Caroline Herschel

Caroline Herschel

Caroline Lucretia Herschel (16 March 1750 – 9 January 1848) was a German-British astronomer and the sister of astronomer Sir William Herschel with whom she worked throughout both of their careers. Her most significant contribution to astronomy was the discovery of several comets and in particular the periodic comet 35P/Herschel-Rigollet, which bears her name. At the age of ten, Caroline was struck with typhus, which stunted her growth and she never grew past four foot three. Due to this deformation, her family assumed that she would never marry and that it was best for her to remain a house servant. Instead she became a significant astronomer in collaboration with William.

Read more about Caroline Herschel:  Early Life, Astronomical Work, Honours

Famous quotes containing the words caroline and/or herschel:

    I have eyes to see now what I have never seen before.
    Anonymous, U.S. correspondence student. As quoted in The Life of Ellen H. Richards, ch. 9, by Caroline L. Hunt, quoting Ellen Swallow Richards (1912)

    Science is the knowledge of many, orderly and methodically
    digested and arranged, so as to become attainable by one. The
    knowledge of reasons and their conclusions constitutes abstract, that of causes and their effects, and of the laws of nature, natural science.
    —John Frederick William Herschel (1792–1871)