Miss Leavitt's Stars: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Discovered How to Measure the Universe (Great Discoveries)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.54 (923 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0393328562 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 176 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-03-19 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Miss Leavitt’s Stars uncovers her neglected history, and brings a fascinating and turbulent period of astronomical history to life.. “A short, excellent account of Leavitt’s extraordinary life and achievements.”Simon Singh, New York Times Book Review At the beginning of the twentieth century, scientists argued over the size of the universe: was it, as the astronomer Harlow Shapley argued, the size of the Milky Way, or was there more truth to Edwin Hubble’s claim that our own galaxy is just one among billions? The answer to the controversya “yardstick” suitable for measuring the cosmoswas discovered by Henrietta Swan Leavitt, who was employed by the Harvard Observatory as a number cruncher, at a wage not dissimilar from that of workers i
"I like Mr George Johnsons writing style and will definitely be" according to Michael Jenner. I like Mr George Johnsons writing style and will definitely be watching for new books from this author.In my mind Mr Johnson masters the difficult art of telling a technical related story without loosing focus, without being sidetracked by technical details, and without using thousands of pages.For the price it is a five star book.. Definitely worthwhile. All new information to me. Very interesting. I recommend it.. Miss Leavitt Takes Center Stage With Edward Pickering, Harlow Shapley, and Edwin Hubble Michael Wischmeyer Allan Sandage, the respected astronomer and protégé of Edwin Hubble, once said: "What are galaxies? No one knew before 1900. Very few people knew in 1920. All astronomers knew after 1924."Miss Henrietta Leavitt died in 1921. Working for years at the Harvard College Observatory under the noted astronomer Edward Pickering, this nearl
New York Times science writer Johnson (Strange Beauty) relates that Leavitt's singular contribution to astronomy came when she recognized that cyclical changes in the size of Cepheids, giant variable stars, could be correlated with their luminosity. Leavitt wasn't interested in pushing her discovery to its logical conclusion, but other astronomers quickly grasped the ramifications for calculating the size of the Milky Way and the universe. not seen by PW. . Scant documentation exists for Leavitt's life aside from correspondence with the observatory, so readers shouldn't be surprised to discover that this excellent book is more about the search to measure the universe than about Leavitt's life. The director quickly recognized her skill and made gen