Barbara J. Becker

I was disappointed in this and it was at times difficult to slog through.

The figure that emerges from Becker's no doubt considerable work is unattractive (at least to me): Sir William Huggins seems to have been a cantankerous toad more concerned with his own legacy than with science itself -- when he is not ill-temperedly battling other scientists over priority, he is writing obsequious letters to those few (George Ellery Hale in particular) he finds agreeable.

Lady Margaret Huggins, doubtless an important example of a woman doing science at a time when that was uncommon, veers into the excruciating in the final chapters when the author 'treats' us to her keening, positively panting letters attempting to straighten the historical record in her "Dearest's" posthumous favor. I found these pages particularly distasteful & would rather have read more about William and Margaret's science. Also -- It is difficult to think such negative things while reading about a recently-widowed person -- I didn't at all appreciate that the book put me in that guilt-ridden position.

There is good material here about 19th century science in general and the beginnings of astrophysics in particular, but somehow the Hugginses get in the way of this account more than I liked. Your mileage may vary.… (altro)