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America's first eclipse chasers : stories of science, planet vulcan, quicksand, and the railroad boom / Thomas Hockey.

9783031241246 (electronic bk.)
303124124X (electronic bk.)
3031241231
9783031241239

Cham, Switzerland : Springer, 2023.

English

1 online resource (240 pages) : illustrations (black and white, and color).

10.1007/978-3-031-24124-6 doi

QB541

523.7/8

In 2017, over 200 million Americans witnessed the spectacular total eclipse of the Sun, and the 2024 eclipse is expected to draw even larger crowds. In anticipation of this upcoming event, this book takes us back in history over 150 years, telling the story of the nations first ever eclipse chasers. Our tale follows the chaotic journeys of scientists and amateur astronomers as they trekked across the western United States to view the rare phenomenon of a total solar eclipse. The fascinating story centers on the expeditions of the 1869 total eclipse, which took place during the turbulent age of the chimerical Planet Vulcan and Civil War Reconstruction. The protagonistsa motley crew featuring astronomical giants like Simon Newcomb and pioneering female astronomers like Maria Mitchellwere met with unanticipated dangers, mission-threatening accidents, and eccentric characters only the West could produce. Theirs is a story of astronomical proportions. Along the way, we will make several stops across the booming US railroad network, traveling from viewing sites as familiar as Des Moines, Iowa, to ones as distant and strange as newly acquired Alaska. From equipment failures and botched preparations to quicksand and apocalyptic comets, welcome to the wild, western world of solar eclipses.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

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Description based on print version record.

Springer-Praxis books in popular astronomy.

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