Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Acknowledgement of sources of illustrations -- Introduction -- 1 Family background in County Cork -- The Clerkes -- The Deasys -- The immediate maternal family -- The Clerke-Deasy marriage -- Skibbereen -- The Great Famine -- The family circle -- 2 Ireland and Italy -- Growing up in Skibbereen -- The family library -- The move to Dublin -- Life in Dublin -- Aubrey at university -- Italy -- London -- 3 London, the literary scene -- The Edinburgh Review -- Ellen and the Dublin Review -- Encyclopaedia Britannica -- 4 The History of Astronomy -- The state of astronomy in about 1880 -- The first book -- The History published -- 5 A circle of astronomers -- Edward Holden -- Ralph Copeland -- J. Norman Lockyer -- Margaret Huggins -- Edward Pickering -- 6 A visit to South Africa -- David Gill -- Observing at the Cape -- A friend for life -- The Royal Observatory Greenwich -- Vassar College -- Back to writing -- 7 The System of the Stars -- Planning and writing -- The one-island universe -- The book published -- A Baltic cruise -- Reviews of The System of the Stars -- The mantle of Mary Somerville -- 8 Social life in scientific circles -- The British Astronomical Association -- Foreign amateur societies -- The Cardiff meeting of British Association for the Advancement of Science -- The young George Ellery Hale -- The Royal Astronomical Society and the Royal Society -- The Actonian Prize of the Royal Institution -- Visitors from abroad -- Ellen -- Agnes' 50th birthday -- 9 Homer, the Herschels and a revised History -- Studies in Homer -- The third edition of the History -- Reviews -- Clash with Nature -- The one-system universe reaffirmed -- Visit to Daramona -- The Herschels and Modern Astronomy -- Invitation to join an eclipse expedition.

Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee -- Death of mother -- 10 The opinion moulder -- Continued dealings with the Cape -- Frank McClean -- Lick, fountain of research -- Problems at Lick -- Harvard -- A new era at Lick -- Mira Ceti -- Nova Persei -- Research ambitions -- 11 Popularisation, cryogenics and evolution -- Astronomy 1898 -- The Huggins Atlas 1899 -- The Hodgkins Trust Essay, 1901 -- The on-going Dictionary of National Biography -- History, fourth and last edition, 1902 -- Man in the Universe: Alfred Russel Wallace, 1903 -- Henry Hugh Peter Deasy -- 12 Problems in Astrophysics -- The Magnum Opus 1903 -- Problems in Astrophysics -- The book welcomed -- Nature's comments -- Member of the Royal Astronomical Society -- 13 Women in astronomy in Britain in Agnes Clerke's time -- The world scene -- The Grand Amateurs -- The expedition wives -- The lady computers at Greenwich 1890-95 -- The Cambridge physicists -- Subsequent careers of the lady computers -- Other British women in astronomy -- The rise of the British woman amateur -- Women writers -- 14 Revised System of the Stars -- A new edition of The System of the Stars -- George Ellery Hale -- The second edition of The System of the Stars -- Illustrations -- Nature attacks again -- Physics and cosmogonies -- Death of Ellen -- 15 Cosmogonies, cosmology and Nature's spiritual clues -- Nature's spiritual clues -- St Thomas Aquinas -- Spiritual clues in cosmology -- The age and evolution problem -- 16 Last days and retrospect -- Arbiter and peacemaker -- Encyclopaedia Britannica eleventh edition -- Gill's retirement -- Death of Agnes Clerke, 20 January 1907 -- Tributes -- The diligent recorder -- The historian -- 17 Epilogue -- Notes -- ABBREVIATIONS IN THE NOTES -- CHAPTER 1. FAMILY BACKGROUND IN COUNTY CORK -- CHAPTER 2. IRELAND AND ITALY -- CHAPTER 3. LONDON, THE LITERARY SCENE.

CHAPTER 4.THE HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY -- CHAPTER 5. A CIRCLE OF ASTRONOMERS -- CHAPTER 6. A VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA -- CHAPTER 7. THE SYSTEM OF THE STARS -- CHAPTER 8. SOCIAL LIFE IN SCIENTIFIC CIRCLES -- CHAPTER 9. HOMER, THE HERSCHELS AND A REVISED HISTORY -- CHAPTER 10. THE OPINION MOULDER -- CHAPTER 11. POPULARISATION, CRYOGENICS AND EVOLUTION -- CHAPTER 12. PROBLEMS IN ASTROPHYSICS -- CHAPTER 13. WOMEN IN ASTRONOMY IN BRITAIN IN AGNES CLERKE'S TIME -- CHAPTER 14. REVISED SYSTEM OF THE STARS -- CHAPTER 15. COSMOGONIES, COSMOLOGY AND NATURE'S SPIRITUAL CLUES -- CHAPTER 16. LAST DAYS AND RETROSPECT -- CHAPTER 17. EPILOGUE -- Appendix -- Precursors of Newton -- Solar-terrestrial relations -- Mars -- The unification of physics and astronomy -- Accumulating data without purpose -- The nebular hypothesis varied and improved -- Needlework as Art -- Caroline Herschel -- Night's soliloquy -- Bibliography -- Index.