BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 



writings he tells of an eclipse which occurred 

 in 585 B.C. (modern astronomers reckon the 

 exact date to be May 25th), which had been 

 foretold by Thales. This is the first recorded in- 

 stance of a predicted eclipse. 



Herophilus, i, 194. Lived about 300 B.C. 

 Greek anatomist and physician. With Erasis- 

 tratus, the earliest scientific investigator of the 

 mechanism of the human body. Discovered that 

 the nerve trunks have their origin in the brain 

 and spinal cord, and are of two different kinds, 

 motor and sensory. Also made fairly accurate 

 study of the anatomy of the eye. 



Herschel, Sir John, iii, 58; iv, in. Born near 

 Windsor, March 7, 1792; died at Collingwood, 

 Kent, May II, 1871. English astronomer; son 

 of Sir William Herschel. Made important ob- 

 servations of double stars. In 2,299 telescopic 

 fields he counted 68,948 stars. In his studies of 

 the milky way he estimated that the stars visible 

 in a reflecting telescope of 18 inches aperture 

 amounted to over five million. 



Herschel, Sir William, iii, 20. Born at Han- 

 over, Prussia, Nov. 15, 1738; died at Slough, 

 England, Aug. 25, 1822. Celebrated English as- 

 tronomer of German birth. Deserted from Ger- 

 man army and went to England in 1757. Gained 

 considerable success as violinist, organist, and 

 teacher of music. Was self-instructed in mathe- 

 matics and astronomy, and constructed his own 

 telescopes. He discovered the planet Uranus in 

 1781, and the following year was made Court 

 astronomer. With his forty-foot reflecting 

 telescope he determined definitely that the stars 

 are suns, not merely "points of light" as had 



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