Issue 16 July 2008

An Observatory for Durham

URHAM University Observatory, shortly after it opened in 1840. DAstronomical observations were made from the site for the remainder of the nineteenth century and continued into the twentieth. The building still survives, its external appearance largely unchanged (left). Astronomical activities have long since ceased, but meteorolog- ical observations continue to be made. Indeed, the site maintains the second longest continuous series of meteorological records of any UK university (after the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford). The fate of observatories which have outlived their usefulness for astronomical research was one of the topics discussed at a meeting organised last year by the RAS History and Heritage Committee. A report of this meeting, as well as much other material, appears inside. (The illustration above is reproduced courtesy of Roger Hutchins. Image at left courtesy Durham University Geography Department.) Editorial Clive Davenhall

ELCOME to the July 2008 widely, any topic in the history of cant impact on our discipline. Until Wissue of the Newsletter. This astronomy. We encourage you to 2007 he was the Project Manager for issue sees a return to our normal contribute. Longer contributions, the NASA Astrophysics Data fare, after the ‘Space Age Special’ of such as articles and book reviews, System (ADS) and led the small no. 15. It is also something of a also continue to be welcome, of team which developed this biblio- bumper issue, partly because of course. graphic service. From modest begin- material deferred from last time. One piece of good news, which we nings it has become a comprehen- Less happily it is also somewhat report on p7, is that the SHA’s Vice- sive on-line index of the astronomi- delayed, for which we apologise. President Dr Michael Hoskin has cal literature, publicly available free The reasons for the delay include the been awarded an Honorary of charge. The enlightened policy of size and complexity of the issue and, Fellowship of the RAS. Dr Hoskin is seeking to secure coverage of full more importantly, the unwelcome an eminent historian of astronomy runs of journals, stretching back in intrusion of external circumstances. and it is most gratifying to see him some cases to the nineteenth or even This issue sees the return of our being honoured in this way. Another eighteenth centuries, has made the letter column (see p35). The recipient was Dr Günther Eichorn ADS an invaluable tool for histori- Newsletter is keen to publish letters. who received the RAS Award for cal studies as well as for contempo- Possible topics include any aspect of Service to Astronomy. Dr Eichorn is rary research. We extend our the SHA, including its activities, perhaps less well-known to SHA warmest congratulations to both Dr projects and organisation, and, more members, but he has had a signifi- Hoskin and Dr Eichorn.

Society News Kevin Kilburn, Gilbert Satterthwaite and Peter Hingley

Joint meeting held at how best to utilise the generous SHA meetings in 2008 bequest by Mr Alan Cox. Knowing Chetham’s Library The Society will hold the following that Mr Cox was anxious to ensure meetings during the remainder of The first SHA event of 2008 was the future continuance of the 2008. held on Saturday 29 March. It was a Society’s activities, Council has joint meeting with the Manchester decided that a large part of the Sat. 2 August. Summer Picnic to be Astronomical Society and the North bequest will be invested to generate held at Marlborough College, West Group of Astronomical accessible income for future projects Wiltshire, SN8 1PA. Societies and was held in the his- whilst securing the capital against Sat. 4 October. Autumn Conference toric Chetham’s Library in central inflation. The Society is also pursu- at the Birmingham and Midland Manchester. The event was fully ing the matter of obtaining charita- Institute, Margaret Street, booked and on the day proved a ble status, as previously approved by Birmingham, B3 3BS. great success, with a series of fasci- the membership, which will also be nating talks presented in the magnif- of assistance towards this end. In all cases see below for further icent surroundings of Chetham’s Council has further decided that details. Tickets can usually be Library. A report will appear in the major projects financed from the obtained prior to the meeting from next issue of the Newsletter. bequest will have Mr Cox’s name the Treasurer, Ken Goward at 14, associated with them, and is already Keightley Way, Tuddenham St The Alan Cox Bequest considering a number of possible Martin, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP6 9BJ. Further to the announcement in projects. These matters were dis- Cheques should be made payable to Newsletter no. 15 (December 2007, cussed at the recent AGM (see the ‘Society for the History of p2), Council has been considering below). Astronomy.’

Page 2 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Annual General Meeting and Spring An early laboratory Conference spectroscope (from R. S. Estey, The Use The SHA AGM and Spring of the Spencer Conference was held successfully at Spectrometer, 1938). the Institute of Astronomy (IOA), The SHA Spring Cambridge on Saturday 17 May. Conference discussed The AGM was specially extended to the early development allow proper discussion of the Cox of astronomical bequest. The greater part of the spectroscopy. meeting was devoted to the confer- ence, whose theme was William Huggins and the Development of Astronomical Spectroscopy. Sir William Huggins (1824-1910) eighty miles west of London and and his wife Lady Margaret Huggins Summer Picnic eight miles south of Junction Fifteen (1848-1915) were pioneers of astro- The Summer Picnic will be held on on the M4. Further details are avail- nomical spectroscopy who made a Saturday 2 August at Marlborough able on the College’s Web site, number of significant contributions College in Wiltshire by the kind http://www.marlboroughcollege.org to the subject, not in least the appli- invitation of Charles Barclay, who For the Blackett Observatory see cation of photography. The develop- teaches physics there. Marlborough http://www.blackettobservatory.org. ment of astronomical spectroscopy hosts the Blackett Observatory was fundamental to the rise of the which has a ten-inch Cooke refrac- ‘new’ astronomy of astrophysics in tor dating from 1860 (see the Autumn Conference the later nineteenth century to com- Newsletter no. 9, December 2005, The SHA Autumn Conference will plement traditional positional pp7-8 and The Antiquarian held on Saturday 4 October. As astronomy. Astronomer, 3, 2006, pp11-18). The usual, the venue will be the The Hugginses were amateurs in Observatory will be open for inspec- Birmingham and Midland Institute the British tradition who worked tion during the picnic. in central Birmingham. The theme from their private observatory in Members should bring their own will be A Review of Members’ Work, Tulse Hill, South London. It is par- lunch; catering will not be provided. allowing members to present any ticularly appropriate that a meeting Guests may be introduced. A flyer projects on which they have worked. about them should be held at the with further details and an applica- Offers of contributions are invited IOA. Observing at Tulse Hill ended tion form is enclosed with this and should be sent to the Secretary, in 1908 because of increasing light Newsletter. Tickets are available Kevin Kilburn (contact details on pollution and the telescopes were from Ken Goward (see above). p48). Tickets cost £12.00 (SHA transferred to the Cambridge Solar The address of the College is: members) or £15.00 (all others) and Physics Observatory, where some Marlborough College, Wiltshire, will be available from Ken Goward remain to this day. Subsequently SN8 1PA. It is on the A4, about (see above) in due course. material relating to the Hugginses has been found at the IOA on sever- Present your work at the Autumn al occasions (see p46). The speakers at the meeting Conference included David Dewhirst (My Use of The 2008 SHA Autumn Conference will held at the Birmingham and Huggins’ Instruments in the Early Midland Institute on Saturday 4 October. The theme will be A Review 1950s), Peter Hingley (The Place of of Members’ Work. Any work which falls within the Society’s remit the Hugginses in the Development of may be presented. The meeting is a good opportunity to present recent- Stellar Astrophysics), Derek Jones ly completed work, interim reports on projects still in progress or other (Stellar Spectra) and Ian Elliott material. You are encouraged to contribute and share the fruits of your (Grubbs of Dublin — Victorian labours with other members. Talks can last from twenty minutes to one Entrepreneurs). hour including question time. Offers of contributions are welcome and A full report will appear in a subse- should be sent to the SHA Secretary, Kevin Kilburn (email quent issue of the Newsletter. [email protected], tel. 01663 740832, postal address on p48).

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 3 Councillors attend the Council meeting held in the premises of the RAS on Saturday 23 February. From left to right: Roger Jones, Peter Hingley, Mark Hurn, Ken Goward, Gilbert Satterthwaite, Kevin Johnson, Reg Withey, Jerry Grover, Kevin Kilburn and (partly visible) Madeline Cox. Joint meeting in above) in due course. Further details they will have to pay the standard and an application form will be cir- admission charge (currently £15 or 2009 culated with a future issue of the £5 for students) if they are not On Saturday 28 March 2009 the Newsletter. The RMetS Web site at Fellows of the RAS. The SHA will hold a joint meeting with http://www.rmets.org/ includes meeting is being the History Group of the Royal details of its History Group. co-organised Meteorological Society (RMetS). by Barrie This meeting will be held in the Mars Before the Jones premises of the RAS in Piccadilly, London. Space Age The meeting will explore the his- An RAS Discussion Meeting on torical connections between meteor- Mars Before the Space Age will be ology and astronomy. Development held on Friday 8 May 2009 in the of the programme is well-advanced premises of the RAS in London. It and will include talks on some of the will run from 10:30 am to 3:30 pm numerous individuals and institu- (closing prior to the RAS AGM). tions who have contributed to both This event is a normal RAS fields. Discussion Meeting rather than a Tickets will cost £10.00 and will joint meeting with the SHA; SHA be available from Ken Goward (see members are cordially invited, but

Page 4 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Map of Mars prepared by Giovanni Schiaparelli in 1886.

(Emeritus Professor at the Open * Mars in science fiction, Bequest (see above). University) and Peter Hingley. * the twentieth century up to The SHA Council will meet on the Our understanding of Mars 1964 — the green and red following dates during the remain- changed dramatically, and for the planet, der of 2008. All meetings commence worse, with the arrival of Mariner 4 * Mariners 4 and 9. at 1 pm. These meetings are not in 1965 (see Newsletter no. 8, open due to lack of space, but any September 2005, pp13-15). A world SHA Council member may attend by prior that had been considered basically arrangement with the Secretary. Earth-like was revealed to be more meetings in 2008 Sat. 28 June. The Yorkshire like the Moon. Another change, this The first Council meeting of 2008 Museum, Museum Gardens, time for the better, occurred in 1971 was successfully held on Saturday Museum Street, York, YO1 7FR. with the arrival of Mariner 9, which 23 February in the premises of the marked the start of the current era of Royal Astronomical Society in Sat. 1 November. Institute of martian exploration. London. Various matters were dis- Astronomy, University of The meeting will concentrate on cussed, most notably the Cox Cambridge (address above). the study of Mars before Mariner 4. The topics covered will include: Newsletter frequency * Mars in antiquity, Since 2005 the Newsletter has notionally been quarterly. However, for * the work of Tycho Brahe, several years only three issues have been published per year. leading to Kepler’s work Consequently we have decided that the Newsletter will appear thrice- on planetary orbits, yearly. This decision merely regularises a situation which has existed for * the first telescopic some time and will not change the Newsletter in any way. The remain- observations: Galileo, ing issues for 2008 are provisionally scheduled for September and Huygens, December. Members’ contributions are still strongly encouraged and are * the nineteenth an important part of the Society’s activities. century before In the past the Newsletter has been supplemented by occasional inter- 1877, im mailings and e-mail messages to convey urgent information. Such * the 1877 additional communications are necessary with either a quarterly or opposition, thrice-yearly schedule. We hope to regularise the slightly ad hoc way including that these communications have been carried out in the past. In particu- Schiaparelli’s lar, if you have an e-mail address we urge you ensure that the Society canali, has an up to date record of it. The membership renewal form enclosed * Lowell’s canals — with this Newsletter can be used for this purpose. Interim communica- the debate, tions are the exception rather than the rule and should remain infrequent.

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 5 Letter from the Secretary Kevin Kilburn

It is just eleven months since I took But the SHA is not a dry and dusty in the next issue of the Newsletter. over from Stuart Williams as academic environment. Meetings in I would like to see other regional Secretary and I would like, on your Cambridge, Greenwich and the meetings: perhaps at York, Cardiff, behalf, to thank him for the sterling BMI, will continue to be our main Edinburgh, Portsmouth, Dublin and work he has put in since long before conference venues but from the out- elsewhere in the next few years. I the SHA was founded in 2002 to set it was said that SHA would be call upon SHA members in these bring together first the idea of a soci- peripatetic. I feel strongly that SHA and other areas to invite us to go to ety devoted to the history of astron- should also hold annual conferences those cities if it is felt that there omy and then guide it through its in the provinces where there has would be sufficient local interest in formative first five years. long been a history of astronomical holding self-financing joint meet- When I was asked to rejoin the work, whether by individual ama- ings with regional astronomical or Council by Stuart and Gilbert teurs or organised societies. With history societies. It has been sug- Satterthwaite at our Cambridge this aim, on Saturday 29 March we gested by Martin Lunn that they meeting in 2006, the last thing I held a joint meeting with the North might be held at regional museums expected was to be invited to take West Group of Astronomical to attract a public interest, an idea over as Secretary a year later, but I Societies in the sixteenth century that I think exciting and potentially agreed to do this knowing that I had Baronial Hall at Chetham’s Library, extremely beneficial to the SHA. the full backing of the Council and Manchester. This meeting was a Now over to you: our Newsletter is its Officers. As you can probably great success and attracted interest conspicuous by its lack of input tell, until I find my feet their ongo- from that corridor of great Victorian from SHA members. Without your ing support is most welcome! astronomical societies from Leeds, articles and comments, SHA I have been interested in astrono- Manchester and Liverpool, from Council is steering a blind course. my for over fifty years, the last forty which spawned the British We need your letters and input as to of which have been associated with Astronomical Association in 1890. how you want the Society for the Manchester Astronomical Society A report of this meeting will appear History of Astronomy to develop. and other north west groups. During that time, many of the names that I now see on our members list have become familiar to me together with their astronomical work. It is a priv- ilege to be a member of SHA and now meet those people who I hither- to knew only from the journals of the RAS or BAA. I am sure that many of those reading this will agree. The SHA has the potential to be not only the UK’s leading society for the history of astronomy but to gain international recognition too. Astronomers of historical note are pretty well documented, but the his- toriography of astronomy in general, based on critical analysis, evalua- tion, and selection of authentic source materials, particularly with respect to the lesser known members of the astronomical community, is still a relatively new discipline to which SHA can really make a con- Murad Ghorbals gives the first talk of the joint meeting held on 29 March. tribution. The meeting was held in the Medieval Baronial Hall of Chetham’s Library.

Page 6 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Further News Compiled by Clive Davenhall Dr Michael Hoskin prior to speaking at Dr Michael Hoskin the RAS National Astronomy Meeting We are pleased to report that as one held at the Open of its awards for 2007 the RAS has University, Milton elected SHA Vice-President Dr Keynes in April 2004 Michael Hoskin an Honorary (see Newsletter no. 4, Fellow. Dr Hoskin, a Fellow of May 2004, pp5-8). Churchill College, Cambridge and an eminent historian of astronomy, is well-known to SHA members. He founded and edits the influential Journal for the History of Astronomy and latter launched its innovative supplement Archaeoastronomy. He also co- founded the journal History of Science. Dr Hoskin is a particular authority on the Herschels and has published Lottery and runs for three years. It is will appear similar to Webb’s Tulley many papers and several books one of four projects linked to the refractor of the same aperture with about them. He has also edited The International Year of Astronomy which he observed most of the Cambridge Illustrated History of 2009 planned and delivered by The objects in Celestial Objects for Astronomy and The Cambridge SHARE Initiative (a not-for-profit Common Telescopes. Concise History of Astronomy, per- social enterprise). haps the most authoritative modern Paul Haley leads the project. overviews of our subject. Inspired by the work of T.W. Webb It is a particular pleasure to see an as a child, he now lives close to the historian of astronomy being hon- Stretton Sugwas home of Henry oured in this way. The SHA offers Cooper Key. With the help of Rhys Dr Hoskin its warmest congratula- Griffith (Herefordshire Record tions. Office) a photograph of Key has been located. Research using the Webb-SHARE digitised version of The English Mechanic (produced by SHA mem- update ber Eric Hutton; see The Webb-SHARE http://www.englishmechanic.com) project (based in has enabled a better understanding Herefordshire) of his interests and contributions to began in September amateur astronomy. A project with 2007. It explores the Stretton Sugwas Primary School and lives of Revd H.C. the local community is being Key, Revd T.W. Webb and G.H. planned to further explore the social With in the mid-nineteenth century. history of this period. Early progress has been made with Webb-SHARE star parties begin the formation of a volunteer group this autumn with a Victorian re- for research, planning the museum enactment being planned for Friday loan boxes and initial discoveries 7 November. Construction of a 3.7 A previously unpublished photo- about Henry Cooper Key. Webb- inch refractor using an achromat graph of the Revd Henry Cooper SHARE is funded by a Your made in 1860 (by Josiah Slugg, of Key (1819-1879) (courtesy of Heritage grant from the Heritage Manchester) is underway — this Herefordshire Record Office).

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 7 Work has also begun on locating forty years, it had been kept safe the Astronomical Society of Victoria more of the mirrors produced by behind the family piano! Although in Melbourne, Australia. At first I George Henry With; anyone with she left no clues as to its provenance thought that Heller’s atlas was one information on the current location it is thought likely that she inherited of the two described in the list but of any of the two hundred mirrors he it from her father, William Gibson, whose current whereabouts is produced please get in touch! who was an eclectic collector in a unknown. However, it quickly More details about Webb-SHARE small way. He was Senior Partner of became apparent that the Heller will appear soon on the Web site the London property firm of Knight atlas was not previously described (http://www.spacewatch.co.uk) and Frank & Rutley (now Knight Frank) and was a new addition to the list. anyone interested in the project is until he retired in 1958. Knight The description given by John welcome to contact SHA member Frank’s offices were then (and still Heller and subsequently more fully Paul Haley (email are) in Hanover Square, just off by Robert Hall at Bloomsbury [email protected], telephone Oxford Street, so it is possible that Auctions showed that this copy was 01981-251029). he would have had some dealings not only complete but was moreover (Contributed by Paul Haley.) with the bookseller J.A.L. Franks of in a condition that made it one of the Oxford Street. William Gibson died best copies of Atlas Celeste that Atlas Celeste: in 1969 aged 81. The atlas was in the included the extremely rare adver- family for at least forty years and tisement sheet dating to 1786 when a new copy found probably nearer fifty or more. Atlas Celeste was offered by an At the end of February I was e- Atlas Celeste (1786) is the core of anonymous seller. Only three copies mailed by John Heller, of Henley- Dr John Bevis’s unpublished great of the atlas; at Manchester, the on-Thames, who told me that his British star atlas, Uranographia Heller atlas and the atlas in the family were selling, at Bloomsbury Britannica (circa 1750) and is per- British Library have this advertise- Auctions on 27 March, an Atlas haps the last example of the classical ment in its original condition. Celeste. The auctioneers had star atlas from that golden age of Because of some repaired damage referred him to the list of known European astronomical cartography and mottling, the Heller atlas is copies of this rare atlas maintained spanning the sixteenth to eighteenth ranked second in quality to that at by Manchester Astronomical centuries. Manchester. SHA members attend- Society (MAS). The atlas was found In May 2003 we published a paper ing the recent conference at amongst his mother’s effects when about Atlas Celeste which listed Chetham’s Library were able to Jean Heller died in 2001. On her twenty-three copies. Subsequently examine this fine copy. That in the death Mrs Heller left a note saying two others have come to light: at the British Library, although in superb that the atlas was valuable; for some Adler Planetarium in Chicago and at condition and including some unique, undedicated proof plates of Uranographia Britannica, is not in the original 1786 format; its plates are folded. During the three weeks leading up to the auction, email correspondence and telephone calls ensued between me and John Heller, Robert Hall and Vanessa Salmon, the Bloomsbury Auctions publicity officer. She arranged for Mark Henderson, the science editor of The Times to inter- view me for a piece about the atlas. It was published in The Times on Saturday 22 March as ‘Auction of the atlas that reached for the stars’. In it we describe the atlas and the

The Taurus chart from the Manchester copy of the Atlas Celeste.

Page 8 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 strange story behind it. The Heller Atlas Celeste was val- ued by Bloomsbury Auctions at between £12,000 and £18,000. On the day, it sold within two minutes; for £21,000 plus 22% commission. As I write this note, the new owner is not known but I will try to find out more details and I will update the MAS list accordingly. Though an original Atlas Celeste will fetch over £21,000, MAS have produced a CD-ROM version of their copy which can be bought for the rather more reasonable price of £13.99 (in the UK) or £15.49 (over- Stonehenge in happier times? This sketch appeared in Science Stories pub- seas). See the Web site below for lished by W. & R. Chambers Ltd of London and Edinburgh. Though undat- details. ed it is believed to be from about 1905 (see also p17). (Contributed by Kevin Kilburn.) from £223 million to £540 million Thornborough Further reading and ‘cannot be justified and would not represent best use of taxpayers’ Henges face For a discussion of the Atlas Celeste money.’ uncertain future see ‘The Forgotten Star Atlas’, K.J. Two roads run close to Kilburn, J.M. Pasachoff and O. Stonehenge: the A303 and the A344. The uncertainty over the future of Gingerich, 2003, J. Hist. Astron, 34, The A303 is one of the main routes the Thornborough Henges in North pp125-144. from London to the South West and Yorkshire continues. Though not is now seriously overcrowded. Since widely known, the Henges are some Manchester Astronomical Society’s 1991 there have been over fifty pro- of the most important Neolithic pages about the atlas: posals for improving the roads monuments in Britain and have sig- http://www.mikeoates.org/mas/bevi neighbouring Stonehenge, a public nificant astronomical alignments. s/home.htm inquiry and a review. The plans have Though the Henges themselves, and a narrow strip of land connecting List of extant copies: included several tunnels of varying length and methods of construction. them, are Scheduled Ancient http://www.mikeoates.org/mas/bevi Monuments and hence protected, s/uranographia_sets.pdf The current scheme dates from 2002 and, whilst supported by English proposed quarrying in their immedi- For a recent overview of star charts Heritage, has been criticised from ate vicinity would destroy much of and atlases see Nick Kanas’ Star various other quarters. their context as well as valuable Maps: History, Artistry, and Traffic planning and site improve- archaeology. Cartography, 2007 (Springer- ment around Stonehenge has been in In February 2006 North Yorkshire Verlag: New York). We hope to limbo for over a decade and this County Council (NYCC) rejected a carry a review of this important decision continues the uncertainty. planning application by Tarmac book in the next issue of the The continuing debacle may prompt Northern to extend its quarrying Newsletter. UNESCO to remove Stonehenge’s operation to Ladybridge Farm close designation as a World Heritage to the Henges (see Newsletter no. Site. 11, July 2006, pp4-5). Tarmac both Stonehenge tunnel appealed against the decision and Further reading submitted a second application, scrapped somewhat scaled-back, to quarry In December 2007 the Transport News announcement: 70% of the previous extent. In Minister, Tom Harris, announced in http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/ January 2007 this second applica- a parliamentary statement that plans england/wiltshire/7130666.stm tion was approved, though the for- for a 1.3 mile tunnel to carry traffic mal decision notice was not issued away from Stonehenge had been Wikipedia entry: until October, following the negotia- scrapped. The reason given was that http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ tion of detailed conditions with the cost of the project had soared Stonehenge_road_tunnel Tarmac. The appeal was withdrawn

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 9 Above, left: An aerial view of the Thornborough Henge complex seen from the north. The northern henge in the fore- ground is wooded and the best preserved of the three. The effects of current and past quarrying can be seen to the right (courtesy of English Heritage).

Above, right: Current and proposed quarrying in the vicinity of the Thornborough Henges (courtesy of TimeWatch). when the second application was three of these grounds; the remain- TimeWatch Thornborough cam- approved. In March this year the ing five remain unresolved. NYCC paign: http://www.timewatch.org/ decision to permit quarrying was, in are expected to reconsider the issue turn, quashed following a legal chal- shortly. Jan Harding and Ben Johnson, lenge that the Friends of March 2004, British Archaeology, Thornborough Henges had made on Further reading no. 75, pp26-31. behalf of one of its members. This challenge included eight grounds Friends of Thornborough Henges: Thornborough Henges Wikipedia arising from the application. NYCC http:www.friendsofthornborough.or entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ agreed to quash the application on g.uk Thornborough_Henges

Page 10 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 SHA Autumn Conference Kevin Kilburn

HE SHA Autumn Conference Twas held at the Birmingham & Midland Institute (BMI), Birmingham on Saturday 6 October 2007. Registration opened at 10:30 am in the Gallery Room before the meeting convened at 10:50 am in the John Lee Theatre. SHA Chairman Gilbert Satterthwaite opened the meeting by welcoming the delegates. Once again it was a pleasure to be at the BMI, with whom the SHA has enjoyed a close relationship. The conference was also supported by Birmingham AS; Pendrell Hall Observatories Group; Birmingham University AS; the Federation of Members of the audience attend to the talks. Astronomical Societies and the British Sundial Society, all of whom Astronomy, who had offered a raffle in 1803 at Braintree, Essex. At an had mounted display stands in the prize of a year’s free membership early age he was recognised as being Gallery Room. Thanks were also for the winner and to SHA Council a bright lad and was sent to Mill Hill extended to the Society for Popular Member Peter Hingley for so ably School, Middlesex, before entering assisting the SHA with Trinity College, Cambridge, in its mailing preparations. 1821. He was recognised as a bril- The Chairman then liant mathematician, graduating in introduced the first 1825 as the top student in the math- speaker, SHA Council ematical tripos. As Senior Wrangler Member and Archivist, he was highly regarded and was later Mark Hurn who spoke that year elected a Fellow of Trinity on Failed to Find College. Neptune. James Challis Mark also examined his work as (1803-1882) led the Rector of Papworth Everard in unsuccessful Cambridge Cambridgeshire, in the gift of hunt for Neptune in 1846 Trinity College. As the son of a and is generally regarded working-class stonemason, his ordi- as a scientist who failed. nation in 1830 would have elevated Quoting from his entry his social status and brought him a in the Dictionary of respectable income. He married Scientific Biography, Sarah Copsey, fifteen years his sen- ‘Challis was a spectacu- ior and the widow of the son of the lar failure as a scientist.’ Revd. Daniel Copsey, his former This talk examined his schoolteacher in Braintree. career as a brilliant The Astronomer Royal, George Cambridge mathemati- Airy, recommended Challis as his cian, seventh Plumian successor as Plumian Professor and Professor and Director Director of Cambridge Observatory, of the Cambridge which position Challis assumed in SHA Chairman, Gilbert Satterthwaite Observatory. 1836. The Observatory was run by a introduces the meeting. James Challis was born small domestic staff and two observ-

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 11 ing assistants, university graduates, a Fellow of the Royal Society in one being John Couch Adams, 1848. However he later resigned as Senior Wrangler in 1843. Couch Director of the Cambridge Adams was determined to solve a Observatory, whilst retaining his major problem of the time. The Plumian Chair, and removed to a planet Uranus had been discovered house in town to concentrate on his by William Herschel in 1781. own writings. In his later work in Observations over subsequent Christian theology he to attempted decades revealed anomalies in its to harmonise the literal interpreta- orbit. There were various theories tion of the Bible with scientific but Couch Adams preferred the idea knowledge. of a trans-Uranian planet. To pursue Challis’ wife predeceased him in this line of investigation, in 1870. He died at Trumpington February 1844, Couch Adams need- Street, Cambridge, on 3 December ed accurate positional data for 1882 and is buried at Milne Road Uranus from Airy, which he request- cemetery. The grave is now over- ed via a letter from Challis. These James Challis (1803-1882). grown. He left a son, James Law data were returned promptly by Airy Challis also later rector of Papworth and by September 1845 Adams had after first going to the telescope and Everard and interested in astronomy, completed his calculations and had Challis having noted a star that and a daughter. predicted a position of the new plan- seemed to have a disc, Mrs Challis et. Due to various later miscommu- suggested they have more tea. Thus The second talk was A Personal nication, the solution was not imme- delayed, they were clouded out. On Review of the History of the Royal diately communicated back to Airy. 1 October, Challis read in The Times Greenwich Observatory at In November 1845 the French newspaper that the new planet had Herstmonceux Castle, 1948-1990 by mathematician Urbain Le Verrier been discovered. Dr George Wilkins. The Royal also proposed a solution and posi- In retrospect, Challis was using a Greenwich Observatory took its new tion for an exterior planet. On 1 June large telescope, with a narrow field name in 1948 at the start of the move 1846 Le Verrier published a position of view, and had to pre-survey the to Herstmonceux Castle when Sir in the Comptes rendus and was sub- star field. He may not have had Harold Spencer Jones was the sequently in contact with Airy. In much confidence in Adams’ predic- Astronomer Royal (AR). The move early July Airy asked Challis to look tion and the search was somewhat of the departments from their for the predicted planet. This search secretive. In contrast, Le Verrier’s wartime bases to new buildings was commenced, but with a high predictions were widely published around the Castle was not completed power and narrow field of view and and at Berlin they had a new star until 1958, by which time Richard hampered by moonlight, at the end chart to assist them. They also had Woolley was the AR. He changed of the month. In August Le Verrier enthusiasm and confidence in Le the primary emphasis of the astro- published a third prediction begging Verrier’s predicted positions, which nomical work from long-term data- continental astronomers to conduct a were in fact closer than those of gathering programmes to astrophys- search. In September, Adams again Adams. ical research. The transfer of respon- wrote to Airy with his prediction but The aftermath was that Challis had sibility from the Admiralty to the Airy was away in Germany. recorded the planet on three occa- Science Research Council in 1965 On 23 September 1846, Galle at sions. William Lassell at Liverpool led eventually to a further major Berlin received Le Verrier’s latest discovered Triton, a moon of change in the 1970s, when Alan prediction and assisted by Heinrich Neptune on 10 October and suspect- Hunter and Graham Smith were the d’Arrest discovered the planet that ed a ring around the planet, appar- Directors, as the primary task same evening. They had a smaller ently confirmed by Challis in became the building of the Northern telescope but a much better star January 1847. Both of these obser- Hemisphere Observatory on La chart, the appropriate sheet of the vations are contentious. Challis was Palma. During the 1980s, when Alec Berliner Akademische Sternkarten, defensive of criticism from the RAS Boksenberg was Director, there unavailable to other observatories at for not discovering the new planet were major cuts in staffing levels, the time. On 29 September, Challis first, and although supported by Sir especially for the public-service had an opportunity to independently John Herschel came over as weak activities, and the RGO was moved discover the new planet. He was din- and incompetent. Although under to a new building in Cambridge in ing with Revd William Kingsley but heavy criticism, Challis was elected 1990.

Page 12 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Herstmonceux Castle in Sussex, home of the Royal Greenwich Observatory from 1958 to 1990.

A full account of Dr Wilkins’s p18) and explorers George Bass, Kent and parts of Essex but was paper can be found in The Matthew Flinders etc. Instrument probably a high magnitude partial Antiquarian Astronomer (2008, 4, makers included the clock maker from London. Self-taught pp69-80). After this talk the meeting John Harrison. Lincolnshire astronomer and mathe- adjourned for lunch, during which it The eighteenth century Spalding matician Henry Andrews accurately was possible to examine the various Gentlemen’s Society was one of the calculated this same eclipse which displays and the Sir Robert Ball first Lincolnshire literary and anti- was viewed by a party near Sleaford. Library was open for visitors. quarian societies and is still active For over forty years he was an astro- today. Similar societies were to be nomical calculator with the Nautical The afternoon session began with a found in Boston, Peterborough and Almanac whilst employed as a talk by Dr Mike Leggett, who spoke at Stamford, but these were not suc- school teacher and book seller in on Some Aspects of Lincolnshire cessful. In the nineteenth century Lincolnshire and Cambridge. Astronomy. Lincolnshire might not Mechanics Institutes appeared in Undoubtedly, the most significant seem at first a promising candidate several towns dotted around person in Lincolnshire astronomy is for the SHA survey. The paradox is Lincolnshire. Although declining in Sir Isaac Newton and this presenta- that a large county like Lincolnshire the twentieth century, some gave tion linked together several items had no major universities and no rise to local astronomical societies. from the SHA regional survey which major observatories. Yet Observations of the total solar have a common theme related to Lincolnshire has had an influence in eclipse on 22 April 1715 and a par- Newton and that county. The presen- the history of astronomy and related tial solar eclipse of 2 May 1733 were tation included a brief overview of sciences far beyond its county documented by the Spalding sources, with particular emphasis on boundary. Gentlemen’s Society, and from near ones which could also be used in the The contribution of selected indi- Salisbury, Wiltshire, Dr William surveys of other counties. In addi- viduals was summarised, including Stukeley observed the total solar tion it included a summary of new Henry Andrews, Dr John Dee, John eclipse of 11 May 1724 which material still to be added and infor- Merryweather, Isaac Newton, crossed the south west of the coun- mation about maintaining and Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Edmund try. On 1 April 1764, Stukeley, now updating the content. Much of Dr Weaver. But few if any of these are a clergyman at St George the Martyr Leggett’s biographical material can known as pure astronomers. To them in London, delayed the service so be found on the SHA regional sur- can be added other famous names: that the congregation could witness vey of Lincolnshire. See the SHA archaeologist William Stukeley (see the eclipse which was annular in Web site for more information.

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 13 The next talk was John Dollond and a half share going to another opti- the Achromatic Lens by Madeline cian and partner, Francis Watkins, to Cox. There has always been contro- prevent competitors making and versy as to who invented the achro- selling achromatic telescopes. In matic lens, John Dollond or Chester 1763, Watkins sold his half share of Moor Hall. Early refracting tele- the patent to Peter Dollond who scopes were plagued by chromatic retained lawyers to prevent Watkins aberration, the inability of a simple from divulging the secrets of the lens to focus all colours without lens. giving images surrounded by The Worshipful Company of coloured fringes. Sir Isaac Newton Spectacle Makers, who were now stated that it was impossible to effectively prevented from selling make a simple lens achromatic. He achromatic lenses, challenged the devised the reflecting telescope, patent. They claimed that achromat- which used mirrors rather than lens- ic lenses were invented by the es, and did not suffer from the prob- experimentalist optician Chester lem. So great was Newton’s influ- John Dollond (1706-1861). Moor Hall in the 1730s, although ence that for fifty years no-one tried Hall himself never claimed this, and to overcome the problem. In 1747 chromatic aberration. Dollond was that Hall had given enough informa- the Swiss mathematician Leonard thus the first person to make an tion to the London optician James Euler suggested that the naked eye achromatic lens. Dollond’s experi- Ayscough for him to make an achro- was achromatic and that Newton ments were written up in the matic telescope in 1752. He and must be wrong. Euler was mistaken Philosophical Transactions for others were claimed to have been about the eye, but he did reopen the 1758 but significantly he did not making achromatic lenses in the issue. His paper was received by the give away his trade secrets in the early 1750s. However this sugges- Royal Society in 1749, but did not matter of lens construction. From tion was thrown out by the court; attract any interest from James then on, Dollond made and sold Peter Dollond won the case and was Short, the optician and maker of achromatic refracting telescopes awarded substantial damages. The reflecting telescopes. However, in whose optical superiority was Dollond patent lapsed in 1772. 1753, John Dollond, a former silk vouched for by James Short. weaver turned optician and now a Astronomers were particularly keen Mid-afternoon refreshments were London spectacle maker replied to to buy them and avoid having to use then served in the Gallery Room Euler, defending Newton, on behalf instruments of extreme focal length before the meeting resumed for the of the Royal Society. to minimise the effects of chromatic keynote lecture by Dr Tony Freeth In 1755 Samuel Klingenstierna, a aberration. Dollond was immediate- on Decoding the Antikythera Swedish optician, having followed ly awarded the Copley Medal, the Mechanism. Since its discovery in the correspondence between Royal Society’s highest award, in 1901 by divers amongst the wreck Dollond and Euler, suggested that recognition of his experimentation of a Roman merchant ship off the Newton was wrong in assuming that and description of the development coast of the Greek island of all prismatic glass had similar of the now readily available inven- Antikythera, between Crete and refrangibility and that further exper- tion. Three years later he was elect- mainland Greece, the controversial iments using different types of glass ed a FRS. Antikythera Mechanism has been might prove useful. Early in 1757 Dollond recognised that his inven- one of the greatest mysteries from Dollond decided to pursue this sug- tion was commercially sensitive to ancient times. The Mechanism is a gestion and repeat Newton’s experi- being copied by rival opticians and bronze, geared, astronomical calcu- ments. He made the shocking dis- had avoided publishing the mathe- lating machine of great sophistica- covery that Newton was indeed matical details of his lenses, but this tion that dates to the second Century wrong. Materials did give different was to no avail and soon other BC. Nothing else as complex is dispersion lengths of the spectral telescope makers started offering known for more than a millennium colours even though their angle of achromatic instruments as best they afterwards. Tony Freeth’s lecture refraction was similar. Moreover, by could. John Dollond died in 1761 was the inside story of research making compound lenses of two and his son Peter took over the busi- published in 2006 in Nature that different types of glass, Crown and ness and immediately tried to announced dramatic new results by Flint, Dollond could cancel out enforce a 1758 Dollond patent, with the Antikythera Mechanism

Page 14 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Research Project and revealed a beautiful solution to the Mechanism as a machine that predicts eclipses and embodies Hipparchus’ lunar theory. It is one of the wonders of the ancient world. The ship was discovered acciden- tally in 1900 by Greek sponge divers en route to the coast of North Africa but having to take shelter from a storm. They found the wreck site covered by numerous bronze and marble statues and recovered a larg- er than life-size bronze arm. They reported the find and subsequent archaeological diving expeditions were carried out from 1900 to 1902. Amongst the finds was an unre- markable corroded lump, about 40 cm high, which was not considered of any importance. Some months later it split apart and the curator noticed that inside were precise mechanical gears. There were vari- ous ideas about what it was but it was considered most likely to be some sort of astrolabe or navigation instrument. In the early 1950s a British physi- cist, Derek de Solla-Price, became interested in it. A twenty-year inves- Above: A high resolution digital radiograph of fragment A of the tigation culminated in a paper, Antikythera Mechanism taken on 13 October 2005 as part of Antikythera Gears from the Greeks. Solla-Price Mechanism Research Project (© Antikythera Research Mechanism subsequently became a professor of Project). the history of astronomy at Yale. In an attempt to further understand the Below: Detailed views of various newly-revealed inscriptions and scales on Mechanism he collaborated with a the Antikythera Mechanism (© Antikythera Research Mechanism Project). Greek radiologist and obtained a series of X-rays of it. These investi- gations revealed twenty-seven over- lapping gear wheels in fragment A, the largest of the remaining pieces. Using various gear trains and ani- mated diagrams Tony Freeth showed how the Greeks had pro- duced an instrument that could make calculations based on the Metonic ratio and the motion of the Moon during its nineteen year Metonic cycle. Price had found one of the two basic keys that unlocks the secret of the mechanism but his developed model was overcompli- cated. He died in 1983. Subsequently several researchers,

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 15 zodiac; the other is a calendar scale Dr Tony Freeth following the Egyptian calendar of gives the keynote 365 days. Provision for leap years talk on Decoding was via a moveable outer scale fixed the Antikythera by a pin passing through one of a Mechanism. row of five holes. This newly dis- covered pin has never been incorpo- rated in any of the earlier models of the mechanism. On the back of frag- ment C is a little semi-silvered ball showing the phases of the moon. The mechanism also includes a Callippic dial and a geared luni- solar calendar. The 223 lunar months of the Saros, or eclipse cycle, is present and repeats for twelve-fifteen centuries; an excel- lent eclipse prediction mechanism. Tony Freeth’s lecture concluded with other compelling mathematical arguments for the sophistication of the Antikythera Mechanism and its versatility in computing the posi- tions of the Sun, Moon and possibly the planets. He ended his talk by showing a computer animation of the mechanism. Truly, a remarkable instrument and a work of pure genius.

After a vote of thanks to all the speakers, the Conference concluded with a raffle draw and concluding remarks by Gilbert Satterthwaite. notably Prof. Allan Bromley at research team, including Tony Sydney University and Michael Freeth, has drawn together Further reading Wright at the London Science astronomers, mathematicians, physi- Museum, took up the investigation. cists and archaeological cryptogra- Spalding Gentlemen’s Society Web Bromley died in 2002 and in 2005 phers to investigate the mechanism site: http://www.spalding-gentle- Wright published a revision of with the latest technologies. This mens-society.org/ Price’s model in which he simplified research has been funded by a For the Antikythera Mechanism see, part of the gear train on the basis of Leverhulme grant. Microfocus X- inter alia: new X-ray scans employing the ray tomography has been used to technique of linear tomography. look into the seventy-five fragments T. Freeth et al, 2006, Nature, 444, Wright’s revision retained the of the mechanism and depict it in pp587-591. Metonic calendar and he showed three-dimensions. The surface, cov- that the gears could include the dra- ered in fine 2 mm high inscriptions J. Marchant, 2006, Nature, 444, conitic (or draconic, or nodical) has been examined at high resolu- pp534-538. month, an idea originally suggested tion with surface imaging technolo- The Antikythera Mechanism by Price, but now considered to be gy developed by Hewlett-Packard. Research Project: http://www. wrong. His model also included Completely new text has been dis- antikythera-mechanism.gr more hypothetical gears, to calculate covered, unseen for over 2000 years. the position of five of the planets, Fragment C has two newly discov- Wikipedia entry: but these remain contentious. ered scales, the earliest scientific http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikyt Since 2000 a new international scales in history. One is a Greek hera_mechanism

Page 16 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Preserving the UK’s astronomical heritage Clive Davenhall

Eben had said that if old Mr Wilthaugh, who knew the archive rooms through and through, had not been turned out, they could do in fif- teen minutes what had cost them six hours, and that old Mr Wilthaugh, without looking, could tell whether it was worthwhile to look. But old Mr Wilthaugh had been turned out, … Bread on the Waters, Edward Everett Hale.

HE archive in the above quota- Ttion from the nineteenth century American author E.E. Hale stored the records of some obscure branch of the US Government and the story is set some years after the American Civil War. The view of the archivist is a common one: an aged employee Dr John Steele introduces the meeting. Professor Clive Ruggles is seated. of long-standing who knows his col- lection inside out. His fate, alas, is One of the Committee’s first prior- ing from Neolithic stone circles to also familiar. There is always pres- ities was to arrange a meeting with modern astronomical instruments sure on funding which can result in other interested parties, to discuss that are just passing into obsoles- staff being retired and collections the options and requirements and cence or retirement, and even to pre- dispersed. assess priorities. This meeting was serving the dark skies which formed Astronomy is rich in archives, as held on the morning of Friday 11 the backdrop to daily life in pre- well as other material remains of its May 2007 as the RAS Specialist modern times. The Committee history, such as instruments and Discussion Meeting Preserving the hoped to forge links with bodies observatories. It too faces both the UK’s Astronomical Heritage. It was with similar interests, such as the challenge of preserving and con- held, as Discussion Meetings usual- AAS Historical Astronomy Division serving these resources and the con- ly are at the moment, in the Lecture (HAD), particularly its Working comitant chance of exploiting them Theatre of the Geological Society in Group on the Preservation of for astronomical research, historical Burlington House, London. It ran Astronomical Heritage and IAU C5 scholarship and outreach to the pub- from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm and was which is concerned with preserving lic. These concerns are, of course, followed by the RAS AGM and astronomical photographic plates. It central to the SHA. However, they monthly Ordinary Meeting. The was particularly pleasing to hear the are shared by other bodies and the meeting was chaired by Dr John Committee’s willingness to work RAS has recently formed an Steele (Durham) and attended by with the SHA, which had resulted in ‘Astronomical Heritage Committee’ about forty people. our members kindly being granted to consider them. The Committee Prof. Ruggles spoke first, setting free access to the meeting, on a par grew out of the earlier Stonehenge the scene by giving an overview of with RAS Fellows. Committee and is chaired by Prof. the Committee. It was concerned UNESCO has recently announced Clive Ruggles of the University of with conserving, preserving, study- an ‘Astronomy and World heritage’ Leicester. The Committee has a ing and disseminating information initiative which has added the new wide remit: to work on behalf of the about ‘cultural artefacts’ important criterion ‘significance in relation to RAS to ensure the preservation of in the history of astronomy in the astronomy’ as a reason for adding cultural objects pertaining to the his- broadest sense. Thus the Committee so-called ‘cultural properties’ tory of astronomy, broadly defined. had wide-ranging interests stretch- (ancient monuments etc.) to the

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 17 World Heritage List. UNESCO is ‘light pollution’ so as to preserve database of potential sites. It is working to get some astronomical dark skies. hoped that the RAS will continue to sites included as a priority. Prof. Ruggles segued seamlessly assist in adding suitable sites to the However, it cannot propose sites from his introduction into his own database. To this end the Committee itself; proposals must come from talk on Ancient Astronomical Sites. hoped to compile a list of important member states. There are obvious He began by noting that the oft-used sites in the UK and make it accessi- advantages in getting an astronomi- term ‘ancient observatories’ for sites ble. Prof. Ruggles concluded by not- cal site adopted during 2009 which such as Stonehenge is misleading. ing that this list will be a valuable will be the ‘International Year of These sites are not observatories in resource that can assist with preser- Astronomy.’ However, the process is any modern sense. Rather, they are vation and conservation irrespective slow and bureaucratic and time is religious or ritual centres with of any UNESCO listing. now short. UNESCO are keen to ‘demonstrable links to the sky,’ usu- encourage the listing of sites (of all ally in the form of astronomical The next speaker was Dr Derek types, not just astronomical ones) alignments. Most Neolithic stone McNally (Hertfordshire) who spoke from countries which currently have circles do not have such alignments. on Light Pollution as a Heritage few. This preference mitigates Rather, astronomical alignments are Issue. His talk was largely focussed against countries in the developed more often found to involve groups on Stonehenge, though he started by world, which already have many of of stone circles, which raises ques- showing a satellite photograph of sites. The ancient sites at Chankillo, tions about preservation. To pre- light pollution in the UK during the Peru which have recently been serve the astronomical context the 1970s. There were still dark sites recognised to have solar alignments whole group, the sight lines and then, though light pollution has sub- (see Newsletter no. 14, October indeed the landscape must be pre- sequently worsened and there are 2007, pp5-6.) is another possibility, served. The Thornborough Henges substantially fewer now. though again time is running out. are a case in point; the Henges them- In 1992 there had been a UN pro- Other activities of the Committee selves are protected but the sur- posal to make the night sky a her- include liaising with the RAS rounding land is threatened with itage site but it got nowhere because Education Committee about public quarrying (see p9). it was not clear who had jurisdiction. outreach in the history of astronomy, In the context of the UNESCO ini- The UN tried again in 1997 by invit- which again will be important dur- tiative, the RAS assisted UNESCO ing the IAU to organise a meeting on ing 2009 and finally advising on in designing and implementing a Preserving the Night Sky. This meet- ing resulted in the ‘Vienna Resolution’ urging preservation of the night sky. Member States can ignore it, of course, but it has had an effect. Closer to home, improved street lighting outside the University of London Observatory in Mill Hill, North London, has resulted in it no longer being possible to read a newspaper inside the dome. The Neolithic sites with astronom- ical alignments tend to be on the western side of the country, which fortuitously is also the darker part, but nowhere in the UK approaches the natural dark of a moonless night. We are now so used to a bright night Monuments in a landscape. A detail of the prospect of Stonehenge from sky viewed from inside a city that it the east by Vespasians camp by William Stukeley (1687-1765). This view of is difficult to persuade the public, or Stonehenge would have greeted an eighteenth century visitor approaching even archaeologists, of the impor- from Amesbury. ‘Vespasian’s Camp’ is actually an Iron Age hillfort. It now tance and significance of a dark sky. lies alongside the A303. Note also the line of barrows towards the top There is a need for public education right (reproduced in Stukeley Illustrated: William Stukeley’s Rediscovery and the 2009 year of astronomy of Britain’s Ancient Sites by Neil Mortimer, 2003, Green Magic: Sutton might provide an opportunity. Mallet, Somerset). In the US and Canada the idea of a

Page 18 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 ‘dark sky preserve or park’ has preserved much of its her- recently been developed: an area of itage. The Solar Physics wilderness where the sky is kept free Observatory at South of light pollution. Even in North Kensington no longer America there are few suitable sites exists, but five of its instru- left. The natural bridges National ments are in use the Monument in southern Utah has Norman Lockyer recently been nominated as the first Observatory, Sidmouth. such preserve. The King’s Observatory at Dr McNally concluded by noting Kew can be visited by that there are still dark places in the appointment and its instru- UK National Parks, but more people ments are in the Science should experience and appreciate Museum. them. A lively discussion followed The second group, the during which it was noted that the public observatories, were effects of light pollution on noctur- (or are) funded by various nal species had only recently begun means to undertake work to be recognised, making environ- for the public benefit. The mentalists and ecologists into natu- Armagh Observatory ral allies. It was also pointed out (Northern Ireland) and the that, though there had been some Mills Observatory improvements to lighting, unwel- (Dundee) remain working Light pollution in Britain as determined from come developments were still occur- institutions. The Radcliffe satellite imagery in 2000 (courtesy of the ring. For example, Southampton Observatory, Oxford is Campaign to Protect Rural England). Council were planning to illuminate open one day annually and the New Forest National Park at some of its instruments are dis- vanished, but Herschel House, night with a laser beam. Further played in the nearby Museum of the Rosse’s Birr Castle, and Lockyer’s afield, there were proposals to flood- History of Science. The Bidston Sidmouth observatories have sur- light some of the Moais on Easter Observatory (see p37) is closed and vived. The Wrottesley-Phillips Island, a suggestion which horrified under threat of sale. Its instruments Observatory near Wolverhampton Prof. Ruggles. are held by the Liverpool Museum. (see p33) is a fascinating replica of a The third group are the university Victorian observatory. A number of The next speaker was Roger observatories, particularly those this group’s important instruments Hutchins (Magdalen College, undertaking research. They are had a are also extant. Oxford) who spoke on professor as director (whose primary The British astronomical heritage Observatories and gave an overview duty was to teach), but lacked the of observatories is more than 330 of the British Observatories operat- endowment to provide an adequate years old, uniquely diverse, and ing before 1939, with a particular annual budget. Nevertheless colour- encompasses much pioneering emphasis on the significance and ful characters coped with politics work, instrument innovation, signif- heritage of the six university obser- often of murky kind, and cumula- icant discoveries, and collaborative vatories that undertook research tively the group’s significance is international work. More than forty between 1772 and 1939. The British much greater than has previously observatories existed before 1939; Observatories operational before been related. These observatories of these, eighteen buildings (more 1939 (see the table on p21) divide have enjoyed varied fortunes, rang- than 40%) still exist and thirteen are into four categories: national, pub- ing from Glasgow’s Horselethill engaged in outreach and advertise lic, university and the ‘Grand Observatory which was closed in open nights. Remarkably, as the Amateur’ observatories of the nine- 1938 and demolished, through the demands of astrophysics motivated teenth century. The university obser- Durham Observatory which sur- a shift of research, the six university vatories divide further into those vives as a meteorological station observatories absorbed the instru- which undertook research and those (see p1) to the Cambridge and Mill ments of eighteen private observato- solely used for teaching. Hill (London) Observatories which ries; the Manchester, Leeds and Of the national observatories the remain in use. Sheffield observatories absorbed Royal Observatory Greenwich is The observatories of the nineteenth those of four more. This philanthro- now an exemplary museum and the century ‘Grand Amateurs’ have also py ensured the survival of instru- Royal Observatory Edinburgh has enjoyed mixed fortunes. Many have ments of great significance, even

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 19 though their original observatories mately 250 PhD. students who each tions, Dr Bennett spoke without disappeared. year commence an astronomy relat- audio-visual aids, which made a In summary there are representa- ed course; (6) continue in every way refreshing change. He started by tive observatories of the four groups to promote the Society for the apologising in advance for giving an surviving, spread geographically, History of Astronomy and aware- up-beat, positive talk. The general and accessible for visits and even ness of the RAS Heritage Web site. state of preservation and conserva- the use of historic telescopes. Most The British heritage of astronomy tion of astronomical instruments have benefited from extensive is a fundamentally important was reasonably healthy, much more restoration. Further, many of the resource, largely well preserved but so than for most other sciences. most significant instruments of the for twenty years distinctly under- Nonetheless he cautioned that it was Grand Amateurs have survived. publicised, which many modern necessary to be flexible and prag- Dr Hutchins concluded with a astronomers and students could and matic when attempting to preserve number of recommendations astronomical instruments: it is to raise awareness of the not possible to save everything British heritage of observato- and nor should we try to. ries and their principal instru- Astronomical instruments ments and users: (1) to request from the ‘brass and glass’ era the Science Museum in have long been recognised and London to create a new gallery appreciated as items of value. displaying the most important They are collected by muse- instruments from its unique ums and private collectors and but unpublicised collection, can command considerable, and to use the tradition of visu- sometimes very considerable al observation as a principal prices. theme for interpretation; (2) There are at least four rea- the RAS Heritage Web site sons why astronomy is well- should include the indispensa- placed to preserve its instru- ble basic resource — a truly ments. Firstly astronomy has excellent comprehensive list always depended on instru- of observatories and museum- ments, even before the inven- held instruments (including tion of the telescope. Indeed, important instruments in store the first scientific instruments and/or requiring restoration), were astronomical. Secondly, with histories of each to there is a strong mechanical include their principal (or in more modern terms astronomers and work; (3) instrumental) tradition in request those museums dis- astronomical practice. playing instruments with tradi- Part of the astronomy gallery at the Royal Standing can come from inno- tional labels that only identify Scottish Museum, Edinburgh. Many museums vation in instrumentation, the makers to add supplemen- have a tradition of maintaining a collection of examples being Airy or Struve. tary ‘IYA09 labels’ recording astronomical instruments. Similarly instrument makers which astronomers commis- can achieve status and recog- sioned and used the instrument and should enjoy. It would take leader- nition in astronomy, for example to what effect; (4) the Heritage Web ship and goodwill in a collaborative Troughton or Fraunhofer. site should list all astronomers and effort, but no great cash cost, to go A third reason is that, as already instrument makers to be found in the far to supply that aspiration within noted, instruments have value in the Oxford Dictionary of National 2009. art market and this perception trick- Biography, and list other recent dic- les down to museums. A downside is tionaries of biographies of Following Dr Hutchins’ talk there that museums with no other astro- astronomers; (5) seek ways to was a welcome break for coffee. The nomical collection will have a single ensure that the British contribution speaker after the break was Jim astrolabe or similar instrument. The to the history of astronomy is put Bennett (Museum of the History of fourth and final reason is isolation: onto the radar of the approximately Science, Oxford) whose topic was observatories are often in isolated 1000 students a year who undertake Instruments. Unusually in these days hilltop locations. GCSE Astronomy, and the approxi- of ubiquitous PowerPoint presenta- There have been several success

Page 20 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 stories in preserving astronomical British Observatories prior to 1939 collections. The most spectacular one is Greenwich, but this is a spe- National Royal Observatory Greenwich, 1675-1998 cial case. The national observatory Royal Observatory Edinburgh 1822, present site 1896 became a museum with most of the Solar Physics Observatory, South Kensington, 1879-1913 instruments used throughout its his- The King’s Observatory, Kew, 1769 tory still in situ. Public There is a continuing tradition of Armagh Observatory, 1790 presenting obsolete instruments to a Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, 1772, but public after 1839 museum, as the RAS did in the Bidston Observatory, The Wirral, 1866 Mills Observatory, Dundee, 1935 1930s. Donors, however, should be aware that they might find it harder University (a) Research Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, 1772 to donate items then they might Dunsink, 1783 imagine. Limitations of space and Cambridge, 1820 funding mean that museums have to Glasgow Horselethill, 1838-1938 take a cool and clear-headed view Durham, 1940 University of Oxford Observatory, 1873 before accepting items for indefinite Mill Hill, London, 1928 preservation. Having donations University (b) Teaching turned down can be an unpleasant London Imperial, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, Queen’s shock for would-be donors, but in Belfast, Glasgow, St Andrews reality selection is necessary. Grand Amateur Another development in recent The Herschels, Groombridge, South, Wrottesley, Bishop, Smyth, decades is that the observatory takes Carrington, Cooper of Markree, Lord Rosse, De la Rue, Lassell, on a quasi-museum role as the tele- Dawes, Nasmyth, Huggins, Lockyer, Common, and Roberts… scopes on site become obsolete and new ones are built at remote moun- tinue in use can be successful, the masse has been central to their taintop observatories overseas. A Radcliffe refractor at the University preservation. They are now in a spe- number of observatories have made of London Observatory being a cial room air-conditioned for tem- a success of this change of role, for notable example. However, the perature and humidity. The Airy example, Armagh and Marseilles. modifications should be designed so papers alone occupy about a hun- The longevity of observatories that the instrument can be restored dred yards of shelving. makes them suitable for this sort of to its original state. It should be noted that though the role, though several chemistry and RGO archives have been preserved, physics laboratories have undergone The next speaker was Adam Perkins the RGO library has been lost. The similar metamorphoses. (University Library, Cambridge) rare (pre-1500) books were returned Instruments are also preserved in who spoke on Archives. Though to Greenwich. The rest have been the private collections of enthusiasts now at Cambridge University dispersed. The reason for the preser- and collectors. This widespread Library, Mr Perkins had previously vation of the archives is simple: interest is good for preservation but been the RGO Archivist at there was a legal requirement on can present problems with conserva- Herstmonceux and had followed the PPARC (who ran the RGO) to do so. tion. In the past there has been a ten- collection to Cambridge. He began The Observatory was explicitly dency to over-restore instruments, by reviewing the history of the RGO mentioned in the 1958 Public though this is now less common, Library. The archive collection at Records Act. perhaps because of a wider recogni- Greenwich predated the founding of Mr Perkins concluded by noting tion that it reduces the value of the the Observatory in 1675. The keep- that though the RGO archives were item as well as being bad practice. ing of the collection was systema- a success story, more widely there The preservation of modern astro- tised by Airy. The collection moved were clearly concerns and problems nomical instruments is more prob- to Herstmonceux with the in a number of areas including (i) lematic than the preservation of Observatory, where it occupied sev- photographic plate collections, (ii) older ones, but perhaps not as prob- eral rooms in the Castle. When the electronic data outside major proj- lematic as might be expected: there Observatory moved to Cambridge ects and (iii) library historical assets. is still interest and activity in pre- the archives went to the Cambridge serving them. Finally Dr Bennett University Library, with Mr Perkins Peter Hingley (RAS Librarian and noted that thoughtful modernisation following as a ‘secondary deposit.’ SHA Councillor) rounded off the of instruments so that they can con- The transfer of the archives en scheduled contributions with Who

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 21 covered during the meeting. These Jean-Dominique topics need to be addressed. Cassini’s sketches Foremost amongst them was the cat- made during aloguing, long-term storage, preser- February and April vation and access to photographic 1667 which show plate collections (see p23). Another spots on Venus. was retaining meaningful collec- tions of older books (see p28). With this discussion a successful Needs this Old Stuff Anyhow? Mr the sunspot cycle. The drawings of and promising meeting drew to a Hingley began by noting that as far spots on Venus by Jean-Dominique close. It was encouraging to see the as he knew the meeting was the first Cassini (1625-1712) may give enthusiasm displayed and willing- time that the Society’s Librarian had precedents for the 1994 impact of ness to tackle the considerable work addressed one of its meetings, and comet Shoemaker-Levy (for another that lies ahead. It bodes well that the he then proceeded to give his usual example see the identification of a Committee is keen to work with enthusiastic and wide-ranging pres- supernova remnant with an event groups with related interests. It was entation. recorded in Chinese annals; see particularly rewarding to hear the He began by noting that we live in Newsletter, no. 12, November 2006, SHA mentioned favourably several a schizophrenic world in which, on p5). times during the meeting and to the one hand ‘heritage’ is an enor- Historical material can aid public learn that the Committee are keen to mous industry, but on the other there outreach, not least because it often co-operate with it. In a similar con- are horror stories of public neglect. deals with relatively bright, accessi- text it only remains to again thank Some examples of the latter might ble objects. Several observatories the meeting organisers and the RAS include the Science Museum closing have ‘adopted’ historical sites in for waiving the usual attendance fee its astronomy galleries, the fate of their locale. For example the for SHA members. Finally, I am the Bidston Observatory on the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias grateful to Dr Roger Hutchins for Wirral (see p37) and, closer to on Tenerife has adopted the tempo- kindly providing material and infor- home, the RAS Library may face a rary observing station established by mation relating to his talk. 25% staff cut. Libraries, however, Piazzi Smyth in 1856 during his pio- Further Reading are always under pressure to find neering studies of observing from funds for preservation and conserva- high-altitude sites. RAS Astronomical Heritage tion. The RAS is beginning to make Committee: http://www.astronomi- Archival material can be used to (i) some of its photographic collection calheritage.org.uk/ extract genuinely new scientific available on the Internet and the American Astronomical Society results, (ii) promote public under- images are proving popular (see Historical Astronomy (HAD) standing and engagement and (iii) p46). In conclusion Mr Hingley Division: http://www.aas.org/had/ support research into scientific his- noted that in London there are more tory. These themes were illustrated blue plaques for comedians than HAD Working Group on the with material from the RAS Library astronomers. Preservation of Astronomical and further afield. The history of Heritage: http://members.aas.org/ astronomy should not be considered Following the last talk Prof. Ruggles comms/wgpah.cfm in isolation. rather, it should be stud- chaired a lively discussion about the Campaign for Dark Skies: ied in the context of (and building way forward for the Heritage http://www.britastro.org/dark-skies/ links to) related disciplines, such as Committee. It was clear that there Dark Sky Scotland http://www.dark- the history of maritime navigation, was a great deal of interest in and skyscotland.org.uk/ surveying etc. (as an aside both I.K. support for its work. It was clearly Brunel and George Stephenson were sensible to pursue the UNESCO ini- Campaign to Protect Rural England: Fellows of the Society). tiative and compile a list of potential http://www.cpre.org.uk/ Historic documents can still be sites for World Heritage listing. It For the effects of light pollution on used to derive new scientific results. was also obvious that ways of reduc- wild life see: http://www.urbanwild- For example, Christoph Scheiner’s ing light pollution should be pur- lands.org/abstracts.html compendious study of the Sun, the sued. Rosa Ursina sive Sol of 1630, con- However there were a number of Natural Bridges National tained detailed sunspot drawings areas that were a cause for concern Monuments, Utah, United States: that have contributed to the study of and which had not been properly http://www.nps.gov/nabr/

Page 22 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Time Domain Astronomy at PARI Clive Davenhall and Sue Tritton

N 1-3 November 2007 a small astronomical observatory carrying 1840s. With improvements in pho- Oworkshop on A National Plan out research and public education tography it became commonplace in for Preserving Astronomical and outreach programmes. PARI is the last quarter of the century, Photographic Data was held at operated as a not-for-profit founda- though the take-up was drawn-out PARI (Pisgah Astronomical tion. It is affiliated with the and varied between institutions. It Research Institute) in North University of North Carolina and was given impetus by Sir David Carolina to discuss problems with has links to various other education- Gill’s famous photograph of the preserving and digitising astronomi- al institutions. It now operates an great comet of 1882 which, in addi- cal photographic plates. The meet- impressive collection of radio and tion to showing impressive detail in ing was attended by thirty-two peo- optical telescopes (the former being the comet’s tail, also revealed large ple, mostly from the US, but includ- conversions of the original satellite numbers of hitherto-unknown faint ing two from Canada and one each tracking dishes). PARI also hosts the stars in the background. from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, APDA (Astronomical Photographic Astronomical photographs were Italy and the UK (Tritton). A notable Data Archive), which currently usually exposed on glass plates, absentee was Jean Mueller of houses over 35,000 plates. This rather than film, for stability. Such Palomar who was unable to attend archive was the focus of the meet- photography became the norm at because the fires then raging in ing. many observatories, both for sys- California were threatening the Observatory. The meeting was organised by Elizabeth Griffin (Chair of the IAU Task Force for the Preservation and Digitization of Photographic Plates; PDPP) and Wayne Osborn (retired from Central Michigan University). This article gives a short summary of the meet- ing and its main recommendations. More details are available on request; see ‘Further reading’ below for details. PARI is located deep in the Pisgah National Forest in Western North Carolina, some miles from the near- est town. The Institute has an inter- esting history. It was founded in 1962 as the NASA Rosman Satellite Tracking Station and it subsequently Attendees at the PARI conference inspect the plate preservation vault participated in the Gemini and where part of PARI’s collection is currently housed (courtesy of the Pisgah Apollo programmes. In 1981 it was Astronomical Research Institute). transferred from NASA to the NSA (National Security Agency) and It is worth recapitulating the back- tematic programmes and sky-sur- became an electronic intelligence ground to astronomical photograph- veys and for one-off research proj- gathering facility. With changing ic archives and the reasons why it ects. Many institutions maintained a requirements, it was closed in 1995 was timely to hold a meeting on plate archive or library, where the and handed over to the US Forestry their preservation. Long-exposure plates which had been laboriously Service. It remained unused for sev- photographs can reveal fine detail obtained were carefully stored and eral years and was in danger of and faint objects not visible by (to a greater or lesser extent) being dismantled. direct observation. Photography indexed so that they could be made In 1999 a small group of interested spread slowly into astronomy during available for future reuse. businessmen and scientists acquired the nineteenth century, starting with Unfortunately other observatories the site and founded PARI as an daguerreotypes of the Sun in the did not maintain an archive and

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 23 allowed astronomers to retain the discarded. lish a census of the major collec- plates that they had exposed or Naturally these developments have tions, determine which are in danger worked with. Many of these plates led to efforts to preserve and utilise of dispersal and decide whether a have been dispersed, lost or the collections, including collecting national plate repository is needed. destroyed. unwanted archives in specialist cen- Though focused on the US the meet- Starting in the 1980s photographic tres, of which PARI is a notable ing did not ignore wider issues. Each plates fell out of use because of the example in North America. session had a ‘guiding question’ development of electronic detectors However, it is not enough to simply which it attempted to answer, with which are more sensitive, easier to collect and store old plates. They subsidiary questions as necessary. calibrate, have a larger dynamic must be properly catalogued and The sessions generated consider- range and produce digital rather than indexed, with the catalogue avail- able discussion and resulted in a set analogue data. However, over a cen- able and searchable on-line. of recommendations. These recom- tury of photography has produced a Digitisation of all the plates would mendations are reproduced in a substantial legacy of plates. The sta- be an enormous undertaking which slightly abridged form on p27. tistics are impressive: there are esti- is completely unrealistic. However, the principal recommen- mated to be more than two million Conversely, ‘digitisation on dation was that PARI, due to its astronomical plates in existence demand’ is eminently feasible. Here abundant storage space, should be (corresponding to a total area of users request that the plates in which developed as a major astronomical glass of more than 109 cm2). About they are interested are scanned as plate archive. This archive would be half are in North America and most needed. Plate digitisation used to mainly for US collections but other of the remainder in Europe. require expensive and specialised collections might be incorporated. However, there are also substantial equipment, often with bespoke scan- Though not the focus of the meet- collections in Australia, South ners built specially for a digitisation ing, it is worth recapping the situa- Africa, South America and Asia. programme or project. However, the tion in the UK, which gives some Astronomical plate archives form a widespread availability of large cause for concern. There are two unique and irreplaceable resource commercial scanners now makes major plate collections: one from the for ‘time-domain astronomy,’ that is digitisation much easier and cheap- RGO (Royal Greenwich studies of variable objects or irre- er, as long as the utmost astrometric Observatory) and the other at the producible phenomena. However, and photometric accuracy is not ROE (Royal Observatory the collections have a number of required. Some notable recent digiti- Edinburgh). problems if they are to be used in the sation projects are listed in the table When the RGO moved from future. They are geographically dis- below. Herstmonceux to Cambridge in persed and difficult to access. Many It was against this background that 1990 the collection, comprising of the plates, both individually and the meeting took place. Its particular about 68,000 plates, was rehoused in as collections, are poorly or inade- aim was to develop a ‘national plan’ a specially-built and equipped store. quately documented and catalogued. for the US plate collections: estab- The RGO was closed less than a The catalogues are often only acces- sible as paper documents, not on- Recent notable plate digitisation projects line. Most of the plates have not Harvard College Observatory DASCH project, been digitised. Many plates are not http://iic.harvard.edu/projects/dasch.html suitable for the studies of very faint Maria Mitchell Observatory project to digitise their plate collection, objects; older plates have a limiting http://www.aas.org/~pboyce/mma/plates.htm magnitude of perhaps 12 - 15 visual Royal Observatory Edinburgh archiving project, magnitude, though modern Schmidt http://www.roe.ac.uk/ifa/wfau/ plates go much deeper. The combi- Wide-field Plate Database and European (WFPD) preservation projects, nation of these problems has led to http://www.skyarchive.org/ many archives being little-used. Italian and Vatican Observatories’ plate digitisation project, Staff with experience of using and http://www.skyarchive.org/recent_pub/barbieri_EA.pdf curating plates are often nearing Dominion Astrophysical Observatory Spectroscopic Plate Center, retirement or retired. Observatories http://www.hia-iha.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/dao/spectral_e.html always face constraints on funding Mt. Wilson Observatory on-line solar archive, and space. Consequently there is http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~ulrich/MW_SPADP/index.html pressure to close or mothball Lowell Observatory solar system archive. archives, leading in some cases to http://www.lowell.edu/Research/library/ the possibility of the plates being

Page 24 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 The thirty-two attendees at the PARI conference. Some of the PARI buildings and radio telescopes can be seen in the background (courtesy of the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute). decade later, in 1998, and the plate plates have been moved to suitable, most important of the RGO plates to store closed with it. The plates were air-conditioned rooms in the ROE retain in the UK are the moved to commercial storage in a basement, where they remain acces- Astrographic plates and various warehouse in London, where they sible. The older plates are less well non-parallax direct plates, particu- remain to this day, inaccessible and catalogued and the room where they larly from the RGO 26-inch (paral- in storage conditions that are less are currently stored is less than ade- lax plates usually have a small field than ideal. quate. of view and a bright limiting magni- The ROE collection divides natu- Various initiatives are possible. tude, and there are many exposures rally into the archive of plates from The ‘old’ ROE plates need properly of the same field). The plates which the UKST (UK Schmidt Telescope; cataloguing and ideally their storage might be offered to PARI include 19,000 plates taken 1973-2003) and conditions should be improved. It solar plates, spectral plates (but the rest, mostly older plates from the might be possible to move some of these take up little space) and paral- Monte Porzio Schmidt (2000 plates the RGO plates to ROE, though it is lax plates (if these are thought to be taken 1967-1975), Italy and a vari- doubtful whether there is room for worth keeping). ety of earlier telescopes in Monte all of them. If they were to be moved There is a catalogue of the RGO Porzio and Edinburgh (about 4500 it would be necessary to provide collection but it is not currently plates). The UKST plates are com- adequate storage: accessible shelv- available on-line. At PARI catalogu- prehensively catalogued. The survey ing in air-conditioned rooms. One ing and similar activities are largely plates, at least, have been digitised option for the RGO plates which carried out by volunteers, who are and are available on-line (indeed, cannot be accommodated in often retired scientists. It might be they form a component of Google Edinburgh might be to offer them to possible to arrange something simi- Sky). With the completion of the PARI, which might accept them if lar in Edinburgh, and this may be an digitisation programmes the UKST transportation costs are paid. The area where the SHA could assist.

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 25 Part of the ex-RGO collection of plates. The collection, in packing cases, is in secure storage in London (courtesy of Colin Vincent and the Science and Technology Facilities Council). http://www.lizardhollow. net/PDPP.htm The PARI home page is: http://www.pari.edu/ Also two general descriptions of PARI have been published: S.J. Goldman, Sky and Telescope, October 2001, 102 (4), p42. L. Hargreaves, Physics Today, March 2001, 54 (3), see: http://www.physicstoday.org/pt/vol- Any of these initia- 54/iss-3/p26a.html tives require some funding and possi- The American National Standards ble sources need to Institute has published standards for be investigated. the storage of photographic plates. It The workshop is for sale at http://webstore.ansi. was sponsored by org/RecordDetail.aspx?sku=ISO+18 the US NSF 918%3a2000 (National Science Treasure-Hunting in Astronomical Foundation). Sue Plate Archives, eds. P Kroll, C. la Tritton gratefully Dous, and H.J. Bräuer, 1999, Acta acknowledges the Historica Astronomiae, 6 (Verlag UK STFC (Science Harri Deutsch: Thun and Frankfurt and Technology am Main) is a report of an earlier Facilities Council) meeting about utilising and preserv- for international ing plate archives which was held at travel costs and the the Sonneberg Observatory during NSF for all internal March 1999. costs in the US. For a brief introduction to the gener- Further reading al question of preserving and utilis- The full recom- ing photographic archives see mendations of the R.E.M. Griffin, 2001, Astron. & workshop, and var- Geophys, 42 (2), pp25-26. ious related materi- Agnes Clerke’s Popular History of al, are available on Astronomy during the Nineteenth Sir David Gill’s famous photograph of the Great request. In the first Century (originally published in Comet of 1882. The large number of hitherto- instance contact 1885) describes the adoption of pho- unknown background stars stimulated the develop- the Newsletter edi- tography in astronomy. See in par- ment of astronomical photography. The photograph torial address. ticular pp407-14. A modern edition was taken at the Cape Observatory, Cape of Good The IAU PDPP was published by Sattre Press Hope on 13 November 1882. East is at the top and task force has a (Decorah) in 2003. north to the right (courtesy of the Royal Observatory Web page at: Edinburgh).

Page 26 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Recommendations of the workshop The workshop made three sets of recommendations, one to the astro- nomical community, the second to those engaged in plate archiving efforts and finally a third to PARI. The ones made to PARI are primari- ly of interest to that institution and so are not included here. The remaining two, however, are repro- duced in a slightly abridged form.

Recommendations to the astro- nomical community (1) Given the eventual need for a database of astronomical photo- The Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) in the Pisgah National graphic data, a census of North Forest, Western North Carolina (courtesy of PARI). American astronomical photograph- ic plates should be carried out. This puter-based catalogue of their hold- separately, but should be catalogued census will be conducted by contact- ings. so that it is clear where each portion ing observatories and other institu- of the collection is housed. Recommendations to those tions known or expected to hold (4) The importance to astronomy of engaged in plate archiving efforts plates. It is hoped to complete the these historic data should be brought census by 1 March 2008 and release (1) Those engaged in plate archiving to the attention of those conducting the findings at the June 2008 AAS should emphasise the importance of the next decadal survey (a US fund- (American Astronomical Society) this work for ‘time-domain astrono- ing review) and the astronomical meeting. my research’ as well as for ensuring community in general. Suitable (2) Given its extensive available the preservation of historical mechanisms include articles in physical space and support facilities, records. newsletters, press releases and PARI’s APDA should be developed reports to appropriate committees. (2) When transferring plates from The IAU or its PDPP Task Force as an astronomical photographic their home institution to an archive: data repository. should be encouraged to recognise a. the receiving organisation should PARI as an astronomical photo- (3) PARI should be designated as the obtain a letter or agreement, on let- graphic data archive. collection point for orphan plates, terhead and signed by the (5) Catalogues of plate collections defined as those plates an observato- Department Chair or other designat- should include as much information ry holds that are from some other ed person of the donor organisation, as necessary to adequately describe institution. PARI will arrange to authorising the transfer and listing their content. For direct plates, return or file them, as appropriate. any conditions; records should conform to the Astronomers with plates they no WFPD (Wide-Field Plate Database) longer need should return them to b. the storage cabinets and the asso- template; spectroscopic ones should the appropriate observatories; if an ciated log books and other records follow the template developed by observatory is unwilling to accept should accompany the plates when- the IAU Working Group for them, the astronomer should contact ever possible; and Spectroscopic Data Archives. PARI about archiving. c. a catalogue of the transferred (6) The archiving of both photo- (4) A special session on ‘time- plates should be prepared, prefer- graphic and paper records should domain astronomy’ should be pro- ably by the donating institution but adhere to accepted archival stan- posed to the AAS for its January otherwise by the recipient as soon as dards as far as possible. 2009 meeting. possible. (7) In order to acquire the funds (5) Institutions with collections of (3) In general, plates with the same needed to support archiving it is astronomical photographic plates origin should be stored together. necessary to identify and explore are encouraged to compile a com- Subsets of a collection may be kept every reasonable source of revenue.

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 27 The role of libraries The following declaration appeared in The Observatory (2007, 127, pp401-2). It is reproduced here by kind permis- sion of its authors and the editors of The Observatory. It reflects concerns that modern on-line, electronic methods of publication have reduced the use and perceived importance of libraries. The declaration was drafted subsequent to the col- loquium Future Professional Communication in Astronomy, held at the Palais des Academies in Brussels on 10-13 June 2007 (see A. Heck, The Observatory, 2007, 127, pp375-79) though it does not derive directly from that meeting. After a period of consultation and discussion with astronomers and research-centre librarians world-wide, the declaration will be presented to the IAU through its Commission 5 (Documentation and Astronomical Data), part of Division XII (Union-Wide Activities), with the request that it be considered for adoption as official IAU policy. The long- term preservation of libraries is, of course, of particular importance to historians of astronomy. The authors of the dec- laration welcome discussion and offers of support. The address of the first author, T.J. Mahoney, is: Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain, email: [email protected] — Ed. Burning the books? This illustration from the Declaration concerning the evolv- tions to ensure the Nuremberg Chronicle shows a Mediaeval auto- ing role of libraries in research fullest possible cover- da-fé of books. The Nuremberg Chronicle, or centres age of subject areas. more properly Liber Chronicarum, (1493) by We call on the astronomical commu- * Making information Hartman Schedel is an illustrated world history. It nity world-wide to address the available to patrons is considered an outstanding example of early importance of libraries and their wherever and when- printing (courtesy Morse Library, Beloit College evolving role within research cen- ever required. and Wikimedia Commons). tres on the grounds that the technol- * Archiving suffi- * Applying expert knowledge and ogy for generating and sharing cient printed and on-line material to familiarity with information information is useless if there is no ensure the continuity of the astro- resources alongside a specialised way to locate, filter, organise, and nomical record from Antiquity to the subject knowledge, thereby allow- access it. present day. Electronic publications ing information to be delivered to Astronomy has a history dating are of too recent an origin to com- patrons in a timely and preferred back to Antiquity and libraries have pete, in terms of completeness, with manner. served as repositories of research the traditional library. In spite of the * Using administrative expertise to and cultural heritage for many cen- great efforts to digitise old publica- create and manage convenient, turies; however, the current pace of tions, not everything is on the Web, accessible, and cost-effective infor- technological change and develop- nor is it likely to be in the future. mation services (aligned with strate- ment has led to libraries effectively * Providing scholarly access to gic directions of organisation); i.e., becoming invisible in the day-to-day information resources in all media enhancing access through the ability running of research centres. The and in all formats, both physically to identify and link patrons to their advent of electronic publishing has available and accessed remotely on required information needs. led to a drastic reassessment of the the Internet. best ways to promote the communi- * Identifying, retrieving, organising, The ease with which today’s cation and storage of research evaluating, repackaging, filtering, research workers access on-line results. The librarian’s role in these and providing electronic access to databases and bibliographical circumstances combines new with digital information sources. resources can easily hide from view traditional tasks of information man- * Facilitating easy access through the efforts of librarians in providing agement. These tasks include: the purchase of licences and other these facilities. We therefore call on * The acquisition of new publica- software. librarians to adopt a more proactive

Page 28 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 stance in making their contribution have remained static over this peri- U. Grothkopf (Library, European known to the research communities od. We call on funding agencies to Southern Observatory) they serve (e.g., through library take the increased volume and cost G. Coetzer (Library, tours, seminars, courses, etc.). of astronomical journals into Hartesbeesthoek Radio Astronomy Libraries tend not to be overmanned account. We also urge research cen- Observatory) or to occupy excessive space within tres to take into account the rise in P. Vonflie (Library, Strasbourg research centres, so it is essential both published output and subscrip- Astronomical Observatory) that librarians resist misguided tion prices when distributing their M. Hurn (Library, The attempts at cutting staffing levels research budgets. The question is Observatories, Cambridge) and allocating valuable library space one not solely of funding at source M. Bishop (Library, National Radio to other purposes. Librarians are but also of the relative importance Astronomy Observatory) being asked to perform ever more given by research centres to the D. Coletti (Harvard-Smithsonian tasks as part of their duties: they essential role of libraries. Center for Astrophysics) cannot therefore be expected to do S. Bosken (US Naval Observatory) more work in less space or with T.J. Mahoney (Research Division, B. Corbin (US Naval Observatory, fewer staff. Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias) retired) The main astronomical research K. Moran (Library, Royal J. Lagerstrom (Space Telescope journals have tripled in volume and Observatory Edinburgh) Science Institute) price over the past decade, but this S. Davis (Library, South African S. Stevens-Rayburn (Space increase in published output and Astronomical Observatory) Telescope Science Institute, retired) costs has not been addressed by the M. Gómez (Library, Instituto de E. Bouton (Archive, National Radio allocation of library budgets, which Astrofísica de Canarias) Astronomy Observatory)

A hidden gem in Nottingham Les Jepson

few years ago, just after the A brief history: is not surprising. It lies Afounding of the SHA, our res- Bromley House was in the centre of busy olute Librarian Madeline Cox was built in 1752 by George Nottingham, at the researching a Victorian Smith, the grandson of a western end of Old Nottinghamshire amateur local banker. Over the Market Square. A con- astronomer. In doing so she ran into next seven decades it spicuous Georgian front references to ‘The Nottingham served as an elegant town door is flanked by a shop Subscription Library’, also known house for various owners, and on either side, currently a as ‘Bromley House Library’, on in 1819 was even used to billet sol- Barnardo’s charity shop and an Angel Row in Nottingham. She diers. The Nottingham Subscription MSR newsagent’s. Due to the learned that this place figured Library, formed in 1816 in response facades of these two shops, one can strongly in scientific debates and to the growing demand for access to walk past this striking front door meetings in nineteenth century books, purchased the house for quite oblivious to its existence. Nottingham. Madeline enjoyed £2750 in 1820 as a permanent home Above the lintel is a stone plaque: something of a ‘eureka!’ moment for its growing collection. This situ- ‘1752 Bromley House’. From across when she learned that it still exists. ation has continued with a strong the street the two shops dwindle and Bear in mind that Madeline was and active membership to this day. the Georgian character of the house born and bred in Nottinghamshire, The top floor was once the first pho- is plain to see, most notably in the albeit some distance to the north of tographic studio in Nottingham. typical false-perspective effect of the county town. She had visited that Opened in 1841 by one Alfred the decreasing length of the upper city’s public library on innumerable Barber, it continued until 1955. windows. Also easily visible from occasions — it too being on Angel Traces of Mr Barber’s equipment this vantage point is the external Row and less than a hundred yards can still be seen. apparatus of an anemoscope, its con- away from Bromley House — with- When one sees the exterior of the necting spindle disappearing into the out ever noticing the older premises. building its present-day low profile roof to communicate with the wind

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 29 Then and now. Left: A period illustration of the front of Bromley House, Angel Row, Nottingham. Below: The same frontage today.

direction dials within the building. tion of a class of differential equa- Bromley House as ‘my first univer- Inside, the rooms are decorated in tions and ‘Green’s Functions’, still sity’. During his membership of the mostly Georgian style with many used today. George Green was a library it supported him through interesting period features and paint- member of the library from 1823 to access to books and help with ings. One Victorian addition, in 1833, before he went to Cambridge financing publications. It was 1857, is particularly arresting: a fine University. He always referred to halfway though his decade there that spiral staircase leading to he published his paper, The the upper gallery in the Application of Mathematical largest reading room. The Analysis to the Theories of staircase is singular in that it Electricity and Magnetism. has no central column, rises Also, the visitors’ books con- through one complete revo- tain some interesting entries lution, and ends in a short — Michael Faraday, for straight section. This main instance. room and the one below it In the early years of the also house the wind direc- nineteenth century, clocks tion dials of the anemo- and watches were still set to scope, although they are no local time, and Bromley longer connected to the House set itself up as the rooftop vane linkage. It adjudicator of Local Apparent appears that this contraption Noon at Nottingham. So from has been troubled since its the SHA’s point of view, the installation in the early nine- main treasure of Bromley teenth century. Never mind, House is surely the brass it is still there! There are meridian line in the Standfast several reading rooms, some Room. This line was laid in named after venerable bene- 1834, almost fifty years factors and subscribers. The before GMT became the legal best known in the latter cat- norm in the British Isles, and egory is the Nottingham runs diagonally across the mathematician, George room. It is twenty-two feet Green, sometimes called the The Meridian Line in the Steadfast Room. The long and two inches wide, father of quantum physics. recess for the plumb line and bob are behind the with a central line cut deeply He is famous for his inven- closed door. into the brass. It has long been

Page 30 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Left: Sunlight as noon dials are very rare in these aperture (top islands. There is one in Durham left panel), Cathedral and a partially restored Standfast Room. one at Ramsgate; but to have such an excellently preserved example, with its accompanying clocks, and in such authentic surroundings, is quite Below: The extraordinary. main reading As part of its timekeeping con- room. Just visi- cerns, the library has two specially ble above left of marked longcase clocks. The first is the mantelpiece an anonymous provincial instrument is dial of the which has been dated from its style anemoscope. to about 1780-90. It has a plain Right of the white dial to which a plate has been mantelpiece is attached showing time differences the anonymous between Nottingham and provincial Greenwich, and Nottingham and St clock. A barom- Paul’s Cathedral. There is also eter hangs on another plate above the dial listing the wall, centre latitude and longitude differences right. between Greenwich and St Paul’s, and then eight other locations in the Midlands. Interestingly, two of these places are Bingham Church and Langar Observatory. Both of these are very near to Nottingham itself and even nearer to each other — just six miles apart. They have connec- tions to two local astronomers: Robert White and Edward Gregory respectively. For further information about them, please refer to Madeline Cox’s recent paper, Some Nottinghamshire Astronomers, in The Antiquarian Astronomer (2008, 4, pp23-34). The second clock is of better qual- ity and was specially commissioned from Whitehurst of Derby. The aforementioned time differences and covered by either carpets or tal meridian. There is a carved some latitudes and longitudes are linoleum that have happily pre- recess for the actual plumb bob (no engraved directly on the dial of this served it in excellent condition longer there) to reside in situ. The instrument. It is called the 1830 (imagine a century or more of hob- plumb bob’s function has long been Whitehurst Regulator and predates nail boots!). The window at the a matter of conjecture amongst the the brass meridian line by four meridian’s southern end has a library staff and subscribers. years, which suggests that the blanked-out pane with an aperture Perhaps one of our own members Bromley House timekeeping facility for sunlight. Externally, there was at could shed some light on this ques- evolved over a period. The one time a wooden shutter. At the tion? Whitehurst clock, because of its dis- northern end of the strip there is a I don’t think I can over-stress the crete location, has been largely over- short exposed section near the door importance of the Bromley House looked by researchers. For example, of a store room. A board adjacent to meridian line. Although I have seen there is no mention of it in Maxwell this door frame carries a vertical them elsewhere on the Continent, Craven’s book, John Whitehurst of plumb line aligned with the horizon- horizontal meridian lines that serve Derby, Clockmaker and Scientist

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 31 1713-88 (1996, Mayfield Books: (dated 1893, Derbyshire). 1896 and 1898) The back of Bromley house faces Alfred H. south, and here is a delightful garden Fison’s Recent kept in character with the building. Advances in A replica Pilkington and Gibbs Astronomy bronze sundial takes pride of place. (1898), and The whereabouts of the original is Arthur Berry’s unknown, although its pedestal sur- Short History of vives. Other things have vanished Astronomy over the years: there were at one (1899). The time two fine globes in the library, library of the one terrestrial and one celestial. British Sundial They are now gone, although they Society is also are visible in old photographs. housed here. The main resource of any library, For many years The sundial in the garden. of course, is its books. There is a the Nottingham Literary and nineteenth century Nottingham, comprehensive range of subjects, Scientific Society held its meetings with its instruments, its clocks, its and a small collection of nineteenth in the building. books and its meetings. It also had century astronomy books has sur- Bromley House Library thus links with the early Mechanics vived, including Sir Norman played an important part in the fur- Institute, where several astronomy Lockyer’s publications on eclipses therance of science and learning in lectures took place. Further research is being undertaken into these con- nections. The view from the upper gallery. The Bromley House staff are happy for non-members to visit, but visits should be arranged in advance. I am grateful for their hospitality and for their permission for the pho- tographs that illustrate this article to be taken. If you are ever in Nottingham I do recommend a visit. Although I marvelled at the Tower of the Winds at Athens, and again at Rome, I was delighted with this jewel of a place so close to home.

Further reading The Library has a Web site at: http://www.bromleyhouse.org A history of the library was pub- lished some years ago: Bromley House 1752-1991, R.T. Coope and J.Y. Corbett (eds), 1991 (Nottingham Subscription Library). Copies are still available, in the first instance contact The Librarian, Bromley House Library, Bromley House, Angel Row, Nottingham, NG1 6HL. The Web site for the British Sundial Society is at: http://www.sundial- soc.org.uk/

Page 32 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 AVictorian Observatory opened in the Black Country John Armitage

HE Pendrell Hall Observatories TGroup have done it again! In June 2006 the group opened a Victorian-style observatory of ‘Romsey’ design, named the Wrottesley-Phillips Observatory, at their main centre at Pendrell Hall in South Staffordshire (see Newsletters 14, October 2007, pp16-18, 13, February 2007, pp12-13 and 10, March 2006, pp12-14). Now they have opened another Victorian style observatory, also of ‘Romsey’ design, this time situated on the open air site of the Black The newly-opened Wrottesley Observatory with transit house at the Country Museum at Tipton Road, Black Country Museum. Dudley. The obser- named in honour of the notable vatory building and nineteenth-century astronomer Lord structure at the two John Wrottesley, Second Baron sites are almost Wrottesley (1798-1867). He not identical, there only had an observatory at his fami- being no more than ly seat, Wrottesley Hall, just north of minor detail differ- Wolverhampton, but is also said to ences between have made observations from the them. Both observa- top of Beacon Tower, a folly on top tories are equipped of Beacon Hill at Sedgley. This with Calver reflec- structure is said to have been rebuilt tors as their main on his orders in 1846 when acting in instruments, though his capacity of Lord of the Manor of these telescopes dif- Sedgley. fer. At Pendrell Hall It was felt that because of Lord the Calver is an Wrottesley’s eminence as an f/6.8 instrument astronomer and his Black Country which once connections it would be entirely belonged to the right to name the Observatory after Reverend T.E.R. him. He was, after all, a founder Phillips, whilst the member of the Royal Astronomical Calver installed in Society and its President from 1841 the Black Country to 1843. He was also President of Observatory is a the Royal Society from 1854 to much longer focus 1857 and President of the British f/11 instrument, Association for the Advancement of which we expect to Science for 1860. be excellent for The formal ceremonial opening of Special Guest Prof. John Dowell FRS with lunar and planetary the Wrottesley Observatory took Observatory Project Director John Armitage on work. place at the Museum on Friday 19 Friday 19 October at the opening of the Wrottesley The new observa- October 2007. It had originally been Observatory. tory has been scheduled to be opened by Lembit

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 33 Opik MP, as had been the case with the Wrottesley-Phillips Observatory the previ- ous year. However, at a late stage commit- ments at Westminster intervened and this was not possible. Instead it was decided that all the main organisations that Lord Wrottesley had been involved with would be represented at the opening event. The principal guest, representing the Royal Society, was Professor John Dowell FRS. The Lord John Wrottesley, Second Royal Astronomical Baron Wrottesley, had Sedgley Society was well rep- Beacon Tower rebuilt in 1846 and, resented, there being according to a local tradition, no less than six made astronomical observations Fellows present, and from it. The Tower is a prominent the British Association A view inside the Wrottesley Observatory: John local landmark, standing on the for the Advancement Armitage with the Calver Reflector. highest point of Beacon Hill and of Science (BAAS) enjoying commanding views of the represented by the Project Director, Hall Observatory Project does not surrounding countryside. The pho- John Armitage, who is a long-stand- intend to rest on its laurels. It has tograph above is taken from a ing life member. The BAAS’s recently taken delivery of an 1890s postcard by John Price and shows regional officer was unable to vintage Cooke refractor which needs the Tower circa 1905 (courtesy attend. The British Astronomical restoration. It hopes to refurbish it Sedgley Local History Society). Association (BAA) was represented and devise a portable mounting sys- The photograph below shows the by Roger Picard, who at that time tem which will allow it to be used tower as it is today. was President Elect, and by Bob for demonstrations at the Black Marriott, the BAA’s Curator of Country Museum and elsewhere. Instruments, as the Calver reflector This telescope should be operational in the observatory is BAA’s instru- again by the end of 2008. ment number 150, recently refur- For further details about either the bished by the Pendrell Hall Group. Pendrell Hall Observatory, or about The Observatory, complete with arrangements at the new Wrottesley transit room and transit instruments, Observatory, contact John Armitage is intended to demonstrate what a at Observatory House, 117, typical Victorian observatory would Hednesford Road, Cannock, have been like. A limited number of Staffordshire, WS11 6LB (telephone evening demonstrations will take 01543 579805). place each year (limited because the Museum is not normally open at Further reading night), and numerous daytime For an account of the work of Lord demonstrations, particularly at sum- Wrottesley see The Antiquarian mer weekends, when solar observa- Astronomer, 2006, 3, pp5-10. tion will be on offer. Following the completion of the Black Country Museum Web site: Wrottesley Observatory the Pendrell http://www.bclm.co.uk/

Page 34 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Guided Missives

The Newsletter welcomes letters for publication which can be on any aspect of the SHA, including its activities, projects and organisation, and, more widely, any topic in the history of astronomy — Ed.

Instruments from about and had no need to retain. dence is too close to ignore.) I have recently discovered that, Does any member of the SHA Stonyhurst College amongst the instruments that were at know anything about this instru- In the mid-sixties of the last century the Stonyhurst College Observatory, ment, since the 9 inch speculum I was asked to assist in the relocation there was once a 24 cm diameter alt- might have been its prime mirror? I of the Grubb 15 inch refractor that azimuth-mounted Cassegrain enclose a picture of the back of the was the main instrument of the old telescope. This instrument apparent- speculum which shows its unusual Observatory at Stonyhurst College, ly had a very heavy mounting, but ‘edge step’ that could identify the a Catholic boarding school in there is no mention of the maker’s maker. Lancashire. name or whether the mirror was a So far, I have had no success. All I confess that I was reluctant to speculum or a glass disc. (9 inches is that I know is that it is most proba- take on this task, but the request was approximately 23 cm and the coinci- bly not a Herschel nor a Short. Any from a current staff mem- help would be greatly ber of that college, Father appreciated. Worthy. The new owner One of the other was to be Father McKeon instruments at the old of Burslem, Stoke-on- Stonyhurst site was a Trent who was a previous 20 cm diameter reflec- member of the staff. tor by Carey. Does Father McKeon was anyone know what deeply concerned with the happened to that? running of that observato- Ron Maddison, ry and had plans for its Cocoa, Florida. preservation. I am still trying to trace [We will pass on any the origin of a 9 inch information to Prof. diameter speculum that I Maddison and will acquired from Father publish suitable Worthy at the time and The back of the Stonyhurst 9 inch speculum, showing the replies — Ed.] that he knew nothing unusual edge step.

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 35 The digitisation of five e-books a day. Completed e- by Denison Olmsted, LLD, books are submitted to the Project public domain books Gutenberg archive A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century Distributed Proofreaders (http://www.gutenberg.org). (1885) by Agnes M. Clerke. (http://www.pgdp.net) was founded As an example, a sample of the in 2000 to support the digitisation of current (October 2007) books with In addition to being an SHA mem- public domain an astronomical ber, I am a project manager on the books. They run a theme, going site, and would welcome more suit- Web-based method through the vari- able books with an astronomical of breaking the ous ‘rounds’ of content; most published before 1923 work into individ- proofreading and are eligible. Please contact me ual pages so many formatting are: (email: [email protected] or proofreaders can Star-Names: Their telephone 01992 654001). be working on the Lore and Meaning The books easiest to process are same book at the (1899) by Richard those that can be ‘destructively same time. With Hinckley Allen, scanned’, that is dis-bound, chopped hundreds of volun- up and feed through a document teers plus several Are the Planets scanner. Although books can be hundred books in Inhabited? (1913) scanned ‘as is’ and returned or for progress at any one by E. Walter the more fragile digitally pho- time, the site is Maunder, tographed. currently complet- Letters on Eric Hutton, ing an average of Astronomy (1855) Waltham Abbey, Essex. On-line resources On a visit to the British Library in Kings Cross, London last autumn I discovered the on-line British Newspapers 1800-1900 collection. I tried it out and found it already very useful, with additional coverage to come. The collection’s home page gives a brief description: ‘The nineteenth Century British Library Newspaper Web site, managed by Gale, was launched on 22 October 2007, with Above: Journal production in the nineteenth century; the engraving studio 1,000,000 pages of content.’ of The Graphic newspaper in 1882. The Graphic is one of the newspapers The contents comprise digitised available in the British Newspapers 1800-1900 collection. versions of nationally, regionally and locally important British news- papers published between 1800 and and British Library Newspapers (in and I have recently rejoined. With 1900. It is possible to search for Colindale) and to all Further and my library card for one hour a day I items across a range of titles, mak- Higher Education UK institutions get free access to the Internet plus ing it relatively straightforward to (the latter thanks to funding from access to the The Times Digital collect material for different JISC, the Joint Information Systems Archive (1785-1985), the on-line sources. See: http://www.bl.uk/col- Committee). version of the Dictionary of lections/britishnewspapers1800to19 In an unrelated project, some con- National Biography and 00.html tent from The Illustrated London ancestry.com. All these items are The home page is publicly avail- News (established in 1842) is pub- excellent tools for research. able, but the collection can only be licly available at So I recommend that you check out accessed from subscribing institu- http://www.iln.org.uk/ what your local library offers! tions. It is available free of charge in Finally, it is some time since I used Eric Hutton, the Reading Rooms at St Pancras my local library (in Hertfordshire) Waltham Abbey, Essex.

Page 36 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Book Reviews

Baum, Richard, The Haunted essays, as Baum makes clear. These Scoffield, Joyce, Bidston Observatory: Curiosities from the contents do not detract from the Observatory: The Place and the Astronomer’s Cabinet. Hardback, present book, which is thoroughly People. Paperback, Countyvise Prometheus Books, New York, revised and expanded. It is a book Ltd, 2006, ISBN 1901231682, 2007, ISBN 9781591025122, about planetary discovery and £11.95, pp334. £18.99, pp416. observation. The discovery of In reviewing this work, I must indi- Uranus by William Herschel in cate a particular interest in the topic March 1781 is well covered as are as I grew up living within a mile or the predictions for a trans-Uranian so of the institution in the title. Even planet, following problems with the then, nobody made celestial obser- motion of Uranus half a century vations in the building, encroaching later and leading to the discovery of light pollution having curtailed such Neptune. Venus is a predilection of activities years earlier. Growing up Baum and two long chapters are in the observatory’s shadow, I devoted to this planet. Other chap- became aware of the building’s new ters concern, among other things, function, undertaking oceanograph- possible satellites of Earth’s Moon ic research and continuing meteoro- and intra-Mercurian planets. logical measurement. In later years, The Haunted Observatory is very I gained further insight into the his- much a book for those interested in tory of the place when the City the history of planet observing, with Museum in Liverpool displayed the all its nuances and difficulties; espe- institution’s former main instru- cially of seeing and describing unfa- ments. These used to reside in the miliar phenomena for the first time. respective domes of the observatory, It is a book for a reasonably experi- a striking building standing in the enced observer who can appreciate splendid isolation of Bidston Hill, a the subtleties, clearly familiar to preserved open space in Birkenhead Chester astronomer Richard Baum Baum, that add immeasurably to the on the Wirral peninsula. In the inter- is a stalwart of British astronomy; following and appreciation of his vening years, I have learnt more director emeritus of the Terrestrial narrative. Richard Baum knows his about the observatory, its work and Planets Section of the British subject well and it takes this modern some of the people who laboured Astronomical Association and sec- understanding of the norm against there. With prior knowledge and ond to none in more than a half cen- which the difficulties of historical some preconceptions of the place, I tury in his study of Venus and telescopic observation may be dis- was intrigued to discover whether Mercury. In The Haunted cussed and evaluated so eloquently. this work would provide new Observatory, he exploits this If there is any criticism, it is a insights into the observatory’s histo- tremendous knowledge to present to minor one levelled at the publisher ry. The publication is timely, as us aspects, often very subtle curiosi- not the author. There are far too today the listed observatory building ties, from the historical observations many review comments in the book. lies empty, after the merger of the of the planets that to the uninitiated Nine prepublication reviews printed Proudman Oceanographic Institute would seem trivial but to the in a first edition smacks of over-the- with Liverpool University and its enlightened are genuinely odd, top sales hype by Prometheus removal to the city of Liverpool. At sometimes perverse; observations of Books. It simply is not necessary to time of writing, its future is unclear planets that demand an explanation. hook the discerning browser in this and in many ways mirrors the Baum is an expert observer and it way. quandary that faces the Yerkes takes his expertise to recognise in The book is written so skilfully Observatory in America and other historical observations the unusual and the chosen topics are so fasci- historic institutions around the visions of worlds that observers nating that it sells itself to anyone world. struggled to interpret at the time. interested in the history of observa- At first glance, the layout of this The book has eleven chapters, tional planetary astronomy. work would suggest a local history seven of which are republished Kevin Kilburn work with a somewhat parochial

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 37 tution’s director, the latter being more frequently recorded in histori- cal accounts. As a history of the institution, those interested in the more technical aspects of the obser- vatory’s instrument may be disap- pointed, as this is brief. The writer does not address some interesting issues, such as why the transit instrument was housed in a dome rather than a meridian wing (a build- ing with a north-south slit covered with shutters). We do not learn whether this reflected a decision by the building’s architect or plans for a Bidston Observatory shown on a pre-1918 postcard. second equatorial instrument. Such approach to the topic. This view is docks on the banks of the river technical issues lie outside the scope quickly dismissed as a historical Mersey, and its removal to Bidston of this work; its strength lays in its account of the observatory’s story Hill in 1866 due to expansion of the social observations and institutional unfolds. The book provides an port facilities. The Bidston history. It also places the observato- intriguing description of the day-to- Observatory is unusual as private ry in a wider historical context with day running of the institution during enterprise initially established and respect to its surroundings. From the the nineteenth century and gives a funded it in the form of the Mersey historical standpoint, the work has refreshing insight into the social Docks & Harbour Board. Its original some limitations in that most refer- relationships involved. The author, raison d’être was to provide a time ences are basic. In some cases, pri- Joyce Scoffield, is well placed in service to the port of Liverpool, later mary sources are absent while in this respect, having worked for its work expanded to the rating of others they are incomplete. While many years until retirement as a ship’s chronometers and verifying this may be frustrating to the reader, meteorological observer at the the accuracy of marine navigation in most instances the original source Bidston Observatory. Her role here, instruments; a role more often asso- would be traceable with a little in many ways, mirrors the work of ciated with the Royal Observatory, effort. woman computers at Harvard Greenwich and later Kew In conclusion, I would recommend College Observatory in America. Observatory. The observatory’s later Society members to consider this Although often overlooked, meteo- history is also covered: work on work as an addition to their astrono- rological observations have long tidal prediction in the twentieth cen- my library. This account of the been a dual function of observato- tury and the subsequent transition Bidston Observatory is both insight- ries; such was the case from the into an oceanographic institute after ful and provides a rounded view of eighteenth century at the Radcliffe the Second World War. an institution that has changed great- Observatory, Oxford. The second part of the book gives ly over the last 150 years. The Bidston Observatory is unusu- a day-to-day account of the work- Kevin Johnson al in that it provided the ings of the observatory and is sepa- Meteorological Office with one of rate from its history. These chapters Stanley, Matthew, Practical the longest continual series of give details of the work and research Mystic: Religion, Science, and A.S. weather measurements from any- undertaken, the procedures used Eddington. Hardback, The where in the country. After giving a along with descriptions of the obser- University of Chicago Press, brief history of the area, the work vatory’s instruments. Chicago and London, 2007, ISBN outlines how Bidston Hill was part Overall, this account of the work 0226770974, £22.00, pp320. of a signalling network using flags and history of Bidston Observatory The philosopher Bertrand Russell is that provided early warning of ships is both insightful and informative. It said to have quipped that he would: approaching the rapidly expanding manages to be both very readable ‘rather be in Hell by himself than in port of Liverpool in the late eigh- yet provide endnote references to Heaven with Eddington’ (p285 of teenth and early nineteenth cen- the sources consulted. It is refresh- this book). turies. It then goes on to give an ing in its portrayal of the people who Why did a mild-mannered Quaker account of Bidston Observatory’s actually worked at the observatory, astronomer from Cambridge predecessor, sited in the Liverpool from the junior observer to the insti- become the victim of such an attack

Page 38 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 by one of Britain’s leading philoso- humanity of the enemy, for example phers? Sir Arthur Eddington (1882- in his obituary of Schwarzschild — 1944), was perhaps most famous in who had died in the German Army. astronomy for his 1919 eclipse Eddington faced the very real possi- expedition where he provided the bility of imprisonment for his con- first experimental proof of General scientious objection to conscription Relativity. However, in the 1920s and the book gives much back- and 1930s he became recognised to ground to the treatment of objectors the general public through his books during the war. Stanley has done a such as The Nature of the Physical good job in researching the activity World (1928) as a religious scientist, of Eddington in records of the thereby incurring the wrath of athe- Quakers both locally in Cambridge ists and materialists such as Russell. and nationally. In this book, the author Matthew The 1919 eclipse provided Stanley does not attempt a compre- Eddington with an opportunity to hensive biography of Eddington, demonstrate his values. The purpose but rather seeks to explore the reli- was to provide evidence for gion-science debate through what Einstein’s General Relativity — he calls ‘valence values’. Valence considered sceptically as a German up Heisenberg’s uncertainty princi- values are what we might also call theory at the time. The expedition ple and used it to refute determin- the firm beliefs that a scientist or was used by Eddington to demon- ism. This led him into direct conflict other researcher might use in his strate that science was an interna- with Marxists and other materialist work. He identifies Eddington as a tional endeavour. Eddington was to philosophers, including Chapman key figure in the science-religion be the key mover in establishing Cohen of The Freethinker journal. debate and explores his interactions Relativity in the English speaking He was accused of obscurantism by in several episodes of his life and scientific world with his book The Russell, his foremost critic. how his values led him to behave. Mathematical Theory of Relativity Readers will be interested in This is essentially a philosophical (1923). Stanley’s position on controversial book and readers hoping for new As a scientist Eddington was to Eddington issues. Stanley rejects the biographical information about push theories to breaking point, take accusations of racialism that have Eddington will be disappointed. chances and speculate. For this he been raised against Eddington in his In 1895 an important conference was criticised by other scientists, treatment of Chandrasekhar over of Quakers took place in such as James Jeans, for indulging black holes. Rough debate was typ- Manchester. At this conference a in ‘baseless physical speculation’ ical of RAS meetings at the time ‘liberal theology’ was developed and having faults in his mathemat- and there is ample evidence that the which influenced the education of ics. However, it was Eddington’s two remained friends. He also Quakers such as Eddington. Biblical ability to make intuitive leaps, that rejects any claim that Eddington literalism was dropped and scientif- showed his brilliance. His risk-tak- ‘fudged’ the results of the eclipse ic careers were encouraged. ing was productive, it gave us the expedition. In fact Eddington was Eddington’s training as a scientist mass-luminosity relation of stars more open about his results than was in Manchester under the influ- (1924) and his master work The many scientists would be. ence of figures such as John Internal Constitution of the Stars There is a useful appendix William Graham (another Quaker), (1926) where, without a theory of describing the archive sources. Horace Lamb and Arthur Schuster. subatomic energy, Eddington built Eddington’s papers were probably Eddington’s Quaker values of working models of stars using just destroyed shortly after his death, but pacifism and internationalism were the basic data he had. Stanley tells some remain in Trinity College quickly put to the test in World War us that Eddington saw no difference Library and many letters have sur- I. The astronomical community was between the mystic seeking of the vived in the archives of other impor- not immune from the anti-German truth in religion and a scientists tant scientists. feeling sweeping Britain and seeking of the truth in physics. Both This book is a valuable contribu- Eddington had a tough time defend- were dependent on the interpreta- tion to the study of Eddington, but ing his links and admiration for tion of experience by the mind. To will have more appeal to philoso- German scientists. However, he Eddington, religious experience was phers of science than to historians. went out of his way to defend the equally valid as scientific. He took Mark Hurn

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 39 Books noticed Madeline Cox

This column lists some recently published books which might be of interest. Listing here does not pre- clude a review at a later date. Please note prices may vary according to suppliers. Couper, H and Henbest, N, The History of Astronomy. Cassell, 2007, hardback, ISBN 978-1844035700, £30. Eastwood, B.S, Ordering the Heavens: Roman Astronomy and Cosmology in the Carolingian Renaissance (History of Science and Collected Studies). Ashgate, 2006, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Medicine Library, 4). Brill, 2007, hardback, ISBN 978-0860789963, 2008, hardback, ISBN 1847184391, hardback, ISBN 978-9004161863, € £62.50. £39.99. 99.00 or $(US) 148.00. Morrison-Low, A.D, Making Samsó, J, Astronomy and Hockey, T. (editor in chief), The Scientific Instruments in the Astrobiology in Al-Andalus and the Biographical Encyclopedia of Industrial Revolution (Science, Maghrib (Variorum collected stud- Astronomers (2 vols). Springer- Technology & culture, 1700-1945). ies series). Ashgate, 2007, hardback, Verlag, 2007, hardback, ISBN 978- Ashgate, 2007, hardback, ISBN ISBN 978-0754659341, £67.50. 0387310220, €399.00. 978-0754657583, £55. Sheehan, W, The Immortal Fire Hoskin, M, The Herschels of Ratcliff, J, The Transit of Venus Within: the Life and Work of Edward Hanover. Science History Enterprise in Victorian Britain Emerson Barnard. Cambridge Univ. Publications, 2007, hardback, ISBN (Science and Culture in Nineteenth- Press, 2007, paperback, ISBN 978- 978-0905193076, £35.00. Century Britain). Pickering & 0521046015, £38.00. Chatto, 2008, hardback, ISBN 978- Hutchins, R, British University 1851965410, £60.00. Steele, J.M. (ed), Calendars and Observatories, 1772-1939 (Science, Years: Astronomy and Time in the Technology and Culture, 1700- Reeves, E, Galileo’s Glassworks: Ancient Near East. Oxbow Books, 1945). Ashgate, 2008, hardback, The Telescope and the Mirror. 2007, paperback, ISBN 978- ISBN 978-0754632504, £60.00. Harvard Univ. Press, 2008, hard- 1842173022, £25.00. cover, ISBN 0674026675, £14.95. Kanas, N, Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography Repcheck, J, Copernicus’ Secret : Steele, J.M, A Brief Introduction to (Springer-Praxis books). Springer- How the Scientific Revolution Astronomy in the Middle East. Saqi Verlag, 2007, paperback, ISBN 978- Began. Simon & Schuster, 2007, Books, 2008, paperback, ISBN 0387716688, 19.50. hardback, ISBN 978-0743289511, 0863564283, £7.99. $(US) 25.00. McConnell, A, Jesse Ramsden deGrasse Tyson, N, The Pluto Files: (1735-1800): London’s Leading Ruggles, C. and Urton, G. (eds), The Rise and Fall of America’s Scientific Instrument Maker Skywatching in the Ancient World: Favorite Planet. Norton, 2008, hard- (Science, Technology and Culture, New Perspectives in Cultural back, ISBN 039065200, £13.99. 1700-1945). Ashgate, 2007, hard- Astronomy. University Press of back, ISBN 978-0754661368, Colorado, 2007, hardback, ISBN Vollmann, W.T, Uncentering the £60.00. 0870818872, £43.50. Earth: Copernicus and the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres. Mancha, J.L, Studies in Medieval Ruiz-Castell, P, Astronomy and Phoenix, 2007, paperback, ISBN Astronomy and Optics (Variorum Astrophysics in Spain (1850-1914). 978-0753822357, £8.99.

Page 40 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Obituary: Sir Arthur Clarke

CIENCE fiction author and best screenplay in 1969. tem, which contributed to the RAF’s Sinventor of the communications Born in Minehead, Somerset, the success during the Battle of Britain. satellite Sir Arthur Clarke passed son of a farmer, Arthur Charles He initially served in the ranks, and away on 19 March 2008 after a brief Clarke’s early education was at was a Corporal instructor on radar at illness. He was ninety years old. Sir Huish’s Grammar School, Taunton. No. 9 Radio School, RAF Yatesbury. Arthur died at Colombo’s Apollo At seventeen he joined the British He was commissioned as a Pilot Hospital in the early hours of 19 Interplanetary Society, an organisa- Officer (Technical Branch) on 27 March (Sri Lanka time) from respi- tion of which he was later to be May 1943 and was promoted to ratory complications. He had also treasurer and, eventually, chairman Flying Officer on 27 November been suffering from Post Polio (1947-1950, 1953). Later, he 1943. Appointed chief training Syndrome since the early 1990s, worked in the Audit Department of instructor at RAF Honiley, Clarke which confined him to a wheelchair the Exchequer and and during World was demobilised with the rank of for the past decade. War II he volunteered for the Royal Flight Lieutenant in 1946. He spent Arthur C. Clarke was the last of the Air Force, where he served as a most of his wartime service working legendary ‘big three’ science fiction radar specialist and was involved in on Ground Controlled Approach writers of the twentieth century, the the early warning radar defence sys- (GCA) radar. Although GCA did not other two being the late Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein. He wrote about one hundred books and more than a thousand short stories and essays over sixty years. Among his best-selling novels are Childhood’s End, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Rendezvous with Rama and The Fountains of Paradise. He was also a scientific advisor during the early years of the quintessential- ly British space age comic-book hero, Dan Dare and inspired Gene Roddenberry to create Star Trek. Sir Arthur’s vividly detailed descriptions of future space craft, supercomputers and rapid communi- cations systems were enjoyed by millions of readers around the world. His writings gave science fic- tion a refreshingly human and prac- tical face. His ideas and gadgets operated on real-world science, and his fictional musings often predicted what we now see as science fact. One of his short stories (Dial F for Frankenstein, 1964) inspired British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee to invent the World Wide Web in 1989. Another short story (The Sentinel, 1948) was expanded to make the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, which he co-wrote with Sir Arthur Clarke (1917-2008). director Stanley Kubrick. They shared an Oscar nomination for the

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 41 see much practical use in the war, British citizen. The Sri Lankan gov- tion as well.’ Only a few days before after several years of development it ernment presented him the his death, Sir Arthur reviewed the was vital to the Berlin Airlift of Lankabhimanya (‘Pride of Lanka’), final manuscript of his latest science 1948-1949. After leaving the RAF the country’s highest civilian hon- fiction novel, The Last Theorem. Clarke went to King’s College, our, in 2005. Government officials, Co-written with another legendary London, where he took a BSc First scientists, artists and diplomats science fiction author, American in mathematics and physics (gradu- came together to honour Sir Arthur Frederik Pohl, the book is to be pub- ating in 1948), before becoming a on his ninetieth birthday on 16 lished later this year. full-time writer in 1950. December 2007 and his many Arthur Clarke is survived by his Sir Arthur also wrote many non- friends and fans around the world brother Fred and sister Mary, both fiction books and essays on space marked the occasion by sending let- still living in Minehead. Their travel, communications technolo- ters, cards, gifts and emails. youngest brother, Michael, prede- gies, underwater exploration and A Fellow of the RAS for many ceased him. future studies. In a landmark scien- years, as well as being a Chairman Apart from a huge and inspira- tific paper entitled Extra-terrestrial of the British Interplanetary Society, tional literary and scientific legacy, Relays: Can Rocket Stations Give Sir Arthur also served on the Sir Arthur left us his Three Laws. Worldwide Radio Coverage? Advisory Council of The Planetary These reveal his inner convictions (Wireless World, October 1945), Society and the Board of Governors and the practicality which makes his Arthur Clarke was the first to set out of the National Space Society. In science fiction so effective: the principles of satellite communi- addition, he was a Fellow of the cation with satellites placed in geo- American Astronautical Society, 1. When a distinguished but elderly stationary orbits. So influential was President of the British Science scientist states that something is this work that Clarke is credited as Fiction Association, Laureate of the possible, he is almost certainly right. the inventor of the communications International Academy of When he states that something is satellite, a scientific development Humanism and, last but not least, impossible, he is very probably which earned him the gold medal of won numerous science fiction liter- wrong. the Franklin Institute, the Lindbergh ary awards, including the prestigious 2. The limits of the possible can only Award, the Marconi Award, the Hugo and Nebula trophies. be found by going beyond them into Vikram Sarabhai Professorship of Sir Arthur was made a CBE in the impossible. the Physical Research Laboratory, 1989 and Knighted in 1998. He was Ahmedabad, and the Fellowship of conferred with several honorary 3. Any sufficiently advanced tech- King’s College, London. Sir Arthur doctorates from universities around nology may, at first, be indistin- never patented the idea, and the world. In 1996, the IAU named guishable from magic. received no financial benefits from asteroid No. 4923 in his honour, his invention. He was content with while scientists at the University of Looking back, as a fond personal being acknowledged as the Monash, Australia, named a newly memory of the late 1960s and early ‘Godfather of the communications discovered dinosaur species as 1970s, the inspirations for my own satellite’, and having the geostation- Serendipaceratops arthurcclarkei in interest in astronomy and space ary orbit designated as the ‘Clarke 2003. flight would have to include the Orbit’. In his ninetieth birthday reflections Apollo Moon landings, Sir Patrick His interest in diving and underwa- video released on YouTube in Moore and The Sky at Night, the ter exploration led him to Ceylon December 2007, Sir Arthur said he film 2001: A Space Odyssey and the (now Sri Lanka), where he settled in had ‘no regrets and no more person- science fiction works of Arthur C 1956. He pioneered diving and al ambitions’. He listed three ‘last Clarke. I had the great good fortune underwater tourism in Sri Lanka wishes’: some evidence of extrater- to correspond with Sir Arthur on a through his company Underwater restrial life, adoption of clean energy number of occasions over the past Safaris and played an active role as a sources and an end to the long- twenty years, and will always public intellectual and as a patron of drawn out civil war in Sri Lanka. remember him as fun, friendly and art, science and higher education. He added: ‘I’ve had a diverse forward-looking. Now, fifty years He served as Chancellor of Sri career as a writer, underwater into the space-age which he prophe- Lanka’s technological University of explorer, space promoter and sci- sied in many ways, I fear we shall Moratuwa from 1979 to 2002. ence populariser. Of all these, I want not see his like again. Although he became the island to be remembered most as a writer - Stuart Williams nation’s first Resident Guest in one who entertained readers, and, [See also Newsletter no. 15, 1975, Sir Arthur always remained a hopefully, stretched their imagina- December 2007, pp19-20 — Ed.]

Page 42 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Library News Madeline Cox and Stuart Williams

Sir Robert Ball The new service will require any- SHA Secretary. A number of one wishing to visit the SRBL at the preparatory changes have been Library welcomes Birmingham & Midland Institute to made to the Collection and the new volunteer make a prior appointment to do so, updated list is now available on the via Head Librarian Madeline Cox, SHA Web site. SHA member Andrew Lound has or if unavailable, via Research kindly volunteered his services to Librarian Stuart Williams. The vol- the SHA’s Sir Robert Ball Library unteer staff will then check who can Library catalogues (SRBL). Mr Lound is an experi- be available to open the library and enced and knowledgeable researcher updated when, and make a booking accord- The latest catalogues of books and and for many years has been the UK ingly. Regional Co-ordinator for The journals for the SRBL, the Sir With volunteer library staff now Patrick Moore Library and the Stuart Planetary Society. He joins the team totalling four in number, it is expect- as an Assistant Librarian. The rest of Williams Collection are now avail- ed that this new service can be able for download in PDF form on the SHA Library Service team (who offered both during the week and on together operate the Society’s lend- the SHA Web site some Saturdays, subject to staff (www.shastro.org.uk). Look under ing and reference libraries) are availability. An enquiries service Madeline Cox (Head Librarian), ‘Facilities’ for the Library pages. will continue to operate by post and Alternatively, send an A4 SAE to Stuart Williams (Research email — contact Research Librarian Librarian) and Roger Jones SHA Librarian Madeline Cox (Sir Stuart Williams (see under Patrick Moore Library) or SHA (Assistant Librarian and Survey Co- Contacts). ordinator). Research Librarian Stuart Williams In addition to opening by arrange- (Sir Robert Ball Library or Stuart ment, the library will also be open Williams Collection) for a copy of New opening by during the annual SHA Autumn the relevant catalogue (details arrangement only Conference at the BMI. below). service New historic space In previous years the SRBL at the Purchases Birmingham & Midland Institute flight section We have recently purchased the fol- has held Open Days on several days A new section of books relating to lowing items: Danielson, D, The throughout the year. However expe- historic space flight has been added first Copernican: Georg Joachim rience has shown that we have very to the Stuart Williams Collection at Rheticus and the Rise of the few visitors on these days, and apart the SRBL, reflecting the associated Copernican Revolution (see from work behind the scenes, and interests of SHA members. Newsletter 14, October 2007, pp25- the occasional opening to coincide 26.); Lankford, J (ed), History of with an event at the BMI (notably Astronomy: an Encyclopaedia; the SHA Autumn Conference), there Stuart Williams British Sundial Society, Register is little for the volunteer staff to do Collection donated 2005 (2 vols & CD); Murdin, P. and on most open days. Penston, M, The Canopus While it is hoped that the use of the to SHA Encyclopaedia of Astronomy; library will grow over the coming Ownership of the Stuart Williams Brock, C, The Comet Sweeper; months and years, we have now con- Collection of reference books, previ- Abbott, D, Astronomers cluded that it would be better to ously on indefinite loan to the (Biographical Dictionary of offer a service more closely tailored SRBL, has been transferred to the Scientists); May, B, Moore, P and to SHA members’ actual needs, by SHA as a donation marking the Lintott, C, Bang!; Scoffield, J, opening ‘by arrangement’ only. retirement of Stuart Williams as Bidston Observatory: the Place and

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 43 the People (see p37); Lippincott, K, (1999); Allen, D and C, Eclipse 1976); The Astronomy Quiz Book A Guide to the Royal Observatory, (1987); Kuhn, T.S, The Copernican (1974); The Atlas of Mercury (with Greenwich (new ed); Hockey, T Revolution (1966); R. Spandenberg C.A. Cross; 1977); Space in the (ed)., Biographical Encyclopaedia and K. Moser, Carl Sagan: a Sixties (1963); Practical Amateur of Astronomers; Baum, R, The Biography (2004); Roman, N.G, Astronomy (3rd edn; 1973); Haunted Observatory; Stanley, M, Comparison of Large-scale Exploring the Moon (2nd edn; Practical Mystic: Religion, Science Construction of the Galactic System 1965); Countdown! …or How Nigh and A.S. Eddington (see p37) and with that of other Stellar Systems is the End? (1983); The Observer’s McConnell, A, Jesse Ramsden (2004); Hodge, P.W, Galaxies and Book of Astronomy (1st edn; 1961); (1725-1800) London’s Leading Cosmology (1966); Corliss, W.R, The Observer’s Book of Astronomy Instrument Maker. Handbook of Unusual Phenomena (2nd edn; 1965); The Observer’s We have also bought a hundred (1977); Transactions of the IAU for Book of Astronomy (5th edn; 1974); boxes for the loose journals at the Co-operation in Solar Research vol. William Herschel: Astronomer and BMI and thank Roger Jones for his 1; Wickramasinghe, C. et al, Fred Musician (5th edn; 2000); Sir John work in filling them. Hoyle’s Universe (2003); Aitken, Herschel: Explorer of the Southern R.G, The Binary Stars (2003); Sky (1992) and Caroline Herschel: Donations Russell, H.N. et al, Astronomy. A Reflected Glory (1988). Revision of Young’s Manual of The following books were kindly Astronomy, 2 vols. (1918); Gregory, Gilbert Satterthwaite has donated: donated by member Michael R, The Vault of Heaven, 2nd ed. Betts, J. Time Restored: The Lowne: Ferguson, K, The Nobleman (1923); Bondi, H, Cosmology Harrison Timekeepers and R.T. and his Housedog: Tycho Brahe and (1952) and Cunningham, E, The Gould, The Man who Knew (Almost) Johannes Kepler (2002); Brown, Principle of Relativity (1914). Everything (2006; see Newsletter P.R, Halley’s Comet and The no. 14, October 2007, pp24-25); Lee Principia (1986); White, M, Isaac Stuart Williams has donated the fol- McDonald has donated BAA Newton: the Last Sorcerer (1998); lowing for the Stuart Williams col- Handbooks for 1948-70 and Dr Sobel, D, The Planets (2005) and lection: Hansen, J.R, First Man: the Michael Hoskin has donated a copy Galileo’s Daughter (1999); Newton, Life of Neil Armstrong; Massey, H. of his own work The Herschels of Sir I, Opticks (Dover reprint, 1979); and Robins, M.O, History of British Hanover (2007). Gingerich, O, The Book Nobody Space Science; Muir, H, Larousse Read: the Revolutions of Nicholas Dictionary of Scientists; Royal Dr George Wilkins has donated Copernicus (2004) and Thackeray, Astronomical Society, RAS about twenty books from the A.D, Astronomical Spectroscopy Directory and List of Members; Norman Lockyer Observatory; (1961). Kerrod, R, Apollo and Smith, M, An Madeline Cox donated Herrmann, Peter Hingley donated the follow- Illustrated History of Space Flight. D.B. and Hoffmann, K.-F. (eds), Die ing: Pederson, O, Early Physics and Geschichte der Astronomie in Astronomy (1993); Leverington, D, Stuart has also donated the follow- Berlin; and Ken Goward donated A History of Astronomy from 1890 to ing books by Sir Patrick Moore: The Turbridy, M, Reconstruction of the the Present (1995); Westman, R.S, Sun (1968); The Amateur Rosse Six Foot Telescope. The Copernican Achievement Astronomer (2nd edn; 1958); The (1975); Hale, G.E, The New Heavens Amateur Astronomer (9th edn; Nick Kanas has donated (via Kevin (1922); Tombaugh, C. and Moore, P, 1978); Exploring the Night Sky with Kilburn) his book Star Maps: Out of the Darkness: the Planet Binoculars (3rd edn; 1986); The History, Artistry and Cartography. Pluto (1980); Beer, A, Vistas in Great Astronomical Revolution: Astronomy, 3, parts 1 and 2 (1960); 1534-1687 and the Space Age Dr David Dewhirst has kindly Asprey & Company, The Clockwork Epilogue (1994); The Story of donated a fine collection from his of the Heavens (1973); Brody, J, The Astronomy (1973); Naked-Eye personal library, including the fol- Enigma of Sunspots (2002); Astronomy (4th edn; 1976); Patrick lowing items: Richards, E.G, Flamsteed, John (ed. Chapman) The Moore on Mars (1998); Patrick Mapping Time: the Calendar and its Preface to Historia Coelestis Moore’s Colour Star Atlas (1973); History (1998); Hoskin, M, The Britannica (1982); Olson, R.J.Mand Patrick Moore’s Beginner’s Guide to Cambridge Concise History of Pasachoff, J.M, Fire in the Sky: Astronomy (1997); Patrick Moore’s Astronomy (1999); Keer, N.C, The Comets and Meteors, the Decisive New Guide to the Planets (1993); Life and Times of Richard Centuries, in British Art and Science The A-Z of Astronomy (2nd edn; Christopher Carrington (1826-

Page 44 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 1875) (1996); Flamsteed, J, The (Harvard books on astronomy; generosity and Correspondence of John 1945); Chapman, A, The Victorian apologise for Flamsteeed, Vol. 3, 1703-1719. Amateur Astronomer (1998); any omissions; (2002); Frasca-Spada, M. and Brecher, K. and Feirtag, M, please contact Jardine, N, Books and the Sciences Astronomy of the Ancients (1979); the Librarian in History (2000); Harvey, M, The Clark, D.H. and Stephenson, F.R, for any addi- Island of Lost Maps: a True Story of The Historical Supernovae (1977); tions (details Cartographic Crime (2000); King. Beer, A, Vistas in Astronomy, vol. 1 below). Further details H.C, The History of the Telescope (1955); Goodacre, W, The Moon, of all our library hold- (1955); Hoskin, M, The Cambridge (Signed by M.A. Blagg; 1931); ings may be found on Illustrated History of Astronomy Encyclopaedia Britannica articles our Web site. (1999); Warner, B, Charles Piazzi on Observatories and Telescopes Smyth, Astronomer-Artist; his Cape (from 9th edn; 1888); Holbrook, M, Further Details Years 1835-1845 (1981); Bok, B.J Science Preserved: a Directory of Check the SHA Web site (http:// and Bok P.F, The Milky Way Scientific Instruments in Collections www.shastro.org.uk) for further (Harvard books on astronomy; in the United kingdom and Eire details of the SHA Library Service, 1941); Goldberg, L. and Aller, L.H, (1992); Leverington, D.A, History or send an SAE to Madeline Cox if Atoms, Stars, and Nebulae (Harvard of Astronomy from 1890 to the you do not have Internet access. books on astronomy; 1944); Present (1995); Hoskin, M, Stellar Pannekoek, A, A History of Astronomy: Historical Studies Contacts Astronomy (1961); Campbell, L. (1982) and Mennim, E, Transit Madeline Cox: 4, Rutland Close, and Jacchia, L, The Story of Circle: the Story of William Sims Warsop, Mansfield, Nottingham- Variable Stars (Harvard books on (1793 to 1860) (No date). shire, NG20 0DY (email: astronomy; 1945); Grant, R, History We would also like to thank Mr [email protected]). of Physical Astronomy (1852); Donald Cooper, a member of the Dimitroff, G.Z. and Baker, J.G, BMI, who kindly donated £10 to the Stuart Williams: 26, Matlock Road, Telescopes and Accessories (1945); Library. Bloxwich, WS3 3QD (email: Watson, F.G, Between the Planets We thank all our donors for their [email protected]).

Advertisement RAS Library News Peter Hingley

RAS Library Return to By kind invitation SHA members Burlington may use the RAS Library, which has now returned to Burlington House House and normal opening has resumed. The whole col- The Library opening hours are 10:00 lection is now am - 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday. physically back The address of the RAS is in Burlington Burlington House, Piccadilly, House and the London, W1J 0BQ. Contact Peter long task of sorting and relocating most important journals there, on the Hingley (020-7734 -4582, ext. 215; material continues interminably. In Gallery, and in the Council Room, mobile: 07757 133891 or general terms the ‘modern’ scientif- can now be located. The Rare Books [email protected]). On-line catalogue: ic books and the books in historical are mainly back on the shelves but http://ras.heritage4.com areas in the Main Library, plus the we have not even begun to change

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 45 the press marks, and the sorting and On-line images relabelling of the Archives contin- Other Libraries The RAS has entered into an agree- ues, but in both areas finding items ment with Science Photo. Library is hit and miss, so more than ever it (SPL) to supply its Library and ROE Library is essential that readers wishing to Archival images for commercial visit to use specific material should By kind invitation SHA members reproduction. Please note, however, check in advance. may use the ROE (Royal that the RAS has very firmly Observatory Edinburgh) Library. Staff cut retained the right to supply images The Library is usually open during The Library staff complement is without reproduction fees for aca- office hours, Monday to Friday. being reduced by 50%, from two to demic and non-profit use, and this However, visitors should contact the one, from July. Consequently it will will be done directly from the Librarian beforehand to arrange a be more difficult than ever to deal Library. Thus, one way to obtain suitable time and bring their SHA with complex enquiries. images for academic use is to search membership card for identification. the SPL Web site to identify items of Contact Karen Moran (0131-668- Saturday opening interest and then contact the RAS 8395 or [email protected]). The opening of the Library on the Library directly about obtaining On-line catalogue: http://www.roe. first Saturday of each Month, Bank copies. You should be aware, how- ac.uk/roe/library/index.html and fol- Holidays excepted, has now been ever, that the SPL collection low the links: ‘Search the Main resumed. For the remainder of 2008 includes some astronomical images Library Catalogue’ and ‘ROE the Library will be open 10:00 am to which do not originate with the Catalogue’. 5:00 pm on the following Saturdays: RAS. 10 May, 7 June, 5 July, 2 August, 6 The images available to date can Andrew Stephens’ September, 4 October, 1 November be seen at http://www.sciencepho- and 6 December. As before there to.com. You can search by name (it Library will only be one member of staff on is usually better to use both Mr Andrew Stephens of Cheltenham duty so it will be necessary to ring Christian and Surname). has generously offered SHA mem- the bell and wait to be admitted; if Alternatively you can view all the bers the use of his extensive private the delay is excessive please tele- RAS images currently available by astronomical library (see Newsletter phone (details above). clicking ‘Power Search’. Then enter no. 12, November 2006, pp20-21). To date the Saturday openings ‘Royal Astronomical Society’ as the In the first instance contact have attracted little interest. It will ‘Search method’, check the ‘photog- Madeline Cox only be possible to justify continu- rapher’ button and finally click the ([email protected], or tele- ing this service if it is used, so use it ‘search’ button. About five hundred phone on 01623 844121) for further or lose it is the message. images should be found. details.

IoA Library Bulletin on-line Mark Hurn

The Bulletin of the Library of the IoA, I assisted in emptying the attic mately forty-six years. The photo- Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge of the Solar Physics Observatory graphs were taken at Ely (1863- (IoA) is now available on-line. The (SPO), one of the IoA’s older build- 1874), India (1878-1909) and Bulletin is aimed at IoA staff, but ings, prior to construction work. Mauritius (1888-1903). normally includes some historical Among the miscellaneous clutter of The Ely pictures are particularly pieces which may be of interest ages we found: two men’s jackets, a interesting. They were taken for here. To access the Bulletin go to the carpet cleaner, a sock, curtains, ski Canon William Selwyn (1806-1875) Library home page, boots, a road sign to Prague, a fish- who was Lady Margaret Professor http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~ioalib/ho ing net and a picture of the SS Great of Divinity at Cambridge and a lead- mepage.html and follow the link Britain! We also found some inter- ing clerical figure of his day. It ‘IoA Library Bulletin.’ esting astronomical relics, including seems he also had astronomical The following items are adapted a collection of sixty-three large vol- interests and arranged to have these from issue, no. 33. Last autumn, umes with photographs of the disc photographs taken by local Ely pho- together with colleagues from the of the Sun for each day for approxi- tographer John Titterton using a 6-

Page 46 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 inch achromatic telescope by Slater Right: Mark Hurn with one of the of London. The photographs are volumes of solar photographs in mounted in several enormous bound their new home in the IoA Library volumes, which we have now (photograph by Rosie Bell). moved to the IoA Library. We have since found that a collection of Selwyn’s solar photographs is also atlas compares the spectra of various held in the RGO archives bright stars and the Orion Nebula (RGO.202). with that of the Sun. We have dis- Also of great interest was the dis- covered Huggins material in the Conference, which is to be held at covery of the original photographs Observatory before; the telescopes the IoA, is William Huggins and the for An Atlas of Representative originally in their private observato- Development of Astronomical Stellar Spectra from λ 4870 Å to ry at Tulse Hill, London were even- Spectroscopy (see p3). 3300 Å by Sir William Huggins and tually removed to Cambridge. The [We hope to carry further suitable Lady Huggins, published in London discovery of this atlas is timely as snippets from the IoA Bulletin in the by William Wesley (1899). This the theme of the SHA Spring future — Ed.]

Forthcoming meetings and events Clive Davenhall

The following meetings and events Fri 4 to Sun. 6 Jul. The Sixth Joint pour L’Astronomie dans la Culture will be held during 2008. Unless Three Societies Meeting of the (SEAC). To be held at the Parque de noted otherwise, booking is neces- British Society for the History of las Ciencias, Granada, Spain. See sary for meetings but not for exhibi- Science, the Canadian Society for http://www.archeoastronomy.org/ tions. Except where noted the events the History and Philosophy of (non-SHA event). are organised by the SHA. The Science and the History of Science details of non-SHA events are Society. To be held at Keble Sat. 4 Oct. SHA Autumn Conference checked as far as possible but cannot College, Oxford, OX1 3PG. to be held at the Birmingham and be guaranteed. Items for inclusion in Advance registration necessary. See Midlands Institute, Birmingham. this list in future issues of the URL http://www.bshs.org.uk/ and This meeting will be a Review of Newsletter are welcome. They follow the link to ‘Conferences’ Members’ Work. Contributions are should be sent to the editorial (non-SHA event). invited. See p3. address on the back page. Tue. 8 to Thr. 10 Jul. Scientific 2009 Voyaging: Histories and Sat. 4 May (starts). Heaven on The following meetings will take Comparisons a conference on the Earth: Missionaries and the place early in 2009. relation between maritime explo- Mathematical Arts in Seventeenth ration and the sciences from the Century Beijing, an exhibition built Sat. 28 Mar. Joint meeting with the eighteenth century to modern times. around a remarkable set of seven- Royal Meteorological Society to be National Maritime Museum, teenth century Chinese prints pre- held in the premises of the Royal Greenwich. Advance registration pared under the direction of the Astronomical Society, Burlington necessary. See URL http://www. Jesuit astronomer Ferdinand House, Piccadilly, London. Tickets nmm.ac.uk/ and search for ‘scientif- Verbiest. The collection is an impor- cost £10.00 or £15.00 for non- ic voyaging’ (non-SHA event). tant record of early modern cultural members. See p4. contact between Europe and China. Sat. 2 Aug. SHA Summer Picnic to Museum of the History of Science, be held at Marlborough College, Fri. 8 May. Mars Before the Space Oxford, 12:00 to 5:00 pm, Tue. to Wiltshire. See p3 and the enclosed Age. RAS Discussion Meeting, to Fri, 10:00 to 5:00 pm Sat. and 2:00 flyer. be held in the premises of the RAS, to 5:00 pm, Sun. Admission free. Burlington House, Piccadilly, Closing date unknown. See URL Mon. 8 to Fri. 12 Sept. SEAC XVI: London. Admission £15.00 if not a http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/ (non- Cosmology Across Cultures. Annual Fellow of the RAS (non-SHA SHA event). meeting of the Société Européene event).

SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008 Page 47 New members The Society for the History of Astronomy extends a very warm welcome to the follow- SHA Council and Officers ing members who have joined the Society in Hon President recent months: Mr Paul Millington (High Dr Allan Chapman Wycombe), Mr Allan Royston Gander (Stoke-On-Trent), Mr Anthony and Mrs Hon Vice Presidents: Marie Brown (Soham, Cambridgeshire), Mr Dr Michael Hoskin Simon Bell (Hanwell, Middlesex), Mr Richard Hanley and family (Redditch), Dr Sir Patrick Moore CBE FRS Gloria Clifton (National Maritime Museum), Chairman Mr John Orr (Denton, Norfolk), Mr Elliss Gilbert Satterthwaite FRAS [email protected] Sharpe (Loughton, Essex), Dr David Harley (Alford, Lincolnshire), Mr Gary Kewin Secretary (Onchan, Isle of Man), Mr Timothy Kevin Kilburn FRAS [email protected] Schroder (Gordonstoun School, Morayshire), Dr John Henshall 158 Low Leighton Road, New Mills, High Peak, Derbyshire, (Manchester), Mr Chris Lord (Lytham St SK22 4JF Annes), Mr Paul Schofield (Poulton Le Treasurer Fylde), Dr Aidan Rankin (Settle, North Yorkshire), Mr Terry Stancliffe Kenneth J. Goward FRAS [email protected] (Cambridge), Dr George Seabroke 14 Keightley Way, Tuddenham St Martin, Ipswich, Suffolk, (London), Mr Nigel Barron (Grays, Essex), IP6 9BJ Professor Nick Kanas (California, USA), Mr Peter Ingram (Witchford, Cambridgeshire). Council Members In addition the Manchester Astronomical Jerry Grover FRAS [email protected] Society has become an Institutional Peter Hingley [email protected] Member. Martin Lunn MBE [email protected] Subscription reminder Editor, The Antiquarian Astronomer If you have already renewed your subscrip- Dr WRWithey* [email protected] tion of the SHA, please ignore his note and thank you for your prompt support. 16 Lennox Close, Gosport, PO12 2UJ However, if you have not renewed, you are Assistant Editor, The Antiquarian Astronomer reminded that annual subscriptions were due Kevin Johnson* [email protected] on 1 January 2008. Your membership will be deemed to have lapsed by March 2008 in Editor, SHA Newsletter (for all correspondence) accordance with the Society's constitution. Clive Davenhall [email protected] In the normal course of events this issue of the Newsletter will be the last communica- 30 Millar Crescent, Morningside, Edinburgh, EH10 5HH tion that you receive from the Society. Layout Editor, SHA Newsletter Subscription details were included with the Peter Grego FRAS [email protected] previous issue and are available from the Society’s Web site, but briefly a personal Head Librarian subscription costs £22.50 per annum. Madeline Cox FRAS* [email protected] Cheques should be made payable to ‘The Society for the History of Astronomy’ and Research Librarian sent to Ken Goward at the address opposite. Stuart Williams FRAS* research.librarian @shastro.org.uk Members’ contact details It is important that the Society maintains up- Archivist to-date contact information for members, Mark Hurn FRAS* [email protected] including an email address if one is avail- able, as well as a postal address. If any of Survey Co-ordinator your details have changed recently please Roger Jones* [email protected] use the enclosed membership renewal form to send us your current details. This form can Web site Manager still be used (without enclosing any pay- David Henderson [email protected] ment!) if you have already renewed your membership. Thanks for your assistance. General communications to the Society should be directed to the Secretary in the first instance. Articles, letters and Newsletter inquiries should be sent to the Editor, Clive Davenhall SHA Web site: http://www.shastro.org.uk at the address opposite. For electronic con- * - also a Council Member tributions the email address is: [email protected] The deadline for the next edition of the SHA Newsletter is Saturday 2 August 2008

Page 48 SHA Newsletter Issue 16 July 2008