Herschel, Caroline Lucretia, 1750-1848

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Caroline Lucretia Herschel was the first woman to receive full recognition in the field of astronomy. She grew up in Hanover, the only girl among five surviving children of the military musician Isaak Herschel and his wife Anna Ilse Herschel. Against the wishes of her mother, who would have preferred her to be a seamstress, Caroline, like her brothers, received musical training and became a concert singer.

Caroline HerschelWhen she was 22 she followed her brother Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel (her elder by twelve years) to England, where he was an organist and conductor in the elegant city of Bath. He needed her as his housekeeper, but also gave her the opportunity to appear as a soloist in his concerts. Soon she had gained the position of first singer, assumed a managerial role in the chorus and received offers to perform in other cities. She would surely have had a great musical career had she not followed her brother's passion for astronomy. Without doubt this was an unusual family, these Herschels from Hanover, among whom great gifts, even double talents (music and astronomy) were apparently the rule: Alexander, also a musician, served as well as an astronomer in brother Wilhelm's family business of studying the skies.

In addtition to running the household and her appearances as a singer, Caroline now devoted herself to astronomy; for example she helped Wilhelm produce reflecting telescopes. Her main duty consisted in grinding and polishing the mirrors – a task that required absolute accuracy. Besides such practical activites however, she occupied herself with astronomical theory. She mastered algebra and formulas for calculation and conversion as a basis for observing the stars and measuring astronomical distances.

The great breakthrough came for Caroline Herschel in 1781, the year the planet Uranus was discovered, which her brother had found more or less by chance when surveying the stars. This discovery led to his international fame: in addition to numerous honors he was offered a position as royal astronomer to the court at Windsor which he gratefully accepted. Now he was able to dedicate himself entirely to his true passion.

Caroline Herschel now faced a choice: whether to continue her career as a singer or to “serve” her brother as his scientific assistent. She chose the latter and was appointed by the court as a qualified assistant with a salary of 50 pounds per year – the first salary that a woman had ever received for scientific work.

Now Caroline began her own astronomical research, specializing in the search for comets. Between 1786 and 1797 she discovered eight of them. Whole nights through she worked with her brother observing the heavens, noting the positions of the stars as he called them to her from the other end of the giant telescope that they had built themselves. She evaluated the nocturnal notations and recalculated them, wrote treatises for Philosophical Transactions, discovered fourteen nebulae, calculated hundreds more, and began a catalogue for star clusters and nebular patches. In addition she compiled a supplemental catalogue to Flamsteeds Atlas which included 561 stars, as well as a comprehensive index to it. For this work she was paid the highest tribute by Gauss and Encke, among others. Nonetheless she remained the (excessively?) modest woman she had always been.

In 1822, a few short weeks after her brother's death, Caroline Herschel returned to her home city of Hanover, which she had left as a young woman almost fifty years earlier. The world's most important scientists sought her out in her simple house on Marktstraße. She was awarded numerous honors – for example in 1828 the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, of which she was named an honorary member in 1835. In 1838 the Royal Irish Academy of Sciences in Dublin appointed the 88-year-old Caroline Herschel to its number. And in 1846, at the age of 96, she was awarded, on behalf of the King of Prussia, the gold medal of the Prussian Academy of Sciences.

None of the comets she discovered was named after her, but a crater of the moon bears the name Caroline Herschel.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn PAPERS on astronomy by Charles Babbage. Autograph. Preceded by other matter on the same subject. 1. Correspondence of Sir William Herschel and his sister Caroline Lucretia concerning comets, etc., presented to Babbage by the latter; 9 Apr. 1789-13 De... British Library
referencedIn Barchas, Cecile M.,. Portrait prints of scientists, 1473-1898. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn American Philosophical Society Library. Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection. 1668-1983. American Philosophical Society
creatorOf Herschel Family. Papers, 1721-1951, (bulk 1810-1871). Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
creatorOf Herschel, Caroline Lucretia, 1750-1848. Caroline Lucretia Herschel manuscript material : 1 item, 1825 New York Public Library System, NYPL
creatorOf Vol. I. (ff. 190).Astronomy: Letters of Miss C. L. Herschel rel. to: 1822-1846.Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet; astronomer: Correspondence with his aunt, Caroline Herschel,: 1822-1846.Caroline Lucretia Herschel, sister of Sir W Hers... British Library
creatorOf Herschel, William, Sir, 1738-1822. Astronomical papers, 1796-1805. Houghton Library
referencedIn Sir William Herschel papers, 1780-1822. Houghton Library
referencedIn Herschel Family Papers Manuscript Collection MS-1931., 1721-1951 (bulk 1810-1871) Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
creatorOf Vol. II. (ff. 209).Margaret Brodie Herschel, wife of Sir J F W Herschel: Letters to,: 1830-1846.Astronomy: Letters of Miss C. L. Herschel rel. to: 1822-1846.Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet; astronomer: Correspondence with his aunt, ... British Library
referencedIn Hanover royal music archive, 1651-1951, 1770-1870 Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn Alma Lutz collection of English and American women authors, 1801-1863. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
creatorOf Herschel, Caroline Lucretia, 1750-1848. Paper. Smithsonian Institution. Libraries
referencedIn English and American women authors, 1801-1863. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
referencedIn Astronomical papers, 1796-1805. Houghton Library
creatorOf Herschel, William, Sir, 1738-1822. Papers, 1780-1822. Houghton Library
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Relation Name
associatedWith Agassiz, Louis, 1807-1873 person
associatedWith Banks, Joseph, Sir, 1743-1820 person
associatedWith Cooper, Thomas, 1759-1839 person
associatedWith Coues, Elliott, 1842-1899 person
associatedWith Cuvier, Georges, Baron, 1769-1832 person
associatedWith Darlington, William, 1782-1863 person
associatedWith Dibner, Bern, person
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associatedWith Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955 person
associatedWith Everett, Edward, 1794-1865 person
associatedWith Fitch, John person
associatedWith Genth, F. A., (Frederick Augustus), 1820-1893 person
associatedWith Gray, Asa, 1810-1888 person
associatedWith Greeley, Horace, 1811-1872 person
associatedWith Harding, Warren G. person
associatedWith Herschel Family family
associatedWith Herschel Family. family
associatedWith Herschel, John F. W. (John Frederick William), Sir, 1792-1871. person
associatedWith Herschel, William, Sir, 1738-1822 person
associatedWith Herschel, William, Sir, 1738-1822 person
associatedWith Herschel, William, Sir, 1738-1822. person
associatedWith Herschel, William, Sir, 1738-1822. person
associatedWith Lutz, Alma, person
associatedWith Newcomb, Simon person
associatedWith Newton, Isaac, Sir, 1642-1727 person
associatedWith Poinsett, Joel Roberts, 1779-1851 person
associatedWith Rittenhouse, David, 1732-1796 person
associatedWith Rush, Benjamin, 1746-1813 person
associatedWith Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe, 1793-1864 person
associatedWith Seybert, Adam, 1773-1825 person
associatedWith Sparks, Jared, 1789-1866 person
associatedWith Stevens, Henry person
associatedWith Sully, Thomas, 1783-1872 person
associatedWith Thomson, Charles, 1729-1824 person
associatedWith Waterton, Charles, 1782-1865 person
associatedWith Wayne, Anthony person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Hannover 06 DE
Bath ENG GB
Hannover 06 DE
Subject
Astronomy
Occupation
Astronomers
Activity

Person

Birth 1750-03-16

Death 1848-01-09

Germans

German

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