A celebrated English astronomer; born at Alnwick, Northumberland, July 27, 1801; died Jan. 4, 1892. Soon after graduation from Trinity College, Cambridge, he was appointed professor of astronomy and director of the observatory. Here he introduced improvements and inventions that led to his selection as director of the Greenwich Observatory. It was due to his efforts that the observations taken at Greenwich from 1750 to 1830 were compiled. Among his works are: “Reductions of Observations of the Moon” (1837); “Sound and Atmospheric Vibrations” (1871); “Treatise on Magnetism” (1871).
Personal
Were it not that you are now so happy with them, I should regret that you were not here during the last few days, to have met Professor Airy. He would have interested you much. To myself his visit gave more pleasure than I had anticipated: he likes the mountains of Cumberland, which he has already visited five times, and hopes to visit five times more. But, on the whole, his mind appeared to me an in stance, painful to contemplate, of the usurpation of the understanding over the reason, too general in modern English Science.
| Airy alone has gain’d that double prize | |
| Which forc’d musicians to divide the crown: | |
| His works have rais’d a mortal to the skies, | |
| His marriage vows have drawn an angel down. |
A lover of Nature and a close observer of her ways, as well in the forest walk as in the vault of heaven, Mr. Airy has roamed among the beautiful scenery of the Lake region until he is as good a mountain guide as can be found. He has strolled beside Grasmere and ascended Helvellyn. He knows the height of the mountain peaks, the shingles that lie on their sides, the flowers that grow in the valleys, the mines beneath the surface.
A hardy little figure, of edacious energetic physiognomy, eyes hard, if strong, not fine; seemed three or four years younger than I; and to be, in secret, serenely, not insolently, enjoying his glory, which I made him right welcome to do, on those terms.
Sir George was one of those calm, self-reliant men who seldom give any outward evidence of the remarkable strength of character they possess. His sense of duty and rectitude overruled all selfish considerations. He once refused to recommend a relative for an official post, for which he was admirably fitted, solely because he was his relative; and when Palmerston offered to confer upon the retired astronomer a royal pension, he declined it, and begged that the money might be settled upon his wife. Even an increase of salary offered by the Government was refused by him until just before his resignation of the post, when he accepted the augmentation, in order that his successor might receive a salary more in accordance with the value of the services rendered.
One of his most interesting researches in these early days is on the subject of Astigmatism, which defect he had discovered in his own eyes. His investigations led him to suggest a means of correcting this defect by using a pair of spectacles with lenses so shaped as to counteract the derangement which the astigmatic eye impressed upon the rays of light. His researches on this subject were of a very complete character, and the principles he laid down are to the present day practically employed by oculists in the treatment of this malformation.
He was of medium stature, and not powerfully built…. The ruling feature of his character was order. From the time he went up to Cambridge to the end of his life his system of order was strictly maintained.
General
Prof. Airy, of Cambridge, the first of living mathematicians and astronomers,—the first of this country, at least.
Every year Sir George publishes a report on the work done in the Royal Observatory; these reports form a series which will be of the greatest use for the writer of the history of astronomy and science in general in the nineteenth century. Since the year 1833 the incessant activity of Sir George Airy had been directed to an undertaking, proposed to astronomers by Bessel, in the preface of his “Tabulæ Regiomontanæ,” viz., the reduction of the Greenwich lunar and planetary observations since 1750. This most arduous task was completed in the year 1848; and we may say that our present tables of the motions of the moon and the planets rest, for the greatest part, on those bulky volumes, containing these reductions…. Only very briefly can I mention his very useful experiments on iron-built ships, for the purpose of discovering a correction for the deviation of the compass, which resulted in a system of mechanical corrections, universally adopted; his researches on the density of the earth by observations in the Harton Colliery; his extensive aid to Government in recovering the lost standard for measures; in fixing the breadth of railways; in introducing a new system for the sale of gas, &c. All these transactions have proved Sir George Airy “the thorough man of business.” Indeed, the promptness of his correspondence and his kindness in answering every scientific enquiry in the most minute manner, is most remarkable and seldom to be met with in so profound a philosopher…. Sir George Airy has, of course, deservedly received the recognition of his country and the scientific world in general.
His work in many branches of science was highly valuable, but it would be hardly possible to treat his scientific labours from the point of view of literature. We may, however, mention among his best-known works, the treatises on “Errors of Observation,” on “Sound,” and on “Magnetism.” Sir George was one of the last survivors of the great band of savants who shed lustre upon the earlier years of the present reign.
The amount of his labours almost exceeds belief. On the literary side alone they have rarely been equalled.
