by David Baron
Vassar College, 37, 37, 38, 75, 79, 85–88, 130, 154, 200, 211, 235–36
and eclipse of 1869, 86, 122–23
Mitchell’s dome party at, 83–85
observatory of, 83–84, 84
unequal pay at, 38, 130
“Vassar victims,” 39
Venus, 29, 36, 71, 124, 179–80, 192
transit of, 81, 133, 142, 146
Victoria, Queen of England, 35
Vulcan (proposed planet), 71–79, 124, 128, 146, 168, 180, 186, 192, 214–20, 233
supposed discovery of, 188, 189, 198–99
Waco, Tex., 3
Wagner, Richard, 16
Warner, Charles Dudley, 11
War of 1812, 4, 155
Washington Monument, 60
Washington Post, 168
Washington University, 203
Watson, Annette, 28, 81, 141–42, 144, 170, 185, 230
Watson, James Craig, 12, 15, 27, 28, 31, 38, 61, 70, 78–79, 144, 144, 145, 154, 169–70, 175–76, 180, 185–86, 214–20, 221, 230, 234–35
accused of plagiarism, 12
arrival in Rawlins by, 141–42
background of, 12–13
belief in Vulcan by, 72
as Centennial judge, 13–14, 134
death of, 218–19, 220, 234–35
and eclipse of 1869, 56, 158
estate of, 220, 235
jury-rigging of telescope by, 146–47
maltreatment of wife by, 142
personality of, 12, 32–33
Peters’s rivalry with, 31–33, 216–17
as planet hunter, 28, 29–33, 70
supposed discovery of Vulcan by, 187–88, 189, 198–99, 214–17, 233
and transit of Mercury, 74–75, 76–77
and transit of Venus, 81, 142, 145–46
underground observatory built by, 217–18, 219
weather service, 153, 155–56
West Orange, N.J., 228–29
West Tennessee, 3
Wharton, Joseph, 17
White House, 57, 65, 155
Williams, Samuel, 54
Windom, William, 59
Wisconsin, University of, 214, 217–18, 219
Wisconsin Journal of Education, 214
Wolf, Fred, 117
Woman’s Congress, 34–35, 40–41, 80, 88, 130, 211–12
women, 5–6, 38, 48, 235–36
dress of, 40, 88
education of, 39–40, 86, 212–13
medical colleges for, 87
travel difficulties of, 127
Women’s Centennial Committee, 16
women’s rights movement, 86, 129–32
women’s suffrage, 34, 40, 129, 131, 193, 199
Wyoming Territory, 5, 100, 101, 105–18, 129, 133–49, 169, 177, 182, 184, 189, 214, 221, 229
yellow fever, 202
Yellowstone National Park, 49, 61, 95, 149
Young, Charles A., 122–23, 122, 142, 167, 191
Zeta Cancri, 189
ALSO BY
DAVID BARON
The Beast in the Garden
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DAVID BARON worked in public radio for almost thirty years, as a science correspondent for NPR, science reporter for Boston’s WBUR, and science editor for PRI’s The World. His journalism has earned honors from the Overseas Press Club of America, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His previous book, The Beast in the Garden, received the Colorado Book Award. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.
Copyright © 2017 by David Baron
All rights reserved
First Edition
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write to Permissions, Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact
W. W. Norton Special Sales at [email protected] or 800-233-4830
Book design by Barbara M. Bachman
Production manager: Anna Oler
Jacket Design by Steve Attardo
Jacket Images: (eclipse) akg-images / Interfoto / Sammlung Rauch; (micro tasimeter)
Popular Science Monthly, Volume 17; “THE GREAT SOLAR ECLIPSE OF JULY 29
1878 SEEN FROM SNAKE RIVER PASS COLORADO USA” / Harper’s Weekly,
Vol. XXII, No. 1130, Saturday, August 24, 1878 / ROBERTSTOCK / CLASSICS-
TOCK; Maria Mitchell, ca. 1851 by Herminia B. Dassel / Courtesy of the Nantucket
Maria Mitchell Association
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Names: Baron, David, 1964–
Title: American eclipse : a nation’s epic race to catch the shadow of the
moon and win the glory of the world / David Baron.
Description: First edition. | New York, N.Y. : Liveright Publishing
Corporation, a division of W. W. Norton & Company, [2017] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017009679 | ISBN 9781631490163 (hardcover)
Subjects: LCSH: Science—United States—History—19th century. |
Science—United States—History—20th century. | United States—
Civilization—1865–1918. | Eclipses—History. | Astronomy—United States—
History—19th century. | Astronomy—United States—History—20th century.
Classification: LCC Q127.U6 B2755 2017 | DDC 523.7/80973—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017009679
ISBN 978-1-63149-017-0 (e-book)
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