Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 17 (Classic Reprint)

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Excerpt from Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 17Perhaps the most eminent and interesting man associated with me during this period was Mr. George W. Hill, who will easily rank as the greatest master of mathematical astronomy during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The part assigned to Hill was about the most difficult in the whole work - the theory of Jupiter and Saturn Owing to the great mass of these giant planets, the inequalities of their motion, especially in the case of Saturn, affected by the attraction of Jupiter, are greater than in the case of the other planets. Leverrier failed to attain the necessary exactness in his investigation of their motion.Hill had done some work on the subject at his home in Nyack Turnpike before I took charge of the office. He now moved to Washington, and seriously began the complicated numerical calculations which his task involved. I urged that he should accept the assistance of less skilled computers, but he declined it from a desire to do the entire work himself. Computers to make the duplicate computations necessary to guard against accidental numerical errors on his part were all that be required. He labored almost incessantly for about 10 years, when be handed in the manu script of what now forms Volume IV 6 of the Astronomical Papers. And here was perhaps the greatest living master in the highest and most difficult field of astronomy, winning world-wide recognition for his country in the science, and receiving the salary of a department clerk. I never wrestled harder with a superior than I did with Hon. R. W. Thompson, Secretary of the Navy, about 1880, to induce him to raise Mr. Hill's salary from to It goes without saying that Hill took even less interest in the matter than I did. He did not work for pay, but for the love of science. That I could not secure for him at least the highest official consideration is among the regret ful memories of my official life.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.