Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope 1820-1831: The Founding of a Colonial Observatory Incorporating a biography of Fearon Fallows

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The Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, was the first major astronomical observatory in the southern hemisphere, and this volume presents an account of its origin, construction and use. It describes technical aspects, such as the instruments and their makers, the installation of the instruments and their initial problems. The difficulties of founding a scientific institution in a remote colony are also detailed. There is a biography of the Cambridge-trained mathematician Fearon Fallows, the Observatory’s first director. The architecture, building methods and construction techniques are analyzed. There is also a description of the social aspects of life in Cape Town in the 1820s, touching on slavery and ecclesiastical matters. This text offers emphasis to both the technical and human side of astronomy.