sub-fonds GB 0117 MS/242 - Young, Thomas ( 1730 -1783): letters to

Identity area

Reference code

GB 0117 MS/242

Title

Young, Thomas ( 1730 -1783): letters to

Date(s)

  • 1847 (Creation)

Level of description

sub-fonds

Extent and medium

1 volume, 52 items

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Thomas Young was born, 1773; Made pioneering contribution to the understanding of light by demonstrating interference patterns, known as 'Young's fringes' (1800) which led to the Young-Fresnel undulatory theory. He also formulated an important measure of elasticity, known as 'Young's Modulus'. First to explain the accommodation of the eye; discovered the phemomenon of astigmatism; and proposed the three colour theory of vision which was later known as the Young-Hemholz theory, and was finally confirmed experimentally in 1959. Appointed to a professorship of natural philosphy at the Royal Institution (1801). His lectures at Royal Institution (1802-1803) were described by Joseph Larmor as "the greatest and most original of all general lecture courses". Undertook seminal work on the Rosetta Stone, deciphering the second type of Egyptian script on the stone, known as demotic, though the credit for finally reading the hieroglyphs belongs to Jean-Francois Champollion. A major scholar in ancient Greek, and a phenomenal linguist who coined the term 'Indo-European' for the language family which includes Greek and Sanscrit. Also a distinguished physician at St. George's Hospital, adviser to the Admiralty on shipbuilding, secretary of the Board of Longitude, and superintendent of the vital 'Nautical Almanac' from 1818 to 1829. Contributed many entries to the 'Encyclopaedia Britannica' (1816-1825). Physician to and inspector of calculations for the Palladian Insurance Company (1824-1829).

Repository

Archival history

GB 0117 MS/242 1847 Sub-fonds 1 volume, 52 items Arago , François Jean Dominique , 1786-1853 , mathematician, physicist, astronomer and politician

Biot , Jean-Baptiste , 1774-1862 , scientist

Bessel , Friedrich Wilhelm , 1784-1846 , Prussian astronomer

Berzelius , Friherre Jöns Jacob , 1779-1848 , Swedish chemist

Thomas Young was born, 1773; Made pioneering contribution to the understanding of light by demonstrating interference patterns, known as 'Young's fringes' (1800) which led to the Young-Fresnel undulatory theory. He also formulated an important measure of elasticity, known as 'Young's Modulus'. First to explain the accommodation of the eye; discovered the phemomenon of astigmatism; and proposed the three colour theory of vision which was later known as the Young-Hemholz theory, and was finally confirmed experimentally in 1959. Appointed to a professorship of natural philosphy at the Royal Institution (1801). His lectures at Royal Institution (1802-1803) were described by Joseph Larmor as "the greatest and most original of all general lecture courses". Undertook seminal work on the Rosetta Stone, deciphering the second type of Egyptian script on the stone, known as demotic, though the credit for finally reading the hieroglyphs belongs to Jean-Francois Champollion. A major scholar in ancient Greek, and a phenomenal linguist who coined the term 'Indo-European' for the language family which includes Greek and Sanscrit. Also a distinguished physician at St. George's Hospital, adviser to the Admiralty on shipbuilding, secretary of the Board of Longitude, and superintendent of the vital 'Nautical Almanac' from 1818 to 1829. Contributed many entries to the 'Encyclopaedia Britannica' (1816-1825). Physician to and inspector of calculations for the Palladian Insurance Company (1824-1829).

Letters to Thomas Young from Messrs Arago, Biot, Bessel and Bergelius.

Open.

No publication without written permission. Apply to Archivist in the first instance.

English

Table of contents at front of volume; catalogued in archive card catalogue.

Copied from the Royal Society catalogue by Sarah Drewery.

General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal Place and Corporate Names 1997.

Feb 2009. Biot , Jean-Baptiste , 1774-1862 , scientist Young , Thomas , 1730-1783 , Professor of Midwifery Bessel , Friedrich Wilhelm , 1784-1846 , Prussian astronomer Berzelius , Friherre Jöns Jacob , 1779-1848 , Swedish chemist Arago , François Jean Dominique , 1786-1853 , mathematician, physicist, astronomer and politician

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Letters to Thomas Young from Messrs Arago, Biot, Bessel and Bergelius.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Open.

Conditions governing reproduction

No publication without written permission. Apply to Archivist in the first instance.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

English

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Table of contents at front of volume; catalogued in archive card catalogue.

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

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Publication note

Notes area

Note

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Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Royal Society

Rules and/or conventions used

General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal Place and Corporate Names 1997.

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area