George B. Airy became director of the Royal
Observatory at Greenwich, with the associated title of
Astronomer Royal, in 1835 when he was 34, and held the post
until his retirement in 1881 at the age of 80.
At Greenwich he designed and installed the
famous transit circle now named after him, used for timing the
passage of stars across the meridian. It is the position of the
Airy transit circle that defines the Greenwich meridian and
since 1884 that meridian has been the basis of the
world’s timekeeping and navigation. Hence Airy can be
said to have brought the world’s clocks into step.
As well as his astronomical duties Airy was
widely consulted by the British government on various
scientific matters and was the leading government scientist of
the day. He was knighted in 1872.
One additional contribution: in 1825 Airy
designed the first eyeglasses to correct for astigatism, from
which he suffered. As someone with the same defect, I am
indebted.
For obituaries of Airy, see Monthly Notices of the
Royal Astronomical Society, vol.
52, p. 212 (1892), and The Observatory, vol. 15, p. 74 (1892).
This caricature is by Ape, real name Carlo
Pellegrini (1838-1889), an Italian artist who produced the
first Vanity Fair caricatures and established the magazine’s
style. It was published in Vanity
Fair on 1875 November 13 when
Airy was aged 74.
• I
can supply a high-resolution scan of this lithograph for
commercial reproduction.
ian @ ianridpath.com