Thomas Harriot (1560-1621), a comfortably off bachelor living in the entourage of the politically controversial Earl of Northumberland, made a unique contribution to UK astronomy. July 26 2009 is the 400th anniversary of the first ever telescope observations and drawing of the Moon (several months before that of Galileo) made by English scientist Harriot in Syon Park, near Richmond, Middlesex. He also sailed to Virginia with Sir Walter Raleigh as a scientist/explorer.
The telescope is generally accepted to have been invented in Holland in the previous year, 1608.
Harriot used a x6 magnification 'Dutch Spyglass' to observe the moon. On 3 December 1610, Harriot independently discovered spots on the Sun – which contradicted Aristotle’s classical view that the Sun was perfect and unblemished – while he also went on to draw the first plausibly accurate map of the lunar surface, monitor the motions of Jupiter’s moons (after Galileo’s prior announcement of their discovery), and to see more stars in the Pleiades than were visible to the naked eye.
Dating back, perhaps to his youthful friendship with Sir Walter Raleigh, Thomas Harriot seems to have been a heavy pipe smoker. He died of a cancerous tumour inside his left nostril on 2nd July 1621, at the age of 61. So in addition to all his other distinctions (he was an acclaimed mathmetician and 'one of England's greatest renaissance scientists'), Thomas Harriot may have been one of the first Englishmen to die from a smoking-related cancer.
The picture below is supposed to be of Thomas Harriot, but there is no clear evidence that it is. The debate is here. However, since there is no other picture in existence, it will have to do!
* The crowning glory of Syon Park's gardens is the Great Conservatory (which, of course, looks like an observatory), pictured at the top of this post. The 3rd Duke of Northumberland commissioned Charles Fowler to build a new conservatory in 1826, the first of its kind to be built out of gunmetal, Bath stone and glass. It was originally designed to act as a show house for the Duke's exotic plants and inspired Joseph Paxton in his designs for the Crystal Palace.
