THIS book contains two competing stories. The first is that of Richard Carrington, the son of a wealthy Victorian brewer, torn between his obligations to the family business he hated and his love of astronomy; all he wanted to do was study the sun from his observatory in a leafy corner of southern England. The second is a sweeping overview of how solar activity and variable rotation is linked to magnetic disturbances, aurorae and climate change on Earth. Alas, the solar science somewhat overpowers the juicy but too scant biographical details.
The Sun Kings
Princeton University Press
