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Becoming an Astronomer: William Herschel’s Journey Through an Eighteenth-Century Education

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The Scientific Legacy of William Herschel

Part of the book series: Historical & Cultural Astronomy ((HCA))

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Abstract

This is the story of William Herschel's journey from child musician to world-renowned astronomer. In the process of understanding this journey, this chapter considers the opportunities available to learn and participate in science in eighteenth century Britain and how and why those opportunities might have been accessed. In the case of William Herschel those opportunities included learning from philomaths and a provisional literary and philosophical society, finding the right books and contributing to journals.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Exceptions include two articles by Michael Hoskin: “William Herschel’s Yorkshire years”, Journal for the History of Astronomy, 46, 159–172 (2015), and “Vocations in conflict: William Herschel in Bath, 1766–1782”, History of Science, 41, 315–333 (2003).

  2. 2.

    Michael Hoskin, Caroline Herschel’s autobiographies (Science History Publications Ltd., Cambridge, 2003), p. 19.

  3. 3.

    ‘Memorandums from which an historical account of my life may be drawn’, RAS: WH.7/8, p. 6.

  4. 4.

    ‘Memorandums from which an historical account of my life may be drawn’, RAS: WH.7/8, p. 6.

  5. 5.

    William Herschel to Charles Hutton, 1784, Harvard: MS Eng 1414 F(29); BL: microfilm M/541.

  6. 6.

    Herschel, ‘Memorandums from which an historical account of my life may be drawn’, RAS: WH.7/8, p. 7.

  7. 7.

    Constance Lubbock, The Herschel Chronicle: The Life-Story of William Herschel and his Sister Caroline Herschel (Cambridge, 1933), p. 7.

  8. 8.

    Caroline L. Herschel to John F. W. Herschel, 8 May 1827, BL: Eg.3761 f64.

  9. 9.

    Mrs. J. Herschel (ed), Memoir and Correspondence of Caroline Herschel (London, 1876), p. 6.

  10. 10.

    James Ferguson, Ebenezer Henderson (ed), Life of James Ferguson, FRS: In a brief biographical account, and further extended memoir (Cambridge University Press, 2010 reprint); Andrew Carnegie, James Watt (Forgotten Books, 2012 reprint). See also Dictionary of National Biography entries for Ferguson, Watt, Cummings and Rittenhouse.

  11. 11.

    Michael Hoskin, The Herschel Partnership: as viewed by Caroline (Science History Publications Ltd., Cambridge, 2003), p. 17.

  12. 12.

    Cyril Ehrlich, The Music Profession in Britain since the Eighteenth Century: A Social History (Oxford University Press, 1985), pp. 31–32.

  13. 13.

    Lawrence E. Klein, ‘Politeness and the Interpretation of the British Eighteenth Century’, The Historical Journal, 45, 869–898 (2002); Alice Walters, ‘Conversation Pieces: Science and Politeness in Eighteenth-Century England’, History of Science, 35, 121–154 (1997).

  14. 14.

    Lawrence E. Klein, ‘An Artisan in Polite Culture: Thomas Parsons, Stone Carver, of Bath, 1744–1813’, Huntington Library Quarterly, 75, 27–51 (2012).

  15. 15.

    Constance Lubbock, The Herschel Chronicle: The Life-Story of William Herschel and his Sister Caroline Herschel (Cambridge, 1933), p. 55.

  16. 16.

    ‘Memorandums from which an historical account of my life may be drawn’, RAS: WH.7/8, p. 13.

  17. 17.

    John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, in four volumes (Glasgow, 1759).

  18. 18.

    Herschel, ‘Memorandums from which an historical account of my life may be drawn’, RAS: WH.7/8, pp. 7–8.

  19. 19.

    Robert Smith, Harmonics, or the Philosophy of Musical Sounds (Cambridge, 1749).

  20. 20.

    Edward H. Jacobs, ‘Buying into Classes: The Practice of Book Selection in Eighteenth-Century Britain’, Eighteenth-Century Studies, 33, 1, 43–64 (1999).

  21. 21.

    S. Ross and Isabella Herschel, The catalogue of the Herschel Library: being a catalogue of the books owned by Sir William Herschel, Kt. and by his son Sir John F. W. Herschel, Bart. (New York, 2001).

  22. 22.

    Estimated date of authorship from reference in Lubbock, Constance Lubbock, The Herschel Chronicle: The Life-Story of William Herschel and his Sister Caroline Herschel (Cambridge, 1933), p. 16. William’s treatise on music is described in Jamie Croy Kassler, The Science of Music in Britain, 1714–1830: A catalogue of writings, lectures and inventions, vol 1 (Garland Publishing, Inc., 1979), pp. 505–507.

  23. 23.

    William Herschel, Theory of Music, Edinburgh: Ms. No. Dk.2.35, Book C, Chapter V, p. 9.

  24. 24.

    William Herschel, Theory of Music, Edinburgh: Ms. No. Dk.2.35, Book C, Chapter V, p. 13.

  25. 25.

    Benjamin Wardhaugh, Poor Robin’s Prophecies: A curious almanac, and the everyday mathematics of Georgian Britain (Oxford University Press, 2012). NB Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Diary both discussed as they compare to almanacs and came to serve different audiences, see pp. 132–141.

  26. 26.

    Shelley Costa, ‘The “Ladies’ Diary”: Gender, Mathematics, and Civil Society in Early-Eighteenth-Century England’, Osiris, 17, 49–73 (2002), p.56.

  27. 27.

    Olaf Pedersen, ‘The “Philomath” of 18th century England’, Centaurus, 8, 238–262 (1963), p. 250.

  28. 28.

    Peter and Ruth Wallis, Mathematical Tradition in the North of England (NEBMA, Durham, 1991).

  29. 29.

    Lubbock, Constance Lubbock, The Herschel Chronicle: The Life-Story of William Herschel and his Sister Caroline Herschel (Cambridge, 1933), p. 35. NB Sir Bryan Cook here is plausibly Sir Bryan Cooke, 1717–1769, a baronet.

  30. 30.

    Herschel ‘Memorandums from which an historical account of my life may be drawn’, RAS: WH.7/8, p. 19.

  31. 31.

    Herschel ‘Memorandums from which an historical account of my life may be drawn’, RAS: WH.7/8, p. 20.

  32. 32.

    Niccolo Guicciardini, The development of Newtonian calculus in Britain 1700–1800 (Cambridge University Press, 1989), p. 56 lists 12 frequently reprinted books on fluxions from 1736 to 1758 Maclaurin, Hodgson and Emerson are all on the list.

  33. 33.

    Fiske and Johnstone, Blackwell History of Music in Britain, Eighteenth Century (Blackwell, Oxford, 1988), p. 246.

  34. 34.

    The role of philomath culture in the education of British mathematicians in the eighteenth century is referred to in Andrew Warwick, Masters of Theory: Cambridge and the Rise of Mathematical Physics (University of Chicago Press, 2003) pp. 34–35.

  35. 35.

    Herschel, ‘Memorandums from which an historical account of my life may be drawn’, RAS: WH.7/8, p. 83.

  36. 36.

    Niccolo Guicciardini, The development of Newtonian calculus in Britain 1700–1800 (Cambridge University Press, 1989), pp. 115–117.

  37. 37.

    From Ladies’ Diary 1779 reproduced in John Louis Emil Dreyer, The Scientific Papers of Sir William Herschel (Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society, London, 1912), p. xxviii.

  38. 38.

    William Herschel, ‘The same [solution to...] by Mr. Wm. Herschel’, The Ladies’ Diary, 1780, pp. 46–47, p. 47 reprinted in John Louis Emil Dreyer, The Scientific Papers of Sir William Herschel (Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society, London, 1912), p. xxix.

  39. 39.

    Richard Holmes, Age of Wonder (Harper Press, London, 2008), p. 83.

  40. 40.

    Michael Hoskin, The Herschel Partnership: as viewed by Caroline (Science History Publications Ltd., Cambridge, 2003), p. 4; Claire Brock, The Comet Sweeper: Caroline Herschel’s Astronomical Ambition (Icon Books, London, 2007).

  41. 41.

    Richard Sorrenson, Perfect Mechanics: Instrument Makers at the Royal Society of London in the Eighteenth Century (Docent Press, Boston, 2013).

  42. 42.

    Anthony Turner, Science and Music in eighteenth century Bath (1977), p. 53.

  43. 43.

    J. T. Spaight, ‘“For the good of astronomy”: the manufacture, sale, and distant use of William Herschel’s telescopes’, Journal for the History of Astronomy, 35, 1, 45–69 (2004).

  44. 44.

    Gerard L’Estrange Turner, James Short, F.R.S., and his contribution to the construction of reflecting telescopes (Royal Society, 1969). See also Allan Chapman, Dividing the Circle (1995), pp. 139–145.

  45. 45.

    Michael Hoskin, Caroline Herschel’s autobiographies (Science History Publications Ltd., Cambridge, 2003), p. 63.

  46. 46.

    Anecdotes of John F. W. Herschel as noted down by James Stewart, September 1833, JHS papers ARM.

  47. 47.

    Anecdotes of John F. W. Herschel as noted down by James Stewart, September 1833, JHS papers ARM.

  48. 48.

    William Herschel to Alexander Herschel, 10 March 1785, RAS: WH.1/9.2

  49. 49.

    Richard Holmes, Age of Wonder (Harper Press, London, 2008), p. 83–86.

  50. 50.

    John Louis Emil Dreyer, The Scientific Papers of Sir William Herschel (Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society, London, 1912), p. xxiv.

  51. 51.

    John Louis Emil Dreyer, The Scientific Papers of Sir William Herschel (Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society, London, 1912), p. xxiv.

  52. 52.

    Constance Lubbock, The Herschel Chronicle: The Life-Story of William Herschel and his Sister Caroline Herschel (Cambridge, 1933), p. 66.

  53. 53.

    William Emerson, The elements of trigonometry (W. Innys, London, 1749) which he is quoted as having read in John Louis Emil Dreyer, The Scientific Papers of Sir William Herschel (Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society, London, 1912), p. xxiv.

  54. 54.

    William Emerson, The elements of optics (London, 1768); Herschel, ‘Memorandums from which an historical account of my life may be drawn’, RAS: WH.7/8, p. 30.

  55. 55.

    William Emerson and G. A. Smeaton, The principles of mechanics (W. Innys & J. Richardson, London, 1754).

  56. 56.

    James Ferguson, Astronomy explained upon Sir Isaac Newton’s principles and made easy to those who have not studied mathematics (London, 1756) which he is quoted as having read in John Louis Emil Dreyer, The Scientific Papers of Sir William Herschel (Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society, London, 1912), p. xxiv.

  57. 57.

    Anthony Turner, Science and Music in eighteenth century Bath (1977), p. 53.

  58. 58.

    Reginald Victor Jones, ‘Through music to the stars: William Herschel, 1738–1822’, Notes Rec. R. Soc., 33, 37–56 (1978), p. 42. Also Michael Hoskin, William Herschel and the construction of the heavens (Oldbourne, London, 1963), p. 20.

  59. 59.

    Simon Schaffer, ‘Herschel in Bedlam: natural history and stellar astronomy’, British Journal for the History of Science, 13, 45, 211–239 (1980), p. 222; Michael Hoskin, ‘William Herschel’s early investigations of nebulae: a reassessment’, Journal for the History of Astronomy, 10, 165–176 (1979), p. 167.

  60. 60.

    William Herschel to Alexander Aubert, 28 January 1782 in Constance Lubbock, The Herschel Chronicle: The Life-Story of William Herschel and his Sister Caroline Herschel (Cambridge, 1933), p. 104.

  61. 61.

    Robert Smith, A Compleat System of Opticks, (1738), pp. 42–43.

  62. 62.

    Constance Lubbock, The Herschel Chronicle: The Life-Story of William Herschel and his Sister Caroline Herschel (Cambridge, 1933), pp. 104–5.

  63. 63.

    Joachim Rienitz, ‘William Herschel’s mirror test and its consequences’, Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society, 6,(1985), p. 5 also in Reginald Victor Jones, ‘Through music to the stars: William Herschel, 1738–1822’, Notes Rec. R. Soc., 33, 37–56 (1978), p. 39.

  64. 64.

    Roy Porter, ‘William Herschel, Bath, and the Philosophical Society’, in Garry Hunt (ed), Uranus and the Outer Planets (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982), pp. 23–34, p. 24.

  65. 65.

    Anthony Turner, Science and Music in eighteenth century Bath (1977), p. 7.

  66. 66.

    Roy Porter, ‘William Herschel, Bath, and the Philosophical Society’, in Garry Hunt (ed), Uranus and the Outer Planets (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982), pp. 23–34, p. 28; on science becoming part of polite society see Alice Walters, ‘Conversation pieces: Science and politeness in eighteenth century England’, History of Science, 35, 121–154 (1997).

  67. 67.

    Lawrence E. Klein, ‘An Artisan in Polite Culture: Thomas Parsons, Stone Carver, of Bath, 1744–1813’, Huntington Library Quarterly, 75, 27–51 (2012); Rack’s background also mentioned in Anthony Turner, Science and Music in eighteenth century Bath (1977), p. 82, p. 91.

  68. 68.

    Lawrence E. Klein, ‘An Artisan in Polite Culture: Thomas Parsons, Stone Carver, of Bath, 1744–1813’, Huntington Library Quarterly, 75, 27–51 (2012).

  69. 69.

    Máire Kennedy, ‘Reading the Enlightenment in Eighteenth-century Ireland’, Eighteenth-century studies, 45, 3, 355–379 (2012).

  70. 70.

    Constance Lubbock, The Herschel Chronicle: The Life-Story of William Herschel and his Sister Caroline Herschel (Cambridge, 1933), p. 73.

  71. 71.

    William Herschel, ‘Observations on the Growth and Measurement of Corallines’, read to Bath Philosophical Society, 18 February 1780 reprinted in John Louis Emil Dreyer, The Scientific Papers of Sir William Herschel (Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society, London, 1912), p. lxvi.

  72. 72.

    He does not say who made the microscope.

  73. 73.

    Simon Schaffer, ‘Herschel in Bedlam: natural history and stellar astronomy’, British Journal for the History of Science, 13, 45, 211–239 (1980).

  74. 74.

    All reprinted in John Louis Emil Dreyer, The Scientific Papers of Sir William Herschel (Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society, London, 1912): ‘Observations on the Mountains of the Moon’; ‘Continuation of the Observations on the height of the lunar Mountains’; ‘Astronomical Observations on the Periodical Star in Collo Ceti’; ‘Communication of my letter to the Rev. Dr. Maskelyne, On the Measurement of the Lunar Mountains’; ‘Observations on the Occultation of Gamma Virginis, made with a view to determine whether any Effect of a Lunar Atmosphere could be perceived’; ‘On the periodical star Collo Ceti’; ‘Account of a Comet’.

  75. 75.

    Details of William’s planet discovery can be found in Michael Hoskin, Discovers of the Universe: William and Caroline Herschel (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011), pp. 49–51.

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  1. Carnegie School of Education, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK

    Emily Winterburn

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Correspondence to Emily Winterburn .

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  1. Austin, Texas, USA

    Clifford J. Cunningham

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Winterburn, E. (2018). Becoming an Astronomer: William Herschel’s Journey Through an Eighteenth-Century Education. In: Cunningham, C. (eds) The Scientific Legacy of William Herschel. Historical & Cultural Astronomy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32826-3_1

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