{"product_id":"chasing-venus-the-race-to-measure-the-heavens-9780307744609","title":"Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heavens","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \"thrilling adventure story\" (\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e) that brings to life the astronomers who in the 1700s embarked upon a quest to calculate the size of the solar system, and paints a vivid portrait of the collaborations, rivalries, and volatile international politics that hindered them at every turn. - From the author of \u003ci\u003eMagnificent Rebels\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller \u003ci\u003eThe Invention of Nature.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn June 6, 1761, the world paused to observe a momentous occasion: the first transit of Venus between the Earth and the Sun in more than a century. Through that observation, astronomers could calculate the size of the solar system--but only if they could compile data from many different points of the globe, all recorded during the short period of the transit. Overcoming incredible odds and political strife, astronomers from Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Sweden, and the American colonies set up observatories in the remotest corners of the world, only to be thwarted by unpredictable weather and warring armies. Fortunately, transits of Venus occur in pairs; eight years later, they would have another opportunity to succeed. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThanks to these scientists, neither our conception of the universe nor the nature of scientific research would ever be the same.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eANDREA WULF was born in India and moved to Germany as a child. She lives in London, where she trained as a design historian at the Royal College of Art. She is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Brother Gardeners\u003c\/i\u003e, long-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize in 2008 and winner of the American Horticultural Society 2010 Book Award, and of \u003ci\u003eFounding Gardeners\u003c\/i\u003e; she is also the coauthor (with Emma Gieben-Gamal) of \u003ci\u003eThis Other Eden: Seven Great Gardens and 300 Years of English History\u003c\/i\u003e. She has written for \u003ci\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e, and she reviews for several newspapers, including \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Times Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Vintage","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50319085601042,"sku":"9780307744609","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_3c1ec8a8-387b-4d38-a515-ae3ac2832975.jpg?v=1727564274","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/chasing-venus-the-race-to-measure-the-heavens-9780307744609","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}