Mailly, Nicolas-Édouard (1810-1891)

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Astronomer, historian, professor at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, born 17 June 1810 in Brussels, died 8 October 1891 in Saint-Josse-Ten-Noode.

Biography

Édouard Mailly was born in Brussels on 17 June 1810. His father is a musician at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie and bandmaster in various churches in the capital. Mailly completes his secondary education at the Athenaeum of Brussels, where he is taught by Adolphe Quetelet. He enrolled in the science faculty of the University of Liège where, in 1831, he obtained a doctorate in physics and mathematics. However, this degree has no value, as it was awarded under Dutch rule.
In 1832 Mailly is appointed assistant-astronomer at the Brussels Observatory. He becomes the secretary of Adolphe Quetelet. In 1833 he is appointed assistant secretary of the Musée de l'industrie. He enters the Royal Military Academy as repetiteur in mathematics in 1835. A ministerial decree appoints Mailly on 13 March 1839 as assistant calculator at the Royal Observatory of Belgium. On 6 April 1840 he was confirmed in his function as repetiteur at the Military School and on 11 October 1845 he was appointed by ministerial decree as secretary of the administrative commission of the Museum.

Mailly undertook numerous trips throughout Europe to visit scientific institutions, observatories and universities. He drafts reports in which he describes the history and organisation of these various institutions. In 1859, he received the cross in the Order of Leopold for his career at the Royal Observatory of Belgium|Observatory]]. Mailly was promoted to officer in 1884 and received the Cross of Honour First Class in 1886. On 16 December 1867, he became a correspondent of the Royal Academy of Belgium. Membership follows on 15 December 1876. In 1886 he is appointed director of the Class of Sciences. Mailly takes part in all the work and activities of all the Classes of the Academy. On 1 December 1877 he is admitted as a full member by the Société royale belge de Géographie. In 1869, he resigned both from his post as secretary of the Musée de l'industrie and from that of assistant astronomer at the Royal Observatory of Belgium, in order to devote himself fully to the historiography of the Academy.

Mailly was appointed in 1855, 1856 and 1857 to sit on the jury for the secondary school examinations. In 1869, he did the same for the jury for the university examinations and in 1879, he was a member of the jury responsible for awarding the five-yearly prize for mathematics and natural sciences. He held the position of secretary to this jury. On 5 July 1877, he is inducted as a member into the commission of the Royal Observatory of Belgium. He holds the position of secretary there. When Houzeau retires, Mailly is asked to take over the management of the institution together with Jean-Baptiste Liagre and Jan Stas. The royal decree of 24 December 1883 ratifies this appointment.
He died in Sint-Joost-ten-Noode on 8 October 1891.

Work

Mailly contributes to all publications of the Observatory: the Annuaire, the Almanach séculaire, the Annales and the Correspondance mathématique et physique. In the yearbook of the observatory he publishes on a variety of subjects: the position of the observatory, the extensions of the solar system since 1843, the discovery of Neptune, the minor planets and comets and on the Belgian and world population. He published all kinds of data recorded in the observatory relating to magnetism, gravity and meteorology and wrote historical notes on the satellites of the planets and on timekeeping. His travel reports also find their way into the yearbooks. He also translated the biographical note of the German astronomer Frédéric Argelander written by Schoenfeld.

One of the most important treatises he presents to the Academy is Le tableau de l'Astronomie dans l'hémisphère austral et dans l'Inde, published in 1882. In it, he elaborates on the progress made in the field of knowledge of astronomy in the southern hemisphere. Mailly is the author of several treatises on the research that had been carried out and on institutions from abroad. In 1850, he published his Principes de la science du calcul, a short treatise that takes the reader from the first principles of arithmetic to exponential equations and contains a concise history of arithmetic and algebra. In the 1860 yearbook he publishes a summary on l'Histoire de l'astronomie aux États-Unis d'Amérique. From 1861 to 1867 Mailly writes the successive volumes of his Essai sur les Institutions scientifiques de la Grande-Bretagne et de l'Irlande and in 1868 he delivers a Histoire scientifique de l'Espagne. In 1872, he was charged with preparing a secular report on the works of the Academy.

Mailly also wrote the obituary of Quetelet and his son Ernest. In 1878, he writes a treatise for the Class of Fine Arts on the origins of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels. In 1882, he publishes a Histoire de l'Académie impériale et royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Bruxelles. In December 1886 he publishes his Étude pour servir à l'histoire de la culture intellectuelle à Bruxelles pendant la réunion de la Belgique à la France. He discusses the state education introduced in Brussels by the new regime, the scientific and literary societies established in this city, the various collections that exist and the literary and scientific activities that take place. On 4 June 1888, he published a final treatise on La Société de littérature de Bruxelles (1800-1823). He is also the author of an autobiography that appears at the time of his death.

Publications

• "Sur les marées en différents points des côtes de Belgique", in Mémoires de l’Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, d. 11, 1838, p. 7-24.
• Catalogue des collections du Musée de l'Industrie, Brussel: Wahlen et Cie, 1846.
• "Principes de la science du calcul: Arithmétique et algèbre", in encyclopédies populaires, d. 12, Brussel : A ; Jamar, 1850.
• Relation d'un voyage fait en Sicile et dans le Midi de l'Italie, pendant les mois de mai et de juin 1858, Brussel : Hayez, 1859.
• Précis de l'histoire de l'astronomie aux États-Unis d'Amérique, Brussel : Hayez, 1860.
• Essai sur les institutions scientifiques de la Grande-Bretagne et de l'Irlande, Brussel : Hayez, 1867.
• An exhaustive list of Edouard Mailly's publications is given in TERBY, François, "Notice sur Nicolas-Édouard Mailly", in Annuaire de l’Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, 1893, p. 400-404.

Bibliography

• TERBY, François, "Notice sur Nicolas-Édouard Mailly", in Annuaire de l’Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, 1893, p. 377-404.

• VANDERLINDEN, Henri-Louis, "Mailly, (Nicolas-Édouard)", in Biographie Nationale, vol. 35, Brussel : Établissements Émile Bruylant, 1969, kol. 559-562.