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John Henry Pratt
John Henry Pratt FRS (4 June 1809 – 28 December 1871) was a British clergyman, astronomer and mathematician. A Cambridge Apostle, he joined the British East India Company in 1838 as a chaplain and later became Archdeacon of Calcutta. Although nominated as Bishop of Calcutta, the decision was rescinded at the last moment with George Cotton being appointed to the position. A gifted mathematician who worked on problems of geodesy and earth science, he was approached by the Surveyor General of India to examine the errors in surveys resulting from the attraction of the plumb-line to the mass of the Himalayan mountains. This led him to develop a theory based on a fluid earth of crustal balance which became the basis for the isostasy principle. He died in India of cholera while on a visit to Ghazipur. Biography Pratt was the second son of Josiah Pratt and Elizabeth née Jowett. His exact date of birth is debated and it is thought that he was born in London as he was baptised on 30 Ju ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Henry Pratt
John Henry Pratt FRS (4 June 1809 – 28 December 1871) was a British clergyman, astronomer and mathematician. A Cambridge Apostle, he joined the British East India Company in 1838 as a chaplain and later became Archdeacon of Calcutta. Although nominated as Bishop of Calcutta, the decision was rescinded at the last moment with George Cotton being appointed to the position. A gifted mathematician who worked on problems of geodesy and earth science, he was approached by the Surveyor General of India to examine the errors in surveys resulting from the attraction of the plumb-line to the mass of the Himalayan mountains. This led him to develop a theory based on a fluid earth of crustal balance which became the basis for the isostasy principle. He died in India of cholera while on a visit to Ghazipur. Biography Pratt was the second son of Josiah Pratt and Elizabeth née Jowett. His exact date of birth is debated and it is thought that he was born in London as he was baptised on 30 Ju ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia), and later with East Asia. The company seized control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent, colonised parts of Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. At its peak, the company was the largest corporation in the world. The EIC had its own armed forces in the form of the company's three Presidency armies, totalling about 260,000 soldiers, twice the size of the British army at the time. The operations of the company had a profound effect on the global balance of trade, almost single-handedly reversing the trend of eastward drain of Western bullion, seen since Roman times. Originally chartered as the "Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East-Indies", the company rose to account for half of the world's trade du ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Biddell Airy
Sir George Biddell Airy (; 27 July 18012 January 1892) was an English mathematician and astronomer, and the seventh Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881. His many achievements include work on planetary orbits, measuring the mean density of the Earth, a method of solution of two-dimensional problems in solid mechanics and, in his role as Astronomer Royal, establishing Greenwich as the location of the prime meridian. Biography Airy was born at Alnwick, one of a long line of Airys who traced their descent back to a family of the same name residing at Kentmere, in Westmorland, in the 14th century. The branch to which he belonged, having suffered in the English Civil War, moved to Lincolnshire and became farmers. Airy was educated first at elementary schools in Hereford, and afterwards at Colchester Royal Grammar School. An introverted child, Airy gained popularity with his schoolmates through his great skill in the construction of peashooters. From the age of 13, Airy stayed frequ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schiehallion
Schiehallion (; gd, Sìth Chailleann, ) is a prominent cone-shaped mountain in the Breadalbane region of the Scottish Highlands, in the county of Perthshire. It rises to and is classed as a Munro. Schiehallion has a rich botanical life, interesting archaeology, and a unique place in scientific history for an 18th-century experiment in " weighing the Earth". It is near the centre of mainland Scotland. The mountain's popularity amongst walkers led to erosion on its footpath and extensive repairs were undertaken in 2001. Name The name ''Schiehallion'' comes from Scottish Gaelic ''Sìth Chailleann'', meaning " fairy hill of Caledonia" or "-of the Caledonians". Maskelyne (1772), however, reported a translation of "constant storm", and a Lowland Scots name of "Maiden Pap". Location Schiehallion lies between Loch Tay, Loch Rannoch and Loch Tummel, about to the west-north-west of Aberfeldy in Perthshire. The mountain, with an elevation of , is isolated from other peaks and h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Trigonometrical Survey
The Great Trigonometrical Survey was a project that aimed to survey the entire Indian subcontinent with scientific precision. It was begun in 1802 by the British infantry officer William Lambton, under the auspices of the East India Company.Gill, B. (2001); "THE BIG MAN. Surveying Sir George Everest", in: ''Professional Surveyor Magazine'', Vol. 21 Nr 2. Retrieveonline 8 March 2016. Under the leadership of his successor, George Everest, the project was made the responsibility of the Survey of India. Everest was succeeded by Andrew Scott Waugh, and after 1861, the project was led by James Walker, who oversaw its completion in 1871. Among the many accomplishments of the Survey were the demarcation of the British territories in India and the measurement of the height of the Himalayan giants: Everest, K2, and Kanchenjunga. The Survey had an enormous scientific impact as well, being responsible for one of the first accurate measurements of a section of an arc of longitude, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Everest
Colonel Sir George Everest CB FRS FRAS FRGS (; 4 July 1790 – 1 December 1866) was a British surveyor and geographer who served as Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843. After receiving a military education in Marlow, Everest joined the East India Company and arrived in India at the age of 16. He was eventually made an assistant to William Lambton on the Great Trigonometric Survey, and replaced Lambton as superintendent of the survey in 1823. Everest was largely responsible for surveying the meridian arc from the southernmost point of India north to Nepal, a distance of about , a task that took from 1806 to 1841 to complete. He was made Surveyor General of India in 1830, retiring in 1843 and returning to England. In 1865, the Royal Geographical Society renamed Peak XV – at the time only recently identified as the world's highest peak – to Mount Everest in his honour. Andrew Scott Waugh, his protégé and successor as surveyor general, had been responsible for put ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrew Scott Waugh
Major General Sir Andrew Scott Waugh (3 February 1810 – 21 February 1878) was a British army officer and Surveyor General of India who worked in the Great Trigonometrical Survey. He served under Sir George Everest and succeeded him in 1843. Waugh established a gridiron system of traverses for covering northern India. Waugh is credited with naming the peak of Mount Everest. Early life Waugh was the first son of General Gilbert Waugh who served as military auditor-general in Madras. After studying at Edinburgh he joined Addiscombe Military Seminary in 1827 and was commissioned with the Bengal Engineers on 13 December of the same year. He trained at Chatham where he studied under Sir Charles Pasley before reaching India in May 1829. He assisted Captain Hutchinson in establishing a foundry at Kashipur and became an adjutant of the Bengal sappers and miners on 13 April 1831. In 1832 he was posted to the Great Trigonometrical Survey under George Everest. Waugh surveyed many parts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isaac Todhunter
Isaac Todhunter FRS (23 November 1820 – 1 March 1884), was an English mathematician who is best known today for the books he wrote on mathematics and its history. Life and work The son of George Todhunter, a Nonconformist minister, and Mary née Hume, he was born at Rye, Sussex. He was educated at Hastings, where his mother had opened a school after the death of his father in 1826. He became an assistant master at a school at Peckham, attending at the same time evening classes at the University College, London where he was influenced by Augustus De Morgan. In 1842 he obtained a mathematical scholarship and graduated as B.A. at London University, where he was awarded the gold medal on the M.A. examination. About this time he became mathematical master at a school at Wimbledon. In 1844 Todhunter entered St John's College, Cambridge, where he was senior wrangler in 1848, and gained the first Smith's Prize and the Burney Prize; and in 1849 he was elected to a fellows ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geodetic
Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equivalent measurements for other planets (known as '' planetary geodesy''). Geodynamical phenomena, including crustal motion, tides and polar motion, can be studied by designing global and national control networks, applying space geodesy and terrestrial geodetic techniques and relying on datums and coordinate systems. The job title is geodesist or geodetic surveyor. History Definition The word geodesy comes from the Ancient Greek word ''geodaisia'' (literally, "division of Earth"). It is primarily concerned with positioning within the temporally varying gravitational field. Geodesy in the German-speaking world is divided into "higher geodesy" ( or ), which is concerned with measuring Earth on the global scale, and "practical geodes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newton's Law Of Universal Gravitation
Newton's law of universal gravitation is usually stated as that every particle attracts every other particle in the universe with a force that is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers.It was shown separately that separated spherically symmetrical masses attract and are attracted as if all their mass were concentrated at their centers. The publication of the law has become known as the " first great unification", as it marked the unification of the previously described phenomena of gravity on Earth with known astronomical behaviors. This is a general physical law derived from empirical observations by what Isaac Newton called inductive reasoning. It is a part of classical mechanics and was formulated in Newton's work '' Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica'' ("the ''Principia''"), first published on 5 July 1687. When Newton presented Book 1 of the unpublished text in April 1686 to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Milman
Robert Milman (25 January 1816 – 15 February 1876) was an Anglican bishop in the second half of the 19th century. He was born at Easton in Gordano, Somerset the third son of Sir William George Milman, 2nd Baronet, of Levaton in Devonshire and was educated as a day-scholar at Westminster School. He entered Exeter College, Oxford where he graduated B.A. in 1838, and M.A and D.D. in 1867. In 1839 he was ordained in the Anglican ministry as a deacon to the curacy of Winwick, Northamptonshire, and in 1840 was presented a priest in 1840 to the vicarage of Chaddleworth, Berkshire, by the dean and chapter of Westminster, on the nomination of his uncle, then canon of Westminster. There he had daily service and wrote a ''Life of Tasso'' and some smaller books. In 1851 he exchanged Chaddleworth for the larger living of Lambourn, also in Berkshire. He served as the vicar of Lambourn, Berkshire from 1851 to 1862 and then as vicar of Great Marlow, Berkshire from 1862 to 1867. He was appoi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colesworthey Grant
Colesworthey Grant (sometimes spelt Colesworthy; 25 October 1813 – 31 May 1880) was an English artist, writer and pioneer activist against cruelty to animals in India. Teaching himself art and sketching, he produced numerous portraits of many early East India Company servants of influence in Calcutta which were published in the local periodicals of the time. He later became a professor of drawing. He founded the "Calcutta Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals" in 1861 after seeing the sorry conditions especially of draught animals on the streets of Calcutta. Biography Grant was born in London to a Scottish father who manufactured mathematical instruments and a mother of Welsh ancestry. He arrived in India at the age of nineteen and joined his brother George who was a clock and watch-maker in Calcutta. Colesworthey was injured in the spine from a fall during one of his exercise sessions and could not walk straight after that. He took an interest in sketching and beg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
