MacTutor
Robert Ball
Times obituary
ASTRONOMER AND LECTURER.
We regret to announce that Sir Robert Ball, the eminent astronomer, died at Cambridge yesterday evening. He had been in precarious health for some time past.
Robert Stawell Ball was born in Dublin on July 1, 1840, the son of Dr. Robert Ball, the well-known naturalist. He was educated at Abbott's Grange, Chester, and at Trinity College, Dublin. In 1865, he was appointed assistant astronomer to Lord Rosse, and his duties were to observe nebulae with what is still the largest telescope in the world -- 60 feet long with a mirror 6 feet in diameter. The death of Lord Rosse in October 1867 terminated this appointment after only two years, but the young astronomer had discovered four new spiral nebulae, which were then noteworthy additions to our knowledge of the heavens But what impressed him far more deeply than this personal success was the magnificent display of Leonid meteors, which he was fortunate enough to witness on November 13, 1866. It was an impressive introduction to astronomy, well calculated to awaken that enthusiasm for the wonders of the heavens, which was afterwards so conspicuous a feature of the lectures he was to give and the books he was to write.
DISTANCE OF THE STARS
But a professorship of mathematics at Dublin called his attention elsewhere for some years, until in 1874 he was appointed Royal Astronomer of Ireland and took up his abode at the beautifully situated observatory at Dunsink. His predecessor, Dr. Brünnow, had devoted himself to the great problem of measuring the distances of some of the stars. Brünnow took up the problem where Brünnow had left it; but he was not satisfied that the very nearest stars had been recognized as such, and he set himself to cast his net wide in the hope of finding some nearer than those already known He made lists of likely neighbours, his first containing 40 and his next 368; and all of these he examined with the greatest care at intervals of six months. It is not easy to give an adequate idea of the enormous labour involved; but even more remarkable than the labour was the courage and patience required to proceed with such close work when the results were mainly negative. There was, of course, always the chance of finding a treasure, but practically nothing was found, and the only insting satisfaction to be derived from the years of work was that our knowledge had been definitely advanced, though not in the direction hoped. Subsequent workers with better apparatus have confirmed Ball's conclusion that even the nearest stars are very far away.
THE THEORY OF SCREWS.
Meanwhile, he was acquiring reputation in other fields His work on the "Theory of Screws" gave him high rank as a mathematician. This term is likely to convey to the lay mind any impression but the right one. It really represents a study of the general movement of a rigid body, which most people would be content to leave to mathematicians. It was characteristic of Sir Robert Dale that he not only attacked and conquered the abstruse difficulties of the problem in a dozen elaborate memoirs, but had the courage to attempt a popular explanation of his work and the skill to make the attempt a great success. At the meeting of the British Association in Manchester in 1887, he named his presidential address to Section A, "A Dynamical Parable." He constituted a hypothetical committee to deal with "a rigid body which should lie peacefully at rest." There were Mr. Harmonic, Mr. One-to-One, Mr. Helix, Mr. Cartesian, Mr. Commonsense, and Mr. Querulous. The usual procedure was to call in the first instance on Mr. Cartesian. who erected his old-fashioned seaffolding of Cartesian coordinates, only to find it hopelessly cumbrous. Then Mr. Helix would produce a "screw" or a "wrench"; or Mr. Harmonic or Mr. One-to-One would announce some recent geometrical discovery, with the happy result that simplicity appeared in place of confusion. Mr. Querulous, who played the part of "devil's advocate" throughout the greater part of the proceedings, was finally so completely converted as to burst into an eloquent peroration proposing to replace our customary "flat infinity" with an "ample quadric": from which it will be seen that Sir Robert did not shirk technical terms where recessary, though he dressed them so attractively that the attention of his hearers never slackened for a moment,
AS A LECTURER,
His powers of holding an audience were indeed remarkable, and no less an authority than Major Pond, the great American lecture-manager, placed him first of those he had known in this particular respect. His "children's lectures" at the Royal Institution were among the most successful ever given. However abstruse the point, he would take pains to find some illustration that would bring it home to his audience. It was the same with his professorial as with his popular lectures: the qualities of enthusiasm and humour were always in evidence, and whether he dealt with planetary theory, with the combination of observations and their errors, or with the geometry of dynamics, he made his pupils feel that the subject demanded enthusiastic admiration.
WORK AT CAMBRIDGE
In 1892, he was appointed to succeed Professor Adams as Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry and Director of the Cambridge Observatory and took an active part in the affairs of the University of Cambridge. During his directorship of the observatory, its activity greatly increased. Soon after his appointment, he was responsible for the erection of the Sheepshanks telescope from accumulations in the fund left for the benefit of the observatory by the late Miss Anne Sheepshanks. This instrument, designed by Sir Howard Grubb, was intended especially for work on stellar parallax, in which Sir Robert Ball had done much at Dunsink; and under his direction, it did good work in determining the distances of the stars and the sun. All those who had the pleasure of serving under him in the observatory will long remember him as a delightful chief, who gave them liberty to develop their work along lines of generous freedom and obtained for them all possible support. For many years, Sir Robert Ball was on the Council of the Royal Astronomical Society, serving as its president in 1897–99, and he was a member of the Council of the Royal Society in 1897–98. He received a knighthood in 1886. From 1884 he held the important position of Scientific Adviser to the Commissioners of Irish Lights. His best-known book is probably his "Story of the Heavens," which first appeared in 1885; but from a scientific standpoint, the "Theory of Screws" takes first place. Among other books he published are "Starland," "In Starry Realms," "In the High Heavens," "Time and Tide," "Atlas of Astronomy," "The Story of the Sun," "Great Astronomers," and "Spherical Astronomy."
He married, in 1868, Frances Elizabeth, daughter of W. E. Steele, Director of the Science and Art Museum in Dublin, and left several sons and daughters
ASTRONOMER AND LECTURER.
We regret to announce that Sir Robert Ball, the eminent astronomer, died at Cambridge yesterday evening. He had been in precarious health for some time past.
Robert Stawell Ball was born in Dublin on July 1, 1840, the son of Dr. Robert Ball, the well-known naturalist. He was educated at Abbott's Grange, Chester, and at Trinity College, Dublin. In 1865, he was appointed assistant astronomer to Lord Rosse, and his duties were to observe nebulae with what is still the largest telescope in the world -- 60 feet long with a mirror 6 feet in diameter. The death of Lord Rosse in October 1867 terminated this appointment after only two years, but the young astronomer had discovered four new spiral nebulae, which were then noteworthy additions to our knowledge of the heavens But what impressed him far more deeply than this personal success was the magnificent display of Leonid meteors, which he was fortunate enough to witness on November 13, 1866. It was an impressive introduction to astronomy, well calculated to awaken that enthusiasm for the wonders of the heavens, which was afterwards so conspicuous a feature of the lectures he was to give and the books he was to write.
DISTANCE OF THE STARS
But a professorship of mathematics at Dublin called his attention elsewhere for some years, until in 1874 he was appointed Royal Astronomer of Ireland and took up his abode at the beautifully situated observatory at Dunsink. His predecessor, Dr. Brünnow, had devoted himself to the great problem of measuring the distances of some of the stars. Brünnow took up the problem where Brünnow had left it; but he was not satisfied that the very nearest stars had been recognized as such, and he set himself to cast his net wide in the hope of finding some nearer than those already known He made lists of likely neighbours, his first containing 40 and his next 368; and all of these he examined with the greatest care at intervals of six months. It is not easy to give an adequate idea of the enormous labour involved; but even more remarkable than the labour was the courage and patience required to proceed with such close work when the results were mainly negative. There was, of course, always the chance of finding a treasure, but practically nothing was found, and the only insting satisfaction to be derived from the years of work was that our knowledge had been definitely advanced, though not in the direction hoped. Subsequent workers with better apparatus have confirmed Ball's conclusion that even the nearest stars are very far away.
THE THEORY OF SCREWS.
Meanwhile, he was acquiring reputation in other fields His work on the "Theory of Screws" gave him high rank as a mathematician. This term is likely to convey to the lay mind any impression but the right one. It really represents a study of the general movement of a rigid body, which most people would be content to leave to mathematicians. It was characteristic of Sir Robert Dale that he not only attacked and conquered the abstruse difficulties of the problem in a dozen elaborate memoirs, but had the courage to attempt a popular explanation of his work and the skill to make the attempt a great success. At the meeting of the British Association in Manchester in 1887, he named his presidential address to Section A, "A Dynamical Parable." He constituted a hypothetical committee to deal with "a rigid body which should lie peacefully at rest." There were Mr. Harmonic, Mr. One-to-One, Mr. Helix, Mr. Cartesian, Mr. Commonsense, and Mr. Querulous. The usual procedure was to call in the first instance on Mr. Cartesian. who erected his old-fashioned seaffolding of Cartesian coordinates, only to find it hopelessly cumbrous. Then Mr. Helix would produce a "screw" or a "wrench"; or Mr. Harmonic or Mr. One-to-One would announce some recent geometrical discovery, with the happy result that simplicity appeared in place of confusion. Mr. Querulous, who played the part of "devil's advocate" throughout the greater part of the proceedings, was finally so completely converted as to burst into an eloquent peroration proposing to replace our customary "flat infinity" with an "ample quadric": from which it will be seen that Sir Robert did not shirk technical terms where recessary, though he dressed them so attractively that the attention of his hearers never slackened for a moment,
AS A LECTURER,
His powers of holding an audience were indeed remarkable, and no less an authority than Major Pond, the great American lecture-manager, placed him first of those he had known in this particular respect. His "children's lectures" at the Royal Institution were among the most successful ever given. However abstruse the point, he would take pains to find some illustration that would bring it home to his audience. It was the same with his professorial as with his popular lectures: the qualities of enthusiasm and humour were always in evidence, and whether he dealt with planetary theory, with the combination of observations and their errors, or with the geometry of dynamics, he made his pupils feel that the subject demanded enthusiastic admiration.
WORK AT CAMBRIDGE
In 1892, he was appointed to succeed Professor Adams as Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry and Director of the Cambridge Observatory and took an active part in the affairs of the University of Cambridge. During his directorship of the observatory, its activity greatly increased. Soon after his appointment, he was responsible for the erection of the Sheepshanks telescope from accumulations in the fund left for the benefit of the observatory by the late Miss Anne Sheepshanks. This instrument, designed by Sir Howard Grubb, was intended especially for work on stellar parallax, in which Sir Robert Ball had done much at Dunsink; and under his direction, it did good work in determining the distances of the stars and the sun. All those who had the pleasure of serving under him in the observatory will long remember him as a delightful chief, who gave them liberty to develop their work along lines of generous freedom and obtained for them all possible support. For many years, Sir Robert Ball was on the Council of the Royal Astronomical Society, serving as its president in 1897–99, and he was a member of the Council of the Royal Society in 1897–98. He received a knighthood in 1886. From 1884 he held the important position of Scientific Adviser to the Commissioners of Irish Lights. His best-known book is probably his "Story of the Heavens," which first appeared in 1885; but from a scientific standpoint, the "Theory of Screws" takes first place. Among other books he published are "Starland," "In Starry Realms," "In the High Heavens," "Time and Tide," "Atlas of Astronomy," "The Story of the Sun," "Great Astronomers," and "Spherical Astronomy."
He married, in 1868, Frances Elizabeth, daughter of W. E. Steele, Director of the Science and Art Museum in Dublin, and left several sons and daughters
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