The Correspondence of John Flamsteed, The First Astronomer Royal

"John Flamsteed was England's first Astronomer Royal. He lived and worked for over 40 years in Christopher Wren's Royal Observatory at Greenwich. Throughout those years he corresponded with key figures of the British and continental scientific communities. Astronomical observations, scientific instruments, and the publication of results were all discussed. Surviving letters written to and by Flamsteed during the last 16 years of his life are collected together in this third and final volume of correspondence. It is a window onto the life of a diligent astronomer and onto the scientific world of the early 18th Century.

The letters … are arranged in chronological order. They are typed versions of handwritten missives in the Cambridge-based Greenwich archive and of others in the UK, St. Petersburg, Basel, New York, and Pisa. Willmoth's introductory essay is an excellent entrance to the letters. She embraces the broad themes, highlights details to look out for, and supplies incisive commentary. Two of Flamsteed's concerns, the publication of his Greenwich observations and his desire to retain independence from the Royal Society, feature in the correspondence.

Present and future historians of science owe a debt to the thorough and assiduous work of Flamsteed's editors. They've not only made his correspondence available to a wide readership but have led them into this world of meticulously and expertly annotating each letter. A rich, largely untapped source of study is yours for the picking."
-Carole Stott, The Observatory