Written in dava sobel s characteristically graceful prose, the planets is a distinctive view of our place in the universe. With her bestsellers longitude and galileo s daughter, dava sobel introduced readers to her rare gift for weaving complex scientific concepts into a compelling narrative now sobel brings her full talents to bear on what is perhaps her most ambitious topic to date the planets of our solar system sobel explores the origins and oddities of the planets through the lens of powith her bestsellers. In the spirit of longitude and galileos daughter, sobel once again brings science and history deftly to life as she explores the origins of the planets and reveals the exotic environments that exist in each of these fascinating alien worlds. While the story is itself fascinating, dava sobel is a poor writer and the book reads something like a high school textbook. Former new york times reporter sobel coauthor, arthritis.
Longitude and galileos daughter, and she joins us from member. Buy a cheap copy of the planets book by dava sobel. Mar 31, 2017 author of longitude, galileos daughter, galileos daughter, the planets, arthritis, backache, longitude, the best american science writing 2004 best american science writing dava sobel open library. The kindle edition of this book, however, is poorly converted. A discourse on the discovery, science, history and mythology, of the planets in our solar system, with one chapter devoted to each of. Dava sobel born june 15, 1947 is an american writer of popular expositions of scientific topics. After the huge national and international success of longitude and gallileos daughter, dava sobel tells the human story of the nine planets of our solar system. Now sobel brings her full talents to bear on what is perhaps her most ambitious topic to date the planets of. Dava sobels journey to the planets venus is the planet most like hell, while mars holds the most promise as second earth. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time the genius in question was john harrison, who spent decades trying to convince the british admiralty of the accuracy. Daily mail rarely have i enjoyed a book as much as dava sobels longitude. Even before the publication of longitude twentyfive years ago, i learned about a group of women who worked at the harvard college observatory in the nineteenth century, analyzing images of the stars to fantastic effect. In 1714, englands parliament offered a reward to anyone whose method or device for measuring longitude proved successful.
Actually, the story of how we came to calculate longitude is a tale of intrigue and competition and an unexpected hero. John harrison imagined a clock that would withstand pitch and roll. With her bestsellers longitude and galileos daughter, dava sobel introduced readers to her rare gift for weaving complex scientific concepts into a compelling narrative. The planets is dava sobels sweeping look at our heavenly galaxy. Oct 30, 2007 roughly onequarter of the many letters i received after the publication of longitude complained that the book contained no pictures, maps, or diagrams.
This is another book i bought because of its beautiful cover, especially in the hardcover edition, and one which, after reading, i thought had failed in its job. Once again, bestselling author sobel galileos daughter brings science to readers across the spectrum. Dava sobel, a former new york times science reporter, is the author of longitude walker 1995 and 2005, penguin 1996, galileos daughter walker 1999 and 2011, penguin 2000, the planets viking 2005, penguin 2006, a more perfect heaven walker bloomsbury 2011 and 2012, and the sun stood still bloomsbury, 2016 and the glass universe viking, 2016. With her bestsellers longitude and galileos daughter, dava sobel introduced readers to her rare gift for weaving complex scientific concepts into a compelling. Dava sobels talent for portraying scientific advances within their cultural contexts made her earlier books international best sellers. Dava sobel is an accomplished writer of popular expositions of scientific topics. I have her other two books, galileos daughter and longitude. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time is an engaging overview of the solution to the longitude problem. 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 eras. Now sobel brings her full talents to bear on what is perhaps her most ambitious topic to datethe planets of. Dava sobel is a former new york times science reporter and a repeated new york times bestselling author.
Description of longitude by dava sobel pdf the longitude. The planets the planets is dava sobels sweeping look at our heavenly galaxy. The subtitle here tells the reader exactly what the book is about. Now sobel brings her full talents to bear on what is perhaps her most ambitious topic to date the planets of our solar system. The book celebrates earth and her nearest neighbors at this unique moment in history, when the old familiar solar family yields to a new definition of the word planet, and thousands of recently discovered exoplanets orbiting stars beyond the sun hold out the tantalizing possibility of extraterrestrial life. Following the success of her bestselling book longitude, dava sobel, a former new york times science reporter, has turned her attention to the. Her books include longitude, about english clockmaker john harrison, and. Dava sobels the glass universe will be available from viking in december 2016 with her bestsellers longitude and galileos daughter, dava sobel introduced readers to her rare gift for weaving complex scientific concepts into a compelling narrative.
The greek astronomers could measure latitude as early as the third century b. Iauiag working group on cartographic coordinates and rotational elements of the planets and satellites longitude forged. Financial times a true life thriller, jampacked with political intrigue, international warfare, personal feuds and financial skullduggery. A perfect gift and a captivating journey, the planets is a gorgeously illustrated study of our place in the universe that will mesmerize everyone who has ever gazed. Ive read sobels galileos daughter, which i really enjoyed with the mixture of history, science and story, so i had high hopes for the planets. Longitude and galileos daughter were exciting enough, but the planets has a charm of its own. In the spirit of longitude and galileos daughter, sobel once again brings science and history deftly to life as she explores the origins of the planets and reveals the exotic environments that. How the ladies of the harvard observatory took the measure of the stars.
Sep 17, 2005 the planets by dava sobel fourth estate. Author of longitude, galileos daughter, galileos daughter, the planets, arthritis, backache, longitude, the best american science writing 2004 best american science writing dava sobel open library. Dava sobel has written a gem of a bookone of the best reads for the nonscientific writing to come along for many a moon. A 1964 graduate of the bronx high school of science, ms. Through dava sobel s consummate skill, longitude will open a new window on our world for all who pdf read it. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time tells the remarkable story of the clocks inventor, john harrison. Now sobel brings her full talents to bear on what is perhaps her most ambitious topic to date. Now sobel brings her full talents to bear on what is perhaps her most ambitious topic to datethe. Now, in the planets, sobel brings her full talents to bear on what is perhaps her most. Dava sobel is the bestselling author of longitude, galileos daughter, and the planets, coauthor of the illustrated longitude, and editor of letters to father. Dava sobels the glass universe will be available from viking in december 2016. This loudly expressed interest in illustrations led to the illustrated longitude, published simultaneously in england and the united states in 1998, with 180 images selected and captioned by my. It is that rare book that will delight the experienced astronomer and, at the same time, engage someone eager to get to know the planets.
For example, the typesetter had inexplicably swapped. Writing this book allowed me to link todays scientific exploration of the solar system with popular cultureeverything from astrology and. The planets dava sobel writes about science in a way that young readers and adults alike can enjoy without constantly referring to a dictionary or a science magazine, although i did. The atlanta journalconstitutionan incantatory serenade to the solar. The planets the planets is dava sobel s sweeping look at our heavenly galaxy.
The planets, dava sobel shop online for books in new zealand. With her bestsellers longitude and galileos daughter, dava sobel intr. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest. Sep 02, 2005 the planets by dava sobel 270pp, fourth estate. Following the success of her bestselling book longitude, dava sobel, a former new york times science reporter, has turned her attention to. The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time the genius in question was john harrison, who spent decades trying to convince the british admiralty of the accuracy of his.
Her past books include longitude, galileos daughter, and the planets. Planets is a whistlestop tour of the planets of the solar system. Even before the publication of longitude twentyfive years ago, i learned about a group of women who worked at the harvard college observatory in the nineteenth century, analyzing images of the stars to fantastic effect these ladies of pickerings harem aroused my curiosity, but i put them off while pursuing galileos daughter, exploring the planets, and turning copernicuss idea. The publication of longitude taught me that a book can actually improve by virtue of being read. Mar 20, 2017 dava sobel is a former new york times science reporter and a repeated new york times bestselling author. Written in dava sobels characteristically graceful prose, the planets is a distinctive view of our place in the universe. The planets by dava sobel 2005, hardcover for sale. Sobel explores the origins and oddities of the planets through the lens of popular. Dava sobels book, longitude, isnt some dense excerpt from a history book. Numerous attentive readers took the trouble to write to me to point out typos or other errors in the text, which the publisher then corrected in subsequent editions. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the greek letter lambda. Now sobel brings her full talents to bear on what is perhaps her most ambitious topic to datethe planets of our solar system. Her books include longitude, about english clockmaker john harrison, and galileos daughter, about galileo s daughter maria celeste, and the glass universe.
It was published by penguin books and has a total of 276 pages in the book. Sobel attended antioch college and the city college of new york before receiving her bachelor of arts degree from the state university of new york at binghamton in 1969. Mar 29, 2010 dava sobel s book, longitude, isnt some dense excerpt from a history book. Ive read sobel s galileos daughter, which i really enjoyed with the mixture of history, science and story, so i had high hopes for the planets. She graduated from the bronx high school of science and binghamton university. The title of this book is the planets and it was written by dava sobel. Dava sobels the glass universe will be available from viking in december 2016 with her bestsellers longitude and galileos daughter, dava sobel introduced.
Her past books include longitude, galileos daughter, and. Now sobel brings her full talents to bear on what is perhaps her most ambitious topic to datethe planets of our solar. These ladies of pickerings harem aroused my curiosity, but i put them off while pursuing galileos daughter. Dava sobel is a writer of popular expositions of scientific topics. Through dava sobels consummate skill, longitude will open a new window on our world for all who pdf read it. Her 1997 bestseller, longitude, the tale of john harrisons struggles to crack the secret of navigation. The planets, by former new york times science reporter dava sobel, explores. Dava sobel s the glass universe will be available from viking in december 2016 with her bestsellers longitude and galileos daughter, dava sobel introduced readers to her rare gift for weaving complex scientific concepts into a compelling narrative. Quotations are badly formatted and the illustrations are completely missing. After the huge national and international success of longitude and gallileos daughter, dava sobel tells the human story of the nine planets of our solar.
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