BIOGRAPHIES OF ASTROPHOTOGRAPHERS Catchers of the Light: Forgotten Lives of the Men and Women who First Photographed the Heavens. Vol. i: Catching Space. Origins, Moon, Sun, Solar System & Deep Space-, vol. ii: Imaging Space. Spectra, Surveys, Telescopes, Digital & Appendices. Stefan Hughes (ArtDeCiel Publishing, Paphos, Cyprus, 2013). Pp. 1612. $199. ISBN 978-14675-7992-6 and 978-1-4675-7993-3.Catchers of the light is a self-published encyclopedic work compiled by an ardent astrophotography enthusiast, Stefan Hughes. To say it is hefty is an understatement: the two print volumes weigh in at nearly 7 kg.Hughes states in his opening remarks (p. iv) that the work is not a scholarly treatise but rather a collection of biographies of individuals who played significant roles in introducing, improving and promoting the use of photography in astronomy. It is intended for devotees, like himself, who strive to capture and preserve images of the celestial bodies they observe. His aim is to share the knowledge, satisfaction and joy he gained from seven years of research into the lives of the greatest astrophotographers of all time from Louis Daguerre to Bernhard Schmidt.Each biographical chapter includes a family pedigree as well as a richly illustrated narrative of the childhood, education, career choices, and contributions to astrophotography of one to three pioneers in the emerging field. The biographies are organized into nine thematic sections. Each section concludes with a summary and overview. In addition, there are eight appendices on such subjects as photographic chemistry, telescope optics and astrophotography formulae.Hughes has built the family pedigrees upon his own original genealogical research. His biographical narratives are in large part based on secondary sources. In the case of William and Margaret Huggins, for example, he refers readers to a recent scholarly biography, but then composes his account of their lives and work using older, less reliable published material. There is, therefore, little that can be said about Catchers of the light's historical content save the usual caveat regarding the use of, and reliance upon, information gleaned from a non-peer reviewed publication: verify everything.The author has structured his work to allow readers to peruse its contents in any order. That may explain why nearly every bit of information presented in the main text is repeated in the captions, in the sidebar commentaries, in the annotations and, in some cases, yet again elsewhere. …