axelintu / collective / tags / 19th century

Tagged with “19th century” (2) activity chart

  1. The Memory Palace Episode 24: The Moon in the Sun

    The article began by triumphantly listing a series of stunning astronomical breakthroughs that the famous British astronomer, Sir John Herschel, had apparently made "by means of a telescope of vast dimensions and an entirely new principle." Herschel, the article declared, had established a "new theory of cometary phenomena"; he had discovered planets in other solar systems; and he had "solved or corrected nearly every leading problem of mathematical astronomy." Then, almost as if it were an afterthought, the article revealed Herschel’s final, stunning achievement: he had discovered life on the moon!

    From: http://thememorypalace.us/2010/01/episode-24-the-moon-in-the-sun/

    —Huffduffed by adactio 2 years ago

  2. A 19th-Century Mathematician Finally Proves Himself

    Charles Babbage, the man whom many consider to be the father of modern computing, never got to complete any of his life’s work. The Victorian gentleman was a brilliant mathematician, but he wasn’t very good at politics and fundraising, so he never got the financial backing to finish any of his elaborate machine designs. For decades, even his fans weren’t certain whether his computing machines would have worked.

    From http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121206408

    —Huffduffed by adactio 3 years ago