Scope and Contents From the Fonds:

The Portsmouth Collection is the principal collection of Isaac Newton's scientific and mathematical papers, including early drafts of the Principia, and his correspondence with Oldenburg, Halley Flamsteed and many of the other most prominent scientists of his day.

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General correspondence with, among others, Royal Holloway College, London; the Royal Society; the Royal Radar Establishments; the Royal Aeronautical Society; the Radio and Space Research Station; and Radley College, Oxfordshire. The subjects include the review of books, and there is a copy of one book review by R. Atkinson.

Scope and Contents General correspondence with, among others, the Mount Wilson Observatory; the Palomar Observatory; the University of St Andrews; the Royal Society; G.M. Sisson of Sir Howard Grubb, Parsons and Co. Ltd; A. Samaha of the Helwan Observatory, Egypt; E.B. Ford of All Souls College, Oxford; the 'Science Journal'; and the Society for Visiting Scientists. The subjects include a proposed visit by Sir Richard Woolley to Sir Howard Grubb, Parsons and Co. Ltd; Woolley's contribution to a special issue of...

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Correspondence, letters M-W, regarding pendulum experiments at Harton, featuring, among others, Col. E. Sabine, the Revd R. Sheepshanks, W. Simms and Dr W. Whewell. The volume also includes Airy's hotel bills, E. Dunkin's book of expenses and journal, drawings of one of the pendulums as mounted, a printed copy of a memoir of the Royal Society (with map and diagrams), a lecture by Airy given in the Central Hall of South Shields, and an extract from 'Punch'.

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A photocopy of a letter from David Kinnebrook to his father, 28 July 1795, describing the annual visit of the Royal Society. The letter also contains details of rewards offered by Parliament for the discovery of longitude, a discussion of Nevil Maskelyne's view of a question in the Ladies' Diary, and an account of a meeting with some friends.

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Concerning a timepiece for longitude.

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Concerning a proposed Life of Newton

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Notes and Drafts is comprised of notes and designs for meteorological instruments, 1916-20; notes on visits to Bergen, 1920-21, and Danzig, 1939; drafts on psychology, 1940s; lectures on differential equations; notes on experiments on angular motion; and notes on 'The geostrophic wind', 'Dynamical meteorology', and 'Barometric gradient and wind speed'.

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Copy by John Collins. The recipient was perhaps a Mr Baldero, who was Master of Jesus College Cambridge from 1663 to 1679 and vice-chancellor of Cambridge in 1668, and the letter concerned the work of Isaac Barrow.

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A letter from D.C. Martin, Royal Society, to R. Woolley, 1 December 1960, inviting him to serve on the Committee for the Management of Woolsthorpe Manor, with Woolley's reply accepting the offer, 8 December.

Scope and Contents A miscellaneous collection of letters. 1. Invitation from the Royal Society, 4 February 1736.2. Letter from the Office of Ordnance stating the whereabouts of a parcel from Peru, 26 October 1739.3. Notice that there is a package from Peru awaiting Dr Halley, 12 October 1739.4. Letter from the Admiralty Office calling a meeting of the Judges of the Board of Longitude, 21 November 1739.5. Letter from Philip Miller, of Chelsea, requesting the India...

Scope and Contents From the Series: The first part of collection is comprised of papers concerning the internal affairs of the Board of Longitude, including the granting of awards, accounts, minutes, committee papers, petitions and memorials, the loan of instruments, publications and the payment of staff. These are followed by a wide range of papers relating to the Board's work, concerning clocks, chronometers and other instruments; longitude and latitude; magnetic variation; schemes and inventions; tables; pendulum...

Scope and Contents Four memorials and royal instructions.1. Letter from the Royal Society, 2 June 1726, on the purchase of equipment and instruments for the Observatory, autographed by Sir Isaac Newton.2. Instructions to the Astronomer Royal regarding his residing at Greenwich, the need for security at the Observatory, the scrutinizing of observations and the publication of findings.3. A memorial to King George III, with a brief history of the appointments of the Astronomical Observator...

Scope and Contents Minutes of the Council of the Royal Society:14 December 1710: concerning a letter from the Queen, dated 12 December 1710, regarding the formation of a Board of Visitors for the Royal Observatory.30 May 1711: concerning a letter sent to the Revd John Flamsteed.16 October 1711: concerning a meeting with Flamsteed.12 June 1712: ordering a report by a 'Mathematical Instrument maker' on the number and condition of the instruments at the Royal Observatory.4...

Scope and Contents Minutes of the Council of the Royal Society:27 May 1784: resolving that the printing bill for the second volume of the 'Greenwich Observations' be paid.24 June 1784: concerning the King's approval of a proposal for ascertaining the relative situations of the observatories at Greenwich and Paris.29 July 1784: concerning and including a letter from Lieut. General Roy, dated 28 June 1784, on the measurement of a base line. The minutes also cover Visitation...

Scope and Contents An undated photocopy of minutes of the Council of the Royal Society, Volume IV, pp. 159-163, covering the meetings of the 5 and 12 June 1755 and 3 July 1755. The principal topic is the sale of the Acton estate and the resulting inheritance by the Society of documents and land. Other subjects include the construction of a telescope by Mr Short for the Royal Observatory at Greenwich and Short's lease of a Gregorian telescope from the Observatory; the appointment of Lord Charles Cavendish as...

Scope and Contents (1) Correspondence, 1834-1895Correspondence regarding J.C. Adams and other subjects, as follows:Index to correspondence, 1895.C. Taylor's suggestion of a memorial to J.C. Adams at Westminster Abbey, 1892.D. McAlister's proposal for a publication of J.C. Adams's papers, with lists of important correspondence, 1892-1893.Notes on correspondence in the Royal Observatory records regarding the search for Neptune, 1834.Notes from J.F.W. Hershel's...

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Miscellaneous papers, including correspondence with Sir Howard Grubb, Parsons and Co. Ltd, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, with tenders and drawings; a survey of the Science Research Council for 1968; and a list of candidates for election to the Royal Society in 1973.

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The motion was raised with the Royal Society as Board of Visitors to the Observatory.

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The motion was raised with the Royal Society as Board of Visitors to the Observatory.

Scope and Contents Observations and calculations of eclipses.1. Mathematical equation to find the relative position of the Sun and Moon, with sketches and calculations.2. Rule and equation concerning the Sun's declination.3. Observation of an eclipse, 14 July 1748, and calculations relating to that observation.4. Adjustments to the line of collimation, 1745, giving great detail of the procedure employed.5. Improvements in illuminating the wires of the quadrant and...

Scope and Contents Various loose papers, including:1. Bradley's table of the aberration of certain fixed stars, 1746-1753.2. Adjustments made to the telescope, 18 July 1745.3. Observations made of Wanstead Tower and St Paul's Cathedral, 1746.4. Various calculations, some for the period 1689-1691.5. Calculations written on a Royal Society invitation to Bradley, 20 June 1757.6. A table of observations of the Moon in Gemini made with the New Quadrant,...

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Brief notes on all the items in Philosophical Transactions (1665-1678), Vol. 1 (1665 - 1666), pp.1-408; and Vol. 2 (1666-1667), pp.409-448.

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Contents page, pp.187-192 and one blank folio of a different size. Contains "VI. A Method of making a Gold-colour'd Glazing for Earthen-Ware; communicated in Latin, in a Letter from M. Godfridus Heinsius, Astron. Prof. at St. Petersburgh, to Mr. Peter Collinson, F.R.S. Read Nov. 11. 1742" and "VII. The mean Motion of the Apogee of the Moon, computed from Sir Isaac Newton's Principles, by G.P. Domcke, F.R.S. Read Nov. 11. 1742."

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A mathematical paper containing problems and equations and a list of candidates for election to the Royal Society: John Jeron Schroler, Lilienthal, Bremen; Joseph (Giuseppe) Piazzi, Palermo, Sicily; Dr Olbers, Bremen; and Dr C.F. Gauss, Brunswick. There are propositions and corollaries from Newton's 'Principia', in Latin and English, and from Aristotle's 'Rhetoric', in Greek and English.