Most Popular Books by Dava Sobel

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.

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.

Longitude, Dava Sobel''s no.1 bestseller, is the elegant biography of the lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his times. With new material from Dava Sobel and William Andrewes, and illustrated with over 200 integrated photographs, The Illustrated Longitude is the essential book for everyone who fell in love with John Harrison''s story and wants to know more. Anyone alive in the 18th 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. The scientific establishment throughout Europe -- from Galileo to Sir Isaac Newton -- had mapped the heavens in its certain pursuit of a celestial answer. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, dared to imagine a mechanical solution. The Illustrated Longitude is a fascinating history of astronomy, navigation and clockmaking. Lavishly produced with over 200 illustrations, The Illustrated Longitude has much new material to help the reader learn more of John Harrison''s extraordinary story an

Presents a biography of the scientist through the surviving letters of his illegitimate daughter Maria Celeste, who wrote him from the Florence convent where she lived from the age of thirteen

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. --

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.

An introduction to helpful exercises to perform to help find relief from backache.

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

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.

Drake''s narrative account discusses the observatories around the world dedicated to detect extraterrestrial intelligence.

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.

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).

What is the most powerful arthritis treatment ever developed to help restore you to a healthy, pain-free, and vigorous life--for the rest of your life? It''s the very same breakthrough that has: --Helped more arthritis sufferers than drugs, surgery, or any other treatment--without dangerous side effects. --Been widely prescribed by medical doctors and other health practitioners. The answer? Exercise. Here are the right exercised for your kind of arthritis, pain-level, age, occupation, and hobbies. And they''re the most effective exercises for arthritis available anywhere--rated "best" by arthritis sufferers themselves in an unprecedented nationwide survey...supported by medical doctors...and backed by the latest research. Let Dava Sobel and Arthur C. Klein''s Arthritis: What Exercises Work work wonders in ending your arthritis pain--forever!

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.

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.

A Verdadeira História de Um Génio Solitário Que Resolveu o Maior Problema Científico do Seu Tempo

由William Morris Agency授权出版

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.