George 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 Leavitt's Stars uncovers her neglected history.
- ISBN10 0297846477
- ISBN13 9780297846475
- Publish Date 1 January 2015 (first published 17 June 2006)
- Publish Status Cancelled
- Out of Print 27 March 2008
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Orion Publishing Co
- Imprint Weidenfeld & Nicolson
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 496
- Language English