Update: You can now watch the recording of the talk via the link below.
Edinburgh to Hawai’i: the short astronomical career of John Walter Nichol
20 November 2020, 19:30-21:00 – Free
The Astronomical Society of Edinburgh (via Zoom for members; visitors can watch live via their YouTube channel): further details here.
The name John Walter Nichol enters the history of astronomy for his participation as an observer in one of the British expeditions to observe the transit of Venus in 1874. He was said to have been an assistant at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, but little else has been added; he was just one of the small army of observers mobilised that year. He is, however, brought to life in the caricatures that another member of his expeditionary team produced to record their ‘Life and Adventures’ on expedition. These prompted me to find out more: what brought this Edinburgh native to astronomy and to Hawai’i, and where did he go next?
teleskopos 