The Crimes of Astronomical Instruments and Their Panopticon at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich during the Middle of the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

Simon Newcomb argued that nineteenth century observatory practices were dominated by the German school of practical astronomy devised by Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel. A key tenet of this school was the mathematical correction of instrumental errors. This paper argues that this mathematical maintenance created an approach whereby instruments were seen as criminals always deviating from their ideal operations. The paper takes as its case study the Airy Transit Circle at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich to demonstrate how the mathematical maintenance worked in action. The paper further argues that such an approach numerically disassembles and reassembles transit circles, while at the same time extending its components to include even the air and the soil surrounding it.