Robert S. Ball

Sir Robert Stawell Ball (1840–1913) was an Irish astronomer and mathematician and one of the most successful popularizers of science in the English-speaking world. Born in Dublin, he was tutor to the children of the Earl of Rosse at Birr Castle, then professor at the Royal College of Science and from 1874 Royal Astronomer of Ireland at Dunsink. In 1892 he moved to Cambridge as Lowndean Professor of Astronomy. His mathematical work on the theory of screws was original, but he was known to the public for his lectures and books, among them The Story of the Heavens (1885), Star-Land and The Story of the Sun.