- The graduate was Cleveland Abbe, who took the astronomer's advice and studied astronomy at the University of Michigan from 1858 to 1860. See his The observatory of the university Michigan alumnus 1902–03 9 419 421 (p. 419). Abbe later became the director of the Cincinnati Observatory. and then joined the Weather Service of the Army's Signal Corps, the predecessor of the present Weather Bureau. For more on Abbe's efforts to become a professional astronomer, see Norriss S. Hetherington, ‘Cleveland Abbe and and a view of science in mid-nineteenth-century America’, Annals of science, 33 (1976), 31–49.
- Cattell , James McKeen . 1915–16 . Michigan's astronomers . Michigan alumnus , 22 : 6 – 6 . quoted in
- Hall , Asaph Jr. 1900 . On the teaching of astronomy in the United States . Proceedings, American Association for the Advancement of Science , 49 : 23 – 31 . p. 28. Hall was the director of the Michigan observatory from 1892 to 1905.
- Curtis , Heber D. 1934–35 . Eighty years of astronomy at the University of Michigan . Michigan alumnus quarterly review , 41 : 245 – 245 . Curtis was an undergraduate at Michigan, but apparently did not take any astronomy courses while there. His work on nebulae, undertaken at the Lick Observatory, convinced him of the validity of the island-universe theory, and in 1920 he engaged Harlow Shapley in what has become a famous debate on this topic. He was the director of the Michigan observatory from 1930 to 1942.
- Rudolph , Frederick . 1962 . The American college and university. A history 87 – 87 . New York
- Hofstadter , Richard and Hardy , C. DeWitt . 1952 . The development and scope of higher education in the United States 11 – 11 . New York
- Hofstadter , Richard and Metzger , Walter P. 1956 . The development of academic freedom in the United States 279 – 279 . New York Rudolph, (footnote 5), 88.
- For more on Henry, see Weiner Charles Joseph Henry and the relations between teaching and research American journal of physics 1966 34 1093 1100 I am indebted to Marc Rothenberg for clarification of the ideas expressed here.
- Hofstadter and Metzger . 1956 . The development of academic freedom in the United States 369 – 369 . New York
- See further Freeman Butts R. The college charts its course. Historical conceptions and current proposals New York 1939 133 134 and Richard J. Storr, The beginnings of graduate education in America (Chicago, 1953), 74–75.
- Tappan's books were A review of Edwards's ‘Inquiry into the freedom of the will’ New York 1839 The doctrine of the will, determined by an appeal to consciousness (New York, 1840); The doctrine of the will, applied to moral agency and responsibility (New York, 1841); and Elements of logic, together with an introductory view of philosophy in general, and a preliminary view of the reason (New York, 1844).
- Hofstadter and Metzger . 1956 . The development of academic freedom in the United States 376 – 376 . New York
- Tappan , Henry P. 1851 . University education 50 – 50 . New York
- Tappan , Henry P. 1851 . University education 48 – 48 . New York 68. As Rothenberg points out (personal communication to the author), Tappan is here blurring the distinction between the German conception of a university —a place to train men for particular professions, especially teaching—and the American image of these institutions as great intellectual centers for the free exchange of ideas. Some revisionist historians cite Tappan as evidence for their claim that graduate schools in the United States were modeled more upon the American image of German universities than upon the reality.
- Tappan was not the Board of Regents' first choice for the Presidency. The position was first offered to Henry Barnard, one of New England's most eminent educators, who later became the Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin and the first U.S. Commissioner of Education. When he declined, it was then offered to a New York clergyman, William Adams, but that was apparently only a stalling tactic to provide more time for Tappan's supporters to win over the opposition. See further Farrand Elizabeth M. History of the University of Michigan Ann Arbor 1885 92 95
- Quoted in Perry Charles M. Henry Philip Tappan. Philosopher and university president New York 1971 173 173
- Hinsdale , Burke A. 1906 . History of the University of Michigan, with biographical sketches of regents and members of the university senate from 1837 to 1906 49 – 49 . Ann Arbor
- Shearman , Francis W. 1852 . System of public instruction and primary school law of Michigan Lansing
- Cousin , Victor . 1835 . Report on the state of public instruction in Prussia New York trans. Sarah Austin
- Angell , James Burrill . 1912 . The reminscences of James Burrill Angell 227 – 227 . New York
- See further Bigelow Martha Mitchell Michigan: pioneer in education The Michigan historical collections, bulletin no. 7 Ann Arbor 1955 1 20
- Frieze , Henry S. 1882 . A memorial discourse on the life and services of Rev. Henry Philip Tappan 24 – 27 . Ann Arbor
- Tappan , Henry P. 1852 . A discourse … on the occasion of his inauguration as chancellor of the University of Michigan 39 – 48 . Detroit
- Tappan , Henry P. 1852 . A discourse … on the occasion of his inauguration as chancellor of the University of Michigan 20 – 20 . Detroit 46
- Rudolph . 1962 . The American college and university. A history 233 – 233 . New York
- 1953 . Catalogue of the corporation, officers and students in the departments of medicine, arts and sciences, in the University of Michigan, 1852–53 19 – 19 . Ann Arbor
- 1853 . Catalogue of the corporation, officers, and students in the department of medicine, arts and sciences, in the University of Michigan, 1852–53 20 – 20 . Ann Arbor
- 1853 . Catalogue of the corporation, officers, and students in the departments of medicine, arts and sciences, in the University of Michigan, 1852–53 28 – 28 . Ann Arbor
- See further Morison Samuel Eliot The development of Harvard University since the inauguration of President Eliot, 1869–1929 Cambridge 1930 413 431
- See further Chittenden Russel H. History of the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, 1846–1922 New Haven 1928 2 vols. and George Wilson Pierson, Yale College. An educational history, 1871–1921 (New Haven, 1952), 49–55, 369–386 et passim.
- Hofstadter and Hardy . 1956 . The development of academic freedom in the United States 26 – 27 . New York Rudolph (footnote 5), 232–233.
- See further Palmer Ricketts Chamberlain History of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1824–1914 New York 1934 92 109 et passim.
- See further Forman Sidney West Point: a history of the United States Military Academy New York 1950 23 60 et passim.
- Tappan , Henry P. 1864 . Review… of his connection with the University of Michigan 6 – 6 . Detroit The two West Point graduates were William G. Peck, who taught physics and civil engineering at Michigan from 1855 to 1857, and William P. Trowbridge, who taught mathematics there from 1856 to 1857.
- Tappan . 1864 . Review… of his connection with the University of Michigan 46 – 46 . Detroit 47
- See further Perry Henry Philip Tappan. Philosopher and university president New York 1971 192 193
- Fitz was one of the earliest telescope makers in America. Besides the Michigan telescope, he built a 13-inch refractor for the Allegheny Observatory, a 11·5-inch telescope for Lewis M. Rutherfurd, a wealthy New York amateur astronomer, and a 9·75-inch telescope for West Point. See further Howell Julia Fitz Henry Fitz, 1808–1863 Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, United States National Museum, bulletin no. 228 Washington, D.C. 1962 164 170 and Elias Loomis, The recent progress of astronomy, especially in the United States (New York, 1856), 385–389.
- Rufus , W. Carl . 1942 . “ The astronomical observatories at Ann Arbor ” . In The University of Michigan: an encyclopedic survey Edited by: Shaw , Wilfred B. Vol. 2 , 465 – 476 . Ann Arbor (p. 466)
- Tappan . 1864 . Review …of his connection with the University of Michigan 8 – 8 . Detroit
- Tappan . 1864 . Review …of his connection with the University of Michigan 9 – 9 . Detroit
- Rothenberg , Marc . 1974 . “ The educational and intellectual background of American astronomers, 1825–1875 ” . In Ph.D. dissertation , 132 – 132 . Bryn Mawr College .
- Tappan . 1864 . Review …of his connection with the University of Michigan 9 – 9 . Detroit
- 1855 . Catalogue of the officers and students of the University of Michigan: 1854–5 32 – 32 . Ann Arbor For a description of the observatory, see Loomis (footnote 38), 277–280.
- 1857 . Catalogue of the officers and students of the University of Michigan: 1857 41 – 41 . Ann Arbor
- Chauvenet , William . 1863 . A manual of spherical and practical astronomy 3 – 3 . Philadelphia
- Newcomb , Simon . 1906 . A compendium of spherical astronomy 343 – 343 . New York
- Chauvenet . 1863 . A manual of spherical and practical astronomy 4 – 4 . Philadelphia It is worth mentioning that Gauss's least squares method had been anticipated in America by Robert Adrain, an Irishman who had fled his native country after taking part in the rebellion of 1798. His paper, ‘Research concerning the probabilities of the errors which happen in making observations’, The analyst, 1 (1808), 93–109, appeared a year before Gauss's work. I am grateful to Dr. I. Grattan-Guinness for bringing this to my attention.
- Rothenberg . 1974 . “ The educational and intellectual background of American astronomers, 1825–1875 ” . In Ph.D. dissertation , 112 – 112 . Bryn Mawr College .
- Rothenberg . 1974 . “ The educational and intellectual background of American astronomers 1825–1875 ” . In Ph.D. dissertation , 105 – 105 . Bryn Mawr College .
- Brünnow had received a Ph.D. from the University of Berlin in 1843. He then served as an assistant to Encke at the Royal Observatory at Berlin until 1847, when he was appointed director of the small observatory at Bilk, near Düsseldorf. During his residence there he published his well-known memoir on the motion of De Vico's comet, for which he was awarded a gold medal from the Amsterdam Academy of Sciences in 1849. In 1851 he returned to the Berlin observatory, becoming Encke's first assistant, and published his authoritative Lehrbuch der sphärischen Astronomie (Textbook of spherical astronomy). The first edition, with a preface by Encke, was published in Berlin in 1851; it eventually reached a fourth edition, and was translated into English, French, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. More than any of his other writings, this work helped establish Brünnow's European reputation. See further Franz Friedrich Ernst Brünnow Monthly notices, Royal Astronomical Society 1891–92 52 230 233 and ‘Francis Brünnow, Ph.D., F.R.A.S.’, Nature, 44 (1891), 449–450.
- August 1854 . William D. Anderson to G. Hamilton Higginson , August , Michigan Historical Collections, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan . 21
- Asaph Hall to Cleveland Abbe Cleveland Abbe and and a view of science in mid-nineteenth-century America Annals of science September 1864 33 37 37 6 quoted in Hetherington 1976
- Watson's 230-page student notebook for 1855, when he was a junior, is preserved in the Michigan Historical Collections, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. Extensive notes on theoretical astronomy from Brünnow's lectures attest to the thorough training he received in astronomy, optics, and mechanics. For a brief description of this notebook, see Rufus W. Carl A student notebook of 1855. The astronomical memoranda of the youthful James C. Watson, later professor of astronomy Michigan alumnus quarterly review 1938 45 141 144
- Curtis , Heber D. 1937–38 . James Craig Watson, 1838–1880 . Michigan alumnus quarterly review , 44 : 307 – 307 .
- Farrand . 1885 . History of the University of Michigan 113 – 113 . Ann Arbor
- Rufus , W. Carl . 1942 . “ The department of astronomy ” . In The University of Michigan: an encyclopedic survey Edited by: Shaw . Vol. 2 , 442 – 465 . Ann Arbor in (p. 446)
- 1854 . Lansing journal , July 9 quoted in Perry (footnote 16), 202.
- For Tappan's side of the clash with the regents, see his Review …of his connection with the University of Michigan Detroit 1864 22 39 for a more balanced view, see Perry (footnote 16), 195–211, 274–324. Brünnow had no trouble finding another observatory position. In 1865 he was appointed Andrews Professor of Astronomy at the University of Dublin, and Astronomer Royal of Ireland. Tappan also went abroad, and spent the remaining years of his life mostly in Germany and Switzerland, with frequent visits to the Brünnows in Ireland.
- Watson's appointment had been recommended by many of the leading astronomers in the United States, including Benjamin Apthorp Gould, William Chauvenet, Benjamin Peirce, Elias Loomis, Joseph Winlock and James M. Gilliss. See Comstock George C. Memoir of James Craig Watson, 1838–1880 Biographical memoirs, National Academy of Sciences 1895 3 43 57 (who was one of Watson's students) (p. 48). Watson had earlier served as professor of astronomy and had taken charge of the observatory—but without becoming its director—in 1859, when Brünnow resigned to become director of the Dudley Observatory. Brünnow was persuaded to return to Michigan the following year, however, and was reappointed to his former position.
- Hofstadter and Metzger . 1956 . The development of academic freedom in the United States 284 – 284 . New York For more on college science in the ante-bellum period, see Stanley M. Guralnick Science and the ante-bellum American college (Philadelphia, 1975).
- Daniel J. , Kevles . 1978 . The physicists. The history of a scientific community in America New York
- See Curtis Eighty years of astronomy at the University of Michigan Michigan alumnus quarterly review 1934–35 41 248 249
Annals of Science
Volume 37, 1980 - Issue 3