Copyright
4th Estate
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This eBook first published in Great Britain by 4th Estate in 2016
First published in the USA by Viking Books in 2016
Copyright © 2016 John Harrison and Daughter, Ltd.
The right of Dava Sobel to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Cover images © Harvard University Archives, UAV 630.271 (D3091) (olvwork432332) / Harvard College Observatory (Harvard Women Computers, c. 1925)
Frontispiece image courtesy of Harvard University Archives
Insert page 1, bottom: Angelo Secchi, Le soleil, 1875–1877; page 2, top: Courtesy of Carbon County Museum, Rawlins, Wyoming; page 3, bottom: UAV 630.271 (E4116), Harvard University Archives; page 4, top: Courtesy of Harvard College Observatory; page 5, top: Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University; page 5, bottom: Courtesy of Hastings Historical Society, New York; page 6, top: Courtesy of Harvard College Observatory; page 6, bottom: Lindsay Smith, used with permission; page 7, top: HUGFP 125.82p, Box 2, Harvard University Archives; page 7, bottom: Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library; page 8, top: HUPSF Observatory (14), olvwork360662, Harvard University Archives; pages 8–9, bottom: UAV 630.271 (391), olvwork432043, Harvard University Archives; page 9, top: Courtesy of Harvard College Observatory; page 10, top: HUGFP 125.82p, Box 2, Harvard University Archives; page 10, bottom: Courtesy of Harvard College Observatory; page 11, top: HUGFP 125.36 F, Box 1, Harvard University Archives; page 11, bottom: HUGFP 125.36 F, Box 1, Harvard University Archives; page 12, bottom left and right: Courtesy of Katherine Haramundanis; page 13, top: Courtesy of the Harvard University Archives; page 13, bottom: Courtesy of Charles Reynes; page 14: Chart 1, Volume 105, Harvard College Observatory Annals; page 15, top: Courtesy of Hastings Historical Society, New York; page 15, bottom: Courtesy of Katherine Haramundanis; page 16, top: Lia Halloran, used with permission; page 16, bottom: Richard E. Schmidt, used with permission
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Source ISBN: 9780007548200
Ebook Edition © November 2017 ISBN: 9780007548194
Version: 2017-09-14
To the ladies who sustain me:
Diane Ackerman, Jane Allen,
KC Cole, Mary Giaquinto, Sara James, Joanne Julian,
Zoë Klein, Celia Michaels, Lois Morris,
Chiara Peacock, Sarah Pillow,
Rita Reiswig, Lydia Salant, Amanda Sobel,
Margaret Thompson, and Wendy Zomparelli,
with love and thanks
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Preface
PART ONE
The Colors of Starlight
CHAPTER ONE
Mrs. Draper’s Intent
CHAPTER TWO
What Miss Maury Saw
CHAPTER THREE
Miss Bruce’s Largesse
CHAPTER FOUR
Stella Nova
CHAPTER FIVE
Bailey’s Pictures from Peru
PART TWO
Oh, Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me!
CHAPTER SIX
Mrs. Fleming’s Title
CHAPTER SEVEN
Pickering’s “Harem”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Lingua Franca
CHAPTER NINE
Miss Leavitt’s Relationship
CHAPTER TEN
The Pickering Fellows
PART THREE
In the Depths Above
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Shapley’s “Kilo-Girl” Hours
CHAPTER TWELVE
Miss Payne’s Thesis
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
