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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Unpublished letter, regarding 'A curious fact' from John Bates to the President of the Royal Society

Reference number: AP/10/31

Date: 01 October 1833

Description

Letter received by the Royal Society as a result of a statement, titled 'A Curious Fact' (see AP/10 for description). Bates first quotes the paragraph from his local newspaper, Drakard's Stamford News, and then provides his solution to the problem, stating that a vacuum or rarefied space is formed by blowing through the tube. Includes two drawings in the text.

Subject: Physics

Written by Bates in Wilson Street, Newark [Nottinghamshire] and addressed to the President of the Royal Society [Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex]. Postmarked 3 October 1833.

Reference number
AP/10/31
Earliest possible date
01 October 1833
Physical description
Ink on paper
Page extent
4 pages
Format
Manuscript

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Citation

Unpublished letter, regarding 'A curious fact' from John Bates to the President of the Royal Society, 01 October 1833, AP/10/31, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_10_31/unpublished-letter-regarding-a-curious-fact-from-john-bates-to-the-president-of-the-royal-society, accessed on 09 December 2025

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https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_10_31/unpublished-letter-regarding-a-curious-fact-from-john-bates-to-the-president-of-the-royal-society

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  • Archived Papers

    The 'Archived Papers' collection is comprised of original manuscript scientific papers and letters submitted to the Royal Society which remained unpublished or were abstracted in the journal 'Proceedings of the Royal Society' published from 1830 onwards.

    Dates: 1768 - 1989

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