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Agnes Mary Clerke was born in February 1842 at Skibbereen, a small country town in a remote part of County Cork. Her father was John William Clerke; her mother was a sister of the late Lord-Justice Deasy.
Very early in life she was attracted by the wonders of the heavens, and before the age of fifteen had definitely formed the intention of writing a history of astronomy, had even actually begun it. Always delicately constitutional, she found her chief pleasures in study and in music. In 1861 the family moved to Dublin; in 1863 to Queenstown; and the years 1867–77 were spent in Italy, chiefly at Florence, where Miss Clerke studied assiduously in the public library and wrote her first important article, "Copernicus in Italy," which was accepted by the Edinburgh Review (October 1877).
The family then returned to England and settled in London. In 1885, Miss Clerke's History of Astronomy in the Nineteenth Century appeared, a work now in its fourth edition, and regarded as the standard work, continuing the History of Grant.
Miss Clerke's other works, published at intervals, are as follows: The System of the Stars; Familiar Studies in Homer (in part only astronomical); The Herschels: A Concise History of Astronomy; Problems in Astrophysics; Modern Cosmogonies. In addition to these works, she contributed fifty-five articles to the Edinburgh Review, mainly on subjects connected with astrophysics; articles on astronomers to the Dictionary of National Biography; some articles on astronomers and on astronomical subjects to the Encyclopædia Britannica; and innumerable articles to Knowledge, to The Observatory, and other periodicals
In later years, Miss Clerke was a frequent attendant at the meetings of the Royal Astronomical Society and in 1903 received the great honour of being elected an Honorary Member of the Society.
She was also a member of the British Astronomical Association and constantly attended its meetings.
Miss Clerke was not a practical astronomer; but the three-month visit paid by her in 1888 to the Cape Observatory, as the guest of Sir David and Lady Gill, enabled her to write with increased clarity and confidence. In 1892, she was awarded the Actonian Prize of 100 guineas by the Royal Institution for her astronomical works.
Miss Clerke's ideals of life were lofty; and, loving and lovable, her character was in complete harmony with them. In all her writings, truth was always her goal.
Accomplished in many directions, astronomy to the last was her chief intellectual interest.
She died, after a comparatively short illness, in perfect peace, and fully conscious to almost her last moment—on January 20, 1907.
M. I. H
Very early in life she was attracted by the wonders of the heavens, and before the age of fifteen had definitely formed the intention of writing a history of astronomy, had even actually begun it. Always delicately constitutional, she found her chief pleasures in study and in music. In 1861 the family moved to Dublin; in 1863 to Queenstown; and the years 1867–77 were spent in Italy, chiefly at Florence, where Miss Clerke studied assiduously in the public library and wrote her first important article, "Copernicus in Italy," which was accepted by the Edinburgh Review (October 1877).
The family then returned to England and settled in London. In 1885, Miss Clerke's History of Astronomy in the Nineteenth Century appeared, a work now in its fourth edition, and regarded as the standard work, continuing the History of Grant.
Miss Clerke's other works, published at intervals, are as follows: The System of the Stars; Familiar Studies in Homer (in part only astronomical); The Herschels: A Concise History of Astronomy; Problems in Astrophysics; Modern Cosmogonies. In addition to these works, she contributed fifty-five articles to the Edinburgh Review, mainly on subjects connected with astrophysics; articles on astronomers to the Dictionary of National Biography; some articles on astronomers and on astronomical subjects to the Encyclopædia Britannica; and innumerable articles to Knowledge, to The Observatory, and other periodicals
In later years, Miss Clerke was a frequent attendant at the meetings of the Royal Astronomical Society and in 1903 received the great honour of being elected an Honorary Member of the Society.
She was also a member of the British Astronomical Association and constantly attended its meetings.
Miss Clerke was not a practical astronomer; but the three-month visit paid by her in 1888 to the Cape Observatory, as the guest of Sir David and Lady Gill, enabled her to write with increased clarity and confidence. In 1892, she was awarded the Actonian Prize of 100 guineas by the Royal Institution for her astronomical works.
Miss Clerke's ideals of life were lofty; and, loving and lovable, her character was in complete harmony with them. In all her writings, truth was always her goal.
Accomplished in many directions, astronomy to the last was her chief intellectual interest.
She died, after a comparatively short illness, in perfect peace, and fully conscious to almost her last moment—on January 20, 1907.
M. I. H
Agnes Mary Clerke's obituary appeared in Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 67:4 (1907), 230-231.