OBITUARY. THOMAS LOVELL, 1827-1878.
1879; Thomas Telford Ltd.; Volume: 57; Issue: 1879 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1680/imotp.1879.22353
ISSN2054-0477
ResumoBritannia,' a gentleman of high mathematical ability and varied acquirements, whose congenial society was a great solaco t o his invalid friend.Their conversation turned on the theory of light, and speaking of the peculiar opinions of a well-known professor, Mr. Bidder remarked that the pugnacity with which they were advanced sometimes caused him to doubt the sincerity of the unbelief; for, said he, " I can fancy a man combative for his convictions, but not for his non-convictions."Mr. Bidder also observed, that from considering light some of the best notions are obtained of the infinitely great and the infinitely small; the thought of light propagated a t 190,000 miles per second across space, and yet taking years, and in some cases many years, to reach the earth, gave a faint idea of the vastness of the visible creation; while the infinitely small is suggested by the fact that 36,918 pulses or waves of light, which only occupy 1 inch in length, are requisite to give the impression of red, while to convey the colour of violet 64,631 waves are necessary.Mr. Johnstone suggested the query that, taking the velocity of light at 190,000 miles per second, how many of its waves must strike the eye and be registered in one second to give the colour red ; and, producing a pencil, he was about to calculate the result, when Mr. Bidder said, You need not work it; the number of vibrations will be 444,433,651,200,000 : four hundred and forty-four billions four hundred and thirty-three thousand six hundred and fifty-one millions two hundred thousand vibrations."He subsequently performed som0 other calculations with equal rapidity, showing how unabated was the mental power when physical life and strength were flickering within a few hours of extinction.Two days afterwards, on ;the 28th of September, 1878, he died at Dartmouth, rather suddenly, and was buried in the churchyard a t Stoke Fleming, an adjacent village.I n all save himself his wonderful vitality and energy raised vain hopes, and only when without one pang the spirit parted from its worn-out, frame, was it apparent how frail the link that united them had become.
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