| Description | He is delayed in sending back the pamphlet borrowed from his uncle. He gathered from what Sir William had said, that the pamphlet was a tirade by Mr. [Arthur Robert] Hicks against statistical methods in astronomical computation. He found that it was only a short resume of William Herschel's life, with just a note on such methods. He thinks there are points in favour of statistical methods, giving the example of [Arthur] Eddington's discussion of two drift theory of stellar motion. He enumerates Eddington's facts, stating that his ideas should be considered true until fresh facts emerge. |