On January 1, 1925, thirty-five-year-old Edwin Hubble announced the
observation that ultimately established that our universe was a
thousand trillion times larger than previously believed, filled
with myriad galaxies like our own. This discovery dramatically
reshaped how humans understood their place in the cosmos, and once
and for all laid to rest the idea that the Milky Way galaxy was
alone in the universe. Six years later, continuing research by
Hubble and others forced Albert Einstein to renounce his own cosmic
model and finally accept the astonishing fact that the universe was
not immobile but instead expanding.
The fascinating story of these interwoven discoveries includes
battles of will, clever insights, and wrong turns made by the early
investigators in this great twentieth-century pursuit. It is a
story of science in the making that shows how these discoveries
were not the work of a lone genius but the combined efforts of many
talented scientists and researchers toiling away behind the scenes.
The intriguing characters include Henrietta Leavitt, who discovered
the means to measure the vast dimensions of the cosmos . . . Vesto
Slipher, the first and unheralded discoverer of the universe's
expansion . . . Georges Lemaitre, the Jesuit priest who correctly
interpreted Einstein's theories in relation to the universe . . .
Milton Humason, who, with only an eighth-grade education, became a
world-renowned expert on galaxy motions . . . and Harlow Shapley,
Hubble's nemesis, whose flawed vision of the universe delayed the
discovery of its true nature and startling size for more than a
decade.
Here is a" "watershed moment in the history of astronomy, brought
about by the exceptional combination of human curiosity,
intelligence, and enterprise, and vividly told by acclaimed science
writer Marcia Bartusiak.
"From the Hardcover edition."
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