George Frederick Chambers (18 October 1841 – 24 May 1915) was an English barrister, amateur astronomer and author, who wrote a number of popular books about science.
Chambers was born on 18 October 1841 at
Upton-upon-Severn
Upton-upon-Severn (or Upton on Severn, etc. and locally simply Upton) is a small riverside town and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire, England. Lying on the A4104 (formerly A440), the 2021 census recorded a population ...
,
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...
. He was introduced to astronomy by his uncle, who
owned an observatory in
Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...
, Sussex, where Chambers stayed
from time to time as a child. Chambers went on to study engineering as
a student in London.
George Chambers published his first book,
''A Handbook of Descriptive and Practical Astronomy'', when he was aged only 19 years.
It provided a review of astronomy across 600 pages. It was later republished in an
expanded form, and eventually appeared as three volumes.
Chambers turned from engineering to study law. He became a
barrister in 1868, and worked for many years as a parliamentary
barrister.
Chambers set up home in Eastbourne in 1873, where he and his family lived
until 1902. He built a private observatory, which he used to study
double stars
In observational astronomy, a double star or visual double is a pair of stars that appear close to each other as viewed from Earth, especially with the aid of optical telescopes.
This occurs because the pair either forms a binary star (i.e. a ...
,
variable stars
A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes systematically with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are ...
, and star colours. He served as
director of the Star-Colour Section of the
British Astronomical Association
The British Astronomical Association (BAA) was formed in 1890 as a national body to support the UK's amateur astronomers.
Throughout its history, the BAA has encouraged observers to make scientifically valuable observations, often in collaborat ...
between 1894 and 1900.
Chambers became a prolific author. He produced a revised version of
''A Cycle of Celestial Objects'' by
Admiral W. H. Smyth.
This was followed by ''Pictorial Astronomy'' in 1891.
His most popular books were a series of introductions to astronomy, with
volumes called ''The Story of the Solar System'', ''The Story of the Stars'',
''The Story of Eclipses'', and ''The Story of Comets''. These
served to educate general readers about science.
Chambers also wrote geographical guides and travel books, including a
''Handbook to Eastbourne''. He was the author of many magazine articles
and legal works.
George Chambers later moved to
Sydenham Sydenham may refer to:
Places Australia
* Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
** Sydenham railway station, Sydney
* Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne
** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne un ...
in south London. He died there on 24 May 1915.
Works
* ''The Story of the Solar System'' (1895)
* ''The Story of Eclipses'' (1899)
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chambers, George Frederick
19th-century British astronomers
English male writers
Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society
1841 births
1915 deaths