The Comet Sweeper

"The Comet Sweeper is the story of Britain's first female professional scientist, Caroline Herschel - a true Enlightenment celebrity whose rediscovery is long overdue." "Such was Herschel's reputation that a congratulatory letter in 1790 from the director of the Paris Observatory was simply addressed to 'Mlle Caroline Herschel, Astronome Celebre, Slough'. Having escaped domestic servitude in Germany by teaching herself to sing and establishing a career in England, Herschel learned astronomy while helping her brother William, then royal astronomer." "Soon she was making discoveries in her own…