Autobiography of Sir George Biddell Airy

Autobiography of Sir George
Biddell Airy
by George Biddell
Airy

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Airy
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Title: Autobiography of Sir George Biddell Airy
Author: George Biddell Airy
Release Date: January 9, 2004 [EBook #10655]
Language: English
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AUTOBIOGRAPHY
OF
SIR GEORGE BIDDELL AIRY, K.C.B.,
M.A., LL.D., D.C.L., F.R.S., F.R.A.S.,
HONORARY FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE,
ASTRONOMER ROYAL FROM 1836 TO 1881.
EDITED BY
WILFRID AIRY, B.A., M.Inst.C.E.
1896

PREFACE.
The life of Airy was essentially that of a hard-working, business man,
and differed from that of other hard-working people only in the quality
and variety of his work. It was not an exciting life, but it was full of
interest, and his work brought him into close relations with many
scientific men, and with many men high in the State. His real business
life commenced after he became Astronomer Royal, and from that time
forward, during the 46 years that he remained in office, he was so
entirely wrapped up in the duties of his post that the history of the
Observatory is the history of his life. For writing his business life there
is abundant material, for he preserved all his correspondence, and the
chief sources of information are as follows:
(1) His Autobiography. (2) His Annual Reports to the Board of Visitors.
(3) His printed Papers entitled "Papers by G.B. Airy." (4) His
miscellaneous private correspondence. (5) His letters to his wife. (6)
His business correspondence.
(1) His Autobiography, after the time that he became Astronomer

Royal, is, as might be expected, mainly a record of the scientific work
carried on at the Greenwich Observatory: but by no means exclusively
so. About the time when he took charge of the Observatory there was
an immense development of astronomical enterprise: observatories
were springing up in all directions, and the Astronomer Royal was
expected to advise upon all of the British and Colonial Observatories. It
was necessary also for him to keep in touch with the Continental
Observatories and their work, and this he did very diligently and
successfully, both by correspondence and personal intercourse with the
foreign astronomers. There was also much work on important subjects
more or less connected with his official duties--such as geodetical
survey work, the establishment of time-balls at different places,
longitude determinations, observation of eclipses, and the
determination of the density of the Earth. Lastly, there was a great deal
of time and work given to questions not very immediately connected
with his office, but on which the Government asked his assistance in
the capacity of general scientific adviser: such were the Correction of
the Compass in iron ships, the Railway Gauge Commission, the
Commission for the Restoration of the Standards of Length and Weight,
the Maine Boundary, Lighthouses, the Westminster Clock, the London
University, and many other questions.
Besides those above-mentioned there were a great many subjects which
he took up out of sheer interest in the investigations. For it may fairly
be said that every subject of a distinctly practical nature, which could
be advanced by mathematical knowledge, had an interest for him: and
his incessant industry enabled him to find time for many of them.
Amongst such subjects were Tides and Tidal Observations, Clockwork,
and the Strains in Beams and Bridges. A certain portion of his time was
also given to Lectures, generally on current astronomical questions, for
he held it as his duty to popularize the science as far as lay in his power.
And he attended the meetings of the Royal Astronomical Society with
great regularity, and took a very active part in the discussions and
business of the Society. He also did much work for the Royal Society,
and (up to a certain date) for the British Association.
All of the foregoing matters are recorded pretty fully in his

Autobiography up to the year 1861. After that date the Autobiography
is given in a much more abbreviated form, and might rather be regarded
as a collection of notes for his Biography. His private history is given
very fully for the first part of his life, but is very lightly touched upon
during his residence at Greenwich. A great part of the Autobiography is
in a somewhat disjointed state, and appears to have been formed by
extracts from a number of different sources, such as Official Journals,
Official Correspondence, and Reports. In editing the Autobiography