author

Arthur Berry

1862–1929

Best known for A Short History of Astronomy, this Cambridge mathematician had a gift for making a big scientific story feel clear and human. His writing helped generations of readers meet the history of astronomy without needing advanced mathematics.

1 Audiobook

A Short History of Astronomy

A Short History of Astronomy

by Arthur Berry

About the author

Born in Croydon on May 28, 1862, he studied at King's College, Cambridge, where he became Senior Wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos of 1885 and a Fellow of the college in 1886. He spent most of his career in Cambridge as a respected mathematics teacher and lecturer.

Although he published relatively little, he is remembered for A Short History of Astronomy (1898), a book praised for explaining the development of astronomy in an accessible way. He also had a brief connection to economics, but mathematics and the communication of scientific ideas seem to have been at the center of his working life.

He died in Cambridge on August 15, 1929. No suitable verified portrait image was confirmed from the sources I checked, so a profile image is not included here.