Description
In June 2012 people in the USA were able to witness the image of Venus crossing the face of the Sun, and the event will not occur again for more than a century. In Lancashire in 1639 Jeremiah Horrocks – to many the father of British astronomy – was the first to predict and see the Transit of Venus, and helped transform our understanding of the Solar System. He died young, but his legacy is remarkable. This readable biography is a fascinating tale of scientific discovery.
- Author: Peter Aughton
- Binding: paperback
- ISBN: 978-1-85936-214-3
- Pages: 256
- Illustrations: Colour plate section
- Date of Publication: 23 February 2012
- Dimensions: 198×128mm
Spectator –
Aughton … relates the story of Horrocks’s life in a clear if businesslike style. Flights of fancy he leaves to Horrocks, who … was not only a brilliant astronomer but something of a dab hand at blank verse.
The Tablet –
Horrocks … was lucky to live in what was for astronomers an exciting period of transition … Charmingly done, with no stone left unturned … an admirable book.
Astronomy Now –
I take my hat off to Peter Aughton for having produced such an excellent biography of that amazing young man who was Britain’s first research astronomer of truly international standing … a thorough, well-researched and argued and highly readable work.
Observatory Magazine –
… extremely readable, well-researched, and well-referenced biography provides us with a thorough review of the work done by Horrocks in his few years of productive astronomical life.
The Times –
Tells, effectively and unpretentiously, a story which has everything: entertainment and instruction, drama and discovery, poignancy and importance. Aughton genuinely retrieves a lost hero and an almost unknown episode of the scientific revolution. You can go on reading the book until the summer sky darkens and Horrocks’s cosmos begins to gleam.