The full content of this document is only available to subscribing institutions. More information can be found via www.amdigital.co.uk
If you believe you should have access to this document, click here to Login.
Field name | Value |
---|---|
Collection Reference Number | GLC05974 |
From Archive Folder | Documents Relating to 1777 |
Title | David Rittenhouse to John Page regarding a solar eclipse |
Date | 18 August 1777 |
Author | Rittenhouse, David (1732-1796) |
Recipient | Page, John |
Document Type | Correspondence |
Content Description | Written by Rittenhouse, a well-known astronomer and instrument maker, as Pennsylvania state treasurer to Page as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. References Page's letter of 25 March 1777. Thanks him sending his observations on the eclipse of the sun and the transit of Mercury. Says he is going to do a write up of the eclipse and needs Williamsburg, Virginia's (where Page wrote from) true longitude. Says next eclipse of the sun in June will be total. Discusses in detail the angle of observation for an eclipse and the path of Venus. Says he will send something to Page for publication since "our Society" - the American Philosophical Society - has discontinued meetings because of disputes between Tories and Whigs. |
Subjects | Space Science and Technology Politics Revolutionary War Loyalist |
People | Rittenhouse, David (1732-1796) Page, John (1744-1808) |
Place written | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Theme | Science, Technology, Invention |
Sub-collection | The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1493-1859 |
Additional Information | Rittenhouse, a clockmaker by trade, developed great skill in the making of mathematical instruments. He was called upon to determine, with his own instruments, the boundary lines of several states and also part of the boundary known as the Mason-Dixon Line. In 1769 he was asked by the American Philosophical Society to observe the transit of Venus. His contributions include the use of measured grating intervals and spider threads on the focus of the telescope. Active in public affairs, he was a member of the convention that framed Pennsylvania's constitution and was state treasurer (1777–89) and director of the U.S. mint (1792–95). After the Revolution he was an Anti-Federalist. He succeeded Benjamin Franklin as president (1791–96) of the American Philosophical Society |
Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
Module | Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859 |