BARLOW, Peter.- MEMBERSHIP.- AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES.- DIPLOMA.- 1832.- - Part of the engraved and manuscript text of the Diploma: 'To all Persons to whom these presents shall come, / GREETING. / The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, / established by a Law of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, at a Meeting held / the twentyfifth Day of January One Thousand Eight Hundred and thirty two / for the purpose of promoting the design of their institution, elected [in manuscript calligraphy:] Peter Barlow Esq. [engraved text:] a Fellow of their Society, and have granted unto him all the rights and privileges of / a Member. / ...' The document is duly attested with the Society's seal and signed in autograph lower righthand corner by 'Nath.l Bowditch' [President], 'Jonah Quincy'[Vice President], idem the secretaries 'Fras [Francis] C. Gray' & 'Nathan Hale' lower lefthand corner.

Boston, 1832. Large oblong folio, meas. appr. 34 x 49 cm, folded 4 times into 17 x 13 cm, engraved calligraphic text printed from 1 engr. plate meas 21.5 x 32.5 cm (platemarks clear all round, good plate tone). The blank spaces in the diploma filled out in manuscript, secretarial and autograph. Autograph signatures of President, Vice president & 2 secretaries of the Academy, see note below. Mid center lower margin a large paper and [reddish] lacquer seal, diameter 55 mm. Official diploma granting Dr. Peter Barlow an Honorary Membership of the American Society of Arts and Sciences, founded by John Adams, 2nd President of the USA, John Hancock, James Bowdoin plus 60 other scholar-patriots / Founding Fathers of the United States, in 1780 during the American Revolution. The American Society [=Academy] of Arts and Sciences is one of the oldest learned societies in the world, its purpose as described in its charter dated 4 May 1780 'to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people.'. Early members included Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. Later members a.o. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John James Audubon, Washington Irving, T.S.Eliot, Willa Cather, etc. International honorary members include Albert Einstein, Leonhard Euler, Peter Barlow, von Humboldt, Charles Darwin, Otto Hahn, Nehru, Picasso, Werner Heisenberg, Alec Guinness, Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff [1911], Hendrik Antoon Lorentz [1912], Christiaan Eijkman [1921] (The last 3 members part of the so called 2nd Dutch Golden Age of science 1890 - 1930, not elected V.d Waals) etc. Current membership appr. 5700 members, among whom past en present some 250 Nobel Prize winners. DSB vol. I, pp. 459 - 460 [article by Harold I. Sharlin]: Peter Barlow [1776 - 1862], English mathematician and physicist. 'Although he was self-educated, Barlow succesfully competed for the position of assistant mathematics master at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, in 1801, [mathematical assistant in 1806] While there he wrote mathematical articles... he also published 'An elementary Investigation of the Theory of Numbers' [1811], 'A New Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary' [1814], and 'New Mathematical Tables' [1814], later known as 'Barlow's Tables'. ... Barlow's reputation was established with the publication of his 'Essay on the Strength and Stress of Timber' [1817], the result of experiments he conducted at the Woolwich dockyard and arsenal ... Barlow was made an honorary member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1820. In 1819 Barlow became interested in the compass deviation by the iron in ships. He therefore investigated the action of terrestrial magnetism and conducted a series of experiments on the interaction of iron objects and compass needles. His results, [were] published as 'Essay on Magnetic Attractions' [1820], ...for his discoveries in magnetism he was made a fellow of the Royal Society in 1823 and received the Copley Medal in 1825. He also received international recognition and several awards for his contribution to navigation [2 very important international awards / honours NOT mentioned in the DSB article: His membership of the St. Petersbourg Academy of Sciences and his Foreign Honorary membership of the American Society [=Academy] of Arts and Sciences, 1832, [We offer the above original Diploma]. Barlow was also concerned with electromagnetism and unsuccessfully attempted to make an electric telegraph [the insulation failed]... Around 1827 Barlow became interested in the calculation for the curvature of achromatic object glasses, and in the course of his research he developed a telescope lens consisting of colorless liquid [= carbon disulfide] between two pieces of glass. The "Barlow lens", a modification of this telescope lens, is a negative achromatic combination of flint glass and crown glass.': His work on this achromatic lens that uses liquid carbon disulfide was executed in the years 1827 - 1832 in collaboration with the optician and instrumentmaker George Dolland. Book of Members American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1780 - 2019, Dr. Peter Barlow [1776 - 1862], p. 33. Election, 1832; FHM [=Foreign Honorary Member]; Affiliation: Royal Military Academy Woolwich; Woolwich; Career description: mathematician; Physicist; Educator. President Nathanial Bowditch [1773 - 1838], Book of Members, p. 66. Election, 1799, [Fellow]. Affiliation at election: Salem, MA. Residence at election: Salem, MA. Career description: Mathematician; Astronomer; Company executive; Actuary;' Idem Vice President Josiah Quincy [1772 - 1864], Book of members, p. 496. Election, 1803; Fellow. Boston, MA. Lawyer, Member of the House of Representatives; Academic Administrator. Idem secretary Nathan Hale [1784 - 1863], Book of Members, p. 254. Election, 1819. Fellow. Boston, MA; Affiliation at election: Boston Daily Advertiser; Journalist, businessperson. Idem secretary Francis Calley Gray [1790 - 1856], Book of Members, p. 239. Election, 1819. Fellow. Boston, MA; Government official (state legislature); Peter Barlow's last resting place is the Charlton cemetery in London where his headstone specifically mentions 'The Royal Academy, Woolwich', his memberships of the Institut de France, the Academy of Brussels, St. Petersburg. The document carries 4 autograph signatures: President Nathaniel Bowditch [1773 - 1838], famous mathematician and chiefly remembered for his work on ocean navigation. President of the AAAS in the period 1829 - 1838. Bowditch is seen as the father of modern marine navigation, publishing his 'The New American practical Navigator' in 1802. Elected to the Academy himself in 1799. He published many important works on mathematics and astronomy, translated Laplace's 'Traité de mécanique céleste', published in 1818. America's first insurance actuary as President of the 'Essex Fire and Marine Insurance Company'. Member of the Royal Societies of Edinburgh and London and the Royal Irish Academy. Investment manager 'avant la lettre' for wealthy individuals. Vice President Josiah Quincy [1772 - 1864], lawyer, Member of the US House of Representatives; Academic administrator. Elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1803. Secretary Francis C[alley] Grey [1790 - 1865], politician from Massachusetts who graduated from Harvard University in 1809 and who became John Quincy Adams private secretary. Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and president of the Boston Athanaeum. Also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, elected in 1819. Member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1820 and a passionate collector. Secretary Nathan Hale [1784 - 1863], American Journalist and newspaper publisher, known for introducing 'editorial comment' as a newspaper feature. Elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1819. Apart from his interest in newspaper publishing, he was actively involved in promoting industrial improvement, published a map of New England in 1825 and published numerous pamphlets on railroads, canals etc. Nathan Hale Senior was the nephew of the Revolutionary War hero Nathan Hale, who was hanged by the British as a spy in 1776.

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