Sir William Herschel: His Life and Works

HIS LIFE AND WORKS

United States Naval Observatory, Washington
NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 743 and 745 Broadway 1881
Copyright, 1880, By CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS.
PRESS OF J. J. LITTLE & CO., NOS. 10 TO 20 ASTOR PLACE, NEW YORK.

PREFACE.
In the following account of the life and works of Sir William Herschel, I have been obliged to depend strictly upon data already in print—the Memoir of his sister, his own scientific writings and the memoirs and diaries of his cotemporaries. The review of his published works will, I trust, be of use. It is based upon a careful study of all his papers in the Philosophical Transactions and elsewhere.
A life of Herschel which shall be satisfactory in every particular can only be written after a full examination of the materials which are preserved at the family seat in England; but as two generations have passed since his death, and as no biography yet exists which approaches to completeness, no apology seems to me to be needed for a conscientious attempt to make the best use of the scanty material which we do possess.