George Graham, visible technician

British Journal for the History of Science

Volumn 32, Issue 2, 1999, Pages 203-221

  Sorrenson, Richard ^a  

^a INDIANA UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0041910033     PISSN: 00070874     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0007087499003568     Document Type: Article

References (94)

1. Robert Hooke, The Diary of Robert Hooke, 1672-1680 (ed. H. W. Robinson and W. Adams), London, 1935, entries for 24, 31 December 1675.
2. Richard Sorrenson, 'Towards a history of the Royal Society in the eighteenth century', Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London (1996), 50, 29-46, 36.
3. Steven Shapin, A Social History of Truth: Civility and Science in Seventeenth-Century England, Chicago, 1994, especially Chapter 8, 'Invisible technicians: masters, servants, and the making of new experimental knowledge'. I do not mean to imply that Tompion was not famous in his day (his clocks were, and still are, much sought-after), but that he was subservient to Fellows of the Royal Society in a way that Graham was not.
4. Jan Golinski, Science as Public Culture: Chemistry and Enlightenment in Britain, 1760-1820, Cambridge, 1992; Simon Schaffer, 'Natural philosophy and public spectacle', History of Science (1983), 21, 1-43; Larry Stewart, The Rise of Public Science: Rhetoric, Technology, and Natural Philosophy in Newtonian Britain, Cambridge, 1993; Alice Walters, 'Conversation pieces: science and politeness in eighteenth-century England', History of Science (1997), 35, 121-54.
5. Jan Golinski, Science as Public Culture: Chemistry and Enlightenment in Britain, 1760-1820, Cambridge, 1992; Simon Schaffer, 'Natural philosophy and public spectacle', History of Science (1983), 21, 1-43; Larry Stewart, The Rise of Public Science: Rhetoric, Technology, and Natural Philosophy in Newtonian Britain, Cambridge, 1993; Alice Walters, 'Conversation pieces: science and politeness in eighteenth-century England', History of Science (1997), 35, 121-54.
6. Jan Golinski, Science as Public Culture: Chemistry and Enlightenment in Britain, 1760-1820, Cambridge, 1992; Simon Schaffer, 'Natural philosophy and public spectacle', History of Science (1983), 21, 1-43; Larry Stewart, The Rise of Public Science: Rhetoric, Technology, and Natural Philosophy in Newtonian Britain, Cambridge, 1993; Alice Walters, 'Conversation pieces: science and politeness in eighteenth-century England', History of Science (1997), 35, 121-54.
7. Jan Golinski, Science as Public Culture: Chemistry and Enlightenment in Britain, 1760-1820, Cambridge, 1992; Simon Schaffer, 'Natural philosophy and public spectacle', History of Science (1983), 21, 1-43; Larry Stewart, The Rise of Public Science: Rhetoric, Technology, and Natural Philosophy in Newtonian Britain, Cambridge, 1993; Alice Walters, 'Conversation pieces: science and politeness in eighteenth-century England', History of Science (1997), 35, 121-54.
8. e siècles, Paris, 1953.
9. e siècles, Paris, 1953.
10. e siècles, Paris, 1953.
11. e siècles, Paris, 1953.
12. e siècles, Paris, 1953.
13. e siècles, Paris, 1953.
14. e siècles, Paris, 1953.
15. e siècles, Paris, 1953.
16. e siècles, Paris, 1953.
17. e siècles, Paris, 1953.
18. e siècles, Paris, 1953.
19. e siècles, Paris, 1953.
20. Heilbron, op. cit. (5), 188; Cardwell, op. cit. (5), 17-18; Jacob, op. cit. (5), 114-15.
21. Heilbron, op. cit. (5), 188; Cardwell, op. cit. (5), 17-18; Jacob, op. cit. (5), 114-15.
22. Heilbron, op. cit. (5), 188; Cardwell, op. cit. (5), 17-18; Jacob, op. cit. (5), 114-15.
23. Lorraine Daston, review of The Values of Precision (ed. N. Wise), Princeton, 1995, in Isis (1996), 87, 517-19, 519.
24. Any significant records relating to the opticians John and Peter Dollond, which may have survived in the company archives of Dollond and Aitcheson, were destroyed during a bombing raid in World War II. Some records relating to the mathematical instrument-makers John and Edward Troughton have survived in the company archives of Vickers, and have been examined in Anita McConnell, Instrument Makers to the World: a History of Cooke, Troughton and Simms, London, 1992.
25. The papers are listed under George Graham's name in M. Maty (ed.), A General Index to the Philosophical Transactions, from the First to the End of the Seventieth Volume, London, 1787. The list for Graham has some errors. Two of the papers listed there belong to other Grahams ('Description and use of an instrument for taking the latitude...', is by Richard Graham; 'Case of a large quantity of matter or water contained in cysts...', is by Walter Graham). Two papers refer to astronomical observations made at Graham's house by other people ('Observations of an eclipse of the Moon, Jan. 2, 1740/[41]', by James Short; 'Observations of an occultation of Jupiter... Oct. 28, 1740', by John Bevis and James Short). James Bradley is the author of the paper that reports on Graham's pendulum clock experiments to measure the shape of the Earth ('An Account of some Observations made in London...concerning the Going of a Clock...'). One paper, which is not authored by Graham, is an account of his work in comparing the standard weights and measures of England with those of France ('An account of a comparison lately made by some gentlemen of the Royal Society of the standard of a yard, and several weights...'). Another paper on this last subject, which describes his work but is not written by him, is not listed in the index under his name: 'An Account of the Proportion of the English and French measures and weights...', Philosophical Transactions (1742), 42, 185-8.
26. The papers are listed under George Graham's name in M. Maty (ed.), A General Index to the Philosophical Transactions, from the First to the End of the Seventieth Volume, London, 1787. The list for Graham has some errors. Two of the papers listed there belong to other Grahams ('Description and use of an instrument for taking the latitude...', is by Richard Graham; 'Case of a large quantity of matter or water contained in cysts...', is by Walter Graham). Two papers refer to astronomical observations made at Graham's house by other people ('Observations of an eclipse of the Moon, Jan. 2, 1740/[41]', by James Short; 'Observations of an occultation of Jupiter... Oct. 28, 1740', by John Bevis and James Short). James Bradley is the author of the paper that reports on Graham's pendulum clock experiments to measure the shape of the Earth ('An Account of some Observations made in London...concerning the Going of a Clock...'). One paper, which is not authored by Graham, is an account of his work in comparing the standard weights and measures of England with those of France ('An account of a comparison lately made by some gentlemen of the Royal Society of the standard of a yard, and several weights...'). Another paper on this last subject, which describes his work but is not written by him, is not listed in the index under his name: 'An Account of the Proportion of the English and French measures and weights...', Philosophical Transactions (1742), 42, 185-8.
27. In the Englishman, no. 11, 29 October 1713. Steele attributed this device to another instrument-maker, Rowley. John Desaguliers corrected this misunderstanding in Volume 1 of his A Course of Experimental Philosophy, 2 vols., London, 1734-45, i, 431.
28. In the Englishman, no. 11, 29 October 1713. Steele attributed this device to another instrument-maker, Rowley. John Desaguliers corrected this misunderstanding in Volume 1 of his A Course of Experimental Philosophy, 2 vols., London, 1734-45, i, 431.
29. H. Alan Lloyd, 'George Graham: horologist and astronomer', Horological Journal (1951), 708-17.
30. Henry Nelthropp, A Treatise on Watch-Work, London, 1873, 97. Nelthropp states that this inscription was 'unfortunately...removed in the year 1838'.
31. James Bradley, '...an Account of a new discovered Motion of the Fix'd Stars', Philosophical Transactions (1728), 35, 637-61, 638.
32. There are 360° (degrees) in a circle, 60′ (minutes) in a degree, and 60″ (seconds) in a minute. The zenith is the point directly over the observer's head, and the meridian is the plane that passes through the zenith and the Earth's axis. The Sun passes through the meridian at midday, while all other stars pass through the meridian at a slightly different time each day, returning to the same time after a year.
33. Since the star was near the zenith, errors due to the retractive effect of the atmosphere were not significant. Bradley also took into account the precession of the equinoxes when calculating the change in the star'a position.
34. Bradley, op. cit. (13), 641, 645-53; see also S. P. Rigaud (ed.), Miscellaneous Works and Correspondence of the Rev. James Bradley, DD, FRS, Oxford, 1832, pp. xxvi-xxvii, 202.
35. Bradley, op. cit. (13), 641, 645-53; see also S. P. Rigaud (ed.), Miscellaneous Works and Correspondence of the Rev. James Bradley, DD, FRS, Oxford, 1832, pp. xxvi-xxvii, 202.
36. Since 'x' was 20.25″ this implied that Earth's speed was 10,194 times slower than the speed of light. (20.25 × 2π/[360 × 60 × 60] radians = 1/10,194.) Since the Earth takes a year to orbit the Sun, and the distance the Earth covers in that time is 2π multiplied by the distance of the Sun from the Earth (Bradley neglects the ellipticity of the Earth's orbit), the time (in minutes) that the Sun's light takes to cover that distance can be calculated from the ratio of the two speeds as : t(sunlight) = (365.25 × 24 × 60)/(2n × 10194) = 8′ 13″. The modern value is 8′ 19″. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th ed., Cambridge, 1911, entry under 'Sun'.
37. James Bradley, '...an apparent Motion observed in some of the fixed Stars...', Philosophical Transactions (1748), 45, 1-43, 2.
38. Sorrenson op. cit. (2), 40-3.
39. Bradley, op. cit. (18), 6. 'Contrive' means here, as it usually did in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, to design.
40. J. A. Bennett, 'The mechanics' philosophy and the mechanical philosophy', History of Science (1986), 24, 1-28, 2.
41. Bennett, op. cit. (5), 51. This paragraph draws upon pages 51-5.
42. Encyclopaedia Britannica, op. cit. (17), entry under 'Magnetism, Terrestrial'.
43. George Graham, '...Observations made of the Variation of the Horizontal Needle at London...', Philosophical Transactions (1724), 33, 96-107, 96-8, 107, 101.
44. Richard Sorrenson, 'The state's demand for accurate astronomical and navigational instruments in eighteenth-century Britain', in The Consumption of Culture, 1600-1800, (ed. A. Bermingham and J. Brewer), London, 1995, 263-71.
45. Quoted in C. Wolf, Histoire de l'Observatoire de Paris, Paris, 1902, 292.
46. Isaac Newton, Principia, (tr. A. Motte; ed. F. Cajori), Berkeley, 1962, book III, prop. XX, prob. iv. The weight of an object is less at the equator because the spinning Earth tends to throw the object off the Earth (and hence reduce its weight). Furthermore, since the Earth bulges at the equator, the object is farther away from the centre of the Earth and suffers less gravitational attraction from the Earth. Thus the net force of gravity, 'g', at the equator is less than at the pole, and since the frequency of a pendulum is proportional to the square root of 'g', the clock runs slower when 'g' decreases. Newton said of the heat effect: 'I take an iron rod 3 feet long to be shorter by a sixth part of one line in winter time with us here in England than in the summer. Because of the great heats under the equator, subtract this quantity from the difference of 1 1/4 lines observed by Mr. Richer, and there will remain 1 1/12 lines [due to change in net gravity alone]'. Hence 1/6 of 1 1/4 is due to heat difference.
47. George Graham, 'A Contrivance to avoid the Irregularities in a Clock's Motion, occasion'd by the Action of Heat and Cold on the Rod of the Pendulum', Philosophical Transactions (1726), 34, 40-6.
48. James Bradley, 'An Account of some Observations made in London, by Mr. George Graham, F.R.S. and at Black River in Jamaica, by Colin Campbell, Esq; F.R.S. concerning the Going of a Clock; in order to determine the Difference between the Lengths of Isochronal Pendulums in those Places. Communicated by J. Bradley, M.A. Astr. Prof. Savill. Oxon. F.R.S.', Philosophical Transactions (1734), 38, 302-14, 303, 306.
49. Bradley, op. cit. (29), 304, 306, 310, 311.
50. The three most recent accounts of Maupertuis's expedition are Mary Terrall, 'Representing the Earth's shape: the polemics surrounding Maupertuis's expedition to Lapland', Isis (1992), 83, 218-37; Robert Iliffe, '"Aplatisseur du monde et de Cassini": Maupertuis, precision measurement, and the shape of the Earth in the 173Os', History of Science (1993), 31, 335-75; and John Greenberg, The Problem of the Earth's Shape from Newton to Clairaut: the Rise of Mathematical Science in Eighteenth-Century Paris and the Fall of 'Normal' Science, Cambridge, 1995. Iliffe takes the most notice of Graham, pointing out that his instruments were used on the Lapland expedition because Graham was the 'most prestigious instrument-maker of his day' (365), but Graham's work is not the focus of his paper. Neither is it for Terrall; and in Greenberg's case Graham is not mentioned at all.
51. The three most recent accounts of Maupertuis's expedition are Mary Terrall, 'Representing the Earth's shape: the polemics surrounding Maupertuis's expedition to Lapland', Isis (1992), 83, 218-37; Robert Iliffe, '"Aplatisseur du monde et de Cassini": Maupertuis, precision measurement, and the shape of the Earth in the 173Os', History of Science (1993), 31, 335-75; and John Greenberg, The Problem of the Earth's Shape from Newton to Clairaut: the Rise of Mathematical Science in Eighteenth-Century Paris and the Fall of 'Normal' Science, Cambridge, 1995. Iliffe takes the most notice of Graham, pointing out that his instruments were used on the Lapland expedition because Graham was the 'most prestigious instrument-maker of his day' (365), but Graham's work is not the focus of his paper. Neither is it for Terrall; and in Greenberg's case Graham is not mentioned at all.
52. The three most recent accounts of Maupertuis's expedition are Mary Terrall, 'Representing the Earth's shape: the polemics surrounding Maupertuis's expedition to Lapland', Isis (1992), 83, 218-37; Robert Iliffe, '"Aplatisseur du monde et de Cassini": Maupertuis, precision measurement, and the shape of the Earth in the 173Os', History of Science (1993), 31, 335-75; and John Greenberg, The Problem of the Earth's Shape from Newton to Clairaut: the Rise of Mathematical Science in Eighteenth-Century Paris and the Fall of 'Normal' Science, Cambridge, 1995. Iliffe takes the most notice of Graham, pointing out that his instruments were used on the Lapland expedition because Graham was the 'most prestigious instrument-maker of his day' (365), but Graham's work is not the focus of his paper. Neither is it for Terrall; and in Greenberg's case Graham is not mentioned at all.
53. The rate of the clock was measured against the diurnal transit of a fixed star over the meridian. This is the length of a sidereal day. The clock was kept warm in Lapland by fires, and the thermometer was the same as that used in Paris. 'Net gravity' is the combined force of the Earth's gravitational attraction and the centrifugal force on an object at the Earth's surface.
54. Newton, op. cit. (27), book III, prop. XIX, prob. iii. The modern value of the average ellipticity of the Earth is 1 part in 299, Encyclopaedia Britannica, op. cit. (17), under 'Earth, Figure of.
55. Newton, op. cit. (27), book III, prop. XIX, prob. iii. The modern value of the average ellipticity of the Earth is 1 part in 299, Encyclopaedia Britannica, op. cit. (17), under 'Earth, Figure of.
56. Pierre de Maupertuis, The Figure of the Earth, Determined from Observations made by order of the French King at the Polar Circle..., London, 1738, 65-61.
57. This is not to say that the instruments may not have been as accurate as they claimed, but that without accurate instruments the measurements were severely devalued. Terrall, op. cit. (31), 227-8, outlines arguments that took place in Pans after Maupertuis's return over the actual accuracy of the sector.
58. Royal Society of London, Archives, Journal Book (hereafter RSJB) 23 May, 27 June 1728. Bradley was at that time Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford and had completed his observations of the aberration of starlight, while Graham had three years previously finished refitting the Royal Greenwich Observatory with a mural quadrant and clocks for Halley as well as building the zenith sector for Bradley.
59. RSJB January 1735/36, 1 April 1736. The eclipse was on 15 March 1735/36. Graham also lived above his shop in the Strand. A 'shop' in the eighteenth century usually contained both working and selling spaces. I have been unable to find what sum Celsius paid Graham for all the instruments he made for the expedition. The 'theodolite' is described by Maupertuis as 'a Telescope perpendicular to, and moveable about an Horizontal Axis', Maupertuis, op. cit. (34), 65. This instrument was used to establish the positions of the sides of a series of triangles by which the length of the arc was measured. Patrick Murdoch, Mercator's Sailing, applied to the True Figure of the Earth. With an Introduction concerning the Discovery and Determination of that Figure, London, 1741, pp. xxxi-xxxii.
60. RSJB January 1735/36, 1 April 1736. The eclipse was on 15 March 1735/36. Graham also lived above his shop in the Strand. A 'shop' in the eighteenth century usually contained both working and selling spaces. I have been unable to find what sum Celsius paid Graham for all the instruments he made for the expedition. The 'theodolite' is described by Maupertuis as 'a Telescope perpendicular to, and moveable about an Horizontal Axis', Maupertuis, op. cit. (34), 65. This instrument was used to establish the positions of the sides of a series of triangles by which the length of the arc was measured. Patrick Murdoch, Mercator's Sailing, applied to the True Figure of the Earth. With an Introduction concerning the Discovery and Determination of that Figure, London, 1741, pp. xxxi-xxxii.
61. RSJB January 1735/36, 1 April 1736. The eclipse was on 15 March 1735/36. Graham also lived above his shop in the Strand. A 'shop' in the eighteenth century usually contained both working and selling spaces. I have been unable to find what sum Celsius paid Graham for all the instruments he made for the expedition. The 'theodolite' is described by Maupertuis as 'a Telescope perpendicular to, and moveable about an Horizontal Axis', Maupertuis, op. cit. (34), 65. This instrument was used to establish the positions of the sides of a series of triangles by which the length of the arc was measured. Patrick Murdoch, Mercator's Sailing, applied to the True Figure of the Earth. With an Introduction concerning the Discovery and Determination of that Figure, London, 1741, pp. xxxi-xxxii.
62. The election certificates of all four explicitly mention the expedition. Celsius was elected as he prepared for the expedition in January 1735/36, Clairaut and Le Monnier immediately after the expedition (October 1737 and April 1739 respectively), and Camus very much later (January 1764).
63. Celsius to the Royal Society, RSJB 20 May, 10 June 1736, 13 January, 24 March 1736/37, 19 May 1737; Clairaut to Royal Society, RSJB 24 March 1736/37, 3 November 1737, 15 December 1737; Maupertuis to Royal Society, RSJB 27 October 1737.
64. Celsius to the Royal Society, RSJB 20 May, 10 June 1736, 13 January, 24 March 1736/37, 19 May 1737; Clairaut to Royal Society, RSJB 24 March 1736/37, 3 November 1737, 15 December 1737; Maupertuis to Royal Society, RSJB 27 October 1737.
65. Celsius to the Royal Society, RSJB 20 May, 10 June 1736, 13 January, 24 March 1736/37, 19 May 1737; Clairaut to Royal Society, RSJB 24 March 1736/37, 3 November 1737, 15 December 1737; Maupertuis to Royal Society, RSJB 27 October 1737.
66. Bradley translated this letter and sent it to Graham. Maupertuis also asked for information about Bradley's latest observations on the apparent motion of the stars due to the nutation of the Earth's axis. Bradley told him the effect was not significant for observations taken over a few months. Maupertuis to Bradley, 27 September 1737, in Rigaud, op. cit. (16), 405;
67. this letter is referred to in Royal Society of London, Letter Book (Copy) 24.8, and in RSJB 27 October 1737.
68. Le Monnier to Graham, Royal Society of London, Early Letters (hereafter RSEL) M.3.58, February 1737/38. Other recipients included Bradley, Halley, Stirling and Desaguliers, RSEL M.60.
69. Le Monnier to Graham, Royal Society of London, Early Letters (hereafter RSEL) M.3.58, February 1737/38. Other recipients included Bradley, Halley, Stirling and Desaguliers, RSEL M.60.
70. Maupertuis, op. cit. (34), 123-8, 99, 154.
71. Graham to Bradley, London, 25 July 1732, in Rigaud op. cit. (16), 397.
72. Graham was also the standard against which one measured one's most basic measurements; he made the standard yard and pound.
73. George Graham, '...Eclipse observed in Fleetstreet, London', Philosophical Transactions (1722), 32, 198-9.
74. The papers appear in the Philosophical Transactions for the years 1733, 1737, 1738 and 1739.
75. Colin MacLaurin, '...Eclipse of the Sun...', Philosophical Transactions (1738), 40, 177-95, 178, 180, 194, 177.
76. John Clerk, '...Solar Eclipse...', Philosophical Transactions (1738), 40,195-7,196. Clerk was less sanguine about the utility of Newton's theory than MacLaurin, noting that 'Sir Isaac's Calculation, as to the Beginning of this Eclipse, was pretty right; but not so well as to its central Appearance'.
77. Richard Sorrenson and J. Burnett, 'Pyrometer', in Instruments of Science: an Historical Encyclopedia (ed. R Bud and D. Warner), London, 1998; Terry S. Reynolds, Stronger than a Hundred Men: a History of the Vertical Water Wheel, Baltimore, 1983; Simon Schaffer, 'Demonstration devices in Georgian mechanics', Osiris (1994) 9 157-82; William Laycock, The Lost Science of John 'Longitude' Harrison, Ashford, 1976.
78. Richard Sorrenson and J. Burnett, 'Pyrometer', in Instruments of Science: an Historical Encyclopedia (ed. R Bud and D. Warner), London, 1998; Terry S. Reynolds, Stronger than a Hundred Men: a History of the Vertical Water Wheel, Baltimore, 1983; Simon Schaffer, 'Demonstration devices in Georgian mechanics', Osiris (1994) 9 157-82; William Laycock, The Lost Science of John 'Longitude' Harrison, Ashford, 1976.
79. Richard Sorrenson and J. Burnett, 'Pyrometer', in Instruments of Science: an Historical Encyclopedia (ed. R Bud and D. Warner), London, 1998; Terry S. Reynolds, Stronger than a Hundred Men: a History of the Vertical Water Wheel, Baltimore, 1983; Simon Schaffer, 'Demonstration devices in Georgian mechanics', Osiris (1994) 9 157-82; William Laycock, The Lost Science of John 'Longitude' Harrison, Ashford, 1976.
80. Richard Sorrenson and J. Burnett, 'Pyrometer', in Instruments of Science: an Historical Encyclopedia (ed. R Bud and D. Warner), London, 1998; Terry S. Reynolds, Stronger than a Hundred Men: a History of the Vertical Water Wheel, Baltimore, 1983; Simon Schaffer, 'Demonstration devices in Georgian mechanics', Osiris (1994) 9 157-82; William Laycock, The Lost Science of John 'Longitude' Harrison, Ashford, 1976.
81. D'Alembert called work like this 'un espèce de tatonnement' (a kind of groping) in his 'Nouvelles Recherches sur les Verres Optiques...', Mémoires de L'Académie Royale des Sciences, Paris, (1764), 75-125, 102; two of the editors of the Euler correspondence said of 'long and continuous practice' that 'nowdays one calls this, rather contemptuously, "trial and error",' Leonhardi Euleri, Opera Omnia (ed. E. Cherbuliez and A. Speiser), series III, volume 6, Basel, 1962, p. xii; see entry under 'Trial', in John Harris, Lexicon Techmcum..., London, 1704.
82. D'Alembert called work like this 'un espèce de tatonnement' (a kind of groping) in his 'Nouvelles Recherches sur les Verres Optiques...', Mémoires de L'Académie Royale des Sciences, Paris, (1764), 75-125, 102; two of the editors of the Euler correspondence said of 'long and continuous practice' that 'nowdays one calls this, rather contemptuously, "trial and error",' Leonhardi Euleri, Opera Omnia (ed. E. Cherbuliez and A. Speiser), series III, volume 6, Basel, 1962, p. xii; see entry under 'Trial', in John Harris, Lexicon Techmcum..., London, 1704.
83. D'Alembert called work like this 'un espèce de tatonnement' (a kind of groping) in his 'Nouvelles Recherches sur les Verres Optiques...', Mémoires de L'Académie Royale des Sciences, Paris, (1764), 75-125, 102; two of the editors of the Euler correspondence said of 'long and continuous practice' that 'nowdays one calls this, rather contemptuously, "trial and error",' Leonhardi Euleri, Opera Omnia (ed. E. Cherbuliez and A. Speiser), series III, volume 6, Basel, 1962, p. xii; see entry under 'Trial', in John Harris, Lexicon Techmcum..., London, 1704.
84. Karl Popper has centred his philosophy of science around 'trial and error'. In his The Problem of Induction, Popper states, 'my central thesis...is this. Once we fully realize the implications of the conjectural character of human knowledge, then the problem of induction changes its character completely...we can explain all our achievements in terms of the method of trial and the elimination of error'. P. A. Schlipp (ed.), The philosophy of Karl Popper, La Salle, IL, 1974, 1015. This belief also underlies his Conjectures and Refutations, London, 1963.
85. Karl Popper has centred his philosophy of science around 'trial and error'. In his The Problem of Induction, Popper states, 'my central thesis...is this. Once we fully realize the implications of the conjectural character of human knowledge, then the problem of induction changes its character completely...we can explain all our achievements in terms of the method of trial and the elimination of error'. P. A. Schlipp (ed.), The philosophy of Karl Popper, La Salle, IL, 1974, 1015. This belief also underlies his Conjectures and Refutations, London, 1963.
86. Karl Popper has centred his philosophy of science around 'trial and error'. In his The Problem of Induction, Popper states, 'my central thesis...is this. Once we fully realize the implications of the conjectural character of human knowledge, then the problem of induction changes its character completely...we can explain all our achievements in terms of the method of trial and the elimination of error'. P. A. Schlipp (ed.), The philosophy of Karl Popper, La Salle, IL, 1974, 1015. This belief also underlies his Conjectures and Refutations, London, 1963.
87. Graham, op. cit. (28), 40-3.
88. 'The Report of the Committee...to view the state of the Instruments in the Royal Greenwich Observatory' , Cambridge University Library, Royal Greenwich Observatory (hereafter RGO), 4/307.2.
89. Robert Smith, A Compleat System of Optics, Cambridge, 1738, 332; Nevil Maskelyne, Astronomical Observations, Made at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, 1765-1774, London, 1782, p. i; William Ludlam, An Introduction and Notes on Mr. Bird's Method of Dividing Astronomical Instruments, London, 1786, p. iii; Howse, op. cit. (5), 22.
90. Robert Smith, A Compleat System of Optics, Cambridge, 1738, 332; Nevil Maskelyne, Astronomical Observations, Made at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, 1765-1774, London, 1782, p. i; William Ludlam, An Introduction and Notes on Mr. Bird's Method of Dividing Astronomical Instruments, London, 1786, p. iii; Howse, op. cit. (5), 22.
91. Robert Smith, A Compleat System of Optics, Cambridge, 1738, 332; Nevil Maskelyne, Astronomical Observations, Made at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, 1765-1774, London, 1782, p. i; William Ludlam, An Introduction and Notes on Mr. Bird's Method of Dividing Astronomical Instruments, London, 1786, p. iii; Howse, op. cit. (5), 22.
92. Robert Smith, A Compleat System of Optics, Cambridge, 1738, 332; Nevil Maskelyne, Astronomical Observations, Made at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, 1765-1774, London, 1782, p. i; William Ludlam, An Introduction and Notes on Mr. Bird's Method of Dividing Astronomical Instruments, London, 1786, p. iii; Howse, op. cit. (5), 22.
93. Smith, op. cit. (54), 332.
94. Chapman, op. cit. (5), 65-71, Chapter 4.