About the Author

DAVA SOBEL is the author of five books, including the New York Times bestsellers Longitude, Galileo s Daughter, The Planets, and The Glass Universe. A former New York Times science reporter and longtime contributor toThe New Yorker, Audubon, Discover, and Harvard Magazine, she is the recipient of the National Science Board s Individual Public Service Award and the Boston Museum of Science s Bradford Washburn Award, among others."

Reviews

[Sobel] soars higher than ever before...[continuing]her streak of luminous science writing with this fascinating, witty, and most elegant history of the women who worked in critical positions at the HarvardObservatory...The Glass Universe is a feast for those eager to absorb forgotten stories of resolute American women who expanded human knowledge." Booklist, starred review
"This is intellectual history at its finest. Dava Sobel is extraordinarily accomplished at uncovering the hidden stories of science and conveying complex information with ease and grace. In The Glass Universe, she brings to the foreground the glittering brilliance of five 19th-century women whose work at the Harvard Observatory changed the history of astronomy." Geraldine Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Chord and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March
"Like the women of the Harvard Observatory, Dava Sobel reveals worlds to us. The Glass Universe is sensitive, exacting, and lit with the wonder of discovery." Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction
Praise for The Planets
"[The Planets] lets us fall in love with the heavens all over again."
The New York Times Book Review
"[Sobel] has outdone her extraordinary talent for keeping readers enthralled. . . . Longitude and Galileo's Daughter were exciting enough, but The Planets has a charm of its own. . . . A splendid and enticing book."
San Francisco Chronicle
"An incantatory serenade to the Solar System."
Entertainment Weekly
"[The Planets] combines masterful storytelling with clear, engaging explanations of the essential scientific facts."
Physics World
"A sublime journey. [Sobel's] writing . . . is as bright as the sun and its thinking as star-studded as the cosmos."
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Praise for Galileo's Daughter
"Sobel is a master storyteller. . . . She brings a great scientist to life."
The New York Times Book Review
"Innovative history and a wonderfully told tale."
Newsweek
Praise for Longitude
"This is a gem of a book."
The New York Times
"A simple tale, brilliantly told."
The Washington Post Book World
"As much of a tale of intrigue as it is of science . . . A book full of gems for anyone interested in history, geography, astronomy, navigation, clockmaking, and not the least plain old human ambition and greed."
The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Intricate and delicate . . . No novelist could improve on the elements of Dava Sobel's Longitude."
Newsweek
Praise for A More Perfect Heaven
"Ms. Sobel is an elegant stylist, a riveting and efficient storyteller, a writer who can bring the dustiest of subjects to full-blooded life poignant, in the case of Galileo; cautious but also loving, loyal and feisty in the case of Copernicus."
The New York Times
"Lively, inventive . . . a masterly specimen of close-range cultural history. Ms. Sobel certainly brings Copernicus to life, perhaps better than any other author. Ms. Sobel presents a thoroughly researched and eminently readable account of a major scientist who celebrated the sun yet lurks in the shadows."
The Wall Street Journal"

"This is intellectual history at its finest. Dava Sobel is extraordinarily accomplished at uncovering the hidden stories of science and conveying complex information with ease and grace. In "The Glass Universe," she brings to the foreground the glittering brilliance of five 19th-century women whose work at the Harvard Observatory changed the history of astronomy."
Geraldine Brooks, "New York Times" bestselling author of "The Secret Chord "and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "March"
"Like the women of the Harvard Observatory, Dava Sobel reveals worlds to us. "The Glass Universe" is sensitive, exacting, and lit with the wonder of discovery."
Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Sixth Extinction"
Praise for "The Planets"
"["The Planets"] lets us fall in love with the heavens all over again."
"The New York Times Book Review"
"[Sobel] has outdone her extraordinary talent for keeping readers enthralled. . . . "Longitude "and "Galileo's Daughte"r were exciting enough, but "The Planets" has a charm of its own. . . . A splendid and enticing book."
"San Francisco Chronicle"
"An incantatory serenade to the Solar System."
"Entertainment Weekly"
"["The Planets"] combines masterful storytelling with clear, engaging explanations of the essential scientific facts."
"Physics World"
"A sublime journey. [Sobel's] writing . . . is as bright as the sun and its thinking as star-studded as the cosmos."
"The Atlanta Journal-Constitution"
Praise for "Galileo's Daughter"
"Sobel is a master storyteller. . . . She brings a great scientist to life."
"The New York Times Book Review"
"Innovative history and a wonderfully told tale."
"Newsweek"
Praise for "Longitude"
"This is a gem of a book."
"The New York Times"
"A simple tale, brilliantly told."
"The Washington Post Book World"
"As much of a tale of intrigue as it is of science . . . A book full of gems for anyone interested in history, geography, astronomy, navigation, clockmaking, and not the least plain old human ambition and greed."
"The Philadelphia Inquirer"
"Intricate and delicate . . . No novelist could improve on the elements of Dava Sobel's "Longitude.""
"Newsweek"
Praise for "A More Perfect Heaven"
"Ms. Sobel is an elegant stylist, a riveting and efficient storyteller, a writer who can bring the dustiest of subjects to full-blooded life poignant, in the case of Galileo; cautious but also loving, loyal and feisty in the case of Copernicus."
"The New York Times"
"Lively, inventive . . . a masterly specimen of close-range cultural history. Ms. Sobel certainly brings Copernicus to life, perhaps better than any other author. Ms. Sobel presents a thoroughly researched and eminently readable account of a major scientist who celebrated the sun yet lurks in the shadows."
"The Wall Street Journal""

Like the women of the Harvard Observatory, Dava Sobel reveals worlds to us. "The Glass Universe" is sensitive, exacting, and lit with the wonder of discovery.
Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Sixth Extinction"
Praise for "The Planets"
"["The Planets"] lets us fall in love with the heavens all over again."
"The New York Times Book Review"
"[Sobel] has outdone her extraordinary talent for keeping readers enthralled. . . . "Longitude "and "Galileo's Daughte"r were exciting enough, but "The Planets" has a charm of its own. . . . A splendid and enticing book."
"San Francisco Chronicle"
"An incantatory serenade to the Solar System."
"Entertainment Weekly"
"["The Planets"] combines masterful storytelling with clear, engaging explanations of the essential scientific facts."
"Physics World"
"A sublime journey. [Sobel's] writing . . . is as bright as the sun and its thinking as star-studded as the cosmos."
"The Atlanta Journal-Constitution"
Praise for "Galileo's Daughter"
"Sobel is a master storyteller. . . . She brings a great scientist to life."
"The New York Times Book Review"
"Innovative history and a wonderfully told tale."
"Newsweek"
Praise for "Longitude"
"This is a gem of a book."
"The New York Times"
"A simple tale, brilliantly told."
"The Washington Post Book World"
"As much of a tale of intrigue as it is of science . . . A book full of gems for anyone interested in history, geography, astronomy, navigation, clockmaking, and not the least plain old human ambition and greed."
"The Philadelphia Inquirer"
"Intricate and delicate . . . No novelist could improve on the elements of Dava Sobel's "Longitude.""
"Newsweek"
Praise for "A More Perfect Heaven"
"Ms. Sobel is an elegant stylist, a riveting and efficient storyteller, a writer who can bring the dustiest of subjects to full-blooded life poignant, in the case of Galileo; cautious but also loving, loyal and feisty in the case of Copernicus."
"The New York Times"
"Lively, inventive . . . a masterly specimen of close-range cultural history. Ms. Sobel certainly brings Copernicus to life, perhaps better than any other author. Ms. Sobel presents a thoroughly researched and eminently readable account of a major scientist who celebrated the sun yet lurks in the shadows."
"The Wall Street Journal""

Praise for "The Planets"
"["The Planets"] lets us fall in love with the heavens all over again."
"The New York Times Book Review"
"[Sobel] has outdone her extraordinary talent for keeping readers enthralled. . . . "Longitude "and "Galileo's Daughte"r were exciting enough, but "The Planets" has a charm of its own. . . . A splendid and enticing book."
"San Francisco Chronicle"
"An incantatory serenade to the Solar System."
"Entertainment Weekly"
"["The Planets"] combines masterful storytelling with clear, engaging explanations of the essential scientific facts."
"Physics World"
"A sublime journey. [Sobel's] writing . . . is as bright as the sun and its thinking as star-studded as the cosmos."
"The Atlanta Journal-Constitution"
Praise for "Galileo's Daughter"
"Sobel is a master storyteller. . . . She brings a great scientist to life."
"The New York Times Book Review"
"Innovative history and a wonderfully told tale."
"Newsweek"
Praise for "Longitude"
"This is a gem of a book."
"The New York Times"
"A simple tale, brilliantly told."
"The Washington Post Book World"
"As much of a tale of intrigue as it is of science . . . A book full of gems for anyone interested in history, geography, astronomy, navigation, clockmaking, and not the least plain old human ambition and greed."
"The Philadelphia Inquirer"
"Intricate and delicate . . . No novelist could improve on the elements of Dava Sobel's "Longitude.""
"Newsweek"
Praise for "A More Perfect Heaven"
"Ms. Sobel is an elegant stylist, a riveting and efficient storyteller, a writer who can bring the dustiest of subjects to full-blooded life poignant, in the case of Galileo; cautious but also loving, loyal and feisty in the case of Copernicus."
"The New York Times"
"Lively, inventive . . . a masterly specimen of close-range cultural history. Ms. Sobel certainly brings Copernicus to life, perhaps better than any other author. Ms. Sobel presents a thoroughly researched and eminently readable account of a major scientist who celebrated the sun yet lurks in the shadows."
"The Wall Street Journal""