William Miller

William Miller 1782-1849, American sectarian leader, b. Pittsfield, Mass. He was the founder of the sect of Second Adventists , sometimes called Millerites. In 1831, convinced from study of the Bible that the prophecies pointed to the second coming of Christ in 1843, he went about spreading his belief among large audiences. Many prepared for the Day of Judgment, and when the year passed without a fulfillment of Miller's prophecy, a date in 1844 was set. In 1845 Miller and his followers founded the Adventist Church.

Miller, William Hallowes (1801–80) A British mineralogist from the University of Cambridge, Miller developed a classification system for crystallography, based on crystal axes. His method was published in Treatise on Crystallography (1839). See MILLER INDICES.

Miller, William Hallowes (1801–80) The mathematician W. H. Miller graduated as fifth wrangler at Cambridge in 1826 and was awarded a fellowship at St. John's College. In the early years he published treatises on hydrodynamics and hydrostatics, but in 1832 he succeeded W. Whewell as Professor of Mineralogy, a post he held until 1870.

His mineralogical work was essentially crystallographic and in 1839 he published his Treatise on crystallography, a classic work in which, following a suggestion by Whewell, he introduced what became known as the Millerian system of notation of crystal faces using Miller symbols or Miller indices. This is a method for specifying the positions of crystal faces in space by reference to three (sometimes four) crystallographic axes. In this same work he formalized the law of rational sine ratios (Miller's law) after its recognition by several earlier workers. This law is concerned with the angular relation of crystal faces and their Miller indices. In order to give graphical expression to the system of facial indices and to facilitate calculations, Miller introduced the use of the stereographic projection which underpins much of his 1839 treatise.

Accurate determination of the angles between crystal faces is essential for detailed crystallographic work and for mineral identification. Using an adaptation of a single-circle goniometer which utilizes reflections of light from crystal faces, Miller in 1874 devised a two-circle instrument with which angles could be measured to within a few seconds of arc.

With H. J. Brookes he published in 1852 a new edition of Elementary introduction to minerals by W. Phillips, which introduced much new crystallographic data.

R. Bradshaw