Wilson was a wealthy gentleman who could afford to indulge his hobby of Astronomy. He was attracted to this subject when, as a teenager, he took part in the Total Eclipse Expedition to Algeria in 1870. He set up a well-equipped private Observatory at Daramona House in Streete, County Westmeath. His contributions to Astronomy included: The first fairly accurate estimate of the temperature of the Sun's visible surface; the first photo-electric measurements of the brightness of stars; a series of superb celestial photographs with a 24-inch Grubb reflector; The first use of cinematography in solar physics; One of the first to suggest that radio-activity might keep the stars shining. The book covers all these initiatives and much more. Wilson, though he never attended university, was elected to Fellowship of the (London) Royal Society and received an honorary doctorate from Dublin University. But the book covers his family and life style, with brief biographies of his contemporary scientific colleagues. The book is well illustrated with family and astronomical photographs. It is written for the 'educated layman', and no knowledge of Astronomy (or indeed science) is required.

This book is the first complete biography of George Minchin Minchin (1845–1914), professor of applied mathematics at the Royal Indian Engineering College. Minchin’s extraordinary range of accomplishments offers a unique inside view of the major technological and educational developments of late nineteenth century Britain. The scientific community’s excitement during the early days of electromagnetic theory, wireless telegraphy, and x-rays are revealed by Minchin’s letters to eminent friends (notably the Maxwellians, Oliver Lodge and George Francis Fitzgerald). This book also traces Minchin’s little-known pioneering work on photoelectricity, which led to the first electrical measurements of starlight and laid the foundations for solar cells and television. Minchin’s mathematical textbooks were praised for their lucidity, and his advanced pedagogical thinking underpinned his lifelong work on reforming science education. He explained scientific concepts for a general audience using science fiction poetry and critiqued contemporary society in sharp and humorous satires. These works provide fresh perspectives on the place of science in Victorian society. This book is for anyone fascinated by the late nineteenth century revolution in electrical technologies.This is also a valuable read for historians of science, and for those interested in technical education, and science and society in Victorian Britain.

'Catchers of the Light' is a History of Astrophotography. It tells the true stories of the 46 pioneers who did most to master the art of celestial photography, as it was known during its early days; and whose efforts have made it possible for us to see the many magnificent pictures of the Universe featured in books, magazines and on the internet. In its TWO magnificent volumes is contained an unbelievable collection of tales of adventure, adversity and ultimate triumph and tells the uplifting stories of this small band of ordinary men and women, who did such extraordinary things; overcoming obstacles as diverse as war, poverty, cholera, death, very unfriendly cannibal natives and even exploding donkeys. It has been written with a no specific audience in mind - it is a book for anybody in fact - astronomers, photographers, historians, genealogists, art dealers, students, artists, doctors, farmers, builders, teachers & many more. If you like to read about the lives of special people - those who never give up - no matter what - and who succeed in achieving the seemingly impossible - then this is the book for you. This book of 1600 or so pages, with 1800 or more photographs/illustrations and over 2000 references/notes - represents the FIRST fully detailed and professionally researched book on the subject; and tells of the incredible lives of the pioneers of Astrophotography, each with their own incredible story to tell - they were the ‘Catchers of the Light’. Catchers of the Light is divided into ten Parts (I-X), each covering a specific aspect of the subject- I: Origins of Astrophotography; II: Lunar Astrophotography; III: Solar Astrophotography; IV: Solar System Astrophography; V: Deep Space Astrophotography; VI: Photographic Astronomical Spectroscopy; VII: Photographic Sky Surveys; VIII: Astrographs; IX: Modern Digital Age; X: Appendices. The following men and women are to be found in the pages of the book; who are the 'Catchers of the Light': Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre (1787-1851); Joseph Nicephore Niepce (1765-1833); Frederick Scott Archer (1814-1857); Richard Leach Maddox (1816-1902); John William Draper (1811-1882); Maurice Loewy (1833-1907); Pierre Henri Puiseux (1855-1928); William Henry Pickering (1858-1938); Armand Hippolyte Leon Fizeau (1819-1896); Jean Bernard Leon Foucault (1819-1868); Warren De La Rue (1815-1889); Pierre Jules Cesar Janssen (1824-1907); John Adams Whipple (1822-1891); William Usherwood (1821-1915); Pierre Paul Henry (1848-1905); Mathieu Prosper Henry (1849-1903); Maximillian Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf (1863-1932); William Cranch Bond (1789-1859); George Phillips Bond (1825 -1865); Benjamin Apthorp Gould (1824-1896); Henry Draper (1837-1882); Isaac Roberts (1829-1904); William Edward Wilson (1851-1908); James Edward Keeler (1857-1900); Edward Emerson Barnard (1857-1923); Williamina Paton Strevens Fleming (1857-1911); Lewis Morris Rutherfurd (1816-1892); Father Pietro Angelo Secchi (1818-1878); William Huggins (1824-1910); Margaret Lindsay Murray (1848-1915); Edward Charles Pickering (1846 - 1919); Hermann Vogel (1841-1907); Wilhelm Oswald Lohse (1845-1915); Julius Scheiner (1858-1913); Edwin Powell Hubble (1889-1953); Milton Lasell Humason (1891-1972); Amedee Ernest Barthelemy Mouchez (1821-1892); David Gill (1843-1914); William Parsons (1800-1867); Andrew Ainslie Common (1841-1903); George Willis Ritchey (1864 1945); Henri Chretien (1879-1956); Bernhard Voldemar Schmidt (1879-1935); . Eugen von Gothard (1857-1909); Alfred Rordame (1862-1931); Marcel De Kerolyr (1873-1969). If you have seen or read ‘Longitude’ the story of John Harrison, the country carpenter who built the first clock that could accurately tell the time at sea, and who also made ‘Del Boy’ a ‘millionaire’, then you will love the ‘Catchers of the Light’.

This remarkable history encompasses not only the achievements of the early inventors and astronomers but also the less frequently recounted stories of the instrument makers and of the actual instruments. A model of unsurpassed, comprehensive scholarship, this volume covers many fields, including professional and amateur astronomy. 196 black-and-white illustrations.