| Reference number | HS/19/4 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Summaries of letters between Sir John Frederick William Herschel and David Brewster |
| Date | 1822-1824 |
| Description | Summaries of three letters between David Brewster FRS and Sir John Frederick William Herschel, made by the latter, likely as a calendar of exchanges.
The notes are headed 'Brewster'.
Letter 1: dated July 25 1822, dispatched packet with:
"1: paper on absorption of light on coloured media, and on the colours of the prismatic spectrumexhibited by certain flames, with an account of a new method of measuring dispersive powers - the pape consists of 4 sheets of fools-cap, with figures.
2: A letter to Dr B. as Secretary of the RS. of Edinburgh. 1st requesting him to communicate this paper to the Society. 2nd. expressing approbation of his remarks on the equilibration of two opposite forces [...] 3rd. correcting his expressions in n.12 of his Journal when he quotes a letter of mine relative to the [...] crystals of Mont Blanc".
Letter 2: dated December 2 1823, packet and letter forwarding [Friedrich Wilhelm] Bessel's observations to Edinburgh and enquiring if Brewster had received a paper by [Marc] Seguin, French engineer.
Letter 3: dated 31 January 1824, Slough
Divided into 4 heads, 1) requiring the Transactions of the Society of Edinburgh; 2) regarding optical matters especially refrangibility of rays, colour spectrum, colour-blindness, prismatic analysis of the solar beam; 3) instrument-maker Troughton has made 1/3 of instruments mentioned by Brewster; 4) when will article on variation be wanted
All letters are summarised in paragraphs of various lengths, written in first person.
At the back of the folio, some ink annotations on pendulum (from Kater); moon's mean distance (=60.23799+ Earth's mean rad. / = 238783 miles (Woodhouse)), in Sir John Herschel's hand.
|
| Extent | 4 ff. |
| Format | Manuscript |
| Physical description | Ink on paper |
| Dimensions | 33.5cm x 20 cm |
| Access status | Open |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | Name | Dates |
| NA8238 | Herschel; Sir; John Frederick William (1792 - 1871); astronomer | 1792 - 1871 |
| NA7450 | Brewster; Sir; David (1781 - 1868); natural philosopher | 1781 - 1868 |