Sir Edward Sabine ( ; 14 October 1788 – 26 June 1883) was an Irish astronomer,
geophysicist
Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...
,
ornithologist
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
, explorer, soldier and the 30th
president of the Royal Society
The president of the Royal Society (PRS) is the elected Head of the Royal Society of London who presides over meetings of the society's council.
After informal meetings at Gresham College, the Royal Society was officially founded on 28 November ...
.
He led the effort to establish a system of magnetic observatories in various parts of British territory all over the globe. Much of his life was devoted to their direction, and to analyzing their observations.
Other research focused on the birds of
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
, ocean temperatures, the
Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Current, North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida a ...
, barometric measurement of heights,
arc of the meridian
In geodesy and navigation, a meridian arc is the curve between two points on the Earth's surface having the same longitude. The term may refer either to a segment of the meridian, or to its length.
The purpose of measuring meridian arcs is to ...
, glacial transport of rocks, the volcanoes of the
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...
, and various points of meteorology.
Early life
Edward Sabine was born in Dublin to Joseph Sabine, a member of a prominent Anglo-Irish family who was visiting his Irish relatives at the time of his son's birth. The family connections with Ireland can be traced back to the 17th century. His mother, Sarah Hunt, died when he was just one month old. He was the couple's fifth son and ninth child.
One of his older brothers was naturalist
Joseph Sabine
Joseph Sabine FRS ( ; 6 June 1770 – 24 January 1837) was an English lawyer, naturalist and writer on horticulture.
Life and work
Sabine was born into a prominent Anglo-Irish family in Tewin, Hertfordshire, the eldest son of Joseph Sabine ...
. His father returned to their home of
Tewin
Tewin is an English village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England between the towns of Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage, Welwyn (village) and the county town Hertford, it is within commuting distance of London. Tewin Wood is a very affluent re ...
in
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
soon after his birth.
He was educated at
Marlow and at the
Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...
. In 1803, at age 15, he obtained a commission in the
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
as a second lieutenant, becoming a
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
ten years later and eventually attaining the rank of general in 1870.
Sabine was stationed in
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
during the
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...
, but it was in the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
that he had his first taste of combat. On 24 June 1813, while traveling to Canada, the English
packet ship
Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed for domestic mail, passenger, and freight transportation in European countries and in North American rivers and canals, some of them steam driven. They were used extensively during the 18th and 19th ...
was attacked by an American
privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
.
In the ensuing battle Sabine, who was the Manchester's astronomer, reportedly handled a gun "to good effect". The ship was captured and after his release Sabine travelled from
Halifax to
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
. He was in charge of a small outpost and was involved in resisting the American advance on
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...
in the winter of 1813–1814.
Sabine continued to see action in the War of 1812, particularly in the
Niagara Campaign
The Niagara campaign occurred in 1814 and was the final campaign launched by the United States to invade Canada during the War of 1812. The campaign was launched to counter the British offensive in the Niagara region which had been initiated with t ...
in August and September 1814.
Under George
Gordon Drummond
General Sir Gordon Drummond, GCB (27 September 1772 – 10 October 1854) was a Canadian-born British Army officer and the first official to command the military and the civil government of Canada. As Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, Dr ...
he commanded the
batteries at the
Siege of Fort Erie
The siege of Fort Erie, also known as the Battle of Erie, from 4 August to 21 September 1814, was one of the last engagements of the War of 1812, between British and American forces. It took place during the Niagara campaign, and the Americans s ...
and was mentioned twice in dispatches. He returned to England and devoted the remainder of his long life to the more peaceful pursuits of astronomy, terrestrial magnetism and physical geography.
Scientific expeditions
Ross expedition
Sabine was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
in April 1818,
and it was thanks to the society's recommendations that he was invited to take part that year in Captain
John Ross's first Arctic expedition. As the expedition's appointed astronomer, Sabine was told to assist Ross "in making such observations as may tend to the improvement of geography and navigation, and the advancement of science in general".
Although the principal purpose of the voyage was to find the
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arct ...
, several objects of scientific curiosity were deemed worthy of investigation, such as the location of the Earth's north magnetic pole and the behaviour of pendulums in high latitudes which provided information on the shape of the earth. Sabine also made ornithological observations.
The expedition failed to discover the Northwest Passage and ended in controversy. When Ross found his progress through
Lancaster Sound
Lancaster Sound () is a body of water in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located between Devon Island and Baffin Island, forming the eastern entrance to the Parry Channel and the Northwest Passage. East of the sound lies Baffin Bay ...
blocked by sea ice, he turned around and headed back to Britain, much to the annoyance of the other members of the expedition. Both Sabine and Ross's second-in-command,
William Edward Parry
Sir William Edward Parry (19 December 1790 – 8 July 1855) was an Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for his 1819–1820 expedition through the Parry Channel, probably the most successful in the long quest for the Northwest Pass ...
, doubted the very existence of the so-called
Croker Mountains, which it seems only Ross saw. Objecting to Ross's precipitate retreat, Sabine later recalled his "very visible mortification at having come away from a place which I considered as the most interesting in the world for magnetic observations, and where my expectations had been raised to the highest pitch, without having had an opportunity of making them".
To make matters worse, a very public row broke out between the two men when they arrived home. Sabine objected when Ross claimed the credit for certain magnetic observations. He also accused Ross of stealing magnetic measurements without giving him due credit, and of refusing to allow him enough time on the expedition to take accurate readings. Sabine was later able to recover credit for them.
The results of Sabine's magnetic researches were published in the ''
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society. In its earliest days, it was a private venture of the Royal Society's secretary. It was established in 1665, making it the first journa ...
''. Although he viewed his work as confirming and extending the discoveries of earlier "magnetic collectors", he stressed the need for the multiplication and repetition of observations. Sabine was a diligent and careful scientist. He generally avoided theoretical discussion in his writings, believing that a true understanding of terrestrial magnetism would only be arrived at after exhaustive observations had been made on a global scale.
Parry expedition
The following year, in May 1819, both Edward and Joseph Sabine returned to the Arctic as members of Lieutenant
William Edward Parry's expedition in search of the Northwest Passage aboard the ''Hecla''. The Admiralty once again instructed the participants to gather such scientific data as "must prove most valuable and interesting to the science of our country." They were to pay particular attention to magnetic measurements, especially the possible interactions between magnetic needles, atmospheric electricity and the
aurora borealis
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of br ...
. They were also to attempt to establish the location of the Earth's North Magnetic Pole, then believed to lie somewhere along the western shore of
Baffin Bay
Baffin Bay ( Inuktitut: ''Saknirutiak Imanga''; kl, Avannaata Imaa; french: Baie de Baffin), located between Baffin Island and the west coast of Greenland, is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization as a marginal sea of the Arct ...
.
Like Ross, Parry did not find the passage, but he did set a new record for the "furthest west," which stood for several decades. In order to alleviate the tedium of the long Arctic winter, Sabine produced a weekly newspaper for the amusement of the crew. Known as the ''North Georgia Gazette and Winter Chronicle'', it ran for twenty-one issues.
Due to public demand, it was actually published on their return to Britain – much to Sabine's surprise.
During this expedition, which lasted until November 1820, Sabine noted that changes in magnetic intensity had taken place since his previous visit. He attributed such changes to either a fluctuation in the Earth's magnetic intensity or the shifting positions of the terrestrial magnetic poles. For his work in the Arctic, Sabine received the
Copley Medal
The Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society, for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science". It alternates between the physical sciences or mathematics and the biological sciences. Given every year, the medal is t ...
from the Royal Society in 1821.
Geodetic measurements
Sabine next turned his attention to
geodesy
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 equivale ...
, which had already engaged his attention during the first of his Arctic voyages, and in particular the determination of the length of the
seconds pendulum
A seconds pendulum is a pendulum whose period is precisely two seconds; one second for a swing in one direction and one second for the return swing, a frequency of 0.5 Hz.
Pendulum
A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that ...
. By measuring the length of a seconds pendulum in different latitudes, one can calculate the "
oblateness" of the Earth - i.e. the degree to which the "
figure of the Earth
Figure of the Earth is a Jargon, term of art in geodesy that refers to the size and shape used to model Earth. The size and shape it refers to depend on context, including the precision needed for the model. A Spherical Earth, sphere is a well-k ...
" departs from perfect sphericity. Attempts to do this had been made in the eighteenth century, but it was not until Sabine's lifetime that precision instruments were available to allow sufficiently accurate measurements to be made.
Sabine threw himself into the task with his usual diligence. Between 1821 and 1823 he travelled halfway around the world with his pendulums and carried out innumerable measurements at many different latitudes
including the intertropical coasts of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and the Americas. He also returned to the Arctic, journeying up the eastern coast of Greenland with Captain
Douglas Clavering
Captain Douglas Charles Clavering RN FRS (8 September 1794 – mid-1827) was an officer of the British Royal Navy and Arctic explorer.
Biography
Early life and career
Clavering was born at Holyrood House, the eldest son of Brigadier-General ...
on Parry's old ship the ''Griper''. Observations were made at
Little Pendulum Island
Little Pendulum Island ( da, Lille Pedulum Ø) is an island in Eastern Greenland, in the Northeast Greenland National Park.
History
The island was named by Douglas Charles Clavering’s 1823 expedition, during which the Irish scientist Edward S ...
, in latitude 74°30', and among the snows of
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norw ...
.
Sabine Island
Sabine Island ( ; da, Sabine Ø) is an island to the northeast of Wollaston Foreland, previously known as ''Inner Pendulum Island''. It is in the Northeast Greenland National Park area.
Geography
Sabine Island is long from Kap Neumayer in the ...
was named in his honour during this expedition.
The results of his research were published in 1825. They represented the most accurate assessment of the figure of the earth that had ever been made. Not content to rest on his laurels, Sabine conducted further pendulum experiments throughout the 1820s, determining the relative lengths of the second's pendulum in Paris, London, Greenwich, and
Altona.
Leave of absence
On 31 December 1827 he was promoted 1st captain. Between 1827 and 1829, the
Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...
granted Sabine general leave of absence from the army
on the understanding "that he was usefully employed in scientific pursuits". He acted as one of the secretaries of the Royal Society. In 1828 he was appointed a scientific adviser to the Admiralty, following the abolition of the Board of Longitude.
But his leave from the army did not last very long. Political agitation in Ireland necessitated an increased military presence in the country, and in 1830 Sabine was recalled to military duty. He remained in his native land for the next seven years, but he did not allow his new military duties to interrupt his scientific endeavours. He continued his pendulum investigations and in 1834 commenced a systematic magnetic survey of Ireland—the first of its kind in what was then the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. It was extended to
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
in 1836, and to England the following year.
Scientific advisor to the Admiralty
On the abolition of the Board of Longitude in 1828, it was arranged that three scientific advisers to the Admiralty should be nominated from the council of the Royal Society. Sabine,
Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...
, and
Thomas Young were chosen. Sabine's appointment was violently attacked by
Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer.
Babbage is considered ...
in a pamphlet entitled ''Reflections on the Decline of Science in England, and on Some of its Causes''. Sabine, however, refused to be drawn into the controversy.
Magnetic crusade
During the decades that the Royal Navy and Royal Society devoted much energy to magnetic variation and its problems, magnetism came to be seen as an eminently "British" science. There was intense interest in figuring out what many called "the great remaining physical mystery since
Newton
Newton most commonly refers to:
* Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist
* Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton
Newton may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film
* Newton ( ...
's work on
gravitation
In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stron ...
". By the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was widely recognized that the Earth's magnetic field was continually changing over time in a complicated way that interfered with compass readings. It was a mystery which some scientists believed might be associated with weather patterns.
To solve this mystery once and for all, a number of physicists recommended that a magnetic survey of the entire globe be carried out. Sabine was one of the instigators of this "Magnetic Crusade", urging the government to establish magnetic observatories throughout the empire. He also recruited many associates to the cause—most notably
James Clark Ross
Sir James Clark Ross (15 April 1800 – 3 April 1862) was a British Royal Navy officer and polar explorer known for his explorations of the Arctic, participating in two expeditions led by his uncle John Ross, and four led by William Edwa ...
, a nephew of Sir John's, the German explorer
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, p ...
, the Astronomer Royal
George 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 E ...
at
Greenwich Observatory
The Royal Observatory, Greenwich (ROG; known as the Old Royal Observatory from 1957 to 1998, when the working Royal Greenwich Observatory, RGO, temporarily moved south from Greenwich to Herstmonceux) is an observatory situated on a hill in G ...
, and
Francis Ronalds
Sir Francis Ronalds FRS (21 February 17888 August 1873) was an English scientist and inventor, and arguably the first electrical engineer. He was knighted for creating the first working electric telegraph over a substantial distance. In 1816 ...
, Honorary Director of the
Kew Observatory
The King's Observatory (called for many years the Kew Observatory) is a Grade I listed building in Richmond, London. Now a private dwelling, it formerly housed an astronomical and terrestrial magnetic observatory founded by King George III. T ...
.
A committee, of which Sabine was a prominent member, was established to work out the details. Suitable locations for the observatories were selected in both hemispheres and representations were made to dispatch an expedition to the
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...
to carry out a magnetic survey of the
Antarctic
The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...
. In the spring of 1839, the government approved the scheme. Observatories were to be established at Toronto,
St. Helena
Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constit ...
,
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
,
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
and at stations to be determined by the
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 Southea ...
, while other nations were invited to co-operate. Sabine was appointed to superintend the entire operation.
Most of these observatories were of limited size and were dismantled as soon as the initial survey was complete, but the one founded by Sabine at Toronto in 1840 is still in existence. Originally housed in a modest building at the newly established
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
, it was called the
Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory
The Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory is a historical observatory located on the grounds of the University of Toronto, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original building was constructed in 1840 as part of a worldwide research project ...
. It was the first scientific institution in the country.
The birthplace of Canadian astronomy was a simple log building held together with copper nails and brass fastenings. Non-magnetic materials were used to avoid the problem of "local attraction." A second room was built to house a
telescope
A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...
, which was used to make accurate time readings based on the movement of the Sun and stars. The modern stone observatory was erected in 1855.
In the early years, there was no way to take continuous readings: everything had to be done by hand. Thousands of painstaking observations were taken by the staff— sometimes as frequently as every five minutes. These observations were all carefully scrutinised by Sabine back in Britain. By 1846, photo-magnetographs had been developed by
Francis Ronalds
Sir Francis Ronalds FRS (21 February 17888 August 1873) was an English scientist and inventor, and arguably the first electrical engineer. He was knighted for creating the first working electric telegraph over a substantial distance. In 1816 ...
and Airy's associate
Charles Brooke to
continuously record the magnet's movements using the recent invention of photography. The new instruments were first installed at the Toronto Observatory in the later 1840s as well as at Kew and Greenwich.
In 1852, Sabine recognized from the Toronto records that magnetic variations could be divided into a regular diurnal cycle and an irregular portion. The irregularity correlated very closely with fluctuations in the number of
sunspot
Sunspots are phenomena on the Sun's photosphere that appear as temporary spots that are darker than the surrounding areas. They are regions of reduced surface temperature caused by concentrations of magnetic flux that inhibit convection. Sun ...
s, whose cyclic nature had been discovered in 1844 by the German amateur astronomer
Heinrich Schwabe
Samuel Heinrich Schwabe (25 October 1789 – 11 April 1875) a German astronomer remembered for his work on sunspots.
Schwabe was born at Dessau. At first an apothecary, he turned his attention to astronomy, and in 1826 commenced his observatio ...
. Sabine was the first to recognize that solar disturbances affected the Earth's magnetic environment. On 6 April 1852, he announced that the Sun's 11-year sunspot cycle was "absolutely identical" to the Earth's 11-year geomagnetic cycle.
The following year, Sabine also made a similar correlation with the Moon, establishing that that celestial body too had an influence on the Earth's magnetic field. He concluded that the Moon must have a significant magnetic field of its own to cause such an effect. But for once he was mistaken: the effect is actually the result of gravitational tides in the
ionosphere
The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays an ...
.
Throughout the 1840s and 1850s, Sabine continued to superintend the operation of magnetic observatories throughout the British Empire. The result was Sabine's magnum opus: as complete a magnetic survey of the globe as was then humanly possible.
Later life
Throughout his long life, Sabine received numerous decorations for his contributions to science. In 1849, the Royal Society awarded him one of its gold medals for his work on terrestrial magnetism. Sabine was president of the society from November 1861 until his resignation in November 1871. He was a member of the Royal Commission of 1868–1869, for standardizing
weights and measures
A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same kind of quantity. Any other quantity of that kind can be expressed as a multip ...
. Both Oxford and Cambridge bestowed honorary doctorates on him. He was a fellow of the
Linnean Society
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...
and the
Royal Astronomical Society
(Whatever shines should be observed)
, predecessor =
, successor =
, formation =
, founder =
, extinction =
, merger =
, merged =
, type = NGO ...
, and president of the
British Association for the Advancement of Science
The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...
.
In 1867, he was elected a foreign member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...
and a Foreign Honorary Member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
.
He became a
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...
in 1869.
He retired from the army on full pay in 1877, having been promoted full general on 7 February 1870. He had been a member of the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
since 1841.
In 1879, Sabine's wife,
Elizabeth Juliana Leeves Sabine
Elizabeth Juliana Leeves (1807 – 1879) was an English scientist who assisted her husband Sir Edward Sabine in his scientific work and translated important scientific works from German into English.
Life and work
Born at Seaford in Sussex and ...
whom he married in 1826,
died. An accomplished woman in her own right, she had assisted her husband in his scientific endeavours for more than half a century. Her four-volume translation of Alexander von Humboldt's monumental textbook of geophysics ''
Kosmos'', was published from 1849 to 1858. She was also responsible for the English translation of
Ferdinand von Wrangel's ''Narrative of an Expedition to the Polar Sea'', working from a German translation by
Georg von Engelhardt.
''Narrative of an Expedition to the Polar Sea''
Ferdinand von Wrangell, London (1840).
Sir Edward Sabine died aged 94 in East Sheen
East Sheen, also known as Sheen, is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
Its long high street has shops, offices, restaurants, cafés, pubs and suburban supermarkets and is also the economic hub for Mort ...
, Surrey, on 26 June 1883, and was buried in the family vault at Tewin
Tewin is an English village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England between the towns of Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage, Welwyn (village) and the county town Hertford, it is within commuting distance of London. Tewin Wood is a very affluent re ...
, Hertfordshire.
Namesake
Sabine is the namesake of Sabine's gull
Sabine's gull ( ) (''Xema sabini'') also known as the fork-tailed gull or xeme, is a small gull. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Xema''. It breeds in colonies on coasts and tundra, laying two or three spotted olive-brown eggs in a gr ...
, Sabine's puffback, and Sabine's spinetail
Sabine's spinetail ( ; ''Rhaphidura sabini'', sometimes spelled ''Raphidura sabini'') is a species of swift in the family Apodidae.
It is found in forests of Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic o ...
.
Geographical features named for Sabine include Sabine Land
Sabine Land ( ) is a land area on the east coast of Spitsbergen, Svalbard. It is named after explorer General Sir Edward Sabine. Among the glaciers in the area is the Nordmannsfonna Nordmannsfonna is a glacier in Sabine Land at Spitsbergen, ...
, the Sabine Islands, and Sabinebukta
Sabinebukta () is a bay at the northern side of Nordaustlandet, Svalbard. The bay is split into Vestre Sabinevågen and Austre Sabinevågen. The Sabine Islands are located in the outer part of the bay. The bay is named after Arctic explorer Edw ...
(all in Svalbard
Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...
), Mount Sabine
The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome.
The Sabines divide ...
among Antarctica's Admiralty Mountains
The Admiralty Mountains (alternatively Admiralty Range) is a large group of high mountains and individually named ranges and ridges in northeastern Victoria Land, Antarctica. This mountain group is bounded by the Ross Sea, the Southern Ocean, a ...
; Sabine Island
Sabine Island ( ; da, Sabine Ø) is an island to the northeast of Wollaston Foreland, previously known as ''Inner Pendulum Island''. It is in the Northeast Greenland National Park area.
Geography
Sabine Island is long from Kap Neumayer in the ...
on Greenland's east coast; and the lunar Sabine crater.
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
*
*
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabine, Edward
19th-century Anglo-Irish people
1788 births
1883 deaths
British Army generals
British Army personnel of the War of 1812
Explorers of the Arctic
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Fellows of the Linnean Society of London
Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fellows of the Royal Society
Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
Honorary Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Irish Arctic explorers
Irish astronomers
Irish people of Italian descent
Irish zoologists
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
Magneticians
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Scientists from Dublin (city)
Presidents of the Royal Society
Recipients of the Copley Medal
Recipients of the Lalande Prize
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Royal Artillery officers
Royal Medal winners
War of 1812 prisoners of war held by the United States
Military personnel from Dublin (city)
Presidents of the British Science Association