The Story of the Sun: New York, 1833-1918O'Brien, Frank Michael
History
The Story of the Sun: New York, 1833-1918
O'Brien, Frank Michael
Sun (New York, N.Y. : 1833)
After solemnly dwelling on the awe which mortal man must feel upon
peering into the secrets of the sky, the article declared that Sir John
“paused several hours before he commenced his observations, that he
might prepare his own mind for discoveries which he knew would fill the
minds of myriads of his fellow men with astonishment.” It continued:
And well might he pause! From the hour the first human pair
opened their eyes to the glories of the blue firmament above
them, there has been no accession to human knowledge at all
comparable in sublime interest to that which he has been the
honored agent in supplying. Well might he pause! He was about
to become the sole depository of wondrous secrets which had
been hid from the eyes of all men that had lived since the
birth of time.
At the end of a half-column of glorification, the writer got down to
brass tacks:
To render our enthusiasm intelligible, we will state at
once that by means of a telescope, of vast dimensions and
an entirely new principle, the younger Herschel, at his
observatory in the southern hemisphere, has already made the
most extraordinary discoveries in every planet of our solar
system; has discovered planets in other solar systems; has
obtained a distinct view of objects in the moon, fully equal to
that which the unaided eye commands of terrestrial objects at
the distance of one hundred yards; has affirmatively settled
the question whether this satellite be inhabited, and by what
orders of beings; has firmly established a new theory of
cometary phenomena; and has solved or corrected nearly every
leading problem of mathematical astronomy.
And where was the _Journal of Science_ getting this mine of
astronomical revelation for its supplement? The mystery is explained at
once:
We are indebted to the devoted friendship of Dr. Andrew
Grant, the pupil of the elder, and for several years past the
inseparable coadjutor of the younger Herschel. The amanuensis
of the latter at the Cape of Good Hope, and the indefatigable
superintendent of his telescope during the whole period of
its construction and operations, Dr. Grant has been able to
supply us with intelligence equal in general interest at
least to that which Dr. Herschel himself has transmitted to
the Royal Society. For permission to indulge his friendship
in communicating this invaluable information to us, Dr. Grant
and ourselves are indebted to the magnanimity of Dr. Herschel,
who, far above all mercenary considerations, has thus signally
honored and rewarded his fellow laborer in the field of science.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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