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Hccotcnt of .Q4le:ca7zder %Guy -Pingre’. 1,05 l
they were ‘ended, by a reciprocal and firm friendship betweengthem.
on the cm. of May, 1753, he .observed.the,‘ transit oErMercury ‘over
the sun‘s disk,,at Rouen; and sent his observations to the Academy of
Sciences at Paris. Theywere not only made with much skill, but were
accompanied by so many accurate calculations, that they procured him
the honour >.of being .received a Correspondent of the Academy. , .From
this time, this astronomical fame daily increased, which induced ‘the
Congregation of St. Gefnevieve to recall their now celebrated -brother.
. In 1751 it the Congregation sutfered him to build an observatoryixi V
the abbey. The Abbot and the Chapter supplied him with instruments;
with which he was alsofurnished by the Royal Academy. Here, "during
forty years, he made his observations ; and, except while making his
astronomical voyages, his labours wereyunintenupted. I vs "L A‘
He was the intimate friend of Le Monier, the oldest Astronomer. of
the Academy, who proposedrthat he should calculate a lVIarine1"s.Ca-
lendar. He singly,1indertook this employment, which appeared, to
exceed the powers of any,man ; ‘and published an Astronomical Nautical
Calendar in the years,1754, 1755, 1756,.an(1 1757’, under the title of
Etat du can (i l’ Usage de la Marine. ,The Astronomical Calendar of
Lalande, entitled Connoissance des Temps, for the use of mariners, has
rendered the continuation of the work of Pingre unnecessary. ‘ I
In . 1756, he was elected a Member and Free Associate by the Royal
Academy: an honour of which he was very ambitious. There is scarce-
ly a volume of" the Memoirs of this Academy, ‘from 17531.0 "177 ,
that does not contain one or more of his essays. M V I
In’ 1757’, he opened a new path to fame, and was highly successful;
the theory of comets, and a calculation‘ of the orbits they describe.
-This is one of the most diflicultblanches of astronomy, ‘and requires
the most‘ acuteness and judgement, because of the many unforeseen
and incidental circumstances that" embarrass, the calculation. But to
Pingn‘ nothing was difficult; 'he calculated more of the courses of the
comets than all the other astronomers in Europe. ' s
In 1760, several astronomers were sent by different nations to various
parts of the world, to observe the famous transit of Venus, on J unc 6,
1761. .Pin:grc' "went to'the Island of Rodrigue, in the Indian Ocean:
.but the heavens were as little favourable to him as they were to Le Gem
til at Pondicherry, and to Dr. Maskeline, who had been sent by the
English Government to the Island of St. Helena. The voyage of Pingre,
however, was highly beneficial to geography and navigation.
.In 1766, Pingrc‘ calculated the solar and lunar eclipses for 1900 years, .
for the second edition of the famous chronolog'ical‘ work, L'Art de
Vefrifer les Dates, published in 177 J by, the learned Benedictine Due
rand. La Caille had madcjthe calculations for the first impression of
this work; but‘Pingr<’: extended the subject, and calculated not, only
with greater labour and accuracy, but for a thousand years more; from
the year 1 to 2000 after the birth of Christ. These tables are like-
wise found in the forty-second volume of the Zilemoiresv dc l'Ac('z-
demie des Inscriptions ct Belles Lettres; where, with a supplement‘ by
Duvauzel, is a calculation of all the eclipses, from‘ the earliest ages‘ of
. the Athenian Republic to the year 2000 after Christ. -
.-a“
c There appears to be a mistake of dates.‘
. 0