Jean-Charles Houzeau's Escape from Texas

Christiaan Sterken obtained an MSc degree in Mathematics at the University of Ghent (Belgium), his PhD in Astronomy at the University of Brussels, and his Habilitation degree at the University of Liège. He is Emeritus Research Director at the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research, and Emeritus Guest Professor at the University of Brussels. His principal field of research is the photometry of variable stars (luminous blue variables, massive binaries, pulsating main sequence stars, and cataclysmic variables), and comets. He also taught courses in observational astronomy, and on the history of natural sciences at the Universities of Brussels and Ghent. Christiaan Sterken is Vice-President of Commission C3 History of Astronomy, of the International Astronomical Union. Amy Abercrombie King has a Bachelor of Arts degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Arts degree in French from The University of Texasat San Antonio. She holds a lifetime certification as a secondary school teacher in Texas, with certifications in French, English, English as Second Language (ESL), Social Studies and  Information Technology. She was awarded Fulbright-Hays and American Association of Teachers of French scholarships to study the French language and culture, completing postgraduate programs at Université  Laval and Université  de Montréal. She also studied French language, culture, and teaching methods in Cameroon, Africa. A fifth-generation Texan, she was born in Victoria, Texas and grew up in Uvalde, near Fort Clark. She currently resides in San Antonio, and has recently retired from teaching French at Douglas MacArthur High School.

“This book is extremely well documented and written in a very clear and concise way. … I strongly recommend this book to people interested in history of astronomy, but also to historians who find some interest in the US Civil War and, in a more general way, in the history of the United States.” (Emile Biémont, Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, Vol. 23 (2), 2020)

• Part I Jean-Charles Houzeau: His work, his travels and his letters.-Jean-Charles Houzeau de Lehaie.-San Antonio in Houzeau’s times.- The nature and literary quality of Houzeau’s work, and of its translations.- Explanatory remarks.- Part II Appendix: Selected letters and transcripts of official documents.- Transcription of official Texas documents.- Transcription of official letters.- Part III Jean-Charles Houzeau’s White Terror in Texas.- Foreword.- Letter I.