thenovelbook's review against another edition
4.0
This book perfectly captured the thrill of seeing a total solar eclipse, and gave me some interesting background on the scientists who pinned all their hopes on what the 1878 eclipse would bring them.
In the end, it was probably a lot more background than I really wanted, for instance, on Thomas Edison, whose invention (to be tested at the time of the eclipse) turned out to be just really...unimportant.
I did find it interesting to read about the female astronomer Maria Mitchell, fighting for women to be recognized as equals in the field of science. Also the scientists who were just sure that there was another planet between Mercury and the sun, and who figured they could find it during the eclipse. (They named their postulated planet Vulcan. Hehe.) Or the poor guy, Cleveland Abbe, who wanted to watch the eclipse from the top of Pike's Peak but succumbed to altitude sickness, and had to watch it from his sickbed much further down the mountain.
Yes, those things were pretty interesting. But the greatest achievement of this book was to make me remember in vivid detail what it was like to see the total solar eclipse of this year, 2017. Most everyone in the U.S. had the opportunity to see it as a partial eclipse, but I will forever be grateful that I had the circumstances and relative proximity to go stand in the path of totality. Honestly, I still think about it pretty much every day and I shiver: that "WHAM" moment when the moon's shadow came for us with a sinking, racing darkness, and we could tear off our glasses and stare transfixed at an alien sky.
I marvel that such an experience will NEVER be able to be properly captured by a camera of any sort (it doesn't look like what it looks like in a photo). How many things are there that you can experience only with your own two eyes, and never, never, never replicate? It was, and I do not exaggerate, a spiritual experience. So, when this book describes how even professional men and women of science found themselves trembling and emotional as hour zero approached, or how one scientist reveled in the fact that he had no experiments to perform but could throw his whole heart into watching...yeah, it resonates with me. Or, when I heard (since this was an audiobook I listened to in my car) about poor Cleveland Abbe on his sickbed observing the lightbeams coming out from behind the moon at 90-degree angles, and thinking they were tricks of light but then realizing they weren't, and I banged on my steering wheel and cried, "That's WHAT I SAW!"
I loved the descriptions of the sky and the sun and the moon at the time of eclipse...a very dark warm blue (the mind reels at that combination, but it's accurate)...an ebony pupil surrounded by a pearly iris...
The book made me feel a kinship with those who watched a total solar eclipse nearly 150 years ago. It's a beautiful thing to realize that some experiences evoke feelings in the human heart that are universal and timeless. Observing a total solar eclipse is certainly one of those.
P.S. If you haven't seen a total solar eclipse, do it. It was one of the best days of my life.
In the end, it was probably a lot more background than I really wanted, for instance, on Thomas Edison, whose invention (to be tested at the time of the eclipse) turned out to be just really...unimportant.
I did find it interesting to read about the female astronomer Maria Mitchell, fighting for women to be recognized as equals in the field of science. Also the scientists who were just sure that there was another planet between Mercury and the sun, and who figured they could find it during the eclipse. (They named their postulated planet Vulcan. Hehe.) Or the poor guy, Cleveland Abbe, who wanted to watch the eclipse from the top of Pike's Peak but succumbed to altitude sickness, and had to watch it from his sickbed much further down the mountain.
Yes, those things were pretty interesting. But the greatest achievement of this book was to make me remember in vivid detail what it was like to see the total solar eclipse of this year, 2017. Most everyone in the U.S. had the opportunity to see it as a partial eclipse, but I will forever be grateful that I had the circumstances and relative proximity to go stand in the path of totality. Honestly, I still think about it pretty much every day and I shiver: that "WHAM" moment when the moon's shadow came for us with a sinking, racing darkness, and we could tear off our glasses and stare transfixed at an alien sky.
I marvel that such an experience will NEVER be able to be properly captured by a camera of any sort (it doesn't look like what it looks like in a photo). How many things are there that you can experience only with your own two eyes, and never, never, never replicate? It was, and I do not exaggerate, a spiritual experience. So, when this book describes how even professional men and women of science found themselves trembling and emotional as hour zero approached, or how one scientist reveled in the fact that he had no experiments to perform but could throw his whole heart into watching...yeah, it resonates with me. Or, when I heard (since this was an audiobook I listened to in my car) about poor Cleveland Abbe on his sickbed observing the lightbeams coming out from behind the moon at 90-degree angles, and thinking they were tricks of light but then realizing they weren't, and I banged on my steering wheel and cried, "That's WHAT I SAW!"
I loved the descriptions of the sky and the sun and the moon at the time of eclipse...a very dark warm blue (the mind reels at that combination, but it's accurate)...an ebony pupil surrounded by a pearly iris...
The book made me feel a kinship with those who watched a total solar eclipse nearly 150 years ago. It's a beautiful thing to realize that some experiences evoke feelings in the human heart that are universal and timeless. Observing a total solar eclipse is certainly one of those.
P.S. If you haven't seen a total solar eclipse, do it. It was one of the best days of my life.
mpetruce's review against another edition
4.0
Of particular note in this book is the story of women in science in the 19th century, specifically the story of Vassar's Maria Mitchell, and how hard it was for women to do science at all, let alone be taken seriously. If nothing else, the women's history this book explores is very interesting, and not just in the realm of science. Voting, social status, equal pay, the "ungodliness" of women *gasp* working, all is covered here. Not in super-minute detail, but taken seriously, and not just given cursory attention.
If you're looking to learn a lot of the specific science of eclipses, you probably won't find it here. But, if you want to learn about some of the early discoveries about the Sun and Solar System made because of an eclipse, you'll find some of that here. And if you want to learn about the rise of America in the world of science, that's what this book does best, after a fashion.
Jonathan Yen's narration is clear, concise and engaging. A good choice for the subject matter. His various tones and voices depending on who is speaking are distinctive without being silly.
If you're looking to learn a lot of the specific science of eclipses, you probably won't find it here. But, if you want to learn about some of the early discoveries about the Sun and Solar System made because of an eclipse, you'll find some of that here. And if you want to learn about the rise of America in the world of science, that's what this book does best, after a fashion.
Jonathan Yen's narration is clear, concise and engaging. A good choice for the subject matter. His various tones and voices depending on who is speaking are distinctive without being silly.
stephsj's review against another edition
5.0
I'm not an astronomer by any stretch of the word, but I do hold a special fondness for the night sky and for anyone, amateur or otherwise, who studies it. Here are some of my fondest moments: My dad, ushering us outside, watch held up high, counting down the seconds until a satellite streaks overhead. The first one to spot it won - though the prize, a dim feeling that you knew the universe best, had communed with it somehow - was intangible. Laying with my sister in the middle of the road (something our dad didn't entirely approve of) and watching the Perseid meteor shower on an August night, counting shooting stars (the goal: over a hundred), getting scared out of our minds when sounds came from the nearby underbrush. Listening to my dad recount the pure wonder of watching the moon landing on television.
So, the upcoming "Great American Eclipse" on August 21, 2017, which, as it happens, is also our first wedding anniversary, is something I expect to add to that litany of astronomical wonders I hold dear. However, I don't really know much about eclipses, and I refuse to show up to a party unprepared, which is how I ended up reading American Eclipse by David Baron.
This is the story of the 1878 eclipse that shadowed much of the American west. Scientists, spurred on by a rivalry with Europe, flocked to the dusty, ramshackle railroad towns in the line of totality, hoping to find something to cement their places in history. They encountered Native Americans, women aiming to prove that they had a place in science, horrid weather, and a lot of big egos. I found the interpersonal relationships mentioned in this book almost as interesting as the science itself.
I felt fully immersed in the Victorian setting, which, I found, I didn't know as much about as I thought I did! I had no idea what the average person's perception of science was, how people of different classes traveled long distances, how newspapers functioned, all of it! I was surprised by Thomas Edison's involvement and reputation among scientists and truly enjoyed the descriptions of the west. I might even give a Western a chance - there's just something appealing about it. This is one of the most informative books I've read in a long time.
Even if you're not an umbraphile (a person who loves and chases solar eclipses), this book is a well-written and fascinating glimpse into a formative period of American history.
www.bookpuke.com
So, the upcoming "Great American Eclipse" on August 21, 2017, which, as it happens, is also our first wedding anniversary, is something I expect to add to that litany of astronomical wonders I hold dear. However, I don't really know much about eclipses, and I refuse to show up to a party unprepared, which is how I ended up reading American Eclipse by David Baron.
This is the story of the 1878 eclipse that shadowed much of the American west. Scientists, spurred on by a rivalry with Europe, flocked to the dusty, ramshackle railroad towns in the line of totality, hoping to find something to cement their places in history. They encountered Native Americans, women aiming to prove that they had a place in science, horrid weather, and a lot of big egos. I found the interpersonal relationships mentioned in this book almost as interesting as the science itself.
I felt fully immersed in the Victorian setting, which, I found, I didn't know as much about as I thought I did! I had no idea what the average person's perception of science was, how people of different classes traveled long distances, how newspapers functioned, all of it! I was surprised by Thomas Edison's involvement and reputation among scientists and truly enjoyed the descriptions of the west. I might even give a Western a chance - there's just something appealing about it. This is one of the most informative books I've read in a long time.
Even if you're not an umbraphile (a person who loves and chases solar eclipses), this book is a well-written and fascinating glimpse into a formative period of American history.
www.bookpuke.com
djpax13's review against another edition
4.0
I picked up this book shortly after the eclipse in 2017 and only recently managed to read it. That said, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Barron details what he sees as a crucial moment in U.S. history that helped to establish ourselves as science innovators and world-class researchers. He gives vivid sketches of what various groups went through to get to the path of totality in 1878, not just physically, but emotionally, psychologically, and metaphorically. Much of the book deals with Thomas Edison, both his triumphs and quite a few of his foibles.
Baron's writing style is engaging; one can tell that he has a deep love for the subject. Sometimes he can get a bit too zealous, however, and I wonder if that leads him to jump to a conclusion here and there. Nothing too substantive, simply how he words certain events and feelings of the main protagonists. He has clearly done thorough research and provides copious notes at the end of the book, providing quite a bit of background material, should one be interested. Finally, the addition of period photographs was a treat.
Overall, quite a good book. In some places, it dragged a bit, but my own deep interest in the topic (astronomy in general and eclipses in particular) kept me focused and engaged.
Baron's writing style is engaging; one can tell that he has a deep love for the subject. Sometimes he can get a bit too zealous, however, and I wonder if that leads him to jump to a conclusion here and there. Nothing too substantive, simply how he words certain events and feelings of the main protagonists. He has clearly done thorough research and provides copious notes at the end of the book, providing quite a bit of background material, should one be interested. Finally, the addition of period photographs was a treat.
Overall, quite a good book. In some places, it dragged a bit, but my own deep interest in the topic (astronomy in general and eclipses in particular) kept me focused and engaged.
junethebookworm's review against another edition
3.0
Timely reading! Fitting this one into the "book with pictures" category of the 2017 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge.
The material here is interesting and presented in a lively, readable style. Only rarely does it bog down a bit, but overall it's a quick, easy read. I don't know that a whole book on one particular eclipse was necessarily needed (even though this one is quite a bit "padded out" with pictures and over 100 pages of Notes, acknowledgements, etc.). I think I would have enjoyed more of a broader overview of eclipses throughout history -- but I guess that would be a different book altogether.
Short review: worth the couple of hours it took me to read on the ride north to see the total eclipse. I don't know that there will be a lot of interest in this title now that the eclipse is over, but if the event piqued your interest and you've got the eclipse fever now, check this title out.
The material here is interesting and presented in a lively, readable style. Only rarely does it bog down a bit, but overall it's a quick, easy read. I don't know that a whole book on one particular eclipse was necessarily needed (even though this one is quite a bit "padded out" with pictures and over 100 pages of Notes, acknowledgements, etc.). I think I would have enjoyed more of a broader overview of eclipses throughout history -- but I guess that would be a different book altogether.
Short review: worth the couple of hours it took me to read on the ride north to see the total eclipse. I don't know that there will be a lot of interest in this title now that the eclipse is over, but if the event piqued your interest and you've got the eclipse fever now, check this title out.
rainbowbookworm's review against another edition
4.0
The title lets readers know that the book will be about a particular eclipse, but the introduction left me wanting more anecdotes about earlier solar eclipses. Nonetheless, this was a satisfying read that focused on all the luminaries who gathered to witness the eclipse of 1786. It was fascinating to learn about the scientists who were making discoveries (planets, stars, comets) across the universe and the things they were racing each other to dicsover first.
sighbrarian's review against another edition
3.0
Eclipses are cool. History is cool. I need a movie about Maria Mitchell. Admittedly, this book gets a bit dry after a while (why I gave it 3 stars instead of 4), but you can tell that Baron did his research and was very interested in the subject.