Thomas Dick (1774 - 1857), a popular Scottish scientific teacher and writer known for his works on astronomy. A deeply religious man, he also wrote ethical and theological works. Chesma Column in Tsarskoe Selo, commemorating the end of the Russo-Turkish War. ... 1857 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Motto: (Latin for No one provokes me with impunity)1. ... A giant Hubble mosaic of the Crab Nebula. ...

Life

Thomas Dick was born in the Hilltown, Dundee, on November 24, 1774. He was brought up in the strict tenets of the United Secession Church of Scotland, and his father, Mungo Dick, a small linen manufacturer, designed for him his own trade. But the appearance of a brilliant meteor impressed him, when in his ninth year, with a passion for astronomy; he read, sometimes even when seated at the loom, every book on the subject within his reach; begged or borrowed some old pair of spectacles, contrived a machine for grinding them to the proper shape, and, having mounted them in pasteboard tubes, begain celestial observations. His parents, at first afflicted by his eccentricities, left him at sixteen to choose his own way of life. Dundee (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Dèagh) located on the North bank of the river Tay, is a royal burgh and the fourth largest city in Scotland. ... November 24 is the 328th day (329th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... The United Secession Church (or properly the United Associate Synod of the Secession Church) was a Scottish Presbyterian denomination. ... Linum usitatissimum L. - Flax Torn linen cloth, recovered from the Dead Sea Linen is a material made from the fibers of the flax plant. ...

Dick became assistant at a school in Dundee, and in 1794 entered the University of Edinburgh, supporting himself by private tuition. His philosophical and theological studies terminated, he set up a school at Dundee, took out a license to preach in 1801, and officiated as probationer during some years at Stirling and elsewhere. An invitation from the patrons to act as teacher in the Secession School at Methven led to a ten year's residence there, distinguished by efforts on his part towards popular improvement, including a zealous promotion of the study of science, the foundation of a people's library, and what was substantially a mechanic's institute. Under the name Literary and Philosophical Societies, adapted to the middling and lower ranks of the community, the extesion of such establishments was recommended by him in five papers published in the Monthly Magazine in 1814; and, a year or two later, a society was organized near London on the principles there laid down, of which he was elected an honorary member. 1794 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... The Union Jack, flag of the newly formed United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ... Broad St at the heart of Stirlings Old Town area called Top of the Town by locals on a rare snowy day Stirling Castle (Southwest aspect) The main courtyard inside Stirling Castle. ... Methven is a large village in the Scottish region of Perth and Kinross. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ...

As an undergraduate, Dick had several noteworthy classmates at the University of Edinburgh including Robert Brown, Joseph Black, and Robert Jameson. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Robert Brown (1773–1858) Robert Brown (December 21, 1773–June 10, 1858) is acknowledged as the leading British botanist to collect in Australia during the first half of the 19th century. ... Joseph Black Joseph Black (April 16, 1728 - November 10, 1799) was a Scottish physicist and chemist. ... Robert Jameson Professor Robert Jameson (1774-1854) was a Scottish naturalist and mineralogist, born in Leith, near Edinburgh, in July 1774. ...

On leaving Methven, Dick spent another decade as a teacher at Perth, Scotland. During this interval he made his first independent appearance as an author. The Christian Philosopher, or the Connexion of Science and Philosophy with Religion, was published in 1823. It ran quickly through several editions, the eighth appearing at Glasgow in 1842. Its success determined Dick's vocation to literature. He finally gave up school teaching in 1827, and built himself a small cottage, fitted up with an observatory and library, on a hill overlooking the Tay at Broughton Ferry, near Dundee. Here he wrote a number of works, scientific, philosophical, and religious, which, from their licidity and unpretending style, acquired prompt and wide popularity both in the United Kingdom and the United States. Their author, however, made such loose bargains with his publishers, that he derived little profits from them, and his poverty was relieved in 1847 by a pension of 50 pounds a year, and by a local subscription of 20 or 30 pounds. He died, at the age of eighty-three, on July 29, 1857. The Royal Burgh of Perth (Peairt in Scottish Gaelic) is a large burgh in central Scotland. ... 1823 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ... Naval Battle of Navarino by Carneray 1827 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1847 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... July 29 is the 210th day (211th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 155 days remaining. ... 1857 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

An honorary degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him early in his literary career by Union College, New York, and he was admitted to the Royal Astronomical Society on January 14, 1853. A paper on Celestial Day Observations, giving the results of a series of observations on stars and planets in the daytime with a small equatoreal at Methven in 1812-1813, was communicated by his in 1855 to the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (xv. 222). He had written on the same subject forty-two years previously in Nicholson's Journal of Natural Philosophy (xxxvi. 109). The architectural centerpiece of the Union campus, the Nott Memorial, is named after the colleges president from 1804-1866, Eliphalet Nott. ... Official language(s) English de facto Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  Ranked 27th  - Total 54,520 sq mi (141,205 km²)  - Width 285 miles (455 km)  - Length 330 miles (530 km)  - % water 13. ... The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) began as the Astronomical Society of London in 1820 to support astronomical research (mainly carried on at the time by gentleman astronomers rather than professionals). ... 1812 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1813 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1855 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS) is one of the worlds leading scientific journals in astronomy and astrophysics. ...

Works

Among his works may be mentioned:

• The Mental Illumination and Moral Improvement of Mankind, New York: 1836, developing a train of thought familiar to the writer during his upwards of twenty-six years, and partially indicated in several contributions to periodical literature.
• Celestial Scenery, or the Wonders of Heavens displayed, London: 1837, New York: 1845.
• The Sidereal Heavens, and other subjects connected with Astronomy, London: 1840 and 1850, New York: 1844 (with portrait of author), presenting arguments for the plurality of worlds.
• The Practical Astronomer, London: 1845, giving plain descriptions and instructions for the use of astronomical instruments; besides several small volumes published by the Religious Tract Society on the Telesope and Microscope, The Atmosphere and Atmospheric Phenomena, and The Solar System.

References

1. Smith, George (1908) Dictionary of National Biography - Volume V: Craik - Drake, edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee, London: Oxford University Press.