Charles Piazzi Smyth, Astronomer Royal for Scotland, published two books on his experiences in Tenerife: Experiences with a Free-Revolver Stand for a Telescope at Sea, During a Voyage to Teneriffe in the Summer of 1856 (1857) and Teneriffe: An Astronomer's Experiment (London: Lovell Reeve, 1858). The article does not state definitively whether it is based on one or the other of these books.