This is the first book to look in detail at amateur astronomy in Victorian Britain. It deals with the technical issues that were active in Victorian astronomy, and reviews the problems of finance, patronage and the dissemination of scientific ideas. It also examines the relationship between the amateur and professional in Britain. It contains a wealth of previously unpublished biographical and anecdotal material, and an extended bibliography with notes incorporating much new scholarship. In The Victorian Amateur Astronomer, Allan Chapman shows that while on the continent astronomical research was lavishly supported by the state, in Britain such research was paid for out of the pockets of highly educated, wealthy gentlemen ? the so-called ?Grand Amateurs?. It was these powerful individuals who commissioned the telescopes, built the observatories, ran the learned societies, and often stole discoveries from their state-employed colleagues abroad. In addition to the ?Grand Amateurs?, Victorian Britain also contained many self-taught amateurs. Although they belonged to no learned societies, these people provide a barometer of the popularity of astronomy in that age. In the late 19th century, the comfortable middle classes ? clergymen, lawyers, physicians and retired military officers ? took to astronomy as a serious hobby. They formed societies which focused on observation, lectures and discussions, and it was through this medium that women first came to play a significant role in British astronomy. Readership: Undergraduate and postgraduate students studying the history of science or humanities, professional historians of science, engineering and technology, particularly those with an interest in astronomy, the development of astronomical ideas, scientific instrument makers, and amateur astronomers.

This book provides a detailed biographical account of the industrious late nineteenth-century astronomer William Frederick Denning who, in later life, rose to be a celebrated public figure and a highly respected amateur astronomer. The book also examines Denning’s many contributions to the astronomy of his time. As an indomitable promotor of amateur astronomy, Denning was closely involved in the formation of the short-lived, but historically pivotal, Observational Astronomy Society (OAS) in 1869. Readers will learn about the origins and the observational programs initiated by the OAS, and the author also presents a series of biographical sketches of its most industrious members. Furthermore, by examining Denning’s letters and publications, the author shows how he helped to nurture the growth of amateur astronomy, also teaching amateur observers how to make their efforts scientifically useful. A stalwart observer and enthusiast himself, Denning was a key player in the development of meteor astronomy in England, culminating in his being invited, in 1922, to be the first President of Commission 22 (meteors, meteorites and interplanetary dust) of the newly formed International Astronomical Union. The text follows the development and rapid growth of meteor astronomy during the nineteenth century, focusing upon the key observations and important theoretical advances. In addition, it pays tribute to pioneering practitioners, who, along with Denning, set out to unravel the story and secrets of the shooting stars. While not an openly forthright or strident figure, Denning, at the height of his career, became embroiled in two public and controversial issues. The first related to his pseudo-scientific theory of optical blurring, and his belief that large-aperture telescopes performed less efficiently than smaller-aperture telescopes when used in the study of planetary disks. The second concerned the mysterious issue of stationary meteor shower radiants—an apparent observational reduction that was completely at odds with both the standard theories of gravitational dynamics and the generally accepted notion of meteoroid stream structure. The book explores these two controversies and uses them to examine Denning’s outlook on scientific methodology.

Careers in astronomy for women (as in other sciences) were a rarity in Britain and Ireland until well into the twentieth century. The book investigates the place of women in astronomy before that era, recounted in the form of biographies of about 25 women born between 1650 and 1900 who in varying capacities contributed to its progress during the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There are some famous names among them whose biographies have been written before now, there are others who have received less than their due recognition while many more occupied inconspicuous and sometimes thankless places as assistants to male family members. All deserve to be remembered as interesting individuals in an earlier opportunity-poor age. Placed in roughly chronological order, their lives constitute a sample thread in the story of female entry into the male world of science. The book is aimed at astronomers, amateur astronomers, historians of science, and promoters of women in science, but being written in non-technical language it is intended to be of interest also to educated readers generally.