0
Your cart

Your cart is empty

Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Gender studies > Women's studies

Buy Now

The Glass Universe - How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars (Paperback) Loot Price: R405
Discovery Miles 4 050
The Glass Universe - How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars (Paperback): Dava Sobel

The Glass Universe - How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars (Paperback)

Dava Sobel

 (1 rating, sign in to rate)
Loot Price R405 Discovery Miles 4 050

Bookmark and Share

Expected to ship within 12 - 19 working days

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Dava Sobel, the "inspiring" (People), little-known true story of women's landmark contributions to astronomy A New York Times Book Review Notable Book Named one of the best books of the year by NPR, The Economist, Smithsonian, Nature, and NPR's Science Friday Nominated for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award "A joy to read." -The Wall Street Journal In the mid-nineteenth century, the Harvard College Observatory began employing women as calculators, or "human computers," to interpret the observations their male counterparts made via telescope each night. At the outset this group included the wives, sisters, and daughters of the resident astronomers, but soon the female corps included graduates of the new women's colleges-Vassar, Wellesley, and Smith. As photography transformed the practice of astronomy, the ladies turned from computation to studying the stars captured nightly on glass photographic plates. The "glass universe" of half a million plates that Harvard amassed over the ensuing decades-through the generous support of Mrs. Anna Palmer Draper, the widow of a pioneer in stellar photography-enabled the women to make extraordinary discoveries that attracted worldwide acclaim. They helped discern what stars were made of, divided the stars into meaningful categories for further research, and found a way to measure distances across space by starlight. Their ranks included Williamina Fleming, a Scottish woman originally hired as a maid who went on to identify ten novae and more than three hundred variable stars; Annie Jump Cannon, who designed a stellar classification system that was adopted by astronomers the world over and is still in use; and Dr. Cecilia Helena Payne, who in 1956 became the first ever woman professor of astronomy at Harvard-and Harvard's first female department chair. Elegantly written and enriched by excerpts from letters, diaries, and memoirs, The Glass Universe is the hidden history of the women whose contributions to the burgeoning field of astronomy forever changed our understanding of the stars and our place in the universe.

General

Imprint: Penguin USA
Country of origin: United States
Release date: October 2017
Authors: Dava Sobel
Dimensions: 214 x 140 x 18mm (L x W x T)
Format: Paperback - Trade
ISBN-13: 978-0-14-311134-4
Categories: Books > Science & Mathematics > Science: general issues > History of science
Books > Science & Mathematics > Astronomy, space & time > Popular astronomy
Books > Science & Mathematics > Astronomy, space & time > Space travel & exploration
Books > Humanities > History > World history > From 1900 > General
Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Gender studies > Women's studies > General
Books > History > World history > From 1900 > General
Promotions
LSN: 0-14-311134-5
Barcode: 9780143111344

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!

You might also like..

Crossroads - I Live Where I Like
Koni Benson Paperback R280 R259 Discovery Miles 2 590
Reclaiming The Soil - A Black Girl's…
Rosie Motene Paperback R441 Discovery Miles 4 410
Sitting Pretty - White Afrikaans Women…
Christi van der Westhuizen Paperback  (1)
R365 R337 Discovery Miles 3 370
Shackled - One Woman's Dramatic Triumph…
Mariam Ibraheem, Eugene Bach Paperback R441 R418 Discovery Miles 4 180
Miss Behave
Malebo Sephodi Paperback  (12)
R302 Discovery Miles 3 020
Woman Evolve - Break Up With Your Fears…
Sarah Jakes Roberts Paperback  (2)
R319 R293 Discovery Miles 2 930
Fatima Meer - Memories Of Love And…
Fatima Meer Paperback  (1)
R379 Discovery Miles 3 790
Black And Female
Tsitsi Dangarembga Paperback  (1)
R336 R306 Discovery Miles 3 060
Becoming
Michelle Obama Hardcover  (6)
R776 R695 Discovery Miles 6 950
Black Skin - The Definitive Skincare…
Dija Ayodele Hardcover R590 R519 Discovery Miles 5 190
The Light We Carry - Overcoming In…
Michelle Obama Hardcover  (1)
R399 R368 Discovery Miles 3 680
Entitled - How Male Privilege Hurts…
Kate Manne Paperback R333 R302 Discovery Miles 3 020

See more

Partners