scholarly journals Charles Babbage and the Ophthalmoscope

1940 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 146-148 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Active Part ◽  
Scientific Instruments ◽  
Astronomical Society ◽  
Royal Astronomical Society ◽  
Great Utility ◽  
History Of ◽  
Design And Construction

In the early part of 1940, at one of the dinners of the Royal Society A Dining Club, Sir John Parsons drew the attention of those present to a fact of some interest in the history of the Society, namely, that the Ophthalmoscope had been invented by Charles Babbage, F.R.S., in 1847, four years before H. von Helmholtz published his Eines Augen-Spiegels in 1851. Von Helmholtz however foresaw the great utility of his invention and devised a much more efficient instrument without knowing what Babbage had done and it is to him therefore that the credit belongs. Babbage is well known as a mathematician who interested himself in the design and construction of scientific instruments. He was at Peterhouse, Cambridge, and was elected to the Fellowship of the Society in 1816. From 1828 to 1839 he held the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge, but is said to have delivered no lectures during his tenure of it. He took an active part in the foundation of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1820, and was secretary of it until 1824.

Napier Tercentenary Celebration, July 1914

1914 ◽  
Vol 7 (110) ◽  
pp. 299-300
Author(s):  
C.G. Knott
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
History Of Mathematics ◽  
Astronomical Society ◽  
Town Council ◽  
Royal Astronomical Society ◽  
University College ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University ◽  
The Town ◽  
Educational Importance

John Napier's Logarithmorum Canonis Mirifici Descriptio was published in 1614 ; and it is proposed to celebrate the tercentenary of this great event in the history of mathematics by a Congress, to be held in Edinburgh on Friday, 24th July, 1914, and following days.The Celebration is being held under the auspices of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, on whose invitation a General Committee has been formed, representing the Royal Society of London, the Royal Astronomical Society, the Town Council of Edinburgh, the Faculty of Actuaries, the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow, the Universities of St. Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh, the University College of Dundee, and many other bodies and institutions of educational importance.The President and Council of the Royal Society of Edinburgh have now the honour of giving a general invitation to mathematicians and others interested in this coming Celebration.

Conversazione to mark the quater-centenary of the birth of Galileo

1964 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-119
Keyword(s):  
History Of Science ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
British Society ◽  
National Committee ◽  
Astronomical Society ◽  
Royal Astronomical Society ◽  
Original Works ◽  
History Of

A conversazione was held on Thursday, 9 July to mark the quatercentenary of the birth of Galileo. On this occasion some 350 Fellows and their Ladies, representatives of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, the BritishItalian Society, the British Society for the History of Science and the British National Committee for the History of Science attended. Professor E. N. da C. Andrade, F.R.S., arranged an exhibit of books by and closely concerning Galileo. This included many original works by Galileo, modern translations into English and selected books containing references to Galileo from Professor Andrade’s own collections and from the libraries of the Royal Astronomical Society and the Royal Society.

scholarly journals Solar eclipse of May 28, 1900. Preliminary report of the expedition to the south limit of totality to obtain photographs of the flash spectrum in high solar latitudes

1901 ◽  
Vol 67 (435-441) ◽  
pp. 370-385 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Eclipse ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Preliminary Report ◽  
The South ◽  
Astronomical Society ◽  
Royal Astronomical Society ◽  
The Government ◽  
Flash Spectrum ◽  
Government Grant

This expedition was one of those organised by the Joint Permanent Eclipse Committee of the Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society, funds being provided from a grant made by the Government Grant Committee. The following were the principal objects which I had in view in arranging the expedition:— To obtain a long series of photographs of the chromosphere and flash spectrum, including regions of the sun’s surface in mid-latitudes, and near one of the poles.

scholarly journals Address BY Dr. J. H. Jeans, President of the Royal Astronomical Society and Secretary of the Royal Society.

1925 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 151-152
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Special Care ◽  
Natural Knowledge ◽  
Astronomical Society ◽  
Good Fortune ◽  
Royal Astronomical Society ◽  
Vice Chancellor ◽  
Learned Societies ◽  
Lord Chancellor

My Lord Chancellor, Mr. Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Campbell, Ladies and Gentlemen: It would be an impertinence on my part to try to add anything to the Cambridge welcome which the Chancellor has offered you, but it is my privilege to be allowed to offer you a few words of welcome from a somewhat different angle. As the Chancellor has said, it is my good fortune to be officially connected with the two learned societies to whom, I suppose, your visit to this country means most: the Royal Society, which takes all natural knowledge for its province, and which is especially interested in international co-operation in the pursuit of such knowledge, and the Royal Astronomical Society, which takes astronomical knowledge for its special care. I am sure that both these bodies would wish that I should seize this opportunity to offer a most cordial welcome to our astronomical visitors from other countries; a welcome not only to Cambridge, but to this country in general. We feel it right that your visit should begin at Cambridge, but we are sure it is not right that it should end there; we hope you will remember that, after Cambridge, London also exists.

scholarly journals Obituary notices

1930 ◽  
Vol 126 (803) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Trinity College ◽  
London Mathematical Society ◽  
Mathematical Society ◽  
Astronomical Society ◽  
Senior Member ◽  
Royal Astronomical Society

Dr. Glaisher died on December 7, 1928, at the age of eighty years. At the time of his death he was the senior of the actual Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, was the senior member of the London Mathematical Society, and was almost the senior in standing among the Fellows of the Royal Society and among the Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society. Throughout all his years he was devoted to astronomy, chiefly in its mathematical developments. In his prime he ranked as one of the recognised English pure mathematicians of his generation, pursuing mainly well-established subjects by methods that were uninfluenced by the current developments of analysis then effected in France and in Germany. Towards the end of his life he had attained high station as an authority on pottery, of which he had diligently amassed a famous collection. Glaisher was the elder son of James Glaisher, F. R. S., himself an astronomer, a mathematician specially occupied with the calculation of numerical tables, and a pioneer in meteorology, not without risk to his life. For the father, one of the founders of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain, was an aeronaut of note; with Coxwell, in 1862, he made the famous balloon ascent which reached the greatest height (about seven miles) ever recorded by survivors.

Notices of publications relating to the history of the Royal Society

1951 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 144-147
Keyword(s):  
Applied Sciences ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Scientific Instruments ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
History Of ◽  
Tycho Brahe ◽  
Scientific Academies ◽  
Selection Of

To Fellows of a Society which is so justly proud of its history and traditions as is the Royal Society, it is a matter of great interest and importance that there should be an authoritative and accessible account of the mental climate which preceded and accompanied its foundation, in order that that great event may be appreciated in its correct setting of contemporary superstition, thought and endeavour. This is exactly what is provided by Dr Douglas McKie’s new edition of A. Wolf’s A History of Science, Technology, and Philosophy in the 16th and 17th Centuries . The work begins with the emergence of modern science from the fog of the middle ages, and an account of the work of its two first great exponents, Copernicus and Galileo. This is followed by the origin of the various scientific academies and a chapter on scientific instruments and their perfection. Next come the various branches of science, treated in terms of the most important contributions made by their great men. Astronomy and its progress introduces Tycho Brahe, Kepler and Newton ; Huygens, Flamsteed and Halley. Mathematics bring in Napier, Descartes, Pascal, Wallis, Newton and Leibniz, to mention only a few. Mechanics introduces Torricelli, Wren, Newton and Boyle. Light involves Descartes, Hooke, Huygens and Newton, again making only a selection of names. Chemistry is the occasion for including Helmont, Boyle, Hooke and Mayow. Biology is represented by the work of Gesner, Ray, Vesalius, Harvey, Malpighi, Swammerdam and Leeuwenhoek. Other chapters deal with electricity and magnetism, meteorology, geology, medicine and physiology. Progress in the applied sciences is shown in the fields of agriculture, textiles, building, mining and metallurgy, mechanical engineering and calculators.

L. J. Comrie's Contribution to Navigation

1951 ◽  
Vol 4 (02) ◽  
pp. 206-208
Author(s):  
D. H. S. ◽  
P. F. E.
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Methods ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Scientific Computing ◽  
Modern Concept ◽  
Astronomical Society ◽  
Royal Astronomical Society ◽  
Detailed Assessment ◽  
Widespread Interest

Members will have learned with regret of the death of Dr. L. J. Comrie, M.A., PH.D., F.R.S., who died at the age of 57 on 11 December 1950. Dr. Comrie's contributions to science were primarily in the fields of astronomy and computation, and in the latter field he may be said to have created the modern concept of scientific computing and to have laid the foundations for the present widespread interest in numerical methods and in digital calculating machines. Tributes to this side of his work have already been paid, both here and abroad, and the Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society are both publishing fuller notices which will give a detailed assessment of his work. The following note, pays a tribute to Dr. Comrie's contribution to navigation.

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