X-Nico

13 unusual facts about John Herschel


11 Parthenope

De Gasparis "used his utmost endeavours to realise a 'Parthenope' in the heavens, such being the name suggested by Sir John Herschel on the occasion of the discovery of Hygiea in 1849".

Biela's Comet

The comet appeared as predicted during its 1832 apparition, when it was first recovered by John Herschel on 24 September.

Claremont, Cape Town

The distinguished British astronomer Sir John Herschel put the area on the map by living at Feldhausen (formerly Veldhuyzen) from 1834 to 1838.

Herbarium vivum

In 1834 the astronomer John Herschel, facing a similar problem of accurate delineating, used a camera lucida to pencil in the outlines of Cape Colony plants while his wife Margaret then painted in the details.

Herschel Girls' School

The property on which it stands belonged to V.A. Schonnberg who, when he sold the main estate in 1834 to Sir John Herschel, the astronomer, retained this portion and named it after his illustrious neighbour.

Herschel, Saskatchewan

The village was named in honor of 19th Century English physicist and astronomer Sir John Fredrick William Herschel.

History of the Cape Colony from 1806 to 1870

An efficient education system, owing its inception to Sir John Herschel, an astronomer who lived in Cape Colony from 1834 to 1838, was adopted.

Millioctave

The invention goes back to John Herschel, who proposed a division of the octave into 1000 parts, which was published (with appropriate credit to Herschel) in George Biddell Airy's book on musical acoustics.

NGC 1806

It was discovered in 1836 by the British astronomer John Herschel.

Probability

He gave two proofs, the second being essentially the same as John Herschel's (1850).

Sodium thiosulfate

In this application to photographic processing, discovered by John Herschel and used for both film and photographic paper processing, the sodium thiosulfate is known as a photographic fixer, and is often referred to as hypo, from the original chemical name, hyposulphite of soda.

SolarFest

In the 1830s, the British astronomer John Herschel used a solar thermal collector box (a device that absorbs sunlight to collect heat) to cook food during an expedition to Africa.

Susan Faye Cannon

In the early 1960s he wrote influential articles on uniformitarian geology, the 'Cambridge network', William Whewell's tidology, John Herschel, the relation of Charles Darwin to William Paley, liberal Anglicanism, and the general place of science in nineteenth-century culture.


Paul Cairn Vellacott

On 20 June 1929 he married Hilda Francesca Lubbock, daughter of Sir Nevile Lubbock (1839–1914) and Constance Ann Herschel (daughter of astronomer John Herschel and granddaughter of astronomer William Herschel).