Jeremiah Horrocks and the transits of Venus · 2016. 10. 23. · Horrocks’ diagram of the 1639...

Issue 5 – November 2004

Welcome to the fifth issue of theSHA Newsletter. As the eagle-eyedof you will already have noticed, thisissue carries the SHA logo andbanner for the first time. Theeditorial team hopes you like the newappearance.

As well as the usual SHA news andfeatures this bumper-size issuecontains an interesting item fromMike Frost on the eclipse of 1737as recalled by records uncovered inthe Warwickshire county archives,a cry of help from Eric Hutton who

is compiling a CD record of theEnglish Mechanic and World ofScience magazine, a tribute fromPeredur Williams on the centenaryof the the interpretation of the PCygni line profile and CliveDavenhall's revisit to theLancashire village of Much Hooleto study transits of Venus old andnew.

Members who have access to theInternet may like to know that ourwebsite www.shastro.org.uk/ hasbeen reworked and is now regularly

updated with news and events.Take a look - you'll be surprised atthe changes!

Finally, a reminder that articles andletters for the Newsletter are alwayswelcome. Addresses and details areto be found on the back page.Please don't think we need an indepth piece of work, in fact fromthe point of view of compiling theNewsletter, snippets are reallyuseful for fill-ins. All contributionswill be gratefully received!

In 1639 Jeremiah Horrocks madethe first observations of a transit ofVenus. Tragically, he died shortlyafterwards, and his papers weredispersed, and many lost, after hisdeath. However, by a tortuousroute, his account of the transitcame into the possession ofJohannes Hevelius in Danzig, whopublished it in 1662.

Horrocks’ diagram of the 1639transit shown opposite is takenfrom Hevelius’ work.

IAU Colloquium 196: Transits ofVenus: New Views of the SolarSystem and Galaxy was held tocoincide with this year’s transitand on the day of the event visitedthe village of Much Hoole inLancashire, from where Horrocksmade his observations. A report ofthis meeting appears inside.

Jeremiah Horrocks and the transits of Venus

EditorialDavid Rayner

SHA Newsletter – Issue 5 Page 2 November 2004

I am grateful for this opportunity tointroduce myself. It came as a greatsurprise when the Council invitedme to succeed Emily Winterburn inthe Chair; although a FounderMember I had had no involvementin the running of the Society. WhilstI was very honoured by theinvitation, I felt I should considervery carefully before accepting it.Could I really contributesignificantly to this young butalready very promisingorganisation?

After some reflection, I decided thatI could accept with a clearconscience. I have, after all, beeninvolved in many organisations,both large and small, through mostof my adult life. I was a member ofthe Council of the BAA for anumber of years. I founded theOrpington Astronomical Societyalmost 25 years ago, and whilst,typically for a local group, it isabout half the present size of theSHA it continues to flourish; I havethe honour to be its President andam still involved in some aspects ofits management. In my professionallife I was for some years ExecutiveSecretary of a national body, theGeological Society, responsible foroverseeing all of its activities and its

publications. There I had the addedadvantage of an office just acrossthe Burlington House courtyardfrom the premises of the RAS, ofwhich I have been a Fellow formany years, and was thus able togain an insight into the day-to-dayrunning of two national bodies.

Astronomy has been a passion sinceboyhood, and I was first taught it byDr A.F. Alexander, an eminentamateur astronomer well-known forhis classic books The Planet Saturnand The Planet Uranus. DrAlexander was an historian bytraining, and taught astronomy on asound historical basis. The interestin the history of the subject heinstilled in me was greatly increasedwhen I found myself working at theRoyal Observatory, Greenwich,observing with the Transit Circle SirGeorge Airy had designed andperforming the mathematicalreductions of transit observationsusing procedures Airy had devised.Furthermore, most of the positionalinstruments used by earlierAstronomers Royal were hanging onthe walls of the Transit Circlebuilding. It was fascinating toexamine them in the intervalsbetween transit observations, andlater to read up their history.

I became increasingly absorbed inastronomical history, and since myretirement I have begun to write upthe research of many years. InManchester in 2000 I was elected amember of Commission 16 (Historyof Astronomy) of the IAU, and wasinvited to present a paper on Airy’spositional instruments at the GeneralAssembly in Sydney last year.

Since assuming the Chair I havereceived great support frommembers of the Council, especiallyStuart Williams and Ken Goward,for which I am very grateful. Afterjust a few months I have beenprivileged to see many good thingshappen, some of which are referredto elsewhere in this Newsletter. Ihave just returned from a meeting ofthe Council at which most of theSociety’s activities were examinedin detail. Not everything has gone aswell as we might have hoped, butimprovements are in place and weare optimistic for the future. Aboveall, it is very clear to me that theSociety has flourished as much as ithas solely because of the enormouscommitment of a small number ofpeople, some of whom continue tobear an almost unsustainable burden.We need more willing helpers toshare the tasks that lie ahead. TheSociety has got off to a flying start;let us all pull together to build onthat foundation.

Following a meeting of the SHACouncil and Officers in Birminghamon 13 November, a number of majordecisions have been made that willdefine our activities in 2005, andhave implications for future years. Iam also able to make a specialannouncement which is bothsurprising and extremely exciting –the founding of our new referencelibrary, which is first on the list ofnews this issue.

Sir Robert Ball Libraryfounded at the BMI

As you know, the SHA moved itsmain reference collections of

journals to the Birmingham andMidland Institute (BMI) earlier thisyear, with a view to making thesesubstantial numbers of publicationsmore accessible for reference. Now,however, the BMI Administratorand General Secretary Philip Fisherhas presented the SHA with a mostgratifying and exciting surprise –our own independent referencelibrary and study facility within theInstitute itself! The Benson Roomhad been considered as a distantpossibility for our use, perhaps yearsin the future when funding might befound, but no more. The BMI hasnow very kindly completelyrefurbished the room and provided

new shelving, a large study table, adesk and chairs, all at no cost to theSHA. The room also includes someshelving for BMI reserve stock anda desk for occasional use by theBMI’s President. Prior to ourCouncil meeting on 13 November,members of Council and Officers ofthe Society transferred the referencejournals into the bright new room,and proceeded to hold a veryproductive meeting in it, at which itwas decided to name our newreference library after a pastpresident of the BMI who will bewell known to all our members – SirRobert Stawell Ball.

Letter from the ChairGilbert Satterthwaite FRAS, SHA Chairman

Society news Stuart Williams LRPS, FRAS, SHA Secretary


Sir Robert, often spoken of as ‘TheVictorian Patrick Moore’, a prolificlecturer and author, formerAstronomer Royal for Ireland,Lowndean Professor of Astronomyand Geometry at the University ofCambridge and Director of theUniversity Observatory there,seemed the ideal person to honourwith the naming of our newreference library bearing in mind hisobvious links with both books andthe BMI. So now, the Sir RobertBall Library of the Society for theHistory of Astronomy has been welland truly founded in Birmingham,and will be up and running as anongoing project in 2005, when areference collection of books hasbeen identified and transferred to thenew facility. It is hoped that the SirRobert Ball Library can be openedboth to card-carrying SHA and BMImembers, and others byarrangement, on at least oneMonday and one Saturday eachmonth, from the end of January2005. A formal opening may bepossible in April, and details of thisand opening times and arrangementsfor use will be communicated tomembers as soon as plans have beenfinalised and a rota of volunteer stafforganised. Thanks to the BMI,especially its Administrator andGeneral Secretary Mr Philip Fisher,an exciting new chapter in thehistory of the SHA has begun!

Society events in 2005

There will be four main events in theSHA calendar for 2005, as follows.Further details will be announcedwhen finalised, with the membershipcard issue in January.

5 March. Joint meeting with theWilliam Herschel Society in Bath.Times to be confirmed, probably 2pm – 5 pm, incorporating a jointprogramme of speakers. TheWilliam Herschel Society’s AnnualLecture will be held on the eveningof 4 March, and their AGM on themorning of 5 March. There will betime during that morning for SHAmembers to visit the WilliamHerschel Museum if they wish. Fordetails of the William HerschelSociety see their website at

http://www.williamherschel.org.uk/.Future joint meetings with otherorganisations will rotate venuesaround the country to continue ourpolicy of offering something tomembers in varied regions, and wetherefore hope to go north in 2006.

May. SHA spring conference. Thisevent is the renamed AGM andLectures, along similar lines to theevent held in 2004 and incorporatingthe Annual General Meeting. Wehope to hold the meeting inGreenwich, subject to negotiation.Precise date, details etc. to beannounced.

2 July. SHA annual picnic. Thisyear our summer picnic returns toWadham College, Oxford. Detailsand date provisional, subject tonegotiation.

8 Oct. SHA autumn conference.The Autumn Conference will returnto the BMI, which was such asuccessful venue in 2004, and thiswill become our regular venue forthis annual event. The theme will be‘Astronomers and Observatories.’Date, details etc. to be confirmed.

SHA Council meetings in2005

In addition to the Annual GeneralMeeting, there will be three Councilmeetings in 2005, with the followingproposed dates and venues subject toconfirmation:

12 February in Cambridge, Instituteof Astronomy,23 July in York, Yorkshire Museum,12 November in Birmingham, BMI.

Members may like to note thatalthough Council meetings are notgeneral meetings of the Society,Members may use them as anopportunity to present something toCouncil in person, or if they wish, toobserve, subject to arrangement inadvance with the Secretary. In allcases, Members are also welcome towrite to the Secretary at any timewith any ideas, proposals, commentsor questions about the SHA and itsbusiness, and these will be

forwarded to the appropriateCouncillor or Officer forconsideration and a response.Contact Stuart Williams at theaddress given on the back page ofthis Newsletter.

SHA website updated

Thanks are due to our webmaster,Greg Smye-Rumsby, for his sterlingefforts in recently updating theSociety website, located at:http://www.shastro.org.uk. Greg, aprofessional designer, created thenew site for us, and it offers awonderful first point of contact forthe many historians and enthusiastswho frequent the Internet, whichinclude the majority of ourmembers! All the latest news, mostrecent announcements, and generalinformation about the SHA,including meetings, contact detailsof Councillors and Officers, etc. areon show within the site. Of specialinterest are the pages dedicated toour national Survey of localastronomy history, which includesdownloadable information onCounties and details of how to takepart in the survey. All research andinformation in this field is of interestto the SHA, so why not get in touchwith Roger Jones, who co-ordinatesthe Survey, either by looking at therelevant pages on the website or bycontacting him via the details on theback page of this Newsletter?

Newsletter goes quarterly

The SHA Newsletter, jointly editedby Clive Davenhall and DavidRayner, will be published quarterlyfrom 2005, with the nominalpublication dates being March, June,September and December. It hasbeen decided by Council and theEditors that a quarterly Newsletterwill be able to offer more to ourmembers, be more timely in terms ofnews and announcements, allowwider options with content, andobviate the previous need for postalupdates between issues. Thismonth’s issue of the Newsletter is abumper one. The page count of thequarterly will be variable, dependent


on the amount of content available,but will not be as large as thepresent issue. Contributions,including letters and short snippets,are welcome – for further details,contact the editors c/o CliveDavenhall, see the details on theback page.

Miscellaneous news fromCouncil

At the SHA Council meeting on 13November, it was also decided thatthe Society’s Survey will be stronglypromoted in 2005, and that its nameshould be simplified. Full details ofthe Survey and copies of datareceived will in future be held bothat our new Sir Robert Ball Library inBirmingham and the SHA Archivein the Institute of AstronomyLibrary at Cambridge, to aid accessto members and interested parties.Information packs on the Surveywill be distributed also to otherprominent libraries, namely those ofthe Royal Astronomical Society,Royal Observatory Edinburgh,Royal Observatory Greenwich,Armagh Observatory and theYorkshire Museum, to encourageinterest in the Survey and help toforge formal links with thoselibraries. More members are neededto take part in the Survey, which isone of the SHA’s core activities.

The Treasurer, Ken Goward,reported that a small loss of £26.06was made on the AutumnConference, and Council decidedthat this was very acceptable bearingin mind what a fine event thismeeting had proved to be. It wasconcluded that attendance of moreSHA Members and members of thepublic should continue to beencouraged, to not only cover costsfully but to raise funds in the future.

The new SHA reference library isreported elsewhere, and the SHAmembers’ lending library continuesto offer an excellent facility formembers. The SHA library servicewas voted a budget of £200 for2005, and suggestions for affordablenew stock as well as donations ofbooks are, as always, welcomed byour Librarian Madeline Cox. Alibrary manual listing stock anddetails of both our lending andreference libraries will be preparedin 2005.

Martin Lunn reported that outreachto astronomical societies had gonewell throughout the year. It wasdecided that local history societiesshould increasingly be contacted in2005, and that SHA members shouldbe encouraged to point outinteresting astronomicalanniversaries and points of localastronomical interest to local andnational newspapers via their letter

columns. Such letters should includethe URL of the SHA’s website inorder to help raise the profile of theSociety and the history of astronomyin general. Options were alsodiscussed for changes to the SHA’smanagement, and it was concludedthat following further considerationby Council of any possible changes,firm proposals would be presentedto the SHA AGM in due course.

Special thanks for 2004

The end of the year – and theFestive Season – is traditionally atime for looking back on the pasttwelve months, and they havecertainly been both eventful andvery enjoyable ones for the Society.It has been a year of acceleratingprogress, change, fascinatingmeetings and a lot of hard work aswell as great fun. On behalf of theSHA Council, I would like to offerspecial thanks to all those memberswho have helped with the Society’swork and the organisation, staffingand running of its events,publications programme andwebsite, as well as those who havekindly provided their services asspeakers at events, throughout 2004.Thank you also, as Members, foryour support of the Society this year,which we hope will continue in2005.

The Librarian of the RoyalObservatory Edinburgh (ROE) haskindly issued an invitation to SHAMembers to use the Observatory'slibrary. This offer is extended to allSHA Members, but obviously ismost likely to be useful to peopleliving in central and southernScotland or the northernmost partsof England. Members already haveaccess to the Society's owncollection housed at the BMI inBirmingham and to the RAS libraryat Burlington House, London.Consequently there are nowcollections which are reasonablyaccessible from a substantialfraction of the UK.

The ROE has a very extensiveastronomical research library. Ittakes most astronomical journalsand usually has complete runs, oftenstretching back to the first volumespublished in the nineteenth century.It currently subscribes to the Journalfor the History of Astronomy and theJournal of Astronomical History andHeritage. It also has copies of serieswhich, though now complete,formerly carried historical material,such as the Quarterly Journal of theRAS and Vistas in Astronomy. Inaddition there is an extensivecollection of astronomical texts,including numerous historical ones.

The Observatory also houses theCrawford Collection, a donationfrom the twenty-sixth Earl ofCrawford and one of the largestcollections of historical astronomicalbooks in the world, comprisingsome 15,000 items dating from thethirteenth to the end of thenineteenth century. It includes firsteditions of most books important inthe history of astronomy and relatedfields, including Copernicus' DeRevolutionibus, Galileo's SidereusNuncius and the PrincipiaMathematica by Newton.

Access to the ROE libraryClive Davenhall


There is also an extensive collectionof the Observatory's own archives.Some further information isavailable at URL:http://www.roe.ac.uk/roe/library/about.html.

The Observatory's library operatesas a reference library and it is notnormally possible to borrow items.So, it is necessary to visit in order toconsult items and the library is openMonday to Friday. However, it ispossible to check in advancewhether an item is available bysearching the on-line catalogue. Goto the library’s home page at URL

http://www.roe.ac.uk/roe/library/index.html and follow the links:‘Search the Main Library Catalogue’and ‘ROE Catalogue’. Memberswishing to visit should contact theLibrarian, Karen Moran, in advance,in order to avoid the possibility of awasted journey. Her contact detailsare: [email protected], 0131-668-8395, The Librarian, RoyalObservatory, Blackford Hill,Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK. Youshould bring your membership cardwith you. Access to material fromthe Crawford Collection andarchives is restricted. It will usuallyrequire some justification, albeit

brief and informal, may besupervised and is solely at thediscretion of the Librarian.

We are also considering organising aMember's visit to the ROE, if thereis sufficient interest. It wouldinclude a tour of the library,Crawford Collection, archives andother items of historical interest andwould probably take place on aSaturday afternoon. If you would beinterested in attending such an eventthen please let me know. My e-mailaddress is [email protected] and mypostal address appears on the backpage.

With an enthusiastic attendance inthe mid-thirties, on 3rd July 2004the Society’s second Annual Picnicmoved north to Woolsthorpe Manor,the seventeenth century Lincolnshirebirthplace and home of Sir IsaacNewton.

Organised by SHA LibrarianMadeline Cox, the event proved agreat success despite the variableweather, and members had theopportunity to not only tour thewonderful old farmhouse andgrounds but were also treated to amost enjoyable introductory talk bystaff of the Manor, which is now inthe care of the National Trust.Closing remarks and thanks weremade by the SHA's new Chairman,Gilbert Satterthwaite.

Newton formulated some of hismajor works at Woolsthorpe Manorduring the Plague years (1665 - 67).An early edition of his Principia ison display, some of hismathematical graffiti survives on theinterior walls, and the orchardincludes a descendant of Newton’sfamous apple tree. There is the‘Young Newton’ exhibition in thehouse and the Science DiscoveryCentre in the barn. The restored WetKitchen shows where food wasprepared for the household.

The only disappointment at theManor was the inability to take

photographs inside the house and theaccompanying lack of worthwhilepostcards (only of the fireplace!) onsale in the otherwise well-stockedshop.

Following an enforcedindoor picnic (due to asudden shower), whichwas nonetheless verypleasant, memberstravelled to the nearbychurch at Colsterworthwhere Newton had beenbaptised, concluding theday with an enjoyableintroduction to thechurch’s history by thelocal church warden, andthe viewing of two of

Newton’s sundials - one on theoutside of the church, the otherhidden away in a tight space behindthe much later church organ! Truly,a ‘Grand Day Out’ was had by all!

Woolsthorpe Manor

SHA Second annual picnicStuart Williams LRPS, FRAS, SHA Secretary

Newton’s sundial behind the organ


Following an earlier change of planfrom a two-day event due toinsufficient support, the Society’smain event - the annual AGM andConference - was split into twoseparate one day events at differentvenues: the first being the AGMand Lectures, and the second thenew Autumn Conference held at theBirmingham and Midland Institute(see the separate report elsewhere inthis Newsletter). Thanks to a lot ofhard work by Council, Officers andvolunteers, and the enthusiasticsupport of our speakers, both eventswere to prove highly successful. TheAGM and Lectures were held at theInstitute of Astronomy (IOA),University of Cambridge onSaturday 22nd May 2004.

The AGM, which was well receivedby Members and produced somevery useful decisions helping movethe SHA forward, was veryappropriately staged in one ofBritain’s most historic homes ofprofessional astronomy, hosted as itwas by the Institute of Astronomy atCambridge University. Due the goodoffices of SHA Archivist MarkHurn, who is the Institute’sLibrarian, and the management andstaff of the Institute itself, we wereable to use the very pleasant foyer ofthe modern Institute building forlunches and teas as well as exhibits(including the SHA stand, MadelineCox’s SHA Lending Library and

Roger Jones’ astronomicalpostcards) and traders, and its fineadjacent lecture theatre housed ourAGM and a very enjoyable andeducational programme of lectures.

Those lectures included: A BriefHistory of the Cambridge IOA by DrDavid Dewhirst of the IOA , SirRobert Stawell Ball by SHACouncillor Roger Jones, and TheReal Caroline Herschel by DrMichael Hoskin of ChurchillCollege, Cambridge, Honorary VicePresident of the SHA.

A last minute addition was a mostinteresting and welcome address bytwo guests from the USA,distinguished astronomy historiansMr Bill Sheehan, a ContributingEditor of Sky & Telescopemagazine, and Dr Craig Waff, whoare working with our own SHACouncillor Dr Nicholas Kollerstromon aspects of the Neptune discoverycontroversy (of which more in thereport on our Autumn Conference).

Apart from the lectures, there wasalso the very popular opportunity totour the old Institute and theassociated NorthumberlandRefractor, guided by Mark Hurn andJim Hysom.

Last but not least, the icing on thecake of this most enjoyable eventwas the attendance of our special

guests, Mrs Angela Ambrose, andher mother Mrs Pamela Morris,respectively great-granddaughterand granddaughter of Sir RobertStawell Ball. Sir Robert, one-timeLowndean Professor of Astronomyand Geometry at Cambridge andDirector of the UniversityObservatory, was often called ‘TheVictorian Patrick Moore’, and wasfamed especially for his books andlectures. Roger Jones and StuartWilliams had the privilege ofaccompanying the Ball family to thenearby cemetery where the familywere able to view Sir Robert’s gravefor the first time.

The AGM and Lectures made a finestart to the Society’s events for2004, and an occasion which will befondly remembered by all.

SHA Annual General MeetingStuart Williams LRPS, FRAS, SHA Secretary

The great-granddaughter andgranddaughter of Sir Robert S. Ball at his

graveside

AGM group photograph


The accompanying figure shows arather beautiful map I found in theWarwickshire county archives, inthe County Record Office, at PrioryPark in Warwick – ‘The Sun’sEclipse, Febr 18th 1736-7, delineatedfor Coventry’. The original, ratherlarger than A4 size, is in ink andwater-colour. In the top left handcorner, the path of the Moon acrossthe Sun is shown. Where the two aresuperimposed, the Moon is darkershaded. It is clear that, first, theMoon’s apparent size is less than theSun’s – so this was not a totaleclipse. Moreover, from Coventrythe eclipse was not central – therewas never a point in time at whichthe Moon was completelysuperimposed on the Sun. We’ll seelater on that the eclipse was centralwhen viewed from further north,producing an annular eclipse.

In the top right hand corner arevarious elements of the calculation.The Sun was predicted to have aradius of 16 minutes and 9 secondsof arc; Sun and Moon together 30’29”; however the path of the Moonwas offset by 3’ 30” from the Sun’scentre. The upshot was that, if theSun’s diameter was divided intotwelve digits, just over ten-and-a-half of these would be obscured bythe Moon at the time of maximumeclipse.

Next come the local times forobserving from Coventry, and theSun’s altitude and azimuth at thesetimes. This was an afternoon eclipse,beginning at 2:25 p.m. and endingat 5:00 p.m, a duration of 2 hours 35minutes. The date also deservescomment. First of all, it is prior tothe change from Julian to Gregoriancalendar in 1752, so 11 days have tobe added to give a date in the new(current) style, of March 1st, whichis when the eclipse is recorded insome reference books. Note also thatthe year is described as 1736-7, asthe new year was considered tobegin on March 25th (this is why ourtax year still begins on April 5th, 11days on from March 25th).

Finally, at the bottom of the map is‘The appearance at different timesduring ye eclipse’, showing the slowprogress of the Moon across thesolar disk. Hidden in amongst theseis the signature of (I presume) themap’s author, Hen. Beighton, July1736. So this was a predictive map,produced beforehand to show theexpected path of the eclipse, ratherthan a description of what happenedafter the event.

In the Record Office, I pored overthe map for some time, struck asmuch by its beauty as a document asby the astronomy it features. But ofcourse the map suggests manyquestions. Who was Mr. HenryBeighton? Who did he produce themap for? Was the map accurate?And was the eclipse observed, fromCoventry or anywhere else?

I can answer one question with somecertainty. The map is in the papersof Sir Roger Newdigate, of ArburyHall, Nuneaton. Some of you mayhave visited this lovely statelyhome, situated to the south west ofNuneaton. It features a stable with afrontage designed by Sir ChristopherWren in 1674, one of his fewcommissions outside London.However, Arbury Hall as we know ittoday was mostly modelled by SirRoger Newdigate during theeighteenth century. He inheritedArbury Hall at the age of 14 in 1734,only 3 years before the eclipse.

Other papers in the Newdigatecollection, presumably produced byNewdigate himself, show that hestruggled to grasp the fundamentalsof astronomy. There are pages ofexercises in his papers, showing thesolar system, and reproducing basicpropositions from Isaac Newton’sPrincipia Mathematica, for examplethe parabolic motion of a projectileunder gravity, or the tidal bulgecaused by the attraction of theMoon. From a viewpoint threecenturies on, these are verystraightforward calculations, thekind of thing you would find in any

physics textbook. But don’t forgetthat Principia had been publishedless than sixty years previously, andso the details of the theory of gravitywould be as unfamiliar to peoplethen as, say, relativity or quantummechanics are to us today.

Newton’s revolution came at aconvenient time for English eclipses.In the first quarter of the eighteenthcentury, southern England enjoyednot one but two total solar eclipseswithin the space of ten years - inApril 1715 and May 1724. Tounderstand how rare this is, considerthat England has had only two totaleclipses in the succeeding threecenturies – in 1927 and in 1999.And now mathematicians had themeans to predict the path of thesetwo eclipses with unprecedentedaccuracy.

A number of astronomers took upthe challenge, but the mostsuccessful attempt was by EdmundHalley, who produced a famous mappredicting the track of totality,across southern England, includingLondon. April 22nd 1715 was a clearday, and the total eclipse was widelyobserved. Halley described the solarcorona, ‘a luminous ring, of a palewhiteness, or rather pearl colour, alittle tinged with the colours of theIris, and concentric with the Moon’.After the eclipse, Halley collectedaccounts of the eclipse, andproduced a more accurate map ofthe eclipse track. The 1715 revisedmap is the most accurate path of atotal eclipse track prior to thetwentieth century (the next step inaccuracy occurred in 1925 when thepath of totality crossed overManhattan, enabling the totalitytrack to be narrowed down toindividual blocks in the city), and isof great use to scientists who want toestimate how much the Earth’srotation period has changed byduring the last three centuries.

A Warwickshire eclipseMike Frost


The 1724 eclipse was not total overLondon (the track crossed SouthWales and the south-west ofEngland) and was not as wellobserved as the 1715 eclipse. DrStukeley, the noted antiquary,observed it from Haraden Hill, nearSalisbury, and reported that thespectacle was ‘beyond all that hehad ever seen or could picture tohis imagination the most solemn’.

Halley was by no means the onlyastronomer to produce eclipsemaps. The maps fall in to twogeneral types: eclipse track maps,such as Halley’s, which show allthe locations where an eclipse willbe total or annular, and maps suchas Beighton’s showing the view tobe seen at a particular location.Both types of map were producedfor the 1737 eclipse (see, forexample, Armitage). GeorgeSmith, of York, produced a ratherwonky map showing the entiretrack of the eclipse across theAtlantic and into Europe. JohnHaynes and Thomas Wrightproduced rather less ambitious butmore precise maps showing thetrack across Britain. Both Haynesand Wright predicted that the 1737eclipse would be annular over thefar north of England and lowlandScotland. It is clear that HenryBeighton’s predictions of a deeppartial eclipse were accurate.

So, Henry Beighton was one ofseveral mathematicians to predictthe circumstances of the annulareclipse of 1737. Do we knowanything more about him? I hadn’theard of him prior to researchingthis article, but he turns out to be aremarkable and versatile man. Hewas born on 20th August 1687 (someauthors say 1686) in Chilvers Coton,a hamlet to the south of Nuneaton.His family were yeomen, holders ofland in Griff, between Bedworth andNuneaton. So Beighton was alandowner, but not of substantialestates. Fortunately he was able tosupplement his less than impressiveestate income with an impressivevariety of other accomplishments.

In 1713, Beighton took over theeditorship of the Ladies’ Diary on

the death of his friend John Tipper, aCoventry schoolmaster. The Ladies’Diary was a journal that featured avariety of mathematical features andpuzzles, often set by Beightonhimself. Beighton, who edited themagazine anonymously for manyyears, was determined to produce ajournal of more substance than thealmanacs of the day, which weremore Old Moore’s than Whittaker’sin tone. Under Beighton’s editorshipthe Ladies’ Diary became one of theleading mathematical journals of theday.

Beighton’s skills were not justtheoretical. In 1711, he suggestedthat the new technology of the steamengine could be used in local

collieries to pump water out of themines. In April 1714, threeMidlands entrepreneurs, Richardand Stonier Parrott and GeorgeSparrow, employed ThomasNewcomen, builder of the firstindustrial steam engine, to build hissecond steam engine for the Griffcolliery, on land in the Newdigateestates. Henry Beighton may wellhave been involved in this project;certainly in 1717 Beighton himselfbuilt a Newcomen steam engine atOxclose Colliery, Washington Fell,in County Durham. A picture of thisengine, drawn by Beighton, stillexists, entitled ‘The Engine forRaising Water (with a power made)by Fire’. It is the earliest knowndrawing of a steam engine.

Henry Beighton’s map of the 1736 eclipse as seen from Coventry.


Also in 1717, Beighton madecalculations on the diameter ofpump barrel and steam cylinderneeded to pump water from differentdepths. These were published in theLadies’ Diary. In 1720 HenryBeighton was elected to aFellowship of the Royal Society.

Between 1722 and 1725, Beightonsurveyed the county ofWarwickshire in unprecedenteddetail, to draw one of the firstcounty maps produced in England,and certainly the most accurate tothat time. Beighton usedtrigonometrical surveyingtechniques, common in France, butnew to England. In the pages of theLadies’ Diary, he advertised his mapfor several years, hoping to financehis surveying and printing costs byadvance orders; the map was finallypublished in 1729.

Around this time, Beighton began abusiness relationship with SirRichard Newdigate, RogerNewdigate’s father. It isn’t clear tome exactly what this entailed: onesource (Rolt & Allen) suggests thatHenry Beighton, in partnership withhis mother, leased collieries fromNewdigate senior; another author(White) cites a report from Beightonto Lady Newdigate suggesting thatcollieries should be closed down.However, it does appear thatBeighton acted as friend and advisorto Newdigate senior.

So, we know that Henry Beightonwas an accomplished surveyor andengineer. In the Newdigate papers,there are also a ground plan and aprospect (both in poor condition) ofArbury Hall, drawn by Beighton in1708. Additionally, there are notesby Beighton on The Use of theMoon’s Instrument and The Use ofthe Quadrant – both practicalinstructions for surveying theheavens. So perhaps it’s no surprisethat Beighton should turn his handto mapping the eclipse for Roger,the son of his late friend RichardNewdigate.

At the time of the 1737 eclipseHenry Beighton was forty-nineyears of age, a self-educated man

who had risen from relatively lowsocial standing to achieve businesssuccess, engineering brilliance,editorship of a respectedmathematical journal, and areputation as the finest surveyor inthe country. Roger Newdigate wassixteen years old, recently installedas the lord of Arbury Hall, aprecocious (one suspects) youngman with big ideas and the world athis feet. One can imagine Beightonsecuring the gratitude of hisaristocratic young friend with thegift of a map to trace theforthcoming eclipse.

Roger Newdigate went on to studyat Oxford and make a Grand Tour ofEurope, before becoming a Memberof Parliament. Despite representingMiddlesex, he spent all but threemonths of each year in Arbury Hall,his pride and joy, and in later yearswas increasingly reluctant to leavethe estate. He was lord of the manorat Arbury for seventy-two years, andcompletely remodelled the hall,room by room, producing one of thefinest examples of Gothicarchitecture in Britain. HenryBeighton, on the other hand, diedonly six years after the eclipse, in1743, and was buried at ChilversCoton.

One final question remains – whatwas the weather like on eclipse day?The annular eclipse was certainlyseen from Scotland. The Scottishmathematician Colin Maclaurinreported that ‘A little before theannulus was complete, a remarkablepoint or speck of pale light appearednear the middle part of the Moon’scircumference that was not yet comeupon the disc of the Sun… Duringthe appearance of the annulus thedirect light of the Sun was still veryconsiderable, but the places thatwere shaded from this light appearedgloomy. There was a dusk in theatmosphere, especially towards thenorth and east. In those chambersthat had not their lights westwardsthe obscurity was considerable.Venus appeared plainly, andcontinued visible long after theannulus was dissolved, and I am toldthat other stars were seen by some’.

Alas, I have no idea what happenedin Warwickshire! I made a secondvisit to the County Record Officewhen I spotted that among theNewdigate papers, there is also adiary covering the period 1736-1743. Unfortunately, this diary turnsout to be a very perfunctory recordof the period, with no entries at allfor February 1737. It would appearthat Newdigate was at Arbury Hallduring this time; the entry for March1st 1737 records a move fromArbury to Astley, a nearby manor.

There is no clue as to whetherNewdigate or Beighton attempted toobserve the eclipse, or if the weatherhelped or hindered them. But I hopeHenry Beighton and RogerNewdigate saw their eclipse!

Acknowledgements:

The descendants of the Newdigateswho kindly gave permission toreproduce the eclipse map from thefamily archives. The staff of theWarwickshire Record Office fortheir assistance. Chris Hicks ofRugby Local History Group (acolleague at work) who educated meon the many accomplishments ofHenry Beighton.

Sources and further reading:

Henry Beighton’s eclipse map hasclassification CR136/B2551 in theWarwickshire Records; the prospectof Arbury Hall is CR1199/70, theground plan is CR270/7, andBeighton’s notes on Lunar andQuadrant measurements areCR136/B3026. Newdigate’s diary isCR136/B3015/1.

The shadow of the moon (Britishsolar eclipse mapping in theeighteenth century), Geoff Armitage(Map Collector Publications, 1997)

The Steam Engine of ThomasNewcomen, L.T.C. Rolt and J.S.Allen (Moorland, 1997)


Men and Mines in Warwickshire,A.W.A. White (Coventry Branch ofthe Historical Association, 1970)

Maps and Plans for the LocalHistorian and Collector, DavidSmith (Batsford)

Marketing Mathematics in EarlyEighteenth-Century England: HenryBeighton, Certainty, and the PublicSphere, Shelley Costa (History ofScience xl, 2002)

The Halley, Stukeley and Maclaurinquotes are taken from UK Solar

Eclipses from Year 1, SheridanWilliams (Clock Tower Press, 1996)

There is a concise history of ArburyHall atwww.heritage.me.uk/houses/arbury.htm

The Society’s first autumnconference was held on Saturday 9October 2004. It was jointly hostedwith the Birmingham and MidlandInstitute (BMI), to which the SHA isaffiliated, and held in the BMI’shistoric premises in centralBirmingham. Registration began at11:00 am, with the programmeproper starting at 11:30, though thevagaries of the railway system madeseveral people late. The talks wereheld in the Dickens Room, withrefreshments and posters in thenearby John Peek Room.

The first talk was Life in OtherWorlds by SHA Secretary StuartWilliams. This talk was a re-enactment of a talk given inBirmingham in 1901 by WilliamHenry Robinson, FRAS, aprominent Victorian businessman,author, newspaper editor andpublisher from Walsall (then inStaffordshire, now part of the WestMidlands). Robinson was a primemover in bringing public astronomylectures to Walsall through hisSecretaryship of the Walsall Literary

Institute. He also had a strong handin the formation of the MidlandBranch of the British AstronomicalAssociation, which met inBirmingham for a few short yearsfrom 1901.

Robinson gave a talk entitled Life inOther Worlds at the last BAAMidland Branch meeting for 1901,on 12th December, and the BAAReports describe that evening’spresentation as being ‘devoted to avery able and philosophical treatiseby Mr. W.H. Robinson, F.R.A.S., onthe problem of life-conditions andpossibilities from an astronomicalstandpoint.’ Fortunately, at therequest of the members of theMidland Branch, Robinson printedand circulated his lecture as abooklet, copies of which havesurvived. Mr Williams has made aspecial study of Robinson's life andworks. Appropriately dressed inVictorian costume, he gave ahistorical re-enactment of thelecture, in the persona of W. H.Robinson! The talk offered afascinating and entertainingsnapshot of current thinking aroundthe turn of the last century on thepossibilities for life in the SolarSystem and beyond, within thelimitations of the observationalknowledge of the time andilluminated by Robinson's ownscientifically enlightened religiousconvictions.

The next speaker was CliveDavenhall talking on Lord Lindsay'sTransit Expeditions of 1874 and1882. The recent transit of Venusduring the summer has caused aresurgence of interest in previoustransit expeditions and this talk wasthe first of two on the subject. Lord

Lindsay, later the twenty-sixth Earlof Crawford, organised and fundedan independent expedition toMauritius to observe the 1874 transitof Venus, and supported aGovernment expedition to Jamaicato observe the 1882 transit. Bothexpeditions were successful in thesense that the transits wereobserved. However, in commonwith other expeditions, the resultswere disappointing because they didnot allow an improveddetermination of the solar parallaxand hence the astronomical unit.Nonetheless both expeditionsachieved important auxiliary results,unconnected with the transits.During the 1874 expedition DavidGill determined the parallax of theminor planet Juno. Paradoxically,this result did lead to a moreaccurate determination of theastronomical unit, and parallaxmeasurements of minor planetsremained the preferred method ofdetermining the astronomical unituntil the introduction of radar

SHA autumn conferenceClive Davenhall

Stuart Williams, SHA Secretary, dressedfor the part, recreates the lecture Life inOther Worlds, originally given inBirmingham in 1901 by W.H. Robinson.

SHA Chairman Gilbert Satterthwaiteintroduces the meeting


methods in the second half of thetwentieth century.

In 1882 Ralph Copeland tookadvantage of Jamaica's geographicallocation to visit South America,where he repeated Piazzi Smyth'sinvestigations into the suitability ofhigh mountain sites for makingastronomical observations. Heconfirmed Smyth's result that suchsites could offer excellent observingconditions and, but for unforeseendevelopments at home (which led tothe move of Edinburgh’s RoyalObservatory to its present site onBlackford Hill), this work wouldprobably have led to the a Britishhigh altitude observatory beingestablished in South America duringthe closing decades of the nineteenthcentury.

Following this talk the meetingadjourned for lunch, during whichthere was an opportunity to jointours of the BMI library, includingthe secure stacks where theSociety’s reference collection isheld.

The meeting resumed with FirstFind Your Planet by SHA ChairmanGilbert Satterthwaite. To observe ordispatch a spacecraft to a planetrequires a precise knowledge of itsposition and the ability to accuratelypredict its future location. Thisknowledge is taken for grantedtoday, but it has not always beenavailable. Predicting the positionsof the planets against thebackground of the fixed stars wasthe ‘grand theme’ of astronomyfrom the origins of mathematicalastronomy in ancient Mesopotamiaand later Classical Greece until therise of astrophysics in the secondhalf of the nineteenth century.Various schemes, theories andmethods for predicting planetarypositions were tried and discarded.In a sense this enterprise concludedwith the use of special relativity toexplain anomalies in the motion ofMercury early in the twentiethcentury.

The talk presented a whirlwind tourof the development of ideas ofplanetary motion. The Classical

Greeks first realised the sphericity ofthe Earth (a notion usually attributedto the semi-mythical Pythagorus)and applied geometrical ideas toplanetary motion. They also evolveda powerful, predictive methodinvolving a complex system ofepicycles but, perhaps partlybecause of the influence of Aristotle,based on a geocentric model. Late inClassical Antiquity this scheme wassystematised in Ptolemy’s Almagestand it remained dominant until theRenaissance, when Copernicusintroduced a simpler heliocentrictheory. Kepler replaced circularorbits with elliptical ones andNewton provided a theoreticalunderstanding of planetary motion.

The Royal Observatory Greenwichwas founded in 1675 andgenerations of Astronomers Royal,their assistants and their peersoverseas, patiently amassed theobservations needed to calculateaccurate planetary positions. In thenineteenth century, traditional,classical positional astronomyculminated with the work of SirGeorge Airy at Greenwich andSimon Newcomb at the UnitedStates Naval Observatory.

The last speaker before the break forrefreshments was Peter Hingley, theRAS Librarian. He gave a typicallyspirited and lively presentation onTransits of Venus – the Big Picture,the second of the two talks on thetransits of Venus. The talk was anoverview of the internationalcampaigns to observe the transits ofVenus in 1874 and 1884 in order toimprove the determination of theastronomical unit. All the greatmaritime nations, and some smallerones, took part. Expeditionstravelled to over eighty locations,some in very obscure parts of theworld. These expeditionsrepresented a substantial investmentof money and effort by the nationsthat took part. They should be seenas not just part of the history ofastronomy (the effort to refine themeasurement of the astronomicalunit using transits of Venus was afailure), but in the wider context ofinternational co-operation andrivalry, maritime history,exploration and social history. Manyof the expeditions performedimportant ancillary investigations‘while they were going.’

The talk featured material from theRAS collections, particularly thatrelating to the British expeditionsled by Father Stephen Perry S.J. toKerguelen Island in the IndianOcean and to Madagascar. The RASarchive has an album containingnumerous cartoons illuminatinghumorous events during theseexpeditions and a second album,containing photographs from theexpeditions, has recently beendonated. There is an extensiveliterature on the transits, but it isvery fragmented, making research inthe field deeply frustrating.However, there are many importantaspects waiting to be researched andmany interesting characters waitingto be rescued from obscurity. Thetalk ended with a sidelong glance ata one or two slightly dubious artisticrepresentations of the transits.

Following Mr Hingley’s talk therewas a break for refreshments, afterwhich SHA Councillor NicholasKollerstrom spoke on

Sir George Biddell Airy (1801 - 92), theseventh Astronomer Royal. Thepresence of Sir George Airy was felt inseveral of the talks. He directed the workof the Royal Observatory Greenwich formuch of the nineteenth century,organised the British expeditions toobserve the transits of Venus and wasone of the dramatis personae in thecontroversy over the discovery ofNeptune.


New Light on the British Case forCo-Discovery of Neptune. The storyof the discovery of Neptune is well-known. In 1846 Urbain Leverrierpredicted the position of Neptunefrom the perturbations observed inthe motion of Uranus. He sent hispredicted position to Galle in Berlin,where it was found after observingfor half an hour. Subsequently ittranspired that CambridgeUniversity Observatory had beensearching for the planet for sixweeks but without success. Britishsources then started to claim thatJohn Couch Adams, a youngCambridge mathematician, hadmade an independent prediction ofthe position. Had he made such aprediction? If he made a prediction,but failed to publish it, does hedeserve credit as a co-discoverer?Much information on the Britishside of this controversy resides inthe Royal Observatory Greenwich’s‘Neptune File.’ This file has neverbeen made public and was thoughtto have been lost. However, in 1999it reappeared in Chile amongst theeffects of the late Olin Eggen. Incollaboration with his colleaguesWilliam Sheehan and Craig Waff,Dr Kollerstrom has been studyingthe contents of the Neptune file andhe gave a fascinating progress reporton their findings.

There was then a change to theprogramme. Prof. Allan Chapman,the Honorary President of the SHA,was due to close the meeting with afew concluding remarks. However,he had to leave early (the finalprogramme had a later finish thanpreliminary versions hadanticipated). So Prof. Chapman gavehis concluding remarks before thelast talk, thanking all the speakersand expressing his satisfaction thatthe SHA was thriving. Hementioned three recent books whichhad impressed him and in which hethought SHA members might beinterested (details of these books aregiven in the Books noticed column).He also mentioned that his ownbiography of Robert Hooke wasnearly finished and that once it was

complete he hoped to return toworking on Sir George Airy, whohad featured in several presentationsduring the day.

The final speaker was AndrewLound, the UK Co-ordinator of thePlanetary Society. He was alsodressed in Victorian apparel, thoughhis presentation was bang up to date,with impressive computer-generatedslides, music and sound-effects; anOdyssey class lecture in theterminology of the PlanetarySociety. His talk, Red Dawn,covered the growing understandingof Mars from antiquity to thepresent. It started with themythology of the god of war anddescribed how the Red Planet’speriodic waxings and wainings inbrightness were feared as harbingersof conflict.

After the invention of the telescopemarkings were soon seen on theMartian disk. The ‘first drawing ofMars worth the name’ (to quotePercival Lowell) was ChristiaanHuygens’ sketch of the ‘HourglassSea’ (Syrtis Major) made in 1659.For the next couple of centuriesthere were sporadic attempts to mapthe surface, resulting in thereasonably detailed maps of Beerand Mädler in the mid-nineteenthcentury. Between 1877 and 1890 theItalian astronomer G.V. Schiaparellipublished a series of detailedMartian maps annotated with thisenduring and beautiful nomenclatureand, less happily, he introduced theinfamous canals. Partly as a result ofPercival Lowell’s forceful advocacy,the notion that the canals wereartificial works of civil engineeringbecame widespread, and life onMars became a common theme ofpopular culture in the late nineteenthand early twentieth century. It wasreflected in novels such as H.G.Wells’ War of the Worlds, whichwas, of course, later adapted byOrson Welles into a radio playwhich caused panic when broadcastin the United States.

The first space probes sent to Marsin the 1960s shattered notions ofMars as an abode for life, revealinga cratered world more like the Moonthan the Earth, though to an extentthe pendulum has now swung backand liquid water is now known tohave once flowed on the Martiansurface. The talk, and the meeting,was brought to a conclusion byanticipating the time when Marswould be colonised.

The conference was a successful andenjoyable day, with presentations ona wide variety of topics. I would liketo thank the other speakers and alsothe SHA Chairman GilbertSatterthwaite for chairing the

meeting. Thanks are also due to KenGoward, Garry Coleman, RogerJones, Madeline Cox and Les Jepsonwho helped with various aspects ofrunning the meeting. Special thanksare due to Philip and Susanne Fisherof the BMI who kindly conductedthe tour of the library. Philip Fisherand Martin Boyle, also of the BMI,were of invaluable assistance inorganising the event. Thanks also goto The Planetary Society, KnowleAstronomical Society and SouthStaffordshire Astronomical Society,who all put on displays and severalof whose members supported theevent by buying tickets.

SHA Hon President Dr. Allan Chapmandelivers his concluding remarks.


The English Mechanic and World ofScience was a weekly newspaperwhich first appeared in March 1865and continued in the same form until1926. Normally seen as boundvolumes with an index (issued as asupplement), each volume contained26 weekly issues. Although notapparent from the title, astronomicaltopics made up a good fraction ofthe articles and letters, 12% in asampled volume. The journal wasunusual in that it relied on its readersto provide the vast majority of itscontent. Over half of a typical issueof 24 pages would be taken up bycorrespondents’ letters, shorter‘queries’ and answers to previousqueries.

My aim is to produce facsimilecopies of each volume on CD andDVD and make them available toSHA members either by sellingcopies at a nominal cost, or bycontributing copies to the SHAlibrary. While I have been collectingodd volumes over the years, I haverecently acquired a large run ofvolumes, which has prompted thisproject to start.

Because of the size of the project,over 60,000 pages, I intend to limitmyself to scanning andautomatically character-recognisingeach volume, and then publishingthe resulting documents as PDFfiles. If I manage to complete onevolume a week it will take over two

years to complete this stage of theproject. There are many additionaltasks that members of the SHA maywish to assist with. To name but afew: finding real names for pen-names, producing topicbibliographies; a series index andguidance notes for searching thePDF versions. At this stage I havejust two sample CDs; if anyonewould like copies, send me two firstclass stamps. I would also like tohear from anyone who can help withlocating the volumes I am missing:21 to 27, 29 to 33, 84, 89 and 115. Ican be contacted at 29, PaternosterClose, Waltham Abbey, Essex EN93JU, e-mail [email protected].

The P Cygni line profile is a broademission feature with a blue-shiftedabsorption component which is seenin the spectra of some stars. Thename arose because the effect isprominent in the spectrum of PCygni. The feature is formed instellar winds and ejecta expandingfrom stars. Modelling its shape is avaluable diagnostic of the velocityand density structure of outflowingmaterial. The effect was firstinterpreted in a paper read to theRoyal Society of Edinburgh inNovember 1904 by Jacob Halm,

Lecturer in Astronomy in theUniversity of Edinburgh andAssistant Astronomer at the RoyalObservatory (Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin.25, p513, 1904).

Halm based his analysis onspectroscopy of the bright NovaPersei 1901 by Campbell andWright at Lick (Lick Obs. Bull. 8)and Becker in Glasgow (Trans. Roy.Soc. Edin. 41, p251). The spectrashowed broad, complex bandswhose structures were the same andscaled with central wavelength.

Halm argued thatthese complexbands could notresult fromchemical or

physicalproperties of thegases, or

abnormalrefraction, butcould only resultfrom motion inthe line of sight.He showed howthe classic profilehaving absorption

on the more refrangible (i.e. violet)side of the broad emission featurecould be produced if the central starwas hotter than the surroundingexpanding material.

Centenary (1904-2004) of theinterpretation of the P Cygni profilePeredur Williams

Halm's illustration of the formation ofwhat we now call a P Cygni profile:the observer is at E. The expandingmaterial is responsible for the broademission while that, ADD'A', in theline of sight causes the blue-shiftedabsorption. Note that the effectoccurs irrespective of the directionfrom which the nova is observed.

The English Mechanic NewspaperEric Hutton


As most people reading thisNewsletter will be well aware, onTuesday 8 June 2004 there was atransit of Venus across the disk ofthe Sun, the first such event since1882. There will be another in 2012but only the egress will be visiblefrom the UK. The first observationsof a transit of Venus were made in1639 by the young Englishastronomer and mathematicianJeremiah Horrocks, observing fromthe small Lancashire village ofMuch Hoole.

In early June I attended IAUColloquium 196: Transits of Venus:New Views of the Solar System andGalaxy which was arranged both tocoincide with this year’s transit andto commemorate the first one to beobserved. It was hosted by theUniversity of Central Lancashire inPreston, just a few miles down theroad from Much Hoole. Theconference theme was deliberatelysomething of a mixed bag,including: studies of historicaltransit observations, modern studiesof transits of extra-solar systemplanets, solar system dynamics,stellar parallax and galacticstructure.

The conference took place over theweek of Monday 7 June to Friday11, but the morning of Tuesday 8was set aside for observing thetransit and a visit to the site ofJeremiah Horrocks’ observations inMuch Hoole. This article is adescription of that morning’s eventsrather than a report of theconference as a whole.Time and celestial mechanics

famously wait for no man, so themorning of Tuesday 8 June startedearly. Many of the people attendingthe colloquium were staying in theUniversity’s Roeburn Hall, so weassembled in the Hall car park at5:15 am, to board coaches to take usto the University’s AlstonObservatory, about eight miles northeast of Preston. At the Observatoryvarious small telescopes had beenset up for viewing the transit bothdirectly and by projection. Therewere also the inevitable Internetlinks for viewing remotely in case ofbad weather. And, indeed, a first theweather was marginal, with plentyof cloud and the Sun largelyobscured. However, a minute or soafter first contact at 6:20 am fortunesmiled and the clouds rolled awayfrom the solar disk. The viewremained mostly clear for the rest ofthe morning, and, indeed, the daybecame increasingly sunny as itwore on. We got a good view of theingress of Venus and its subsequentprogress across the solar disk. Onceingress was complete there was adiversion to the nearby Alston Hall,

a lovely Victorianbuilding from where theUniversity runs residentialcourses, where we wereserved some welcomebreakfast. Then it wasback to the Observatoryfor further viewing.

Around 9:00 am, or justafter, we re-embarked onthe coaches, which this

time took us to Carr House, fromwhich Jeremiah Horrocks made thefirst observations of a Venus transit.Carr House was built by the Stonesfamily, who were prominent in thearea, and in 1639 they still occupiedit. Horrocks probably worked as atutor to their children, or in somesimilar capacity. Carr House is nowprivately owned, but the owners hadvery generously agreed to open it tovisitors on the morning of thetransit. There was also a BBCoutside broadcast team in attendanceand various visitors not connectedwith the Colloquium. We decampedinto a meadow alongside the house,where there were more telescopesfor further viewing of the transit.From there we were taken into thehouse in small groups (all that thelimited space would allow) and sawthe room, and probably the verywindow, from which Horrocks madehis observations.

Once everyone had seen Carr Houseit was back on the coaches for theshort trip to St Michael’s Church.Jeremiah Horrocks, a young manprobably of puritan inclinations,certainly worshipped in St Michael’sand was probably a lay Bible readerthere. The Church was built in 1628,also by the Stones family. It is abeautiful old building in apicturesque setting. Inside there is amemorial plaque to Horrocks andthree stained glass windowscommemorating him.

Old and new Venus transits seen from LancashireClive Davenhall

Viewing the Transit from Alston Observatory

Carr House


One panel of the east window in thesanctuary shows Horrocks observingthe Sun projected onto a sheet (aninaccurate representation as heactually used a paper screen).

Two consecutive roundels in thenorth side of the nave were added in1874 and 2004. St Michael’s hadorganised several activities tocelebrate the transit. There was amagnificent floral display whichcomplemented the many stainedglass windows, telescopes foradditional viewing and a marqueeselling mementoes andrefreshments; the people attendingthe conference were only a few ofthe many visitors. Finally, afterfourth contact and egress at about12:20 pm we got back on thecoaches for a final time and returned

to Preston for somelunch and a well-deserved rest.

In the spaceavailable here it isnot possible to givea summary of allthe talks given atthe conference, andthe modern materialis outside the scopeof the Newsletter.However, it isworth briefly

mentioning the historicalpresentations. SHA HonoraryPresident Allan Chapman spoke onJeremiah Horrocks and SHACouncil Member NicholasKollerstrom talked about Horrocks’friend William Crabtree, who alsoobserved the 1639 transit. JohnWalton, a historian at the Universityof Central Lancashire, described thesocial background to life inLancashire in the 1630s, as Englanddrifted towards civil war. SuzanneDébarbat gave an overview of theobservations and analyses of Venustransits made by Frenchastronomers, starting with PierreGassendi, who in 1631 made thefirst successful transit observationwhen he observed a transit ofMercury. Wayne Orchiston spokeon Captain Cooke’s 1769 expeditionto Tahiti. Robert van Gentdescribed the observations of the1761 and 1769 transits made by theDutch-German clergyman JohanMaurits Mohr from Batavia in theDutch East Indies. Luisa Pigattospoke on the dispute betweenGiovanni-Battista Audiffredi andAlexandre-Gui Pingré over theobservations of the 1761 transitwhich the former made from theMonastery of St Maria sopraMinerva in Rome. John Butlerreviewed the few transitobservations made in Ireland duringthe eighteenth century, particularlythose of the 1769 transit made byCharles Mason, and considered theircontribution to the development ofastronomy in Ireland. Steven Dickdescribed the American expeditions

to observe the 1874 and 1882transits. Eight well equippedexpeditions, relying primarily onphotographic methods, weredispatched for each transit. ChristineAllen spoke on the Mexicanexpedition which observed the 1874transit from two stations nearYokohama in Japan. This expeditionwas the first overseas scientificexpedition undertaken by a LatinAmerican country. Mikhail Marovdescribed how Mikhail Lomonosov,observing from St Petersburg,discovered the cytherean atmosphereduring the 1761 transit.

There was one historical talk thatwas not about transit observations.Brian Warner described theobservations made by ThomasHenderson at the Cape of GoodHope from which he as able tomeasure the parallax of alphaCentauri, though he did not reducehis data until after Bessel hadmeasured the first stellar parallax for61 Cygni.

Amongst the non-historical papersthere was one by Jay Pasachoff(presented by Don Kurtz because theauthor could not be present) on theblack-drop effect. This effect haslong bedevilled transit observationsby preventing the accurate timing ofthe instants of ingress and egress.The talk presented an explanation ofthe effect in terms of solar limbdarkening and the finite resolutionof optical instruments.

The morning of the transit was avery enjoyable and memorable eventin an informative and enjoyableconference. It only remains to thankthe various organisations and peoplewho made it possible: the IAU underwhose aegis the meeting wasorganised; the University of CentralLancashire and in particularProfessors Gordon Bromage andDon Kurtz; Clive and Jane Elphick,the current owners of Carr House,who kindly opened their home tovisitors, and the Rector, the RevStephen Hughes, and PCC of StMichael’s Church who organised asuccessful event.

St Michael’s Church, Much Hoole

One of the windows in St Michael’sChurch commemorating Horrocks, who is

shown observing the transit.


I. Ridpath (editor). Oxforddictionary of astronomy. Revisededition, Oxford University Press,2003 (Oxford paperback Reference)ISBN 0198605137, £8.00.

This book is the second edition ofthe acclaimed dictionary ofastronomy first published in 1997.Its contributors include our ownJohn Woodruff, andacknowledgement is made toanother SHA member, PeterHingley, Librarian at the RoyalAstronomical Society.

With over 4000 entries it covers alltopics likely to be of interest to bothprofessional and amateurastronomers. It is comprehensiveand up-to-date (for example, Beagle2 is listed). The main figures inastronomical history are noted,along with their achievements.

There are several similarpublications available (for example,those from Cambridge UniversityPress, Penguin and Collins) but thishas to be numbered amongst thebest. Highly recommended.

This copy was kindly donated to theLibrary by the publishers.

Madeline Cox

Christopher St J.H. Daniel. Sundials.Second edition, Shire Publications,2004, ISBN: 074780558X, £5.99.

Time, astronomy and navigationshare an inherent relationship, whichis nowhere more evident than in thedesign of sundials. The subject hasits own discipline: the science ofgnomics, or, if you prefer, the art ofdialling. Indeed, the latter term,which is that preferred in Britain, isnow probably even moreappropriate, as the results of sundialscience are largely appreciated froman aesthetic standpoint.

Chris Daniel is the country’sacknowledged authority on thesubject, being a foremost designer ofsundials and Chairman of the BritishSundial Society, and having hadover twenty years experience at theNational Maritime Museum inGreenwich. His enthusiasm anddeep knowledge of his subject shinethrough this book, which is acomplete revision of the 1986edition, published in the popularShire series.

The book’s purpose, as stated in theIntroduction, is ‘to help people toknow what to look for and tounderstand what they are looking atwhen they find it.’ The emphasis ison historical and interesting sundialswhich may be found on buildings, inpublic spaces and gardens, andwhich illustrate the various types ofdial and aspects of dialling.

After an introduction, there is anexcellent chapter on the history anddevelopment of sundials, and eachtype of dial is then dealt with inseparate chapters; vertical, multiple,horizontal, equinoctial, polar andothers. Unfortunately, the book doesnot deal with portable dials, many ofwhich may be found in museums,and which undoubtedly warrant asimilar treatise. Thereare, however, lists ofbooks for furtherreading, sundialmakers, and places tovisit, and there is auseful index.

The book isattractively produced,and copiouslyillustrated in colour.Indeed, it might beappreciated for itsillustrations alone.They areaccompanied bydetailed captions,describing not onlythe type of dial, itslocation, date andmaker (many

designed by the author himself), butalso pointing out features ofparticular interest.

I expect that most readers will becasual ones, wanting to learn moreabout the design of garden sundials,and those found on buildings, andtheir significance. Some may bedaunted by the equation of timegraph which appears at thebeginning of the book, by thetechnical introduction, whichincludes terms such as ‘procline’and ‘deincline’, the explanatorydiagrams, and the detailed technicaldescriptions. A glossary might havebeen helpful.

For anyone interested inastronomical history, however, andcurious about sundials generally,this book will provide muchinformation and whet the appetitefor more. As a sundial enthusiastmyself, I can vouch for the pleasureto be had in discovering historicsundials and new designs, and haveno hesitation in recommending thisexcellent introduction to the subject.

David Le Conte

Book reviews

BooksNEW ASTRONOMY BOOKSAT DISCOUNTED PRICES

ANDSECONDHAND ASTRONOMY BOOKS

Martin Lunn MBE6 Evelyn Crescent

CliftonYork

YO3O 6DRTEL/FAX 01904 337989

www.aurora-books-uk.co.ukE-mail: [email protected]


This column lists some recentlypublished books which might be ofinterest. Listing here does notpreclude a review at a later date. Thethree books mentioned by Prof.Allan Chapman during hisconcluding remarks to the recentSHA Autumn Conference (see thearticle elsewhere in thisNewsletter) were:

Peter Aughton, The Transit ofVenus: The Brief, Brilliant Life ofJeremiah Horrocks, Father ofBritish Astronomy (Weidenfeld &Nicholson: London, 2004), £18.99,250 pages, hardcover.

William Tobin, The Life andScience of Leon Foucault: TheMan Who Proved the EarthRotates (Cambridge UniversityPress, 2003), £40.00, 352 pages,hardcover.

Michael Chauvin, Hokuloa: TheBritish 1874 Transit of VenusExpedition to Hawai’i (BishopMuseum Press: Honolulu, 2004),about £15, 262 pages, softcover.

Prof Chapman himself has recentlypublished a biography of the

Scottish mathematician andastronomer Mary Somerville: MarySomerville and the World of Science(Canopus Publishing: London,2004) £12.95, 176 pages, hardcover.

A book about the transits of Venusis Eli Maor's Venus in Transit(Princeton University Press, Oxford,2003), £11.95, 195 pages, softcover.

The last issue of the Newsletter (No.4, May 2004, p7) mentioned that thelast book by Gerald Hawkins, whosadly died last year, was to bepublished shortly. It is now

available: Gerald S. Hawkins andHubert A. Allen Jr, StonehengeEarth and Sky (Wessex Books:Salisbury, 2004), £5.99, 48 pages,softcover. It is set at an introductorylevel and is perhaps aimed at olderchildren. There are many high-quality photographs andillustrations, some in colour.Wessex Books can be contacted atWessex Books, 2 Station Cottages,Newton Toney, Salisbury, Wiltshire.SP4 0HD or seehttp://www.wessexbooks.co.uk/mainpage.htm.

Springer (Berlin) have recentlyrepublished Otto Neugebauer’sclassic work A History of AncientMathematical Astronomy, originallypublished in 1975 (1456 pages 619illustrations, 9 plates, 1 fold-out, in3 parts, October 2004). Seehttp://www.springeronline.com/3-540-06995-X. This work is animportant and authoritative text andits reissue is welcome. However, ata price of about £230 it is unlikely tofind many private buyers. A copy ofthe original 1975 edition is availablein the ROE library.

Move to the BMI

Most of our journals have now beenmoved to the BMI in Birmingham,where they are available forconsultation. They are: Astronomy &Geophysics, British Journal for theHistory of Science, Journal of theBritish Astronomical Association,Monthly Notices and OccasionalNotes of the Royal AstronomicalSociety, Quarterly Journal of theRoyal Astronomical Society and theIrish Astronomical Journal. TheJournal for the History ofAstronomy is still with our

Treasurer, Ken Goward, and thebooks for loan are still with me. Asmall collection of books wasdonated to the BMI for their owncollection.

Donations

We are grateful to the following forrecent donations to the Library.William Sheehan for his book on thetransits of Venus, Peter Hingley forthe NGC Catalogue, Chris Danielsfor Smyth’s Cycle of CelestialObjects (1844) and 2 maps of Mars,and Stonyhurst College and Kevin

Kilburn for a collection that has justbeen received but not yet sorted. Asalways, we thank our donors mostsincerely for their generosity.

Purchases

We have purchased a few itemsfrom the library of Ian Howard-Duff, the Gresham lectures of JohnFlamsteed, Sky and Ocean Joined bySteven J Dick, and Of Stars andMen by Zdenek Kopal.

A list appears overleaf…

Library report November 2004Madeline Cox, Librarian

Books noticedClive Davenhall and Madeline Cox

Mary Somerville (1780 - 1872)


Recent additions to book stock November 2004

Airy GB Account of pendulum experiments ..in Harton Colliery... 1856 [reprint]Airy GB Autobiography 1896 [reprint]Auerbach, F The Zeiss works and the Carl Zeiss foundation in Jena ?Bevis, John Atlas Celeste 1750 CD ROM 2003Bossi, M Bicentennial commemoration of R.G. Boscovich .. 1988Bruck, HA The Royal Observatory, Edinburgh 1966Commins NF Heavenly errors: misconceptions about the real nature 2001

of the universeDreyer, JLE et al History of astronomy from Thales to Kepler 1906 [1953Flamsteed, J The Gresham lectures of John Flamsteed 1975Gingerich, O & Hoskin, M Two astronomical anniversaries: HCO & SAO 1990Hill, G W Biographical memoir of Asaph HallKing-Hele, D A tapestry of orbits 1992Lodge. Sir Oliver Pioneers of Science 1908Malphrus, BK The history of radio astronomy and the National Radio 1996

Astronomical ObservatoryMonaco, G L'astronomia a Roma 2000Riden, P Record sources for local history 1987Sheehan, W & Transits of Venus 2004Stevens, WB Sources for English local history 1994Stevens, WB Sources for English local history 1994Smyth, WH A Cycle of Celestial objects 2 vols 1844

Miscellaneous items

Barthalot, R The story of Paris Observatory [Reprint] 1980Bruck, HA Lord Crawford's Observatory at Dun Echt, 1872-1892 1992British Astronomical Guide for observers of the moon 1972AssociationBritish Astronomical Circulars 1981-2 1981-2AssociationBritish Astronomical Handbook 2004 2004AssociationBritish Astronomical Observing guide 2002AssociationBritish Astronomical Satellite observer's manual ed. Miles 2 copies 1973AssociationBritish Astronomical The 1999 August 11 eclipse :archive on CD Rom 2000AssociationGingerich, O Laboratory exercises in proper motion. Reprints from

"Sky & Telescope"Herschel, Mrs John Memoir and correspondence of Caroline Herschel

: contents and index only. 2nd eg 1879Hingley, P RAS WholeArch. Archives Index on floppy disc 2003?Holborn, FM The beginner's telescope. JBAA reprint 1948 58 (1) 2-18Howse, D The Royal Astronomical Society Instrument Collection 1986Hughes, DW Six stages in the history of the astronomical unit 2001Hughes, DW Measuring the moon's mass 2002Hughes, DW Star of Bethlehem 2001Hurn, M An English astronomical library: the case of the

Cambridge Observatory Reprint from "The Observatory" 2003Journal of the British Reprints from 1936 1936Astronomical Association


The following is a list of forthcoming meetings andevents to be held next year. Booking is necessary unlessnoted otherwise. Except where noted the events areorganised by the SHA. Additional details of some of theSHA events are included in the Society news sectionelsewhere in the Newsletter. The details of non-SHAevents are checked as far as possible but cannot beguaranteed. Items for inclusion in this list in future issuesof the Newsletter are welcome. They should be sent tothe editorial address given on the back page.

Sat. 5 March SHA Joint Meeting with the WilliamHerschel Society. To be held in Bath, times to beconfirmed, probably 2 pm – 5 pm. It will be possible tovisit the William Herschel Museum in the morning. TheWilliam Herschel Society’s Annual Lecture will be heldon the previous evening, 4 March. Seehttp://www.williamherschel.org.uk/.

Mon. 4 April Tour of the Crawford Collection andLecture. A tour of the Royal Observatory Edinburgh’scollection of historic astronomical books and a relatedtalk. Part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival.See http://www.sciencefestival.co.uk/. 7 pm, £3.50. Notethat this tour of the Crawford Collection is a public eventand different from the proposed tour for SHA membersmentioned elsewhere in the Newsletter (non-SHA event).

Mon. 4 to Fri. 8 April NAM 2005. National AstronomyMeeting organised by the RAS and PPARC. To be heldat the University of Birmingham. Seehttp://www.sr.bham.ac.uk/nam2005/ where a preliminaryprogramme is available. There will be at least oneparallel session on the History of Astronomy. If you areinterested in presenting a paper or poster contact PeterHingley ([email protected]), The Librarian, RoyalAstronomical Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly,London W1J 0BQ (non-SHA event).

May SHA Spring Conference. Incorporating theSociety’s AGM. It is hoped to hold the meeting at theNational Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Precise date,details etc. to be announced.

Wed. 29 June to Sun. 3 July SEAC XIII. Annualmeeting of the Société Européene pour L’Astronomiedans la Culture (SEAC). To be held in Isili, Sardinia,Italy. See http://www.iac.es/seac/seac.html (non-SHAevent).

Sat. 2 July SHA Annual Picnic. Wadham College,Oxford. Details and date are still provisional.

Sun. 4 to Fri. 9 September AAS HAD Meeting. Jointmeeting of the History of Astronomy and PlanetarySciences Divisions of the American AstronomicalSociety. To be held at the University of Cambridge(England). For further information contact Peter Hingley,details above or see http://www.aas.org/~had/had.html(non-SHA event).

Sat. 8 October SHA Autumn Conference, Astronomersand Observatories. To be held in the Birmingham andMidland Institute in Birmingham city centre. Date,details etc. to be confirmed.

Forthcoming meetings and eventsClive Davenhall

Miscellaneous items - continued

Kilburn, KJ & Cross, A. The Manchester Astronomical Society: 1991 a History

Kollerstrom, N. Galileo's Astrology 2001McRea, WH Harry Hemley Plaskett 1893-1936 : biographical memoir 1981Massey, HSW Leslie John Comrie 1893-1950 [obit by the Royal Soc] 1952The Royal Observatory, Edinburgh 198?Ventura, F Grandmaster De Rohan's Astronomical Observatory… 1991


The Society for the History of Astronomy extends a verywarm welcome to the below mentioned, who haverecently been elected to our membership.

• Mr Graham Alfred Guest FRAS of London.• Dr Ann Elizabeth Bonnell FRAS and Mr John

Bonnell of Leicester.• Mr Paul Jonathan Whiting FRAS of Felixstowe,

Suffolk.• Mr David W Henderson of Shipston On Stour,

Warwickshire• Mr Jonathan Maxwell of Syston, Leicester.• Mr James T Bryan Jnr of Texas, USA.• Mr Timothy Michael Ashby Tabb of Bath.

We also welcome the National Maritime Museum,Greenwich, as an Institutional member.

Members are reminded that subscriptions for 2005become due from 1st January. You are welcome torenew before then, as this will spread the load for theTreasurer! Members who fail to renew by 31st March,will be deemed to have lapsed their membership, as perSection 6 (iii) of the Society’s Constitution. Amembership renewal form is included with this edition ofthe Newsletter.

Guidelines for submitting articles and letters to theNewsletter were included in the previous issue (No. 4,May 2004) and are available from the Society’s WebSite, http://www.shastro.org.uk/

As mentioned in Stuart's Society news item, theNewsletter, will be published quarterly from 2005, withthe nominal publication dates being March, June,September and December. This means that deadlines formaterial will be just halfway between issues so pleasestart thinking about articles and snippets for the Marchissue now!

New membersKenneth Goward FRAS

2005 subscriptions

Guidelines for submittingarticles and letters to theNewsletter

Council and OfficersHon President:

Dr. Allan Chapman

Hon Vice Presidents:Dr. Michael HoskinSir Patrick Moore CBE FRS

Chairman:Gilbert Satterthwaite FRASEmail: [email protected]

Secretary:Stuart Williams LRPS FRAS26 Matlock Road, Bloxwich, Walsall, WS3 3QDEmail: [email protected]

Treasurer:Kenneth J. Goward, FRAS,14 Keightley Way, Tuddenham St Martin,Ipswich, Suffolk, IP6 9BJEmail: [email protected]

Council MembersDr. Nicholas KollerstromEmail: [email protected]

Martin Lunn MBEEmail: [email protected]

Roger JonesEmail: [email protected]

Editor, The Antiquarian AstronomerCallum PotterThe Cottage, Bredon’s Hardwick,Tewkesbury, Glos. GL20 7EETel. 01684 773256Email: [email protected]

Newsletter correspondence to:Clive Davenhall,30, Millar Crescent,Morningside,Edinburgh, EH10 5HHEmail: [email protected]

LibrarianMadeline CoxEmail: [email protected]

ArchivistMark HurnEmail: [email protected]

Website ManagerGreg Smye-Rumsby,Email: [email protected]

General communications to the Society should bedirected to the Secretary in the first instance.

SHA Website:http://www.shastro.org.uk

The deadline for the next edition of the Newsletter isthe 1st of February 2005. Please send all items to CliveDavenhall.

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