Clark, Stuart 1968–

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Clark, Stuart 1968–

PERSONAL:

Born 1968. Education: Holds a Ph.D.

ADDRESSES:

Home— England.

CAREER:

Writer, astronomy journalist. Previously served as editor for Astronomy Now; University of Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire, England, director of public astronomy education until 2001, visiting fellow; freelance writer for the European Space Agency,New Scientist, British Broadcasting Corporation Focus, and research councils in the United Kingdom.

MEMBER:

Association of British Science Writers (vice chair), Royal Astronomical Society (fellow).

WRITINGS:

The Encyclopaedia of Stars and Atoms, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1995.

Red Shift, University of Hertfordshire Press (Hertfordshire, England), 1997.

Towards the Edge of the Universe, Wiley-Praxis (London, England), 1997.

Universe in Focus: The Story of the Hubble Space Telescope, Andromeda (London, England), 1997.

Extrasolar Planets: The Search for New Worlds, Wiley-Praxis (London, England), 1998.

Life on Other Worlds and How to Find It, Springer-Praxis (London, England), 2000.

The Sun Kings: The Unexpected Tragedy of Richard Carrington and the Tale of How Modern Astronomy Began, Princeton University Press (Princeton, NJ), 2007.

FOR CHILDREN

How It Works: Discovering the Universe, Horus Editions (London, England), 1999.

Journey to the Stars, Oxford University Press (London, England), 2000.

The Inner Planets, Heinemann Library (London, England), 2002.

Earth, Heinemann Library (London, England), 2002.

(With Nicola Clark)The Solar System, Folens (London, England), 2004.

(With Nicola Clark)Exploring the Solar System, Folens (London, England), 2004.

(With Nicola Clark)The Sun, Folens (London, England), 2004.

(With Nicola Clark)Gravity & Space, Folens (London, England), 2004.

(With Nicola Clark)Earth, Sun, & Moon, Folens (London, England), 2004.

(With Nicola Clark)Little Moon, Storysack (London, England), 2005.

Contributor to various books for adults and children, including The Universe Revealed,1998;Snoeck's Almanac 2000,1999; and Black Holes and Other Oddities; contributor to periodicals including Astronomy Now and New Scientist.

SIDELIGHTS:

Stuart Clark holds a doctoral degree in astrophysics and is one of the mostly widely read and appreciated journalists writing on astronomy. His abil-ity to take complex scientific ideas and distill them to an easily understandable article for the lay reader has made his books and magazine articles extremely popular. His writing has appeared in various scientific journals and periodicals, including Astronomy Now, which he previously edited, and New Scientist. He is the author of several books, both for adults and for children, and has contributed to several more. Aside from his writing, which has been his primary occupation since 2001, Clark serves as a visiting fellow of the University of Hertfordshire and a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. He is also a member of the Association of British Science Writers, for which he is the vice chair. The Independent listed him as one of the star teachers of astronomy in 2000, along with Stephen Hawking and Astronomer Royal, Professor Sir Martin Rees. He is the coauthor of a script for a digital video disc (DVD) about the Hubble telescope and also appears regularly on television and radio news programs.

Clark's book The Sun Kings: The Unexpected Tragedy of Richard Carrington and the Tale of How Modern Astronomy Began chronicles the experiences of Richard Carrington, one of the scientists whom Clark considers an innovator in the field of solar observation. In 1859 a major solar explosion—the most intense such storm ever recorded—struck the earth, and Carrington was one of a number of Victorian scientists to witness the event. He set out to determine what had caused it. Among Carrington's accomplishments is his discovery that the sun is a gaseous sphere and has the property of differential rotation. Carrington studied various aspects of the sun, such as sun spots and flares, trying to determine what they might signify. Despite his accomplishments, Carrington never reached the level of success for which he aimed. He was held back from the highest astronomy positions and struggled to split his time between his studies in astronomy and his money-making venture as a brewer, the latter of which supported his scientific endeavors. In addition, he discovered after marrying that his new wife had a former suitor who was not willing to let her go easily. The combined narratives of Carrington's personal life and academic discoveries make for a dramatic book. Carrington came to a tragic end, killing himself in the wake of discovering the true depth of his young wife's betrayal, adding to the larger-than-life aspects of the story. Clark delves into the tales of other scientists of the period, but it is Carrington's little-known and fascinating story that serves as the centerpiece for the volume. Margaret F. Dominy, in a review for Library Journal, wrote that "Clark's style engages us immediately and holds us throughout." Laurence Marschall, writing for Natural History, commented that "from Carrington's observations, Clark spins a lively account of seminal discoveries in spectroscopy, photography, and theoretical physics that led to the present-day understanding." Booklist contributor Gilbert Taylor remarked of the book that Clark "has recovered a touchingly dramatic story in Carrington. Well paced and well chosen."

Clark's other publications include a list of books for both adults and children. His titles include The Encyclopaedia of Stars and Atoms, Red Shift, Towards the Edge of the Universe, Universe in Focus: The Story of the Hubble Space Telescope, Extrasolar Planets: The Search for New Worlds, and Life on Other Worlds and How to Find It. Clark contributed to The Universe Revealed, Snoeck's Almanac 2000, and Black Holes and Other Oddities. His books for children include How It Works: Discovering the Universe, Journey to the Stars, and a series of educational volumes written with Nicola Clark.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 2007, Gilbert Taylor, review of The Sun Kings: The Unexpected Tragedy of Richard Carrington and the Tale of How Modern Astronomy Began, p. 11.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, January, 1998, review of Towards the Edge of the Universe, p. 840; May, 1999, W.E. Howard, review of Extrasolar Planets: The Search for New Worlds, p. 1639; September, 2000, P.R. Douville, review of Life on Other Worlds and How to Find It, p. 153.

Library Journal, May 15, 2007, Margaret F. Dominy, review of The Sun Kings, p. 111.

Natural History, May, 2007, Laurence A. Marschall, review of The Sun Kings, p. 50.

Nature, November 30, 2000, review of Journey to the Stars, p. 520; July 5, 2007, Jan Stenflo, "Science with Flare," p. 27.

New Scientist, May 24, 1997, review of Red Shift, p. 44; October 18, 1997, Carole Stott, review of Universe in Focus: The Story of the Hubble SpaceTelescope, p. 53; April 1, 2000, Paul Schuch, "Looking for Company," p. 48; April 28, 2007, "Astronomical Affairs," p. 50.

School Science Review, December, 2000, Mark Yates, review of Journey to the Stars, p. 115.

Science News, June 2, 2007, review of The Sun Kings, p. 351.

SciTech Book News, March, 1999, review of Extrasolar Planets, p. 49.

Sky & Telescope, December, 2000, review of Life on Other Worlds and How to Find It, p. 82.

Times Higher Education Supplement, August 3, 2007, Simon Mitton, "Star-Crossed Lover of Our Solar-cycle Dependency," p. 24.