During the reign of Ptolomy II, between about 280 and 247 BCE, the Ptolemaic Kingdom built the Lighthouse of Alexandria on Pharos, a little island in the Nile delta. Because of its location the lighthouse came to be called the Pharos of Alexandria. It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and for centuries was one of the tallest things built by people (at least around Europe and northern Africa). It was probably over 300 feet high. It was ruined by several earthquakes between the 900s and 1300s, and when the stones from the ruins were used to build some other things, it disappeared around 1480 or so. But in 1194 archeologists discovered some remains under the harbor in Alexandria, Egypt.
The Pharos was famous enough that when it occurred to somebody (that somebody being “Mr. Purdy”), sometime before 1847, that lighthouses were worthy of scientific study, they coined the word “pharology:” “The term Pharology was first introduced by the late Mr. Purdy.” This was carefully recorded in the Transactions of the Society Instituted at London for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. Yes indeed, it was the famous SILEAMC with which I’m sure you’re familiar.
Nowadays the study of lighthouses is less a scientific field than a hobby, but pharology is still alive. There’s an Association of Lighthouse Keepers in England, for one thing, that keeps the enterprise going. This even though most of the members of the association have never been lighthouse keepers, a profession that died out when lighthouses were automated.
You’ll occasionally still run into the word “pharology” (which is occasionally presented as “pharonology” simply because “-onology” has a more familiar sound). It appears in the 1993 novel Shipping News by Annie Proulx: “Pharology. Science of lighthouses and signal lights.” Also in the June 16, 2001 edition of New Scientist: “Finally, any readers who are interested in pharology, should visit the Association of Lighthouse Keepers’ website at www.lighthouse.fsnet.co.uk.”
Since 2001 they’ve simplified their URL; now you can find the Association here: www.alk.org.uk. You can even become a member for £25 per year, which gets you both a pin and a sticker to apply to your window, whether or not you live in a lighthouse! As for Mr. Purdy, if anybody ever made a note of his given name, it’s now so obscure that an exhaustive 5-minute scholarly search of Wikipedia wasn’t enough to solve the mystery.
Among other things, the title is a reference to Virginia Woolf’s 1927 novel. It’s not the easiest read in the world, but it’s quite good.
