Autobiography of Sir George Biddell Airy | Page 4

biography. But a
very important feature of his investigations was the thoroughness of
them. He was never satisfied with leaving a result as a barren
mathematical expression. He would reduce it, if possible, to a practical
and numerical form, at any cost of labour: and would use any
approximations which would conduce to this result, rather than leave
the result in an unfruitful condition. He never shirked arithmetical work:
the longest and most laborious reductions had no terrors for him, and
he was remarkably skilful with the various mathematical expedients for
shortening and facilitating arithmetical work of a complex character.
This power of handling arithmetic was of great value to him in the
Observatory reductions and in the Observatory work generally. He
regarded it as a duty to finish off his work, whatever it was, and the

writer well remembers his comment on the mathematics of one of his
old friends, to the effect that "he was too fond of leaving a result in the
form of three complex equations with three unknown quantities." To
one who had known, in some degree, of the enormous quantity of
arithmetical work which he had turned out, and the unsparing manner
in which he had devoted himself to it, there was something very
pathetic in his discovery, towards the close of his long life, "that the
figures would not add up."
His energy and business capacity were remarkable. He was made for
work and could not long be happy without it. Whatever subject he was
engaged upon, he kept his object clearly in view, and made straight for
it, aiming far more at clearness and directness than at elegance of
periods or symmetry of arrangement. He wrote his letters with great
ease and rapidity: and having written them he very rarely had occasion
to re-write them, though he often added insertions and interlineations,
even in the most important official letters. Without this it would have
been impossible for him to have turned out the enormous quantity of
correspondence that he did. He never dictated letters, and only availed
himself of clerical assistance in matters of the most ordinary routine. In
his excursions, as in his work, he was always energetic, and could not
endure inaction. Whatever there was of interest in the places that he
visited he examined thoroughly and without delay, and then passed on.
And he thus accomplished a great deal in a short vacation. His letters
written to his wife, while he was on his excursions, are very numerous
and characteristic, and afford ample proofs of his incessant energy and
activity both of body and mind. They are not brilliantly written, for it
was not in his nature to write for effect, and he would never give
himself the trouble to study the composition of his letters, but they are
straight-forward, clear, and concise, and he was never at a loss for
suitable language to express his ideas. He had a wonderful capacity for
enjoyment: the subjects that chiefly interested him were scenery,
architecture, and antiquities, but everything novel or curious had an
interest for him. He made several journeys to the Continent, but by far
the greater number of his excursions were made in England and
Scotland, and there were few parts of the country which he had not
visited. He was very fond of the Lake District of Cumberland, and

visited it very frequently, and each time that he went there the same set
of views had an eternal freshness for him, and he wrote long
descriptions of the scenery and effects with the same raptures as if he
had seen it for the first time. Many of his letters were written from
Playford, a village in a beautiful part of Suffolk, a few miles from
Ipswich. Here he had a small property, and generally stayed there for a
short time once or twice a year. He was extremely fond of this country,
and was never tired of repeating his walks by the well-known lanes and
footpaths. And, as in Cumberland, the Suffolk country had an eternal
freshness and novelty for him. Wherever he went he was indefatigable
in keeping up his acquaintance with his numerous friends and his
letters abound in social reminiscences.
His memory was singularly retentive. It was much remarked at school
in his early days, and in the course of his life he had stored up in his
memory an incredible quantity of poetry, ballads, and miscellaneous
facts and information of all sorts, which was all constantly ready and at
his service. It is almost needless to add that his memory was equally
accurate and extensive in matters connected with science or business.
His independence of character was no doubt due to and inseparable
from his great powers. The value of his scientific work greatly
depended