Publication commemorating the inauguration of the statue erected to honour the eminent French physicist and astronomer François Jean Dominique Arago (1786-1853).

Publication commemorating the inauguration of the statue erected to honour the eminent French physicist and astronomer François Jean Dominique Arago (1786-1853).

The bronze statue was built on the meridian line of the Paris Observatory, of which he had been director, but sadly it was melted down for the war effort in 1942. This collection of seven articles discusses not only Arago's scientific discoveries but also his political and humanitarian achievements which included the abolition of slavery in French colonies.

François Arago was one of nine children. His younger brother Jacques Étienne Victor Arago (1799-1855) was the official artist on the French circumnavigation in the Uranie under the command of Louis de Freycinet, which spent considerable time in Hawaii as well as New South Wales and Western Australia.