In the summer of 1878 three ruthless and brilliant scientists raced to Wyoming and Colorado to observe a total solar eclipse. One sought to discover a new planet. Another fought to prove that science was not an anathema to femininity. And a young, megalomaniacal inventor sought to test his bona fides and light the world through his revelations. David Baron brings to life these three competitors—James Craig Watson, Maria Mitchell and Thomas Edison—re-creating the jockeying of nineteenth-century astronomy. With accounts of train robberies and Indian skirmishes, the last days of the Wild West come alive. A magnificent portrayal of America’s dawn as a superpower, American Eclipse depicts a nation looking to the skies to reveal its ambition and expose its genius.
| ISBN: | 9781631490163 |
| Publication date: | 1st August 2017 |
| Author: | David Baron |
| Publisher: | Liveright Publishing Corporation an imprint of WW Norton & Co |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 352 pages |
| Genres: |
Solar system: the Sun and planets History of science |