ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Thomas Dick, arguably the most influential popularizer of astronomy in Victorian America, to take in the rise in prominence of popular astronomy in the nineteenth century. By acquiring 'useful' knowledge, many Americans, particularly members of a rapidly emerging middle class, hoped for greater financial success and higher social status. Such hopes were considered to be perfectly reasonable and respectable as long as one used one's money and position for moral purposes. It would appear that scoffers and nay-sayers were fewer in number in America than in Britain. As Kim Tolley and P. A. Kidwell have noted, middle-class women in Victorian America had more opportunities and greater social latitude to acquire the rudiments of astronomy than their British counterparts. A few women moved on to study astronomy at women's academies such as Mary Lyon's Mount Holyoke Seminary. Indeed, at many co-educational institutes, women were able to enroll in more science courses than were men.
