Spam Showcase: Herschel the Astronomer
It’s not often that a piece of spam turns out to be legitimately educational. Did you know that Sir William Herschel, a British scientist, was the first to identify Uranus as a planet in 1781? Of couse, as with all spam, there’s a catch. At the beginning and end of the message, it discretely links to a porno site and an advertisement for a viagra-class product. My telescope is just fine thank you…
from Cickemede: Herschel’s music led him to an interest in mathematics, and thence to astronomy. This interest grew stronger after 1773, and he built some telescopes and made the acquaintance of Nevil Maskelyne. He observed the Moon, measuring the heights of lunar mountains, and also worked on a catalog of double stars.
The turning point in Herschel’s life was 13 March 1781 , while he was living at 19 New King Street, Bath, (now the Herschel Museum of Astronomy) when he made the first sighting of the planet Uranus. This made him famous and enabled him to turn to astronomy full-time. Naming the new planet Georgium Sidus, Latin for “George’s Star”, in honour of King George III also brought him favour (the name didn’t stick - in France, where reference to the British king was to be avoided if possible, the planet was known as ‘Herschel’ until the name ‘Uranus’ was universally adopted). That same year, Herschel was awarded the Copley Medal and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1782, he was appointed “The King’s Astronomer” and he and his sister subsequently moved to Datchet (then in Buckinghamshire but now in Berkshire) on 1 August 1782. He continued his work as a telescope maker, selling a number of them to other astronomers.
Tags: dumb news, spam, sir william herschel, uranus, astronomy
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Dumb Advertising, Dumb Pictures, Dumb Science, Spam Showcase
0 opinions for Spam Showcase: Herschel the Astronomer
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: