Presenter He worked in Britain too?
Professor Yes, he came to Britain when he was nineteen
and his sister joined him fifteen years later, in
1752.
Presenter And she worked with him, did she?
Professor Yes, at first she did the cooking and cleaning for
him, but she soon became his assistant. She
wrote down the results of his observations.
Presenter He’s more famous than she is, isn’t he?
Professor Yes. That’s because he discovered the planet
Uranus in 1782. It was the first planet to be
discovered using a telescope, and William built
the telescope himself. But Caroline helped
him – he couldn’t do it without her.
Presenter And she discovered a planet too, didn’t she?
Professor Not a planet, but she discovered eight comets
and also fourteen nebulae.
Presenter Can you explain to the listeners what a nebula
is?
Professor Yes, a nebula is an enormous cloud of dust
between stars. They are sometimes hundreds
of light years across, and sometimes stars form
inside them.
Presenter What else did Caroline do?
Professor She was very good at maths and successfully
calculated distances to planets and stars.
Presenter That is impressive.
Professor Yes, she received a number of important
awards, including the Gold Medal from the
Royal Astronomical Society in 1828.
Presenter She was quite old by then.
Professor Yes, she was 77, but scientists from all over
Europe were still coming to see her to ask for
advice. And she lived another 20 years and
finally died at the age of 97.
Presenter What a fascinating woman.
Professor Yes, especially as in those days it was
extremely difficult for women to have a career of
their own.
