i86 



NATURE 



[October 7, 1920 



D. H. Nagel. 



By the death of D. H. Nagel, of Trinity 

 College, Oxford, science has lost an advocate who 

 did much to remove the prejudice keenly felt in 

 Oxford thirty years ago, and the University has 

 lost a teacher remarkable for the thoroughness, 

 the understanding, and the sympathy which en- 

 deared him to many generations of under- 

 graduates. 



In the examination for the open Millard 

 Scholarship in Natural Science in 1882 Nagel was 

 the only candidate who gained distinction both 

 in the science subjects and in the optional class- 

 ical paper. Elected Millard scholar, he worked 

 under the writer (then Millard lecturer at Trinity) 

 in the newly equipjjed laboratory in Balliol, 

 between which and Trinity a doorway had been 

 opened in 1879 — ^ novelty in inter-college com- 

 munications which was guarded with some 

 anxiety by the college deans on each side, and 

 usually referred to as "the scientific frontier." 



As an undergraduate Nagel was distinguished 

 by the width of his scientific interests ; he was 

 one of the few who attended professorial lectures 

 outside their own subjects, and his enthusiasm 

 may be said to have resuscitated and kept alive 

 some of the courses in geology and mineralogy 

 which did not form part of the usual honours 

 schools. In addition to science he studied lan- 

 guages and gained a University exhibition in 

 German. 



Nagel took a first class in chemistry in 1886, 

 and in the following Michaelmas term became 

 demonstrator in the laboratory, and succeeded the 

 writer as Millard lecturer in 1888. 



The Balliol laboratory was soon extended into 

 adjacent cellars to meet the needs of the two 

 colleges, and in 1904 a considerable addition was 

 made on the Trinity side of the "frontier," 

 when the two colleges undertook to give practical 

 training in physical chemistry as part of a general 

 scheme for honours men in the University. In 

 planning and supervising this course Nagel's 

 knowledge and judgment found full scope. 



At the opening of his Oxford career Nagel was 

 one of the founders of the Junior Scientific Club, 

 an institution which has been particularly suc- 

 cessful in bringing together men engaged on dif- 

 ferent lines of scientific work, and of its members 

 none were better equipped than Nagel by study 

 and sympathy to understand and elucidate the 

 relations of one branch of science to another. It 

 was this faculty that gave him his unique posi- 

 tion in Oxford when he settled down as fellow 

 and tutor of his college. 



It has been said of -Nagel that he was too 

 busy to do original work. This is partly true, but 

 not the whole truth ; on one side there were diffi- 

 dence, some lack of the fighting spirit, and, 

 perhaps, a fear lest the road he chose to pursue 

 might lead nowhere ; on the other, there were his 

 keen delight in and critical appreciation of many 

 lines of work, and the consciousness that his life 

 would be more complete in unselfish devotion to 



NO. 2658, VOL. 106] 



others than in seeking fame for himself. Such 

 being his nature, he was inevitably drawn into 

 administrative work, and perhaps he found him- 

 self most completely as chairman of the board 

 of the Faculty of Natural Science. In this posi- 

 tion his wide knowledge, sound judgment, 

 and kindly tact were invaluable, and it was 

 largely under his guidance that the Department 

 of Forestry was successfully instituted in the 

 University. 



As a delegate for local examinations and for 

 the inspection and examination of schools Nagel 

 exerted great influence on the study of science in 

 schools, and his judgment and experience of 

 school work have been largely utilised by the 

 Board of Education. 



To old Trinity men Nagel had become almost 

 an institution ; his pupils scarcely regarded him as 

 a "don," for there was a wonderful camaraderie 

 between them and their tutor. But they all came 

 to him for help and counsel. His friends and 

 colleagues did likewise, and we are all the poorer 

 for his loss. H. B. Dixon. 



Dr. Adolf Berberich, who was on the staff of 

 the Berliner Jahrbuch for thirty-five years, and 

 forsome time its director, died at Berlin last April 

 after a long illness. Berberich was born in Baden 

 in 1861 ; his family was for many years in serious 

 financial difficulties ; nevertheless, he secured a 

 good education, first at the Gymnasium at 

 Rastatt, then at Strassburg University, where 

 he studied astronomy under Winnecke and Schur. 

 He suffered from extreme short-sight, which made 

 astronomical observing difficult, so he turned his 

 energies to the computational side of the science, 

 in which he showed such energy and skill that 

 his name was already known as an orbit com- 

 puter in 1884, in which year he obtained a post 

 on the staff of the Rechen-Institut. Berberich 

 was soon led to take a special interest in reducing 

 the computation of orbits and ephemerides of the 

 minor planets to an orderly system, his work 

 being invaluable in identifying and following the 

 immense number of new planets that were dis- 

 covered by photography. He was on terms of 

 intimate friendship with Prof. Max Wolf and Dr. 

 Johann Palisa, who were indefatigable on the 

 observational side ; he frequently received the 

 observed places of a new planet at breakfast, and 

 sent back its orbit and ephemeris before lunch. 

 He had a marvellous memory, enabling him to 

 keep the elements of many planets in his head, 

 thus greatly facilitating their identification. The 

 task of keeping the immense array of planets 

 under sufficient observation is a Herculean one, 

 only to be accomplished by systematic division 

 of labour. International arrangements had been 

 made in this direction before the war, largely 

 under the initiative of the Rechen-Institut. Un- 

 fortunately, unnecessary duplication of work now 

 prevails again. Berberich was much esteemed 

 by a wide circle of friends as an earnest, religious, 

 and benevolent man. He married not long 



