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The book is divided in
four parts, each part is placed in its own historical context. The first part
The apprentice, the master and his disciples describes Houzeau's
childhood and young years, his early scientific career at the Observatory in
Brussels, and his relationship with Adolphe Quetelet. The evolution of this
relationship is very well documented: the turbulent revolutionary Houzeau
versus cool, moderated and diplomatic royalist Quetelet, the observer versus
the mathematician theorist. But both were very dedicated teachers: Quetelet
established public courses and after the Revolution of 1830 he contributed to
the foundation of the University of Brussels; Houzeau was the peripatetic
teacher wherever place he was, also after his return to Belgium.
The
second part is The politician and deals with Houzeau's political ideas
and revolutionary attitudes and their consequences. His revolutionary ideas,
though, were not confined to politics only: he also severely criticised the
paucity of high-precision observations collected at the Royal Observatory in
his days. Because he participated at revolutionary meetings, Houzeau was fired
from his position at the Observatory by the Minister of Interior Affairs
Charles Rogier. Thus started his peripathetic life, covering observational work
in astronomy, geography, geodesy and natural sciences in many places in Belgium
and abroad.
The third part, The separation, is a very
interesting account of Houzeau's emigration to North America, in vain search
for his revolutionary dream. Of course he also ran into trouble in the US due
to publications such as The white terror in Texas and because of his
loyalty with the slaves, his advocacy for black civil rights and his refusal to
join the confederate army, so he had to flee Texas too. The book gives many
details on the civil war era. His absence from Belgium led to a very
significant scientific work, in the first place his most homogeneous and
extensive star atlas (6000 stars to declination -65) which was made in very
good atmospheric conditions by one and only one observer, totally independent
from previously published catalogues.
The last part The builder
tells the story of the construction of the new Royal Observatory in the suburb
of Uccle, a new and better site than the one established in the city center by
the Dutch regime in 1826. When the succession of Adolphe Quetelet was
discussed, Houzeau was about the only candidate with a vast publication record
and a broad observational expertise. Surprisingly, he was appointed as the
second director of the Observatory and remained in function till 1883. One
chapter in the fourth part of the book deals with Houzeau's participation at a
Venus transit expedition of 1882.
Jean-Charles Houzeau made very
significant contributions to astronomy and his major works include Vade
Mecum de l'Astronomie, the Uranometrie Générale and
his monumental Bibliographie générale de l'Astronomie, an
early precursor of our modern web-based ADS (NASA Astrophysics Data System).
This is a book which every Belgian astronomer should read because it is
an eye opener on the history of the establishment of the kingdom, and because
it explains the roots and difficult early development of astronomy in this
country. This history is internationally linked and refers to many contemporary
scientists such as Argelander, Heis, Herschel, von Humboldt etc.
The
book by Verhas includes many details on observational techniques and geodetic
triangulation, and explains very well the underlying principles of the
described experiments. There are various nice diagrams and many high-quality
photographic reproductions. Technically, the work is very well made and is
printed on high-quality glossy paper. There are only a small number of
typographical errors, and some low-resolution photographs have been reproduced
on a scale much too large to be esthetic. The two-column format of 22 x 28 cm
makes it very suitable for consultation at the library desk but not very
adequate for armchair enjoyment or travel reading. The single shortcoming is
the absence of a Name and Subject Index. |
