Abstract
THE report of the council of the Royal Astronomical Society read at the eighteenth annual general meeting contained an appreciation of the services rendered by Dr. John Louis Tiarks, who died on May 1, 1837, at Jever, Germany, his native town. Born in May, 1789, Tiarks had been educated at the University of Gottingen and in 1810 came to England, and was given a post in the library of Sir Joseph Banks. His knowledge of mathematics and astronomy led to his being appointed British astronomer to the commission appointed under the Treaty of Ghent of 1814 to settle the American Boundary Line, the United States at the same time appointing Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler (1770-1843) as their representative. The survey of contested points was carried out, but certain matters were referred to the King of the Netherlands for decision. His views, however, did not prove acceptable to the United States, and even in 1838 an extent of 10,000 square miles remained disputed territory. On his return to England, Tiarks was entrusted by the Admiralty with several important scientific missions. In 1822 he determined the position of Funchal by means of fifteen chronometers sent from Greenwich to Madeira. He afterwards made observations at Dover, Falmouth and Portsmouth, bringing to light errors in the trigonometrical survey. In 1825 he made other observations in the North Sea in H.M. Steam Vessel Comet, on which occasion Sir Humphry Davy accompanied him in order to make observations on the compass. He left Great Britain in March 1835, and in the spring of 1836 was struck down by paralysis from which he never recovered.
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Dr. John Louis Tiarks, F.R.S. (1789–1837). Nature 139, 746 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/139746b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/139746b0