Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heavens

Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heavens
ISBN-10
1448108020
ISBN-13
9781448108022
Series
Chasing Venus
Category
Science
Pages
352
Language
English
Published
2012-12-31
Publisher
Random House
Author
Andrea Wulf

Description

On two days in 1761 and 1769 hundreds of astronomers pointed their telescopes towards the skies to observe a rare astronomical event: the transit of Venus across the face of the sun. United by this momentous occasion, scientists from around the globe came together to answer the essential question: how can the universe be measured? In Chasing Venus Andrea Wulf paints a vivid portrait of the rivalries, triumphs and misfortunes that befell these men, along with their passion and determination to succeed. This extraordinary book tells their story and how one single event prompted the first international scientific collaboration.

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