Talk:William Herschel

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Not Jewish[edit]

Sir William Herschel was definitively not jewish, nor he had any jewish ancestry. The Herschel family was always christian (evangelic), as was the family of his mother. Hans Herschel, the great-grandfather of William Herschel, was fisher and brewer in Pirna county / Saxony. See http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/0001/bsb00016409/images/index.html?seite=711 . Grandfathers and fathers old-testament-names (Abraham and Isaak, respectively) were very common in protestant families in that period (see e.g. the names of Isaac Newton, Jonathan Swift, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln ...). William Herschels entry in Jewish Encyclopedia in 1906 (the "source" for his alleged "jewishness") is based on error. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.113.52.122 (talk) 13:32, 29 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Not jewish (Religion), but, he came from jewish People! And this is the point. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.232.28.151 (talk) 23:39, 6 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Two biographers (earlier than the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia) cite him as decended from converted Moravian Jews, and these are now cited as notes in the article.--Smerus (talk) 06:16, 13 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Were Kepler, Newton, Planck also Jewish? Stopp writing this absurd! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.178.68.67 (talk) 14:39, 13 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

This discussion is about Herschel, not about Kepler, Newton or Planck. You shouldn't really remove information supported by a WP:RS just becaue you don't like it. Martinevans123 (talk) 14:52, 13 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Source please apart from the fantasy of Edward S. Holden without any documents! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.178.68.67 (talk) 15:23, 13 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Who else, apart from yourself, claims that the work of Edward S. Holden was a "fantasy". If you have concerns about the reliability of that source, you could raise then at Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard. Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 15:44, 13 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

We need documents, which indicate Herschels family was originally Jewish and comes from converted Moravian Jews. No single source in German designates this fact. The Jewish Encyclopedia is not a secure source! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.178.68.67 (talk) 15:42, 13 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

You mean "No single source in German that you have seen designates this fact." I haven't seen one either, but that doesn't really prove they don't exist, does it. Do you have a source that says categorically that he had no Jewish ancenstry? Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 15:49, 13 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

There's no convincing evidence that he had any Jewish ancestry. Indeed, Herschel is not even a Jewish surname. Hirsch is, however. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ammonitida (talk • contribs) 02:14, 15 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@Ammonitida: Herschel can also be a Jewish surname (in addition to a first name). "Sourcebook for Jewish Genealogies and Family Histories" by David Zubatsky, and Irwin Berent, lists Herschel, Herschall, Herschell as Jewish surnames. http://www.avotaynu.com/books/sourcebook.htm
German Wikipedia mentions a Jewish Viennese artist (born in Teplitz-Schönau, Bohemia) named Otto Hans Herschel. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Herschel
Jacob D (talk) 08:11, 14 February 2018 (UTC)Jacob D[reply]
The source of the second ref, John C. Barentine, is here. It quotes Herschel' biographer Edward S. Holden (1846-1914). Martinevans123 (talk) 08:57, 14 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

"We know but little of the family of Herschel. The name is undoubtedly Jewish, and is found in Poland, Germany, and England" This is the exact quote I found from Holden's book in regards to Herschel's jewish ancestry. Assuming that's all he says in this regard then his biography should not be considered a definitive authority either. — Preceding unsigned comment added by HBBorges (talk • contribs) 02:37, 26 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The name is undoubtedly Jewish ... Really? Read this about Jewisch names https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCdischer_Name. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.158.239.100 (talk) 11:29, 7 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

it’s also not an exclusively Jewish last name. You can find members of the SS with the last names Weil, Weinstein, Weiss, Weis, Reis, Reiss, Goldberg, Hirsch, Hirschel, Hersche and Herschel 2600:1700:DAE0:1AA0:7D1E:AD5A:419E:5B31 (talk) 18:14, 2 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I would like to open this topic back up for discussion since User:עמירם פאל seems very intent on making the Herschel's Jewish despite no verifiable evidence beyond speculation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1700:A7D4:1930:45F3:40A2:FD1E:66B (talk) 06:19, 7 January 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Comets[edit]

In this article, it says that Caroline "discovered eight comets". In the article on Caroline, it says that she discovered "several comets". In the Talk page of the article on Caroline, it is implied that she only discovered five and that the other three were re-discovered. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.105.36.65 (talk) 13:32, 21 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Edit request from Jimmboi98, 12 June 2010[edit]

{{editsemiprotected}}


Jimmboi98 (talk) 21:01, 12 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You have not made a request. Please request a specific "change this to that"-style change. —fetch·comms 21:16, 12 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Technical expert[edit]

What is meant by naming Herschel a "technical expert" in the first line of the introduction. Neither the words "technical" or "expert" appear anywhere else in the article. Is it meant as a synonym of technical advisor? Arbitrarily0 (talk) 16:17, 23 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Right, the phrase "technical expert" is not very meaningful. I've removed it, but we might understand that it might have been intended as a place keeper for adding additional dimensions to the things Herschel did. He was something of a scientific celebrity in his time, and people often looked to him for scientific advice. DoctorTerrella (talk) 14:41, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Sun Spot / Climate[edit]

Something like "Herschel also collected records of the price of wheat, as direct meteorological measurements were not available for a sufficient period" is a) false, he took that series from a book by a certain Adam Smith. b) Such assumptions are WP:Synth repectively Original research. The correlation between sun spots and wheat prices was significant, ridiculed by his contemporaries but valid for the time in question. Its not working as a generic means of forecast. The assumption that all planets and the sun where inhabited might sound weird but was not at all "wild speculation" in Herschels days, the claim is pure original research and not at all being backed by the ORF source. Serten (talk) 10:09, 14 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Serten, you are right, Herschel didn't collect any records on the price of wheat; he just used Adam Smith's data. His original 1801 (?) paper was, partly, a report on a search for correlation with sunspots, and it was, by his own account, speculative. He was hoping to spur discussion on the subject of the role of the sun in long-term climate change. As for "significance", these days, with a modern philosophy for hypothesis testing, this is established after successful prediction of the future, or at least, after successful prediction of an objective data set that was not used in formulating the hypothesis of interest. Herschel's correlation has not successfully predicted future wheat prices, so it is not significant. Even though the notion of "significance", in the statistical sense of the word, did not exist in Herschel's time, Herschel can certainly be praised for putting forward an interesting hypothesis. Sincerely, DoctorTerrella (talk) 15:07, 16 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Dottore, I fully support nearly all what you wrote, however disagree with one sentence: "Herschel's correlation has not successfully predicted future wheat prices, so it is not significant". Herschel did successfully predict some of the wheat price developements during his livetime. Wether you and I see herschel as being significant or not is our personal point of view / opinion. the article needed third party opinions like the one of Michael Lockwood / NIr Shaviv which - in contrary to J. J Love - clearly state that Herschel had a point and was one of the pioneers of modern research for solar influenes on climate, which is important as of today. Serten (talk) 15:48, 16 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
As said, the previous version had major issues. I insofar dont understand why it was reverted without refering to the disk entry. In so far I reverted to the improved version, which has actual sources and significantly reduced OR content. Serten (talk) 12:17, 16 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
The "wild speculation" OR about Herschels assumption, that the moon and planets were populated is plainly wrong. To the contrary, most scientists of herschels time found ample evidence of life on other planets, while most religious thinkers tried to preserve the uniqueness of the creation of life on earth. That now backed by some entries about Herschel - including his claim of life in the sun - in George Basalla Oxford University Press book. I insofar would appreciate to have the improvements accepted. Serten (talk) 13:09, 16 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Hello Serten, basically i have reverted your edits because the new references do not meet Wikipedia standards (linking to a lecture for instance). However, i did not looked into this in more detail. prokaryotes (talk) 15:38, 16 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Hmm Prokaryotes - the article still has links to oral presentations - e.g. source 25, which have not been introduced by me. I have not quoted any lecture and I ask you to compare the value of the previous sources (e.g. a blog entry of an Austrian TV channel) you reverted to with the spectacular-big-super-great-wise-crazy-scientist-egghead stuff I have provided. Maybe I have made some formating errors, I therfore apologize for causing misunderstandings ;). Serten (talk) 16:56, 16 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Not "Sir William"[edit]

It might want to be taken into consideration that William Herschel's honour as a Knight of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order was most likely not accompanied by a substantive knighthood (which his son John Herschel was in fact additionally bestowed upon following said honour), cf http://www.shpltd.co.uk/The_Herschel_Knighthoods.pdf — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tholasti (talk • contribs) 11:04, 18 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

You are right. I took this out at the end of 2013 and some chump has put it back in again. The reference you quote is already given at the end of the article. Skeptic2 (talk) 16:18, 18 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Herschel, Saskatchewan[edit]

Named after Herschel section says that Herschel, Saskatchewan was named after William Herschel; article on Herschel, Saskatchewan says that the town is named after Sir John Herschel. Please rectify. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.159.232.121 (talk) 18:44, 12 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

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Stellar Spectra studied with thermometers?[edit]

The article includes the phrase "..using prisms and temperature measuring equipment to measure the wavelength distribution of stellar spectra." This seems unphysical and I have not found any evidence for this type of measurement, other than for our Sun. The amount of energy from any star other than our sun would be much too small to affect the reading on any thermometer. Perhaps someone who is more expert than I can fix this, or provide a reference? 3piecesuits (talk) 01:44, 11 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Lexell's nationality[edit]

Under "Uranus" it's said that Russian Academician Anders Lexell computed the orbit and found it to be probably planetary. I have never heard anybody call Lexell Russian, however. Swedish (in Swedish books), Finland-Swedish or Finnish-Swedish (in "international" texts) are more usual. Sometimes it's mentioned that Lexell worked in Russia. All this could well be written in this article, but I'm not sure of exactly how I should re-write it. If somebody has a good idea, I have hereby mentioned my concerns. :) Fomalhaut76 (talk) 07:44, 28 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

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