Abstract
THE distinguished astronomer, whose name stands at the head of this notice, and whose loss will be regretted in many scientific circles, played a very prominent part in the history of astronomy during the last forty years. Although he took an active, and often a foremost, place in all the astronomical problems that have aroused, attention during this period, he was more conspicuously attached to the astronomy of position, and it was by his devotion to meridian observations that his reputation was mainly won. The early training which he received under Airy, at Greenwich, whither he went on leaving Cambridge in 1860, contributed to this choice. At that time the results obtainable by photography and spectroscopy were quite undeveloped, and the lines on which the Greenwich Observatory then worked were such as to ensure a devotion to accuracy, and the appreciation of the value of star catalogues. All who have since had occasion to use the star places which Mr. Stone published, whether from the Cape, or from the Radcliffe Observatory, have reason to be grateful for that training, which, resulting in his adherence to the methods that he early acquired, led to the production of such admirable work.
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P., W. Edward James Stone, F.R.S. Nature 56, 57–58 (1897). https://doi.org/10.1038/056057a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/056057a0