Herschel

SIR WILLIAM, (hür's hel,) a celebrated astronomer, B. in Hanover in 1738. In 1759 he settled in England, of which country he became a naturalized citizen. After obtaining considerable reputation as a profe or of music, H. determined to devote his life to the study of the sidereal universe. In 1781 he discovered the planet named by him the Georgium Sidus, now known as Uranus; and found his labors rewarded with a pension of $2,000 a year, and the gold medal of the Royal Society, which elected him to a fellowship. He next discovered two new satellites of Saturn and six ofUranus; measured the rotation of Saturn, and made observations upon the volcanic structure and phenomenal surrounding of that planet's ring. In 1803 he initiated a new æra in astronomy by demonstrating the motion of the double stars around each other: - thus establishing the universality of the influence of that attractive force which forms the bond of cohesion of the entire system. D. 1822.-His son, SIR JOHN FREDERICK WILLIAM, B. near Windsor, 1790, during a lifetime pa ed in scientific pursuits, devoted himself especially to astronomical research and mathematical analysis. In 1834 he pa ed 4 years in S. Africa, where he had erected an observatory, in surveying the heavens, and published their results in a work, A Telescopic Survey of the Whole Surface of the Visible Heavens (1847), which is deemed of high importance. His other best-known productions are a Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy; Outlines of Astronomy (6th ed., 1862); and a Manual of Scientific Enquiry (1849), published under governmental auspices. H. was created a baronet in 1838. D. May 11, 1871. [s. 453]