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.
ISBN: | 9780393328561 |
Publication date: | 14th July 2006 |
Author: | George Johnson |
Publisher: | W.W. Norton and Company an imprint of W. W. Norton & Company |
Format: | Paperback |
Pagination: | 162 pages |
Series: | Great Discoveries |
Genres: |
Astronomy, space and time |