Calendar of the Herschel Correspondence

在每个科学时代，都有一些杰出的人物，他们几乎认识每个人，并影响着广阔科学领域的研究。在早期的科学中，默森担任过这样的职位，后来成为皇家学会的秘书弗拉姆斯泰德。法国科学院的秘书也扮演了类似的角色。事实上，这些位于科学机构中心的职位继续发挥着关键作用。今天，它是国家科学院院长，总统的科学顾问，可能还是国家科学基金会的主任。该项目由迈克尔·克罗教授和芭芭拉·特平教授指导，旨在编制和出版这些科学界核心人物之一约翰·赫歇尔爵士(1792-1871)的通信日历。赫歇尔个人在天文学、数学、物理学、光化学、科学哲学和科学组织方面做出了重要贡献。从大约1820年到他去世，赫谢尔和世界各地的顶尖科学家之间大约有15,000封信。日历将提供关于通讯员姓名、日期、地点和储存库识别标志的信息，以及关于15,000封信的每一封信的简要摘要(约25字)。他们还将编写通讯员和摘要所述人员的传记、姓名和主题索引以及其他辅助材料。正如《达尔文通信日历》所证明的那样，对于试图追踪现代世界科学发展的历史学家、哲学家和社会科学家来说，这样一本科学界主要人物的日历是一个无价的工具。

In every age of science, there are towering figures who "know" virtually everyone and influence research in a vast area of science. In early science, Mersenne held such a position, later it was the Secretary of the Royal Society, Flamsteed. The Secretary of the French Academy of Sciences played a similar role. Indeed, these positions at the institutional center of science continue to play a critical role. Today, it is the President of the National Academy of Sciences, the President's Science Advisor and, potentially, the Director of the National Science Foundation. This project, directed by Professors Michael Crowe and Barbara Turpin, is aimed at the preparation and publication of a calendar of the correspondence of one of these central figures in science, Sir John Herschel (1792-1871). Herschel personally made important contributions to astronomy, mathematics, physics, photochemistry, philosophy of science, and scientific organization. There are approximately 15,000 letters between Hershel and the leading scientists around the world from about 1820 to his death. The calendar will provide information on the name of the correspondent, date, location and repository identification mark and a brief summary (about 25 words) on each of the 15,000 letters. They will also prepare a biographical register of correspondents and of persons mentioned in the summaries, a name and subject index, and other supportive material. As the Calendar of the Darwin Correspondence has demonstrated, such a calendar for the major figures in science is an invaluable tool for historians, philosophers and social scientists who try to trace the development of science in the modern world.