August 25th was the hundredth anniversary of the death of
Sir William Herschel. A musician by profession, he interested himself first in philosophy, then in natural science, and finally more specifically in' astronomy as an amateur. Eventually, however, he was relieved of the " intolerable waste of time " of teaching music, and devoted himself to his scientific observations. He came into great fame in 1781 when he discovered Uranus, the first of the known satellites of the sun to be noted in historical times. He is usually remembered largely for this discovery, but as a matter of fact he was virtually the founder of sidereal science as we know it to-day. His discoveries and speculations are contained in sixty-nine memoirs to the Royal Society, a body of documents unsurpassed for originality and significance. Among other things he surmised the periodicity of sun-spots and discovered the infra-red solar rays. His achievements opened a new era.
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