Status
Available
Genres
Publication
W. W. Norton & Company (2005), Edition: First Edition, 176 pages
Description
How big is the universe? In the early twentieth century, scientists took sides. One held that the entire universe was contained in the Milky Way galaxy; their champion was the strong-willed astronomer Harlow Shapley. Another camp believed that the universe was so vast that the Milky Way was just one galaxy among billions--the view that would prevail, proven by the equally headstrong Edwin Hubble. Almost forgotten is the Harvard Observatory Computer--a human number cruncher hired to calculate the positions and luminosities of stars in astronomical photographs--who found the key to the mystery. Radcliffe-educated Henrietta Swan Leavitt, fighting ill health and progressive deafness, stumbled upon a new law that allowed astronomers to use variable stars--those whose brightness rhythmically changes--as a cosmic yardstick. This book is both an account of how we measure the universe, and the moving story of a neglected genius.--From publisher description.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member NielsenGW
Johnson's short work on the history of astronomy tries very hard to focus on Miss Leavitt and her work on variable stars and stellar distance. Since there is not a lot of infomation available, he brings in many of the other heavyweights of the day to fill out the volume. While her work was
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instrumental in the field, this volume could be better titled. Overall, the book was just as long as it needed to be and succeeded at conveying comsological theorems to the average reader. Show Less
LibraryThing member co_coyote
I've been invited to participate in the 2007 Sante Fe Science Writing Workshop and George Johnson, a science writer for the New York Times, is one of the organizers of the workshop. I was looking around for something he had written and I found this wonderful little book about Miss Leavitt, a
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“computer” at the Harvard College Observatory in the 1920's. The “computer's” at the Observatory were young women, hired for 25 cents an hour to examine and record stars on photographic plates. The book is subtitled The Unknown Story of the Woman Who Discovered How to Measure the Universe. Miss Leavitt was assigned to measure the brightness of the variable stars, now known as Cepheids, in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. She did this so well, and so diligently, that her work set the stage for measuring the size and extent of the visible Universe. If you've ever wondered how we know a galaxy is two million light years away, you will find the answer in this little book. Show Less
LibraryThing member book58lover
Written by New York Times science reporter George Johnson, this book is not a biography because there is so little information about Leavitt to write a complete biography. Instead Johnson explains the science and math of astronomy and what Leavitt worked with at Harvard in the early 1900s. Her
I confess I was somewhat lost in the science of island universes and the inverse square law. I expected to learn more about Leavitt's personal life and education as well as struggles in her career as a "computer". But the author notes that she did not leave diaries, letters or journals from which to gather this information so very little of the book is a biography per se. It only makes me want to find out more. The book was well written but just over my head and I struggled with all the math so I rated it 3 stars more on my shortcomings than on the authors.
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discovery created a "cosmic yardstick" to measure the universe leading to additional discoveries by later scientists.I confess I was somewhat lost in the science of island universes and the inverse square law. I expected to learn more about Leavitt's personal life and education as well as struggles in her career as a "computer". But the author notes that she did not leave diaries, letters or journals from which to gather this information so very little of the book is a biography per se. It only makes me want to find out more. The book was well written but just over my head and I struggled with all the math so I rated it 3 stars more on my shortcomings than on the authors.
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LibraryThing member BobVTReader
Did not learn much new as Miss Leavitt did not leave much behind after her death other than a few letters and notes. The other did a good job of esplaining why her work was important.
LibraryThing member Paulagraph
Unfortunately, Henrietta Swan Leavitt's story remains untold, for reasons the author himself notes: there are few sources to consult. Thus, Johnson has written not a book about Henrietta Levitt, the discoverer of the astronomical period-luminosity relationship but, indeed, one about "her" stars.
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Not biographical except in the sense of describing the context of her life, this slim volume cannot accomplish what I take to have been Johnson's goal, to lift this woman of science out of the footnotes of the History of Science and onto the page. Show Less
LibraryThing member themulhern
This book became slightly unclear in the middle but was very interesting up until that point.
LibraryThing member Eoin
Another sharp, clean tiny biography from the Great Discoveries series. Johnson leverages every scrap of documentation maximally and ultimately runs up against the limits of the record (he squeezes a few good paragraphs out of census forms). Still, a job well done: I know what Leavitt did and
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perhaps as much about herself as can be known (not much, really). Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Christian Science Monitor Best Book (Nonfiction — 2005)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2005
Physical description
176 p.; 5.6 inches
ISBN
0393051285 / 9780393051285
Local notes
Science