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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Copy letter, from Sir John Herschel to Herbert Spencer, dated at Collingwood

Reference number: HS/23/294

Date: 12 January 1860

Description

Copy of a letter, copied as part of the correspondence project led by Colonel John Herschel FRS following the death of his father. [Responding to Herbert Spencer's 1859-12-31,] John Frederick William Herschel presents additional problems in the nebular hypothesis, critiques in detail Herbert Spencer's views of the distribution of cometary orbits, and argues against Herbert Spencer's theory of sunspot formation.

Reference number
HS/23/294
Earliest possible date
12 January 1860
Page extent
4 pages
Format
Manuscript
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Creator names

John Frederick William Herschel

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Sir; John Frederick William Herschel

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Citation

John Frederick William Herschel, Sir; John Frederick William Herschel, Copy letter, from Sir John Herschel to Herbert Spencer, dated at Collingwood, 12 January 1860, HS/23/294, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/hs_23_294/copy-letter-from-sir-john-herschel-to-herbert-spencer-dated-at-collingwood, accessed on 11 November 2025

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https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/hs_23_294/copy-letter-from-sir-john-herschel-to-herbert-spencer-dated-at-collingwood

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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

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