The Life And History Of William Denning

Excerpt from The Life and History of William Denning, Who Cast the First Wrought-Iron Cannon for the American Army at the Outbreak of the Revolutionary War History has been very kind to great soldiers and warriors. Its pages have been filled for the most part with ba'ttles which decided the fate of nations, and with the deeds Of heroes whose garments were rolled in the blood of thousands of their fellow men. Blood and slaughter, rapine and destruction have al ways had a strange fascination for mankind. Lurid frescoes drawn and painted by sword and fire have fixed the gaze Of the ages. Out from the gloomy clouds of war and battle, like stars out of a cloudy sky, flash here and there the names of a few, the magnitude of whose deeds have made them im mortal, but oblivion has covered as with a mantle the lives and labors of many humbler and worthier men. It is always commendable to rescue from forgetfulness the memory of those who by reason of superior mechanical genius, first prao tically accomplished what had hitherto only floated as misty dreams in the brain of theorists. Such is the object of this little book. Ever since the death of William Denning, occa sional efforts have been made to do justice to his memory, but besides a few brief newspaper articles and an attempt to' create a memorial fund, nothing was effected until by legis lative enactment and appropriation, a beautiful monument has been erected to his memory. What is known of the life of this man ought to be written. To him belongs the honor of having successfully made the first wrought iron cannon ever used in war. Out of the misty shadows of the past, from the living lips of those who knew the man, from men and women, from letters and from tradition, have been gath ered with much labor this humble contribution to the mem ory of a worthy man. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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This book provides a detailed biographical account of the industrious late nineteenth-century astronomer William Frederick Denning who, in later life, rose to be a celebrated public figure and a highly respected amateur astronomer. The book also examines Denning’s many contributions to the astronomy of his time. As an indomitable promotor of amateur astronomy, Denning was closely involved in the formation of the short-lived, but historically pivotal, Observational Astronomy Society (OAS) in 1869. Readers will learn about the origins and the observational programs initiated by the OAS, and the author also presents a series of biographical sketches of its most industrious members. Furthermore, by examining Denning’s letters and publications, the author shows how he helped to nurture the growth of amateur astronomy, also teaching amateur observers how to make their efforts scientifically useful. A stalwart observer and enthusiast himself, Denning was a key player in the development of meteor astronomy in England, culminating in his being invited, in 1922, to be the first President of Commission 22 (meteors, meteorites and interplanetary dust) of the newly formed International Astronomical Union. The text follows the development and rapid growth of meteor astronomy during the nineteenth century, focusing upon the key observations and important theoretical advances. In addition, it pays tribute to pioneering practitioners, who, along with Denning, set out to unravel the story and secrets of the shooting stars. While not an openly forthright or strident figure, Denning, at the height of his career, became embroiled in two public and controversial issues. The first related to his pseudo-scientific theory of optical blurring, and his belief that large-aperture telescopes performed less efficiently than smaller-aperture telescopes when used in the study of planetary disks. The second concerned the mysterious issue of stationary meteor shower radiants—an apparent observational reduction that was completely at odds with both the standard theories of gravitational dynamics and the generally accepted notion of meteoroid stream structure. The book explores these two controversies and uses them to examine Denning’s outlook on scientific methodology.

This volume is the most comprehensive bibliography of purely biographical material written by Americans. It covers every possible field of life but, by design, excludes autobiographies, diaries, and journals.