NEVIL See also:

• NEVIL MASKELYNE (1732-1811)

MASKELYNE (1732-1811)  , See also:

• ENGLISH

English astronomer-royal, was See also:

• BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born in See also:

• LONDON

London on the 6th of See also:

• OCTOBER

October 1732 . The See also:

• SOLAR, SOLLER (Lat. solarium, Fr.• galetas, Ital. solaio)

solar See also:

• ECLIPSE (Gr. €uheo,tis, falling out of place, failing)

eclipse of 1748 made a deep impression upon him; and having graduated as seventh wrangler from Trinity See also:

• COLLEGE (Collegium)

College, See also:

• CAMBRIDGE
• CAMBRIDGE, EARLS AND DUKES OF
• CAMBRIDGE, RICHARD OWEN (1717-1802)

Cambridge, in 1754, he determined to devote himself wholly to See also:

• ASTRONOMY (from Gr. &arpov, a star, and v ,usiv, to classify or arrange)

astronomy . He became intimate with See also:

• JAMES
• JAMES (Gr. 'IlrKw,l3or, the Heb. Ya`akob or Jacob)
• JAMES (JAMES FRANCIS EDWARD STUART) (1688-1766)
• JAMES, 2ND EARL OF DOUGLAS AND MAR(c. 1358–1388)
• JAMES, DAVID (1839-1893)
• JAMES, EPISTLE OF
• JAMES, GEORGE PAYNE RAINSFOP
• JAMES, HENRY (1843— )
• JAMES, JOHN ANGELL (1785-1859)
• JAMES, THOMAS (c. 1573–1629)
• JAMES, WILLIAM (1842–1910)
• JAMES, WILLIAM (d. 1827)

James See also:

• BRADLEY, GEORGE GRANVILLE (1821–1903)
• BRADLEY, JAMES (1693–1762)

Bradley in 1755, and in 1761 was deputed by the Royal Society to make observations of the transit of See also:

• VENUS

Venus at St See also:

• HELENA
• HELENA, ST (c. 247-c. 327)

Helena . During the voyage he experimented upon the determination of See also:

• LONGITUDE (from Lat. longitudo, " length ")

longitude by lunar distances, and ultimately effected the introduction of the method into See also:

• NAVIGATION (from Lat. navis, ship, and agere, to move)

navigation (q.v.) . In 1765 he succeeded Nathaniel See also:

• BLISS, CORNELIUS NEWTON (1833– )

Bliss as astronomer-royal . Having energetically discharged the duties of his See also:

• OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

office during See also:

• FORTY

forty-six years, he died on the 9th of See also:

• FEBRUARY

February 1811 . See also:

• MASKELYNE, NEVIL (1732-1811)

Maskelyne's first contribution to astronomical literature was " A Proposal for Discovering the See also:

• ANNUAL

Annual See also:

• PARALLAX (Gr. aapa?X6, alternately)

Parallax of Sirius," published in 176o (Phil . Trans. li . 889) . Subsequent volumes of the same See also:

• SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series contained his observations of the transits of Venus (1761 and 1769), on the tides at St Helena (1762), and on various astronomical phenomena at St Helena (1764) and at See also:

• BARBADOS, or BARBADOES

Barbados (1764) . In 1763 he published the See also:

• BRITISH

British Mariner's See also:

• GUIDE (in Mid. Eng. gyde, from the Fr. guide; the earlier French form was guie, English " guy," the d was due to the Italian form guida; the ultimate origin is probably Teutonic, the word being connected with the base seen in O. Eng. witan, to know)

Guide, which includes the See also:

• SUGGESTION

suggestion that in See also:

• ORDER
• ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
• ORDER, HOLY

order to facilitate the finding of longitude at See also:

• SEA (in O. Eng. sae, a common Teutonic word; cf. Ger. See, Dutch Zee, &c.; the ultimate source is uncertain)
• SEA, COMMAND OF THE

sea lunar distances should be calculated beforehand for each See also:

• YEAR

year and published in a See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form accessible to navigators . This important proposal, the germ of the Nautical See also:

• ALMANAC

Almanac, was approved of by the See also:

• GOVERNMENT
• GOVERNMENT (0. Fr. governement, mod. gouvernement, O. Fr. governer, mod. gouverner, from Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, guide, rule; cf. Gr. xv(3epvav)

government, and under the care of Maskelyne the Nautical Almanac for 1767 was published in 1766 .

He continued during the See also:

• REMAINDER, REVERSION

remainder of his See also:

• LIFE

life the superintendence of this invaluable annual . He further induced the government to See also:

• PRINT

print his observations annually, thereby securing the prompt dissemination of a large See also:

• MASS (O.E. maesse; Fr. messe; Ger. Messe; Ital. messa; from eccl. Lat. missa)
• MASS, IN

mass of data inestimable from their continuity and accuracy . Maskelyne had but one assistant, yet the See also:

• WORK

work of the See also:

• OBSERVATORY

observatory was perfectly organized and methodically executed . He introduced several See also:

• PRACTICAL

practical improvements, such as the measurement of See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time to tenths of a second; and he prevailed upon the government to replace See also:

• BIRD

Bird's mural quadrant by a repeating circle 6 ft. in See also:

• DIAMETER (from the Cr. &a, through, µErpov, measure)

diameter . The new See also:

• INSTRUMENT (Lat. instrumentum, from insincere, to build up, furnish, arrange, prepare)

instrument was constructed by E . See also:

• TROUGHTON, EDWARD (1753-1835)

Troughton; but Maskelyne did not live to see it completed . In 1972 he suggested to the Royal Society the famous Schehallion experiment for the determination of the See also:

• EARTH
• EARTH (a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Erde, Dutch aarde, Swed. and Dan. jord; outside Teutonic it appears only in the Gr. 'pq'e, on the ground; it has been connected by some etymologists with the Aryan root ar-, to plough, which is seen in
• EARTH, FIGURE OF
• EARTH, FIGURE OF THE

earth's See also:

• DENSITY (Lat. densus, thick)

density and carried out his See also:

• PLAN
• PLAN (from Lat. planes, flat)

plan in 1774 (Phil . Trans . 1 . 495), the apparent difference of See also:

• LATITUDE (Lat. latitudo, latus, broad)

latitude between two stations on opposite sides of the See also:

• MOUNTAIN (0. Fr. montaigne; popular Lat. montanea, an adjectival form from the classical mons, montis, whence Eng. " mount," a form usually used along with the name of an individual mountain, e.g. Mt Everest)
• MOUNTAIN, THE (La Montagne)

mountain being compared with the real difference of latitude obtained by triangulation . From Maskelyne's observations See also:

• CHARLES
• CHARLES (1270-1325)
• CHARLES (1421-1461)
• CHARLES (1525-1574)
• CHARLES (c. 1319-1364)
• CHARLES (Fr. Charles; Span. Carlos; Ital. Carlo; Ger. Karl; derived from O.H.G. Charal,latinized as Carolus, meaning originally " man ": cf. Mod.Ger., Kerl," fellow," A.S. ceorl, Mod. Eng. " churl ")
• CHARLES (KARL EITEL ZEPHYRIN LUDWIG; in Rum. CAROL)
• CHARLES [KARL ALEXANDER] (1712-1780)
• CHARLES, ELIZABETH (1828-1896)
• CHARLES, JACQUES ALEXANDRE CESAR (1746-1823)
• CHARLES, THOMAS (1755-1814)

Charles See also:

• HUTTON, CHARLES (1737-1823)
• HUTTON, JAMES (1726-1797)
• HUTTON, RICHARD HOLT (1826-1897)

Hutton deduced a density for the earth 4.5 times that of See also:

• WATER

water (ib. lxviii . 782) .

Maskelyne also took a See also:

• GREAT

great See also:

• INTEREST

interest in various geodetical operations, notably the measurement of the length of a degree of latitude in See also:

• MARYLAND

Maryland and See also:

• PENNSYLVANIA
• PENNSYLVANIA, UNIVERSITY OF

Pennsylvania (ibid. lviii . 323), executed by See also:

• MASON, FRANCIS (1799—1874)
• MASON, GEORGE (1725—1792)
• MASON, GEORGE HEMMING (1818–1872)
• MASON, JAMES MURRAY (1798-1871)
• MASON, JOHN (1586-1635)
• MASON, JOHN YOUNG (1799-1859)
• MASON, LOWELL (1792—1872)
• MASON, SIR JOHN (1503–1566)
• MASON, SIR JOSIAH (1795-1881)
• MASON, WILLIAM (1725—1797)

Mason and See also:

• DIXON
• DIXON, GEORGE (1755 ?–1800)
• DIXON, HENRY HALL (1822-1870)
• DIXON, RICHARD WATSON (1833-1900)
• DIXON, WILLIAM HEPWORTH (1821-1879)

Dixon in 1766-1768, and later the determination of the relative longitude of See also:

• GREENWICH

Greenwich and See also:

• PARIS
• PARIS (also called ALEXANDROS)
• PARIS, ALEXIS PAULIN (1800-x881)
• PARIS, BRUNO PAULIN GASTON (1839-1903)
• PARIS, FRANCOIS DE (169o-1727)
• PARIS, LOUIS PHILIPPE ALBERT
• PARIS, TREATIES OF (1814-1815)

Paris (ib. lxxvii . 151) . On the See also:

• FRENCH
• FRENCH, DANIEL CHESTER (1850– )
• FRENCH, NICHOLAS (1604-1678)

French See also:

• SIDE
• SIDE (mod. Eski Adalia)

side the work was conducted by See also:

• COUNT (Lat. comes, gen. comitis, Fr. comte, Ital. conte, Span. conde)

Count See also:

• CASSINI

Cassini, See also:

• LEGENDRE, ADRIEN MARIE (1752–1833)
• LEGENDRE, LOUIS (1752-1797)

Legendre, and Mechain; on the English side by See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

General See also:

• ROY, WILLIAM (1726-1790)

Roy . This triangulation was the beginning of the great trigonometrical survey which has since been extended all over the See also:

• COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country . His observations appeared in four large See also:

• FOLIO (properly the ablative case of the Lat. folium, leaf, but also frequently an adaptation of the Ital. foglio)

folio volumes (1776-1811) . Some of them were reprinted in S . Vince's Astronomy (vol. iii.) . (A . M .