Charles Piazzi Smyth (3 January 1819 – 21 February 1900) was a British astronomer who was Astronomer Royal for Scotland from 1846 to 1888; he is known for many innovations in astronomy and, along with his wife Jessica Duncan Piazzi Smyth, his pyramidological and metrological studies of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Astronomical career

thumb|upright|A night-time view showing an eyewitness account of the Great Comet of 1843, painted by astronomer Charles Piazzi Smyth

Charles Piazzi Smyth (pronounced ) was born in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, to Captain (later Admiral) William Henry Smyth and his wife the former Eliza Anne "Annarella" Warington. He was named Piazzi after his godfather, the Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi, whose acquaintance his father had made at Palermo when serving in the Mediterranean. His father subsequently settled at Bedford and equipped there an observatory, that he used to compile possibly the first book on astronomy, "The Bedford Catalogue from Cycles of Celestial Objects" (still in print 165 years later). It was in this observatory that his son Piazzi received his first lessons in astronomy. He was educated at Bedford School until the age of sixteen when he became an assistant to Sir Thomas Maclear at the Cape of Good Hope, where he observed Halley's Comet and the Great Comet of 1843, and took an active part in the verification and extension of Nicolas Louis de Lacaille's arc of the meridian. The Crimean War had recently concluded and the army offered to lend tents. This offer was declined as Piazzi Smyth had already designed a tent with a sewn-in groundsheet based on his experience in South Africa.

On this and all his subsequent trips he was accompanied by his wife whom he had married the year before. In 1856, on reaching Tenerife they first set up camp on Mount Guajara, a peak about south of Teide (all heights on Tenerife are those he derived barometrically). It was higher than all its neighbours and free from any volcanic activity. They took all their equipment up loaded on mules, except for the Pattinson telescope which was much too bulky. They stayed there a month making astronomical, meteorological and geological observations. He made observations of the steadiness and clarity of star images with the 3.6-inch (9 cm) Sheepshanks telescope and found both much better than at Edinburgh. He also made the first positive detection of heat coming from the Moon. However, they were annoyed by frequent dust incursions which frequently blotted out the horizon. Even when the dust was at its worst, the transparency at the zenith was better than at Edinburgh.

thumb|upright|α Piscium as seen from Edinburgh (above) and from Alta Vista at (below). The separation is 3.5 and the diameter of the Airy disc 1.5

The dust was evidently confined to individual layers, so he decided to move to Alta Vista at , on the eastern slope of Teide, the highest point that mules could reach. He was determined to use the larger Pattinson telescope and returned to La Orotava to fetch it. As the three boxes were too heavy, they were opened and the contents distributed among several smaller boxes which were loaded on to seven strong horses. The telescope was soon mounted and in action. The Airy Disc was clearly seen and he made many critical observations and fine drawings. They spent a month there during which they spent a day climbing to the summit of Teide at .

The scientific results were described in reports addressed to the Lord Commissioners of the Admiralty, the Royal Society, and the "Astronomical Observations made at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh Vol XII 1863", which were widely acclaimed. Piazzi Smyth was the pioneer of the modern practice of placing telescopes at high altitudes to enjoy the best observing conditions.

He wrote a popular account of the voyage in "Teneriffe, an astronomers Experiment". that the Great Pyramid was planned and the building supervised by the biblical Noah. Refused a grant by the Royal Society, Smyth went on an expedition to Egypt in order to accurately measure every surface, dimension, and aspect of the Great Pyramid. He brought along equipment to measure the dimensions of the stones, the precise angle of sections such as the descending passage, and a specially designed camera to photograph both the interior and exterior of the pyramid. He also used other instruments to make astronomical calculations and determine the pyramid's accurate latitude and longitude.

thumb|upright=2.25|This diagram from Smyth's Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid (1877) shows some of his measurements and chronological determinations made from them

Smyth subsequently published his book Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid in 1864

Smyth, despite his bad reputation in Egyptological circles today, performed much valuable work at Giza. He made the most accurate measurements of the Great Pyramid that any explorer had made up to that time, and he photographed the interior passages, using a magnesium light, for the first time. Smyth's work resulted in many drawings and calculations, which were soon incorporated into his books Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid, the three-volume Life and Work at the Great Pyramid (1867), and On the Antiquity of Intellectual Man (1868). For his works he was awarded the Keith gold medal for 1865–1867 by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, but in 1874, the Royal Society of London rejected his paper on the design of Khufu's pyramid, as they had Taylor's. The rejection of his ideas helped contribute to his resignation from his post as Royal Astronomer in 1888.

Smyth claimed to have calculated that "there is more land-surface in the Great Pyramid's general parallel of 30°, than in any other" and that "on carefully summing up all the dry land habitable by man the wide world over, the centre of the whole falls within the Great Pyramid's special territory of Lower Egypt."

Influence of Smyth's pyramid theories

Smyth's theories on pyramid prophecy were then integrated into the works and prophecies of Charles Taze Russell (such as his Studies in the Scriptures), who founded the Bible Student movement (who adopted the name Jehovah's Witnesses in 1931, though Russell's successor, Joseph F. Rutherford, denounced pyramidology as unscriptural). Smyth's proposed dates for the Second Coming, first 1882 then many dates between 1892 and 1911, were failed predictions.

The theories of Taylor and Smyth gained many eminent supporters and detractors in the field of Egyptology during the late 1800s, but by the end of the 19th century it had lost most of its mainstream scientific support. The greatest blow to the theory was dealt by the great Egyptogist William Matthew Flinders Petrie, who had initially been a supporter. When Petrie went to Egypt in 1880 to perform new measurements, he found that the pyramid was several feet smaller than previously believed. This so undermined the theory that Petrie rejected it, writing:

Marriage, family, and death

thumb|upright|A pyramid surmounted by a cross, Smyth's tomb in Sharow churchyard

In 1855 Smyth married Jessica "Jessie" Duncan (1812–1896), daughter of Thomas Duncan. Jessie Duncan was a geologist who had studied with Alexander Rose in Edinburgh, and travelled on geological expeditions to Ireland, France, Switzerland and Italy.

Smyth's brothers were Warington Wilkinson Smyth and Henry Augustus Smyth. His sisters were Henrietta Grace Smyth, who married Reverend Baden Powell and was mother of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell (founder of the world Scouting Movement), Georgiana Rosetta Smyth, who married William Henry Flower; and Ellen Philadelphia Smyth, who married Captain Henry Toynbee of the HEIC.

Smyth died in 1900 and was buried at St. John's Church in the village of Sharow near Ripon. A small stone pyramid-shaped monument, topped by a Christian cross, marks his gravesite.

Honours

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1846, and served on its council for a number of years. In June 1857 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, but resigned in 1874. He was conferred with Honorary Membership of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland in 1859. The crater Piazzi Smyth on the Moon is named after him.

Works

  • <!-- quote=charles smyth teneriffe. --> Full text available from Google Books
  • Reprinted in many editions by many publishers, often entitled The Great Pyramid: Its Secrets and Mysteries Revealed. Full text available on the Internet Archive
  • <!-- quote=charles piazzi smyth. --> Full text available from Google Books
  • <!-- quote=charles piazzi smyth. --> Full text available from Google Books
  • Subtitled "New and Expanded Edition".

References

  • Critical comments on some of Smyth's books, by Olin J. Eggen (1955).
  • "Charles Piazzi Smythe" at History of Astronomy in South Africa
  • Pyramidology – A Case of Science, Pseudo-science and Religion
  • Charles Piazzi Smyth, Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid (1877) Plate Index
  • C. Piazzi Smyth, Charles Taze Russell and the Great Pyramid of Gizeh
  • Amazing Pyramid "Facts"
  • B-P's Uncle: Charles Piazzi Smyth
  • "Charles Piazzi Smith" at the Gazetteer for Scotland
  • The Astronomical Society of Edinburgh: A Guide to Edinburgh's Popular Observatory
  • Doomsday 1701–1970
  • "Charles Piazzi Smyth – Teneriffe" at the George Eastman House Still Photograph Archive
  • "The Sphinx and the Great Pyramid at Giza, 1865" photograph by Smyth
  • The Royal Observatory, Edinburgh
  • Astronomers Royal For Scotland: Summary of Archives