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J. Brit. Astron. Assoc., 109, 4, 1999, p.215
John Wiley/Praxis Publishing, 1998. ISBN 0-471-96257-0. Pp xxii + 428, £40.00 (hbk).
reviewed by P. D. Hingley
This magnificent new book by Dr Allan Chapman establishes a new 'event horizon' in its field as did King's History of the Telescope some forty-five years ago, and like that work, will be the baseline from which all subsequent research is measured. It will doubtless be of particular interest to BAA members as the figures presented are their own 'spiritual ancestors', and many of the later ones early members. Much research has been done since King's day (a lot of it by Chapman himself) and this book presents the results.
As always the author writes with authority and scholarship leavened with wit, and in 303 pages presents the achievements of astronomers from the truly Grands Amateurs (the likes of Lord Rosse, James Nasmyth and William Lassell), via what one might call the 'Petits' (and even a few 'Petites') Amateurs of the newly emergent bourgeoisie and professional classes, down to the humblest. The huge contribution of the newly choate engineering profession and of the clergy is not forgotten.
The sources of the funds which provided the equipment, and the social interactions and friendships which provided the encouragement, are examined in fascinating detail though some readers might have preferred the space occupied to be devoted to astronomical technicalities. There are some surprising sidelights on characters one thought one knew well - who would have thought that respectable, and rich, Scot, James Nasmyth, would have had a much loved mistress and a daughter by her, as well as featuring in a ghost story? I found particularly amazing the evidence displayed for some astronomical knowledge among the very poorest (slate counters, cobblers and blacksmiths) and even the destitute. Sir George Airy, often seen only as a Greenwich Ogre at the GO, is seen giving these people not merely encouragement, but even equipment. Chapman, as always, fully presents his scholarly apparatus, and a mere 97 pages of references support his text; he is punctilious in acknowledging even the most minor contributions. There is a commendably detailed index (also covering, an excellent feature, the bibliography) though I am not too clear why some names have dates and some not.
In a work of this magnitude there are bound to be a few slips (e.g. Sir James South, due to a legal nicety, was not the first president of the chartered Royal Astronomical Society, which was why he fell out with it, long before the notorious lawsuit with Troughton and Simms) and a few omissions (I found no mention of the Spitalfields Mathematical Society, nor of the Selenographical Club, and where is Sir W. Keith Murray of Ochtertyre?) but these are but peccadilloes. Having heaped praise on the book, however, I have, with considerable regret, to make one major criticism. Many of the illustrations are really not up to the high standard of the text. I am not referring to the unique portraits of such as Roger Langdon and Charles Paton (a great achievement to locate these) but to the well-known subjects, many reproduced from printed sources such as the JBAA and Hutchinson's once-famous Splendour of the Heavens. A skim through the 80 illustrations revealed at least 25 for which greatly superior photographs, in some cases the originals from which the engravings were made, could have been found with no research whatsoever. Perhaps the worst is poor Lord Rosse, who looks like an E.S.N. version of Tweedledee!
I am sure Dr Chapman would be the first to agree that even this splendid work cannot be definitive; rather it should be seen as an inspiration for further research, for there are many individuals here who would justify a good detailed article and a few even a book. The author and his publishers are to be congratulated on producing this very long and useful volume, at what is, for these days, a not unreasonable price. It is a book you simply cannot do without if you have the slightest interest in the history of astronomy in the nineteenth century.
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