Six months in Ascension: an unscientific account of a scientific expedition

Six Months in Ascension, first published in 1878, contains an account by Isobel Sarah B. Gill of the 1877 scientific expedition to the island of Ascension,in the South Atlantic, undertaken to measure the distance of the sun from theearth by observing the opposition of the planet Mars. The expedition, funded by the Royal Astronomical Society, was led by Isobel’s husband, the astronomerDavid Gill, with a heliometer and other scientific instruments provided by Lord Lindsay. Isobel accompanied the expedition as her husband’s companion. Her account offers personal details and stories omitted from the scientific reports on the expedition written by her husband and colleagues and it contains beautiful descriptions of the island of Ascension. The book offers a rare view of the personal, practical and behind-the-scenes side of a nineteenth-century scientific expedition and provides a fascinating insight into the gender roles oflearned Victorian society. INDICE: Introduction David Gill; 1. Why we went; 2. The voyage; 3. St. Helena; 4. What Ascension looked like; 5. Ascension past and present; 6. Round about Garrison; 7. A night on the Clinker; 8. Change and check; 9. Mars Bay; 10.A Sunday scene; 11. The opposition of Mars; 12. The sea-shore and the rollers; 13. Green Mountain; 14. Sunday at the mountain; 15. Why we had only a gallonof water; 16. Trips from Garden Cottage; 17. Mars Bay without a cook; 18. Wide-awake fair; 19. Last days at Mars Bay; 20. Christmas in Garrison; 21. About the Kroomen; 22. Clinker Cemeteries; 23. Christmas holidays; 24. The Devil's riding school; 25. Homeward bound.

• ISBN: 978-1-108-01428-1
• Editorial: Cambridge University
• Encuadernacion: Rústica
• Páginas: 344
• Fecha Publicación: 10/06/2010
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés