Sky & Telescope - July 2024 - 31

upon Sir Isaac Newton's Principles, and Made Easy to Those
Who Have Not Studied Mathematics (1756). Among the
book's future readers would be Herschel, who, when he was
still mainly involved in giving concerts and music lessons,
had not yet embarked on his frenzy of telescope-making
and had not yet begun his intense passion for observing the
Moon. In Ferguson's book, Herschel would have read, " From
what we know of our own System, it may be reasonably
concluded that all the rest are with equal wisdom contrived,
situated, and provided with accommodations for rational
inhabitants. " It was a short step from this to the forests,
canals, and circuses on the Moon.
Perhaps the most dramatic of Ferguson's exhibits consisted
of an orrery - a machine for demonstrating the motions of
the Moon and planets. The simplest models included only
Earth's annual movement around the Sun, the phases of the
Moon, the oscillation of the Moon's orbit, and the advance of
its apogee. A more elaborate version elucidated the motions of
the other planets and even the satellite systems of Jupiter and
Saturn. In addition, Ferguson was handy with electrical apparatuses
and experiments, then all the rage. Indeed, at about
the same time Ferguson passed through Birmingham, a future
Founding Father of the United States, Benjamin Franklin,
already famous for his electrical experiments, visited in order
" to improve and increase Acquaintance among Persons of
influence. " Michell introduced Franklin to several other lunaticks,
including William Small, a Scottish medical doctor who
served as Boulton's physician. Small's interests ranged beyond
medicine into optics, electricity, and sound. He had recently
returned from America, where he had been Professor of Natural
Philosophy and Mathematics at the College of William
and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Among his pupils was a
young Thomas Jefferson, another future Founding Father.
Small's interest in optics brought him into contact with
James Watt, a maker and repairer of scientific instruments
in Glasgow, Scotland. Watt was a somewhat obsessive,
LEARNED CONVERSATION This 19th-century artist's rendering
shows a typical Lunar Society (formerly, Lunar Circle) meeting in
progress. The individual figures are difficult to identify, but James Watt is
probably represented on the far side of the table.
LUNAR MAN ABOUT TOWN A
leading manufacturer and inventor in
Birmingham, Matthew Boulton had an
intellect and gregarious personality that
drew kindred spirits into the Lunar Society,
where they discussed ideas, experiments,
and inventions - including
the achromatic refractor, which Boulton
tried unsuccessfully to develop.
THE OTHER DARWIN A leading
member of the Lunar Society, Erasmus
Darwin was a physician, philosopher,
poet, inventor, and abolitionist. His
botanical writings contain hints about a
theory of evolution, which his grandson
Charles Darwin later brought to full
realization.
A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS The
dissenting minister, liberal political
theorist, natural philosopher, and chemist
Joseph Priestley, who experimented
with electricity, discovered what he
called " dephlogisticated air " (oxygen)
and invented carbonated water. Soon
after arriving in Birmingham, Priestley
became one of the Lunar Society's
most active members.
sk yand tele scope .o r g * JULY 2024 31
LUNAR SOCIETY MEETING: CLASSIC IMAGE / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; BOULTON: BIRMINGHAM
MUSEUMS TRUST, LICENSED UNDER CC0; DARWIN: JOSEPH WRIGHT / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS /
PUBLIC DOMAIN; PRIESTLY: IANDAGNALL COMPUTING / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
http://skyandtelescope.org
Sky & Telescope - July 2024

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