MOORE, WILLIAM

(fl. ca. 1806–1823)

rocketry.

Moore’s origin and education are unknown. His writings and position as a mathematical instructor at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, England, suggest that he was influenced by Charles Hutton, professor of mathematics at the academy from 1773 to 1807. Moore was chosen as an assistant mathe-matical master in October 1806, Hutton being one of the three examiners on the selection board. By August 1807, Moore had advanced to the post of mathematical master. In July 1823 he left the academy because of a staff reduction.

Moore’s first published writing was “Observations on the Problem Respecting the Radius of Curvature,” in Nicholson’s Journal of Natural Philosophy (1808). In 1810 he was prompted to investigate the ballistics of rockets when the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences offered a prize for the best paper describing the motion of rockets. Moore examined hypothetical rocket motion, both with and without air resistance, but did not submit a paper.

His theories on rockets first appeared in Nicholson’s Journal for 1810 and 1811. In 1813 Moore published his collected findings as A Treatise on the Motion of Rockets. The world’s first mathematical treatise on rocket dynamics, it had many shortcomings; and Moore admitted that lack of data had hindered his calculations. Nonetheless, he correctly recognized and demonstrated that Newton’s third law of motion explained the principle of rocket motion. Moore was the first to consider rocket performance in terms other than range and altitude, and he arrived at calculations for thrust and specific impulse. He also suggested the use of the ballistic pendulum for a more accurate determination of performance.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. Original Works. Moore’s principal writings are “Observations on the Problem Respecting the Radius of Curvature,” in Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts, 2nd ser., 21 (1808), 256–259; “On the Penetra-tion of Balls Into Uniform Resisting Substances,” in Tilloch’s Philosophical Magazine, 36 (1810), 325–334, and in Emporium of Arts and Sciences, 1 (July 1812), 277–289; “On the Destruction of An Enemy’s Fleet at Sea by Artillery,” in Journal of Natural Philosophy, 28 (1811), 81–93, also published in French in Bibliothéque britannique, 48 (1811), 365–379; Treatise on the Doctrine of Fluxations (London, 1811); and A Treatise on the Motion of Rockets: To Which Is Added An Essay on Naval Gunnery (London, 1813).

II. Secondary Literature. A note on Moore appears in Journal of Natural Philosophy, 27 (1810), 318. See also Harry Harper, Dawn of the Space Age (London, 1946), p. 19; J. G. von Hoyer, System der Brandraketen (Leipzig, 1827), pp. 55–58; B. Allerslev Jensen, “Fra Leipzig til London,” in Dansk Artilleri-Tidsskrift, 49 (June 1959), 61–79; Jacques-Philippe Mérigon de Montgéry, “Traité des fusées de guerre,” in Annales maritimes et coloniales, 26 , pt. 2 (1825), 576–580; and H. D. Turner, “Sir William Congreve and the Development of the War Rocket,” in Research (London), 19 (Aug. 1961), 326–328.

Frank H. Winter