Edwin Dunkin
Encyclopedia
Edwin Dunkin FRS, astronomer, president of the Royal Astronomical Society
and the Royal Institution of Cornwall
surgeon. He was the third son of a family of four brothers and a sister.
His father worked as a computer
for The Nautical Almanac
in Truro
, Cornwall. In 1832, the family moved to London, where his father worked for the London office of The Nautical Almanac.
, and at M. Liborel's school in Guînes
in the Pas de Calais.
and Lieutenant Stratford
was employed at the Royal Greenwich Observatory as a computer. George Airy, the astronomer royal
was soon impressed by him, and in 1840 Dunkin was promoted to a post in the new magnetic and meteorological department, becoming a permanent member of the observatory's staff in 1845.
, a stockbroker's daughter. He always maintained his Cornish connexions, naming his villa in Blackheath
"Kenwyn", after the village near Truro. Dunkin died at Brook Hospital in Kidbrook on 26 November 1898 after a short illness. He was survived by one son, Edwin Hadlow Wise Dunkin.
Airy also used Dunkin as a reliable "man on the spot" in various non-Greenwich activities, including pendulum experiments at Harton colliery, and the determinations of longitudes of the Brussels and Paris observatories. In 1881, on Airy's retirement, Dunkin was promoted to chief assistant, or Deputy Astronomer Royal, holding that post until he retired in 1884.
Dunkin was a highly sociable man. In 1845 he was elected to the Royal Astronomical Society, and in 1884 was elected its president. He was delighted to be elected to the RAS Dining Club in 1868, becoming its president in 1880. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1876 and later served on the Council of the Royal Society. He was President of the Royal Institution of Cornwall in 1890 & 1891.
A prolific writer and popular communicator of astronomy, he wrote many articles for the Leisure Hour and other periodicals, in addition to his scientific papers. His most famous work was The Midnight Sky, with detailed charts of the London sky, all of which he had computed himself.
Royal Astronomical Society
The Royal Astronomical Society is a learned society that began as the Astronomical Society of London in 1820 to support astronomical research . It became the Royal Astronomical Society in 1831 on receiving its Royal Charter from William IV...
and the Royal Institution of Cornwall
Royal Institution of Cornwall
The Royal Institution of Cornwall was founded in Truro, Cornwall, United Kingdom, in 1818 as the Cornwall Literary and Philosophical Institution. The Institution was one of the earliest of seven similar societies established in England and Wales. The RIC moved to its present site in River Street...
Birth and family
He was born 19 August 1821, the son of William Dunkin (1781 – 3 July 1838) and Mary Elizabeth (1797 – 1873), the daughter of David Wise, a RedruthRedruth
Redruth is a town and civil parish traditionally in the Penwith Hundred in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It has a population of 12,352. Redruth lies approximately at the junction of the A393 and A3047 roads, on the route of the old London to Land's End trunk road , and is approximately west of...
surgeon. He was the third son of a family of four brothers and a sister.
His father worked as a computer
Human computer
The term "computer", in use from the mid 17th century, meant "one who computes": a person performing mathematical calculations, before electronic computers became commercially available....
for The Nautical Almanac
The Nautical Almanac
The Nautical Almanac has been the familiar name for a series of official British almanacs published under various titles since the first issue of The Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris, for 1767: this was the first nautical almanac ever to contain data dedicated to the convenient...
in Truro
Truro
Truro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...
, Cornwall. In 1832, the family moved to London, where his father worked for the London office of The Nautical Almanac.
Education
He and his younger brother, Richard (1823 – 1851) were educated at Wellington House Academy, HampsteadHampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
, and at M. Liborel's school in Guînes
Guînes
Guînes is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.-Geography:Guînes is located on the border of the two territories of the Boulonnais and Calaisis, at the edge of the now-drained marshes, which extend from here to the coast. The Guînes canal connects with...
in the Pas de Calais.
Career
In 1838 his father died and his mother remarried. He returned to London to seek work, and, on the recommendation of Davies GilbertDavies Gilbert
Davies Gilbert FRS was a British engineer, author, and politician. He was elected to the Royal Society on 17 November 1791 and served as President of the Royal Society from 1827 to 1830....
and Lieutenant Stratford
William Samuel Stratford
William Samuel Stratford was an English astronomer born in Eltham, Surrey.He joined the Royal Navy in 1806 under the command of Sir Sydney Smith...
was employed at the Royal Greenwich Observatory as a computer. George Airy, the astronomer royal
Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the second is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834....
was soon impressed by him, and in 1840 Dunkin was promoted to a post in the new magnetic and meteorological department, becoming a permanent member of the observatory's staff in 1845.
Personal life
He married in 1838 Maria Hadlow of PeckhamPeckham
Peckham is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Southwark. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
, a stockbroker's daughter. He always maintained his Cornish connexions, naming his villa in Blackheath
Blackheath, London
Blackheath is a district of South London, England. It is named from the large open public grassland which separates it from Greenwich to the north and Lewisham to the west...
"Kenwyn", after the village near Truro. Dunkin died at Brook Hospital in Kidbrook on 26 November 1898 after a short illness. He was survived by one son, Edwin Hadlow Wise Dunkin.
Scientific work
Dunkin's meticulous accuracy and dependability led to him being given charge of a number of investigations, including the adjustment and error quantification of instruments such as Greenwich's new lunar azimuth and transit circle, and the expedition to Norway in 1851 to observe the total eclipse.Airy also used Dunkin as a reliable "man on the spot" in various non-Greenwich activities, including pendulum experiments at Harton colliery, and the determinations of longitudes of the Brussels and Paris observatories. In 1881, on Airy's retirement, Dunkin was promoted to chief assistant, or Deputy Astronomer Royal, holding that post until he retired in 1884.
Dunkin was a highly sociable man. In 1845 he was elected to the Royal Astronomical Society, and in 1884 was elected its president. He was delighted to be elected to the RAS Dining Club in 1868, becoming its president in 1880. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1876 and later served on the Council of the Royal Society. He was President of the Royal Institution of Cornwall in 1890 & 1891.
A prolific writer and popular communicator of astronomy, he wrote many articles for the Leisure Hour and other periodicals, in addition to his scientific papers. His most famous work was The Midnight Sky, with detailed charts of the London sky, all of which he had computed himself.
Publications
Publications of Edwin Dunkin, listed in Bib Corn <>- Revision of Hand-Book of Astronomy by Dionysius Lardner. Lond., Walton & Maberley, 2nd edition 1860, 3rd edition 1867
- The Midnight Sky. Familiar Notes on the Stars and Planets, London, The Religious Tract Society, 1869
- "Observations of the Total Eclipse of the Sun of July 28, 1851, at Christiania, Norway. ;Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical SocietyRoyal Astronomical SocietyThe Royal Astronomical Society is a learned society that began as the Astronomical Society of London in 1820 to support astronomical research . It became the Royal Astronomical Society in 1831 on receiving its Royal Charter from William IV...
, xxi, 9-16 (1852).
- "On the movement of the solar system in space deduced from the proper motions of 1,167 stars" ib., xxxii, 19-73, 1863. [Monthly Notices, xxiii, 166-69].
- "On some peculiar instances of personal equation in zenith-distance observations, ib., xxxiv, 17-24, 1865. [Monthly Notices, xxv, 215-16].
- "Comparison of the probable error of a Transit of a Star, observed with the Transit-circle of the Royal Observatory, by the ' eye and ear ' and chronographic methods". Monthly Notices Royal Astronom. Soc, xx, 86-88 (1860).
- "On the frequent omission of readings of the barometer and thermometer in sextant observations, for the determination of terrestrial latitudes and longitudes", ib., xxiv, 121-22 (1864).
- "On the estimated number of luminous particles contained within a defined space on the Sun's disk", ib., xxiv, 123-24.
- "On the probable error of a meridional transit observation by the ' eye and ear ' and chronographic methods", ib., xxiv, 152-60.
- "Observations of the transit of Mercury on the morning of November 5, 1868". ib., xxix, 12-13 (1868).
- "On personality in observing transits of the limbs of the Moon with the Transit-circle and Altazimuth instruments, at the Royal Observatory", ib., xxix, 259-68 (1869).
- "Determination of the Geographical Positions of Stations in the route from Zanzibar to Gondokoro, from astronomical observations made by Capt. J. H. Speke". Journal of the Royal Geographical SocietyRoyal Geographical SocietyThe Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
, xxxiii, 322-46 (1863).
- "Determination of the Geographical Positions of Stations in Eastern Africa, from the astronomical observations made by Mr. J. Petherick". ib., XXXV, 289-300 (1865).
- "Determination of the Geographical Positions of Stations in Western Africa, from astronomical observations made by Mr. P. B. Du Chaillu, during his journey into Ashango Land", ib., xxxvi, 64-76 (1866).
- "On the Total Eclipse of the Sun of August 17–18, 1868". Companion to British Almanac, 1869, pp. 4–22; 1870, pp. 2–26.
- "A Day and Night in the Royal Observatory". Leisure Hour, 1862, pp. 22–26, 39-43, 55-60.
- "The Earth Weighed in the Harton Coal-pit".- ib., pp. 364–67.
- "Memoir of G. B. Airy, Astronomer Royal". ib., pp. 648–51.
- "West of Killarney ; a Descriptive Account of the Western District of Co. Kerry, Ireland", ib., 1863, pp. 565–67, 590-92, 603-6, 619-22.
- "The Face of the Moon", ib., 1864, pp. 135–39.
- "Notes on Recent Storms", ib., pp. 181–85.
- "Memoir of Sir J. F. W. Herschel, Bart", ib., 1865, pp. 631–35.
- "On Total Eclipses of the Sun". ib., pp. 666–68, 677-80
- "London Fogs", ib., pp. 694–96.
- "On Far-off Vision", ib., 1866, p. 512.
- "A Star on Fire", ib., pp. 538–39.
- "Coloured Raia and Snow", ib., 1867, pp. 5–8.
- "On the Eclipses visible in Great Britain in 1867". ib., p. 144.
- "Comets and Meteors and Solar Spots", ib., p. 176.
- "On the Severe Frost of January", 1867. ib., pp. 222–23.
- "Comets and Meteors", ib., p. 288
- "On Periodical Meteors", ib., pp. 695–700.
- "Memoir of Sir Wm. Herschel". ib., pp. 727–31.
- "On the Nautical Almanac", ib., 1868, pp. 5–8.
- "The Midnight Sky at London", ib., pp. 23–28, 87-93, 169-72, 231-37, 296-301, 374-80, 439-45, 503-9, 584-89, 647-53, 730-36, 790-96.
- "On Far-off Vision", ib., p. 160.
- "How far off is the Sun?" ib., 1869, pp. 5–7.
- Rose-coloured Solar Protuberances, ib p. 32.
- "The Midnight Sky of the Southern Hemisphere", ib., pp. 103–9, 295-301, 519-25, 726-32.
- "On Aerolites and Bolides". ib., pp. 443–47, 459-60.
- "On the Observatories in the Southern Hemisphere", ib., pp. 794–95.
- "Dolly PentreathDolly PentreathDolly Pentreath, or Dorothy Pentreath was probably the last fluent native speaker of the Cornish language, prior to its revival in 1904 and the subsequent small number of children brought up as bilingual native speakers of revived Cornish.She is often stated to have been the last monoglot speaker...
". Notes and QueriesNotes and QueriesNotes and Queries is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to "English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism". Its emphasis is on "the factual rather than the speculative"...
., 2 S., i, 17 (1856).
External links
- Obituary in NatureNature (journal)Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
- Obituary in The ObservatoryThe Observatory (astronomy)The Observatory is a publication, variously described as a journal, a magazine and a review, devoted to astronomy. It has appeared regularly since 1877, and is currently published every two months....
. - Edwin Dunkin at the National Maritime MuseumNational Maritime MuseumThe National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...
.