Produced by Joseph Myers and PG Distributed Proofreaders
WILFRID AIRY, B.A., M.Inst.C.E.
1896
The life of Airy was essentially that of a hard-working, business man,and differed from that of other hard-working people only in thequality and variety of his work. It was not an exciting life, but itwas full of interest, and his work brought him into close relationswith many scientific men, and with many men high in the State. Hisreal business life commenced after he became Astronomer Royal, andfrom that time forward, during the 46 years that he remained inoffice, he was so entirely wrapped up in the duties of his post thatthe history of the Observatory is the history of his life. For writinghis business life there is abundant material, for he preserved all hiscorrespondence, and the chief sources of information are as follows:
(1) His Autobiography. (2) His Annual Reports to the Board of Visitors. (3) His printed Papers entitled "Papers by G.B. Airy." (4) His miscellaneous private correspondence. (5) His letters to his wife. (6) His business correspondence.
(1) His Autobiography, after the time that he became Astronomer Royal,is, as might be expected, mainly a record of the scientific workcarried on at the Greenwich Observatory: but by no means exclusivelyso. About the time when he took charge of the Observatory there was animmense development of astronomical enterprise: observatories werespringing up in all directions, and the Astronomer Royal was expectedto advise upon all of the British and Colonial Observatories. It wasnecessary also for him to keep in touch with the ContinentalObservatories and their work, and this he did very diligently andsuccessfully, both by correspondence and personal intercourse with theforeign astronomers. There was also much work on important subjectsmore or less connected with his official duties—such as geodeticalsurvey work, the establishment of time-balls at different places,longitude determinations, observation of eclipses, and thedetermination of the density of the Earth. Lastly, there was a greatdeal of time and work given to questions not very immediatelyconnected with his office, but on which the Government asked hisassistance in the capacity of general scientific adviser: such werethe Correction of the Compass in iron ships, the Railway GaugeCommission, the Commission for the Restoration of the Standards ofLength and Weight, the Maine Boundary, Lighthouses, the WestminsterClock, the London University, and many other questions.
Besides those above-mentioned there were a great many subjects whichhe took up out of sheer interest in the investigations. For it mayfairly be said that every subject of a distinctly practical nature,which could be advanced by mathematical knowledge, had an interest forhim: and his incessant industry enabled him to find time for many ofthem. Amongst such subjects were Tides and Tidal Observations,Clockwork, and the Strains in Beams and Bridges. A certain portion ofhis time was also given to Lectures, generally on cu