| RefNo | MS/957/40 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Letter from [Jean-Baptiste] Biot, Paris, to Captain Henry Kater, No.1 Union Place, Regent's Park, New Road, London |
| Creator | Biot; Jean-Baptiste (1774-1862); French physicist |
| Recipient | Kater; Henry (1777-1835); British geodicist and metrologist |
| Date | 29 April 1819 |
| Description | Thanking Kater for his pendulum results, which he cited at the public session of the Academie. There is a difference between Biot's results and Kater's, which is unsurprising and accptable. Biot's were rough conclusions, based on experiments in Foranterra and Dunkirk; he discusses this at length. Biot's results had been presented at the Societe Philomatique and in the previous month at the Institut. Biot sent to Kater a copy of his work on polarization in light transmission; he set fire to a building as a consequence of that work last summer, after a heater exploded. Copies were also sent to [Thomas] Young and [William Hyde] Wollaston. As regards to palladium, Arago is in charge of answering Wollaston. He sends regards to the Somervilles and others including Mrs Kater, which was so good to everyone. |
| Language | French |
| Extent | 4p. |
| Format | Manuscript |
| PhysicalDescription | Ink on paper |
| Dimensions | 256x202mm. |
| AccessStatus | Open |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA3671 | Biot; Jean Baptiste (1774 - 1862); astronomer, mathematician and physicist | 1774 - 1862 |