| RefNo | MS/242/4 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Letter from Jean François Dominique Arago to Thomas Young, dated at Metz |
| Date | 12 December 1822 |
| Description | Letter addressed to Thomas Young at the Board of Longitude.
Regrets having missed Young while he was in Paris and worried to learn through Mrs Arago that Young is extremely upset with Arago. Discusses the tensions around Arago's contribution to the Encyclopedia Britannica for the article on polarisation. [MacVey] Napier, the editor, imposed untenable deadlines as Arago was called by the War Ministry to examine officers in Metz, Arago requested extensions to allow him to read references. Arago suggests writing to the word limit imposed and if the translated version differs, Young is in charge of cutting as he sees fit. [Augustin Jean] Fresnel cannot help has he cannot read foreign languages.
Letter forwarded by Young on 21 December 1822 to [MacVey] Napier of Edinburgh, with marginal notes in Young's hand to Napier suggesting accepting Arago's proposed modifications to his entry on polarisation, stating that the article will be at the end of the volume, and relays his fear that Ivory is working on the article on refraction or related topic, making the article overly complicated where Young had previously simplified it. |
| Language | French |
| Extent | 4p |
| Format | Manuscript |
| PhysicalDescription | Paper |
| AccessStatus | Open |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA7947 | Young; Thomas (1773 - 1829); physician, physicist and Egyptologist | 1773 - 1829 |
| NA7459 | Napier; Macvey (1776 - 1847) | 1776 - 1847 |
| NA2974 | Arago; Dominique Francois Jean (1786 - 1853); mathematician, physicist, astronomer and politician | 1786 - 1853 |