Very good read, going through several hundred years of our scientific study of the Sun. Mr Clark does exactly what you want an author of the history of science to do. He does all the research you would do if you had time; he pieces together aspects of the culture, politics, religion, and even scandal; he helps you to see that science is done through long, painstaking observation; helps you to appreciate that every age has its models and biases, what seems irrelevant to one generation becomes crucial data to the next generation.
I like how Mr Clark also weaves in some of the history and controversy of climate change that has been going on for the past 300 years - lest we think our current age so unique in our arguments on this topic.
I did not like the statements about individual scientists inner feelings and motivations. Perhaps William Herschel and Walter Maunder did record these aspects of inner life into their notebooks - I have not read them myself - but I think not, and I think Mr Clark suffers from this tendency to attribute inner motivations to people whose inner life no one can really know about.
And yes, the subtitle, "The Unexpected Tragedy of Richard Carrington" does get a wonderful treatment, and for story telling, and story, is one of the high points of the book. An all too human story, not unlike the sort of utter embarrassment we see John Cleese enact so well on stage.
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