Francis Aston

Antony's:

correspondent at the Royal Society

Baptism:

1644

Death or Burial date:

January 1, 1715

Secretary of the Royal Society from 1681-1685. Leeuwenhoek wrote five letters to him during that time. Two of them, Letter L-124 of 9 March 1683 and 26 October 1683, are known only by reference in other letters.

Aston became a member of the Royal Society in 1678 and served as its second secretary from 30 November 1681 until 9 December 1685, when he resigned due to lack of compensation. See the Remarks to his last letter to Leeuwenhoek, Letter L-159 of some time between 23 July and 22 October 1685. It was not until the Royal Society’s elections on 30 November 1682 that Robert Plot was elected secretary and editor of Philosophical Transactions that Aston to over from Robert Hooke as corresponding secretary.

Letter L-123 of 26 February 1683 is the first letter that Aston wrote to Leeuwenhoek. Starting with this letter and including Letter L-159 written between 23 July and 22 October 1685, he addressed 11 letters to Leeuwenhoek. Most of them were an acknowledgement of Leeuwenhoek’s previous letter. The manuscripts are lost but copies are available in the Royal Society archives of the present letter and three other letters: Letter L-125 of 27 March 1683, Letter L-140 of 11 October 1683, and Letter L-146 of 7 March 1684. The other seven letters are known only by reference in letters from Leeuwenhoek.

Leeuwenhoek replied with five letters, including Letter L-124 of 9 March 1683 and Letter L-143 of 26 October 1683. The next letter from Aston to L. is Letter L-125 of 27 March 1683

What happened?

Date	Event
January 22, 1681	The Royal Society read Francis Aston's translation of Letter L-111 of 1680-11-12 about the lees of ale and wine
March 26, 1682	Robert Hooke wrote Letter L-118 to Leeuwenhoek that his observations of shellfish muscles were well received by the Royal Society and concurred with his own
February 26, 1683	Francis Aston wrote Letter L-123 of 26 February 1683 about problems translating his letters and opposition to his views
March 27, 1683	Francis Aston wrote Letter L-125 to Leeuwenhoek about new Royal Society officers
August 27, 1683	Francis Aston wrote Letter L-130 to Leeuwenhoek, thanking him for his recent letter and agreeing to admit two Dutch noblemen to a meeting of the Royal Society
October 11, 1683	Francis Aston wrote Letter L-140 to Leeuwenhoek about the translation of a Dutch phrase concerning egg yolks
November 3, 1683	The Royal Society read and discussed Letter L-135
March 7, 1684	Francis Aston wrote Letter L-146 to Leeuwenhoek about the importance of his work
June 7, 1684	Francis Aston wrote Letter L-148 to Leeuwenhoek to thank him for his letter with observations of the lens of the eye, which was read to the Royal Society and was well-received by them
June 14, 1684	The Royal Society read the latter part of Letter L-147 about the crystalline humour of bird and fish eyes, the vitreous humour, the cornea tunica, and the colour of a Blackamore
September 15, 1684	Francis Aston wrote Letter L-151 to Leeuwenhoek that Letter L-150 had not been read by the Royal Society
January 20, 1685	Francis Aston wrote Letter L-153 to inform Leeuwenhoek that his recent letter about wine was favorably received at the Royal Society
February 13, 1685	Thomas Molyneaux wrote Letter L-155 of 1685-02-13 to Francis Aston about his visit to Leeuwenhoek's house
February 19, 1685	Francis Aston wrote Letter L-156 to inform Leeuwenhoek that his Letter L-154 about salts was received but had not been read to the Society
June 27, 1685	Francis Aston wrote Letter L-158 of 1685-06-27 to pass along the recommendation by John Hoskyns that Leeuwenhoek examine silkworm eggs
August 9, 1685	Francis Aston wrote Letter L-161 of some time between August and October 1685 to inform Leeuwenhoek that Letter L-159 had been received but not yet read
December 19, 1685	Francis Aston and Tancred Robinson abruptly resigned as the secretaries of the Royal Society, just a week after they had been reelected
February 6, 1686	The Royal Society elected Edmond Halley as clerk
January 1, 1696	Published Antony van Leeuwenhoeks 40ste Missive, Geschreven aan (Written to) de Heer Francois Aston
January 1, 1698	Published A. van Leeuwenhoeks 41ste Missive, Geschreven aen (written to) de Koninklijke Societeit tot Londen

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Related sources:

Year	Author	Title
1665	various	Philosophical Transactions
1684	Leeuwenhoek, A. van	Eyerstok
1684	Leeuwenhoek, A. van	Onsigtbare geschapene waarheden
1684	Leeuwenhoek, A. van	Schobbens in de Mond
1754 - 1787	Berryat, J. (ed.)	Collection académique
1940	anonymous	Francis Aston

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Leeuwenhoek's translators
Period 3 - 1687-1694
Who wrote letters to Leeuwenhoek?

Related letters:

What Leeuwenhoek wrote ...
Wrote Letter L-124 of 1683-03-09 to Francis Aston promising to send observations about generation and colors
Wrote Letter L-135 of 1683-09-17 to Francis Aston about saliva, nasal hairs and blackheads, skin, pores, calluses, and cleaning teeth; the discovery of bacteria in tartar
Wrote Letter L-143 of 1683-10-26 to Francis Aston in reply to Letter L-140 about egg yolks
Wrote Letter L-144 of 1683-12-28 to Francis Aston about human skin and its diseases, the intestines, the effects of vinegar, the intestinal wall and peristalsis, and an experiment to demonstrate the adsorption of food nutrients in the intestines.
Wrote Letter L-147 of 1684-04-14 to Francis Aston about lenses and corneas, the function of eye-lids, the involuntariness of blinking, the optic nerve, and the skin of Moors
Wrote Letter L-150 of 1684-07-25 to Members of the Royal Society about parts of the brain of several animals, chalk stones of gout, leprosy, and the scales of eels

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Life in Holland

in the 1600's

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in the 1600's

Francis Aston

Life in Holland

in the 1600's