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Our man is worried about the funding of his observatory and the security of
his job. He is reluctant to publish his observations, but others are queuing up
to use them. He never feels very well. On top of all this, he begins to hate
Edmund Halley, becomes a part-time vicar, falls out with Isaac Newton and gets
married. For all the trauma of a midlife crisis, read The Correspondence of John
Flamsteed, First Astronomer Royal: Volume 2, 1682-1703 edited by E. G. Forbes,
L. Murdin and F. Willmoth (Institute of Physics, £140/$280, ISBN 0
7503 0391 3). It’s riveting.