A review of

The Glass Universe

How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars

Dava Sobel • Viking • 2017

The review below was first published in the getAbstract Journal on Feb 3, 2023.
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Women of the Stars

by David Meyer

Prolific best-selling science historian Dava Sobel offers a detailed, revelatory history of women instrumental in the ascent and scientific dominance of the Harvard Observatory.

Women played a vital role in establishing, funding and studying the world-renowned Harvard Observatory’s catalog of stellar photographs. Dava Sobel’s remarkable seven-decade history covers The Draper Catalogue of Stellar Spectra from its inception in 1882. Insightful, engaging and vivid, Sobel’s history charts the always difficult ascent of the Harvard Observatory’s women pioneers.

Margaret Draper

The Harvard Observatory director Edward Pickering focused the observatory on stellar photography.

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