A National Observatory Transformed - Greenwich in the Nineteenth Century

TLDR: The Royal Observatory at Greenwich was one of the leading institutions of nineteenth-century astronomy as mentioned in this paper and it was perhaps even more important for the new ways of pursuing astronomy that were pursued there.

Abstract: The Royal Observatory at Greenwich was one of the leading institutions of nineteenth-century astronomy. It was certainly a national observatory, but for much of that period the high regard with which astronomers viewed the results it produced and its position at the heart of a network of international observatories were such that Greenwich's importance transcended national boundaries. When in 1884 an international conference was held to choose a common zero of longitude, it was the Greenwich meridian that the conferees selected} In some ways, it was the international observatory. Dominating the Royal Observatory's history for almost half of the nineteenth century was Sir George Biddell Airy, Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881 (Figure I). Under Airy, the Observatory's complement and types of instruments, as well as methods of management, were transformed from those characteristic of a pre-industrial society to those of a society that had undergone the second phase of the Industrial Revolution. The result was that, although the Observatory was certainly notable for its scientific results, it was perhaps even more important for the new ways ofpursuing astronomy fashioned there. I shall follow E. W. Maunder and argue that under Airy, Greenwich to a large degree resembled a kind of accountant's office, a very different sort of workplace from that common for astronomical institutions in, say, the 1820s when Airy began his career. The Observatory's astronomical goals, however, display a strong strand of continuity throughout the century. Airy nevertheless played a key role in leading the Observatory in new directions and scholars agree that he put his stamp on the institution to a much greater degree than the other nineteenthcentury directors, Nevil Maskelyne, John Pond, and Sir William Christie. In discussing the Royal Observatory in the nineteenth century, I shall therefore concentrate upon Airy's directorship. In a short paper it is impossible to do justice to the full range of endeavours pursued under Airy. I shall instead focus on two areas that I believe are particularly revealing of the Observatory's place in nineteenth-century astronomy and in science in general. Both areas have attracted attention recently: first, the changing responsibilities of the Observatory, which in turn reveal the Observatory's shifting position in the political economies of astronomy and British science, and, second, the extent to which Airy altered the astronomer's workplace and turned Greenwich into a kind offactory and the degree to which Airy was himself a sort of factory manager. The history of nineteenth-century astronomy is a relatively neglected area of