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Baron, David, 1964-
Subjects
Science -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
Science -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
Eclipses -- History.
Astronomy -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
Astronomy -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
United States -- Civilization -- 1865-1918.
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Baron, David, 1964-
by title:
American eclipse : a...
by call number:
523.780973 B265a
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Baron, David, 1964-
Science -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
Science -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
Eclipses -- History.
Astronomy -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
Astronomy -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
United States -- Civilization -- 1865-1918.
MARC Display
American
eclipse
: a
nation
's
epic
race
to
catch
the
shadow
of the
moon
and
win
the
glory
of the
world
/ David Baron.
by
Baron, David, 1964-
Liveright Publishing Corporation, c2017.
Call #:
523.780973 B265a
Subjects
Science -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
Science -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
Eclipses -- History.
Astronomy -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
Astronomy -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
United States -- Civilization -- 1865-1918.
ISBN:
9781631490163 (hc)
1631490168 (hc)
Edition:
1st ed.
Description:
xii, 330 p. : ill. (some color), maps, col. chart ; 25 cm.
Bibliography:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
Prologue: Shall the sun be darkened -- Part one: 1876. Reign of shoddy ; Professor of quadruplicity ; Nemesis ; "Petticoat parliament" -- Part two: 1878. Politics and moonshine ; The wizard in Washington ; Sic transit ; "Good woman that she are" ; Show business -- Part three: 1878. Among the tribes of uncivilization ; Queen city ; Nature'
s
editor ; Old probabilities -- Part four: 1878. Favored mortals ; First contact ; Totality ;
American
genius -- Part five: 1878-1931. Ghosts ;
Shadow
and light -- Epilogue: Tendrils of history.
Summary:
"On a scorching July afternoon in 1878, at the dawn of the Gilded Age, the moon'
s
shadow
descended on the
American
West, darkening skies from Montana Territory to Texas. This rare celestial event--a total solar eclipse--offered a priceless opportunity to solve some of the solar system's most enduring riddles, and it prompted a clutch of enterprising scientists to brave the wild frontier in a grueling
race
to the Rocky Mountains. Acclaimed science journalist David Baron, long fascinated by eclipses, re-creates this
epic
tale of ambition, failure, and
glory
in a narrative that reveals as much about the historical trajectory of a striving young
nation
as it does about those scant three minutes when the blue sky blackened and stars appeared in mid-afternoon. In vibrant historical detail,
American
Eclipse
animates the fierce jockeying that came to dominate late nineteenth-century
American
astronomy, revealing the challenges faced by three of the most determined
eclipse
chasers who participated in this adventure. James Craig Watson, virtually forgotten in the twenty-first century, was in his day a renowned asteroid hunter who fantasized about becoming a Gilded Age Galileo. Hauling a telescope, a star chart, and his long-suffering wife out west, Watson believed that he would discover Vulcan, a hypothesized "intra-Mercurial" planet hidden in the sun's brilliance. No less determined was Vassar astronomer Maria Mitchell, who--in an era when women'
s
education came under fierce attack--fought to demonstrate that science and higher learning were not anathema to femininity. Despite obstacles erected by the male-dominated astronomical community, an indifferent government, and careless porters, Mitchell courageously charged west with a contingent of female students intent on observing the transcendent phenomenon for themselves. Finally, Thomas Edison--a young inventor and irrepressible showman--braved the wilderness to prove himself to the scientific community. Armed with his newest invention, the tasimeter, and pursued at each stop by throngs of reporters, Edison sought to leverage the
eclipse
to cement his place in history. What he learned on the frontier, in fact, would help him illuminate the
world
. With memorable accounts of train robberies and Indian skirmishes, David Baron'
s
page-turning drama refracts nineteenth-century science through the mythologized age of the Wild West, revealing a history no less fierce and fantastical. "--Jacket.
Holds:
0
Copy/Holding information
Location
Collection
Call No.
Item type
Status
Central Library
Adult Nonfiction
523.780973 B265a
Core Collection - Adult
Adult Display 1
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