| Sir John Herschel | |
 1867 photograph by
Julia Margaret Cameron |
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| Born | March 7, 1792 Slough, then Buckinghamshire now Berkshire, England |
|---|---|
| Died | May 11, 1871 (aged 79) Collingwood, near Hawkhurst, Kent, England |
Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet KH, FRS (March 7, 1792 – May 11, 1871) [2] was an English mathematician, astronomer, chemist, and experimental photographer/inventor. The Royal Guelphic Order, sometimes also referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, was a British or rather Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as The Royal Society, is a Learned society for science that was founded in 1660 Events 161 - Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus Year 1792 ( MDCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Events 330 - Byzantium is renamed ''Nova Roma'' during a dedication ceremony but is more popularly referred to as Constantinople Year 1871 ( MDCCCLXXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study and research is the field of Mathematics. Historically Astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky while Astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena A chemist is a Scientist trained in the Science of Chemistry. A photographer is a person who takes a Photograph using a Camera. [2] He was the son of astronomer Sir William Herschel and the father of 12 children. Sir Frederick William Herschel FRS KH ( 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German -born British [2]
Herschel originated the use of the Julian day system in astronomy. The Julian date (JD is the interval of time in days and fractions of a day since 4713 B Astronomy (from the Greek words astron (ἄστρον "star" and nomos (νόμος "law" is the scientific study He named seven moons of Saturn and four moons of Uranus. Saturn has 60 confirmed moons. These include 22 regular satellites, which all have Prograde orbits that are not greatly inclined with respect Uranus has twenty-seven named moons. Five of them are massive enough to have achieved Hydrostatic equilibrium and so would be considered Dwarf planets He made many contributions to the science of photography, and investigated colour blindness and the chemical power of ultraviolet rays. Color blindness, a Color vision deficiency is the inability to perceive differences between some of the Colors that others can distinguish Ultraviolet ( UV) light is Electromagnetic radiation with a Wavelength shorter than that of Visible light, but longer than X-rays
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Early life and work on astronomy
Herschel was born in Slough, Berkshire, and studied at Eton College and St John's College, Cambridge. Slough ( ˈslaʊ is a Borough and Unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England. Berkshire (ˈbɑːkʃə or /ˈbɑːkʃɪə/ say Baak-shuh/-sheer sometimes abbreviated to Berks) is a Home County in the South Eton College, or just Eton, is a world-famous British Independent school for boys founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. St John's College, an institution known formally as The Master Fellows and Scholars of the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge is a He graduated as Senior wrangler in 1813. At the University of Cambridge, a Wrangler is a student who has completed the third year (called Part II) of the Mathematical Tripos with First-class [2] It was during his time as an undergraduate, that he became friends with Charles Babbage and George Peacock. George Peacock ( April 9, 1791 – November 8, 1858) was an English Mathematician. [2] He took up astronomy in 1816, building a reflecting telescope with a mirror 18 inches (460 mm) in diameter and with a 20-foot (6. 1 m) focal length. Between 1821 and 1823 he re-examined, with James South, the double stars catalogued by his father. Sir James South (October 1785 &ndash October 19 1867) was a British Astronomer. For this work he was presented in 1826 with the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (which he won again in 1836), and with the Lalande Medal of the French Institute in 1825, while in 1821 the Royal Society bestowed upon him the Copley Medal for his mathematical contributions to their Transactions. The Gold Medal is the highest award of the Royal Astronomical Society. The Institut de France (French Institute is a French Learned society, grouping five académies, the most famous of which is probably the Académie The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as The Royal Society, is a Learned society for science that was founded in 1660 The Copley Medal is a scientific award for distinguished achievement in any field of Science established by the Royal Society of London in 1731 He was made a Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order in 1831. The Royal Guelphic Order, sometimes also referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, was a British or rather Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April [2]
Visit to South Africa
Declining an offer from the Duke of Sussex that they travel to South Africa on a Navy ship, Herschel and his wife paid ₤500 for passage on the 'S. Duke of Sussex is a peerage title that was conferred to the sixth son of George III. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa S. Mountstuart Elphinstone', a ship of 611 tons, which departed from Portsmouth on 13 November 1833. The voyage to South Africa was made in order to catalogue the stars, nebulae, and other objects of the southern skies. [2] This was to be a completion as well as extension of the survey of the northern heavens undertaken initially by his father William Herschel. Sir Frederick William Herschel FRS KH ( 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German -born British He arrived in Cape Town on 15 January 1834 and set up a private 21 ft (6. Cape Town (Kaapstad Xhosa: Ikapa) is the second most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the metropolitan municipality of the Events 588 BC - Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah 's reign Year 1834 ( MDCCCXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common 4 m) telescope at Feldhausen at Wynberg. Wynberg can refer to Wynberg Cape Town Wynberg Gauteng Amongst his other observations during this time was that of the return of Comet Halley. Halley's Comet, officially designated 1P/Halley and also referred to as Comet Halley after Edmond Halley, is a Comet that can be seen every Herschel collaborated with Thomas Maclear, the Astronomer Royal at the Cape of Good Hope, and the two families became close friends. Sir Thomas Maclear ( March 17, 1794 &ndash July 14, 1879) was an Irish -born South African Astronomer who became
However, in addition to his astronomical work, this voyage to a far corner of the British empire also gave Herschel an escape from the pressures under which he found himself in London, where he was one of the most sought-after of all British men of science. While in southern Africa, he engaged in a broad variety of scientific pursuits free from a sense of strong obligations to a larger scientific community. It was, he later recalled, probably the happiest time in his life. In an extraordinary departure from astronomy, he combined his talents with those of his wife, Margaret, and between 1834 and 1838 they produced 131 botanical illustrations of fine quality, showing the Cape flora. John Herschel used a camera lucida to obtain accurate outlines of the specimens and left the details to his wife. A camera lucida is an Optical device used as a drawing aid by Artists The camera lucida performs an optical superimposition of the subject being viewed Even though their portfolio had been intended as a personal record, and despite the lack of floral dissections in the paintings, their accurate rendition makes them more valuable than contemporary collections. Some 112 of the 132 known flower studies were collected and published as "Flora Herscheliana" in 1996.
As their home during their stay in the Cape, they had selected 'Feldhausen', an old estate on the south-east side of Table Mountain. Here he set up his reflector to begin his survey of the southern skies. Intrigued by the ideas of gradual formation of landscapes set out in Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology, he wrote to Lyell commenting and urging a search for natural laws underlying the "mystery of mysteries" of how species formed, prefacing his words with the couplet:
- He that on such quest would go must know not fear or failing
- To coward soul or faithless heart the search were unavailing. Sir Charles Lyell 1st Baronet, KT, FRS (14 November 1797 &ndash 22 February 1875 was a Scottish Lawyer, Geologist, and protagonist
Taking a gradualist view of development, he commented
- "Time! Time! Time! — we must not impugn the Scripture Chronology, but we must interpret it in accordance with whatever shall appear on fair enquiry to be the truth for there cannot be two truths. And really there is scope enough: for the lives of the Patriarchs may as reasonably be extended to 5000 or 50000 years apiece as the days of Creation to as many thousand millions of years. "
The document was circulated, and Charles Babbage incorporated extracts in his ninth and unofficial Bridgewater Treatise, which postulated laws set up by a divine programmer. Natural theology is a branch of Theology based on Reason and ordinary Experience, explaining the gods rationally as part of the physical world When HMS Beagle called at Cape Town, Captain Robert FitzRoy and the young naturalist Charles Darwin visited Herschel on 3 June 1836. This is about the book For the expedition see Second voyage of HMS Beagle The Voyage of the Beagle is a title commonly given to Cape Town (Kaapstad Xhosa: Ikapa) is the second most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the metropolitan municipality of the Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy ( 5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) achieved lasting fame as the captain of HMS ''Beagle'' Charles Robert Darwin (February 12 1809 &ndash April 19 1882 was an English naturalist, who realised and demonstrated that all Species of life Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman Emperor, entering Year 1836 ( MDCCCXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Later on, Darwin would be influenced by Herschel's writings in developing his theory advanced in The Origin of Species. Charles Darwin 's On the Origin of Species (published 24 November 1859) is a seminal work in Scientific literature and arguably the In the opening lines of that work, Darwin writes that his intent is "to throw some light on the origin of species — that mystery of mysteries, as it has been called by one of our greatest philosophers", referring to Herschel.
Herschel returned to England in 1838, was created a baronet[2] and published Results of Astronomical Observations made at the Cape of Good Hope in 1847. The Herschel Baronetcy, of Slough in the County of Buckinghamshire, was created in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom on 17 July 1838 In this publication he proposed the names still used today for the seven then-known satellites of Saturn: Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, and Iapetus. TemplateInfobox Planet. --> Mimas (ˈmaɪməs, or as Greek TemplateInfobox Planet.--> This article is about the moon of TemplateInfobox Planet.--> Tethys (ˈtiːθɨs, /ˈtɛθɨs/, or TemplateInfobox Planet.--> Dione (daɪˈoʊni, or as in Greek TemplateInfobox Planet.--> Rhea (ˈriːə, or as in Greek TemplateInfobox Planet.--> Titan (ˈtaɪtən, or as TemplateInfobox Planet.--> Iapetus (aɪˈæpɨtəs, or as in Greek [3] In the same year, Herschel received his second Copley Medal from the Royal Society for this work. A few years later, in 1852, he proposed the names still used today for the four then-known satellites of Uranus: Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon. TemplateInfobox Planet.--> Ariel (ˈɛəriəl) is a moon Umbriel (ˈʌmbriəl) is a moon of Uranus discovered on October 24, 1851 by William Lassell. Titania (, also) is the largest moon of Uranus and the eighth largest moon in the Solar System. TemplateInfobox Planet.--> Oberon (ˈoʊbərɒn) is the outermost
Photography
Herschel made numerous contributions to photography. He made improvements in photographic processes, particularly in inventing the cyanotype process and variations, the precursors of the modern blueprint process. This page list various photographic processes. Color Chromogenic positive ( Ektachrome) E-4 process Cyanotype is a photographic printing process that gives a cyan-blue print A blueprint is a type of paper-based reproduction usually of a Technical drawing, documenting an Architecture or an Engineering design He experimented with color reproduction, noting that rays of different parts of the spectrum tended to impart their own color to a photographic paper. Herschel originally discovered the platinum process on the basis of the light sensitivity of platinum salts, later developed by William Willis. William Willis Jr (1841–1923 is a British inventor who developed the platinum process on the basis of the light sensitivity of platinum salts originally discovered by John [4]
He coined the term photography and applied the terms negative and positive to photography. [2]
He discovered sodium thiosulfate to be a solvent of silver halides in 1819, and informed Talbot and Daguerre of his discovery that this "hyposulphite of soda" ("hypo") could be used as a photographic fixer, to "fix" pictures and make them permanent, after experimentally applying it thus in 1839. Sodium thiosulfate ( Na 2 S 2 O 3 is a colorless Crystalline compound that is more familiar as the Pentahydrate A halide is a Binary compound, of which one part is a Halogen Atom and the other part is an element or radical that is less William Henry Fox Talbot (11 February 1800 – 17 September 1877 was the inventor of the negative / positive photographic process the precursor to most photographic processes of Photographic fixer is a chemical used in the final step in the Photographic processing of film or paper
General
Herschel wrote many papers and articles, including entries on meteorology, physical geography and the telescope from the eighth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc [2]
He proposed a correction to the Gregorian calendar, making years that are multiples of 4000 not leap years, thus reducing the average length of the calendar year from 365. According to the Gregorian calendar, the calendar year begins on January 1 and ends on December 31. 2425 days to 365. 24225. Although this is closer to the mean tropical year of 365. A tropical year (also known as a solar year) is the length of time that the Sun takes to return to the same position in the cycle of seasons as seen from Earth 24219 days, his proposal has never been adopted because the Gregorian calendar is based on the mean time between vernal equinoxes (currently 365. 2424 days). [5]
In 1835, the New York Sun newspaper wrote a series of satiric articles that came to be known as the Great Moon Hoax, with statements falsely attributed to Herschel about his supposed discoveries of animals living on the Moon, including batlike winged humanoids. The Sun was a New York newspaper that was published from 1833 until 1950 " The Great Moon Hoax " was a series of six articles that were published in the New York Sun beginning on August 25, 1835 about
Herschel Island (in the Arctic Ocean, north of the Yukon Territory), Mount Herschel (in Antarctica) and J. Herschel crater, on the Moon, are named after him. Herschel Island is an island in the Beaufort Sea (part of the Arctic Ocean) which lies 5 km (3 The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major Yukon (ˈjuːkɒn is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three territories. Mount Herschel is a conspicuous peak standing northeast of Mount Peacock and overlooking the terminus of Ironside Glacier from the south in the Admiralty J Herschel is large lunar crater of the variety termed a walled-plain As is Herschel Girls School in Cape Town, South Africa, which commemorates his visit to the area. Herschel Girls School is a private, boarding and Day school for girls' located in Claremont, a southern suburb of Cape Town, Cape Town (Kaapstad Xhosa: Ikapa) is the second most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the metropolitan municipality of the The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa
Family
He married Margaret Brodie Stewart (1810-1864) on 3 March 1829 and produced the following children
- Caroline Emilia Mary Herschel (31 March 1830-29 Jan 1909), who married Alexander Hamilton-Gordon
- Isabella Herschel (5 June 1831-1893)
- Sir William James Herschel, 2nd Bt. General Sir Alexander Hamilton-Gordon KCB ( 11 December 1817 – 18 May 1890) was a Scottish soldier and politician William James Herschel, 2nd Baronet ( 9 January, 1833 - 24 October, 1917 was born in Slough, England a son of (9 January 1833-1917)
- Margaret Louisa Herschel (1834-1861), an accomplished artist
- Alexander Stewart Herschel (1836-1907)
- Colonel John Herschel (1837-1921)
- Maria Sophie Herschel (1839-1929)
- Amelia Herschel (1841-1926) married Sir Thomas Francis Wade, diplomat and sinologist
- Julia Mary Herschel (1842-1933)
- Matilda Rose Herschel (1844-1914)
- Francisca Herschel (1846-1932)
- Constance Ann Herschel (1855-20 Jun 1939)
On his death at Collingwood, his home near Hawkhurst in Kent, he was given a national funeral and buried in Westminster Abbey. Alexander Stewart Herschel ( February 5 1836 &ndash June 18 1907) was a British Astronomer, born in Feldhausen, South Sir Thomas Francis Wade, GCMG, KCB ( 25 August, 1818 – 31 July, 1895) was a London -born British Hawkhurst is a village and Civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which is almost always referred to by its original name of Westminster Abbey, is a large mainly Gothic church
Publications
- On the Aberration of Compound Lenses and Object-Glasses (1821);[2]
- Outlines of Astronomy (1849);[2]
- General Catalogue of 10,300 Multiple and Double Stars (published posthumously);
- Familiar Lectures on Scientific Subjects;
- General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters;
- Manual of Scientific Inquiry (ed. ), (1849);[2]
- Familiar Lectures on Scientific Subjects (1867). [2]
References
- ^ John Timbs, The Year-book of Facts in Science and Art, London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. , 1846
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Herschel | Sir | John Frederick William | 1792-1871 | astronomer" (biography), NAHSTE project, University of Edinburgh, NAHSTE-JHerschel. The NAHSTE Project is a research archives/manuscripts collection with Internet access named for the Acronym of "Navigational Aidsfor the History of Science Technology The University of Edinburgh (Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann founded in 1582 is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
- ^ "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, volume 8, page 42" (archive), NASA, 2004, ADsabs. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program Harvard. edu webpage: Adsabs-MNRAS.
- ^ William Willis
- ^ John Herschel, Outlines of Astronomy, 1849
External links
- Biographical information
- The Herschel Chronicle
- Photographic Process and Early Photograms
- Herschel Museum of Astronomy
- Chronology of Astronomy in South Africa
- Wikisource copy of a notice from 1823 concerning the star catalogue, published in Astronomische Nachrichten
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hans Christian Ørsted |
Copley Medal 1821 jointly with Edward Sabine |
Succeeded by William Buckland |
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