Measuring the Universe
Working in obscurity during the 1920s, Henrietta Swan Leavitt made an extraordinary discovery: she formulated an important law that allowed astronomers to measure the size of the universe. Although she died at age 53, her accomplishment little noted. She is today recognized as one of the most influential astronomers of the 20th century.
Miss Leavitt’s Stars: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Discovered How to Measure the Universe by George Johnson (Atlas/Norton, $13.95)
