"A short, excellent account of [Leavitt’s] extraordinary life and achievements." —Simon Singh, New York Times Book Review 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.

A century ago, a brilliant woman found the key to the vastness of the universe; her name was Henrietta Swan Leavitt. She was hired by Harvard Univ. to calculate the positions and luminosities of stars in astronomical photos. She discovered a new law, one that would transform the field of cosmology. Because of Leavitt¿s discovery, astronomers could use a kind of star known as a ¿variable¿ as a cosmic yardstick. Her law settled an important astronomical question; how big is the universe? Using Leavitt¿s law, the astronomer Edwin Hubble was able to prove that there were galaxies beyond the Milky Way, and that the universe is unfathomably large. ¿A masterly account of how we measure the universe and the moving story of a neglected genius.¿ Illus.

Since the dawn of humanity, men have attempted to divine the nature of the heavens. The first astronomers mapped the movement of the seasons and used the positions of the constellations for augurs and astrology. Today, the search goes ever deeper into the nature of reality and life itself. In this accessible overview, astrophysicist J.P. McEvoy tells the story of how our knowledge of the cosmos has developed. He puts in context many of the greatest discoveries of all time and many of the dominant personalities: Aristotle, Copernicus, and Isaac Newton, and as we approach the modern era, Einstein, Eddington, and Hawking.

A weekly record of scientific progress.

The historian and author of Lillian Gilbreth examines the “Great Man” myth of science with profiles of women scientists from Marie Curie to Jane Goodall. Why is science still considered to be predominantly male profession? In The Madame Curie Complex, Julie Des Jardin dismantles the myth of the lone male genius, reframing the history of science with revelations about women’s substantial contributions to the field. She explores the lives of some of the most famous female scientists, including Jane Goodall, the eminent primatologist; Rosalind Franklin, the chemist whose work anticipated the discovery of DNA’s structure; Rosalyn Yalow, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist; and, of course, Marie Curie, the Nobel Prize-winning pioneer whose towering, mythical status has both empowered and stigmatized future generations of women considering a life in science. With lively anecdotes and vivid detail, The Madame Curie Complex reveals how women scientists have changed the course of science—and the role of the scientist—throughout the twentieth century. They often asked different questions, used different methods, and came up with different, groundbreaking explanations for phenomena in the natural world.

We all know the history of science that we learned from grade school textbooks: How Galileo used his telescope to show that the earth was not the center of the universe; how Newton divined gravity from the falling apple; how Einstein unlocked the mysteries of time and space with a simple equation. This history is made up of long periods of ignorance and confusion, punctuated once an age by a brilliant thinker who puts it all together. These few tower over the ordinary mass of people, and in the traditional account, it is to them that we owe science in its entirety. This belief is wrong. A People's History of Science shows how ordinary people participate in creating science and have done so throughout history. It documents how the development of science has affected ordinary people, and how ordinary people perceived that development. It would be wrong to claim that the formulation of quantum theory or the structure of DNA can be credited directly to artisans or peasants, but if modern science is likened to a skyscraper, then those twentieth-century triumphs are the sophisticated filigrees at its pinnacle that are supported by the massive foundation created by the rest of us.

How does it happen that billions of stars can cooperate to produce the beautiful spirals that characterize so many galaxies, including ours? This book reviews the history behind the discovery of spiral galaxies and the problems faced when trying to explain the existence of spiral structure within them. In the book, subjects such as galaxy morphology and structure are addressed as well as several models for spiral structure. The evidence in favor or against these models is discussed. The book ends by discussing how spiral structure can be used as a proxy for other properties of spiral galaxies, such as their dark matter content and their central supermassive black hole masses, and why this is important.

"The strategies align with what our preservice and veteran teachers need to teach in today′s classrooms. From newspapers, magazines, and research reports to adolescent trade books, the authors offer numerous strategies for supplementing science classes with various reading materials." —Amy M. Rogers, Instructor of Education Lycoming College, Williamsport, PA Combine literacy and inquiry-based instruction to advance student achievement in science! Integrating reading and writing with inquiry in the science classroom can present a challenge for teachers who may not have a background in reading instruction and who may be concerned about how to strengthen students′ literacy skills while effectively teaching science content. In this timely resource, Kathleen Chamberlain and Christine Corby Crane demonstrate how nurturing strong communication skills can have a significant impact on student performance, and provide research-based strategies for successfully integrating literacy skills with science instruction. Packed with information about reading and writing pedagogy, science standards, adolescent and young adult literature, and lesson design, this book: Addresses the relationship between reading and science education, including the use of textbooks and other materials Offers methods for teaching writing in the science classroom Highlights the role of technology in enhancing students′ science knowledge Includes sample lesson plans, graphic organizers, and templates suitable for any secondary science classroom, with modifications for students with special needs The ultimate blend of theory and practice, Reading, Writing, and Inquiry in the Science Classroom, Grades 6–12 helps educators foster the skills to communicate science ideas and experiences and give students an academic advantage.