81 

 NEVIL MASKELYNE, D,D,, F.R.S. 



MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE, ETC. 



Born October 6, 1732. Died February 9, 1811. 



Tin's most accurate and industrious astronomer was born in 

 London, and was the son of Mr. Edmund Maskelyne, a gentleman 

 of respectable family in Wiltshire. At the age of nine Maskelyne 

 was sent to Westminster school, where he early began to distin- 

 guish himself, and to display a decided taste for the study of optics 

 and astronomy. 



The great solar eclipse, which occurred in 1748 was, however, the 

 immediate cause of his directing his attention to these sciences, and 

 from that period he devoted himself with ardour to the study of 

 mathematics as subservient to that of astronomy. It is a curious 

 fact that the same eclipse is said to have produced a similar effect 

 upon the French astronomer Lalande, who was only three months 

 olil^r than his English contemporary. 



Soon after this Maskelyne entered the University of Cambridge as 

 a member of Catherine Hall, removing afterwards to Trinity, where 

 he took the degree of Bachelor of Arts with great credit in 1754, 

 and proceeded regularly through the succeeding stages of acade- 

 mical rank in divinity. In 1755 he was ordained to a curacy at 

 Barnet, and in the following year obtained a fellowship at Trinity. 

 In the year 1758 he was elected a fellow of the Koyal Society, 

 previous to which event he had become acquainted with Dr. Bradley, 

 and had determined to make astronomy the principal pursuit of his 

 life, feeling that it was perfectly compatible with an enlightened 

 devotion to the duties of his own profession. 



1761 marks the period when Maskelyne commenced his public 

 career as an astronomer. During that year he was chosen by the 

 Koyal Society to undertake a voyage to the island of St. Helena, for 

 the purpose of observing the transit of Venus ; and in order to make 

 the voyage as useful as possible, Maskelyne undertook to make 

 observations upon the parallax of Sirius. He remained ten months 

 at St. Helena, but the weather hindered his observing the transit to 

 advantage, while the inaccuracy of his quadrant, which was of the 

 same construction as was then usually employed, prevented his 

 observations on the stars from being as conclusive as he had ex- 

 pected. His voyage was, however, of great service to navigation, 

 by promoting the introduction of lunar observations for ascertaining 

 the longitude ; and he taught the officers of the ship in which he 

 was in, the proper use of the instruments as well as the mode of 

 making the computations. 



On his return to England, Maskelyne published, in 1763, his 



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