Miss Leavitt's Stars: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Disc

ISBN: 0393328562

Author: Johnson, George

Condition: new

"A short, excellent account of [Leavitts] extraordinary life and achievements." -Simon Singh, New York Times Book ReviewGeorge 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 Leavitts Stars uncovers her neglected history.