Ralph Copeland (1837-1905)
Select Bibliography
- A good overview of Copeland's life and career is given in his
obituary by J.L.E. Dreyer in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Society, Vol.
66, p. 164.,1906.
- Copeland's scientific publications can be accessed via the SAO/NASA
Astrophysics Data System (ADS) or in the Transactions or the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
- Information on Copeland's family is given on Eric
Percival's web
site; and also in Fanny Susan Copeland's unpublished
autobiography "The Buzzing Fly" in the National Library of Scotland (Acc 11904) and ROE Archives.
- The journey of the Star of the Sea to Melbourne is reported on the Old
Mersey Times web site .
- An English language account of the Arctic Expedition is
"The German Arctic Expedition of 1869-70 ... by Captain Koldewey", Translated and abridged by the Rev. L. Mercier; London,
Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle, 1874
- The geodetic work of the expedition (with maps) is reported
by Börgen in
Viertelsjahrsschrift der
Astronomischen Gesellschaft, VI, 1871, pp 280-285 available
on-line
- Copeland's observations are included in "Observations
of nebulae and clusters of stars made with the six-foot and three-foot
reflectors at Birr Castle, from the year 1848 up to about the year 1878"
by the Earl of Rosse in the Scientific Transactions of the Royal Dublin
Society, 2, 1-136; 137-78.
- For the observatory at Dun Echt, see "Lord Crawford's
Observatory at Dun-Echt 1872-1892" by H. A. Brück,
in Vistas
in Astronomy Vol. 35, 81, 1992.
- An account of Copeland's astronomical experiments at high
elevation in the Andes is given in Copernicus
Vol III, p. 193, 1884, augmented from his observing note
books in the ROE archives. The same volume of Copernicus (p. 133)
descrbes Copeland's
visits to various North American observatories on his way home.
- The travels in the Andes are described in "Reisbriefe aus
Südamerica" pp 105-116 and 219-223 in Deutsche
Geographische Blätter Band VI (1883).
- Copeland's (official) Diary in the ROE Archives from 1891 records his meetings regarding
the design and cost of the new Royal Observatory, and the progress
of the building. It also records his visit to observatories in Germany and
the fire in the Royal Terrace house. Prior to 1891, from his appointment in 1889,
he recorded his actions, including the selection of Blackford Hill as the site for the
new Royal Observatory, in the "Equatorial Book Vol 2 1879-88" in the ROE Archives.