The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars

Guest: Dava Sobel

We’ll explore the captivating, little-known true story of women’s groundbreaking contributions to astronomy. We’ll be joined by DAVA SOBEL, a former New York Times science reporter, and author of the new book The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars. Drawing on letters and memoirs, Sobel documents the women who worked in the Harvard College Observatory during the mid-nineteenth century, interpreting the observations their male counterparts made via telescope each night. Their work is captured in a virtual “glass universe,” a collection of half a million glass plates photographic plates the women used to study the stars.