Herschel at the Cape

Herschel at the Cape PDF Author: John Herschel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Herschel at the Cape

Herschel at the Cape PDF Author: John Herschel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description


Herschel at the Cape

Herschel at the Cape PDF Author: David S. Evans
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292720084
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 449

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Book Description
Sir John Herschel, one of the founders of Southern Hemisphere astronomy, was a man of extraordinarily wide interests. He made contributions to botany, geology, and ornithology, as well as to astronomy, chemistry, and mathematics. Throughout his scientific career he kept a diary, recording his public and private life. The diaries from 1834 to 1838, years he spent making astronomical observations at the Cape of Good Hope, are reproduced in this book and prove to be much more than an ordinary scientist’s logbook. They present personal and social history, literary commentaries, the results of close observations of nature and numerous scientific experiments, the excitement of travel, political intrigues, gossip, and philosophical reflections—all interpreted through an alert and versatile mind. In the present transcription, the material has been enriched with selected correspondence of Sir John and his wife Lady Herschel (née Margaret Brodie Stewart). Sir John devoted his working time at the Cape primarily to a systematic observation of the southern sky, complementing his earlier “sweeping” of the northern sky at Slough, England. He later became one of the founders of photography, but at the Cape he used a simple optical device, the camera lucida, in the production of numerous landscape drawings. Many of these, along with reproductions of sketches contained in the diaries and botanical drawings made by Sir John and Lady Herschel, are used to illustrate this book. Sir John was also a leading figure in the foundation of the educational system of the Cape and a supporter of exploratory expeditions into the interior. As the son of Sir William Herschel, in his day the most famous British astronomer and the discoverer of the planet Uranus, Sir John was already celebrated when he arrived from England. Every individual of note, resident at the Cape or visiting, went to see him. He was supported in his work by his wife, who ran an enormous establishment and bore a huge family, but who nevertheless found time to travel in the country around the western Cape with him and to assist in his observations. The diaries and letters are supplemented by especially valuable editorial notes that provide much needed and highly interesting information concerning persons and events mentioned and described by Sir John. All the original manuscript material used in this volume is archived at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Sir John’s camera lucida drawings are from the South African Public Library in Cape Town.

John Herschel's Cape Voyage

John Herschel's Cape Voyage PDF Author: Steven Ruskin
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351925156
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
In 1833 John Herschel sailed from London to Cape Town, southern Africa, to undertake (at his own expense) an astronomical exploration of the southern heavens, as well as a terrestrial exploration of the area around Cape Town. After his return to England in 1838, and as a result of his voyage, he was highly esteemed and became Britain's most recognized man of science. In 1847 his southern hemisphere astronomical observations were published as the Cape Results. The main argument of Ruskin's book is that Herschel's voyage and the publication of the Cape Results, in addition to their contemporary scientific importance, were also significant for nineteenth-century culture and politics. In this book it is demonstrated that the reason for Herschel's widespread cultural renown was the popular notion that his voyage to the Cape was a project aligned with the imperial ambitions of the British government. By leaving England for one of its colonies, and pursuing there a significant scientific project, Herschel was seen in the same light as other British men of science (like James Cook and Richard Lander) who had also undertaken voyages of exploration and discovery at the behest of their nation. It is then demonstrated that the production of the Cape Results, in part because of Herschel's status as Britain's scientific figurehead, was a significant political event. Herschel's decision to journey to the Cape for the purpose of surveying the southern heavens was of great significance to almost all of Britain and much of the continent. It is the purpose of this book to make a case for the scientific, cultural, and political significance of Herschel's Cape voyage and astronomical observations, as a means of demonstrating the relationship of scientific practice to broader aspects of imperial culture and politics in the nineteenth century.

Herschel at the Cape

Herschel at the Cape PDF Author: D. S. Evans
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Cape of Good Hope (South Africa)
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Herschel at the Cape

Herschel at the Cape PDF Author: Sir John Frederick William Herschel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Results of Astronomical Observations Made During the Years 1834, 5,6,7,8 at the Cape of Good Hope

Results of Astronomical Observations Made During the Years 1834, 5,6,7,8 at the Cape of Good Hope PDF Author: John-Frederik-William Herschel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 532

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Herschel at the Cape

Herschel at the Cape PDF Author: John F. W. Herschel
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780835777391
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 448

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Cape Landscapes

Cape Landscapes PDF Author: Brian Warner
Publisher: Juta and Company Ltd
ISBN: 9781919713755
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
Sir John Herschel, one of the most noted astronomers of his time, arrived at the Cape in 1834 to spend four years observing the southern sky. During this time he produced over 100 exquisite landscape sketches. They are reproduced in this book, together with a narrative text which provides background to Herschel's life and work and sets the illustrations in their historical and geographical context.

Herschel at the Cape ; Diaries & Correspondence of Sir John Herschel 134-1838

Herschel at the Cape ; Diaries & Correspondence of Sir John Herschel 134-1838 PDF Author: Sir John Herschel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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John Herschel's Cape Voyage

John Herschel's Cape Voyage PDF Author: Steven Ruskin
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9780754635581
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
In John Herschel's Cape Voyage Steven Ruskin demonstrates that the reason for Herschel's widespread cultural renown was the popular notion that his voyage to the Cape was not simply an objective scientific expedition, but was a project closely aligned with the imperial ambitions of the British government.In 1833 Herschel sailed from London to Cape Town, southern Africa, to undertake an astronomical exploration of the southern heavens, as well as a terrestrial exploration of the area around Cape Town. As a result of his voyage, after his return to England in 1838 he was highly esteemed and became Britain's most recognized man of science.In this new examination of Herschel's voyage, Ruskin reaches a better understanding of the relationship of scientific practice to the broader aspects of imperial culture and politics in the nineteenth century.