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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Copy letter, from Sir John Herschel to George Gabriel Stokes, dated at Collingwood

Reference number: HS/23/173

Date: 1 July 1856

Description

Copy of a letter, copied as part of the correspondence project led by Colonel John Herschel FRS following the death of his father. Comments on George Gabriel Stokes's ideas [see George Gabriel Stokes's 1856-6-27] about the nature of fluorescence. Asks for strong horseshoe magnets from Royal Society [of London] to try to solve the problem of 'Mahomet's coffin.'

Reference number
HS/23/173
Earliest possible date
1 July 1856
Page extent
7 pages
Format
Manuscript
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Creator name

John Frederick William Herschel

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Citation

John Frederick William Herschel, Copy letter, from Sir John Herschel to George Gabriel Stokes, dated at Collingwood, 1 July 1856, HS/23/173, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/hs_23_173/copy-letter-from-sir-john-herschel-to-george-gabriel-stokes-dated-at-collingwood, accessed on 09 February 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