Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Family background in County Cork
- 2 Ireland and Italy
- 3 London, the literary scene
- 4 The History of Astronomy
- 5 A circle of astronomers
- 6 A visit to South Africa
- 7 The System of the Stars
- 8 Social life in scientific circles
- 9 Homer, the Herschels and a revised History
- 10 The opinion moulder
- 11 Popularisation, cryogenics and evolution
- 12 Problems in Astrophysics
- 13 Women in astronomy in Britain in Agnes Clerke's time
- 14 Revised System of the Stars
- 15 Cosmogonies, cosmology and Nature's spiritual clues
- 16 Last days and retrospect
- 17 Epilogue
- Notes
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
1 - Family background in County Cork
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Family background in County Cork
- 2 Ireland and Italy
- 3 London, the literary scene
- 4 The History of Astronomy
- 5 A circle of astronomers
- 6 A visit to South Africa
- 7 The System of the Stars
- 8 Social life in scientific circles
- 9 Homer, the Herschels and a revised History
- 10 The opinion moulder
- 11 Popularisation, cryogenics and evolution
- 12 Problems in Astrophysics
- 13 Women in astronomy in Britain in Agnes Clerke's time
- 14 Revised System of the Stars
- 15 Cosmogonies, cosmology and Nature's spiritual clues
- 16 Last days and retrospect
- 17 Epilogue
- Notes
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The Clerkes
Agnes Mary Clerke, born on 10 February 1842 in Skibbereen, Co. Cork, was the second of three children of John William Clerke, manager of the Provincial Bank in that town, and his wife Catherine Mary née Deasy (Figure 1.1).
The Clerkes were a well-known and extensive family in West Cork. According to one account, the founder of the line was a major in King William's army who stayed on in Ireland after 1691. In the nineteenth century the Clerke family records yield a remarkable number of highly talented persons. Agnes' grandfather, St John Clerke, was a much loved physician in Skibbereen; his cousin was the renowned Dr Jonathon Clerke of Bandon. The latter's son, Major Sir Thomas Henry Shadwell Clerke, was made a knight of the Royal Hanoverian Order after service in the Peninsular War, and became a military journalist. He took a keen interest in the sciences and in 1823 became a founder member of the Royal Astronomical Society, to which Agnes Clerke was to be elected some 90 years later. He was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Royal Geographical Society. He was made Foreign Secretary of the latter society on account of his linguistic prowess. Among other noted members of the Clerke clan in the nineteenth century was Skibbereen-born Thomas W. Clerke, LTD, Judge of the Supreme Court in the USA, author of important treatises on law and co-founder in 1841 of the Irish Emigrant Society.
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- Agnes Mary Clerke and the Rise of Astrophysics , pp. 3 - 15Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2002