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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Referee's report by William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, on a paper 'On the relation between the diurnal range of magnetic declination and horizontal force, as observed at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, during the years 1841 to 1877, and the period of solar spot frequency' by William Ellis

Reference number: RR/8/221

Date: 06 January 1880

Description

Recommended for publication in the 'Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'. The method is 'most faulty'. Suggests that the 'harmonic analysis should be applied', with the current paper acting as a provisional account of the features of the observations, until a fuller and more complete account has been completed. Calculating the harmonic analysis would probably have been quicker and simpler than the methods used in the current paper.

Subject: Physics and Chemistry

[Published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 1880]

Reference number
RR/8/221
Earliest possible date
06 January 1880
Physical description
Letter on paper
Page extent
4 pages
Format
Manuscript

Creator name

William Thomson

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Citation

William Thomson, Referee's report by William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, on a paper 'On the relation between the diurnal range of magnetic declination and horizontal force, as observed at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, during the years 1841 to 1877, and the period of solar spot frequency' by William Ellis, 06 January 1880, RR/8/221, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/rr_8_221/referees-report-by-william-thomson-lord-kelvin-on-a-paper-on-the-relation-between-the-diurnal-range-of-magnetic-declination-and-horizontal-force-as-observed-at-the-royal-observatory-greenwich-during-the-years-1841-to-1877-and-the-period-of-solar-spot-frequency-by-william-ellis, accessed on 17 June 2025

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https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/rr_8_221/referees-report-by-william-thomson-lord-kelvin-on-a-paper-on-the-relation-between-the-diurnal-range-of-magnetic-declination-and-horizontal-force-as-observed-at-the-royal-observatory-greenwich-during-the-years-1841-to-1877-and-the-period-of-solar-spot-frequency-by-william-ellis

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  • Referee Reports

    This collection contains reports on scientific papers submitted for publication to the Royal Society. Started in 1832 when the system was formalised, it is a record of the origins of peer review publishing in practice.

    Dates: 1832 - 1954

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