Robert Stawell Ball (1840 - 1913)

Sir Robert Stawell Ball FRS (1 July 1840, Dublin – 25 November 1913, Cambridge) was an Irish astronomer. In 1892 he was appointed Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry at Cambridge University at the same time becoming director of the Cambridge Observatory. His lectures, articles and books (e.g. Starland and The Story of the Heavens) were mostly popular and simple in style. His work The Story of the Heavens is mentioned in the "Lestrygonians" chapter of James Joyce's Ulysses.