Miss Leavitt's Stars: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Discovered How to Measure the Universe (Great Discoveries)

· Great Discoveries Book 0 · W. W. Norton & Company
4.3
3 reviews
Ebook
176
Pages

About this ebook

"A short, excellent account of [Leavitt’s] extraordinary life and achievements." —Simon Singh, New York Times Book Review

George Johnson brings to life Henrietta Swan Leavitt, who found the key to the vastness of the universe—in the form of a “yardstick” suitable for measuring it. Unknown in our day, Leavitt was no more recognized in her own: despite her enormous achievement, she was employed by the Harvard Observatory as a mere number-cruncher, at a wage not dissimilar from that of workers in the nearby textile mills. Miss Leavitt’s Stars uncovers her neglected history.

Ratings and reviews

4.3
3 reviews

About the author

George Johnson, an award-winning science journalist, is the author of several books, most recently The Cancer Chronicles and Strange Beauty. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

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