Uploaded February 2023 | Updated September 2026, 7 hours ago
HERSCHEL 2022: A DOUBLE ANNIVERSARY - Dr Patricia Fara
RAS ‘Diary’ talk
William Herschel is most famous for discovering the planet Uranus, but he also collaborated with his sister Caroline on other astronomical projects. 2022 is their double anniversary: after arriving in England exactly 250 years ago, Caroline Herschel worked with her brother until his death in 1822, when she went back to Germany. Until recently, her contributions have been overlooked because science’s past is traditionally told as a history of momentous achievements by great male geniuses. But then as now, astronomy relies on teamwork.
Caroline played a crucial role in constructing giant telescopes, recording new observational data and compiling influential star catalogues. Celebrated at the time for independently detecting several comets, she was the first woman to receive a royal stipend for her research. This illustrated talk describes the intertwined careers of an enterprising brother-sister couple who studied the heavens together.
Dr Patricia Fara is an Emeritus Fellow of Clare College, where she was Senior Tutor for ten years. She originally read physics at Oxford, but is now in the History and Philosophy of Science department at Cambridge. In addition to her academic teaching, she writes popular books and articles, and was awarded the 2022 Abraham Pais prize by the American Physical Society. Her main speciality is the Enlightenment period, with a particular emphasis on scientific imagery and women in science; her books include A Lab of One’s Own: Science and Suffrage in The First World War as well as Science: A Four Thousand Year History (which has been translated into nine languages), Pandora’s Breeches: Women, Science and Power in the Enlightenment and, most recently, Life after Gravity: Isaac Newton’s London Career.
More information on the December 2022 Ordinary Meeting:
ras.ac.uk/events-and-meetings/ras-meetings/ras-ordinary-meeting-december-2022
HERSCHEL 2022: A DOUBLE ANNIVERSARY - Dr Patricia Fara
RAS ‘Diary’ talk
William Herschel is most famous for discovering the planet Uranus, but he also collaborated with his sister Caroline on other astronomical projects. 2022 is their double anniversary: after arriving in England exactly 250 years ago, Caroline Herschel worked with her brother until his death in 1822, when she went back to Germany. Until recently, her contributions have been overlooked because science’s past is traditionally told as a history of momentous achievements by great male geniuses. But then as now, astronomy relies on teamwork.
Caroline played a crucial role in constructing giant telescopes, recording new observational data and compiling influential star catalogues. Celebrated at the time for independently detecting several comets, she was the first woman to receive a royal stipend for her research. This illustrated talk describes the intertwined careers of an enterprising brother-sister couple who studied the heavens together.
Dr Patricia Fara is an Emeritus Fellow of Clare College, where she was Senior Tutor for ten years. She originally read physics at Oxford, but is now in the History and Philosophy of Science department at Cambridge. In addition to her academic teaching, she writes popular books and articles, and was awarded the 2022 Abraham Pais prize by the American Physical Society. Her main speciality is the Enlightenment period, with a particular emphasis on scientific imagery and women in science; her books include A Lab of One’s Own: Science and Suffrage in The First World War as well as Science: A Four Thousand Year History (which has been translated into nine languages), Pandora’s Breeches: Women, Science and Power in the Enlightenment and, most recently, Life after Gravity: Isaac Newton’s London Career.
More information on the December 2022 Ordinary Meeting:
ras.ac.uk/events-and-meetings/ras-meetings/ras-ordinary-meeting-december-2022
