1750-1848

German-English Musician and Astronomer

Caroline Herschel was the first woman to gain wide recognition in astronomy. She assisted her brother William Herschel (1738-1822), regarded as the founder of modern quantitative astronomy, in his work, and discovered three nebulae, eight comets, and compiled several extensive collections of star and nebula positions.

One of six children, Caroline was born in Hanover; her father was an oboist, and later the bandmaster, of the Hanoverian Foot Guards Band. Her four brothers were trained as musicians, but, although her father managed to provide her with some education, her mother strongly opposed any formal education for her daughters. For much of her early life, she was principally engaged in housework and was basically a servant.

When the French occupied Hanover in 1757, her brother William emigrated to England. Her father died in 1767, and she served as her mother's housekeeper until...