Description

Born in rural Wales, to which he always felt a close connection, Joseph Harris (c.1704-64) moved to London in 1724, presenting the Astronomer Royal, Edmond Halley, with a testimonial of his mathematical ability. Harris then found work as an astronomer and teaching of navigation; his observations of magnetism and solar eclipses taken in Vera Cruz in 1726 and 1727 were relayed to the Royal Society by Halley. Harris' illustrated introduction to the solar system was originally printed for the instrument-maker Thomas Wright and the globe-maker Richard Cushee; it is here reissued in its 1731 first edition. Clearly describing the use of astronomical apparatus such as globes and orreries, it proved very popular, going through fourteen printings by 1793. Harris starts with an overview of the solar system and the fixed stars, and then shows how to solve astronomical problems using globes and orreries.