Herschel!

[poliphilo]

OK, so I was sounding off about Trafalgar the other day and last night I was watching one of those improving cultural history programmes the BBC does so well. This one was about the history of science and it majored on the work of the 18th century astronomer William Herschel.

I came away wondering why this stuff isn't taught in schools. Herschel invented the reflecting telescope, discovered Uranus (no snarky comments please), mapped the Milky Way and was the first person to form a true estimate of the ginormous size of the universe. If these achievements don't make him a greater man than Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson (I nearly wrote Hornblower) I'll eat my (gold-trimmed, three-cornered) hat.

Comments

[qatsi.livejournal.com]

Actually, Newton invented the reflecting telescope, though I would find it easy to believe that Herschel was more practical in its construction and use. (And probably a more pleasant chap, too). Of course there is more on Herschel here - and yes, there is a telescope named after him.

I'm trying to remember what I did study in history at school (having dropped it at 14). The Romans, the Normans, (there's a year here that was probably about the Tudor period but I genuinely can't remember anything about it), the Victorians, and some 20th century stuff - World War II, the Chinese revolution, and industrial unrest in Poland in 1981 (which we were studying as "history" in 1986). So there are some significant gaps in my knowledge when it comes to history.

I always smile when I see Paxman on University Challenge looking completely amazed that someone interrupts and knows the answer to one of the scientific starter questions. They're easy if you know the answers.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I was misinformed.

And it was the BBC that misinformed me. This is terribly disillusioning.

Actually there were one or two peripheral things in the programme that might have put me on my guard and caused me to check the facts. For example, the violinist in 18th century costume who was playing Franz Lehar- and the inclusion of a painting by Jan Van Eyck in a fly past of 17th century masterpieces.

Bah!

[qatsi.livejournal.com]

Ha! I know the BBC has gone Doctor Who-mad, what with the Today programme using the theme music for a piece on the South Staffordshire General Election, but even so, they shouldn't introduce time travel in their factual programming!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Ah, the Dr Who theme.....

All together now

Dum de dum
Dum de dum
Dum de dum

Doo

Whoo-hoo.....