As a weekend of reading proofs draws to a close, I feel the
need to come up for air. A swift flight would do it, soaring above the trees,
feeling the roller-coaster of the tail end of storm Abigail (a-big-gale great
name for a storm). However, I’m not an eagle, not even a humble sparrow and I don’t
have a microlight at my disposal. So instead, I’m going to look for something
else to mark the day.
15 November 1738 saw the birth of William Herschel who was a big name in astronomy, having pioneered techniques such as astronomical
spectrophotometry and who discovered Uranus, which was called Herschel for a
while. His sister Caroline was an astronomer too. She discovered a number
of comets including Herschel-Rigollet which retains her name.
