Francis Aston (1645-1715) - English scholar, member of the Royal Society , secretary of the society in 1681-1685.
| Francis Aston | |
|---|---|
| English Francis aston | |
| Date of Birth | 1645 |
| Date of death | 1715 |
| A country | |
| Place of work | Royal Society of London |
Biography
Francis Aston was born in 1644 or 1645. Nothing is known about his family, except that his father died when Francis was still a child. At the age of 12, he entered , and in 1660 became a . In 1661, Aston entered Trinity College , University of Cambridge , received a bachelor's degree in 1665, and was elected a fallow college in 1667. There Aston became one of the few friends of Isaac Newton [1] . Going on a trip to the Continent in 1669, Aston received a well-known letter from his friend with various requests. In addition to instructions to observe the customs and crafts of European countries, many of the requests concerned alchemical interests - for example, to inform him of all the cases of transmutation or conversion of metals to mercury that he had noticed - supposedly, in the copies of the Hungarian Chemnitz, iron turns into copper. Newton also instructed Aston to check the rumors about the alchemist (1627–1695), who is hiding from the persecution of papists and walks in a green suit, and make extracts from 's Symbola Aureae Mensae Duodecim Nationum [2] . In 1678, Aston was elected a , and a member of the Society Council on November 30, 1680. A year later, Aston became one of the secretaries of society. His colleague until 1682 was Robert Hooke , and then , and . On December 9, 1685, Aston resigned as secretary. The surviving letters of that period give an idea of the difficulties associated with this difficult decision. According to Halley , it was Aston's desire to receive more reward. Subsequently, Aston continued to be a member of the Society Council, joining it for 7 years between 1694 and 1711. In 1712, he was a member of a committee that examined Newton and Leibniz's priority dispute [3] .
Aston has never been married. He died in June or July 1715 at Whitehall . He bequeathed his fortune to the Society, including a 48- acre estate. His portrait by Frederic Kerseboom is kept in the Society [4] . Also preserved is an air pump made for Aston by Francis Hawkesby [3] .
Notes
- ↑ Westfall, 1980 , p. 75.
- ↑ Manuel, 1980 , pp. 162-164.
- ↑ 1 2 Lyons, 1940 .
- ↑ Portrait of Francis Aston . The Royal Society.
Literature
- Lyons HG Francis Aston (1645-1715) // Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London. - 1940. - Vol. 3. - P. 88-92.
- Manuel F. A Portrait of Isaac Newton. - London: Frederick Muller Limited, 1980 .-- 478 p. - ISBN 0-584-95357-7 .
- Westfall RS Never at Rest. A Biography of Isaac Newton. - Cambridge University Press, 1980. - 908 p. - ISBN 978-0-521-23143-5 .