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Paper, 'On the unit of length of a standard scale by Sir George Shuckburgh, appertaining to the Royal Society' by [James Thomas] Walker

Reference number: PP/15/14

Date: 01 February 1890

Description

Walker writes: 'In the determinations of the length of the seconds pendulum, which were made in London by Kater and at Greenwich by Sabine, and are described in the ‘Philosophical Transactions’ for 1818, 1829, and 1831, the distance between the upper and lower edges of the pendulum was measured off on a standard scale which had been constructed by Sir George Shuckburgh. The scale had not been compared with any of the modern standard scales, but it had been preserved with much care with the instruments appertaining to the Royal Society. In the autumn of 1888, M. le Commandant Defforges, an officer of the French Geodetic Survey, came to England to take a share in operations for the determination of the difference in longitude between Greenwich and Paris, and also to determine the length of a French seconds pendulum at Greenwich.'

Annotations in pencil and ink throughout.

Subject: Metrology

Received 3 February 1890. Read 13 February 1890.

A version of this paper was published in volume 47 of the Proceedings of the Royal Society as 'On the unit of length of a standard scale by Sir George Shuckburgh, appertaining to the Royal Society'.

Reference number
PP/15/14
Earliest possible date
01 February 1890
Physical description
Ink and graphite pencil on paper
Page extent
5 pages
Format
Manuscript

Creator name

James Thomas Walker

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Citation

James Thomas Walker, Paper, 'On the unit of length of a standard scale by Sir George Shuckburgh, appertaining to the Royal Society' by [James Thomas] Walker, 01 February 1890, PP/15/14, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/pp_15_14/paper-on-the-unit-of-length-of-a-standard-scale-by-sir-george-shuckburgh-appertaining-to-the-royal-society-by-james-thomas-walker, accessed on 12 November 2024

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  • Proceedings Papers

    Dates: 1882 - 1894

    The archival collection known as 'Proceedings Papers' is comprised of manuscripts and occasional proofs of scientific papers sent to the Royal Society which were read before meetings of Fellows and printed in full in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.

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