P I O N E E R S O F P R O G R ES S M EN O F S C I EN C E E T ED S A R DI B " . CH P M AN , M . A D . s o. , F. .S . H E R S C H E L B " T H E R EV . H ECT OR M ACPH ERSON M . A A"T H OR O F " “ ’ ” " A T N M ERS F T -DA" A C ENT" " E S S xN A S T N S RO O O O , R S P ROGR RO OM" “ ” HE MAN E F M D E N A T N M" . T RO C O O R S RO O , ETC. ETC L O N D O N S O C I E T Y F O R P R O M O T I N G C H R I S T I A N K N O W L E D G E NEW YORK : T H E MACMILLAN COM PANY T ENT CO N S . C R AP . A L" EA S I . E R Y R E EL A S MA E" S R NO M E . R S CH R O R II H A T A T . ERS CHEL A s PR OFE S S IONA L S RO NOM ER III . H A T IV A ND AN . S OL R A PL ETAR" S T " DIE S V TH E ONS R "C ON OF T H E EA V E NS . C T TI H I S A R A C H V . TELL RE S E R E S VI I LO S NG E A R S . C I Y V PERS ONA LI " AN D NFL " E NC E III . T I CHAPTER I . S EARLY YEAR . — UN IVE RSAL history the histo ry o f what man has ” i s accomplished in this world , says Carlyle, at bottom ” O f the history the great men who have worked here . It must be admitted that Carlyle under-esti mated the labours of the innumerable lesser workers in al l depart o f ments human activity, that he overlooked the part played by mighty world - movements in the realm both o n of thought and of action and the i nfluence , even “ ” o f - great men , what has been called the time spirit . ’ — u al ified — Still , Carlyle s dictum slightly q is funda A s mentally true. great per onality is a creative force ; he gives more to his age and to posterity than he re i hi ce ves from s age or the ages before him . The history of astronomical science has been domi n ated i n a remarkable degree by great creative personal — ities pioneers of astronomical discovery. I n the front has rank of these distinguished men , posterity placed the name of William Herschel . The illustrious astronomer came Of an Old German one family , and was descended from Of three brothers , on o f who, account stead fast devotion to the principles o f o u t o f the Protestantism , were driven Moravia in early part Of the seventeenth century and compelled to o f seek refuge in Saxony. Hans Herschel , one these son brothers , settled at Pirna in Saxony. His second , 1 6 1 Abraham , born in 5 , acquired some distinction as a - landscape gardener. He learned gardening in the (5) ’ Elector s gardens at Dresden , and was afterwards em 1 1 8 - ployed , until his death in 7 , at the country seat of H ohentz iat z - " , in the principality of Anhalt erbst , near o f Magdeburg. According to the short account the “ family given by his illustrious grandson , he had also a O f a good knowledge rithmetic, writing , drawing, and music The last- named talent he bequeathed to his o H ohent z i at z o n 1 youngest son , Isaac, b rn at 4th Janu 1 0 w he ary, 7 7 . In a brief revie of his life which left n o f behi d him , Isaac explains that it was the desire his ’ parents that he should follo w i n his father s line of life. f After the death Of his ather, his elder brother Eusebius procured for him a situation in the gardens at "erbst . “ But he had, in his own words , lost all interest in ” “ oh nt ziat z gardening . As I had already at H e pro a i t cured violin and learned to play by ear, I took proper lessons at "erbst from an hautboy- player in the - court band . I also bought an hautboy, and was never ’ so happy as when I could occupy myself with mu si o f o f - At the age twenty one , having decided to follow out - e . music as his life work , he went to B rlin to study Finding “ the Prussian service as a bandsman very bad ” and slavish , he went to Potsdam and took lessons for a year. From Potsdam he made his way to Brunswick , 1 1 and thence to Hanover, where in August, 7 3 , he was e - - ngaged as hautboy player i n the Foot guards . Hanover 1 2 i was desti ned to be his home , and i n 7 3 he marr ed o f o f t he Anna I lse Moritzen , the daughter a citizen Wens adt neighbouring town of t . They had a family Of — — ten, of whom six four sons and two daughters reached f he . O t maturity these , third , Friedrich Wilhelm , born on 1 th 1 8 o ne O f at Hanover s November , 7 3 , became e — o n e O f the greatest astronom rs indeed , the g reatest — f men of science o all time. I saac Herschel seem s to have been not only a man O f . of high musical talent, but also wide general culture And despite the mother’ s dislike to learning and her EARLY YEARS 7 O f o f lack interest In Intellectual things , all the members — o f the the family with the exception elder daughter, — ’ Sophia inherited something Of their father s ability. — All four sons Jacob, William , Alexander, and Dieterich — were em inent musicians ; and the younger daughter, 1 6 0 acco m Caroline Lucretia, born th March, I 7 5 , also li shed has p in music , earned a distinction only second to - she that Of her distinguished brother, whose life work shared . H In her memoirs , written in Old age, Caroline erschel has given some interesting reminiscences o f her father . ” of My father, she says , was a great admirer astronomy and had some knowledge O f that science : for I remember his taking me on a clear frosty night into the street to make me acquainted with several Of the most be autiful constellations , after we had been gazing at a comet which was then visible . And I well remember with what de light he used to assist my brother William i n his various contrivances in the pursuit Of his philosophical was - studies, am ong which a neatly turned 4 inch globe , upon which the equator and ecliptic were engraved by my brother . ’ Despite his remarkable abilities , Isaac Herschel s whole life was spent in straitened c ircumstances : the post of bandsman in the Hanoverian Guards was not a lucrative o ne was , and he forced to augment his income by private tuition . In addition, his poverty was aggravated by - . A 1 chronic ill health fter the battle Of Dettingen i n 74 3 , the Guards remained all night in the field . Isaac Herschel ’ of lay in a wet furrow, and as a result that night s ex o sure ff i m p , he contracted an asthmatical a ection which paired his health permanently and ultimately caused his on 2 2 nd 1 6 . premature death March, 7 7 Having no wordl to t o y goods bequeath his children , he sought to educate them as completely as his limited means would allow . From their earliest days, their father instructed them in music . William Herschel , in the short account 8 i HER S CHEL of his life already referred to , tells us th at his father “ taught me to play on the violin as soon as I was able s one to hold a mall made on purpose for me . Being also desirous o f giving all his children as good an edu cation as his very limited circumstances would allow , I o was at a proper time sent to a scho l where, besides religious instructions, all the boys received lessons in r reading, writing, and arithmetic ; and as I ve y readily v learned e ery task assigned me , I soon arrived at such a of e degree perfection, esp cially in arithmetic , that the master of the school made use of me t o hear younger boys say their lessons and to examine their arithmetical ” calculations . o f At the age fourteen and a half, young William o on H erschel entered the band of the Han verian Guards , 1 I st May , 7 5 3 . His school life was at an end , but his education was only beginning. For over two years he received private lessons from a teacher named Hof a schl ger, who afterwards filled an important post at Hamburg . These lessons i ncluded languages, logic , ’ e ethics , and metaphysics .