American eclipse : a nation's epic race to catch the shadow of the moon and win the glory of the world by Baron, David, 1964- author instant download

American eclipse : a nation's epic race to catch the shadow of the moon and win the glory of the world by Baron, David, 1964- author instant download

xii, 330 pages : 25 cm, 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, in his day a renowned asteroid hunter; Vassar astronomer Maria Mitchell, who fought to demonstrate that science and higher learning were not anathema to femininity; and Thomas Edison, a young inventor and irrepressible showman. With vivid accounts of train robberies and Indian skirmishes, Baron's page-turning drama not only brings to life the mythologized age of the Wild West in a totally unexpected way but forever memorializes an historic eclipse that would come to symbolize American science in its ascendance.--, Includes bibliographical references (pages [289]-308) and index, 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