]

CHAPTER II

_PROGRESS OF SIDEREAL ASTRONOMY_

We have now to consider labours of a totally different character from
those of Sir William Herschel. Exploration and discovery do not
constitute the whole business of astronomy; the less adventurous, though
not less arduous, task of gaining a more and more complete mastery over
the problems immemorially presented to her, may, on the contrary, be
said to form her primary duty. A knowledge of the movements of the
heavenly bodies has, from the earliest times, been demanded by the
urgent needs of mankind; and science finds its advantage, as in many
cases it has taken its origin, in condescension to practical claims.
Indeed, to bring such knowledge as near as possible to absolute
precision has been defined by no mean authority[58] as the true end of
astronomy.

Several causes concurred about the beginning of the last century to give
a fresh and powerful impulse to investigations having this end in view.
The rapid progress of theory almost compelled a corresponding advance in
observation; instrumental improvements rendered such an advance
possible; Herschel's discoveries quickened public interest in celestial
inquiries; royal, imperial, and grand-ducal patronage widened the scope
of individual effort. The heart of the new movement was in Germany.
Hitherto the observatory of Flamsteed and Bradley had been the
acknowledged centre of practical astronomy; Greenwich observations were
the standard of reference all over Europe; and the art of observing
prospered in direct proportion to the fidelity with which Greenwich
methods were imitated. Dr. Maskelyne, who held the post of Astronomer
Royal during forty-six years (from 1765 to 1811), was no unworthy
successor to the eminent men who had gone before him. His foundation of
the _Nautical Almanac_ (in 1767) alone constitutes a valid title to
fame; he introduced at the Observatory the important innovation of the
systematic publication of results; and the careful and prolonged series
of observations executed by him formed the basis of the improved
theories, and corrected tables of the celestial movements, which were
rapidly being brought to completion abroad. His catalogue of thirty-six
"fundamental" stars was besides excellent in its way, and most
serviceable. Yet he was devoid of Bradley's instinct for divining the
needs of the future. He was fitted rather to continue a tr