RefNo | AP/27/1/1 |
Level | Item |
Title | Unpublished manuscript, 'On the measurement of distances by the telescope' by Edmund Bowman |
Creator | Bowman; Edmund (fl 1841) |
Date | 1841 |
Description | Bowman proposes a method for determining distances by means of a telescope which involves placing a graduated staff at the spot of which the distance is required, and observing the number of its divisions comprehended in the field of the telescope, or included between fixed points in a diaphragm placed in the focus of the eyeglass. Bowman finds that the number of these divisions, apparent in the field of view, are directly as the distance of the staff, plus a certain constant, which depends on the construction of the instrument. Bowman investigates the value of this constant, and illustrates the practical applications of his method, which he thinks might be employed with great advantage in surveying when the direct measurement by the chain would be inconvenient or impossible.
Includes two diagrams in the text illustrating Bowman's method. Annotations in pencil throughout.
Subject: Physics / Astronomy
Received 7 October 1841. Communicated by Samuel Hunter Christie.
Whilst the Royal Society declined to publish this paper in full, an abstract of the paper was published in volume 4 of Abstracts of the Papers Printed in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London [later Proceedings of the Royal Society] as 'On the Measurement of Distances by the Telescope'. |
Extent | 24p |
Format | Manuscript |
PhysicalDescription | Ink and graphite pencil on paper |
AccessStatus | Open |
RelatedMaterial | DOI: 10.1098/rspl.1843.0019 |
Fellows associated with this archive
Code | PersonName | Dates |
NA8168 | Christie; Samuel Hunter (1784 - 1865); mathematician | 1784 - 1865 |