Autobiography of Sir George Biddell AiryAiry, George Biddell
Science
Autobiography of Sir George Biddell Airy
Airy, George Biddell
Airy, George Biddell, 1801-1892; Astronomers -- Great Britain -- Biography; Autobiographies; Royal Greenwich Observatory
1855
"On May 9th it was notified to me (I think through the Hydrographer)
that the Admiralty were not unwilling to increase my salary. I made
application therefore; and on Jan. 21st 1856 Sir Charles Wood notified
to me that the Admiralty consented to have it raised from _£800_ to
_£1000_.--In the Report to the Board of Visitors it appears that 'At
the instance of the Board of Trade, acting on this occasion through a
Committee of the Royal Society, a model of the Transit Circle (with
the improvement of perforated cube, &c. introduced in the Cape
Transit Circle) has been prepared for the Great Exhibition at
Paris.'--Under the head of Reduction of Astronomical Observations it
is stated that 'During the whole time of which I have spoken, the
galvanic-contact method has been employed for transits, with the
exception of a few days, when the galvanic apparatus was out of order.
From the clock errors, I have deduced the personal equations of the
observers in our usual way.... The result is that the magnitude of the
personal equations in the galvanic-touch method is not above half of
that in the eye and ear method.'--With regard to the Reduction of the
Magnetical Observations, 'I have not yet felt sufficiently satisfied
with any proposed method of discussing the magnetic results to devote
any time to their further treatment.'--'The Time-Signal Ball at Deal
was brought into regular use at the beginning of the present year. In
a short time, however, its action was interrupted, partly by
derangement of the apparatus, and partly by the severity of the
weather, which froze the sulphuric acid to the state of jelly. I sent
an assistant and workman to put it in order, and since that time it
has generally acted very well.--Application has been made to me from
one of the important offices of Government (the Post Office) for the
galvanic regulation of their clocks.--On considering the risks to
which various galvanic communications are liable, and the financial
necessity for occupying wires as little as possible, I perceived that
it was necessary to devise constructions which should satisfy the
following conditions. First, that a current sent once a day should
suffice for adjusting the clock, even if it had gone ten or more
seconds wrong. Secondly, that an occasional failure of the current
should not stop the clock. I have arranged constructions which possess
these characters, and the artist (Mr C. Shepherd) is now engaged in
preparing estimates of the expense. I think it likely that this may
prove to be the beginning of a very extensive system of clock
regulation."--With respect to the operations for determining the
longitude of Paris, it is stated that, "The whole number of days of
signal transmission was eighteen, and the whole number of signals
transmitted was 2530. The number of days considered available for
longitude, in consequence of transits of stars having been observed at
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account