Background
William Harkness was born on December 17, 1837, at Ecclefechan, Scotland, the son of James and Jane (Weild) Harkness. His father was a Presbyterian clergyman and also a physician. The family came to New York in May 1839.
(Excerpt from Observations on Terrestrial Magnetism and on...)
Excerpt from Observations on Terrestrial Magnetism and on the Deviations of the Compasses of the United States Iron Clad Monadnock During Her Cruise From Philadelphia to San Francisco, in 1865 and 1866 The small unmounted magnetic needles were intended to be used for measuring the relative horizontal force on shore and at each of the compasses on board ship. For this purpose it was proposed to vibrate one of them on shore, and then taking it on board ship to the compass at which it was desired to measure the relative horizontal force, to remove the compass card from the centre-point, and putting the small needle in its place, vibrate it again. Unfortunately the small needles were not finished till just before we left Philadelphia, and there was no opportunity of trying them till after we were at sea, when, to my great regret, it was found that the jewels were so small that they would not fit on the centre-point of any compass on board, thus rendering them entirely useless. Under the circumstances, for horizontal force on board ship it was necessary to rely entirely upon measures made with the deflectors belonging to the Admiralty standard compasses - a method certainly not so convenient, and, owing to the constant swinging of the ship when at anchor, probably not so accurate as counting the vibrations of a small needle. The observations on terrestrial magnetism, and for latitude, time, and true bear ings, were all made by myself and recorded by Mr. Corrin F. Smith, who was cap tain's clerk on the Monadnock, and acted as my assistant when I was observing. My best thanks are due to him for the efficient manner in which he performed his duties, sometimes under circumstances of very considerable physical discomfort. The reductions and discussions in this report have been made by me, so that I am personally responsible, not only for the general plan of the work, but for every figure contained in it. All the results have been very carefully checked, and it is hoped no material error will be found in them; still, absolute accuracy is scarcely to be expected in any work involvin'g so many figures, the more especially as much of it has been done during moments snatched from other and more pressing professional duties. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ The Solar Parallax And Its Related Constants: Including The Figure And Density Of The Earth; Washington Observations For... Appendix Issues By The U.S. Naval Observatory; Washington Observations; United States. Naval Observations Washington Observations For 1885. Appendix III; Washington Observations For 1885; United States Naval Observatory William Harkness Govt. Print. Off., 1891 Science; Astronomy; Astronomy; Parallax; Science / Astronomy; Solar system
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(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
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William Harkness was born on December 17, 1837, at Ecclefechan, Scotland, the son of James and Jane (Weild) Harkness. His father was a Presbyterian clergyman and also a physician. The family came to New York in May 1839.
William attended the Chelsea Collegiate Institute and private schools in Fishkill Landing and Newburgh, New York; entered Lafayette College in 1854, and transferred to Rochester University in 1856, where he graduated with the degree of A. B. in 1858. He then studied medicine in the New York Homeopathic Medical College, graduating in 1862.
William Harkness was a newspaper reporter in the New York legislature in 1858 and in the Pennsylvania Senate in 1860; and during the Civil War served for brief intervals as volunteer surgeon.
Harkness was appointed aide in the United States Naval Observatory in 1862 and professor in 1863. During the cruise of the monitor Monadnock from Philadelphia to San Francisco, 1865-1866, he made a careful investigation of the deviations of the compasses and observations of terrestrial magnetism. After a brief service in the Hydrographic Office he returned to the Naval Observatory in 1867. During the total solar eclipse of August 7, 1869, he made his independent discovery of the coronal line K 1474 announced in Washington Observations (1870). In 1870 he observed the eclipse in Sicily.
In 1871, Harkness was appointed one of the original members of the Transit of Venus Commission and for many years thereafter was largely occupied with preparation for the observation of the transits of 1874 and 1882 and with the discussion of the results.
He was in charge of the expedition sent to Hobart, Tasmania, to observe the transit of 1874, and he observed that of 1882 at Washington.
Among his many publications “On the Color Correction of Achromatic Telescopes” should be especially mentioned. He accepted, in 1894, appointment as astronomical director at the Naval Observatory, an office created at that time on the insistence of astronomers outside Washington. This office, continued for a few years only, provided its incumbent with a maximum of responsibility and a minimum of power.
In 1897 Harkness was appointed director of the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac also. The labor entailed by these two positions was apparently too heavy for him, his health broke down completely, and after his retirement in 1899, with the rank of rear admiral, he found, to his great sorrow, that he was unable to take up some of the pieces of work that he had been obliged to postpone. His tastes inclined him to the practical side of astronomy. At the time of his death there was hardly a piece of apparatus in the Observatory which was not the work of his mind or which did not embody essential features which he had suggested. He died at Jersey City, New Jersey.
(Excerpt from Observations on Terrestrial Magnetism and on...)
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
Harkness was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a founding member of the Philosophical Society and the Cosmos Club.
Harkness was never married.