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Copy of draft letter, from Sir John Herschel to George Biddell Airy, dated at Slough

Reference number: HS/21/77

Date: 29 December 1830

Description

Copy of draft letter, copied as part of the correspondence project led by Colonel John Herschel FRS following the death of his father. Comments on George Biddell Airy's and Edward Sabine's work on the figure of the earth; describes some results John Frederick William Herschel obtained from using quartz for polarizing light, and is unhappy with the proposed recipient of the R.A.S. medal, M. C. T. Damoiseau, whose lunar theory John Frederick William Herschel cannot understand.

Reference number
HS/21/77
Earliest possible date
29 December 1830
Page extent
3 pages
Format
Manuscript

Creator name

John Frederick William Herschel

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Citation

John Frederick William Herschel, Copy of draft letter, from Sir John Herschel to George Biddell Airy, dated at Slough, 29 December 1830, HS/21/77, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/hs_21_77/copy-of-draft-letter-from-sir-john-herschel-to-george-biddell-airy-dated-at-slough, accessed on 21 January 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