Sir William Herschel: His Life and Works

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SIR WILLIAM HERSCHEL

HIS LIFE AND WORKS




[Illustration: Sir William Herschel]

SIR WILLIAM HERSCHEL


HIS LIFE AND WORKS

BY

EDWARD S. HOLDEN

UNITED STATES NAVAL OBSERVATORY, WASHINGTON

[Illustration: Coelis Exploratis]



NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
743 AND 745 BROADWAY
1881



COPYRIGHT, 1880,
BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS.



PRESS OF J. J. LITTLE & CO.,

NOS. 10 TO 20 ASTOR PLACE, NEW YORK.




Please see the end of the text for TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES




PREFACE.


In the following account of the life and works of Sir WILLIAM HERSCHEL,
I have been obliged to depend strictly upon data already in print--the
_Memoir_ of his sister, his own scientific writings and the memoirs and
diaries of his cotemporaries. The review of his published works will, I
trust, be of use. It is based upon a careful study of all his papers in
the _Philosophical Transactions_ and elsewhere.

A life of HERSCHEL which shall be satisfactory in every particular can
only be written after a full examination of the materials which are
preserved at the family seat in England; but as two generations have
passed since his death, and as no biography yet exists which approaches
to completeness, no apology seems to me to be needed for a
conscientious attempt to make the best use of the scanty material which
we do possess.

This study will, I trust, serve to exhibit so much of his life as
belongs to the whole public. His private life belongs to his family,
until the time is come to let the world know more of the greatest of
practical astronomers and of the inner life of one of its most profound
philosophers,--of a great and ardent mind, whose achievements are and
will remain the glory of England.




CONTENTS.

                                                  PAGE
CHAPTER I.

EARLY YEARS; 1738-1772,                              1


CHAPTER II.

LIFE IN BATH; 1772-1782,                            33


CHAPTER III.

LIFE AT DATCHET, CLAY HALL, AND SLOUGH; 1782-1822,  68


CHAPTER IV.

REVIEW OF THE SCIENTIFIC LABORS OF HERSCHEL,       118


BIBLIOGRAPHY,                                      215


INDEX OF NAMES,                                    235




LIFE AND WORKS

OF

WILLIAM HERSCHEL.




CHAPTER I.

EARLY YEARS; 1738-1772.


Of the great modern philosophers, that one of whom least is known, is
WILLIAM HERSCHEL. We may appropriate the words which escaped him when
the barren region of the sky near the body of _Scorpio_ was passing
slowly through the field of his great reflector, during one of his
sweeps, to express our own sense of absence of light and knowledge:
_Hier ist wahrhaftig ein Loch im Himmel._

HERSCHEL prepared, about the year 1818, a biographical memorandum, which
his sister CAROLINA placed among his papers.

This has never been made public. The only thoroughly authentic sources
of information in possession of the world, are a letter written by
HERSCHEL himself, in answer to a pressing request for a sketch of his
life, and the _Memoir and Correspondence of CAROLINE HERSCHEL_ (London,
1876), a precious memorial not only of his life, but of one which
otherwise would have remained almost unknown, and one, too, which the
world could ill afford to lose. The latter, which has been ably edited
by Mrs. MARY CORNWALLIS HERSCHEL,[1] is the only source of knowledge in
regard to the early years of the great astronomer, and together with the
all too scanty materials to be gained from a diligent search through the
biography of the time, affords the data for those personal details of
his life, habits, and character, which seem to complete the distinct,
though partial conception of him which the student of his philosophical
writings acquires.

The letter referred to was published in the Goettingen Magazine of
Science and Literature, III., 4, shortly after the name of HERSCHEL had
become familiar to every ear through his discovery of _Uranus_, but
while the circumstances of the discovery, and the condition of the
amateur who made it, were still entirely unknown.

The editor (LICHTENBERG) says:

    "Herr HERSCHEL was good enough to send me, some time since, through
    Herr MAGELLAN, copies of his Dissertations on Double Stars, on the
    Parallax of the Fixed Stars, and on a new Micrometer. In the letter
    which conveyed to him my thanks for his gift, I requested him to
    note down a few facts in regard to his life, for publication in this
    magazine, since various accounts, more or less incorrect, had
    appeared in several journals. In answer, I received a very obliging
    letter from him and what follows is that portion of it relating to
    my request, which was sent me with full permission to make it
    public."


                                                "DATCHET, NEAR WINDSOR,
                                                _Nov.