Skip to content

Please be aware that some material may contain words, descriptions or illustrations which will not reflect current scientific understanding and may be considered in today's context inaccurate, unethical, offensive or distressing.

Letter, from George Biddell Airy to Sir John Herschel, dated at Observatory, Cambridge

Reference number: HS/1/66

Date: 19 October 1834

Description

Autograph letter signed by sender. Abstracts of barometrical pressure in various parts of the earth. Has used James South's equatorial with Richard Sheepshanks's clockwork attached. Constitution of Paris Observatory being changed. D. F. J. Arago's experiments on glass and metal. Humphrey Lloyd's experiments on reflected light. Edinburgh's Observatory site likely to be changed. John Pond (Astronomer Royal) has been asked to resign. Thomas Maclear's Cape circle. Reasons for the delay in delivery of R. A. Cauchoix's telescope to Cambridge. House of Lords and Commons burnt down.

Reference number
HS/1/66
Earliest possible date
19 October 1834
Page extent
7 pages
Format
Manuscript

Creator name

George Biddell Airy

View page for George Biddell Airy

Use this record

Citation

George Biddell Airy, Letter, from George Biddell Airy to Sir John Herschel, dated at Observatory, Cambridge, 19 October 1834, HS/1/66, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/hs_1_66/letter-from-george-biddell-airy-to-sir-john-herschel-dated-at-observatory-cambridge, accessed on 10 February 2026

Link to this record

Embed this record

<iframe src="https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/embed/items/hs_1_66/letter-from-george-biddell-airy-to-sir-john-herschel-dated-at-observatory-cambridge" title="Letter, from George Biddell Airy to Sir John Herschel, dated at Observatory, Cambridge" allow="fullscreen" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="500px"></iframe>

Related Records

Hierarchy

This item is part of:

Related Fellows

Map

Explore the collection

  • 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