Double Stars: The Story of Caroline Herschel (Profiles in Science)

As a young girl, Caroline Herschel suffered from typhus, severely stunting her growth, as well as her parents’ expectations of what she could grow up to be. Luckily, Caroline’s brother William, one of the most renowned astronomers of his time, decided to take his sister under his own wing. William became famous for his discovery of the planet Uranus and for his improvements on telescope designs, but not without the help of his beloved sister. Caroline worked as his indispensable partner during the most productive part of his career. In addition to being William's “computer,” responsible for accurately keeping tabulations of their nightly sky sweeps, Caroline also went on to make several discoveries of her own. She worked tirelessly to find comets and chart the paths of new ones. Caroline Herschel is a long neglected figure in the history of astronomy, and this new biography introduces her and her life's work to a new generation of readers.