The Immortal Fire Within The Life and Work of Edward Emerson Barnard

A full-length biography of Barnard, one of the leading astronomers of the late nineteenth century.

This full-length biography of Edward Emerson Barnard, tells the remarkable tale of endurance and achievement of one of the leading astronomers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As a 'man who was never known to sleep', Barnard scoured the heavens endlessly, leaving an astonishing legacy of observations – of planets, satellites, comets, double stars, bright and dark nebulae and globular clusters – that make him one of the greatest observers of all time. This book traces Barnard's life from poverty to international recognition. We are told how he grew up fatherless and in hardship during the American Civil War; that he later acquired a small telescope and discovered so many comets that, despite his lack of formal education, he won a position at the Lick Observatory, California. His success as a professional astronomer then unfolds, and we are told, in particular, how he discovered the fifth satellite of Jupiter and pioneered wide-angle photography of comets and the Milky Way.

Preface; Key to abbreviations in notes; 1. Through rugged ways; 2. Ardent and faithful work with a telescope; 3. Mars; his moons and his heavens; 4. A seeker of comets; 5. Vanderbilt astronomer; 6. In the realm of the nebulae; 7. Go west, young man!; 8. Hanging fire; 9. On Mt. Hamilton; 10. A year of wonders; 11. The young rebel; 12. 'I am tired here'; 13. Immortality; 14. Travels and travails; 15. Barnard and Mars; 16. Nature's true artisan; 17. A tide in his affairs; 18. Yerkes observatory; 19. Disappointments and triumphs; 20. The comet and Milky Way photographs; 21. Comet tales; 22. Observer of all that shines - or obscures; 23. Eclipse and decline; 24. Ad astra; Index.

This is a full-length biography of Edward Emerson Barnard, and tells the remarkable tale of endurance and achievement of one of the leading astronomers of the late nineteenth century. Beautifully illustrated throughout, it includes many photographs of comets and the Milky Way.