John Herschel

Sir John Frederick William Herschel (7 March, 1792 – 11 May, 1871) was an English mathematician and astronomer. He was the son of astronomer William Herschel.

Visit to South Africa

In 1833 Herschel travelled to South Africa in order to catalogue the stars of the southern skies. Amongst his other observations during this time was that of the return of Comet Halley.

Related Topics:
1833 - South Africa - Comet Halley

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Intrigued by the ideas of gradual formation of landscapes set out in Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology, he wrote to Lyell commenting and urging a search for natural laws underlying the "mystery of mysteries" of how species formed, prefacing his words with the couplet:

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:He that on such quest would go must know not fear or failing

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:To coward soul or faithless heart the search were unavailing.

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Taking a gradualist view of development, he commented

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:"Time! Time! Time! — we must not impugn the Scripture Chronology, but we must interpret it in accordance with whatever shall appear on fair enquiry to be the truth for there cannot be two truths. And really there is scope enough: for the lives of the Patriarchs may as reasonably be extended to 5000 or 50000 years apiece as the days of Creation to as many thousand millions of years."

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The document was circulated, and Charles Babbage incorporated extracts in his Ninth Bridgewater Treatise which postulated laws set up by a divine programmer. When HMS Beagle called at Cape Town, captain Robert FitzRoy and the young naturalist Charles Darwin visited the eminent Herschel on 3 June 1836. Later on, Darwin would be influenced by Herschel's writings in developing his theory on The Origin of Species.

Related Topics:
Charles Babbage - HMS ''Beagle'' - Called at - Cape Town - Robert FitzRoy - Charles Darwin - 3 June - 1836 - The Origin of Species

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He returned to England in 1838 and published Results of Astronomical Observations made at the Cape of Good Hope in 1847. In this publication he proposed the names still used today for the seven then-known satellites of Saturn: Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus.http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/MNRAS/0008//0000042.000.html In the same year Herschel received his second Copley Medal from the Royal Society for this work. A few years later, in 1852, he proposed the names still used today for the four then-known satellites of Uranus: Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon.

Related Topics:
1838 - 1847 - Saturn - Mimas - Enceladus - Tethys - Dione - Rhea - Titan - Iapetus - 1852 - Uranus - Ariel - Umbriel - Titania - Oberon

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Herschel's other works included Outlines of Astronomy (1849); General Catalogue of 10,300 Multiple and Double Stars, (published posthumously); Familiar Lectures on Scientific Subjects; and General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters. At his death he was given a national funeral and buried in Westminster Abbey.

Related Topics:
1849 - General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters - Westminster Abbey

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In 1835, the New York Sun newspaper wrote a series of satiric articles that came to be known as the Great Moon Hoax, with statements falsely attributed to John Herschel about his supposed discoveries of animals living on the Moon, including batlike winged humanoids.

Related Topics:
1835 - New York Sun - Great Moon Hoax - Moon

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He had three sons: one of whom, Alexander Stewart Herschel, was also an astronomer. He also had nine daughters.

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