‘A Warwickshire Eclipse’ by Mike Frost

On February 18th 1737, there was an eclipse of the Sun visible from Warwickshire. It was one of an extraordinary series of British eclipses which occurred in the eighteenth century, and inspired a generation of astronomers and cartographers to produce ever-more elaborate charts and maps of the eclipse tracks.

Henry Beighton – surveyor, engineer, draftsman and mathematician, drew one such chart to illustrate the 1737 eclipse. Mike Frost found this chart in the papers of Roger Newdigate, a young aristocrat who lived in Arbury Hall, Nuneaton.

Mike uses the story of these two fascinating historical figures, and the map that connects them, to trace the flowering of mathematical talent in the wake of Newton, Halley and others. In the case of Beighton and Newdigate, these talents played a direct part in bringing the industrial revolution to Warwickshire.

About the Speaker

Warwickshire’s Mike Frost is a Systems Engineer working in the steel industry. In his spare time, Mike is an astronomer who chases eclipses and visits astronomical sites worldwide.

Mike is a member of the Coventry and Warwickshire Astonomy Society, The Society for the History of Astronomy, The British Astronomical Association and The Royal Astronomical Society. He also writes articles and gives talks to societies around the UK & beyond. In April 2010, Mike became director of the Historical Section of the British Astronomical Association.