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The glass universe : how the ladies of the Harvard Observatory took the measure of the stars Cover Image

The glass universe : how the ladies of the Harvard Observatory took the measure of the stars / Dava Sobel.

Sobel, Dava, (author.).

Summary:

In the mid-nineteenth century, the Harvard College Observatory began employing women as "human computers" to interpret the observations their male counterparts made via telescope each night. As photography transformed the practice of astronomy, the ladies turned from computation to studying the stars captured nightly on glass photographic plates. The support of Mrs. Anna Palmer Draper, the widow of a pioneer in stellar photography, enabled the women to discern what stars were made of, divide the stars into meaningful categories for further research, and find a way to measure distances across space by starlight. Sobel tells 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.

Record details

ISBN: 9780670016952
ISBN: 0670016950
Physical Description: xii, 324 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
Publisher: New York, New York : Viking, 2016.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-305) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Part one: The colors of starlight. Mrs. Draper's intent ; What Miss Maury saw ; Miss Bruce's largesse ; Stella nova ; Bailey's picture from Peru -- Part two: Oh, be a fine girl, kiss me!. Mrs. Fleming's title ; Pickering's "harem" ; Lingua franca ; Miss Leavitt's relationship ; The Pickering fellows -- Part three: In the depths above. Shapley's "kilo-girl" hours ; Miss Payne's thesis ; The Observatory Pinafore ; Miss Cannon's prize ; The lifetimes of stars -- Some highlights in the history of the Harvard College Observatory -- A catalogue of Harvard astronomers, assistants, and associates.
Target Audience Note:	1330L Lexile