New Releases by Dava Sobel

The acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author of Galileo’s Daughter crafts a luminous chronicle of the life and work of the most famous woman in the history of science, and the untold story of the many young women trained in her laboratory who were launched into stellar scientific careers of their own “Even now, nearly a century after her death, Marie Curie remains the only female scientist most people can name,” writes Dava Sobel at the opening of her shining portrait of the sole Nobel laureate decorated in two separate fields of science—Physics in 1903 with her husband Pierre and Chemistry by herself in 1911. And yet, Sobel makes clear, as brilliant and creative as she was in the laboratory, Marie Curie was equally passionate outside it. Grieving Pierre’s untimely death in 1906, she took his place as professor of physics at the Sorbonne; devotedly raised two brilliant daughters; drove a van she outfitted with x-ray equipment to the front lines of World War I; befriended Albert Einstein and other luminaries of twentieth-century physics; won support from two U.S. presidents; and inspired generations of young women the world over to pursue science as a way of life. As Sobel did so memorably in her portrait of Galileo through the prism of his daughter, she approaches Marie Curie from a unique angle, narrating her remarkable life of discovery and fame alongside the women who became her legacy—from France’s Marguerite Perey, who discovered the element francium, and Norway’s Ellen Gleditsch, to Mme. Curie’s elder daughter, Irène, winner of the 1935 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. For decades the only woman in the room at international scientific gatherings that probed new theories about the interior of the atom, Marie Curie traveled far and wide, despite constant illness, to share the secrets of radioactivity, a term she coined. Her two triumphant tours of the United States won her admirers for her modesty even as she was mobbed at every stop; her daughters, in Ève’s later recollection, “discovered all at once what the retiring woman with whom they had always lived meant to the world.” With the consummate skill that made bestsellers of Longitude and Galileo’s Daughter, and the appreciation for women in science at the heart of her most recent The Glass Universe, Dava Sobel has crafted a radiant biography and a masterpiece of storytelling, illuminating the life and enduring influence of one of the most consequential figures of our time.

A mediados del siglo XIX, el Observatorio de Harvard comenzó a emplear a mujeres como calculadoras o "computadoras humanas" para interpretar las observaciones que sus contrapartes masculinas realizaban por telescopio cada noche. Al principio este grupo incluía a las esposas, hermanas e hijas de los astrónomos residentes, pero pronto incluyó a graduadas de las nuevas universidades de mujeres Vassar, Wellesley y Smith. A medida que la fotografía transformaba la práctica de la astronomía, las damas pasaban de la computación a estudiar las estrellas capturadas en placas fotográficas de vidrio. El universo de cristal del medio millón de placas que Harvard acumuló durante las décadas siguientes permitió a las mujeres hacer descubrimientos extraordinarios: ayudaron a identificar de qué estaban hechas las estrellas, las dividieron en categorías significativas y encontraron una manera de medir distancias en el espacio por la luz que emiten. Entre estas mujeres destacaban Williamina Fleming, una escocesa contratada originalmente como criada que identificó diez novas y más de trescientas estrellas variables; Annie Jump Cannon, que diseñó un sistema de clasificación estelar adoptado por los astrónomos de todo el mundo y que sigue vigente; y la doctora Cecilia Helena Payne, que en 1956 se convirtió en la primera profesora titular de astronomía, y la primera mujer jefa de departamento de Harvard.

Es war die Zeit, in der Edison mit seiner elektrischen Glühbirne für Aufsehen sorgte, als Frauen an der amerikanischen Ostküste erstmals die Gestirne erkundeten. Ein Professor der Harvard University engagierte sie Anfang der 1880er-Jahre zunächst als »Computer« – als Rechnerinnen – am Observatorium. Darunter nicht nur Familienmitglieder von Astronomen, sondern auch Absolventinnen der neuen Frauen-Colleges und begeisterte Sternbeobachterinnen. Und sie leisteten wahrlich Erstaunliches: Die ledige Mutter und ehemalige Haushälterin Williamina Fleming etwa machte durch ihre Berechnungen allein schon an die 300 Sterne ausfindig. Die Pfarrerstochter Antonia Maury entwickelte eine eigene Klassifikation der Planeten, die heute als Grundstein der modernen Astrophysik gelten kann. Doch wenige der Harvard-Frauen fanden später die verdiente Anerkennung auf einer eigenen Forschungsstelle. Dem Wirken der ambitionierten Wissenschaftlerinnen ein Denkmal zu setzen ist daher Dava Sobels Anliegen mit ihrem neuen, spannend erzählten Buch.

Dava Sobel, autora del best-seller de culto Longitud, recrea la vida de Copérnico, el hombre que se atrevió a decir, hace casi quinientos años, que la Tierra no era el centro del universo. Cómo lo supo, cómo lo intentó demostrar, cómo lo escribió... es una historia que Sobel convierte en una narración llena de encanto, la crónica de un hombre enfrentado a la ciencia, la religión y la sociedad de su época. Pero entonces aparece un segundo personaje, un joven admirador, aspirante a científico y astrónomo amateur, que oye aquella extraña teoría, lee lo que Copérnico ha escrito casi avergonzado de su idea, y decide que aquello debe ver la luz. Rético, ese joven, cambia completamente el curso de los acontecimientos; y un descubrimiento se convierte en una revolución, aún hoy una de las más asombrosas del intelecto humano.

Using her deep knowledge, her skills as a storyteller, and her imagination, Dava Sobel illuminates one of history''s most significant and far-reaching meetings. In the spring of 1539, a young German mathematician--Georg Joachim Rheticus--journeyed hundreds of miles to northern Poland to meet the legendary, elderly cleric and reluctant astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. Some two decades earlier, Copernicus had floated the mind-boggling theory that the Sun, not the Earth, was stationary at the center of the universe, and he was rumored to have crafted a book that could prove it. Though exactly what happened between them can never be known, Rheticus shepherded Copernicus''s great work into production and De revolutionibus orbium coelestium ultimately changed the course of human understanding. Dava Sobel imagines their dramatic encounter, and with wit and erudition gives them personality. Through clever and dramatic dialogue, she brings alive the months Rheticus and Copernicus spent together--the one a heretical Lutheran, the other a free-thinking Catholic--and in the process illuminates the historic tension between science and religion. An introduction by Dava Sobel will set the stage, putting the scenes in historical context, and an afterword will describe what happened after Copernicus''s book was published detailing the impact it had on science and on civilization.

The little-known true story of the unexpected and remarkable contributions to astronomy made by a group of women working in the Harvard College Observatory from the late 1800s through the mid-1900s. --

Em 1514, um clérigo recluso chamado Nicolau Copérnico desenvolveu o esboço de sua teoria heliocêntrica, a qual desafiava o senso comum e as crenças da época colocando o Sol, e não a Terra, no centro do Universo. Não mais um objeto estático, a Terra agora girava em torno do Sol ao lado de outros planetas. Ao longo das duas décadas seguintes, Copérnico expandiu sua teoria e a compilou num manuscrito secreto, que deixou perplexos os matemáticos e cientistas da época. Com medo de ser ridicularizado, ele se recusava a publicar o livro. Em 1539, um jovem matemático alemão chamado Georg Joachim Rheticus, atraído pelos rumores de uma revolução tão grande quanto a Reforma de Lutero, viaja à Polônia para procurar Copérnico. Dois anos depois, o jovem protestante se despede de seu mentor católico e prepara a obra do mestre para publicação. O resultado é De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, ou As revoluções dos orbes celestes, o livro de 1543 que para sempre transformou o lugar do homem no Universo. No estilo elegante e envolvente que os leitores de Dava Sobel conhecem, a escritora descreve as personalidades conflitantes e as descobertas extraordinárias que moldaram a revolução de Copérnico. Mais que isso, ela insere essas vidas no contexto do século XVI, uma época de transformações radicais em que os conflitos com as velhas formas de pensar estavam na ordem do dia. Ao centro do livro, uma peça teatral imagina a luta de Rheticus para convencer o mestre a finalmente divulgar seus escritos. Assim como nos best-sellers Longitude e A filha de Galileu, Sobel nos dá um inesquecível retrato dos avanços da ciência, bem como um histórico do longo e ainda atual embate entre razão e fé.

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The bestselling author of Longitude and Galileo''s Daughter tells the story of Nicolaus Copernicus and the revolution in astronomy that changed the world.

John Harrison, ein schottischer Uhrmacher, setzte sich ein ehrgeiziges und unmöglich erscheinendes Ziel: eine Methode zu ersinnen, die es Seeleuten ermöglicht, den genauen Längengrad ihrer Position auf See zu bestimmen. Über vierzig Jahre arbeitete Harrison wie besessen an der Herstellung eines perfekten Chronometers und kam schließlich — trotz Missgunst und zahlreicher Anfeindungen — zum Erfolg. Dava Sobels in luzider Prosa erzählte Geschichte dieser wissenschaftlichen Gralssuche wurde ein überwältigender internationaler Erfolg.

The dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of one man''s forty-year obsession to find a solution to the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day--"the longitude problem." Anyone alive in the eighteenth century would have known that "the longitude problem" was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day-and had been for centuries. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Thousands of lives and the increasing fortunes of nations hung on a resolution. One man, John Harrison, in complete opposition to the scientific community, dared to imagine a mechanical solution-a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had ever been able to do on land. Longitude is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of Harrison''s forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Full of heroism and chicanery, it is also a fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation, and clockmaking, and opens a new window on our world.

Ud fra datteren Virginias breve til sin far tegner forfatteren et portræt af Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) som videnskabsmand, troende katolik og familiemenneske og giver et billede af den tids dramatiske kollision mellem religion og videnskab.

After The Huge National And International Success Of ''Longitude'' And ''Gallileo''S Daughter'', Dava Sobel Tells The Human Story Of The Nine Planets Of Our Solar System. This Groundbreaking New Work Traces The ''Lives'' Of Each Member Of Our Solar Family, From Myth And History, Astrology And Science Fiction, To The Latest Data From The Modern Era''S Robotic Space Probes. Whether Revealing What Hides Behind Venus''S Cocoon Of Acid Clouds, Describing Neptune''S Complex Beauty, Or Capturing First-Hand The Excitement At The Jet Propulsion Laboratory When The First Pictures From Cassini At Saturn Were Recently Beamed To Earth, Dava Sobel''S Unique Tour Of The Solar System Is Filled With Fascination And Beauty. In Lyrical Prose Interspersed With Poems By Tennyson, Blake And Others, ''The Planets'' Gives A Breathtaking, Intimate View Of Those Heavenly Bodies That Have Captured The Imagination Since Humanity''S First Glimpse Of The Glittering Night Skies. Timely And Timeless, ''The Planets'' Will Engage And Delight As It Unravels The Mysteries Of The Cosmos. It Is Of Infinite Relevance To This Age In Which New Planets Are Being Discovered Elsewhere In Our Galaxy. Ödrön Is A Spiritual Teacher For Anyone Whether They Have A Spiritual Path Or Not. Her Heartfelt Advice And Wisdom (Developed In Her 20 Years Of Practice As A Tibetan Buddhist Nun As Well As Her Years Previously As A Normal Housewife And Mother ) Give Her A Wide Appeal. Particularly In These Difficult Times, This Advice Strikes Just The Right Note, Offering Us Comfort And Challenging Us To Live Deeply And Contribute To Creating A More Loving World.

Em Os planetas, Dava Sobel aborda de forma inventiva as origens e peculiaridades dos membros da "família do Sol". INformações astronômicas que poderiam soar árduas ao público leigo - pressão atmosférica, tipos de gases, velocidade de ventos, bem como temperaturas, distâncias e medidas de tempo cujos números, inimagináveis, alcançam a casa dos zilhões - ganham aqui uma boa dose de encanto. A Autora recorre às lentes da mitologia, da música, da poesia, da astrologia e da ficção científica ao descrever esses mundos distantes e ao narrar as peripécias de personagens históricos como Kepler, Galileu, Halley e outros investigadores pioneiros. Cada capítulo tem um estilo próprio e é dedicado a um ou mais planetas, além do Sol e da Lua. EM meio a poemas sobre Vênus, musa de poetas como Keats e pintores como Van Gogh, ficamos sabendo que a beleza da chamada estrela da manhã é muito mais selvagem do que se supunha, devido às violentas erupções dos vulcões venusianos. O Capítulo sobre Marte, por sua vez, é uma homenagem à literatura de ficção-científica, a começar pelo inesperado narrador: um meteorito marciano que caiu há 13 mil anos nas planícies de gelo da Antártida e que, depois de ser descoberto por cientistas terráqueos em 1984, tornou-se "o pedaço de pedra mais estudado de todos os tempos". JÁ no caso de Plutão, a autora, convidada a integrar o comitê internacional que se reuniu em 2006 para decidir o destino do planeta, comenta a sua exclusão do cadastro planetário e seu novo status de "planeta anão", encarando-o não como um rebaixamento inglório, mas como uma homenagem à diversidade maior de um Sistema Solar expandido. Com este livro, Dava Sobel nos lembra que, mesmo tendo seus mistérios desvendados pela investigação científica, os planetas ainda retêm sua aura de fascínio, que data de tempos imemoriais, graças à longa influência que vêm exercendo em nossa vida e a tudo que representam nos céus da Terra. "Os planetas faz o leitor se apaixonar pelos céus" - The New York Times Book Review "Uma encantadora serenata para o Sistema Solar" - Entertainment Weekly "Informativo, divertido e poético - uma leitura prazerosa" - Publishers Weekly

Jennifer Kahn''s "Stripped for Parts" was selected as the lead story of this year''s Best American Science Writing because, as Dava Sobel, best-selling author of Longitude and Galileo''s Daughter, reveals, "it begins with one of the most arresting openings I have ever read." In "Columbia''s Last Flight," William Langewiesche recounts the February 1, 2003, space shuttle tragedy, along with the investigation into the nationwide complacency that brought the ship down. K. C. Cole''s "Fun with Physics" is a profile of astrophysicist Janet Conrad that blends her personal life with professional activity. In "Desperate Measures," the doctor and writer Atul Gawande profiles the surgeon Francis Daniels Moore, whose experiments in the 1940s and ''50s pushed medicine harder and farther than almost anyone had contemplated. Also included is a poem by the legendary John Updike, "Mars as Bright as Venus." The collection ends with Diane Ackerman''s "ebullient" essay "We Are All a Part of Nature." Together these twenty-three articles on a wide range of today''s most current topics in science -- from biology, physics, biotechnology, and astronomy, to anthropology, genetics, evolutionary theory, and cognition‚ represent the full spectrum of scientific writing from America''s most prominent science authors, proving once again that "good science writing is evidently plentiful" (Scientific American).

Une biographie de celui qu''Albert Einstein appela le père de la science moderne. Fils de musicien, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) tenta d''abord de se faire moine avant de se lancer dans les travaux qui firent de lui l''un des plus grands savants de son temps. Jamais il ne quitta l''Italie, et pourtant ses inventions et ses découvertes se diffusèrent dans le monde entier.