000			02850cam a22004814a 4500
003			OCoLC
005			20251028093041.0
008			050131s2005 nyua b 001 0deng
001			ocm57557429
010			_a 2005002823
035			_a(Sirsi) i9780393051285
035			_a(Sirsi) i9780393051285
035			_a(Sirsi) i9780393051285
040			_aDLC _cDLC _dC#P _dBAKER _dBUR _dVP@ _dIXA _dYDXCP _dBTCTA _dOCLCG _dVF$
020			_a0393051285
020			_a9780393051285
029	1		_aNLGGC _b272289957
029	1		_aYDXCP _b2168927
029	1		_aNZ1 _b9129735
029	1		_aAU@ _b000026685394
035			_a(OCoLC)57557429
042			_apcc
043			_an-us--- _an-us-ma
050	0	0	_aQB807 _b.J64 2005
049			_aVF$A
100	1		_aJohnson, George, _d1952 January 20-
245	1	0	_aMiss Leavitt's stars : _bthe untold story of the woman who discovered how to measure the universe / _cGeorge Johnson.
250			_a1st ed.
260			_aNew York : _bW.W. Norton, _cc2005.
300			_axiv, 162 p. : _bill. ; _c21 cm.
440		0	_aGreat discoveries
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 149-150) and index.
505	0		_aPrologue : the village in the canyon -- Black stars, white nights -- Hunting for variables -- Henrietta's law -- Triangles -- Shapley's ants -- The late, great Milky Way -- In the realm of the nebulae -- The mysterious K -- The cosmic stampede -- Ghost stories -- Epilogue : fire on the mountain.
520			_aHow big is the universe? In the early twentieth century, scientists took sides. One held that the entire universe was contained in the Milky Way galaxy; their champion was the strong-willed astronomer Harlow Shapley. Another camp believed that the universe was so vast that the Milky Way was just one galaxy among billions--the view that would prevail, proven by the equally headstrong Edwin Hubble. Almost forgotten is the Harvard Observatory Computer--a human number cruncher hired to calculate the positions and luminosities of stars in astronomical photographs--who found the key to the mystery. Radcliffe-educated Henrietta Swan Leavitt, fighting ill health and progressive deafness, stumbled upon a new law that allowed astronomers to use variable stars--those whose brightness rhythmically changes--as a cosmic yardstick. This book is both an account of how we measure the universe, and the moving story of a neglected genius.--From publisher description.
650		0	_aAstrometry _xHistory.
600	1	0	_aLeavitt, Henrietta Swan, _d1868-1921.
650		0	_aWomen astronomers _zUnited States _vBiography.
610	2	0	_aHarvard College Observatory _xHistory.
650		0	_aAstronomical photometry.
650		0	_aAstronomy _zUnited States _xHistory _y20th century.
856	4	1	_3Table of contents _uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip057/2005002823.html
999			_c125691 _d125691