"When the year was completed, I began to examine and compare my observations, and having pretty well satisfied myself as to the general laws of the phenomena, I then endeavored to find out the cause of them. I was already convinced that the apparent motion of the stars was not owing to the of the earth's axis. The next thing that offered itself was an alteration in the direction of the plumb-line with which the instrument was constantly rectified; but this upon trial proved insufficient. Then I considered what refraction might do, but here also nothing satisfactory occurred. At length I conjectured that all the phenomena hitherto mentioned, proceeded from the progressive motion of light and the earth's annual motion in its orbit. For I perceived that, if light was propagated in time, the apparent place of a fixed object would not be the same when the eye is at rest, as when it is moving in any other direction than that of the line passing through the eye and the object; and that, when the eye is moving in different directions, the apparent place of the object would be different."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
ClergyAnglicans from the United KingdomUniversity of Oxford facultyAstronomers from EnglandUniversity of Oxford alumni
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
As quoted by W. S. Eichelberger, "The Distances of the Heavenly Bodies," Science New Series, Vol. 43, No. 1110 (Apr. 7, 1916), pp. 475-483.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Bradley
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
James Bradley
FRS (March 1693 – 13 July 1762) was an English astronomer and served as Astronomer Royal from 1742, succeeding Edmond Halley. He is best known for two fundamental discoveries in astronomy, the aberration of light (1725–1728), and the nutation of the Earth's axis (1728–1748).
61 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by James Bradley →
Related Quotes
"I give all my printed books to Samuel Peach, son of Samuel Peach, in my Will named, and desire that this may be a cod…"
"Sir, Having long deferred to make any report relating to the observations that were taken at sea by captain Campbell,…"
"Such is the ingenious Theory of the Aberration, which Mr. Bradley published in the year 1727, and which was received …"
"But before I proceed farther it may be proper to take notice, that since the time when I gave their lordships an acco…"
"This fundamental and most important article being established upon such full evidence, it remained to be examined wit…"
"I would by no means attempt to infer from hence, that the longitude found by observations of this sort may in all cas…"
"If we suppose the distance of the fixed stars from the sun to be so great that the diameter of the earth's orbit view…"
"Hitherto we have considered the apparent motion of the star about its true place, as made only in a plane parallel to…"
"For common purposes we may without sensible error suppose the earth's motion equable and neglect the corrections, and…"
"My Instrument being fixed, I immediately began to observe such Stars as I judged most proper to give me light into th…"