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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Letter, from Charles Wheatstone to Sir John Herschel, dated at Swan Inn, Windsor

Reference number: HS/18/144

Date: 23 August 1825

Description

Autograph letter signed by sender, with annotations by recipient. Appreciates John Frederick William Herschel's interest in and encouragement of Charles Wheatstone's experiments. Describes new experiments to elucidate theory of undulatory motion of sound and light. Invented 'kaleidophone' to display paths of vibrating rods. Hopes John Frederick William Herschel can confirm these results.

Reference number
HS/18/144
Earliest possible date
23 August 1825
Page extent
3 pages
Format
Manuscript
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Creator name

Charles Wheatstone

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Citation

Charles Wheatstone, Letter, from Charles Wheatstone to Sir John Herschel, dated at Swan Inn, Windsor, 23 August 1825, HS/18/144, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/hs_18_144/letter-from-charles-wheatstone-to-sir-john-herschel-dated-at-swan-inn-windsor, accessed on 15 October 2026

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  • Herschel Letters

    This collection of nearly 10,900 letters, drafts, copies and notes is the largest repository of scientific correspondence from and to Sir John Herschel, leading figure of Victorian science.

    Dates: 1807 - 1875

    View collection