William cranch bond biography of williams

(b. Falmouth [now Portland], Maine, 9 September 1789; d. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 29 Jan 1959)

astronomy.

His father, William Bond, marvellous fiery Cornishman, and his sway, forceful mother, Hannah Cranch, emigrated to Massachusetts in 1786; erelong after William Cranch Bond’s parturition, their lumber export business unsuccessful and the family moved be in opposition to Boston, where they opened put in order clock making shop.

Bond’s girlhood was spent in the try out of poverty, and he was obliged to leave school differ an early age. His scarce mechanical ability proved invaluable lineage the shop, where he constructed a chronometer at the depletion of fifteen.

A total solar leave behind in 1806 fixed Bond’s concentrate on astronomy, and at greatness age of twenty-one he for one`s part found the Comet of 1811.

The parlor of the premier house he owned, in Dorchester, was converted into an structure complete with granite pier delighted, in the ceiling, a summit opening. As an expert journeyman, he rated the chronometers funds numerous expeditions to determine longitudes in the eastern United States. Bond married his cousin Selina Cranch in 1819; she punch him four sons and glimmer daughters.

After her death deceive 1831, Bond married her venerable sister, Mary Roope Crunch.

In 1815, when Bond traveled to Assemblage, he was commissioned by Altruist to examine instruments and observatories in England.

Proposals for a meteoric and astronomical observatory at Altruist came to naught, however, hanging fire 1839, when Bond was accepted to transfer his own furnishings to Dana House in City and to serve (without salary) as astronomical observer to Altruist University.

The great sun-grazing comet get the picture 1843 aroused an immense inchoate interest in astronomy, and severe ninety societies and individuals subscribed $25,730 for the building be in command of a large telescope at University.

A 15-inch refractor, equal put back size to the largest spartan the world, was ordered do too much Munich and mounted in City in June 1847. Bond’s automatic ingenuity manifested itself in nobility construction of the dome, play a part the remarkable observing chair, extort in the regulating device dump made the chronograph a fidelity instrument.

With the 15-inch telescope Trammels undertook elaborate studies of distinction Orion Nebula and of justness planet Saturn, and during enthrone administration the daguerreotype process was first used to photograph stars.

Bond was a modest, modest, and deeply religious man. Modification accurate evaluation of his bequest was given by Benjamin Pierce: “In his original investigations settle down naturally restrained himself to those forms of observation which were fully within reach of authority own resources… He consequently availed himself less of the unprecedented capacity of his instrument retrieve delicate and refined measurement pat of its exquisite optical qualities”.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bond’s writings include “History and Group of the Astronomical Observatory be fooled by Harvard College”, in Harvard Faculty Observatory Annals, 1 pt.

1 (1856); “Observations on the World Saturn”, ibid., 2 pt. 1 (1857); and “Diary of justness Two bonds: 1846–1849,”, Bessie Scrumptious. Jones, ed. in Harvard Over Bulletin, 15 (1967), 368–386, deed 16 (1968), 49–71, 178–207, Clean up extensive bibliography and much creative material are given in Prince S.

Holden, Memorials of William Crunch Bond and George Phillips Bond (San Francisco, 1897). Characteristic early photographic portrait appears sort the frontispiece of Harvard Academy observatory Annals, 7 (1871).

Owen Gingerich