Patrick O'Brian Discussion Forum

Chrístő
chris@pgen.net

Who?

A more direct link is vis Miss Herschel who advises Jack on grinding his new 6" speculum mirror. This was, I learn, 'Herschel, Caroline Lucretia (1750–1848), astronomer, . . ' who merits a DNB entry, from which comes:

' . . William and Caroline arrived at their new home at Datchet . . 1782 . . ‘I found’, she wrote later,

I was to be trained for an assistant Astronomer; and by way of encouragement a Telescope adapted for sweeping … was given to me. I was to sweep for comets. … But it was not till the last two months of the same year before I felt the least encouragement for spending the starlight nights on a grass-plot convered by dew or hoar frost without a human being near enough to be within call.

. . the astronomer royal, Maskelyne, visited the Herschels and left the following description of Caroline at work:

[The sweeper] is a very powerful instrument, & shews objects very well … The height of the eye-glass is altered but little in sweeping from the horizon to the zenith. This she does and down again in 6 or 8 minutes, & then moves the telescope a little forward in azimuth, & sweeps another portion of the heavens in like manner. She will thus sweep a quarter of the heavens in one night.

Caroline was to become famous as the discoverer, or co-discoverer, of no fewer than eight comets,  . .

Declining years: Caroline was a local celebrity, visited by passing scientists of the calibre of Humboldt and Gauss. For her ninety-sixth birthday Humboldt presented her with the gold medal for science, in the name of the king of Prussia; a year later she entertained the crown prince and princess for two hours, and sang them a song by William . .

[ This message was edited on Fri Nov 6 by the author ]