to Englandfor five months. E M Antoniadi,the leading Mars observer of thetime, later wrote: ‘Overwork ofthis kind, in such a torrid climateas that of Ceylon, finally injuredhis health.’

Molesworth took early retire-ment in 1906, and bought anestate in Trincomalee to devotehis time and energies to astro-nomical work. But it was not tobe. According to the RAS obitu-ary, ‘on his return from a shortvisit to England, he succumbed toa severe attack of dysentery, andpassed away on Christmas Day1908.’ He was only forty one atthe time.

His friend Walter Maundertransferred his papers and notesto the care of the RAS, wherethey have been studied by gener-ations of scholars. In 1973, theInternational AstronomicalUnion (IAU) named one of thelargest craters on Mars in hishonour. Crater Molesworth,located on the Red Planet’ssouthern hemisphere, is some175 kilometres across.

In the land of his birth, mean-while, Molesworth is remem-bered only by a handful of latter-day stargazers. One of them, thelate Herschel Gunawardena, wentin search of Molesworth in 1971and found the house being usedas a tourist centre in Trincomalee.He later wrote in Equatorial, thejournal of the CeylonAstronomical Association: ‘Only

a little of the observatory nowremains, a part of the originalfoundation with a central rockslab which Molesworth may haveused to attach his heavy pier canstill be seen.’

Herschel tracked downMolesworth’s tombstone in theTrincomalee cemetery with greatdifficulty, but found no othermemorial. Writing in the BAAJournal in 1977, Sir ArthurClarke also lamented how therewas no trace of Molesworth any-where in Trincomalee.

Three decades later, Sir Arthurwas to include several references

to Molesworth in what turned outto be his final science fictionnovel, The Last Theorem, pub-lished posthumously in August2008. When the novel's protago-nist, Ranjit Subramanian, isgrowing up in Trincomalee dur-ing the closing years of the twen-tieth century, his father tells himstories about Molesworth. Thisinspires the young man to studymathematics and astronomy,leading to some dramatic resultsfor himself and humanity...

In the real world, however, theplight of the Molesworth obser-vatory illustrates a lack of inter-

Molesworth’s 12.5-inch Calver reflectorat its original loca-tion at Trincomalee

(reproduced courtesyof the RoyalAstronomical

Society).


Above: A map showing the equatorial and temperate regions of Mars compiled by Molesworth from obser-vations that he made during the period 1900-01 (reproduced courtesy of the Royal Astronomical Society).

Left: Extracts from Molesworth’s stripmaps showing the development of the

Jovian South Tropical Disturbance fromFebruary to October 1901. Molesworthdiscovered this disturbance, which last-

ed until 1939, the longest such eventrecorded. The diagram is taken from

McKim (1997) where it is noted that it isreproduced from retouched photocopiesof originals in Molesworth’s rough note-book, which were examined courtesy of

the Royal Astronomical Society.

Below: Jupiter’s South TropicalDisturbance, observed by W.F. Denningon 15 April 1906. Detail of illustration

from McKim (1997) from original imagepublished in Splendour of the Heavens

(Hutchinson, 1923).

SHA Bulletin Issue 18 June 2009

est in preserving our cultural andintellectual heritage, especiallythat from the colonial periods.

Nobody is certain exactly whathappened to the observatory fol-lowing Molesworth’s death.According to some reports, thecustom-made Calver telescopewent into disuse; others say itwas stolen. It somehow turned upin Colombo years later, where itwas restored and used for a whileat the Colombo Observatoryattached to the Department ofMeteorology. It was then given tothe University College, laterUniversity of Colombo, whichhoused it in a small dome on theUniversity grounds adjoiningReid Avenue.

During the Second World War,the Royal Air Force used thedome as the emplacement for ananti-aircraft gun that defendedthe city against Japanese airraids. When the War ended, thetelescope was left with a brokendiagonal and roughly-handledmirror. It took many years for theinstrument to be repaired andinvolved efforts by several aca-demics including Professors C.J.Eliezer and A.W. Mailvaganamand a lecturer in mathematicsnamed V.K. Samaranayake.

‘We had to overcome a lot ofdifficulties,’ Samaranayake wrotein 1970, ‘for by then most of thecomponents were scatteredaround the workshops or lost.’Once restored, the Molesworthtelescope went through periodsof use and disuse. In early 1988,while the country (by thenrenamed Sri Lanka) was engulfedin a brutal southern insurgency,vandals looted the dome andremoved several parts purely fortheir value as metal.

I covered that incident as a

young science journalist thenworking for The Island newspa-per, and later wrote a feature arti-cle titled The Death of anObservatory (26 March 1988). Istill remember being ridiculed bysome for reviving the memory ofa long-dead man at a time whenhundreds of lives were being lostevery week due to extra-judicialkillings.

The telescope never fully recov-ered from that looting, and theUniversity administration hasshown little enthusiasm in pre-serving it. Occasionally, an ama-teur astronomer or universityacademic would take a personalinterest, but the institutionalindifference continues.

Sometime in 2004, whileresearching material for The LastTheorem, Sir Arthur Clarke visit-ed the University to take anotherlook at the Molesworth telescope.Ever the optimist, he noted after-wards: ‘The local amateurastronomers are working torepair it – and although Colombois hardly a good observing site, Ihope they can use it effectively.At least they can see more than90 per cent of the world’s sky –everything except a small patchover the South Pole.’

In the months that followed, SirArthur sent more than one letterto the University’s ViceChancellor, drawing his attentionto what is possibly the oldestpiece of scientific equipment intheir inventory. They were noteven acknowledged.

Alas, little has changed since Ichronicled the observatory’s loot-ing two decades ago. As a centu-ry passes since Molesworth’sdeath, my concluding words inthat 1988 article still hold true:‘Molesworth may be a forgotten

man in his native town and landof birth, but millions of milesaway from home on that freezingsurface, witnessing golden sun-sets, he will remain safe fromlooters and vandals.

‘Well, at least until humansreach Mars…’

Sources andAcknowledgements: It was Sir Arthur C. Clarke whofirst told me, nearly a quarter of acentury ago, about a forgottenCeylonese astronomer who has aMartian crater named after him.Molesworth combined severalelements that also deeply inter-ested Sir Arthur: Ceylon,Trincomalee, astronomical obser-vations and Mars. In the yearsthat followed, Sir Arthur allowedme unrestricted access to hislibrary and archives, where I readmore about Molesworth, princi-pally from BAA and RAS jour-nals and newsletters. Sir Arthurcirculated my 1988 newspapercoverage on the observatory loot-ing to both groups, who printedcomments on the incident at thetime. I am very grateful for hisguidance and support.

I had the privilege of knowingthe late Herschel Gunawardena,who had co-founded the CeylonAstronomical Association withArthur Clarke in 1959, andserved as its first Secretary andlater President. Herschel told medetails of his personal quest forMolesworth, which he had chron-icled in an article he wrote in theEquatorial in 1971. Others whogave me information or insightsinto this story include the late DrV.K. Samaranayake, who playeda part in restoring the telescope inthe 1960s, and Fr Dr MervynFernando, a keen amateur


astronomer who continues to pro-mote the subject in the local lan-guages through the SubodhiAstronomy and Space StudyCentre, http://subodhi.net/astron-omy.htm

My plans to visit Trincomaleeto personally find out the currentstatus of the Molesworth bunga-low and tombstone did not mate-rialise this year due to pressure ofwork and other distractions. Nowthat the long-drawn civil war inSri Lanka’s North-East has final-ly ended, I hope to go in search ofMolesworth in the near future.

Trained as a science writer,Nalaka Gunawardene has

worked for Sri Lankan and inter-national media, and was associ-

ated with Sir Arthur C. Clarke asa research assistant for over 20

years. He blogs on media, societyand development at http://moving

images.wordpress.com/

Further readingA somewhat shortened version ofthis article appeared in TheSunday Times, Sri Lanka on 21December 2008. See: http://www.sundaytimes.lk/081221/Plus/sundaytimesplus_15.html.

There is also some subsequentdiscussion that took place on myblog at http://movingimages.wordpress.com/2008/12/21/from-trincomalee-to-mars-the-fasci-n a t i n g - j o u r n e y - o f - p e r c y - b -molesworth/.

The Sri Lanka AstronomicalAssociation has also published aslightly longer version of the arti-cle at: http://aalk.lakdiva.net/pbmolesworth/trincotomars.pdf

Herschel Gunawardena’s find-ings were reported in Equatorial,the Journal of the Ceylon

Astronomical Association, 3, no.1, July/December 1971. SirArthur Clarke wrote aboutMolesworth in J. Brit. Astron.Assoc, 1977, 87, p518.

The RAS published an obituaryfor Percy Molesworth in theMonthly Notices (1909, 69,pp248-49).

In recent years two papers havebeen published on Molesworth’swork: one by Richard McKim onhis Jupiter work (J. Brit. Astron.Assoc, 1997, 107, pp239-45) andthe other by Richard Baum on hisobservations of Venus (J. Brit.Astron. Assoc, 2007, 117, pp9-21).

The RAS obituary and the tworecent J. Brit. Astron. Assoc.papers are available from theNASA ADS.

FOLLOWING the report inNewsletter no. 17 (October

2008, pp 10-12) of the talk aboutWilliam Lassell by GerardGilligan at the 2008 JointConference at Chetham’sLibrary, the later history ofLassell’s large reflecting tele-scopes may be of interest. Myknowledge of the subject comesfrom my 39 years (1950-89) atRGO and from conversationswith older members of staff.None of them were old enough toremember the actual events, but

these would have occurred in thetime of service of their older col-leagues and immediate predeces-sors and no doubt were the sub-ject of reminiscences. Some ofthe details are mentioned in theAstronomer Royal’s annualreports.

After Lassell returned fromMalta in 1861 and settled atMaidenhead the 24-inch reflectorwas remounted, but apparentlythe 48-inch was not. It wasoffered to MelbourneObservatory but the offer was

refused, possibly because theorder for the Great MelbourneTelescope (also a 48-inch reflec-tor) may already have beenplaced: it was installed in 1868.Lassell’s 48-inch was broken upfor scrap. In 1883, after Lassell’sdeath in 1880, the 24-inch wasdonated to the Royal Observatoryat Greenwich, by (says theAstronomer Royal’s Report tothe Board of Visitors) the ‘MissesLassell’, presumably his daugh-ters or perhaps sisters.

The 24-inch was installed at

The Later History of William Lassell’s LargeTelescopesMichael Lowne

Greenwich in a location to thesouth-west of where the terracot-ta South Building now stands,housed in a dome by T. Cookeand Sons of York. It does notappear to have had much produc-tive use, and in 1892 thetelescope was removed and themounting used to carry the 12¾-inch refractor by Merz ofMunich. The Merz telescope wasoriginally on Airy’s ‘South EastEquatorial’ of 1860 but was dis-mounted in 1891 in readiness forthe acquisition of the new 28-inch refractor for the samemounting.

The Merz telescope was usedfor micrometric measures of dou-ble stars but was moved again in1896 to become the guidingtelescope of the new 26-inchrefractor carried at the top of theSouth Building. The Cooke domewas reused for this telescope,which together with a 30-inchreflector on the same mountingwas the gift of Sir HenryThompson, an eminent sur-geon.

The Lassell telescopewas now superseded bythe 30-inch reflectorand, being withoutany housing orprospective use,was regret-tably broken

up. One of the two speculummetal primary mirrors is now atLiverpool Museum where it hasbeen placed in a replicatelescope.

Speculum metal mirrors tar-nished readily and required peri-odic repolishing, a procedurewhich also involved refiguringthe mirror to the necessary accu-rate parabolical profile. Thisexplains the need for two primarymirrors, one for use while theother was being repolished.Speculum metal has a rather lowreflectivity, between 60 and 70%,and as the Newtonianfocus sec-ondary mir-rors werealso of

speculum the overall efficiencywas at best only about 50%.Lassell preferred to use a right-angle prism as a secondary; itstransmission of 90% or betterwould have improved thethroughput by about a quarter ofa stellar magnitude.

The Great Melbourne Telescopealso had speculum metal mirrors,surprisingly as Leon Foucaulthad described in 1858 his methodof chemically depositing a thinhighly-reflective film of silver onglass. The glass substrate fortelescope mirrors is easier to

work with than speculummetal and the silver coatingcould readily be renewedwhen necessary without theneed for refiguring. Uponthe closure of MelbourneObservatory the telescopewas moved to MountStromlo Observatorywhere it was providedwith a new tube andoptics, but wasdestroyed in 2003when theObservatory suf-fered badly in abush fire.


Lassell’s 48-inchequatorial reflector

at Malta, 1861.


Guided Missives

The Bulletin welcomes letters for publication which canbe on any aspect of the SHA, including its activities,projects and organisation, and, more widely, any topic inthe history of astronomy — Ed.

Magnificationin Nasmyth’sProjected 60-inch Reflector

I have read with interest (nomatter how belatedly) KevinKilburn’s fine article in TheAntiquarian Astronomer (2005,2, pp47-50), concerningNasmyth’s proposed 60-inchtelescope. The article refers tothe telescope tube being 35 feetlong and the focal length to beapproaching 70 feet. There isalso a paragraph giving a directquotation from Nasmyth on page49, saying in part how ‘thegreater part of the duty of mag-nifying power is accomplishedby the metals themselves and notby the eyepiece which in mycase admits of the use of an eye-

piece of very moderatepower…’. That paragraph is pre-ceded by an explanatory one inwhich the author says, ‘Nasmythintended to manage the magnifi-cation of his 5-foot telescope notby using interchangeable eye-pieces of short focal length, butby adjusting the separations ofthe primary and secondary mir-rors, which he referred to as“metals”.’

I believe that there has been amisunderstanding over thosematters. The light path is shownin Nasmyth’s own diagram thatis reproduced in the article onpage 49, and distances can bedetermined by reference to thelength of the telescope tubewhich is specified as 35 feet andserves as a scale. It is 34 feetfrom the primary mirror to theconvex Cassegrain secondary,where the beam diameter isshown as six inches, so the lightis at that point 9/10 of the way to

where it would focus (beamdiameter down to zero). Thus thefocal length of the primarywould be nearly 38 feet., and thefocal ratio about f /7.6. Again bymeasurement on the diagram, itis about 32 feet from the second-ary mirror to the (‘Nasmyth’)focus, showing that the focalratio of the Cassegrain combina-tion is about f /64, giving anequivalent focal length of 320feet. I see Nasmyth’s point aboutmuch of the magnification beingdone by the mirrors and not bythe eyepiece as a comment onthe advantage of the change of fnumber, which we see is a factorbetween eight and nine. Thatmeans that, to obtain a givenmagnification, he would need toemploy an eyepiece of relativelymoderate power in comparisonwith what would be necessary togive the same power at theprime focus. To give a concreteexample, an eyepiece of 2-inch


focal length at the Nasmythfocus would give a powerapproaching 2000 diameters,whereas to obtain the same mag-nification at the prime focuswould need a 6-mm eyepiecewhich would have nothing likethe same eye relief or comfort inuse.

The longitudinal magnificationis the square of the lateral mag-nification, i.e. about ×70. Thusthe longitudinal position of thefocus would change by 70 inch-es for a 1-inch longitudinalmotion of the Cassegrain sec-ondary. With the eyepiece in afixed position, there would be nohope whatever of changing themagnification by altering theseparation of the mirrors – allthat could be accomplished bythat means would be to throwthe image wildly out of focus!

The 36-inch coudé reflector atCambridge, which I use every(fine) night, is basically aCassegrain system, and since theeyepiece is more or less fixedthe focussing is done by longitu-dinal motion of the Cassegrainsecondary; it is very sensitive,and the actual travel of the sec-ondary in the focussing opera-tion is infinitesimal. I feel surethat Nasmyth was not intendingto imply that he could vary themagnification of his telescope,but that he would obtain a (fixedbut important) factor of itthrough the increase in focallength provided by theCassegrain arrangement. At the36-inch coudé I have a power ofabout 360 that serves for guidingas well as finding, but I do notneed to screw my eye into ahigh-power eyepiece to obtain it– I have a splendid great eye-piece (which I salvaged from the

Sheepshanks 12-inch coudérefractor when it was scrapped50 years ago this summer) witha 4-inch field lens and at least aslong a focal length, with plentyof eye relief so I have no need to

take my spectacles off (let alonejam my eye up against it) to seethe view.

Roger Griffin, Cambridge Observatories.

An Unidentified Astronomer?

I wonder if any of your readers could help identify the man(possibly an astronomer) in this photograph (below)? It wasrecently found in the collection of the Institute of Astronomy inCambridge. The photograph is of an unknown man sitting witha book. The photograph is in an envelope embossed with‘Truslove & Hanson Ltd. 6B Sloan Street S.W.’, although thisneed not be considered relevant (the envelope may well havebeen reused). The photograph is sized 125×100 mm and sadlyhas no inscription on the reverse! The image can be found at thefollowing URL: http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk/han-dle/1810/218651. Any help in identification, would be verymuch appreciated.

Mark Hurn,Departmental Librarian, Institute of Astronomy

This photograph of an unidentified man was recently found inthe collection of the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge. Any

help in identifying him would be much appreciated (IoA catalogue reference: PE/46).


Aurora PolarisProject Film

Confirmation of the identifica-tion of Copernicus’ remains andhis facial reconstruction weredescribed in Bulletin no. 18(June 2009, p5; see also p7 ofthe present issue). A group fromGreece, Poland, Slovakia and theUnited Kingdom were fortunateto visit Frombork during May2009 as part of the AuroraPolaris project see (http://sun.planetarium.olsztyn.pl/). The tripproved a fascinating insight intothis period of astronomical histo-ry.

‘The Share Initiative’ is cur-rently producing a film toinclude details of oneastronomer from each countryparticipating in this Grundtviglearning partnership. Theyinclude: Julius Schmidt(Athens), Nicholas Copernicus(Olsztyn/Frombork), MilanRastislav Stefanik (Slovakia)and T.W. Webb (UK). This filmwill be available to SHA mem-bers in Spring 2010.

Paul Haley,Director, The Share Initiative,

Clehonger, Hereford

Information RequestedThe Bulletin is always pleased to receive letters and articles for publication. The contact details aregiven on the back page. We would be particularly interested in information about the following:

details of clocks keeping local time (see Newsletter 17, October 2008, p34),

information on the whereabouts of any of Scriven Bolton’s space art (see Bulletin 18, June 2009, pp30-32),

contributions for the Observatory Scrapbook series (see p57) and follow-up letters with additional details of previous entries.

The cover of Worlds of If Science Fiction magazine for June 1956,featuring an article discussing Project Vanguard. The US plans tolaunch an artificial satellite during the International Geophysical

Year were widely discussed before Sputnik 1 (see opposite).


Bunk and Bilge

It is pure mischief to adduce onesource after another, attributingto Spencer Jones a remark madeby Woolley, when all that those‘sources’ are doing is copyingone another’s misstatement thatstarted (already long after theevent) with somebody’s faultymemory. They have forgotten (orprobably in most cases havenever known) who actuallymade the remark in the firstplace.

I tell you that it was SirRichard Woolley, who never suf-fered fools gladly, and who,when besieged by reporterswhen he had just arrived after awearing flight from Australia totake up his new position asAstronomer Royal, was askedwhat he thought of the possibili-ty of space travel and he repliedthat he thought it was ‘utterbilge’. You can read the report ofit, written at the time it hap-pened, in the on-line archive ofThe Times for 1956 January 3(and comments about it on sub-

sequent days). Itwas also reported onpage 34 of the very firstissue, in 1956, of Spaceflight,published by the BritishInterplanetary Society, of whichI was a member at the time. Ihereby chal-lenge Stuart Williams, RogerJones, the Editor of thisNewsletter or indeed anyone elseto produce an analogous ‘real-time’ report of Spencer Jonessaying anything of the sort.When nobody has been able todo that after being allowed a rea-sonable time, I invite the Editorto publish the (inevitable andcorrect) conclusion that theattributions of theremark to SpencerJones, however numerous, mustbe mistaken.

Roger Griffin, Cambridge Observatories.

[I have discussed Dr Griffin’scomments with Stuart Williamsand Roger Jones. We have madefurther on-line searches, buthave been unable to find a refer-

ence to the quotation attributedto Spencer Jones dating from thetime it was allegedly made. Nor

is it mentioned in his obitu-ary (Q. J. R. Astron.

Soc, 1963, 4,

pp113-25)or his entry

in ThomasHockey’s

BiographicalEncyclopaedia of

Astronomers (2007). In theabsence of such evidence the

quotation must be considered tomost likely be a misattributionand hence unfounded.

Actually, it is possible to con-jecture a plausible case thatSpencer Jones is unlikely to havesaid what is attributed to him.Part of the mythology of theremark (repeated in several on-line versions) is that it was madejust a fortnight before Sputnik 1.However, the United States hadannounced in 1955 that it wasgoing to orbit an artificial satel-lite during the InternationalGeophysical Year (as, indeed, iteventually did) and these planswere the subject of considerablepublic interest and discussion(see, for example, W.P. McCray,Keep Watching the Skies, 2008,Princeton Univ. Press, p63).Moreover, Spencer Jones was onthe ICSU (International Councilof Scientific Unions) SpecialCommittee for the IGY, so itseems unlikely he was unawareof the American plans – Ed.]

Sir Harold Spencer Jones (1890-1960), Tenth Astronomer Royal

(1933-1955).

Sir Richard van der Riet Woolley(1906-1986), Eleventh

Astronomer Royal (1956-1971).

Sptunik 1,launched in

1957.


Book ReviewsDunn, Richard, The Telescope:A Short History. Hardback,National Maritime Museum,London, 2009, ISBN 978-1-906367-04-6, £12.99, pp192.

Richard Dunn’s book is not atechnical monograph on the con-struction of telescopes; neither isit an academic treatise detailingtheir design, development anduse during their 400-year history.It is as its title suggests a shorthistory, but one which, uniquely,relates that history to the ever-changing worlds of astronomy,and of other aspects of scienceand philosophy, and also intro-duces the reader to some of theremarkable personalities encoun-tered on the way.

The scope of the book is clearfrom its chapter headings, from‘Before the telescope’ to ‘Modernastronomical telescopes’. Thestory is of course told chronolog-ically, but very well organisedinto sections recounting impor-tant aspects, such as for instancethe development of reflectors andachromatic refractors, the use oftelescopes in the struggle for

global domination in the eigh-teenth and nineteenth centuries,and the use of telescopes andbinoculars in modern life, toname just a few.

As one would expect there arereferences to many greatastronomers and descriptions ofmany important astronomicalinstruments, but we are alsoreminded of the many other usesto which the simple telescope andits derivatives have been put, andthe way this has been viewed bypeople at the time. There arenumerous fascinating tales ofaspects of the subject that do notnecessarily come to mind whenthinking about the instrument,but which contribute to a remark-ably widespread and completereview.

Given its relatively small for-mat, Richard Dunn manages toinclude in this book anamazingly extensivecollection of referencesto great telescopes, totelescopes often farfrom great but whichhave historical signifi-cance, to telescopemanufacturers andtelescope usersthroughout the fourcenturies. These refer-ences are factuallyaccurate and obviouslybased upon extensivearchival research, andgiven with sufficientinformation to indicatetheir relevance to the overallstory – but that is the real strengthof the book, it is a story. A storysuperbly told, which paints awonderful picture of a changing

world and the importance of tele-scopes therein, and told not with-out humour, especially in some ofthe illustrations which give us afurther insight into the reactionsof people at the time. It is verywell written, well-produced andwith numerous illustrations, notall of predictable subjects, butwhich all add to this compellingpiece of history.

There is ample reference toother sources for those who wishto study further aspects oftelescope history and use, but thisis the story of the telescope in awonderfully readable form, diffi-cult to put down and one whichthis reviewer and, I believe,many other readers, will wish toreturn to over and over again. It isa unique treatment of the subjectand highly recommended.

Gilbert Satterthwaite

A Japanese lady and her daugh-ter use a telescope to watch sail-ing ships. From an early nine-teenth century Japanese print

(courtesy Wikimedia Commons).


Holmes, Richard, The Age ofWonder: How the RomanticGeneration Discovered theBeauty and Terror of Science.Paperback, Harper Press,London, 2009, ISBN 978-0-00-714953-7, £9.99, pp380.

Reading this book is like attend-ing a seminar in the comfortable,book-lined study of a learned andfriendly old professor. Theshelves are laden with choicetomes and his hand travels unerr-ingly to the most appropriatequotations. Great names from thepast, become living, breathingpeople in his descriptions. It isnot without generalisations, but itsteers clear of the ideology whichcan make much history-of-sci-ence writing unreadable. Suchclearness of language we mightexpect from Richard Holmes,whose previous works haveincluded a major study of thepoet Coleridge. This mixture ofliterary background (there arenumerous quotes from poeticworks) with history of science isthe books’ principal attraction.

To attempt to summarise thisbook, would itself lead to a con-

siderable essay, but I will try topick out some of the main fea-tures. The book starts with SirJoseph Banks (1743-1820), whodominated the English scientificscene of his day. His major con-tribution was his expedition toTahiti with James Cook, but hewent on to become President ofthe Royal Society. There followsa fascinating section on the pio-neering adventures of ballooning.

The main section of astronomi-cal interest is on the Herschels.There is quite a lot of informationabout William and CarolineHerschel, which if covered byother writers elsewhere, is stillhere entertainingly presented.William Herschel’s concept of‘deep-space’ in astronomy iscompared to that of CharlesLyell’s ‘deep-time’ in geology.

A chapter deals with the sadstory of Mungo Park (1771-1806) the young Scottish explor-er who was killed on his journeyof discovery in Africa. We learnmuch about Sir Humphry Davy(1778-1829) who was far morethan the inventor of the miners’safety lamp for which he is most-ly remembered. His early experi-ments with gases led to manychemical discoveries. He wasalso important for his develop-ment of scientific method.

Lurching through the bookcomes the monster ofFrankenstein (1818) by MaryShelley. Frankenstein shows howthe wonder of science can easilyturn to horror. This two-edgedsword of progress still remainswith us still today.

If Sir Joseph Banks dominatesthe first part of this book, the endpart is dominated by Sir JohnHerschel (1792-1871), whopresided and networked in the

scientific community much as SirJoseph Banks had done over thenatural philosophers of his day.

In the Epilogue, Holmes makesa point that I think many mem-bers of the SHA will agree with,that the history of science has arole in breaking down barriersbetween science and other disci-plines and avoiding the ‘two cul-tures’ scenario.

In conclusion, this book is agood easy read, is informative,and encourages the reader to gooff and read, or reread manyother books. My only complaintis that the book would flow withmore ease without the massivenumbers of endnotes, many ofwhich are just repeat bibliograph-ic references.

Mark Hurn

Murdin, Paul, Full Meridian ofGlory. Perilous Adventures inthe Competition to Measure theEarth. Hardback, Springer,New York, 2009, ISBN 978-0-387-75534-2, £15.99, pp187.

As one who has been interestedin meridian measurement formany years I purchased this book


with great expectations. By thetime I reached the end I felt a lit-tle let down.

Measuring meridians has occu-pied many astronomers and oth-ers from the time of Eratosthenescirca 240 BC to the mid-twentiethcentury. After this, techniqueschanged with the introduction ofelectronics. Whilst knowledge ofthe figure of the Earth is still verymuch required more accurateresults than the use of meridianarc measurements can beobtained through the use of satel-lite technology.

Meridian (or any arc) measure-ment required extensive veryaccurate observations, tediouscomputations and was extremelytime consuming. It needed a goodknowledge of mathematics, notsolely of plane triangles butspherical ones, since the linesinvolved were so long that theangles of the triangle on theearth’s surface could no longer beconsidered to total 360°.

The Meridian around which thisbook revolves is that throughParis although the techniques andinstrumentation were similar tothat used on other such arcs. Theessence of a meridian measure-ment was to set out a chain of tri-angles between prominent pointssuch that each triangle was aslarge as possible (even tens ofmiles long), and the terminals ofeach successive triangle shouldbe mutually inter-visible andarranged such that they joined anotable terminal at each end ofthe chain. At this point astronom-ical observations would be takenfor position. In particular the dif-ference in latitude between thetwo terminal points gave theangular distance between themwhereas the triangulation meas-

urements would give the linearequivalent between the same twopoints. Although it was not essen-tial for the line of triangles to beexactly north-south Jean Picard(1620-82) did set out to achievethat with his scheme in 1668-70.By the time of the Cassinis in theseventeenth and eighteenth cen-turies, however, it was possible toapply adjustments if the two ter-minals were not of the same lon-gitude.

In addition scale had to be intro-duced to the chain of trianglesand this was usually achieved bymeasuring two lines, one neareach end of the chain, as accu-rately as possible. There is acomment, p17, that Picard wentto great lengths to orient the base-line N-S. This would have beenquite unnecessary since it couldhave been at any orientation. Infact from Picard’s quoted anglesit would appear that his southernbaseline was actually some 2.5°from north but the sparsity ofavailable details makes it difficultto verify.

Thus it can be seen that thereare a range of parts to this wholeexercise, each of which requiredspecialist equipment and tech-niques. For the angles of the tri-angle Picard used a quadrant of38 inches radius. Now consider-ing that the points between whichthe angles were to be observedcould lie at any elevation it wasthe inclined angles that weremeasured by a quadrant not thedirect horizontal ones as wouldnow be obtained by using atheodolite. Whether or not Picardreduced his readings to the hori-zontal equivalents is not clear butcertainly his successors in arcmeasurement did and it was avery tedious exercise. This doesnot come out in the text ofMurdin. (pp22-23).

At the top of p26 the averagelength of a degree of latitude isintroduced but this has little pointsince it is the difference betweensuccessive degree lengths that isof interest. Then on p30 we havea curious mixture of leagues andkilometres at a time before thekilometre had been introduced.So to say that the coast had beenlocated accurately to 1 kilometreis an impossibility. But to thenrelate that to the change in area ofthe size of France in squareleagues is about as confusing as itcould be.

On p36 when referring to themap of France there is referenceto ‘Robb 2007’ but that does notappear in the list of references.

On p59 the author is describingthe expedition to Lapland byMaupertuis and refers to takingthe astronomical observations forlatitude by a zenith sector of 90ºangle. The actual sector used byMaupertuis was of 9 feet radiuswith a telescope of similar length

Jean Picard (1620-82).


and with an arc (limb) of 5.5° not90°. In 1986 this same instrumentwas on display at a Maupertuisexhibition in Uppsala.

On p64 line 9 it says that ‘… theastronomical measurements hadnot been re-calibrated at their fin-ish.’ As you cannot calibrate ameasurement does this mean thatthe instruments had not been re-calibrated or is it more subtle?

On p63 it is recorded that theArctic arc (that is, that ofMaupertuis) gave a value for 1°that would appear to be 1000toises more than Cassini’s. Thenon 64 it is said to be 500 metreslonger. These figures wouldappear to be referring to the samequantity; in which case the arith-metic is incorrect since 1000 tois-es is around 2000 metres. In thiscontext why is it necessary towrite (p65) ‘… that the arc meas-ured by Svanberg was 57196toises long.…’, 400 metres short-er than Maupertuis? This is high-ly confusing to the reader and,one would tend to suggest,unnecessary. Why couldMaupertuis not be quoted as 200toises shorter? After all, he cer-tainly did not measure in metres.Similarly on p69 the base wasmeasured as ‘6300 toises … anddiffered by only 8 centime-tres…’. Then referring back top75 it is shown that the differencebetween Maupertuis and Cassinifor 1° was actually 341 toises (=664 metres).

In the long discussion of thedetermination of the metre fromthe measurements in France thesingle sentence comment at thebottom of p107 is the only men-tion of use of the arc in Peru.When trying to determine the fig-ure of the Earth, which at thattime was thought to be either a

prolate or an oblate spheroid,there are two unknowns – thesemi-major and semi-minor radii.Hence with two unknown quanti-ties two equations are required todetermine the values. This wasactually achieved by combiningthe results from Peru with thosefrom France. Trying to determineboth unknowns from the data ofone arc would be asking for trou-ble where the lengths of succes-sive degree measures wouldchange by only about 15 metresper degree. The whole idea ofgoing to Peru and Lapland was tohave two results as widely sepa-rated as possible.

On p141 is reference to the gradas a unit of measurement.Contrary to the comment there, itwas a widely used unit in Europeand the majority of theodolitesmanufactured for the non-Britishmarket, for example, were sograduated.

Various typing errors werenoticed but in particular thisreviewer would take exception tothe spelling ‘meter’ when it wasinvented as the ‘metre’. ‘Meter’to me is a box on the wall tellingme how much electricity I haveused.

Considering the mathematicalnature of the measurement of theEarth it is rather surprising thatthere are no diagrams illustratingwhat a chain of triangulation is,(that shown on the map ofFrance, Figure 14, can hardly besaid to show the triangles suffi-ciently well), or more examplesof the numbers relating to eccen-tricity, length of 1°, astronomicalresults, base measurement and ofcalculations. Maybe it was anattempt to make it a popular workas devoid as possible of numbersor formulae. If that was so, then it

is suggested that that was notice-ably overdone.

The potted biographies of allthe main characters are very use-ful but by scattering themthroughout the text they are per-haps more of a distraction thanthey would have been if alltogether as an appendix.

Overall, this is a well producedbook, easy to read and full ofgood factual material but spoiltby slips of the sort described. Inparticular the random mixture ofunits presumably panders to themodern taste for metric valuesbut relates to times long beforesuch a unit was known. By allmeans use 10 toises (= 19.5metres) but not as shown here.The illustrations are excellentand include many that are notoften seen.

There is material here to interestboth the surveyor and theastronomer although not thosewho are in any way researchinginto this topic area and whowould require more depth. Thediscussion of the trials and tribu-lations of carrying out such a taskwhether it be in France, Laplandor Peru paints a fascinating pic-ture of the multitude of hardshipsendured. As an astronomer him-self the author may well havegone deep enough for that profes-sion but not for the surveyor. Thesurveyor thrives on numbers,small errors, spherical trianglesand the like and would no doubtecho the sentiment that the con-tents only scrape the surface asfar as he is concerned.

Certainly at such a very reason-able price it can be recommendedto members of the SHA who maywish to put it on their Christmaspresent list.

Jim Smith


Books noticedMadeline Cox

Modern ReprintsTwo publishers have come to myattention recently who specialisein reprinting old texts, whichinclude some of the items listedbelow. They are BiblioBazaar athttp://www.bibliobazaar.com andForgotten Books athttp://www.forgottenbooks.com.They are worth checking out ifyou are interested in old astrono-my texts.

New BooksThis column lists some recentlypublished books which might beof interest. Listing here does notpreclude a review at a later date,nor does it necessarily meanendorsement. Please note pricesmay vary according to suppliers.

Berryman, S, The MechanicalHypothesis in Ancient GreekNatural Philosophy, CambridgeUniversity Press, 2009, hard-cover, 296 pages, ISBN 978-0521763769, £50.

Brandl, B.R, Stuik, R, Katgert-Merkelijn, J.K. (eds), 400 Yearsof Astronomical Telescopes,Springer, 2009, hardcover, 516pages, ISBN 978-9048122325,£99.

Brück, M, Women in EarlyBritish and Irish Astronomy,Springer, 2009, hardcover, 200pages, ISBN 978-9048124725,£90.

Mörzer Bruyns, W.F.J, andDunn, R, Sextants atGreenwich: A Catalogue of theMariner’s Quadrants, Mariner’sAstrolabes, Cross-staffs,Backstaffs, Octants, Sextants,Quintants, Reflecting Circlesand Artificial Horizons in theNational Maritime Museum,Greenwich, Oxford Univ. Press,2009, hardcover, 336 pages,ISBN 978-0199532544, £120.

Bryant, W.W, A History ofAstronomy, publisherunknown, 2009 [Modernreprint; original 1907], paper-back, 236 pages, ISBN 978-1459008960, £18.80.

Chabas, J. and Goldstein, B.R,The Astronomical Tables ofGiovanni Bianchini, BrillAcademic Publishers, 2009,hardcover, 150 pages, ISBN978-9004176157, £70.

Cokinos, C, The Fallen Sky: AnIntimate History of ShootingStars, Jeremy P. Tarcher, 2009,paperback, 528 pages, ISBN978-1585427209, £18.00.

Doel, R.E, Solar SystemAstronomy in America,Cambridge Univ. Press, 2009,paperback, 316 pages, ISBN978-0521115681, £22.99.

Dwight, E, Soaring On theWings of a Dream: The UntoldStory of America’s First BlackAstronaut, Third World Press,2009, paperback, 450 pages,

ISBN 978-0883783122, £21.50.

Fison, A.H, Recent Advances inAstronomy, BiblioBazaar, 2009,[Modern reprint], paperback,252 pages, ISBN 978-111352062, £17.99.

Fugate, R.Q. and Duffner, R.W,The Adaptive Optics Revolution:A History. Univ. of New MexicoPress, 2009, hardcover, 485pages, ISBN 978-0826346919,£38.50.

Gill, J and Merrifield, W.V,Text-Book on Navigation andNautical Astronomy,BiblioBazaar, 2009, [Modernreprint], paperback, 448 pages,ISBN 978-1110790234, £18.99.

Grant, E, Planets, Stars andOrbs: The Medieval Cosmos1200-1687, 2 volume set,Cambridge Univ. Press, 2009,paperback, 2009, ISBN 978-0521138680, £40.00.

Herschel, Sir John F.W.Outlines of Astronomy,Forgotten Books, 2009 (Classic


Reprints), paperback, 782pages, ISBN 978-1440040245,£10.54.

Hinks, A.R, Astronomy,Forgotten Books, 2009, (ClassicReprints), paperback, 258pages, ISBN-978-1440038983,£7.58.

Hutchinson, M, ExactAstronomy: A DynamicalSolution of the FundamentalProblems of MathematicalAstronomy, Bibliobazaar, 2009,[Modern reprint], paperback,30 pages, ISBN 978-113267528,£15.99.

MacPherson, H, A Century’sProgress in Astronomy, BooksLLC, 2009, [Modern reprint],paperback, 138 pages, ISBN978-1443259712, £13.40.

Melady, J. and Champ, H,Canadians in Space: TheForever Frontier, Dundurn,2009, paperback, 256 pages,ISBN 978-155029401, £15.99.

Newcomb, S, Astronomy: AStudy, Forgotten Books, 2009,(Classic Reprints), paperback,396 pages, ISBN 978-1440038990, £8.96.

Rinaldi, G, Will Hay,Tomahawk Press, 2009, paper-back, 448 pages, ISBN 978-0955767012, £17.99 (contains achapter on Will Hay’s astro-nomical work).

Stebbing, F.C, Navigation andNautical Astronomy,Bibliobazaar, 2009, [Modernreprint], paperback, 354 pages,ISBN 978-1110790098, £18.99.

Sullivan, W.T, Cosmic Noise:The History of Early Radio

Astronomy, Cambridge Univ.Press, 2009, hardcover, 574pages, ISBN 978-0521765244,£85.00.

Vaquero, J.M. and Vázquez, M,The Sun Recorded. Springer(Astrophysics and SpaceScience Library), 2009, hard-cover, 382 pages, ISBN 978-0387927893, £121.50.

Whewell, W, Astronomy andGeneral Physics Consideredwith Reference to NaturalTheology, Cambridge Univ.Press (Cambridge LibraryCollection – Religion), 2009,paperback, 404 pages, ISBN978-110800123, £20.99.

Also NoticedClive Davenhall

Listing here constitutes neither areview nor a recommendation,nor does it preclude futurereview. Information is given ingood faith but cannot be guaran-teed.

Early Photography Broughtto Light

Keller, Corey (ed), Brought toLight. Hardback, SanFrancisco Museum of ModernArt and Yale Univ. Press, NewHaven and London, 2008,ISBN: 9780300142105,$(US)50.00, pp215, 207 illustra-tions.

Brought to Light is the catalogueof an exhibition of the same nameon the subject of early scientificphotography in the period 1840-1900. The exhibition ran at theSan Francisco Museum ofModern Art from January toOctober 2008 and then trans-ferred to the Albertina in Vienna.Both exhibition and catalogue aredivided into a number of themat-ic sections: microscopes, tele-scopes, motion studies, electrici-ty and magnetism, X-rays andfinally spirit photography. Theastronomical section is mostimmediately of interest andincludes a selection of arrestingearly photographs of the Moon,Sun, eclipses, planets, star fieldsand nebulae. However, the non-astronomical sections containmany unfamiliar images that arealso likely to be of interest. Theinclusion of a section on spiritphotography seems odd now, but


in the nineteenth century the sub-ject was approached scientifical-ly, at least in some quarters.

The catalogue is a sumptuouslyproduced hardback of some 215pages. It is full of strikingimages, excellently reproduced,many of which would be other-wise difficult to obtain. There arefour introductory essays and eachsection also has its own shorteressay. That for the astronomicalsection is by Marie-Sophie Corcyof the Musée des Arts et Métiers,Paris. This excellent volumedeserves to be more widelyknown. (A version of this notehas previously appeared inSCAN-IT, no. 5, July 2009, p27.)

Fringe History

Kehoe, Alice B, Controversies inArchaeology. Paperback, LeftCoast Press, Walnut Creek,California, 2008, ISBN 978-1598740622, $(US)29.95,pp255.

Fritze, Ronald H, InventedKnowledge: False History, FakeScience and Pseudo-Religions.Hardback, Reaktion Books,London, 2009, ISBN 978-1861894304, £19.95, pp272.

History, and particularly ancienthistory and archaeology, areprone to pseudoscientific fringetheories, some alas with astro-nomical aspects. These twobooks discuss and debunk vari-ous such ideas: Atlantis and otherlost continents, pyramid power,ancient super-civilisations,ancient astronauts and precisely-aligned prehistoric monuments.Neither book is specificallyastronomical, but some of the

material is likely to be of interestto anyone concerned with ancientastronomy.

Books about Books

Eliot, Simon and Rose,Jonathan (eds), A Companion tothe History of the Book.Paperback, Wiley-Blackwell,Chichester, 2009, ISBN 978-1405192781, £24.99, pp616.

Pearson, David, Books asHistory: The Importance ofBooks Beyond Their Text.Hardback, British LibraryPublishing, London, 2008,ISBN 978-0712349239, £25.00,pp208.

Books about books must be likeomnibuses: there are none forages and then two (at least))come along at once. ACompanion to the History of theBook is what its title suggests: acomprehensive treatment of thehistory of book from AncientSumeria through ClassicalAntiquity, the European andArabic Middle Ages, theRenaissance and the invention ofprinting down to modern times,with forays further afield to theFar East and the New World.Books as History adopts a differ-ent and novel approach, consider-ing books as artefacts, designedartistic objects of interest inthemselves and in addition to thetext that they contain. It is sump-tuously illustrated in colour.

Grimoires

Davies, Owen, Grimoires: AHistory of Magic Books.Hardback, Oxford Univ. Press,

2009, ISBN 978-0199204519,£14.99, pp368.

Grimoires could have beenincluded in either of the two sec-tions above. It is a comprehen-sive history of books of magic,the grimoires of the title, fromAncient Egypt to the present day.It is not specifically astronomi-cal, but there is much which islikely to be interest as the historyof astronomy, at least before theScientific Revolution, wasentwined with magic and ‘hiddenknowledge’, not least throughastronomy’s irrational sibling,astrology.

An on-line review by MarkWilliams is available at:http://www.saltpublishing.com/horizon/issues/02/text/williams_mark.htm

The History of the Book inthe West

If the above volumes do not con-tain enough detail on the historyof the book to satisfy you thenyou may be interested thatAshgate Publishing of Farnham,Surrey is offering the five-vol-ume The History of the Book inthe West: A Library of CriticalEssays. The series editor isAlexis Weedon and the details ofthe individual volumes are:

Volume 1: AD 400-1455, editedby Jane Roberts,Volume 2: 1455-1700, edited byIan Gadd,Volume 3: 1700-1800, edited byEleanor Shevlin,Volume 4: 1800-1914, edited byStephen Colclough and AlexisWeedon,Volume 5: 1914-2000, edited byAlexis Weedon.


This series is not, I suspect, forthe faint-hearted and alsorequires a deep pocket. Each vol-ume costs £130 or the wholeseries can be purchased for £585(a saving of £65). Further detailsare available on Ashgate’s Website: http://www.ashgate.com/

Tunguska Revisited

Rubtsov, Vladimir, TheTunguska Mystery. Hardback,Springer (Astronomers’Universe series), New York,2009, ISBN 978-0387765730,£26.99, pp318.

In 1908 an aerial explosion

occurred overthe Tunguskaregion ofSiberia. It isusually consid-ered to be theresult of animpact by anasteroid or sim-ilar body.Rubtsov’s bookpresents theresults ofinvestigationsinto this eventmade in boththe former USSR and present-day CIS. Specifically, it seeks torefute two myths still prevalent in

the West: thatRussian or otherscientists haved e f i n i t i v e l ysolved the‘Tunguska riddle’or, conversely,that there hasbeen littleprogress in under-standing it. Someof the findings ofRussian andUkrainian scien-tists presented arecertainly uncon-

ventional, but the characteristicsof the event require some suchunusual explanations.

The Survey ofAstronomicalHistoryOnline Newspapers andJournals

Roger Jones

AS I write this article, scan-ners around the country are

busy copying the pages of oldnewspapers and journals so thatthey can be indexed anduploaded to the Web. Thesescanned pages can then beaccessed by researchers every-where including individuals fromtheir home computers. Previouslyonly available in libraries andacademic establishments, theseWeb pages are now replacing thefiches and microfilms that havebeen the norm for many decades.Browsing page after page was atiresome job as there was no

indexing with the fiche andmicrofilm. Today, scanning andOCR (Optical CharacterRecognition) have taken thesearching of old documents to anew level.

To date millions of newspaperpages have been scanned anduploaded, and every month thou-sands more become availableonline. The best example isundoubtedly The Times whosearchive stretches back to 1785.Most UK public libraries havethis available to card holders ontheir library computers, but inrecent months many have madethe service available for freehome use. Check out your locallibrary today and see whetherthey allow home access. InWalsall where I live I can accessThe Times archives and manyother newspapers and journalsfrom home just by logging on andentering my library card number.In addition I can access theOxford DNB, EncyclopaediaBritannica and many other useful

resources. I also hold a card for

Birmingham Central Library andtheir online facility allows meaccess to CREDO referencematerial. If for example I wantedto refer to a dictionary of astron-omy, I can enter a search queryand up comes the relevant pages.Not only that, but there are linksto other publications available onthe library shelves relating to thesearch query. ‘Huygens’ as aquery brings 139 results includ-ing biographies, images and othertext references, many in placeswhere one might not havethought to look.

A few months ago the BritishLibrary embarked on a trial proj-ect to allow online research ofmany more local newspaper andjournal archives from 1800-1900.Millions of articles from fortynine London, national andregional newspaper titles areavailable, with thousands of asso-ciated illustrations, maps, tablesand photographs. Over two mil-


lion pages, all fully text search-able with keywords in contextvisible in the results list, areincluded. The trial period hasnow concluded and home accessto the papers is by pay per view,although there is some free con-tent, namely the entire issues ofThe Graphic and The PennyIllustrated. You can buy a 24-hour or a 7-day pass that allowsaccess to 100 or 200 articles overthose periods. Fortunately myBirmingham Library card givesme free home access to the entirearchive.

The British Library Web site ishttp://newspapers.bl.uk/blcs/.Here are two examples of whatyou might find in searching for

‘telescope’ or ‘astronomy’…

Mr George Creaser, telescopemanufacturer, of Meltham nearHuddersfield gave a lecture toStaveley Mechanic’s Institute on‘the Science of Astronomy’. Thisarticle is from The DerbyMercury, 23 November 1853.Who was George Creaser? Hewas elected a Fellow of the RASin 1875, and a brief obituaryappears in the Monthly Notices(February 1880, 40, p191). Isanything else known?

Jackson’s Oxford Journal(Oxford, England), Saturday, 9December 1876, issue 6454,describes a lecture on

‘Elementary Astronomy’ givenby T. Sebastian Bazley.

A search of all forty nine publica-tions for the word ‘astronomer’produces a list of 13545 articles.Here are a few of the titles listedon the British Library Web site:Aberdeen Journal, IpswichJournal, Leeds Mercury,Manchester Times, Pall MallGazette, Western Mail, BristolMercury, Hampshire/PortsmouthTelegraph, Hull Packet,Jackson’s Oxford Journal,Liverpool Mercury, North WalesChronicle, Newcastle Courant,Preston Chronicle, SouthernStar, Reynolds’s Newspaper andmany more.

Above: A screen-shot showing some of the results of a search of the British Library’s Nineteenth CenturyBritish Newspapers Web site.


For members with deep pocketsthe US-based Newspaper ArchiveWeb site (http://www.newspaper-archive.com/) gives unlimitedaccess to millions of scannednews pages from around theworld for around £75 pa($9.99pm). 25 million pages are

being added this year. The cur-rent collections are, of course,only the start. Within the nextfew years we can expect to seealmost all surviving copies of oldnewspapers scanned and avail-able with the simple click of amouse. So check your local

library now and see if you can getmore from your ticket than justborrowing books. And if yourlocal authority is still living in theDark Ages and denying youaccess to these resources, remindthem that this is the Twenty FirstCentury and demand action.

ObservatoryScrapbookThe Woodman Library andthe Washburn Observatory

Clive Davenhall

IN the spirit of the ‘books andsky’ theme of this issue the

charming photograph at rightshows the WoodmanAstronomical Library in its origi-nal location at the WashburnObservatory, circa 1883. TheObservatory, on the campus ofthe University of Wisconsin-Madison, was founded followinga donation by Cadwallader C.Wasburn (1818-82), then theGovernor of Wisconsin. Themain dome houses a 15.6-inchrefractor by Alvan Clark, whichat the time it was installed wasthe third-largest telescope in theUS. The Woodman Library at theObservatory dates from 1883 fol-lowing a further donation byCyrus Woodman (1814-89), afriend and business partner ofWashburn’s.

The Observatory remained animportant research institution forthe first half of the twentieth cen-tury. For example, Joel Stebbins(1878-1966) was Director of theObservatory 1922-48 and did his

pioneering work on photoelectricphotometry there. In 1958,because of creeping urbanisationand deteriorating observing con-ditions, a new observatory wasestablished at a dark-sky site atPine Bluff, some fifteen milesfrom Madison. A year later theAstronomy Department, and withit the Library, moved to officeaccommodation elsewhere on theWisconsin-Madison campus.However, the Observatoryremained in use for undergradu-ate teaching and public observ-ing.

Following a period when it wasclosed for renovation, the build-ing reopened earlier this year. Itsoffices now house the College ofLetters and Science HonorsProgram and undergraduate andpublic observing has resumed.

Further reading

There is a Wikipedia entry for theWashburn Observatory at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washburn_Observatory

Bob Bless wrote a history of the

A globe and a collection of portable astronomical instruments in theWoodman Astronomical Library, circa 1883. The Library is in its

original location in the Director’s office at the WashburnObservatory (courtesy of the University of Wisconsin Archives;

Album 1.61).


Observatory on the occasion ofits centenary in 1978:http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~varda/Long_Wash_Obs_Text.html

Some information on CyrusWoodman and the history ofthe library is available at:http://astronomy.library.wisc.edu/about/woodman.html

Contributing Observatory Scrapbook entriesWe encourage you to contribute entries for the Observatory Scrapbook series. The guidelines are sim-ple. There should be at least one illustration of some historical observatory accompanied by a briefdescription. In this context ‘historical’ means ‘in existence before 1945.’ Typically the description willbe only a few hundred words long, though more extensive pieces are acceptable.

Pictures that are themselves pre-1945 are preferred, though modern ones are acceptable, particular-ly as supplementary illustrations. Photographs, paintings, engravings, drawings etc. are all acceptable.Less-familiar observatories in the UK and the Irish Republic are preferred, in the spirit of the Survey,though major and overseas institutions are also welcome. You should send contributions to the edito-rial address on the back page. We hope to hear from you.

Purchases and DonationsThere has been a single purchasesince the last Bulletin: a second-hand copy of Our ScientificHeritage: an A-Z of Great Britainand Ireland by Trevor Williams(1996, Sutton Publ: Stroud),which will be added to theReference Collection. Thank youto those members who tookadvantage of our book offers andbought surplus stock from us.

Library Manualand CatalogueAll members shouldnow have received aprinted copy of ourLibrary Manual andCatalogue. We hopethis will be the first of

a biennial event. Quarterlyupdates will appear on our Website. We would welcome yourfeedback of what we hope will bea useful publication.

BMI newsAs a memorial to Ken Goward aclock was unveiled in the Libraryduring the lunch break at thisyear’s Autumn Conference on 31

October. It is a personal gift fromStuart Williams, currentTreasurer and ResearchLibrarian. A report will appear inthe next issue of the Bulletin.

RAS LibraryNewsPeter Hingley

By kind invitationSHA membersmay use the RASLibrary. The openinghours are 10:00 am –5:00 pm, Monday toFriday. The address of the RAS is

Library NewsMadeline Cox and Stuart Williams

Left: The Italianate WasburnObservatory on the Campus ofthe University of Wisconsin-Madison, shortly after it was

completed in 1881.


Burlington House, Piccadilly,London, W1J 0BQ. Contact PeterHingley (020-7734 -4582, ext.215; mobile: 07757 133891 [email protected]).

On-line catalogue: http://ras.her-itage4.com

Use of RAS imagesThe RAS can often make imagesfrom its collection available tomembers free of charge if they areto be used for scholarly purposes.All that is asked in return is thatacknowledgement is given in any

ensuing publications. However, afew cases have been noticedrecently where RAS images havebeen reproduced without acknowl-edgement. This behaviour is, atbest, extremely discourteous.

SHA NewsCompiled by Clive Davenhall

2010 Events ProgrammeThe SHA is planning the usual fullprogramme of events for 2010.The details are still under discus-sion but the outline is alreadyclear.

The main change from previousyears is that the AGM will bemoved from the spring or summerconference to the AutumnConference, which in 2010 will beheld on Saturday 30 October. Asusual it will be at the BMI inBirmingham and will beunthemed.

The details of the summer con-ference are still being discussed,but the likely theme is the Historyof Astronomical Photography.Anyone interested in contributinga talk should contact Peter Hingley(contact details on the back page).

The first meeting of the year willbe held at Chetham’s Library,Manchester on Saturday 20February. See below for details.

We hope to hold the SummerPicnic at the historic StonyhurstCollege in Lancashire (seeNewsletter no. 17, October 2008,pp16-18). The details are stillbeing finalised.

Meeting at Chetham’s LibraryThe first meeting of the year willbe a return visit to Chetham’sLibrary, Manchester on Saturday20 February. The meeting isunthemed. A booking form is

included with this issue of theBulletin. Early booking is recom-mended as seating space is limit-ed.

Chetham’s Library was foundedin 1653 and is the oldest publiclibrary in the English-speakingworld. The buildings that it occu-pies are themselves somewhatolder, dating from the secondquarter of the fifteenth century,and are the most complete late-medieval residential complexextant in North West England. TheLibrary has a superb collectionwhich includes Newton’sPrincipia, Flamsteed’s star cata-logues and some papers byJeremiah Horrocks and WilliamCrabtree.

Chetham’s Library is adjacent toVictoria Station and less than fif-teen minutes walk from PiccadillyStation. For further informationsee: http://www.chethams.org.uk/

Library DonationSubsequent to the completion ofthe Library News (see p58) MrStephen Ridgway has kindlydonated an extensive collection ofbooks on lunar studies. Some ofthese volumes are now rare anddifficult to obtain. The collectionincludes books by Nasmyth,Proctor, Flammarion, Pickeringand others. But the centrepiecemust be a copy of Kuiper’sPhotographic Atlas of the Moon(1960). There are also copies ofother NASA atlases and reportsand numerous other items.

A report will appear in theLibrary News for the next issue of

the Bulletin, but in the meantimewe are most grateful to MrRidgway for his extremely gener-ous donation.

Library CatalogueA printed copy of the LibraryManual and Catalogue was dis-tributed to members a few monthsago. If you have not received yourcopy then please contact the RASLibrarian, Peter Hingley (contactdetails above).

An on-line version of the cata-logue is also available, as a PDFdocument, from the Society’s Website, where it is updated quarterly.

ForthcomingMeetings andEvents

Clive Davenhall

The following meetings and eventsare arranged for 2010. The SummerConference and Summer Picnic arestill being finalised and details willbe circulated at a later date. Unlessnoted otherwise, booking is neces-sary for meetings but not for exhibi-tions. Except where noted the eventsare organised by the SHA. Thedetails of non-SHA events arechecked as far as possible but cannotbe guaranteed. Items for inclusion inthis list in future issues of theBulletin are welcome. They shouldbe sent to the editorial address on theback page.

Until Sun. 7 Mar. Points of View.


SHA Council and OfficersHon President

Dr Allan Chapman

Hon Vice Presidents:Dr Michael HoskinSir Patrick Moore CBE FRS

ChairmanGilbert Satterthwaite FRAS [email protected]

SecretaryKevin Kilburn FRAS [email protected] Low Leighton Road, New Mills, High Peak,Derbyshire, SK22 4JF

Treasurer, Research Librarian and SHA e-News EditorStuart Williams research.librarian@

shastro.org.uk26 Matlock Road, Bloxwich, Walsall, WS3 3QD.

Membership SecretaryPeter Hingley [email protected] Librarian, Royal Astronomical Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BQ

Council MembersJerry Grover FRAS [email protected] Lunn MBE [email protected]

Editor, The Antiquarian AstronomerDr W R Withey* [email protected] Lennox Close, Gosport, PO12 2UJ

Assistant Editor, The Antiquarian AstronomerKevin Johnson* [email protected]

Editor, SHA Bulletin (for all correspondence)Clive Davenhall [email protected] Millar Crescent, Morningside, Edinburgh, EH10 5HH

Layout Editor, SHA BulletinPeter Grego FRAS [email protected]

Head LibrarianMadeline Cox FRAS* [email protected]

ArchivistMark Hurn FRAS* [email protected]

Survey Co-ordinatorRoger Jones* [email protected]

Web site ManagerDavid Henderson [email protected]

General communications to the Society should be directed to theSecretary in the first instance.

SHA Web site: http://www.shastro.org.uk* - also a Council Member

The deadline for the next edition of the SHA Bulletin isFriday 2 April 2010

Exhibition of nineteenth centuryphotography, including some scien-tific photography. British Library, StPancras. See: http://www.bl.uk/pointsofview/ (non-SHA event).

Sat. 16 Jan to Sun. 9 May. SolarStory: Understanding the Sun. Anexhibition of striking solar images,including some historic ones fromearly observations. ROG AstronomyCentre, National Maritime Museum,Greenwich. See: http://www.nmm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/ (non-SHAevent).

Sat. 30 Jan to Mon. 1 Feb. 2010.Living the Lunar Calendar: Time,Text, Tradition, to be held at theBible Lands Museum, Jerusalem.See http://www.archeoastronomy.org/ (non-SHA event).

Sat. 20 Feb. Meeting at Chetham’sLibrary, Manchester. A bookingform is enclosed. For further detailscontact Kevin Kilburn (email: [email protected]; postal detailson the back page) See p59.

Sat. 28 Aug to Sun. 5 Sept.Astronomy and Power: How Worldsare Structured. A SEAC (SociétéEuropéene pour L’Astronomie dansla Culture) meeting. Gilching (nearMunich), Germany. See:http://www.archeoastronomy.org/events/index.html (non-SHA event).

Sat. 30 Oct. SHA AutumnConference and AGM at theBirmingham and Midlands Institute,Birmingham. Details TBC. Thismeeting is unthemed and offers oftalks should be sent to KevinKilburn (email:[email protected]).

2010 SubscriptionsAnnual subscriptions become due on 1January 2010. If you have alreadyrenewed thank you for your prompt sup-port. If not, your membership will bedeemed to have lapsed if you do not renewby 31 March 2010 in accordance with theSociety’s constitution. A subscriptionrenewal form has been circulated previ-ously and a reminder is enclosed with this

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