Isaac Newton, John Flamsteed 57 



of planets on each other. We have now to consider the work 

 of some of the great men occupied in this task. 



Flamsteed (1646-1720) does not strictly belong to the 

 academic circle, but as he was the first official representative 

 of astronomy in this country it is convenient to speak of his 

 work at this stage. Flamsteed began at an early age to take 

 an interest in astronomical observations. He entered Jesus 

 College, Cambridge, apparently with the object of taking 

 holy orders, but after obtaining his degree, influential friends 

 procured him an appointment as " King's astronomer." 

 About the same time, a Frenchman, called Le Sieur de S. 

 Pierre, visited England with proposals for improved methods 

 of determining longitudes at sea, and Flamsteed in a report 

 expressed the opinion that the project was impracticable, 

 because the position of the stars were not known with 

 sufficient accuracy. According to some manuscripts kept 

 at the Greenwich Observatory, when this came to the ears 

 of King Charles II, " he was startled at the assertion of the 

 fixed stars places being false in the catalogue, and said, 

 with some vehemence, he must have them anew observed, 

 examined and corrected, for the use of his seamen." This 

 incident was the immediate cause of the foundation of Green- 

 wich Observatory, the warrant for its building being issued 

 on June 12th, 1675. When it was completed, Flamsteed 

 set to work to form an improved star catalogue. Up to 

 that time, only observations with the naked eye had been 

 used to determine the positions of the ' stars, though 

 the cross wire and measuring micrometer had already been 

 invented by Gascoigne. Flamsteed realized the advantages 

 of applying the telescope in combination with a clock. But 

 he had to struggle against great disadvantages; his salary 

 was 100 a year, and he was provided by the Government 

 with neither assistants nor instruments. The latter had 

 to be provided by friends, or made at his own expense. In 

 spite of these difficulties he produced as a result of his labour 

 a star catalogue three times as extensive as, and six times 

 more accurate than, that of Tycho Brahe, which up till then 

 had been in use. Altogether he recorded the positions of 

 3,000 stars. 



Flamsteed was succeeded at Greenwich by Edmund 



