William Herschel had married a woman rich
enough that he could stop worrying about having enough money
available for his astronomical studies. This must have been
a great relief since throughout his life, money seems to
have been a major concern for him. Caroline stayed with
him until his death and helped raising his only son
John Herschel (1792 – 1871). In contrast
to his father and aunt, John received the best education
available in Britain at the time: He learned at Eton, from
private teachers, and at Cambridge. While having very broad
interests, ranging from biology, astronomy to law, he eventually
continued his father’s work on double stars. While
William and Caroline prepared a catalogue of double stars
in the Northern hemisphere of the sky John completed the
catalogue by adding the map of the Southern hemisphere.
He embarked on a three year journey with wife, child, and
assistant to the Cape of Good Hope to map the Southern night
sky. John became equally influential as William Herschel
and wrote the standard textbook on astronomy of his time:
“A Treatise on Astronomy”. Late in his career,
John was one of the pioneers of the new technology of photography.
