The Glass Universe : How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars

from cburnett5

The Glass Universe meticulously delineates the previously little-known story about the contributions of a group of women hired by the Harvard College Observatory as "human computers" beginning in the mid-1800's. While Dava Sobel at times employs incredible scientific detail while relaying these w...

from NewsieQ

In the late 19th Century, the observatory at Harvard University was staffed by many women scientists. Although they weren't given the titles, the salaries (or often the respect) of their male counterparts, they were much respected and appreciated by the men who employed them. Many eventually rece...

from rosalita

The science of astronomy had existed for hundreds - thousands - of years, but much was still unknown in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Around the world, astronomers were doing their best to decode the mysteries of the stellar world using direct observation through telescopes. And a...

from bogopea

In the style of HIDDEN FIGURES and THE ROCKET GIRLS, but not as fascinating. Historically, an accounting of the female presence and need for women to study and measure the stars. The "glass universe" refers to half a million plates of images, from the late 1800's, accrued by the Harvard College O...

from read.to.live

This book was thoroughly researched and well written, but I would have appreciated more scientific and historical context. Was the classification of hundreds of thousands of stars inherently useful, or is it important just because it led to other discoveries, such as Leavitt's Law? Also, how do t...