Catchers of the Light Books

 

"This book is truly a magnum opus, a labour of love, and a great work of scholarship. It is authoritative, detailed, thorough, superbly illustrated, well referenced, and all-encompassing. There is no nook or cranny of the history of astronomical photography or its proponents that has not been investigated, noted, and embellished with a relevant image. It is worth every single cent of its price. It is an essential addition to every astronomy library. Anyone with even a vague interest in the development of astrophysics will need to have this book to hand; it is a vital and reliable starting place for any historical research into the last two centuries of astronomical endeavour." Professor David W. Hughes, 'Observatory' magazine, February 2015. Read Full Review Here:

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Catchers of the Light
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Come visit 'Catcher' our colourful and vibrant Blog. Learn more about Astrophotography, its Historyand the pioneers who made it all possible.

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 E.1 - Catchers of the Light - eBook Complete Edition
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E.1 - Catchers of the Light - eBook Complete Edition
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eBook E.1
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E.1 - Catchers of the Light - eBook Complete Edition
 
The 'Catchers of the Light' is very different from any other book you will have read. Although it is about a technically difficult subject, it is not written in the style of a dull and dreary textbook, but presented as a family history that will have an appeal to a wide audience., Yet it is not a work of hearsay and anecdotes, but tells the true stories of the lives of a band of ordinary people who did extraordinary things; based on information obtained from original records and contemporary accounts of the people who knew them.
 
In its pages is presented a vast amount of new and unpublished material, even on the more well known of the pioneers featured in the book. It does not rely on internet biographies or blogs, but goes to the primary records for its sources. In the case of several of the pioneers, the basic 'hatch, match and dispatch' information has been found to be incorrect.
 
For example, every other biography of the pioneer photographer, Frederick Scott Archer states that he was born in 1813 at Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, the son of a butcher. In actuality he was neither born in 1813 or at Bishops Stortford. Even his father was not an ordinary butcher, but more of a leading local citizen.
 
The same basic biographical errors have been found in several other pioneeride additions, including Richard Leach Maddox, William Parsons and Isaac Roberts. By consulting thousands of similar records a truly accurate and proveable picture of the lives of these pioneers has in many cases, been written for the first time.
 
The book also makes use of 'Snippets'. These are boxes of text which provide additional information to that contained in the main text, or which describe a particular photograph, or give further explanation on a particular subject relevent to the Chapter.By reading just the 'Snippets' only, an alternative version of the Chapter is provided, which is independent of the main text. The reader therefore gets two books for the price of one! 
 
Catchers of the Light is divided into nine Parts (I-IX), each covering a specific aspect of the subject:
  • I: Origins of Astrophotography;
  • II: Lunar Astrophotography;
  • III: Solar Astrophotography;
  • IV: Solar System Astrophography;
  • V: Deep Space Astrophotography;
  • VI: Photographic Astronomical Spectroscopy;
  • VII: Photographic Sky Surveys;
  • VIII: Astrographs;
  • IX: Modern Digital Age
 
In the nine parts are contained fully researched and referenced biographies of 46 pioneers of Astrophotography, told as a story of their life and work, rather than as a turgid treatise.
 
The following men and women are to be found in the pages of the book; who are the 'Catchers of the Light':
  • Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre (1787-1851);
  • Joseph Nicephore Niepce (1765-1833); 
  • Frederick Scott Archer (1814-1857);
  • Richard Leach Maddox (1816-1902);
  • John William Draper (1811-1882);
  • Maurice Loewy (1833-1907),
  • Pierre Henri Puiseux (1855-1928) ;
  • William Henry Pickering (1858-1938);
  • Armand Hippolyte Leon Fizeau (1819-1896);
  • Jean Bernard Leon Foucault (1819-1868);
  • Warren De La Rue (1815-1889);
  • Pierre Jules Cesar Janssen (1824-1907);
  • John Adams Whipple (1822-1891);
  • William Usherwood (1821-1915);
  • Pierre Paul Henry (1848-1905);
  • Mathieu Prosper Henry (1849-1903);
  • Maximillian Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf (1863-1932);
  • William Cranch Bond (1789-1859);
  • George Phillips Bond (1825 -1865);
  • Benjamin Apthorp Gould (1824-1896);
  • Henry Draper (1837-1882);
  • Isaac Roberts (1829-1904);
  • William Edward Wilson (1851-1908);
  • James Edward Keeler (1857-1900);
  • Edward Emerson Barnard (1857-1923);
  • Williamina Paton Strevens Fleming (1857-1911);
  • Lewis Morris Rutherfurd (1816-1892);
  • Father Pietro Angelo Secchi (1818-1878);
  • William Huggins (1824-1910);
  • Margaret Lindsay Murray (1848-1915);
  • Edward Charles Pickering (1846 - 1919);
  • Hermann Vogel (1841-1907);
  • Wilhelm Oswald Lohse (1845-1915);
  • Julius Scheiner (1858-1913);
  • Edwin Powell Hubble (1889-1953);
  • Milton Lasell Humason (1891-1972);
  • Amedee Ernest Barthelemy Mouchez (1821-1892);
  • David Gill (1843-1914);
  • William Parsons (1800-1867);
  • Andrew Ainslie Common (1841-1903);
  • George Willis Ritchey (1864 1945);
  • Henri Chretien (1879-1956);
  • Bernhard Voldemar Schmidt (1879-1935); .
  • Eugen von Gothard (1857-1909);
  • Alfred Rordame (1862-1931);
  • Marcel De Kerolyr (1873-1969).
In addition to the biographies, the book also contains nine summary chapters, one on each of the nine aspects of the Astrophotography.
The following eight Appendices are included:
  • Appendix A: Astrophotography Timeline
  • Appendix B: 109 Important Astronomical Photographs;
  • Appendix C: The Chemistry of Photographic Processes;
  • Appendix D: Telescope Optical Systems;
  • Appendix E: Charge Coupled Devices (CCDs);
  • Appendix F: Useful Formulae;
  • Appendix G: Glossary of Terms;
  • Appendix H: The Astrophotographers’ Family Pedigrees.

Document profile:

Number of Pages: 1556

Number of Snippet Panels: 1064

Number of Photographs/Illustrations: 1843

Number of Notes/References: 2170

E.1 - Catchers of the Light - eBook Complete Edition
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Important Notice

The 'Catchers of the Light' eBooks on the History of Astrophotography can NOW be read on Windows PCs & Androids, Apple Macs and iPads. 

Our Customers can use ANY or ALL of the following THREE different formats to read the 'Catchers of the Light':

  • A PDF (Printed Document Format) version, which can only be read on a PC or an Apple Mac running Windows emulation software. This version does not require Internet Access to be read, please 'right click' and choose 'Save Target As' option to download the free PDF version of the 'Catchers of the Light' Introduction PDF;
  • A 'flip page' version for a PC or Mac, which makes use of your Internet Browser. It is compatible with IE, Opera, Firefox, and Safari. An Internet Connection is required for this version to be read.For an example of this new eBook reading experience, please click: 'Catchers of the Light' Introduction (if you are using a PC or Mac to view this page);
  • An iPad or Android 'flip page' version. An Internet Connection is required for this version to be read. For an example of this new eBook reading experience, please click:  'iPad: Catchers of the Light' Introduction (if you are using an iPad or Android to view this page);
  • iBook Versions for all our eBooks are NOW AVAILABLE on the iTunes Store, and can be read using a Mac or iPad.

The free unencrypted introduction to the 'Catchers of the Light' - History of Astrophotography can also be read on any PC, Mac iPad or Kindle with pdf reader software installed. When purchasing the complete 'Catchers of the Light', customers will be provided with Access/Download Instructions for ALL of the above THREE versions of the eBook.

For further information on our eBooks and the 'anti-piracy' software used to protect them, see Our eBooks page.

 

 

 

 A History of Astrophotography eBook, featuring over 1500 pages, more than 1800 photographs/illustrations and in excess of 2000 notes/references.

Dr. Stefan Hughes began his career as a professional astronomer, gaining a 1st Class Honours degree in Astronomy from the University of Leicester in 1974 and his PhD four years later on the 'Resonance Orbits of Artificial Satellites due to Lunisolar Perturbations', which was published as a series of papers in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. After graduating he became a Research fellow in Astronomy, followed by a spell as a lecturer in Applied Mathematics at Queen Mary College, London. Then came a ten year long career as an IT Consultant. In 'mid life' he spent several years retraining as a Genealogist, Record Agent and Architectural Historian, which he practiced for a number of years before moving to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, where for the past ten years he has been imaging the heavens, as well as researching and writing the 'Catchers of the Light' - A History of Astrophotography.

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