MR. RICHARD ANTHONY PROCTOR, The Astronomer.

Observer, Volume 1, Issue 13, 11 December 1880, Page 113

MR. RICHARD ANTHONY PROCTOR, The Astronomer.

Mr. Richard Anthony Proctor, avlio for the last sixteen years lias been known as a writer on scientific subjects in Europe and America, and whose books and essays have been -extensively read in the colonies, is one of those men of science who have felt it their duty to communicate their researches to a Avider public than their predecessors used to address. Not •only the observations and calculations, but the .grandest of the speculations of the elder Herschel were embodied in the transactions of the Royal Society. The work even of the younger Herschel was commenced and carried on for many years on the old lines. In his great work, "The Outlines of Astronomy," Sir John Herschel unbent a little ; but in his single volume of popular essays he adopted the lighter tone, in which Tyndall, Huxley, and Proctor have in many such essays addressed the general public. Adopting this familiar style, Huxley, in New York, expounded the theory of evolution, illustrating it by the geological history of the horse ; Tyndall dealt with the phenomena of light, while Proctor, there and in the colonies, has •done valuable service in expounding the theories and facts of astronomy, and not only providing the public with much agreeable entertainment, but teaching them that the science with which he is especially concerned is extremely useful for the practical everyday purposes of life.

The following particulars regarding Mr. Proctor's career are condensed from Men of the Times : — "Richard Anthony Proctor, 8.A., Avas horn at Chelsea on March 23, 1537, and in boyhood was educated chiefly at home, having had had health for several years. Subsequently he pursued his studies at King's College, London, and St. John's College, Cambridge. He graduated as 53rd Wrangler in 1860. He was appointed as Honorary Fellow of King's College, London, in 1873, and Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1866. He was appointed as Hon. Secretary of that society, and editor of the Proceedings in February, 1872, but resigned these offices in November, 1873, when he started on his first tour in America, Avhich country he again visited in 1875. He has published about thirty .books, amongst the best known of which are ' Saturn and its System,' 'Handbook of Stars,' •'Other Worlds than Ours,' 'The Sun,' 'Orbs Around,' 'The Moon,' 'Borderland of Science,' ■' Expanse of HeaA r en, ' ' Transits ■of Venus,' 'Pleasant Ways in Science,' 'Flowers of the Sky,' .and ' Rough Ways made Smooth,' the last proof-sheets of which were corrected by the author hevtAveen Liverpool and QueenstoAvn, on his Avay to NeAV York last •October. Another work, called ' The Poetry of Astronomy ' has recently been announced as nearly ready. Among Mr. Proctor's most important contributions to .science of late years, however, Aye must not omit to notice that he has Avritten for various encylopsedias. He Avas selected to succeed Forbes, Playfair, J. Herschel and others in writing the section on astronomy for the 1 Encylopaedia Britannica ' (latest .edition), the best possible proof •of his position as an astronomer in Great Britain." Mr. Proctor's vieAvs as a teacher .of science would not be rightly understood if it Avere supposed that he regards science as the ■only worthy object of a man's .attention. He considers that the •delight afforded to the reasoning mind by scientific study is one Among many ansAvers which might be given to the someAvhat petulant question of recent times, "Is life worth living?" But he is assuredly not one of those who •would ask men to diminish the value of life by devoting it solely ■or chiefly to scientific research. Mr. Proctor himself is very far from doing this. He enjoys life in all its varied phases. He is iond of athletic pursuits — roAving, fencing, cricket, and the rest. He is not averse to a good game of whist, and though he does not call himself a chess player, •we may infer from his success at the Melbourne 'Chess Club that he plays a strong game. Of Mr. Proctor's lecturing career in the •■colonies, it is no exaggeration to say that it has been brilliantly successful ; and the news of the reception accorded in the antipodes to one of the .greatest saya?is of the age, Avill do as much to raise them in the estimation of thinking men at Home as the admirable play of the Australian •cricketers caused the colonies to be talked .about throughout the United Kingdom. In Melbourne the Athenaeum Hall proved all too small, so that on his return he took the ToAvn Hall, Avhich in its turn Avas not found large .enough. In Adelaide he emptied the theatres, his Excellency Sir William Jervois and family i(the Governor himself being a scientific man) attending every lecture. In Sydney, where he lectured for tAvelve consecutive nights, no money Avas taken at the doors, the famous Sunday lecture apparently having only been .announced for the convenience of the people Avho ■could not obtain admission on Aveek days. When that lecture Avas actually given (the performances of the popular London Comedy Company having been suspended for the purpose), the Theatre Royal, for tAVO evenings, Avas thronged Avith the intellect, beauty and fashion •of Sydney ; and, coming nearer home, even in the little colony of Tasmania, the House of Assembly rose early at two sittings in order that they might hear a man Avho had been aptly

described as "a lay preacher of a very noble order, who knows the secrets of the boundless universe as few men have ever known them, and whose talents for revealing them to other men's minds is unrivalled." In Australia, the clergy of all denominations, from the Bishop of Melbourne downwards, recommended their congregations to go and hear the eminent lecturer. The other colonies having done so much, it is not surprising to find that in Dunedin people gave an enthusiastic reception to the eminent scientist, who, according to the Westminster Review, ' ' best conforms to Matthew Arnold's conception of a man of culture, in that he tries to make knowledge a source of happiness and brightness to all." In order that all might have an opportunity of hearing him discourse on the wonders of the heavens, several annual religious and social gatherings, and some private parties were postponed ; and when Mr. Proctor gave his first lecture, the Garrison Hall was filled with an audience of 2000 people, thoroughly representative of the culture and intelligence of the city. Thus, as an Otago statistician remarked, in the course of half-an-hour as many people paid to hear Mr. Proctor in Dunedin with its 50,000 inhabitants, as between 10 and 6 'paid to see the International Exhibition in Melbourne with its 280,000 inhabitants ; for, according to the Argus, the average number of paying visitors of the Melbourne Exhibition at the time was something between two and three thousand. Mr. Proctor's New Zealand tour, so prosperously begun, received no check in Christ-

church, where the Anglican Synod adjourned that the members might hear him, and Avhere the usual week-day services at one of the ■ churches was suspended, to leave the congregation free to attend the entire course of lectures, some of which have to be repeated. In Wellington, nothwithstanding the general depression, the Theatre Royal was nightly crowded, and in Nelson, the Governors of the College took course tickets for all the 136 pupils. In this little city, as in Wellington and Dunedin, special lectures were given for the edification of public school children. The eminent astronomer, who is now lecturing in Napier to crowded audiences in responce to a requisition signed by the Mayor and all the leading citizens, will give his first lecture in the Choral Hall next Monday, taking for his subject "The Life and Death of a World." From Auckland Mr. Proctor will proceed to Sydney, to embark by the Torrist Straits route for England, where he is to bring out a new magazine called "Knowledge," to be publshed simultaneously in London and New York. During his Australasian tour, Mr. Proctor has been accompanied by Mr. It. S. Symthe, who has had the pleasure of introducing several eminent men and women to the public of Auckland.