Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

BAILY, FRANCIS (1774-1844)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 221 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

BAILY, See also:FRANCIS (1774-1844) , See also:English astronomer, was See also:born at See also:Newbury in See also:Berkshire, on the 28th of See also:April 1774. After a tour in the unsettled parts of See also:North See also:America in 1796-1797, his See also:journal of which was edited by See also:Augustus de See also:Morgan in 1856, he entered the See also:London Stock See also:Exchange in 1799. The successive publication of Tables for the Purchasing and Renewing of Leases (18o2), of The See also:Doctrine of See also:Interest and Annuities (18o8), and The Doctrine of See also:Life-Annuities and Assurances (181o), earned him a high reputation as a writer on life-contingencies; he amassed a See also:fortune through See also:diligence and integrity and retired from business in 1825, to devote himself wholly to See also:astronomy. He had already, in 1820, taken a leading See also:part in the See also:foundation of the Royal Astronomical Society ; and its See also:gold See also:medal was awarded him, in 1827, for his preparation of the Astronomical Society's See also:Catalogue of 2881 stars (See also:Memoirs R. Astr. See also:Soc. ii.). The reform of the Nautical See also:Almanac in 1829 was set on See also:foot by his protests; he recommended to the See also:British Association in 1837, and in See also:great part executed, the reduction of See also:Joseph de See also:Lalande's and See also:Nicolas de See also:Lacaille's catalogues containing about 57,000 stars; he superintended the compilation of the British Association's Catalogue of 8377 stars (published 1845); and revised the catalogues of Tobias See also:Mayer, See also:Ptolemy, Ulugh Beg, Tycho See also:Brahe, See also:Edmund See also:Halley and See also:Hevelius (Memoirs R. Astr. Soc. iv., xiii.). His See also:notice of " Baily's Beads," during an See also:annular See also:eclipse of thesun on the 15th of May 1836, at See also:Inch See also:Bonney in See also:Roxburghshire, started the See also:modern See also:series of eclipse-expeditions. The phenomenon, which depends upon the inequalities of the See also:moon's See also:limb, was so vividly described by him as to attract an unprecedented amount of See also:attention to the totality of the 8th of See also:July 1842, observed by Baily himself at See also:Pavia. He completed and discussed H.

See also:

Foster's pendulum-experiments, deducing from them an See also:ellipticity for the See also:earth of 21q (Memoirs R. Astr. Soc. vii.); corrected for the length of the seconds-pendulum by introducing a neglected See also:element of reduction; and was entrusted, in 1843, with the reconstruction of the See also:standards of length. His laborious operations for determining the mean See also:density of the earth, carried on by See also:Henry See also:Cavendish's method (1838-1842), yielded for it the authoritative value of 5.66. He died in London, on the 3oth of See also:August 1844. Baily's See also:Account of the Rev. See also:John See also:Flamsteed (1835) is of fundamental importance to the scientific See also:history of that See also:time. It included a republication of the British Catalogue. See J. See also:Herschel's Memoir of F. Baily, Esq. (1845), also prefixed to Baily's Journal of a Tour, with a See also:list of his writings; See also:Month.

Not. R. Astr. Soc. xiv. 1844.

End of Article: BAILY, FRANCIS (1774-1844)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
BAILY, EDWARD HODGES (1788-1867) 		[next]
BAILY, WILLIAM HELLIER (1819-1888)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries