The Glass Universe
The glass universe is sensitive exacting and lit with the wonder of discovery elizabeth kolbert author of the sixth extinction.
The glass universe. The glass universe of half a million plates that harvard amassed over the ensuing decades through the generous support of mrs. At harvard in the late nineteenth century these women measured the brightness of stars by taking detailed measurements of the spectral objects photographs on glass plates. Anna palmer draper the widow of a pioneer in stellar photography enabled the women to make extraordinary discoveries that attracted worldwide acclaim. Also by dava sobel see all books by dava sobel.
After several years research and writing i m happy to report that the glass universe was published by viking in december 2016 and officially launched at an event in the old observatory building among the half million glass photographic plates still treasured by the harvard smithsonian center for astrophysics. Anna palmer draper the widow of a pioneer in stellar photography enabled the women to make extraordinary discoveries that attracted worldwide acclaim. The glass universe has a fascinating subject at its core. In doing work that no man would stoop to these women made vital contributions to the field of astronomy and human knowledge in general at a time when.
The glass universe of half a million plates that harvard amassed over the ensuing decades through the generous support of mrs. Elegantly written and enriched by excerpts from letters diaries and memoirs the glass universe is 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. American author dava sobel s non fiction book the glass universe. Anna palmer draper the widow of a pioneer in stellar photography enabled the women to make extraordinary discoveries that attracted worldwide acclaim.
The glass universe by dava sobel dava sobel s new book is a history of the unheralded women called computers rather than astronomers who worked at the harvard college. How the ladies of the harvard observatory took a measure of the stars 2016 chronicles the efforts of various woman in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to catalog and classify data about stars from photographs captured on thousands of glass plates. A group of pioneering women calculators who contributed to the field of astronomy.