What do you think?
Rate this book
A Treasury of Science
Edited by Harlow Shapley. Harper and Brothers Publishers New York. 1958. 776 pp. Hardcover. 5.75" X 8.5". Book is in excellent condition with slight yellowing on upper edge from shelf aging. Binding is intact. Dust jacket is in fair condition with chipping. The whole literature of science has been combed to assemble this panoramic volume. Here is a connected view of modern man's universe - the substance of a hundred books - ranging from the writings of Galileo to the Russian report on the dog in Sputnik II.
- GenresReference
776 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1954
40 people want to read
About the author
Harlow Shapley
97 books6 followersHarolow Shapley (November 2, 1885 – October 20, 1972) was an American astronomer, known as "The Modern Copernicus," who discovered the Sun's position in the galaxy.
He used RR Lyrae stars to correctly estimate the size of the Milky Way Galaxy and the sun's position within it. In 1953 he proposed his "liquid water belt" theory, now known as the concept of a habitable zone.
He was born to Willis and Sarah (née Stowell) Shapley on a farm in Nashville, Missouri, and dropped out of school with only the equivalent of a fifth-grade education. After studying at home and covering crime stories as a newspaper reporter, Shapley returned to complete a six-year high school program in only two years, graduating as class valedictorian.
In 1907, at the age of 22, Harlow Shapley went to study journalism at University of Missouri. When he learned that the opening of the School of Journalism had been postponed for a year, he decided to study the first subject he came across in the course directory. Rejecting Archaeology, which Harlow later explained he couldn't pronounce, Harlow chose the next subject, Astronomy.
Post-graduation, Shapley received a fellowship to Princeton University for graduate work, where he studied under Henry Norris Russell and used the period-luminosity relation for Cepheid variable stars (discovered by Henrietta Swan Leavitt) to determine distances to globular clusters. He was instrumental in moving astronomy away from the idea that Cepheids were spectroscopic binaries, and toward the concept that they were pulsators. He was the first to realize that the Milky Way Galaxy was much larger than previously believed, and that the Sun's place in the galaxy was in a nondescript location. This discovery by Shapley is a key part of the Copernican principle, according to which the Earth is not at the center of our Solar System, our galaxy, or our Universe.
He married Martha Betz (1891-1981) in April 1914. She assisted her husband in astronomical research both at Mount Wilson and at Harvard Observatory. She produced numerous articles on eclipsing stars and other astronomical objects. They had one daughter and four sons, one of whom is a mathematician and economist Lloyd Shapley, who won a Nobel Prize in Economics in 2012. His widow died in 1981.
On his religious views, Shapley was an atheist/agnostic.
Awards:
Henry Draper Medal of the National Academy of Sciences (1926)
Prix Jules Janssen of the French Astronomical Society (1933)
Rumford Prize of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1933)
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1934)[19]
Bruce Medal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (1939)
Pius XI Medal (1941)
Franklin Medal (1945)
Henry Norris Russell Lectureship of the American Astronomical Society (1950)
Named after him:
The crater Shapley on the Moon
Asteroid 1123 Shapleya
Shapley Supercluster
Harlow Shapley Visiting Lectureships In Astronomy, American Astronomical Society
He used RR Lyrae stars to correctly estimate the size of the Milky Way Galaxy and the sun's position within it. In 1953 he proposed his "liquid water belt" theory, now known as the concept of a habitable zone.
He was born to Willis and Sarah (née Stowell) Shapley on a farm in Nashville, Missouri, and dropped out of school with only the equivalent of a fifth-grade education. After studying at home and covering crime stories as a newspaper reporter, Shapley returned to complete a six-year high school program in only two years, graduating as class valedictorian.
In 1907, at the age of 22, Harlow Shapley went to study journalism at University of Missouri. When he learned that the opening of the School of Journalism had been postponed for a year, he decided to study the first subject he came across in the course directory. Rejecting Archaeology, which Harlow later explained he couldn't pronounce, Harlow chose the next subject, Astronomy.
Post-graduation, Shapley received a fellowship to Princeton University for graduate work, where he studied under Henry Norris Russell and used the period-luminosity relation for Cepheid variable stars (discovered by Henrietta Swan Leavitt) to determine distances to globular clusters. He was instrumental in moving astronomy away from the idea that Cepheids were spectroscopic binaries, and toward the concept that they were pulsators. He was the first to realize that the Milky Way Galaxy was much larger than previously believed, and that the Sun's place in the galaxy was in a nondescript location. This discovery by Shapley is a key part of the Copernican principle, according to which the Earth is not at the center of our Solar System, our galaxy, or our Universe.
He married Martha Betz (1891-1981) in April 1914. She assisted her husband in astronomical research both at Mount Wilson and at Harvard Observatory. She produced numerous articles on eclipsing stars and other astronomical objects. They had one daughter and four sons, one of whom is a mathematician and economist Lloyd Shapley, who won a Nobel Prize in Economics in 2012. His widow died in 1981.
On his religious views, Shapley was an atheist/agnostic.
Awards:
Henry Draper Medal of the National Academy of Sciences (1926)
Prix Jules Janssen of the French Astronomical Society (1933)
Rumford Prize of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1933)
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1934)[19]
Bruce Medal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (1939)
Pius XI Medal (1941)
Franklin Medal (1945)
Henry Norris Russell Lectureship of the American Astronomical Society (1950)
Named after him:
The crater Shapley on the Moon
Asteroid 1123 Shapleya
Shapley Supercluster
Harlow Shapley Visiting Lectureships In Astronomy, American Astronomical Society
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 1, 2016
I've had a few copies of this wonderful volume over the years and despite its age (editions range from 1943 to 1965), it's still one of my favorite Science books. Some of the best science writers (past or present) are represented in these pages. The scope of this volume spans the breadth of scientific knowledge.
Harlow Shapley is the perfect host to introduce the wonders that follow. His Introduction explains how he and his co-editors arrived at their choices and his Preface invites us to share in the conquests of Science over the centuries, as we accompany the authors and their subjects on these journeys of knowledge and discovery. The editor praises the authors who possess both the breadth of knowledge and the literary skill to explain the concepts discussed, while placing them within the larger context of our Universe. On the other hand, in some cases, the editors felt much earlier, or even original, sources, offered the best summaries.
It's true, of course, that we need the specialists and the geniuses to advance our collective knowledge, but we should also respect that rare breed of interpreters and "synthesizers"; the ones who can enlighten us non-specialists (and an expert is usually an amateur in any field other than his or her own). So, I think this book is not only a celebration of our Scientific geniuses and their achievements, but of those who can help us understand and appreciate them.
As a side note, it is true that excerpts in anthologies can only give us a taste of what may be waiting for us out there and the editors note this, hoping their selections will lead readers to further their knowledge. But, I've often found that a brief summary is far more effective than a lengthy discussion. I can't help but admire an author who can be brief and concise, yet accurate and comprehensive (within limits, of course). This volume boasts many such authors. Harlow Shapley and his co-editors have produced a classic, in its many editions.
Harlow Shapley is the perfect host to introduce the wonders that follow. His Introduction explains how he and his co-editors arrived at their choices and his Preface invites us to share in the conquests of Science over the centuries, as we accompany the authors and their subjects on these journeys of knowledge and discovery. The editor praises the authors who possess both the breadth of knowledge and the literary skill to explain the concepts discussed, while placing them within the larger context of our Universe. On the other hand, in some cases, the editors felt much earlier, or even original, sources, offered the best summaries.
It's true, of course, that we need the specialists and the geniuses to advance our collective knowledge, but we should also respect that rare breed of interpreters and "synthesizers"; the ones who can enlighten us non-specialists (and an expert is usually an amateur in any field other than his or her own). So, I think this book is not only a celebration of our Scientific geniuses and their achievements, but of those who can help us understand and appreciate them.
As a side note, it is true that excerpts in anthologies can only give us a taste of what may be waiting for us out there and the editors note this, hoping their selections will lead readers to further their knowledge. But, I've often found that a brief summary is far more effective than a lengthy discussion. I can't help but admire an author who can be brief and concise, yet accurate and comprehensive (within limits, of course). This volume boasts many such authors. Harlow Shapley and his co-editors have produced a classic, in its many editions.
Displaying 1 of 1 review