GLAISHER, JAMES (1809-1903)

This article appears in Volume V12, Page 73 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: GEO-GNU

GLAISHER, JAMES (1809-1903) , English meteorologist and aeronaut, was born in London on the 7th of April 1809. After serving for a few years on the Ordnance Survey of Ireland, he acted as an assistant at the

Cambridge

and Greenwich observatories successively, and when the department of meteorology and magnetism was formed at the latter, he was entrusted with its superintendence,which he continued to exercise for thirty-four years, until his retirement from the public service. In 1845 he published his well-known dew-point tables, which have gone through many editions. In 183o he established the Meteorological Society, acting as its secretary for many years, and in 1866 he assisted in the foundation of the Aeronautical Society of

Great

GREAT

Britain. He was appointed a member of the royal commission on, the warming and ventilation of dwellings in 1875, and for twelve years from 188o acted as chairman of the executive committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. But his name is best known in connexion with the

series

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

balloon

BALLOON

ascents which he made between 1862 and 1866, mostly in company with

Henry

HENRY
HENRY (1129-1195)
HENRY (c. 1108-1139)
HENRY (c. 1174–1216)
HENRY (Fr. Henri; Span. Enrique; Ger. Heinrich; Mid. H. Ger. Heinrich and Heimrich; O.H.G. Haimi- or Heimirih, i.e. " prince, or chief of the house," from O.H.G.
heim
- HEIM, ALBERT VON ST GALLEN (1849- )
- HEIM, FRANCOIS JOSEPH (1787-1865)
, the Eng.
home
- HOME
- HOME, DANIEL DUNGLAS (1833-1886)
- HOME, EARLS OF
, and rih, Goth. reiks; compare Lat. rex " king "—" rich," therefore " mig
EDWARD
- EDWARD
_LAMSON_1841_.html">HENRY,
EDWARD
- EDWARD
LAMSON (1841– )
HENRY, JAMES (1798-1876)
HENRY, JOSEPH (1797-1878)
HENRY, MATTHEW (1662-1714)
HENRY, PATRICK (1736–1799)
HENRY, PRINCE OF
BATTENBERG
- BATTENBERG
(1858-1896)
HENRY, ROBERT (1718-1790)
HENRY, VICTOR (1850– )
HENRY, WILLIAM (1795-1836)

Tracey Coxwell. Many of these ascents were arranged by a committee of the British Association, of which he was a member, and were strictly scientific in character, the object being to carry out observations on the temperature, humidity, &c., of the atmosphere at high elevations. In one of them, that which took place at Wolverhampton on the 5th of September 1862, Glaisher and his companion attained the greatest height that had been reached by a

balloon

BALLOON

carrying passengers. As. no automatically recording

instruments

INSTRUMENTS

were available, and Glaisher was unable to read the barometer at the highest point owing to loss of consciousness, the precise altitude can never be known, but it is estimated at about 7 M. from the earth. He died on the 7th of February 1903 at Croydon.

End of Article: GLAISHER, JAMES (1809-1903)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/GEO_GNU/GLAISHER_JAMES_1809_1903_.html">
GLAISHER, JAMES (1809-1903)
</a>

(Previous)
GLAIR (from Fr. glaire, probably from Lat. clam...

(Next)
GLAMIS

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email