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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Correspondence Explorer

Choose two people to view all letters between them.

Showing 16 letters from 1766–1827

15 letters from William Hyde Wollaston; 1 letter from John Frederick William Herschel

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Autograph letter signed by sender. Letter of introduction for Dr Hamel of St Petersburg.

Reference number: HS/18/276

Autograph letter signed by sender. Letter of introduction for Mr Ramage of Aberdeen 'who has paid much attention to the construction of reflecting telescopes' and has perfected one for his own use of 20 feet.

Reference number: HS/18/289
1792

Birth of John Frederick William Herschel, in Slough, Buckinghamshire

7 March 1792

1794

Chemist Elizabeth Fulhame publishes her An Essay on Combustion : With a View to a New Art of Dying and Painting

1794

1812

Charles Babbage, John Frederick William Herschel and George Peacock found the Analytical Society

3 March 1812

John Frederick William Herschel presents his first scientific paper

12 November 1812:

John Frederick William Herschel communicates a paper on Cote’s theorem to the Royal Society

1813

John Frederick William Herschel graduates Senior Wrangler at St John’s College, Cambridge

1813

John Frederick William Herschel is elected Fellow of the Royal Society

27 May 1813

1815

John Frederick William Herschel begins as sub-lector at St. John's College, Cambridge

1 May 1815

1816

John Frederick William Herschel is awarded Master of Arts (MA), at the University of Cambridge

30 January 1816

John Frederick William Herschel starts astronomical work alongside his father Sir William Herschel FRS

1816

1818

Mary Shelley publishes Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus

1818

1819

John Frederick William Herschel serves on the Board of Longitude

1819

1820

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

1820: John Frederick William Herschel publishes “On the action of crystallized bodies on homogeneous light, and on the causes of the deviation from Newton's scale in the tints which many of them develope on exposure to a polarised ray” .

John Frederick William Herschel serves his first term as Foreign Secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society

1820

Autograph letter signed by sender. John Pond's last communication to Committee is in press. Save its second printing.

Reference number: HS/18/280
1821

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. Sir Edward Codrington will take charge of chronometer for Captain Copeland if delivered to Codrington at Portsmouth.

Reference number: HS/18/281
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”.

Autograph letter signed by sender. Invites John Frederick William Herschel to meet H. C. Oersted, Henry Warburton, and Henry Kater at dinner next Wednesday.

Reference number: HS/18/277

Autograph letter signed by sender. Previous engagement prevents William Hyde Wollaston 'joining the early party.'

Reference number: HS/18/285

Autograph letter signed by sender. Unsure whether William Hyde Wollaston will be in town to dine with John Frederick William Herschel Monday.

Reference number: HS/18/287

Autograph letter signed by sender. Most correct mode of proceeding will be to suppress incorrect corrections and not to give credit to [T. I. M.?] Forster for inferences of [Peter?] Barlow or calculations of William Hyde Wollaston.

Reference number: HS/18/290
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

Autograph letter signed by sender. Sends drawings associated with William Hyde Wollaston's paper and passed by [Royal Society [of London]] Council for printing, and memoir from M. A. Pictet.

Reference number: HS/18/278

Autograph letter signed by sender. Invites John Frederick William Herschel to dinner Saturday to meet J. G. S. Van Breda.

Reference number: HS/18/279

Autograph letter signed by sender. Encloses paper sent by Mr. Perkins for R.S.L, and impression just received from printer.

Reference number: HS/18/288
1826

John Frederick William Herschel publishes in the Philosophical Transactions

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

Autograph letter signed by sender. Previous engagement prevents William Hyde Wollaston witnessing experiment of A. M. Ampère tomorrow. Waits for John Frederick William Herschel's report. Hopes to see John Frederick William Herschel at [Georges] Cuvier's tomorrow.

Reference number: HS/18/286
1827

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

1827

Contemporary copy in sender's hand, signed by sender. Notified Georgiana Babbage that two or three electors for professorship at Oxford favor Charles Babbage. John Frederick William Herschel not free to name them. Death of father may alter Babbage's desire for position. Meanwhile Mrs. Babbage asks that we keep 'any one favourable to C. on neutral ground.'

Reference number: HS/18/282

Autograph letter signed by sender. [Charles Babbage] should understand that no effort will be made for 'alien' unless that candidate offers himself. Since William Buckland suggested Babbage for the position, let Buckland take the initiative.

Reference number: HS/18/283

Autograph letter signed by sender. Corrects yesterday's mistake about 'Russian Platina.' It is chemically pure, but mechanically the worst.

Reference number: HS/18/284

Autograph letter signed by sender. Will be out of town for next [Royal Society [of London]?] council meeting. Comments on glass subcommittee report.

Reference number: HS/26/36