Although Flamsteed's observations can hardly be said to possess the
accuracy of those made in more recent times, when instruments so much
superior to his have been available, yet they possess an interest of
a special kind from their very antiquity. This circumstance renders
them of particular importance to the astronomer, inasmuch as they are
calculated to throw light on the proper motions of the stars.
Flamsteed's work may, indeed, be regarded as the origin of all
subsequent catalogues, and the nomenclature which he adopted, though
in some respects it can hardly be said to be very defensible, is,
nevertheless, that which has been adopted by all subsequent
astronomers. There were also a great many errors, as might be
expected in a work of such extent, composed almost entirely of
numerical detail. Many of these errors have been corrected by Baily
himself, the assiduous editor of "Flamsteed's Life and Works," for
Flamsteed was so harassed from various causes in the latter part of
his life, and was so subject to infirmities all through his career,
that he was unable to revise his computations with the care that
would have been necessary. Indeed, he observed many additional stars
which he never included in the British Catalogue. It is, as Baily
well remarks, "rather a matter of astonishment that he accomplished
so much, considering his slender means, his weak frame, and the
vexations which he constantly experienced."
Flamsteed had the misfortune, in the latter part of his life, to
become estranged from his most eminent scientific contemporaries. He
had supplied Newton with places of the moon, at the urgent
solicitation of the author of the "Principia," in order that the
lunar theory should be carefully compared with observation. But
Flamsteed appears to have thought that in Newton's further request
for similar information, he appeared to be demanding as a right that
which Flamsteed considered he was only called upon to render as a
favour. A considerable dispute grew out of this matter, and there
are many letters and documents, bearing on the difficulties which
subsequently arose, that are not, perhaps, very creditable to either
party.
Notwithstanding his feeble constitution, Flamsteed lived to the age
of seventy-three, his death occurring on the last day of the year
1719.
HALLEY.
Isaac Newton was just fourteen years of age when the birth of Edmund
Halley, who was destined in after years to become Newton's warmly
attached friend, and one of his most illustrious scientific
contemporaries, took place. There can be little doubt that the fame
as an astronomer which Halley ultimately acquired, great as it
certainly was, would have been even greater still had it not been
somewhat impaired by the misfortune that he had to shine in the same
sky as that which was illumined by the unparalleled genius of Newton.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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