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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Correspondence Explorer

Choose two people to view all letters between them.

Showing 4 letters from 1821–1838

4 letters from Thomas Glanville Taylor; 0 letters from John Frederick William Herschel

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John Frederick William Herschel and Charles Babbage travel through France to Italy and Switzerland.

1821

John Frederick William Herschel publishes in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.

1821: John Frederick William Herschel publishes “On the aberrations of compound lenses and object-glasses" in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.

John Frederick William Herschel receives the Copley Medal of the Royal Society for his papers printed in the Philosophical Transactions

1821

Autograph letter signed by sender. Sends corrections to Polaris observations.

Reference number: HS/17/333
1822

Death of Sir William Herschel FRS

25 August 1822

1823

John Frederick William Herschel receives the Bakerian Medal of the Royal Society.

1823: John Frederick William Herschel gives the Bakerian lecture “On certain Motions produced in Fluid Conductors when transmitting the Electric Current”.

1824

John Frederick William Herschel moves to 56 Devonshire St., Portland Place, London

1824

John Frederick William Herschel serves as Secretary of the Royal Society

30 November 1824

1825

John Frederick William Herschel invents the actinometer to measure the heating power of the Sun’s rays

1825

1826

John Frederick William Herschel publishes in the Philosophical Transactions

1826: John Frederick William Herschel publishes “On the parallax of the fixed stars”.

1827

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce presents his photographs in England for the first time

1827

1829

John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart are married in London

3 March 1829

1830

John Frederick William Herschel is elected Foreign correspondent of the Académie des sciences

1830

Birth of Caroline Emilia Mary Herschel, daughter of John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart

31 March 1830

John Frederick William Herschel is nominated for the presidency of the Royal Society, loses by 8 votes to the Duke of Sussex

30 November 1830

1831

Mary Somerville publishes Mechanism of the Heavens

1831

Sir John Herschel is created Knight of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order

1831

Sir John Herschel publishes Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy as part of Dionysius Lardner’s Cabinet Cyclopaedia.

1831

Birth of Isabella Herschel, daughter of John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart

5 June 1831

1833

Sir John Herschel receives the Royal Medal from the Royal Society

1833: The Medal is awarded "For his paper on nebulae and clusters of stars, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1833."

Sir John Herschel publishes A treatise on astronomy as part of Dionysius Lardner’s Cabinet Cyclopaedia.

1833

Birth of William James Herschel, son of John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart

1833

Sir John Herschel departs for South Africa with his wife and their three children

13 November 1833

1834

Birth of Margaret Louisa Herschel, daughter of John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart

1834

1835

Sir John Herschel serves as President of the Literary and Philosophical Society of the Cape of Good Hope

1835

Halley’s comet becomes visible

28 November 1835

1836

Birth of Alexander Stewart Herschel, son of John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart

5 February 1836

Autograph letter signed by sender. John Frederick William Herschel's reaction to Madras Results Volume III pleases TT. Discusses his observing methods in the volume.

Reference number: HS/17/334
1837

Victoria becomes Queen of the United Kingdom

20 June 1837

Birth of John Herschel, son of John Frederick William Herschel and Margaret Brodie Stewart

29 October 1837

Autograph letter signed by sender. Observing 2000 stars in a check of Giuseppe Piazzi's catalogue.

Reference number: HS/17/335
1838

Sir John Herschel returns from South Africa

1838: A banquet in presence of Queen Victoria is given to celebrate his return to Britain and made a Baronet.

Autograph letter signed by sender. Madras Observatory established by James Caldecott. Thomas Taylor gives James Caldecott some ideas of John Frederick William Herschel's to aid the state of the observatory. Re-observes the Brisbane Catalogue.

Reference number: HS/17/336