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

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.

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"

When 19th Century scientist Carrington suggested events on the sun might have an effect on the Earth, 93 million miles away, many of his colleagues laughed at the outlandish notion. They later admitted Carrington was right... after the scientist was dead. As "The Sun Kings" details, scientists are not lab-coated stereotypes, but real human beings, with real human quirks and failings. And the "Carrington Event" -- a coronal mass ejection solar event that dwarfs humanity's puny hydrogen bombs -- not only brought about tremendous auroras in the Terran sky, but fried much of the 19th Century telegraph systems. A repeat today would crash the Internet, knock out comsats and the telephone systems, and produce widespread blackouts. And Earth has experienced a few close calls in that department of late. The book mainly covers the contributions of Carrington, and his triumphs and tragedies, but also mentions other researchers who were inspired by his work, and carried it on. The author goes on to bring the studies of the sun up to present day, and notes the work of scientists who suggest that solar activity has even had a role in Climate Change.

It's a fascinating read. It's amazing how little was known and understood just 150 years ago. Highly recommended.

2009 was the 150th anniversary of one of the most important events in Science. Yes, I hear you say, we all know about Charles Darwin publishing The Origin of Species -- but that`s not what I`m referring to. No, just before noon on September 1st 1859, the British astronomer Richard Carrington observed a huge solar flare which caused a massive coronal mass ejection (CME), to travel directly toward Earth, causing a huge geomagnetic storm, and the failure of telegraph systems all around the world. The Sun Kings, written by Stuart Clark, is a fascinating account of the Carrington Event as it has become known, and also a vivid unveiling of the life of Carrington which was touched by frustration and tragedy. On the morning of Thursday 1st September 1859, he opened up his two-metre-long brass telescope and manoeuvred it into position so it could project an eleven-inch image of the Sun onto a board with two gold crosswires. What he saw that day astounded him -- a sunspot complex that was ten times the diameter of the Earth! He was then taken aback when two sets of intense bright light appeared over the sunspot group. These were Coronal Mass Ejections. Eighteen hours later, there were almighty displays of Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis. And there was disruption of the global telegraph system like nothing before. The Sun Kings documents not just these events and Carrington`s attempts to make sense of them (often disputed by the scientific establishment), but also the personal and private life of Carrington, and in particular his disastrous marriage -- which these days would be a topic on The Jeremy Kyle Show. Stuart Clark has written an astounding book, which manages to be both informative and hugely entertaining. I recommend this brilliant work without any reservation.

Living less than a mile from the Richard Carrington's Redhill Observatory (and my wife having lived at one time only a stone's throw away!), I'd looked forward to hearing Stuart Clark speak one evening at Astronomia in Dorking. The event was unfortunately cancelled, but I finally received this book as a Christmas present. And what a wonderful piece of writing this is. The author brings the surprisingly little known Carrington to life in such a way as to make one wonder why his name does not feature alongside all the more famous astronomers appearing in this fascinating story. Carrington admittedly only features in a proportion of the book, but his importance to the development of investigative astronomy and to the need to understand the functioning of the sun and its link to earth is brought out with clarity, pace and excitement. Carrington's contribution to solar science and the understanding of meteorological phenomena is particularly important in the context of the extreme weather events that we now are seeing with increasing regularity.My enjoyment of this book was also boosted by an unexpected coincidence. I had read the section on Carrington's key observation of the 1859 flare whilst enjoying my morning cup of tea in bed. About an hour later I set up my little PST H-alpha solar telescope at the rising sun to see a massive new sunspot group (AR 1944) rounding the limb of the sun. I carried out my regular sketching of the visible features, but to my delight on revisiting the sun 3 hours later saw an intense flare peaking in the middle of the sunspot group! How wonderful that even casual amateur astronomers can so easily see the same type of events discovered by Carrington and which triggered a revolution in astronomy.

Great story of science discovery. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

This book tells the story of Richard Carrington and other pioneers of early astronomy. Although dealing with arcane topics it is written in such an accessible style that anyone can understand it. The tales of scientific skulduggery will astound you and its conclusions cast much doubt on the hypothesis of Global Warming by man-made gases. In addition, the story of Richard Carrington's observation and its terrestrial effects must sound a note of caution to all those advocating a digital future. Not to put too fine a point on it, such a flare today would reduce virtually all electronic equipment to useless junk. All in all, it is a fine tale, told in a readable and gripping manner. Read it, you will enjoy it, the twists and turns of the story are as good as any detective story.

An excellent book if you are interested in astronomy and the lives of people in the subject.The book sits nicely alongside Dr. Clark's other three stories of the lives of other astronomers.I found the book to be very absorbing and had difficulty in putting it down at night.