Rittenhouse, David, 1732-1796 to John Page

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GLC#
GLC05974
Type
Letters
Date
18 August 1777
Author/Creator
Rittenhouse, David, 1732-1796
Title
to John Page
Place Written
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pagination
3 p. : address ; Height: 32.6 cm, Width: 20.2 cm
Primary time period
American Revolution, 1763-1783
Sub-Era
The War for Independence

Written by Rittenhouse, a well-known astronomer and instrument maker, as Pennsylvania state treasurer to Page as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. References Page's letter of 25 March 1777. Thanks him sending his observations on the eclipse of the sun and the transit of Mercury. Says he is going to do a write up of the eclipse and needs Williamsburg, Virginia's (where Page wrote from) true longitude. Says next eclipse of the sun in June will be total. Discusses in detail the angle of observation for an eclipse and the path of Venus. Says he will send something to Page for publication since "our Society" - the American Philosophical Society - has discontinued meetings because of disputes between Tories and Whigs.

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