The Astronomer Caroline Herschel: A Short Biography

By Doug West

Do you want to learn about Caroline Herschel but don’t have the time or patience to read a thick book? Then this short and concise book “The Astronomer Caroline Herschel: A Short Biography” is for you!!
During Caroline Herschel’s long and productive life, she had many interesting adventures and made many contributions to the science of astronomy, including the following:
•Was an accomplished vocal performer,
•Assisted her brother, William Herschel, with astronomical observations,
•Discovered eight comets,
•Discovered several nebulae,
•Was the first paid female astronomer in history,
•Awarded a gold medal for her service to science from the King of Prussia,
•Honorary member of the British Royal Astronomical Society,
•And much more...
The book “The Astronomer Caroline Herschel: A Short Biography” gives a brief look at the life and times of Caroline Herschel. To illustrate the story of her life there are numerous pictures of the people, places, and events that were part of the life of this astronomer. In addition, the book contains: a list of reference books for further reading, a timeline of Miss Herschel’s life and events of that period of history, and a section that contains short biographical sketches of the key individuals in the book.
Pick up your copy today by clicking the BUY button!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doug West
• Release date: Feb 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215760536

Doug West

Doug West is a retired engineer, small business owner, and an experienced non-fiction writer with several books to his credit. His writing interests are general, with expertise in science, history, biographies, numismatics, and “How to” topics. Doug has a B.S. in Physics from the Missouri School of Science and Technology and a Ph.D. in General Engineering from Oklahoma State University. He lives with his wife and little dog “Millie” near Kansas City, Missouri.

Book preview

The Astronomer Caroline Herschel

A Short Biography

By Doug West, Ph.D.

C&D Publications

The Astronomer Caroline Herschel

A Short Biography

By Doug West, Ph.D.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Copyright © 2023 Doug West

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. Reviewers may quote brief passages in reviews.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 – Early Years

Chapter 2 – Caroline in England

Chapter 3 – Comets

Chapter 4 – The Astronomer

Chapter 5 – Return to Hanover

Timeline of the Life and Times of Caroline Herschel

Biographical Sketches

References and Further Reading

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Additional Books in the 30 Minute Book Series

Preface

Welcome to the book, The Astronomer Caroline Herschel: A Short Biography. This book is volume 66 of the 30 Minute Book Series, and as the name of the series implies, if you are an average reader this book should take less than an hour to read. Since this short book is not meant to be an all-encompassing biography of Caroline Herschel, you may want to know more about her life and times. To help you with this, there are several good references at the end of this book. I have also provided a Timeline, in order to link together the important events in her life, and a section of the book titled Biographical Sketches, which includes brief biographies of some of the key individuals in the book. In the text, those individuals who are in one of the biographical sketches will have their name in bold print the first time they appear in the book.

Thank you for purchasing this book. I hope you enjoy your time reading about this pioneering female astronomer.

Doug West

February 2023

Introduction

The Herschel family in 18th century Hanover, which is now part of Germany, was not a prominent or wealthy family. The father worked as a musician in the military, and his wife ran the household and raised their children—rather typical for that time and place. Out of that rather typical family came two siblings who changed the world of astronomy. William, the second oldest son, and Caroline, the youngest daughter, worked together to form one of the most important family legacies in the history of astronomy.

William, best known for his discovery of the planet Uranus, taught his younger sister how to use the telescope, record astronomical observations, and make the necessary mathematical calculations to reduce the observations so they would be useful for other astronomers. Though Caroline had only gone to school until she was 14 years old, she was a quick study and before long she knew her way around the night sky, making important discoveries on her own, including several comets.

Caroline’s meticulous nature and attention to detail made her a natural at cataloging the thousands of observations the brother and sister team took over the decades. She also used her skill to make hundreds of corrections to Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed’s star catalog, the best