Customer Reviews

The Sun Kings: The Unexpected Tragedy of Richard Carrington and the Tale of How Modern Astronomy Began

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I have been an amatuer Solar observer for twenty years and own an extensive library of volumes dedicated to Solar Physics and the history of Solar observation."The Sun Kings:The Unexpected Tragedy of Richard Carrington and the Tale of How modern Astronomy began" by Stuart Clark is one of the best that I have ever read.I was amazed that on allmost every page was a jewel of history that that I was previously unaware of.Mr Clark's writing was easy to follow and a joy to read.I highly recomend this book to anyone interested in the history of Solar observation.

Before going into any details I must congratulate the author of this work for his expectional writing style and brilliant research.

This book is of particular interest to me because I'm an historian with a specialization in the history of technology and the author of "One Second After," a novel about the impact of an EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) event. Up front I pray that "The Sun Kings" will get the recognition it deserves and wind up on the best seller list. EMP is not only a potential miitary threat, it is also a potential natural/environmental threat that could cripple our country.

It was not until after my novel was released in March 2009 that I heard of the "Carrington Event." A friend, having read "The Sun Kings" insisted I read it. Read it? I devoured the book in one sitting. Not only did it open my eyes to other aspects of EMP, I was compelled to turn page after page because of the author's brilliant, well written and even witty delivery. He is an exceptional author who truly brings a fascinating and all but unknown field of history alive. (His footnote on a 19th century test, using chickens to test the velocity of tornadoes is hysterical, even though those of us who lean towards PETA will cringe!)

If you are interested in the history of technology read this book. Astronomy, read this book. National security in the face of potential EMP scenarios, definitely read this book! I now recommend it to any who will listen.

I hope someday I can meet the author, it will be an honor to shake his hand. He is a great historian, he is also an author who through a fascinating tale raises an issue of deep concern to all of us. Another solar cycle is upon us (and please spare me any Mayan Prophecy foolishness!) and our delicate electrical/electronic infrastructure is at risk. There are numerous reasons to read this book and one of the better ones beside all the issues I am concerned about with EMP. . .it is above all else a magnificent and highly informative experience.

Most sincerely,

William R. Forstchen Ph.D.
author of "One Second After"

I read this book after hearing Seth Shostak's great interview with Stuart Clark on the SETI podcast. It is a fabulous tale of astronomy in Victorian times, complete with tragic motifs and quirky insights into what amateur astronomers and gentleman scientists thought about the Sun in those times. Great book.

This book is real history. It is well written, covers the important points of the history being written about, and is very informative. Clark has written a history of the discovery of the nature of the sun, and of how its magnetic field effects the earth. Clark does a very thorough job describing the lead researchers and how they operated. The basic science is discussed very clearly. I learned a lot.

This book is highly recommended for anyone even remotely interested in history.

Although this excellent book's subtitle mentions "modern astronomy", the book is really about the sun and how certain key individuals, the "sun kings", have made important discoveries towards our better understanding of some aspects of our nearest star and how the earth can be directly affected. In particular, the role that sunspots and solar flares play in producing auroras and magnetic storms on earth is historically explored. The author weaves his remarkable tale from the mid-nineteenth to the early twenty first century. Everything is brought together in the last couple of chapters in which our current understanding of solar astrophysics is presented. Also discussed is modern research on the observed relationship between the number of sunspots and the earth's climate - another possible contributing factor to climate change. The writing style is clear, very engaging and quite friendly; this book is very difficult to put down, in part because the author skillfully includes details of individuals' personal lives intermingled with the science that they were pursuing. The book can be enjoyed by everyone since the author was very careful in avoiding scientific jargon and in meticulously explaining scientific matters. I definitely look forward to reading more of this author's books.

In his book, The Sun Kings, author Stuart Clark introduces the reader to both the early history of solar astronomy and astrophysics and the reasons why such studies are important today. Clark begins by telling of the events near September 1st, 1859 in which the Earth was bombarded by a huge solar storm. While the effects of this storm were readily observed around the planet, only one person seems to have witnessed the cause, a huge solar flare on the Sun's surface. This man, Richard Carrington, forms the the central figure of Clark's narrative but he is not the only scientist who contributes to the story. Along the way we meet William Herschel and his son John, Warren de la Rue, George Airy, George Ellery Hale and a number of other figures whose work will gradually shed light on (pun intended) the murky physical connections between our world and the star it circles.

As is often the case in biographical sketches of a scientist's work, the story begins before Carrington's contributions and continues after he meets his tragic end in what be seen as a mid-life crisis gone horribly wrong. In this sense, while Carrington may seem like the subject of the book, the bigger theme is how humans came to understand anything at all about an object that could not be touched, sampled or controlled. In presenting this, Stuart does a good job of describing the science and the culture in which it took place without getting bogged down in the technicalities of the work. By presenting the material first with a pair of near catastrophic events, the author engages the reader and then holds on by revealing the events and personalities that shaped the work done. Gone is the sort of inevitable march towards knowledge approach that many simple treatments of scientific topics use. This is replaced by a better tale of false starts, professional (and sometimes personal) disputes and rivalries along with the triumphs and collaborations that are part and parcel of scientific inquiry.

The only quibble I have is that Carrington's personal story is left a bit undeveloped as compared to the larger scientific theme. I would have liked a bit more discussion of the tradition of the British "Gentleman Scientist" and certainly a deeper analysis of Carrington himself as well as some of his actions. Much of this may be lacking due to a dearth of sources available to the author however and I certainly can not find fault with showing restraint and speculating if that is the case. This is a relatively minor quibble. A bit more serious is the lack of a good explanation of why the Sun has a magnetic field and why is acts in the way it does. It seems that if the author can find a way to simply explain differential rotation as he does, more effort could be put into discussing a bit more of the physics behind the observed phenomena.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone seeking a better understanding of the Sun, the history and culture of science or the process of scientific inquiry. Those wanting to know more about how the Sun works might be well served by checking out an astronomy textbook from their local library to supplement the material included here.

It isn't often one finds a book offering readable science along with fascinating portraits of scientists. THE SUN KINGS is an exception that does a truly commendable job of exploring the explosive nature of 19th Century astronomy and the idiosyncrasies of its practitioners. Reginald Carrington's meticulous solar observations and his discovery of solar flares and their effect on the earth are the book's major theme. But there is much more in it about the astronomical greats of that age. The Herschels (father and son), Humboldt, Hale, as well as others whose names have survived attached to various phenomena such as Bode's law, Fraunhofer lines, and the Maunder Minimum figure prominently in these pages. Clark has also sprinkled the tale with intriguing anecdotes--the meteorologist who fired dead chickens from a cannon to test the often-repeated story that tornados had stripped chickens of their feathers, the telegrapher who turned off his batteries during an aurora borealis and powered his line with the magnetic field created during the display, and the first improvised solar cooker, used to fry an egg. The 1860 total eclipse expedition with its first photograph of the event is alone worth the price of the book. Add to that the depiction of the savage infighting among the scientists of that day and the difficulties faced by amateurs and women as they were grudgingly allowed into the sacred circle of academic astronomers--these make current fracases in that field seem minor by comparison. From it all, however, emerged what seems to be a truism today, but a truly major scientific discovery--the relationship of the sun's pulsing heartbeat to events here on earth, springing in large measure from Carrington's observation of a magnificent solar flare.

Being involved in radio communications, and having some knowledge about the sunspot cycle and it's affects, this book caught my eye. Initially I was looking for information about the great event of 1859, when telegraph service was severely disrupted, and when such an event might happen again. This book turned out to be an excellent read!! For a non-astronomer, it gave me a great appreciation for the evolution of the science, and the dedication of these remarkable people. It also made me stop and think about the vast array of history, information, and technology that I was being exposed to in this book. From basic things like manually cranking through all those mathematical formulas without a computer, to mans efforts to slow down global warming! And what other, more powerful forces there are in the universe that can affect our life here on earth. In fact, I was inspired to purchase a small telescope and start observing the marvels of the night sky!

In times when the spaceweather is calling for atention this books gives an excelent backgraund information on spacial studies done with basic instruments but gbreat imagination and zeal. Good read, surya

I found this book while searching the words "Carrington Event" looking for information on what happened during that historic event and what its effects were on earth.
When I first ran across this title, I almost dismissed it. With appologies to whoever writes the title for books, the title of this one struck me as boring and possibly a tedoius read.

Because of other reviews, I decided to try it.

Let me say emphatically, this book is neither tedious nor boring! I could hardly put it down! I am not trained in science, just fascinated by it. Some of the books I endeavour to read are written in a style that is hard to get through. This book is very well written, understandable, and the way the author deals with the complexities of the personal sides of the scientists is captivating.

Highly recommended, in fact I have purchased a copy as a Christmas gift for my sister.