A Portrait of Sir William Herschel (1738-1822)
Two hundred years ago, on 13 March 1781,
WILLIAM HERSCHEL was systematically scanning the skies above Bath through his home-made seven-foot telescope, when he made the first planetary discovery since the dawn of history - Uranus. The discovery transformed Herschel from musician to piofessional astronomer and in his work as private astronomer to George III and first President of the Royal Astronomical Society, he was to revolutionise the science. In National Astronomy Week John Ebdon looks at the life and genius of the man who gave us the modern concept of the Universe.
Producer BRIAN COOK