A musician discovered Uranus. William Herschel was a musician who was obsessed with self improvement. He was extremely deliberate in learning and improving his skills. He practiced hard. Learnt multiple instruments. The biggest difference happened when he added math to music.
Herschel read a book called Harmonics by mathematician Robert Smith, which allowed him to flourish. Math allowed Herschel to be more intentional with his music. He could create better and more balanced compositions. The rhythm and timing of his music improved. It just became more enjoyable to listen to his music.
Out of curiosity, Herschel read another unrelated book by Robert Smith as well: A complete system of optiks. The book had practical instructions for making telescopes! Which changed Herschel’s life.
Because it gave Herschel a hobby.
Herschel started spending all his spare time building telescopes. And surveying the night sky with it.
Herschel worked methodically. He recorded the positions of each object he saw through his telescope. And compared it with a few fixed stars. When one small disc shifted its position significantly everyday compared to the background of other stars, he realized that he was looking at something that wasn’t really a star! There was a break in his baseline recordings!
Which is how, in 1781, he discovered Uranus! Professional astronomers had missed it while Herschel, who was an amateur, found Uranus. Because he diligently recorded everything.
It was the first new planet discovered since antiquity!
That too through a telescope! Herschel became famous. King George gave him a title and an annual stipend, as long as he moved to Windsor so the royal family could see through the telescopes.
Over the next few years, Herschel perfected his craft and built even better telescopes. He started making more money selling telescopes than he had ever made from his music.
And it all stemmed from his drive to improve everyday.
The structure of self improvement: using controls
Herschel used the idea of “control” to improve. A fixed point of reference. Because this allows you to track and measure. And see whats working and what is not.
He did the same in improving his music. Methodically add one small change, and compare it to the past. And he did the same with gardening.
Herschel would grow plants in a row. He would keep one row untouched. It was his control row. And in each of the other rows, he would make just one small change. Maybe give more shade. Maybe add more water. By comparing each row to the control, he could quickly learn which changes made the plants thrive.
Herschel used this idea everywhere. During one winter, he experimented with windows. He kept the windows of one room unchanged, and then changed the coverings of windows of other rooms. He did the same with stove positions in the room as well. And soon, he had a cozier house than every other house in his neighborhood!
The power of a control piece
A lot of people have the drive to constantly improve themselves.
- But they don’t measure.
- And they don’t compare their progress against a point of reference that remains unchanged.
They base everything on their feelings alone. Which means, their improvement is not consistent. Their progress plateaus. And even when they put in the effort, they don’t become the best.
Improving the telescope
Just as was Herschel’s want, he constantly drove to improve his telescopes. He methodically started testing different kinds of glass for the lenses and mirrors. He used prisms to study how glass dispersed light, and if coloured glass would improve performance.
When some glass filters felt warm, Herschel decided to measure their temperature. He wondered if each colour had a different temperature! He passed sunlight through a prism. Which created the rainbow on the white table. Herschel placed a thermometer in each colour.
But Herschel also did something most others would not have done.
He put a control thermometer to the side of the rainbow where there was nothing.
Just to the side of the red band. He then measured and compared the temperatures. And was so surprised to find that the hottest thermometer was the one that was not kept in any of the colour bands! This thermometer was one whole degree hotter than the hottest one in the red band!
After a few more tries to eliminate any errors, Herschel concluded that the sun is emitting an invisible form of light unfit for human vision! That’s how he discovered infrared!
Action Summary:
- Use the idea of control setting to improve. 1. Keep one version of your work unchanged. 2. Change one variable at a time in the other versions. 3. Measure and compare results to the control, instead of relying on gut feelings to improve.