John Frederick William Herschel 1792-1871

[jambouk]

A fitting individual for their own thread I think.

A polymath, the only child of William Herschel (who discovered Uranus in 1781), founder of the [Royal] Astronomical Society of London in the 1820s, and who not only completed his father's catalogue of the deep sky of the Northern Hemisphere but also catalogued the whole deep sky of the Southern Hemisphere during a four year stay in South Africa (1834-1838). Besides astronomy, he was also fascinated by photography and chemistry and made contributions to fixing agents to add permanency to photographs.

I think he is one of the two lesser known Herschels; William and Caroline being best known, and John and his uncle Alexander (his father's brother) falling somewhat in the shadow. John Herschel had several children, one of whom (Alexander Stewart Herschel) who was an astronomer and undertook early work on meteor spectroscopy.

There are several books about John's life and his discoveries, but the two I have read and thoroughly recommend are:

- Buttmann, Gunther. The shadow of the telescope: A biography of John Herschel (1970), translated into English.

- Moore, Patrick. Sir John Herschel, explorer of the southern sky (1992). This is a 14 page booklet published by The William Herschel Museum.

In the 2016 edition of "Patrick Moore's Yearbook of Astronomy" there is a substantial essay on John Herschel by Dr Allan Chapman: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Patrick-Moores-Yearbook-Astronomy-2016/dp/1447287088/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452163321&sr=8-1&keywords=2016+yearbook+astronomy

This a photograph taken of John Herschel in 1867:

[laudropb]

Nice introduction to John Herschel. I have the year book but have not read it yet.

[paulastro]

I would also recommend a couple of books I have myself with regard to John Herschel.

1  Herschel at the Cape, Diaries and Correspondence of Sir John Herschel, 1834 - 1838.  Edited by Evans, Deeming, Evans and Godfarb,  University of Texas Press 1969.

2  The Herschel Chronicles, C A Lubbock, Cambridge University Press, 1933.  Reprinted by the RAS in a limited edition 1997.

[paulastro]

I forgot another book I have on my shelves, found it looking for the other two books!

Lady Herschel, Letters from the Cape 1834 - 1838, This is a publication of The South African Library, Capetown, 1991.

[jambouk]

I hadn't appreciated there was a connection between Darwin and John Herschel. This paper outlines that, though is predominantly concerned with biology, geology and evolution rather than astronomical science, but an interesting read nonetheless. Written by a lecturer from the Department of Astronomy, University of Cape Town.

From: http://www.sajs.co.za/sites/default/files/publications/pdf/147-583-1-PB.pdf

James

 

 

SAJS2009.pdf

[ejp1684]

I went to see the Roman Baths in Bath (near Bristol) some years ago, and while in Bath went to the Herschel museum. It was excellent, and is well worth a visit. It is where he discovered Uranus. Here's the website:

http://herschelmuseum.org.uk

Eric.

[Putaendo Patrick]

John Herschel's telescope at the Cape of Good Hope, from the frontis plate of his Astronomical Observations. He was also an accomplished artist, some of his drawings appear in Cape Landscapes: Sir John Herschel's Sketches, 1834-1838 by Brian Warner. Some material related to his South African expedition is held by the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, and was published in 1969 by David S. Evans, et al, as Herschel at the Cape: Diaries and Correspondence of Sir John Herschel, 1834-1838. Other manuscript material is in the library of the Royal Astronomical Society in London.

Herschel's lunar observations were the subject of good-humored ridicule (I think...) :

 

[goodricke1]

Funeral report from the British Newspaper Archive, the list of pall-bearers is not too shabby...

 

[jambouk]

Is there a typo in that? It reads to me that one mention of "sir william herschel" should actually read "sir john herschel"...

james

 

[goodricke1]

Never spotted that till now, how bizarre... thought typos were more of a modern scourge.

[ollypenrice]

I just fnished reading the John Herschel biography by Gunther Buttmann. The sad thing about biographies is that they all have the same ending and this is particularly poignant in the case of a man as wholeheartedly decent as John Herschel. Bravo, also, to Herr Buttmann for his generous rendition of this great man. My sincere thanks to Jambouk for pointing me towards this book. Should anyone find it impossible to find a copy please just PM me for a loan.

Olly

[laudropb]

It certainly is one of the best biographies I have read.

[jambouk]

Glad you enjoyed it Olly. Once I'd read it I hunted for other books by Buttman and found he'd written one on William Herschel, but it has not been translated into English - I don't read German. I'd contacted the publisher of the English version of the John Herschel book and in theory they would be happy to publish an English translation. I spoke with the William Herschel society of which I am a member, and they discussed it but decided it would be too costly to get it translated. I can see their reasoning. But it's a shame there is probably another excellent book out there by Buttman, on William Herschel, but it remains in German. I have at least one cooy of the German book, and sent The WHS two copies I'd also tracked down, but don't think there are many more around. Shame.

James