Herschel... followed his own ambition, which was nothing less than to understand the universe, to figure out its overall structure and composition. [loc. 180]
A comprehensive overview of the lives and work of William and Caroline Herschel, covering not only their astronomical accomplishments (which are many) but their previous careers in music -- William was a professional musician and composer, and Caroline a soprano who performed some of his works.
Born in Germany, William emigrated to England in 1757, and Caroline joined him in 1772. At this point Herschel had already become interested in astronomy, and roped in his sister as assistant. They built telescopes (Caroline grinding the lenses and polishing the mirrors) and recorded their observations, which were considerably more meticulous, detailed and accurate than those of their peers.
William discovered Uranus, though he thought at first it was a comet: on realising it was a planet he proposed the name Georgium Sidus, hoping this would attract royal favour and the post of Astronomer Royal. Caroline, meanwhile, discovered multiple comets and some Messier objects that Messier had missed.
Lemonick doesn't assume too much in the way of scientific knowledge or understanding: I was grateful for the clear explanations of theories and methods, though more astronomically-minded readers may feel these are overly basic. The Georgian Star succeeds in presenting a rounded picture of the Herschels as scientists and as human beings, and setting out the importance of their work in modern astronomy. I liked the argument that Herschel's approach was radical: that he was more a cosmologist than an astronomer, and realised that his desire to understand the universe could only be achieved by close observation. I was also amused to read that (like many of his contemporaries) he believed the planets, and the Sun, were inhabited.
The audiobook was read by Paul Boehmer: somewhat monotone, but no weird pronunciations or false amusement!
Read because: I'm interested in astronomy, and in Caroline Herschel, and this was on offer on Libro.fm.
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