#39: Dava Sobel, The Glass Universe

[kareila]

I found this to be an engrossing and educational book about the history of astronomy told through the achievements of the employees and associates of the Harvard College Observatory, later retitled the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Over the course of roughly 75 years (1880-1955) many exciting discoveries about the nature of the universe were made using the stellar photographs captured on glass plates using the telescopes of the main observatory in Massachusetts and a second associated observatory in the Southern Hemisphere. Although other astronomers at other sites made similar observations, no star catalogue was nearly as comprehensive as the one at Harvard. The book pairs as an excellent companion to American Eclipse, which establishes the founding era of American astronomy and introduces Henry and Anna Draper, for whom the Draper Catalogue is named.

Although the subtitle "How The Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars" might understandably lead one to surmise that this is a Hidden Figures type of story, the social history aspect of the book takes a definite backseat to the scientific aspect. The unusual employment by the observatory of so many women as "computers" during that era seems to have been a happy accident, perpetuated by various benefactors keen on preserving and expanding those opportunities for future generations. The true and pleasant surprise is that the observatory's directors during that time, Pickering and Shapley, were so quick to recognize and publicize the ladies' contributions, and to provide new avenues of career advancement.