Sir William Herschel / A.R. Hinks.

  • Hinks, Arthur R. (Arthur Robert), 1873-1945.
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Sir William Herschel / A.R. Hinks. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    beyond his means that he determined to make his telescope with his own hands. Those who have always been curious to know how Herschel learned all the tricks of the process of grinding, figuring, and polishing mirrors will read with interest the chapter of Dr. Dreyer’s introduction which tells what he has been able to find in the journal and papers. [ Herschel’s sister has recorded that ‘ about this time he j ‘ bought of a Quaker resident in Bath, who formerly had made ii ‘ attempts at polishing mirrors, all his rubbish of patterns, tools, ) ‘ hones, polishers, unfinished mirrors, etc., but all for small ] ‘ Gregorians, and none above two or three inches diameter.’ j) The now published journal completes the story thus : I ‘ I was informed that there lived in Bath a person who amused himself with repolishing and making reflecting mirrors. Having found him out he offered to let me have all his tools and some half- finished mirrors, as he did not intend to do any more work of that kind. The 22nd September when I bought his apparatus, it was agreed that he should also show me the manner in which he had proceeded with grinding and polishing his mirrors, and going to work with these tools I found no difficulty to do in a few days all what he could show me, his knowledge indeed being very confined. About the 21st October I had some mirrors erst for a two feet reflector, the mixture of the metal was according to a receipt I had obtained with the tools. It was at the rate I of 32 copper, 13 tin, and one of Regulus of Antimony, and I found it to make a very good, sound, white metal. In the ' beginning of November I had other mirrors cast, among them was one intended for a 5| feet Gregorian reflector, and as soon as they were ground and figured as well as I could do them, I proceeded to the work of polishing. About the middle of ‘ December I got so far as to give a tolerable gloss to some of the metals, and having advanced considerably in this work it became necessary to think of mounting these mirrors.’ , We think that in some respects this passage is the most valuable of all that have been extracted from the journal by the editor of these papers. Amateur mechanics know the difficulty of starting on an operation of an entirely new kind, for which every one of the numberless small requirements has to be collected from all kinds of sources. Succeed in getting through the process once, on however small a scale, and progress is relatively easy. Doubtless the Quaker’s rubbish of I patterns, etc., looked a sorry collection to the eye of Caroline the housekeeper, and the Quaker’s knowledge was as small