Why read Making Stars Physical?

Book cover of Making Stars Physical: The Astronomy of Sir John Herschel

Book description

Making Stars Physical offers the first extensive look at the astronomical career of John Herschel, son of William Herschel and one of the leading scientific figures in Britain throughout much of the nineteenth century. Herschel's astronomical career is usually relegated to a continuation of his father, William's, sweeps for nebulae.…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Making Stars Physical as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Barbara J. Becker

Author

Denizens of the twenty-first century need to hop on board a time machine if they want to really see and comprehend the structure and workings of the world through nineteenth-century eyes. Making Stars Physical is just the ticket! It pulls the modern reader back into an era when the science of astronomy was still mainly focused on tracking the movement of Earth's solar system companions against the array of carefully plotted background stars. It also reveals that, despite a public façade of stability and uniformity of purpose, astronomy's disciplinary boundaries were beginning to blur.

Author Stephen Case presents an engaging…

From Barbara's list on The best books on the history of astrophysics.